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Brett Cahoon and Good Shot Judy perform Thursday nights at the Williamsburg Lodge's Sweet Tea and Barley bar.
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Brett Cahoon and Chelsea Champ
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Good Shot Judy’s popularity has soared in recent years, with the band performing as far away as the Washington, DC area.
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Good Shot Judy has a following in the greater Williamsburg area. Michael and Elara Strand are often found on the dance floor whenever Good Shot Judy is playing.
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Elise Allred and Noah Willard enjoyed Good Shot Judy from the bar.
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In Layman Terms band members, left to right, Hamed Barbarji, Logan Layman, Cole Layman and Nick Davidson.
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Americana band Virginia Shellphish Coalition perform at Berret's Seafood and Taphouse Grill.
For musician Hamed Barbarji, who plays trumpet with the Hamed Barbarji Quartet, performing in Williamsburg has been a great stepping stone toward his success.
Barbarji, now a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, first started playing trumpet in the fifth grade at DJ Montague Elementary School. In high school, he formed the jazz quartet Take 757. The quartet got their feet wet performing at the 2nd Sundays Art & Musical festival in downtown Williamsburg as well as at the Triangle restaurant. Barbarji has also played at the Winter Blues Jazz Fest and is currently a substitute in both the Williamsburg andRichmond symphonies in addition to performing inWilliamsburg and Richmond with the Hamed Barbarji Quartet.
“Williamsburg is very supportive and welcoming of young musicians as they start out,” said Barbarji. “There are a lot of groups forming and starting their music in Williamsburg.”
Cole Layman with the local blues band In Layman Terms agrees.
“I’m very fond of the Williamsburg music scene,” he said. “Everyone is so nice. Nearly everyone knows each other, or at least of each other. It almost feels like another family to me.”
Layman began singing and playing the guitar at age five. He first formed In Layman Terms with his mother, Sandy, and his younger sister, Logan, in 2009. Today, the band, which now includes Cole and Logan Layman as well as Hamed Barbarji and Nick Davidson, performs original music throughout the area. Their latest album Strong Roots was released in October and the band performed at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee in January.
“What started off as a cute family trio has evolved into something professional,” Layman said.
In Layman Terms performs locally at Daddyo’s Tavern in Norge, Triangle, Billsburg Brewery, Water Street Grille in Yorktown and other venues on the Peninsula. The youngest member, Logan Layman, graduated high school this year and has jetted off to college along with the other members, but that won’t slow them down.
“My future goals consist of releasing more music, sticking with In Layman Terms for a long time, and, most of all, helping others through music,” Layman said.
Both Barbarji and Layman recommend young musicians interested in getting their name out start off by going out and listening to other musicians perform.
“My advice is also to never stop playing,” Layman said.“If you’re passionate, don’t ever hesitate to show it. If you have goals, don’t ever let anything get in the way of that. Follow the music.”
While most musicians play on the side, some have quit their day jobs to take a stab at performing full-time. Such is the case for Brett Cahoon, lead vocalist for the jazz band Good Shot Judy. Formed in 2013, Good Shot Judy’s popularity has soared in recent years, with the band performing as far away as the Washington, DC area.
“Good Shot Judy is my full-time gig,” Cahoon said. “It began as a hobby but as things progressed it began to be more important to me than my full-time job and I decided to make the change. You can definitely make a living gigging locally if you’re smart about it and have a sound and product that’s desirable enough to keep you booked.”
The band plays routinely in Williamsburg as well as occasionally in Yorktown and Richmond.
“I worked for 21 years in the corporate world and was working 70-80 hours a week a lot of the time,” Cahoon said. “I would never have guessed that being a full-time musician would make me work harder than that, but it has. It is amazing to make a living as a musician, but it’s still very hard work and the more often you perform, the more chances are for equipment to break and everything else under the sun to go wrong. At times, I’ve found myself having a terrible day and really getting down about it, but then I realized ‘Wait a Second. I play music for a living.’ There is no better job in the world.”
For those folks who don’t aspire to touring nationally, there are still plenty of opportunities to play live locally. Nearly every night of the week, somewhere in Williamsburg you can turn out and tune in to live, local music. No matter what your musical taste, you are sure to find a band to meet your tastes.
“The music scene in Williamsburg has grown exponentially,”said Joe Duggan, a vocalist who has been playing with the band Joe’s Day Off for the past nine years.
“When we first started, there was only a handful of bands and venues in which to play. Now, there are more and more places offering music. Williamsburg has become a thriving music community.”
