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5 things to know about The Avett Brothers
In seven years and at least nine stops in the Roanoke and New River valleys, The Avett Brothers have steadily built their audience. It started with a 2005 side stage appearance at FloydFest. The next year, the band played the Coffee Pot in Roanoke. Since then, the stages and crowds have gotten bigger — Jefferson Center, more Floyd-Fest action, Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre, Virginia Tech’s Burruss Hall. The band sold
Out & about: Papa Grows Funk returns to Roanoke Valley on Wednesday
A renowned New Orleans band is making a final funky round of shows that will bring it to Martinsville on Wednesday. Papa Grows Funk, led by the Hammond B3 work of band founder John Gros, is scheduled for a show at the Rives Theatre. It will be the first, and likely last, stop for the band in that town. PGF announced in January that after 13 years together, it is
Gordon Lightfoot, Tommy Emmanuel highlight Saturday night music options
Choices are everywhere on the Roanoke music scene. Saturday night presents two stellar ones. Gordon Lightfoot, who this year celebrates 50 years in the music business by touring with his longtime backing band, brings a cache of hits — including “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “Sundown,” “Early Morning Rain” and “If You Could Read My Mind” — to Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel, a Chet Atkins protege
Top Tickets: A big festival weekend
FRIDAY-SUNDAY 2013 Virginia Blues & Jazz Festival With Rene Marie, Joe Louis Walker, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Nikki Hill and more Former Roanoker Marie retains her greatness. Hill’s recent stop at Roanoke’s Blue 5 Restaurant was brilliant. Details: 7:30 p.m. Friday; 12:30 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. Sunday. Garth Newel Music Center, Warm Springs. $25 advance, $35 day of show on Friday; $24 in advance, $32 day of show Saturday; 12 and
Blue Ridge Music Center in need of greater financial support
For more than a decade, the Blue Ridge Music Center, near Galax, has presented a full summer schedule of live, traditional southern Appalachian music. And for just as long, the 3,000-capacity site on the Blue Ridge Parkway has been losing money on those acts. This year, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation took over music programming at the site and began working on ways to make the music center at least
Organizers of Salem and Roanoke music festivals say the future is bright
Roanoke Valley music lovers were busy over the past couple of weekends. Two festivals — the practically brand new Blue Ridge Music Festival and the stalwart Roanoke Festival in the Park Inc.’s shindig — delivered slates of music in venues that don’t get a lot of use for that purpose. For Blue Ridge Music Festival, at Salem Football Stadium, the results were better than organizers expected. For Festival 2013, unable
Clarence ‘Blowfly’ Reid bringing his funk and soul classics to Martin's on Sunday
Before 2 Live Crew’s “Me So Horny”; before Tyler the Creator’s Mountain Dew commercial and practically every verse on his new album, “Wolf”; before any number of X-rated rappers made laughter and offense, there was Clarence “Blowfly” Reid. The 74-year-old Reid co-wrote and produced such 1970s hits and essentials as Gwen McRae’s “Rockin’ Chair,” Betty Wright’s “Cleanup Woman” and KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Sound Your Funky Horn.” He could
Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line bring their Americana dream to Roanoke
The Americana Music Association’s weekly radio airplay chart is full of familiar acts — Patty Griffin, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell, Steve Martin with Edie Brickell and Jason Isbell fill the top five spots. But moving up the chart is a new group, relatively unknown, though with band members familiar to many in the valleys. Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line’s debut CD, “Carnival,” was No. 7
Top Tickets: Bring on the rock bands
TONIGHT and FRIDAY The Broadcast Asheville, N.C., band with a great singer in Caitlin Krisko brings funk- and soul-infused rock. This killer live act has a new studio project in the works. Details: 10 p.m. tonight. Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill, Roanoke. Free. 985-6278, martinsdowntown.com. 10 p.m. Friday. 622 North, Blacksburg. $8. 951-1022, 622North.com, thebroadcastmusic.com TONIGHT The Dirty Guv’nahs Knoxville, Tenn., rockers The Dirty Guv’nahs always have something going on.
