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The 40 Most Essential RVA Albums Of 2018 (Part 2)

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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. Yesterday, we presented the first 20, and we follow up today with the remaining 20 — in alphabetical order by artist name, so it doesn’t seem like we’re playing favorites. Happy listening!

Elizabeth Owens – Coming Of Age (Grimalkin)
This young singer-songwriter has avoided the strict confines of genre on their first album, instead dancing along the invisible borders between a variety of sounds. Lushly-strummed acoustic guitars and haunting vocals center these compositions, even as a variety of both conventional and unconventional instruments form an intricate, multi-layered background. Psychedelic folk in the original, late 60s sense — think Incredible String Band or Pentangle — is a good touchstone, though a better, more recognizable one is hinted at by the song entitled “Ode to Joni.” Yeah, you know what’s up.

Piranha Rama – Piranha Rama (Trrrash)
Piranha Rama is a band full of Richmond underground rock all-stars that took the local scene by storm in 2018. Featuring members who’ve performed with a wide variety of local ensembles and played a wide variety of musical styles, Piranha Rama’s sound is apropos, capturing as it does both the rollicking rock n’ roll spirit that is this band’s bedrock and the wide variety of influences that takes this album in many different directions from song to song. The results are always catchy and fun, even if the album’s overall feel is more like that of a great mixtape made by a crate-digging friend than you’d expect from a singularly driven band. The more voices, the merrier.

Trey Pollard – Antiphone (Spacebomb)
I admit I never would have expected this in the year 2018, but it has in fact come to pass. Trey Pollard, best known as the in-house arranger for Spacebomb Records, has released an album of classical chamber music. The selections found within are the sorts of things typically referred to as “pieces” rather than songs, and are mostly performed by four to eight-piece string ensembles (sometimes accompanied by a piano). Pollard, who acts as composer and conductor here, has created a stunning collection of memorable moments that feel like a score for a film — one that’s playing in your mind as you listen. Close your eyes and let it overtake you.

Natalie Prass – The Future And The Past (ATO)
Natalie Prass had been the fledgling Spacebomb label’s obvious breakout star thus far — along, of course, with label founder Matthew E. White. For her second LP, Prass signed with ATO and moved beyond the traditional soul-R&B feel of the Spacebomb house band, getting into deeper electronic grooves that seem to arise directly out of the pre-New Jack Swing sound of 80s greats like Cameo or Kool & The Gang. When she croons overtop of these, she’s got a real retro-diva sound, like a young Janet Jackson. Who can resist that?

PT & Fan Ran – Airtight (Ear Tite) (Gritty City)
The Gritty City roster of champion rhyme-spitters is deep, and each passing year seems to make that clearer, as new albums bring us strong statements of purpose from previously unheard names. This year it’s PT, which stands for Perfect Timing, who jumped out in a big way. Airtight is a full-length collaboration with Gritty City production mainstay Fan Ran, and the hard-hitting beats he brings match up perfectly with PT’s strong flow and aggressive approach to the mic. If you miss the days when RZA was producing a different Wu-Tang solo album every couple months and they all ruled, this one’s for you.

Recluse Raccoon – Recluse Raccoon (recluseraccoon.bandcamp.com)
This band features a rotating selection of local musicians, but Timmy Peele is the true raccoon hiding reclusively behind the name. For this debut full-length, it’s Mr. Peele who lays down vast majority of instruments for the dozen compositions he treats us to. There is at times a decided Animal Collective vibe in the thick vocal harmonies and ringing piano notes, though at other moments he comes closer to straddling that invisible line where the mellowest math-rock meets the most far out of the psychedelic jam sounds. Expect the unexpected — it’s more fun that way.

Roy Batty – Roy Batty (roybattyband.bandcamp.com)
This one just dropped a couple weeks ago, but it demands a place on our radar simply by virtue of the many awesome bands the members have been part of in the past. Specifically, this is frontwoman Lindsey Spurrier’s first return to full-time action after the demise of Hot Dolphin, and I think I’m far from the only one who felt that band ended before their time. Roy Batty has a heavier sound that Hot Dolphin, due to the fact that Spurrier is backed here by metal dudes rather than garage-punk types, but the frantic energy and aggressive spirit remain undiminished. And thank god for that.

