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Appalachian Aggression: Heavy Music Is Alive In The Rural South

Jack Cooper III | May 7, 2020

Topics: Angel Dust, Appalachia, appalachian music, bailey stiltz, blue ridge, bluefield west virginia, Bracewar, Break Away, choose to suffer, clot, discourse, dread state, Forced Order, galax, gravity kong, hardcore, harlan kentucky, Harrisonburg, jack cooper iii, jesus piece, josh sison, late night zero, local music, metal, modern pain, music, nailcrown, Naysayer, Outsider, powerviolence, reality strikes, roanoke, Roanoke bands, roanoke music, roanoke shows, rock, RVA shows, shows, Southwest virginia, step off, The Golden Pony, the rocket club, the shanty, the spot on kirk

In the underbellies of Virginia’s smallest music communities, DIY scenes preserve hardcore and metal over generations in Roanoke and throughout Appalachia. 

Hardcore punk has been burning strong in the fabric of American music for nearly four decades now. What originated in the slums of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and within the urban sprawl encompassing Los Angeles in the 80s, has now spread to every conceivable corner of the globe. The roots of this youth-centered subculture are widespread; they’ve taken a strong hold in cities across the nation, and emerged as music scenes in the bubbling undergrounds of lesser-known, isolated rural communities throughout the South.

Wherever there are groups of angsty and disaffected youth, you can be certain that a hardcore, metal, or punk-adjacent community also exists. 

When looking introspectively at the various music scenes in Virginia, it goes without question that Richmond is the epicenter of hardcore and metal. Its long-established scene has made a lasting impact on heavy music as a whole, from storied venues like Alley Katz and Strange Matter to notable acts like GWAR, Four Walls Falling, Avail, Down to Nothing, Lamb Of God, Municipal Waste, and more. With Richmond’s monopoly on heavy music, it can be hard to imagine another area in the Old Dominon where hardcore DIY (Do It Yourself) music is thriving, and very much alive — but it only takes a look westward, past the banks of the James. 

Nestled between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountain ranges, just off Virginia’s I-81 corridor, lies the city of Roanoke. Because of its convenient geographic location, Roanoke has served for ages as a gateway for bands traveling west or north toward the densely-populated urban centers of New England. I’ve been a part of the local music scene here with Josh Sison, guitarist for Dread State and Step Off, for years now. He sees Roanoke’s location as part of the reason underground music has been able to survive here over the decades; legendary hardcore and punk acts like Sick of It All, Avail, Token Entry, and Green Day came through our town and first brought our scene to life in the early 90s. 

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

From the beginning of the region’s hardcore and metal scenes until today, successive generations of locals have passed the metaphorical torch to the scene’s younger participants, designating them as the next custodians of Roanoke’s hardcore and punk scenes. The scene has stayed alive, but the frequent change of hands has made it difficult to establish a scene with longevity and enough name recognition to be on the forefront of people’s minds. The scene’s periodic instability is an unfortunate reality of life in smaller cities — with an underperforming local economy, limited job prospects, and large cities relatively close by, many Appalachian areas struggle to compete with the metro areas’ ability to book large touring bands on a regular basis. 

The government’s gradual shift in focus from rural agricultural communities to populous urban centers over the last century has led to a long-standing deprivation across Appalachia. While larger population centers in the region like Roanoke have more opportunity than the most rural areas, Appalachia’s smallest communities face even more challenges. The music scenes in the area tend to come together, creating a united feeling across cities rather than each city operating individually as areas like Richmond do. This style of “teamwork” allows even the smallest areas to grow, and it’s why DIY music is able to thrive here. Bradford Harris of Harlan, Kentucky — a coal mining town in the easternmost part of the state — speaks on the significant turnover rate within his own town’s music scene. 

“All those people who were involved in building up the scene here lacked the mentality to keep things going; they went off to get jobs,” he said. 

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

With few job prospects, many young people in Appalachia have chosen to vacate their hometowns to seek out better educational and employment opportunities elsewhere. Over time, this created a cultural and intellectual vacuum in the countryside, stunting the growth of both local communities and their DIY music scenes. As many localities in Appalachia are starved of the necessary resources, they’re unable to grow with new cultural changes and expand the region’s musical palette — but many locals have taken it upon themselves to start heavy music scenes from scratch. In a town known for its annual Bluegrass competitions, Wil Sharpe and Denver Walker of Galax, Virginia are doing just that. 

“We want to put the aggressive style of music out there for people to hear, so we can start developing interest in building our own scene,” Sharpe and Walker said of their new powerviolence band, Clot. 

“I’d like for Clot to get big enough that they can play [outside of Galax] and bring attention to our town,” Walker said. The mixture of hometown pride and passion for hardcore and metal music drives them to carve out a space of their own, and mutual support from other rural areas helps each scene stay alive. 

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

The same breed of barriers that exist in Galax are also prevalent throughout the Appalachian South; the most challenging being a lack of reliable venues to book shows. Jordan Musick, drummer for Late Night Zero and Choose To Suffer (both formed in Roanoke), discussed the ups and downs that his hometown scene in Bluefield, West Virginia has experienced. 

“From roughly 2007 until 2010, our scene was really big,” Musick said. “We had the Princeton Rec Center, which became our go-to spot for touring bands, and then bars like The Rocket Club that let us put on shows. Unfortunately, the Rocket Club closed its doors, and the Rec Center stopped allowing us to book there — nothing was sustainable for a long time after that.”  Unpredictable relationships with venues can be detrimental to a scene’s survival, and in this case, caused a multi-year lull where punk and metal nearly died off in the area. 

In my own experience booking shows in Roanoke, a majority of the venues and bars in town are apprehensive about booking DIY bands. Most event coordinators and business I’ve spoken with share the same concerns: they worry whether bands will draw enough attendees to make profits from door sales, they’re unsure if they’ll make any bar or food sales during the show, and they fear liability in the event that someone gets injured while moshing or stage diving. The possibility of sustaining damage to their property, or of a patron getting hurt, has stonewalled any chance for the scene to transition from booking basement shows to booking established venues. 

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

These concerns are faced by music scenes everywhere. Even areas like Richmond and in cities like New York and Washington, D.C., local booking agents will share similar experiences. What separates the larger cities from areas like Roanoke and even smaller regions is their lack of venues — where Richmond has a substantial amount of places to host shows, the Roanoke scene has been limited with only a handful of venues for live music. Misunderstandings about hardcore ethics and the DIY mentality, alongside a general lack of faith in the music’s ability to bring in new business, has made it increasingly difficult for the scene to grow and expand heavy music in the region. But despite the hardships we collectively endured (and the grim realities we’ve had to face), many hardcore and metal scenes in Appalachia are beginning to thrive once more. 

