Supporting music in Richmond since 2000 - "I started listening / Listening to the animals / I’m trying to understand / Trying to build this sense of trust / With compassion and respect / And nothing underhand / And the rhythm and the verse / For better and for worse / I can feel it now / All the weird within the wild / The ageless and the tired / They can feel it now" - Peter Gabriel, “Looking for the Happy"
This weekend? Folk Festival, Folk Festival, Folk Festival, Folk Festival. Go to the Richmond Folk Festival. It's down at Brown's Island/Historic Tredegar all weekend long (6 P - 10 P Friday, Noon - 9:30 P Saturday, Noon - 6 P Sunday). Going to the Folk Festival is like walking around the world as you move from tent to tent. Blues, klezmer, Celtic, Cajun, sacred steel, bluegrass, gospel, Cambodian khmer, hip hop (Grandmaster Flash!), rockabilly, Persian, Ethiopian jazz and more. I'll be working backstage at the Union/U of R Virginia Folklife Stage on Saturday from 11:30 AM to 3 PM and just on that stage, I'll see a Baptist hymn to open the day by Reverend Frank Newsome, bluegrass/gospel from The Church Sisters, Russian folk music from the Washington Balalakia Society Orchestra, and contemporary bluegrass from Ash Breeze. If you like to move, just head down to the Dominion Dance Pavilion at the end of Brown's Island where the stage for Cheers is. I hope to see you there. Blues singer Shemekia Copeland will be playing on Friday and Saturday and here's a little taste of her, filmed just a week ago:
NO BS! Brass Band is at Broadberry Friday night. You can head down there after Folk Fest. It's $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. Don't know if there is an opener, but if there isn't, that just means more NO BS! NO BS's new album, "Brass Knuckles" is coming out any day now (just in time for Christmas!), so expect to hear a lot from that. Here's their new epic song, "Ballad of the Eagle Claw":
Steel Panther bring their tongue-in-cheek (maybe?) hair metal to The National Friday night. Tix are $22.50 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with Eagles of Freedom. Here they are Rockn' at Wacken last summer, opening with the cracking "Pussy Whipped" (language NSFW, but with a title like that, you probably figured that out):
Saturday night, The Ultra Kings (out of my old stomping grounds in the Lehigh Valley, PA!) and Dismal Swamp Lords are at Poe's Pub for a rockabilly/surf/swamp/punk/blues fest and really, what more could you ask? Show starts at 9. There may be a $5 cover charge. Here's The Ultra Kings from earlier this summer:
That's gonna do it this week, Been packing to move next week so not a lot of time. Because of the move (just across town) there will be no Handful of Brains Weekend Picks next week (awwwwwww!).
Have a great weekend! Go to Folk Fest!
I'll leave you with the Jefferson Airplane tribute from Lockn' 2015. Great show! Beautiful and talented singers! Awesome jams! Deep cuts! Jack & Jorma!
Memorial Day weekend! If you're not leaving town or going to be at bar-b-q's all weekend and you want to see live music, you'll want to do it Friday night.
Thursday night has a couple options first, including yacht rock cover band Three Sheets to the Wind at The Broadberry. Doors open at 8, there is no opener listed. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 day of show and $35 for VIP. Here they are doing Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind":
Tarrant will be with Faceship at Poe's Pub Thursday. Show will start at 9. The cover is $5. Here's Tarrant at The Camel in April:
Friday Cheers has their annual local band night this Friday. It's only $5 to get in, it looks like it will be a gorgeous evening and there is a little something for everyone musically. The headliner is internationally renowned salsa band from the RVA, Bio Ritmo. Bring your dancing shoes. If you can't move when they play, you must be dead. And I'm not kidding about world renowned. This summer they play Philly, Winston-Salem, Toulouse (France) and Istanbul. Also, on the bill are the psych/surf/garage sounds of The Milkstains and country music from Honky Tonk Heroes. So come down and join me for a beer or two (or three). I hope my leftover beer ticket from Riverrock works. Here's Bio Ritmo with "Oye Hermano":
Ashland Coffee & Tea has great honky-tonk rock guitarist Bill Kirchen and his All Texas Band. Show starts at 8, tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Here's his press blurb; "Get ready to be blown away by Bill’s reknowned licks! Bill Kirchen has become widely known for the
trademark big-rig guitar riffs that powered the Commander Cody hit “Hot Rod
Lincoln” into the Top 10 in 1972. Since 1993, he has recorded seven critically
acclaimed albums of his own that have made him one of the musical elder
statesmen of today’s Americana music, which in truth was pioneered by acts like
Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen back in the ‘70s." Here's Bill and his band wishing for a "Rockabilly Funeral" when they die:
Bluegrass/Americana band Jackass Flats is at The Broadberry Friday night. Doors open at 8 PM, Captain Grandpa and Faceship will open. Tix are $8 in advance, $10 day of show. Here's Jackass Flats in March 2014 doing a Pink Floyd tune:
Classic 80's band, Psychedelic Furs, are at The National on Friday. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers Black English. Here's the Furs doing "Heartbreak Beat" from 1986:
Over at Poe's Pub Friday night, it's raw rock n' roll/surf/rockabilly/blues from The Ultra Kings (from my old stomping grounds in Lehigh Valley PA) and Dismal Swamp Lords (RVA). I know the Dismal Swamp Lords have been recording some tunes recently so they may have something new for you. Show starts at 9 and it's $5 to get in. This is gonna be a fun show with some fun bands doing straight up, no frills, good time rock n' roll. Here's The Ultra Kings:
Saturday, Hardywood is busting out their Peach Tripel, an Abbey-Style Tripel Ale refermented on peaches. Sounds rather yummy. And what better way to celebrate that beer than with all-female Guns N' Roses cover band from NYC, The Rocket Queens! The beer gets tapped at 2. Some other bands will be announced over the next couple days. Check the Hardywood site for the schedule. Here's "Nightrain" from The Rocket Queens, which was the first GNR tune I ever heard:
Don't forget that besides being Memorial Day, Monday is also Towel Day. Be a hoopy frood who always knows where his towel is.
The great Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans will be at The Broadberry Wednesday. Tix are $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 8 and Kings open the show. Here's Dirty Dozen in Austin this year doing an amazing version of "Use Your Brain":
I'll see you at Friday Cheers, Poe's for the Ultra Kings/Dismal Swamp Lords show and maybe Hardywood Saturday. Now I'm going to go watch Dave Letterman's last show. I hope I don't cry and I hope he goes out doing something really silly.
In honor of Memorial Day and the Americans who have fought and died so we can enjoy the freedom of music and dance with our kids, here's Jason Isbell's "Dress Blues":