Serqet – Oleander (Vinyl Conflict)
This two-song EP constitutes the first release from a local band who’ve been getting some attention on the whole DIY punk scene. I hear kids who are nerdy about that style of music call it “peace-punk” but if you ask me, it’s more along the lines of old-school goth. Maybe a bit Siouxsie and The Banshees, plus a bit of Submission Hold, and even some strong melodies on the B-side that get more into pre-shoegaze UK indie sounds. If you’re looking for something that can simultaneously please fans of Flux of Pink Indians, Sisters Of Mercy, and House Of Love, you’ve hit paydirt with this one.

Shadow Age – Shadow Age (Play Alone)
This trio unfortunately took an indefinite hiatus not long after this album was released, but we can at least be thankful that they left behind such an excellent document of their creativity. Bandleader Aaron Tyree has obviously been influenced by the saddest goth boys of the early 80s UK, and he brings the spirits of Robert Smith, Ian McCulloch, and Adrian Borland into the 21st century with flair and panache. Hazy keyboards, glittering guitar leads, quiet melancholy crooning, all set to an essential driving rhythm section. Turn on the fog machine.

South Hill Banks – No Time For A Breakdown (southhillbanks.com)
This RVA bluegrass band has really cemented a place for themselves on the local music scene over the past year, and No Time For A Breakdown is just part of that — you may also have caught onto their year-long residency at The Camel, or the bluegrass festival they threw over at The Broadberry last month. But it’s this album that’ll give you the best taste of what South Hill Banks have to offer, spotlighting their 21st century take on bluegrass with some excellent melodic songcraft. Of course, they still know how to get down with a traditional speedy instrumental, and their choice to feature electric instruments in the band doesn’t get in the way at all.

Spooky Cool – Every Thing Ever (Citrus City)
Spooky Cool spent the first few years of their existence being the RVA scene’s best-kept secret, staying off social media and restricting access to their music to those who actually came to see them live. Their choice to live like a pre-internet band in the post-internet era paid off in a big way when they finally released their debut EP this year, and the whole world had a chance to hear the catchy indie-psych this quintet had spent the last few years cooking up. It was worth the wait — there are some seriously catchy tunes on this one, but those tunes also feature an unpredictable edge that only adds to their charm. Jam this one — we’ve waited long enough.

Sports Bar – Stranger In My Head (Mister Falcon)
Speaking of long-awaited releases, melodic garage-punk quartet Sports Bar have spent nearly a decade building up to this — a killer full-length full of shit-hot tunes that simultaneously bring the manic, distorted punk attack and highlight the flawless sense of melody that has made this group one of Richmond’s most enjoyable hidden discoveries since back in 2010. This one is a ton of fun, bringing us both angst-ridden singalongs like “Fried” and furious punk blasts like “Love Or Hate.” Get into it.

Suppression – Placebo Reality (Chaotic Noise Productions)
2018 was Suppression’s 26th year of existence, an existence that has seen them move from experimental power-violence to electronic noise to postpunk weirdness and now into the world of shit-fi grindcore madness — which really constitutes a return to the roots of bassist/vocalist Jason Hodges’ long-running project. On Placebo Reality, Hodges and drummer Ryan Parrish flail wildly through somewhere north of 70 songs in under half an hour, blowing your hair back with distorted vocals, hyperdrive tempos, and distorted bass rage. A palate-cleanser of the most confrontational sort, this one will erase all your momentary cares in the face of world-ending chaos. Exactly what we all need.

Marcus Tenney Quartet – Moment (American Paradox)
If you pay attention to music in Richmond and beyond, chances are you’ve heard of Marcus Tenney. A full-time member of the legendary No BS! Brass Band as well as soul-jazz quintet Butcher Brown and hip hop duo Tennison, he stays busy. For this album, he took the lead in a quartet featuring several other Richmond jazz luminaries, and created a collection that is grounded in the classic hard-bop sounds of half a century ago, but comes from a thoroughly modern worldview that helps bring jazz into the 21st century. But this album isn’t just an exhibition of instrumental talent — the mellow, melancholy mood evoked on Moment has a deep emotional resonance.

Toward Space – Gently With A Chainsaw (Cult 45)
This raw garage-rock trio has done quite a bit, considering their youth, and Gently With A Chainsaw fulfills the promise they were showing even when they were still playing house shows with foot-pedal drums. These days, their snotty punk rage has been tempered a bit by a power-pop approach to choruses, and the result makes for a number of pleasing singalong earworms on this album. Make no mistake, though, these juvenile delinquents are still ready with a switchblade if anyone messes with ’em — but have no fear. Underneath the snarling facade, they’ve got hearts of gold.

