Music of Virginia - Definition and Overview

Virginia's musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues musicians and later rock and roll bands, many centered around college towns like Blacksburg, Charlottesville (home of Dave Matthews Band) and Richmond.

Punk rock

The city of Richmond has long had one of the more active punk rock scenes on the East Coast. The city is perhaps best known for shock-punk-metal band Gwar, known for wild on-stage antics. Gwar grew out of Death Piggy, a hardcore punk band that followed in the footsteps of local scene leaders White Cross. Other hardcore bands from Richmond included Graven Image and Honor Role.

Norfolk was known, during hardcore's heyday, for violent clashes between punks and local military personnel from the Navy base. Ray Barbieri (Agnostic Front, Warzone) and John Joseph McGeown (Cro-Mags) became punks while serving in Norfolk due to a judge's order.

Roanoke's hardcore scene was limited, populated mainly by Virginia Tech students from Blacksburg, led by Mir.

References

Blush, Steven. American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. 2001. ISBN 0-922915-717-7

Example Usage of Virginia