One of the great bands from this area, Furnace Mountain counts the Barns of Rose Hill as its home venue. They consistently sell out their shows at the barns, and for good reason. Here are some pictures and videos from the Dave’s Birthday Bash show.
A superb song like Suzanne showcases the band’s high level of talent.
Of course there is classic old timey music to play as well.
There were some non-standard parts of this show, it being a birthday bash and all.
Doritos were served, but only to select teenagers.
As the show happened on the Lunar New Year’s Day (welcome to the year of the rabbit), a Chinese folk song or two were offered from the stage. Normally, the band sticks to Americana.
Danny plays a mean mando. Of course he plays everything else too.
The medley.
A crowd favorite and one of the band’s best songs, Bluebell.
So next time Furnace Mountain plays, get your tickets early.
In the end it is a sight to behold. That is, the transformation from a workaday, poorly conceived upper gallery blank slate into a thoughtful exhibition of great beauty and striking talent. Feast your eyes on this…
The (almost) final instantiation of digital psychedelic art by ulluh
This is the first formal showing of ulluh’s art on planet earth, and it is an incredible testament to the power of digital art and artistic vision.
Here’s how the show went up.
Stands for the digital displays (seven of them in the show, all told), five on these rolling stands.
This window required covering, and the space could use some chopping up and conceptual clarity.
That’s more like it. The blue leaks into the great hall like the glow of an old school TV. All intentional design.
Screens booting up. Each of these displays show three pieces in a six minute cycle. They are synchronized. The art gets an opportunity to speak for itself.
Romey’s couch and a 10.5 by 8 feet divider create a space for more intentional viewing. This is where the absolutely stunning builds are shown in an 18 minute loop. Watching the artist’s creative process is both informative and captivating. Wow. Once again, the blue light brings the space an altered reality.
Shadow box frames hover off the wall.
The rest of the space creates a natural eddy, flowing around the room, drawing the viewer in.
The prints go up, each its own reflection of a digital display.
A build caught in early action.
This art is the result of hundreds of hours of painstaking and thoughtful work. Each piece has a deep story to tell. Lean more here.
The show runs at the Barns of Rose Hill through July 2nd.
As a successful salon business owner for over a decade, Romey knew she should own her own space instead of renting. Any idea when the best time to take a financial risk and do that is? Never! So when is the second best time? During a global pandemic, of course. It takes a special kind of vision to fly directly into the vacuum. Here is Romey’s story.
Before: The Barbershop
The discussion quickly became a reality in late 2020 when the 1850s era Berryville jailhouse (that had been a barbershop for many years) came on the market. Here is what the space looked like before it was purchased.
From the back room
You can’t quite tell from here, but that floor is 5 layers of flooring all tottering on joists that are about to give up the ghost.
Florescent lighting and dated fans (instead of AC). And that green. No words.
Looking back (one of the stations is shown here)
The bathroom where the basement “access” was
The back was in better shape, though still green
Romey contemplates ownership
Before buying the building, finding a contractor and spitballing what renovation would cost was the next step. Also an in-depth inspection. Needless to say, Romey kind of knew what she was getting into. Kind of only because a building from 1850 always holds surprises. This was going to be a hell of a project!
Demolition
The barbershop was utterly removed, the attic was exposed and cleaned out, the floor was removed, and lo and behold the bones of the building began to emerge. But first, a permit.
Demo permit
Removing rubble
These beams turn out to be a treasure
One of those unexpected finds was a chimney basically hanging in space. It had to go. But the architecture review board had to approve first since the skyline changed.
Uh oh, an unexpected chimney ready to crash down and kill somebody (the beams are from the contractor)
Oh but these stone walls!
One day this will be a gorgeous window
But first a slight delay waiting for a building permit. Thanks to Allen Kitselman, all of this permitting happened as smoothly as possible.
The permit (and the new holding company)
Floor and Plumbing
All that flooring? Gone. And all of the joists? Replaced. Plus the basement was parged and lined with plastic. While the floor was missing, the plumbing trade got started bringing the building’s water system to code. Everything was replaced.
For a while, it was fun to walk on the skinny boards that sufficed for a floor.
Floor joists and subfloor
Reframing the back
Plumbing in the basement
Hey look, subfloor
Framing the back of the main room where the stonework was not up to snuff
Stonework
Repointing the stone was also an unexpected expense, but one well worth the investment. just look at these walls.
Gorgeous stone
Yes please
The rest of the space was framed for drywall.
Shampoo area
Newly widened doorway to back (in order to meet code)
Looking almost roomlike
The HVAC and machine room (hot water up there too)
Drywall
Drywall is always surprisingly fast. And then it was up!
The back room
Those beams!
And this is before they were treated with oil
It’s coming together. New crawlspace access below the window.
