Interview with Daniel Bachman

“I’ve always been into traditional American music as well as contemporary experimental music,” says Daniel Bachman, whose finger-picked acoustic guitar and banjo instrumentals—traversing between classic Piedmont blues covers, ruminative Americana, and atmospheric soundscapes—have won rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and National Public Radio.

Atmospheric tunes like “New Moon” and old-timey workouts, such as “Wide Oak,” even prompted NPR to enthuse that Bachman isn’t just playing guitar, “He’s sculpting sound.”

As his career unfolds, the 29-year-old Bachman prompts continuous comparisons to the late John Fahey, the guiding light of the American Primitive style of folk guitar. “I became aware of John Fahey right after I had this epiphany that you could tune the guitar like a banjo,” he says with a laugh. “And then it was, ‘Oh wait, someone’s already been doing that for forever.’”

My interview with the Fredericksburg, Virginia sonic sculptor is now online at the Virginia Living Magazine website. Read "Orange Country Serenader" by clicking here.

(Photo by the mighty Jen Fariello!)

Bee Happy: Saving the Honeybee

My long, loving look at the Virginia honeybee has been posted online. I hope it starts a buzz.

The Virginia Living Magazine article, titled "Bee Happy," follows  Virginia backyard beekeepers who are helping pollen-loving Anthophila—and in particular the much-needed honeybee—to survive in an ever-changing, tumultuous climate.

“The numbers of bees have been going down dramatically since the 1970s,” Keith Tignor, Virginia’s state apiarist, tells me in the piece. “We estimate that we have had as many as 85,000 to 90,000 beehives across the state, and now we’re looking at 35,000, maybe at best 40,000, hives.” The die-off is part of a nationwide trend known as colony collapse disorder, he adds, and this past season was Virginia’s worst in a long time. “We lost 60 percent of our managed colonies this past winter.”

But with recent rains, things may be looking up for the bees. Find out by reading "Bee Happy" right here.

And more on the products of Virginia beekeepers, go here.

(Photo by the mighty Kate Thompson!)

An Open Letter to Pharrell

Richmond Magazine arts editor Craig Belcher and I have written a friendly letter to Pharrell Williams about his -- ah -- borrowing of our big Virginia Music concert idea for his Something in the Water Festival in April.

Why stop there, Mr. Williams? What about our Virginia Music Hall of Fame and Museum idea too? (And where are our comp tickets? It's the least you can do.)

Read the letter on the Richmond magazine website right here.

As far as our Rich Mag cover feature with the cool ideas, it recently copped a first place Virginia Press Association award for Best Arts Writing. Kudos to Craig and me. Read that award-winning pitch here and here and here.

(Photo of a waterlogged copy of the inspirational issue by the mighty Heather Palmateer)

Unsettled History: Virginia in 1619

My latest feature for Coastal Virginia Magazine is about the very beginnings of America.

In "Unsettled History," I write about a yearlong initiative in Virginia called American Evolution, designed to loudly spread the word about the events of 1619,  one year before the Mayflower landed, when the first assembly of American lawmakers convened in Jamestown, the first Africans arrived in Hampton, and a campaign to recruit groups of women from England was started in the New World. It was also—sorry, Massachusetts—the year Virginia celebrated the first English Thanksgiving.

Kickstarted by a $24 million state investment and buoyed by a bevy of high-powered corporate sponsors, American Evolution intends to rebrand the Old Dominion as the nation's birthplace and maybe even talk openly about the difficult birth.

Find out about the statewide celebrations and discussions, as well as what the City of Hampton is doing with its own yearlong 400th commemorative celebration, by reading my feature article, which is available in the March-April issue of Coastal Virginia.

Click and read it right here.

And for more on the American Evolution campaign, go here.

For more on the City of Hampton's 400th anniversary events, go here.

(Illustration: "First Thanksgiving" by Sidney Lang)