That’s thanks in part to the 2nd Sundays Art & MusicFestival, which brings in acts to downtown Williamsburg each month, as well as the surge in craft breweries. Both Alewerks Brewing Company and Virginia Beer Company offer nightly entertainment, while Triangle restaurant on Prince George Street features live music most evenings. Indoors or outdoors, music can be heard at various establishments throughout the area.
From April through October, singers entertain patrons on the patio at Berret’s Seafood and Taphouse Grill. Berret’s offers music seven nights a week during the warmer months.
“The music scene in Williamsburg is very eclectic,” said Michael Kellum, a manager with Berret’s. “Each night here you’ll hear something different. Some musicians play original music and some musicians will play songs that you’llremember hearing in the back seat of the car with yourparents growing up. The musicians are here to excite us and draw us in.”
Duggan heads up Joe’s Day Off, which performs “everything except rap and opera,” he said. “We play songs that we enjoy. We play a variety of songs, sometimes four or five genres in one set. You never know what song is coming next. There is something for everybody.”
In Williamsburg, musicians run the gamut from high school kids just starting out to middle-aged men and women who perform as a hobby to retirees. There are even those who see the growing music scene as a way to make a living. Some bands play original tunes or rock covers spanning various decades while others play country, blues and beyond.
David Piatak is a musician who plays with two bands, Girl Dad and Hangar 09. Piatak started out by performing on his own at open mic night at Aromas Coffee, Café & Bakeshop on Prince George Street.
“Most everyone I know in the local scene have day jobs and often kids that keep them quite busy,” said Piatak, who plays guitar. “My music is a great outlet and hobby for me. It has blossomed from me just playing acoustic guitar at open mics to playing bass and guitar with Hangar 09 and now forming another band called Girl Dad in which I play lead guitar. It’s a lot of fun.”
Ashley Wenner also enjoys her part-time gig as a musician. She sings with her father, Brad Sindle, as part of the Something Different Duo. Wenner and Sindle formedSomething Different as a way to make extra income while tending to the care of family members; Wenner is a mother of two young children while her father tends to his aging parents.
“I am often compared to Norah Jones in style and tone, which is high praise, but we do everything from 1950s jazz standards to Chicago and Billy Joel to Adele and Alicia Keyes,” said Wenner. “We just want to play good music that people enjoy listening to.”
Wenner said performing together has strengthened the bond with her father.
“There are so many little girls who grow up and have difficulty finding a good way to continue to connect with their fathers,” Wenner said. “I am so blessed to not only have an excuse to see my dad once a week, but our work together has given me cherished memories that I can keep as an adult instead of looking back on favorite childhood memories.Music saved our relationship on so many levels.”
Kathy Parisi is a music instructor by day who playsWilliamsburg by night; she got her start performing at Busch Gardens. Parisi works an electric fiddle as part of a trio with Chris Kreibhel and Joe B. Jones once a month at Center Street Grill in New Town.
“I do describe myself as a full-time musician but it's definitely not from performing alone,” she said. “I spend most of my time teaching at the Early Childhood Music School at the Williamsburg Methodist Church. I have very rarely met a performing musician that doesn't also need a day job. I'm continually amazed by the musicians that are making this their full-time job. I have so much respect for them and try to get out and support them as much as I can.”
Whether you like jazz, bluegrass or 1980s cover bands, the idea is to get off the couch, head out and be a part of something bigger.
“Williamsburg is becoming a destination for great music,” said Bill Cogan, owner of Cogan’s Deli & Sports Pub in New Town, which features live music four nights a week. “I really enjoy seeing people who wouldn’t normally come out come here and socialize. Music brings people together.”
Brandy is a fan of 1980s Heavy Metal Hair Bands as well as 1990s Grunge. Her favorite local bands are the cover bands Dog Street Boys and Skinnerbox, who both play a mixture of songs from those decades.
Want to see a band tonight? Check our event listings online at LocalScoopMagazine.com
DOG Street Boys • facebook.com/DOG-Street-Boys-1489440934642418
Good Shot Judy • goodshotjudy.com
Hangar 009 • facebook.com/Hangar09Band
In Layman Terms • 3inlaymanterms.com
Joe’s Day Off • facebook.com/JOESDAYOFF
Kathy Parisi, Chris Krehbiel and Joe B. Jones • facebook.com/pg/chriskrehbielandjoebjones/posts
Skinnerbox • facebook.com/skinnerboxrocks
Something Different Duo • somethingdifferentduo.com