Shows are happening consistently, new venues are becoming household names, and a genuine sense of scene unity is emerging. Nick Gekoskie, show promoter and guitarist for Brick, spoke with me about the rise of the Golden Pony in Harrisonburg. 

“It’s a wonderful place that serves as the music hub for our community,” Gekoskie said. “Paul Somers, the owner and operator of the Pony, is fully invested in the scene. He’s able to bring quality acts of all genres.” 

In 2019 alone, Eyehategod, Red Death, Ilsa, Murphy’s Law, and H.R. of Bad Brains came through Harrisonburg and drew huge crowds — and this isn’t the first time Harrisonburg has brought legendary acts to the Shenandoah Valley. Bane, Poison The Well, Converge, Fugazi, and The Bouncing Souls have played MACROCK, an annual festival hosted in downtown Harrisonburg that showcases regional and national DIY acts. 

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

Meanwhile, Roanoke’s hardcore scene is still recovering from its near-death experience after losing the longest running DIY venue in its history, The Shanty. As the birthplace of many local bands, and the only safe space for hardcore/punk shows, The Shanty’s impact on Roanoke’s metal scene over the years is incalculable. To see hardcore bands like Bracewar, Naysayer, Angel Dust, Forced Order, Discourse, Jesus Piece, Break Away, or Modern Pain play in a venue the size of a small carport is mindblowing to those of us who have experienced it. And although many Roanokers are still grieving the loss of this acclaimed institution, the community has survived and adapted in a world without The Shanty. Since the beginning of 2018, the heavy music scene in Roanoke has seen a whirlwind of changes. 

A younger generation has started forming bands — like Gravity Kong, Choose to Suffer, and Reality Strikes — and the old heads have formed newer projects showcasing their perfected skillset, like Nailcrown and Dread State. 

They’ve started forming working relationships with venues in downtown Roanoke like The Spot On Kirk and VFW Hall 1264, and have hosted shows with bands like One Step Closer, Year Of The Knife, Facewreck, Stepping Stone, Outsider, and Drain. 

Bailey Stiltz (of Choose to Suffer, Outsider, and Reality Strikes), Josh Sison, and myself have taken the lead on booking shows. Show attendance numbers may not have returned to their former peak, but the metal scene in Roanoke is on a steady rise. 

“The scene has definitely receded a bit, but I see it growing slowly,” said Sison. “Even with attendance at shows being lower than what we’re used to, the kids that do show up put on for every band on the bill. There’s never a dull moment during a Roanoke show, and I think that’s partially the reason why bands continue coming back.” 

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

Roughly ten years ago, I was beginning my assimilation into the hardcore/punk subculture. One person in particular spoke words that struck a chord in me during those formative years, and his name is Aaron Bedard. Bedard is the vocalist for Bane and Antagonize, and in Bane’s song “Superhero,” he talks about the ability inside everyone to make a difference. We’re able to better our own lives, and as Bedard vocalized, “the difference between hard and impossible is a thousand miles wide.” 

For those of us who are still actively engaged in the hardcore and metal scenes in Appalachia, the community can attest to the validity of his statement. From an outsider’s perspective, maintaining a heavy music scene in the region may seem like an impossible task — but to myself and those I work with to do it, the preservation of our scene is a worthwhile pursuit. 

What has been done in the past can be replicated and improved upon; the evidence is right here in front of us. Despite our lack of resources, networking challenges, and limited visibility, this region continues to find ways to keep our scene alive. Hardcore in Appalachia, and throughout the rest of the world, will survive as it always has: through struggle, persistence, and dedication. We will keep passing the torch, the flame will burn eternal. 

Check out Jack’s favorite bands from the area, who are all members of the Appalachian scene or have strong ties to its community. Support local music!

Step Off
The Mirror
Unnerve
Dread State
Grudgeholders
Compulse
BRICK
Reality Check
True Worth
Dbol
Gravity Kong
Force
Wiretap
L.I.P.S.
Clot

Bracewar, Division Of Mind, Combust, Mutually Assured Destruction, Guardrails @ The Camel

Justin Mcclung | February 19, 2020

Topics: Bracewar, Combust, Division Of Mind, Mutually Assured Destruction, RVA

There’s a lot going on in the Richmond music scene these days, within all sorts of different genres. And that’s wonderful! But if you want to talk about the styles of music that have a fertile, longstanding tradition in this town, you probably can’t do better than bringing up the Richmond hardcore scene. Going back to the dawn of the 80s and extending all the way to today, Richmond has been a town in which hardcore thrives, and this show at The Camel on Thursday night is the proof that this continues to be true in 2020.

At the top of the bill is Bracewar, one of those Richmond hardcore elder-statesman bands who moved into “plays a few shows a year but is otherwise inactive” mode at least seven years ago, but did thrill us all by releasing their first new material in almost a decade in the form of 2018 EP Colossal. They’ve maintained a slightly higher profile since then, but a Richmond Bracewar show is still a relative rarity, and if you delight in their signature brand of powerful breakdowns peppered with moments of high-speed thrashing, you’ll certainly want to catch this one.

Beyond Bracewar, this bill mostly focuses on current all-stars of Richmond’s straightforward hardcore scene, most predominantly Division Of Mind. This group’s recent self-titled LP on Triple B Records demonstrates that, while they are very skilled at the mosh, they have quite a bit more going on, and are worth your time and attention even if you don’t still find diving into an energetic pit to be the best way to spend a band’s set. Combust are actually from New York, but released a 12-inch EP on RVA’s own Edgewood Records last year, and will bring an energetic and welcome NYHC attack to the Camel’s stage. Plus, there’s Mutually Assured Destruction, who are taking heavy hardcore in an adventurous direction that doubtless owes a bit to Life Of Agony and Twitching Tongues, and the first show ever from Guardrails, who will kick this one off with a ton of pissed-off energy. Carry on the tradition, Richmond — be at this show.

BUY TICKETS

VA Shows You Must See This Week: February 19 – February 25

Marilyn Drew Necci | February 19, 2020

Topics: Afib, Alfred, Altria Theater, Balu, Berries, Bracewar, Brain Tourniquet, Breakup Shoes, Cadillac Cat, Cassius Kay, CEO, Civonnee, Combust, Daniel Case, Dashdown, Dee16Hunna, Delow, Division Of Mind, Don Chase, Elevation27, Enforced, events in richmond va, events near me this weekend, events richmond va, Excitable Boys, Fuzzy Cactus, gallery 5, GARZA, Gemi Jhay, Guardrails, Halfcast, Hive Collective, Jouwala Collective, Kaywan, Ley Cash, Lifters, Linden Row, Louderhead, Lowlifeball, Lxrd Sleeza, Madison Turner, Mia Money, Moochiee, music, must see shows, Mutually Assured Destruction, Neat Sweep, Okey Dokey, Pyrex Pedro, Qash, Rascal Grimez, Rasul, richmond events, richmond va, richmond va bands, RVA, Serqet, shows this week richmond, shows you must see, Skyy With 2 Y's, Summer Salt, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Dolphins, things to do in richmond va, things to do richmond va, Tommy Stinson, Tyrone Leake Jr, Weird Tears, Yamato Drummers, Young Apollo

FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, February 20, 7 PM
Bracewar, Division Of Mind, Combust, Mutually Assured Destruction, Guardrails @ The Camel – $15

There’s a lot going on in the Richmond music scene these days, within all sorts of different genres. And that’s wonderful! But if you want to talk about the styles of music that have a fertile, longstanding tradition in this town, you probably can’t do better than bringing up the Richmond hardcore scene. Going back to the dawn of the 80s and extending all the way to today, Richmond has been a town in which hardcore thrives, and this show at The Camel on Thursday night is the proof that this continues to be true in 2020.

