Under the Table and Screaming is about a local music scene.
Every place has one. And this one is ours.
Why Under the Table? Why Screaming?
Dave Matthews Band is by far the most famous musical act to emerge from Charlottesville (so far). Some folks cherish the local ties to DMB, whose titular frontman got his start as a bartender at Miller’s downtown (a venue which will certainly feature in a future edition of this project). Others are constantly trying to get out of the shadow the band casts in American popular music history.
Under the Table and Screaming gives a nod to that long shadow cast in the 1990s while delving into the people, places, and stories that keep our vi- brant local music scene alive and thriving today. Because, despite DMB’s success, they’re not a quintessential Charlottesville band; there is no quintessential Charlottesville band, or even bands. There is no “Charlottesville sound.” There are, in fact, a lot of sounds made in Charlottesville.
The music scene here isn’t just dudes playing indie rock and jam bands for college kids (even if some of those jam bands really rock): It’s the jazz legend who taught John Coltrane and Yusef Lateef and later lived, rather quietly, in Charlottesville. It’s the female hardcore punk vocalist singing about feminism and identity in both English and Spanish. It’s the teen- ager writing raps in his bedroom. It’s the folk guitarist who’s traveled the world.
Charlottesville’s music culture is rich and varied, but discovering it takes some intentional effort. And the variety isn’t necessarily what’s touted by the venues that are part of the capital-M capital-B Music Business, which, in Charlottesville, mostly takes the form of Red Light Management, founded and owned by former DMB manager Coran Capshaw. The variety is instead found in restaurant and bars, in tea houses serving vegetarian food, in a house behind a massive magnolia tree. It’s in the auditorium of an African American heritage center. It’s in bedrooms and basements and backyards.
Some genres and artists have had to struggle for space more than others. And it’s not easy. It takes decades of effort and an endless amount of heart. The work is always ongoing.
But if a town wants a local music scene, it must make the space for it. It must nourish it.
This series is about the ever-evolving group of people and places who’ve done that needful work, creating and keeping the flame of an independent local music culture. It’s about those who have championed music made by and for the people who live here. And it’s about the many ways to keep that music alive: start a band, bring your friend’s band to town, set up a show, make posters, write about local acts, pay for a ticket, or buy some merch. Go to a show and maybe even dance around a little.
Under the Table and Screaming is about a local music scene. Every place has one, and this one is ours.
Erin O’Hare is a local journalist, musician, and DJ, co-hosting Ye Olde Tuesday Afternoon Rocke Show and Black Circle Revolution on WTJU 91.1 FM/wtju.net. She also books music at Visible Records, a community art studio and gallery space that contains an antifascist book shop. For at least 40 hours each week, she is the neighborhoods reporter for the community-focused Charlottesville Tomorrow, where she writes in-depth stories mostly about housing, specifically the ongoing housing crisis.
Erin had wanted to write a book since she started reading them when she was four. She did, and it was harder and a lot less fun than she thought. Now that book manuscript is this zine series, which was also harder, but a lot more fun, than she thought.
She lives in so-called Charlottesville on unceded Monacan and Manahoac lands with her partner (who she met while writing this series), two cats, and their out of control record collection.
About the Author
Jay is a poet, a musician and a songwriter. They grew up in Russell County, Virginia and studied creative writing at the University of Virginia.
In addition to their current role as Office & Volunteer Coordinator for WTJU 91.1 FM, Jay has served as Assistant Poetry editor for BreakBread Literacy Project, worked for just about every bookshop in town, and trained with Copper Canyon Press and the Library of Congress.
Under the Table and Screaming is Edited by Jay Mackenzie Baker
This project would not have been possible without the generous funding of WTJU and UVA. Our especial gratitude to WTJU Radio, UVA Arts Council, and the UVA Vice Provost for the Arts.
