JAMinc presents Page’s Kitchen … The Swamp Sessions

Classic performances and interviews with more than 40 renowned Americana musical artists for the late Page Wilson’s “Out O’ The Blue Radio Revue” will be aired in coming weeks on the new online radio station The Breeze.

JAMinc presents Page’s Kitchen … The Swamp Sessions will debut on The Breeze at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, with the Good Humor Band.

Here is the lineup:

  • March 4th – Good Humor Band
  • March 11th – Maura O’Connell
  • March 18th – Kevin Welch
  • March 25th – Laurie Lewis & Grant Street
  • April 1st – Robbin Thompson Band
  • April 8th – Sun Rhythm Section
  • April 15th – Larry Raspberry
  • April 22nd – Hugh & Katy Moffatt

Read more in the RTD »

Canada’s dynamic roots band The Slocan Ramblers

Wednesday, December 7th in Hardywood’s Barrel Room
Tickets $20 at the door (plenty of seats still available)
6:00 pm doors open; Two sets, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm 

JAMinc presents 2020 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year The Slocan Ramblers!

Rooted in tradition, fearlessly creative and possessing a bold, dynamic sound, The Slocans have become a leading light of today’s acoustic music scene. With a reputation for energetic live shows, impeccable musicianship and an uncanny ability to convert anyone within earshot into a lifelong fan, The Slocans have been winning over audiences from Merlefest to RockyGrass and everywhere in between.   

Playing some of their most honest and direct compositions yet, they’ve managed  to stay true to their roots in the rough and tumble bluegrass scene of Toronto’s no-nonsense bars and dancehalls. From Frank Evan’s classic, dusty vocals, to John Hartford-inspired lyrical musings, it’s all buttressed by impeccable musicianship and emotionally raw songwriting from the three core members. This is roots music without pretension, art powerful enough to cut through the fog of the past two years and chart a more hopeful course forward.

Find out more about the band and view some fine videos on their website.

Only a limited number of tickets will be sold. $15 advance; $20 at the door (if available) 

While there will be no pot-luck or BYOB, Hardywood has a large selection of great beers and and other libations as well as delicious pizzas for sale. 

Please note: We want this to be a safe experience for everyone. Holding this show at Hardywood allows for attendees to be seated further apart for social distancing purposes. We will strictly follow whatever guidance from the CDC and Virginia Department of Health exists at the time of the event.

Page’s Kitchen blow out sale!
We’re offering a limited edition, signed print by renowned artist Bill Nelson as well as a t-shirt and poster all at greatly reduced prices the day of the show. These will make great holiday gifts for Page’s fans.  Plan on grabbing a few while at the show!

Don’t miss Bio Ritmo at Hardywood

30 Year Reunion on Sunday, October 23rd

We’ve got a full fall of compelling concerts to make you aware of, starting with the 30 Year Reunion of Bio Ritmo in Hardywood’s Barrel Room on Sunday, October 23rd.

Join this perennial lynchpin of the RVA music scene with special guests Jorge Negron, Hector “Coco” Barez, Gabo Tomasini, Jim Thomson and many more. The band will be celebrating the vinyl release of “Salsa System” from Electric Cowbell Records!

Plus bomba/plena from Kadancia and happiness and hi-jinx from RVA’s beloved juggler/magician Jonathan Austin.  Did I say that the whole afternoon is absolutely FREE?!  And JAMinc will be recording the whole thing for later airing/streaming.

The Bio Ritmo reunion jam runs from 2-6pm at 2410 Ownby Lane … plenty of Hardywood’s well-crafted brews and their outstanding pizza kitchen will be open for business. Partial proceeds will benefit Gallery 5, one of our town’s most enduring and treasured art spaces in Jackson Ward.

Waybacks headed to Tin Pan

See them Wednesday, November 9th

Next up is the annual visit of California’s inimitable and innovative string band, the Waybacks, headed to the Tin Pan on Wednesday, November 9th during their short but sweet east coast tour. 

Their yearly Hillside Album Hour at MerleFest is the stuff of legend and tickets are going fast for this one on the Tin Pan’s website.

JAMinc will also be doing a multi-track recording of that show for later radio/streaming down the road.

Save these December dates

Slocan Ramblers on December 7th, 2022

We’ve got two enticing dates to share in December … the first one’s on the 7th, back in Hardywood’s Barrel Room with the dynamic Canadian roots band, Slocan Ramblers who’ve delighted audiences from MerleFest to Rocky Grass to Graves Mountain. Tickets available in early November on our JAMinc website. Doors will open at 6pm, music 6:30-8:30/two sets.

Learn more about Slocan Ramblers.

