Live Review: The Deslondes @ Metro Gallery — 7/19/22

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Casey Vock in Live Review and tagged Americana, bluegrass, blues, Louisiana, Metro Gallery, New Orleans, The Deslondes.

Sam Doores performs with The Deslondes at Metro Gallery in Baltimore on July 19, 2022. (Photo by Casey Vock)

A five-piece band from New Orleans: That’s about as far as one might get in solving the formula yielding The Deslondes, a group that got its start under a different identity in 2010 and in 2013 changed its name to one paying tribute to a street in the Lower Ninth Ward where the group originated.

And by blending their collective vision with allure and character, there’s no question that this group of pals and extraordinary songwriters is honing its own Big Easy neighborhood sound into some of the most intoxicating and mystifying music you might hear today.

Live Review: Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown @ Wolf Trap — 6/18/22

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Ari Strauss in Live Review and tagged funk, Louisiana, New Orleans, soul, Trombone Shorty, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Voodoo Threaudown, Wolf Trap.

Fresh off the recent release of Lifted, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Anderson’s second album for Blue Note Records, his traveling mini-festival of funk that is Voodoo Threauxdown made its way to Northern Virginia for a nearly four-hour show at Wolf Trap. The recent performance headlined by Trombone Shorty included four bands whose members span the history and the future of New Orleans music.

Live Review: Mary Gauthier w/ Jaimee Harris @ Jammin Java — 6/8/22

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Mark Engleson in Live Review and tagged Americana, folk, Jaimee Harris, Jammin' Java, Louisiana, Mary Gauthier, New Orleans.

Mary Gauthier (Photo by Chad Cochran)

Introducing “I Drink” during her recent set at Jammin’ Java, Mary Gauthier shared that she’s now been sober for 32 years.

Five years into sobriety, she started writing songs. At the time, she was a chef with a southern restaurant in Boston, southern the cuisine of her native Louisiana. As unpredictable and boom-and-bust as the restaurant business can be, the music business can be an even more difficult way to make a life.

Live Review: Carsie Blanton w/ Lilli Lewis @ The Birchmere — 5/11/22

Posted on May 19, 2022 by Mark Engleson in Live Review and tagged Carsie Blanton, folk, Lilli Lewis, Louisiana, New Orleans, singer-songwriter, The Birchmere.

Carsie Blanton (Photo courtesy Fleming Artists)

Carsie Blanton grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, and she came to The Birchmere many times as a teenager. Since becoming a professional musician, she’s played the venue several times in an opening slot, beginning with a performance with the late Leon Redbone. Carise recently headlined the historic Northern Virginia venue for the first time.

Live Review: PEARS @ Pie Shop — 4/23/22

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Andrew Goodwin in Live Review and tagged hardcore punk, Louisiana, New Orleans, PEARS, Pie Shop, punk, Talk Me Off.

PEARS (Photo courtesy Fat Wreck Chords)

“Well, this is a blasty blast.”

For the past couple rotations around the Sun, that thing got in the way of live music for me. It had been over two years since I had seen a band perform in the flesh…to be more specific, 773 days have come and gone since I saw Dead Kennedys rock the shit out of 9:30 Club. So I don’t need to tell you just how goddam excited I was that one of my favorite Fat Wreck Chords bands, PEARS, was gonna be playing at one of my favorite (and crustiest) venues the District has to offer, the Pie Shop.

Not to paint too crass a picture, but like, we’re talking full-on, pre-pubescent hormones excitement level. And boy oh boy, PEARS did not disappoint.

Live Review: Tank and the Bangas @ 9:30 Club — 3/21/22

Posted on March 29, 2022 by Casey Vock in Live Review and tagged 9:30 Club, Cory Henry, funk, hip hop, Louisiana, New Orleans, soul, Tank and the Bangas.

Tarriona “Tank” Ball leads Tank and the Bangas in a performance at 9:30 Club on March 21, 2022. (Photo by Casey Vock)

It takes an extraordinary relationship between a group of musicians — colleagues or friends who inevitably become tight-knit like family — in order to produce and sustain some of the most cutting-edge sounds coming off any stage.

The glorious result of a durable and flourishing dynamic between the large number of members in this propulsive funk-soul-hip-hop-poetry vehicle, Tank and the Bangas has thrived through the pandemic thanks largely in part to the groundwork laid before it — and the proof was on display at 9:30 Club recently.

Preview: Tank and the Bangas @ 9:30 Club, 3/21/22

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged 9:30 Club, funk, hip hop, Louisiana, New Orleans, soul, Tank and the Bangas.

Tank and the Bangas (Photo by Jeremy Tauriac)

New Orleands funk collective Tank and the Bangas are set to release their third studio album, Red Balloon, on May 13 via Verve Forecast. They have already launched a North American tour that will bring them to 9:30 Club on Monday, March 21.

Ticket Giveaway: Galactic @ 9:30 Club, 3/18/22

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged 9:30 Club, free tickets, funk, Galactic, jam band, Louisiana, New Orleans, ticket giveaway.

Galactic (Photo courtesy 7S Management)

New Orleans jam band Galactic are performing at 9:30 Club on Friday, March 18, and Parklife DC is giving away a pair of tickets for you to see the show! (Pssst: Galactic also perform on Saturday, March 19 if you prefer to go to that show.)

Live Review: David Shaw @ Union Stage — 12/18/21

Posted on December 21, 2021 by David LaMason in Live Review and tagged David Shaw, Louisiana, New Orleans, roots, The Revivalists, Union Stage.

DavidShaw11 — ***David Shaw brings the heat to the Union Stage on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021. (Photo by David LaMason)***

In the nearly two years of no live music, the act of witnessing someone who has a mastery of the stage puts everything into perspective. The importance of live music and the strength of what an artist can make you feel in that moment which makes what could be lost all the more tangible. Watching David Shaw, singer for the band The Revivalists, performing the final show of his debut solo album release at the Union Stage Saturday night I couldn’t help but think how vital live music is to -– if anything -– the emotional strength of so many.

Produced by Jack Splash (Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys, Solange, Valerie June, St Paul and the Broken Bones), Shaw’s self-titled debut is filled with personal songs but ones that can make you move. And on a chilly Saturday night, David Shaw and his band did just that — got things moving — at Union Stage in DC.

Preview: David Shaw (Of The Revivalists) @ Union Stage, 12/18/21

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged David Shaw, Louisiana, New Orleans, roots, The Revivalists, Union Stage.

David Shaw (Photo by Alysse Gafkjen)

The Revivalists frontman David Shaw stops at Union Stage on Saturday, Dec. 18, to perform songs from his new solo album!

Earlier this year, David released his debut self-titled solo album, available via his own imprint Yokoko Records in partnership with C3 Records, and it’s “full of songs that tell stories with a full heart and a dance-able beat,” said NPR World Café.