Madison Turner – A Comprehensive Guide To Burning Out (madisonturner.bandcamp.com)
Madison Turner grew up with the classic alternative rock of the 90s, and now that she’s made it out of her 20s she’s headed back to her roots with this, her fourth solo release. Backed by a talented group of musically-inclined friends, she’s created a powerful collection of songs that sound excellent and are catchy as hell. The lyrics, which delve deeply and sincerely into the album’s “burnout” theme, are witty and all-too-relatable, even as the songs keep you singing along all day long. “I don’t know why I’m so sca-aa-ared to reach out to my friends!” So real.

Unmaker – Firmament (Seeing Red)
This quintet shares a few members with local blackened-thrash combo Occultist, but don’t let that fool you — Unmaker have quite a bit to offer in their own right. They distinguish themselves from the metallic pack thanks to Aaron Mitchell’s arresting vocals, which carry an urgency that makes them impossible to ignore. But the rest of the band has a powerful sound of their own, simultaneously exploring the gothic end of the postpunk spectrum while retaining a powerful, heavy rhythm and sticking to an energetic tempo. Fans of Killing Joke will find a lot to like here, but really, everyone should.

Windhand – Eternal Return (Relapse)
Local doom combo Windhand has always been witchy, but they’ve taken it to a new level on their fourth album (and first with only one guitarist), Eternal Return. The psychedelic aspects of their sound are cranked up here, and even as you can hear those low-end rumbles that make these guys a total headcrush live, the album’s production opens up another layer of their sound — one in which vocalist Dorthia Cottrell’s haunting voice is the star of the show, bringing a heaviness of emotion that more than matches the rest of the band’s heaviness of groove. Kill the lights and light a candle.

Womajich Dialyseiz – Live In RVA (Grimalkin)
This improvisational collective brings together a shifting group of “women, femmes, and gender non-conforming people” from around the Richmond scene to create uncategorizable experimental music. The results, documented here on recordings from four different live performances, are ambient and multi-layered, featuring percussion, voices, and a variety of melodies, many of which tend toward the unsettling. Maybe not something you should put on late at night when you are alone, but certainly an important element of the Richmond scene in 2018. Lend an ear.

Young Scum – Young Scum (Citrus City)
I doubt any of the young people in this city’s indie music scene are particularly intending to hark back to the early 90s heyday of Sarah Records and the indie-pop movement that label inspired, but regardless of intent, Young Scum have landed right in that wheelhouse. If you loved Heavenly or The Field Mice, you’re going to find a lot to love here, from Chris Smith’s dulcet vocal tones, which wash over you like a cooling mist, or the glittering layers of undistorted guitar strums laid down by Smith and Ben Medcalf. There are brief moments of tense distortion hovering subtly in the mix, but for the most part this mini-LP is pure indie-pop bliss.

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Wow, we’re done! And of course, as soon as I got this list finished, I realized I’d left out the Candy LP and the Boygenius EP, so go check those out too. What can I say? There was no way I was gonna think of everything.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

No BS! Brass Band with Peoples Blues of Richmond, Spooky Cool, Prabir Mehta, and 5 more… at The Broadberry

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RVA All Day Block Party, feat. No BS! Brass Band, Angelica Garcia, Spooky Cool, Night Idea, Dharma Bombs, Prabir, Yoga w/The Shack Band, Brunswick, Thorp Jenson, DJ Ghozt, plus after party feat. People’s Blues Of Richmond, South Hill Banks @ The Broadberry – $25-30 (order tickets HERE)

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: April 25 – May 1

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, April 28, 1 PM
RVA All Day Block Party, feat. No BS! Brass Band, Angelica Garcia, Spooky Cool, Night Idea, Dharma Bombs, Prabir, Yoga w/The Shack Band, Brunswick, Thorp Jenson, DJ Ghozt, plus after party feat. People’s Blues Of Richmond, South Hill Banks @ The Broadberry – $25-30 (order tickets HERE)
Spring seems finally to have arrived — if all this rain and pollen is any indication — and it’s the perfect time to give full vent to your spring fever with an all-day indoor/outdoor block party! And of course, what better RVA band could there be to throw such an event than No BS! Brass Band? I first saw these guys playing outside on a sidewalk during a street fair, and that sort of environment still seems like their most natural home. And of course, having been responsible for the city’s unofficial anthem, “RVA All Day,” they’re an excellent group to get us all up and moving, celebrating the wonderful city we live in!

