“For musician and singer-songwriter Wes Swing both the poet and the idea of less is more are at the heart of the music he makes. A classically trained musician who began playing violin at the age of 4, Wes Swing is creating a very unique and personal style of music that is unlike most of what I’ve heard in Charlottesville. By drawing together elements of minimalism and modern classical pieces with expressions of folk that are at times reminiscent of the late Nick Drake, Swing hopes to push upon the boundaries of what defines the singer-songwriter genre.”

To this end, Wes Swing’s music relies heavily on a limited number of instruments including violin, cello, and guitar (all of which Wes plays in addition to piano). When I mention the Nick Drake reference that I hear in his voice, Wes admits to being a definite fan but he is also quick to point out his love for Bjork and Radiohead, two contemporary artists whose music cannot easily be defined as simply being rock and who both employ aspects of an almost avant-garde quality to their sound. They seem like proper choices for an artist whose own music does not fit so neatly into one well-defined genre.
-Shaun Harvey, Cville Muse

Read, listen and watch: http://www.myspace.com/wesswing

DRIFT is about movement and adapting to present circumstance, using the resources we have available to us right now and seizing the moment. We’re letting the wind take us where it will. We don’t know how it will end, but we’re inviting everyone to take part in this adventure with us and watch the path unfold.

Read, watch, listen: http://www.myspace.com/birdlipsmusic

The show starts at 8pm/$5.

If you’ve got talent, we’ve got a stage. The festivities begin at 8pm…signup begins at 7:30pm.

From the spectacularly successful Live Arts production of “Hank Williams: Lost Highway”, Dallas Wesley and the Drifting Cowboys bring the music of Hank Williams to our stage. If you saw the performance, you know that Dallas does Hank as well as Hank himself. And, like us, you most likely left the show wanting more. We are very pleased to present Dallas Wesley and the “Drifting Cowboys” (Thomas Gunn, Bill Staton, Bahlmann Abbot and Dan Sebring) for an evening of nothing but Hank’s music.

“Just as Williams is described, Wesley (a Lynchburg-based singer-songwriter) has the dark, beady eyes Williams was known for, could easily “change clothes in a shotgun barrel,” and has the yodel to prove it. His Driftin’ Cowboys—Thomas Gunn on Bass, Dan Sebring on Fiddle, Bill Staton on guitar and Bahlmann Abbott on pedal steel—sound like the real deal.” —C-ville Weekly Review

The show starts at 8pm/$10.

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Tickets are for general admission, so please plan on arriving early to get a good seat. Your receipt is your ticket–please present it at the door for admission.

Get Bent with the Bent Theatre! Sketch and improv comedy in the style of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will have you laughing and cheering every step of the way. The show starts at 8pm/$5.

If you’ve got a talent, we’ve got a stage.

If you don’t have a talent to share, come find out why this event is responsible for the phrase “You never know what you’re going to see at Rapunzel’s…”

8pm, open to all. Signup begins at 7:30pm.

If you’ve got a talent, we’ve got a stage. The show starts at 8pm. Signup begins at 7:30.

Galen Curry honed his skills as a musician in the most intuitive way: by playing music whenever and wherever possible. He played in jazz combos, chamber singing groups, wedding bands and wind ensembles. He has toured the Eastern Seaboard with a rock band and Eastern Europe with a concert choir. For years Galen fronted Upstate New York alt-rock band The Beds and Virginia funk-rock ensemble Ultraviolet Ballet, and it was with these bands that he began to find his voice as a songwriter. Based out of a vibrant Charlottesville, Virginia, scene, Galen honors his southern heritage with unmistakably American tunes that supplement his singular tenor with clever lyricism and upbeat rootsy instrumentation, but it is his penchant for heartfelt and rollicking live performances that definitively set him apart from the crowd.

The show starts at 8pm/$5. Listen at www.galencurry.com.

Rapunzel’s is pleased to present John Casteen for a special evening of poetry reading.

John Casteen grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, Casteen has contributed opinion and analysis pieces on gun policy, environmental policy, and professional ethics to Slate.com, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and other magazines and newspapers. His poems and criticism have appeared in Ploughshares, The Southern Review, Shenandoah, The Paris Review, and other literary journals.

For ten years, Casteen was self-employed as a designer and builder of custom furniture. He is now Visiting Assistant Professor at Sweet Briar College, where he founded and directs the Sweet Briar Undergraduate Creative Writing Conference. He has also taught at The University of Virginia, and since 2005 has served on the editorial staff of The Virginia Quarterly Review.

Reading begins at 8pm. For samples of Casteen’s work, visit www.johncasteen.com.

Skeedaddle returns to Virginia with a brand new cd in hand! The six-piece string band & horn section play acoustic swing that is reminiscent of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, with the verve and energy of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. This band is hot, hot, hot! With special guests the Don’t Tell Darlings.

The show starts at 8pm/$5.

Check out their website: http://skeedaddleband.com

Naughty Dynamic & the Design brings us a soulful, powerful mix of covers and originals ranging from modern rock to r&b, funk, and soul. Powerhouse female vocals and an irresistible groove and beat bring the sound into an unstoppable force that, whether delivered acoustic or electric, pulls you inexorably into the rhythm.

Listen at www.myspace.com/naughtydynamicandthedesign.

The show starts at 8pm/$5.