The Trongone Band

A Main Street Movie Theatre Returns To Former Glory In Ashland

Alicen Hackney | January 29, 2019

Topics: American Aquarium, Ashland, Ashland Theatre, Ashland Theatre Foundation, Broadberry entertainment group, Lucas Fritz, movie theaters, The Trongone Band

From first-run movies and a unique, locally-focused atmosphere to live music presented by the Broadberry Entertainment Group, the Ashland Theatre’s got it all.

Local is EVERYTHING. And at the Ashland Theatre, Ashland is exactly what you get. The rich history, the architecture, the food, the music, everything.

“When we opened we wanted to make sure we had Homemades by Suzanne in our concessions, Center of the Universe beer in our bars, and that when you come to visit the Ashland Theatre, that you get a real taste of Ashland,” said Douglas Love, CEO of the Ashland Theatre Foundation.

After having been mostly shut down since the 90s, the Ashland Theatre, located 30 minutes north of Richmond in the town of Ashland, was renovated last year. It reopened its doors on December 26th for a soft opening with the movie Mary Poppins Returns, and the screening featured a surprise visit from Poppins herself.

“[Our goal] is to make this as homespun as we can, something you can’t get from a chain,” said Love. “So having a Mary Poppins impersonator, those kinds of things are on-mission for us.”

Along with visits from Mary Poppins, the team at the Ashland Theatre is working to bring that little extra something to every event. For their run of Bohemian Rhapsody (which, yes, it’s the sing-a-long version!), they will have fake mustaches for every guest. They even have plans in the works for special event-specific drinks.

They may have begun with movies, but the Ashland Theatre has plans to go beyond filmed entertainment, bringing panels, speakers, and concerts to the theatre this year. Later in 2019, they will be hosting a panel called “Untold Stories,” in which Ashland’s elders will sit for an oral passing-down of the town’s history through the civil rights movement.

Their grand opening weekend, which takes place on the weekend of February 22-24, will feature a movie and speaker night with Ashland native Matt Green on Friday, February 22. Guests will view The World Before Your Feet, the documentary on Green’s quest to walk every block of New York City’s streets over the course of seven years. The event will also feature a conversation with Green himself.

“The community involvement of the theatre and its whole mission makes the space very special,” said Lucas Fritz, co-owner of the Broadberry Entertainment Group. “It seems as if everyone in the town is in some way or another, involved with the theatre in one way or another.”

The Ashland Theatre has teamed up with the Broadberry Entertainment Group to procure a line-up bands designed especially for Ashland.

“Ultimately our conversations lead to, ‘What if you guys book and promote the music here and curate something for Ashland that’s not playing other places?’” said Love. “That way, it’s not just about moving bands that play at the Broadberry up [to Ashland], but an entirely separate effort. A designed curated concert series, joining forces with them, making it something that is unique to the Ashland Theatre, [something that] reflects the audience that we’re still figuring out.”

Love and Fritz have decided to go in the direction of an eclectic and wide-ranging selection of musicians, to really explore what it means to have an Ashland sound.

“We are working hard to make sure that the artists that come through the Ashland Theatre fit perfectly. It will take a little bit of work to curate the lineup and find the perfect artists but we feel as if we’re off to a great start,” said Fritz.

Following the theatre’s Grand Opening weekend, the Broadberry Entertainment Group will be presenting a regular line-up of concerts at the Ashland Theatre, starting with two Americana-infused Southern Rock’n’roll bands, Richmond natives The Trongone Band and Raleigh, NC’s American Aquarium.

As for that special local flair, The Broadberry Entertainment Group and the Ashland Theatre will continue to strive to provide events that allow guests to get up close and personal with artists.

“We will work with artists, agents, and managers to curate unique experiences that are special to the Ashland Theatre,” said Fritz. “That way, when concertgoers attend concerts, they will have chances to do things that they may not at other locations.”

With limited seating, and that hometown feel, the Ashland Theatre is ready to offer experiences you won’t forget.

The Ashland Theatre is currently showing The Favorite and Mary Queen Of Scots, and will be showing Green Book and Vice starting Friday. Check their website for showtimes and tickets.

