Koda and Marie from Chamomile & Whiskey join us in studio to perform live and talk about their upcoming WNRN Presents show at the Ting Pavilion on Saturday Oct. 30th w/49 Winchester and The Blndrs as well the band’s recent appearance on Hulu’s Dopesick.
Alternative folk troubadour Sean Rowe plays live for a group of WNRN members at In Your Ear studios in Richmond. In addition to playing songs from new album The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights he tells stories about his strangest house concert experience, taking part in an Air BnB Ayahausca ceremony, and he pulls out a haunting cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” to close out the session. Watch the full session below thanks to our friends at In Your Ear.
Our afternoon host Tad Abbey has gone drunk with power! We asked him to name our new collaboration with Rockfish Brewing Company and what did he suggest? The Tad Abbey Ale! Sample it for yourself when we tap the first tasting on Thursday at the Rockfish Brewing taproom 5-8pm (at 5th Season Gardening, 900 Preston Ave.) with tasty live music from Boxed Lunch!
Our Taps & Tunes series continues this Saturday October 16th from 1-4pm at Blue Toad Hard Cider! Join us for this free event as we debut the release of Blue Toad’s 96er cider – named after the year we signed on – plus hear music from The Judy Chops duo!
Listen above as Big Red Machine’s Aaron Dessner talks with WNRN’s Patrick Coman in this Home Studio Session.
On Big Red Machine’s second album, How Long is It Going to Last?, the National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon return with the great big collective voice of indie artists they’ve amalgamated over the years. No one singer dominates the tracklist, with the credits clocking in at 13 vocalists and 29 musicians collaborating on the project, building upon the sound of the National’s 2019 release I Am Easy to Find.
“We kinda say it’s like a band with no windows or doors, and it’s just wide open,” Dessner said. “It’s been like a fun way for us to collaborate and to experiment.”
The sound stays cohesive with so many different voices contributing to How Long, giving the record a refined jam session sound rich with camaraderie. To Dessner, it captures that nostalgic feeling of simply making music with your friends for the first time.
“A lot of people come here to this studio I have called Long Pond or we experiment remotely with a lot of other friends, so it’s just like inviting people to bounce off these ideas, and then collecting these contributions and editing them into something that feels intentional,” Dessner said.
With a distinctly and timely autumnal feel that gets a little help from collaborators Taylor Swift and the Fleet Foxes, the record revels in bracing against the emotional weight of the cold, but without shying away. And while posing so many questions, Dessner said that the titular one drives the theme home.
“It can refer to so many things, so many themes that are in the album, whether it’s a relationship or a marriage or a friendship or a creative streak, like the one Taylor and I have been on. You don’t know how long this magic will last. There’s a lot of questions asked along the course of the whole record but I think that’s the main one, I think it’s special.”
Sign up for our email list below for a chance to see “the most exciting new face of Cuban music” Cimafunk in concert this Sunday October 17th at 7:30pm at the Modlin Center for the Arts in Richmond! Sign up by Friday at 5pm for your chance to win a pair of tickets. Winner will be notified by email.
Charlottesville-based Stray Fossa stopped by the WNRN studios to perform live and talk about the making of their debut album With You For Ever. The band turned their attic loft into a studio and recorded the album from home in 2020. They talk about the benefits of living where you work, artists who have influenced their lush, dreamy version of rock n’ roll, and what it’s like to hit the road with fellow indie act Dreamgirl who will open up for the band at their WNRN Presents albums release show on Saturday October 9th at The Southern Cafe & Music Hall. (Playlist: “Orange Days”, “How Come?”, “Are You Gonna Be Okay?”).
Chris Vos from The Record Company connects with WNRN’s Desiré Moses from his home in L.A. to talk about the band’s new album Play Loud and working with famed producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, The Head And The Heart, LCD Soundsystem, Modest Mouse, The Who) after self-producing their first two albums and the catharsis making of the music video for “How High”, plus the band plays two songs live for this Home Studio Session.
Join us on Friday October 8th from 6-9pm at Stable Craft Brewing in Waynesboro for the kick off of our 25th anniversary series Taps & Tunes. Taste Stable Craft’s commemorative Independent Music Pale Ale for the first time and hear music from Kai Crowe-Getty of Central Virginia band Lord Nelson. We’ll be giving away concert tickets to upcoming WNRN Presents shows and you’ll have a chance to snag our 25th anniversary pint glasses and more. We can’t wait to see you there!
