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A Day At The Races

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While the history of NASCAR may lie in the bootlegging, blockade-running days of Prohibition in Appalachia, today’s races marry the sport’s moonshining, outlaw-racing origins with the modern world. Racing in 2019 invites folks to fly their own flags alongside the colorful and checkered symbols of its own, encouraging fans old and new to experience the excitement from all walks of life.

With a group of our own first-timers and favorite Richmonders, RVA Magazine took to the track last Saturday, April 13, for Richmond Raceway’s Toyota Owners 400, right here in our own River City. WWE star Mickie James, Municipal Waste’s Tony Foresta, rapper Nickelus F, Valient Himself of Valient Thorr, and rapper Michael Millions joined our team with a common purpose: Fast cars, big thrills.

PHOTO: Stuart Mauck

No two tracks may be the same, but Richmond brings something special to the table for both drivers and fans. Our track, smaller in comparison to multi-mile raceways like Talladega or Daytona, makes for tighter turns and higher difficulty (i.e., more fun). On the other side of the fence, Richmond Raceway has a yellow brick road of sorts, manifested in an access tunnel for the public that lets lucky fans catch the race from inside the track.

Among the lucky, our crew got to walk the “road under the road,” stepping out on the other side of the tunnel into the center of the infield.

PHOTO: Stuart Mauck

The newest adaptations of the cars, whose glory days of the 60s and 70s only pushed out about 250-300 horsepower, have more than doubled: Richmond Raceway’s track allows for cars that pack around 750.

Gearing up for the race, fans piled in from around the country as early as 6am last Tuesday morning. Campers, trucks, tents, and golf carts lined the fields around the raceway to tailgate and celebrate, with the same excitement that sparked with the sport decades ago.

RVA Magazine – Nascar 2019

With a special mural dedication before the race, NASCAR honored a treasured local artist, Sam Bass, who called Richmond his home and worked with the organization for years before passing away earlier this year. The mural, which can be found in the raceway’s media center here in town, drives home the importance of Bass to the racing community throughout the years.

The Richmond Raceway grounds are home to more than the track; they hosted events all weekend, including public Driver/Crew Chief Meetings, Toyota Thrill rides, Virginia Lottery giveaways, and a Craft Beer Fest full of breweries from around the state.

If you’re planning to hop in the Toyota thriller next time around, make sure you’re not weak of heart or stomach — in stock Camrys, fans can hop in with professional drivers to have the guts scared right out of them in twists, turns, burnouts, and close calls with the wall, all designed to bring your breakfast back up (and still have you jumping back in line for another round).

PHOTO: Branden Wilson

Down in the infield, pit crews line the track, while fans full of beer and Larry’s Lemonade gather at the gates to watch the action. Each car and driver are unique to their own specs, but experience reigns supreme.

PHOTO: Branden Wilson

“While the entry point for NASCAR might seem intimidating for first-time race-goers, the experience is unlike any other sport,” wrote RVA Magazine managing partner Landon Shroder following last September’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at the track. “And unlike other forms of motorsports, NASCAR is unique in that there is a certain level of egalitarianism to the way the teams are structured. What this means, in real terms, is that unlike Formula-1, the NASCAR team with the most money is not always likely to win.”

“For instance, NASCAR regulates just how big the engine can be, limiting the size to 358 cubic inches, restricting the amount of horsepower an engine can produce. This ultimately makes the racing experience more about driver competency, rather than dollars spent on high tech racing gear. Because of these rules, the leaders of the race change frequently – sometimes with multiple race leaders on a single lap.”

PHOTO: Stuart Mauck

Every point of the track during a race brings a unique experience to the table. From the infield, the behind-the-scenes area gives a personal look at crews working while drivers rush on around you. The Richmond Raceway has tickets for regular seating and infield access to open the thrill to fans of all kinds, and from above the track and along the straightaway, the speed of the cars can feel unbelievable as drivers accelerate by in colorful blurs with each passing second.

PHOTO: Stuart Mauck

Until you’ve seen it in person, the excitement of the days-long party that surrounds professional stock car races is hard to imagine in its full fire — and like all things Richmond, the raceway holds a part of our culture that can’t be found anywhere but here. With a case of beer in arm and a ticket in hand, a day at the track is an experience like no other in the River City.

The 400 race is returning this fall. We’ll see you there.

PHOTO: Stuart Mauck
PHOTO: Stuart Mauck
PHOTO: Stuart Mauck
PHOTO: Stuart Mauck
PHOTO: Stuart Mauck
PHOTO: Stuart Mauck
PHOTO: Branden Wilson
PHOTO: Branden Wilson

Whitesburg, Kentucky

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*This article originally appeared in RVA Mag #36, on the streets now at all your favorite spots.

After being on the road for more than a week, Nickelus F and I left Chicago for the midwest leg of our tour and headed south to its final shows. After a short stop in Lexington, Kentucky for a pop-up show, the next day we found ourselves riding through the hills of eastern Kentucky, headed to a small city called Whitesburg: population around 2,000. Surprisingly, when the tour was first organized, this small Kentucky town was the first city to book Nick and I. Having never been to Kentucky for anything — let alone music, let alone hip-hop — I knew the tour stop was going to prove interesting.

Watching the country roll through hills and windy roads, I kept wondering why people would choose to live in such a rural area. The closer we came to Whitesburg, the more I realized that normal city attributes like neighborhoods, shopping centers, restaurants, and gas stations seemed to disappear and reappear like mirages — harbingers of civilizations.

This was offset by small houses dotting the countryside; in one of the valleys, we even found a Lee’s Famous Fried Chicken. I came to the conclusion that during our tour through the heart of America, I had finally reached the place that had triple bypass surgery. This place has been here long before me and Nick, and it will be here long after we depart. Maybe when everything goes up in smoke, Whitesburg will still be standing, among the rest of the small-popping cities of America.

