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

Marilyn Drew Necci | December 11, 2019

Topics: Ages, Alan Parker, Andrew Randazzo, Archbishop, Aster, Bar Stool Preachers, Chicho's Backstage, Deli Kings, Demons, Devonne Harris, EdHochuli, Films On Song, gallery 5, Gardener, Ghost Of Pop 2019, Hardywood, Incantation, Inter Arma, Isabella VanKesteren, Jackson Shurlds, Little River Creek Police, Manas, Marcus Tenney, Mojo's, Morbid Angel, Palm Palm, Poor Boys, Prabir Trio, R4nd4zzo & Co, Righter, Saw Black, Sean K. Preston & The Loaded Pistols, Shockoe Denim, shows you must see, Sid Kingsley, Silent Music Revival, Single Use Plastic, Strike Anywhere, Taphouse Grill, The Broadberry, The Camel, Watain, Yeni Nostalji

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, December 13, 7 PM
Ghost Of Pop 2019, feat. Palm Palm (Photo by Ashley Travis Photography), Deli Kings, Saw Black, Prabir Trio, Aster @ Gallery 5 – $5 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)

I don’t think it’s arguable that we’re right in the thick of the holiday season at this point, folks. Christmas is two weeks away, New Year’s Eve and an end to 2019 a week beyond that. Everyone’s cramming the big-box stores, shopping malls, and post offices to take care of last minute present-related needs, and then heading out to a whole passel of big year-ending shows once night falls. There are a ton of those big shows happening this week — more than I had room for in this column, by a good bit. However, in a week that also features the annual South Hill Snowdown, yet another two-night helping of Punks For Presents, and the annual No BS! Brass food drive at the Broadberry, it seemed most important to me to tell you about Ghost Of Pop at Gallery 5.

Ghost Of Pop is an annual throwdown that is the brainchild of Prabir Mehta, a guy who’s been making all sorts of musical, artistic, and scientific things happen around this town for well over a decade now. Every year, he brings together a solid collection of Richmond musicians to present their varying takes on what it means to play “pop music” in the 21st century. The bands are joined by a ton of holiday vendors and a proper holiday party, featuring drinks, photo booths, and a whole ton of holiday cheer to make the entire evening far more memorable than just another local-band showcase.

This year, Ghost Of Pop is headed up by Palm Palm, a band that, on the heels of J. Roddy Walston & The Business’s last show for the foreseeable future two weeks ago, becomes by default the main project J. Roddy is working on. Also featuring members of The Trillions, The Southern Belles, and The Milkstains, among many others, this band has a pedigree sufficient to guarantee a great rockin’ time for all when they’re onstage. We’ll also get a set from local singer-songwriter Saw Black; in light of the season and his recent release of a proper Christmas album, it seems likely that we’ll be getting a holiday-centric set from this fine fella, and that’s sure to be a lovely treat. Of course, Prabir’s current project, the Prabir Trio, will be on hand to present their anthems in praise of Bamboo Cafe and others, while appetite-driven rock n’ rollers Deli Kings and youthful bedroom-pop project Aster round out the bill in outstanding fashion. Head to Gallery 5 this Friday night and get in the spirit.

Wednesday, December 11, 8 PM
R4nd4zzo & Co, feat. Andrew Randazzo, Marcus Tenney, Jackson Shurlds, Alan Parker, Devonne Harris @ Poor Boys – $5

This time of year, the main place you’d expect to encounter bassist extraordinaire Andrew Randazzo is at the head of his R4ND4ZZO Bigband playing classic Vince Guaraldi compositions from the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. Rest assured, he and his many compatriots are still doing that this year, and you can catch them at least once more between now and December 25 if you play your cards right. But this show is another matter entirely, and it’s a chance to see Andrew Randazzo do what he does best the other 11 months out of the year.

This evening finds Randazzo heading up a jazz quintet that will bring him together with a couple of his bandmates from Butcher Brown as well as several other Virginia jazz heavyweights of his generation. Expect things to be loose and unscripted, but not aimless or boring — all of these musicians are experienced with improvisation and are sure to bring some outstanding sounds to the back room at Poor Boys. If you want to know what’s going on with jazz here in Richmond, this is the place to be tonight. You know what to do.

Thursday, December 12, 7:30 PM
Manas, Gardener @ Shockoe Denim – $10

Here’s an intriguing musical prospect brought to us by Little Dumbo, the experimental music aficionados who’ve been presenting delightfully unexpected evenings of unusual sounds around town for the past couple of years now. This time around, they’re bringing the North Carolina-based duo Manas to Shockoe Denim, and there’s no doubt that the expensive jeans will be threaded just a little differently when the evening is done.

