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Shack Up With The Shack Band At The Broadberry

Julia Raimondi | September 26, 2019

Topics: bennett wales, Fear of Music, Jouwala Collective, keep va cozy, keep virginia cozy, Landon Elliott, local music, Lucas Fritz, Mason Owen, mo lowda and the humble, music, PBR, People's Blues of Richmond, shows, The Broadberry, The Northerners, The Shack Band, the shack up, weekend plans

The Shack Band’s annual music festival is back at The Broadberry this weekend with a lineup specifically chosen to excite the Richmond local scene.

This weekend, The Shack Up is hitting The Broadberry for the fifth time in as many years. On Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28, your hosts The Shack Band will close out the month and the summer with a handpicked lineup of musicians from around the region.

Formed in 2008, The Shack Band relocated from their native Blacksburg to Richmond several years ago. After they arrived, bassist Mason Owen and The Broadberry co-owner Lucas Fritz began throwing around the idea of hosting an in-town festival in Richmond.

“There’s all these cool festivals, and tons of them are in Virginia,” Owen said. “But there weren’t so many in town where you can come for the day, come and go as you please, take a break, get a bite to eat, and sleep in your own bed at the end of the night.”

Photo: The Northerners, by Zachary Norris. Courtesy Broadberry Entertainment Group

Finally, after The Broadberry opened in 2014, they had a venue option. It was a prime location with a parking lot large enough to hold a stage, and also provided indoor amenities like air conditioning, a full bar, places to sit, food options, and indoor restrooms. The Broadberry is also adjacent to The Fan and Scott’s Addition neighborhoods, with easy walking access to those that live in the area. All of this made it an ideal spot to host the first Shack Up in 2015 — and The Broadberry’s been hosting it ever since.

This year, eleven bands will play on two stages — one indoors and one outdoors — over the course of the weekend on Friday night and all day Saturday. Jouwala Collective, Mo Lowda & The Humble and The Northerners will play Friday, while Saturday will feature a myriad of local and regional artists headlined by The Shack Band and People’s Blues of Richmond.

The organizers explicitly sought out acts that weren’t necessarily in the mainstream, or well-known by the general public. Instead, they booked bands that they believed brought out the best Richmond and its regional music scene has to offer.

This made it easier to seek out bands that they already knew personally, but they also sought out bands they didn’t know as well, but had seen before, and that thought they fit in with what they were looking for. Occasionally, they even chose bands they had never heard of before, but who sounded great when they came across the organizers’ desks.

Photo: People’s Blues Of Richmond, courtesy Broadberry Entertainment Group

“The lineup is pretty diverse,” Owen said. “We always wanted to be diverse. It has never been our goal to book a giant headliner and a bunch of support acts. We want more quality than just one name that might draw people that don’t go to shows very often. We want this to be a party for the Richmond music scene and its fans.”

One of the regional acts that event organizers secured for The Shack Up is Bennett Wales. Wales is from Virginia Beach and has played with his band since 2016, performing a mix of roots, rock n’ roll, and progressive rock.

Wales has performed before in Richmond at locations like The Camel, and most recently The National. There, he opened for The Wallflowers along with Landon Elliott — another artist performing at The Shack Up.

“Richmond folks are more perceptive to original music than Virginia Beach audiences,” Wales said. “That’s one of many reasons why we jumped at the opportunity to perform at The Shack Up. Everyone is super friendly, and I’m looking forward to sharing our music with those who haven’t heard of us before, and having a good time with friends.”

Photo: Jouwala Collective, courtesy Broadberry Entertainment Group

The Shack Up has been planned since the beginning of 2019, starting with deciding the date and getting a general sense of what bands they wanted to perform at the festival. They also hired a production company for the staging, and secured all the permits needed to perform in the parking lot between The Broadberry and the Exxon gas station next door.

“The first two years, The Shack Up was in the parking lot behind The Broadberry’s patio, and not in view of Broad Street,” Fritz said. “In 2017, we went much bigger and moved it into the adjacent lot to the Exxon, sourced a much larger and more legitimate stage, and took it from there.”

This included bringing in outside vendors and food trucks, such as New Belgium’s Fat Tire beer, PBR (the beer, not the band), and this year’s nonprofit sponsor, Keep Virginia Cozy. Along with selling food and alcohol, vendors will also be providing stations with different activities and giveaways to give The Shack Up a more festival feel, according to Erin Brennan, The Broadberry’s marketing director.

Photo: Holy Roller, courtesy Broadberry Entertainment Group

“We do work with nonprofits and other brands to make The Shack Up super engaging and fun, because all day Saturday is a long time, and having incentives will help make people want to stick around,” Brennan said. “We will have stuff for everyone to walk away with at least a koozie, and people like free stuff.”

Doors open Friday at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. with The Northerners. On Saturday, doors open at 2 p.m. and the first set begins at 3 p.m. with Weekend Plans and ends at 1 a.m. inside The Broadberry with Fear of Music. For full lineup, tickets, and other info, click here.

Top Photo: The Shack Band, via Facebook

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

The Real MVP: Weekend Playlist by Big B

RVA Staff | August 30, 2019

Topics: Big B, brent butler, hip hop, local artists, local music, local playlist, local rap, Michael Millions, music, Nickelus F, Playlist, rap, shows, Weekend Playlist

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

This week’s playlist comes to us from up-and-coming Richmond rapper Big B, who just released his second album, My Life In Words, on all major streaming platforms earlier this month. He’ll be celebrating both the album’s release and his birthday at Gallery 5 on Saturday, August 31 (that’s tomorrow night!), in an extravaganza of hip hop music and comedy featuring performers like Ghxst, Muff-Man, $y G, Reggy Steel, and quite a few more!

In the meantime, he’s given us a playlist jam-packed with hip hop sounds perfect for blasting out of your stereo speakers this late summer weekend. From long-gone legends (2Pac, Notorious BIG) to today’s biggest stars (Kanye West, Pusha T) to a heaping helping of Richmond-based rap heavyweights (Michael Millions, Cole Hicks, Illa Styles, and more), this playlist is a great way to walk through Big B’s personal hall of fame.

Get that head-nod going, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Get Bit by the Beat with Piranha Rama

Alicen Hackney | August 29, 2019

Topics: 60s music, brass, chrissie lozano, john sizemore, local music, panorama, Piranha Rama, psychedelic, rock, RVA shows, ryan jones, shows, theremin, Tim Falen, youve earned it

This extensive ensemble explores a variety of genres and blends them into a sound that has captured the hearts of music fans near and far.

There’s no such thing as too much, too many, or too different for Piranha Rama. The local 12-piece ensemble of individually talented musicians — otherwise known as the Panorama — has been playing shows all over in odd numbers, with the goals of sharing the stage and sharing new musical ideas. 

“It works pretty great having so many members. They want to be there, and we love them for that,” said guitarist John Sizemore on the sheer size of Piranha Rama’s lineup. “When they can’t, we miss them. But we are all mutual fans of each others’ work, so we love to support them.” 

While it might not be possible to have every member play every show, there is no shortage of creative musical performances the band can come up with. In any number, and in any city, whichever parts of the Panorama are able to show up will put on a show: one that’ll take you on a sound journey through genres you couldn’t imagine would go so well together. 

Photo by Lauren Serpa Photography

“It’s a group of people with similar interests in music, but we also all have our wild cards,” said Sizemore. “We just get really excited by people’s various out-there ideas.” 

In their music, you can pluck out a psychedelic mix of rock ‘n roll, 60s style melody, a stellar brass section, and a theremin… that’s right, a theremin. It’s unique to the bone; as their Facebook puts it: “It’s like a party with a bite.” To back up this claim, earlier this month they released their newest album, You’ve Earned It, with as much flair and moody vibes as could be promised. 

To begin the writing process for these releases, a smaller set of musicians — typically, drummer Tim Falen, singer-bassist Chrissie Lozano, keyboardist Ryan Jones, and Sizemore — get together to work up ideas in their practice space before handing it over to the rest of the Panorama. From there, the songs truly become their own beings, fleshed out and fully formed to peak quality. 

“When it comes time to record or play any of the songs is when we’ll bring in the Panorama, as we call it, and they’ll usually work out the horn parts and percussion,” said Sizemore. “We are truly lucky to have people so talented that can work fast and with such vibrant creativity.” 

The Panorama features quite a few well-known players in the Richmond music scene; those involved include Angelica Garcia on theremin, Reggie Pace on trombone, Bio Ritmo’s Bob Miller on trumpet, and Kenneka Cook contributing vocals and percussion. In fact, pretty much everyone involved contributes vocals and percussion at one point or another. You’ll find all these players and more offering their talents on You’ve Earned It.

For Piranha Rama, working in such large numbers has been the most natural path for their growth, both physically and artistically. In order to find each other and end up in this current configuration, the members came together after seeing each other play in other bands all over the city. As projects ended, they came together, and explored their creative interests together. 

Photo by Garritos Photography

“I remember seeing Tim’s previous band, The Diamond Center, when they had just moved here from Texas roughly 10 years ago. At the time he was sporting a cape and a wild psychedelic painted face, and was on a mission to drum,” said Sizemore. “We have a lot of love and respect for each other, so it’s made working together a really great journey.” 

