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Richmond’s Big Heart Collective Shows Heart With Their Charity Live Album

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An off-the-cuff pre-pandemic live recording from Big Heart Collective, a fun side project featuring some of Richmond’s most talented rockers, has become a fundraiser and statement in support of Black lives.

For the better part of 2020, musicians around the world have been in a forced state of hibernation. Most are unable to go play shows, and many have zero access to a studio. However, 2020 has also been a time of political chaos, and the resulting spark of inspiration from these issues has motivated many artists to release whatever content they can in spite of the quarantine.

Big Heart Collective is one of these bands, and while their recently-released live album — An Evening at Cary St. Cafe — was recorded before the George Floyd protests, it’s release was still inspired by the historic event.

“It was something where I wanted to help out in whatever facet I can,” said BHC founding member Raphaël Katchinoff. “And the only way I could think of was to put a record out and then use that money to donate to causes that were worthwhile.”

The album itself is admittedly nothing too elaborate. For the most part, Big Heart Collective is a side project for all of its members. Katchinoff (Drums), Andrew Carper (Bass), Nick Michon (Guitar), Andrew Sisk (Percussion), Andrew Rapisarda (Guitar), and Tommy Booker (Keys) all play and record with other bands, including Palm Palm, The Southern Belles, The Deli Kings, and many more.

Recording this live album was not even the last music-related activity many of them did before quarantine. Katchinoff was on tour when the pandemic hit, with a band that was supposed to play South by Southwest. Unfortunately, their performance was cancelled.

Raphael Katchinoff and Andrew Carper of Big Heart Collective performing at Cary St. Cafe. Photo by Ashley Travis.

Members of the Big Heart Collective did not even originally plan on recording their set at Cary St. Cafe that night. However, their opening act, Ben Butterworth, has a habit of recording many of his live performances. That night in February, once he’d recorded his own set, he continued recording, and captured BHC’s performance as well.   

Big Heart Collective has had a steady gig at Cary St. Cafe since their origins. Katchinoff founded the group in 2017 as a way to get back into professional music after a long break from the art. The band’s first gig came on Thanksgiving night; Katchinoff assembled a lineup at the last minute. After that, Big Heart Collective became a monthly presence at Cary St. Cafe throughout 2018 and 2019.

Unfortunately, the band’s monthly live shows at the cafe have been completely postponed until the end of COVID quarantine. For now, all of BHC that is available to the public is their album.

But that’s okay, because An Evening At Cary St. Cafe‘s status as a live album by a side project makes it perfect for a charity event. It is a way to put out music during an artistic lull without straining the listener’s pocket, while simultaneously making a positive impact on the world.

Raphael Katchinoff, Nicky Michon, Andrew Sisk, and Nate Cowing of Big Heart Collective work it out at Cary St. Cafe. Photo by Ashley Travis.

“I was on the ropes about putting it out, because it’s not that great quality and it’s not our own songs,” said Katchinoff. “I would never put something out that has covers and then take money from that… The only thing I could think, to feel like it was worth putting out, was to see if I could use any funds people donated to go to organizations that I thought would stand up for the direction of what should be right in this country.”

Like many projects available for streaming on Bandcamp, BHC’s album is technically free to listen. However people may choose to donate as much as they want on the album page. 100 percent of the proceeds for the donations will go to the NAACP and Southern Poverty Law Center, two organizations that work against bigotry and fight for the rights of marginalized groups, particularly African Americans.

Top Photo: Big Heart Collective (Raphaël Katchinoff, Andrew Carper, Nicky Michon, Corey Wells, and Tommy Booker). Photo by Ashley Travis.

Nothing Left To Do But Smile

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RVA Mag wanted to find out how local venues are surviving during the ongoing pandemic. In the third of a multi-part series of articles, we hear from Cary Street Cafe, where owner Robyn Chandler tries to stay positive even as they remain closed for going on five months.

Cary Street Cafe is one of the city’s oldest continuous venues, having been a Richmond institution of live music since it was established in 1986. It has been owned by Robyn Chandler since 1995 and has been the central hub in RVA for local jam bands, Grateful Dead tributes, and an eclectic mix of other genres ever since.

Prior to the pandemic, Cary Street Cafe hosted live music seven days a week, and has a reputation around town for its Tuesday night open mic, which is often packed wall to wall and almost always runs into the wee hours of the morning. Cary Street has been a home away from home for many musicians, offering monthly residencies to some of Richmond’s hardest working bands. It is a small, intimate room that is one quarter stage, one quarter outdoor patio and two quarters bar. Any night of the week before the quarantine, you could rest assured, it was going down at Cary Street Cafe. Now, though, it sits as an empty husk of what it was just five months ago. The bar, kitchen, and stage have all been closed since mid-March.

When asked how they are surviving this pandemic, Chandler responded with levity. “I would say we’re not surviving; we closed down on March 15th, and haven’t opened back up.” She explained that some specific aspects of the space have left them unable to continue business in the way other venues and bars in Richmond have.

“Our size is so small and intimate — and then you add a band in the mix. It would be extremely difficult to make that happen,” she said. “Not to mention, it would be asking a lot of the employees to risk their health and open back up.”

Photo via Cary St Cafe/Facebook

Chandler is supportive of other venues in the city that have found ways to keep going by serving food and drinks, but she is skeptical of placing profit over the health and safety of the community. “I know some of the bigger places are doing live music, and I’m happy they are able to, but I can’t say I agree with anyone being inside right now for any reason,” she said. “I’m one of those people taking this very seriously. I also have an auto-immune disease, so I’m very susceptible to getting sick.”

Chandler operates a food truck on the side. She said she’d brought it out to Main Line Brewing recently, and that it almost felt normal, with live music in a big outdoor space, similar to the way Brambly Park is functioning. But the pandemic has even affected her food truck business. “Usually this time of year,” she said, “I’d be travelling all over the United States with the food truck to festivals.”  

For Chandler, the unfortunate side of the pandemic goes way beyond business. As a music fan, the loss of live music has affected her deeply. “It’s something I’ve never experienced in my adult life,” she said. “Almost no day went by in the last 25 years that I didn’t get to hear live music.”

This withdrawal of live music from her life has had a noticeable impact on her mental health. “I’ve been having bouts of gloom and doom and a little bit of depression,” she said. “I don’t know that it’s so much this pandemic as it is the disruption of not having live music to lift me up.” It’s a sentiment that all avid live music fans can relate to. 

Chandler sees the same thing happening to other people in her life as well. “Not just the musicians, but the sound techs,” she said. “Like Jeremy, who does the booking at Cary St – and thankfully he’s got his studio and other things going on. It’s so widespread. Richmond is known for live music and for bars and restaurants, and those are the people that are getting hit the hardest.”

