FunStuff: Charlottesville events January 12 and beyond

Clear Blue country

Joe Overton, the frontman for Clear Blue Sky, claims he has a foot stuck in 1954, the early days of country music. For this Central Virginia band, the old-fashioned sounds interspersed with original tunes stay true to their Blue Ridge roots. Come ready to cry in your coffee or two-step your cares away.
January 13, Crozet Mudhouse, 7pm, free

Rock-and-roller skate

Albemarle Parks and Rec opens up Greenwood Community Center for some Saturday night fever on roller skates during the cold winter months and on through May. Skates are available to rent for $3– or rent the whole building for $30 an hour for your own bash. The community center is at 865 Greenwood Road. From Crozet, just keep going way out Jarmans Gap Road.
Saturdays, Greenwood Community Center, 6 to 9pm, $2

Dance, baby

While runners are getting ready for marathons, what about partiers who need to get in shape for Fat Tuesday? Do you really need to hear more than "New Orleans groove/funk" to know that Jacabone will have you up and moving? The voice of Fritz Berry, who also plays harmonica, has been compared to a cross between Greg Allman and B.B. King. Joining in on vocals are bassist J.D. D'Errico and guitarist Ian Lawler. Doug Wannamaker from Indecision and Everything plays keys and Nate Brown, also from Everything and locals XPS, is on drums.
January 13, Rapture, 10pm, free

Sunday in the country with music

Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards in North Garden provides a good reason to take a cruise south of town with its "Music on the Hill" series. Second Draw kicks off the year with an amalgam of bluegrass, jam band, and acoustic rock in Pippin Hill's tasting room at 5022 Plank Road. Did we mention there's wine?
January 15, Pippin Hill Farm, 2 to 5pm, free

Let the curling begin

Virginia's only curling league readies to sweep the ice for the next 10 Mondays. The Scots are believed to have invented this game that's like shuffleboard on ice and requires no ice skating aptitude. It's still possible to get in on the league action, which has more than 18 teams, for $150 a person, but if you just want to watch this winter sport beloved by Canadians while enjoying a cold beer, you can do that too.
January 15, Main Street Arena, 7:30/8:30/9:30pm, spectators free

Winter color   

We're always glad for an excuse to head up scenic Stony Point Road to Les Yeux du Monde's W.G. Clark-designed gallery. And Ellen Hathaway's brilliantly colored, brightly imagined "Ephiphanies" show is just the thing to warm up a gray January afternoon. The exhibit runs through February 12 at the 841 Wolf Trap Road gallery, and can also be seen by special appointment.
Thursdays-Sundays, Les Yeux du Monde, 1 to 5pm, free

Jospé jazz in Waynesboro

From drummer Robert Jospé's alternate Inner Rhythm world comes this latest incarnation, the Robert Jospé Jazz Quartet, with legendary guitarist Royce Campbell, bassist Rusty Farmer, and vocalist Laura Ann Singh. The group offers an evening of jazz and blues at the Gateway, an old storefront at 329 West Main Street and the place to be in downtown Waynesboro until the Wayne Theatre restoration is complete.
January 14, Gateway in Waynesboro, 8pm, $10

Mysterious Monacans

Several thousand years before the white man named this town in honor of an English queen, the Monacans were here, speaking a language related to Sioux and burying their dead in mounds. As part of the year-long celebration of Charlottesville's 250th birthday, Karenne Wood, director of Virginia Indian Heritage program and a Monacan tribal councilor herself, discusses the history and culture of "Monacan Indians: Here before Charlottesville was Charlottesville."
January 17, City Council Chambers, noon, free 

Feasting frenzy

It's not too early to start thinking about Restaurant Week and which of 20 dining establishments you want to try during this Hook-sponsored feeding frenzy, as this $26 dinner is known to book up fast. Along with 14 favorites like Fossett's and Bang, a new crop of restaurants has toss their menus into the ring, including Balkan Bistro, Copacabana, and Tempo. Check out Cvilleyum.com for more details.
January 23-29, all over town, dinner hours, $26

Randolph scandolph

The older the family, the juicier the skeletons in the closet, and the FFV Randolphs, who produced Thomas Jefferson, among a long list of the ruling class in Virginia, are no exception. Historian Ruth Doumlele, author of The Randolph Women and Their Men, looks at the females of this species in the post-Revolutionary War era, comparing the scale of their lives to Gone With the Wind– only true. She's signing books at 5798 Three Notched Road in Crozet.
January 14, Over the Moon Bookstore, 6 to 7pm, free

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This week's "FunStuff" was compiled by Lisa Provence, and next week's "FunStuff" will be compiled by another newsroom staffer. To get your event considered, send a press release to [email protected].

CORRECTION: Robert Jospe's group, Inner Rhythm, was misidentified and has been corrected January 18.