Gateway show takes you down a musical memory lane
Paul Sanders bought his first 45 as a 14-year-old. For a first record, he didn’t do too bad, walking home with Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” to spin on his record player and drive his parents crazy.
“It was one of the #1 songs of 1950, and many will say the entrance of rock-n-roll,” said Sanders, the host of “30 Songs Through 30 Years,” a program at WTA’s Gateway that takes its audience on a journey through music history. Read more
Radio serial by AFP editor to premiere Jan. 20
The January River City Radio Hour will feature the opening chapter of Judge Not, a new mystery serial by AugustaFreePress.com editor Chris Graham. The Jan. 20 Radio Hour is at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. at WTA’s Gateway in Downtown Waynesboro.
Judge Not is the tale of a misplaced newspaper reporter who finds himself in a small Southern town. When he is sent to cover a possible terrorist attack, he finds himself mired in the undercurrents of local politics.
Graham is an award-winning writer and the author of three books – Stop the Presses, a collection of humorous short stories; Mad About U: Four Decades of Basketball at University Hall, a book chronicling the history of the former home to UVa. basketball; and Judge Not, a novel from which the River City Radio Hour serial was adapted. Read more
Jason Ajemian at the Gateway
Jason Ajemian, a Waynesboro native, will return to his hometown to play a concert at WTA’s Gateway on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m.
Ajemian has spent the last 15 years performing folk, improvised jazz and new music on the stand-up bass in over 20 different countries. For eight years he was central part of the music scene in Chicago. For the last five he has made his home base New York City. For his December performance, Ajemian will present an intimate picture of his musical world. Read more
Mojo at the Gateway
The November Mojo Saturday Night is ready to groove with some real deep blues on Saturday, Nov. 19th.
Fourteen-year-old Emma Leigh will perform her first blues show accompanied by John Hoy and some of the Li’l Bill Band. Barb Martin will bring her soulful blues to the stage and The Li’l Bill Band returns “post-graduation” from their gig with Big Bill Morganfield with some new stuff and some big news to share … featuring Robert Ballard (drums) Andy Burdetsky (bass), Kevin Chisnell (harmonica and vocals), Dale Roller (keyboards) and Jack Roy (guitar). Should be a rockin night – you won’t want to miss!
Although Emma Leigh (aka. Emily Henline) is not thought of as blues singer, the Mojo audience will gain a new appreciation for her musical range. Emma has established herself as a professional in the Central Virginia music scene. She performs throughout the region as well as being a regular on WHSV-TV’s “Virginia Dreams CenterStage,” a regional TV show that promotes local talent in the Shenandoah Valley.
Barbara Martin on the other hand is a well-known blues and jazz singer whose soulful voice reveals the essence of what makes the blues live. Shaped by listening to Bessie Smith, Sippie Wallace and Billie Holiday and working with bluesman Steve Wolf, Barbara found her musical raison d’etre, the place that is most compelling and comfortable for her.
Also featured on the November Mojo Blues Nite is The Lil Bill Band. The band made its premiere performance at the September performance and then went on to be backup backing Big Bill Morganfield (son of Muddy Waters) at the September Chili, Blues and Brews Festival. Their success at that venue has moved them into the next phase of their career. No longer Li’l, the band will graduate to “The Big Bill Band” at the November performance. The band is still a collection of incredibly talented musicians from all walks of life: Dale Roller (keyboards), Jack Roy (guitar), Kevin Chisnell (harmonica and vocals), Andy Burdetsky (bass) and Robert Ballard as The Beaver (drums)!
The Saturday, Nov. 19 performance is at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Dominos pizza will be available by the slice. Beverages and food are available. Tickets are $10.
Tickets for the performance are available online at www.WayensboroGateway.com or at the box office.
Blues at the Gateway
Mojo Saturday Nite with Bluesman Kevin Chisnell will return to the Gateway at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22.
The show is becoming popular for a place to spend the third Saturday of the month. The Gateway provides not only an eclectic range of blues talent, but offers food and beverages that make Mojo Saturday Nite a true evening out.
The Oct. 22 show will be headlined by The Pure Blind Luck Band and Chris Yung. Pure Blind Luck is a contemporary electric blues band comprised of musicians from all over Central Virginia. The band plays a variety of styles of blues cover songs by artists such as Big Mama Thornton, Koko Taylor, Susan Tedeschi and The Allman Brothers Band as well as their own upbeat originals. The years of experience combined with the copious amount of talent of all six members is sure to leave their audience hungry for more.
Chris Yung is another popular blues performer who calls Central Virginia home. He brings is a unique style to the genre.
Performances begin at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and can be obtained online at
www.WaynesboroGateway.com or at the box office. Beverages, snacks and pizza are available.
Bryan Elijah Smith and The Wild Hearts at The Gateway
Taking the audience by storm at the Gateway Opening Gala, Bryan Elijah Smith and the Wild Hearts brought the audience to its feet for an encore. The demand to bring them back for an evening of their own prompted the Gateway to engage them for a performance on Saturday, October 15 at 8 p.m.
Leading the band is Bryan Elijah Smith who was raised in the small town of Dayton, Virginia. After a stint in New York City, he returned to the Valley. In 2009, Smith won 1st place at the Shenandoah Valley Acoustic Roots Songwriting Festival and Songwriting Contest in Luray, VA and released his debut album entitled “Forever on my Mind”. While performing as a soloist in Virginia, North Carolina, New York and Florida, Bryan also continuing writing and producing his own and others releases.
Jay Austin and Jeff Miller reconnected to Smith and formed The Wild Hearts. Austin started playing violin 12 years ago after watching a VHS tape his parents had made of Peter Ostroushko performing on Prairie Home Companion in 1986. After 8 years of playing mostly classical music (including two years playing with The Danville Symphony Orchestra), he went back to his roots in folk, bluegrass and old time fiddle playing, while playing classical guitar and mandolin and performing with several bands. His energy on stage wowed the Gala audience. Jeff Miller is a classically trained pianist, singer-songwriter, guitarist as well as a VCU graduate with a major in Psychology and minor in music He picked up the banjo in December 2009 and has not been able to set it down since. His skills on the stringed instrument are a perfect match with Austin’s fiddle playing.
Tickets for Bryan Elijah Smith and the Wild Hearts can be purchased online at www.waynesborgateway.com or at the door. Admission for the 8 p.m. performance is $12.
Chris Graham: So much smoke and mirrors
Posted by afp on December 16, 2011 · 5 Comments
Looking here at my hometown of Waynesboro, where the City Council suddenly wants accountability from its School Board when it comes to budgeting. I’m all for enhancing accountability from any and all in government, so at first glance, I want to say, Good for you guys. Except that it’s not really about accountability. What we’re seeing here is yet another power grab from a City Council that has done pretty well for itself in that department.
Consider the politics that led to the current makeup of the City Council. All five can attribute their seats to campaigns that made early and often reference to votes by previous City Councils in favor of $700,000 in city funding for the $7 million Wayne Theatre redevelopment. We can now see that the repeated claims that those City Councils were engaging in the diversion of public money for a special-interest group were nothing more than a smokescreen considering the boondoggle that is the $3.4 million purchase of scrub land from key campaign donors ostensibly to go toward a 20-year plan to develop a city commerce park. Read more
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