Scene Recap: Folk Festival, Bandcamp, More Folk Festival

Published October 7, 2022

There’s a ton of great outlets, organizations, and individuals covering 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.

• Lots of Folk Festival stuff below, but first, have to mention that it’s Bandcamp Friday! First Friday of every month, Bandcamp is waving their revenue share so that musicians can get just a little extra to help them continue making vital art. We compiled a giant list that contains links to over 1,000 Richmond musicians. Lot of time. Lot of effort. Lot of Excel crashing. But it’s worth it! If you’re looking to spend some money this Bandcamp Friday, I highly suggest you check out this randomized list and pick something local to support! (Article link here.)

• Okay, Folk Festival time! The three day event kicks off tonight starting at 6:30 with Cedric Burnside on the Altria Stage. Tons of great acts to catch so make sure to take a look at the schedule and find some great live music this weekend. This is definitely the one annual event you don’t want to miss out on! (Richmond Folk Festival schedule link.)

• Speaking of Cedric Burnside, the blues musician was the focus of two wonderful article this week: first by Davy Jones at Richmond Magazine (article link here) and then by Peter McElhinney at Style Weekly (article link here). Plenty more from Style Weekly, Davy, and Peter below so strap in.

• Davy Jones spoke to Jesse Daniel about the Bakersfield Sound for Style Weekly. He’s one of the highlights of Friday’s line-up for sure. (Article link here.)

• Davy Jones also spoke to accordionist Felipe Hostins for Style Weekly. (Article link here.)

• Don Harrison spoke with Virginia’s new head folklorist Katy Clune for Style Weekly. (Article link here.)

• Don Harrison then spoke with Blaine Waide, one of the masterminds behind the festival’s schedule, for Style Weekly. That article title will excite fans of local band The Tide Rose. (Article link here.)

• Back to Peter McElhinney — he gave some much-needed tips on how to tackle the hectic musical weekend for Style Weekly. (Article link here.)

• Back to Davy Jones — he crushed it for Style Weekly profiling Noura Mint Seymali and the interesting cultural place her music holds in Mauritania. This might be my favorite article from the week. She plays tonight if you’re interested! (Article link here.)

• Peter McElhinney again! He talked with the Grace family for Style Weekly about some interesting guitar gospel music I have to admit I starred on my schedule after reading. (Article link here.)

• And one more from Style Weekly on the Folk Festival. By Peter McElhinney of course. He took a look at South African group Black Umfolosi who is playing tonight at 7:30. (Article link here.)

• If you’re keeping count, that’s 9 articles from Style Weekly on the Folk Festival. Awesome job covering all aspects of this eclectic showcase. Oh, and your scorecards for McElhinney vs. Jones will be wrapped up in the next tidbit.

• Before all the Folk Festival coverage popped off, Davy Jones spoke with Avery Fogarty from Hotspit for Style Weekly about the new great song “Cave Dweller.” We loved it so much we premiered it a few weeks ago and you should definitely check out Avery’s thoughts on the dense, stunning track. (Article link here.)

• The great article match-up between Davy Jones and Peter McElhinney ends in a 5-4 victory for Jones. The real winner was all of us getting a lot of great stuff to read this week. How in the hell did they find all this time anyway? Can they give me some extra hours in the day please?

• Folk Festival isn’t the only live music going on this weekend, though we obviously highly recommend it. As always, the cool kids at RestlessRVA have a great “tasting” menu of all the shows available over the next couple of days on their Instagram page so check it out. (Instagram link here.) And for a deeper dive, make sure to check out the spectacular Marilyn Drew Necci’s weekly show column at RVA Magazine. And before you ask — yes, we do just cycle through hyperbolic adjectives for Marilyn Drew every week. Trust us — she deserves it all and more! (Article link here.)

• The Mighty Good Times killed it on Shockoe Sessions this past week. If you don’t have time for the whole set, make sure you at least catch their rendition of “Rage.” Next up at In Your Ear? No Moniker! (YouTube link here.)

• Lot of great music came out last week so make sure to check out our Roundup column covering it all. (Article link here.) For stuff from this week, we’ll be back in a few days with a look at that, but the dynamic duo behind HearRVA have you covered with a curated list this morning of the stand-out releases this week so check it out. (Instagram link here.)

• That about does it for this week’s scene recap. We’ll close with a local song and of course we’re going to go with a local performer you can catch at the Folk Festival this weekend: Kenneka Cook! This is the opening track to her amazing 2018 record Moonchild. Enjoy “My Universe” below and hope you’ll catch it live this weekend when she performs on the Family Stage at 3 PM on Sunday!