So of course, it’s no surprise that No BS! Brass Band are the stars of this shindig, being thrown at The Broadberry on Saturday from the early afternoon until late at night. What might surprise you a little more is the sheer jam-packed nature of this lineup. Even the early acts are essential — up-and-coming local country-rocker Thorp Jenson will be kicking off the live music at 2 PM, and the lineup just stays awesome from there, with excellent outdoor-stage sets from local rulers like Angelica Garcia, Night Idea, Spooky Cool, and more! During the early afternoon, the inside of the venue will play host to a record fair, face painting, and other vendors inside, as well as a beer class from Hardywood in mid-afternoon. The Shack Band will be on hand as well; not to perform, but to lead a yoga class!

And of course, No BS! Brass will rock us all at the conclusion of the outdoor festivities, before things move inside for a kickass after-party featuring grungy blues-rockers People’s Blues Of Richmond and goodtime bluegrass strummers South Hill Banks. The after-party has some kind of complicated RSVP system in place, but when you order your ticket, you’ll get an email explaining the whole thing, so no worries! And by the way, you should order your tickets right now — you know you want to be there, and when they sell through the tier 3 tickets (tier 1 and tier 2 are long gone), the price will go up five bucks. Don’t sleep!

Wednesday, April 25, 10 PM
Trampoline Team, Enoch Ramone & The Ebola Boys Jr Esq III, USA Big Dogs, Jonny Drinks @ Flora – Donations encouraged
At some point it seemed like En Su Boca was becoming the new local home for wild garage-punk parties, but with them cutting back on hosting live music in recent months, it now appears that Flora, of all places, is poised to take their crown. Not necessarily a predictable outcome, but certainly a welcome one, as it means we all benefit from regular arrivals in town of beer-soaked rowdy garage ensembles from all over the country and beyond! This time around, we’ve got NOLA maniacs Trampoline Team topping the bill with some quick-hitting rippers sure to get you out of your seat and starting the pit before you’ve even finished your first glass of liquid courage. Get ready to rumble!

They’re joined by Atlanta’s Enoch Ramone & The Ebola Boys, who got seriously grotty on their debut EP last year. The muddy sound, blown-out vocals, and song titles like “My Kinda Scum,” “Get Fucked Up,” and “Bath Salts” should let you know where things stand for this band. Trampoline Team may have the tunes to induce movement, but Enoch Ramone & co. are the types to pick you up out of your chair, overturn your beer onto your head, and throw you across the room. In the best possible way, of course. They’re joined on this bill by a couple of new local rippers — USA Big Dogs, who’ve got a vaguely old-school HC sound mixed with that classic garage-punk snottiness, and Jonny Drinks, about whom I know literally nothing. But their name is promising, at least for certain values of the term. Get ready to tear it up on Lombardy St. tonight.

Thursday, April 26, 8 PM
The Lillingtons, Makewar, Park Sparrows, Talk Me Off @ Strange Matter – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Here’s a real blast from the past. The Lillingtons came along in the mid-90s with an excellent no-frills punk sound that did a good job of evoking the Ramones without seeming like a straight-up ripoff — a balancing act a lot of bands of similar inclination weren’t really able to pull off. Their classic 1999 album, Death By Television, gave us some killer tunes with lots of references to gloriously crappy sci-fi B-movies, delivered atop a thick, powerful guitar sound. After a few more albums, though, the Lillingtons disappeared for over a decade, with singer/guitarist Kody Templeman becoming an essential member of killer pop-punkers Teenage Bottlerocket. However, these leather-jacketed Wyoming guitar-slingers are back, having signed to Fat Wreck Chords and released a brand new album, Stella Sapiente, last fall.

The new album shows an expanded range, with some intriguing postpunk guitar textures sneaking into the mix even as Templeman and co. continue to dish out the killer melodies and propulsive rhythms. This isn’t quite the Lillingtons you knew back at the turn of the millennium, but would you really want them to sound exactly the same nearly 20 years later? Progression is essential, and it looks really good on them, so come out to Strange Matter Thursday night and find out exactly what these guys have been cooking up over the past several years. They’re coming through in the company of Makewar, who have a sorta aggressive-sounding name and presentation, but are actually pretty melodic and emotionally-oriented, so those of you who dig bands like Hot Water Music and Dillinger Four will probably find a lot to enjoy here. Local emotional-punkers Park Sparrows will connect pretty well with these guys from their opening slot, while Talk Me Off will give us a great dose of snotty punk gnarliness to kick the evening off.