At the top of the bill is Bracewar, one of those Richmond hardcore elder-statesman bands who moved into “plays a few shows a year but is otherwise inactive” mode at least seven years ago, but did thrill us all by releasing their first new material in almost a decade in the form of 2018 EP Colossal. They’ve maintained a slightly higher profile since then, but a Richmond Bracewar show is still a relative rarity, and if you delight in their signature brand of powerful breakdowns peppered with moments of high-speed thrashing, you’ll certainly want to catch this one.

Beyond Bracewar, this bill mostly focuses on current all-stars of Richmond’s straightforward hardcore scene, most predominantly Division Of Mind. This group’s recent self-titled LP on Triple B Records demonstrates that, while they are very skilled at the mosh, they have quite a bit more going on, and are worth your time and attention even if you don’t still find diving into an energetic pit to be the best way to spend a band’s set. Combust are actually from New York, but released a 12-inch EP on RVA’s own Edgewood Records last year, and will bring an energetic and welcome NYHC attack to the Camel’s stage. Plus, there’s Mutually Assured Destruction, who are taking heavy hardcore in an adventurous direction that doubtless owes a bit to Life Of Agony and Twitching Tongues, and the first show ever from Guardrails, who will kick this one off with a ton of pissed-off energy. Carry on the tradition, Richmond — be at this show.

Wednesday, February 19, 9 PM
Lifters, Weird Tears, Neat Sweep @ Fuzzy Cactus – $6

Punk rock has been enshrined in pop culture as music with something important to say, and I think that’s great, but one thing punk rock has always had room for, one that gets de-emphasized when we focus on The Clash and forget about the Ramones, is pure no-frills rock n’ roll melody. Durham’s Lifters might not qualify for punk rock if you’re expecting some sort of sophisticated political critique to emerge from their catchy tunes, but if you’re conversant with the genre’s history, the connection is undeniable. And that’s as it should be.

Tonight, if you’re looking for some catchy, fun tunes, played with plenty of energy but not that much polish, and reminding you of great groups like Radioactivity, Teengenerate, or the aforementioned Ramones, you’re going to want to point your feet toward Brookland Park’s own Fuzzy Cactus. There, Lifters and local melodic punk stalwarts Weird Tears and Neat Sweep are going to sweep you off your feet and get you caught up in the toe-tapping joys of punk rock. It all happens tonight; plan your evening accordingly.

Thursday, February 20, 9 PM
Excitable Boys, Daniel Case, The Dolphins @
Fuzzy Cactus – $7
It’s always interesting when you know enough about a band to care what they have to offer, but have no idea what they actually sound like. Such is the case with Excitable Boys, a band seemingly named for Warren Zevon’s most famous album, and made up of three different musicians one usually wouldn’t expect to see grouped together. In this case, those musicians include country-folk singer-songwriter Benjamin Shepherd, former Southside Stranglers guitarist Kevin Guild, and Irish-by-way-of-New-York indie-folk artist Cal Folger Day — who isn’t even a boy, putting a lie to the bandname in a far more entertaining fashion than the millions of all-male “girls” bands.

Anyway, that’s certainly an intriguing trio to bring together in one musical combo… but what exactly do you get when you mix an Irish indie-folk troubadour, a punk rock guitarist, and an Americana singer-songwriter? There’s only one way I know of to find out, and that’s to show up at Fuzzy Cactus this Thursday night and see what happens when the three of them take the stage together. It’s sure to be interesting; perhaps even, dare I say… exciting! (Sorry, y’all, but I couldn’t resist.)

Friday, February 21, 7:30 PM
Yamato Drummers present: Jhonetsu — Passion @ Altria Theater – $35 – $43 (order tickets HERE)

It’s not often that an opportunity for something truly unusual comes across our desk here at RVA Must-See Shows headquarters, so when something like this shows up in the local live music environment, we’ve got to make the most of it. Therefore, I encourage you to suck it up, deal with the higher-than-average ticket prices that accompany any night spent at the Altria, and go see Wadaiko Yamato, aka Yamato Drummers, this Friday night.

This group hails from Nara, Japan, a city once known as Yamato, and plays the sort of ensemble drumming native to Japan that’s known in the West as taiko. Wadaiko Yamato are a group made up of around a dozen different drummers, who explore the possibilities of percussion through polyrhythmic dynamics and highly choreographed theatrical dance performances. If you recognize the deep, transformative power of the beat that lies at the heart of music, you’re sure to be captivated and energized by what Wadaiko Yamato bring to the stage. It’s not the kind of thing you’ll see every weekend, either — that’s for sure. Make seeing this one a priority.

Saturday, February 22, 7 PM
Enforced, Alfred, Louderhead, Brain Tourniquet, Serqet @ Gallery 5 – $10

The war on drugs has been a highly damaging initiative of the US government over the past half-century or so. While it has failed to make a significant dent in the use and trafficking of mind-altering substances, it has allowed for a massive increase in the percentage of the US population that is incarcerated, a phenomenon that’s had a disproportionate effect on African Americans and low-income, marginalized folks across the country. This is why it’s heartening to see the first tentative steps being made here in Virginia to move beyond carceral methods of dealing with drug use and trafficking and toward decriminalization and harm reduction initiatives that grass-roots activist groups have been pushing for years.

This Saturday’s event at Gallery 5 will offer you the opportunity to both support these efforts and become part of them yourself… as well as hearing some great music, of course. The evening will begin with a free naloxone training session, then move on to music from Richmond leading lights like dark metallic hardcore ragers Enforced and psychedelic hip hop lyricist Alfred. There’ll also be a performance from Louderhead, who I am guessing is a Motorhead tribute band (always fun). And of course, DC power-violence freaks Brain Tourniquet and local goth-punk heroes Serqet will be in the house as well. The music will be great, the cause is just as great… get involved in this one.

