We’re happy to continue our music critics series with a feature on the writer Rashod Ollison (@RashodOllison). I learned about his work in social media, and it’s been a great pleasure to read. What I find compelling about Ollison’s work is that he holds a classic “beat” position. With the explosion of social media, particularly blogs, arts writing like his is growing more and more difficult to come by. He’s got the pulse of his local scene and at the same time gets to interview and write about international acts as they concertize in the area. His understanding of both the aesthetics and business practices of popular cultural is unsurpassed. And when he’s not being “official,” he writes the most hilarious and satirical passages of cultural criticism that I’ve ever read. Ollison is an award-winning music journalist and native of Little Rock, Arkansas. He has been a staff critic at The Dallas Morning News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Journal News in Westchester, NY, The Baltimore Sun and currently The Virginian-Pilot. Since joining the Pilot in 2010, Ollison has won five national writing awards for excellence in commentary, blogging and features writing from The Society for Features Journalism.
His criticism and essays have also appeared in Essence and Upscale magazines and PBS. Starting in 2010, he wrote a music and culture column for Jet magazine. Ollison has written liner notes for several music compilations, including collections on Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Phyllis Hyman, The Isley Brothers and others.
He is a 2000 graduate of The University of Arkansas, where he earned a BA in creative writing and journalism with a minor in African American studies. Ollison is working on his first book, tentatively titled “Soul Serenade,” a memoir centering on his search for himself and his father through the family’s record collection. An excerpt was published in The Virginian-Pilot’s Sunday Magazine.
Ollison lives alone with a lovely music collection in Virginia Beach.
Below we have links to examples of his work, a piece about Pharrell and a feature about famous musicians from the Virginia Beach area.
Top 25 Musicians from Hampton Roads Virginia
Pharrell: Born of Suburbia Shot Stars
Tags: hampton roads, music criticism, pharrell, rashod ollison, virginia
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