Friday, April 27, 7 PM
Hawthorne Heights, Listener, Hotel Books, Sienna Skies, Heavy Things @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $20 in advance/$25 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Is it time once again to cut our wrists, black our eyes, and get emotional with Hawthorne Heights? It sure seems to be, at least metaphorically speaking (definitely not advocating self-harm here — if you’re seriously feeling that way, skip the show and call someone, OK?). It’s fair to say that these guys are true survivors of that post-Y2k emo scene — after all, they’ve survived the death of an essential member, staying strong and continuing to make great music year after year with no real diminishment in quality. I never would have predicted back in 2004 that this band would have a more consistent career than Fall Out Boy, but sometimes it’s nice to be surprised.

This year sees the release of the sixth Hawthorne Heights LP, Bad Frequencies, which follows up on the trilogy of EPs, Hope, Hate, and Hurt, that were released over the past few years. Lead single “Pink Hearts” concentrates on the melody and gives us a juicy taste of pop-punk greatness, but they’re sure to turn up the intensity at other points on the album — and certainly in the live setting, which is what you really don’t want to miss. They’re joined by an amazing lineup of touring acts, most notably the almost-indescribable post-rock sound of Listener, which pairs intriguing musical soundscapes with the spoken poetics of Dan Smith. These guys are secretly just as good a reason to show up on Friday night as your actual headliners, and when you add in performances from Australians Sienna Skies, Californians Hotel Books, and Ohio’s Heavy Things, you’ve got a jam-packed lineup that’s cheap at twice the price.

Saturday, April 28, 8 PM
Cannabis Corpse, Salvaticus, Perpetuated, Eldritch Horror @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Decriminalization is definitely still a goal, but as we Virginians bemoan our continued inability to attain it, we can at least console ourselves that we will always have Cannabis Corpse. This veteran project, which has been through a variety of lineups but has always been led by brothers Landphil (Municipal Waste/Iron Reagan) and Hallhammer (Cruelsifix), just keeps on ripping it up with amazing death metal albums channeling the Floridian mid-90s heyday of Morrisound… but if all those songs about gore and Satan were really all about WEED. Their latest record, Left Hand Pass, pays homage to Swedish killers Entombed with its title, but the music contained within is pure original and hits every bit as hard as… I dunno, I don’t smoke the stuff, insert your own “really good strain of bud” joke here.

I may not be willing to do 10 minutes of googling to make a good marijuana joke, but I sure am willing to bang my head at whatever sounds Cannabis Corpse choose to dish out to us at Strange Matter Saturday night, whether they be brand new heavies from their latest album, classics from debut LP Tube Of The Resinated, or anything inbetween. It’s all killer, no filler — which can’t be said of that sack of oregano your best friend bought at the last Bonnaroo, am I right? Cannabis Corpse are joined on this bill by a trio of excellent thrashers from around the extended region: Charlottesville’s Salvaticus, who have managed to carry on after losing an essential member and will be bringing us a new album soon; DC’s Perpetuated, an old-school raw death onslaught; and brand new Lovecraftian Raleigh rippers Eldritch Horror. It’s a festival for the senses, and the THC in the air is sure to soothe the pains in your neck from all the headbanging. You know what to do.

Sunday, April 29, 10 PM
KINGS, RVA Entertainers Club @ Bandito’s – Free!
The Jellowstone crew doesn’t keep quite as high a profile around Richmond as they once did, but if anything, they’re getting even more done than ever before. This is particularly true of KINGS, which brings together soulful singer-songwriter Kelli Strawbridge (who you might know from his many appearances around town with his James Brown tribute act, The Big Payback, as well as quite a few other projects) with producer/drummer/keyboardist DJ Harrison (aka Devonne Harris, of Butcher Brown, Tennison, and many other projects including the latest Jack White album!). What with everything else Kelli, DJ Harrison and the rest of the crew have been up to, KINGS themselves haven’t been hitting the live stages all that much lately — but that’s about to change, this Sunday night at Bandito’s.

