Yarn Feature-Virginian Pilot

When Blake Christiana was first approached with the idea of raising funds online to help finance his band's latest album, he wasn't sure it was such a good idea.

"We didn't want to be just another bunch of musicians begging for money," said the singer and acoustic guitarist for the roots-rock band Yarn.

That changed when halfway through recording "Almost Home," the Brooklyn-based sextet ran out of cash.

Rather then leave the studio and sit on an incomplete record, the band called in the "Yarmy," its group of diehard fans. The Yarmy answered the call for aid by contributing more than $5,000 through the web-funding platform Kickstarter - surpassing the band's financial goal.

"They really came through and helped us put the record out there," Christiana said. "It's an honor to know that we have fans that are willing to go to such an extreme." "You know," he said, "watching the news, you wouldn't imagine that there are generous, kind souls on the planet, but this proved otherwise."

Since forming in 2007, Yarn, which plays the Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach on Sunday, has built its fan base through constant touring and significant fan interaction.

"It's the only way to survive right now as a developing grass-roots band," Christiana said. "Our fans are really involved, and I think they feel like they have a stake in the band's success.

"Just a couple of weeks ago we were in North Carolina having dinner before a show and some fans came by and brought us a box of T-shirts that they had made up with our logo on the front and some of my lyrics on the back. They said they just want to give something back and thought we could make some money by selling them at our shows."

Yarn's genre-mixing blend of rock, knitted together with country and a bit of bluegrass ramble, has also caught the attention of prominent music industry insiders. After Grammy-winning producer Bil VornDick caught a Yarn performance in Nashville, he let the band know that he'd like to work with it. A couple of months later the native Virginian, whose credits include projects with Bob Dylan and bluegrass great Alison Krauss, was in the studio with Yarn producing "Almost Home." The disc, released last March, was recently named one of the Top 100 Americana albums of 2012 by the Americana Music Association.

Another admirer is John Oates, of Hall and Oates fame.

"We just wrote a couple of songs together," Christiana said. "He's the most humble dude in the world. One day we were in the recording studio listening to a playback, and he said, 'Hey, man, I think you should recut your vocal.' He called me back later that night and said, 'Hey, I hope I didn't offend you.' I had to laugh. I want that kind of insight, especially coming from a guy like him."

The newly penned tunes, slated for an upcoming Yarn release, could raise the band's profile even higher. But for now, Christiana seems satisfied in his role as leader of the Yarmy.

"Ultimately, we just want to play," said the 36-year-old musician. "What we get to do for a living is pretty darn special. I feel like we are building a kind of community. That is the best part of all of this for me. We have these little pockets of family all over the country. That's about as good as it gets."

 

Beauty 4 Ashes Dance Feature-Virginian Pilot

In the bright and airy practice space of his downtown Hampton dance studio, Beauty for Ashes founder and artistic director David Riddick directs his troupe as he talks about his theater company's upcoming production, "One," and how it was inspired by the long and short of love.

"I came up with the idea for this show after reading a newspaper article about the high divorce rate," said Riddick, 28.

"My grandparents are still together, and that got me thinking about love's obstacles and trials." "One," he says, is an examination of the stages involved in a long-term relationship.

The dance is the physical representation of that journey. The show, to be presented at the Jefferson Davis Middle School in Hampton this Friday and Saturday, fuses dance forms from modern to ballet.

"My dancers have to be committed because the mind has to control the body," Riddick said as he put his young troupe through its paces during a rehearsal.

As the performers alternately pirouette, kick and stretch, their mentor is encouraging yet firm.
"Everyone has to be in the game because dancing is hard."
 
The Hampton native speaks from experience. Riddick toured as a member of Tennessee's Kingsport Ballet Company after earning a degree in Fine Arts from Virginia Intermont College in Bristol.

"I studied dance, but I was also fascinated with choreography," he said. "The other students complained about having too much work, but I really paid attention and started taking small choreography jobs."

Riddick was planning to further his professional studies when a family illness brought him back home to Hampton Roads in 2006. "I was applying to the London Contemporary Dance School, but my mom got real sick and I wanted to help out," Riddick said.

He quickly found work as a dance instructor for the city of Newport News before landing a gig as a program director for the city's Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center. All the while, Riddick kept dreaming big. He founded his dance company four years ago and opened his studio last spring. In its short tenure, Beauty for Ashes - the name is a Biblical reference - has managed to draw the attention of several prominent modern-dance figures, most notably Sharon Gersten Luckman, executive director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York.

"She did a workshop with us a couple weeks ago," Riddick said. "My dancers performed for her, and when they finished, I asked her for a critique. She said she had nothing to critique because we were the total package."