No one was prepared for the pandemic, but things have been especially difficult for Chandler, who was planing to sell Cary Street before COVID-19 hit. “It’s been 25 years, and I’m ready to not work so hard. My plan was and is to sell Cary Street and just do the food truck,” she said. “I had a buyer for it, and the week of when the pandemic started, they backed out. And I can’t say that I blame them. Here we are four and half months later and not even knowing when we could re-open. Going into this business is risky as it is, much less in these times of uncertainty.”

Photo via Cary St Cafe/Facebook

The staff and crew at Cary Street Cafe is a close-knit group that cares for each other immensely. “What I’m most proud of with musicians is how they’ve thought outside the box,” she said. “Giving virtual music lessons, and all the different ways they’ve been trying to make money and keeping positive. Everybody’s been really supportive of each other.”

Chandler sees this as going beyond Cary Street Cafe to the RVA music scene as a whole. “We’re all in this together, and we’re just one big giant family in Richmond,” she said. “That doesn’t just mean the jam band scene — it’s all of us. It’s the punk rockers, and the bands that play heavy metal. I think everyone has been really supportive.”

Somehow, in spite of her business having been hit as hard as any business out there, Chandler manages to keep a positive attitude. Not once did she express animosity or resentment towards those businesses that have been able to keep their doors open. She had no air of bitterness as we spoke about her misfortune and the difficulties Cary Street Cafe is currently facing.

“I’ve always been optimistic and a positive person,” she said. “I’ve been through some crazy things in my life, and I always get through them, and always get on the other side. That’s how I’m tackling this — that it’s not gonna last forever.”

But Chandler understands the gravity of the situation and the impact of this virus on independently owned small businesses, and she candidly acknowledged the difficulties yet to come. “It’s been almost five months now, and with every month that goes by, it’s gonna make it a little harder to open back up,” she said. “That’s kind of a scary thing for me, but it is what it is, and you can only do so much. Nobody has control over this.”

Photo via Cary St Cafe/Facebook

Coronavirus has made 2020 an awful year for many businesses, and the music industry is among those suffering most. For an industry that exists by bringing people together in large numbers, live music is sure to be one of the very last sections of the economy to recover. The state of the live music scene in Richmond is likely a microcosm of the current American condition. It is a bleak and terrifying reality, one that may change the landscape of the music industry permanently, and with dire consequences.

Thinking of the difficulties ahead, Chandler couldn’t help but express some frustrations. “I do wish that our government… they could have done so much more to help the music industry,” she said. “In my opinion they have done almost nothing. There is the PUA for gig workers, but what about small music venues? No matter whether you’re open or you’re closed, those bills keep coming, and there’s no money to pay.”

Top Photo via Cary St Cafe/Facebook

‘Carlisle Montgomery’ Is Very Richmond

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Harry Kollatz Jr.’s coming-of-age novel about a six-and-a-half-foot tall nine-fingered guitar playing “freak” is a gloriously sprawling portrait of Richmond pre-gentrification.

Style Weekly doesn’t do their annual “You Are Very Richmond If…” issue anymore, and in a way, that’s probably a good thing, because the Richmond that departed series simultaneously commemorated and satirized is gone, gone, gone. After decades of largely remaining the same in both its virtues and its flaws, the tidal wave of gentrification that has swept across this city in the past decade has left a place that’d be unrecognizable to the hipster habitues of the river city’s grotty nooks and crannies circa 1995.

Harry Kollatz Jr’s Carlisle Montgomery is a 700-plus page love letter to the bygone Richmond that was, and whether you want to see what you were born too late to catch, remember a time that’s been irrevocably lost, or just read a sprawling, gloriously messy yarn about the starving artists, madcap musicians, and dead-end kids that thrived in a city temporarily written off by the powers that be… well, it’s absolutely worth diving into.

If any Richmond journalist fits into that classic “Very-Richmond” mold, it’s Harry Kollatz Jr, the longtime Richmond Magazine contributor known for his fedora, his Lee’s Chicken weather reports, and his many anecdotes about the odder incidents in Richmond history. Those anecdotes have been appearing in Richmond Magazine since the mid-90s, and have been collected into at least two books published by Arcadia Press, True Richmond Stories and Richmond In Ragtime. Carlisle Montgomery is Kollatz’s first full-length fictional effort, but he makes up for lost time by telling us a sprawling bildungsroman of a tale that spans something like 25 years in the life of the title character.

Carlisle Montgomery is a six-and-a-half-foot-tall redheaded woman with adactylia, a condition that results in her having no left ring finger. Regardless of her status as an overgrown nine-fingered freak (a description she’d embrace), Carlisle is a wild, confident young lady with a talent for guitar, a penchant for unusual relationships with all manner of men and women, and a predilection for ending up at the center of attention. The novel, which jumps around all over the place where timelines are concerned, takes up the story of Carlisle’s life right around the beginning of her adolescence.

At 14, she’s already over six feet tall, and stumbles into several ill-fated romantic entanglements that are complicated by the fact that no one looks at a woman as tall as she is and expects her to be underage. She finds herself becoming romantically involved with both halves of a married couple she meets on the Appalachian Trail, whose shock when they learn her age is not enough to derail the relationship. That throuple arrangement continues for years as Carlisle moves from awkward adolescent to late-teenager on the cusp of adulthood.

Throughout this time, her relationship with her music is just as important as her romantic involvements and her evolving relationship with her parents and extended family — another complex plot thread in its own right. Early in the novel, we get a glimpse of the Live Wires, Carlisle’s band, at their peak, only to double back and watch the band come together and evolve into mature form over the course of years. We get tons of details about their music, which is apparently a hybrid bluegrass style heavily influenced by outlaw country and punk rock; anchored by Carlisle and her fiddle-playing best friend, Laurel, the group seems like what would happen if the two coolest girls in your high school had managed to start a non-sucky version of the Dave Matthews Band. I figure if the Live Wires were a real band I could actually listen to, they’d sound something like the Pogues if they were from Appalachia. Maybe.

With detailed descriptions of the band’s songs, lyrics, albums, and gigs, Kollatz paints a vibrant picture of Carlisle as a musician and the Live Wires as a band. His in-depth coverage of Carlisle’s relationships with both women and men, which number quite a few by the time we’ve reached the novel’s end (at which point Carlisle is in her late 30s), are just as vivid and alive. The many Richmond and Virginia landmarks that make up the setting for the book’s most entertaining anecdotes are recreated perfectly, and it’s at moments like these — with the Live Wires sneaking onto the minaret-capped roof of a half-abandoned rug factory in Scott’s Addition to take band photos, or Carlisle and her married partners hitting the Ululating Mummies New Years Eve party at The Flood Zone in Shockoe Bottom — that the Richmond that once was and has been irreversibly wiped out by gentrification shows through most clearly.