As always, the lineup KINGS hits the stage with is somewhat subject to change. However, once you know you’ll get participation from the two main creative figures in this project, what more do you need? And if in fact you do need more, the infrequently appearing but always-incredible RVA Entertainers Club is sure to bring it to you. This locally-focused jazz-funk supergroup is likely to feature Marcus Tenney, Reggie Pace, DJ Harrison, Andrew Randazzo, and quite a few more of the best players this town’s musical underground has to offer. Plus, all of this is available to you for free! Can you beat that? You most assuredly cannot! And you know what they say — if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em at Bandito’s for some great food and killer music. That’s how the saying goes, right?

Monday, April 30, 8 PM
Benefit For Carver Promise, feat. Well$pnt, Sundream, Lennon Does Loops, Soul Burst @ Strange Matter – $5
This random Monday evening show may not feature any of the biggest names in RVA music (or at least, no one who’s achieved that status YET), but it’s certainly worth your time regardless. Part of this is because the groups you’ll be checking out — new Charlottesville alt-rockers Sundream, spacy cloud-hopping rapper Well$pnt, chiptune-tinged instrumental beatmaker Lennon Does Loops — have a lot of widely varying but always intriguing sounds to offer. But another big part of this is the charity this event will benefit: Carver Promise.

This group helps provide aid for students attending George Washington Carver Elementary, one of the many underfunded public schools in our area, pairing college student mentors with younger kids who benefit from one on one help with basic academic skills as well as more artistic and creative pursuits. There’s a lot of talk around town these days about the crisis in our local public school districts, and how more funding needs to be found to help bring these schools up to passable levels. While we wait for the city to find solutions, it never hurts to help out the organizations who are stepping in to make sure something is being done in the meantime. Plus, you’ll get to hear some cool tunes while you’re at it.

Tuesday, May 1, 7 PM
Boy Named Banjo, Ghost Of Paul Revere @ The Broadberry – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
That whole roots-Americana thing started to seem overdone for a little bit there, back around a decade ago. However, now that the trends have moved on, it seems that the younger people who’ve stuck with it are sincerely in it for the long haul. That might just explain why the bands that rise to the top these days have high-quality instrumental talent and plenty of memorable tunes. That’s definitely something that can be said for the bands on this show at The Broadberry, both of which are sure to put a smile on your face.

Boy Named Banjo is a quintet that’s been integrating the high-lonesome twang of old-time bluegrass with some catchy emotionally-driven melodies for a good while now, most recently on their 2016 EP Lost On Main. If you’ve been following this scene for a while, chances are you’ve caught them — they’ve been through Richmond a few times now — but if, like me, they’re just hitting your radar, this Tuesday-night shindig is the perfect opportunity to get more familiar. Meanwhile, The Ghost of Paul Revere has been getting a little bit of shine lately from such venues as the Conan O’Brien Show, where they appeared back in January promoting their new third LP, Monarch. That album sees them integrating an alt-country influence — a little My Morning Jacket, a little Drive-By Truckers — into their rootsy, passionate vibe, and boy does it work. Don’t miss either of the bands on this excellent gig.

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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, in case you’re wondering, more awesomeness from my cracked and bleeding fingertips is available at GayRVA — come say hey.]

 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Block Party Brings No BS! Brass Band, PBR, Angelica Garcia, & More to The Broadberry This Month

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The Broadberry is kicking off spring right this month with an all-day indoor and outdoor music festival filled with some of Richmond’s finest acts, along with beer, food trucks, yoga, a record fair, an outdoor bar, and more.

RVA (All Day) Block Party will feature performances from 10 musicians and bands including crowd pleasers and headlining outdoor act, No BS! Brass Band, along with indoor headliners People’s Blues of Richmond, and sets by fellow Richmond bands and musicians Thorp Jenson, Brunswick, Prabir, Dharma Bombs, Spooky Cool, Night Idea, Angelica Garcia, and South Hill Banks.

For Lucas Fritz, co-owner of The Broadberry, the festival was an idea that he’d been cooking up for quite awhile, and to help bring it to life, he recruited his longtime friends from No BS! Brass Band.

“I’ve always wanted to do a big event around NO BS!, they’re my friends from back in the day, I went on tour with them down in Alabama back in 2009 or 2010, and this is the first time it really made sense to put something together,” Fritz said of the block party.

A big stage will be set up in The Broadberry’s parking lot on the west side of the building until 10 pm, at which point the venue will take the party inside for the rest of the performances.

