News Wave Waves of News
By Andrew Cothern
Newswave @ New Delhi
With the international crisis regarding COVID-19, also referred to as Coronavirus, live music venues have had to cancel or postpone many concerts for people to increase social distancing.
Although venues are closed, many music venues, festivals and local Virginia musicians are offering virtual options for visitors to listen and enjoy live music.
Explore some unique Virginia locations paired with local artists in the Virginia is for Lovers / Overcoast Sessions. The video series includes Dharma Bombs at the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Inter Arma at the Byrd Park Pumphouse in Richmond, Mighty Joshua in the NEON District in Norfolk and Sherman Holmes at the Marshall Drug Store in Urbanna.
The Floyd Country Store has become a traditional gathering place on Friday nights for musicians, dancers and visitors from all over the world. The Friday Night Jamboree is an outstanding and authentic experience shared by old-timers and new visitors alike. During this time, the Floyd Country Store will be live streaming on Facebook at 6:30 p.m. every Friday night with a link to tip the band and venue.
FloydFest will be hosting the “Virtual Road to FloydFest” series on the FloydFest and FloydFest Family Facebook pages with artists that have been such a huge part of FloydFest through the years. Performances include sets from Travers Brothership, 49 Winchester, Ashley Heath and Her Heathens and more. Every show will have options to donate directly to the musicians and every donor is automatically entered to win a 5-Day GA ticket to FloydFest 2020 – Vision Quest.
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion is taking this time to highlight some of the artists coming to the music festival this fall and has launched the Bristol Rhythm Quarantine Sessions, and over the coming weeks, will feature artists from the 2020 lineup in sessions straight from their living rooms.
Dr. Pepper Park at the Bridges is partnering with Blue Ridge PBS to put together eight audience-free live concerts to benefit downtown Roanoke businesses and their employees. Each concert will premiere on Blue Ridge PBS’ streaming YouTube channel in the middle of the week. The concert will replay nightly at 7 p.m. until the next premiere. All concerts will be free, but viewers are encouraged to donate to the fundraiser.
The Border Bash concert series, usually held on State Street in Historic Downtown Bristol, moves its venue to online with Facebook live streaming concerts every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the month of April with options to donate directly to the musicians performing at every show.
*Virtual Happy Hours Show*
Richmond Grid is hosting a Virtual Happy Hour House Show series on its Facebook and Instagram accounts with some of Richmond’s favorite local artists including Saw Black, Prabir, Marcus Tenney of Butcher Brown, Kenneka Cook, Eddie Prendergast of Mikrowaves, Regan Sprenkle, Paulo Franco, Høly River and more.
Central Virginia independent radio station WNRN is connecting listeners to Virginia musicians in a very personal way with its Home Studio Sessions. Artists will play live from home and talk about what they’re doing to stay happy, healthy, and inspired while they are off the road. The station is asking Virginia musicians to post their live streams to Facebook, tag WNRN and use the hashtag #homestudiosessions WNRN.
The Front Porch, a Charlottesville music venue and music school, is launching a live streamed concert series that will take place Tuesdays and Fridays in April. The Front Porch will be live-streaming the concerts on their Facebook and Instagram accounts. WTJU (91.1 FM) will also be broadcasting the performances at wtju.net/fplive. All proceeds raised during each of the concerts benefit the artists and The Front Porch. The schedule can be found at frontporchcville.org/save-the-music.
Local band Kendall Street Company will be streaming performances live from The Looking Glass at IX Art Park in Charlottesville through a series called “Containment Entertainment.”
The Heifetz Institute in Staunton was scheduled to present a 12-hour concert marking J.S. Bach’s birthday on March 21. With the cancellation of the event, the Institute instead presented a virtual 12-hour marathon, with Bach performances posted every hour on the hour from sunup to sundown, featuring superb string soloists, renowned organists, pianists, choirs, and brilliant ensembles consisting of Heifetz students, faculty, and special guests.
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Parkway Brewing Company in Salem is hosting weekly live streaming concerts on its Facebook page. Artists include Jared Stout, Mark Nicholson & the Social Distance and more to be announced.
Local Stafford artist Ian Logan has created a live stream music festival called the Starving Artist Festival. Artists will be streaming all day on the site’s “main stage” from around the world and it will also provide the opportunity for people to donate to Feeding America.