For the recent arrivals, that rug factory is now the Hof, and The Flood Zone is now that condo complex on the corner of 18th and E. Cary. These examples only go to show that, while some of the changes Kollatz documents in Carlisle Montgomery are actually for the better, all of them are changes that move Richmond away from its roots as a working class city of cookie factories and cheap starter apartments, toward a future in which the city becomes a playground for the rich with an admission price that gets higher and more out of reach for ordinary people with each passing year.

Carlisle Montgomery not only tells the tale of a unique and uncategorizable talent who was nourished by the rich creative soil of a city and grew into stardom, it also tells of a time when Richmond was that kind of city. And it captures the heart of this city in that era through a detail-oriented approach that makes clear how well Kollatz knows this city’s many bygone eras — even if he does get the timeline wrong at times. For example, Cary Street Cafe is thriving in this book years before it opened in real life, and by the book’s 2011 end, Scott’s Addition is full of breweries, despite the fact that in real life, the law legalizing all those breweries was still a year away from being passed.

Indeed, if I have any criticism of Carlisle Montgomery (the novel), it is just how wild n’ wooly it gets at points. Timelines get confusing, huge chunks of correspondence and fictional magazine articles show up in ways that are hard to follow, and sometimes the individual sentences bite off more than they can chew and run on, or lose coherence, in ways that can leave a bemused reader rereading the same paragraph two or three times before they can really pull it all together. And still, there are times when it doesn’t quite all add up, and you just have to stop asking questions and go with it. Kollatz is an entertaining tale-teller, and he makes it easy to do so, but I still have to admit (even if saying so is tantamount to telling my grandmother how to suck eggs) that I wish I could have gotten an editing pass on this beast. There are a few passages that beg for a tidying up.

All that having been said, anyone familiar with Harry Kollatz Jr’s previous work will have a blast diving deep into this rambling magnum opus. While I wouldn’t say Carlisle Montgomery is exactly like Sissy Hankshaw, all the fans of OG Richmond hipster novelist Tom Robbins are sure to get a kick out of this one. And of course, if you want to remember this city in a time that wasn’t necessarily better or worse, but certainly was different, Carlisle Montgomery is here to act as your conduit.

Carlisle Montgomery is currently available in trade paperback from Australian publisher Primer Books, and can be ordered via Kollatz’s website.

Top Photo via Harry Kollatz Jr./Facebook

VA Shows You Must See This Week: March 11 – March 17

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FEATURED SHOW
Friday, March 13, 8 PM
Caverns Of Pine, Unmaker, Big No, VV @ Gallery 5 – $10 (order tickets HERE)
We’re heading into St. Patrick’s Day weekend and meanwhile coronavirus has got me out here writing new lyrics for “Paranoid Chant” by the Minutemen. So what do you say we all make the choice to forgo events drawing a large crowd in favor of some more intimate gatherings? Sounds good to me, personally. That’s not the only reason to head for Gallery 5 this Friday night, but it is certainly one of them.

However, what’s really great about this show is that it represents the first time that Caverns Of Pine, a studio project led by Brad Perry (Worn In Red, Forensics, Operation Icy), will perform live. In 2018, the project released a great post-hardcore album called Disassociate, which focused on themes relating to surviving sexual violence and overcoming the associated trauma. As Brad and the other members all had their own projects to focus on, they never played any shows, but now, with the opening of All Instinct, a group art show inspired by Caverns Of Pine’s lyrics and curated by Bizhan Khodabandeh, they’re breaking the silence and finally gracing us all with a live performance.

Considering how excellently intense these songs actually are, this is sure to be one hell of a show. The fact that Caverns Of Pine will be paired with Unmaker for it is also eminently appropriate, as Unmaker have a similarly heavy and somewhat foreboding post-hardcore sound, only with a stronger postpunk influence that gives them a decidedly gothic edge. It’s a perfect double bill, one that is only made even awesomer by the inclusion of Big No and VV, two rad bands in their own right. To top it all off, all profits from this event benefit Force, an anti-rape culture, pro-consent activist group based in Baltimore, so you can know that your admission funds are going toward something positive in the world.

Wednesday, March 11, 8 PM
Lux, Vittna, Gumming, Dummies @ Mojo’s – $8
Here’s a really fun way to spend your Wednesday evening — going to Mojo’s. And not just because it’s a rad place with delicious food, either, though those are good reasons to spend ANY evening there. No, we’re sending you tonight specifically because Barcelona punks Lux are coming to town, and they’re gonna rock the hell out of Mojo’s tonight. One of the many bands to come out of excellent UK punk group Good Throb, Lux have less of that band’s caustic approach and a more rockin’, fun sound that keeps things at a swinging rock tempo and integrates a good deal of vocal melody even as their aggressive riffing makes it impossible to mistake them for just another power-pop group.

Lux released their latest EP, New Day, back in November, and it’s full of catchy tunes that will get you dancing. Meanwhile, Raleigh’s Vittna bring the speed and vitriol that you true punk freaks might miss in Lux’s set, and give you a chance to get the circle pit swirling right there inside Mojo’s. Just don’t spill anyone’s drinks, that ain’t cool. Local noise punk heroes Gumming will open this one up, along with a brand new band featuring members of Haircut and Sweeties called Dummies. How dumb will their take on punk be? The name certainly offers some clues, but we won’t really know until tonight — so be there, and end the mystery.

Thursday, March 12, 6 PM
Brower, Josephine, The Ar-Kaics, Piranha Rama @ Hardywood – Free!
If the Lux show at Mojo’s is an example of old-school hardcore punk, then this free DIG Records-sponsored Thursday night showcase at Hardywood is even older-school than that, taking things back to the powerful melodic energy that defined punk in its earliest days. Brower, who top this bill, are a project headed by Queens resident Nat Brower and featuring a similar rudimentary pop energy combined with scrappy punk stylings as that of some long-ago Queens residents, the Ramones — though there’s some definite Matador Singles-era Jay Reatard to be found in the mix here as well. Their catchy tuneage is bound to put a smile on your face — and in light of how things are going these days, we all need it.

They’ll be visiting Richmond in the company of fellow DIG Records artist Josephine, a singer, songwriter, and drag performer from New York who, along with her band, creates power-pop gold on her brand new debut LP, Music Is Easy. Fans of classic 70s Bowie and Odessey and Oracle-era Zombies are sure to thrill to this one. The always-enjoyable Ar-Kaics, Virginia’s best pure garage-rock revivalists, will be on hand to bring a heaping helping of their own rock n’ roll vitality, and the whole thing will kick off with the maximalist genre-hopping power-pop of Richmond’s own Piranha Rama. It’s the sort of evening that would be a thrill at any price — but since you can save your cash for the tasty craft brews, it’s even more so!

