Music
On Saturday, dozens turned out at Richmond’s EcoVillage Farm to celebrate Earth Day. Shyaam M. Shabaka, the farm’s founder and executive director, gave a guided tour of the estate and offered tips on growing food in an urban environment.
The baseball field at Kennedy High School was abuzz with activity Saturday. But the sounds weren’t the cracks of bats or the smacks of leather. They were laughs, and rhythmic staccatos of some of the city’s finest hip hop voices. More than 70 people, mostly local rap artists, gathered at the baseball field for an afternoon photo shoot organized by Lil Ric, a Richmond-bred rap artist who has been a prominent hip-hop luminary since the mid-1990s. Rappers and friends chatted…
Editor’s Note: This is guest column provided by George Livingston Jr., a celebrity photographer and documentarian of history, culture and music in Richmond. I met Darrell Wayne Loud Sr. about five years ago, when we attended a couple of Temptation & Stone Soul picnic shows. After that, we would talk on the phone about the joy of entertainment, life and, of course, the Temptations. Darrell would travel to watch the Temptations, his all-time favorite group, and one of the most…
The song opens with the ominous, resonating notes of a piano and the gentle strokes of a harp. A deep bass voice croons, “Smell of chemicals hangs in the air above the Iron Triangle. Some things never change, and I’ve been here 70 years now.”
It was a Friday night in Richmond, and more than 50 teenagers from Kennedy High School and Richmond High School got ready to square off against each other. But instead of fighting, students from their respective schools put their dance moves to the test at the RYSE Center’s launch of their “First Friday” event series. “Who’s ready to party tonight?” yelled host Gemikia Henderson into the microphone to applause by the screaming crowd and the sound of record scratching by…
W. Allen Taylor has brought his search for his father back to the front stage in Richmond. Taylor, the son of “Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins,”one of the first black disc jockeys in the country, takes his audience on his quest to find out more about his father.
Editor’s Note: The following is a guest column on Richmond social history by George Livingston Jr., a decorated celebrity photographer and the son of longtime political leader George Livingston, who was the first African American elected Richmond mayor. For more of Livingston’s work, visit Livingston Entertainment. _____________ Last summer I talked to Mrs. Deanna Brown Thomas, daughter of music legend James Brown. We spoke of a Grammy Museum exhibit that would be on display in Los Angeles. We talked about…
Meet The 21st Century, an eight-piece indie pop band, who released their first album “The City” earlier this month at The Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. A fan-funded endeavor several years and $11,000 in the making, the album features catchy harmonies relating the challenges of youth, adulthood, dating and everyday hardship. Their sound is best described by their lead singer, Bevan Herbekian. “We sound like the love child of Bruce Springsteen and Brian Wilson, who then befriends Belle &…
This Oakland singer/songwriter wants to work for you, so to speak. She’s also the focus of our latest Bandwidth, our continuing video series highlighting talented musicians in the East Bay. We bring you Alexa Weber-Morales as she debuts her latest album “I Wanna Work For You,” a fan-funded endeavor consisting of 10 original songs which range from jazz to salsa and across multiple languages. To learn more at Alexa, click here. You can check out past issues of our new…