Live music lives in Richmond, continues to expand

Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves, Executive Editor

“How music changes over the years,” Freddie Mercury sings in “Radio Ga Ga.” 

Richmond has been building its music scene for decades, most infamously seen with the Grace Street and Fan live music action starting in the late ‘70s.

The ever-growing music scene has received a new integrant, the first Iron Blossom Festival where music poured into a sea of flowy skirts, glitter, picnic blankets and sunburns. 

Whether it was walking a mile from the VCU campus or getting on a flight, the Bon Secours Training Center was home to 22 artist sets over Aug. 26 and 27, garnering thousands of attendees. Some performers included Hozier, Noah Kahan, Elle King, Faye Webster and more.

“The cool thing about festivals is bringing people from all over with different expressions of art,” said Angélica Garcia, one of the performing musicians at Iron Blossom.

Garcia took the Blossom Stage on Sunday. Though her set got rained on — weather polar to the previous day’s unrelenting sun — she still saw people all together, singing along with “shared energy.”

The festival allowed for an artists’ compound with separate tents for the different artists, Garcia said.

“We’re all coming together and meeting up in the same space, getting to talk about where we’re from and how we ended up there,” Garcia said.

Her journey started in the beginning of the 2010s as a musician and touring artist; capturing influences from her mom with traditional Mexican music, to getting into alternative rock in high school, she said.

“I’ve always loved how expansive music is,” Garcia said. “How you can be from anywhere and make incredible music; how it’s an universal language spoken between people who could be from a totally different culture but love the same band.”

Garcia lived in Richmond from 2016 to around 2019 and could describe the music scene with words like “thriving” and “supportive.”

“It was beautiful to be a part of when I was there,” Garcia said.

Chesapeake resident Saylor Barnes is used to attending live shows, with a five per year minimum, and this time came to Richmond for Sunday’s headliner Hozier.

“The feeling of listening to music with everyone at once, when they’re all in the moment at the same time,” Barnes said. “It’s out of this world.”

When Hozier took the stage, the light rain and looming full moon witnessed thousands of hands and voices joining the musician during popular songs like “Take Me to Church” and “Work Song,” joined by fellow headliner Noah Kahan.

Zack Renda came from Pennsylvania State University just for the festival.

“I was trying to track down where Hozier would be and I saw him and Noah Kahan would be in the same place, so it was an easy decision,” Renda said, adding that this was his first time in Richmond.

Up and coming local talent are excited about the first edition of the festival bringing in “world class music and local favorites” to the stages. 

“Richmond is such a local music place, that having bigger people come here is such a cool moment — definitely a win,” said Rine, musician and VCU student.

Rine didn’t know much about the Richmond music scene until six months ago; she recorded an original song after a lot of demand following her participation in a VCU student organization’s pageant singing for 250 people.

The song now has around 20,000 streams, which led to Rine participating more in the Richmond music scene with invites and live performances.

“I just hope people really appreciate live music more,” Rine said, adding that there’s something special about listening to music in person and connecting to it in a different way. 

Ten Pound Snail guitarist and vocalist Holden Wilson stated they’re a fan of the city highlighting any aspect that makes Richmond cool — music, visual arts and food.

“Richmond is incredibly talented, including the adjacent scenes of visual art and food which have grown to be a huge part of my life as well,” Wilson stated. “There’s still so many new faces to meet at home here, so I’m very much hoping to stick around for at least a few more years.”

They said the Richmond scene is “pretty incredible” with super-talents and fan engagement. Wilson has the theory it’s the perfect launch pad for musicians, where it’s not so small where it’s hard to gain traction, but it’s not so large that there are multiple other shows happening at the same time.

The local shows and crowd of Ten Pound Snail is the band’s bread and butter currently, Wilson stated.

“There’s a lot of stylistic evolution going on right now with a bunch of new songs that we’re gradually rolling out during the live shows, and it’s very reassuring whenever a sharp turn from our usual sound is met with a crowd’s applause and endorsement,” Wilson stated. “It’s a neat barometer in that respect.”

They hope to be a part of events like the festival soon, along with bandmates Josh and Yusuf. On top of it all, Wilson just hopes Faye Webster comes back to Richmond soon.