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RVA Shows You Must See This Week: March 30 – April 5

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, April 2, 2 PM
WRIR‘s Party For the Rest Of Us, feat. Colin Phils, Ant The Symbol, Gritty City Records, Prabir Trio, Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers, The Wimps, Holy River @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery – Free!
Y’all, it’s been 17 years since WRIR, the community-run, non-profit, low power station at 97.3 on your FM dial, started broadcasting from its studio up above The Camel on Broad St. And for those of us of a Certain Age, the obvious reaction is “Wow, time flies.” Meanwhile, I assume pretty much everyone in the local music scene under 30 feels like WRIR’s just kinda always been there. It’s an understandable reaction, considering how young y’all were when it started broadcasting. On a radio dial that is more than ever full of the same songs you’ve heard a million times before inbetween what feels like 45 minutes of advertising per hour, WRIR is a breath of fresh air, bringing us all community info, a finger on the pulse of the local culture, and music you’ve generally never heard before — often from right here in Virginia.

However! It’s important that none of us here in Richmond ever start to take WRIR for granted. This non-commercial station survives and thrives only through the valiant efforts of many volunteers, as well as all the donations they can scare up. That’s what WRIR’s Party For the Rest Of Us is about: bringing the Richmond community a really great event, full of music and fun, in return for all of our support to keep them going for another year. In previous years, this annual event has generally been coupled with a request for donations. This year, they’re advertising it as free, but you should still bring a few bucks to help them out — or drop those buckaroos into the virtual tip jar you can find over at wrir.org.

In exchange for your contribution (or even for your lack of one — which is OK, because between high heating bills and gas pump sticker shock, lord knows a lot of us don’t have a dime to spare right now), you get an amazing afternoon at Hardywood, full of outstanding musical talents from the Central Virginia area. There are too many to get to even if I hadn’t spent most of my space talking about how great WRIR is, but let’s go for a lightning round: Colin Phils bring delectable post-rock goodness, Ant The Symbol and Gritty City Records represent the finest in RVA hip hop, Prabir Trio and The Wimps show us all how great indie rock can be even in 2022, Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers dish out yet another helping of their buzzworthy Americana, and last but not least, there is the uncategorizable psychedelic folk atmospherics of Holy River. A truly formidable lineup that’ll be the perfect soundtrack as you while away your afternoon hanging out with the fine folks at Hardywood. What more could you ask for? Another great year of wonderfully unpredictable non-commercial community-run radio, you say? Well, you know what to do.

Wednesday, March 30, 6:30 PM
Drug Church, One Step Closer, Soul Blind, Lurk @ The Broadberry – $16 in advance, $18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This one’s exciting. Drug Church, who hail from upstate New York, play an incredibly catchy brand of post-hardcore, and feature as frontman one of the current hardcore scene’s most colorful and fascinating veterans, just released their fourth album, Hygiene. Even if you, like me, already loved this band, you’re bound to be impressed with the quantum leap they’ve taken with this brand new release. In particular, the aforementioned frontman, Patrick Kindlon, has stepped up his game. His unique vocal style might not have been for everyone in the past, but he’s managed to bring significantly more melody to his approach on this album without losing an ounce of the frenetic urgency that’s always made him such a riveting frontman.

So yeah, what I’m saying is this: if you don’t have plans tonight, you gotta get over to the Broadberry and catch Drug Church. And if you do have plans, you probably should just break them and bring whoever it is you were gonna chill with to the show with you. The newest Drug Church material is so much fun, even your grandma will probably dig it. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that Drug Church are coming through accompanied by One Step Closer, whose intense, powerful, yet always subtly melodic take on hardcore will excite fans of Turning Point, Fiddlehead, Praise, and a whole ton of other classic bands. The lineup is rounded out by the grungified post-hardcore of Soul Blind and the chunky alt-rock of Lurk. This one’s gonna be a solid gold banger from beginning to end. Get there.

Thursday, March 31, 7 PM
The Warhawks, The Octavias, Sincerely Iris, Wallpaper @ Garden Grove Brewing – Free!
Do you like to rock? Who doesn’t, am I right? Those of us who do are certainly delighted to see the return of the semi-regular free rock shows at Garden Grove Brewing, a place that became a good under-the-radar spot to see some killer bands in the year or so before the pandemic destroyed live music as we knew it. Not every venue that used to be a solid bet for good music in the pre-pandemic days has made it back, but it’s good to see a few lately that I wasn’t hearing from back when I first restarted the column — especially this one.

