Tunes for the Road: Local Experts Pick Their Favorites

If you're planning a road trip to Charlottesville, Chapel Hill or Athens, you'll need some tunes. We asked local experts to choose albums that represent the best -- past and the present -- of the music scenes they love, and to give us a few words to describe their choices. If you can't find some of them in D.C. stores, great -- you'll have something to search for at the record shops, as well as tunes for the drive home.

Charlottesville

The Experts: Mike Friend (general manager) and Jeff Reynolds (deejay of local-music show) of WNRN Charlottesville, a modern rock radio station.

Classic Charlottesville:

* Dave Matthews Band, "Under the Table and Dreaming" (1994). The album that catapulted the world-beat-influenced jam band to fame.

* Lauren Hoffman, "Megiddo" (1997). Sultry singer-songwriter now based in NYC trills about the travails of love.

* Earth to Andy, "Chronicle Kings" (1999). Hard alt-rock reminiscent of Stone Temple Pilots.

* Pavement, "Slanted and Enchanted" (1992). Indie rock for the slacker set, with intelligent, literate lyrics.

Newer Charlottesville:

* Hackensaw Boys, "Love What You Do" (2005). "Newgrass" band gaining nationwide notice.

* Sparky's Flaw, "One Small Step EP" (2005). Catchy, youthful pop-rock band.

* Soul Sledge, "When the Illusions Fail" (2005). New supergroup of local scene blends soulful vocals and heavy metal.

* Bella Morte, "As the Reasons Die" (2004). Goth/industrial band has Euro-following and is a stalwart of Charlottesville's goth scene.