Following the release of You’ve Earned It, the Piranha Rama Panorama has lined up some shows to cover Virginia and reach as many listeners as they can. They’ll be playing shows throughout this upcoming holiday weekend: at Harrisonburg’s The Golden Pony on Thursday, August 29 (that’s tonight!), at Slash Run in Washington D.C. on Friday the 30th, the LAVA Mini-Fest at Toast in Norfolk on Saturday the 31st, and rounding out the weekend on Sunday night with a free show at Richmond’s own Bandito’s Burrito Lounge. More info can be found on the band’s Facebook page. 

So clear all the plans you had to spend this holiday weekend with your families at lousy BBQs, and come get bit by the beat with Piranha Rama.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Don’t Pretend: Weekend Playlist by Mark Osborne of Slimehole

RVA Staff | August 2, 2019

Topics: hip hop, local artists, local booking, local music, Mark Osborne, metal, music, Playlist, punk, richmond shows, rock, rva magazine weekend playlist, RVA shows, shows, Slimehole, strange matter

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

This week, our featured playlist comes from Slimehole founder Mark Osborne, who started his event promotion/tour booking/music consulting business a few years back when he was the talent buyer at the late, lamented Strange Matter. These days, he’s responsible for bringing to Richmond many of the best live music events this city sees on a week-to-week basis, at venues large and small, from the Broadberry to Wonderland and everything in-between. If you want to hear about good live music every single week, make sure you’re keeping up with Slimehole.

On this dreary summer weekend, Osborne has brought us a playlist that runs the gamut — everything from horror movie soundtracks to hard-hitting hip hop, from moody postpunk to raging metal, and more. All of it’s here, and it’s sure to brighten up your weekend.

Embrace the slime, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Photo: Young The Giant & Fitz And The Tantrums at VACU Live

Lucienne Nghiem | June 28, 2019

Topics: COIN, Fitz and the Tantrums, local music, Lucienne Nghiem, music, Photo story, photos, richmond raceway, RVA shows, show photos, shows, vacu live, Virginia Credit Union Live, young the giant

On a beautiful summer evening, the sun set into arrays of pink as a sea of thousands poured into the gates. Music lovers of all sorts came together to experience a once-in-a-lifetime show. 

Opened by Coin, hands could be seen up in the air bumping to the beat of the music as the evening heated up. Later on in the night, headliners Young the Giant and Fitz and the Tantrums closed out the night with a bang. From vivid lighting to polished production, and from crisp sound to incredible performances, this was a night to remember in Richmond. 

The show took place at Virginia Credit Union LIVE! on the grounds of Richmond Raceway on June 25, and RVA Magazine photographer Lucienne Nghiem was on the scene for live coverage. Photos from the night can be found below. 

Young The Giant 
Young The Giant 
Fitz and the Tantrums
Fitz and the Tantrums
Young The Giant 
Fitz and the Tantrums
Young The Giant 
COIN 
COIN 
Young The Giant 
Young The Giant 
Young The Giant 
COIN 
COIN 
COIN 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

The Conqueror Returns

John Donegan | August 20, 2018

Topics: hip hop, Nick F, rap, richmond, River City, RVA, shows, Tour

We were already knocking back our second shot of whiskey when Nickelus F walked into Commercial Taphouse, the prolific rapper just returning to Richmond after his first national tour. Sliding into the booth alongside us with a worn backpack and noticeable jet lag below his eyes, you wouldn’t suspect that he is one of the most dominant rappers on the east coast. 

That’s Nickelus F.

At 35, Nickelus F, carries himself with a casual humility, one that is both sly and confident. “I’m a master of names. Like…I’m Nickelus F, but I’m also Sweet Petey, I also go by Jellyfish Jones, Nick Fury, Bison Beckford…” He names a few more, his hands gesturing for each. “Rufus Ogelthorpe, Gomez Garfunkel, Horace Hardbody…it’s my thing.” His grip on the name game starts with MF Doom, one of his top inspirations and a mentor in rap aesthetics, telling us, “You got MF Doom, but you also got Madvillain, you got fucking King Gidora.” 

Settling in for what was obviously becoming a boozy interview, we ordered another round of whiskeys, clinking glasses to his successful tour. When asked how it went, Nick popped out of his seat full of energy bringing to life the atmosphere of being on the road.

“The shows, that’s what it was for me,” Nick said, telling us that his fanbase has always been diverse which adds to the energy of the shows. Watch any of the Instagram videos Nick posted during the tour and it is not hard to see that kinetic energy on full display. Yet he also acknowledged how his verse adds to the accessibility of his music. “I feel like a lot of things I talk about are human truths. So doing those shows, I love the energy.”

While no stranger to performing, this was his first continuous tour and while Richmond is always close to his heart, he said the tour stops in Memphis, New Orleans, Houston, and Atlanta were some of his favorite shows, describing Philly as “fucking insane.” 

 “It was very eye-opening. It is hard to see it all if you are not getting out there touching people in these different cities. That was the powerful part for me,” he said. 

Pointing out how intense some of the shows could be, he said, “I tapped myself out early! I lost my voice from performing way too hard after my third show and my knee was still sore from stage diving.” That’s not hard to imagine if you’ve ever been to one of Nickelus F’s shows. His presence on stage is confrontational, visceral, and totally engaged with the audience.  

Recently heralded by Pitchfork as a leading figure of Richmond’s rap scene, Nick is seeing some major airtime and rightfully so. The veteran rapper, who dropped his eighth studio album, “Stuck” back in May,  has cultivated a strong following from nearly two decades in the scene and is quick to admit that everyone is talking about Richmond. “This is the place. Even if you go anywhere else, even in the 757, Northern Virginia, they’re all talking about the Richmond scene.”

Yet success doesn’t happen in a vacuum and according to Nick, collaboration is key for artists and something they need to embrace in a small city. “[I want] to grow this city, to grow the culture. I want to work with more people, do more collaborations, I love brainstorming and throwing ideas around,” he said. The rapper said he’s been in talks with Richmond metal band Division of Mind about a potential collaboration. “We talked about it on the tour, I really fuck with what they’re doing,” he said.

That’s the River City grind which is putting Richmond on the map.

Joining Nickelus F on tour was fellow Richmond native and hip-hop heavyweight, Lil Ugly Mane. Back in 2015, the two joined forces to release a joint album, “Trick Dice,” which was distributed as a cassette throughout Richmond and sold out in almost an hour.

“Ugly Mane is like a crazy genius, he’s well versed and he comes from the punk scene, he’s a pure dude with a high integrity level in the music he creates,” he said. “When we did ‘Trick Dice’ together, none of those songs sounded the way they did when I initially recorded them.”


Comparing Ugly Mane to Frankenstein, Nick described him as “the doctor who created the monster.”

While many artists from the River City look elsewhere for the break, striking out for New York or Los Angeles, Nick still loves the grit of Richmond. While he was quick to mention some of the other scene pioneers like Slapdash who created Epic Fest, he also talked about how culture acts as the connective tissue for the entire rap community. “What’s going to blow people up from out of here is light being on the whole scene, that’s what makes it special. It is not just going to be one person. People are going to fall in love with the culture of the city the same way they did with Atlanta, Houston, and the Bay Area. The culture blows an area up.”

Yet its not just the music that keeps Nick grounded. Being a father to two sets of twins is only one of Nick’s accomplishments. Add that to eight studio productions, an induction into the 106 and Park Freestyle Friday Hall of Fame, and a recent degree from VCU in strategic advertising and Nick is well placed for what’s next.

And even though he just got off an intense tour, Nickelus F isn’t ready to relax just yet. He said he wants to tour more often, but wants to fly solo for his next trip on the road. For this, he made another investment shortly after graduation – an investment in himself to better market his brand. “I took what I have and what I learned about websites, made an LLC, I got Illustrator and Photoshop, I made shirts. With what I have now, I feel much more liberated and less worried about the future.”

With the growing rap and hip-hop community starting to extend past the creative confines of New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles, more eyes have been put on smaller communities to enrich the market with genuine originality.

And with few cities able to compete on the grounds of tension and controversy, Richmond has the resources to incubate the next wave of artistry. Few know this better than Nick, who has articulated his challenges into the narratives and verse he is now known for.

“Before I went back to school, I went through dead-end warehouse jobs,” he said. “I’ve always worked hard jobs where I was easily replaceable – they could chop me and fill somebody else in – and it happened, right after I had my babies.” All of his hard work has started to pay off though and for the first time, Nick has started to see a return on his rap career, telling us, “It’s amazing because I’ve made more money since graduating [last May] than I have in a long time – like, since ever.”  

After several more drinks and some off-the-record banter, we got up to leave. On the walk, a person or two would break away from their tables to shake Nick’s hand. Some simply wanted to congratulate him on a successful tour, while the bar owner told Nick the next time he came in the first round was on him.

A short time later we rendezvoused at the house of our managing partner to bullshit over some more whiskey and a joint. I gave him one more question, asking him what’s next?  

He answered confidently, “A whole lot of ruckus.” 

In the meantime, catch Nickelus F at Vinyl Conflict’s upcoming Customer Appreciation Day concert Sat., August 25 alongside hardcore punk bands Bib, Nosebleed, Deviant, and Slump.

 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

 

Photos by Landon Shroder

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