The Rock ‘n’ Soul of Richmond!

Bill Bevins Interviews Our Hometown Musicains

by David Menzies

Think music in River City and several names come to mind. Leading that pack are some talented boomers who have succeeded in keeping music at the center of their lives. BOOMERlife sat down with Steve Bassett, Betsy Q., Robbin Thompson and Page Wilson to explore their passion for tunes and their career choice. Conducting this roundtable discussion was none other than Lite 98’s master of the airwaves, Bill Bevins.

Bill: All of you have entertained countless fans over the years — can you describe one of your most memorable experiences or wildest places you’ve ever played?

Page: There’s been a bunch ... three times we put on an “Out O’ the Blue Orchestral Review” with the Richmond Symphony and Mark Russell Smith. It was an opportunity to showcase local artists in Richmond, with whom we’re blessed … that was the pinnacle of what we’ve done so far … to sit there in the middl of 60 musicians and feel a song that you wrote.

Steve: Playing Carnegie Hall was pretty wild. But playing a joint outside of Detroit and someone getting shot during the first set was pretty wild too. We never stopped playing … we were playing “Higher and Higher” while the police were coming in.

Robbin: They are all a blur…. More recent history … getting called up on stage to play with Springsteen here in Richmond … I didn’t know it was going to happen … Bruce called out a song that I had never heard of … Bruce Hornsby was there too with his accordion … Bruce starts the song and it sounds vaguely familiar. I figure I’ll make up some words — as long as it mentions Richmond, I’m okay. He says, “I’m going to sing the first verse, Hornsby is going to sing the second, and you’re going to sing the third….” So it comes to me and I sing something about Church Hill and Richmond and that I’m singing with Bruce tonight — and the crowd goes crazy…. A week later I call Hornsby up … and he tells me there was a teleprompter in front of me.

Bill: Betsy, you started out as a rock-and-roll chick and ended up playing for children all over the state who love you. You’ve completely transformed yourself and found a niche now as a children’s entertainer. How did all of that come about?

Betsy: I was in rock-and-roll bands for just about my entire life — I worked for a bank and was doing music on the side. Then I quit to do music full time with Janet Martin in The Rare in the ‘80s. We wrote our own music, traveling up and down the East Coast. I was a rock-and-roll mamma! … I come from a family of educators so, when we stopped doing The Rare, I started writing for children.

Bill: Steve, I know musicians hate to be placed into classifications, but you are a classic soul shouter ... I know you work very hard making your stage performance look like a party, one big, out-of-control, energy-packed program. But, because I know you, I know that it’s anything but out of control. How much fun is it after all these years?

Steve: It’s out-of-control fun … on the edge … I’m just lucky that way. That’s why I got into it.

Bill: It wasn’t the girls?

Steve: No, actually when I was first getting into it, I was a nerd and a geek. I started when I was 13 and I’ve played most weekends since … I picked a fun thing to do and I’ve been on a mission ever since ... I’ve always wanted to take people’s minds off what isn’t fun for them at the moment, and wish them peace, and music is what was given to me to use. When someone counts four off and goes into that first song … once you start playing, you live for those moments. You spend 22 hours a day preparing for [it] … then you get to spend those two hours having that fun, doing what you love most. I know a lot about music, but when I’m up there playing, I don’t really know what I’m doing … it’s totally focused towards the people — you have fun in front of them until you‘re having fun with them.

Bill: Robbin, most people have lots of facets to their personality. There’s the private Robbin Thompson, a pretty laid-back guy, but your music is anything but laid-back, it has a lot of power and passion. You’ve managed to make a living out of the music business. How do you bottle up that passion and let that come out in a song?

Robbin: I don’t know how you bottle it. Different people have different things they were meant to do in life, and this seemed to be something I did well, so I ran with it, because I could.

Bill: All of you have been making music for a long time. Go back to that first record when you said, “This is amazing!” For me, my sister had a 45 of “Good Golly Miss Molly” by Little Richard, and it completely changed my concept of music. Do you have a song that did that for you?

Betsy: Seems like I’ve been doing music all my life … I can’t remember who was influencing me at that time … “It’s My Party” by Lesley Gore, maybe.

Steve: The Coasters and their song “Yakety Yak.” But … when I put a band together and decided to do music, I really wanted to emulate Live at the Apollo by James Brown. I remember putting it on one Sunday and we blew the speakers out with that one.

Robbin: I never thought about music until I saw Elvis on Ed Sullivan. After that, I was a Ricky Nelson fan … first album I ever bought was the Four Seasons … By the time the Beach Boys came out, I was really listening to music … then came the Beatles. I can remember where I was the first time I ever heard my first Beatles song.

Bill: Page, what are your future plans? Do musicians ever retire, or just keep getting better and better?

Page: Singer-songwriters and musicians don’t retire, we just keep on doing what we’re doing. Music isn’t a thing that you do because you have to … it’s something you do because you love it.

Bill Bevins, a Richmond radio legend, has entertained fans on WTVR 98.1 “Lite 98” for over a decade. As host of The Wake Up Show with Bill Bevins, he has earned countless awards, including Broadcaster of the Year from the Richmond Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Frank Soden Lifetime Achievement Award.

Steve Bassett bought his first organ in 1963 and joined The Reactions. With four decades of roadhouse R&B under his belt, Bassett has authored the song “Sweet Virginia Breeze” — considered the unofficial state song of the Commonwealth — toured with Delbert McClinton and can often be found packing shows at Cabo’s Corner Bistro in Richmond.

Betsy Q. has been a professional musician and songwriter for over 35 years. Playing keyboard, bass guitar and vocals in The Rare, Betsy Q. developed a national following. Today, she captivates school children with her unique performances and five popular CDs for young music lovers.

Robbin Thompson is the cofounder of In Your Ear Music Creative Post, a Richmondbased company that produces music for commercials and films. His musical career spans 30-plus years, with stints as the lead singer in the Bruce Springsteen band Steel Mill. He has won The American Song Festival twice, boasts twelve albums and has shared the stage with Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Bruce Hornsby. Robbin recently became involved with "The Asia Foundation"(above) in an effort to stop human trafficking in Cambodia. His song "Karioke" was released in Cambodia in March, 2008. Learn about his travels at robbinthompson.com and see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v7I5Cx06eg.

Page Wilson, along with his group Reckless Abandon, is considered the master of music rooted in blues, folk, bluegrass and country hailing from Virginia. He has shared the stage with Stephen Stills, Taj Mahal, Kris Kristofferson and Jerry Jeff Walker. Wilson is also the host of WCVE’s Out O' the Blue Radio Revue, which explores the genre of "Purebred American Mongrel" music.

David Menzies is a freelance writer and thrill-seeker. Though a baby boomer himself, David is still a kid at heart. Learn more about his writing at www.davidmenzies.ca.