Top photo: Ashland Theatre/via Facebook

The Trongone Band Premiere New Video for ‘Blind’

Amy David | November 1, 2017

Topics: Keys To The House, music videos, RVA music videos, The Trongone Band

The last time RVA Mag checked in with The Trongone Band, they were just getting ready to release their first official album, Keys To The House, back in June via Harmonized Records. Now the rock and roll/Americana boys are back with fresh visuals for “Blind,” a song taken from that album.

As usual, the group is bringing the soulful, no-frills Southern rock with this track, and they filmed it right here in their city. Surrounded by the murals adorned on the James River Power Plant walls at 12th and Byrd Streets, the Trongone boys bring you a feel-good tune to get down to.

Richmond muralist Hamilton Glass’s mural, depicting a woman with the words “James is That You I Smell” wrapped around her, can be seen throughout, along with the rest of the art painted during 2012 RVA Street Art Festival.

Drummer/vocalist Johnny Trongone said he collaborated with Daniel Bagbey of OVRBORD Media, who shot and edited the video, on the visuals for “Blind.”

“We knew we wanted to do the video somewhere industrial and hip in RVA, but we weren’t exactly sure where,” he said. “After running around town, we landed on the canal. The murals, the vibe, it was the perfect atmosphere for the tune. I think we were probably supposed to pull some sort of permit or something, but the folks walking by, residents in the condos above came out on their balconies and listened. The surrounding restaurants actually enjoyed it and for some reason, people took us seriously. Maybe it was all the hair flying around or Daniel’s cameras? Anyway, we were going to ask Mayor, Levar Stoney for forgiveness if we did break some kind of noise ordinance.”

The Trongone Band is currently on a Fall/Winter tour. You can catch them in Roanoke Nov. 25 at Martins Downtown. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, catch up with their debut album Keys to the House below.

<a href=”http://thetrongoneband.bandcamp.com/album/keys-to-the-house”>Keys to the House by The Trongone Band</a>

A chat with The Trongone Band on their new album ahead of double set at Rooster Walk this weekend

Amy David | May 26, 2017

Topics: Americana, BLUES & ROCK, country, rock, southern rock, The Trongone Band

Take some good ol’ fashioned rock and roll and mix it with a little country/Americana and you have RVA’s The Trongone Band. The group, which began as a family affair years ago, has been entertaining crowds ever since with their feel-good, no frills, energetic shows and next month, the band will drop their debut album.

On a recent afternoon, I sat at Mekong with Andrew Trongone (guitar/vocals) and his brother Johnny (drums/vocals) to hear about their beginnings, new album and forthcoming tour. All this after I was done secretly admiring/envying their luxurious hair of course. Actually, the whole band’s hair could be its own poetic post entirely. But I digress.

Keys To The House will be the first official release for the boys set to drop June 30 via Harmonized Records.

The Trongone Band has released a little teaser to the nine-track album with the song “Anne Marie,” a solid rock tune with a little country twang to it about the girl who got away.

“It’s the most countryish song on the album,” Johnny said.

And like any good song there’s a little truth behind the lyrics, for Andrew at least.

“That was one of the first songs I wrote a couple of years ago, {it} definitely morphed into that style,” Andrew said. “When I wrote it, it was on acoustic and halftime and more like a ballad-y song and then we were figuring out what we were going to do for the album and we decided to go with the in your face, upbeat kind of thing.”

But fans need not worry it’s not all country on Keys To The House, the brothers said they put a lot of work into the sound of the album.

“The album definitely pulls from a handful of different genres,” Andrew said. “Definitely rock and roll, some funk, some country, some Americana, the southern rock thing…”

The Trongone Band started working on the album back in October and sought out the help of Adrian Olsen and Alex Spalding of Montrose Studios in Richmond to record the album.

“Adrian and Alex are killer to work with,” Andrew said. “We did all the tracking for the songs all in the same room, we recorded rhythm guitar, the Wurlitzer, drums and bass all together in four days. We knocked it out pretty quick.”

Some of the songs they’ve played at their live shows, but there’s also some new tracks for avid fans and newcowers alike to look forward to.

“I really love how “Not Coming Home” came out, it’s one of our duo songs,” Andrew said. “Me and the keyboard player both sing lead and trade off verses, I just like how that one came out.”

