We’ve decided to continue Xmas week here at Pencil Storm with a piece by our Virginia correspondent, JCE, concerning a unique local band. It’s a tale of homemade rock & roll; music devoid of chasing the current fads, music devoid of robotic beats, auto-tuning or any of the other nonsense that seems to permeate popular music these days.  It’s a story of musicians who love their families, and who make music purely for the love of making music. 

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Jason Pollock fronts a band in Virginia simply called The Pollocks.  His partner Maryline is in the band with him, as well as an additional guitarist/vocalist, a bass player and a drummer.  I became aware of The Pollocks when my good friend Randy joined the band as the bass player.  Randy has been in scores of various bands over a long period of time, but he had just left a fairly successful band based in Richmond, VA, citing family as the Number One reason.  With a full-time day job and a wife & twin daughters at home, the last-minute gigs, late nights and mini-tours just weren’t working for him.  So why join The Pollocks?  What is different about them I wondered?  As it turns out, pretty much everything is different about The Pollocks.

 The Pollocks, L to R:  Jason, Randy, Maryline, Thomas, Nathan; outside under the tent at Batesville Market

Jason Pollock was a member of the 90’s post-grunge band known as Seven Mary Three.  That national act, with a handful of hit songs, achieved what I consider to have been a substantial amount of success.  Jason walked away from the band, for many reasons I would imagine.  My understanding is that a simpler, more relaxed lifestyle was the chief reason, along with those pesky “artistic differences.”  But he certainly did not walk away from music—to the contrary, he just found a better way to focus on it.  From my point of view, he made a brilliant lifestyle choice.  He returned to Virginia and began writing music & recording at his home studio.  He lives in a beautiful place where he can get up every morning and pursue his passion.  

The Pollocks can be found playing live one Saturday night per month (pre-COVID anyway) at the Batesville Market; in the tiny Town of Batesville, VA (population 59).  The Batesville Market is a historic-looking building.  It appears from the outside to be not unlike your average old-fashioned country store, but it is much different.  Along with items that most country stores normally stock, the Batesville Market also provides great food, craft beers & ciders, wine and an overall vibe that is organic and oh-so-enjoyable.  The Market hosts various local musicians of many genres, but I have to believe that The Pollocks are likely the biggest draw for the venue.  (I hesitate to call it a venue, but they host quite a bit of live music,)  Jason Pollock has said that the Market is “the most welcoming place” for musicians.  The Pollocks also play wineries and breweries in the region, usually in an acoustic format as a three-piece.  But the Batesville Market is absolutely the place to go to see the band at its finest; cranking out beautiful, original music for a few hours on a Saturday night.

The unassuming but awesome Batesville Market; Batesville, VA.

My wife and I have seen The Pollocks play at the Batesville Market three times now, over the course of a couple of years.  COVID pretty much stopped the shows for quite a while.  The first two times we saw them, they played inside the Market.  It is very small, but that is part of what makes it so special.  Inside, they simply set up in a corner, no stage, bottles of wine on shelves as the backdrop behind them.  Make no mistake, these are very talented musicians with very well-crafted songs.  They can improvise like crazy, feeding off each other, yet I never feel like I’m watching a jam band.  Most recently, we went to see The Pollocks play on December 4th (a Saturday night, as always). 

As the first indoor show in quite some time, they had planned to sell only 35 tickets.  But as the day of the show approached, the weather forecast projected that it would be an unseasonably warm night in December, so the show was moved outside, under a tent set up alongside the store.  We reserved a table with some friends and were treated to easily my favorite Pollocks show out of the three I have seen.  As my friend Randy told me before the show, the band was going for high fidelity, not high volume.  Their sound was crisp, the songs seemed better than ever, the company was good, and the vibe was Batesville Market perfect. 

It was plenty loud (just as I like it) and it did end up getting pretty freakin’ cold, but there were a couple of propane heaters fired-up and it was fine for the audience, if not so comfortable for the band.  Moving outside allowed more people to attend, but the crowd was still very intimate.  People of all ages gathered to hear the great music and see friends.  Some dance (I don’t), some drink (I do), some do both; but no matter what, everyone has fun.  It’s just an accepting, welcoming atmosphere.  I heard Jason say in an interview that with live music, one of the great things is that “everyone walks away, hopefully, at the end of the night feeling good about themselves.”  That’s an insightful observation, and it’s exactly the reason I like to go to see so much live music.

What I really intended to convey here is that an awesome musician - who simply wanted to hone his craft and get back to the roots of what music is supposed to be about - had the guts to leave the spotlight and do exactly what he wanted to do to make himself happy.  And he gathered some like-minded and talented musicians to make music with.  They make music for the love of it, and not for any other reason.  (They have recorded something like 6 CD’s, but it’s hard to even find any of them.)  The fact that this occurred in a tiny rural town where an old country store doubles as a cool little venue really has created the perfect storm.  Seeing The Pollocks play at the Batesville Market is an experience to be cherished.