Local Brandon Crowe has quietly built something special in Richmond’s underground scene, a Fourth of July tradition called Crowefest. No corporate sponsors, maybe a few local ones. No massive gates or fences, just the usual short backyard one. What you get is a stage, a lawn, and a handpicked lineup of local heavy-hitters and rising stars. For years, it’s been a word-of-mouth affair, the kind of show that runs on good will, cheap beer, and whatever folks can toss in the cooler.
Over the years, the little backyard stage has hosted names you now recognize, members of The Head and The Heart, J. Roddy Walston, and Lucy Dacus, long before the Grammy nods. That’s Richmond for you. Sometimes the best music happens 20 feet from a charcoal grill and a half-collapsed folding chair.
It went quiet for a while, Covid shut it down like it did everything else, but this year, Crowefest came back swinging. A packed lawn, 200+ people deep, all singing along and sweating it out under the fireworks from The Diamond. But this time it had a mission: raising funds for local bluesman Justin Golden, and Richmond showed up in force with donations topping $6000.
And the lineup this year was stacked. J. Roddy Walston and the Automatic Band, Holy Roller, Piranha Rama, Benjamin Shepherd and the Family Band, Camo Face, Rikki Rakki, Jake the Dog, Bucko, Killer Whale, and Gaffer all hit the stage.
There’s a bigger story here, some RVA Mag history, a few half-forgotten rock legends, and how a backyard show became a piece of local lore. But we’ll get to that some day down the road. For now, here are the photos by Joey Wharton.
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