You heard me say this less than two months ago, but it bears repeating: I owe a great deal to Todd Herrington. As part of DJ Williams Projekt, he helped open my eyes to the vast array of homegrown musical talent I’d been blind to during my four years as an undergrad at the University of Richmond, and nine years later, I’m still in awe of how transformative those Tuesday nights at Cafe Diem were.

Given that history, and how much enjoyment I’ve gotten from his Things album since it was released last year, getting to interview him moments before he kicked off a Monday evening performance with Mekong Xpress & The Get Fresh Horns was a profoundly rewarding experience. I assembled the highlights of that conversation in an article for West End’s Best magazine, and it just hit the interweb. I sincerely hope you’ll check it out.

Let me just add that keeping this under my hat was extremely difficult, because Monday nights at Mekong are so, so fun. What a cool scene they’ve built. The music is top-notch, the beer selection is as varied as it is tasty, people drift back and forth between the bar and the front/side room where the band is set up — I recommend going as soon as your iPhone says it’s Monday. And the next time it says that. You know what? Just set a repeating reminder on your phone that says “Go to Mekong” for Mondays. You won’t be sad you did.

Check out the interview here and listen below to one of my favorite Things tracks, “Leland’s Awesome Kasio Jam.”

Todd Herrington — “Leland’s Awesome Kasio Jam” [Spotify/iTunes]