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Tennishu, Kenneka Cook, The Sisc Jockey @ The Camel

Justin Mcclung | March 5, 2020

Topics: events, RVA, Things to do in Richmond

Marcus Tenney is bringing his Tennishu project to The Camel with guests Kenneka Cook and a vinyl set by The Sisc Jockey.

Tuesday March 10th
Doors at 8, Show at 9
$5

TENNISHU
Marcus Tenney is a multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and producer from Richmond, Virginia. He is a full-time member of Butcher Brown and is the leader of several of his own projects, including The Marcus Tenney Quartet, The Marcus Tenney Trio as well as Tennishu, the self-produced and self-recorded hip-hop arm of his Tennishu Music collection.

KENNEKA COOK
Growing up in Richmond, VA, she was obsessed with the moon, staring out her window at the night sky in awe of its mystery. The title track on Cook’s debut record Moonchild, set for a February 23rd release on American Paradox, is both a product of her intense connection with the cosmos, as well as a tribute to the embracing of celestial feminine energy. Musically, Cook bridges the gap between beat-driven sonics and melodic jazz in a brazenly colorful and tonally rich debut album.
Cook’s early training took place in her church choir and school chorus. Her tastes eventually shifted towards heavyweights like Billie Holiday, Erykah Badu, and The Cardigans, informing her confidently playful, harmony-heavy, atmospheric style. Initially she was making acapella songs with a microphone and laptop during the end of her college career out of necessity, describing her voice as “the only instrument I truly had access to” at the time.
She discovered the process of live looping through Reggie Watts, who sometimes uses looping techniques in the songs found in his comedy acts. She covered the jazz standard “Night and Day” using the technique and it turned out better than she ever could have hoped. From there, she began to fully explore creating music and on the new album, she welcomes a variety of live players into the fold to flush out and widen the unique sound she created on her own.
Moonchild is a glimpse through Cook’s lens, exhibiting heartfelt lyrics and melodic themes on spirituality, technology, and social interaction. The album opens with serious meditations on the state of human connection (“My Universe”, “Don’t Ask Me”) and finds its way to a fun-as-hell-take on the now-classic “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance” by Vampire Weekend. “Please” transforms a conversation between Cook and her mother into a soft hymn, and “Brings Me Back (111)” depicts the mutual beckoning of soulmates.
There’s a DIY backbone here too, as the album was recorded entirely in producer Scott Lane’s living room, transformed into a makeshift studio that was regularly set up and torn down. It was recorded this past summer over 3 months time, and features players Devonne Harris (piano/Butcher Brown), Kelli Strawbridge (drums/Kings), Caleb Knight (drums/Sammi Lanzetta), Chris Speasmaker (piano/The Congress), Andrew Sisk (drums/Angelica Garcia), Marcus Tenney (trumpet/Foxygen), Russell Lacy (guitar/Mikrowaves), Sid Kingsley (saxophone/Sid Kingsley), Jared Pool (mandolin/Larry Keel), and Scott Lane (production/engineering).

THE SISC JOCKEY
Vinly spun by Griffin Sisk

Step Into The 1920s with Into the Woods’ Souvenir

RVA Staff | March 4, 2020

Topics: art, dame florence foster jenkins, dance, events, events in richmond va, events near me this weekend, events richmond va, Fan, fan district, gabrielle maes, into the woods, into the woods productions, plays, plays in richmond va, richmond events, richmond va, RVA, souvenir, stuart ave, the Fan, Theatre, theatre in richmond va, theatre richmond va, things to do in richmond va, things to do richmond va, voice club

In the living room of a Stuart Ave home in Richmond’s Fan District, the world’s worst opera singer comes to life… and this unique comedy play heads into its final weekend. 

Into the Woods Productions invites you to the living room of a Fan District home for its latest theater production, Stephen Temperley’s Souvenir, starring Gabrielle Maes and Levi Meerovich and directed by Chelsea Burke. A ticket to the show promises a night of heartwarming friendship, over-the-top humor, and the ear-splitting voice of the world’s worst opera singer. You might want to bring some ear plugs. 

Gabrielle Maes, founder of Into the Woods, stars as Dame Florence Foster Jenkins from the comfort of home. Maes has transformed the large double living room of her historic Stuart Avenue house into a set for Florence’s private music room, complete with framed portraits of the infamously untalented songstress, marble statuettes, and the obligatory grand piano.