With almost no cell service, I began to look up Whitesburg. I learned that, of its population of less than 2,000 people, only one percent of that population was black. Yet, apparently, it was one of the most progressive towns in this all-red State.

Smiles.

As if being in a city with virtually zero black people wouldn’t be interesting enough, our road manager decided to pull over at a local grocery store as we entered it. Wanting to see what type of time this city was on, Nick and I hopped out of the van, Nick pulling up in his dark sunglasses. None of us were prepared for what happened next.

Photo by Michael Millions

But first, let’s set the scene. Two black hip-hop artists from Richmond, Virginia, with long hair and nice clothes, just pulled into Whitesburg, Kentucky and walked into a very busy local grocery store with our black-haired, tattoo-sporting tour manager, Phil Shive.

Know that scene in the movie when the record scratches, stops, and everyone turns to look? That happened. So quiet did the grocery store get, we could actually hear the generic music playing in the background, mixed with the sound of the sliding doors opening and closing — a weird silence for that many people at midday.

Following Phil to the beer aisle, we noticed customers had stopped their transactions to look in our direction. In the beer aisle, one employee stopped mid-motion as he placed a box on a shelf; everyone in the store was still frozen in place. As we made our way to the registers, all the eyes still looked back at us. I could see their faces from where we were standing. The feeling was so crazy that I actually burst out laughing, and bent over to hide my reaction. I heard Nick mumble, “Shit’s crazy around here, yo.”

Our check-out clerk tried to act as normal as possible, but it was clear she had never seen black people in her life before. I didn’t sense danger, and these people were not racist — they’d just never seen so much color in their small town. We might have been just as rare as the Fugate Family of Kentucky, who had indigo blue skin due to genetics. This was probably one of the most awkward five to seven minutes of my life — like the Fugates, I felt like I had blue skin (and horns coming out of my head).

Walking back to the van, I think we almost caused a couple of parking lot accidents due to people rubbernecking our accidental trip to this store. Safely back in the van, we cracked up about the whole experience, but this made us even more excited to see what the show would be like.

Photo by Landon Shroder

Ten minutes later, we pulled up and parked on a block that happened to be the city’s downtown, maybe one or two city blocks long by Richmond standards. Phil blurted out, “Welcome to Downtown Whitesburg! The city that has earned its name today!”

Our host, Tom Sexton — co-host of the Appalachian’s best-rated show, The Trillbilly Worker’s Party podcast — had a real fly spot: walls full of classic hip-hop posters, interesting books on his coffee table, movies. I noticed he had a big poster of Dr. Cornel West, one of America’s most prestigious black academics, on the wall leading to the bedrooms. In this moment, I instantly understood what they meant when they said Whitesburg was progressive. Maybe, I thought, this city would be behind the rest of us. But, nope, the rumors were spot on. For me, it was like visiting one of America’s lost cities. One that had never lost track of the world.

I rolled a joint, and they walked us over to the building beside theirs where we would be staying. A couple doors down from our loft was the show venue, Summit On Main. We actually stopped there (and took five fireball shots) when we first pulled up to scope the venue.

Talking with Tom, it was apparent that he was a well-respected person in the community, and he was excited for us to perform. This was more than just a random show for him. We heard there was a record store at the end of the block, and I thought it was strange that a town this size even had a record store. We finished our joint and walked over there. On the way, we saw big posters for our show in all the store fronts. “Yo, tonight’s gonna be fire yo, watch,” said Nick, nodding and smiling.

We walked into the record store, Roundabout Music Company. One of the owners, Ben Spangler, was playing some old Wu-Tang records, along with some other deep-underground hip-hop records. Lacy Hale, the other owner, is a painter, and one side of the store was filled with bins of art supplies and paintings. Nick broke the ice by asking about some records. He ended up buying a few albums.

We observed looks of slight confusion on both of their faces before we told them we were in town for the show at Summit. Then it clicked; we were the artists on the bill, and we were headlining this diverse bill in their city.

After leaving the store, Nick and I took some random pictures and kicked it until show time.

Photo by Landon Shroder

Naps are essential on tour, and sometimes they slow you down. We got to the venue a bit late and started setting up our merch tables. A short time later, we started meeting a bunch of locals attending the show. There were only two other black people there — a grand total of four, including Nick and myself. In Whitesville, we shared the stage with Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires and a few others.

When it was time for me to go on, the whole crowd, previously spread out around the venue, pack into the front for our sets. I still couldn’t understand what connected Whitesburg to hip-hop, but it was clear, at least in that moment, that the music was bringing their town together. Of course, playing locations like Brooklyn, Philly, or Boston are super cool, but the most amazing part of tour is to have such a rare cultural experience in a new city.

Sometimes it’s not about about the big cities with lights, but the small ones in the shadows of the country; these rare, remote places that give you a glimpse of a better America — not the one you expect when you recall the history. I wonder how many other hidden places around the country sit under the radar like this. And, hopefully, to more artists: consider Whitesburg the next time you sit down to plan a tour.

Top photo by Michael Millions

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA #36 Is On The Streets Now!

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Spring is here, and so is this year’s first issue of RVA Magazine!

This week, RVA Magazine #36 is on the stands all over town, welcoming spring with our first brand-new edition of 2019. It’s chock full of arts, culture, music, politics, news, and more. From across the state to right here at home, RVA #36 brings you the first-rate coverage of central Virginia’s street-level culture that you have come to expect over RVA Mag’s 14 years of existence.

Richmond’s artistic community is drawing a lot of attention this year, and in this issue, we dug into the stories behind the art. From longtime local fave Chris Visions, who has caught the world’s eye with his work on Marvel’s Spider-Verse, to gothic princess Abigail Larson, who is currently involved in the creation of Neil Gaiman’s latest Sandman project, we’ve got some serious heavy hitters to introduce you to in this issue.