Friday, March 13, 8 PM
Peaer, Strange Ranger, Gnawing, SHE @ Poor Boys – $8 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
I have no idea if Peaer are actually named after a misspelling of a fruit or if it’s all just a happy coincidence, but I am certain that this New York band make music every bit as sweet as their possible misspelled namesake. Their 2019 LP, A Healthy Earth, is math-rock at its most melodic and delicate, the sort of complex guitar figures that are the hallmark of the genre fading into the background in favor of charming vocal harmonies and intriguing lyrics often detailing the sort of modern, everyday anxieties that make up the background noise of all our day-to-day lives.

Thankfully, even as they express these neuroses, their music acts as a soothing balm, one that will feel even more like a relief in the context of Poor Boys’ Voodoo Room this Friday night. Better yet, they’ll come to us in the company of Strange Ranger, a group that has an approach both less mathy and less quiet than that of Peaer, but just as sweetly melodic and full of catchy vocal harmonies to make you swoon. This is a killer double bill, and with local stalwarts Gnawing and SHE rounding things out, it’ll be even more delightful. Let yourself sink into this one — it’s sure to be a delight.

Saturday, March 14, 9 PM
Sexbruise?, The Last Real Circus Show, Sid Kingsley @ The Dark Room – $5
Ever had a random night with not much going on where you found yourself sitting around with some friends making up ideas for ridiculous bands you’re gonna start and laughing hysterically? I have too, but like most of you, I’ve never actually followed through on those kinds of goofy ideas. That’s the difference between us and the members of South Carolina band Sexbruise? though — they actually went through with it, creating a pop group they straight-up admit is “fake” and satirical in intent, but nonetheless cranks out some pretty outstanding danceable throwback jams.

What’s more, they turn every live show into a party the whole crowd is invited to, using improvisation and audience participation to spice up their performances of their catchy, silly tunes. On an evening when the total hedonistic mess that is Shamrock The Block will be taking place in close proximity to The Hof, Sexbruise? will offer a much needed pick-me-up. Better yet, they’ll be accompanied on this mission by DC/VA folk-rockers The Last Real Circus Show and Richmond’s own Sid Kingsley, making this a true night to remember. You’ll be chuckling fondly over this one on Monday morning at work — assuming you don’t take Sexbruise’s advice to “quit your job” (RVA Magazine has no official position on the matter).

Sunday, March 15, 2 PM
To Pimp A Butterfly 5th Anniversary party, feat. Kaelan Brown, Alec Sullivan, Michael Bradley, Alex Kehayas, and many more @ The Dark Room – $5
Kendrick Lamar might just be the best hip hop artist of the last decade, and the argument in favor of that idea begins right here, with his second album, To Pimp A Butterfly. Where his full-length debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was an outstanding contribution to the tradition of hip hop, To Pimp A Butterfly took things to the next level, moving beyond the basics of beats and rhymes to tackle epic themes and integrate the full spectrum of black music, from jazz and gospel to funk and soul. Working with talented musicians from legendary bassist/producer Thundercat to former Butcher Brown guitarist Keith Askey, Kendrick made a widescreen album full of true musicality, and brought a pile of classic tracks into the world in the process — everything from “How Much A Dollar Cost” to “King Kunta” to the massively enjoyable “I.”

Now, in an effort to commemorate the fifth anniversary of this epochal musical achievement, a bunch of the most talented musicians in Richmond are coming together on the Dark Room stage to perform the album live, with new expanded arrangements brought into the world by nearly 20 different musicians, all fronted by talented young Richmond MC Kaelan Brown. Jazz/classical composer Alec Sullivan will conduct the massive horn section, local bass talent Alex Kehayas will play the Thundercat role on the low end, and an assortment of gifted young players will all work together to bring To Pimp A Butterfly to life onstage before your very eyes. If that’s not a great way to cap off your weekend, I seriously don’t know what is.

Monday, March 16, 9 PM
Horse Lords, Halfcast, Hellawes @ Cary Street Cafe – $10
Monday night is a great night to get weird, and with Baltimore’s Horse Lords in town, we have the perfect opportunity. Earlier in the column, I talked about Peaer’s sweetly enjoyable form of math-rock, and now it’s time to talk about the opposite. On their brand new album, The Common Task, Horse Lords use dissonant guitar figures and constantly shifting polyrhythms to keep listeners constantly unsteady on their feet, as if they’re standing on the deck of a pitching, yawing pirate ship.

If you find musical thrills in everything from New York-style No Wave to the styles of the nomadic Saharan guitar slingers who’ve come to so much prominence over the past several years, and further appreciate Baltimore’s legacy of total weirdness, from Oxes to Dan Deacon, you’re sure to flip for Horse Lords. Local psychedelic rangers Hellawes will prove their own ability to destabilize the room with their sound a quite formidable one in its own right, while Halfcast will create a relative oasis of discernability with their catchy indie-rock tunes at the center of the bill. You might walk home sideways from this one, but you’ll have a great time getting there.

Tuesday, March 17, 8 PM
Diana Rein @ The Tin Pan – $18 (order tickets HERE)
Our culture is full of tales about former child actors who came to bad ends, from Corey Haim to Jonathan Brandis. But it’s certainly possible for people who acted as children to grow into completely functional creative adults, and blues guitarist Diana Rein is a great example. You might not remember her name, but you probably remember her from her role as Sondra McCallister, one of Macaulay Culkin’s many cousins in the Home Alone film series. Today she’s all grown up, and while she no longer acts, her musical endeavors prove that she has plenty of creative energy still to get out.

For those who enjoy classic electric blues in the vein of BB King and Buddy Guy, Rein’s got a throwback sound you’re sure to love. On her latest LP, Queen Of My Castle, she mixes original tunes that follow in the footsteps of classic Chicago blues jams with some more wide-ranging efforts that show she’s got range, reaching into the realms of Bonnie Raitt-style blues-informed rock without ever losing track of the powerful chops that act as her calling card. The fact that Rein was once in a movie you watched a hundred times on VHS when you were little might be what initially catches your interest, but it’s the talent she’s showing off today that makes this show 100 percent worth your time.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday, March 13, 7:30 PM
Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers @ Hampton Coliseum (Hampton) – $26-$86 (order tickets HERE)
Sturgill Simpson is an artist who has remained consistently interesting to me ever since I first became aware of his music over half a decade ago. He grabbed me with his second album, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, on which he attempted to get outside the moribund Nashville mainstream that has made country music into a cookie-cutter genre, and he’s just kept upping the ante ever since. After his third album, A Sailor’s Guide To Earth, he engaged in a busking-style public protest against the Country Music Awards’ refusal to speak about the more uncomfortable political issues that had come up in the wake of the mass shooting at a Jason Aldean show in Las Vegas. His approach to both his music and his role as an artist was incredibly refreshing to see.

