Events

[ROCK] Richmond, Virginia-based quartet J Roddy Walston & The Business formed more than 15 years ago as a by-product of Walston’s piano playing and gospel-steeped upbringing. Using a southern-fried template that’s a bit less twangy than, say, Blackberry Smoke, the band moved from Vagrant Records to the Dave Matthews-owned ATO label for their most recent releases, 2013’s Essential Tremors and  Destroyers of the Soft Life, out last fall. Walston’s piano remains an integral part of the band’s sound, but …Soft Life in particular, with guitar-driven singles like “The Wanting” and opener “You Know Me Better,” shows them trimming the fat to produce anthemic rockers that take them out of the rowdy barroom and place them somewhere on your radio dial. Thankfully, not a whole lot gets lost in translation. It may not be as gritty as it once was, but these guys still play rock and roll. Hear for yourself when they come to Babeville’s Asbury Hall on Friday, August 24 with Black Keys-influenced duo Illiterate Light opening.