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Liz Cooper leads her band during a performance at Black Cat in Washington DC on Oct. 4, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Who’s the most badass person in music these days? It’s certainly hard to gauge, but a recent show at the Black Cat in DC might have strengthened the case that there’s no one sassier than Liz Cooper, a recording/touring artist who in just a few years’ time earned a great deal of respect in both rock and folk circles.
The Lone Bellow performs a matinee show at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis on Oct. 3, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock)
When a group of musicians bond to write and share songs born out of struggle and the battle to overcome those challenges, the result can clearly be a special one.
Remarkably demonstrating this exact kind of provenance with a recent matinee show at Rams Head On Stage, The Lone Bellow out of Brooklyn is now in its 10th year after forming in 2011 during the wake of what was essentially a tragedy impacting its founding member.
Bleachers performs at The Anthem on Sept. 24, 2021. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
“There is no cynicism in live music,” declared Jack Antonoff, adding, “We fucking missed you.”
And a sold-out audience at The Anthem clearly missed Jack, embracing the sincere narratives of new songs by Bleachers from album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night in a recent life-affirming performance.
Ratboys perform at the new location of Songbyrd Music House on Sept. 14, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Not often does a double bill work to evenly showcase the best of two bands, but on occasion, there can be a symbiotic relationship between two touring musical acts that is so wholesome that each can get the most out of valuable, even if in some ways taxing, time on the road.
It does appear as though the current tour co-headlined by Ratboys and Wild Pink is so far a success, the local evidence being a highly enjoyable show put on Sept. 14 by this pair of bands at the newly launched Songbyrd Music House on Penn Street NE, near Union Market.
Lake Street Dive perform at Wolf Trap on Sept. 9, 2021. (Photos by Ari Strauss)
There was a lot of soul in the air when Lake Street Dive and Valerie June took the stage at Wolf Trap last week.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead performs at MECU Pavilion in Baltimore on Saturday Aug. 21, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock.)
The Grateful Dead certainly aren’t done yet, as a recent stop at Jiffy Lube Live by Dead & Company showed us last week. But even if they were, there are so many musicians dedicated to carrying their torch that fans of the San Francisco-based band can rest assured they’ll be able to enjoy the catalogue of music in some live form for years to come.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, a highly talented five-piece outfit obviously led by respected veteran drummer Joe Russo, who himself is not yet close to passing away, made a timely stop in the Charm City this past weekend to drop two world-class sets of music paying tribute to the Grateful Dead.
Willie Nile (Photos by Cristina Arrigoni)
Willie Nile is a man all about New York City, his longtime home. The man about town was in the process of releasing an album about New York City, titled New York at Night, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world and put things on hold.
In May 2020, Willie released that album. Not long before he did so, he chatted with Parklife DC’s Mark Engleson. Now, Willie is back with another album about the place he loves to live — The Day the Earth Stood Still, his 14th studio album, which was released on Aug. 13.
Willie is on tour again with a stop at The Hamilton Live in DC on Saturday, Aug. 28. But Parklife has been sitting on this unpublished interview from when Willie was promoting New York at Night. And in this interview, Willie chats about how much he also loves DC. So with no further ado, we present this chat and strongly suggest you catch Willie live at The Hamilton this weekend.
We Are Scientists (Photo by Danny Lee Allen)
Beloved indie heroes We Are Scientists return with news of their first album in three years, with a blistering new single “Contact High.”
Lightning Bug (Photo by Ingmar Chen)
Lightning Bug’s upcoming album A Color of the Sky is an album of many firsts: the band’s first album with their new label home, Fat Possum, the band’s first time recording together as a live band.
Recently, Lightning Bug released “September Song, pt. ii,” the second single from the album.
HAERTS (Photo by B.Asch)
German-born, New York-based duo HAERTS (Nini Fabi and Benny Gebert) open up another chapter from their upcoming third album Dream Nation (out May 21st via Anti-Fragile Records).
One could detect the usual comparisons to Fleetwood Mac or First Aid Kid in the fourth song “Why Only You” while making way for additional influences such as Portishead and Lamb.
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