Scene Recap: Deau Eyes, Colleen Trempe, Newlin Music Prize
Countless great outlets, organizations, and individuals cover the music scene in Richmond, so many that it might be hard to keep up to date on all of them. We’ll try and collect some great articles, coverage, and news bits we’ve read each week here at The Auricular.
• Deau Eyes has won the 2023 Newlin Music Prize for her album Legacies! By winning this award, she takes home a $1,000 cash prize and a spiffy trophy. Here’s a video of her seeing it for the first time, and here are some photos of her soaking it all in. It’s a huge win and a testament to her music’s place in the local scene. We’ve got way more thoughts on Legacies at the bottom of this column, but for now: congratulations to Deau Eyes!
• We’re wrapping up Newlin coverage with this column until some fundraisers and shows later this year, but I wanted to call out the other 19 records one more time. Yes, there was only one winner, but this award’s goal is to really celebrate all of these amazing records and help reach as many ears as possible. I promise you will not go wrong clicking on any of the records below. Each is fascinating in a unique way and shows the incredible depth of Richmond’s music scene. Kudos to these amazing musicians for putting such excellent records last year. I honestly cannot wait to see what they create next.
Butcher Brown – Butcher Brown Presents Triple Trey Featuring Tennishu And R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND
Cassidy Snider And The Wranglers – A Good Heartbreak
Drook – Life In Estates
Dumb Waiter – Gauche Gists
Erin & The Wildfire – Touchy Feely
Justin Golden – Hard Times And A Woman
Mackenzie Roark – Rollin’ High, Feelin’ Low
Monday Night & Heather Grey – Soon You’ll Understand
Ms. Jaylin Brown – Take It Easy
No BS! Brass – Undying
Piranha Rama – Omniscient Cloud Cover
Radio B – Stop Looking For Noise
Spooky Cool – Existential Pie
Strawberry Moon – Habitual Creatures
Timothy Bailey And The Humans – Timothy Bailey And The Humans
T V L P A – Walk With Me
Ty Sorrell – HomeGrown
Tyler Meacham – Into The Fray
• Last bit of Newlin stuff: thanks to Reese Williams for having me on This Room Sounds Great to discuss the award. If you want to know more about the award’s process or history, check it out. Or check it out if you want to hear me talk about Quad City DJs and the Space Jam soundtrack. (IT STILL HOLDS UP!) (Podcast link here.)
• You may have heard the sad news that Colleen Trempe from Audacity Brass Band passed away recently from a battle with cancer. There is a GoFundMe up right now to help her partner Nick with the funeral and treatment expenses. Please check out this link and donate anything you can. Colleen had incredible talent and the glowing things people have said about her over the past year just show how truly special she was. (Fundraiser link here.)
• New zine alert! Music Is For Nerds is coming soon and we can’t wait. GFY and Riot Ghoul have also started fairly recently, which points to a growing print scene here in town. I am all for it. As someone who desperately wanted to release this publication in print form, I admire the ambition and appreciate all the hard work these people put into their zines. You should all check them out and tell 10-20 of your closest friends.
• Davy Jones over at Style Weekly profiled the Chilton House which has been putting on house shows in Forest Hill since 2017. Check it out and maybe head over there on April 2nd to see Jason Narducy. (Article link here.)
• Davy Jones had another recent Style Weekly article on Yeni Nostalji’s work in fundraising for the earthquake relief efforts in Turkey. The show was last week, but I would still check out the article and maybe look into donating if you can. That relief effort is going to go on for a long time, unfortunately. (Article link here.)
• Andrew Bonieskie had a great article at RVA Magazine looking at Tim & Neko, former members of People’s Blues Of Richmond who just put out their debut single “Under-Achieved & Overdosed.” Great insight into the journey these two musicians have gone on the last few years. Highly recommend this article as well as their new single. (Article link here.)
• Andrew Bonieskie had another story over at RVA Magazine recently profiling Charlottesville band Kendall Street Company. We cover Richmond music here — obviously — but these guys are in town as much as possible and are always putting on great shows. Check this article out. (Article link here.)
• Dylan Lawson’s Sound Condition blog had an in-depth look at the new single “Claire Hale” from Richmond band Followship. Dylan’s got an excellent perspective for local music, and the Followship folks have really knocked one out of the parks with “Claire Hale.” (Article link here.)
• There wasn’t a Shockoe Sessions Live this past Tuesday due to a last-minute injury, but that’s okay because we haven’t talked about the Ant The Symbol episode. Holy crap. So much talent rotated in and out of the stage: Michael Millions, Erin Lunsford, Eliturite, Sam Reed, Chance Fisher, Céilí Galante, Johnny Ciggs, and the 2023 Newlin Music Prize winner Deau Eyes. There was a photo going around social media that shows just how much talent was on-hand for that night. Unreal. Just an incredible night of music. Check it out if you haven’t already. And you can also check out the “Best Of” episode Shockoe Sessions put out this past Tuesday (featuring a fantastic Hotspit song). This coming Tuesday is Merciful Zero, and I’ll definitely be tuning in for that one. (YouTube link here.)
• Pivoting from Shockoe Sessions to Shockoe Records. Congrats to the label’s newest signings: Ant The Symbol and Ms. Jaylin Brown! Two incredible artists right there.
• River City Sounds has had three great episodes lately with White Beast, TCYC, and the Matthew K. Davis band. I listened to all three back-to-back-to-back over a three-hour period while doing some tedious work so believe me when I say that River City Sounds is even better when you binge it. But if you can’t dedicate all that time at once, you should still make time for an episode from this great crew each week. (Spotify link here.)
• The latest episodes of Tay’s Green Life featured Michigan band Heartsick and local band Vilified. Much love to Heartsick, but you know which episode we’re going to point you to. Check out the talk with John and Scott from Vilified. They just released an explosive three-song EP called Dreaming We’re Sleeping this past January. Shout-out to “Wilted Rose!” And shout-out to Tay for featuring them. (YouTube link here.)
• Lot of great upcoming shows at the end of March. The stupendous Marilyn Drew Necci had her weekly RVA Must See Shows column this past Wednesday, which points you to several key shows coming up. (Article link here.) For a broader overview this weekend, make sure you’re touching base with the dynamic duo at RestlessRVA. Either way, find some live music here in town! (Instagram link here.)
• As always, we close this column out with some local music. Of course we’re going to go with Deau Eyes again! I’ve been talking about Legacies for the past month along with the other Newlin nominees, so you might think I’ve run out of things to say. Nope! This record is exceptional. Intricate and dense production. Swirling melodies. Insightful lyrics. There are true heavyweight songs here like “Moscow In The Spring” and “Make Some Time,” but you can’t go wrong with any song here. “(Let’s Call It) Safer Love” is a ’90s R&B track reimagined as an alt-rock swing. “Another One Comes Around” is a spirited country rock dash that just flaunts how talented Deau Eyes as a vocalist and lyricist. Even the intro (“Someday I”) and interlude (“Like The Legends All Have Spoken Of”) are brilliant, making the record feel like a hazy vision of past and future life. As I said, this record is exceptional. If you haven’t listened by now, click on the playlist below. If you have heard it already, click on the playlist again. Trust me — it just gets better and better with repeat listens. Congratulations once more to Deau Eyes.