That's no small praise, given the dance executive's pedigree. Better still, Gersten Luckman offered to help Beauty for Ashes attain arts grants, and is writing a recommendation letter for one of the company's dancers to study with Alvin Ailey next year. Darrell Shields, a senior at York High School in Yorktown, is the principal dancer for "One." The former athlete started training with Riddick three years ago.

"I wouldn't have been able to have a career in dance if it weren't for David pushing and encouraging me," Shields said. "We're all about digging deep here. It's all about emotion and passion. It's not about doing the kind of tricks you see on 'So You Think You Can Dance.' It's about having heart and being able to touch people."

 

JD McPherson-Virginian Pilot Feature

If either of the presidential candidates wants to point to evidence of job creation, they might want to name-drop J.D. McPherson.

After the 35-year-old middle school art teacher in Broken Arrow, Okla., was handed a pink slip, he promptly grabbed his guitar and hit the road, effectively creating his own small business. But the musician's second act was hardly intentional.

"I never would have quit my job," McPherson admitted. "I have a family to provide for. I couldn't just say, 'Sorry, kids, I'm going to ditch my steady gig so I can play some rock 'n' roll shows," he laughed.

Not that the scenario was all that farfetched. After all, McPherson was in a band that had recorded an independent album.

"We worked extremely hard on the album and we played some gigs every once in a while, but that was the extent of it; I was a teacher. If I hadn't been let go, none of this would have happened."

Not the buzzworthy music career that carries McPherson to The Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach this Monday. Not the rave reviews for McPherson's retro-rooted sound that borrows from influences like Little Richard and Fats Domino as well as punk rock and hip-hop.

"I went through just about every subcultural phase there was," he said. "There's a picture of me wearing all black and a Cure T-shirt, but I still had a hillbilly mullet haircut, so clearly I was trying to figure things out."

One thing never in doubt was McPherson's passion for the arts. After studying film in college, he earned a master's degree in fine arts, which landed him his teaching position.

"The only thing I miss is the kids," McPherson said of his former occupation."You wouldn't think middle school teachers would be involved in cloak-and-dagger stuff, but they are. It was pretty political and cutthroat."

In 2010, McPherson released his debut album, "Signs & Signifiers." It was picked up and reissued by Rounder Records earlier this year. The record's old-school vibe was produced with vintage microphones, old tube amplifiers and an analog reel-to-reel tape recorder.

"Everybody was in the same room, playing together," McPherson noted. "That's almost a radical concept at this point, because it's not how it's done anymore. These days you put headphones on the drummer, give him a metronome, and he lays down a drum track. The next day the bass player records his part and then the guitarist comes in and plays. That's why you get this homogenized sound. There's no evidence of the hand in it at all."

That throwback attitude inspired many critics to describe McPherson in a way that once made him wince.

"The term 'retro' used to bother me," he said. "But I understand why people use it. At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what word people use. If someone is excited by what we do, they can say whatever they want."

Natalie MacMaster Feature-Virginian Pilot

With her pop star looks and vibrant showmanship, Natalie MacMaster plays the fiddle like a rock star. And since she's been an ace with the instrument since her teen years, it might be easy to call this Canadian musician a virtuoso.

Don't.

"I think it's a great compliment when people use that term to describe me, but that's not what I am," she said. "To me, a virtuoso is someone with great technical ability, and I've never had that. My strength is a feel for the music. My husband says I have the groove."

It's a knack the musician developed while growing up on Cape Breton, an island off Nova Scotia that was settled by Scots.

"There was a fiddle in every house," MacMaster said. "Music is in our genes."

Jamming with friends and family was a part of everyday life, but the holiday season always managed to kick things up a notch. "As a kid I loved Santa Claus, but what I remember most about the holidays is the house parties," she said. "The days after Christmas right up until the first of the year were always filled with music."

That yuletide atmosphere will be in the air Tuesday when MacMaster brings her own holiday party, "Christmas in Cape Breton" to The American Theatre in Hampton.

"The show is a reflection of my Christmas memories," she said.

It's also a chance for some local children to make a few of their own. The Hampton Roads-based Virginia Children's Chorus will perform a medley of Christmas tunes with MacMaster to open the second half of her performance.

"I'm very much looking forward to that element,"MacMaster said. "It's going to very lively and joyful." As the mother of five kids under 8, the 40-year-old fiddler is familiar with the pitter-patter of little feet and says her transformation from mom to musician is pretty easy. "All you need is some glitter and a tube of lipstick," she laughed.

 And you won't hear this working mother expressing angst over striking a balance between career and family.

 "I actually like being on stage even more now," she revealed. "It's my little departure from momhood. When you're on stage you're in your own world. It's wonderful for the time that it lasts."

MacMaster was just a teenager when she self-released her first album, which was only available on cassette. The fiddler's toe-tapping jigs and Scottish reels won her a loyal following and made her an in-demand collaborator. She's toured with The Chieftains and bluegrass great Alison Krauss and won a Grammy for her work with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. MacMaster's live performances generate buzz thanks in part to a trick she's perfected over the years.