Thursday night at Garden Grove will be a real rock n’ roll ripper, so get stoked! New Jersey’s The Warhawks are the out-of-town guest on this bill, and they’re touring right now in support of This Ain’t Art, a new six-song EP that brings us all plenty of loud guitars and moody vocals in the classic tradition of everything from Jesus And Mary Chain to the Black Keys before they jumped the shark. They’ll get the room rocking when they take the stage and crank up their amps, as will local garage-rock duo The Octavias, who more than make up in noise and fury what they lack in low-end amplification. Todd Murray’s prolific solo project, Sincerely Iris, who play what Murray calls “road trip music,” will add a more emotional flavor to the evening while keeping toes tapping. Meanwhile, slowcore newcomers Wallpaper will enrapture us all by evoking Mark Kozelek before he jumped the shark. Show up for this one — you won’t regret it. And hey… the price is right.

Friday, April 1, 7 PM
Flight Club, Keep Flying, Nancy Raygun, Shotclock, Plastic Flamingos @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Pop-punk is supposed to be fun, and this show is definitely going to live up to that billing. I know, I know, local guitar-slingers Flight Club want everyone to stop thinking of them as pop-punk; they even released a single called “High Roller” a while back that did its best to convince us all that they went post-Killers disco-hipster rock. Thankfully, the rest of their new album, Until The Sun Drowns, shows that this RVA quintet has retained their flawless melodic sense and driving punk energy, and it’s a very safe bet that all of this will carry over to this Richmond Music Hall double bill.

Sharing headlining duties is New Jersey quintet Keep Flying, who somehow manage to be an upbeat poppy punk band with a horn player without turning into a ska band. Instead, said horn player adds saxophone melodies that do a great job augmenting the skate-punk leads, then contributes to the band’s multi-vocalist round robin. It sounds like a crazy idea, but it ends up totally working. If you can get into Knuckle Puck, Four Year Strong, or State Champs, you’re sure to enjoy what Keep Flying brings to the table for this show. This stacked bill also features a variety of openers, including North Carolina pop-punk goofballs Plastic Flamingos, Richmond alt-rockers Nancy Raygun, and local newcomers Shotclock. Be there.

Saturday, April 2, 7 PM
Spoken To: An Evening Of Spoken Word and Poetry, feat. Ryan Kent, Black Liquid, Denise Walters, Summer Storms, S. Preston Duncan @ Gallery 5 – Free?
Poetic and musical forms have always been closely linked, from Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan’s lyrics getting published as poetry to Jack Kerouac legendarily setting his writings to jazz accompaniment. And don’t even get me started on hip hop. For that reason, I have no qualms recommending that all of you spend your Saturday night at Gallery 5 taking in the non-musical sounds of Spoken To, an evening of spoken word and poetry. After all, the label up there at the top says “shows you must see,” right? It doesn’t say a damn thing about music.

Regardless, there’s music running through the words of Ryan Kent, a local poet who has also spent years singing in several different Richmond-based metal bands. However, he’s also published multiple poetry collections, and is currently preparing a spoken word LP for release. So yeah — where spoken word is concerned, Ryan knows what he’s doing. The same can be said of Richmond rapper Black Liquid, who has certainly written plenty of poetry set to hip hop beats over the years. Seeing what he comes up with when he doesn’t have a backing track will be fascinating. Story quilter Denise Walters, who is a member of the Nottoway Tribe, will bring us tales told through cloth as well as words. The lineup is rounded out by witch poet Summer Storms and poet/pyrography practitioner S. Preston Duncan. All have plenty to offer. Be there to appreciate their gifts.

Sunday, April 3, 7 PM
Daisychain, The Background Action, Death Plumes @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Sunday nights can be tough. Everyone’s gotten their ya-ya’s out on Friday and Saturday, and the weekend is coming to an end, so for many people, Sunday night is a night to head home early. However, true rock n’ roll heads know that some of the best underground sounds can be found on nights when there’s not all that much going on — because touring bands have always got a hole in their schedule to fill. Luckily, The Camel is there to take them in, and those of us who are truly dedicated to music as life get to be there and hear great new bands before everyone else has necessarily caught on.

