CULTURE FEEDBACK
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Wednesday 7/13 music Beleza Duo. Samba soul with Madeline Holly-Sales on vocals and keys, and Berto Sales on guitar, voice, and loops. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com Hard Swimmin’ Fish. Roots and blues. Free, 6:30pm. The Whiskey Jar, 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thewhiskeyjarcville.com King Golden Banshee. The conglomerate of musicians performs for Irish Wednesday. Free, 5:30pm. The Pub at Lake Monticello, 51 Bunker Blvd., Palmyra. lakemonticello golf.org
Shane Cooley & Lori Ellen. Performing original music for the Sleep On Your Floor Tour in support of Shane’s new album, Forest, and single, “Stella Ray.” Free, 6pm. Durty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscharlottesville.com Vincent Zorn. Performing live on the patio. Free, 6:30pm. Red Pump Kitchen, 401 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. redpumpkitchen.com
dance C’ville Bachata Social. Dance the evening away with the hottest bachata, salsa, merengue, cha cha, cumbia, reggaeton tunes, and more. Free, 6:30pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarm andwinery.com
words Storytime in the Garden with JMRL. Bring a blanket or chairs for an outside storytime, followed by a guided tour of the garden. Free, 10am. Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, 950 Melbourne Rd. piedmontgarden.org
outside
Farmers in the Park. Local farmers with seasonal produce and meats, cut and potted flowers, baked goods, hot meals, value-added products, prepared food, and crafts. Free, 3pm. Farmers in the Park, 300 Meade Ave. charlottesville.gov
etc. Family Film Series. Featuring perennial favorites alongside modern classics. Free, 11am. Violet Crown Cinema, 200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. violetcrown.com
Thursday 7/14 music Berto and Vincent. Wild gypsy rumba and Latin guitar. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com C O N T I N U ED ON PAGE 2 6
The Hackensaw Boys release first full-length since 2016 By Shea Gibbs arts@c-ville.com
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avid Sickmen and The Hackensaw Boys have been a lot of things to a lot of people over their two-decade run. But they’ve never forgotten where they’re from. “When we go out in the world, I still say the band is from Charlottesville,” Sickmen says. “Charlottesville was a magical place in the mid-’90s and into the early 2000s. I can’t imagine the band could have formed in any other place.” Sickmen and his updated lineup of roots rockers—Caleb Powers on fiddle and vocals, Chris Stevens on bass, Jonah Sickmen on percussion, and Park Chisholm on backing guitar and vocals—released their new self-titled album on June 24. It had been six years since an LP bore the Hackensaw name. Upon their recent return from Europe, Sickmen and his stringmen announced a stateside tour for the new record, along with a slight personnel change. Playing bass for the shows, which include local dates at The Southern Café and Music Hall on August 11 and Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub on October 7, is Chicago import Aaron Smith. “We still play some of the old songs, and we play new songs,” Sickmen says. “The band and the shows still have the same energy— high energy. It’s still a Hackensaw Boys show. It’s the same vibe it has always been.” Indeed, change is no new riff for the Boys from central Virginia. The band boasts near-
ly two dozen past members. Some of those, like John R. Miller and Pokey LaFarge, have gone on to successful solo careers. Others have moved on to even bigger bands; founding member and multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso joined Modest Mouse in 2003. Sickmen, the only founding Hackensaw remaining, has dealt with his own ups and downs over the years. Six years in with the band, he left in 2005 for mental health reasons. He came back six years later, and has played and sung with the Hackensaw Boys continuously over the last decade. In the meantime, he’s been challenged with vocal polyps, an ongoing issue he’s had surgery to correct. With a lack of consistent members, Sickmen has struggled with what the band is exactly. About four years ago, he was working on an EP, A Fireproof House of Sunshine, and he asked himself whether he was using The Hackensaw Boys name in good faith. The songs were taking on a more personal, songwriter’s touch, and he didn’t know if it was Hackensaw material. Sickmen did some soul searching. “I thought to myself, ‘What am I going to do, man?’” Sickmen says. “I have done enough solo shows to know how hard it is to be the solo guy with the guitar. But I also thought, ‘Am I a poser if I continue to carry the name Hackensaw Boys?’” Sickmen eventually plunged ahead, using the band name with no reservations. He’d been there since the beginning. He’d put 13 years of his life into The Hackensaw Boys. He’d put his family through all the
touring and difficult times. Damn right he was going to use the name. A Fireproof House of Sunshine became something of a turning point. Hackensaw records will always feature some foot-stomping fiddle-racers and raunchy, punked-up alt-country tracks complete with the infamous charismo, a percussion instrument a former band member invented by piecing together cans and scrap metal. But the band has matured along with Sickmen. The lyrics on the new record often find him struggling with the ravages of time specifically. ”No one wants to live in the past,” he sings on “Things We’re Doing.” Then, in “Cages We’re Grown In”: “The clock in your head will not let you go.” The pacing and melodies in songs like “My Turn” and “All I Really Want to Do’’ find a slow cadence that Sickmen reluctantly admits. “I am 53 years old at this point. Hopefully I am maturing at least a little bit,” he says. “It is very much a songwriter’s album.” A songwriter. It’s something Sickmen says he’s only recently gotten comfortable calling himself. He says he tries hard to stay humble, but he’s finally decided he’s earned the right to the title. So, what does a songwriter do, even after more than 20 years in a band that has changed seemingly with the seasons? “I have been trying to write songs for most of my adult life. I don’t seem to ever get tired of it,” Sickmen says. “I hate to sound pretentious, but I can’t help myself. It is what I do. And when I say I am a songwriter, it’s because I am writing songs. I’m not relying on my past.”
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Tour The Paramount Theater. Dig into the historic theater’s history on a backstage tour. Free, 11am and 5:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
The Boys are back in town
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Wind Down Wednesday. Acoustic music, food trucks, and a stunning Charlottesville sunset. $5, 6pm. Carter Mountain Orchard, 1435 Carters Mountain Trl. chilesfamily orchards.com
With its first new album in six years, The Hackensaw Boys’ David Sickmen (right) says the new lineup brings the same vibe and energy to live shows. The eponymously named record was released on June 24, and the Boys take the stage at The Southern Café & Music Hall on August 11.
July 13 – 19, 2022 c-ville.com
Archaeology Plantation Walking Tour. Join archaeologists on a walking tour to hidden parts of the plantation, and learn how archaeology informs our understanding of the lives of those who lived and worked at Monticello. Included with admission, 1:30pm. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. monticello.org
SUPPLIED PHOTO
Savannah Conley. With Secondhand Sound. $15, 7:30pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com
