Meet the People Who Make it Happen!!!
Host, Creator and Producer
Elana Lisa
Elana Lisa, who hails from Queens, NY moved to RVA in 1994. Singing from day one, she picked up the guitar at age 14 and started writing songs. She started playing local open mic nights in NYC at age 17 and started her first full band at age 19, an all girl band called Kali-Co. From there she went on to play with many different bands, in many different genres. Her first RVA band was SteppinStone, in 1996. She has sung jazz with The Elana Hyner Trio, blues with Pig Foot Riot, and Motown/Soul with King Edward and the BD's. She now sings with Weeping Molly (a rock band), The Acoustic River Rats (an eclectic acoustic band), and Acoustic Tuna (solo/duo and some project).
In 2009 Elana and Rod created and co-hosted Open Mic for a Cause, an open mic event that raised money for local charities.
In 2012 The Tobacco Company management asked Elana to host a night of music. After much brainstorming she decided to create an event that will introduce the artists to the fans in a way that goes beyond just listening to the music. Being a musician, and a big fan of local music, Elana wanted to find out more about the artists, make them feel as important as they are, and provide a professionally edited video recording of the event. She created an evening of live music, introductions, and live on-camera interviews; hence Beyond The Music RVA was born.
In 2009 Elana and Rod created and co-hosted Open Mic for a Cause, an open mic event that raised money for local charities.
In 2012 The Tobacco Company management asked Elana to host a night of music. After much brainstorming she decided to create an event that will introduce the artists to the fans in a way that goes beyond just listening to the music. Being a musician, and a big fan of local music, Elana wanted to find out more about the artists, make them feel as important as they are, and provide a professionally edited video recording of the event. She created an evening of live music, introductions, and live on-camera interviews; hence Beyond The Music RVA was born.
Co Host, Assistant Producer and Writer
Rod Hyner
Rod began playing music as a teen in New Jersey and soon began playing in bands with his friends. He continued playing music through college and was fortunate to learn a bit about playing hand drums from Brazilian soccer players on scholarship in his school in Connecticut. After relocating to Richmond, Rod began joined several local rock bands playing clubs and parties throughout Central Virginia. Rod joined Steppinstone with Elana Lisa in 1998 and has played drums with Elana in other bands, as well as in other musical projects, ever since. As an enthusiastic supporter of Elana's idea for Beyond The Music RVA, Rod writes the band introductions, records audio, co-hosts, and performs other production duties for the series.
Promoter and Booking Agent
John Venable
In Semi-retirement, John’s career has been split between the Rock and Roll Arena and Broadcast Television. After Spending several years in the Live Recording world with both Location Recorders and The Original Record Plant Remote Trucks, he found a Niche as a touring Sound Engineer with such diverse acts as Melanie, The Stranglers, Harry Belafonte, The Marshall Tucker Band, Paul Simon, The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, and others. John has also been both Tour and Production Manager for acts like Peter Paul and Mary, Roberta Flack, Hall & Oates and Michel LeGrand.
The last part of his career was with The ABC Television group of The Disney Company working in Sports, News and Entertainment. Nominated Thrice consecutively and winning once an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Live or Direct to Tape Sound Mixing.
John is also credited with several Regional Emmy’s, a G.F. Peabody and an A.I. Dupont Award for Excellence in Journalism.
The last part of his career was with The ABC Television group of The Disney Company working in Sports, News and Entertainment. Nominated Thrice consecutively and winning once an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Live or Direct to Tape Sound Mixing.
John is also credited with several Regional Emmy’s, a G.F. Peabody and an A.I. Dupont Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Videographer and Video Producer
Chris Yeatts
Chris Yeatts is a freelance videographer from Chesterfield, VA. He first picked
up a camera 14 years ago when his parents bought him his first camcorder as a
gift; ever sense then he never put it down. His work today mostly consists of
Weddings, Music Videos, Corporate Videos and Live Shows in the Richmond area.
Chris is also a Videographer, Director and Editor at Alzuro Video Productions,
Reamer and Yeatts Media Productions, and Richmond Corporate Video. He eventually
wants to make his way to Los Angeles, CA to further his career in Film.
Sound Engineer
Justin Lewis
Bio coming soon.
Video Journalist (VJ)
Paul Coryell Bagley
Bio coming soon.