“When you walk in, you really feel that you’re being transported back into a drawing room from the 1920s,” said Maes. The front room can only accommodate an audience of around 40; Levi Meerovich plays Cosme McMoon, Florence’s accompanist, as Maes’s only co-star. It’s sure to be unlike a traditional theater experience. “That’s the feeling,” said Maes. “It’s a truly intimate production.” 

PHOTO: Wolfcrest Photography

This isn’t the first time Maes has opened her home to an audience for the endeavors of her production company. Since Maes founded Into the Woods, she’s produced many theater performances and salon concerts using her own living room floor as a stage. 

Into the Woods also puts on Voice Club in Maes’s Stuart Avenue home, an intimate monthly gathering for showcasing any — and truly any — style of vocalized performance. Voice Club has hosted burlesque, flamenco, poetry, spoken word, drag, and stand-up comedy, among other voice-related talents. “It’s a lot of work, having to frequently move and rearrange the furniture,” said Maes. “But the acoustics in my house are great.” 

Maes founded Into the Woods in an attempt to raise industry standards in Richmond by ensuring that performers and artists are paid for their work. “There’s so many talented people here, and such a vibrant music and theater scene,” said Maes. “But the thing is, musicians and artists don’t really get paid. Which seems unusual to me, because I’ve always lived in places where we do.” 

Maes has lived in a lot of places — she grew up in Montreal, studied vocal performance in Jerusalem, lived in Paris and Milan as the mother of five children, and taught at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. She has lived and performed in a total of nine different countries, and it was in Malaysia that she first played the role of Dame Florence Foster Jenkins. She won the Boh Cameronian Award for best actor in her performance. 

PHOTO: Wolfcrest Photography

She now takes her award-winning Souvenir performance to the Fan District of Richmond, with an obvious affection for the role. Dame Florence was a wealthy New York City socialite and a dedicated patron to the arts, who then rose to infamy with an opera career of her own in the 1920s. “She was an absolutely horrific singer, and an incredibly eccentric person,” said Maes. “She liked to pose for these things they used to call ‘tableaus,’ but she was rather homely — big boobs, overweight, hook nose — but she didn’t care.”

“She was extremely theatrical and entertaining; she’d get dressed up in wigs and weird hats. People would go watch her sing to laugh at her, and she had no idea they were laughing, so it’s kind of tragic in a way,” said Maes. “But they kept paying to see her perform, and they loved her — her singing was ridiculous, but there was also something so genuine about her.”

Into the Woods’ production of Souvenir focuses on the more innocently heartwarming narrative in Florence’s life: the genuine, platonic love that she shared with her pianist, Cosme, a gay Mexican immigrant. As these are the only two roles billed, the singular drawing-room set of the venue inevitably leaves Florence’s public life up to the audience’s imagination. 

Maes asserts that there’s quite a rich story to tell of these two. Cosme accompanied Florence’s vocals for 12 years, from early obscurity to the pinnacle of her career, when she sold out Carnegie Hall. Cosme was not deaf, and therefore well-aware of her glaring lack of talent, and he saw the ridicule that she was so oblivious to. “He tries so desperately to protect her, and they end up becoming very good friends,” said Maes. “It’s a love story, really. It’s very poignant.” 

According to Maes, it’s also hysterically funny, with much of the humor derived from Florence’s obliviousness to Cosme’s exaggeratedly obvious homosexuality. “He hints at it constantly throughout the play,” said Maes, “yet she teases him relentlessly about the young ladies.” 

PHOTO: Wolfcrest Photography

Souvenir runs for its final weekend on Stuart Ave. from Thursday, March 5 through Saturday, March 7, with all showings at 8 pm. Once the faux marble statuettes imitating 1920s Manhattan have been traded back for Maes’s everyday living room decor, Voice Club will resume and Into the Woods will be onto planning its next production. And while it’s hard to say what that will be, Maes clearly has an affinity for opera. She directed for Capitol Opera about a year and a half ago, then produced and starred in a fully staged, full-orchestra Handel opera. But she’s also known for hosting plays underground (literally), with 15th-century tavern song concerts taking place in a cave-like building below Pump House Park… so expect the unexpected from Into the Woods. 

To learn more about Souvenir, find Into the Woods at their website and buy tickets to this weekend’s showings here. 

