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The Street Photographer: An Exclusive Q & A with Lamb of God Frontman Randy Blythe

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In the shadow of an empty pedestal on Monument Avenue, the Lamb of God frontman spoke about the chaotic era we’re all living through, and finding peaceful moments to savor amidst the chaos.

Frontman. Author. Visual Storyteller. Philosopher. These are just a few of the words one can use when describing Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe. Fronting one of the biggest metal bands in the world, you might even be forgiven for making certain assumptions about what an interview with him might be like — because they’d all be wrong. Far from being removed from the chaos of everyday life, Randy is hyper-absorbed into the realities of the moment.

Nowhere is this more apparent than when speaking about his experiences as a street photographer and visual storyteller — two aspects of his work that have been pressed into service over the past seven weeks in his home town of Richmond, Virginia. Even more so since the murder of George Floyd and the start of months long street protests. Yet as every good photographer knows, you cannot capture the emotional depth of the human experience without also being a person of emotional depth and experience yourself. 

RVA Mag caught up with Randy one humid Friday night at the plinth of the now removed Confederate statue of JEB Stuart on Richmond’s Monument Ave. Covered in movement messages, this spot has become a favorite for the city’s skaters and BMX riders. Only a few weeks earlier, the city’s skaters led a march called “Skate in Solidarity” in support of Black Lives Matter; this event saw hundreds of skaters leave Texas Beach, a local skatepark, and descend on the former Confederate statue. True to his skating roots, Randy was also behind the lens for this demonstration before the evening ended with a confrontation between the police and protesters. Even in these kinetic environments, Randy is quick to observe that the quiet moments of humanity amongst the chaos oftentimes make for the most impactful images and social documentation. 

RVA Mag: I think we can start this pretty simply: You’re in one of the biggest metal bands in the world, but you’re also a visual storyteller, so what story are you telling in 2020?

Randy: A rather chaotic one. 2020 has had many stories to tell, starting with the Coronavirus pandemic. This was the beginning of the black ball of chaos that is now rolling down hill. I’ve been out a lot at night in Richmond, shooting — particularly downtown and in The Fan — completely by myself, and the city was utterly empty. People were obviously here, but inside, particularly at night. The streets were really eerie. Then shooting during the day, the few human portraits I would get to make were interesting because they were withdrawn. Because nobody knew what the fuck was going on. 

RVA Mag: I don’t think that confusion has abated any. 

Randy: So that led into the story of the economic impact [of COVID]. I was shooting a lot of shuttered businesses and empty shopping districts. And then the George Floyd protests occurred, and I went out and shot the first night of that. Since then I have gone out and been doing what I always do, which is head out into the city streets and shoot what they provide — what attracts my eye. Obviously there have been a lot of tense moments lately to capture. 

RVA Mag: There is a lot of raw human emotion right now. 

Randy: Yes, and a whole lot of people capturing that. There are a lot of photographers. I think consciously what I am now looking for is the quiet moments you can find in the middle of all that chaos. Those are harder to find. 

RVA Mag: You were outspoken in advocating for healthcare workers on the frontline of COVID, but as a city we moved quite rapidly from COVID to the street protests. Was there a nexus between these two things for you? 

Randy: First of all, there is no way to make the on-video murder of George Floyd any less abominable. That’s obviously not the only time police have killed people, it was just the latest one caught on video. So this is not to diminish that atrocity, but by the time that happened people were primed: They had been under lockdown, they don’t know what’s going on, there is so much disinformation in the media — on both sides — which is horrific. There is the economic fallout, everyone is wondering what and the hell is going on. Everyone has been in a really tense place. So when this happened — to use a trite analogy — it was a perfect storm. 

RVA Mag: Let me build on that a bit: You have a global career, touring all over the world, but you always come back to Richmond. What’s it like to come back here and see this on your city streets? 