Sunday, February 23, 9 PM
Catfest 4, feat. Cadillac Cat, Young Apollo, Gemi Jhay, Ley Cash, Pyrex Pedro, Civonnee, Balu, Delow, Cassius Kay, Qash, Skyy With 2 Y’s, Lowlifeball, Rasul, Don Chase, Ceo, Dee16Hunna, Mia Money, Lxrd Sleeza, Kaywan, Rascal Grimez, Tyrone Leake Jr., Moochiee @
The Camel – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s hard to keep up with the Richmond hip hop scene, and that’s not just because there’s a ton going on in this city. It’s also because hip hop is one music scene that doesn’t seem to have much use for the non-social-media internet, so information is at a premium, and google searches can only do so much. That said, I have been hearing the name Cadillac Cat for a while, so the fact that this jam-packed Sunday evening at The Camel is his fourth annual Catfest isn’t that much of a surprise.

If you also know the name Cadillac Cat, it’s probably because he’s produced a variety of material for Noah-O, including their 2017 full-length collab, Face/Off. These days, he’s working on a project called God Status, and if the video for first track “Free Shine” is any indication, this is going to be a hard-as-fuck street-level attack full of pounding beats and braggadocious flows. Expect something similar from his headlining set at this event. As for the 20-plus other artists performing, expect a crash course in an entire segment of the mid-Atlantic hip hop scene, one that’s sure to teach you a whole lot of shit you can’t learn from the internet.

Monday, February 24, 8 PM
Halfcast, Linden Row, Afib, Madison Turner @
The Camel – Free!
These free “Industry Night” shows the Camel has been throwing lately are intended to give all the people who work difficult shifts in the world of food service every weekend an opportunity to celebrate the end of their week’s busiest time. However, they also help out the Richmond live music preview industrial complex, an industry that I’m pretty sure consists entirely of me. So I’m really glad these exist, as they are sometimes the only thing remotely worth paying attention to on a Monday night — and that’s definitely true this week.

This week’s event offers a pretty strong local lineup, especially for a show that will cost you zero dollars to attend. That lineup is topped by Halfcast, a local trio who mix a chops-conscious metallic approach with alt-rock sensibilities to create crunchy melodic gold. Then there’s Linden Row, an alt-rock combo with plenty of energy and the same sort of mischievous surf-punk feel that shines through prime Pixies material; their set is sure to be a blast. I haven’t heard Afib, but they feature Truman drummer Dylan Anderson stepping out from behind the kit to pick up a guitar and play some indie/emo tunes, and that’s certainly an intriguing concept to me. And of course, Madison Turner, who’ll be playing her alt-punk-indie-folk tunes accompanied by a full band at this gig, is always worth seeing. So show up on time and catch it all. The price is more than fair.

Tuesday, February 25, 7 PM
GARZA, Jouwala Collective @ The Broadberry – $20 in advance/$25 day of show (order tickets HERE)

Do you like to dance? If you do and you’ve spent any time at all in the state of Virginia, you’re sure to be familiar with the work of Rob Garza, better known as one half of the legendary DC duo Thievery Corporation. Thievery Corporation has been active for over two decades and show no signs of slowing down; indeed, they recently announced a new LP coming in the spring. However, Garza’s creative mind is always restless, and so he has brought us GARZA, a project initially born from his desire to write music for other people.

In the end, he couldn’t bear to give the music he’d come up with away, and it was released late last year on an EP entitled Where The Moon Hides, which finds Garza collaborating with vocalists Seann Bowe and EMELINE to create some lovely, immersive electronic melodies that increase the pop quotient of Garza’s Thievery Corporation work without losing that pulse that always keeps your feet moving. GARZA will utilize a whole ensemble of singers and live instruments to wonderfully recreate these tunes in a live setting at the Broadberry this Tuesday night. Be sure to wear your dancing shoes for this one.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Thursday, February 20, 7 PM
Summer Salt, Okey Dokey, Breakup Shoes, Berries @ Elevation27 (Virginia Beach) – $17 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)

Groundhog or no groundhog, the fact remains that summer is far away at the moment. Therefore, it’s an especially welcome breath of fresh air that brings Summer Salt to Virginia Beach’s Elevation27 this Thursday night. This Austin Texas group mixes the sweet beach pop of Brian Wilson and the Brazilian bossa nova of artists like Gilberto Gil and Joao Gilberto into a base that is fundamentally indie-pop in nature. The result is the sort of lovely sound that’s sure to please fans of both Paul Simon’s Graceland and Animal Collective’s Feels.

In other words, it’s the perfect late-week listen for a Virginia locked in the late-winter doldrums. And it’s sure to bring a smile to your face even if you do have to don your heavy coat to walk from the club back to the car at the end of the night. The evening will also feature performances from catchy psychedelic indie group Okey Dokey, who hail from Nashville, and some electro-pop sounds from Arizona’s Breakup Shoes. Plus, VA Beach’s own Berries will kick off the evening with some charming indie-pop of their own. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Sunday, February 23, 7 PM
Tommy Stinson, Dashdown @ Hive Collective (Norfolk) – $25 – $100 (order tickets HERE)

Wrap up your weekend by spending an intimate evening in the company of Tommy Stinson and his acoustic guitar at Norfolk art gallery the Hive Collective. If you’re not familiar with Tommy Stinson by name, his time as bass player in The Replacements, Guns N’ Roses, and Soul Asylum should certainly let you know why he matters. But what really makes it a good idea for you to go see the man perform solo is the strength of his material as singer and songwriter, both under his own name and as the frontman for Bash And Pop.

That quartet, which released one excellent LP called Friday Night Is Killing Me in the wake of The Replacements’ early-90s breakup, then went their separate ways, got back together a few years ago for a long-awaited, much-belated follow-up called Anything Could Happen, which proved that they still had the spark that made their earlier work so wonderful. Stinson’s relatively recent solo LP, 2011’s One Man Mutiny, was just as great and heartfelt, and you can expect to see the sort of sloppy, sincere talent that’s always been the hallmark of his work on display at this intimate performance, so I highly recommend you get there.

—-

Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected]

Top Photo by Gabe Becerra/Twitter

No Lies, Just Bullshit: Homegrown in Harrisonburg with Virginia’s Underground Podcast

Caley Sturgill | November 8, 2019

Topics: Absolute Art, alley cat tattoo, Appalachia, avail, blue ridge, blues brothers, Bracewar, brian bruno, brie swartz, brother hawk, clifton forge, Harrisonburg, hori yoshi iii, jill bonny, kings avenue tattoo, marius meyer, mary jane, music, nick swartz, no lies just bs, old heavy hands, podcast, podcasts, politics, rural virginia, scott biram, scott sterling, Shenandoah Valley, Southwest virginia, strange matter, tattoo, tattoo artists, tattoos, tim barry, timothy hoyer

From announcing the Avail reunion shows in Richmond to interviewing tattoo artists, musicians, and hometown folks, No Lies Just BS Podcast host Nick Swartz opens a personal window into Virginian life from his Harrisonburg shop, Alley Cat Tattoo. 

