Short n Sweet

 Hello there, October. Always good to see you.  Bring on your cool breezes - your pumpkins and bright blue skies. Please wreak havoc with the local mosquitos who are lurking round the screen door and turn on that tree coloring machine.  

Fresh air music fiends will have plenty to do this weekend between Cheverly Day on Saturday and the Takoma Park Street Fest on Sunday.  The weather threatens to be perfect with sun warmed days and cool clear evenings. Nice to have some traditions back whilst we warily await less germ fraught times. 

Weasel @ the mike Takoma St Fest 2016

Fits and Starts

September already. Where did the summer go? I can't say I made it to a lot of shows in August. Between the heat and the creepy oak mite attacks, I'm kind of glad to see the end of those dog days.  I did get up to Fort Reno which seems to have its own weather- staying dry and breezy while the surrounding area was drenched by storms. It was gratifying to see both the music and the people.  Please help keep this uniquely DC event going. You can still support The Cause by buying a t-shirt here. (order by Sep 27)

Safety seems to be a state of mind, a mental calculation, or lack thereof, of risk over matter. Hanging outside a concert recently, I witnessed a somewhat volatile mask meltdown when a music fan felt the need to rail loudly against a piece of cloth. In our area, venues have a mixed bag of safe practices, and I am only mentioning ones with clear mask and vaccine protocols in place. 

Happy to see the 9:30 Club is re-opening this week with local shows including White Ford Bronco on Sept 3 and Troublefunk on Sept 5. Check Hank Dietle's schedule for loads of music all through the week.  Black Cat has lots of shows, too, including their 28th anniversary event on Sept 11. Lots of bands including Teen Cobra and The Owners- a rare chance to see Dante Ferrando back in action. Also my ole pal Alec MacKaye gets back to it when the Hammered Hulls open for Lydia Lunch Retrovirus on Sept 16- also at the Black Cat.

The Hub Cap Centre, which may be DC's newest venue, will be hosting the debut of The Longtimers on Sept 11. Can't wait to see what Tom Clifford has up its sleeve this time. 

For those who prefer more fresh air in their life, Billy Price is playing outdoors at Jammin Java on Sept 3. The next night, the Thrillbillys and Jumping' Jupiter are at Pearl Street which has those big garage doors open, and the State Theater will be having outdoor shows throughout the month. 

August 2021 Day One

well hello

is anybody out there?

anybody?

Crawling out of the bunker, it feels like musicians have been outnumbered by singing cicadas this summer, but things have been changing. Slowly but surely our local music scene is emerging through the fog of The Variant and other Covid set backs. Feeling trepidatious? Me, too. 

When King Soul played their first indoor gig at the tiny Takoma VFW,  they drew a double-vaxxed, practically punch drunk crowd thrilled to be at a bar with their favorite band kicking ass. I immediately retreated to the spacious back yard. Since then I've managed to go inside for shows. At least for a song or two.  The VFW still has bargain basement drink prices, and shows are extra early with music stopping by 9 which sort of suits a pandemic kind of schedule.

Speaking of schedules, I'm not maintaining the DC ROCKS calendar due to things being so weird right now, but hit the links to find shows at the venues mentioned. 

For those of you raring to go, I'm very happy to report the return of the newest oldest road house in Montgomery County. Hank Dietle's has been painstakingly retrofitted as a live music club, and the place has never looked so pretty.  I love the front porch which provides a covid get away for those of us still wary of gatherings. Lisa White, who booked the 9:30 Club for many a moon, will be wrangling music there most every day which is a feat in itself. 

JV's, another old haunt, opened their doors as soon as possible, and have had live indoor shows for months now. For the Brave of Heart, I see our local hero Daryl Davis is there on August 19. Black Cat and Galaxy Hut are open, too, but sadly, no more music at the Hut. 

Outdoor options include Jammin Java and The State Theater who graciously toed the line with free outdoor concerts which are still happening in August although it looks like shows will be moving indoors as well. Look for The Nighthawks outside at The State  August 29. 

On Sundays DC Brau has loading dock concerts outside and extremely good beer all of the time. Plus Roaming Rooster, right around the corner, makes a great fried chicken sandwich which you can oh so conveniently order while drinking a beer. 

Last but not least thank you Amanda MacKaye for reviving the Fort Reno concert series which starts this Monday, August 2 and runs for three weeks Mondays and Thursdays. Cool new stage, and I highly recommend Bandit Taco for your picnic dinner.

 PS  Supposedly Feedburner, the email service for DC ROCKS, will go down for the count come the end of August. Not sure if I am up to the challenge of re-booting a new widget. If you have a suggestion on a fix, please let me know. 