Bill Blue tribute on December 18th, 2022

Then to top off this remarkable year, don’t miss the star-studded memorial tribute concert for our dear departed Key West legend Bill Blue, who cut his musical chops right here in River City, featuring a who’s who of Richmond rockers who will reunite in celebration of a golden era, including members of the Good Humor Band and the Nighthawks, the BopCats, the Robbin Thompson Band, Steve Bassett, Skip Castro and lots of likely surprises.  It all cranks up at noon on Sunday, December 18th at the Canal Club in the Bottom benefitting MusiCares.org, so don’t dally in snagging your tickets!

2022 Folk Festival Recap

All of us at JAMinc sincerely hope the new season finds you healthy and hopeful, and ready to get back to some real live music. We also hope you caught some of the over-the-full-moon Richmond Folk Festival.

It was the 18th edition of our city’s signature cultural event and it drew well over 230,000 folks, clearly hungry for the togetherness that only great music can accomplish.

Thanks to the four respected musicians JAMinc was proud to present on Saturday and Sunday on the Family Stage … Josh Bearman (pictured above), Regan Sprenkle, Kyle Davis (pictured below) and Kenneka Cook. They represented us and RVA well.

kyle-davis

In Your Ear radio

Saturdays at 5pm on VPM Music, beginning June 4th

A new season of 8 hour-long In Your Ear radio shows are set to air on VPM Music starting Saturday, June 4th. After a few years of pandemic pause, we’ll dive into a varied lineup that includes the Afro-Zen Allstars album release concert, a night of Telegrass with Sammy Shelor, RVA blues maker Elizabeth Wise, and  Tarheel tunesmith Jonathan Byrd. 

JAMinc presents our In Your Ear Radio shows Saturday afternoons at 5 on VPM Music (93.1 and 107.3FM) and streaming live at https://vpm.org/listen/stream?channel=music 

Up first, a star-studded reunion of Page Wilson’s band Reckless Abandon recorded at Hardywood’s Barrel Room this past September. 

Please join each week us as we relive some remarkable moments of live music recorded right here in RVA!

Here’s the full schedule:

  • June 4th – Page Wilson’s Reckless Abandon Reunion
  • June 11th – Elizabeth Wise Blues Band/Peppino D’Agostino
  • June 18th – The Golden Age
  • June 25th – Shana Tucker
  • July 2nd – Hank, Pattie & The Current/Crocodile River Music
  • July 9th – Jonathan Byrd & His Pickup Cowboys
  • July 16th – Afro Zen Allstars
  • July 23rd – Sammy Shelor and Friends

Afro-Zen Allstars CD Release Party

Rescheduled for March 9, 2022
$15 advance; $20 at the door (if available) 
6:00 pm doors open; 7:00 pm show starts

Presale is over; tickets still available at the door for $20.

With the virus situation improving, we feel it’s now safe to help the Afro-Zen Allstars celebrate the release of their new album. Only a limited number of tickets will be sold – get them early!

Those who’ve already bought tickets will be credited for the rescheduled show or they can request a refund at info@jaminc.org.  

More deserving music from our own backyard!

JAMinc presents the Afro-Zen All-Stars at Hardywood’s Barrel Room, Ownby Lane, Richmond VA.

George Lowe has had a long time interest in global music of all stripes. As a former member of Richmond bands Ululating Mummies, Rattlemouth, and Hotel X, he explored that interest for many years. His particular interest in the music of Ethiopia’s 60’s-70’s club scene led him to teach himself how to transpose the music he was hearing into charts his bandmates could play.  Gathering musicians from some of the aforementioned bands along with alumni of VCU’s celebrated  jazz program, he formed the Afro-Zen All- Stars in 2014.   

Fronted by a powerful horn section, backed by driving rhythms laced with sinewy guitar lines, Afro Zen plays groove-based music that blends music of the African diaspora with jazz and funk, creating an irresistible, danceable groove. The intricate compositions still allows the players a chance to stretch with their own exhilarating solos. 

This show will be Afro-Zen’s seventh anniversary as a band and a CD release party for its new release, “The Buzz and the Bells.” Join us for an evening of danceable melodic grooves by this accomplished big band from right here in Richmond!

Read Style Weekly’s “Album Pick” Review »

Afro-Zen Allstars “Wu-Beat” 9/3/21 at the Broadberry

Please note:

We want this to be a safe experience for everyone. Holding this show at Hardywood allows for attendees to be seated further apart for social distancing purposes. All guests will be asked to show proof of full COVID vaccinations or a recent negative test and wear masks until seated. We will strictly follow whatever guidance from the CDC and Virginia Department of Health exists at the time of the event.