The boss woman checking out her future space
Painting and Lights
Finish work is always a thing. Romey picked out flooring (local hardwood), wall, and trim colors, and supervised their proper application.
First the back, where a pocket door was installed
Back finish
HVAC and cathedral ceiling
Now look at this. The space is coming together.
Gorgeous new floor looking back
Wow
Just wow
That eye for lines, color, and design shows right through.
Birthday Dinners
So what do you do in February with a space that is coming together and two February birthdays? A dinner party in the space. Cyn and Ant joined us to celebrate the new space and the old people.
By this time Romey and I had a habit of meeting for cocktails after work to check out progress. This was a fun tradition and made the stress of renovation turn into celebration. Magic.
This temporary window was installed to appease the architecture review board. Allen comes through again!
A repurposed sink from Cyn
Moving In
A one day move in included shampoo sink, work stations, retail, heck, everything. Even some lights moved. Claudio was more than useful. Moving two blocks is way harder than moving 1000 miles.
Even the sign moved
Plumbed in shampoo station
W/D in their slot
Wired in work station
Retail shelving
The Completed Space
Several months later, the final move in (originally planned for January) happened in March. And the salon was reborn in a fabulous, unique space.
A perfect blend of old features like the beams and the stone with sleek modern design befitting a place of beauty-making.
A new front light was icing on the cake
All told the project was an absolutely excellent way to spend the heart of the pandemic. A new beautiful space built in the interstitial time. Risk taking like this is brave, to be sure, and it usually pays back.
Be brave.
Coda: The Stained Glass
Six months later, the stained glass panel designed by Romey was installed. Now the space is complete.
We played a show last year. Hah. OK, last year was only 7 days ago, but it’s true. During the show, we dropped a new CD called “diversion” which you can order for yourself. Have a listen to our favorite track!
Collectively, we raised $1181 for Habitat for Humanity’s work in Clarke County, bringing Where’s Aubrey’s all concert total to $15,662.
The concert was a blast to play. Here are some pictures. In each set, we started out with only two people on stage, Gary McGraw on violin and Rhine Singleton on guitar.
Where’s Aubrey performs at the Barns of Rose Hill 12.29.18 (photo Amy Barley)
Eventually (during both sets) we were joined by stunt guitarist Allen Kitselman and drummer Nick Schrenk (both of the Bitter Liberals).
Nick Schrenk of the Bitter Liberals plays drums with Where’s Aubrey 12.29.18 (photo Amy Barley)
The gang’s all here. Allen Kitselman play stunt guitar with Where’s Aubrey 12.29.17 (photo Amy Barley)
Where’s Aubrey plus two Barns of Rose Hill 12.29.17
The highlight of the evening for us was honoring our biggest fan and long time Berryville arts supporter Michael Hobert. Here’s what I said about Michael from the stage.
Michael Hobert (photo Jen Lee)
Rhine Singleton (photo Tom Singleton)
Where’s Aubrey mid-jam (photo Tom Singleton)
Gary McGraw (photo Tom Singleton)
Rhine concentrates (photo Tom Singleton)
Paging Allen Kitselman, Allen Kitselman to the blue courtesy guitar (photo Tom Singleton)
The energy was palpable during the show. Thanks to the 100+ people who came to see Where’s Aubrey perform. We’ll be back.
Where’s Aubrey Jams at Barns of Rose Hill 12.29.17 (photo Jen Lee)
Goofing off on stage (in the middle of a song) (photo Jen Lee)
Yeah, this is fun (photo Jen Lee)
Sensitive Big Boy Music not just reserved for the Bitter Liberals (photo Jen Lee)
We will be releasing our eighth CD the day of the show. Art by Eli McGraw. Music by Rhine Singleton and Gary McGraw. At the show, we’ll be playing all of the songs from the new CD plus some of your favorite Where’s Aubrey tunes.
We will be joined on stage by Allen Kitselman and Nick Schrenk of the Bitter Liberals.
The upcoming Where’s Aubrey concert Saturday 1.3.15 is a benefit for C Spout Run and the Downstream project (both working to clean up the Shenandoah and its tributaries). (See the Winchester Star article posted below.)
Where’s Aubrey on the Shenandoah River
who: Where’s Aubrey joined by special guests the Bitter Liberals
what: Benefit concert for C Spout Run and the downstream project
where: The Barns of Rose Hill, 95 Chalmers Court, Berryville, Va. 22611 * (540) 955-2004
when: Saturday January 3rd, doors open 7:30, music starts at 8pm
tickets: $20 in advance and $25 at the door >> http://bit.ly/Aubrey-river << (all proceeds to non-profits)
Thanks for your generous support of live music and an ecologically sound community. Merry new year to all!
Shenandoah moonlight and Where’s Aubrey
Here is an article from the Winchester Star about the concert.