Richmonders getting out and exploring the world is also a big theme this issue. From local hip-hop sensation Michael Millions’s improbable experience performing in small-town Kentucky to our own Madelyne Ashworth’s travels around Europe and Asia, we bring the unique perspective of our home city to events all around the world.

There’s a lot more in store as well, from a GayRVA report on the queer resistance movement in rural Appalachia to an exploration of independent filmmaking in the river city with the creators of upcoming feature Last Call, which was filmed on location at Richmond’s own The Answer.

All of that is in store for you when you grab your very own copy of RVA #36, available in all your favorite local businesses around town. Get yours now… they’re going fast!

Grace Under Pressure: The Rise of NameBrand

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Richmond hip hop producer NameBrand has worked with many of the city’s top rap talents, including Nickelus F and Michael Millions. But his story is about a lot more than just beats and rhymes.

NameBrand is a staple figure within the hip-hop culture of Richmond. Known for his versatility and dynamism as a sample-based producer, he has worked with some of Richmond’s top talent, including Michael Millions, Nickelus F, and Radio B. Now, with his latest release, Grace, NameBrand is continuing to develop his sound and career while simultaneously paying tribute to his past and his city.

“Richmond has an amazing crop of artists that any producer should appreciate being able to work with,” NameBrand said. “And when I say ‘any’ producer, I’m not just talking about local producers, I’m talking about producers throughout the world.”

Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, NameBrand moved with his family to Germany shortly afterwards, where he spent the first five years of his life.

While living in Germany, NameBrand’s mother would often take him to the local bakeries and open markets. Even today, certain scents still remind him of Germany and trigger a sense of nostalgia.

“Certain things that I remember, like certain smell of breads and cigars… It definitely takes me all the way back,” he said.  “That’s kind of [what] my experience with Germany is. I was so young, there’s only bits and pieces that I remember.”

NameBrand’s family relocated back to the United States and he briefly lived in Petersburg before moving to Chesterfield County in the third grade. It was after moving to Chesterfield that he was introduced to music production, and began to lay the foundation for the rest of his career.

“[I] was introduced to a host of artists and a host of different people who just had a passion for the music,” NameBrand said. “It was a really cool point for me, just being around so many artists and being so young.”

His older brother, Michael Millions, was the person who first sparked NameBrand’s interest in music production. As a kid, Millions figured out how to make a microphone out of a headset and a vacuum tube. He used this device to sample instrumentals from the radio to create a beat with. After the beat was created, Millions would rap over the music.

However, the cord on his homemade recording device was a bit too short, so he would have to lay on his stomach to record his raps. Watching Millions’s innovation and dedication to his craft motivated NameBrand to get involved. Fascinated with computers, software and beats, NameBrand naturally gravitated towards the production side of music.

“I’ve always loved beats,” he said. “When I listen to music, I listen to the beat first. If I like the beat, then I’ll go back and listen to the lyrics. In order for me to really appreciate [a song], I really had to love the beat.”

The first production software he bought was Hip Hop DJ, when he was 13. Even though he described the software as “trash,” he is still grateful that it allowed him “to get his feet wet.”

Soon after he acquired the program, Millions noticed his him working with it and invited him to come along to his recording session with local artist Illa Styles. Illa, who was working with a more advanced production program, noticed NameBrand looking over his shoulder at the software and gave it to him.

“That’s when it was like ‘Okay, now I have a tool that I can use,’” said NameBrand. “Now all I need to do is really, really study this particular tool.”

As a child, NameBrand’s passion for music was furthered by a fascination with various “real producers,” such as Dr. Dre, Puff Daddy, and Quincy Jones. In fact, the first album he ever bought for himself was Puff Daddy & The Family’s No Way Out, when he was about 12 years old. This album beget a lifelong fascination with talented producers, which started even before he began making music himself.

“I remember when I bought that album, all I could think about was how dope it was that . . . although he didn’t produce every record on there, he worked with the production team who helped to produce that particular record.”

In addition to Puff Daddy (aka P. Diddy), NameBrand also greatly appreciates Quincy Jones’ musical originality and his holistic approach to projects.

“I was introduced to [Jones] via Michael Jackson,” NameBrand said. “The way that [Jones] put those albums together with him . . . that’s how you put together an album sonically. All [those] other producers that I was fond of kinda had that same approach — they paid attention to the bigger picture.”

One of NameBrand’s favorite of his own projects is The Color Purple, an album he  released in 2011 alongside his brother, Michael Millions.

This was the second project that the pair had released together, and the first project NameBrand produced completely. For the brothers, there was a sense energy and excitement that surrounded the creation of The Color Purple that felt new and meaningful.

“It was just the mindset at that particular time,” said NameBrand. “We were new to it, but we knew that we were capable of doing it. There was this fun element there…. It felt like the beginning of something”

Another career highlight was his collaboration on Stretch Marks with Nickelus F. They first met to work at Nick’s house and wrote six or seven songs together. However, the songs were never released. Years later, NameBrand revisited the project and felt the songs had timeless sound — so he contacted Nick to discuss releasing them. Nick’s response was, according to NameBrand: “Let’s take these songs and turn them into a full-fledged project.”

Today, Nick and NameBrand are close, but when they were working on Stretch Marks, they did not have a ton of experience working together. However, they did have mutual respect for each other’s work.

“When I was first introduced to Nick, I was definitely a fan of who he was and his talent,” NameBrand said. “Being able to work with Nick was like a milestone.”

For his latest project Grace, NameBrand drew inspiration from Grace Street — more specifically from the time he spent at Donland Entertainment studio, which used to stand on Grace Street.

“That was where [my] foundation was solidified, and I started really honing in on some of the skills,” Namebrand said.

It was also at Donland Entertainment that NameBrand met his mentor, Architect.

“He was the older guy, like the vet,” NameBrand said. “He was the work horse, he made all the beats.”

