New Grant Funding Model Aims to Help Hampton Residents Fight Shoreline Erosion
By Charlie Paullin A new Hampton program aims to help residents address shoreline erosion by allowing some funds to be provided upfront rather than solely requiring them to pay for improvements themselves and then seek reimbursement. The funds are available through...
Local Bagpiper Reflects on Virginia International Tattoo
By Jim Roberts I’ve played the bagpipes for more than 30 years. My piping has taken me all over the United States and to Canada and Scotland. My band, Tidewater Pipes & Drums, has opened for Rod Stewart—twice—and we’ve played on stage with the Chieftains,...
Violent Crime in Norfolk is up. The jury is still out on why — and what to do about it.
A portable security camera on Granby Street in downtown Norfolk being used by police as part of a hot spot policing strategy. (Photo by Jim Morrison) By Jim Morrison In March of 2021, a Norfolk prosecutor who had recently retired after 27 years wrote to City...
ESSAY: On Television
By Tom Robotham As an instructor of media studies, I spend a lot of time thinking about the ways in which various mass media affect our lives. I’m struck, especially, by the fact that today’s children can barely imagine what life was like before the advent of...
ESSAY: The Sound of Surprise
(Count Basie at his piano in 1955. Photo by James J. Kriegmann) By Tom Robotham Whenever someone asks me what kind of music I like, my go-to answer is, all of it. I’d be hard-pressed to pick a single favorite genre. That said, when I reflect on the richness of my...
2023 VEER Music Awards Results
By Jeff Maisey On February 5, the City of Hampton presented the 2023 Veer Music Awards at The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery. The Honorable Mayor Donny Tuck of Hampton personally presented the first pair of awards — Best Smooth Jazz and Best Traditional Jazz —...
16 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month
Compiled by Staff February marks Black History Month and we’ve compiled a checklist to help you fully enjoy celebrating through speaker forums, education, visual art, performing arts, and culinary art. A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Virginia Symphony...
Lessons from the Dojo
By Tom Robotham Recently, I finished watching the fifth season of Cobra Kai, the Netflix series that serves as a sequel to Karate Kid. Its charm lies in its campiness—especially during the fight scenes, which are absurdly over the top. And yet, while I enjoyed...
2023 Veer Music Awards Nominees Announced
We are delighted to announce the nominees for the 2023 Veer Music Awards (see below). Online voting will begin this weekend at veermag.com Each category will have a write-in option as it is inevitable some talented musician/band who released an album, EP, single or...
Historic High Note for Symphony
Dr. Andrea F. Warren By Jeff Maisey On December 1, Dr. Andrea F. Warren became president and CEO of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Noteworthy is that Dr. Warren now has the distinction of being the first Black woman to head a significant symphony orchestra in...
Overnite Lows High on Original Songwriting
(Larry Berwald and Scott McMahan) By Jeff Maisey Musicians Larry Berwald and Scott McMahan, in collaboration with The Roads Bistro in Virginia Beach, have started a new series they call Songs & Stories: An Evening of Original Music. Presented on the fourth...
Virginia Opera’s Madama Butterfly is the Real Deal
By Montague Gammon III Authenticity is a hallmark of Virginia Opera’s early March, Season 49 closing production of Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini’s tragedy of Japanese-American romance. From the Asian-born director's fundamental ideas about staging it, to...
Three Musketeers Brings Rankin Back to Norfolk
By Jerome Langston It was early in my recent phone chat with Tom Quaintance, the Producing Artistic Director of Virginia Stage Company, and award-winning fight director Steve Rankin (pictured above), that I realized how far back their friendship goes. Tom is about to...
As Goode as it Gets
(The exterior is aglow with European charm. Photo by CPix Aperture.) By Betsy DiJulio Gone are the pungent aromas of hay, manure, and gasoline. But in their place, as of January 13, are faint whiffs of damp clay, oil paint, and linseed oil. Nestled into the...
Roberta Lea Poised For Greatness
By Jim Morrison While the COVID pandemic forced many artists into secluded hibernation, it provided Roberta Lea with the opportunity to venture down the path of a new career. Lea, who dabbled in songwriting and played open mics since she was a teen two decades ago,...
Dialing-up A Thrilling Murder Mystery
(Michelle Liu Coughlin (pictured) and Daniel Domingues are making their Virginia Stage Company performance debuts in Dial M For Murder.) By Jerome Langston “Well I make no apology for saying that I love this play. It’s a wonderful play. It’s a brilliant piece of...
