RichmondGRID.com: RVA VIBE: Long Arms

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Songfest

RVA VIBE: Long Arms

Spinning creative opportunity from a musical lull, James Menefee transformed the dormancy of one band into the birth of another. "Long Arms started as a strictly studio project of mine to pass the time while River City High was trying to reconcile what to do with itself," he recalls.

2/7/2011 10:36:57 AM

Anika Imajo

James Menefee transformed the dormancy of one band into the birth of another. | Photo by Greg Bethmann (www.bikeitup.blogspot.com)

The sessions yielded an album, Long Arms to Hold You. Long Arms, whose music Menefee describes as, "kind of right in the middle of punk, indie, folk, with a little twang in there," began playing shows last year.

Currently working on a song about Union spy and Church Hill resident Elizabeth Van Lew, he credits his Church Hill neighborhood, Richmond's history, and Richmond's active cultural life with giving him inspiration. "No one can deny the sheer breadth of talent coming out of our town," he explains, "We are so lucky to live in a town that is still trying to squeeze life out of its inhabitants, however difficult it might be at times."

In the spirit of the World Music section of this RVA Vibe issue, Menefee weighs in on the subject of music classifications, specifically addressing the question of why the phrase, "world music" might-or might not-be applied to Long Arms:

"It's just a label to describe something of foreign origin, albeit better than when Allen Lomax, ever the pioneer of the world music movement, put out that 'Library of Folk and Primitive Music.' If there were a genre of music called "Primitive Music," I think American rock and roll would lovingly embrace that title."

Friend the band on Facebook for more information about their album and upcoming shows.

Article from Issue #7