I think I’m still stuffed from Thanksgiving…and can 100% say I’ve made my best turkey yet. November’s winding down, I just got all my gear ready for deer-rifle season and the weather’s getting nice & cold, and the leaves are all or mostly down and crunchy. This month was a great one for music for me: a great mix of new-to-me bands as well as friends I’ve seen plenty of times. Let’s get to it, shall we?
My first trip out for the month was finally to the Capital City Music Hall for a 717 Entertainment show on the basement stage. First up was one of those new-to-me bands, 12 Sins from Winchester, VA. A hard core rock band with the occasional hair-band vibe, these guys ripped it up with powerful riffs, solos and solid vocals that was a lot of fun. Next up was a group I’d seen at least once before, Breach The Silence. Billed as a metalcore band, their music was loud, strong, and very energetic. They even brought my friend Jess up on stage to sing a song to her new, as of a few hours earlier in the day, husband Mike (Adrian Blitzer’s drummer). It was a pretty cool and moving moment for the evening. Headlining the night was Adrian Blitzer for the next to final show…ever? The guys stormed the stage with authority and experience cranking out tunes that had the packed room dancing and singing along from start to end. I was definitely glad to catch one of their final shows.
A few days later, Wendy and I headed to a buddy of mine’s farm to catch an artist that I’d introduced her to a few years ago, Adam Ezra. Adam’s music is generally an underground sort of Folk/Americana style, played with a ton of heart and humor. I’ve gotten to meet him a few times now and he’s just a down to earth good human that always seem to have a smile on his face. Adam was playing a few shows with his band’s violin player Corinna Smith and next month will be doing a tour over in Europe.
The following day Sir Preston (currently curled up at my feet and sounding like a Mack truck with his snores) and I headed up to The Barn at River Run outside of Newport for their annual Punkin Chunkin Fall Fest. With a variety of food and drink vendors, live music, arts and crafts vendors, as well as several medieval style punkin chuckers sending small and large pumpkins flying out in to the field. It’s a ton of fun and raises money for Wounded Warrior Project which is of course an outstanding cause. We got to catch music from Brad Harden, Jayelynn, and Krissy & Beck. Preston loved the music and all the people, but wasn’t too thrilled with the punkin chuckers (but they were really cool!) LOL. They do this event each year so make sure you check it out next year if you get the chance.
The following weekend saw me going back to Capital City Music Hall for a show upstairs on their bigger stage with two artists who’s music I was pretty familiar with but hadn’t seen live yet, as well as one that was new to me. The house was absolutely packed, and deservedly so! Kicking off the show was Seattle based Ayron Jones, a singer/songwriter that plays amazing and fiery guitar licks with deep grooves and a dirty hard blues-rock feel. I’ve been listening to his tunes for a little while now so it was pretty sweet getting to experience him live. With songs like Filthy, Blood In The Water, Take Me Away, and many more; I was really please that he was every bit as good live as I’d hoped he’d be. Coming out next was Alabama based Them Dirty Roses. Two brothers along with two hometown friends came together to form this southern rock band that was really just that: pure southern rock & roll. These guys were outstanding and quickly got added to my listening lists without hesitation. Headlining the evening was hard rock band Black Stone Cherry out of Edmonton, KY. The energy these guys brought to the stage was palpable, with signature songs like Blame It On The Boom Boom, Cheaper to Drink Along, White Trash Millionaire, and their new song released just the day before “ Neon Eye’s”, they had the entire crowd singing along with them for the whole set. It was an incredible evening of music from the very first note to the last.
My last trip out for the month turned out to be one that I severely underestimated. As I got to The Englewood, I knew it was going to be a good night just based on how packed the parking lot was LOL. Wes Knorr had brought me in to capture their evening and had told me a little about what to expect…but while I’m going to do my best to put it into words, it’s honestly difficult to describe completely with a simple vocabulary such as mine. That said…kicking off the evening on stage was Triur (also plays with a few other musicians as Seasons). This trio; playing violin, harp and hammered dulcimer (a new instrument to me!) took the stage playing medieval and celtic tunes as well as a few originals. It was a lot of fun with great energy and did an awesome job of warming the crowd up. Headlining the evening was Knorrwood with their performance titled “Over The Shire & Far Away”. The group’s performance paid musical tribute to The Lord Of The Rings and Led Zeppelin intertwined seamlessly with live storytelling and stunning visuals. This wasn’t just a concert; it was an incredibly well choreographed experience. The energy was over the top, the visuals both on stage and on the screen behind them were amazing, and the story telling along the way were epic. Growing up I was always a big fan of both the LOTR stories and Led Zeppelin’s music…and I have to say, I walked away with goosebumps. I know they’ll be repeating this performance in the future and I just can’t recommend it enough. When they do this again, GO SEE IT!
So there it is, my month of music through my eyes and ears. I want to once again thank all the bands, venues, and everyone else involved in our incredible local music scene for everything they do. Just a reminder: if you’ve got a show coming up that I should see; make sure to send me an invite, shoot me an email or a message, let me know about it. Venues: please don’t hesitate to reach out to me as well. The majority of the shows that I go and shoot I find out about through invites from all of you or your friends. Hit me up on facebook: @chrisriderphotography or email: chrisriderphotography@gmail.com, stop me if you see me and say hi. Until next month…go find some live music and give them and the venue your support, they truly need it more now than they ever did.
