Local Politics Matter: Richard Meagher

Richard Meagher understands why voters are closely following the volatile national political scene. 

But the associate professor of political science at Randolph-Macon College argues that when it comes to how the government affects your everyday life, it's best to think locally. 

His new book, "Local Politics Matters: A Citizen's Guide to Making a Difference" (Lantern Press & Media) outlines the many ways — from taxes to affordable housing to transportation options — local government has an impact. It also details the ways ordinary people can plug into, and sway, important local issues. 

Read my Richmond Magazine Q&A with Meagher by going right here. And for more on the author and book, connect here. 

Discomfort Food: Dr. Kelley Deetz

Food archaeologist and author Dr. Kelley Deetz documents American history, specifically African American history, through its vittles. 

In her book, "Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine,” she traces the preparation of everyday dishes back to enslaved people in 18th- and 19th-century plantation home kitchens, highlighting how they introduced ingredients from their African homelands and employed cooking methods that have stuck to the nation's ribs.

To read my Richmond Magazine Q&A with Kelley Deetz, go here.

For my previous Savor Virginia Magazine coverage of the book, go here.

(Photo courtesy of Dr. Kelley Deetz) 

For Pete's Sake: John McCutcheon Speaks

Johnny Cash once called John McCutcheon the most talented instrumentalist he'd ever seen. It's easy to see why -- the man plays more than a dozen different kinds, including his signature hammered dulcimer.

The folk music veteran's new album, his 40th, To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger, is a rousing tribute to his idol, Seeger, who died in 2014 at age 94. The set features Virginia blues master Corey Harris, country singer Suzy Bogguss and bluegrass band Hot Rize.

“The first LP I ever bought was by Pete Seeger, and it was called ‘We Shall Overcome,’ ” he tells me in an interview for Richmond Magazine. “It was a concert recording, and I had never been to a concert before. This LP was a revelation because Pete’s audiences, they came to sing. And everyone was singing along in harmony. I’d never heard anything like it.”

McCutcheon’s immersion in traditional music continued through his days at Saint John’s University in Minnesota. On a whim, he traveled south to Virginia and West Virginia to try to learn from some of his Appalachian musical heroes such as banjo player Roscoe Holcomb, fiddler Tommy Hunter and mountain dulcimer artist I.D. Stamper. “Originally I thought, as a college student, that I would come down here and study and marinate myself in it for three months. It was a three-month study that I’m still on 47 years later.”

Read my profile of McCutcheon, "For Pete's Sake," by going right here.

And for more on the music of John McCutcheon, click here.

(Photo by the mighty Irene Young)

Interview with Jon Spencer

It might come as a surprise that Jon Spencer — the guiding force behind some of the best, most dangerously playful rock 'n' roll of the modern era — would only now be releasing his first solo album. The 12-song Spencer Sings the Hits is of a piece with the trademark punk blues and fuzzed-out retro rock he's specialized in for 30 years with bands like Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Boss Hogg and Heavy Trash.

"Part of the reason I used my name is so I can let people know what to expect," the 53-year-old performer says, calling from his New York City home base.

Spencer's music and cameo performance in last year's hit film “Baby Driver” introduced his yowling, beat-heavy sonics to a new generation. Read my Richmond Magazine interview with the man by clicking right here.

And for more on the solo music of Jon Spencer, go right here.

(Photo courtesy Jon Spencer)

Interview with Carlene Carter

Singer-songwriter Carlene Carter comes from country music royalty.

She’s the granddaughter of Mother Maybelle Carter of the legendary Carter Family; the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, country singer Carl Smith; and the stepdaughter of Johnny Cash.

Carlene, 62, was the rebel of the clan. With and without her now ex-husband Nick Lowe, she made new wave country-rock, scandalizing the Nashville tastemakers. "I think they thought I was being a little bitch and running off to England of all places, but it wasn’t some master plan that I had, it just sort of happened..."

My interview with the fascinating Ms. Carter can be found at the Richmond Magazine website by going right here.

Interview with Dee Dee Bridgewater

"I was gifted with a flexible voice that can sing all styles," the great Dee Dee Bridgewater says. "And if I commit to it, you'd think that was the style I've been doing all my life."

In a career spanning 50 years, Bridgewater has traversed the tonal spectrum with her chameleonic voice and boisterous stage presence. From avant-garde jazz to disco to show tunes, Bridgewater has been all over the place. The Grammy- and Tony-winning vocal stylist — recently an expatriate residing in France — is enjoying meaty reviews for her new disc, Memphis...Yes I'm Ready. Here, she sinks her teeth into Bluff City classics by Elvis, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and Ann Peebles.

Read my Richmond Magazine interview with this fascinating diva (and careful with that alligator, Ms. Bridgewater).

For more on the lady's music, go here.

