Meet this week's guest editor, Luke Rabin! In short, Luke is the co-founder of BLDR, helping cofound tech startups and build digital products, as well as the creator of the Idea Factory, an idea-stage accelerator program at Startup Virginia. He also helped create SCEEN, a financial support community for local live musicians and plays drums for Bright Arc and The Jake Sawyer Band. Most importantly, he does princess and unicorn stuff with the most amazing 5 year old little girl. And this week, we're lucky enough to have Luke make his personal recommendations for upcoming events and other ways to explore and celebrate this place we love to call home.
Take it away, Luke...
Palmyra w/ Dogwood Tales
at The Camel
The first time I saw Palmyra was a complete accident. I was on my way to see a metal show at The National, but when I found out we missed Darkest Hour, my friend called an audible. We headed to The Camel to see “Palmyra and Friends” which turned out to be one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time – amazing showcase of so many great local folk, country, and bluegrass artists. Get there early for happy hour and snag a killer standing spot for the first set from Dogwood Tales!
Orbital Music Park is one of the coolest things happening in the city in my opinion, and while their physical space is in transition, they host a series of awesome events at Révéler in Carytown. If you haven't checked it out yet, OMP is an inclusive community and creative space for music-makers. Every Wednesday night, OMP co-founder Tom Illmensee hosts Funk + Soul Party and Date Night. The Funk + Soul party is no traditional open mic – players of all levels play a game called funk roulette. Musicians take their cues from a randomized playlist of funk classics and deep cuts, and the OMP team curates ensembles as the night unfolds. That means the bands are different every song and every week! Come ready to dance, play, and have a great time.
This is the first in our series of launch shows for SCEEN featuring some of the founding artists. You can’t beat an intimate house show with amazing folk music and a summer cookout so this will be one not to miss. All you have to do is become a SCEEN supporter for $10/month and you’ll get to come to this show and all the rest of our upcoming shows supporting local musicians.
Vitals:
Folk SCEEN: The Jake Sawyer Band + Juniper Tree / Address provided upon ticket purchase / Richmond, VA / Saturday, June 24, Doors at 6:00 PM, Music at 7:00 PM
More About Luke and SCEEN
SCEEN is a financial support community for local live music, born out of years of working on different ways to help artists actually make a living rather than have a really expensive hobby.
The big issue is that money has been bleeding out of the music industry for decades. Instead of trying to charge more for things that are already basically free, Luke created a way for local communities to put money in the pockets of artists – because music is an important part of all of our lives.
Impact starts when the local community joins as supporters for $10/month. This fills a pot where 80% is paid out to artists based on how much they play and to how many supporters. Luke and the SCEEN team aim to change the lives of musicians everywhere, so they're starting in our hometown...we hope you join them!
