Last year, the inaugural Stone’s Throw Down in RVA brought major act Lettuce and several prominent bands such as the London Souls and The Bright Light Social Hour, along with Richmond staple No BS! Brass Band to Brown’s Island for an all-day festival of music, local and regional breweries, food trucks, and more.
The beer and music festival from Stone Brewing is back this year with a bigger lineup, more breweries, and fun this weekend. Stone’s Thrown Down was launched last year to celebrate the anniversary of the brewery’s first local beer, and to celebrate the Richmond community.
“We enjoy routinely giving the world some of the boldest, genre-defying, groundbreaking beers on planet earth,” said Dominic Engels, Stone Brewing CEO in a statement. “This music festival gives us a chance to plug in and amplify our personalities. I deeply love a broad range of music and I absolutely love Stone beer. When we get a chance to bring these together in our new hometown, a stone’s throw from our new brewery, well, let the brilliance ensue.”
This year, Richmond’s epic brass ensemble No BS! Brass Band returns to hype you up once again, along with fellow Richmond acts Kenneka Cook and Spooky Cool, Futurebirds, Antibalas, and fellow headliner Drive-By Truckers round out the bill. Cook has been carving out a name in the Richmond music scene for herself with her performance in the local band Mikrowaves, looping her funky jazz vocals, and churning out her debut album, “Moonchild,” earlier this year. She recently put on an amazing show at The Camel alongside up and coming hip-hop act Cole Hicks so even if you’re just stopping by for a set, make sure you don’t miss her.
For three years, the ever-elusive Spooky Cool was a bit of a mystery in the music scene. No social media or albums, you had to catch the magic of the psychedelic indie rock group live. Recently, they’ve put out the five-track EP, “Every Thing Ever“, so you can hear their jams whenever you please. Make sure to brush up on these guys ahead of the show, and check out this weirdly dark but awesome video from the band and GOOD DAY RVA below.
Georgia-based politically-driven rock band Drive-By Truckers will make their debut at Stone’s music fest and are unafraid to speak out and cause some ruckus. The band has been performing for over 20 years and have nearly 12 studio albums under their belt. The band’s most recent album, “Amercian Band” dropped in 2016 and takes society’s current issues like racial and cultural divisions, mass shootings, gun violence, and more and shoves it right in the face of listeners. Let’s hope they not only come to entertain, but wake some people up as well.
Fellow Georgia band Futurebirds will bring their psychedelic country tunes to the stage on Brown’s Island for the first time. Mixing banjo, pedal steel, and mandolin with spaced out tunes, you’re in for a surreal experience so sit back and open your mind and enjoy.
Not only will Stone’s Throw Down provide some serious tunes, the festival will also have a solid lineup of local and regional craft beer. Beers from Stone, along with Champion Brewing, Fair Winds Brewing Company, Virginia Beer Co., Smartmouth Brewing Co, Buskey Cider, Beales Brewery, and Arrogant Brewing will also be on site. Of course, to soak up all that alcohol, the festival will have food from Strawberry Street Café, Carytown Burgers & Fries, Goatacado, Boka Taco Truck, Saucey’s BBQ, King of Pops, and Curbside Creation.
All of this year’s Stone’s Throw Down in RVA proceeds will benefit the James River Association, Neighborhood Resource Center of Greater Fulton, Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, and Venture Richmond. Tickets for Stones Thrown Down RVA are $20 and can be purchased online or at Stone Brewing.
Photo By: Joey Wharton Photography
Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond
