Every Friday night, RVA Mag drops one scorcher of a playlist curated by influential artists, musicians, and institutions.
As you slide through your weekend maneuver, let the playlist of NYHC legends Sheer Terror take you on an unexpected musical voyage which is sure to give you enough soul to battle any of those lingering night-time doubts.
Get amongst it, world.
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Last night there was rain, thunder, lightning, and then there was Cole Hicks. Sometimes a great night will have a sense of destiny, some purpose that shakes us from the mediocrity of our everyday lives – last night’s musical showcase at The Camel felt like that. With Richmond squads like the Association of Great Minds ripping up the East Coast, Hicks, who headlined the show to premiere her debut album, “May Day,” has landed at just the right time as Richmond’s rap and hip-hop scene continues along a path of national prestige.
But that’s not where the night started.
The night opened with local jazz and soul singer Kenneka Cook who’s ingenuity on stage is as compelling as it is dreamlike, creating musical atmospheres that become a livable presence for everyone in the room. While a force in her own right, Cook brought the crowd together; her beats and lyrics taking us on a perceptive journey into a soundscape that envelops the watcher.
In between sets, Richmond great Illa Styles took the stage with singer Franciose Hamilton. Shrouded in a purple haze, they brought an energy to the building and primed the crowd for Cole Hicks.
Hicks’ lyrics hit the heart and formed a groove right into the soul. At one point, Hicks told the audience “be true to yourselves.” While an old maxim, nothing can be more apparent in 2018 and hearing it from the stage sounded like poetry. Hicks brought a feeling of genuine authenticity from the crowd, putting her entire self into the work. Her music creating a vibe that is inclusionary, prescient, her beats dropping like the thunder outside. There was an energy from the stage, it was electric. When she was joined by Joey Gallo that same energy only increased, becoming a kinetic force of rhyme and reason. Towards the end of the set, Kai’la, joined Hicks on stage to close out the night by claiming verses that were raw and relevant, a testament to where this movement is going.
Afterward, RVA Mag spoke with Illa Styles who said, “The Richmond rap and hip-hop scene has spent years and years maturing, coming into its own. It offers an experience real, genuine, and true. That is what makes this present time, here in Richmond, special.”
He is not wrong. Richmond is what’s happening.
Some of the best photos of the night can be found below:
*Jack Clark and Landon Shroder contributed to this report. All photos by Landon Shroder
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DRAM or Big Baby Dram, from Hampton, Virginia, has just released a surprise three song EP called “That’s a Girls Name.” The new release comes on the heels of “#1HolidayEP,” which dropped last November.
The new EP features three tracks: “Best Hugs,” “WWYD,” and “Sundress,” and was announced via Twitter and Instagram yesterday. According to Hip Hop Wired, the EP was produced with Josh Abraham and Oligee.
DRAM, who came to national prominence with his song “Cha-Cha” and the hit “Broccoli,” a collaboration with Lil’ Yachty, has grown in popularity since his 2016 debut. Check out the stream of “That’s a Girls Name” below.
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A debut album is a singular act of creation, ushering in a brand new version of the universe. A blank slate. A new map, with contours distinct from all the cartography that came before.
With her debut full-length, Moonchild, Richmond jazz vocalist Kenneka Cook has projected a heartening vision of the world — one in which people, genres, and techniques come together in a spirit of connectedness. I had the good fortune to explore her vision when I sat down with her at Pop’s Market on East Grace Street recently.
Moonchild was released on February 23 by American Paradox Records, the fledgling imprint run by Scott Lane of standout rock outfit The Congress. Cook and Lane first met after one of her performances. “There’s a series called REC Room at the Camel,” Cook said. “Scott was in the audience.” Lane was so impressed he wanted to sign her. “Next thing I know, I’m making a record.”
So what brought a jazz singer to REC Room — a showcase for beatmakers organized by the Richmond Electronic Collective? The answer is a surprise, given the full-band arrangements employed on Moonchild, but Cook got her start with looping, a more individualistic technique.
Using just her versatile voice and the Vox Lil’ Looper, a pedal that allows her to create sampled vocal arrangements on the fly, Cook honed her skills performing solo at venues like Emilio’s, Cary Street Café, and Gallery5.
“It started off at Emilio’s,” Cook remembered, “at their open mic. I started going there, and I met a few people in the house band at Emilio’s. From there, it just kind of snowballed into me really getting into the Richmond music scene.”
Though she was performing alone, Cook ensured the experience was far from solipsistic. “It’s hard when you’re standing up there by yourself. It can be intimidating with all those people staring at you. So I [asked], ‘How can I connect with them?’ And so in between songs, [I’d] talk to them. ‘Hey, what’s up? I see you right there. That shirt’s cute.’”
Among the connections she made during that time, that initial conversation with Scott Lane proved to be especially fateful. Following a “stem to stern” model of production, American Paradox artists work with Lane at every step of the album cycle, including recording in his Jackson Ward home. The location inspired Cook.
“That house is over 100 years old,” she said. “I love stuff like that. I think it’s really cool to be able to record in a place that has so much history. It’s on the same block as the Maggie L. Walker Museum, so it’s cool to add more history on history that’s already been made on that block.”
Cook also appreciated Lane’s easygoing style as a producer. ”He’s a real laid back guy, and that makes it easy for everybody.” Easy and tightly-knit, as much of the recording was done in close collaboration — including the vocals. “I would be right beside Scott, recording, and he would be doing whatever on the computer. No crazy sound booth or anything.”
Remarkably, this easy-going, collaborative environment was also established when it came time to record the band. “Everybody was kind of together in one room,” Cook remembered. “[Lane] has this baby grand in the front, and a drum set, so everything was put together.” According to Cook, it’s essentially the same setup as is depicted in the live performance of Moonchild track “Brings Me Back (111)” recorded by videography collective RVATRACK, for which Lane runs audio and acts as project manager.
Whether it’s the physical space, Lane’s approach, or a shared commitment to making good organic music, the community that’s grown around American Paradox Records is as tightly knit as the recording process. A key figure in that ecosystem is Sid Kingsley, the singer, and pianist whose soulful Americana album, Good Way Home, provided an outstanding proof of concept for the label’s in-house methodology last year. It’s Kingsley’s saxophone work you hear in the version of “Brings Me Back (111)” on Moonchild.
“We go to each other’s shows,” Cook said of her labelmates. “We support each other. I feel like it’s a [microcosm] of Richmond, because the Richmond music community is really supportive of each other.”
Moonchild draws expertly from that broader pool of Richmond musicians, with a list of contributors that includes local renaissance man Kelli Strawbridge (who also plays with Cook in the band Mikrowaves), No BS! Brass Band mainstay Marcus Tenney, and multitalented Butcher Brown keyboardist Devonne Harris. “They [made] it easy because they’re so talented,” Cook said. “I was very open to any suggestions they had because what I do is so minimalist. I wanted to have their input [on] anything they heard or thought would sound cool if we tried it. To have those people want to suggest stuff anyway is a blessing in itself.”
Harris played on two songs: “My Universe” and “The Practice.” “He did keys on both tracks, [on] the baby grand in the living room,” Cook said. “He plays everything like he’s a pro at it. He makes it look so easy… It’s funny, because he does this thing: We’ll teach him the song, he’ll do an amazing job, and we’ll [say] ‘That was great!’ He’ll say ‘Oh no, that wasn’t it…’ and we’re [saying] ‘No, that was it!’”
As greatly as Moonchild benefits from the various players it features, the album still feels like a vision that’s distinctively Cook’s — starting with the title.
“I like the moon,” Cook explained. “I’ve always liked space, and I always had weird theories about space and all that stuff as a kid, which any kid probably has. But as I got older, not only the scientific knowledge about space, but also the metaphysical and spiritual sense of the moon the Sun and all that — it made sense. The moon’s connection with the feminine and feminine energy — it’s a reminder to embrace my feminine side.”
During the recording process, she looked for ways to infuse music with her love for the cosmos, which reaches all the way back to childhood evenings spent stargazing with siblings and cousins. “I wanted ‘Moonchild’ to be somewhat mysterious,” Cook said. “I wanted it to be very spacey, and space is a mystery within itself. No matter how much we learn about space, it’s going to always be a mystery, because we’ll never learn everything. I wanted that feel in that track, definitely.”
Cook also sought to provide a sense of balance that married her sample-driven solo performance style with the love of jazz that kicked into high gear when she first heard Billie Holiday sing — a love she’s nurtured by frequenting record stores like Deep Groove, Plan 9, and Steady Sounds, surrounding herself with other legendary voices like Ella Fitzgerald’s and Betty Carter’s.
“I knew for a fact I wanted [the album] to be full band songs and looper-esque songs,” Cook affirmed, “but I [also] knew I wanted to show my diverse taste in music. Jazz is my baby; that’s my heart. [But] I wanted to show I have other interests in music… I wanted to make sure I got a little of everything out there, without it being utterly ridiculous.”
Cook covered Vampire Weekend’s “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance” as an outlet for her more electronic instincts. “I wanted the Vampire Weekend one to be closer to how it is when I loop it,” she mentioned. “We were thinking, ‘How can we make this sound fun [and] different?’ It has that Mark Mothersbaugh sound to it. Just a piece of my childhood just thrown in there a little bit.”
Conversely, “The Practice” was always destined to be more built-out. “I knew I wanted a traditional sounding jazz song on the record.” The track got an early signal boost in mid-January thanks to Bandcamp’s music discovery show Bandcamp Weekly, which aired the song alongside two others from Moonchild and an interview with Cook. Her photo even spent time on the site’s front page. I asked about how she’s enjoyed the process of promoting the album and engaging with music media.
“I don’t like to talk,” she confessed. “I’m a very quiet, to-myself person, so to be able to express myself through words is kind of nerve-wracking. But it is exciting, because people want to know how this happened.”
Her reticence gets a symbolic nod in the cover art, which features photography by Joey Wharton and lettering by illustrator Leslie Herman. “Because I don’t like talking, I [thought], ‘Let me show who I am the best way possible.’ Looping, even though it is a powerful tool, I feel like it’s minimalist, so I [thought], ‘How do I express that visually?’ So if you notice, my album cover is just this much of me [from the top of the nose up], and then simple lettering that has the moon phases in the O’s. It’s simple, but you can get a lot out of it.”
Cook may not be a big talker, but she’s confident in her work, especially as the number of glowing reviews has grown. “The more positive feedback I’m getting, it’s a little less nerve-wracking.” She has one group of supporters, in particular, that’s provided constant encouragement: Her five sisters.
“I come from a big family,” Cook said. “We’re close. We still are close. We always had each other’s backs. We’re all different, but we’re always supportive of each other… I feel like they promote [Moonchild] more than I do sometimes. I’m being dead serious. I’ll [get] calls from their friends [saying], ‘The album’s amazing. Your sister’s been sharing it around the office.’ So they’re really excited about it.”
Cook grew up in Chesterfield, singing in her church and school choirs, and soaking in the wave of soul music that redefined the genre-leading into the 21st Century. “We had a stereo in our living room,” Cook said, “and every weekend, there was cleaning day.” So she would put on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill or Erykah Badu’s Baduizm and clean up. It was the kind of sustained, passive listening that plants deep roots, and the impact continues to grow. “Even if I [wasn’t] paying attention to it, it [was] being put into my head. Not forcibly or anything; it was good music. It’s part of our memories. And I go back and listen to it now, and I actually know what they’re talking about. Erykah Badu performed at the [2017] Richmond Jazz Festival, and she said something about waiting for you all to grow up. And I [thought], yes, that makes so much sense!”
Family turned out to be a recurring theme during our conversation, whether she was describing her sisters’ enthusiasm, the virtues of the American Paradox community, or experiences singing in ensemble groups like Mikrowaves and Piranha Rama.
“Playing in other bands — it’s fun,” Cook said. “It’s like a little family. Especially Mikrowaves. I love hanging out with Mikrowaves. I’m guaranteed to laugh with Mikrowaves. To have fun with it — I learned that from Piranha Rama and Mikrowaves. Just make a little family. Because if you guys aren’t connecting in some way, it’s not going to come out the way you want it to.”
It’s an approach she’s hoping to take on the road. When asked what she hoped the release Moonchild would lead to–what her metric for success might be–her answer was clear and decisive. “Touring. That’s the number one thing. I’ve never really gotten to tour before, so to be able to go outside of Richmond and show myself would be cool.”
As for adjusting to her role fronting a bigger group, Cook described engagement as key, regardless of whether she’s looping solo or leading a band. “I love them both for different reasons,” she said. “I feel like when I’m up there by myself, I’m more interactive with the crowd, which is always fun. But when I’m up there with [the band], it’s less of a burden — not mentally freaking out, [thinking] ‘OK, what’s next?’ I can relax a little and interact with the people in the band with me.”
Originally printed in RVA #32 Spring 2018, you can check out the issue HERE or pick it up around Richmond now.
The beauty of Kenneka Cook is how she’s rooted her musical brilliance in human connection, through her literal and metaphorical families and her relationship with the audience. That beauty is affirmed via Moonchild, and Cook is poised to project that truth widely as songs from the album fill living rooms and venues in Richmond and beyond.
Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond
Richmond’s Southern-Americana rock band, Big Mama Shakes are back and shakin’ things up you could say with some pretty extensive plans to reshape themselves this year.
