John Cowan | Courtesy Johnny Buck

Former New Grass Revival lead singer/bassist John Cowan brings his trio to Martinsville on Feb. 9 to kick off the Rives Theatre‘s spring schedule.

The Cowan show is a VIP kickoff party. Moreland & Arbuckle, Chris Duarte Group and Sanctum Sully round out the schedule. Sandwiched in-between is Tim Reynolds & TR3, which is not part of the Rives’ season pass deal.

If you buy a $125 pass, you get a catered dinner during the Cowan concert as well as a season pass for the 2013 Live at the Rives concert series. That series will feature nine concerts, not counting the Cowan gig.

Buy tickets at Studio 107 in uptown Martinsville, and Woodall’s Music and Sound in Collinsville. Buy online at www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information, go to www.rivestheatre.com.

RIVES SPRING SCHEDULE
Feb. 9 – John Cowan Trio – (VIP kickoff party)*
March 9 – Moreland & Arbuckle*
March 15 – Tim Reynolds & TR3
April 6 – Chris Duarte Group*
May 11 – Sanctum Sully*
* – These shows are part of the Live at the Rives concert series, which is covered by a season pass.

Read more information, courtesy the Rives, by clicking the jump link. Read more »

Photo courtesy facebook.com/martinsdowntownva | Berkleley Dent

Update appended at 4:41 p.m., Jan. 2, 2013.

Anyone who digs music and hangs around downtown Roanoke knows by now that Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill slings music almost every day of the week. The venue’s live music schedule received some national recognition at the tail end of 2012.

Home Grown Music Network, an independent music scene collective, selected Martin’s as its venue of the year. The Mebane, N.C.-based organization made the announcement on Jan. 28.

The network, which is affiliated with about 30 venues and about 75 bands, says on its website that its mission is “to help talented independent bands reach fans who are seeking fun, interesting & mind expanding music.”

Such HGMN acts as Big Daddy Love, Dangermuffin, The Mantras, Yarn, Sol &  Funk Root (a band with Southwest Virginia connections) and Zach Deputy have played Martin’s several times. HGMN spokesman Chris Robie said that acts playing Martin’s have given him and other network representatives “good feedback” about the venue and its owner, Jason Martin.

“He’s really into the scene, and that goes a long ways into how we decide who gets venue of the year,” Robie said in a phone call today from Chapel Hill, N.C. “It’s not all about the sound system. It’s not all about the size. It’s all about how they treat musicians and the type of quality music they like to bring into the venue.”

Robie said he met Martin last July at FloydFest.

“You could tell it was something that he really loves to do,” he said. “He’s very passionate about it.”

We’ll add a quote from Martin as soon as we hear back from him today.

UPDATE: Martin said by e-mail that he considers this to be an incredible honor. Past winners include The Pour House, in Charleston, S.C., Raleigh, N.C., and The State Theatre, in Falls Church, and Martin is happy to be included among those venues.

“It is so nice to be recognized for doing what you love,” he wrote. “I am very proud to receive this accolade from such a reputable organization such as The Homegrown Music Network. I think receiving recognition like this is a product of being committed to booking live music, not being afraid to take chances on unproven acts and how showing some love and appreciation to touring musicians really does make a difference. ”

Click the jump link for the full list of 2012 HGMN award winners.

Read more »

Jesse Ray Carter Trio at Fork in the Market

People have been of several minds about the City Market Building renovation. I’m not going into all of that here — our Lindsey Nair’s food blog and Dan Casey’s blog have reported on it and hosted many comments about it. I am simply going to say that with the addition of live music at night, it seems like the building is a lot more alive these days.

Last Saturday, some of the Estrella AllStars played the patio at Habana and sounded great. (If I hadn’t been occupied loading my gear into Blues BBQ for a gig that night, I would have shot video.) Queso and AllSports Cafe are teaming up for some live music that will begin on the Wall Street side on July 20, and that should be fun.

And every Tuesday night, Jesse Ray Carter Trio is playing Fork in the Market‘s PBR Power Hour. Cheap beer chopped down to a quarter a cup and feral hillbilly cat music from John Hammond acolyte Carter and his rhythm section — the great Brandon Davis on upright bass and Grass Monkey member Jeremy Rhodes on drums.

I shot this after the crowd had thinned a bit, but the weekly event draws well, with a lot of good people-watching. Here, Carter and his guys cover “Train Kept A Rollin’”. Here’s hoping these guys stick together for a while. Carter might have just messed around and found himself a band.

Grass Monkey | File photo

Remember Starter’s, in Salem? It’s been closed for a while, but the space is now in new hands. Melanie Straley, who booked bands into Markell’s during its brief foray into Roanoke’s live music scene, has bought the place and renamed it The Pirate Sip Barr.

The bar(r) just got its ABC license (beer and liquor) and will open Friday, with popular pop-rockers PolyChrome kicking off the action. The band starts at 10 p.m., and there is no cover.

Grass Monkey plays the room at 10 p.m. Saturday. It’s another free show.