Now, with last year’s Sound And Fury, Simpson’s taken things even farther once again, creating a suite of songs that are strongly informed by the current political climate and stand musically at so far a remove from the world of country music that some would say there’s no country left in what he’s doing, that he’s become a rock n’ roller using synths and crunching guitars to make a full-on alternative-rock album. But why get hung up on genre? Like the Drive-By Truckers before him, Simpson has a unique approach to a set of influences that is both wide-ranging and inextricably American, and hearing him bring them to bear on a strong creative effort is worth all our time, regardless of what genre it ends up sounding like. Don’t worry about country music, worry about good music. This show is going to bring plenty of it to you — I recommend that you be there.

Saturday, March 14, 3 PM
St. Patrick’s Day Punkarade, feat. 430 Steps, Brandy And The Butcher, ChargedCam36, Drunk Buseys, Lettermans, Like No Tomorrow, Locomotive Gun, Nervous System, Rad Taco, Rotten Stitches, The Jasons, The Moneys, Whiskey Warfare, Worser @ Pourhouse of Norfolk (Norfolk) – $5
It seems that Saturday, three days before the actual holiday, is the accepted date for celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in 2020. And I guess it makes sense; it’s the most “blah blah blah, drink” holiday of every year, and we may as well hold it on the weekend, so that everyone has a day to be hung over and feeling horrible before they have to go back to work. But let me say, if you really are insisting on tying one on this weekend, you’ll be better off doing so in Norfolk. There, instead of Shamrock The Block, the advertisements for which tell you they have “live music” on offer, but not who’s playing — always an ominous sign (I googled, it’s a couple of tribute acts and some cover bands) — you get the St. Patrick’s Day Punkarade at Norfolk’s Pourhouse.

Kicking off early in the afternoon and lasting far into the night, the Punkarade will bring together bands from all over the east coast, all of whom have a strong punk rock sensibility and all of whom will make you want to raise a fist in the air and sing along. Highlights of this bill include South Carolina punk hellraisers Brandy And The Butcher, Pennsylvania grindcore maniacs Worser, Norfolk punk goofballs Rad Taco, NoVA old-school punkers Like No Tomorrow, and topping off the whole thing, Ramones/Misfits-loving horror punks The Jasons. There’s way more happening on this bill as well, more than I could possibly find the space to tell you, but suffice it to say that if you like punk rock, it’ll be the best St. Patrick’s Day throwdown you could ever ask for. One word of advice, though — if you’re heading down from Richmond, you might want to book a motel room in advance. It’s better than sleeping it off in the backseat of your car, right?

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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 Zach Wish with Stefanie Lutz, via Caverns of Pine/Facebook

VA Shows You Must See This Week: February 5 – February 11

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FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, February 6, 8 PM
Cary Street Cafe’s 25th Anniversary & Big Ol’ Whoopty Doo feat. Whistler’s Mother, Craigslist Jerry @ Cary Street Cafe – Free!
This column is ostensibly about music, but if you want to get technical about it, it’s really about shows. And sometimes the best, most important show of the week is about way more than just the music. Such is the case with the 25th anniversary “Big Ol’ Whoopty Doo” being thrown by Cary Street Cafe this Friday. Oh, there’ll be music — more on that in a minute — but the most important aspect of this event is just the occasion of celebrating a constant source for live music in Richmond over the past quarter century, and the work of founder Robyn McManis to bring it to us, especially in light of the fact that McManis is in the process of selling the place.

If you’ve been a longtime Cary Street Cafe regular, the music on offer this Thursday night should please you; the two groups that will be performing two sets each represent both the early and recent eras of this venue’s standard fare. Whistler’s Mother were one of the first bands to play the place, and had a Friday night residency in the cafe’s early days that lasted years. Having since evolved into projects like the Harrison Deane Band and the Tin Can Fish Band, they’ll be coming back together to rock Cary Street Cafe once again. Craigslist Jerry, who currently perform during happy hour every Friday at Cary Street Cafe, will offer two sets focusing on the Grateful Dead and Dead-inspired material that has been the place’s stock in trade since day one.

Make no mistake, the music on offer on this night should be a real treat, especially if you’re tastes are inclined to bring you to Cary Street Cafe on a regular basis anyway. But what this evening is really about is giving thanks for a venue that, in a constantly-changing landscape of short-lived venues for live music, has remained a consistent source of live performances since the early 90s — a time before a good many of our readers were even alive! Spend your Thursday night showing your appreciation with a night of celebratory jams.

Wednesday, February 5, 7 PM
Emily Wolfe, Tom West, Righter @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Let’s rock! Austin-based singer-songwriter Emily Wolfe is coming to town, and while you may be used to hearing that term as a coded signifier for “dignified Americana-folk sounds played on acoustic instruments,” Wolfe is quite a different prospect, using her loud n’ proud electric guitar and her wailing voice to create quite the storm of distorted blues-rock riffology. Her self-titled debut LP, released about a year ago, finds her at the head of a storming power trio that has much more in common with Jack White’s solo work than that of Carole King. Follow-up single “Ghost Limb Gambler,” released last week, has much the same fighting spirit, and thank god for that.

But Wolfe sometimes performs solo as well, letting her guitar, some effects, and her magnificent voice dominate the stage. Which version of her live performances we’ll get when she hits the Camel tonight isn’t something I can predict, but the fact that it’ll be great fun to watch is a sure thing. Wolfe will be joined on this gig by Australian singer-songwriter Tom West, who does hew a bit more closely to that whole folk thing, though “Americana” would surely be a misnomer for a troubadour from the land down under. Local indie-folk project Righter will get this whole evening kicked off, and it certainly should be a blast.

Thursday, February 6, 8 PM
Humungus, Mega Colossus, Children Of The Reptile, Mortal Man @ Wonderland – $10
While they’ve been around for pretty much a decade now, Richmond thrash-metal throwbacks Humungus have never been all that prolific a band — which just makes it that much more exciting when they do release new material. They did so back around Christmastime, bringing their second full-length, Balls, into the world via Killer Metal Records. The fact that most people have already picked their faves of the year by the time December rolls around might have led to this album flying under some people’s radar, but as always with Humungus, missing out on it would be a very big mistake.

This quintet does thrash in a manner not often heard in the modern era, keeping alive not only the incredible leads and galloping riffs of the genre’s prime 80s era, but also the high-pitched vocals and occasional goofy subject matter in a manner that shows how good these metalheads are at deadpan humor. No matter how tongue-in-cheek Humungus are being at any moment, though, their thrashing ability is always serious as a heart attack, and their live performance at Wonderland this Thursday night is sure to get you headbanging with abandon — even if the fans they’re known to bring with them onstage (to get the hair blowing around just so) are still pretty silly. A trio of Raleigh shredders — Mega Colossus, Children Of the Reptile, and Mortal Man — will pack this bill with a ton more metal mastery, but any true Richmond metalhead knows that Humungus is what it’s all about.

