Richmond Playlist

The Music of Norman Nortledorf

rvaplaylist — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 03:29:52 +0000

Norman Nortledorf has been writing tunes for 40 years and incorporates the styles of country, cabaret, pop, folk and humor to craft his own sound. And it’s quite catchy and entertaining. Give it a listen below.

Norman Nortledorf – Zucchini Kerplop

Download: Zucchini%20Kerplop.mp3

Weekend Show Picks: Chris Young, Bart Walker, Chickenstock, Jonathan Vassar & the Speckled Bird, DJ Williams Projekt

rvaplaylist — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:00:44 +0000

I’ve planned every day of your weekend. You’re welcome.

Country artist Chris Young heads down to Brown’s Island for Friday Cheers on Friday, June 1.

Update: According to Friday Cheers, to make sure Chris Young has enough flexiblity to play tonight, the Honky Tonk Heroes opening set has been canceled.

Update: Due to weather, Friday Cheers has been canceled.

Yet another update: Friday Cheers is still cancelled tonight, but Chris Young will play the Hat Factory. Honky Tonk Heroes will perform immediately after.

Chris Young – Neon

Download: preview.mp3

Nashville Blues guitarist phenom, Bart Walker brings his band to Current at the Hat Factory on Friday, June 1 with the ever popular Peoples’ Blues of Richmond. Ex-Stevie Ray Vaughan keyboardist Reese Wynans will be playing with Walker, so there’s some extra excitement for Blues lovers.

Bart Walker Band – Left Turn

Download: 03-left-turn.mp3

If you happen to be in Short Pump on Saturday, June 2, head over to the Chick-fil-A for “Chickenstock III,” a day-long festival featuring lots of activities, food and live music from the Trillions, Atlee Community Church Band and others. The festival will be benefiting LINK’s charitable actions in the African country of Niger with our proceeds going to their efforts.

photo by Rob Jefferson

Jonathan Vassar and the Speckled Bird have been keeping a low profile lately while they finish up work of their upcoming record “The Sky in Country,” set to be released on July 1. The group will perform at Balliceaux on Sunday, June 3. Listen to a track from the new album below.

Jonathan Vassar and the Speckled Bird – Heron and the Hummingbird

Download: preview.mp3

DJ Williams Projekt has been playing around for nine years. That’s quite an accomplishment and definitely calls for a celebration. Having just thrown a birthday party, I know that they are always a blast. DJ Williams and crew hit the Camel on Sunday, June 3.

Watch the hilarious promo video below.

The Camel Owner Arrested for Fighting Parking Tickets

rvaplaylist — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:50:38 +0000

Parking near the Camel has been somewhat of a nightmare. It’s especially been rough recently as police are out enforcing parking laws. Apparently you can’t park on the street after 11 p.m. in certain areas. Both Marionette and Karen got parking tickets at Wednesday night’s birthday party. Just park at Lowe’s, it’s easier.

Rand Burgess, owner of the Camel apparently got fed up when police were ticketing last night. According to Burgess’ Facebook page, he was “arrested for obstruction of justice as the cops tried to give parking tickets to my customers.”

It’s awful that he was arrested, but I for one am very impressed and proud that Burgess would stand up for his customers. Thank you Rand for always looking out for your friends. Everyone should support and drink more at the Camel.

Jennings Performs at Current

rvaplaylist — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:00:50 +0000

NYC singer/songwriter/pianist Jennings has toured with the likes Ryan Cabrera and Geoffrey Gaines and she’s got one amazing voice. Her latest album, “Collapse Collide” shows how confident and comfortable she is as a performer. I’m loving her track “Surrender” (watch the video below, it’s pretty awesome). I see a bright and promising future for her.

Jennings plays at Current at the Hat Factory on Saturday, June 2.

Battle of the Bands at Sam Ash this Saturday

rvaplaylist — Thu, 31 May 2012 23:19:10 +0000

This is last minute news to me, but there is a battle of the bands going on at the Sam Ash Music Store on Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m. A bunch of local bands will be competing to win a recording session at In Your Ear Studio.

12:10 Photosynthesizers
12:35 PJ Bottoms
1:00 The Weather
1:25 Hero Gets the Girl
1:50 Eleve8
2:15 The Otha Side
2:40 Capitol 7
3:10 Blue Jay
3:35 Brunswick

Winners announced at 4pm. Come out and support your favorite band.

