Poll: What Is the Best Music Venue in DC for 2020?

Posted on 12/01/2020 by Parklifer in Around Town and tagged 9:30 Club, best of the year, Black Cat, City Winery, DC9, music venue, Pearl Street Warehouse, Pie Shop, Songbyrd Music House, Thrushie Awards, Union Stage.

A band on stage! (Photo by Montecruz Foto)

Welcome to the 2020 Thrushie Awards!

Parklife DC will name the DC best local music venue of the year with your input. The Thrushie Awards are open to DC-area music venues that host touring bands. These venues must be occupied by its owner-operator and not a “for-rent” concert hall operated by an independent agent.

Learn more about each nominee by clicking on their name in keywords. Or name your own candidate!

Vote for the best music local music venue in the DC metro area now through Dec. 11.

Livestream Preview: Can’t Be There Today: Billy Bragg and The City Winery All-Stars @ YouTube, 5/10/20

Posted on 05/07/2020 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged Amy Helm, Andrew Bird, Billy Bragg, charity, City Winery, Fink, Joan Osborne, Jorma Kaukonen, Joseph Arthur, KT Tunstall, livestream, Loudon Wainwright, Mary Chapin Carpenter, music festival, Richard Thompson, Rosanne Cash, Rufus Wainwright, Shovels and Rope, Stella Donnelly, Steve Earle, The Indigo Girls, The Mountain Goats, Todd Snider, YouTube.

Billy Bragg (Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff)

Inspired by Billy Bragg’s recent Mother’s Day video release for his song “Can’t Be There Today,” City Winery and Billy are co-producing a special multi-artist Mother’s Day concert that will be broadcast on YouTube on Sunday, May 10.

Around Town: Emergency Relief Funds for Music Venue Staff

Posted on 03/19/2020 by Parklifer in Around Town and tagged 9:30 Club, Black Cat, City Winery, DC9, Jammin' Java, Songbyrd Music House, U Street Music Hall, Union Stage.

A sign announcing a coronavirus closing (Photo by Ted Eytan)

DC has closed its music venues to efforts to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19). As such, staffers at concert halls around town are out of work.

Management at several music venues have established relief funds for their workers, allowing the public to donate directly to efforts to provide money directly to venue staff.

Should you ever have enjoyed a show at any of the venues below, please consider a donation to thank the hard-working staff who helped make it a great experience. Parklife has compiled a list below of music venues administering support funds, along with a statement posted by the management of each.

Parklife will udpate this list as relevant. Feel free to add info on relief efforts for music venue staff in the comments.

Live Review: Danny Barnes @ City Winery — 2/23/20

Posted on 02/26/2020 by Mark Engleson in Live Review and tagged banjo, City Winery, country, Danny Barnes, Texas.

Danny Barnes (Photo by Sarah Cass)

Ace banjo picker Danny Barnes has worn a lot of hats in his career, and his music draws wildly from disparate sources. He’s been a band leader and a sideman, and he’s played everything from bluegrass to (acoustic) punk. As one of his fellow players noted, he may be the only person to have released both a traditional banjo record and an ambient guitar record.

Live Review: Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt (of Leftover Salmon) @ City Winery — 2/11/20

Posted on 02/13/2020 by Mark Engleson in Live Review and tagged bluegrass, Boulder, City Winery, Colorado, Drew Emmitt, jam band, Leftover Salmon, Vince Herman, zydeco.

Vince Herman of Leftover Salman performs at MerleFest 2017 on April 28, 2017. (Photo by cp_thornton)

Before Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt took the stage at City Winery, they were preceded by a brief reading from Tim Newby’s book, Leftover Salmon: 30 Years of Festival. The reading detailed the earliest origins of America’s premier “polyethnic Cajun slamgrass band,” (a term which, Vince joked, “has really pigeonholed us”), when Vince and Drew met in 1985. Over the next few years, Vince would play guitar in the Left Hand String Band, and Drew played several instruments, especially the mandolin, in the Salmon Heads.

Live Review: Midge Ure @ City Winery — 2/5/20

Posted on 02/11/2020 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged City Winery, Glasgow, Midge Ure, Nalinee Darmrong, new romantic, new wave, post-punk, Scotland, Ultravox, Visage.

Midge Ure performs at City Winery DC on Feb. 5, 2020. (Photo by Nalinee Darmrong)

Midge Ure, the gregarious former frontman of Ultravox, answered questions and performed tunes from his solo career, Visage, Ultravox, and even the Rich Kids, in a recent evening of story and song at City Winery in Washington, DC.

Interview: Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon (@ City Winery, 2/11/20)

Posted on 02/05/2020 by Mark Engleson in Interview, Preview and tagged bluegrass, Boulder, City Winery, Colorado, Interview, jam band, Leftover Salmon, Vince Herman, zydeco.

Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt (Photo by Bob Charmichael)

Vince Herman is one of the founding members of the Colorado “jamgrass” (bluegrass jamband) group Leftover Salmon. A guitarist and songwriter, Vince has, with mandolinist Drew Emmitt, formed the core of Leftover Salmon for 30 years.

In this conversation, Vince and Parklife DC’s Mark Engleson discuss the band, his influences, the band’s forays into Colorado’s marijuana industry, and his upcoming show with Drew at the City Winery in DC on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Live Review: Yuna @ City Winery — 1/29/20

Posted on 02/04/2020 by Brenda Reyes in Live Review and tagged City Winery, Malaysia, neo-soul, R&B, Yuna.

Yuna performs at City Winery on Jan. 29, 2020. (Photo by Brenda Reyes)

Yuna appeared in a special acoustic tour throughout City Winery venues across the country recently. And lucky for DC, it was the last stop on her Rouge Tour. Yuna made this intimate occasion such a pleasure and the audience got a better sense of the thoughts behind her music with commentary throughout the set.

Preview: Midge Ure @ City Winery, 2/5/20

Posted on 01/30/2020 by Mickey McCarter in Preview and tagged City Winery, folk, Glasgow, Midge Ure, new romantic, new wave, Scotland.

Midge Ure (Photo courtesy Erika Tooker)

Midge Ure returns to DC with his open and honest Songs, Questions and Answers Tour 2020, which lands at City Winery on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The show is sold out, but here are some things to know before you go!

Live Review: Art Alexakis @ City Winery — 1/10/20

Posted on 01/13/2020 by Chris R. Smyth in Live Review and tagged Art Alexakis, City Winery, Everclear, Oregon, Portland, post-grunge, power pop.

Art Alexakis performs at City Winery in DC on Jan. 10, 2020. (Photo by Chris Smyth)

“Don’t you feel old being at a dinner theater and listening to ’90s rock?” the affable Art Alexakis quipped during his recent performance at City Winery DC. In the small, quiet venue, Art appeared comfortable on stage all by himself, regularly joking and telling stories to the fans in attendance.