Out & about: American Aquarium to rock Kirk Ave. Music Hall (with podcast)
Texas was not always kind to the band American Aquarium. Sure, the Raleigh, N.C., band plays an original brand of rocking Americana that would seem to jibe with the sensibilities out there. But that potentially big audience can be tough to reach. Then last August, the band released its Jason Isbell-produced album, “Burn. Flicker. Die.” And a single from that disc, “Lonely Ain’t Easy,” wound up on mainstream radio in
Blue Ridge Music Festival in Salem draws thousands
It was just after 11 a.m. on Saturday, and already the sun was beating down on the early crowd at Salem Football Stadium. Charlottesville’s Skip Castro Band was pumping out a set of jump blues and boogie-woogie from the Blue Ridge Music Festival stage. And despite the steamy heat — or maybe because of it — a couple of women stood in the front row of the home side stands,
Strings & Spirits Festival to feature Americana music, craft beer, regional wine
Mother Nature was a beast at the inaugural Franklin County Strings & Spirits Festival . When it wasn’t pouring down sheets of rain on June 30, 2012, it was stultifyingly hot and humid. That kept the crowd rather small, even if the acoustic music was good and the libations were refreshing. After that, organizers decided to schedule the event earlier, so this year it is happening on Saturday. Unfortunately for
Top Tickets: Local, regional, original
FRIDAY Magic Twig Community Songwriter’s Workshop With Seanmichael Poff, Sam Lunsford, Geoff Conley Hear solo sets from some of the Roanoke Valley’s most creative songwriters. Lunsford’s The Young Sinclairs is a radio regular on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. Details: 9 p.m. The Bazaar, 675 Brandon Ave., Roanoke. $3; all ages. 309-0928, tumblr.com/tagged/magic twig community FRIDAY John D’earth Quintet World class jazz trumpeter D’earth, based in Charlottesville, has recorded for Dave
Blue Ridge Music Festival is crazy for country
Big hitmakers, a country rapper, a rising songwriter, a couple of up-and-comers — even a guy who plays a country star on TV — are part of the Blue Ridge Music Festival on June 1 at Salem Football Stadium. A regional party favorite and a Roanoke Valley new country band are on the bill, as well. Nashville, Tenn.-based promoter Outback Concerts, working with the city of Salem, is reviving the
Can Will Hoge save country music?
Will Hoge started his career as a rock ’n’ roller, but by 2012, his songwriting had come to the fore. “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” a song that Hoge co-wrote and recorded on his 2009 album “The Wreckage,” became a No. 1 country single for the Eli Young Band. By the end of the year, on the power of that song, he was nominated for a Grammy Award, a
Colt Ford wants a break on radio
Colt Ford is a proven modern country music hitmaker. Two songs he co-wrote with Brantley Gilbert — Gilbert’s No. 1 “Country Must Be Country Wide” and Jason Aldean’s No. 1 “Dirt Road Anthem” — got massive radio play, in addition to sales and downloads. Ford himself has had lots of sales and downloads through four albums and one EP. His most recent CD, “Declaration of Independence,” hit No. 1 on
Chantilly Farm Bluegrass & BBQ Festival this weekend in Floyd County
It’s a holiday weekend with a lot of festivals in the valleys. For bluegrass fans, the big option is in Floyd County, where the Chantilly Farm Bluegrass & BBQ Festival has its third go-round. The bill, led by International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame member Doyle Lawson and his band, Quicksilver, is full of world-class ’grassers and some high-test local acts, too. Lawson, an East Tennessean whose band has won
Top Tickets: Feeling folksy?
TONIGHT Heather Luttrell With Christie Lenee Folk/Americana singer/songwriter Luttrell brings strong vocals to her original music. Lenee is a shockingly good guitarist with finger-tapping prowess to match her songwriting creativity. Details: 10 p.m. Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill, Roanoke. Free. 985-6278, martinsdowntown.com, heatherluttrell.com, christielenee.com FRIDAY David Wax Museum This Boston-based band turned on crowds opening for The Avett Brothers at Virginia Tech and on its own at FloydFest with what
The Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival bringing the big and local acts to Martinsville
For the Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival, progress has been slow and steady. But even as the festival grows its lineup, it sticks with some longtime favorites. In its first year, a passel of local and regional bands filled the lineup at the Blue Mountain Festival Grounds, near Martinsville. Charlottesville’s Kings of Belmont and Ashveville, N.C.’s Sanctum Sully were on the bill. This time around, in its fifth year,
Festival in the Park gets overhaul, new location (with map)
A lot has changed for Festival in the Park since Memorial Day weekend 2012. Before the year was out, the organization that ran the event and others in downtown Roanoke, EventZone, had let its director resign, then lost its contract with the city. Festival in the Park, which began its existence as an autonomous organization, also cut its ties with EventZone, then aligned itself with the city’s new events contractor,
1. COMMENTARY: A letter to the ones left behind
2. Billionaire Jim Justice's Roanoke-based mining company owes money, suits allege
3. WOYM: Who pays for coaches’ personal police protection?
4. Driver charged after Sunday wreck on I-81 in Montgomery County
5. Understanding 'Obamacare': Virginia still undecided on Medicaid expansion
6. 2 suspects arrested, 2 at large after Sunday burglary in Salem
7. I-81 north reopens near Salem following morning tractor-trailer wreck
8. Pastor at Roanoke's Greene Memorial moving on to Northern Virginia church
9. 3 people taken to hospital after Saturday wreck on I-81 in Montgomery County
10. QB Ford commits to Virginia Tech football
THE ROANOKE TIMES
