Richmond is a very low-key, conservative place. A great place to raise a family and to swap any NY real estate investment you may have for a sprawling estate, by comparison (I have family in Great Neck and a buddy who moved here from eslewhere in Long Island). I've lived here all of my 32 years and have a fairly good knowledge of the comparitive merits of the different areas of the city should you ever have any questions.
I haven't been much into the live music scene since getting fat and domesticated a few years back, but I've seen the live offerings improve greatly since an old, pre-Civil War warehouse area of the city was resuscitated a few years back with the construction of a federally funded floodwall, which stopped the James River from swamping the whole area about every couple of years. All these old warehouses were converted into bars, restaurants, and clubs. The area's called Shockoe Bottom, and you can always find a variety of live acts on most any given night. Every time I visit this area--about every 3 months or so--it seems to have expanded. I hope the trend continues, because the place has sort of a bohemian, New Orleans feel to it (but don't expect anything close to Greenwich Village or New Orleans.
A couple miles west of this area is the VCU/Fan area, where townhouses and a bohemian feel also predominate. VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) has an acclaimed music program, with lots of associated events and cool things emanating from it.
Richmond has the usual array of music festivals and such scattered throughout the year that are quite worthwhile, especially June Jubilee, which should be starting soon. National acts do come here, and there are some wonderful venues for them, large and small.
If I had to describe the modest Richmond music scene briefly, I'd say it's eclectic. Although Richmond is an old Southern capital, it's also within 500 miles of half the entire population of the US. That makes it quite a cultural crossroads (even though certain areas seem extremely WASPy). In fact, Richmond is constantly being used as a "test-market" by many companies that recognize the variety of its population's make-up. The music scene seems to reflect that variety: just about every genre seems to have it's own "society"--I personally belong to the "blues society" and try to bring my axe to as many free-jam's as possible, though I'm slacking lately.
(Sorry if I'm going on too long, but I'm not sure what your aspirations or interests are musically)
The last few times I caught live shows in NYC, I noticed them passing a hat (or bucket) around between sets to fund the band. It doesn't work this way in Richmond. I know several professional acts that make a living playing live (without a day job, even). They get like a flat fee plus a percentage of the door plus a percentage of the bar--or whatever combination they negotiate for. This one girl I know gets like $500-$1500 a night (depending on where she's playing and whether she's doing it solo or with her 4-piece band), and she works 5 nights a week...2 weeks off for vacation. Imagine!!!!!!
The proximity of Richmond to D.C., Baltimore, Virginia Beach, etc. is kinda cool in that if there's a national act or something you're interested in that's not around the corner, you're a short ride away. (And during your trip home you can giggle at those folks who spent as much on their 2-bedroom Georgetown condo as you did on your 3-story, five bedroom, 1.5 acre country club home in southside Richmond--with some of the best public schools in the country I might add).
Well, anyway, hope I've given you some insight. Lemme know if I can help more. I do know a bit about the area...where to get the most "bang for your buck" in terms of buying a house and things like that. My email is
kclark01@comcast.net.
Good luck!