During this time, NameBrand was able to focus on developing his technique by observing and learning from the different artists, engineers and producers that he was surrounded by. It was through this experience that he acquired the skills to further his own musical style.

“Production wise, I don’t really have a sound or style of music, per se,” NameBrand said. “I just enjoy making music that I like. If it sounds good to me, if it feels good to me, that’s the type of music that I make. I can make anything.”

To NameBrand, creating a beat is about creating a vibe and sparking a “constant transfer of positive energy” from creator to listener.

“I literally start from nothing, and it’s my energy being transferred into whatever,” he said. “Then that energy ultimately inspires another person to write this amazing song to it. And then that energy gets transferred out into the world, and people ultimately have whatever feeling that they receive from it.”

The biggest challenge in NameBrand’s career is figuring out how to pave his own path in the music industry.

“There is no real guideline on how to become what you ultimately want to be,” he said. “You’re making decisions every day that you hope puts you in a space that’s going to be closer to that goal.”

That ultimate goal for NameBrand is not only to succeed as a producer, but to reach out to inner-city youth and encourage them to pursue their passion, as well as higher education.

A software engineer during the day, NameBrand has a bachelor’s degree from Norfolk State University and a Master’s Degree in Tech from the Florida Institute of Technology. He hopes that he can be representative and show kids that the pursuit of education and a music career does not have to be an either-or situation.

“I feel like often times kids get posed with this idea that you have to pick one or the other,” he said. “I want ultimately [for] them to know that you can do both. You can do your passion and excel at your passion as well as achieve academically… You don’t have to just stop at high school.”

His career has grown exponentially over the past several years, and NameBrand is not slowing down. A pillar of Richmond’s vibrant hip-hop culture, NameBrand continues to flex his influence. Not only does he always have a new project in mind, but he strives to keep sight of the larger goal: to be a Grammy award-winning artist with a Master’s degree.

Photos courtesy NameBrand

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

The 40 Most Essential RVA Albums Of 2018 (Part 1)

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Richmond’s always been a great city for music, and that didn’t change one iota in 2018. If anything, it became a bit overwhelming — indeed, even the most comprehensively-minded local music nerd was likely to overlook a few things. While putting this list together, I found a few that I overlooked myself — and I’m sure you will as well.

This list features our best shot at the most essential and noteworthy albums that our city birthed this year, from any and all genres. Since so many different genres and scenes are thriving in this town, we had to include 40 just to feel like we weren’t leaving anything crucial out. And let’s be real — we probably still didn’t catch everything. The best advice we could possibly give you about following this town’s vibrant musical community is this: always dig deeper. Your new favorite record might be right around the corner.

These 40 albums are a good place to start. Today, we’re presenting the first 20 — in alphabetical order by artist name, so it doesn’t seem like we’re playing favorites. We’ll have the other 20 for you tomorrow. Happy listening!

Ant The Symbol – The Motions (Gritty City)
Over the past decade or so, Ant The Symbol has consistently remained one of the most talented producers in Richmond hip hop. His layered beats are jazzy, funky, and have a lot of emotion built into them, and it’s always interesting to see what rappers do with them. The Motions is full of classic grooves that both present a smorgasbord of Richmond MCs in the best possible light and make clear that, as always, Ant’s beats are the star of the show.

The Ar-Kaics – In This Time (Daptone)
This retro-garage heads return to the spotlight after a year or two of woodshedding with a new LP that is a must for the Nehru-jacketed 60s nerds who sleep with the Nuggets box sets under their pillow. That can’t be comfortable, so maybe this 21st century slab of meat-and-potatoes rock n’ roll can help y’all sleep better. Then again, these songs are so full of fun, snotty energy, there’s no way you’re gonna sleep at all with this record on the turntable. Just get up and dance.

Bad Magic – What’s Wrong With My Eyes (badmagic.bandcamp.com)
This union of three talented RVA music veterans (Julie Karr, Tim Falen, Jimmy Held) produces music that seems to split the difference between their various musical backgrounds (in everything from folk to grunge to post-hardcore) and bring us the best possible distillation of heartfelt, driving, melodic rock music. Vaguely psychedelic and obviously descended from punk rock in at least a spiritual fashion, this album gives us a glimpse at what ruled the university-station airwaves before Nirvana came along.

Saw Black – Water Tower (Crystal Pistol)
This supremely laid-back album comes to us from one of RVA’s foremost purveyors of country-Americana slackness, and has some downright beautiful moments that’ll shine bright for fans of artists like Sturgill Simpson or the Drive-By Truckers. You could probably also play it for your uncle who thinks music has sucked since Garth Brooks, or to expand the horizons of your little cousin who only knows about bro-country. But really, you should probably play it while you’re relaxing on the front porch on a Saturday afternoon with a cold beverage in your hand. That’s when it sounds best.

Scott Clark – ToNow (Clean Feed)
Drummer Scott Clark is a leader in the mostly-overlooked world of RVA jazz, and with his recent work, he’s made quite an impression beyond our city’s borders as well. Clark’s been tapping into his Native American heritage for his recent full-length works, and that continues with ToNow. This album is a contribution to the ongoing protest movement in Standing Rock, in the form of a musical clarion call, an ambient yet intense musical exploration featuring some of the leading lights in Richmond’s jazz scene. Immerse yourself.

Kenneka Cook – Moonchild (American Paradox)
2018 was Kenneka Cook’s year. This singer with the powerful, hypnotic voice put the entirety of Richmond under her spell, and Moonchild was the way she did it. The songs on this album move back and forth between soulful, jazzy R&B ensemble pieces featuring a bevy of talented local backing musicians and intriguing solo pieces constructed from electronic beats, synth hums, and massive stacks of multi-layered vocal loops, all constructed by Cook herself with electronic sequencing tools. It’s hard to say which of these two aspects of her music are more pleasing — in the end, it’s probably the combination of the two that gets best results.