Since forming in 2013, the five-piece has entertained intimate crowds at Capital Ale House, held down a regular residency at The Camel, played alongside big-name acts like Dirty Heads, Passion Pit, and Incubus, toured the East Coast, and recorded two albums. The Williamsburg natives have gained a large following and carved out a niche in the local music scene with their unique sound of soulful Southern rock which draws in younger and older generations.
I guess you can say vocalist Brady Heck has come a long way from raising chickens on the farm with his grandma. But the band will soon face a bittersweet moment this weekend as they say farewell to their drummer and founding member, Chandler Matkins, who will play his last show with the band.
Embracing his studies and trying his hand in professional acting, Matkins, along with the band, has decided to host a fundraiser for TheatreVCU’s Senior Showcase as his farewell show.
All of the proceeds will go toward sending VCU theatre students to major cities like New York and Los Angeles to get them in front of agencies and casting directors to propel them forward in their occupational endeavors.
“I just wanted to do something important to me for my last show, and all the guys agreed that it was fair, so the best idea I could come up with is giving the proceeds to something that not only I but many close personal friends of mine have put a lot of work into,” Matkins said.
Matkins will be passing the torch (or the sticks you could say), to drummer and close friend Isaac Friend of local folk/rock band Lady Empire of which Heck is also a member.
“We had auditioned a few other drummers that were all incredibly talented musicians, but there was always a disconnect,” Heck said. “When we brought Isaac in it just felt natural. There was no acclimation period, just playing music with your buddies. We have already played together on separate occasions, and he has a similar musical background, so all signs pointed to Isaac.”
Friend had nothing but great things to say about his new opportunity with Big Mama Shakes. “There’s a rare dynamic of raw talent and dedication with these guys that you don’t see too often. There are equal parts dirty rock and roll and fleshy heart. I can’t wait to sweat and bleed all over everything,” he said.
Although having to say goodbye to a fellow band member is something almost every band dreads, Big Mama Shakes remains optimistic for the future of the band and are incredibly supportive of Matkins’ journey to pursue professional acting.
“Even though Chandler is leaving, it is an opportunity for growth and we are excited to keep pushing forward. Everybody is doing what they need to do; there are absolutely no hard feelings,” said Heck.
Speaking of new changes, although there are no dates confirmed, Big Mama Shakes has plans to start recording their new album.
“The new album is going o be different than what we’ve done in the past,” said Heck. “Of course, it’s still going to have some upbeat sweaty rock songs, but we are exploring a deeper part of ourselves this time. I believe our folk/country songs have always been our best material and where we are most true to ourselves, so we’re practicing our five-part harmonies and restringing our mandolins.”
This mysterious forthcoming album will be the first new album we’ve received from them since 2016’s EP, If I Try.
Big Mama Shakes has been writing material for their new album since before recording If I Try, but they decided to leave the new music out of the EP and let it marinade for a while. If you want a taste of the new album, they have recorded one song “Coming of Age” that has already been released and will be featured on it.
In addition to a new album, there have also been some rumors circulating around a new band for the group. “It was briefly discussed, but we couldn’t seem to come up with any name that wasn’t a complete joke. If a name change does come about, we would do it when we release the new album- and that’s if we even do it,” said Heck.
During our chat, bassist Peter Cason reminisced about their favorite memories and cities to play in, from the world’s most amazing pinball machine to lighting a hotel on fire in Ohio. “After our last show in Boston, our good friends in a band called These Wild Plains had representatives of Jagermeister take us out drinking under the official company tab which was an utter catastrophe,” said Heck. “It was monumental, I didn’t even know bar tabs could get that high,” Cason added.
Although Matkins said there is nothing that quite compares to playing for their “heaven sent” fan base in the New England area, they attribute a lot of their success to the diverse and incredibly supportive music scene here in Richmond.
“Richmond is a city that loves every single aspect of music. You have music on both completely different ends of the spectrum, and they both can be just as popular with completely different fan bases or the same exact fan base,” said Matkins.
Cason described the empowering Richmond music scene as a city that loves uniqueness and authenticity. “If you are true to yourself, the scene is going to accept you for it. It’s something that bleeds outside of art and music; it’s just how Richmond is as a whole,” he said.
As for tour plans, “Big Mama is keeping her secrets close,” according to Heck. As for now, the band has been in cahoots with These Wild Plains and the two will play together in Boston later in March. Heck has also been setting up some new potential venues in the Richmond area and said he has high hopes for this new lineup.
