Songbyrd Music House

Around Town: Emergency Relief Funds for Music Venue Staff

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2020.03.16 DC People and Places in the Age of Coronavirus, Washington, DC USA 076 05012
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.

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Around Town: DC Closes Nightclubs Indefinitely to Fight Coronavirus

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Music gear on DC9’s stage (Photo by Jon)

Prior the declaration of a national emergency on March 13, DC’s IMP concert venues, including 9:30 Club and The Anthem, declared they would voluntarily close down through March 31 as part of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

But a clarified order issued by DC’s mayor on Sunday shut both venues indefinitely all the same.

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Live Review: Lower Dens @ Songbyrd Music House — 2/14/20

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Lower Dens perform in Washington, D.C.
Lower Dens performs at Songbyrd Music House on Feb. 14, 2020. (Photo by Kyle Gustafson)

Beach House. Dan Deacon. Future Islands. Animal Collective. Baltimore has been a hot music scene for a while now, but for some reason the amazing Lower Dens never seem to be mentioned in these conversations often enough. That’s a real shame because Jana Hunter’s outfit has been pumping out quality tunes for over a decade now.

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Live Review: Hawktail @ Songbyrd Music House — 2/7/20

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Hawktail (Photo by Jody March)

String band music is often equated, at least in contemporary America, with bluegrass, but this is far from the whole story. Bluegrass only emerged in the 1930s (at the earliest), while string music is much, much older. The term “old-time” is used to describe music with even deeper roots in the 19th century (and sometimes even further back in history). It is old-time music, with its connection to the more distant past and world folk music, that the instrumental quartet Hawktail plays.

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Live Review: Erin Rae @ Songbyrd Music House — 2/4/20

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Erin Rae performs at Songbyrd Music House on Feb. 4, 2020. (Photo by Casey Vock)

Some musicians are taken off guard playing downstairs for the first time at Songbyrd Music House, a narrow room with low ceilings and a small stage dubbed the “Byrd Cage,” kind of like the old tavern venue in your college town.

But on Feb. 4, Erin Rae took the stage as a confident, beaming guitarslinger with a bright smile and a charisma that magnetized the audience’s attention while she carefully double-checked the tuning on her instrument.

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