TV TRIFECTA GOES ‘WRONG’
Tyou’re seeing on TV isn’t the one where the highly diverse Band formed. Violinist who joined up with Matthews in 1991 to start the band, was raised in the Virginia town at the center of the recent race riot. He’s never witnessed the kind of violence that erupted when white supremacists faced off with protesters over the removal of Confederate monuments last week.
“There’s never been racial problems in Charlottesville – it’s a racially diverse community,” Tinsley told us from his Virginia home. “Growing up as a kid, I never felt race-conscious.”
Among Tinsley’s neighbors are actress and author
“The people that came to that rally? None of them were from Charlottesville,” he insisted.
Tinsley (photo) also takes issues with those like President who’ve said there were “good people” among the racist demonstrators.
“Trust me, good people don’t stand next to Klansmen and Nazis,” he said.
Boyd recalls a racist rally in Charlottesville last month that took locals by surprise.
“There was a torchlit rally at the park three, four months ago. There were 40 people holding torches and I thought, ‘What the hell is this?’ ” he recalled. “Then we found out the Klan was coming.”
That’s when the community planned a Unity Concert for the same day as the Klan rally and drowned it out. That show was headlined by Tinsley’s new band, Crystal Garden, which will play in New York as part of the U.S. Open festivities on Thursday. Tinsley, who hosts an annual tennis tournament in Charlottesville, says his hometown will need all the help it can get to recover from the recent bloodshed.
“There’s absolute disbelief and everyone in Charlottesville is dealing with that feeling all week,” he said. “I’ve lost sleep over it. I’ve had headaches. I’ve cried over it. I’m certainly not over it. That hurt. They came through a beautiful town and brought something ugly and it’s a stain that won’t wash away.” There was TV-star logjam backstage at the Lyceum Theater Thursday, when of “Heroes,” of “Cheers” and game show vet simultaneously showed for the Tonywinning comedy “The Play That Goes Wrong.” The night started with Grunberg – a childhood pal of show producer who’s appeared in Abrams productions from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to “Star Trek” – being pulled from the audience for a preshow audience participation stunt. It ended with a standing ovation and the trio convening backstage and snapping photos with the Brit cast.