“I don’t really do things in the conventional way.”

When he first started the No Lies Just BS podcast, host and owner of Harrisonburg’s Alley Cat Tattoo Nick Swartz had a lifetime of stories waiting to be told.

From humble beginnings in Clifton Forge to being kidnapped with his brother at eight years old, Swartz could have easily captured an audience with the tales of his own upbringing — but his stories weren’t the only ones Swartz wanted to tell.

“Not everyone is a great storyteller, but everyone has a story to tell,” Swartz said. “I’ve talked to people from all over the place… I’ve got a ton of stories that I haven’t told yet on the show, but I like to sprinkle them in when my memory is sparked by someone else.”

The podcast, which started three years ago this October, is a storytelling podcast with a focus on the tattoo community. From interviewing world-renowned tattoo artists to hometown folks from rural regions of Virginia, to hosting the original Avail reunion show announcement in its Tim Barry episode — which quickly ignited fans from Richmond and across the nation — Swartz made a point to highlight voices from all walks of life.

“The podcast has kind of grown on its own. And it’s weird, because I get recognized in Richmond a lot more than anywhere else — but I also have people look at the podcast and go, ‘What’s that?’ more than anywhere else.”

Swartz has come to know many of his friends and podcast guests through owning Alley Cat Tattoo. Since No Lies Just BS started, he’s sat down with tattoo artists like Richmond’s Brian Bruno at Absolute Art, Mike Rubendall of Kings Avenue Tattoo in New York City (according to Swartz, one of the most high-profile shops in the world), Jill Bonny of San Francisco’s Studio Kazoku, Virginia’s Scott Sterling, Timothy Hoyer, and more. He’s also hosted musicians like Scott H. Biram, Old Heavy Hands, and Ryan Braces of Bracewar.

“I was trying to tell these stories out about growing up in the mountains and having this crazy life,” Swartz said. “My brother and I got kidnapped when I was eight and he was eleven. We were left in an empty condominium in Florida for a month. We were around rednecks, bikers, and scumbags, drugs and crazy shit. I was telling these stories [as I started the podcast], but I was sort of directing them toward a tattoo audience, because that’s where I was known.”

An especially-beloved voice for Swartz is that of Mary Jane, a local artist in her 70’s who made her way into his shop seeking her first tattoo. Mary Jane had just seen the latest season of Stranger Things, and noticed the character with a fishbone tattoo on her ear. Sick of wearing earrings, Mary Jane decided to get her first tattoo on her earlobes.

“I hear her setting an appointment, and she has an incredible Southern accent from the far South. And I love accents — it’s something I’ve always been drawn to,” Swartz said. “I said to her, ‘Do you know what a podcast is?’ And she said, ‘Yes, of course. What am I, an idiot?’ I asked if she’d like to be on my podcast, and Mary Jane said, ‘Well, my friends will probably think I’m crazy for spending the day with some weirdo like you, but I’ll do it [laughs].’”

Mary Jane (Episode 98) went on to tell a remarkable tale of growing up in Alabama and living through segregation. Born in Tuscaloosa — at the time, the national headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan — she lived in the Deep South until 1969 before moving to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Her family included a black woman, Johnnie Mae Jones, who was her daddy’s best friend and worked as their live-in nanny for 50 years. In high school, Mary Jane and her friends used to get drunk and sneak into Klan rallies.

“She said, ‘I remember going to these meetings as a little girl,’ and I thought ‘Oh my god, she’s gonna be racist, I’m gonna have to throw her out of here.’ Then she went, ‘The only thing I knew about these guys was they wore white… things… over their heads, and that they were white trash. You knew they were the lowest of the low,’ and I said, ‘Oh, thank God.’ I’ve had the gnarliest tattooers from all over the world reach out to me and say she’s their favorite episode — now, she has two full sleeves of tattoos and two half sleeves on her legs. And she’s part of our family, she comes to cookouts at my house.”

Stories like Mary Jane’s aren’t uncommon to No Lies Just BS. Swartz has hosted guests from tattooers to musicians and hometown locals — all telling their own little pieces of life with a laid-back, and usually comedic, flare.

“Anytime you have the opportunity to be friends with someone, it improves upon your life,” Swartz said of Mary Jane. “We’ve become the best of friends. She’s a special lady.”

As the owner of a tattoo shop nestled in the Shenandoah Valley between the Appalachian Mountains, Swartz has come to hear the wild and entertaining stories of his many customers, musicians, and tattoo artists in the industry.

“[Jill Bonny] came on, and told a story about visiting two Japanese tattoo masters in Japan, both of them in their 80’s. One of those gentlemen is Hori Yoshi III,” Swartz said. “He prepared a statement to be read on my show, which is mind-blowing. He’s been my favorite tattooer for years, and I never thought I would be in contact with him.”

Of the few people Swartz has pursued more than once to be on the show, Tim Barry was one of them. When he initially didn’t hear back, Swartz assumed it was because of his enthusiasm for Avail, a part of Barry’s life that was behind him. But out of the blue, he got a text from Barry that said, “I want to do the show, and I want to do it on this day.” 

“Avail is a big deal for me, they made a huge impact on me,” Swartz said. “I said I couldn’t do that day because I had someone flying in from LA to do the show and hang at the shop for a couple days, and he goes, ‘Well, it’s got to be this day. And if it can’t be this day, it can’t be at all.’ I was like, ‘fuck!’ [laughs], so I went to Richmond… And he said the real reason why you’re here is because Avail is playing in Richmond for the first time in 12 years.”

The episode quickly reached the music community in Richmond, sparking a wave of excitement for the reunion in Virginia and around the country. When he first announced the show dates on the podcast, Barry noted an episode of No Lies Just BS that hosted his bandmate, Beau Beau.

“Tim told me, ‘Listening to you talk to Beau on the podcast, and the way you described our shows, was inspiring, it made me feel good. Then I was opening for Hot Water Music in London, and they described the Avail shows the same way. I listened to Over The James again, and it sounded really good… so I decided to talk to the guys [about a reunion].’” Swartz said. “It was a face-melter for me. I didn’t know he was going to do that when I got to his house.”

At the beginning, No Lies Just BS got its name from the first Blues Brothers movie — Swartz’s favorite to date. His son’s name is Jake Elwood Blues Swartz, and the podcast’s name was no less intentional.

“It’s been a part of my life my whole life. After Jake gets out of prison, he asks, ‘When are we gonna practice?’ And Elwood tells him the band’s not together. Jake says, ‘You told me the band was still together, you lied to me!’ and Elwood says, ‘Ah, it’s not a lie, it’s just bullshit.’ My wife suggested the name for the podcast, and I agreed because I didn’t want to be the guy to discuss serious topics — there’s a place for those things, and I’m just not the guy to host that show.”