Cruelsifix – Dark Snake (cruelsifix.bandcamp.com)
RVA metal is alive, well, and raging as ever. Cruelsifix finds some leading lights from the local scene coming together to fill their downtime with yet another rip-roaring contribution to the local metal landscape. They made their mark this year with a six-song debut EP that shows off their thrashing blackened death metal sound, and, with song titles like “Rabid Christ” and “Satan Earth Fuck,” makes clear that they aren’t just kidding around with the whole evil-as-hell-name move. Bang your head.

Lucy Dacus – Historian (Matador)
Certainly the RVA album of 2018 that got the most attention outside RVA, singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus has gone from house show sensation to international bright young thing in the space of two years, and has given us all yet another reason to be proud of our hometown. Dacus’s gorgeous, heartfelt tunes — which pair her smooth, beautiful voice with powerful melodies driven by a surprisingly tough rhythm section — took a leap beyond her already-assured debut album on Historian. Kudos to her.

McKinley Dixon – The Importance Of Self Belief (Citrus City)
In a city with a variety of different hip hop movements taking place, McKinley Dixon exists in a class by himself. He simultaneously brings a multitude of talented friends of various musical backgrounds together to take his music to a higher plane, and remains committed to first principles: those being strong rhymes, powerful beats, and most importantly something real to say. Even as he’s telling hard truths about oppression and struggles, he’s also uplifting your spirit with positive messages — look no further than the title track.

Fly Anakin & Ohbliv – Backyard Boogie (Mutant Academy)
Fly Anakin has been on fire lately, working hard to get himself and his crew, Mutant Academy, established in RVA and beyond. You can hear how much energy he’s bringing to the struggle in the hyperkinetic rhymes he spits on this album, which zap your ears with their sharpness even as they leave Anakin himself gasping for breath. Celebrated production legend Ohbliv contributes all of the production here, bringing a unified feel and a deep mood to Backyard Boogie, and providing a much-needed contrast with Fly Anakin’s manic intensity.

Gumming – Human Values (gumming.bandcamp.com)
The name of this group always makes me think of nursing home residents mashing down soft foods without benefit of dentures, but if you turn your back, rest assured, Gumming will show you just how much bite they’ve got. Human Values is a wall of angry noise that splits the difference between experimental psychedelic weirdness and pure punk rage, like the Butthole Surfers if they were fronted by X-Ray Spex’s Poly Styrene. Oh values, up yours.

Cole Hicks – May Day (colehicksva.bandcamp.com)
No one really wants to talk about this, but the fact is that hip hop tends to be a very masculine genre. It’s rare to hear a female MC spitting rhymes at all, let alone one that can stand toe-to-toe with the best in the game. On May Day, Richmond’s Cole Hicks adds her name to that list, contributing one of the best albums to come out of the genre in RVA this year and landing a top spot in what was already a banner year for Richmond hip hop albums. The beats hit hard, her rhymes hit harder, and her lyrical flow is unmatched, so quit tripping and start bumping May Day now.

Andy Jenkins – Sweet Bunch (Spacebomb)
Kinda country, kinda indie, and very Southern — that’s local singer-songwriter Andy Jenkins in a nutshell. The latest overnight sensation from the world of Spacebomb Records, Jenkins’s debut full-length, Sweet Bunch, has a laid-back, smoothly rolling feel that’ll put you in the frame of mind to rock contentedly in a porch swing as the lazy river rolls by. Some moments hit upon a sort of pastoral Van Morrison-ish feel, while others bust out the sunbaked twang of the Bakersfield sound. All of it is easy to enjoy.

Large Margin – Large Margin (largemargin.bandcamp.com)
Anyone who caught Brief Lives when they were around is bound to have thought the same thing I did — “that guitarist really goes off!” Brief Lives is gone, but the guitarist in question, Chris Compton, has moved on to becoming the frontman for Large Margin, joining up with a variety of local post-hardcore luminaries to exhume the spirit of Fugazi’s classic early 90s work and infuse it with a massive amount of frantic energy and 21st century political fury. One listen to this LP and you’ll want to rock out as hard as Compton does onstage.

Lipid – Freak Beat (Vinyl Conflict)
The growth of out-and-proud LGBTQ hardcore punk in this town has been one of the best things about 2018, not just for “representation” but also because it’s brought us a lot of great music from voices we weren’t necessarily hearing before. Lipid is probably the closest to old-school punk of this new crop of RVA queer-power bands, with a sound that mixes the sarcastic punk snarls of the Dead Kennedys with the sort of burly stuff that was coming out of NYC a while back — think Crazy Spirit, or The Men before they became a dad-rock bar band.

Love Roses/The Donalds – split (Tired & Pissed)
These two local punk bands are mainstays of the Shockoe Bottom punk scene that orbits around Wonderland, McCormack’s, and other venues the downtown hipsters aren’t necessarily clued into. They’ve both got a ton of anger to work through, mostly at the pathetic state of the USA today, and they do so with rage, melody, and humor. The Donalds are more midtempo, Love Roses more melodic, but both bands are a ton of fun.

Manatree – Engines (manatree.bandcamp.com)
This band of teenagers has really matured on their latest album, which reflects the stripped-down sound Manatree’s increasingly taken on as the lineup shrinks. Frontman Jack Mayock’s considerable talent on guitar and keyboards gets a lot of room to show itself on Engines, as does the sort of growth he’s done as a vocalist since his high school days. Manatree’s math-rock roots are still clear on this album, but as a band, they’re getting weirder, more cerebral, and more fascinating. I guess this is growing up.

Michael Millions – Hard To Be King (Purple Republic)
Dropping back on January 2, this LP acted as the starting gunshot for an amazing year of RVA music. Michael Millions brought the realness from the opening moments of this one, working with some of the most talented hip hop producers in town to create the perfect instrumental tracks for his powerful lyrics and rock-solid flow. And Millions clearly had a lot to say, filling all of these tracks with powerful declarations of what it’s like to be a working class African-American man in the neighborhoods of Richmond that the Scott’s Addition hipsters don’t even know exist. You can’t afford not to listen to this one.

