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Video: Rebekah Campbell, 15, defended her fiddling title in Glen Lyn this past weekend in the New River Valley.

Our old TimesCast pal, Debrissa McKinney, is touring these days as a backup singer and saxophone player with Laura Reed and Deep Pocket.

Read more here.

McKinney joined the band too late to be a part of its CD, "Soul Music," but that doesn't mean the record isn't good. While the music sounds pretty familiar, Reed's voice is fantastic.

You can hear the band live next Friday at Sun Music Hall, in Floyd. Advance tickets are $10.

Every Thursday, I prepare the music top 10 list for Saturday's paper. I usually notice trends and oddities, so I figured, why not spray them all over you, blog style.

This week's oddity is the big hit Katy Perry has scored by covering Jill Sobule's old song, "I Kissed a Girl." I don't remember this song being a smash hit when Sobule did it, though MTV played it plenty (Fabio was in it -- haha!). Perry's cover, though, has been in the chart for a couple of weeks, at least, and is at No. 2 as of today.

That's a lot better than Sobule did with it in 1995. According to wikipedia, the song reached No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year, and peaked at 20 on the Modern Rock chart.

What's the difference?

Read more »

Local favorites The Wading Girl are playing a double-bill Sunday night with two bands -- Junior Revolution, from Cincinnati, and Iowa City's The Western Front.

The Wading Girl's Billy Wallace sent me an e-mail about it today, extolling the virtues of Martin's as a Sunday night hangout for people who like to hear good, original music.

"Martin's has really been doing a great job of giving underground touring acts a place to play in Roanoke, but I don't think that a lot of people realize it yet," Wallace wrote. "The shows are always free, too, so that's a big bonus.

If you haven't seen The Wading Girl live, check out some performances on the MusicCast.

Showtime is 9 p.m. Ages 21 and older.

More info at http://blue5restaurant.com/

Wed. July 2nd - The Blue 5 Jam

Thur. July 3rd - Solrevolt

Fri. July 4th - The Gumbo Band

Sat. July 5th - Nicole Hart & The NRG Band

Wed. July 9th - The Blue Ridge Blues Society's Meeting & Blues Jam

Thur. July 10th - The Scott Perry Trio

Fri. July 11th - The Galen Kipar Project

Sat. July 12th - The Fat Daddy Band

Sun. July 13th - The Blue Ridge Blues Society's 2nd Annual Blues Contest

Wed. July 16th - The Blue 5 Jam

Thur. July 17th - The Good Sons feat. Hoppie Vaughan

Fri. July 18th - The Ministers Of Soul

Sat. July 19th - After Festival Jam feat. Stacy Mitchhart

Wed. July 23rd - The Blue 5 Jam

Thur. July 24th - The Joey Gilmore Band

Fri. July 25th - The Joe Moss Band

Sat. July 26th - After Festival Jam feat. The Lenny Marcus Quartet

Tue. July 29th - B.B. King Before & After Show Party!

Wed. July 30th - The Blue 5 Jam

Thur. July 31st - The Lenny Marcus Trio

National acts for July - Nicole Hart & The NRG Band, The Joey Gilmore Band, The Joe Moss Band & Both After Festival Jams are going to be off the hook!

From new channels editor Dwayne Yancey:

> You've picked a new number one video on the MusicCast. The singer isn't local -- he's from Ohio -- but his topic is, so that's how Mike Roos' song "Blacksburg" made it onto our local music video site. His video displaced "Nothing but Wrong," by Jimmy Danger, featuring Neanderpaul, which had held the top spot for the past two weeks. Perhaps the even bigger news: Mike's song helped push one of The Seed's three videos out of the Top 5. They've been standards since they were added back in March. We base the MusicCast Top 5 on who gets the most plays so if there's someone you like, just keep on clicking.

>If you think your band's video should be in the Top 5, well, post it to our site, and maybe it will be. Three of the top five videos this week are ones the artists recorded themselves. Details are below.

> Here’s the week Top 5:

1. "Blacksburg," by Mike Roos
2. "Nothing But Wrong," by Jimmy Danger, featuring Neanderpaul
3. "Demijohn," by the Pickin Buds
4. "No More," by The Seed
5. "Can You Understand," by The Seed

Just got an e-mail from Stephen "Stevie D" Davies, of Illbotz. It's not been more than a couple of months since the rap act played its final show, but now Stevie D and Big Perm are making a "best of" CD. Read on to see how you can help -- and to be entertained by the comedy machine that is Davies ...

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It's about the music as much as it is the java.
Read all about it here.

Glenvar High grad and amazing drummer Adam Clark was at Blue 5 on Sunday night with his band, The Superpowers. These guys play Afrobeat music with a distinct jazz flavor. Makes sense, since Clark spent time here playing with such fine jazzers as the Pace brothers (in the Non-Profits) and bassist Dylan Locke.

First time I heard Clark play, he was swinging madly with guitarist Cyrus Pace and Hammond B-3 icon Dr. Lonnie Smith. This time, he put his unmoveable time-feel and chops in the service of some hypnotic horn- and percussion-heavy tunes, several of which he wrote himself.

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Open Mic Second Wednesday In July

Thursday, July 3rd, Hoppie Vaughn and Friends Friday, July 4th, Closed. Happy 4th!
Saturday, July 5th, Clif Beach
Wednesday, July 9th, Open Mic hosted by Daniel McBroom
Friday, July 11th, Bebop Hoedown
Friday, July 18th, Virginia Folk Jazz Trio, Outdoor Show 7-11 pm
Saturday, July 19th, Mike Mitchell
Friday, July 25th, Brian Grey
Saturday, July 26th, Double Feature, Casey and the Moonshine Band followed by Jordan Rivers Rotgut Revival
Thursday, July 31st, Adam Markham