Manas features Bhutanese guitarist Tashi Dorji, who came to the United States as a teenager, cut his teeth on the wild, politically-driven hardcore of bands like His Hero Is Gone, then moved in an experimental direction. He collaborates in Manas with drummer Thom Nguyen, an experienced noise-rock veteran, and the two of them combine abstract free-jazz improvisations with raging noise explosions in a manner that generates a great deal of fantastic tension and will leave listeners on the edge of their seat to see what this group of talented musicians will do next. You won’t know unless you’re there, so plan your Thursday evening now, because you don’t want to miss this.

Friday, December 13, 6:30 PM
Little River Creek Police, Righter, Sid Kingsley @ Hardywood – Free!

December can be a bit rough sometimes; what money you don’t have tied up in keeping the lights on and the rent paid gets eaten up by Christmas shopping, and the next thing you know, you’re sitting home every night watching Christmas specials from the 80s on YouTube because you can’t afford to go out. Well, we certainly know your pain on this one, but this Friday night, you’re in luck, because there’s a free show happening at Hardywood that would be worth your time even if you had to pay for it.

Little River Creek Police are celebrating the release of their latest single, “Yuri,” at Hardywood this Friday night. Following up their debut EP, Quiet The Ruckus, this catchy new tune finds the trio moving in a more immediate direction that adds some rough-n-ready folk-punk appeal to their jangly pop sweetness. Their set at Hardywood is sure to keep your feet moving, and you’ll be lucky enough to get sets from local indie mainstays Righter and Sid Kingsley in the bargain. See? There are still things to go out and enjoy even if you did spend your last dollar to send your mom a Christmas card. Now go enjoy yourself.

Saturday, December 14, 9 PM
Edhochuli, Inter Arma, Archbishop @ Mojo’s – $10 suggested donation

I love it when hardcore bands stick around for over a decade. The main reason I say that is because it’s always intriguing to see the ways a group evolves in a genre where most bands don’t even make it to a second album before falling apart. Edhochuli, who take their name from the most muscular referee in the world of pro football, have been cranking out excellent chaotic hardcore from the land of Pittsburgh for a very long time now, always with excellent results — results which seem to get heavier and more epic in scope with each new release. Their most recent is 2015’s Dream Warriors LP, so at this point it’s high time for them to bring us something new, and we can certainly hope they’ve got a bunch of new songs in their quivers for this performance.

Meanwhile, Inter Arma has been blazing an epic metallic path of their own for over a decade themselves, remaining ambitious and creative on their fourth full-length, Sulphur English, released earlier this year. Their tendency toward long, slowly evolving songs that build toward head-crushing crescendos remains intact on their latest release, and the members’ incredible talent at their instruments remains one of the key reasons to see this band live. This show’s pairing of them with Edhochuli makes this an unbeatable evening of heavy music, and the addition of relative newcomers Archbishop — which features ragers from local groups like The Skin and Memory Loss — will only serve to sweeten the pot that much more.

Sunday, December 15, 7:30 PM
Silent/Music Revival, feat. Yeni Nostalji @
Gallery 5 – Donations appreciated
Silent/Music Revival is a storied institution in the world of live music around Richmond, and another installment of this long-running series is always a welcome treat. Coordinated by Jameson Price of Lobo Marino, Silent/Music Revival pairs a local musical project with a silent move they’ve never seen before, for which they improvise a soundtrack on the spot. This Sunday night’s film is The Wild Cat, a 1921 German silent film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The director was at the dawn of his career when he made this film, and went on to gain fame as a director of uniquely sophisticated comedies of manners in the early sound-film era.

The group paired with The Wild Cat on this occasion is Yeni Nostalji, a Richmond-based ensemble led by singer-songwriter Christina Marie Gleixner. Born in America, Gleixner nonetheless was so strongly influenced by Turkish pop of the 20th century that she decided to create music in that idiom, singing in Turkish and playing songs that have a decided Eastern European influence in Yeni Nostalji. That influence shows through in the lush continental pop of their self-titled 2018 LP, and it’s sure to appear in the soundtrack they create for The Wild Cat as well. The combination of the two will provide a warm and sweet experience for your Sunday night. And if you stick around afterwards, Gallery 5 will also present a holiday-themed installment of Strange Projections, the VHS-driven experimental video montage experience. There’s no better way to wrap up your weekend.

