Sounds of the River City

Richmond’s first music week highlights the thriving local scene | Images courtesy Springstory

by Nicole Cohen

July 28, 2023

4:28 PM

1 of 5

Bluegrass group Tin Can Fish Band, among the performers at 804 Day during the inaugural Richmond Music Week, Aug. 4-11

2 of 5

Rapper Mad Skillz

3 of 5

Lead vocalist Hans of rock band Merciful Zero

4 of 5

Rapper Chance Fischer

5 of 5

Alt-pop artist Tyler Meacham

From well-known exports such as Lamb of God and Lucy Dacus to local favorites including GWAR and Carbon Leaf, Richmond has made a name for itself as a music town, and a new weeklong celebration will highlight all that RVA has to offer.

From Aug. 4-11, the inaugural Richmond Music Week is presenting events across the metro area, kicking off with 804 Day (a showcase of local talent) and culminating with RVA Rapper’s Delight (honoring 50 years of hip-hop). In between, gatherings such as the HearRVA Music Mixer & Fundraiser and venues including The National, The Camel and many more will present live music. Even places that don’t regularly host public events, such as record stores, record labels and sound studios, will host pop-up performances throughout the week. More than 170 acts at 53 venues are scheduled to perform during the celebration.

Reese Williams, chief communications officer and production coordinator for Shockoe Records — the recording label that spearheaded Richmond Music Week — compares the weeklong event to destination music festivals that attract people from all over the country. “It would be really cool if, over time, we built this thing where everybody says, ‘Oh my gosh, every August we’ve got to make sure we go stay a weekend or cherry-pick events that are happening down in Richmond,’ … and they make the effort to come here because we are a music city, dammit! We’ve been doing Shockoe Sessions Live for three years, and we just celebrated our 150th show. That’s 150 bands that are writing original music, that are stellar professional musicians — we’re not giving local garage bands and karaoke people a platform. This is an amazing town for this kind of talent.”

The week highlights Richmond’s thriving music scene, and the best way to get a taste of local talent across all genres is during 804 Day, fittingly held Aug. 4 (8/04, also a nod to the 804 area code) at 17th Street Market, 100 N. 17th St., and the surrounding area from 4 to 9 p.m. Touted as “Richmond’s Biggest Block Party,” three stages of music will feature more than 15 performances from artists including bluegrass group Tin Can Fish Band, Latin-funk brass band Los Malcriados and rapper Chance Fischer. The free hyperlocal festival features a craft market comprised of all Richmond makers, plus food and drinks from area vendors. More than 30 nonprofits will deck out their booths with their interpretations of 804-themed decor, and eventgoers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites. At 5:30 p.m., Mayor Levar Stoney will officially proclaim Aug. 4 as 804 Day, a local live music day.

“The big point of 804 Day is mashing all the genres together to show we’re not one thing, having all the merchants to show how many great artists there are here in Richmond, and nonprofits, all the people in Richmond serving the Richmond area, doing good things out of the kindness of their heart year-round,” Williams says, adding, “It will be very different than anything else they’ve done at the 17th Street Market.”

The HearRVA Music Mixer & Fundraiser on Aug. 5 at Gallery5, 200 W. Marshall St., from 7 to 11 p.m. is the second year of the event. The gathering serves as a resource for artists and industry service providers to network, but there are also live performances from jazz artist Gordy Michael to rock group Goodnight Daniel; indie rockers FLKL; and jazz, R&B, and hip-hop fusion band Weekend Plans. A raffle will feature prizes from local businesses. Admission tickets are $20 ($25 day of). Proceeds from ticket and raffle sales benefit LIV (Life Is Valuable), an organization dedicated to uplifting students by providing music resources to underserved communities in Richmond and the Tri-Cities region.

The week culminates with RVA Rapper’s Delight, a celebration of 50 years of hip-hop, on Aug. 11 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Hippodrome Theater, 528 N. Second St. The event curated by producer Ant the Symbol, aka Anthony Gillison, will highlight some of Richmond’s finest hip-hop artists and honor trailblazers such as Mad Skillz, the first hip-hop artist in Virginia signed to a major label.

“We want to pay homage to people who have been doing it for five decades, longer than many of us have been alive, and keeping it going and keeping it evolving and being integral in our community,” Williams says. “We just love breaking misnomers, we love busting those ideas that people may have about a certain culture and saying, ‘Hey, look at all the incredible nonprofits that are a part of it and listen to the message. Forget what you think you know in media about this particular genre. What’s actually happening is so much love and support in the community,’ so it’s going to be an incredible event.”

Rapper’s Delight will feature performances from Nickelus F, Noah-O, Radio B, Cane, and Rep! Tickets are $30 ($35 day of).

Other special events during the week include the 13th annual St. Elizabeth Jazz & Food Festival on Aug. 5, a Music Trivia night at Henrico’s Rare Olde Times on Aug. 6, and a Shockoe Sessions Live performance featuring Flight Club at Shockoe Records’ studio on Aug. 8.

Richmond Music Week took shape at Shockoe Records, but Williams notes that organizing the celebration has been a collaborative effort with partners HearRVA, Ignited, The Auricular, RVA Playlist and Virginia Is for Music Lovers. “I personally just thought about Richmond Restaurant Week, where there is this designated time period of spotlighting things that are already here,” Williams says of the event’s origins. “I proposed the idea like we need a timeframe where we say go explore music in your own town, either play tourist in your own town and go see a show, or just support local music, so it was really all of us coming together.”

And while this is the first year of the event, Williams says it’s only a taste of what’s to come. “We’ve got big plans for what we want Richmond Music Week to be,” she says, noting specifically, “Getting more people involved on a regular basis in the next 12 months to curate events, have some buskers around town and point people in the direction of some busking performances during that week, and panels hosting events here at the studio or somewhere else where experts can come in, and there’s a Q&A.”

Richmond Music Week runs Aug. 4-11. To see the full schedule of events, visit richmondmusicweek.com.

by Nicole Cohen

July 28, 2023

4:28 PM