The lineup has changed quite a bit over the years for the band, which was started by the brothers’ father John Sr.

“He played guitar for years and I’d always watch him growing up so that’s how I got into it,” Andrew said. “He had a band or two just for fun around the neighborhood, but he’d basically blast albums in his music room and play along.”

The jam-heavy trio played around town regularly before switching up to a guitar-driven six-piece about four years ago by adding keyboardist Ben “Wolfe” White, Mark Ingraham on trumpet and Matt Zavitz on saxophone.

“We started playing Cary St. Café every Thursday from 2012 to 2014 so it got us going in Richmond,” Andrew said.

About two years ago, they brought on Todd Herrington, replacing their father on bass, and solidifying their lineup as a four-piece.

“We were starting to tour a lot and he’s almost 60, it was just a mutual thing,” he said.

To spread the word on their debut release, The Trongone Band has already hit the road this month and will head up and down the east coast and they plan to continue to do that for a bit.

“We’ll keep adding dates, a perpetual tour supporting the album,” Johnny said. “A lot of stuff right now is in the south, Florida, Georgia and then some stuff in New York too.”

The album release party for Keys to The House is Friday June 23 at The Broadberry, but you can catch the band at Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival this Saturday and Sunday in Martinsville, Va.

Photo credit: Joey Wharton Photography

Win Tickets To Rockn’ To Lockn’ Final Round At Charlottesville’s Jefferson Theater This Saturday!

Marilyn Drew Necci | August 5, 2014

Topics: Charlottesville, Erin And The Wildfire, giveaways, Jefferson Theater, Lockn Festival, music, People's Blues of Richmond, RVA, The Northerners, The Trongone Band

The Lockn’ Festival is happening at the beginning of September, and with headliners like Tom Petty, The Allman Brothers, Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, and Furthur, it’s sure to be a highly sought-after ticket. As it turns out, it’s also a highly sought-after gig for quite a few popular local bands.
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RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 5/7-5/13

Marilyn Drew Necci | May 7, 2014

Topics: Balliceaux, Blood Red Shoes, Blue Of Colors, Caroline Mauck, Caroline Spence, Colin Healy, Cult Leader, Domino Effect, Don Babylon, Downbeat Switch, Ghostwriter, Grass Panther, Gull, Hat Factory, Horsehead, Imaginary Sons, Jacqueline Stem, James Henderson, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, Madrone, Mark Rose, Matt Pryor, Prisoner, Radkey, RVA Theatre, Seth Stainback, She's A Legend, shows you must see, strange matter, The Alberts, The Cales, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Diamond Center, The Trongone Band, The Working Effective, Ttotals, Unsacred, Venomspitter, Yautja

FEATURE SHOW
Friday, May 9, 8 PM
Rockn To Lockn Round II feat. Horsehead, Downbeat Switch, Seth Stainback & Rooster Foot, The Trongone Band @ RVA Theatre/The Hat Factory – $8 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
I don’t know about any of y’all, but a good old-fashioned Battle Of The Bands really brings back memories for me.
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RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 1/1-1/7

Marilyn Drew Necci | January 1, 2014

Topics: All About Autumn, Armageddon Fest, Atrocious Kontrol, Captive Eyes, drew bolduc, gallery 5, Grass Is Green, Handsome Bandits, Heavy Midgets, Immoralist, Prisoner, science team, Shai Hulud, Silent Music Revival, Sirens And Sailors, Sokea Piste, speedy ortiz, strange matter, sundials, The Camel, The Green Boys, The Man The Martyr, The Milkstains, The Southern Belles, The Trongone Band, This Or The Apocalypse, Toxic Moxie, Vulgar

This is the first installment of the new year for RVA Magazine’s weekly live music preview column, and we’re beginning the year with a changing of the guard. For over three years now, our live music coverage has been handled by John Lewis Morgan, head honcho at One Way Richmond. Unfortunately, due to other responsibilities related to day jobs and running his own site, John has had to step down from his position covering live music here at RVA Magazine. We of course wish him the best, and hope to see him continue to shake things up with his site’s unique contribution to the local scene.
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