Musical Treats at Sprout

I am so glad the holidays are over and things are starting to pick back up again. I was going crazy with so little happening (other than parties) for the past two weeks.

Happily, tonight was a satisfying kick-off to a new year. I started at the Empress to meet a friend for their Tuesday tasting, which, due to it being the first week back, had been scaled back. Not to worry, it was still superb.

Friend arrived first and had already ordered a bottle of the Ferrande Sauvignon Blanc, a surprise upon my first taste because she never goes French (and ended up none too fond of it, but manged to drink it anyway). She'd spent the day addressing body part needs and I heard the stories to prove it.

We were one of only two tables there for the tasting, which offered three pairings instead of the usual four (reducing the price form a very reasonable $15 to a mere $10).

On the menu: crabcake with Granny Smith apple slaw paired with Dry Creek Chenin Blanc, Manchego and English pea risotto served with Lunetta Prosecco and finally sweet potatoes with a garlic zucchini saute and the Hob Nob Pinot Noir.

When I got there, the music was absent and there was no way I could deal with that, so I asked our server about it. Technical difficulties, she assured me, but they were working on it. At last, David Bowie's "Young Americans" became audible (and later "Rebel, Rebel") but when the CD finished, it came on a second time and a third. Oops. Vintage if you must, but variety essential.

Friend also ordered the decadent white truffle potato soup, a side of English peas (her first ever; she was overcome with the wonder of them), and the dessert trio with a side of English peas to go. I had chocolate/chili pate, always a delightfully spicy way to end a meal there.

Peas became the emblem of the evening when Chef Carly told our server that there was pea in the ladies' room and that she needed to clean it up. She disgustedly walked in to find a single English pea on the floor. That's chef humor for you (full disclosure: we laughed).

After a three-hour meal, we parted ways so I could go to Sprout for a show and she could go home to rest up before returning to work tomorrow after a long break; her dread was palpable.

At Sprout, owner Laurie told me that Victory farms is taking over the market portion of the restaurant, a situation sure to be a win/win for both. It'll begin next month with full market goodness by May.

In the back room, the bands were setting up and the guy responsible for their label, Crafty Records, was designing his merch table. I chatted with some of the musicians while everything got fully formed.

I must have shown my true colors because later Crafty guy asked me, "Want a bookmark?" to which I responded, "What makes you think I read?"

"Cause you're wordy," he said, nailing this stranger. Let's call a spade a spade, shall we?

Crazy and the Brains, from Jersey, got the ball rolling with their high-energy odes to the Ramones and the Clash. Songs were short, hard and full-on (some kid said to his friend, "This is really loud," and I just looked at him in pity).

I was really impressed with the fact that they had a xylophone player, Jeffrey, whose percussion added such an interesting sound to their music, which included a cover of Bow Wow Wow's 1982 cover "I Want Candy." Now when's the last time you heard that gem?

After the volume and energy of C&TB, up came folkie Gabriel Gall of Relatives, but minus his band for the first time tonight. He had a hushed and appealing voice and was accompanied by his brother Jacob on percussion for a few songs.

During one, he said, "In my head, this is where I hear everybody singing along." Measured beat. "Please don't do that." Most interesting lyric: "I am dying to say what's on my mind. I will make a lampshade of my love."

Isaac Gillespie and his improvised band came next and since he'd been one of the musicians I'd talked to before the show, I knew that his sound had been compared to that of the Band, which was right on.

It had a raw-edged Americana feel to it and this time Jeffrey the xylophone player was on drums. Turns out he was a drummer before going to school for percussion, so now he hits anything (well, I might add).

Isaac began by acknowledging, "There's nothing more pathetic than the sound of guitars tuning." A tuner was brought in. He encouraged a singalong for the title track of their new CD, "I Will Wreck Your Life," promising that the wrecking wouldn't be as bad as heroin, but more like booze. Forewarned is forearmed.

They finally got some (limited) dancing going when Isaac said, "We'd like to play a song by the godfather of soul, Steve Miller" and then did a cover of 1976's "Rockin' Me." We were covering some vintage ground tonight, kids.

Headlining was local favorite Ben Shepherd, one of the many who left RVA for NYC and (fortunately) returned. All of the musicians who preceded him acknowledged their respect for his amazing songwriting skills.

He took the stage simply with an acoustic guitar and launched into a song about being mugged. From there, his songs meandered all over the place, always with a compelling storyline. Example: "What I can't fathom or really understand is the world that existed before I was born."

It was unfortunate that so many people didn't stay for the entire show. The first three bands, with their changing players, were a huge treat for the Tuesday night audience that stayed put. Add in that it was a free show and it's even tougher to understand why more music-lovers didn't show up for an excellent show.

Oh, well, their loss, not mine. Of course, as I was discussing with a few of the musicians just before I left, considering that the top-grossing tour of 2010 was Bon Jovi, one has to wonder what's going on in the music appreciation world anyway.

Living on a prayer, indeed. My prayer would be that we continue to be lucky enough to host talent, both traveling and local, for low and no cost in Richmond.

That would keep on rockin' my world.