All of this is a long way of getting to the point, which is that Chicago’s Daisychain are truly essential listening. This band of relatively young people pull from multiple prior generations of Windy City guitar legends, mixing everything from the classic electric blues of Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy to the 70s-influenced grunge-rock of 90s legends Urge Overkill. There’s even a little bit of Janis Joplin and Heart mixed in here, coming out through the angelic voices of singers Sophia Williams and Nickole Regala. I know you might be tempted to head home early Sunday night, but take a disco nap and head back out to catch Daisychain at The Camel instead. I promise you won’t regret it.

Monday, April 4, 7 PM
Soft Kill, Alien Boy, Topographies, True Body @ The Camel – $15 (order tickets HERE)
All Richmond live music heads need to give thanks to whatever deity they do or don’t believe in for The Camel. The only venue in this city who truly seems to share our belief that music doesn’t need a night off, we can always count on the Camel to have a show queued up for us on Monday night, when we’re in desperate need of some solid sounds to blow away the mental residue of another depressing Monday back at work. And it’s almost always a really good show, too — witness this excellent bill that brings us two killer touring bands for the price of one.

Soft Kill is the first; their 2020 LP, Dead Kids, RIP City, does a great job of mixing sharply ringing postpunk guitars with driving dance beats and synth textures, all in a decidedly noir-ish mode that leads one to imagine the Cure with the energy of first-LP Bauhaus. Whether you’re into dark, driving rock n’ roll or moody, gloomy goth, these guys have something you’ll like. As for co-headliners Alien Boy, this Portland quartet were already on my radar due to their excellent 2021 LP, Don’t Know What I Am, which is still growing on me six months later. Driving, melodic punk with a moody gothic undertone is what they bring to the table, in a manner that lands somewhere between Wax Idols and Veruca Salt. That’s enough to win me over right there. San Francisco gothic industrial group Topographies and Virginia’s own postpunk veterans True Body round this one out with aplomb. Shake off the Mondays with this one.

Tuesday, April 5, 7 PM
Escape From The Zoo, Crazy And The Brains, Chupaskabra @ Richmond Music Hall At Capital Ale House – $15 in advance, $20 day of show (Order tickets HERE)
I have a confession to make, y’all: I wasn’t necessarily all that on-board for the whole ska-punk thing back in the 90s. And if I’m even more honest, I really think I missed something by skipping out on all that stuff at the time. Today, I look back at stuff like Operation Ivy and Voodoo Glow Skulls, and I think: dang, those kids sure seem like they were having a lot of fun. Luckily for all of us who missed out — and for everyone who got it when it was originally going on — the whole ska-punk thing is experiencing a major revival right now. And Fat Wreck Chords signees Escape From The Zoo are at the forefront of all that.

Led by Jesse Sendejas of Houston folk-punk group Days N’ Daze and his mandolin-strumming wife Veronica, Escape From The Zoo take all that catchy, upbeat strumming that was the best part of the whole folk-punk thing and mix it with the electrified punk energy of the good bands of the 90s ska-punk revival: the ones that realized you have to lead with the punk and the speed, and just let everything else work itself out. That’s what Escape From The Zoo does on their brand new LP, Countin’ Cards, and that’s what’s gonna win you over when they take the stage Tuesday night at Capital Ale House. Xylophone-driven dance-punk veterans Crazy And The Brains and local ska-punk up-and-comers Chupaskabra round out this bill, and will do more than their fair share to increase the fun quotient and bring your Tuesday night to bright, glorious life. Get ready.

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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]

Keeping It Gritty

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Johnny Ciggs may regret the goofy name he gave himself at the start of his hip hop career, but with his new album, Lighters and Lightbulbs, the Gritty City Records label head shows that his talent is no joke.

Before Johnny Ciggs became a rapper and owner of Gritty City Records, the inspiration for a potential stage name came during a night out at Sticky Rice.

“There was a bunch of soft-ass rap playing up there, and I was just like ‘Man, this is soft as shit.’ So to my friends, I was like, ‘If I was gonna be a rapper, I’d be raw. I’d name myself MC Cigarettes,’” said Ciggs. “And then when I started rapping, I was like ‘I guess I gotta call myself that,’ because, you know, I said that I was gonna.”