As for the lineup, RVA Block Party is stacked with an eclectic mix of Richmond bands and musicians from the rowdy Appalachian bluesy-folk from the Dharma Bombs, to the wild psychedelic rock of PBR, to the indie prog rock sounds of Night Idea.

Fritz said he and No BS! co-founder and trombonist Reggie Pace aimed to showcase Richmond talent while offering a little something for everyone with this group.

“We wanted it to be pretty diverse and reflect the local bands that No BS! is super interested in at this time, and also people that are good friends of The Broadberry and The Camel and Richmond music scene,” he said. “We figured the more diverse of a lineup the more fun of an event it would be.”

Jenson, who is kicking off the event, is the alter ego of Chris Ryan, a local guitar player and songwriter, who’s been making waves recently with his Americana sound, playing regular gigs around town, and even getting a mention in Rolling Stone. The Chester native dropped his debut album, Odessa, last fall which you can check out below.

Night Idea also released their new record, Riverless, last fall, and unlike the quartet’s previous darker album, Breathing Cold, this LP shows off the band’s ability to expand into a wide range of sounds, defying one genre so hopefully, we get to hear some of that the day of the festival.

The ever unique music coming from the members of Spooky Cool never disappoints and for those who have been sleeping on Warner Bros signee Angelica Garcia, you better brush up before coming to the festival. The songstress caught RVA Mag’s eye after she dropped her debut album, Medicine For Birds in 2016, captivating us and audiences with her bluesy root songs, which were created in a parish house in her father’s church.

But live music isn’t the only entertainment the RVA Block Party is touting. Fritz said the festival will feature yoga by Jessica Scalin on the outdoor patio, with The Shack Band providing live music. And to appeal to you craft beer enthusiasts, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, who will be pouring beers at the outdoor bar, will also host a ticketed “beer school” inside The Broadberry for those interested in getting a little history lesson in brewing and what goes into some of your favorite beers.

“With that ticket, you get five different tastes and their brewers are going to be here and they’ll talk through the brewing process, you get to smell some hops and look at some malts.”

A caricature artist, and a small record fair will also be set up inside for festival attendees to check out if they want to take a break inside. “A couple local record labels and record shops will be setting up pop up shops,” Fritz said.

Tickets for the festival on Sat., April 28 are $25. As long as it’s not sold out, you can still snag yours at the door, but Fritz said at the rate they’re going, make sure you scoop yours in advance so you don’t miss out. People will be able to go from inside to outside and reentry will be allowed up until 7 pm.

If all goes well, Fritz is hoping to make the block party an annual event, and perhaps grow it out of the parking lot. “We’ll see what happens and make plans from there,” he added.

You can find the entire schedule for the day below:

1:00 – Doors
1:00 – 4:00 – Record Fair, Face Painting, caricatures, and other vendors inside
1:00 – 2:00 – DJ Ghozt *and in between sets
2:00 – 2:30 – Thorp Jenson
2:40 – 3:20 – Brunswick
3:00 – 3:45 – Yoga w/ Josh and Hunter of THE SHACK BAND
3:40 – 4:10 – Prabir Mehta
4:00 – 4:30 – Beer Class hosted by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
4:30 – 5:00 – Dharma Bombs
5:20 – 5:50 – Night Idea
6:10 – 6:40 – Spooky Cool
7:00 – 7:45 – Angelica Garcia
8:15 – 9:45 – NO BS! Brass Band

AFTER-PARTY (Requires FREE RSVP)
10:00 – 11:30 – South Hill Banks
11:45 – 1:15 – People’s Blues of Richmond

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

2nd Fridays with South Hill Banks featuring Travers Brothership at The Camel

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South Hill Banks

***Floydfest 17 “On The Rise” Competition Winner***

South Hill Banks – Lance Thomas (vocals, guitar), Eric Horrocks (mandolin, vocals), Ryan Horrocks (banjo), Dan Fiasconaro (guitar, vocals), and Matt Eversole (upright bass) – have carved a niche for themselves with their jam infused bluegrass sound. Formed in August 2015 in Richmond, Virginia, South Hill Banks pulls from a wide range of influences such as classic rock, jam, blues, to traditional bluegrass to keep audiences entertained with a blend of sounds old and new.

Since the release of their debut album, Riverside Dr., South Hill Banks has gone on to showcase at the IBMAs in Raleigh, NC, win Floydfest’s “On the Rise” Competition, host a successful monthly residence at The Camel in Richmond, VA, and be feature in the “On the Rise” section in Relix Magazine. SHB has created an ever growing fan base by headlining a multitude venues as well as directly supporting some of the top national touring acts in their genre.

