Under the Table and Screaming is a multi-volume series exploring the history and legacy of the local music scene in Charlottesville, VA. From literally underground shows in DIY basements to the racially suppressed hip-hop scene to thriving roots music on woodsy back porches to elegant recitals in restored theaters, UTTa S presents a full and diverse picture of this incredibly musical city, still largely known nationally only as the home of Dave Matthews.
In this first teaser volume, local journalist and radio DJ Erin O’Hare focuses on Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, an eclectic venue with an equally eclectic history and cast of characters. As a longstanding non-corporate and open-minded pillar of the Charlottesville music community, Tea Bazaar has for more than twenty years held shows ranging from the strange to the sublime. Full of the personal charm that characterizes Tea Bazaar itself (and a liberal dosage of f-bombs) O’Hare’s writing perfectly emulates the ethos of this wonderfully weird, welcoming place.
Recommended for those who like sipping oolong or matcha while listening to avant-garde electronica, DIY hip-hop, earbleed rock, ambient folk, or a Southern Gothic Futurist haiku slam.
A propos de l’auteur
Erin O’Hare is a writer, equity reporter, and rock DJ from Charlottesville, VA. She writes about peoples and cultures left out of mainstream narratives, including independent and DIY music scenes (like punk and hip-hop), Black female muralists, seed savers, low-profile jazz legends, Aboriginal Australian photographers, Native American tribes fighting for federal recognition, night-shift workers, and bizarre guerilla art. Regularly writing for hyper-local nonprofit newsroom Charlottesville Tomorrow, Erin has also contributed to Women in Sound, Bandcamp Daily, C-VILLE Weekly, and The Australian.