Music of Virginia
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Music of the United States |
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Virginia's musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues, jazz, folk, brass, hip-hop, and rock and roll bands, as well as the founding origins of country music in the Bristol sessions by Appalachian Virginians.
The origin of music from within the state is very diverse, including cities such as Richmond, college towns such as Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, and the rural areas of Southwestern Virginia along "The Crooked Road”.
State song
"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" by James A. Bland was Virginia's state song from 1940 until 1997; it now has emeritus status. "Oh Shenandoah" was the interim state song from January 2006, and its melody was used for "Our Great Virginia," with lyrics by Mike Greenly, which became the official state song in 2015. The same year, "Sweet Virginia Breeze," written in 1978 by Steve Bassett and Robbin Thompson became the official popular state song; the runner-up was "Virginia, the Home of My Heart".
Birthplace of Southern shape note music
In 1816 Ananias Davisson of Rockingham County published a shape note tunebook containing folk melodies collected during his travels, entitled Kentucky Harmony. At a time when the musicians in the North were turning to Europe and ridiculing the composers of the First New England School, Davisson's focus on grassroots regional music was widely imitated in the South.
Notable music artists from Virginia by genre
One of Virginia's most famous musical contributions is the country singer Patsy Cline. Several towns claim her as their own, including Gore and Winchester. Winchester is home to several Patsy Cline attractions, including a driving tour published by the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Kurtz Cultural Center/Old Town Visitor's Center, which shows various Cline memorabilia.[1] The Golden Gate Quartet founded in 1931 are widely regarded as the founders of jubilee and the sound of many male vocal groups that came after them. Their musical influence crosses multiple genres including gospel, jazz, blues, hip hop, soul and R&B. The legacy continues on through a new version of the Golden Gate in France and former lead singer Charles West from Chesapeake, Virginia.[2]
Jim & Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys,
Blues and jazz
- Pearl Mae Bailey– vocalist, actress, Newport News
- James "Plunky" Branch – saxophonist; Oneness of JuJu, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, from Richmond
- Karen Briggs – improvising violinist (featured with Yanni), Portsmouth
- Rob Brown – saxophonist and composer, Hampton
- Ruth Brown – singer, songwriter, actress, musician, Portsmouth
- Charlie Byrd – jazz guitarist, Suffolk
- Robert Cray – blues guitarist, Newport News
- Walter Davis Jr. – bebop and hard bop pianist, Richmond
- Archie Edwards – Piedmont blues guitarist from Union Hall
- Ella Fitzgerald – jazz singer, Newport News
- Tiny Grimes – jazz and R&B guitarist, Newport News
- The Holmes Brothers – blues, jazz, gospel, from Christchurch
- Claude Hopkins – jazz stride pianist, from Alexandria
- Cliff Jackson – jazz stride pianist, from Culpeper
- John Jackson – Piedmont blues musician, Woodville
- René Marie – vocalist, Warrenton
- Tommy Newsom – musician in Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show Band, Portsmouth
- Don Pullen – avant-garde jazz pianist from Roanoke
- Keely Smith – jazz singer, actress, Louis Prima collaborator, Norfolk
- Lonnie Liston Smith – pianist, keyboardist; Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis, Stanley Turrentine, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Betty Carter, Max Roach, from Richmond
- Steve Wilson – saxophonist; Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Lionel Hampton, from Hampton
- Victor Wooten – bass virtuoso, member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Hampton
Country and bluegrass
- Kenny Alphin – of the country group Big & Rich, b. Culpeper
- Oliver Anthony - had a No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hit with the protest song "Rich Men North of Richmond" in 2023
- Tim Barry – frontman of Avail, and country/folk singer-songwriter, Richmond
- Dock Boggs – singer, banjo player, Norton
- The Carter Family – highly influential 1920s and 1930s country trio, known as the "First Family of Country Music", Maces Spring
- Neko Case – country singer, b. Alexandria