Top Photo by Wolfcrest Photography

Folk Yeah! Diving Into The Richmond Folk Festival

Jimmy O'Keefe | October 18, 2019

Topics: Brown's Island, events, folk festival, international music, lady bass music, local music, music, pure shea store, Richmond Folk Festival, rock hill bee farm, Studio Two Three, traditional music, vendors

If you’ve ever been skeptical of attending large festivals, the Richmond Folk Festival might just change your mind.

Where else can you find Tuareg guitar, Tuvan throat singing, and honky-tonk all in the same weekend? The Richmond Folk Festival, of course!

The Richmond Folk Festival took place for the 15th time this year from Friday, October 11 through Sunday, October 13. Over 100 performances were held on seven stages throughout downtown Richmond’s riverfront. Between the music, craft vendors, and food trucks, attendees would have a hard time making their way through the weekend without finding something to love.

Photo by Dave Parrish Photography

Despite how ubiquitous the Folk Festival is in local media and on social media each October, this past weekend was my first time visiting. I’ve always had a bit of a distaste for festivals, with their enormous crowds and pandering corporate sponsors. Cliché as it may be, I’ve always had a preference for smaller shows and the intimate and egalitarian environments that they foster.

But I think the Folk Festival this past weekend may have changed my mind about some things. For the first time in my life, I found myself surrounded by word-class musicians of genres of all types, many of which I had no clue existed. Like other festival-goers, I was free to stroll throughout the area, stopping to listen to anything and everything that caught my ear. And I didn’t even have to pay a dime.

Photo by Dave Parrish Photography

Venturing into the Folk Festival from Oregon Hill, the first thing I came across was a parking lot full of food trucks. Children slid down a grassy hillside on pieces of cardboard as festival-goers strolled through the lot, seemingly as hungry for the food as they were for the culture. Crowds cheered as a train passed overhead, complete with the happiest engineer I’ve ever seen waving proudly out the window. Afro-funk could be heard in the distance. The whole scene seemed so jubilant; it had the air of a carnival. Any cynicism I originally had about going to the festival dissipated.

Things only got better and better as I encountered more music during my time at the festival. The diversity of music on display is by far the greatest strength of the Folk Festival. Even just staying put at one stage will give an attendee a roller-coaster ride of sound — take Saturday evening at the Costar Stage, for example. Things got started with Julie Fowlis performing traditional Irish folk songs before giving way to the Syrian dance music of the Aleppo Ensemble. Next, Balla Kouyaté and Famoro Dioubaté undoubtedly introduced the crowd to the unique sound of the balafon, a type of xylophone that uses gourds to produce sound. Huun-Huur-Tu closed out the night with their Tuvan throat singing.

Photo by Dave Parrish Photography

Even if the dizzying number of musical acts at the festival failed to interest an attendee, there was plenty left to do. An entire marketplace was set up, offering just about anything you could think of. There were prints from Studio Two Three and jewelry made of recycled musical instrument parts from Lady Bass Music. You could pick up some soap and lotion from Pure Shea Store. Looking for some honey? Rock Hill Bee Farm had you covered.

The Richmond Folk Festival completely shattered my notion of what a festival could be. The sheer size of it was wild — last year, 220,000 attended, and I’m sure this year was either the same or bigger. With something captivating at every turn, I have no doubt that I will find myself at next year’s Folk Festival, and probably each one after that, too.

Top Photo by Dave Parrish Photography

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Drive Shack Takes a Swing at the Richmond Area

Jonah Schuhart | October 14, 2019

Topics: community service, craft beer, drive shack, driving range, events, Games, golf, golfing, News, nonprofit

With golf balls, grill food, and community service, Drive Shack is setting the par for driving ranges in the River City. 

Driving up Route 288 just before it meets I-64, Richmonders have watched an impressive-looking structure grow over the last several months, and awaited their chance to go inside. Drive Shack, the brand-new driving range in Goochland, finally opened its doors last month for all to see — and well over two weeks past its September 20 debut, it’s still crowded with excited visitors.

Located at 1647 Four Rings Drive, Drive Shack is home to three levels of spots for golfers to hit balls into the massive driving range. It’s clear from the establishment’s food, games, and events that it welcomes more than just golfers, with plenty for families and businesses in the city to enjoy.

“We’re just trying to bring a little bit of everything to Richmond,” said General Manager Michael Matley.