Randy: I’m careful in how I answer questions like this. Because I have seen this before. We were in Thailand during the Redshirt Revolt. When we landed, there were 100,000 people camped out in downtown Bangkok. Right before we go on stage, there is an announcement made that the government just declared martial law and that anyone not home within an hour will be going to prison. We’d not even played our set yet. They announced that and the Thai people [at the show] were like, “Fuck you, we’re staying.”  

RVA Mag: Wait, so you played a show in Bangkok while the city was under martial law? 

Randy: Absolutely, 100 percent. 

RVA Mag: Ok, this is rock n’ roll lore now. Did the authorities try and stop you from performing? 

Randy: No, they were busy massing downtown. There were 100,000 people in downtown Bangkok — protesters — all wearing red. I still have a red protest bandana. We got off stage and I went down there. Everyone was super cool with us, but everyone was strapping on homemade armor and then there was this massive, massive riot. I wound up back at the hotel, but later that night the protesters took over a police station and stole hundreds of automatic weapons. 37 people died that night, including three or four journalists. The next day, right after we took off, they closed the airport. And that’s just one story. I’ve seen stuff like this on an even larger scale. 

So for me, seeing it here is very, very odd. Seeing tear gas being popped off on Monument Ave is fucking crazy. Things here have remained more tumultuous for longer because of where we’re sitting [across from the removed statue of JEB Stuart]. We’ve reached this boiling point, but it’s always kind of been here in Richmond. We’re a majority black city, people need to understand that. I can’t speak for a single black person, but most of them don’t appreciate these monuments. 

RVA Mag: The public memory of these men, memorialized in these statues, is ending with this generation. As a thought exercise, everything they stood for and how they were propagandized throughout Virginia and US history ends here and now. Is that special to you as someone from Richmond? 

Randy: It is intense to see. There was a lot of talk about how they were going to be contextualized. Like, put a little plaque there. But unless you are right up on that plaque, the monument itself does not convey that — it still conveys a position of power. It is harder to contextualize something that is built, positioned, and placed so purposefully to convey this one thing. How are you going to put context with that unless you build something equally as large beside it? And no one was talking about that. 

I think they have been contextualized now. You can look at all these monuments, they have been fucking contextualized. 

RVA Mag: We have seen aspects of popular culture respond to this movement very quickly. In terms of being a national touring act in a period of national transition, what role do you see the metal scene playing in pushing the change we’re seeing?

Randy: Well, it’s interesting. We just released our eighth album, Lamb of God — the tenth one we’ve ever recorded [including two released under the name Burn The Priest]. The whole premise is the unsuitability of our current way of life. A lot of the songs seem prescient. The cracks in the system we’re seeing against systemic racism in our society, none of this surprises me. The pandemic doesn’t surprise me. 

RVA Mag: In an American context or individual life context? 

Randy: In a societal context, it was inevitable. Business as usual in America, and here we are. As a heavy metal singer, I had to source N95 masks for physician friends of mine. And I could do that, and I did do that, delivering them to doctors and nurses. The fact that a fucking heavy metal singer can, and a physician can’t, is ludicrous and is evidence that we’re unprepared. So this is not unpredictable.

But make no mistake, young people are leading this right now. Oftentimes I am the oldest dude out here shooting. I am going to turn 50 next year. You have all these young people becoming more educated, while also facing an uncertain economic future. They have the knowledge of the systemic racism, they are putting things together and seeing these things and thinking it is fucked up. Eventually there is going to be a breaking point. 

RVA Mag: There is so much cultural turbulence right now. Is punk and heavy metal music still the music of rebellion, the way it used to be?

Randy: The real shit is. Fuck yeah it is! But in this particular situation, heavy metal and punk rock, like everything else as it grows bigger gets diluted. I would say hip-hop is more the voice of this. Hip-hop gets diluted and commercialized too, it’s pop music in a lot of ways. But I have heard a lot of good hip-hop coming out of Richmond — through RVA Magazine — with great social commentary [holds up his phone to show a stream of Richmond’s JR Da Rapper].  