- Roy Clark – country music artist, Meherrin
- Patsy Cline – country music singer, b. Winchester (d.1963, buried in Winchester)
- Steve Earle – country-rock musician and songwriter, b. Hampton
- Grit City Grass – A bluegrass band that pulls influences from modern and classic bluegrass sources, Charlottesville
- Jim & Jesse – bluegrass duo, Coeburn
- Scott Miller & The Commonwealth, Augusta County
- Old Crow Medicine Show – Americana/folk band formed by Ketch Secor and Critter Fuqua in Harrisonburg
- Old Dominion – country band, Roanoke
- River City Gang – country-rock band, Richmond
- Gary Ruley and Mule Train – Rockbridge County
- Mary Simpson – violinist, Charlottesville
- Canaan Smith – country singer, Williamsburg
- Hobart Smith – banjo virtuoso, Saltville
- Kilby Snow – autoharpist, Grayson County
- The Stanley Brothers – influential bluegrass duo made up of brothers Carter Stanley and Ralph Stanley, Dickenson County
- The Statler Brothers – country-rock-gospel band, Staunton
- The Steel Wheels - folk and Americana, Harrisonburg
- Ricky Van Shelton – country singer, Pittsylvania County
- Phil Vassar – country singer and songwriter, Lynchburg
- Walker's Run, Lexington
- Wade Ward – banjo player, fiddler, Independence
- Mac Wiseman, born in Crimora
Pop, rock and heavy metal
- Illiterate Light – indie rock duo, Harrisonburg and Richmond[6]
- Alabama Thunderpussy – mainstream rock, metal band, Richmond
- Arsis – death metal band, Virginia Beach
- Artful Dodger – power pop, Fairfax
- Avail – punk band, Richmond
- Bad Omens - metalcore, Richmond
- Broadside – pop-punk band, Richmond
- Carbon Leaf – Celtic-infused rock, Richmond
- Car Seat Headrest - Indie rock, lo-fi pop, originally formed in Leesburg as solo project of Will Toledo and eventually became a band.
- City of Caterpillar – screamo/post rock, Richmond
- Clarence Clemons – saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, Norfolk
- Stewart Copeland – drummer for rock band The Police and jazz ensemble Animal Logic, Alexandria
- Lucy Dacus – singer-songwriter and member of indie trio boygenius, Mechanicsville
- Dave Matthews Band – jam band, Charlottesville. Had 7 consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.
- Days Difference – pop-rock band, Virginia Beach
- The Dreamscapes Project – acoustic rock, Reston
- The Downtown Fiction – Fairfax
- Mark Oliver Everett – lead singer, guitarist, and keyboardist of Eels
- Neil Fallon – stoner rock, singer for the band Clutch
- The Friday Night Boys – Fairfax
- Glass Cloud – metalcore Hampton
- Dave Grohl – Nirvana and Foo Fighters drummer, guitarist and lead singer – grew up in Burke/Springfield
- Down To Nothing– hardcore-punk band, Richmond
- Eternal Summers – dream pop band, Roanoke
- Gigantic Brain – experimental metal-grindcore band
- GWAR– thrash metal, art rock band, Richmond
- The Last Bison – indie-folk band, Chesapeake
- Labradford – ambient/drone/post-rock band, Richmond
- Lamb of God – heavy-metal band, Richmond
- Jake E. Lee – heavy/glam metal guitarist, Ratt, Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Mandy Lion
- Bill Leverty – guitarist for Firehouse, Richmond
- Michael Foster— drummer for Firehouse, Richmond
- Mae – pop-rock, Norfolk
- Aimee Mann – punk, new wave, adult contemporary, Richmond
- Janis Martin – rockabilly, country, rock and roll, Sutherlin
- Scott McKenzie – mainstream folk, singer-songwriter, Alexandria
- Moutheater – noise rock/sludge/punk, Norfolk
- Jason Mraz – acoustic pop-rock, Mechanicsville
- Municipal Waste – Thrash Crossover band, Richmond
- Parachute – indie-rock band, Charlottesville
- Pig Destroyer – grindcore band, Alexandria
- RDGLDGRN, rap-rock, Reston
- Satan's Satyrs, heavy/doom/punk rock, Herndon (later Richmond)
- Suzy Saxon and the Anglos – new wave band, Richmond
- Seven Mary Three – alternative rock, post-grunge band, Williamsburg
- Arlington
- Strike Anywhere – punk rock/melodic hardcore band, Richmond
- Scott Travis – heavy metal drummer for Judas Priest, Norfolk
- Tim Be Told – contemporary Christian-rock band, Charlottesville
- Kali Uchis – singer and songwriter, Alexandria
- Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps from Norfolk
- Car seat headrest– grew up in Leesburg
- Doom Metalband, Richmond
Hip hop
- Nick Mira – producer and songwriter, Richmond
- Skillz – rapper and songwriter, Richmond
- Chris Brown – Hip-hop and R&B singer, actor, dancer/entertainer "The Prince of R&B", Tappahannock, Virginia. Had 2 No. 1 Hot 100 hits, like "Run It!" in 2005.