Swartz still tries to make a difference in the world, especially close to home. He just doesn’t like to make a big deal out of it.

“I’m the type of person that I believe as long as we take care of our own, and our own neighborhoods and communities, everything will be okay,” he said. “I do it here. Whenever it’s time to pack the bus for school, I go around and get everyone in the shop to pitch in for school supplies for kids in our area. It’s not a huge thing. But I feel it makes a difference here.”

As he became more involved in the culture over his 16 years owning Alley Cat Tattoo, Swartz came to meet many people with interesting backgrounds and stories he thought the world should hear. As No Lies Just BS grew its audience, he found that the most valuable piece of the podcast was its ability to share the jokes, tales, and personalities — the small, often overlooked facets of everyday life — that give a community its soul. Its underground and personal vibe makes listeners feel like they’re sitting in the room with their favorite artists and musicians.

“There’s this incredible tattooer out of Norway named Marius Meyer, and he was one of my early listeners,” Swartz said. “He said to me, ‘Nick, the draw for me is not the tattoo stuff, but it’s the window into Appalachian life from a country boy’s point of view. There’s no way I can get an authentic version of that where I live, unless I read a book that was written 50 years ago. It just doesn’t exist.”

The podcast offers its listeners a look into the region’s culture. With little other outlets aside from local news, No Lies Just BS creates a way to tell Virginia’s stories from a personal view that many news stories don’t convey.

“The thing that I enjoy is bringing stories to the table that people would not hear otherwise,” Swartz said. “My brother and I lived in a place where, if you needed to, you couldn’t holler for anybody. It was just our house in the woods. We cut wood to stay warm, we killed deer and caught trout to feed ourselves, and we had a giant garden. It’s a point of view that I can provide and share that’s just not often touched on.”

Swartz feels that there’s a difference between his own perspective on life in the back country of Virginia that isn’t captured by most who choose to write about it.

“Often those little articles and news stories [about life in the area] are written from an outside perspective that is spoken to someone that they pity,” he said. “I’m proud of where I’m from, I’m proud of who I am. And the things that I’ve experienced, good and bad, equipped me for life.”

Swartz is interested in everyday people, and with them, he’s heard everything from the complicated to the humorous and bizarre. A passionate chef, Swartz takes a personal investment in cooking — and after cooking with Old Heavy Hands, Brother Hawk, and the artists of Absolute Art among others, his cooking and connections through tattoo communities helped him become close friends with many people from the tattoo industry, including Bracewar’s Ryan Braces.

“Ryan’s been my buddy for many years, and he was booking a show at Strange Matter for Brother Hawk and Old Heavy Hands,” Swartz said. “He asked if I’d come down there and cook, so I went with a buddy of mine. It was a blast. I hit it off with those dudes, we drank whiskey and smoked, and I gave them a ton of food for them to take on the road. So at that point, we decided to link up, and Bracewar booked a show in Harrisonburg. He’s a solid guy all-around — those dudes are my close friends, and they mean the world to me. That’s my family.” 

Another favorite musician of his guests on No Lies Just BS, Scott H. Biram, originally made an impact on Swartz the first time he saw Biram play. That happened back in the 90s, when Biram opened for Hank Williams III in Washington, D.C. When Biram played a show in his town years later, Swartz reached out to a friend at the venue about getting him into the show.

“He told Scott, ‘I think you guys are very similar, and you’d get along just fine.’ So Scott avoided me at all costs,” Swartz laughed. “A year later he comes back, and his manager tells me the reason he avoided me is because he plays a persona on stage — from my friend, he thought I was just like his persona. And he didn’t want to associate with anybody like that. But I’ve been to his shows and bought him drinks so many times, I said that if he sees me, he’ll know me. I texted Scott a picture of me, and immediately got a text saying, ‘Aw hell, man, I didn’t know it was you!’”

When Biram came on the show, he played a version of “Mule Skinner Blues” in the office. The old-time bluegrass song has been a favorite of Swartz’s since he was about 10 years old.

“For a moment, I was like, ‘This is unreal. I can’t believe it, he’s sitting five feet from me playing a song that I’ve listened to my whole life.’ That really made a big impact on me. He’s a solid guy, it definitely kind of blew my mind — he was also one of the first people that had no reason to give me a chance. In tattooing, you might know who I am, but in the rest of the world, I’m just a dude.”

After more than 160 episodes, there are still plenty of guests Swartz hopes to host on No Lies Just BS in its future. From tattooers like Baltimore’s Uncle Pauly and New York’s Rose Hardy, originally from New Zealand, to honky-tonk musician Wayne Hancock from Texas, the list keeps growing as Swartz meets artists from different walks of life. Most importantly, he wants to hear their stories; especially more from ordinary folks like Mary Jane and his Uncle Benny.

For many of us, the words of a passing stranger in our day-to-day encounters are nothing more than white noise in the background of life’s routines. But for Swartz, something as simple as an accent overheard from another room can open the door to a lifetime of stories shared, new friendships, and the sense of community that connects us all as individuals. The simple things are, to him, things to be valued — and whether it’s small talk or a big moment with our artistic heroes, he’s able to use No Lies Just BS as a means to bring people together.

Catch up with Swartz at Alley Cat Tattoo in Harrisonburg, with his shop’s artists including Chris Porter, Andrew Conner, Trevor Smith, Richie Stutler, and Jake Hockman, as well as piercers Katie Davis and Sarah Pennington (who also performs in Richmond as a popular burlesque artist by the name of Sindi Ray Boustier).

Listen to No Lies Just BS on Spotify or their website, and check out Alley Cat Tattoo on their Instagram. 

VA Shows You Must See This Week: October 3 – October 9

Marilyn Drew Necci | October 3, 2018

Topics: Antagonize, Benjamin Shepherd, Bracewar, Carriage, Catalyst, Cold World, Culture Abuse, Dark Web, Day By Day, deviant, Division Of Mind, DJ Devolved, Downfall, gallery 5, Garden Grove Brewing, Gouge Away, Haircut, Human Services, Listless, Marbled Eye, Mindforce, Nemesis, Praise, Ragana, Rotem, Rotten Mangoes, Saw Black, Shaka's, Shark Attack, shows you must see, Slump, Smut, strange matter, Taphouse Grill, Tavishi, The Bronx, The Canal Club, The National, The Wedding Funeral, Thrice, True Body, Uglyography, Unk Al and the Amazingly Mediocre, Victim, White Denim

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, October 5, 6 PM
Bracewar, Cold World, Shark Attack, Day By Day, Victim, Division Of Mind, Mindforce, Downfall, Antagonize @ The Canal Club – $20 (order tickets HERE)
It might be a surprise for the uninitiated to hear this, but hardcore is basically dance music — and hardcore bands know it. So many of them have “Intro” songs they play when they first hit the stage, and big mosh breakdowns that they end their sets with, most of which are introduced by a singer screaming, “Last chance to dance!” I rest my case. Richmond’s Bracewar is one of those bands, and in fact, I’ve often heard other hardcore kids talk about how their “Intro” (from their 2007 Juggernaut LP) is their best or most popular song. It makes a weird sort of sense — for a typically fast-as-hell band, the intro offers a perfect chance to get the kids all fired up before launching into a million-miles-an-hour rager.

