A Very Green Day

A  riot of tulips and storms of cherry blossoms have made this a magnificent Spring in Washington so far.  Now those loud mouthed azaleas are having their day in the sun.  I feel lucky not to be allergic to this profusion of pollen which turned DC (and my car) a vivid green overnight.

 Take advantage of this weekend's delightful Spring temperatures and get the hell out. The intimate musical venues on DC ROCKS' radar kick off with a very busy Thursday.  Dave Chappell will tear up JVs where there is no such thing as a green room.  In Silver Spring, musicians and fans alike come together at Bump n Grind for a singer/songwriter night with Billy Coulter and Bill Williams. Look for Ty Braddock and Ruthie Logsden sitting in. Meanwhile  The Thrillbillys will be roaring at the Takoma VFW where there is no back stage unless you count the hall to the men's room.

 Friday the cool cats of Lunch with Bob will also play the VFW.  Here is a picture of some of those dudes back when they had way more hair.

And on Saturday round off the triple header at the VFW with Valentine Slim's honky tonk kind of thing after the Takoma Park Art Hop. Also on Saturday is the opening of "Visualizing Fugazi" at the Lost Origins Gallery. This is a cool, very local art project brought to us in part by the Smithsonian Folklife people.



Or you could spend the afternoon and/or evening with the now grown up wunderkind Jon Carroll who will be back in town for a songwriting workshop and an evening concert. Details here.

If  louder things appeal, the Breakin' Even Fest at the Pie Shop is happening all weekend long. Here's the line up although 3 day passes are also available.

Punk rock and pie.

What could possibly go wrong ?

By the by Sunday is also Greek Easter, another punk rock event in my book. Don't be alarmed if you see tribes of people doing battle with bright red eggs.

Where the Waldos Are

When I was in the fifth grade, my best friend told me to drop everything and read Harriet the Spy. She also told me to get a black and white composition book and to start thinking about a spy route.  I was in.  As soon as I finished the book, we got together to begin our new lives in espionage.  I firmly wrote KEEP OUT on the cover and PRIVET. My friend then dictated the rules which had to be written on the first page.

1. Never let anyone see this book no matter what.

2. Practice writing metholy.

3. Write everything in this book.

4. Use also for spy route

I asked her how to spell that inscrutable word in rule number two, not wanting to admit that I didn't know what it meant. I never did find out. Despite my confusion, I forged ahead with a spy route made up of five neighbors and loosely the whole fifth grade.  And then the sixth grade.  And so on.

I soon realized that keeping my thoughts in a notebook was an excellent way to relieve crushing boredom at school, work, or even a Grateful Dead concert. (Sorry, my dear deadheads, but in my defense, I was sober.) I became a voracious eavesdropper, yet somehow I got through most of my life without ever hearing about 4-20. According to one notebook, I did partake in high school.  (ha ha. high school,  get it?)  WHFS always used to play that inspirational anthem "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" on the radio, and we wouldn't go in to school until the song was over.

But I digress.

Although the expression was once credited to followers of the Dead, the real story happened at a school far away from my own in San Rafael, California. In the early 1970s, an informal smoking crew called "the Waldos" used to meet at 4:20 after school to discuss all things cannabis.  (Man, the internet is like one giant notebook, isn't it? ) The Huffington Post has the full story.

San Rafael High School paper

Celebrate the foggy legends of 420 with Better Off Dead and the Black Muddy River Band at Gypsy Sally's on Saturday, of course. 

If that's not your thing, The Luce Unplugged concert series is happening on Friday at the American Art Museum with one of my favorite bands We Were Pirates. Art, music and libations all together in one beautiful room.

Black Holes and Gravity

Yesterday we Earthlings were treated to the first known photograph of a black hole in outer space.  The event sparked manic joy in the scientific world, but this dark matter, molecule ripping, suck station is not my favorite example of a black hole. I would say that honor belongs to a much smaller orifice found in the middle of a vinyl disc.

Once upon a time in a galaxy not so far away called Rockville, Skip Groff opened a record shop in an otherwise banal shopping center appropriately named Sunshine Plaza. This seemingly ordinary store produced a mysterious gravitational pull which sucked kids like Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye right out of DC and into Yesterday and Today Records. Sunshine Plaza was never the same.

Ian MacKaye with the luminary Skip Groff@ 9:30 Club 1984

The mystery was solved a few weeks ago when a cosmic cloud of local talent gathered to pay their respects to Skip who left us in February.  He was the star that pulled customers into his realm and shed light with his encyclopedic knowledge of music and his sympathetic ear.  Henry Rollins flew in from LA to say goodbye. Both Henry and Ian spoke of the many legendary trips in a beat up car from DC to Rockville just to talk to Skip and see what was new. Both attributed their musical careers, which include bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat, to Skip. Ian started Dischord Records. Mark Noone of the Slickee Boys remembered his visits to the store:

"I met Kim Kane there before I ever considered that I might some day be in Slickee Boys. My buddy Mike Dignan drove me there to get the materials that I would need to practice so I could audition for Slickee Boys. We used to go up there before that just to see who would be there. It was a church; a shrine. Skip Groff changed lives, including mine. He believed in people. He validated the thing we did and encouraged us to want to do it."

This Saturday is Record Store Day, and although Skip is gone, his comrades remain. Please support our local record stores. Joe's Record Paradise is having a listening party from 3-6 p.m. Here's a link to more choices brought to you by DC 101, but a field trip to Frederick would have to include local musical stars Bob Berberich and Martha Hull's shop Vinyl Acres. Plus the punks from Snubbed Records are putting on a free show with live music at the Pie Shop starting at 4 pm.

Make Me Rock

"Ratso." Eddie Angel. Johnny "Shock" Castle. Jim Dougherty. Any of those names sound familiar? Once upon a time, children, back in the eighth decade of the last century, there lived amongst us a bad ass rock band called Switchblade.  Though short lived, this band kicked up the DC music scene and spawned many a would-be musician who came away from their shows inspired by the roar of our own local rock and one especially high octane pompadour.

And now, stay tuned if you will,  for the Switchblade reunion is coming up on the first weekend of May at Villain and Saint, a somewhat intimate club perched on the edge of Bethesda. DC ROCKS is giving you the heads up now because both of the shows will probably sell out. 

No April Fool. 

In the mean time, here's the easily amendable calendar for

APRIL

1

American Television/ Alright/Late Bloomer @ Galaxy Hut

4

Thrillbillys@ JV

6

King Soul @ Takoma VFW

7

Chill Parents/ Ryan Harvey/ Conrado Music/ Company Calls 

@ Slash Run

11

Rhodes Tavern Troubadours @ Takoma VFW

Heavy Pets/ Suga Grits @ Gypsy Sally's

12

Little Red and Renegades @ Haydees

Karl Stoll/ Mojo Nixon @ JV

13

Record Store Day show free @ Pie Shop

Crooks and Crows @ Takoma VFW

On the Bus/ Ron Holloway @ Villain and Saint

14

Dave Chappell and Tommy Lepsom @ JV

Thrillbillys @ Villain and Saint

18 

Thrillbillys @ JV

20

District Funk Fest @ Pie Shop

Better off Dead/ Muddy River Band @ Gypsy Sally's 

22

Alex Parez and the Hell Rojos/ Lost Fox @ Galaxy Hut

25

Dave Chappell @ JV

Thrillbillys @ Takoma VFW

26

Lunch with Bob @ Takoma VFW

26-28 

Breakin Even Punk Fest @ Pie Shop

27

Valentine Slim @ Takoma VFW