Few musicians can enchant and regale a venue in the manner of Roberto Carlos Lange.
More commonly known by his performing and recording name, Helado Negro, the talented South Florida native is one of the rare songwriters who weaves two languages into his music, and he does so to dazzling effect, as seen in a recent turn at The Atlantis in DC.
Has society overused the word “trippy?” I feel like maybe it’s fallen out of fashion lately? But then how else to describe the recent performance of STRFKR at 9:30 Club as anything other than trippy? Well, it also was a feel good, lighthearted, and dance-inducing experience.
But mostly it was trippy.
Editor’s Note: Parklife DC contributor Casey Vock has been the staff photographer and writer for the Baltimore Old Time Festival the past three years. He was on hand this year for the fifth edition of the event, held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Below is the event’s official announcement.
BALTIMORE, Md. — More than 1,500 people from 26 different states made their way to the fifth annual Baltimore Old Time Music Festival, bringing pickers, fiddlers, and players of all stringed instruments to rejoice along the waters of the Charm City’s Inner Harbor on April 19 and 20.
A convincing demonstration of the city’s thriving old time and roots music scene, the Old Time Festival saw attendance more than triple from 2023 as it packed the Baltimore Museum of Industry (BMI) in the first year at its new location after four memorable years at Creative Alliance.
I recently lost a close friend who died suddenly. We had been friends for over 25 years, and I miss him and think about him every day, just as four-time Grammy Award®–winning record producer Larry Klein thinks about his friend, legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who passed away in 2016. It is the emotion of that loss that fueled Larry’s musical directorship of the National Symphony Pops Orchestra’s performance of Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen at the Kennedy Center on April 26-27.
The NSO performance drew its inspiration from an album of the same name which Larry produced for Blue Note Records and was released in 2022.
One of the many unique joys of experiencing live music is seeing a packed house utterly transfixed by what’s going on the stage. The British sextet Black Country, New Road took a completely new set of material to the Baltimore Soundstage Friday night and made those fortunate enough to be there come away feeling like they’d witnessed something special.
Black Country, New Road (BCNR) began in 2018 in Cambridgeshire, England, and released two full-length albums by 2022: the collection titled For the first time in 2021 and the critically acclaimed Ants From Up Here the following year. But in that short time, the band went through some pretty harrowing turns.
In the music of Scott H. Biram, who refers to himself as The Dirty Old One Man Band, country, rockabilly, and blues intersect with heavy metal and punk rock.
During his recent set at Jammin’ Java, he played both original and classic songs, all in his own unique inimitable style.
The Driver Era recently performed at The Fillmore Silver Spring as a part of their East Coast spring tour. They previously visited The Fillmore in the summer of 2022. This tour marks their fourth headlining tour as the rebranded Driver Era.
Hans Williams recently brought his tour to DC9 nightclub following the release of his new EP More Than One Way Home, and the anticipation was obvious as fans eagerly awaited his performance. Coming all the way from New Orleans (via Vermont), Williams drew a sold-out crowd, setting the stage for a special evening.
Alluding to his divorce from fellow musician Kacey Musgraves, Ruston Kelly recently told the audience at the Historic Synagogue at Sixth & I about how, the moment he started pulling his shit together, his life fell apart.
Plenty of talented songwriters have put in their time only to exit the profession all together, looking to enjoy whatever else life might have to offer.
But sometimes their musician friends, or perhaps famous movie directors, or maybe even the songs themselves come calling, and hiatus gives way to a refreshed desire and renewed vision for sharing music.
Willie Watson has said to hell with songwriting, recording, and performing on a couple different occasions, but the 44-year-old banjo and guitar picker from New York’s Southern Tier has been drawn back to music more than once thanks to the influence of the creative people in his circle.
To the delight of many, he’s currently out on tour, including a recent date at Rams Head on Stage, and is set to release what will be just his third solo album.