Friday, February 7, 8 PM
Leach, Black Dirty, Night Idea @ Poor Boys – $5
It’s always fun to head over to Poor Boys and spend an evening in the Voodoo Room, rocking out in a site that established a noble tradition of great music during previous days under the auspices of Bogart’s, Balliceaux, and Flora. Prsmcat Presents has been bringing some great locally-focused sounds into the place since Poor Boys took it over, and this Friday night is no exception. This evening will be headlined by Leach, who are celebrating the release of their latest EP, A Machine, It Seems, at this event.

If you haven’t checked out what this band, featuring former members of Imaginary Sons, are bringing to the table, the fact that their bandcamp URL labels them “Leach rock band” should be some guide. These guys have a decidedly 90s-style take on rocking, one that reminds me of driving around in my Chevette during my college days blasting Urge Overkill and Dig tapes. They’ll be joined on this bill by Philadelphia’s Black Dirty, who despite the name actually have a pretty clean and delightful math-damaged alt-pop sound. They’re certainly musically simpatico with Night Idea, the Richmond mainstay who rounds out this bill. With the aid of these three excellent bands, you’re sure to have a delightful Friday night.

Saturday, February 8, 7 PM
The Reign Of Kindo, Manatree, Colpa Mia @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This one kinda came out of nowhere for me, y’all. A band of at least half a dozen musicians who are big enough to tour on the performance of an early release in its entirety, whom I have also somehow never heard of? Well, in truth, that seems to be The Reign Of Kindo’s whole thing. While they’ve been around for nearly 15 years, this New York band has never had a high profile in the mainstream, instead releasing all of their albums independently and focusing on the internet and social media as their path to success. What’s really wild is that it has worked out so well — for the past few years, they’ve been releasing new songs monthly on Patreon, and have racked up nearly 1000 supporters who contribute over $3000 to them each time they release a new song. Not bad, right?

And so, therefore, The Reign Of Kindo (or just Kindo, depending on where you see their name) are definitely worth looking into if, like me, you’ve never encountered them before. Their music could certainly be described as alternative rock, but between the incredible talent of their entire ensemble and the fact that they bring such a wide variety of influences to bear on their creative process, it seems a woefully inadequate description. Genres like jazz, soul, and prog also have to be part of the conversation, and of course you can’t ignore the way frontman Joseph Secchiaroli’s voice takes the whole thing to another level entirely. Even if you’ve never heard of them — heck, especially if you’ve never heard of them — The Reign Of Kindo is a group you should really dig into. You can start this Saturday night at Capital Ale House.

Saturday, February 8, 8 PM
Daughter Of Swords, The Dead Tongues, Andy Jenkins @ The Camel – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Where live music in Virginia is concerned, y’all, it’s all about Richmond. That fact is driven home to me at times like this week, when I hunt high and low for non-Richmond VA shows to tell you about and can’t even come up with two — and meanwhile, I’m having a hell of a time narrowing the Richmond picks down to eight. This week I threw up my hands and decided to work with what I’ve got, which is why you’re getting this ninth Richmond show instead of a second elsewhere-VA show. I work with what I’ve got, folks, and in the end, you the live music fan are the one who benefits.

For example, there is this Saturday night show at the Camel featuring Daughter of Swords. I almost didn’t manage to get this one in here, which is remarkable in light of how good the latest project from North Carolina folk singer Alexandra Sauser-Moning really is. Last year’s Dawnbreaker demonstrated Sauser-Moning’s flawless ability to come up with a series of heartfelt, memorable tunes and deliver them in the most minimal of settings. But this tour, on which she’s backed by members of Megafaun, Dirty Projectors, and Hiss Golden Messenger, will present her with a more fleshed-out but just as brilliant musical canvas. They’ll come to town in the company of the Dead Tongues, a folk project from the mind of sometime Hiss Golden Messenger sideman Ryan Gustafson. The fact that the two picked Richmond as the place to start their current American tour just proves the point I was making a paragraph ago — where live music in VA is concerned, Richmond is what it’s all about.

Sunday, February 9, 9 PM
Faucet, Zima, Zara @ Bandito’s – Free!
Round out your weekend with this triple bill of noise-punk awesomeness at Bandito’s, featuring a couple of new groups consisting of members whose talents have already been well established. To begin with, there’s Faucet, who land firmly on the noise end of the spectrum, with an out-of-control raging approach that evokes classic 80s reprobates like Flipper and No Trend. Featuring members of Ceremonial Scissors, Gumming, Fat Spirit, and Among The Rocks And Roots, this band’s pedigree alone makes them worth looking into — but rest assured, their sounds are intense enough in their own right to warrant your continued attention.

Then there’s Zima, a band whom I’m guessing are named after a clear malt beverage that was quite the trend when I was coming of age in the 90s and is probably totally forgotten by the younger readers among you. What actually inspired their name isn’t something I can tell you, but I can tell you that this project, which features 4/5 of Richmond punk ragers Haircut on different instruments but going off just as hard, is absolutely worth your time. If you enjoy being devastated by raw, aggressive punk fucking rock, that is — and who doesn’t? The bill is rounded out by Zara, an ambient electronic project with the most history of any of these three — certainly a great way to start a musically delicious evening.

Monday, February 10, 7 PM
Horse Jumper Of Love, Keep, Lobby Boy, HotSpit @ The Camel – $8 in advance/$10 Day of show (order tickets HERE)
Is it me, or are there a lot of horse-themed bands running around these days? Just last week I wrote about Brooklyn’s A Deer A Horse and locals Horse Culture. And now, this week, I find myself discussing Bostonians Horse Jumper Of Love. As any journalist will tell you, three of anything is a trend. But it’s not a strictly musical one, by any means — all three of the mentioned bands have very different sounds.

The one we’re discussing at the moment, Horse Jumper Of Love, have revived the slowcore genre that was all the rage in the 90s, when bands like Red House Painters, Low, and Duster were big on the scene. On Horse Jumper Of Love’s 2019 sophomore album, So Divine, they show themselves as capable inheritors of the tradition, knowing when to keep it quiet and when to flip the dynamic switch to loud and crushing… but throughout, always keeping things slow and moody in a manner making their music a perfect soundtrack for listening late at night with the lights off. You can do exactly that at The Camel this Monday night, and we humbly suggest you do so… no matter how you feel about horses.

Tuesday, February 11, 6:30 PM
Have Mercy, Fredo Disco, Selfish Things, Young Culture @ The Canal Club – $17 (Order tickets HERE)
I must say, I really dug the third Have Mercy album, Make The Best Of It, back when it was released in 2017. That album came just after singer-guitarist Brian Swindle had replaced his entire backing band with a new lineup, and I remember thinking at the time “I wonder if that guy’s hard to work with.” Now, after one more equally excellent album, 2019’s The Love Life, Swindle and co. are calling it quits entirely, which only reinforces my previous wonderings. The music was totally great, though, so regardless of what sort of lingering tension may be present onstage for this Have Mercy farewell tour, it’s still well worth showing up at The Canal Club and seeing them one last time.

