Thursday, July 24, 2008
music
local shows
Winner of last year’s This America Life Song Contest, local indie pop-ist Michael Boggs (pseudonym – We Were Pirates), joins Headlights and the Evangelicals at Arlington, VA’s IOTA, this Thursday, February, 21st at 9 pm. Tickets are $10 at the door. Chosen for the very best recorded cover of Starlee Kine’s ditty, "The Three of Us", We Were Pirates recently released a 5-song EP, The Wolf, after recording it in his bedroom, like any good fend-for-yourself artist. Moreover, come catch the newly popular Evangelicals, creating quite the buzz out of Oklahoma.
Get there early and have yourself a beer, because showing up for a show you don't think will be sold out, and getting turned away is a down-right horrible feeling. Plus, the windows are now blocked, so pacing back and forth trying to get a peek won’t work too well… anyone want to guess where I was last night?
...read more. Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Pennsylvania indie transplants, Raise Up Roofbeams join Ryan Bingham and the established Luke Brindley at 9th St.’s DC9 this Thursday.
Drawing heavy inspiration from literary and philosophical references (Lead singer Nathan Robinson admittedly delves into Hardy, Lawrence, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Wharton and Faulkner), mixed with personal experience, the banjo-toting alt-folkists have started their DC careers off on the right foot.
As far as the learning experience goes, Robinson claims, “[Being in a band,] I’ve learned a lot about business management, flexibility, relationships, mental health, driving, car insurance, art, and American cities. The east coast feels like home to me, since I’ve driven up and down it so many times. I sometimes feel like I-95 is my second mother, and she taught me how to be a man by birthing me in New York City so I could play terrible shows with people I love. Being an independent artist is one of the most humbling experiences I can think of. There is really no glory to speak of, so people who do it as long as we have aren’t in it for that. It’s almost all dirt and work and success tempered with far more frequent rejection. The affirmation comes in short spurts of applause at live shows, which is a really small percentage of your work as a musician. We do this because we love making music and we love each other. It’s something we’re going to be doing for a long time.”
Truth. Humor. Twang.
Catch Raise Up Roofbeams with Ryan Bingham and the Brindley Brothers, 9 pm at DC9, 1940 9th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, on Thursday, February 14th. $10. Or, check out www.raiseuproofbeams.com for upcoming shows.
...read more. Monday, February 11, 2008
"I like to forget why I'm doing things and just do them," claims Bellman Barker bassist, Thomas Hunt, "It's not like that baseball movie." So, a future reference for aspiring bands: in the way on intent, being a musician is very much unlike Field of Dreams.
For one, it's not a formulaic process. Hunt, Aaron Estes, John Matingy, and Mike Buspamante (new comer Steve Dennis now plays keys) recorded their 6-song EP, Anise & Anisette in Columbia Heights with digital tracking, one mic, fairly typical computer speakers, and a lot of Mexican food. However, toting a CD iced with smiley 60's pop undertones and a bouncy sincerity makes drawing a crowd a tad easier than digging a baseball diamond. Making a "conscious decision to never stop moving," the year-old band earned the sweet right to play, this past weekend, on the Black Cat's Main Stage (U St., DC), with local indie's Pash and Jukebox the Ghost. Their live sound varies from the recorded one in the way that buying a really good drink at a bar differs from mixing a really good drink in your kitchen; it's all about atmosphere. On stage, Bellman Barker skips from jogging, high spirited tunes to skank-able dance-around refrains, throwing in bells and maracas for good measure. Following a cheerful, gapless set, all five band mates end their portion of the evening with the stamping "Two Bees", exiting the stage, in front of a sold out room.
DC's local indie pop scene is a bit scattered and it's refreshing to find a band wading through it, constantly evolving their sound. "We're tearing apart the arrangements, and getting our fingernails underneath them… making them more interesting," says Hunt. Even if they're playing just to play, Bellman Barker started building a music career from scratch and are well on their way towards home plate.
...read more. Tuesday, January 29, 2008
