Fifty Shades of Gray Too Many

Last week, or maybe even all this winter, I've felt startled to see the sun. A couple of weeks ago I left home around four o'clock, and the light outside was the color of slate. I thought the sun might be going down soon, but an hour and a half later, I came home in a gun metal fog which finally gave way to the charcoal of dusk. The next morning would bring, you guessed it, the cold gray light of dawn.

Then last night I had a nightmare. I dreamed I heard an automated voice saying sternly "Snow will accumulate  4 inches." It scared me so much that I woke up and had to assure myself it was just a dream. This has never happened to me before. I love snow and always have. To me snow is what punctuates the gray with exclamation points of light. (whoops, sorry- my english major slips out from time to time.)

At any rate Washington has nothing to fear this weekend except a lot of muddy snow melt as the temperature is predicted to flirt with the sixties. At least those coveted parking places will be freed up again. (and no, people, you can not legally save these spaces with lawn chairs. Sorry. )

Feel like music? I'd hit up the Quarry House Saturday night for 7 Door Sedan and Doug Stevenson and the Spades. If you feel like getting out of town, the irreverent Maritime Republic of Eastport is throwing a Mardi Gras party with Little Red and the Renegades.

And Sunday when you are thoroughly besotted with spring fever,  IOTA has Color School in the house in an early slot. Show starts at 8.

We Are WHat WE Are

Congratulations are in order to all the Washington Area Music Association winners and nominees.  If you have never heard of WAMA, you might want to take a minute to watch the 25th anniversary video for a little back ground and some great footage of DC music history and what our music scene is all about. WAMA has been criticized for being too closed a group, and it's true that often the same people rotate around, but membership is open to everyone inclined towards things musical, and no one else has stepped up to create anything like it.

I watched the anniversary video this morning and realized some things haven't changed much. You can still see great talent often awkwardly stashed in a corner of a hotel bar or restaurant. On the other hand, good size venues are popping up like Gypsy Sally's in Georgetown and the renovated Lincoln and Howard Theaters. A lot of this year's winners like David Kitchen and Dave Chappell are  featured here on DC ROCKS because we are lucky to see them play without paying a lot of overhead, but it would be good to see them in those slightly larger venues as well.

Since everything is all about me, this year I see my connection to the scene as both slim and stretchy- like a rubber band. Once upon a time I lived in a group house that had notorious all night keg-ers. When the beer ran out, we'd take up a collection for a late run to Tick Tock Liquor on University Boulevard which stayed open late and was also a bar.  My boyfriend's little sister crashed the party a couple of times, and she always brought her best friend- this year's WAMA song writer of the year and roots rock vocalist:  Patty Reese.

Be Mine Cowpoke

Feel like getting more down home than duded up this Valentine's Day? Want to go where you don't need a reservation and drinks are cheaper than a ten dollar Stetson on a five cent head?
Then check out the Valentine's Day show at the Takoma Park VFW on Orchard Avenue. This space has been described to me as a micro Surf Club complete with stage, a dance floor, and, this Friday, a whole lot of live music to boot.

A Forum For Bealtle Maniacs

This week's forecast calls for snow on Wednesday. That being said, let's try and rise above the usual high pitched screams and save them for the library. Yes, a snowy forecast provides the perfect setting for the upcoming Beatles retrospective at the Shaw Library.

DC Music Salon will be screening this landmark concert and rambling down the Penny Lane of memory with local eyewitnesses including rock journalist, Michael Oberman, and manager to the stars, Tom Carrico. Join everyone at the library this Wednesday evening from 7-9 for photos, stories and lots more. Events like this are a labor of love for  Marc Eisenberg, and yet another reason DC ROCKS.

Meet These Guys

LOOKEE all you peoples that live up that 270 corridor way. Here's a chance to see a fun band shake the dust off old memories.  The Vi-Kings are playing a free show this Friday night at the Golden Bull way up there in Gaithersburg to commemorate that fateful night when the cuddly mop tops took over earthling TV and gave Ed Sullivan a rocket boost in the ratings. 

