Standing on stage at the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) at VCU, musical artist Jordana Nye couldn’t help but dance a little, twirling her body and lifting her arms as if engaging in some balletic port de bras. While it was her own music that she was moving to, songs she had written and recorded for her latest album, 2024’s “Lively Premonition,” she was hearing it arranged in a way that was completely different from her own original composition. Instead of a breezy SoCal pop song, it was something more akin to chamber music, supported by just an upright piano and a string quartet.

“I was totally in shock that this could even happen with something that I wrote,” says Nye. “That someone else would go as far as to sit down and arrange this thing that I created with my friend [Emmett Kai], and that people would play it as a string quartet.” Nye admits the shock was even greater hearing it all for the first time during rehearsals. “I almost cried,” she says.

Nye’s intimate performance was the first in what is intended to be a new, ongoing live music series that pairs nationally touring artists with Virginia-based ensembles, transforming selections of the former’s song catalog into exciting new musical interpretations. The series, christened “Intersection,” is the brainchild of Travis Tucker and Scott Lane, the respective head of production and creative producer of Overcoast Music + Sound, an award-winning firm of composers and sound designers headquartered in Richmond and New York City that has found significant success contributing to video commercials and film.

Variation on the same idea

Before entering a world of steady paychecks and health insurance, both Tucker and Lane lived their lives as working-class musicians, playing in bands, touring and generally being part of a community that would help one another record songs, assist in production and distribution of albums, and use their DIY experience to hustle for an audience.

While exploring viable avenues to put his skills as a musician to use, Tucker began an internship doing custom compositions for commercial work. Building knowledge and making inroads with other professionals in the field, Tucker says “we decided, collectively and haphazardly to start our own company. That’s where Overcoast came from.” Meanwhile, as traditional music opportunities began to dwindle and disappear altogether during the COVID pandemic, Lane found work as a freelance composer, ultimately leading him to the door of Tucker and Overcoast.

One day through a bit of happenstance, Tucker came across a series of archived work Lane had produced called “RVATRACK.

“It was this all-volunteer live video performance where we would film a song from a band who was from Richmond who was just trying to make a go of it professionally,” says Lane. “We did this once a month for two years straight, and Travis discovered these videos when I started working at Overcoast.”

As it had turned out, Overcoast had pursued a similar venture of its own appropriately dubbed the Overcoast Sessions, filming various artists in unconventional performance spaces throughout Virginia. Recognizing that they had both separately come up with a variation of the same idea, discussions of a creative relaunch together naturally began taking place. “It took a decent amount of time for us to start to have an understanding of what it was going to be,” says Tucker. “There were multiple iterations and ideas that got very complex.”

Ultimately, Tucker and Lane decided to keep things simple: invite an artist from outside the city limits of the Virginia capital, pair them with local music artists, have them rehearse newly arranged versions of the guest’s recorded songs, and then perform a live mini-set of those tracks all while filmed in front of a live audience. From a logistical standpoint this is far easier said than done, especially as a brand-new enterprise.

“There were a lot of things that we wanted to make sure that we did right the first time so that it was received well enough for us to do it again and again.” Even Nye admits to feeling the weight of the occasion. “If I felt any nervousness second to just the sheer performance of it all it was the thought that this has to be good because I’m the first one they’ve asked.”

Looking for a performance space that could accommodate their audio and visual needs Tucker and Lane reached out to Chioke I’Anson, director of community media at the VPM+ICA Community Media Center. “For a while, whenever I would see Scott, he’d mention his desire to make a special music event in Richmond,” says I’Anson. “We knew we were onto something when we immediately thought of the name of the event. And what do you know? The ICA is right at the biggest intersection in the city.”

With their venue secured, the goal was to capture something singular, but could still be easily edited into digestible postings online. “There is a format to develop a larger story that we could work on where we can cut the full 20-30 minute show together,” says Lane. “But for now, we’re just focused on the single songs to build the brand up so that people know what to expect. And it also delivers that message of purpose.”

Richmond is a hotbed of talent

Of course, the whole conceit of “Intersection” and its remix of instrumentation could not be possible without the expertise of accomplished pianist and singer/songwriter Calvin Brown. Brown has become a renowned figure in the Virginia music scene, not just for his knowledge of genre (roots, jazz, gospel, soul, rock, hip-hop, etc.) but for his skills as an arranger and musical director.

“The first person who came to mind was Calvin,” says Lane. “I mean he’s ubiquitous in town here as a piano player. But having worked with him as an arranger on records, the guy’s absolutely brilliant. He doesn’t really put it out there that arranging is something that he does, but he went to Berkeley College of Music for film scoring on a full ride. He’s just one of those unique guys who’s full of surprises.”

While online browsers may ultimately watch the edited segments that make “Intersection” what it is because of its featured, visiting artist, it’s the hope of Tucker and Lane that the series’ rotating cast of supporting musicians receive their own due recognition.

“It always feels like Richmond is this —I don’t want to say total secret — but there’s just so much talent in Richmond that doesn’t often get that national spotlight,” says Tucker. “Or it always feels like it’s teetering on the edge of exploring.  And that was definitely some of the drive behind this, to create something that really showcases how amazing the Richmond music scene is, while also hopefully getting it connected with some national acts.”

Lane shares a similar opinion of Richmond’s diamond-in-the-rough reputation.

“I have been to pretty much every major city in the country, and have lived in a few of them. And I can say outright there is not a place that has more concentration of talent than Richmond. In terms of per capita, what’s going on here, it’s just a hotbed of talent in a lot of different ways.”

With the goal of having “Intersection” become a quarterly event for the time being, as word spreads and more potential business partners and artistic collaborators are drawn in by its intent, Tucker and Lane are nothing but hopeful as to where the project will naturally progress. “It’s very open-ended—in a good way,” says Tucker. “We’ve got millions of ideas. We’re just trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves.”

I’Anson speaks more philosophically on what “Intersection” can become and what it can provide a growing audience: “I was thinking about this the other day. Musicians get together and play. The first plays a note, the second plays the harmony. Then, another player might play a dissonant chord; literally a chord that clashes with the others. But on a metaphorical level, the dissonance is still harmony, since it’s part of the plan of the song. Even if it was improvised, it can always find resolution. Music is maybe the best medium there is for helping humanity understand the beauty that comes from working together.”

For Nye the experience was something she never even had on her radar as something she would have the opportunity to do. Now it’s a feeling she wholeheartedly expects to try and replicate in her songwriting going forward.

“It was so cool,” she recalls when first heard Brown’s arrangements. “I kind of had a feeling of what it might sound like, but with the dissonant notes in places that weren’t there originally. It sounded magical. As an as an orchestra kid all of it is definitely on the list of things that need to happen on my next record.”

The next Intersection: Music and Storytelling on Broad and Belvidere is tentatively scheduled for July 11, but the artist has not yet been announced. For more info, visit the ICA at VCU’s website.