As much as any of her beloved songs, Lucinda Williams’s life is a great American story, from growing up as the child of a poet to becoming a rock ‘n roll survivor. For a couple of hours at the Lincoln Theatre, she recently shared songs, stories, and visuals — photos and videos — of her unique journey, as she brought her Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets Tour to DC.
The Westside of Chicago’s God-MC Lupe Fiasco graced the stage at Howard Theatre recently on his Samurai Tour, supporting his most recent release of the same name.
Molly Tuttle Goes to The Fillmore
Words by Dan Rozman
Photos by Mark Raker
Grammy Award-winning Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway recently brought an incredible night of music to The Fillmore Silver Spring — and it was her first time ever playing at a Fillmore venue! At just 31 years old, Tuttle is proving herself to be one of the most exciting musicians in any genre.
“I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area going to the Fillmore in San Francisco,” she told the crowd, “so I’ve always dreamed of playing a Fillmore stage.”
Kinda Evil recently released their debut album, Hard to Believe, and they performed in an album release show at Black Cat!
James Todd Miller was there to photograph the show.
When they officially joined as a duo 20 years ago, Chris and Oliver Wood were packing small rooms. But most folks who turned out for those early shows had been lured by the music the brothers had made separately: Chris, as the bassist for the successful jazz fusion trio Medeski, Martin & Wood; Oliver, as the lead singer and guitarist of the southern blues rock outfit King Johnson.
Now respected far and wide for what they do together, the talented sibling songwriters have established themselves as one of the nation’s most endearing and delightful roots rock bands, and appearances at a long list of festivals and tours all over the map have made them a household name and a welcome companion for any listener.
In 2010, Canadian post-punk quartet Tokyo Police Club visited DC for an edition of Red Bull Soundclash, an event that pit two musical acts of different genres against each other in an audience-driven “competition.” TPC “performed against” DC rapper Wale, and won.
But in recent remarks at the Howard Theatre, Tokyo Police Club frontman Dave Monks revealed his band cheated. “Our manager found the microphone they were using to measure audience reaction, brought it over to our side and give it to our fans, and they cheered right into it,” Dave said at the Howard. “We stole that shit, baby!”
Dave’s humorous recollection capped a long string of memorable visits to DC by Tokyo Police Club, who visited our city one last time for The Final Tour to call it a day.
You’d never had known from his recent sold-out show at The Anthem that Sturgill Simpson suffered a vocal chord rupture a few years ago. In a three-hour marathon performance, Simpson sounded as good as he ever has, working his way through a fantastic set of originals and covers.
A little over a year ago, Slowdive released Everything Is Alive, the band’s fifth studio album. It was their second studio album since reforming in 2014 after roughly 20 years away, and it boosted the band to new heights!
After selling out 9:30 Club earlier this year, Slowdive recently returned to DC for a bigger show at The Anthem, and Nalinee Darmrong was there to photograph the concert.
Haley Heynderickx dedicated “Swoop” to “tiny Filipino mothers and the sacrifices they made for weirdos like me.” She might be a bit of a weirdo, but in a charming way, and her set delighted the crowd at the 9:30 Club during her recent early show there.
One of the more charming parts of the show was when Haley introduced her band and asked them to share a fun fact about themselves. We learned her trombone player was an undocumented immigrant for two decades, and that her guitarist speaks English as a second language — his native tongue is Japanese. He’s also married to the band’s cellist, and they recently welcomed their first child. When it was Haley’s turn, she demurred, saying she didn’t have a fun fact, because “I’m not a fun person.” I disagree!
Sam Grisman Project (SGP) recently made a highly anticipated return to Bellingham, Washington’s Wild Buffalo House of Music, 2024. After SGP’s successful debut at the Wild Buffalo nearly two years ago, we were ready for another evening of Grateful Dead-Dawg inspired music.