Nickelus F – Stuck (AGM)
From one AGM heavyweight to another. This year saw incredible statements of purpose and power from all of that formidable crew’s leading lights, and Nickelus F’s Stuck was the hardest-hitting of them all. It’s only fair, considering how long he’s been working to advance his sound; that said, we’re all reaping the benefits, because Stuck proves that after a decade and a half of steady grinding, Sweet Petey is better than ever. If you didn’t catch him on tour with Lil Ugly Mane, you need to at least grab this. It’ll twist your head around.

Ostraca – Enemy (Skeletal Lightning)
People are starting to notice Richmond’s thriving screamo scene; Noisey even wrote about it this summer. If you’re not hip, Ostraca is the first name you need to get familiar with. This scorching trio has been honing their sound for over a decade, arriving on their third album at the strongest and most assured collection of material they’ve brought into the world yet. From harsh screams over furious lightning-speed metallic rage to long, slowly-building post-rock epics, Enemy displays the full range of Ostraca’s considerable talents. Dig in, and remember — there’s plenty more where that came from.

That’s the first half of the list — tune in tomorrow for the rest!

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

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

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FEATURED SHOW
Friday, December 7, 9:30 PM
Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performs Suspiria @ The Byrd Theatre – $35 (order tickets HERE)
This is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime event, and you pretty much need to be there if you have any interest at all in horror movies, spooky European prog rock of the 70s, or both. Here’s the deal: the Italian prog group Goblin did quite a few soundtracks for horror movies back in the 70s and 80s, including several for legendary Italian horror director Dario Argento. In 1977, they did what is probably their most famous work in the score for Argento’s most famous film, Suspiria. Now, in a weird tie-in to the 2018 remake of the film, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin are on tour performing the Suspiria score live along with the film. This Friday night, they’ll be doing so at The Byrd Theatre. How cool is that?

Goblin has been made up of many people over the years, and at this point in history, there are several active or dormant projects that have used variations on the name in the past decade or so. Claudio Simonetti, the group’s longtime keyboardist, is currently leading a trio featuring the members of his late-90s/early-00s metal band, Daemonia, and that’s the version of Goblin that will be coming to the Byrd. Anyone who’s seen Suspiria or soundtracked an awesome Halloween party with the soundtrack album will recognize the essential role Simonetti’s keyboards play in the film’s music; basically, if there were to be one original member of Goblin involved in this performance, you’d want it to be Claudio Simonetti.

Basically, this is the closest any of us will get to seeing the original Goblin play this music. And better yet, the group will follow its performance along with the film by another set of music drawing from the highlights of Simonetti’s lengthy career, which has included film scores for dozens of classic horror flicks (Deep Red, Dawn Of the Dead, Demons, Nightmare Beach, The House of Witchcraft… so many more). And if that tantalizes you, here’s the best part of all: you’ll get to see Argento’s original Suspiria on the big screen. Who can pass that up? Not you, if you’re smart.

Wednesday, December 5, 7:30 PM
Generation Axe Tour, feat. Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, Tosin Abasi @ The National – $39.50 in advance/$43 at the door (order tickets HERE)
The 90s have been the nostalgia decade of choice for a while now, and somehow we got there as a culture without ever dealing with that late 80s era of leather pants, hairspray, and wild shreddy guitars that everyone remembers now as “hair metal.” There was a lot to that era, y’all, and a lot of it was great. From 80s power metal that got wrongly lumped in (Iron Maiden, anyone?) to the true classics of the glam generation (Shout At The Devil is one of the best metal albums of that decade — yeah, I said it), we’ve chosen to leave a lot of great things out of the cultural narrative. I guess this is what people mean when they say “guilty pleasures,” huh?

Generation Axe comes to The National to let us all know that it’s time to stop feeling guilty about all the shred-heavy guitarists with feathered hair and lightning-speed arpeggios whose tablatures we all studied obsessively in the back pages of Guitar World while we were supposed to be finishing our algebra homework. The king of the shred, Steve Vai, who is known not only for his epic instrumental solo albums (and “solo” is indeed the word) but his time in Whitesnake, David Lee Roth’s solo band, and many more, got this whole project together, recruiting fellow instrumental shred king Yngwie Malmsteen (it’s pronounced “ING-vay,” and in the time it took you to read this parenthetical aside he’s played at least 800 notes), Ozzy/Black Label Society legend Zakk Wylde, former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, and Animals As Leaders, um, leader Tosin Abasi to form a five-guitar monster of razor-sharp licks and tour the world. At the National, you’ll see everything from spotlight sets by each of these five guitarists to duets and collaborations between three or even all five string-benders to wow you with hours and hours of shred-thrash fireworks. It’s going to be so goddamn amazing you’ll surely want to dig through mom’s attic over Christmas until you dig out your dusty old Ibanez and books of guitar tabs. Get fired up.

Thursday, December 6, 7 PM
The Ar-Kaics, Christi, Piranha Rama, Weird Tears @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Strange Matter’s long goodbye continues this week, and we’ll be sending you there quite a bit before we wrap up this column. This is because, even in their final throes, this best of all Richmond venues continues to pack the place each night with brilliance. This particular garage-psych focused bill is centered around 60s revivalists The Ar-Kaics, who’ve spent the last several years wowing us with the charm of their many 45 RPM singles, recapturing the fuzzed-out glory of the Nuggets era. After a couple years away from the spotlight, they’ve returned in a big way with In This Time, their second full-length. On it, they mix the primitive charm of their garage-rock roots with some increased melodic elements that make these tunes catchier than ever.