RVA Street Art Festival Brings Life to The Diamond this Weekend

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Street artists and muralists from all over the United States will flock to The Diamond this weekend, to turn the dull concrete baseball stadium into a vibrant piece of Richmond culture for the fourth RVA Street Art Festival.

More than 250 buckets of latex paint, cans of spray paint, sculpture supplies and more will be taken to the home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels to create a mixed-media canvas. 

Since the first RVA Street Art Festival in 2012, at the Canal Walk, the event has drawn people from all over the city and given artists an outlet to create freely.

“You’re not dealing with a client so within reason you’re able to do exactly what you want, completely your idea and your execution, that’s something that’s is always a draw for me,” said local muralist and board member Mickael Broth.  

It transformed the old GRTC bus depot in 2013, and last year, the street art fest went to Manchester to give life to the drab Southern States silos.

“In my mind, that’s the next arts district,” local artist and RVA Street Art Fest co-founder Ed Trask told RVA Mag in 2016 of Manchester. “It’s great when you can reinvent an industrial area like Manchester and instead of completely scrapping the history of what was here, you can start reinventing the buildings without losing the character so that’s why I love this area.”

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Photo by Arshan Yazdan

But for this year, the board is excited to partner with the Richmond Flying Squirrels to bring art and sports together. 

“It’s that interesting intersection of sports and art,” board member Katie Benson said. “The squirrels are in the business of having fun, they are a great family organization and the quintessential Americana and I think it will be really fun to see all that collide.”

Flying Squirrels Chief Executive Chuck Domino broke the news about the festival with Street Art board members in June and was equally excited to have the festival come to the stadium.

“This will be an incredible opportunity for the Squirrels. It’s going to help bring new people to our ballpark and help grow our charities supporting renovating inner city baseball diamonds in underserved communities,” he said in a spring news release.

One of the festivals missions is to showcase local and national artists. Richmond artists, Andre Shank, known as “Bomb Proof” has partnered with visiting Brazilian artist, Zéh Palito, to paint the crown of the stadium. The two started the project earlier in the week and plan to have every panel of the crown painted by Sunday.

“It’s really cool, think about people driving through Richmond on I-64 or I-95 and seeing that art on the crown,” Benson said.     

Along with the crown, the stairs, columns, walls and the interior of the VIP areas will become a canvas for the over 35 artists attending the event.

“The more I do this for a living (paint) the more I realize those opportunities are not that common and you have to use them as best you can,” Broth said.

One artist, Rachel Owens, earned her spot on the walls of The Diamond through a pop-up art event she won at Triple Crossing Brewing. This will be Owens’s first time painting on a wall and will be a great opportunity for her to showcase her talents.  

While the large murals will be the main attraction, the creativity of the event expands beyond the concrete canvas.

“While we are known as the Richmond Street Art Festival, we want to branch that out to not just street art but we have sculptures, we have music, and we have some interactive art with kids,” Benson said.

The festival will include an artist village where visitors can buy and see art from other local artists. Scott’s Addition print shop Studio Two Three will be there making screen prints and t-shirts. Art On Wheels will also be there doing a pendulum art piece and making a sculpture out of painted wood.

Live music, a variety of food vendors, and beer trucks will be at the event as well. And the festival has a solid musical lineup for the day with soul/funk powerhouse Kenneka Cook, jazz.hip hop artist Mckinley Dixon and Crystal Pistol Records founder/folk artist Saw Black. Feral Conservatives, Chance Fischer, Michael Millions, Dead Letter Officers, Manatree, DJ Mike, and Mekong Xpress & The Get Fresh Horns are also scheduled to perform. 

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Over 11,000 people are anticipated to come out this weekend and to enjoy all the festival has to offer which is aiming to bring people from all over Richmond together and beautify a part of the city “in need of creativity and love.”

“When you put street art up you don’t know how long they are going to be up for, but during that place in time when we are all together in the community it’s beautiful,” Benson said.

Another goal of the festival is to raise money for arts education for children. This year’s beneficiary is Connor’s Heroes, an organization dedicated to supporting children undergoing cancer treatment and utilizes art as a medium of healing.  

The 2017 RVA Street Art Festival kicks off Fri. Sep. 22nd from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will continue Saturday from  11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Art Sponsored by Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art