Tag: Live Music

Wednesday 9/5

Workbook

Being innovative is exhausting work. Nick Zammuto could have decided that, after a prolific stint with cellist Paul de Jong as The Books, he’d coast with the street cred he got for experimenting with what he calls “collage-pop music.” Instead he takes up the loop and synth mantle with an eye towards layered sound, building the fullness and flavor of the songs—like a club sandwich you can dance to. $10-12, 9pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590.

A local bluegrass band being asked to play for the President of the United States…what are the odds? That’s what we thought until a dear friend with a connection to the Obama Campaign called to ask if Gallatin Canyon could warm up the crowd of 7,500 that would assemble at the rally for President Obama last Wednesday. Needless to say, we jumped at such a rare opportunity and honor. After a few background checks and a Tuesday night rehearsal, we were ready for our sound-check at the Pavilion, early Wednesday morning. The lineup for the day would be Andy Thacker, Landon Fishburne, Ben Hernandez, Stan Marshall and Joe Simpson.

We arrived and were escorted backstage by Secret Service while the crews put the finishing touches on the elaborate stage where the President would later deliver his speech. We had to vacate the premises by 10 am sharp so that the agents could secure the area before opening the venue to the general public. This left us with just a few hours to gather ourselves before our performance.

Back at the Pavilion, we were again escorted backstage by Secret Service where we tuned our instruments and befriended an agent who had served the last three Presidents. With a friendly smile he asked if we knew any Jack White songs. Moments later, we took the stage, playing for a solid hour and listening to the loud roars of anticipation from 7,500 eager folks awaiting the President’s arrival. At one point, we jokingly asked the crowd if they had heard a rumor that the President was going to be delivering a speech. That, of course, was met with a resounding burst of cheers, the likes of which none of us have ever heard.

It was our job to entertain and warm up the crowd even in the unbearably hot and humid weather. Hot enough that we actually had to help direct paramedics to a person in the crowd who had collapsed! That was a scary moment, for sure. We played to cheers and even a few friendly boos near the end of our set when we said that the Campaign needed us to do “a few more tunes.” Incidentally, the boos quickly became cheers again once the Campaign changed it to “one more song.” It was truly the honor of a lifetime to be on that stage, helping ready our hometown friends for President Obama’s electrifying speech.

After we played, the campaign arranged for us to be seated on stage. There, our mandolin player, Andy Thacker, was, for the second time in two years, the first person to shake the President’s hand as he walked onto the Pavilion stage to a deafening eruption of applause.

After the rally, we craved air conditioning and hydration! So we walked down the Mall to Positively 4th Street, where we have a standing gig every Thursday night. As we began to notice some commotion out on the Mall, our contact throughout the day from the Campaign’s advance team made his way into the bar. That’s when we learned that the President was on his way. Once again, we found ourselves in precisely the right place at the right time.

While the President made a stop in the Campaign office next door, Secret Service arranged to get us to the front of the rope line outside where he was to make his way back to the motorcade. To our surprise, one of the agents stopped the President, introduced him to us, told him we were his warm up band and arranged for a photo op. Obama’s exact words were, “How come I haven’t gotten a photo with the band yet?”

The President then made his way down the rope line and even got an unexpected surprise greeting from hometown Academy Award winner, Sissy Spacek, who had been dining at 4th Street. This meeting left a number of folks in the crowd to wonder exactly which one of them was more star-struck!

It was a day full of exciting and memorable moments. And, for a small town bluegrass band, it was the experience of a lifetime. Thank you, Mr. President and thank you to our hometown friends in Charlottesville. It’s a day Gallatin Canyon will never forget. —Ben Hernandez and Landon Fishburne

Wednesday 9/5

The sound of shroomin’

The work of John Cage can hardly be categorized. A revered audio experimentalist, sound pioneer, writer, and insightful painter, he is lesser known as a mycologist. The Bridge PAI’s Audio September series pays tribute to Cage’s posthumous centennial with a walk in the forest and an unintentional “natural concert” composed of the sounds heard while seeking mushrooms. Heady stuff. Let’s hope a tree falls and the birds join in. Meet at the gallery and carpool to Secluded Farm (off Thomas Jefferson Parkway). Free, noon. The Bridge PAI, 209 Monticello Rd. 984-5669.

Monday 9/3

Greasin’ the groove

In an age of dub step and rap versions of ’80s new wave, Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears stand apart with gritty, funky, dirty-picking, soul-howling blues. But don’t mistake Joe’s crew for a novelty act. This band is puttin’ hands on hips, lettin’ backbones slip, and establishing themselves as protectors of the flame, traversing the path made by Howlin’ Wolf, Joe Tex, and James Brown, and providing the world with just a little more soul. $14-16, 8pm. Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980.

Second lining is a tradition that stretches back through centuries, thought to have originated as the outer circle, or second line, of West African circle dances. The tradition evolved from jazz funerals to choreographed, brass band, dance party parades that are inextricably associated with the life and spirit of NOLA, the city that incubated them. Get a taste of it on our own Main Street, as the Rebirth Brass Band schools us on how to lead a proper “Second Line” parade, followed by a concert to benefit the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center. Parade begins at 3pm, Saturday, September 1 on Hardy Drive and ends at the Jefferson Theater. www.jeffschoolheritagecenter.org.

Lift your spirits with a gospel music event at the Haven on Sunday, August 26th. Traditional gospel music — from Louisa County’s Ladies of Praise, Richmond groups the Golden Jubilees and the Sons of Praise (authors of the excellently-titled song “Stay Prayed Up”), and Gum Springs, VA’s Healing Prayer — will be accentuated by gospel comedian J Smooth, the Louisa Praise Dancers, and a Charlottesville-based gospel rapper by the name of GR8FUL.

The event starts at 4:00pm, and donations are $15 (or $10 in advance), or $8 for children under 12. Proceeds will go to benefit a bus trip to South Carolina in September.

The beloved annual music festival known as The Festy Experience doesn’t get underway until October, but those who can’t wait can get an early taste can do this Saturday, August 25th as the Devils Backbone Brewing Company hosts the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest, where four Virginia bands will play while music-lovers and beer aficionados sample craft beers from over 30 brewers.

The event runs from 2pm-8pm; local country-flavored 80’s cover band Love Canon will play at 2:15, bluegrass jammers the Downbeat Project are on at 3:45; a group known as the Founding Fathers (featuring Chris Pandolfi and Andy Falco of the Infamous Stringdusters, co-founders of the Festy Experience) will play at 5:15 and Richmond’s No B.S.! Brass Band will wrap up the evening beginning at 6:45.

VIP passes are already sold out, but general admission tickets and “tasting package” passes are still available, and camping passes will be available on the day of the event. The current predicted weather is 84° and slightly cloudy, but the organizers have set a rain date for August 26th.

Friday 8/24

Stir the beans

With a recipe to rock your soul, Mingo Fishtrap cooks up down ‘n’ dirty, gutbucket, nawlins-style grooves topped with a flourish of Motown. The Austin, Texas, act is heavy with horns and a ready rhythm section, and ass-shakin’ is the name of the game at the next installment of the Fridays After Five music series. Free, 5pm. nTelos Wireless Pavilion,
700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4910.