“Remember Me Well 1956-2006,” the benefit CD of music by Bryan Harvey, has sold out, according to Plan 9, and 1,000 more copies are being pressed. During an April 27 concert at Plan 9 on the anniversary of Harvey’s birthday, $15,000 worth of donations were given to the Harvey Family Memorial Endowment, and the Carytown Retail Merchants Association gave $5,000. So far, some of the funds given to the endowment have gone to help family and friends get counseling, says Jim Bland, owner of Plan 9. But the long-term plan, he says, is to put the money toward something “to enrich the lives of kids in the Richmond area through art and music.”
In April, power-pop rockers Aircraft, formerly known as Supercomp, took their sounds halfway across the United States on their independently planned tour along with the sisterly pop harmonies of You Guys Are Girls.
This spring Fail-Safe, the metal rockers formerly known as Memory Fade, opened the 2006 Chili Cook-Off after winning the Local X-Posure finals in April, which brought more than 700 to the Canal Club.
Among the breakups, here is a get-back-together: The Divine Affected is bringing the party back into the hard-rock scene. Its first release, “Superstar,” assaults your senses and drives them into overload. Vocalist Zaspa Fryzier and guitarist Ben Baird reunited after a three-year hiatus with the idea to create a theatric, all-out rock ‘n’ roll sound-and-stage performance. After writing as a duo for four months, they found a drummer named Trey Bennett straight out of the Whisky A Go-Go in L.A. A tour will be slated to kick off in May from a local venue.
Rock band Serotonin has been together for more than 10 years, weathering personnel changes around the core of vocalist/guitarist Mike Zacharias and lead guitarist Dave Smallwood. Serotonin’s members recently completed recording their first full-length. After all, they’re not going to break up or anything.
Looking to help foster a more congenial music scene, husband-and-wife team Dickie and Jamie Wood, a.k.a. roots-rock, bluegrass outfit The Atkinsons, formed the Richmond Roots Revival concert series. The traveling series focused on highlighting Richmond-area talent at a number of local venues. They’re recording their latest release at Jesus on the Freezer Studios with producer/engineer Steve Barber.
University of Richmond’s men’s a cappella group, The Octaves, was nominated for two Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards by the Contemporary A Cappella Society. The UR group was founded in 1990, and its seventh CD, “Corner Pocket,” was nominated for Best Male Collegiate Album. One of the cuts, “For Me This Is Heaven,” was nominated for Best Male Collegiate Song. “For Me This Is Heaven” also was chosen for the Second Annual Top Shelf A Cappella Compilation, a CD released by CASA last month.
Finally, Richmond’s hottest international superstar (except for maybe Elliot Yamin of “American Idol”), Lamb of God, is recording at local studio-to-the-stars Sound of Music in downtown’s Broad Street art district. The new disc will be named “Sacrament,” and the band reportedly has producer Machine to once again handle the knobs. Drummer Chris Adler calls the recordings “intense and very heavy.” Lamb of God is scheduled to set out on the Unholy Alliance Tour with Slayer, Children of Bodom and Mastodon beginning June 6. The final dates, including additional headlining concerts, will be announced at www.lamb-of-god.com shortly. S