RVA Mag: Let’s switch to photography. Some of this movement’s photography over the past six weeks has been phenomenal and tells the real story of what is happening on the street. In your opinion, what’s the role of photographers right now capturing a world in transition?

Randy: First of all, I have to give a shout out @eyeneyevisons — Christopher “Puma” Smith. He’s been shooting on film. I’ve not met him yet, but I really dig his work. But for me, as a photographer, I don’t pretend to be 100 percent subjective — I don’t work for Reuters. I document what’s going on. Just as every person in this society has different feelings about what’s going on, each photographer is going to look at things through a different eye. I think it is the responsibility of photographers who are dedicated to their craft — at least for street photographers and social documentarians — it’s the duty and role to go out and see this thing through their own eyes and make pictures for later. The more perspectives we have visually, as a visual record, the better we’ll be able to understand what has happened.

This is history. My take is to try and capture different viewpoints.

RVA Mag: You have an upcoming photo essay in Revolver. With all the images you’ve taken, how do you pick the ones that will be published? 

Randy: It was actually relatively easy. The theme I am looking for is the quieter moments in the middle of the turmoil. Because I have a lot of pictures of that [turmoil], but so does everyone else. For me, it is harder to find the quieter beautiful moments in all of this [shows a picture of two Black children sitting on top of Lee Monument]. I wonder how the kids sitting there will always remember that as a good day. I was thinking how strange it was to remember good times I had at this monument, which was erected in the service of oppression. Then I looked at these two kids sitting up there and they were having a blast. Now I’m wondering, years from now, when they are pushing my age and remember that day — not only how good of a day that was, but also remember why it was such a good day. 

RVA Mag: You said earlier that Richmond is your refuge. What’d you think in the moment when you were capturing images of the police targeting protesters? 

Randy: I think about the really rapid shift in the geographic realities. For years this has been what they call an idyllic place, and now it is an emotionally charged vortex. After seeing this for so many years, it is like a portal has been opened to another dimension. And now it is covered in messages like “fuck cops.” I never would have thought someone could have written that on this statue. Photographs have changed history. A photograph can be that impactful. If you think about the famous photograph of the burning Buddhist monk [Thích Quang Duc, during the Vietnam War] — that photograph changed everything. 

RVA Mag: You have a new album out. What’s the future of touring musicians given the global pandemic? There is a knock-on effect that is going to be felt for sometime. 

Randy: Live shows will come back. This won’t last for fucking ever. I am going to scream if I hear some idiot on TV say “these are unprecedented times.” These are not unprecedented times. Unprecedented means we’ve never had this before; we’ve had the Spanish Flu, we’ve had economic collapse, we’ve even had massive civil unrest on a much larger scale — somehow everyone survived. It is important to document, remember, learn, and take knowledge from these times into the future. Hopefully we’ll emerge from this shitstorm as better people. 

RVA Mag: You’ve touched and seen such a wide cross-section of America through your touring. When you look out into the audience in 2020, are you inspired that we’re going to course-correct and be better than what we’ve been the past four years? 

Randy: I have hope that we will emerge as better people. Politically, I am as optimistic as you can be living in this ludicrous two-party binary system where it is still two old white dudes. I think we need some young people, some more variety. I think we need a woman president, which unfortunately is not going to happen this time around. Everyone, in so many ways, just seems so beaten down by the past four years. People just want to sit and chill without something abominable crazy and fucked up happening every day. 

RVA Mag: On that relatively optimistic note, let me say thank you for such killer conversation.

Some of Randy’s photography can be found right here.

*All photos by Landon Shroder

Dull Fangs: Weekend Playlist by Dumb Waiter

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Every Friday night, RVA Mag brings you a totally rockin’ playlist curated by Virginia’s most influential artists, musicians, and institutions.