Big Mama Shakes’ final show with drummer Chandler Matkins will be this Sat., Jan. 20 at The Broadberry, with $8 presale tickets and $10 tickets at the door. The band will be joined by Dog Lagoon, Minor Poet, and Walkerton Brothers, comprised of two other members of Big Mama Shakes, Caleb Austin, and Elijah Righter. Doors open at 7:00 pm. Tickets here.
It’s been two years since RVA Mag caught up with Erin & The Wildfire, the Charlottesville folky/funk group led by sultry powerhouse vocalist Erin Lunsford. The group has been busy touring, performing at festivals, and in the studio recording their first full-length album, Thirst, set to drop tonight at The Camel.
In 2015, the then four-piece had just a self-titled EP under their belts, but the group is back with two new members and has switched up their sound to a funkier, soulful, R&B vibe for their latest 12-track album.
Covers like “Stayin Alive” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”, paired with Lunsford’s vocals, and the band’s backing funky grooves helped them carve out their place in the Richmond music scene, but the vocalist said for this record they wanted to go with a different vibe.
“The first EP was more Americana and folk blues, and even then, we were talking about wanting a more R&B and funk feel, that’s the kind of stuff we were covering,” Lunsford said.
More recently, the band put out songs like “Here I Go” “Got Dem” and “Blame the Rain” that were a little closer to the sound the group wanted, but didn’t quite have enough soul for them just yet.
“It was still a little too folk, too Americana for what we wanted,” she said. “And they were still just singles, not complete pictures.”
After that point, Lunsford said the songs the band started writing, and the feeling they were going for just came together in an organic way and they were able to pinpoint that sound that they desired and what they thought represented them as a band.
A busy summer schedule playing at festivals like Rooster Walk, Red Wing Roots, Front Porch Fest and Steppin’ Out kept the band preoccupied up until early 2017 when they decided to take a couple months off to get into the studio to record the new material they had been hard at work on.
“It was an incredible experience and we’re super proud of this full product,” she said. “Everything we’ve done in the past has been bits and pieces nothing has felt really wholesome and like it represented our sound.”
Looking to stay local this time around, the band sought out the talents of Adrian Olsen over at Montrose Recording in February to lay down the tracks for their new full-length album and wrapped it up in May.
Erin & The Wildfire dropped two singles ahead of Thirst’s release, “One Woman Show” in July, an upbeat anthem to empower all us women, and “Great Love”, a bluesy, heartfelt ballad that really shines light on how the band has evolved.
“To me, it is the ultimate tune from this album,” she said referring to the second single.
Much of the album is very personal, specifically about unrequited love according to Lunsford.
“There’s one person in particular that several of the songs are about,” she said. “And a couple other random dudes that I dated sprinkled in. “’Great Love’ was the amalgamation of all of those experiences, it’s not actually a surrender, but its kind of close. Understanding what the realization of what I’m looking for and what I’m willing to give up and what I’m not willing to give up.”
As far as the name of the album, there’s a little story behind that as well. There’s a track on the album called “Thirsty For Your Love” and the group wanted a title that would sum up the theme.
“We wanted to go with ‘Thirsty’, but that’s kind of a double entendre these days,” she laughed. “We thought Thirst represents the songs, wanting for love, wanting for something more.”
Part of the reason for those soul and R&B influences on the tracks could be attributed to the two members recently added to the group. The band brought on Garen Dorsey to play horns and Austin Patterson on the trumpet rounding them out as a six-piece with Nick Quillen on the drums, Ryan Lipps on the guitar, and Matt Wood on bass.
“I think that it really enhances our sound, its make our music much more interesting and much more vast,” she said. “Funk and soul is not funk and soul without horns. They are just awesome musicians in their own right so they just are raising our music to the next level.”
If one element stood out for me on the old EP, it was the amount of soul and passion that came through when Lunsford opened her mouth to belt out a tune. And if these tracks are any indication to the rest of the album, I’m really going to dig the new vibe!
You can catch Erin & The Wildfire perform Thirst at their album release party tonight at The Camel along with Mckinley Dixon and Sid Kinglsey. Show starts at 9 pm. Tickets are $7 and you can get yours here. Thirst drops online on Fri., Sept. 29.
And if you’re lame and miss tonight’s show in Richmond, the crew is also doing cd releases in Blacksburg on Oct. 12, Charlottesville at The Southern on Oct. 13, and in DC Oct. 20. Check out the rest of their tour schedule here.
*Photo Credit: Tristan Williams Photography