- Clipse (No Malice and Pusha T) – rap/hip-hop duo, Virginia Beach
- Danja– record producer/songwriter,Virginia Beach
- D'Angelo – R&B singer, Richmond. Had a No. 1 Billboard 200 album in 2000.
- DeVante Swing – producer/singer, founder of R&B group Jodeci, Hampton
- Dalvin DeGrate – singer, member of Jodeci, Hampton
- Krohme - record producer/songwriter, Alexandria
- K-R.O.K. – Record producer, recording artist, singer-songwriter, Pop/hip-hop duo P.M. Dawn , Virginia Beach
- Missy Elliott – hip-hop and R&B singer "The Queen of Rap", Portsmouth
- Lee Major – Music Producer/Songwriter, Petersburg
- Nickelus F – rapper, Richmond
- Lex Luger– producer, Suffolk
- Nottz – producer and rapper, Norfolk
- Big Pooh – rapper (Little Brother), Dumfries
- Happy" in 2014.
- Eric Stanley – violinist and composer, Chesapeake
- Solciety – producer/artist group
- Pharrell and Chad Hugo) – hip hop, R&B and pop producer/artist duo
- Pharrell, Chad Hugo, and Shay Haley) – rock, funk, and hip hop band
- Trey Songz – R&B singer, Petersburg. Had 2 No. 1 Billboard 200 albums in 2012 and 2014.
- Timbaland – rapper and producer, Norfolk. Had two No. 1 Hot 100 hits, like "Give It to Me" in 2007.
- Pusha T – rapper and songwriter, Virginia Beach
- Lady Of Rage– rapper, Farmville
- Bink!- record producer/songwriter, Norfolk
Other
- Pearl Bailey – Broadway singer, Newport News
- Gary "U.S." Bonds– singer and songwriter, Norfolk
- Ann Marie Calhoun – violinist, Gordonsville
- Bill Deal and the Rhondels are from Virginia Beach
- Bruce Hornsby – singer, pianist and songwriter, Williamsburg. Had a No. 1 Hot 100 hit with "The Way It Is" in 1986. He went to the University of Richmond.
- Toby Mac – of DC Talk, Christian hip hop, rap, rock, Fairfax. Had a No. 1 Billboard 200 album in 2012.
- Washington DC.
