I came across them one night, sitting in the grass at Kanawha Plaza. Two men, buckets stacked like makeshift toms, a lone snare resting in one lap, framed by the warm glow skyline of downtown Richmond. Beside them, a sign made the economics clear: VENMO DRUMKEEM....
Some of the best Fourth of July celebrations in Richmond aren’t on any official list. They’re happening in backyards, driveways, and cul-de-sacs, surrounded by folding chairs, coolers, and whatever’s still working on the grill. If you’ve got good friends and a halfway decent Bluetooth speaker, you’re already doing it right. But for everyone...
The super-scorcher summer weather is here, and we are steadily melting in Richmond. For us, it’s way too hot for full-bodied, tannic red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Merlot, and Shiraz. We need to feel hydrated and refreshed, not bogged down further by the heat with a heavier wine. When shopping for wines this summer, try to...
“Look around you, this is the uprising.” When Children of Men was released in 2006, it flopped. It had nothing to do with the filmmaking. Visually, this is one of the most striking films of the last two decades. It flopped because the story was too real. The politics were too ambiguous. The prophetic vision touched too close to home....
On stage and in the kitchen, some recipes are meant to be followed to the letter, while some are wide open for flair and interpretation. Big Broadway musicals thrive on delivering an experience as replicable as a chain restaurant’s marquee burger. This is not a dig. When you pay for a Broadway hit musical, you want a Broadway hit musical with...
Every day we grow the good name of Richmond music. Slowly but surely, we’re taking our place on the nation’s grand stage, showing the rest of the country what we have to offer in nearly every genre. This week’s shows are a continual testament to that fact. Got a show coming up? New single? Simply want someone to talk music? I am your guy...
Spencer Sunshine is a sociologist, activist, and researcher of the far-right whose work has appeared in publications around the world. Last year, he published the book Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege, which is based on five years of archival research and interviews. The book...
WIlliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most popular comedies in the history of literature. It’s timeless. One of the best things about performing timeless Shakespeare comedies is that you can tweak, jigger, flip, and reverse his work into whatever shape pleases you and your audience. Set it in James Dean and Marylin...
Return To Forever: A Profound Discovery is what happens when a lyricist stops performing survival and starts narrating resurrection. Ty Sorrell, paired with the crate-dug alchemy of Profound79, delivers an album that doesn’t chase trends so much as it chases truth. Across these tracks, the Richmond-by-way-of-Dumfries emcee doesn’t posture, he...
In this city of the dead, I felt the weight of history bearing down upon me, the accumulated whispers of the past echoing through the hollows of my ears like a mournful sigh. No one needs teachings to realize that this ancient place wields some mystery. The James River, a lifeblood of sorts, flowed quietly in the distance, but my immediate...