"I was just 16 when I first started step dancing and fiddling at the same time," she recalled. "As the years went on, people came to expect it. As you get older you get a good sensibility for what the crowd wants. It's called getting your show legs."

Last year, MacMaster released her 11th album, "Cape Breton Girl," a title that seems to sum up the fiddler's attitude. "I was never trying to conquer the world," she noted. "I'm a traditional girl. My only motivation has always been about making great music. I just want to play."

Karmin Feature-Virginian Pilot



In early 2011, a quirky indie duo named Karmin began posting its homemade music videos on YouTube.

The group quickly went viral and became an online sensation, but unlike so many of their viral peers, Karmin found a way to migrate its popularity outside the digital world. Since posting those first videos, Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan have performed on "Saturday Night Live," made the cover of Rolling Stone, and count Kanye West among their admirers.

Monday, the band will headline a gig at The NorVa in Norfolk. But while they've logged millions of views on YouTube, the engaged musicians and their smiling covers of pop songs don't appeal to everybody. One music critic called them "cringe inducing." Another called Karmin's existence "a crime against humanity." Your view depends on whether you find the duo's versions of Top 40 hits to be a gimmick, or the work of geniuses.

Either way, Karmin's viral cover songs have made an impression. And now they're hoping to parlay that buzz into interest for their original material.

The duo recently released their debut album, "Hello." The pair's mix of pop and hip-hop is conveyed with the same kind of goofball charisma that made Karmin an Internet phenomenon - one that was the result of a marketing brainstorm session.

As newcomers, Heidemann and Noonan realized it was unlikely a mass audience would seek out their music. That's when inspiration hit. The notable rapping skills of a 20-something white girl from Nebraska didn't remain a secret for long and the blogosphere blew up after Karmin posted its rendering of "Look at Me Now" by Chris Brown. The clip has since been viewed more than 76 million times.

Karmin got some celebrity love too. Roots percussionist Questlove, an early supporter, even performed on Karmin's YouTube video cover of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass." While not as endearing as the version by British tykes Sophia Grace and Rosie of "Ellen DeGeneres Show" fame, Karmin's Minaj cover still has its charms.

While fans wait for the duo's next move, let's take a look at a few of their buzzworthy covers and what the people of the Internet have to say about them.

"Party Rock Anthem" The original by LMFAO is an exuberant club-ready piece of hip-hop heaven that was everywhere in 2011. Karmin's version is perhaps its least successful homage, but exhibits the duo's interpretive creativity. The lone keyboard instrumentation is more pity party than anthem. But it's Heidemann's bizarre facial contortions that seem to have sparked the most wickedly entertaining web comments. "She forgot to take her meds," and "Her eyes scare me," are two of the more G-rated insults directed at the singer's theater kid histrionics.

"Look at Me Now" There's good reason this Karmin cover of the Chris Brown track scored the duo a record deal. Love her or hate her, there's no denying Heidemann's razor-sharp verbal agility on Brown's bouncy ode to his self-proclaimed awesomeness.

Karmin's supporters included rap star The Game and "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, who both shared the clip with Twitter followers. But not everyone is a believer. The hilariously snarky website Gawker was so appalled by the specter of Karmin that it compiled the mocking tome, "A Hater's Guide to Karmin."

"Someone Like You" There's nothing jokey about this lovely version of Adele's hit. Heidemann and Noonan sing beautifully. If this is any indication of how Karmin sounds when swapping stunt for sincerity, the duo may very well have a long career.

The Deloreans Feature- Virginian Pilot

Getting into character can be a complex process for some performers. Not for Windle Willoughby.

The member of The Deloreans, a Hampton Roads-based ’80s tribute band, said being Billy Idol is a breeze.

“All it takes is a box of L’Oreal No. 205, extra bleach blond and some hair gel,” he laughed.

Toss in a few leather-gloved fist pumps, a well-timed lip curl, and Willoughby is pretty much a dead ringer for the “White Wedding” singer.

“I’m totally recognizable,” said the band’s keyboard player and one of its seven vocalists. “I don’t even need business cards anymore.”

The resemblance to the iconic ’80s figure may seem obvious now, but it wasn’t always so. Willoughby, who’s 37, came of age in the era of Nirvana and grunge-inspired flannel shirts. By that time, Billy Idol’s punk chic was about as relevant as a Rubik’s Cube and had faded from the public eye.

“I grew up in the ’90s, so on a personal level, that’s the music and era that I identify with,” Willoughby said.

Even so, a gig’s a gig, so when his brother and a few musician friends got the idea of forming The Deloreans in 2007, Willoughby agreed to join them.