Interview with Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester learned songwriting from Paul Simon, made her recording debut with National Lampoon (imitating Yoko Ono) and got her start singing backup for Bette Midler. In the 70's, she was the soulful singer behind hits like "Midnight Blue," and in the 80's, she revamped her style and cut the leg-warmer classic, "You Should Hear How She Talks About You," copping a Grammy Award. In the 1990's, she could be found portraying Mayim Bialik's sitcom mom on TV's "Blossom."

For Richmond Magazine, I recently spoke with the one-and-only Melissa Manchester about all of her different phases and stages, as well as her new CD of standards saluting classic male singers.

You should hear how she talks about it all right here.

For more on the music of Melissa Manchester, click this spot.

(Photo by Jennifer O. Hill)

Arthur Ashe: A Life

The author of the best-selling books “Freedom Riders” and “The Sound of Freedom,” Raymond Arsenault says that his new exhaustive biography of the late Arthur Ashe was born out of a longtime fascination with his legendary subject, a Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion who spoke out against injustice and was eager to break down society’s color barriers even as he was battling the AIDs virus.

According to Arsenault, who spent nine years researching and writing the biography,  Ashe was "so honest and candid, revealing his soul, which is interesting because he had this reputation of being kind of cool and aloof. He was way Obama-esque. I swear sometimes that they were separated at birth. "

Read my Richmond Magazine interview with Raymond Arsenault, the author of "Arthur Ashe: A Life," by going right here.

Click here for more on Arsenault and the book, published by Simon and Shuster.

(Photo by Rob Bogaerts / Fotocollectie Anefo / Nationaal Archief)

The Laughing Mirror: A Talk with Christopher Titus

With Donald Trump in office, you'd think that the comedy of Christopher Titus would practically be writing itself.

After all, Titus is the amarcho-liberal comedian who, when he wasn't plumbing his turbulent family life for jokes, made his outrage over the policies of George W. Bush a consistent rant point in shows like "Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding" and "The Fifth Annual End of the World Tour."

But "Amerigeddon," Titus' eighth comedy special, isn't about Trump, or taking jabs at right-wingers, he says. "It's about us. All of us, left and right, and how we continue to be manipulated."

For Richmond Magazine, I recently talked with Titus, the host of the popular weekly "Titus Podcast," and an entertainer who originally rose to fame as the protagonist of an angst-ridden sitcom that was a little too real for FOX.

Read "The Laughing Mirror" here.

And for more on the world of Christopher Titus, go right here.

(Photo by the mighty Kimo Easterwood)

Working For My Baby: Interview With Lenis Guess

As a writer, producer, vocalist and label owner, Lenis Guess was the architect behind some of Virginia's best soul and funk music, even if few outside the crate-digging music world (and diehard fans in Britain and Germany) know his name.

The gruff-voiced renaissance man -- who has also delved into theatre and filmmaking -- was an integral part of what is now known as "The Norfolk Sound." In the '60s and '70s, he
recorded indelible regional hits (and misses) for producer Frank Guida's local music labels, as well as his own imprints.

Check out my Coastal Virginia Magazine Q&A with this influential Virginia soul legend by clicking right here. 

Bound to the Fire: Virginia's Enslaved Cooks

Kelley Fanto Deetz says she’s “restoring culinary justice” with her new book, "Bound to the Fire: How Virginia's Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine." 

“I think food is an important part of everyone’s culture, and it’s a topic that allows you to segue into talking about other issues, like race,” she says. “Everybody eats.”

The book, published by University Press of Kentucky, explores the lasting contributions of the early slave kitchens of Virginia—tracing everything from okra stew to collard greens to gumbo back to West African roots. Deetz pieces together the lives of the colony’s enslaved cooks, detailing their back-breaking labor and ingenuity, and her book includes centuries-only recipes created by slaves and passed down from generation to generation by white masters.

Some of the dishes that came out of the early slave kitchens will be familiar indeed. You probably ate them last night. My Savor Virginia Magazine interview with the Randolph College professor, and former chef, is now online. (And, yes, it does include recipes). Read the article here.

And for more on "Bound to the Fire: How Virginia's Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine, go right here.

How to Read Nancy

In the world of Ernie Bushmiller's classic comic strip, "Nancy," it was all about the gag.

"It was whatever works," Paul Karasik says. "Maybe you look inside Nancy's brain, or Ernie's hand suddenly jams in the final panel, anything to deliver the goods. Everything was up for grabs."

Karasik and fellow illustrator/educator Mark Newgarden have written a new book, "How To Read Nancy: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels" (Fantagraphics), that explores the significance -- and yes, genius -- of Ernie Bushmiller's wacky and deceptively brilliant strip.

Read my Richmond Magazine interview with Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden right here. 

For more on the book, go here.

And to take a peek at the duo's epic breakdown of a single "Nancy" strip from 1959, go here.

Interview with Victor Wooten

Victor Wooten is best known as the much-celebrated low end of the Grammy-winning jazz-fusion group Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. He's also an educator, an author and a solo bandleader who has been playing music professionally since he was a small boy. He's currently touring behind a new solo album, “Trypnotyx,”  another expansive genre-mixing of jazz, funk, hip-hop and experimental fusion,

Read my Richmond Magazine interview with this singular instrumentalist -- named one of the greatest bassists of all time by Rolling Stone -- by clicking here.