This week’s selection of killer tunes comes to us from Dumb Waiter, the avant-garde jazz-metal quartet that unifies the sounds of such disparate acts as Frank Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Iceburn, and John Zorn’s Naked City. Their complex, progressive instrumentals have been fascinating the musically adventurous in Richmond and beyond for years now, and earlier this year, they released their fourth full-length album, Tsk, which follows in the footsteps of third album Heck in taking its name from a popular interjection.

Releasing an album during a pandemic is bound to be a tough proposition, but it’s worth it to get a new collection of unique tunes for Dumb Waiter; copies are still available on vinyl and cassette from the band’s Bandcamp page now. You know what to do. And while you wait for the postman to arrive, rock your hot and humid weekend with this eclectic collection of inspiring tuneage from the musicians of Dumb Waiter. You’ll get sounds from every genre they incorporate and then some, resulting in an impressively wide variety.

Prog out, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Appalachian Aggression: Heavy Music Is Alive In The Rural South

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

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

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

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

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

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

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

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

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

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

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

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

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

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

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

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

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

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTO: Via Jack Cooper III

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

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

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

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

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

Lust for Destruction: Throwback Weekend Playlist by Vinyl Conflict’s Bobby Egger

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Every Friday night, RVA Mag brings you an essential playlist curated by Virginia’s most influential artists, musicians, and institutions.

This week, we’re bringing you an encore presentation of a playlist put together for us a while back by Bobby Egger, the proprietor of Vinyl Conflict. As we discussed earlier this week here at RVA Mag, everyone’s favorite Oregon Hill-based purveyor of punk rock, hardcore, metal, and hip hop has been working hard to ensure that no pandemic stops the flow of great music. In the coming weeks, stay tuned to Vinyl Conflict’s website and social media presence to keep up with the fundraisers, interviews, and great deals they’ll be presenting to keep our spirits up throughout the quarantine.

Meanwhile, as some slightly delayed April showers today transition to spring warmth over the weekend, Egger’s playlist is just as sure to heat you up; when you listen to it, you definitely won’t want to sit still.

Start the pit, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

BodySnatcher, Born A New, Great American Ghost At Riffhouse

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Friday, February 28, 6 PM
Bodysnatcher, Born A New, Great American Ghost, Genosha, OnceDrowned, Split Wrist @ RiffHouse Pub (Chesapeake)

You know you’re in for a heck of an evening when the Facebook event page features the words “no fighting, throwing chairs, or breaking tables.” If that’s the kind of activity the promoters are prepared for in advance, chances are things are going to get pretty crazy, even if none of those things actually come to pass. But with Bodysnatcher on the bill, you can’t really expect anything less. This Florida group’s crossbreed of beatdown hardcore and slam-style death metal is positively crushing on their brand new LP, This Heavy Void, and if it didn’t generate at least a few explosive mosh pits over the course of a live set, I’d have to wonder if the entire city of Chesapeake was asleep.

This event is out of town at RiffHouse in Chesapeake Ticket Link

Shake Some Action: Weekend Playlist by Cobra Cabana

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Every Friday night, RVA Mag brings you an A-plus can’t-miss playlist curated by Virginia’s most influential artists, musicians, and institutions.

This time around, our playlist comes from Cobra Cabana, the much-loved restaurant and bar on Marshall St in Carver. They’ll be rocking hard all day tomorrow with a one-year anniversary party sure to be the highlight of your weekend. As much of a staple as this place has become in its first year of existence, it’s hard to believe it’s been in our lives for such a short time. Here’s to many more years of awesomeness!

Saturday’s party, a free affair, begins around 3 PM and will last into the night. It will feature performances by legendary rap superstar Kool Keith and stoner rock veterans Weedeater, both of whom show up on the playlist Cobra Cabana put together as a sneak preview for RVA Mag’s readers. There are a ton of incredible sounds on the playlist, from Euro-pop and essential disco to No Wave, hardcore punk, and classic country — plus a whole lot more. Put it on now and you’ll blast it all weekend — except when you’re actually at Cobra Cabana, of course.

Dig in, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond