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Ron Wray

Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver Brings Norfolk a Solo “Good Winter” Greeting with Bruce Hornsby

Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver Brings Norfolk a Solo “Good Winter” Greeting with Bruce Hornsby

“So, are you a Bon Iver fan?” I asked the young boy next to me. His handsome young father looked down and said, “Say, yes, sir.” His son grinned up at me and replied eagerly, “Yes, sir!” That was the feeling I found in the air at the Norva in

The Cosmic Simplicity of Ian Felice’s Solo Masterpiece

The Cosmic Simplicity of Ian Felice’s Solo Masterpiece

Walking out in the Richmond rain after a Felice Brothers concert, I admitted to waxing poetic and said it was like a dose of cosmic understanding and transforming joy. That’s a bit like my feeling after hearing Ian Felice’s new album, In the Kingdom of Dreams. In this

My Hornsby Infatuation, Salute to Garcia, and Rhiannon Giddens’ Musical Freedom Rites

My Hornsby Infatuation, Salute to Garcia, and Rhiannon Giddens’ Musical Freedom Rites

May be a curious thing for a 60-something, married straight guy to say. But, I think I may be falling in love with Bruce Hornsby. Don’t get me wrong, in a romantic context, I’d be much more interested in responding to the appeal of one of the Staveley-Taylor

Dangermuffin’s “Heritage,” Laidback, Yet Soaring: Born of the Sea, Awash in Mythic Passion

Dangermuffin’s “Heritage,” Laidback, Yet Soaring: Born of the Sea, Awash in Mythic Passion

“To have a song mean something for somebody is the epitome of the best possible thing you want as an artist,” says Dan Lotti, lead singer-guitarist in the rangy, laid-back, then swept-up-high band Dangermuffin. They are as hard to label as their name is to define. “I want this album

Gs in the Lobby, Music Advances on Kansas City, while Tunes Take Over the World, 2 parts

Gs in the Lobby, Music Advances on Kansas City, while Tunes Take Over the World, 2 parts

The 2017 Folk Alliance International Conference, with its many facets and some public access, occurred from February 15 to 19 in Kansas City. Part One Prelude – The Impressionist Merge of Folky World-ness in KC There is music and there are musicians everywhere in the spacious lobby of Kansas City’s

The Steel Wheels & Blue Ridge Mountains Host the Richest Red Wing Roots Music Festival Yet

The Steel Wheels & Blue Ridge Mountains Host the Richest Red Wing Roots Music Festival Yet

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley are fortunate to have Trent Wagler and The Steel Wheels band, not to mention Eastern Mennonite University that initially brought the band members here as students, not to mention the influence on the band of Doc Watson as a musician and someone

The Sons of Bill: An Entire Family's Musical Agenda, the Secular and the Metaphysical

The Sons of Bill: An Entire Family's Musical Agenda, the Secular and the Metaphysical

Some ten years ago, two brothers took their guitars to an open mic in Charlottesville, VA, the cozy college town of the University of Virginia. On impulse, the brothers introduced themselves as the sons of Bill, which they are, sons of Bill Wilson, a professor (now emeritus) of theology (which