Video Journalist (VJ)
Brittany O'Neill
Brittany O'Neill was born in Queens, New York but spent the majority of her life growing up in RVA. Brittany set her foundation in music by exploring all the various outlets available to a curious middle-schooler. This included learning to sing a variety of musical genres, self-taught acoustic guitar, and participating in school chorus and an a capella quartet. Brittany comes from a musical family that introduced her to the "music scene" very early in life. Currently she sings in the bands Soundstorm, Spendid Suns and Hi-Steps and also plays solo shows on occasion. She is looking at getting into acting and really enjoys VJing for Beyond the Music RVA.
Favorite Quote: "i am humanist, which means, in part, that i have tried
to behave decently without expectations of rewards or punishment after i am
dead." -kurt vonnegut
Host Bands
Weeping Molly
A female fronted band that plays Rock-n-Roll with Blues & Soul!
Weeping Molly is a female fronted, four piece rock band based out of Richmond, Virginia that plays a mix of cover songs and originals. Weeping Molly is a high energy band with charisma and character. They cover songs from many different genres including Blues, Hard Rock, Country, RnB and more. Weeping Molly can bring their hard rock sound down to an unplugged format taking songs like Aqualung and Seasons of Wither and playing them in a listening room type atmosphere.
Weeping Molly has many guest musicians sitting in with them regularly and enjoys the challenge of "winging it".
Weeping Molly is a female fronted, four piece rock band based out of Richmond, Virginia that plays a mix of cover songs and originals. Weeping Molly is a high energy band with charisma and character. They cover songs from many different genres including Blues, Hard Rock, Country, RnB and more. Weeping Molly can bring their hard rock sound down to an unplugged format taking songs like Aqualung and Seasons of Wither and playing them in a listening room type atmosphere.
Weeping Molly has many guest musicians sitting in with them regularly and enjoys the challenge of "winging it".
The Acoustic River Rats
A female fronted, eclectic, acoustic rock band playing both originials and covers.
Rod and Elana, from the rock band Weeping Molly and formally of SteppinStone have been playing music in Richmond and the surrounding area for over 20 years. John Dacey of Cashmere Jungle Lords joined them on acoustic upright bass to form The Acoustic River Rats. To fill out the line-up, Cy Taggart joined the band as lead guitarist in 2012 adding a jazzy, swing edge to their sound.
The incredible voice of lead singer, Elana Lisa is a mix between Amy Winehouse, Etta James, Ann Wilson, Janis Joplin, Adele and a taste of Blossom Dearie while maintaining her own style and interpretation of compositions. With each song, her voice tells a different story coming from a different narrative so you are not hearing the same voice throughout the show. She is pro at creating those different characters which brings the songs to a different level and separates The Acoustic River Rats from most bands!
Rod, John and Cy are all diverse musicians, playing in many different bands in many different genres for many years. They switch from playing swing to rock to country in one set of music, never missing a beat. All three sing which gives The Acoustic River Rats a unique 4 part harmony in many of their songs.
The Acoustic River Rats are highly talented, fun and very entertaining.
Rod and Elana, from the rock band Weeping Molly and formally of SteppinStone have been playing music in Richmond and the surrounding area for over 20 years. John Dacey of Cashmere Jungle Lords joined them on acoustic upright bass to form The Acoustic River Rats. To fill out the line-up, Cy Taggart joined the band as lead guitarist in 2012 adding a jazzy, swing edge to their sound.
The incredible voice of lead singer, Elana Lisa is a mix between Amy Winehouse, Etta James, Ann Wilson, Janis Joplin, Adele and a taste of Blossom Dearie while maintaining her own style and interpretation of compositions. With each song, her voice tells a different story coming from a different narrative so you are not hearing the same voice throughout the show. She is pro at creating those different characters which brings the songs to a different level and separates The Acoustic River Rats from most bands!
Rod, John and Cy are all diverse musicians, playing in many different bands in many different genres for many years. They switch from playing swing to rock to country in one set of music, never missing a beat. All three sing which gives The Acoustic River Rats a unique 4 part harmony in many of their songs.
The Acoustic River Rats are highly talented, fun and very entertaining.
The Venue
The Tobacco Company Restaurant
The Tobacco Company Restaurant proudly celebrates over 30 years as Richmond’s landmark dining and entertainment venue. On the corner of 12th and Cary Street in downtown Richmond was once an old abandoned tobacco warehouse. The four-story building was renovated to embody the spirit of Southern hospitality and charm and is considered by most to be the cornerstone of the Historic Shockoe Slip district.