Birthday Party Aftermath and a Big Thank You

rvaplaylist — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:00:07 +0000

I cannot even begin to thank all of you who came out to the birthday party last night. I honestly thought it was going to be a few fans of the bands and the friends that I had browbeaten into coming. I couldn’t have been prepared by the sheer amount of people who showed up. The place was packed with people enjoying music and I couldn’t have asked for a better crowd.

Major thanks go out to the Camel for hosting the event.

Thank you to Against Grace for starting off the night with a bang, Dead Fame for making everyone dance and Marionette for keeping the party going to the late hours.

Thank you to Matt Klimas for the amazing poster.

Thank you to Kim Shook for making the delicious cake. It went fast.

Thank you to The Cheats Movement for taking photos (His photos were much better than my crappy camera ones).

Thank you to all the bloggers and music sites including You Hear That, One Way Richmond, Sounds of RVA, Handful of Brains, Chris Bopst, River City Rapids, The Richmond Scene and Style Weekly for all the promotion and getting the word out.

And finally, I want to thank all of you who retweeted links, spammed your friends on Facebook, drew Scott Pilgrim-inspired pictures, made a surprise show banner, sent me messages about how excited you were and everyone who showed up for a show when they could have been doing something else that evening. It seriously meant the world to me and none of it went unnoticed.

If I had planned a speech to give, it would have gone EXACTLY like this.

I’ve been told that I must throw another birthday party next year and after this night, I’m happy to do so. Also, I will be on Radio Rubber Room tonight at 10 p.m. on 102.9 FM with members of the RVA Beard League to talk about the party and music in general. Make sure to tune in.

The Snowy Owls in SPIN Magazine

rvaplaylist — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:11:10 +0000

Photo by PJ Sykes

Check out the June issue of SPIN Magazine (iPad version) for a huge photo of The Snowy Owls, taken by none other than photographer extraordinaire PJ Sykes. The photo was taken at the band’s April 19 show at Balliceaux and features video projections by Dave Watkins.

The Snowy Owls are currently working on a full length follow up to their split 10″ with White Laces and PJ Sykes has been busy recording with his band Hoax Hunters as well as photographing the Concert To Defeat Amendment One, Malhombre and Vexine.

Congrats to Snowy Owls and to PJ!

Crash Course in Birthday Party Bands

rvaplaylist — Wed, 30 May 2012 12:00:28 +0000

Well, tonight’s the night. If you haven’t been paying attention to the spamming I’ve been doing recently, then you’ll need to know that the birthday party celebrating RVA Playlist’s 2-year anniversary is tonight, May 30, at the Camel featuring Against Grace, Dead Fame and Marionette. I am beyond excited for the show and hope all you lovely readers can make it out to this free show. There’s cake, too.

Go here for all the information: facebook.com/events/227771010660128

Here’s a crash course in the bands playing:

AGAINST GRACE

Against Grace – Radio

Download: 04Radio.mp3

DEAD FAME

MARIONETTE

City and Colour at the National

rvaplaylist — Tue, 29 May 2012 12:00:47 +0000

City and Colour, the solo project of Alexisonfire’s Dallas Green, is currently on a headlining tour, which included major festival appearances at SXSW, Coachella, Sasquatch, Glastonbury Festival, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Voodoo Music Experience. Green’s latest release “Little Hell” has quickly made its way up the charts.

City and Colour performs at the National on Thursday, May 31 with David Bazan.

Free show at the Camel with Goldrush, The Hill and Wood and Herschel Stratego

rvaplaylist — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:56:09 +0000

Looks like there’s another free show this week at the Camel you’ll need to head to.

Goldrush, Charlottesville’s The Hill and Wood and Herschel Stratego will be at the Camel on Tuesday, May 29 (yes, the day before the big birthday party) to play a free show for you to enjoy.

The Hill and Wood take a lot of folk-pop integrate it into a nice mix of indie-pop fun. I saw these guys last time they were in town and it was a phenomenal show. Plus, Goldrush and Herschel will be on hand to give you lots of great music.

Plus, it’s free. And it’s a good pre-game event for the big party on Wednesday.