HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Creative Collective is celebrating Black Music Month.

“It’s wonderful because it celebrates this rich history of African Americans in the music business,” Gary McCollum, Virginia Creative Collective CEO, said. “It’s not just hip hop. It’s R&B, jazz, the blues, country, folk, [and] military theme music. It’s all kinds of things that Black people have done to influence music. That’s why we’re celebrating it.”

All month, the collective is partnering with iHeartMedia to provide three free music events.

The carefully curated events will capture its richness and cultural significance, highlighting Black artists’ profound impact on music and society, a release states.

“The creative talent of Virginia artists is known worldwide,” said George ‘GMan’ Waters, Virginia Creative Collective COO. “Unfortunately, too many of our artists feel the need to leave Virginia in order to take their careers to the next level. Virginia Creative Collective is all about changing that trend.”

On June 15, 29th and Green Bistro in Hampton will open its doors for The R&B Experience.

“The Virginia Creative Collective was founded because we know that there’s an incredible amount of talent in Virginia. That, frankly, was just untapped,” said McCollum.

“We all have a deep passion for music,” said Charles A Brown II, Virginia Creative Collective vice president. “We think that there isn’t always a plethora of opportunities for the talent to be heard. We wanted to make sure that we were doing what we could to amplify it.”

Later in the month on June 22, The Annex in Norfolk will host Nickelus F and several local artists. The final free event is June 26 at the RVA BoomBox in Richmond.

The collective is looking to connect with more Virginia bases artists for future festivals and concerts.

“We’re here to make Virginia better,” said Brown.

Learn more and RSVP for the events at LiveWithVCC.com.

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