Rejoicing at the return of the Ar-Kaics is a big reason to come to this show; however, it’s not the only one, as local power-pop legends Christi are returning to live performance after a year and a half away from the stage. I would say this makes sense, since longtime Ar-Kaics drummer Patty Conway was also in Christi, but by the time Christi broke up she wasn’t in that band anymore — and at this point, it seems like she might have left the Ar-Kaics as well. So this could all be a big coincidence. Either way, the double-dose of old-school rock n’ roll with some killer vocal harmonies overtop is coming for you, and it’s going to rule, so you really should just be at this show no matter what. Local up-and-coming garage-pop group Piranha Rama and the ever-mysterious Weird Tears will get this show rolling in fine fashion.

Friday, December 7, 8 PM
Sleep, Weather Warlock @ The National – $21.50 in advance/$25 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Where doom metal, or “stoner metal,” or whatever you want to call it, is concerned, Sleep are pretty much the north star. Having evolved out of apocalyptic crust band Asbestos Death at the dawn of the 90s, Sleep went on to define the stoner-doom genre with their 1992 classic, Sleep’s Holy Mountain, before either attaining doom godhead or flying too close to the sun (depending on your point of view) with the long-delayed legend of an album, Dopesmoker (which consisted of one 74-minute song. I know, right?). However, while record companies were less than stoked at the idea of marketing a one-song double LP, leading the group to disband, their legend grew in their absence — fueled by the biker-metal heroics of guitarist Matt Pike’s post-Sleep project, High On Fire, and the epic drone of bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros’s Om, which has incorporated elements from Tibetan Buddhist chants into their moody darkness.

After receiving rapturous responses to a series of reunion tours, Sleep became a fully functioning band again about five years ago, recruiting Neurosis’s Jason Roeder to replace retired original drummer Chris Hakius. This year, they followed up two excellent post-reunion singles with their first full-length album in over 20 years, The Sciences. What is obvious from the first listen is that this group hasn’t lost a single step over the intervening years, mixing the biker-doom headbanging of High On Fire into Om’s droning low-end hum to create newborn classics like the Egyptian pyramid-Black Sabbath pun reference in “Giza Butler,” or the 21st century stoner anthem “Marijuananaut’s Theme.” They’ll bring all of this to us at mind-shearing volume and with soul-pulverizing power when they take the stage at The National, and all of you stoner warriors of the astral plane are going to want to touch down and experience it firsthand.

Saturday, December 8, 12 noon
Dry Spell, Mensroom, Cloak/Dagger, Nosebleed, Haircut, Sinister Purpose, Butt, Deviant @ Strange Matter – $12 (order tickets HERE)
These days, it seems, hardcore bands never really die — they just go dormant for longer and longer periods, only returning to play a show on occasions momentous enough to resurrect them from their suspended animation. Strange Matter’s closing is definitely a momentous occasion, and one way you can tell is that this noontime Saturday show is headed up by not one, not two, but THREE mostly-dormant hardcore bands that have returned to action for the first time in at least a year (OK yes, Cloak/Dagger played a few shows nine months ago. Point stands).

Dry Spell’s big period of activity is about a decade in the rearview now, and their midtempo rockin’-hardcore rage sounds fresher than ever when you revisit it in 2018, so this set bringing together members from up and down the East Coast to perform together once again should be a real blast. Mensroom disappeared from the Richmond musical landscape about three years ago now, so the new jacks may not remember them, but any young punks who love the psychedelic-sludge take on hardcore that Slump has been dishing out for the past couple years are definitely gonna want to catch their set (being billed as a “reunion/last show”), as these guys were doing that sort of thing before Slump ever got going. As for Cloak/Dagger, these rip-roaring maniacs have made some killer sounds by finding the line between garage-punk and hardcore and staking out a position just to the “hardcore” side of that line. Get ready for some raw rock n’ roll power when these guys take the stage. And be sure to set your alarm, because if you’re not there right at noon, you’re sure to miss some of the many excellent openers — and that would be a very bad move.

Sunday, December 9, 7 PM
Cloud Nothings, The Courtneys, Russ Waterhouse @ Strange Matter – $15 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Cloud Nothings may not be coming to Richmond specifically to celebrate the life and legacy of Strange Matter, but that’s no reason to skip this show — it’s gonna be every bit as good as everything else that has become a part of the Strange Matter Closing Series. Cloud Nothings are an incredible band from Cleveland, who have built themselves quite a reputation by simply putting their heads down and continuing to crank out excellent no-frills tuneage that both rocks hard as hell and has the ability to stick firmly into your head all day.

Where a lot of other rock bands have fallen into the pattern of taking three years or more between records, Cloud Nothings have stayed prolific, releasing five full-length albums and one collaborative album with Wavves since 2011. Their two most recent albums, Life Without Sound and Last Burning Building, both came out within the last year and a half, and both bring us excellently written songs with fire and passion, landing somewhere between prime mid-period Replacements and the best work of legendary UK punk rockers Leatherface. If anything, Cloud Nothings just seem to get better as they go on, and that’s reason enough to catch them whenever they come through town. Rest assured, they’ll blow you away. Excellent support from Canada’s The Courtneys, who bring us their shambling indie-pop brilliance under the auspices of legendary New Zealand record label Flying Nun, only sweetens the pot — as does a solo set from Blues Control’s Russ Waterhouse to kick it all off. Get with this one.

Monday, December 10, 6 PM
Cult Leader, Primitive Weapons, God Mother, Asylum, Shark Eyes @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$13 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I read a novel from 30 years ago this past week, and at one point, a character referenced “heavy metal.” The term, once ubiquitous in my own musical vocabulary, struck me as archaic to an almost amusing extent. When I pondered why it felt that way these days, I realized that it’s mostly because, while we still use both words separately to talk about certain types of music, we pretty much never use them together. There’s metal music, there’s heavy music, but instead of combining to become “heavy metal,” they really seem like two completely separate genres today.