The name didn’t last for long, and he decided to change it after referring to himself as Johnny Ciggs in a song.

“I hate the fuckin’ name. I wish I had a different name, but it is what it is,” said Ciggs. “It just doesn’t do anything for me, but other people say it’s dope, so that’s great.”

Ten years and ten releases as Johnny Ciggs later, Gritty City is promoting his newest full-length, Lighters and Lightbulbs, with producer D.R.U.G.S. Beats.

Originally from Alexandria, Ciggs first came to Richmond from Burke, where he grew up in 2002 as a student at VCU. Years later, he was tired of his job in sales and decided to do an internship at Da Spot Recording Studio.

“I learned a ton of stuff from them. I mean, the way that I go about recording sessions to this day is all based on what they taught me,” said Ciggs. “How to set up sessions and how to record in general, all those things I learned from there.”

As part of his homework for the internship, Ciggs was tasked with recording a song, which would become his first rap project. At the time, he was listening to classic East coast hip-hop from artists like Mobb Deep and Nas, which would continue to influence his work. Much of the subject matter in Ciggs’ lyrics is similar as well, what he would call “braggadocious rappity-rap,” but it also addresses his struggles with alcoholism and mental health issues.

“A lot of my music is more fun if you really listen to what I’m saying. I’m just making fun of myself and the ridiculous and crazy way I used to live,” said Ciggs. “Some days I wanted to die, other days I thought I was living the dream. But really, nothing changed, it was all nonsense.”

Lighters and Lightbulbs features many other artists, many of which are long-time friends of Ciggs and members of the Gritty City circle. However, some are new to working with the group, like Brooklyn rapper Agallah, who appears on the album’s opening track. Ciggs has collaborated with Agallah once before, but at first he was just a fan of his.

“I had always been a fan of Agallah’s music, he makes some really hard shit,” said Ciggs. “One day I was out drinking with [Gritty City artist Fan Ran], and he was like ‘You know, I bet if you hollered at that dude you could work with him.’ I was like ‘You think so?’” 

Timbo King, who appears on the album’s second track, is an affiliate of Wu-Tang Clan who now lives in Richmond. He came to know Ciggs when he was looking for a recording studio in Richmond, and the two were introduced by mutual friends. “Top Tens,” the seventh track on the album, featuring rapper Ben FM, is an ode to the Top Ten, a classic hi-top Adidas basketball shoe that’s worn by Ciggs almost every day. Ben FM, a Richmond rapper who has worked with Gritty City on multiple occasions, wears Top Tens while rapping.

“I wanted to make a song about Top Ten Adidas because they’re my favorite shoe, and he was the only dude I knew who wore them. He also happens to be a nasty rapper, so it’s just how it had to be,” said Ciggs. “Me and Ben have been talking about doing that song for years, and we finally got it done.”

In addition to his own rap career, Ciggs produces and engineers many of the releases put out by Gritty City, as well as booking many of their shows. The group used to perform at house parties regularly, but have more recently frequented The Camel and the now-closed Emilio’s, both on Broad Street near VCU. Gritty City has been doing an annual show for charity since 2014; the sixth Gritty City for the Kids show will be on December 18, and will be live-streamed on their Twitch channel, @grittycityrecs.

The material on his new album was written a few years ago and recorded last year, and Ciggs is already moving towards the release of his next album. “Moonlight Pt. 5,” the final track on Lighters and Lightbulbs, is somewhat of a setup for it.

“The next album I have coming in a few months is an extremely serious album,” said Ciggs. “Because it’s about when, finally, everything came crumbling down.”

Stay tuned.

Lighters and Lightbulbs, as well as all of the Gritty City releases, can be found on the label’s bandcamp or website.

Photos via Johnny Ciggs/Facebook

Hip Hop In Full Bloom

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Reppa Ton’s new EP on Gritty City Records, A Flower In The Pot, shows the veteran RVA rapper weathering the storms of life and finding new ways to grow.