Baltimore-based Have Mercy existed in an adjacent space to the emo revival, but their sound was always entirely their own, drawing equally from 90s alt-rock and pastoral indie sounds and creating wonderful, enduring tunes with strong, heartfelt lyrics about real, important aspects of interpersonal relationships. They’re the kind of band that it’s easy to let into your heart, and therefore, it’ll be tough to let them go. Hopefully Brian Swindle keeps making music in some capacity after this, but even if he does, this will be our last opportunity to see Have Mercy play their many classic tunes. I suggest you make the best of it.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday, February 7, 9 PM
Pain In The Yeahs, Community Witch, Billy Varela, Black Mass Gathering @ Taphouse Grill (Norfolk) – $?
The Tidewater area of Virginia has always been a good source for dark gothic industrial dance sounds, and with Pain In The Yeahs operating in that area, this will certainly remain true for the foreseeable future. Brand new single “Animal Within An Animal” shows that bandleader James K. Ultra still has a deft touch with the postpunk spookiness he’s established through his and the group’s last several years’ worth of work.

There is a strong undercurrent of the goth sound of the mid-80s UK, with Cure and Sisters Of Mercy vibes undeniable in their music, but the new single shows that Ultra and co. bring a pop sensibility to what they’re doing as well; surprisingly catchy choruses and occasional synth-pop hooks add a darkly gleaming shine to the mood Pain In The Yeahs creates. Fear not, it’ll still lend itself perfectly to storming the dance floor in a velvet cape, black lipstick, and shiny polished Doc Martens, in classic Norfolk tradition. Get gloomy, y’all.

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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]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: January 29 – February 4

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, February 1, 6 PM
Snack Truck, Ultra Dolphins, Order @ Hardywood – $20 suggested donation
Whoa boy, this is a real treat. While the mid-00s in Virginia underground music is better remembered today for Municipal Waste’s party thrash and the no-frills USHC of the No Way Records crowd, the fact is that a whole bunch of really incredible bands in Richmond and around the state were getting excellent results with a strange brand of psychedelic math-punk noise-core… or something like that. This show brings together fully THREE leading lights of that era, constituting some of the best music ever produced along the I-81 corridor. So whether you were there back then or had no idea about any of this until right now, it’d be a really good idea to come to this show and see what it’s all about.

Snack Truck are at the top of the bill, and this band’s decade-long history saw them grow from a speedy, chaotic two-piece with riffs for days into a dual-drummer quartet generating instrumental space epics for days. What lineup this reunited group will give us, and what era of Snack Truck’s music they’ll be playing, is anyone’s guess. But regardless, their set is sure to be riveting, because they always brought the fire, no matter what phase of their evolution you caught them in.

One Snack Truck member (besides guitarist, leader, and only constant member Matt Krofchek) I’m sure will be in the house this Saturday night is Nate Rappole. He may or may not be drumming for Snack Truck, but he’s certain to be strapping on his guitar and fronting spastic noise-rock trio Ultra Dolphins, which makes him a good candidate to appear behind the drums during Snack Truck as well. If you’ve seen Rappole’s work with Gull, his current one-man exploration of music’s outer limits, you know he can do it all, and more besides. Come out to this show to see where he started out.

And of course, make sure you catch Order, the maniacal garage-noise combo from down Blacksburg way, who also evolved so significantly during their lengthy career that it’s hard to predict who will be on stage for this performance or what era of the band’s career they’ll sound like. By now, you know I’m going to tell you that it’s worth seeing regardless. On top of all that, this event is a benefit for Bronwen Zwicker, who is currently living with ALS. We all know medical bills are a nightmare even at the best of times, so come help out someone in need, and get a chance to rock out in the bargain.

Wednesday, January 29, 10 PM
New Lions, Cool Moon, Rough Age @ Don’t Look Back Triple – Free!
It’s Wednesday night, and if you’re having as much trouble getting through this week as I am, you certainly need a break and some great music to keep you getting up for work the next day. Don’t Look Back has exactly that sort of thing for you tonight, and what’s even better is that it’s free — so you can spend your cash on their delicious tacos. At the Triple location over in Scott’s Addition tonight, three excellent bands will take the stage, with Richmond mainstays New Lions at the top of the bill.

After their recent EP, End Story, took their catchy, complex post-hardcore sound to a new level of awesomeness, New Lions’ brand new single “How Do You Feel?” shows that they still have plenty of room to grow. Houston’s Cool Moon offer a tough yet melodic take on catchy alt-rock sounds that we can never have too much of. And brand new RVA band Rough Age finds two former members of Lightfields coming together with former Exploder guitarist Jesse Lyell to bring us the same sort of loud, chaotic, yet fundamentally catchy post-hardcore sound that both bands were so good at before. All of this is going to be great — it’s sure to improve your mood. And so will the tacos.

Thursday, January 30, 9 PM
The Royal Hounds, Chubby & The Gang, Sensual World @ Fuzzy Cactus – $8
When you think of punk rock, you probably think of something harsh and confrontational. A lot of it is exactly that. But one thing that marked a lot of the best early punk bands was their flair for a sort of no-frills tunefulness that had really been lost by mainstream rock groups of the time. You can hear a lot of those early, catchy punk bands in what the two out-of-town bands playing at Fuzzy Cactus this Thursday night have to offer.

First, there’s The Royal Hounds, an NYC band that harks back to the catchiest, most rocked-out of the early UK Oi! bands. If you love Blitz and Cocksparrer, this is the band for you. Meanwhile, London’s own Chubby & the Gang are much closer to that spitfire energy and massive catchiness of the first few Damned LPs — and they’ve got some velocity to their attack as well. Richmond’s own Sensual World open the evening up, bringing a bit of a gothic feel to their dark, jangly punk tunes — like Gun Club jamming with the Wipers. Dig it.

Friday, January 31, 7 PM
Jawbox, Hammered Hulls, Positive No @ The Broadberry – $28 (order tickets HERE)
It’s a good time to be an aging 90s kid, especially if you were able to parlay your college degree into a job that gives you a fair amount of disposable income. I wasn’t, but those of you more fortunate than myself are in luck this Friday night, as reunited 90s legends Jawbox storm the Broadberry. This DC post-hardcore (I’m using that term in the column a lot this week… give me a break, I’m tired) quartet is best known for “Savory,” which got some play on MTV back in the day, but anyone who has spent some time with their four great albums knows that there aren’t any weaknesses anywhere in the catalog.