Musicians like this space- it's a big room with plenty of dance floor, and this week's show is free due to  the gig being moved from Saturday to Friday. To get you in the mood - here rare clips of Beatles footage brought to you by the folks at Rolling Stone.

Wormhole Weekend

Buddy Holly. Psyche Delly. Tone. Food for Thought. Blob's Park.

Time portals are opening all over the place this Saturday.

First the Buddy Holly Tribute Show, featuring a plane load (sorry) of local acts, has traveled over the years from Del Ray (I think) to Chick Hall's Surf Club, and lately to Blob's Park up in Jessup. This field trip is well worth the gas to see a true throwback Bavarian beer hall, never mind a night full of live music with nine bands including David Kitchen and Ruthie and the Wranglers. Sadly this event will have to find a new home next year when Blob's shuts down with a farewell polka party at the end of March.

Beat Hotel, a kind of funky New Orleans driven band, will haunt the Harp and Fiddle on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda where countless local bands like Root Boy, Switchblade and the Slickee Boys once happily corrupted our youth. You might not recognize the space that once was the Psyche Delly. The bar's a lot cleaner now since morphing into an Irish pub, but the good news is live music can still be found here.

Finally Tone, an ever changing and creative band with deep roots in DC will be on the main stage upstairs with The Black Clouds and Highway Cross at the Black Cat. Club owner Dante Ferrando grew up with his parents' vegetarian restaurant Food For Thought right there on Connecticut Avenue, played in bands and was a regular at dc space and the old 9:30 Club. He was missing the niche that dc space provided when he opened his own place in 1993. With a nod to Food for Thought in the form of a cafe on the first floor, there are bars and performance spaces both upstairs and down. The Black Cat has become an important venue for independent under the radar type bands both local and national, as well as one of the few all ages venues to be found in this town.

So there you have it. Peer into the past; stumble on something new.

Who's Afraid?

Government shut downs, school closings and dire warnings of wind chill factors.
Are we being weenies about this polar bear-tex thing? Doesn't all this cold drama make things like steam heat and hot chocolate that much better? Or are you all done with the snow days and ready to eat your young like a gerbil or turn on your mate like good ole George and Martha?

Martha: You make me puke.

George: That wasn't a very nice thing to say, Martha.

If you can last long enough, there are alternatives to being housebound this weekend. The ever warm and enchanting Mary Battiata and Little Pink will be opening up for Amanda White at Ebenezer's coffee house on the Hill on Friday.

And this Saturday's dance event includes a rare appearance by the Rhodes Tavern Troubadours out lettering the billboard when they open up for NRBQ at the Hamilton downtown.

Don't Make Me Choose

If DC ROCKS comes to you via email, you can read it right there in your inbox with your feet up, or you can hit the link which will take you to the website.  There you will find a little calendar in the side bar which serves as a memory prompt for me and a rock alert for you. This Saturday the waning full moon brings too many shows to write about. In fact from 7 Door on Friday through the School of Rock on Sunday and finally The Tender Thrill Sunday night, there's plenty to choose from.

 You be the decider.

Thrillbillys Ten Years After

The Thrillbillys are a perfect example of why DC rocks. Musicians forever, these guys have been together for ten years now, and that means there's a lot of musical know-how packed into one band.

This Saturday help celebrate their anniversary with a rare "across the river" appearance at the Quarry House in Silver Spring.

Too Cool for Tuesday

Keep the Lights On

A good friend of mine was over yesterday admiring my Christmas tree. Yep. It's still up even though a  truck from the Department of Public Works already whipped by to pick up all those curb side discards early this morning. I keep it up for the lights more than anything else, especially this dark cold week here in Ice Station Zebra.

But it's good to know there's a green, gold and purple glow at the end of this cold dark tunnel. Mardi Gras isn't until March 4th this year, but Carnival season is already upon us, and with it come parties and king cake and a lot of things not native to Washington. Still in the dark?  Little Red and The Renegades can catch you up to speed this Friday at Haydees in Mount Pleasant.

Plan to dance.

Colder Than the Frost

Even bunnies are gonna need clothes tonight. The wind is howling as I write, and my rosemary plants are hunkered down under tablecloths. The thermometer is threatening to drop to a mere 9 by morning time here in DC. Hopefully it will warm up Wednesday when Bunny with Clothes gets on stage at Jammin Java's Battle of the bands.

Renew Thyself

Happy 2014. Time to rethink things a little. Make a resolution or two. Out with the old and in with the new. Clean out those closets. Get rid of that duct taped racket from high school. (No, you are NOT going to take up tennis again.) You might as well get rid of that half empty can of balls, too. Except the dog next door might want one. How about that skinny tie with the wine stain shaped like Texas? And that box of old birthday cards? (No, wait. Is that a ticket stub from the Cramps' show at Hall of Nations stuck in between the business card from the Joint Possession and that blurry snap shot of whatshername?)

Ok, the tie can stay... but only if you wear it to The Vi-kings' basement show this Saturday at Clyde's.  No cover. Just music and the usual suspects.

But please. Get rid of the tennis racket.

A Homebody Holiday

All the hullabaloo over one minute in time.  All that chasing down the good party; the right place to be at the stroke of twelve. Down in Georgetown or up in Adams Morgan?  Should we go to a bar?  Or to that crazy group house party on T Street? Consequently, back in the day, I spent a lot of midnight moments stuck in a car on the way to somewhere else.

One year when I was in college, I gave up the hunt and made what I thought was a rather mature decision to stay home. I lived in a group house near the railroad tracks in College Park which we fondly referred to as "The Erskine Road Commune." We were a congenial bunch of university students, and we got along quite well despite our differences. Meat eaters co existed with vegetarians. Cairo the cat lived with Devo the dog.  But for reasons I can't quite recall, our crew was evicted that December.  We had all been hunting new digs and packing, but this seemed a rather low priority with the holidays upon us.  

That New Year's eve I spent a pleasant anti climatic evening reading in bed under the covers. (We'd run out of oil again, and there was no heat.) All my other housemates were out and stayed gone most of the night. I found out the next day that one friend (I only knew as him as "Timmy the Chef") came over in the wee hours hoping to find a party still going on, but all was quiet. Tim, probably only momentarily disappointed, passed out in his coat in the front hall.

Sadly the peace did not last. A very angry man stepped over Timmy's prone form around 9 a.m. New Year's morning. Our landlord had arrived. He  expected his house to be vacant.  Really?  On a holiday?  What was he thinking?

We woke up Timmy, gathered the troops and went to Hojo's for breakfast. Then we staggered around calling friends to help with the move. My stuff went into storage in a house mate's parent's basement. Another friend coughed up an empty apartment- vacated until school resumed.  Somehow working together, we were all gone by the end of the day. We would never be in one place again.

So this year I send out a happy new year to all my friends and readers sheltering in place tonight. And to my Erskine Road gang. You taught me a lot about getting along - even if it was short - it was memorable. Best wishes for 2014 wherever you are.

                                this posting dedicated to duane  and cher, eel, rick and "the scourge"

DC Rocks on Sabbatical

Be back sometime next week. Happy New Year you all.. Stay safe... stay warm... and get some rest!

Don Ho Ho Ho

Wanna duck the whole December/winter thing? Try closing your eyes. Now pretend you are at a party. How about a party in Hawaii? You're wearing a gaudy flowered shirt, and you have a tarted up cocktail in your right hand. You can't quite hear the waves because a live band is playing. Hear the ukelele solo?

 If your imagination's not cutting it, try the Quarry House this Saturday night, and let the Hula Monsters take you right where you want to be.  They'll provide the music (and even sell you a gaudy flowered shirt.) Music starts round 9. Great music- no cover. Aloha!

Deep Roots Rock

Dug up this LTH X-mas card w/ photo by Matthew Worden)

This weekend is the traditional Last Train Home reunion/holiday/flash mob event at IOTA. I've been to more of these shows than I can count, and they are always a lot of fun-more like a friend's party with great music than a concert at a night club.