It’s been five years since we last caught up with RVA’s very own Reppa Ton, and a lot has changed since the last time we spoke with the Gritty City Records rapper. New singles, new videos, and even a new EP released on April 3rd, entitled A Flower In The Pot. Reppa Ton produced half of the album’s eight tracks himself; other producers include Determinate Inc. & Jazz Jhsn, D’Artizt, Bushi Vibes, and Ant The Symbol, with features from Skinny Hendrixx, Dirty Bleus, and Alisha Music.

Reppa Ton describes the inspiration behind the new album as a compilation of sporadic thoughts. Recording in the comfort of his home, he worked with whatever feelings that came to his head. He hadn’t necessarily planned for the songs to come together as one project, but after Gritty City reached out to see if he still wanted to release an album through the label, he pulled together a collection of recent recordings.

“It started off with five songs, but I could hear a story in it, a central theme,” said Reppa Ton. “I decided to add three more songs to fill the gap and paint this full picture.”

He recorded about half of the album while dealing with two bouts of sickness in the space of the month (luckily, this happened before the coronavirus epidemic). He didn’t let his sickness stop him from working, though.

“When I finally got to a normal healthy spot I finished the project and concluded the story,” he said. “The intro [‘The Seeds’] was literally the first song recorded, and the outro [‘New Flower’] was the last one recorded.”

Things might have taken longer to come together had Gritty City not approached him about an album. Reppa Ton has actually been working on a longer, more involved project entitled IAMHAPPY for years now, for which he’s sitting on something like 50 songs.

“When Gritty City Records approached me about the status of the album, I was nowhere near finished, but still wanted to release something,” he said, explaining the decision to release A Flower In The Pot now. “At the time, ‘The Seeds,’ ‘Blu The Samurai,’ ‘Honeymoon Phase,’ and ‘Magic Treehouse’ were already created for IAMHAPPY,” he explained. “I dabbled around with those four records for a while until I came up with the idea for releasing a small EP, which would turn out to be A Flower In The Pot.” 

Photo via Reppa Ton/Facebook

However, fans who’ve been waiting for IAMHAPPY will be glad to know that Reppa Ton still plans to release it in the future. “I’ve started new work on it,” he said. “AFIP is basically just a key in the ignition for the road ahead, being IAMHAPPY. It was necessary for AFTP to be preluded thematically.”

For Reppa Ton, the theme of the new EP leads directly into what he’s trying to say with IAMHAPPY. “The message [of A Flower In The Pot] was finding the growth in any situation of pain, celebration, disparity, small success,” he explained. “IAMHAPPY is the after-effects of being one with your past, your present and future. Finding true happiness doesn’t always contain a smile.”

The EP’s first single and video is “Magic Treehouse,” a song Reppa Ton came up with while trying some new things. At five and a half minutes, it’s significantly longer than any of the other Flower In The Pot tracks.

“I was bored in my apartment thinking about the next move in my career,” he said. “I found the beat on YouTube, recorded the record in 30 minutes, and released it the same week. I thought it would be a cool artistic stance to release a five-minute song in this microwave era of music.”

The video for “Magic Treehouse” was born from a similar spur-of-the-moment creative outburst, which came about with aid from Gritty City labelmates Johnny Ciggs, Fan Ran, Sneeze, and Miles. “The video with High Club Productions came about almost improvised,” said Reppa Ton. “We met at Maymont’s Japanese Garden and built it from our surroundings.”

Of course, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, artists are having to do a lot of rethinking about their approach to their work, and Reppa Ton is no exception. He’s had to come up with new ways to stay relevant and in the public eye.

“For the past five or six years I’ve been a touring act. Some of my greatest moments and accomplishments come from touring the US,” he said. “With this year being what I like to call my ‘return to the forefront’ year, I had tour dates planned, interviews planned, pop-up shops, and physical meetings planned out. But weeks before the album released, everything slowly started fading away. My clothing and physical CD orders came to a halt, just a complete shutdown.” 

For Reppa Ton, the new Plan B involves new ways to brand and showcase his new release, and social media has been a big outlet for that. “Gaining knowledge on how to properly work social media and the internet has become essential for the eyes to not go away,” he said. “Blog posts, keeping the Instagram engagements going.” He’s been working with artists all over the world on remixes and covers of songs from the album. And depending on how long the quarantine lasts, he hopes to engage in themed live performances over live streaming platforms.

For now, A Flower In The Pot is available in CD and digital formats from Gritty City Records, and follow Reppa Ton on Instagram @reppa_ton for updates on his next moves.

Top Photo via Gritty City Records/Facebook

VA Shows You Must See This Week: December 18 – December 24

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FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, December 19, 7 PM
Gritty City For The Kids 5, feat. Gritty City Records (Photo by Jake Cunningham), Segga Spiccoli, Radio B, 3WaySlim, Reppa Ton, Scuba, Bandolero, Illa Styles, Versace Chachi, Shawn Mike, Starr Nyce, A.Day, Gritty City Sound Machine @ The Camel – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Y’all, when you’re the editor of a magazine that focuses on the entirety of the music scene in a mid-sized American city, let me tell you, a lot of pressure gets put on you. Specifically, the pressure to say that every single thing from that city is equally great. And that’s an easy job most of the time, because Richmond really does have a tremendous musical scene. But sometimes, especially in this column, I like to drop the facade a little bit and let y’all know how I really feel. This is how I really feel: in Richmond, if you want hip hop, the best place to go is Gritty City Records.

If you ask me, there isn’t even a convincing argument against it. Without even mentioning their formidable, nearly decade-deep back catalog, just look at the wide cross-section of Richmond talent that released projects on Gritty City this year alone! We’re talking Ant The Symbol, Noah-O, Fan Ran, Johnny Ciggs, Rah Scrilla, and more. And look at the wide cross-section of talent appearing on Gritty City’s annual holiday extravaganza this year. From label stalwarts to all-star guests, this one is truly stacked with talents that bring a wide variety of Richmond hip hop flavors to the table.

For example, there’s Illa Styles, whose latest album, A Quarter Til A Mil, released just a month ago, is the kind of hip hop masterwork we’re lucky to get in any year. There’s Radio B, whose work with AGM always dominates the city and remains highly underrated in the world at large. Plus Segga Spiccoli, Versace Chachi, Reppa Ton, Bandolero… the list goes on for quite a while, and it’s all top-quality. Plus, this show is affiliated with Punks For Presents, so cash and toys donated will help add to the annual bonanza that group delivers to the Children’s Hospital. There are a million reasons to be in attendance for this, so you really should just go ahead and do it.

Wednesday, December 18, 9 PM
Mister Goblin, Pet Fox, Baby Grill, BigDumbBaby @ Wonderland – $10
Two Inch Astronaut had a lengthy career full of high points in melodic, emotional postpunk, and it was a real bummer to hear that this Maryland band was ending last year. Thankfully, frontman Sam Woodring didn’t slow down at all, and only a year later, we’ve already got the debut album from his post-Two Inch Astronaut project, Mister Goblin. Is Path Warm?, which sounds like a badly translated subtitle in a foreign film, was released just a few weeks ago by Exploding In Sound Records, and now Woodring and co. are coming to Richmond to bring us some excellent sounds, live and in person.

Mister Goblin might sound like a hip hop or electronic project, but the band isn’t much different than Two Inch Astronaut, really — maybe a little moodier, with a slightly more wistful vibe, but really, if you were into the last Two Inch Astronaut LP, 2017’s Can You Please Not Help (now THAT’s a great album title), you’re not going to find anything not to love in what Mister Goblin’s bringing to you now. They’ll be coming to town accompanied by Bostonians Pet Fox, in which Ovlov drummer Theo Hartlett is stepping out from behind the kit to front a trio with strong melodic inclinations and maybe just a bit less crunch than his other band. If you dig Ovlov, though, you’ll want to catch Pet Fox on their way through town. So spend your midweek evening at Wonderland tonight — you’ll be glad you did.

Thursday, December 19, 7 PM
Post Sixty Five (Photo by Joey Wharton), Nah., Colin Phils, Fullscreen @ Poor Boys – $5
Prsmcat, the new show-booking crew from members of Majjin Boo, have been running things in a downright familial manner over at Poor Boys, and it’s been really nice so far. They picked up the banner of locals-only shows that fell to the ground with the sad departure of Strange Matter, and have been doing shows featuring known and up-and-coming groups regularly over at Poor Boys. This latest, the last before the holidays, is a birthday celebration for Hicham Benhallam, who is not only the soundman at Poor Boys but the frontman for Post Sixty Five. And, not coincidentally, Post Sixty Five will be headlining this show.