And that’s what’s great about this reunion tour; there isn’t any new album to dilute the legacy, it’s just gonna be all the classic Jawbox tracks you know and love. So get ready to rock out like you did at that roller rink show back in the summer of 95 (I missed that one — had to work a shift at Taco Bell). Jawbox is bringing Hammered Hulls, the latest project of Mary Timony (Ex Hex/Wild Flag) and Alec MacKaye (Faith/Ignition), with them to add some bonus awesomeness. Plus, in a bittersweet note, this evening will feature the final live performance by Richmond’s excellent Positive No. You certainly won’t want to miss that — because if you do, you’ll never get another chance.

Saturday, February 1, 9 PM
Slow Crush, Grivo, Haybaby, Twin Drugs @ Wonderland – $10
This Saturday night at Wonderland, it’s time to embrace the haze. Belgium shoegaze crew Slow Crush are coming through, and they’re fully prepared to envelop you in a simultaneously crushing (no pun intended) and beautiful wall of anointing guitar fuzz gorgeousness. 2019 EP Ease shows that this band knows how to wield dynamics to their advantage, incorporating moments of quiet beauty and enormous volume into the same song with aplomb.

Texas’s Grivo, the other touring band on this bill, shares a spiritual kinship with Slow Crush. However, they move more in the direction of a glittery, slow-motion hypnosis. On 2018’s Elude, their songs proceed deliberately and create a lovely ambience, which they fill with the same sort of reverbed guitars that delight fans of the Chameleons and The Cure circa 1983. These two groups will find some of the most appropriate support possible in Richmonders Haybaby and Twin Drugs, making this whole evening an opportunity to dream away… at top volume, of course.

Sunday, February 2, 8 PM
Unmaker, Timelost, Dozing @ Wonderland – $10
The Super Bowl has become such an overwhelming thing that it’s almost impossible to find good live music on the first Sunday night in February because every bar wants to show the game instead. Fortunately, there’s one music venue in Richmond that is immune to the charms of America’s most monolithic sporting event; leave it to Wonderland, the punkest bar in Shockoe Bottom, to come through in the clutch. And that’s exactly what they’ll do with this Sunday night refuge for everyone out there who’d rather rock than watch the “big game.”

Unmaker top the bill for this one, and their brand of gothic, metallic postpunk has been one of the most reliably great times available on the Richmond live music scene for a while now. If you’ve missed out to this point, you should really unfuck that now before you waste any more of your life. Meanwhile, Timelost brings us members of post-rockers Set And Setting and black metallers Woe doing something much catchier and more easily approachable. Their debut LP, Don’t Remember Me For This, has a somewhat shadowy atmosphere, but fills it with downright toe-tapping melodic hooks; the result, far from being an odd pairing, is just about perfect. The evening is completed by up-and-coming Richmonders Dozing, whose catchy rock n’ roll tunes should round things out quite nicely.

Monday, February 3, 9 PM
Mutant Flesh, Paint Store, Plastic Nancy @ Cary Street Cafe – $10
Bombastic sludge is never a bad thing, and Philadelphia’s Mutant Flesh are bringing that exact sound to Cary Street Cafe this Monday to shake the dust off the tops of the deadhead posters over there. While Mutant Flesh share members with the legendary Stinking Lizaveta (who were a regular and welcome presence on the RVA noise-rock scene during the heady days when Hell Mach Four and More Fire For Burning People ruled the roost), their current sound is much closer to Saint Vitus or Candlemass. If this is your kind of thing, you know it, and you should definitely make it out to Cary Street Cafe this Monday night.

You’ll also be lucky enough to see Paint Store, the instrumental math-metal group that lit things up around Richmond a while back but have been keeping a low profile recently. I for one am glad to see that they’re still out there, and looking forward to more from these talented shredders. Youthful psychedelians Plastic Nancy will kick off this event, bringing a delightful retro sound to get things started off right. Chase away the Monday blues with this one — you’ll be glad you did.

Tuesday, February 4, 7 PM
A Deer A Horse, Horse Culture, Weird Tears @ Gallery 5 – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (Order tickets HERE)
Doom metal’s chill, but I always like it when a band finds a way to be slow and heavy without falling into too many classic doom tropes. Therefore, I definitely approve of what Brooklyn trio A Deer A Horse are up to. Sure, they definitely traffic in doom, but they mix so many other things in there, from driving punk riffs to sudden dynamic shifts, always topped off with Rebecca Satellite’s powerful, unforgettable vocals. It’s heavy, it’s foreboding, and best of all, it’s unpredictable — something too many doom bands are not.

A Deer A Horse are joined on this bill by another “horse” band that messes with doom tropes but ultimately subverts them — Richmond’s own Horse Culture, who can get sludgy at times but also love to explode into harsh, uptempo punk moments and generally entertaining doses of noise madness. With Weird Tears, the group of Richmond all-stars doing the best Replacements-style downcast pop sound the river city’s got right now, kicking this whole evening off, you’re in for an entertaining time from moment one til closing time.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday January 31, 7 PM
Harli & The House Of Jupiter, Keese, Dogfuck, Mike Bizarro, Sanji The Hedgehog @ The Southern Cafe (Charlottesville) – $7 (order tickets HERE)
Taking a closer look at the Charlottesville music scene might not have found you much back in the late 80s when I was a bored high school student living there, but that’s changed in a big way over the past few decades, and we’re all better off for it. Harli Saxon is the exact sort of talented songwriter that Charlottesville’s always needed, and her work with the House Of Jupiter definitely enriches the sound of that city and the state as a whole.

On their 2019 LP, Deja Vu, Harli & The House Of Jupiter combine a mishmash of different sounds from various far-flung genres into a unique style that shows clear influence from blues, soul, jazz, metal, and classic rock, but feels very much of the moment. You may not know what’s coming next at any given time, but you always know that it’s gonna rock — and isn’t that what we all want? This evening features a variety of Virginia hip hop creators opening things off, which should strike a pleasant contrast with what Harli & The House of Jupiter are bringing, and serves to remind us once again that Charlottesville has it going on.

Saturday, February 1, 7 PM
Deadculture, Degrader, Violent Life Violent Death, RVNT, Kaos Reign, Nervous System @ RiffHouse Pub (Chesapeake) – $10
I don’t know what to call the heavy music the kids make these days. I hear everything from Earth Crisis mosh to Meshuggah math and nu-metal groove in what Ohio’s Deadculture are doing, and I must ask: does this count as deathcore? I’m honestly not sure, but I am sure that these guys make me want to headbang. And really, where metal’s concerned, do you need anything else?

Massachusetts boys Degrader are bringing even more of that sort of thing to Chesapeake’s RiffHouse this Saturday night, and I can’t help but smile when I hear the brutal, nearly sludgy power of their monolithic riffs. There’s some vaguely industrial-sounding notes here, which reminds me of Harms Way just a bit, but as with Harms Way, what I really get from this band is that they’re heavy as fuck. Paired up with Deadculture and several of the Tidewater area’s heaviest local bands, they’re doing more than enough to create an evening of headbanging nirvana. Be part of it.

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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]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond