Scene Recap: Lance Koehler, anyfolk, Noah-O

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.

• Local hip-hop artist and community leader Noah-O is currently running a GoFundMe campaign to cover legal fees for his ongoing court case with the Cleveland Guardians baseball team. At the heart of the dispute is a stylized “C” logo that Noah-O has used for his business and brand, Charged Up, at least five years before the Guardians’ rebranding. I’ll keep my personal opinions to myself, lest they be fodder for a court case, but I strongly encourage everyone reading to contribute to this cause. (GoFundMe link here.)

• There’s been an ownership change over at Another Round Bar & Grill and a slight rebrand. The resturant itself will now be known as Mell J’s. Live music will continue for the foreseeable future, stylized as “Another Round Venue at Mell J’s.”

• A new music and arts showcase is launching in 2025 that you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on. It’s called anyfolk, and it’s led by Auricular favorite Tyler Meacham. According to its Instagram description, “anyfolk is a free event featuring 6 songwriters, 3 songs each, local artisan makers, and a quiet listening-room audience. it’s a regular safe space to gather, listen, create, and be part of something good. The goal is to bring together any kind of folk for any folk to hear – no matter who you are, you’re welcome. Just show up, grab a meal or drink, hang with friends or make new ones, check out some local art, and take in a few beautiful songs & stories.” Meacham, who also founded Offset RVA—an initiative that launched just before COVID and was sidelined by pandemic restrictions—brings thoughtful intent to really everything she does, so this should be something special. I’m really curious and excited to see how it evolves next year, and you should be too. Be sure to check it out! (Linktree here.)

• Dylan Lawson featured Richmond band Possum Den as the Weekly Featured Artist over at Everything Is Noise. I’ve really been enjoying their latest single, “Mr. Giggles,” and Dylan’s description of it captures perfectly what I was thinking: “a comfy descent into madness, with plenty of reverb to embellish it.” Read it for yourself and give the band a listen! (Article link here.)

• Griffin Smalley’s “Sound Check” column this week over at RVA Magazine covered new music from Erin & The Wildfire and The J.O.B. Check it out yourself and then give both songs a listen. (Article link here.)

• In related news, the original author of “Sound Check,” Andrew Bonieskie, has just released a solo album under the name Lawrence Bones. This album completely blew me away, and I really hope it finds an audience right now, as it offers a much-needed sense of comfort during a time when we all truly need it. Bones moved to New York from Richmond earlier this year and we will always be rooting for him in whatever he does. (Album link here.)

• Bones also performs as part of Pebbles Palace, featuring members of the Hourglass team. They just released a new single entitled “Morning Star” today and you should definitely check that out too! (Single link here.)

• Don Harrison interviewed Jim Lauderdale for Style Weekly before the acclaimed songwriter was set to perform at The Camel. (The show has been postponed.) What I really appreciated about this Q&A was how loose it was, with a question of impressions coming up and the whole thing ending on a joke. Give it a read! (Article link here.)

• Andrew Cothern’s newsletter made a return this week. If you are reading this and aren’t subscribing, then you are definitely doing Richmond wrong. And another reminder to grab the deluxe edition of his book when it drops on Monday! (Substack link here.)

• Just a quick reminder that Sravani Kameswari is performing at Plan 9 this Wednesday, November 20th, as part of an Auricular showcase. It’s a free and early show—7 PM to 7:30 PM, so it’s perfect whether you want to kick off your evening or wrap it up. I reviewed her latest single, “laundry pile,” back in October, and I highly recommend giving it a listen beforehand so you can sing along with the crowd. The night promises to be full of surprises, including the debut of a new membranophone that was recently added to Kameswari’s repertoire. Hope to see you there!

• This week, I’ve posted a batch of new articles, mostly catching up after a few months spent on projects outside of regular writing. I covered V.E.’s latest video and single, “Four Five Girls,” which is essential viewing for anyone interested in witnessing the unraveling of incel culture. I also reviewed Tentative Decision’s excellent post-punk track “Stable,” which perfectly captures the apathy and tension of modern life. On a lighter note, I reviewed Jr’s uplifting song “Walkabout,” which has easily been my most-played Richmond track this week, bringing an infectious sense of joy and optimism. I also had the pleasure of reviewing “Orion’s Call” by Belly Of The Heart & Alfred., a track that resonated with me as both a professional music nerd and an amateur space enthusiast. Today, I posted two reviews—one covering MISC.’s latest single, “Rose,” which explores modern masculinity with brilliant nuance, and the other about Beya’s “Runaway,” and the way we need to rethink how we talk about addiction and toxic relationships. I hope you check them out, but more importantly, I hope you listen to these tracks—each one is worth discovering.

• In addition to all the local coverage, I also had the chance to interview singer-songwriter and climate activist Vienna Teng before her performance at The Tin Pan on Thursday. I’ve been a huge fan of hers for years—”Flyweight Love” is a weekly listen for me, and I find myself thinking about “Hymn Of Acxiom” almost daily. She’s got a new ambitious EP out, which she discussed in depth during our conversation. But beyond the music, I think you’ll really appreciate her post-election reflections, which I found both inspiring and deeply thought-provoking. Worth a read. (Article link here.)

• Charlie Glenn killed it on this week’s Shockoe Sessions Live!, as if there was any doubt. If you haven’t heard his new album, Get Reflected, yet, then you really need to up your game. Why follow Richmond music if you aren’t going to listen to the best of it? Up next for Shockoe Sessions, the immersive sounds of Sweet Touch. We’ll have a bit more to say on Sweet Touch next week so stay tuned, but if you want to see a truly unique live act with a sound that’s rarely heard in town, then definitely make plans to be at In Your Ear studios on Tuesday or in front of that YouTube livestream starting at 7:30. (YouTube link here.)

• For those who don’t know, we have a Patreon! The only tier is $1 a month, as it’s mostly symbolic, but I do occasionally share behind-the-scenes content or offer some freebies. This past week, I uploaded videos from a listening party I attended with Prabir Trio in September, where we discussed their latest album, Long After The Empire. Big thanks to Todd Raviotta for filming and to Prabir for enduring my awkward Q&A. If you’ve got some time and an interest in a great rock album and life in India, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s available exclusively for patrons, so join today! (Patreon link here.)

• I feel a little awkward plugging my own Patreon, so let me plug a few others from Richmond. Deau Eyes, Marilyn Drew Necci, Palmyra, Deore, and Tyler Meacham all have Patreons, and I highly recommend signing up to support their work and get a glimpse behind the scenes of their creative processes. I’m a proud patron of all of them, and I give them each my enthusiastic stamp of approval! There’s also one for The Hustle Season podcast, which gets you episodes early and video of all episodes. Local labels Shockoe Records & Grimalkin Records have Patreons as well if you want to support places supporting local musicians! Join them all! Oh, and if there are any other Richmond musicians with Patreons, let me know, and I’ll gladly add them to the list (and probably sign up myself).

• Marilyn Drew’s column this week spotlighted the Minimum Wage Recordings benefit show at The Broadberry (article link here), and Davy Jones from Style Weekly wrote this fantastic article on Lance Koheler (article link here), but I wanted to add a bit more about Lance’s contributions to Richmond. In May 2023, I started the “On This Day In Richmond Music” history feature, mostly as a fun way to remind people of Richmond records I still love from a few years ago. (If you don’t like this feature, blame Gumming–their record gave me the idea!) It’s since evolved into something I spend the most time on, building list after list, hunting down release dates, and making sure the albums are still available online. Every day, I look at 20-30 records, narrowing them down to 10 I think are the most notable (15 if the Instagram Gods are kind). It’s a lot of work, and I often feel like I’m losing my mind. But it’s been very rewarding. More so than I could ever imagined.

In all the searching I do, I come across two things frequently. One is Marilyn Drew, who’s forgotten more about Richmond music than I’ll ever know and has written more about it than I could ever hope to. Anytime I hit a blank on a specific band from 15 years ago, I can just Google it and, somehow, she pops up–either in an article or in the comments on a random blog. You can see for yourself with this exchange from last weekend. The other thing I come across almost daily is Minimum Wage Recordings. If I cover 3,650 records in a year for the “On This Day…” posts, I guarantee at least a quarter of those were recorded at Minimum Wage. And I think that’s a conservative estimate. It’s almost a daily occurrence that I come across a record I vaguely know, put it on, get blown away by the quality, and then check the credits, only to find Minimum Wage Recordings welcoming me to the party. When I’m strapped for time some days, I’ll even go through the day’s records and see which ones were recorded there, just to save myself some time. The odds are high that those are the ones I’ll pick anyway. Lance’s impact on this city is incalculable. He might be the single most important figure in Richmond when it comes to recorded music over the last 20 years, if not longer. The sheer number of bands that have recorded there is astounding. A perfect example: two weeks ago, I closed this column by talking about the wonders of “Exordium” by Rebekkah Rafferty And The Rakes. Guess who’s listed in the credits? Minimum Wage. I could go on and on about Minimum Wage–and I’ve never even stepped foot inside–but the amount of music that has come out of there gives me enough material to write about for the rest of my life. And that would be time well spent.

In that spirit, why don’t we close out this column with a track from Lance himself, recorded, mixed, and everything else over at Minimum Wage. “Datura Summer” is from 2021 and has a lot of familiar playing on it and it really captures the expansive spirit Lance has brought to Richmond for so long. Give it a spin and make your plans now to go to The Broadberry on Saturday.