The ambient indie group with its roots throughout Virginia haven’t been all that active in recent years — their last EP was released in early 2017 — but if anything, that makes it more exciting to get a set from the quintet to cap off a celebratory evening. What’s more, we’ll also hear from Nah., a DC-based group who stretches the definition of “local” but has a welcome synth-spiced indie-postpunk sound that will go perfectly with that of Post Sixty Five. With local faves Colin Phils and newcomers Fullscreen filling out the bill, this one’s gonna be a wonderful time all around.

Friday, December 20, 8 PM
Ty Sorrell, Bon Ki, Billy Capricorn @ Gallery 5 – $8
One of the greatest things about Richmond label Citrus City is their eclectic palate. From electro-pop to indie-psych to erudite hip hop, they release music from any genre that strikes their fancy, and rapper Ty Sorrell’s brand-new Citrus City cassette, At God’s House, makes that all the more clear. The release, a co-production with Boston’s Disposable America, is what we’ll be celebrating at this show, and it’s certainly worth a party, considering how well Sorrell displays an engaging combo of erudite rhymes and multi-layered beats on this project.

Sorrell brings in all sorts of guests on At God’s House to sweeten the pot and enliven the proceedings, and we should see a similar sort of thing going on at this Gallery 5 throwdown, especially since psychedelic indie space rangers Bon Ki, who appear on the album, will also be playing a set this evening. Will we see folks like Alfred and Rob Gibsun joining Sorrell onstage as well? There’s only one way to find out.

Saturday, December 21, 8 PM
Elizabeth Owens, Spartan Jet-Plex, Melul, Persephone @ Garden Grove Brewing – Donations for VAVP appreciated
Singer-songwriter Elizabeth Owens has been making a name for themselves around Richmond for a couple of years ago. Backed by The Live Bats, they created a moving indie-folk song cycle entitled Coming Of Age in 2018. That album explored the difficulties of finding oneself amid an alienating, oppressive world, through a story of a young princess finally escaping a mystical imprisonment after years of isolation. Now, in 2019, Owens is bringing us another take on that tale with an acoustic EP entitled Still Coming Of Age, which reimagines some of the standout tracks from the original album in a bare-bones solo context.

It’s that EP that this performance at Garden Grove celebrates, and for this release party, Owens will join with other performers to create an intimate, personal evening of solo musical endeavors. Hard-working local collective Grimalkin Records has been Owens’ label of choice for a while now, and fellow Grimalkin artist Spartan Jet-Plex will be one of the performers on this bill, bringing their haunted balladry to the Garden Grove stage. The evening will be rounded out by the dark ambient atmospheres of Melul and a solo turn from Aesthetic Barrier’s Persephone. Plus, Owens will have holiday gifts for friends who attend, so this show is sure to bring a little of the positive holiday spirit into your heart.

Sunday, December 22, 5 PM
R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND (Photo via VPM/Facebook) @ Fuzzy Cactus – Free!
Last time we were in this space, we talked about Richmond’s own jazz bassist extraordinaire, Andrew Randazzo, and his efforts heading a variety of ensembles here in town. At that time, I told you that there was at least one more opportunity awaiting you to see Randazzo’s foremost orchestra, the R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND, engaging in their excellent yearly interpretations of Vince Guaraldi’s immortal soundtrack for best Christmas special ever A Charlie Brown Christmas. Well, if you didn’t mark your calendars then, you definitely should now, because that time has come.

Guaraldi’s original soundtrack was performed by a simple trio, with Guaraldi’s piano backed solely by bass and drums. The R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND treatment is something else entirely, though, as it augments a crack rhythm section featuring Randazzo and some of his Butcher Brown compatriots with a dozen or so horn and reed players, plus even some occasional guest vocals, for a massive big-band treatment of quite a few absolute classic Christmas season tunes. Are you struggling to find the spirit this year? Look no further — R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND will put you in the proper mood.