Monday, December 16, 8 PM
Morbid Angel, Watain, Incantation @ The Broadberry – $30 in advance/$35 day of show (order tickets HERE)

Mondays are for metal, just like every day that ends in Y, and this week brings us a particularly metallic Monday with the arrival of three titans of death and black metal to Richmond’s own Broadberry. At the top of the list are those Floridian pioneers of death metal, Morbid Angel, who’ve been raging hard and heavy since well over 30 years ago. Lead guitarist Trey Azagthoth is the only remaining original member at this point, but the group currently features Steve Tucker on bass and vocals once again. Tucker, who previously fronted the band in the late 90s and early 00s, returned for 2017’s Kingdom Disdained, the 11th album to continue Morbid Angel’s tradition of releasing LPs in alphabetical order.

Like the band’s three previous albums fronted by Tucker, Kingdom Disdained is a dark, complex slab of metallic heaviness that stands strong alongside classics like Blessed Are The Sick, Formulas Fatal To The Flesh, and the almighty Altars Of Madness. With the embarrassment of riches within their catalog, Morbid Angel are sure to craft a set of pure devastation from their headlining spot on this bill. However, not to be outdone, Swedish black metallers Watain come to Richmond fresh off 2018’s triumphant Trident Wolf Eclipse LP, and their notoriously bloody live performance is sure to be quite the spectacle as well. Legendary New York death metallers Incantation will round things out with their fiery, brutal take on the genre, and are sure to get the heads banging as soon as they hit the stage. This one’s gonna rip.

Tuesday, December 17, 7 PM
Ages, Films On Song, Isabella VanKesteren @ The Camel – $5 (order tickets HERE)

This Tuesday night of locally-based music is another bargain for all you deal-hunters out there, as it affordably provides you with the opportunity to check out Ages, the latest project from the fertile mind of Richmond musician Age Shurte. Previously of Magnus Lush and quite a few other groups, Shurte now joins with musicians from such leading lights of Richmond rock as Dumb Waiter, Piranha Rama, and New Lions to bring us another wonderful helping of entrancing, powerful rock.

Well, that’s really just my best guess — as far as I can tell, Ages don’t have any music online as yet, and they haven’t played many shows either. But in light of all the talented RVA music vets involved with this project, I’m more than willing to blindly recommend checking them out. With melodic Charlottesville postpunks Films On Song and hypnotic Richmond singer-songwriter Isabella VanKesteren on the bill as well, this evening is sure to be worth way more than the five measly bucks they’re charging you to get in.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday, December 13, 9 PM
Sean K. Preston & The Loaded Pistols @ Taphouse Grill (Norfolk) – $5 in advance/$8 day of show (order tickets HERE)

When you’ve named your band The Loaded Pistols, it’s hard for you to fade into the background as an artist, but one listen to Sean K. Preston’s 2018 LP, Forgive, lets you know that fading into the background is the last thing this Baltimore singer-songwriter wants to do. On tracks like “Last Call,” the opening “Barnburner,” and “Snakeskin Boots Boogie,” Preston and his Loaded Pistols draw from the most evocative aspects of mid-20th-century country music, pre-war blues, early rock n’ roll, and dark troubadours like Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. With all those influences in tow, they create a spooky, dramatic sound that mixes all those styles together and is sure to appeal both to fans of rock n’ roll wildmen like the Gun Club and Reverend Horton Heat and country outlaws like Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash.

So if that sounds like something that’ll appeal to you, you certainly should make it your business to come to Norfolk’s Taphouse on Friday night and enjoy some high-energy sounds from Sean K. Preston & The Loaded Pistols. Sure, it’s the start of the weekend, there’s a lot more you could be doing, but really, can’t the Christmas shopping wait until Saturday morning? After seeing Preston and co. you’ll go all the way home with a smile still on your face. Can you really say the same thing about the holiday crowds at the mall? You know the answer as well as I do.

Sunday, December 15, 7:30 PM
Strike Anywhere, Bar Stool Preachers, Demons, Single-Use Plastic @ Chicho’s Backstage (Norfolk) – $17 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)

Strike Anywhere is from Richmond, and what’s more, they are one of the best melodic hardcore bands this town has ever produced (Avail’s their only real competition… yeah, I said it). So if you want to see them in both your and their hometown, I certainly understand that. However, the Richmond date on this particular tour finds Strike Anywhere opening for the Bouncing Souls’ 30th anniversary tour at The Broadberry — and right now, as I write, that show is already sold out. If you didn’t grab those tickets, you’re going to need to make the drive down 64 East to catch Strike Anywhere this time around.