DC ex- pat pal Eric Brace returns from Nashville as band leader, but each night has an added twist. Friday's show includes songwriter/musician Karl Straub (whose songs have been covered by Last Train Home.)  Karl and Eric have a new project together so expect to hear what they've been up to lo these past few years. Saturday Kevin Johnson is back with The Lineman- another cross breed of sorts with the Last Train Home gang, reformed and back together once more. Music starts at 9 pm sharp for both nights- though expect the party to start earlier.

 $15 cover.

Field Trip to Frederick

There once was a time in my life when finding the perfect Christmas tree was paramount. (I completely related to Charlie Brown's search for a sincere pumpkin patch, but not to his choice of pine foliage.) Sometimes the hunt took us to Florida Avenue Market where the tree sellers huddled around ash can fires. Other forays took my whole family to far flung farms between here and Frederick. We invariably would get lost at least once, but somehow my DC native dad would manage to find a half smoke on the menu when we stopped for lunch.

If you are out tree hunting, this is a good weekend to kill two birds with one rolling stone. (haha) Stop in and see DC music legends Martha Hull and Bob Berberich in their new enterprise-Vinyl Acres-a record and gift shop in downtown Frederick complete with great stories of the DC music scene.

And this Sunday only- also in Frederick- check out what Stephen Blickenstaff is up to when he's not playing theremin for the Atomic Mosquitos. His artwork is weird enough to please the hard to buy for on your list as well as  eccentric creatures all through the house.

Clinging to Sanity by a Thread

I get the need for the holiday season. The days are dark. We are sad. (or SAD) We need light in our lives so we burn things. It used to be yule logs. Now it's LEDS. We feel the need to gather our tribes together and give gifts to fight the gloom. It used to be frankincense; now it's Chia Pets. But here's a shout out to our friends in Norway for taking the quantum leap beyond Charlie Brown's disillusions with Christmas by giving us the perfect symbol of our seasonal frenzy. Yes, this year the tree at Union Station is decorated with 700 Edvard Munch themed ornaments inspired by his painting "The Scream."

But you can tone down those panicky feelings. Turn your back on the big boxes and seek solace in the little guys like Sullivan's Toys-a family business still owned and operated by a genuine Sullivan.  If you are clueless about what to get your girlfriend's sister's kid, the staff will guide you, and wrap up your purchases to boot sending you out into the world mission accomplished.

Or take advantage of the Downtown Holiday Market on F Street NW which crams a lot of shopping in just one block featuring Washington local bands, artisans and vendors. The stalls will be open every day through December 23rd with comfort and joy type things to keep you going like live music, hot chocolate and fried to order donuts. (yow)  Look for exceptional gifts like hand made jewelry and knitted goods as well as Thomas Bucci's beautiful architectural drawings and water colors of DC.

Snow Days Rock

People get awfully worked up about snow around here- even though we rarely get enough to write home about. Yes, there are the down sides: icy sidewalks, shoveling out the car, crowded grocery stores.

But on the flip side, all my teacher friends are happily sleeping in. I totally hated school so I still feel residual and vicarious ecstasy when DCPS makes the call to close. Even in college I felt the same way. I remember a particularly snowy day in February1979 when the University of Maryland shut down.

My housemate Alan got his camera, and we went outside to see what was happening. Students spontaneously had wandered into town- maybe hoping the Varsity Grill or the Vous would be open, but mostly just to be in the snow. (I like that so much I'll say it again. Be In The Snow.)

I don't remember how it started- from boredom or sheer exuberance- but suddenly a snow ball fight erupted.  The battle line was drawn, and it was Route 1. We happily heaved all sizes of snowballs at each other- two camps divided by asphalt, but occasionally united like the unruly fiends we were when a hapless motorist dared run the gauntlet.

This went on until a very irate man jumped out of his truck with a shotgun. He was not amused, and I think we dispersed at that point. At least I did. It was time to go home. College Park has never been high on my list of beautiful towns, but that day it was. Thanks, Alan for capturing that day and many others. Check out his site Alan Kresse Photography to see more.

(all photos in this posting  by Alan Kresse)