Radio Wowsville tonight: So Many Questions!

Riddle me this:

Can blue men sing the whites? Does the Devil really have the best music? Who were International Harvester and why aren't they in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame?

These and many more (no doubt) burning questions will be addressed on tonight's very special edition of Radio Wowsville. 

Starting at 11PM on 91.1 FM and http://wtju.net, I will take over the DJ chair and twiddle the knobs for a two-hour sonic spectacular that will defy your sleep habits (and your powers of riddle solving). Avant-garde folk, San Fran freakout, offbeat doo-wop and hair-raising (and soul-cleansing) gospel - we'll take you on a specially-programmed triptych through the genres tonight, leaving precious clues along the way. Do you dare miss it?

OK, OK, if you do miss it, you can back up and try it again at http://wtju.net/vault. All will be explained.  

Virginia Living: Virginia Folklife and the Trash Company

Print makes a comeback right here!

Pick up the Feb. issue of Virginia Living Magazine and enjoy my feature article on Virginia's state folklorist Jon Lohman and the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. For a decade, the program (which Lohman started) has helped to preserve a rich array of disappearing traditional arts, music, crafts and skills.  

While you are there, take a gander at the latest installment of my Virginia Living music column, which documents how Richmond's Steady Sounds record store is issuing the "lost" music of Richmond's Max Monroe and the Trash Company. 

These articles aren't posted online so you actually have to buy a print copy (horrors!) of VL to partake. But you'll want to do that anyway since it's the handsome Virginia Living, a beautiful thing to be seen with. 

Don't steal your neighbor's copy. Get thee to a magazine rack or obtain the Feb. edition through http://virginialiving.com/.

Hampton Roads Magazine: Kickstarter

It isn't posted online but the Jan. 2013 issue of Hampton Roads Magazine contains my feature article on how Tidewater-area film producers, musicians and authors are obtaining project funding through Kickstarter. 

On newsstands now, as they say, or available at http://www.hamptonroadsmag.com/

Open Source RVA: Dec. 14 and Jan. 11 Podcasts

Are we caught up on the OSRVA podcasts yet?

It was a weird year for Richmond's arts scene as behind-the-curtains drama often overshadowed the actual art on display. For this special edition of Open Source RVA, we invited four distinguished area arts writers and critics to expound upon the past year and discuss both the hits and the bombs.

Joining us in our arts and culture roundtable: Harry Kollatz Jr., senior writer at Richmond Magazine, Angela Lehman-Rios, veteran music writer and Style Weekly critic, Rich Griset, freelance writer and theater critic at Style, and RVA Magazine editor Andrew Necci.

Click here to download the Jan. 11, 2013 podcast of Open Source RVA.

And the now-archival Dec. 14 edition of Your Show of Shows can now be heard in its entirety. Yay!

On this memorable installment, we talk with preservationists Giles Harnsberger and Nicole Anderson Ellis about how scenic and historic Rt. 5 was saved from development, and Andrew Bodoh, the lawyer for the Wingnut Anarchist Collective, fills us in on the dustup between the Richmond anarchists and the Richmond Police Department.

Oh... and we also introduce you to the follicle-flaunting fellows who are behind the RVA Beard League. Don't miss this.

Click here to download the Dec. 14, 2012 podcast of Open Source RVA.

Open Source RVA's army of unpaid interns now inform me that we are officially caught up on the podcasts. And there was much rejoicing.  

Check out the show's website at http://rvaopensource.com and don't forget to listen in every Friday at 4PM on 97.3 FM and http://wrir.org for Richmond's weekly audio digest.

Open Source RVA: Jan. 18, 2012 Podcast

A quick podcasting turnaround for yesterday's action-packed edition of Open Source RVA.

The Jan. 18 installment of Your Show of Shows follows the developing story of how conservative "Tea Party" politics is affecting public education in Hanover County. Along with Linda Terry from the Richmond Association of Realtors, Hanover teacher Chris Pace joins us to discuss impending changes and how they might affect Hanover's reputation for high educational standards.

Also sitting with us for a frank discussion: Richmond activist Scott Burger, who has led the fight against Richmond's high water fees, VCU's encroachment of Oregon Hill and the lack of transparency in city government. Meet the man behind the petitions and find out how he's been so effective in a city that can count citizen apathy among its problems.

Click here to download the Jan. 18 podcast of Open Source RVA.

And we're still catching up! Stay tuned for more past podcasts of WRIR's weekly audio news digest. Open Source RVA airs every Friday at 4PM on 97.3 FM and http://wrir.org.

(And don't forget to bookmark Open Source RVA's spiffed-out new website at http://rvaopensource.com - that's where you'll find breaking news, podcast links and exclusive editorials. Do it now and smile!)

Open Source RVA: Dec. 21 and Jan. 4 Podcasts

We're catching up on the Open Source RVA podcasts. Whew! Exhausting.

Our "Looking Back and Forward" episode features three River City wise men -- political gadfly Paul Goldman, perpetual candidate Charlie Diradour and University of Richmond professor Thad Williamson -- as they take a look back on the past year in Richmond politics. It's a wide-ranging discussion that features everything from the city's high water rates to the meaning of the local Nov. 2012 election to the Redskins deal to the Art180 controversy and so much more...

Click here to listen to the wise and sage Jan. 4 edition of Open Source RVA.

And our holiday broadcast can also be heard. We interview local filmmaker Rick Alverson about his new film, The Comedy, and talk with Beth Monroe of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden about Ginter's annual "Gardenfest of Lights." We also speak to members of Richmond's Teachers Association and Virginia Police Chiefs Association about Gov. McDonnell's recent proposal to arm teachers in the wake of the recent Connecticut school shootings.

Click here to listen to the action packed Dec. 21 edition of Open Source RVA.

Open Source RVA is Richmond's audio news digest, broadcast Fridays at 4PM on http://wrir.org and 97.3 FM. And check out our spiffy new website at http://rvaopensource.com.

Read the Notes: Maggie Ingram's "Live in Richmond"

Ring in the new year with a stirring  live recording from Richmond's Queen of Gospel.

The new live CD from Richmond's Maggie Ingram & the Ingramettes is a potent introduction to a Richmond gospel legend and her incredible family backup band. Available here and through fine record stores -- like this one -- this exuberant set is a long-overdue document of the Ingramettes' live prowess (check them out in this clip from the past Richmond Folk Festival).

Live in Richmond is on the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities' own label -- see the rest of their fine indigenous releases here -- and was recorded at Fifth Baptist Church in Richmond by producer Jon Lohman, who just so happens to be Virginia's state folklorist.

OK, so you already need to get this disc. We've established that, right?

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL (as they say) -- you also get my bio of "Mama" Ingram and an overview of the music legacy she's forged in her Richmond hometown and beyond. 

Think of my liner notes as sort of a "bonus." But you'd need Live in Richmond anyway. Trust me on this.

For more, check out my Virginia Living feature (from 2008) on Maggie Ingram right here.

And here's Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes live at the folk festival in 2009:



Listen to some early Maggie on Nashboro:


And now prepare yourself for the "Richmond Virginia Flood":