And let me tell you, it’s worth doing. While it has at this point been an entire decade since we last got some new studio material from these guys — 2009’s Iron Front — classic singalongs like “Sunset On 32nd,” “Blaze,” and “Chorus Of One” do not diminish with age. Raising your voice to scream along with Thomas Barnett — a dude who remains a tremendously energetic frontman — is not going to feel any less powerful now than it did in years past. And you know you want to feel those feelings one more time. So do it — get your tickets, gas up the car, and make the drive. You’ll never regret it for a second.

—-

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

Longtime RVA musician Steven Boone drops debut album SoulLow this Friday at Gypsy Tea Room

Amy David | April 13, 2017

Topics: Butcher Brown, Dance Candy, Devonne Harris, DJ Harrison, Gypsy Tea Room, Jellowstone Records, music, No BS! Brass Band, rva music, Sam Reed, Steven Boone, Trongone Band, Vagabond

Whenever a musician steps outside of his/her comfort zone and away from their regular gig to pursue another project it’s always exciting to hear what they come up with. For local musician Steven Boone, fans will get to hear what he’s been working hard on the last few years on Friday when he drops his debut solo album, SoulLow.

Boone has been playing in bands since he was a teenager and currently plays lead guitar in local bands Dance Candy, Sam Reed Syndicate and Stone Brook Moonshine, and he said this album, produced by RVA’s one and only DJ Harrison, will be much different from what people are used to.

“For me, it’s a different side than what people might have seen me play around town, they know me as a guitar player {rather} than a singer songwriter,” he said. “Essentially, this album is a big huge mirror and it’s been a while that I’ve been the focus of any kind of project, I’ve gotten settled into being a side man in different bands.”

The Shockoe Sessions – Steven Boone – The Love That Got Away from Artesian Entertainment Group, LL on Vimeo.

A stripped away, soulful, bares-all approach, Boone worked with DJ Harrison (Devonne Harris) and many other fellow RVA musicians to create this personal, emotional 14-track record that’s one of love, loss and personal journey.

“They’re songs that most people who have lived long enough to experience life can relate to,” he said of the album. “There’s a couple songs that address heartbreak and relationships and a couple songs that are a more upbeat, happy kind of vibe.”

The album addresses issues anyone in their 20s and up would have experienced according to Boone.

“Decisions” for example, is a song off the album that Boone wrote his senior year in high school which delves into preparing for life in the real world.

The track “Maryann” is dedicated to the mom of a good friend of Boone’s who committed suicide. The end result is a very sweet, but light-hearted message with a cheery beat.

“His mom, she was like the cool mom, she had him when she was 16 so her whole life was him so I wrote a song called Maryann which is her name,” he said. “The thing about that song that I really like is I took the negative energy from that situation and spun It into a positive uplifting song.”

“If I Could” is a pure love song and its beautiful. Very John Mayer vibe. Actually, most of the record has a very similar sound to Mayer. Well, except for “Real Love”, (Bonus track not on the album, see below!!) which has a MUCH more funky/jazzy vibe and I’m digging it!

SoulLow has been a long time coming for Boone. Harris, of Jellowstone Records fame, said the two started working on around 2012 or 2013.

“This is the project that has taken the longest to complete from start to finish,” Harris said. “Between his career and my career, and everyone going through different things in their lives it’s taken a long, long time.”

This will be the two’s first official collaboration on a project, but Harris and Boone have played music together since they were teenagers.

“We were always playing in bands together and writing songs together, but it wasn’t anything that was really official,” he said. “After a while he started coming by and recording his own songs and I was like, ‘you should be out here with your band playing your own songs.’”

And most of the time, until they wrapped up the album in 2015, it was just the two of them recording at Jellowstone.

“He would either come by with a bunch of lyrics and sing me the lyrics and show me the vibe of the song, and I would go and record it and then he would come back and finish the guitar part and the song over top, or he would come in and do the same thing with the guitar and vocals and I would just record his guitar and vocals at the same time and do the track from there,” Harris said.

Harris, who had just finished up his Sly Stone tribute project Slyish last time RVA Mag chatted with him, said like Boone, this project was a little something different from what he usually does as well.

