Susan Jamison: The Divine Feminine
On summer days that lasted close to an eternity, she would leave the small three-room house early in the morning and enter the forest through a curtain of trees and begin her wandering, and she could name the small plants and flowers that erupted from the fecund soil and knew the names of the birds that moved from ground to treetop, and she would lie down in a bed of moss and look up into the sky and see how the sunlight filtered down like a carefully tatted lace, and she felt the warmth of the day on her skin and felt the pulse of the entire living world through every nerve ending in her body, and she would construct along the banks of the lake a tiny house crafted of mud and stones that might become the home of a frog or a toad or a salamander, and then she would wade into the water and swim to the center, then dive to the bottom twenty feet below where she would retrieve a single leaf, and then she would make her way home very late in the afternoon, and she and her parents would cast lines into the lake and draw forth bluegills and bass and catfish that her father would gut and her mother would fry up in an iron skillet over the ash-coated orange coals of an open fire.
By Charles McGuigan 05.2025
Happening now in the community:
Monthly Music Lineup At Northside Grille
Here’s a monthly list of bands and events hosted by Northside’s premier music venue—Northside Grille.
May 23, Prabir Trio; May 24, Katie & The Teardrops with L'Amour; May 25, Janet Martin; May 26, Big Memorial Day Bash--The Acousticats with J Candeed; May 28, Mike Gales & the Warriorz; May 29. Nucleus Trio; May 30, Los Hermanos Alacranes; May 31, Luckey Has Fallen; June 1, Mike Lucas; June 4, RVA SONG Swap featuring Isaac Friend, Nath & Sincerly, Iris; June 6, The Biologics; June 6, First Fridays Karaoke; June 7, Club Tubb with McVizzy, plus Last Respects; June 8, Susan Greenbaum; June 12, Brady Heck; June 13, Tarrant; June 14, The Acousticats; June 15, John Bradberry; June 18, Old Time Band; June 19, Brandon Wayne and His Lonesome Drifters; June 20, Lezlie & the Dot's; June21, Here Comes Your Band; and June 22, Jimmy Rushing Has Friends, plus Dirty Mother String Band.
Ghost of Rock and Roll From Mackenzie Roark
05.2025
Mackenzie is a powerhouse of a songwriter and a performer. She possesses a voice perfectly tempered for her original songs that have deep roots in underground country, folk, and classic rock and roll. Mackenzie is a natural storyteller in the tradition of Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt, with just enough of a humorous edge and an ironic turn of phrase to give a whimsical nod to John Prine.
May Faire Festival at Richmond Waldorf
Mark your calendars for a family-fun day in celebration of spring at Richmond Waldorf School. The annual May Faire Festival will be held from 11 am till 2pm on Saturday, May 3, rain or shine. Maypole Dance begins at 10am. The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Robin and Linda Williams at Shady Grove on May 3
The Shady Grove Coffeehouse folk music concert series concludes its 23rd season with a concert featuring Robin and Linda Williams at 8 pmon May 3.
Full of harmonies and humor, Robin & Linda Williams put on a show that is intimate, poignant, and fun, and bring the beautiful tunes and homespun wisdom that made them regulars on Prairie Home Companion for 41 years.
Third Annual Mad Hatter Art & Design Auction at the Branch Museum of Design on May 2nd
This popular event, to be held this year at 6pm on May 2, includes both a silent and a live auction, featuring works by local and national artists. Items up for auction this year include ceramics, home furnishings, wall art, paintings, jewelry, exclusive experiences and tours—even the naming rights for The Branch’s iconic gargoyle.
Our advertisers mean the world to us and allow us to do what we do. Take a look at who keeps North of the James going on our Advertisers page.
Law Day
By Jack R Johnson
Gay Pride With TransJam
By Charles McGuigan
Pink Chair Project: Easing the Pain
By Charles McGuigan
Assassination Fascination
By Fayeruz Regan
A Complete Unknown
By Chris Stewart
Zorba’s to Expand Its Menu and Change Its Name
By Charles McGuigan
Corporate Greed And Racism = TB
By Fran Withrow
Frida: Beyond the Myth
By Charles McGuigan
Susan Jamison: The Divine Feminine
By Charles McGuigan
