HISTORIC TRIANGLE — I cannot understate how much I love listening to music. For me, it can be a completely visceral experience.
Bear with me as I attempt to put it into words.
It feels like certain songs go in my ear and straight to the back of my neck. That causes the hairs in that region to stand at attention. The sensation then travels down my spine and back up again before it hits the cavernous space between my ears. Once there, it releases all kinds of endorphins and other neurological phenomenon that I am not bright enough to understand.
When I am witness to someone performing said music, that sensation comes in tenfold.
I write the above because in the two years since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a grinding halt, one of the things I missed the most during the shutdown was live music and entertainment.
We were relegated to watching our favorite local artists sing into a webcam. Which is better than nothing, but pales in comparison to the communal experience that is live music.
As the world continues to return to a sense of normalcy, aided by the approach of Spring and Summer, once again our live music cup overfloweth; not just in quantity but in quality.
The truth is that the Historic Triangle and the Greater Hampton Roads area has always been chock full of music talent of all different genres.
These are people who live to perform for an audience that is in the same room, troubadours who pour themselves into a microphone and bare their souls through a fret board or drum kit; people who, if they did not have those pesky financial burdens like mortgages and other expenses necessary to sustain life, would play for free.
Well, some of them maybe. I mean, I would if I had musical talent. Conversely, I am relatively sure that I would get paid to stop singing.
But I digress.
Right now is our renewed chance to go out and support these local artists and by extension the music venues (more often than not small businesses) in which they play.
So if you find yourself at a restaurant with some kid in the corner playing three chords and singing the truth, throw a few bucks in the tip jar or maybe even buy them a beverage. Let them know how much you have missed them and their art.
Ready to head out for the weekend? Check out who is playing where around the Historic Triangle!
- Berret’s Seafood Restaurant and Taphouse Grill, 199 S Boundary Street
- Sunday, March 20, 3:30 p.m. Nathan Lienard
- Brass Cannon Brewing, 5476 Mooretown Road
- Saturday, March 19, 5 p.m. Clan McCool Band
- Copper Fox Distillery, 901 Capital Landing Rd.
- Thursday, March 17, 6 p.m. Jon Smith
- Green Leafe, 765 Scotland St.
- Thursday, March 17, 9 p.m. Jon Smith
- Hoss’s Deli-Seafood & Oyster Bar, 806 Old Oyster Point Rd.
- Friday, March 18, 9 p.m. Blackout
- Saturday, March 19, 9 p.m. Dave Johnson & the Truth
- Oceans & Ale, 5601 Richmond Rd.
- Thursday, March 17, 6 p.m. Frank Hohl
- Saturday March 19, 8:30 p.m. Derek Smith
- Precarious Beer Project, 110 S. Henry St.
- Saturday, March 20, 3 p.m. Donnaka
- Revolution Golf and Grille, 1430 High Street
- Friday, March. 18, 7 p.m. Bad Habit
- Tradition Brewing, 700 Thimble Shoals Blvd. Newport News
- Friday, March 18, 6:30 p.m. Nathan Lienard
- Trojan Grill, 11833 Aspengraf Ln, New Kent
- Friday, March 18, 6:30 p.m. Travis Morrison
- Saturday, March. 19, 3 p.m. Nate Olyer
- Saturday, March. 19, 7 p.m. Brian Carmona
- Two Drummers Smokehouse, 8864 Richmond Rd.
- Thursday, March 17, 4 p.m. Billy Joe Daniel & Katie Daniel
- Thursday, March 17, 7:00 p.m. Cody Christian
- Williamsburg Winery, 5800 Wessex Hundred
- Friday, March. 18, 4 p.m. Calie Garrett
- Sunday, March. 20, 2 p.m. Ron Fetner
Want to be included in WYDaily’s weekly Brews and Tunes column? Send Ben Mackin an email at Benjamin.M@LocalDailyMedia.com!