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Live Review: Newport Folk Festival 2023 @ Fort Adams State Park, RI — 7/28-7/30/23

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James Taylor at the 2023 Newport Folk Festival Photo by Casey Ryan Vock
James Taylor makes an unexpected appearance at the 2023 Newport Folk Festival held at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI, from July 28 to July 30, 2023. (Photo by Casey Ryan Vock)

Few festivals can claim to be so open to creativity and progressive ideas that the gathering space becomes a sanctuary for some of the most influential artists and musicians on the planet.

But the Newport Folk Festival has achieved such status. First held in 1959 as an extension of the Newport Jazz Festival, the Rhode Island event is one of the quickest to sell out year after year as organizers successfully load the lineup with adored artists from the U.S. and beyond, rounding it out with up-and-coming acts not limited to folk but just about any form of music.

Live Review: Lyle Lovett & His Large Band w/ National Symphony Orchestra @ Wolf Trap — 8/5/23

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Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett performs at Wolf Trap on August 5, 2023. (Photo by Steve Satzberg)

While I was grabbing a snack during the intermission at Lyle Lovett’s recent Wolf Trap show, I overheard a mother telling her kid not to get lost. If there was a show where she didn’t have to worry about that, at least not very much, it was this show. If the audience was as good-natured as Lyle, who seems like a genuinely kind and sweet man, she could count on things working out. 

In this performance, Lovett was accompanied by his large band as well as the National Symphony Orchestra. Not every artist’s music would work in that configuration, but his does. While his self-titled debut and the follow-up, Pontiac, were fairly grounded in country, he quickly moved beyond that genre with his third album, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band. (I joked to the folks sitting next me to that this night’s performance was with the “extra large” band.) 

Live Review: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit w/ SG Goodman @ Wolf Trap — 8/2/23

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Jason Isbell
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit perform at Wolf Trap on August 2, 2023. (Photo by Steve Satzberg)

Jason Isbell’s music has been categorized as “alt-country” or “Americana.” As Chris Shifflett (guitarist for the Foo Fighters and solo artist, and host of the Walkin’ the Floor podcast) has said, Americana is where “all the guitar-based acts” are being placed. Isbell himself has said that he considers himself a rock musician, and his recent performance at a packed Wolf Trap was most definitely a rock show.

The triple guitar attack (Jason, longtime guitarist Sadler Vaden, and new addition Will Johnson, who also played drums and drums) combined with the bright lights, would make it evident to anyone watching this was rock show. 

That the lyrics are pushed to the front, and that the band doesn’t drown out the words with their instruments, doesn’t change the fact that this is rock.

Live Review: UMI @ Capital One Arena — 8/4/23

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UMI
UMI opens Sam Smith at Capital One Arena on August 4, 2023. (Photo by David LaMason)

Tierra Umi Wilson, who performs under the name UMI, released her debut album, Forest in the City, on RCA last year. The record pulls a lot of what it has to say from themes like relationships but it is also built on this feeling of being centered and aware of one’s environment.

The Seattle native stepped behind the mic in DC this Friday, opening Sam Smith at the Capital One Arena, and she had the crowd won over in a matter of minutes.

Live Review: Sam Smith @ Capital One Arena — 8/4/23

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SamSmith
Sam Smith wows the crowd at Capital One Arena on August 4, 2023. (Photo by David LaMason)

Sam Smith has been having quite the year. First, at the beginning of 2023, they released a new full-length album, Gloria, and the first single, “Unholy,” jetted to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. 

Now, they are in the midst of a massive world tour that is unlike anything Smith has done in previous solo tours. And that may be an understatement. Each performance is a play in three acts with changes in mood, costume, and elaborate choreography to match each change. And on Friday night at a packed Capital One Arena, Sam Smith brought the Gloria World Tour to DC. 

Live Review: Regina Spektor w/ Aimee Mann @ Wolf Trap — 8/3/23

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Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

Regina Spektor’s music is a reflection of her personality: quirky, humorous and deeply heartfelt. The were many laughs recently when she played a solo performance at Wolf Trap, starting with her second song of the night, “Summer In The City,” which opens with a bit about all the cleavage on display in New York during that season.

Live Review: Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa @ Jiffy Lube Live — 8/1/23

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Wiz and Snoop Dogg
Collage of Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa performing at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, on August 1, 2023 (Photos by AJ Waugh)

Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa’s High School Reunion tour made their sold-out DMV stop recently at Jiffy Lube Live with openers the likes of Berner, DJ Drama, Warren G, and Too Short guaranteeing for a legendary night. The duo of Wiz and Snoop originally linked up in 2012 for their Cheech & Chong-inspired movie Mac and Devin go to High School — and they have toured together regularly in the summers ever since. I actually saw them together at the same venue on their High Road Tour back in 2016. 

Preview: Hot August Music Festival @ Oregon Ridge Park (Cockeysville, MD), 8/19/23

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Hot August Music Festival
Performers get close to the audience at the Hot August Music Festival in 2016. (Photo by Mark Raker)

Hot August Music Festival 2023: Celebrating 30 Years of Great Music

The Hot August Music Festival is back for its 30th year, and this year’s lineup is stacked! Headliners Little Feat and Oteil & Friends will be joined by a stellar cast of musicians, including Ripe, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Cris Jacobs, and more.

The festival will take place on Saturday, August 19, at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville, Maryland.

Preview: P!NK @ Nationals Park, 8/7/23

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P!NK Press Shot (credit - Sølve Sundsbo)
P!NK (Photo by Sølve Sundsbo)

Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and global pop icon P!NK released her highly anticipated ninth studio album, TRUSTFALL, earlier this year via RCA Records. She now has embarked on the TRUSTFALL Tour, which visits Nationals Park in DC on Monday, August 7!

Snapshots: Anders Osborne @ Rams Head on Stage — 7/30/23

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Anders Osborne
Anders Osborne performs at Rams Head on Stage on July 30, 2023. (Photo by Steve Satzberg)

Guitarist Anders Osborne has been making some rounds lately, and he landed at Rams Head on Stage in Annapolis, Maryland, for a show. Steve Satzberg was there to photograph him!