- Undine Smith Moore – composer, Jarratt
- Wayne Newton – a.k.a. "Mr. Las Vegas"; singer and songwriter, Roanoke
- Ketch Secor and Critter Fuqua of Old Crow Medicine Show, Harrisonburg
- Robbin Thompson – Richmond
- Keller Williams – one-man jam band from Fredericksburg
- Hilary Hahn – Grammy Award-winning classical violin soloist, Lexington
Music venues and institutions
For larger concerts and events, Virginia has the Ferguson Center for the Arts (Christopher Newport University) in Newport News, Va,
Virginia's other prominent music venues include
Richmond's 929 West Grace Street has housed a punk and rock-oriented club nearly uninterrupted for nearly three decades. Most famously known as Twisters throughout the 1990s, more recently the building has been known as Club 929, The Nanci Raygun, and Bagel Czar before re-opening in 2009 as Strange Matter. Like its predecessors, Strange Matter hosts up-and-coming local and national touring acts nearly every night. Alley Katz in Richmond continues to have regular shows. Toad's Place accommodated midsized bands in 2007 and 2008 but closed shortly after that time. Another midsized venue is The National, which holds around 1,500 people.
The Hampton Roads area also has several more intimate venues. The most prominent of them is the
The Shenandoah Valley hosts a few smaller venues. The mockingbird in downtown Staunton hosted a 168-seat newly renovated grass roots and acoustic music hall, but closed early in 2013.[7] Clementine café in downtown Harrisonburg has cemented itself as the premier venue in the valley.[citation needed]
In the late 1960s and the 1970s, the Alexandria Roller Rink hosted many festival style concerts, among which, bands like Yes, Jethro Tull, and many others appeared.
The Virginia Musical Museum & Virginia Music Hall of Fame in Williamsburg, VA. opened in 2013. The museum and hall of fame displays instruments, memorabilia, pictures and history of Virginia music artists. New Virginia artists are inducted into the Virginia Music Hall of Fame each year.
Music festivals
FloydFest is a popular music festival which is not actually within Floyd County but in the county just next to Floyd called Patrick County. This is a bit of FloydFest trivia that mostly the locals know about. The festival began in 2002 and features camping and a wide range of music from bluegrass, rock, reggae, folk, zydeco, African, and Appalachian.
In 2005, 2006, and 2007,
The Virginia Blues & Jazz Festival was started in 2006 at Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs. It is held each June and has featured national acts like Taj Mahal, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Eric Lindell.
The MACRoCk festival happens the beginning of April every year in Harrisonburg VA. It has featured national acts like MewithoutYou, Q and Not U, Fugazi, The Faint, Archers of Loaf, Dismemberment Plan, Sufjan Stevens, Prefuse 73, Mates of State, The Wrens, Converge, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Of Montreal, Norma Jean, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Superchunk, Elliott Smith, An Albatross, Coheed and Cambria, Avail, and Engine Down.
The Blue Ridge Rock Festival, a Hard Rock/Heavy Metal music festival has been held in Virginia since 2017. It has been held each year except for 2020 due to COVID-19. The festival was held at DeVault Vineyards in Concord, VA in 2017 and 2018, at Oak Ridge in Arrington, VA in 2019, at White Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Blairs, VA in 2021, at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, VA in 2022 and was held at VIR again in 2023, however, the festival was cancelled after just two days in 2023 due to various reasons.
Blue Ridge mountain music
Though the Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention is a major focal point for the Blue Ridge's vibrant folk music scene, the region is home to a major music festival season, which is inaugurated by the late March Fairview Ruritan Club Fiddlers' Convention, which hosts a major regional competition in several categories.
Farther southwest, The Carter Family Fold, in the Carter Family hometown of Hiltons, hosts an annual folk music festival as well as weekly concerts. Johnny Cash often visited the Hiltons area and The Fold with his wife, June Carter Cash. In fact, Johnny Cash's last public performance was at The Fold in the summer of 2003. The area around the Virginia and Kentucky border, folk, country and bluegrass remains a vital regional tradition. Norton is home to the Virginia Kentucky Opry and a historic music venue called the Country Cabin, while local festivals include the Doc Boggs Festival (in Wise), and the Ralph Stanley's Annual Memorial Weekend Bluegrass Festival.[1]
Country music
Virginia's contributions to country music include the legendary singer Patsy Cline, pioneering performers
The Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion is held every September on State Street in Downtown Bristol and celebrates the city's contribution to country music. It has grown to become one of the more popular music festivals in Virginia and the Appalachia region, as close to 50,000 people attended the festival in 2012.
