Trax: One of Charlottesville’s Most Popular Clubs

May 19, 2026

Many towns in Virginia have contributed to the state’s rich musical history. Previously, we’ve covered Bristol, one of the pioneering locations in the foundation of modern country music. Today, we’re looking at Charlottesville, VA. During the late 20th century, Charlottesville was regarded as a hotbed for musical talent. Nightclubs were popping up, revered talent was filtering through, and many musical careers were finding their footing. In Charlottesville, one night club in particular helped establish Charlottesville’s music scene.

“The Dave Matthews Band playing at the Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Australia, May 1st 2007” by Spoco2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

First, a bit of background. Around the 1970’s and 1980’s, Charlottesville had the fortune of being in close proximity to some of the most popular performance areas of the time. Being between Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC, many artists stopped in Charlottesville during their tours. This made Charlottesville a great place to go to see some of the most popular musicians of the time. It also gave many of Charlottesville’s clubs plenty of notoriety. Some examples include C&O, The Mine Shaft, Mousetrap, Miller’s and Newcomb Hall’s Pavilion XI. However, the most popular example is likely Trax.

Trax, located by the CSX train tracks at UVA, was a very popular performance spot for locals to flock to and listen to local groups. It gained notoriety for being a popular performance venue and practice space for the Charlottesville-based Dave Matthews Band. They are likely the most famous group to come out of Charlottesville, reaching worldwide acclaim with their debut album Under the Table and Dreaming. However, many other great bands would have regular performances there, including the Skip Castro band and Johnny Sportcoat & The Casuals.

Though it was off the beaten path, Trax saw a great deal of success during its run. As stated before, Charlottesville as a whole was a popular stop for bands touring around DC. Trax also benefitted from having plenty of patrons from UVA. It also had a big dance floor where students could be close to the performers. Good word of mouth and booking national acts also helped, ensuring that both local and national bands could take the stage and share their music.

Nowadays, Trax no longer exists. It suffered a few hiccups, including dealing with the departure of operator Coran Capshaw, the end of the Dave Matthews Band’s regular performances, and the rise of the legal drinking age. After a brief period of shuffling between owners, it was later sold to UVA for $1.2 million in 2002. It would later be torn down in the same year to make way for the University Hospital. However, its legacy has endured in the years following. The Dave Matthews Band has incorporated Trax into its legacy to this day, with their live recordings series titled Live Trax (in reference to the club). Trax was also home to the Music Resource center, founded by John Hornsby, brother of Virginia-born musician Bruce Hornsby. It was initially housed above Trax in 1995, but was later relocated to Mt. Zion Baptist Church with help from the Dave Matthews Band and other benefactors. And, of course, Trax lives on in the memories of the locals and visitors who came and enjoyed hearing some of Virginia’s best performances.