Downtown
The 2nd Street Festival Announces Headliner Stokley
Stokley was the former lead vocalist for hit-making R&B band Mint Condition and a two-time Grammy Award nominee is Saturday’s headline performer.
The 2nd Street Festival is months away but excitement is building with the announcement of Saturday’s headliner.
The 2nd Street Festival, presented by Altria, Dominion Energy and the City of Richmond, returns for the 30th year, Saturday-Sunday, October 6-7, 2018 to celebrate the rich culture of the historic Jackson Ward neighborhood. The FREE event is produced by Venture Richmond Events, LLC.
This year Stokley, former lead vocalist for hit-making R&B band Mint Condition and two-time Grammy Award nominee is Saturday’s headline performer.
Stokley has a refreshing artistic statement rooted in the soul music tradition from one of R&B’s most remarkable voices. Hailing from the Minnesota twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Stokley was reared in a family that fostered a deep devotion to musical and cultural expression. Showing an affinity for the drums early on, he began seeking out opportunities in the fertile musical landscape of his environment. Surrounded by acts like The Time, The Jets and the omnipresent Prince and the Revolution, he began earning his stripes as a drummer and vocalist.
In the mid-1980s, Stokley became a founding member of Mint Condition. After several years of gigs, the band crossed paths with that of lauded multiplatinum producers and hometown heroes.
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Fresh off the success of Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation, Jam & Lewis recruited Mint Condition to their label’s roster and released their debut Meant to Be Mint in 1991.
The group soon found success in their Billboard Top hit classics “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes),” “U Send Me Swingin’,” “Forever in Your Eyes” and “What Kind of Man Would I Be,” to name a few. Also, Stokley has been an in-demand session drummer and vocalist in the industry for quite some time, performing on recordings by artists such as Elton John, New Edition, Usher and the late Prince.
Stokley charts a new course with his breathtaking debut solo album Introducing Stokley featuring guest appearances by the likes of GRAMMY-winning jazz pianist Robert Glasper and Estelle. Introducing Stokley offers listeners a fresh perspective of a dynamic voice that has resonated with core fans around the world for over two decades. “I’ve been gearing up for a minute,” he says. “My thirst has been building. And I’ve been moving at a great pace with Mint Condition. But I just want to take some time to move differently right now. And if you have a gift, and most of all the ambition, you should do it.” Some of his hit songs as a solo performer include “Level,” “Organic” and “Not My Daddy” with Kelly Price.
As always, the 2nd Street Festival takes place the first full weekend in October. Over the years, it has grown to be one of the Mid-Atlantic’s largest street festivals. Nearly 40,000 people visit historic Jackson Ward to reminisce about the days when 2nd Street was the heart and soul of Richmond’s African American community, and was known as “the Harlem of the South.”
The 2nd Street Festival features four stages of live musical entertainment along with a Kidz Zone, popular food vendors, a marketplace and Artists Row to shop, and the Richmond Metropolitan Antique Car Club.
If your company is interested in 30th Anniversary event sponsorship opportunities, please email
Sharon Bassard, Event Manager, at sbassard@venturerichmond.com.