“I was like, yeah, an ’80s band, sure why not. I wasn’t ambivalent about it, but I can’t say I was that ecstatic about it either.”

As it turns out, the decision proved to be a very wise career move. It may be a cliche, but music really is the soundtrack to our youth, no matter the generation. For the original MTV generation, ’80s music represents carefree times, and nostalgia can mean big business. But the price of admission includes more than just a grab bag of cover tunes.

The Deloreans, who play The Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach on New Year’s Eve, are all in when it comes to embodying the era of excess.

 “We are like an ’80s theme park,” Willoughby said. “We’ve got the costumes; we got the look and the attitude. When you come to a Deloreans show, you feel like you’re actually in the ’80s.”

Each member of the eight-piece unit gets their moment to shine, swapping off the lead role in tunes from Madonna to Twisted Sister.

“The thing about ’80s music is that every song is like a party,” Willoughby said. And he’s more than happy to play the part of its merry prankster host.

When it’s his turn to take the lead as Billy Idol, Willoughby plays the part with all the hedonistic gusto the British musician became known for.

“I wind up doing stuff that would get most people thrown out of a club, but I’m actually getting paid to do it,” Willoughby laughed. “I’m usually on top of a bar or on a chair right in the middle of the crowd. One time I jumped up on a table with my big black boots, just getting into the song, and I stomped on a glass. Shrapnel went everywhere.”

When Willoughby isn’t performing with The Deloreans, he’s a music teacher in Virginia Beach, as are many of his bandmates. Still, it’s fair to ask if spraying on Aqua Net and wearing neon ever gets old.

“I always get a charge out of playing in this band,” Willoughby said. “Every time we perform there’s always at least one person who is seeing us for the first time. When they hear a song they haven’t heard since they were in seventh grade, it’s like magic. That’s the appeal, and that’s why they keep coming back. We touch on love and memories, and that makes people feel good.”

Martina McBride Feature- Virginioan Pilot

If anyone appreciates the realm of social media, it's Martina McBride.

While the 46-year-old mother of three may seem an unlikely inhabitant of the Twittersphere, the country music superstar is very much plugged in. She tweets regularly, posts often on Facebook and is a prolific pinner.

"I'm kind of obsessed with Pinterest right now," she confessed.

 McBride is even a follower of @DrunkenMartina, a fake twitter account that pokes fun at the singer's contemporaries with humorous posts supposedly written by McBride after one too many glasses of Chardonnay.

"I think it's hilarious," she said.

With her socially minded lyrics and charity work, McBride is often depicted as somewhat serious. In the virtual arena, the Grammy-winner gets to display a more playful side, even if people aren't always in on the joke.

Who knew a recent Facebook post titled "Things I Don't Get," which included decaf coffee and artichokes, would arouse so much feedback? "
You wouldn't believe how many comments I got about those dang artichokes," she said with a laugh during a recent phone conversation from her home in Nashville. "C'mon, people! I didn't say I hated them, I just said I didn't get them, so please stop sending me recipes!"

Such are the hazards of having such a passionate fan base. On the flip side, we can thank the singer's superfans for encouraging her to reprise one of her more popular outings.

After a six-year layoff, McBride is once again taking out the tinsel for her "Joy of Christmas Tour," which plays the Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk on Saturday. She will likely include songs from her platinum-selling "White Christmas" album, originally released in 1998 and repackaged 10 years later with a few new holiday tracks.

"The Christmas season is by far the McBride family's favorite time of the year," she said. "Every year we go out and get a live tree and decorate it together, and each year I give my girls a new Christmas ornament. I love traditions, so to be a part of that for someone else is really cool for me."

As for McBride's yuletide set list, she says she plans to mix it up.

 "We'll do everything from 'Let It Snow' to 'Blue Christmas,' some of the more pop numbers, and then we build up to the hymns like 'O Come All Ye Faithful' and 'O Holy Night.' That's the really powerful part of the show because those songs are about the true meaning of Christmas and they're also challenging to sing."

With her high-octane soprano, McBride routinely hits those soaring, celestial notes. Her powerhouse pipes have helped make the singer one of the most successful female artists in country music. But it's McBride's substance that has made her stand out.

"I'd like to be known as someone who records songs that are intelligent and emotional," she said."I don't want to be thought of as fluff."

From tackling domestic violence on her hit "Independence Day" to breast cancer on "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" off her latest album, "Eleven," McBride is anything but. With 24 Top-10 country music singles to her name, the musician's uplifting anthems and power ballads have obviously struck a chord.

And although she's been nominated a record 15 times for female vocalist of the year by the Country Music Association, McBride doesn't feel like she's done it all.

 "I keep looking for new places to go with my music," she said. "Of course, it's fun to play arenas and pretend like you're a rock star, but for me, making a connection is the thing that makes it all worthwhile. That's the real payoff."