DC Rocks Readers.... Meet DC Noir

One sliver of a silver lining of our collective curfew is the ability to watch things on our screens which would otherwise be unavailable. Over the weekend, those who were paying attention, caught Rolling Stones members playing the apropos "You Can't Always Get What You Want" each from their respective homes. There was Keith with a drink on his coffee table, Mick standing in front of his art collection, Charlie stuck in a corner, and Ronnie looking like he's playing at the top of his stairs.  Bands played world wide, millions of people watched, and I didn't have a clue. I can't tell you what I was doing last Saturday because I'm not even sure I knew it was Saturday.

This morning, however, I woke up to find a welcome bulletin in my inbox because I don't want to miss this happening. The DC Film Festival is giving us the opportunity to watch an encore presentation of past films to make up for having to postpone this year's event. A couch fest if you will. Each "series" will last a week beginning today with DC Noir, a movie which captures DC in a way that many won't recognize.  Why?  Because the unique thing about this film is just how local it is.

Most movies supposedly set here, will flash a cameo of the Washington monument or a stock aerial shot of downtown. This movie lives here in Petworth and Parkview, and in all four quadrants. The producers, cast, and crew are all local, and you won't see one shot of a famous landmark unless it was inadvertent. The score comes from Fugazi's Brendan Canty, and go-go's Backyard Band will pop up as well.  The script is based on four short stories by George Pelecanos. An honest and gritty writer, George has dedicated much of his life to portraying the real DC, and this film feels true.

Easter and Other Things

Happy Easter, you all. Yes, today is the "real" Easter as my father used to say. Why?
Because the Greeks are always right.
That's why.
But I was lucky. My father didn't object when my non- Greek mother would fill a basket with eggs and chocolate on "American" Easter and hide the basket in the yard because a rabbit left it there. I knew it was my mother, but we pretended I didn't. I also knew there was no such thing as a Greek Easter Bunny. On the Greek side of the family, tradition called for red eggs representing the blood of Christ, which was not fun until we got to bash them together playing a game at the end of a huge party with all our cousins.

At least that's what happened in my family. Another take on religious  confusion is worth a visit with David Sedaris in an old episode of "This American Life" called Santa vs the Easter Bunny.

Also confusing is how musicians are going to survive this social distancing edict playing in their yards like bewildered bunnies. Mark Segraves, a dear friend of live music,  wants you to know that DC is planning to help with a little plan they are calling "Pandemic Unemployment Assistance" or PU for short. (Ok, it's actually PUA, but you'll remember it better if I say PU- assistance )

From Mark:
"If you are an independent contractor or a gig worker who is out of work, you qualify for up to $600 a week in unemployment compensation. Here is how to apply in DC. Remember you apply in the jurisdiction where you work not where you live. If you work in multiple jurisdictions you’re advised to apply where you earn the most money. You are NOT entitled to the state unemployment payment. But you are entitled to the federal supplement of up to $600 a week. To apply IN DC send an email to PUA@DC.gov. ask to be put on the notification list for when the application process opens."

Even though Mark is trying to help, I know you musical types. You'll attempt to read the above and crawl back in bed, confused and depressed... but here's my thought. Pay attention to that last sentence which I put it in bold so you can read it bleary eyed. Send that email and ask to be notified about PU assistance. Hopefully it won't stink. Maybe you'll get a little money so it's worth a shot, right?

Good luck, my friends. 

Checking In

Holding the fort at home, I am losing track of time. This happened once before, when I attended a four day wild and wonderful wedding event in New Orleans in which an abundance of frivolity and an abandonment of caution led to a distinct blurring of days.  Jubilant tribal gatherings, simple hugs and sharing feasts- all of that seems a bit unreal now, just as our current plight with Covid 19 seems like a nightmare.

Still there are silver linings. I live under the flight path to National and am no longer startled awake by early morning planes. The roar of Canal Road has given way to bird song, and I find myself saying things like Look! There's a car on Chain Bridge.

Meanwhile I am having a hard time finding things to write about so I reached out to a few musical types and asked them these three questions:

1. How are you doing and what are you doing to keep sane?

2. What are you up to musically ?

3. Any virtual performances ( or anything else) that you want people to know about in April?


 Guitar slinger, Dan Hovey, currently of The Nighthawks replied:

"I try to get up every day.  I'm teaching my Montgomery College students via Skype, which is rough but better than nothing. I got back on FaceBook, which I still don't understand, but with my daughter Anna's help, I got a video posted of me doing the tune "How Long." I should have another one pretty soon. And I helped Jack O'Dell record a demo of his new tune "Non-Essential Blues" by emailing tracks back and forth. 

Mark Wenner and I shot a few videos in my back yard (at an appropriate distance). They're up on FaceBook, too. So... making music at home and sending it out through that system of tubes called the internet." (The Nighthawks are planning a live performance on Facebook at 2 pm on Sunday.)

