Dante Ferrando drums in The Owners at Comet Ping Pong on Dec. 9, 2021. (Photos by Ben Eisendrath)
Longtime fans of DC nightclub Black Cat — and good indie music in general — were greeted by a surprise when we emerged from pandemic lockdowns a few months ago. The Cat’s founders, Dante Ferrando and Catherine Ferrando, and longtime bartenders, Al Budd and Laura Harris, had formed a quartet.
They called themselves The Owners and sharpened their songs in the Black Cat itself as a ready rehearsal space while it was closed to the public. The results are pretty damn catchy, as evidenced in their most recent performance in a sold-out show with Bad Moves at Comet Ping Pong.