Also, while there will be no pot-luck or BYOB, Hardywood has a large selection of great beers and delicious pizzas for sale. 

Sammy Shelor + Friends

Thursday, December 2, 2021
Hardywood’s Barrel Room, Ownby Lane, Richmond VA

Sammy has dubbed this to be a night of “Telegrass”

A very special evening’s in store for our last concert of 2021 as JAMinc and the Virginia Folklife Program present Sammy Shelor + Friends in the Barrel Room at Hardywood on Thursday, December 2nd from 6-9pm. We’re excited to be partnering with the Virginia Folklife Program on whose stage Sammy has performed many times during the Richmond Folk Festival. 

As a holiday gift to our loyal supporters, we’ve reduced our ticket price for this special occasion to just $15 … on sale now and will likely go fast.   

We came to know and love Sam through his days with the Heights of Grass and the Virginia Squires, and his 30+ years with the enduring Lonesome River Band which is still very much alive and well. You’re likely aware he is a five-time IBMA Banjo Player of the Year and a member of the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame.  Ten years ago he was an early winner of the prestigious Steve Martin Award for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass … here’s what Steve had to say about Sammy »

Sammy’s place in the firmament of five-string masters is secure, but there’s much more to this Meadows of Dan musician, and that’s what we want to share with our audience at Hardywood in December. Sam will bring his LRB bandmate Jesse Smathers and a couple of seasoned players and friends, Floyd’s Barry Collins and Telecaster shredder Rod Riley, now living in Charles City by way of Nashville.  Sam has dubbed this a night of “Telegrass” and it will no doubt be full of musical surprises.

Please note:

We want this to be a safe experience for everyone. Holding this show at Hardywood allows for attendees to be seated further apart for social distancing purposes. All guests will be asked to show proof of full COVID vaccinations or a recent negative test and wear masks until seated. We will strictly follow whatever guidance from the CDC and Virginia Department of Health exists at the time of the event.

Also, while there will be no pot-luck or BYOB, Hardywood has a large selection of great beers and delicious pizzas for sale. 

Elizabeth Wise and her blues band preview their upcoming album

October 27, 2021
Doors open at 6 pm, show starts at 7 pm
Hardywood’s Barrel Room, Ownby Lane, Richmond VA
Tickets $25 in advance / $30 at door

Sometimes the best things musically can be found in your own backyard!

Guitarist, singer and interpreter of the music we call the blues, Elizabeth Wise was born in Virginia and currently calls RVA home. But she’s traveled the world inhaling that music wherever she finds herself. Her career now spans more than a decade of performing professionally in bars, clubs, and living rooms as well as on festival stages up and down the East Coast. Listening to, learning from, and living with the music that inspires her and sharing her passion for great songs and good times, you’ll find her in solo settings with an acoustic guitar and in more raucous environs backed by a full band as she’ll have for this show.

In the words of New York musician Kenny White, “Elizabeth faithfully carries on the traditions of Elizabeth Cotton and Malvina Reynolds (with a dose of Bessie Smith, for good measure). Elizabeth Wise is a vital link who connects us to this fast fading golden era, and breathes new life into it.”

Wise has indeed traveled the world and truly lived in it, from the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and on up the James River to the “Richmondtown” she reflects wistfully on in one of her many original compositions. She’s equally at ease in the juke joints of Memphis and folk clubs of Manhattan to the wilds of New Zealand, where she spent a year communing with her restless muse and spreading her respect for the blues. Her formative years began playing piano and singing church music; later coming of age as a fully formed folk artist steeped in traditions that trace their roots back to Appalachian hills, Kentucky bluegrass, and, of course, the blues of the Delta. As the Memphis Blues Society noted, Wise is “authentic yet refreshingly original,” and “a blueswoman at the dawn of a superb career.”

Joining Elizabeth for our show, playing standards and originals, will be an A-list collection of some of RVA’s best musicians: Rusty Farmer – Bass; Scott Milstead – Drums; Carlos Chafin – Keys; J.C. Kuhl – Sax; Toby Whitaker – Trombone; Bob Miller – Trumpet.

Get a taste of Elizabeth from a few months ago at IYE Studio.

Please note:

We want this to be a safe experience for everyone. Holding this show at Hardywood allows for attendees to be seated further apart for social distancing purposes. All guests will be asked to show proof of full COVID vaccinations or a recent negative test and wear masks until seated. We will strictly follow whatever guidance from the CDC and Virginia Department of Health exists at the time of the event.

Also, while there will be no pot-luck or BYOB, Hardywood has a large selection of great beers and delicious pizzas for sale.