Missio (Photo courtesy Ticketfly)
On April 12, Missio released The Darker The Weather // The Better The Man, the duo’s second full-length album, and now they play 9:30 Club on Thursday, May 2. You can win tickets to go with Parklife DC.
Son Volt (Photo by David McClister)
In support of their ninth studio album, Union, Son Volt will perform at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, May 5, led by frontman Jay Farrar, a defining and revered figure in the world of roots rock and pioneer of the alt-country movement of the 1990s.
Combichrist performs at Baltimore Soundstage on April 22, 2019. (Photo by Andy Jillson)
The powerful electro-industrial metal band Combichrist stopped at Baltimore Soundstage recently while on their “One Fire World Tour,” and I was there taking photos and rocking out. Combichrist, led by Norwegian vocalist Andy LaPlegua, played an intense set of songs consisting of hard-hitting male aggro-infused industrial beats, electronic mastery, and plenty of punk rock attitude and nightmarish theatrics.
Jay Buchanan fronts Rival Sons at 9:30 Club on April 22, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)
The statement that “Rock is dead” is made far too often these days. While rock ‘n’ roll may not be receiving the mass exposure it once had, to believe that pure, great rock music is no longer being created is simply an untrue sentiment. Performances like the one Rival Sons put forth at the 9:30 Club recently are all the proof one needs to see that not only is rock and roll alive, but in the right hands, it is thriving.
Ryan Bingham performs at 9:30 Club on April 21, 2019. (Photo by Paivi)
Ryan Bingham made his agenda very clear at the 9:30 Club recently. He told the packed venue, “We’re gonna play you some country music.” But, he said, “Not that beach balls in the back of your truck bullshit.”
Willie Nile performs at The Hamilton Live on April 20, 2019. (Photo by Ben Eisendrath/Instagram+Twitter: Insomnigraphic/GrillworksBen)
Willie Nile bridges the chasm that lies between Bob Dylan and The Clash. He ties intelligent, literate lyrics to frenetic melodies and crashing rhythms. Talk to Willie, and the F-bomb may pop out of his craggy face. Willie turns 71 in June, and he’s still active and creative — maybe more than ever. His creativity was on display at The Hamilton Live recently.
Jeff Austin (Photo courtesy Crossover Touring)
Sleepy Creek Presents hosts the Sixth Annual Sleepy Creek SpringDig on May 3-5, 2019, at Sleepy Creek on the Potomac in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, with headliners Jeff Austin Band, Drew Emmitt, and Andy Thorn.
The Secret Sisters (Photo courtesy Red Light Management)
I can’t think of a much better venue for folk music than The Barns at Wolf Trap. When you enter the 18th century structures, which were relocated from upstate New York, you are transported to a place that is much mental as it physical or geographical. And The Secret Sisters are perhaps the most fitting band to play there, as they did recently.
Natalie Prass at the Rock and Roll Hotel on April 19, 2019. (Photo by Matt Ruppert)
Last summer, Natalie Prass released The Future and the Past, a record replete with grooves that somehow fuses all of the old sounds on which my mother raised me — R&B, soul, a touch of funk — and makes it feel modern, current. She took those grooves to a show at the Rock and Roll Hotel recently.
Over the Rhine performs live. (Photo courtesy Blind Ambition Management)
The band Over the Rhine takes its name from one of America’s largest intact urban historic districts. Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, it’s a working-class neighborhood built German immigrants in the mid-19th century. When Karin Bergquist and Linford Dettweiler formed their band in 1989, the makeup of Over-the-Rhine had changed and it had fallen on hard times. All of that came together in their show at City Winery recently.
