(From left) HearRVA founders and music enthusiasts Elijah Hedrick and Rian Moses-Hedrick on the set of "Liner Notes," their podcast on the local music scene (Photo courtesy HearRVA)
Musicians want to be heard. Making that happen involves time and effort that could be spent making music, however. Fortunately, Richmonders Elijah Hedrick and graphic designer Rian Moses-Hedrick have started a platform to help. HearRVA shines a spotlight on Richmond musicians, connecting up-and-coming artists with music lovers.
“We’re basically trying to play matchmaker with music fans here in Richmond,” Rian says.
The promotion platform was created in July last year by the graphic designer and her husband, Elijah, who’s a technical production director at WTVR CBS 6. The couple say they wanted to draw attention to the musical talent in the city, something Elijah should know about, as he raps under the name “Eliturite.”
HearRVA’s website offers clips of local performances, a list of live music venues and playlists of songs from Richmond-based musicians, customized to personal tastes through a Buzzfeed-inspired “MixTaste Playlist” quiz. Musicians submit links to their work to be considered for promotion at no cost. The site is a passion project for the married couple and is supported by donations. The two were also granted a small loan from The Jackson Ward Collective, a hub for Black business owners in Richmond that also gave them advice for a future venture.
One of those next steps is an interview series, “Liner Notes,” which highlights local musicians and the motivations behind their music. The series launched in November with local music veteran Devonne Harris, aka DJ Harrison, who is also the bassist for jazz group Butcher Brown. “It’s a great way [for listeners] to get an intimate look into what’s going on behind some of the creative forces in the city,” Harris says. “Sometimes having extra insight adds more of a connection, so people can really go back to listen to your music and be grateful for what you do and listen to it from a different lens.”
Other musicians featured in the first season of "Liner Notes" include hip-hop artist O-Z, folk singer Mitchel Evan and indie-pop singer Erin Lunsford.
Each episode is accompanied by animations created by Richmond local Theodore Taylor III, who illustrated pop star Lil Nas X’s children’s book, “C Is for Country,” and video producer Don Jonathan Webb. “I’m trying to create reasons for people to care about the artist, and you don't have that unless you know them,” says Elijah, the series’ host. “So I want to give them a long-form interview to show who they are, talk about things as they see them.”
Rian and Elijah initially planned to create the series entirely on their own, but by the time production wrapped in October, around 12 people were involved, all of them friends or people in the Richmond music scene who wanted to help out, the couple says.
“We did, like, full eight-hour days, three interviews each day, over the course of two weekends,” Elijah says.
“Liner Notes” is available on Spotify and Apple and everywhere else you get your podcast fix, and for those interested in seeing the Richmond-focused animations, the visual version of the series gets posted on HearRVA’s website, as well as on its YouTube channel.
Rian and Elijah are looking ahead to season two of “Liner Notes,” which they plan to release in 2022. For them, everything ties back to providing exposure to local musicians.
“People always want to go to LA or New York because they think they have a better shot there, and the market’s bigger,” Rian says, “but why don’t we grow the market here?”