And for more on Victor Wooten, go here.

Interview with Bettye LaVette

"Bettye LaVette does Bob Dylan. It's like those movies they did in the '50s, like 'Dracula Meets Frankenstein.'" 

For years, Detroit native Betty LaVette was the secret weapon of soul, beloved by music purists and record collectors, but comparatively little known next to her peers Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross.

All of that is changing these days, thanks to a series of well-received comeback albums and a jaw-dropping autobiography, “A Woman Like Me.” She's got a brand new album of Dylan covers, and a new, autobiographical one-woman show that reflects on her rocky past, the people she's known, and her signature songs.

Read my Richmond Magazine interview with this soul music legend right here.

(Photo by Mark Seliger)

Funny Business: Interview with Bryan Tucker of SNL

Veteran comedy writer and Virginia native Bryan Tucker celebrates his 13th season with NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live this year. A multiple Emmy nominee and Peabody Award winner, the boyish co-head writer, 45, works at 30 Rock but has some interesting side-gigs too, like his new sports comedy website, The Kicker.

Recently, Tucker took some time to talk to me about, among other things, how SNL has kept its mojo after all these years, writing comedy in the age of Donald Trump, and what in the heck is so funny about Chesterfield County.

Read my Virginia Living Magazine interview with Tucker here. 

(Photo courtesy NBC-TV)

Interview with Gary Lucas

Gary Lucas has been the guitar sideman of choice for some larger-than-life singers — like Jeff Buckley and Captain Beefheart -- so maybe backing up a golem and Popeye the Sailor Man isn't such a stretch.

The Syracuse, New York native recently came to Richmond's James River Film Festival to be a live soundtrack provider at a screening of the 1920 German silent film, "Der Golem" (cited as the first superhero movie), and provide the tunes for a Sunday-afternoon program at The Byrd Theatre of vintage cartoons from the legendary Fleischer Studios (Popeye, Betty Boop, etc.).

I  recently spoke with Gary Lucas about the art of film music, collaborating with legends and his love for vintage Chinese pop. Read my Richmond magazine interview with the man the New York Times called "the guitarist with 1,000 ideas" right here.

(Photo: Bram Belloni)

Interview with Irma Thomas

"I still say it — I’ve said it in front of Keith — Mick Jagger can’t sing, and he’s laughing all the way to the bank." My expanded interview with the legendary Irma Thomas (who sang the original "Time is On My Side") is now available at the Richmond magazine website.

In this candid talk, the Soul Queen of New Orleans speaks frankly about the Rolling Stones, her collaborations with writer/producers Allen Toussaint and Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, why she won't mix gospel and soul music in her concerts, and how winning a Grammy award in 2007 may have actually hurt her career, among other things.

Get to know the Soul Queen by going here.

And for more on the music of Irma Thomas, click here.

Richmond Magazine: Q&A with Leo Kottke

The legendary Leo Kottke has been called one of the greatest guitarists of the modern age; a blues master, a country picker, a jazz explorer and someone who can take the oddest cover (like the Byrds' "Eight Miles High" or Buck Owens' "Buckaroo") and make it his own.

Even after five decades of music making, the self-taught virtuoso says that he "can't let go" of the guitar. "It isn't love," he says. "It's more like possession."

My recent Richmond Magazine interview with Kottke, slated to appear at the Tin Pan in September, has been posted to the magazine's web site.

Get it right here. 

For an expanded interview I conducted with Kottke a few years ago for Style Weekly, click here.

For more on the music of Leo Kottke, go here.

(Photo courtesy of the Tin Pan)

Interview with Lee Fields

"When I met James Brown... and listened to him talk, I realized at that point that I needed to go in search of myself."

My interview with soul/funk legend Lee Fields, who got his start on a Hampton Roads record label called Norfolk Sound, and whose high energy music has been compared favorably to the Godfather of Soul's, can be found on the Richmond Magazine website.

To read the Q&A, click right here.

For more on Lee Fields and his music, go to this spot.

(Photo by the Syndicate)

By the Time I Get to Henrico: A Talk with Jimmy Webb

Someone left the cake out in the rain, and it was the legendary Jimmy Webb.

The Grammy-winning composer of such iconic tunes as "Wichita Lineman," "Up, Up and Away," "MacArthur Park" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," Webb was a small town Oklahoma farm kid who dreamed of writing popular hits, and eventually became one of the most celebrated (and imitated) composers of all time.

We talked about his early days at Motown, his views on songwriting, and his amazing collaborations with the likes of Glen Campbell and the late Richard Harris, among other things. My Richmond Magazine interview the man called "America's Songwriter" can be read here.

And for more on Jimmy Webb and his music, go here.

(Photo: The Press Office)