Monday, December 23, 7 PM
Sons Of The Beasts @ Chiocca’s – Free!
Relaxing holiday times are much the same throughout the year — the closer they get, the more relaxed things are around the music scene. And when things are relaxed, musicians inclined towards jamming truly come into their own. That’s when we see mainstays of the scene take stages to get loose and explore what can happen outside the confines of a standard set list, and it’s where all kinds of one-offs and improptu supergroups find time to shine.

You’ll see exactly that kind of thing taking place at Chiocca’s, that little sandwich shop in a Museum District basement, when Sons Of The Beasts get together again for the first time in quite a while, in order to unleash some rockin’ acoustic fun times. If you’re not familiar with the name, you still know the musicians — members of The Southern Belles, The Congress, Jackass Flats, and more are represented in this quartet, and they’ll be dishing out a variety of tunes from their other projects along with some fun covers and unexpected delights. We all know no one gets anything of substance done the week of Christmas, so start the week off with some fun and rock out with Sons Of The Beasts at Chiocca’s.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Wednesday, December 18, 8 PM
Turnover, Men I Trust, Renata Zeiguer @ The NorVA (Norfolk) – $23 in advance/$26 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Turnover’s gone through a lot of changes over the years, from their roots as a melodic, emotional post-hardcore group to their middle period as a shoegazing dream-pop combo. Now, with their brand-new fourth album, Altogether, they’ve integrated an 80s New Wave synth sound that finds them progressing yet again — to a land somewhere between Vampire Weekend, ABC, and 60s tropicalia. That’s a long way to go in six years.

However, it’s a trip that’s worth taking with these Tidewater boys, who keep finding fantastic new ways to express their ever-renewing pop sensibility. So join the Turnover crew as they return home for the holidays with a big party at The NorVA. They’ll be accompanied by Men I Trust, a hypnotic bedroom-synth group from north of the border, as well as up-and-coming torchy Brooklyn songwriter Renata Zeiguer. It won’t be a stage-dive fest of old, but if you appreciate good music, Turnover’s latest transformation will please you every bit as much as their previous incarnations.

Thursday, December 19, 6:30 PM
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society benefit, feat. Super Doppler, No BS! Brass Band @ Naro Cinema (Norfolk) – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The holidays bring out the giving spirit in everyone, and our favorite local bands are no exception. Punks For Presents is far from the only example, and live music collective LAVA Presents proves that on Thursday by joining with two of the best bands in Virginia right now — rockers Super Doppler and funk-jazz party-bringers No BS! Brass Band — to throw a hellacious wingding at Norfolk’s Naro Cinema to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

As charity events go, you’ll have more time writing this one off on your taxes than you will pretty much anywhere else, and rest assured that between our two musical hosts, we’re sure to get plentiful opportunities for smiles, singalongs, and dance parties. What better way could there be to kick off the last weekend before Christmas? (Goodness knows, if any weekend starts on Thursday, it’s this one.)

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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

What You Were Lookin’ For: Weekend Playlist by Johnny Ciggs

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Every weekend, RVA Mag drops a banger of a playlist curated by influential artists, musicians, and institutions.

This time around, we’ve got a playlist from Gritty City Records majordomo Johnny Ciggs, who has been rapping, producing, and curating some of the finest hip hop this city has produced for most of a decade now. His latest EP, Hotel Kanade, dropped last week, and now he’s bringing us a playlist full of hip hop, funk, soul, and R&B classics, plus a couple of totally random things thrown in there just to get your attention. This one will keep you moving all weekend.

Wake up, Virginia.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

GRITTY CITY IS 4 THE KIDS

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Gritty City Records presents

GRITTY CITY IS 4 THE KIDS

starring…

GRITTY CITY
NICKELUS F
NOAH-O
JOEY GALLO
BLACK LIQUID
BIG KAHUNA OG
GRAYMATTER
YOUNG FLEXICO
SEGGA SPICCOLI
BANDOLERO
REPPA TON
ANT THE SYMBOL
ILLATUNGS
EDISON AV.
PROFOUND79
SHAWN MIKE

MUSIC BY ELLIOTT NESS

HOSTED BY BEEN OFFICIAL

DOORS @ 7:30pm

SHOW @ 8pm

DEC. 20TH @ THE CAMEL

$10

*all proceeds benefit PUNKS FOR PRESENTS

**flier by Jarred Barr

***tickets sold here
https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/mobile/index/1793534?utm_medium=bks