The Week in DC Music
Welcome (Unofficially) to Summer
The Spring air has felt so cool and breathable throughout April and May. Will it ever get warm enough to jump in a pool? Welcome back to the Hometown Sounds weekly newsletter. We hope you find something new and exciting below.
What’s In The News
In advance of a big show at Echostage, WaPo’s Chris Richards interviews Virginia based bass-focused producer Djoser.
CityPaper profiles 17 year old songwriter Elizabeth Lane, winner of the Bernard-Ebb Young Songwriter Award.
Jazz critic Michael J. West introduces Washington CityPaper readers to 25-year-old drummer-percussionist Kweku Sumbry, holding down the beat regularly at Takoma Station.
The Black Cat celebrates 30 years of live music in early September with a pair of weekend shows featuring Ted Leo, The Messthetics, Bad Moves, Flasher, and the reunion of 90s bubble-grunge legends Velocity Girl (wya Dan ABH). CityPaper gives the lowdown before the public ticket sales begin June 2nd.
And Washingtonian has an in-depth convo about the reunion with Jim Spellman and Archie Moore of Velocity Girl.
DC Music Video
This auspicious occasion of Velocity Girl’s revival brings up this classic music video, directed by none other than skater/auteur Spike Jonze. “I Can’t Stop Smiling”, from Velocity Girl’s 1994 album ¡Simpatico!, marked their shift from shoegaze to a clean indie-pop sound featuring vocals by Sarah Shannon. Sandwiched between “Buddy Holly”, "If I Only Had a Brain" and “Sabotage”, this is how 120 Minutes made the 90s cool.
Stay Home? Hell No
Tuesday May 30th
The Tuesday night lineup at Songbyrd includes two pop/rock bands reuniting on summer break after months away at college, Dark Trilobite and One Way Out, joined by Ham by the Pound from NJ.
Wednesday May 31st
If you could use a dose of the folk/Americana vibes from the days of Iota in Clarendon, then Hank Dietle’s has what you need Wednesday night with Drew Gibson and his full band.
Thursday June 1st
Guitarist Anthony Pirog of The Messthetics, Ensemble Volcanic Ash, and surely a lot more because he’s all over the place, curates a showcase of solo guitar players Thursday night at Rhizome featuring Jeremy Hairston, Ivan Liptak, and Mike Gassman.
Friday June 2nd
Warning: The Jonny Cohen Love Machine is not for everyone. But if you are into outisder weirdo jams that don’t sound like anything else, then Friday night’s release show for the new album Clambake Fiasco at the Dew Drop Inn could be for you. The album’s engineer Don Zientara, famed head of Inner Ear recording studio, opens the show.
Saturday June 3rd
Queering Sound, the multifaceted arts festival of LGBTQIA+ artists & allies, kicked off Thursday at sites in and around Takoma and Takoma Park with installations of visual art. The live music showcase Saturday afternoon at Rhizome features experimental sets from Bushmeat Sound System, That Majeure, Christine Paluch + Lucretia Hatchetface, and Mission Creep. Check the QS FB page for more events throughout June.
Sunday June 4th
More? More! Queeering Sound’s live music showcase continues Sunday evening at Rhizome with slightly more familiar rock and R&B sounds from Ammonite, Ari Voxx, Blood Family Reunion, Eyerolls, and Julie Outrage.
Thanks for Reading
And the bands thank you for listening. It’s easy to get lost in AI-generated payola playlists full of the same old stuff, but we still fancy the old-fashioned hand curation and the live shows with more passion than polish. Be safe, see you next week.