“Everyone knows me as a hip hop/funk or soul producer, if you look at the Jellowstone catalog you can kind of see what my forte is, which is fine, but I don’t wanna be known for only doing that,” he said.

Broadening his type of work, combined with wanting to get Boone’s voice heard were the two reasons the well-known RVA producer said he wanted to take on the project.

“Those were his songs and his lyrics, but he’d never really had anybody to expand on that,” Harris said. I’ve known Steven for a long time and I know he has a bunch of talent and I know he has a lot of songs to share with the world…so it’s neat to help get him started in the business.”

Boone was grateful for Harris’s support and said the recording process was very organic and easy since they have been friends for so long.

“He knew from being in other bands that I had a lot of songs and I had never really come out with something had my name on it and recorded the way I wanted it to be recorded and represent me,” he said.

All of the songs were written by Boone, who had five songs already put together when he came to Harris to start work on SoulLow.

“I started the album after a break up, the first song was written the day that we broke up,” he said. “The rest of the songs came through being inspired by stuff I saw around Richmond or the recording process itself.”

Boone said it look a lot of urging from Harris and personal reflection to be able to release his music for all to hear, thus the drawn-out recording process.

“It was a lot of getting my mind ready,” he said. “I feel like I’m in the place now, I feel that I’m mature enough to handle what this might take on. Devonne definitely helped push me. I’ve never showed myself like this before in such a vocal way, a lot of them do have to do with my personal life…”

Besides Boone singing and playing guitar, the album features a myriad of other Richmond musicians bringing their special talents into the mix including Andrew Trongone (The Trongone Band) back-up vocals by Sam Reed, horn players Marcus Tenney (TENNISON) and Reggie Chapman (No BS!), Reggie Pace on percussion (No BS!), Mark Ingraham on trumpet (No BS!), some members of local jazz instrumental group Butcher Brown and Harris playing a few instruments on a few of the tracks as well.

Featuring these artists allowed for not only a more well-rounded and eclectic album, but a fun recording experience.

“Having the friends we have it’s really cool to call them up,” said Boone. “Those songs that they play on I wanted a different kind of feel, I don’t want to hear myself play guitar all day.”

SoulLow will come out this Friday, April 14 via Harris’ label Reeverb Entertainment. You can catch Steven Boone and DJ Harrison at their release party for SoulLow Friday night at 9 PM, in the Gypsy Tea Room below Vagabond. $10 cover. RVA musician Sid Kingsley will be opening up for Boone.

Main image by Covington Imagery

KINGS bring vintage R&B to RVA

Marilyn Drew Necci | February 27, 2015

Topics: Devonne Harris, Jellowstone, Kelli Strawbridge, Kings, music, RVA, Sound Of Music

Kelli Strawbridge and Devonne Harris of KINGS have a presence. When you’re with them, you feel like you’re part of something different… something big. Described as the heart and soul of the Jellowstone Records family, the KINGS manifesto is that music is royal, music is KING. Their self-titled record debut will be released on March 3rd, and they’re all about bringing vintage R & B back to RVA, and back to life.

[Read more…] about KINGS bring vintage R&B to RVA

Butcher Brown celebrates new CD on Jellowstone Records Tuesday at Balliceaux

Marilyn Drew Necci | October 17, 2014

Topics: All Purpose Music, Balliceaux, Butcher Brown, Devonne Harris, Jellowstone, Kelli Strawbridge, Kings, live music, RVA

Have you folks been keeping up with the whole Jellowstone thing? You should be–after all, this new record label is the brainchild of Reggie Pace (No BS! Brass Band, Glows In The Dark, Bon Iver, etc.) and Devonne Harris, aka DJ Harrison.
[Read more…] about Butcher Brown celebrates new CD on Jellowstone Records Tuesday at Balliceaux

Sounds Of RVA Presents: On The Horizon, January 2014

Marilyn Drew Necci | January 21, 2014

Topics: Black Water Gold, Cannabis Corpse, Devonne Harris, Diamond Hairbrush, DJ Harrison, Gracious Ghosts, Graphic Melee, music, On the Horizon, richmond, Rob Milton, RVA, Slayton Dixon, Sounds Of RVA, The Welcome Hips

2014 is our year. How difficult is it to not get inspired this time of year? I’d like to see some research some time that focuses on the month with the highest in composition. Let’s face it, January sorta blows, but musicians know how to make the most of it.
[Read more…] about Sounds Of RVA Presents: On The Horizon, January 2014

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