Swing Dancing To a Plant-Based Beat

One of the great things about living in the Richmond metro area is the wide variety of high quality music available on most any night of the week. Spanning the genres of blues, rhythm & blues, country, rock, dance parties, grunge, hip-hop...you name it and it is available. I, along with my wife Denise, like to hone in on the blues and rhythm & blues bands and the venues that host them. We also, since taking up swing dancing just about a year ago, look for places that have some room to dance. We have found that dancing is a way to become engaged in the music experience and greatly increases our enjoyment of the performance. Because of this, I have set some criteria for planning an evening out and it goes something like this: The Band - If I have heard them before, then it is not a difficult decision and is predetermined. If not, I begin to search the web for sample music in order to gain some knowledge of the types of music they play and the quality of the performance. Take

My wife and I get out quite a bit and really enjoy good music of all types. There are those nights that are complete misses, where nothing clicks, you wrap up and go home after a short time out. Then there are those nights where the band, crowd and venue all agree and compliment each other perfectly. You find yourself immersed in an other-worldly experience. One that causes you to lose yourself in the moment and, many times, ending the night at an unusually late hour having had a completely wonderful time. Then there is the  RVA Music Trifecta ! A night when 3 great bands are playing at 3 great venues and are arranged in a way that you can get to see them all in the course of one night. This can be a truly fun experience and is what I refer to as an RVA Music Trifecta. We experienced our first RVA Music Trifecta was on a Friday night in February where we caught Andy Poxon ( Capital Ale House ), Doctors of Jazz ( Rose Marie Inn ) and finished with Barrelhouse ( Home Team Grill

Translucent Blues is the product of a collaboration between Ray Manzarek, keyboard player and co-founder of The Doors, and Roy Rogers, Johnny Lee Hooker’s Coast to Coast Band and producer of 4 of Hooker’s recordings, and it will not disappoint a fan of either of these guys or the blues. From the first note of “Hurricane”, Manzarek’s signature sound is evident. Heavy on the bass beat, signature work on the keyboards and those unique deep vocals. His arrangement adds to some nice lyrical work about surviving a hurricane, which for many folks on the east coast, hearkens back to the days spent preparing and then riding out a vicious monster of a storm. Throughout the album Ray’s keyboard work is very evident, which I find pleasant and complements the solo playing of most any additional instruments. Good examples can be heard on “Game of Skill”, “Fives and Ones” and “An Organ, a Guitar and a Chicken Wing”. The liner notes thank the poets who made the words available to be put to music b

Listening to the latest release from the Terry Quiett Band out of Kansas, “Just My Luck” is a great genre mixing blend of blues, blues inspired rock and jazz with a bit of soul stirring around in the mix. Maybe we can call it “Blues Stew”! Having recently entered the world of swing and blues dance, I find myself with a keener ear towards rhythm and the swing/groove. This album is chock full of both. The band comes out of the gate and hits you with an attention grabbing groove and some incredible guitar work in “Karma”. This is a great opening tune and sets the tone for the album by getting your feet tapping and head bobbing from the start and then taking you into a full blown dancing frenzy by the end. You add to this groove rhythms of “You’re My Kind”, “Big Man Boogie”, “The Woodsman”, “Pound of Flesh” and “Fool’s Gold” and you’ve got the backbone of a really good record. The guitar work of Terry Quiett is clean, crisp and incredibly creative as he plays what is not expected, keepin

The good folks at the Natchel Blues Network put together quite an event as a final fundraiser to assist two blues acts, Roosterfoot (Seth Stainback and Keith Stainback) and The Bush League, with the expenses of their trip to the International Blues Challenge (IBC) that is being held in Memphis, TN from Jan 31 to Feb 4, 2012. For those of you who may be unaware, the IBC is an international competition where all of the Blues Foundation   affiliates are encouraged to stage a regional preliminary IBC competition, with the winner of that competition representing the organization in the Memphis international competition. I have never been there, but I hear that it is one of those mountaintop experiences for any blues music lover and based on what I heard and experienced at Mojo Bones on this day, I can only imagine what a whole week of this kind of talented musicianship and the blues can do to a person's soul. The day started with a nice 2 hour drive through the countryside, to get from

It was a Friday night, the first night in about three weeks that my wife and I had felt even anywhere near well enough to venture past our front door. When we left the house, Denise and I had agreed that we wouldn't push it and probably would turn in a little early. I was feeling well, but Denise was marginal as we headed to the Brews and Blues function at the Capital Ale House . This is a weekly event sponsored by the River City Blues Society  and features great local and live blues. This night it was The Bush League and, having heard them a couple times before, they did not disappoint. With Gwen Frederick (drums) and Royce Folks (bass) holding a strong and steady line on the back end, it allows John Jay (vocals) and Shane Parch (guitar) to play to their hearts' content. There were joined by a few guest musicians, especially Geo Jacopec on guitar. When he takes the stage with anybody, you know something special is going to happen. It has been three times now that I have bee

It was Sunday, November 20th, 2011. I had been looking forward to going to a blues jam at JM Randalls in Williamsburg, VA featuring The Bush League and Seth Stainback , and had convinced my wife of the same. We awoke to a beautiful Sunday morning and lazily hung around the house missing our scheduled departure time by about an hour and headed to Prime Outlets  for some shopping ahead of the 2 o'clock start time for the show. Had a good time there and, in fact, purchased a completely new Cool 18 outfit at the Haggar Clothing Store and wore it out. It was about 65-70 degrees and the jeans were getting on my nerves. I cannot stand to sweat in jeans, drives me nuts! Ended up leaving there a little bit before 3pm, so we didn't make up the hour that we were late in getting away from home. Seth Stainback (Rooster Foot) We arrived at JM Randalls Classic American Grill  and were greeted at the door by Mike Hilton from the Natchel Blues Network . It was our first trip to JM Randalls

Save the date, October 12-14, 2012! That's the best time of the year to visit Richmond in all of its' beauty and splendid glory. The Richmond Folk Festival and its' eclectic mix of people, music, food and exotic wares set against the backdrop of Richmond's skyline is an event that should be experienced by everyone in our region of the US and beyond. If you are traveling through, it gives you the sense that you are entering the tip of the south but haven't quite made it yet. This year was no different! Having been to every one of these events since it started as the National Folk Festival in Richmond, I have yet to come away disappointed or unfulfilled. All of the work that is done, from the stage setups, organizing of volunteers, selection of food vendors and management of the facilities is second to none. Every year that you go back you see the things that are being done in order to try and make it even better. I think that's the sign of progress and hope tha

Every now and then, of all the music events and shows you head out to, you run into a gem! That is the way it was when my wife and I headed out to Virginia Beach and Blues At the Beach on Sept. 10. Initially, we went to take in a free  Blues Dance lesson and to see and hear Michael Burks . At the end of the day, we were not let down by either and experienced so much more. We arrived at  Virginia Beach and parked in one of the municipal lots which cost $10 in the off-season, a bit expensive with most other beaches being about half that, and headed over to the 17th Street stage. When we walked up the Mike Lucci Band was finishing up their set so we only took a quick glance at them and headed to the beach some 50 yards away. With our umbrella, chair, and cooler in tow, we staked a claim to our little piece of paradise in the sand. It was perfect with a temperature that hovered just around 80 degrees, a soft breeze, and, get this, blues dancers everywhere. They were dancing in the water