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...
TRAVEL: A Weekend of London Pubs
(Veer publisher Jeff Maisey enjoys a pint of Fuller’s London Pride outside The Red Lion.) By Jeff Maisey “Congratulations,” said John. “You’ve found the London pub where locals hang out.” I had bellied up to the bar at The Ship & Shovell, pardoned myself for the...
ESSAY: The Things I Carry
When my mom died, in 2015, I was faced with a decision—or rather, a multitude of decisions: what to retrieve from her house—my childhood home—and what to leave behind. Some decisions were relatively easy. I wished I could take her piano, which she taught me to play...
2023 Virginia Arts Festival Announced
Soprano Julia Bullock will be featured during the VAF’s co-commissioned “Five Freedom Songs” composed by Jessie Montgomery. Photo by Allison Michael Orenstein. BY JEFF MAISEY Virginia Arts Festival’s magnificent 25th anniversary season might seem like a hard...
ESSAY:Tangled Up in Blue
NO EASY BEAT: Tom Robotham’s “backstage/all access pass” to the frontlines of NYC’s crime and fire scenes in the late 1970s. By Tom Robotham Recently on Facebook, I saw a meme asserting that there’s no such thing as a good cop: they’re either dirty, clean but...
NEWS: Hermitage Museum’s Rapid Capital Campaign
Staff Report The Hermitage Museum and Gardens has begun a rapid capital campaign with the goal of raising $3.5 million for needed renovations to its Visual Arts School, a Tudor England-styled building, and for enhancements to its grounds. “The preservation and...
ESSAY: Powerless
By Tom Robotham On the morning of September 30, when hurricane Ian started to make its presence felt in Norfolk, I was watching CNN’s coverage of the devastation in Florida. Since my oldest friend lives in Fort Myers—ground zero, as it turned out—I was worried...
NEWS: Lynne Seagle Has Been a Transformative Leader
(Lynne Seagle. Photo by Mark Edward Atkinson) By Jeff Maisey After more than 40 years, Hope House Foundation Executive Director Lynne Seagle will step aside on New Year’s Day upcoming. During the past four-plus decades, Seagle has been a transformative leader, a...
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...
The Local Nutcrackers
(Ballet Virginia’s “Nutcracker” performance by professional dancers.) By Jeff Maisey In retail, many programs exist to “Buy Local” or “Shop Local During the Holidays.” These promotional efforts advocate for supporting locally owned and operated business competing...
King’s Singers: A Christmas Wish Granted
By Jeff Maisey Since the late 1960s, The King’s Singers — hailing from King’s College, Cambridge in England — have made Christmastime special by performing ancient carols from the Renaissance period and then later incorporating a diverse array of modern holiday season...
A Zip, Roaring Christmas Show with Squirrel Nut Zippers
By Jim Morrison When Jimbo Mathus decided to relaunch Squirrel Nut Zippers in 2016 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough, "Hot," he moved forward, not back, sending out the call among his New Orleans friends to build a new band playing the old songs....
Virginia Chorale Honors NATO For Holiday Concert
(The members of Virginia Chorale. Photo by Steve Budman) By Jeff Maisey If choral music has a high season, surely it’s the holidays. Over the past thousand years, the most ancient of all music forms — vocal — has been composed for religious ceremonies as well as...
McCartney’s Gift of Photography
(Self-portrait. London, 1963 © 1963 - 1964 Paul McCartney under exclusive license to MPL Archive LLP) By Jeff Maisey Paul McCartney has provided longtime fans a gift this holiday season. First there was the brilliant roll out of “Now and Then” — mini-documentary,...
MUSIC: Winter Winds
(Vocalist Amanda Batcher coming home to sing with the Tidewater Winds) By Jim Roberts John Brewington got his Christmas wish back in August—when Amanda Batcher agreed to sing at the Tidewater Winds’ upcoming holiday concert. Brewington is the musical director for the...
STAGE: A Larger Christmas Carol
(Beatty Barnes Jr. portraying Ebenezer Scrooge in Virginia Stage Company's “A Merry Christmas Carol.” Photo by Sam Flint. By Jerome Langston "We’ve been able to build this – for the last 3 years,” says Tom Quaintance, Virginia Stage Company’s producing Artistic...
ART NEWS: Remembering Anne Iott
(Anne Iott’s “Fallen Tree II,” Watercolor, 1998) By Betsy DiJulio On October 8, this community lost someone who has been called a “lodestar of my better self,” “a force of nature” and “a pit bull for her faculty.” As five people who worked with Anne Iott for decades...
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...
The Bier Garden Festhaus Opens in Virginia Beach
Words by Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Photos by Diane Catanzaro Picture this: You’re sitting at a long table with thirteen new best friends in a well-lit room, the ceiling festooned with blue and white checkerboard banners from the Paulaner Brewery in Munchen...
Proper Lager Debuts
By Jeff Maisey O’Connor Brewing Company will unveil its ultra-clean, Helles-style lager dubbed Proper Lager on Saturday, February 16 with a party that includes music from The Janks (4:30 PM) and Mosquito Cabaret (7 PM). Proper Lager will replace the brewery’s R&R...
Cape Charles Shining Bright with Brewery
By Jeff Maisey Virginia’s Eastern Shore has long been known for its bountiful harvest yielded from the endless fields of potatoes, watermelons, soybeans, corn, and other vegetables as well as the freshest seafood found anywhere — especially oysters. In the past...
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