Author: Ben Janusz

A New Hip Hop Studies Class to Start at Virginia Tech in Spring 2025

By Ben Janusz and Jackie Mitchell

Arthur Craig, the co-founder of Virginia Tech Digging in the Crates (VTDITC) worked with other faculty members to create an intro level class at Virginia Tech, Introduction to Hip Hop Studies, for the Spring 2025 semester. Arthur also won a The Virginia Library Association’s “Academic Innovator Award.”

VTDITC has been around since 2016 and over the last few years, moved into a new room that members worked to form into their own studio. The program works to bring lovers of not just hip-hop, but all music together to collaborate and grow as creatives.

WRKE and its Impact

WRKE is Roanoke College’s student radio station, and after being listed on Princeston’s Best College Radio Stations Listing two years in a row, new DJs are stepping up to make it the best it can be.

Tori Shoonmaker, a DJ at WRKE is working to have more live performances brought to Salem by the radio station to shine a spotlight on local talent.
While WRKE is a small radio station at a smaller school, the impact that it is having on the students that walk through its doors is profound.

The Red Ferns, Releasing Debut Self-Titled Album

The Red Ferns, a Blacksburg based rock ‘n’ roll band, is releasing their debut album in the coming weeks, marking a big step for the future of the band.  

Why it Matters: The Red Ferns have been performing in Blacksburg for nearly two years now without any music released on streaming services. Having music released will allow for audiences to learn their songs, in turn helping The Red Ferns to grow and be able to market themselves more effectively. 

Flashback: The Red Ferns have been staples in the local Blacksburg music scene over the last two years. When they started, they were comprised of Zach Gesa (Bass), Peter Nelson (Guitar), Cole Zimmerman (Guitar/Vocals), Malcolm Woehrle (Vocals/Drums), and Jackson Rosa (Guitar).  

  • Started jamming in 2021 since “they all played guitars” said Woehrle, with Gesa and Woehrle making the move to the instruments they play now 
  • “Really just played a lot of open mics around Blacksburg” before Zimmerman joined said Woehrle 
  • All have “a love for The Grateful Dead” said Zimmerman, and with all of them growing up listening to that genre. Zimmerman, “is really the only person who really branches out into more indie-folk stuff like Mt. Joy” said Gesa. 

Zoom In: The album is self-titled, meaning it will be called, “The Red Ferns.” 

  • The album will be “seven songs” and will be “33ish minutes,” said Zimmerman. 
  • It will span many different sub-genres of rock ‘n’ roll but a few songs “have a lot of influence Americana-rock” said Gesa 
  • While taking influence from many bands from the 1970s and 1980s, “none of the songs feel like they’re from that time” and that they, “sound modern” said Woehrle.  
  • “Malcom and Cole wrote a lot of songs, especially lyrics” said Gesa. 
  • When writing the songs, “some came as eureka moments and I brought them to the band” but “some had to be worked out” with the rest of the band, said Zimmerman. 

Forming the Record: While this first started as a project to finish before the band members graduated from Virginia Tech in the Spring of 2024, the process took longer than initially expected. 

  • “We really locked in and committed to write the album in February or March” of 2023, said Zimmerman. 
  • Zimmerman wrote one of the songs two years ago, and Rosa wrote one of them in the fall, 2023.  
  • “Not having tracks already written made us write really fast,” said Zimmerman.  
  • In spring of 2024, went to “Giles County to a studio to record every weekend for six or seven weeks” said Woehrle. 

What We’re Watching: The Red Ferns debut album, “The Red Ferns” will release in mid-October.  

  • This a “tentative date since we are still finalizing some of the tracks with the distribution group,” said Zimmerman.  
  • They do not have many shows lined up surrounding the release of the album but, “we have a house show with Cherry Moon” around the date of the release, “which we are probably going to treat as an album release show,” said Zimmerman.  
  • The next step for the band is “to get back to playing and writing more music” and that, “we are excited to play all of these songs live” said Woehrle.