A Talk With Lydia Night of The Regrettes

When The Regrettes burst onto the scene two years ago with their debut album, "Feel Your Feelings Fool!," the high school-aged California band seemed like a breath of fresh, loud air, and not just because of its members' relative youth and fetching visual style.

Here was an enthusiastic modern rock outfit keen on incorporating, and often subverting, retro song forms — such as rockabilly ("Hey Now") and girl-group pop ("A Living Human Girl") — and recasting them with biting, socially conscious snark for a new generation.

My Richmond Magazine Q&A with Regrettes leader Lydia Night, recently hailed as "the new face of feminist punk, is now online.

Read the interview by going here. 

For more on The Regrettes, take yourself to this place.

(Photo by the mighty Claire Marie Vogel)

Frank Guida and "High School U.S.A."

Frank Guida liked to think big.

The Virginia music producer, who scored national hits with Gary “U.S. Bonds” and Jimmy Soul in the early 1960s, is known as the spark plug behind the Norfolk Sound—the rambunctious party music that influenced generations of rockers.

Old Dominion University’s Perry Library recently unveiled its new Frank and Carmela Guida Collection of rare papers, recordings, and personal items from the producer’s archives. Donated by Guida’s family, the collection includes handwritten lyrics, contracts, correspondence, photos, tapes, and original recording equipment.

Even with legal papers embargoed until 2029, the collection is filled with historical insight into the recording industry and the Norfolk music scene. One box in particular reveals behind-the-scenes details of the producer’s most audacious recording—a song, or songs, waxed 60 years ago, called “High School U.S.A.”

My look back at this unusual record -- and all of its many regional variations -- is now online at the Virginia Living Magazine website.

You can read "School is In" by going right here.

For more on the archive, read my recent Coastal Virginia Magazine article right here. 

And for more on ODU's Special Collections, click this spot. 

Picker's Supply: Strings Attached

At first glance, Picker’s Supply in Fredericksburg, Virginia seems like an ordinary instrument shop—amplifiers, ukuleles, and bass guitars adorn the front aisles, and classic rock lingers in the air, punctuated by the sound of customers tentatively thumping, strumming, and banging prospective purchases.

Wander a bit and you’ll learn why, to many musicians, this is a sacred space. The affable owner, Bran Dillard, with his sandy beard and encyclopedic knowledge of anything with strings attached, leads a visitor to the back where stacked lines of unique guitars and other musical oddities sit inside glass showcases. “This represents the evolution of Americana music,” he says.

My Virginia Living Magazine article on this unique musical destination is now online. Read "Strings Attached" by going right here.

And for more on Picker's Supply, go here.

(Photo by the mighty Jennifer Chase)

The History of Hardywood

Eric McKay and Patrick Murtaugh can recall the exact day that they knew the small craft beer venture they’d co-founded—Hardywood Park Craft Brewery—was going to make it.

“It was the first event at our downtown Richmond facility, July 4, 2012, just after it became legal in Virginia to sell in a taproom,” company president McKay recalls. Recently opened, the brewery’s small staff prepared for 500 patrons, but 4,000 showed up, he says. “People were everywhere. I’m sure there were attendees there who were like, ‘We’ve got to start a brewery.'”

It sort of seems that way. In Virginia’s exploding craft beer universe—from 35 to 200 breweries in just the past few years—Hardywood has led the way.

My in-depth Q&A with McKay and Murtaugh for Savor Virginia examines the history of Hardywood -- it all started on a sheep farm in Australia -- and how the duo continue to spearhead Virginia's craft beer revolution.

Read the article right here. 

And for more on Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, go right here. 

(Photo by the mighty Todd Wright)

Come Fly With Me: World Flying Disc Championships

LOOK! UP IN THE SKY!

More than 100 ace aerialists are slated to compete in the 2019 World Overall Flying Disc Championships, to be held in various Richmond, Virginia-area parks and fields in July.

‘‘A flying disc is what a ball wants to be when it grows up,” says Rob McLeod, a.k.a. Frisbee Rob (pictured). “You know what a basketball, football or soccer ball can do, but with a flying disc, there are so many more possibilities.”Hailing from Alberta B.C., McLeod is one of the hundred athletes from across the globe slated to participate in the world championships.

“The competition is best compared to a decathlon or heptathlon,” says event organizer and player Jack Cooksey. “There are seven different events with individual skill tests, and two of the events are partner events.”

Read my Richmond Magazine article on the World Championships by going here.

And for more on the World Flying Disc Federation, which sanctions the competitions, go here.

Link Wray: The First Man in Black

"Rumble," released in 1958 by Link Wray and his Raymen, was an instrumental once considered so dangerous and subversive that it was banned on American radio, a tune so influential that it’s been credited with birthing both heavy metal AND punk rock.

The man behind this seminal blast of noise—a black-haired, leather-clad guitarist of American Indian origin—spent his formative years in and around Hampton Roads and came up with his most famous song at a Virginia sock hop.

"His rebellious look was functional," says Dana Raidt, the author of a new biography, "Link Wray: The First Man in Black," set for release in August from Bazillion Points Books. "He wore dark sunglasses because the light bothered his eyes ... he had really bad vision. And he wore the leather jacket so he wouldn't catch cold."

My article on the new Link biography is now up at the Coastal Virginia Magazine website, one of the many articles I penned for the mag's special May-June music issue.

Get the rumble by clicking this spot. 

And for more on "Link Wray: The First Man in Black," go here.

The Attucks Theatre at 100

If buildings could talk, the 624-seat Attucks Theatre would sing.

Originally constructed in 1919, this ornate Norfolk destination -- known for many years as The Booker T -- has been called "The Apollo of the South," but that's not exactly right, as the Attucks was constructed first.

The venerable venue is currently celebrating its 100th birthday with a new WHRO TV documentary devoted to its history as a music venue, movie theater, playhouse and community gathering place.

(And how's this for dream concerts? Dizzy Gillespie appeared here for a two-night stint in November 1946, and Newport News' own Ella Fitzgerald opened for him).

My historical feature on this important African-American showplace is now up at the Coastal Virginia Magazine website, one of the many articles I penned for the mag's special May-June music issue.

Hear the echoes by going here. 

(Photo of the Attucks in 1927 courtesy of SevenVenues).