Hardcore punk and heavy metal
The city of Richmond has long had one of the more active
Richmond punk is often mistakenly considered to be an offshoot of the D.C. scene, however Richmond punk bands have developed a unique sound, often influenced by country, folk, and southern rock (particularly prevalent in Avail, Sixer, and Ann Beretta, and to a lesser degree in Strike Anywhere). This is most likely due to the fact that Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy during most of the Civil War, is arguably the oldest and most lively punk scene in the South. Richmond punk has a close relationship with punk from Gainesville, Florida, particularly between Avail and the now-disbanded Hot Water Music. Other hardcore bands from Richmond included Unseen Force, God's Will, Graven Image, and Honor Role.[12]
Richmond also has an active metal scene that includes, in addition to GWAR, Lamb of God, Alabama Thunderpussy, Municipal Waste. The metal scene is closely related the city's punk rockers, and, like the punks, there is a Southern influence in the music of Lamb of God and particularly in Alabama Thunderpussy. Richmond still harbors an extremely strong hardcore scene, emerging from the shadows of the mid-1980s Four Walls Falling, Fed Up, Set Straight, Step Above, Count Me Out and Dead Serious. More recently a resurgence of old school hardcore punk has risen from Richmond with such bands as Direct Control, Government Warning, Wasted Time, etc. Richmond also has a small post-hardcore scene with bands such as Remaniscense, Wow, Owls! and Ultra Dolphins.
Prompted by a 1983 article printed in Maximum Rocknroll which criticized the Virginia Beach-Norfolk metro area, formerly referred to as "Tidewater," as devoid of punk bands relative to Richmond, Jeff Clites, creator of the Tidewater-based 'zine, The Tidewater A.R.S.E., responded:[13]
What's this shit about us only having half a band? In case you didn't know, there are many: (in alphabetical order)
1. Aggressive Behavior
2. ANSCHLUSS
3. Bottom Line
4. Dead Meat
5. Death Row
6. God's Will
7. HOIT
8. Jerry's Kids
9. Judicial Fear
10. KJB
11. Scat Ritual
12. Skater's Faith
13. Urban Discord
See also
The Virginia Musical Museum & Virginia Music Hall of Fame opened in 2013. Patsy Cline, Wayne Newton, Ella Fitzgerald, The Carter Family, Roy Clark, Bruce Hornsby, Pearl Baily and Ralph Stanley were the founding inductees.
Notes
- ^ a b c Byron, pgs. 310 – 321
- ^ "The Golden Gate Quartet – Inductees – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation". www.vocalgroup.org. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ^ "The world's Top 10 hip-hop producers". CanWest News Service. September 19, 2006. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
- ^ "Charities". Dave Matthews Band. November 15, 2007. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – October 26, 2015". RIAA. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/music/illiterate-light-and-its-very-specific-sound-as-a-band-massive/2020/01/17/b6e1deba-3872-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html
- ^ "Popular Downtown Restaurant to Close on Sunday". Whsv.com. January 2, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ^ Fussell, pgs. 59 – 62
- ^ Fussell
- ^ "Flyer: Minor Threat / White Cross / Graven Image / Bonesaw / Death Piggy." Benny's, 11 March 1983.
- ^ "Venue notes: Benny's, Richmond VA". thirdav.com. 2006. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ Blush
- ^ Clites, Jeff (1983). "INSIDE NOTES (7-31-83)". The Tidewater ARSE (2). Portsmouth, VA: Wild Mess Press – via archive.org.
How can you write about the Tidewater scene after only one show in Richmond?
References
- ISBN 9780922915712.
- Byron, Janet (1996). Country Music Lover's Guide to the U.S.A. (1st ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-14300-1.
- Fussell, Fred C. (2003). Blue Ridge Music Trails: Finding a Place in the Circle. North Carolina Folklife Institute. ISBN 0-8078-5459-X.