Amos Lee performs at City Dock on the Sept. 16, 2022, the second night of the inaugural Annapolis Songwriters Festival. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Though it might not be the first city musicians think of when booking their stops in the DMV, Naptown has undoubtedly carved out its own space in the prosperous local music scene as a laid back and amenable destination with so many concertgoers within a short drive.
With the presentation of the inaugural Annapolis Songwriters Festival, a city-wide event hosted by The Rams Head Group from Sept. 15 to 17, this pleasant and historic place welcomed an impressive and dynamic lineup of musicians from all over the country for performances — of them free of charge — at more than a dozen different spots along West Street, downtown and elsewhere.
And in doing so, event organizers and city leaders not only created a three-day celebration of song craft and performance, they helped Annapolis celebrate its own rich history of live music while building promise for what’s to come.
Kicking off Thursday afternoon, the festival welcomed songwriters, guitar pickers, piano players, full bands and more. Shows started at the Maryland Cultural & Conference Center, now branded as MC3, and they’d pick up throughout the early evening at places like Metropolitan, Rams Head On Stage, Rams Head Tavern, and Graduate Annapolis.
As the sun began to set on Thursday, the lawn at MC3 was bustling and lined with vendors as Robert Randolph, considered one of the best pedal steel guitar players alive and a celebrated gospel and funk artist, took the stage with his band — the Family Band — to quickly turn the outdoor venue into an invigorated dusk dance party.
At Rams Head On Stage, where a healthy stream of musicians took their turn playing to seated audiences throughout the three days, Josh Ritter performed to a packed room, showcasing his gorgeous blend of precise picking and tender lyrics.
Over at Maryland Hall, which occupies the former Annapolis High School building and features a 725-person theater, Thursday night headliner Fantastic Negrito delivered a stunning and remarkable performance, including tracks from the Grammy-award winning artist’s newest album, “White Jesus Black Problems.”
Stream Fantastic Negrito’s newest album, White Jesus Black Problems, via Spotify:
The 54-year-old, whose birth name is Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, enraptured the venue with an inventive and emotional blend of blues, rock, roots and soul. He’s a walking inspiration himself — a self-taught musician who’d overcome hardships living in the Bay Area, he was involved in a horrific accident in his early 30s, one that permanently damaged his right guitar-playing hand. But he recreated himself in the form of Fantastic Negrito and has become a sensation for his refreshing, provocative approach to song composition and storytelling.
Xavier provided moving context to his music and his style, sharing with the Naptown crowd that, seven generations ago in his family, a white Scottish woman and an enslaved Black man had a relationship in Southern Virginia, where at the time such a notion was outlawed.
The spectacular performer led an eye-opening set pulled from his growing catalogue and he welcomed to the stage one of the weekend’s most notable special guests, saxophonist Angelo Moore, one of the founding members of the ska punk band Fishbone.
Friday brought sunshine and an even more sprawling list of options for ticketholders or anyone simply wanting to bop from venue to venue to check out the dozens of songwriters sharing their music.
Listen to the Eye On Annapolis podcast about the first ever Annapolis Songwriters Festival:
49 West, Latitude 38, Stan & Joe’s and other spots showcased performing artists all day long, and the already-brimming downtown area was busier than normal thanks to the swell of fans who’d made their way to see some of the regarded entertainers.
Standing on the stage to introduce Friday night’s headliner, Amos Lee, Mayor Gavin Buckley made it clear that his vision for the City of Annapolis is one with live music as a centerpiece of culture, especially in the downtown area.
“Thank you for coming out to what will be a defining music festival for Annapolis,” he said emphatically, his wife, Julie, at his side, a large crowd gathered before him and extending back to Annapolis Harbor.
Like many of those who took a stage to introduce artists over the weekend, Buckley heaped praise on The Rams Head Group for bringing so many talented individuals to the city that sits on the Chesapeake Bay, right at the mouth of the Severn River.
“You can go around and listen to all of this music because of their efforts,” he said of Rams Head, which modeled the event after the Key West Songwriters Festival in Florida, established in 1997 and that the group now operates.
Buckley used the opportunity to tell those in attendance Friday night of ambitious plans in the works to create a park at the current location of the City Dock and adjacent parking lot.
“It’s going to be the biggest thing we’ve ever done in the City of Annapolis,” he said, and a receptive audience cheered on the restaurateur and politician who was born in South Africa and raised in Australia before moving to America in the early 1990s.
Introducing Amos as if the two went back for years, Buckley turned over the stage to the acclaimed Philadelphia-born singer-songwriter, who greeted the crowd and expressed his gratitude to headline the first event of its kind in Naptown. Performing his blend of rock and soul, folk and blues, Lee captivated the large crowd and in the process let the light shine on the collection of polished musicians joining him.
Listen to Amos Lee’s 2022 studio album, Dreamland, via Spotify:
Meanwhile, up the street at Maryland Hall, Grammy winner Lucinda Williams was captivating and comforting an audience of a devout and vocal fans, some of them breaking down in tears as the legendary singer and songwriter from Lake Charles, Louisiana, performed with her band for the first time in earnest since the pandemic.
The theater audience therefore, Williams said, played an important role in helping the group of seasoned veterans ease back into its swing.
The third and final day of the fest brought yet another full slate of live performance, including several that would take place Saturday afternoon on the likes of one of the yachts operated in the harbor by Watermark Cruises.
For the second consecutive night, the City Dock was filled with families and friends who took in performances by country star Jake Owen. At the same time, widely respected folk-rock artist James McMurty headlined a show up at Rams Head On Stage. And as that show wrapped up, three venues in town featured rotating lineups of some of the many well-known musicians still in town for intimate engagements that went late into the evening.
Here are images from the first couple days of the first ever Annapolis Songwriters Festival, held at venues and locations throughout the City of Annapolis from Sept. 15 to 17, 2022. All photographs copyright and courtesy of Casey Vock.
Fantastic Negrito at Maryland Hall on Sept. 15, 2022
Josh Ritter at Rams Head On Stage on Sept. 15, 2022
Robert Randolph and the Family Band at MC3 on Sept. 15, 2022
Michael McHenry Tribe at Maryland Hall on Sept. 15, 2022
Lucinda Williams at Maryland Hall on Sept. 16, 2022
Amos Lee at City Dock on Sept. 16, 2022
Annapolis City Mayor Gavin Buckley
Madison Cunningham at City Dock on Sept. 16, 2022
Elizabeth and the Catapult at City Dock on Sept. 16, 2022