Bracewar were super active about a decade ago, but the members have gotten older, and they’ve focused less on the band in recent years, playing the occasional local show but mostly not doing much. However, it appears all that is changing — they’ve got a brand new EP, Colossal, coming out on Triple B Records this week. It’s only three songs, but it’s their first new material in a decade, so we can cut ’em some slack. What’s really interesting is that they’ve got a new intro song on this one, entitled “Introduction.” Will this far more metallic take on the set-starting dance call get the kids moving as much as the old intro did? On Friday at the Canal Club, you’ll probably have a chance to find out.

You’ll also get a chance to see a TON of other rad hardcore bands from the past two decades, giving you a great view on what’s been happening in the world of hardcore since the millennium turned. Well-respected veterans Cold World will be sharing headliner status with Bracewar and bringing their brutal riffs with a slight tinge of hip-hop flavor to keep the dancefloor moving. And of course we can’t forget about Shark Attack, the short-lived but legendary northeast hardcore band that blew everyone’s minds back in 2001 with two incredible EPs, then dipped out leaving everyone wanting more. Their discography LP finally came out this year, complete with some unreleased tracks, and now they’re coming to Richmond to knock everybody on their asses once again. There are quite a few other excellent bands on this bill, from current ragers like RVA’s own Division Of Mind and Florida’s Day By Day to reincarnated VA Beach warriors Victim and the brand-new project from legendary Bane frontman Aaron Bedard, Antagonize. Practice your moves, kids — you’ve got a lot of dancing to do.

Wednesday, October 3, 7 PM
Thrice, The Bronx @ The National – $24.50 in advance/$29.50 at the door (order tickets HERE)
It’s hard not to love Thrice. They’ve been around forever, and despite many sonic evolutions they’ve been through, they’ve consistently remained great. From the ridiculously metallic skate-punk of their earliest work to the progressive, emotionally-driven sound of their Alchemy Index tetralogy to the work they’ve released since their brief hiatus earlier in the decade, everything has been enjoyable in its own way, and on its own merits.

It’s still true, too — their recently-released tenth album, Palms, mixes a variety of different sounds from all eras of their work to create a moving and powerful example of a band carving their own path. I guess you could call it post-hardcore, but even that rather nebulous genre term falls woefully short of describing this band’s capabilities — capabilities they demonstrate every time they step onto a stage. Tonight at the National will be no exception, and the fact that they’ve got irreverent melodic punk rippers The Bronx (speaking of groups who’ve remained consistently great for multiple decades) on tour with them only sweetens the deal. Prepare yourself — this one’s gonna be an experience.

Thursday, October 4, 8 PM
Rotten Mangos, Benjamin Shepherd, Saw Black @ Strange Matter – $7
Psychedelic rock n’ roll is a style of music that’s been around for a long time, but when it’s done right, it still rules. And there’s nowhere they do it as right as they do in Austin, Texas. From the band that started it all, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, to current phenomena like Golden Dawn Arkestra, Austin is the place to go when you’re looking for wild, crazy psych to blow your mind.

Alternatively, you can let it come to you — and that’s what’s happening at Strange Matter Thursday night. Rotten Mangos, an all-star Austin psych crew featuring members of The Black Angels, former Richmonders The Diamond Center, and a whole lot more, will be rolling through with some pop-infused psych n’ roll that’ll open up your third eye and let the sun shine in. You’ll get a not entirely dissimilar experience from the local singer-songwriters opening up the show — Benjamin Shepherd brings a folky touch to his songs, but he’s not without some side trips into drug-fueled weirdness. Saw Black’s material is both more countrified and spacier; it’s not that predictable, especially on his excellent recent LP, Water Tower, but it’s always fun. This is a show to get your toes tapping even as your mind drifts through the astral plane. Who doesn’t love that?

Friday, October 5, 8 PM
Ragana, Haircut, Listless, Tavishi @ Strange Matter – $7
Things are getting spooky this Friday night at Strange Matter. Ragana is hitting town for the first time in several years, and this California group, only a two-piece, creates a powerful, all-encompassing ambience with their sound, one that’s sure to have a deep psychological effect on the denizens of Grace Street this weekend. The fact that Ragana’s most recent release is a split LP with New Orleans sludge-doom veterans Thou entitled Let Our Names Be Forgotten certainly gives you some idea of what to expect from their performance on Friday.

But it would be unfair to write Ragana off as just another doom metal band. They certainly have their share of loud, crushing moments that roll over you in slow motion like waves… or maybe a steamroller. But they also integrate quiet melodies and ominous atmosphere into their sound, significantly increasing the witchiness quotient of their music while also offering something more than the unremitting punishment dealt out by the typical doom band. For this reason, it makes sense that they’re sharing a bill with three Richmond bands who span a significant musical breadth. Listless’s crust/grind queercore, Tavishi’s harrowing electronic soundscapes, and Haircut’s angry punk noise all have elements in common with Ragana and each other, but every performer on this bill will offer their own unique take on the anguish that plagues us all as we walk through this difficult life.

Saturday, October 6, 7 PM
The Wedding Funeral @ Garden Grove Brewing & Winery – $?
This is a weird one, y’all. The Wedding Funeral is a project brought into the world by Darren Deicide and Ethel Lynn Oxide, a romantically-involved duo of musicians with widely divergent backgrounds. Deicide, an honest-to-god priest of the Church Of Satan, has been playing Robert Johnson-style acoustic blues for years now, while Oxide has a background in choral singing and the voice of an angel. The two of them have come together to create The Wedding Funeral, a sort of noir-folk project that uses rootsy blues-style instrumentation to jump all around the musical map, from pastoral British folk sounds to deep South blues to bizarre noise interludes.

At least, that’s how it seems from listening to the 30-second samples of their as-yet-unreleased debut album, You Are Cordially Disinvited, which they will be premiering for all comers at Garden Grove this Saturday night. Those samples are the entirety of the music they have available anywhere on the internet — their debut EP, Beneath The Floor Boards (Covered In Feces) (how’s that for a title), has been scrubbed from the World Wide Web in the interest of moving on to exciting new sounds, which is an understandable policy, if a frustrating one for a music journalist with a minimum of time on her hands. But I can tell you that you’ll learn a good bit more about what The Weddding Funeral have to offer if you make the trip down to Garden Grove, and in light of how unusual this band truly is, I definitely think it’s worth it.