Sanctuary Road: An Important American Opera
(Composer Damien Geter) By Montague Gammon III An unsung hero of the Underground Railroad, which spirited enslaved African-Americans to havens safe from bondage in the years from the late 1700’ to the time of the Emancipation Proclamation, gets that unsung status...
COMEDY: Preachin’ to the Crowd
By Jerome Langston The subject of comedian Preacher Lawson’s lengthy locs, comes up quite early in our recent phone chat. His hair is even alluded to in his most recent comedy tour name, Loc’d And Loaded, though I guess the tour name didn’t stick...as he quickly...
REVIEW: UPAC Delivers Inspirational “A Motown Christmas” to Zeiders American Dream Theater
By Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton While standing on the main stage at Zeiders American Dream Theater in Virginia Beach, Sharon Cook screams "Representation Matters!" Standing on stage with her are Derrion La’Zachan Hawkins (Director), Jennifer Kelly-Cooper...
A Bobby Black Hat NYE
By Jeff Maisey Local blues legend Bobby Black Hat Walters shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, 2023 was one of his most prolific. In addition to two sold-out concert events at Ferguson Center for the Arts, the singer/songwriter/harmonica player will squeeze...
Beer Conversation with Phil Smith
By Jeff Maisey Some of the best, free-flowing conversations can be had over a beer — or any cocktail, glass of wine and dinner. I have always found this to be true, and especially when traveling. Recently, I gave Brick Anchor Brew House owner Phil Smith a...
Vegans Can Clean-Up at Sloppy Seconds
By Betsy DiJulio I don’t know that, given the meaning of the slang phrase “sloppy seconds”—which conjures up nothing appetizing—I would have necessarily chosen it as the name of my restaurant. But, alas, that’s the name and I will go back for Thoughtless Thirds. ...
Penang Town: One Restaurant, Many Flavors
By Marisa Marsey If you can travel to only one European country, pick Switzerland. With French overtones in the West, Italian in the South, and German and Austrian in the North and East, it’s a veritable continental quilt. Likewise, if you can visit only one Asian...
German Wunderbar Hefe to Debut at Norfolk NATO Festival
By Jeff Maisey A traditional German hefeweizen beer will make its debut on Saturday, April 27 in Town Point Park as part of the Norfolk NATO Festival’s International Village. Wunderbar represents the third consecutive year Norfolk NATO Festival’s Board of Directors...
Monday Morning QB-ing Saturday Morning IPA
By Jeff Maisey For just over one week in late February, Norfolk-based Smartmouth Brewing Company’s limited release Saturday Morning IPA with marshmallows was the most famous beer in America. Talk about going viral: national media outlets always looking for bizarre...
Virginia Craft Beer Rising in London
By Jeff Maisey Several independent craft breweries from Virginia traveled across the pond in late February to test the waters and taste buds on consumers and pub owners during the Craft Beer Rising event at the Old Truman Brewery London, England. Craft Beer Rising is...
Samoa Soiree Merits Your Attention
By Marisa Marsey What will they think of next? Crab cakes brightened with a surprise burst of Savannah Smiles. Torchon of foie gras in a buttery tuile fashioned from Trefoils. Baked Alaska where Thin Mint ice cream is just the tip of the iceberg. Such previous entries...
Dog-n-Burger Grille to Become Redwood Smoke Shack
By Cindy Mackey Dog-n-Burger Grille, a Ghent favorite established in 1969, will be transformed into the popular barbeque restaurant Redwood Smoke Shack. The property at 2001 Manteo Street has been an institution over the decades for fresh-cooked hamburgers, hot dogs,...
VEGAN REVIEW: The Egg Bistro
By Betsy DiJulio Recent posts on the Vegans of Hampton Roads Facebook page had The Egg Bistro brightly lit-up on my personal “run don’t walk” radar screen. Though they have locations with vegan options in VA Beach and Suffolk, I chose the Chesapeake location from...
5 Years of Home Republic Brewpub
By Jeff Maisey Five years ago, Barbara and Joe Curtis opened what was only the second brewpub in Hampton Roads. Their decision proved insightful given the ever-expanding cast of breweries in the region. At the time, nationally-known Gordon Biersch operated a...
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