Photo via Drive Shack Richmond

The driving range itself is large, taking up more than three-quarters of the facility’s 65,000 square feet. The range is also outfitted with technological attractions, meaning that it can track a golf ball’s flight path, distance, and landing location to display it on screen. The obvious benefit to this is that it allows golfers to more accurately judge where they tend to hit the ball. The range lacks any hills or natural grass, utilizing synthetic astroturf; so while it may be a good place to practice, it’s nothing like the kind of golfing on real grass one would find at a golf course.

The system also comes programmed with games for customers to play. Some are more casual, fantasy-style games for less serious golfers, but there is also the option to play a full 18 virtual holes of golf.

But those aren’t the only games at Drive Shack. The establishment also has a mini-arcade that widens its appeal; what’s more, it serves as an event space, with a full bar and food menu.

“We partnered with Performance Food Group for our food,” said Matley, “so we’re able to use local suppliers.”

Photo via Drive Shack Richmond

Their focus on food also extends to Richmond’s popular craft beer market. Seven local Richmond breweries have beers on tap at Drive Shack, including Hardywood’s special “Drive Shack Golden Ale,” brewed as a special release for its opening.

But Drive Shack’s interest in the Richmond community doesn’t stop with craft beer: members of their team have been working with nonprofit organizations like GoochlandCares since before the establishment opened. Along with participating in community service with their company, Drive Shack’s management team held a food drive for the first ten days the business was open. For every pound of food collected, Drive Shack donated one dollar.

“We’re looking forward to doing that even more,” said Matley. “[We have a lot of] responsibility to give back to the community with our time.” 

Culture and Kites at The World Heritage Festival

Jonah Schuhart | September 19, 2019

Topics: Brown's Island, chaka trading co, chris perez, community, Culture, ecuador, events, festival of kites, festivals, manassas, Maryland, News, richmond festivals, world heritage festival

The American melting pot came together in the River City with The World Heritage Festival’s stop at Brown’s Island. 

The World Heritage Festival is dedicated to sharing and experiencing a variety of foreign cultures, and it visited one of its new centers for sharing on Brown’s Island in Richmond this past Saturday for a day full of traditional dances, goods from countries like Ecuador and Kenya, and foods from a variety of places around the world.

Photo via World Heritage Festival

The World Heritage Festival visits a number of locations yearly in both Maryland and Virginia. After Richmond, they wrapped up their 2019 trip with a visit to the Manassas Museum on September 14.

In addition to being a cultural event, The World Heritage Festival is also paired with the Festival of Kites. So along with the cultural melting pot of vendors and performers came an army of families, flying kites and enjoying the nice weather.

“I thought it was a good opportunity to get out,” said Mike, a Richmond father of two. “We love kites. We love the open doors, so we decided to come out.”

But while some attendees were there simply to soak in some sun and have a good time, many people were there to highlight more serious worldwide issues.

Photo via World Heritage Festival

Chaka Trading Co. is a small Ecuadorian-American business that ran a booth during the festival. Their mission is to donate to foreign students in need, and for every Ecuadorian-made product they sell, they donate a backpack.

“Chaka stands for ‘bridge’ in Quichua, which is the indigenous language of Ecuador,” said Chris Perez, the CEO and co-founder of the company. “Our goal with Chaka is to bridge cultures through trade.”

This goal has led the newly-founded company to pursue reciprocal business deals with various countries across the world, including Rwanda, Turkey, and Cambodia. It’s also perfectly in-line with the World Heritage Festival’s goal of sharing between cultures.

Photo via World Heritage Festival

“To me, America is a melting pot of cultures, and venues like this give an opportunity for people to show what they bring to the American melting pot,” said Perez.

LOCKN’ 2019: A Family Reunion

Nicholas Daily | September 16, 2019

Topics: Appalachia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Bluegrass, events, festivals, grateful dead, indie, interlockn, lockn, Lockn Festival, nicholas daily, travel, Virginia Tourism

The seventh annual LOCKN’ festival proved that this Blue Ridge Mountain weekend has something for everyone, not just Deadheads and hippies.

Growing up in Lynchburg, Virginia has taught me a lot of things. It made me appreciate the Blue Ridge Mountains, bluegrass music, the beautiful scenery, the diverse environment, and the southern hospitality that Virginia has to offer. Granted, there are things I don’t care for, but as I grow older, I find myself appreciating it much more. I suppose it’s bittersweet. 