Next I checked in with Devoted Friend of Live Music, Bill Henke, who is currently a barista at Ceremony Coffee in Bethesda. 

"Really strong pot keeps me sane, thanks to my Maryland Cannabis card! Thankfully I'm still employed but I work alone. maybe 3 customers an hour. I make great espresso for myself, do LOTS of cleaning, and crank up WFMU, while thinking of WHFS. Personally, I like a world with less people, less traffic. I feel like I'm in a small town... like Bethesda of the 70's!!! (But I woefully miss the Nats.)

I was blasting RUMBLE at work yesterday, and a fellow wanders in drawn to the music. He says "That was in Pulp Fiction. I got to tell him about one of my favorite subjects: Link Wray! I told him that Link even played in Bethesda. Magical.  I left out the story of Link playing with The Cramps at the Psychedelly, and Lux driving the mic stand thru the ceiling... Watching spring envelope the landscape is so much more special now.   For the first time I saw baby squirrels darting about like water bugs." 

Joe Dolan of The Vi-Kings and The Beatnik Flies:

"I wake up and shake off the weird dreams. Then I actually have breakfast even though I'm not a breakfast person. I have been catching up on my drinking as I catch up on my favorite hobby.  Watching TV. I have never felt comfortable performing unless I am surrounded by world class musicians, but I have posted two homemade videos. "Perfidia" and "I Couldn't Get High." 

I didn't have to ask Tom Clifford of King Soul. He is playing records in his basement and sharing Tom's Record of the Day on Youtube with the help of his daughters. A very cool thing. Also King Soul "got together"and made a video of Jake Flack's song "The Other Side."

Jake commented that he is "keeping sane and safe over here in Takoma Park.  Working on some songs and pumped that the KS video is being well received."

Dave Chappell, guitar hero in his own right, is "staying in touch with family and friends ... watching ridiculous reruns of Weeds, Eastbound and Down, and old music clips on Youtube. He walks a few miles everyday and is working on a new record with seven songs already done. "Trying to beat the devil, 24 hours at a time .. 'til this is over."

And finally the uber busy (and salty) drummer Jack O' Dell, who usually divides his time between The Thrillbillys and The Rhodes Tavern Troubadours, has his own way of keeping the beat and a way with words:

1. I’m smoking a lot of weed. I’m gardening like an Idaho Prepper. I’m writing songs more than before. My life was a Mexican Soap Opera before Corona so really I’ve barely noticed the crisis. I like ice cream

2. I’m in a more creative groove writing songs. I’ve posted a new one on Facebook.

(I’ve been encouraged to do a cleaner demo so I hired this hack, Dan Hovey, to do the guitar and I recut the vocal in a proper studio. ) I’m writing a new song called "Earthquake Weather."  And I smoke a lot of weed. 

3. As I have things ready and I learn about my new, I don’t need to leave the house anymore, camera. I’ll be posting things in f-book, instant grams, and whatever. MySpace. 

4. Not just any ice cream. Hagen fucking Das coffee ice cream. 

Dear readers, even if you aren't fond of social media, it is a forum where we can still connect with our stranded musical community via comments or sometimes a PayPal option.  Please check out the videos if you can, and check in with people you love.  Or go see Bill for a cup of coffee and pick up a little DC music history with your java.

Hang in there everybody. 

                                                                          💟

Still Living with Woodpecker

Hello out there, my captive audience.

How are we doing?

I'm talking out loud to you now. Somehow it makes more sense than conversing with the cat or texting my son who is sheltering in place in his bedroom downstairs, quarantined after his arrival from South America last week.

Since the world shut down, the cat and I have been doing a lot of bird watching through the window together. The red- winged blackbird is back, and right this minute a woodpecker is hammering the chimney guard next door. What the heck? How does he get any nourishment from beating his beak on a metal cage?

These weary bleary days, more music- less noise is my survival mantra. For respite from woodpeckers and other things, I highly recommend a virtual visit to the Voluminous Vault of Robbie White where you can tune in to archived episodes of his radio show "Forbidden Alliance."

"Forbidden Alliance" named for a Slickee Boys tune, has been on the air every Sunday morning since the summer of 2016 with curated eclectic playlists, color commentary, and interviews featuring a panoply of local talent.  Musicians, writers, film makers, deejays and more have made the scene with Robbie and his venerable co-host Weasel in over 200 episodes. Everyone has taken turns squeezing into the WOWD sound booth which, as Robbie once pointed out, is smaller than the station's disability accessible bathroom.

Enjoy the music and learn something about the myriad of talent we have running native here,  and maybe you'll discover a new favorite band to see when we get out of Covid Land.

If you are listening to the live broadcast this Sunday, Robbie will be flying solo until social distancing conditions improve, so consider checking in and letting him know he's not alone.