Sunday, October 7, 8 PM
White Denim, Rotem @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This one’s gonna be a lot of fun. White Denim, another excellent Austin, Texas band, have been around for about a decade, and in that time, they’ve been traversing a similar trajectory to that of another deep-South rock n’ roll group, The Black Keys. Starting out with a primitive garage-rock stomp that came out sort of like a janglier White Stripes and moving over the past decade into a thicker, funkier take on post-garage rockin’ that is downright impossible to deny.

Discovering their 2016 LP, Stiff, when I heard multiple songs from it at Sheetz (those of you who’ve known me for a while know how stoked I am about the music they play at Sheetz and really about Sheetz in general — don’t @ me, Wawa nerds), I fell in love with their ability to write incredible tunes that made you wanna get up and dance wherever you were when you heard them, but also rocked hard and had real staying power. And the fact that this excellent band is finally, after a decade of touring existence, bringing their live show to the river city has got to be the best news I’ve heard all week. So take my advice: go to this show, and bring your dancing shoes. Don’t worry if you know nothing about this band — just be yourself, and try to have a good time. You’re sure to succeed.

Monday, October 8, 7 PM
Culture Abuse, Gouge Away, Praise, Deviant, DJ Devolved @ Gallery 5 – $13 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
A double-shot of punk rock awesomeness from two of the best bands on the scene today, both of which just put out new LPs that took their already-outstanding sound to an even higher level? Yeah, this one definitely falls into the category of a no-brainer. Both of these bands have a ton of cachet in the hardcore punk world, and for that reason you might expect their music to be on the harsher end of things — but if you like catchy melodies and strong, memorable choruses, you’re in for a pleasant surprise, because both of these bands have a ton of songcraft skills and melodic dexterity to wow you with.

Californians Culture Abuse split the difference between driving punk-damaged power-pop groups like Neon Piss and straight-up goodtime rockers like The Strokes, and on their brand new Bay Dream LP, this approach yields a bumper crop of toe-tappers that are guaranteed to make you smile. Gouge Away are a bit more fired up; on their just-released Burnt Sugar LP, their harsh vocals and driving riffs land somewhere between melodic hardcore a la White Lung and post-hardcore noise-rock along the lines of Circus Lupus or early Rye Coalition (everyone who even got those references knows I’m over 40 now). As if this bill wasn’t stacked enough, Baltimore melodic, emotional hardcore group Praise are also here to get you fired up, and transgressive up-and-coming local hardcore crew Deviant get things started in fine fashion. Get stoked for this one.

Tuesday, October 9, 8 PM
Marbled Eye, Dark Web, Slump, True Body, Smut @ Strange Matter – $8 (order tickets HERE)
There’s no particular reason why the genre descriptor “postpunk” needs to mean anything in particular, beyond the fact that a band has taken formative influence from punk rock and brought it with them to a sound beyond that genre’s borders. But let’s be real — when I say that Marbled Eye is postpunk, you know what I mean. You expect the moody vibe, the wiry undistorted guitars, the melodic basslines and deadpan vocals. And you get all of that here. No doubt about it.

But it only takes one listen to Marbled Eye’s debut LP, Leisure, which just came out this week, to realize that this band has a fresh take on this style, one that takes them far beyond the Joy Division clones and Chameleons riff-stealers who’ve been part of the underground musical landscape for quite a while now. Remember how cool that postpunk style sounded over a decade ago, back when no one was really doing it? Marbled Eye still sound that cool. And if that isn’t proof of their standout talent, I don’t know what is. Fellow out-of-towners Dark Web and Smut, along with local mainstays Slump and True Body, provide excellent support to make this bill a top-quality musical evening from beginning to end.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, October 5, 8 PM
Carriage, Nemesis, Catalyst @ Shaka’s – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s tough to try to talk to people about 80s metal who weren’t there for that whole era, because they figure you’re talking about one of two things — either Slayer-style thrash (which, don’t get me wrong, rules) or teased-hair glam metal in the style of Poison and Motley Crue (which, don’t get me wrong, also rules — haters to the left). But there was a whole other wave of heavy, powerful underground metal from that time that people today don’t even think about, and it’s that sound that Carriage evokes today.

Their new LP, Visions, is full of the kinds of flourishes that the kids used to call “power metal,” from the kind of  high-pitched yowls that Mercyful Fate’s King Diamond made de rigeur for a while there to the epic progressive riffs that bands like Candlemass took from prog-rock giants like Rush and King Crimson. Carriage has all of this going on and more, and their sound is genetically engineered to get you banging your head. This release party for their Visions LP should be full of more denim jackets and flying hair than you can shake an air guitar at, and if you have any love at all for the days of high-flying, triumphant metal, you’re gonna want to get in the mix at Shaka’s Friday night.

Saturday, October 6, 9 PM
Uglyography, Human Services, Unk Al @ Taphouse Grill – $5
The fact that Richmond has long been a hub for the musically unique and downright bizarre should never blind us to the fact that crazy stuff comes out of the Tidewater area on a regular basis as well. This show is a great example of that exact fact, and it all starts with Hamptonites Uglyography, who have been wielding their goofy, uncategorizable sound for over a decade now. They themselves call it “quirkadelic rock,” and if you imagine an alternate universe where Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention, Devo, They Might Be Giants, and 90s noise-rockers Alice Donut were all the same band, you’ve sorta got a general idea of what they’re up to.

But the reality is certainly going to be even crazier than you expect — Uglyography demonstrates just this fact on recent LP Evil Rays, which features ridiculously catchy tunes like “Neighborhood Watch” and “We Want You To Click Play,” then amidst all of the mania delivers a heartfelt ballad like “Imperfect For You.” They’re a group that must be seen to be believed, which is exactly why the Taphouse Grill is an eminently worthwhile destination for all you musical explorers of the new and unusual this Saturday night. They’ll be joined by the heavier but just-as-bizarre Human Services, who also hail from the Hampton area. Plus there will be an opening set from Unk Al, aka The Real Unk Al, aka Unk Al and the Amazingly Mediocre, a strange yet enjoyable bluegrass troupe that hails from Chesapeake. Open your mind and dive in.

—-

Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA BBB showcase: Bracewar, Division of Mind, Ecostrike at Canal Club

Joe Vanderhoff | May 30, 2018

Topics: Bracewar, canal club, Division Of Mind, Ecostrike, Magnitude, Nosebleed, rva bbb showcase

6/2/18
6pm $12
The Canal Club

Triple B Records RVA Showcase:

Bracewar
Division of Mind
Ecostrike
Nosebleed
Magnitude

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