There’s a certain serenity to the area that I appreciate. There’s nothing like breathing in the mountain air, experiencing the wildlife, walking through the diverse forests, and diving into the winding rivers or local watering hole that quite soothes the soul like it.

The inaugural edition of LOCKN’ — then known as Interlockn’ Music Festival — was announced seven years ago. With great acts such as Furthur featuring Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, The String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic, Black Crowes, and so many other bands that I loved set to play less than an hour away from my hometown, I couldn’t believe it. It was almost too good to be true.

Before going to LOCKN’, I feared I would be greatly disappointed by the reality not living up to my expectations. If anything, it was the opposite. My experiences through this festival have shaped my life in ways that I can’t even explain. Being around all of my friends, amazing music, and right in my backyard was the recipe for a life-changing experience.

Today, there are not many festivals that make me happier than LOCKN’. Maybe I’m biased because I have lived most of my life in the Blue Ridge Mountains, or because I’m an avid fan of The Grateful Dead and other similar artists, but I have fallen in love with this festival. Plus, getting away from the hustle and bustle of living in Richmond is a nice escape.

But honestly, this festival is not just for Deadheads and hippies. There’s something for everyone. With a vast range of genres and once-in-a-lifetime collaborations, it’s a festival where you can go from rocking out with your elders to having your elders rock out with you. This year’s edition of LOCKN’, held Aug. 22-25, featured acts such as Vulfpeck. This band’s hard-bassline math-rock-esqe witty funky jams sound like what I can best describe as Dick Dale on acid, and they have a playful sarcasm that will get everyone around you dancing and prancing like a unicorn.

Then there was Khruangbin (which in Thai translates to airplane, or literally “engine-fly”), hailing from Texas, who had a go-go-dancing funky Thai rock fusion and were joined by a sit-in collaboration from Phish front-man and guitarist Trey Anastasio. They’ll have you whisked away on an airplane to funky town, and feeling like you’re on the set of a Quentin Tarrentino movie.

There was also St. Paul & The Broken Bones, from Birmingham, Alabama, whose soulful gospel-like brass and retro soul music will transport you into a serendipitous 50’s and 60’s present day. Leader Paul Janeway’s ridiculously awesome stage antics and opera-like vibrato pull you into a performance that rivals an Elton John show.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong was joined by Cory Wong of Vulfpeck. Mind-melting guitar solos and funk overload had me shaking my booty to their psychedelic jam funk. They were reminiscent of Parliament-Funkadelic with a new flair for stage antics, like stage synchronized swimming with an anecdotal hilarity.

For the nocturnal folks, late night over at the bright dayglo neon Garcia’s Forest hosted acts such as Circles Around The Sun, an instrumental jam band with a wild juxtaposed composure, sounding like Booker T. & The M.G.s and the Grateful Dead’s jams mashed together. On Friday night, Galactic’s funky jazz electronic fusion brings with it a dance party to remember. Saturday had Soullive ft. Infinity Horns, an awesome bluesy soul-jazz and jam fusion.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I could go into all of the amazing performances and collaborations that happened throughout the weekend, but really, for me, the best part of going to LOCKN’ is not just the music — it’s the community. I’ve been going to music festivals for over a decade, and this is the only one where I can both bump into people I grew up with from my hometown that I haven’t seen in over five years, and make new friends that I continue to bump into each year. It brings this familiarity of a family reunion — but one where everyone feels like your family.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: I lost my wallet on the Saturday night of the festival, and was really distraught by it. Worrying about having to sit in the dreaded DMV, and waste my life away on countless automated phone lines trying to replace all of my credit cards, almost ruined the night for me. But I pushed it out of my mind, hoping that there are good people out there.

The next day, I went down to their Lost and Found, and sure enough, my wallet was waiting for me. It even had the cash and everything else the way I had left it. Inside, a small note was tucked in, saying “Happy Lockn! – Anonymous.” It gave me a reignited hope for humanity.

There’s a certain sense of community at LOCKN’ that you won’t find anywhere else. People are smiling, dancing with each other, helping each other out, and creating lasting memories that leave you eagerly waiting for LOCKN’ to come back around again.

I can’t wait for next year’s family reunion.

Photos by August J. Heisler IV of August J. Photography

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

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