I bring all this up to point out that Cult Leader, who released their second album, A Patient Man, less than a month ago, are definitely on the “heavy” side of that divide. A Patient Man is a crushing listen, full of volcanic riffs that feel less like discrete breakdowns than a continual overpowering onslaught of low-end rumble and harsh, roaring noise. The fact that this quartet hails from Salt Lake City, Utah, makes their sheer brutality a bit more understandable — it’s got to be hard to grow up in such a repressive social environment. All that repressed tension’s gotta come out somewhere. The way it comes out might not be metal, exactly, but it’s certainly heavy. The same is definitely true of tourmates Primitive Weapons, who hail from Brooklyn, and God Mother, who come to us from Sweden. Apparently heaviness can emanate from anywhere. Let’s all go soak it up.

Tuesday, December 11, 6 PM
Strange Matter’s Final Hip Hop Show, feat. Black Liquid, Nickelus F, Mutant Academy, Moon, Michael Millions, Chance Fischer, Dr. Millionaire, Cole Hicks, Octavion X, PT Burnem, Young Flexico, Grayscale, Cakes, Reppa Ton, Fuggin Doe, Cha$e Royale, Goad Gatsby, Big Dev, Van Silke, 1NF1N1T8, Lovesick, Dogfuck, God Goldin, Frankenstein Reyes, Skinnyy Hendrixx, Skuzii, Chris Haskins, Rack Squaresoft; music by DJ Bandolero, DJ Banga, Hip Hop Henry @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
All these Strange Matter closing shows have been jampacked with local talent, which means that when you’re going to a hardcore or metal show, you might see 10 or 12 bands instead of the usual four or five. But what happens when a hip hop show goes mega? After all, a regular hip hop show can easily feature 10 rappers, and Black Liquid’s long-running monthly Face Melt Friday nights at Strange Matter rarely featured less than 20. So what does a really epic hip hop show look like? Well, if this bill is any indication, it looks like at least 30 rappers and several different DJs holding down an entire evening full of awesomeness. And I think we’d all have to say that’s outstanding.

RVA’s hip hop world often looks like at least half a dozen parallel worlds, many of which don’t intersect frequently by any means. However, if there’s one thing Black Liquid has always tried to do with his Face Melt Fridays, it’s to bring the entire scene together under one roof, so everyone can appreciate each other’s talent. The same thing is true of this show, which pulls together everyone from local legend Nickelus F and hot up-and-coming talents Mutant Academy to local veterans like Dr. Millionaire and Chance Fischer and Face Melt Friday mainstays like Goad Gatsby. Plus, there’s a lot of lesser-known talent lurking around the lower reaches of this bill — bizarre names like Dogfuck and 1NF1N1T8 come with solid track records. And of course, with Black Liquid presiding over it all, the vibe is gonna be like the Face Melt Friday to end all Face Melt Fridays… regardless of the fact that it’s actually happening on a Tuesday. So hey, don’t sleep on this one. There won’t be another.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, December 7, 7 PM
Boxford, Invaluable, Accident Prone, Scotty And the Steiners, Eric & Aviana, I Fight Vampires @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $5
I love pop-punk. I’ve never hidden that, never tried to play it down… I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it. It makes me smile and it rules and more people should try to understand its charms. But I’ll tell the truth — I’m very aware of how navel-gazing the whole genre can be, and how male-dominated… to the point where some otherwise-great bands are self-centered enough to take a downright douchey approach to some otherwise incredible hooks. It’s a bummer.

Thank god for bands like Virginia Beach’s Boxford, who actually seem to care about the world outside their own rooms. This show is a release party for their latest EP, Facade, a three-song collection that focuses on the sort of mental health struggles that too many pop-punk fans can relate to (yes, including me. No shame). And for their record release show, they’re doing more than just singing about it, turning the entire show into a collaborative fundraiser with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, who will be on hand to talk to attendees between bands about ways we can all lend a hand to the struggle within our communities for greater mental health. This is important stuff, and I don’t want to trivialize it by saying that it comes with a legitimately great soundtrack. But it must be mentioned that Boxford’s Facade is an excellent record, and openers like Invaluable and Accident Prone have quite a bit to offer as well. This will be a fun show with a very serious purpose. And that’s just about perfect.

Saturday, December 8, 6 PM
Blind Justice, Paper Trail, Red Vision, Watchdogs, Combust, Flatline, Semtex @ 37th And Zen – $12
An alert for Central Virginia’s hardcore kids: if you can find a fast enough ride, you can fill your entire Saturday this week with incredible hardcore sounds. Not only do we have an excellent slate of hardcore bands here in RVA with a noon kickoff time, the excellent Jersey-shore hardcore band Blind Justice will be headlining a killer bill featuring multiple Richmond bands at Norfolk’s 37th and Zen that night. Travel time between the two is just 90 minutes if you’ve got a lead foot… and if the tunnel doesn’t screw you over. It’s worth a shot, right?

This is especially true in light of Blind Justice’s latest LP, No Matter The Cost, which dropped this summer and knocked everyone out. The energetic approach this band takes to their music, and particularly vocalist Mike Botti’s ridiculously intense vocals, are a recipe for bowling you over in a live environment. These guys are sure to get the pit moving with a vengeance when they hit the stage at 37th and Zen. Richmond bands Red Vision and Watchdogs are also on the bill, and both bands are celebrating their brand new releases. Red Vision brings us their hard-as-hell new full-length, Stake Your Claim, while Watchdogs give us a dark, metallic new EP called Sanguinary. They both rule, and I’m sure these sets will be ones to watch. A whole bunch of other bands, including Virginia Beach mainstays Paper Trail, are on hand to sweeten the pot on this killer. Gas up your tank before the Strange Matter show, because you’re gonna want to catch this one too, and you’ll have no time to waste.

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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] [and yeah, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond