Another arbitrary 365 day cycle has come and gone, offering a friendly occasion to recap the gems we’ve heard in 2012. Click through for outgoing Music Director Catherine DeGennaro‘s (pictured left) Top 5 albums of 2012 as explained through the obvious pairing of her two favorite things: paragraphs and corgi .gifs
When you think of young bluegrass bands, popular groups that mix genres and influences like Trampled By Turtles or crossover hits like Mumford and Sons might come to mind. But Spirit Family Reunion, an unsigned bunch of young musicians from Brooklyn, are gathered around one microphone and clinging to their acoustic guitars, banjos, fiddles, upright basses and washboards to keep that pure, old school sound going strong. In their own words, they make “homegrown American music to stomp, clap, shake and holler with” that sounds as excitingly raw and energetic on record as it would at a barn dance, in a church basement or on the back porch.
Take a listen to “When My Name is Spoken” after the jump and catch the band live at IOTA Cafe (21+) in Arlington this Thursday night opening for Adam Arcuragi.
So Sandy’s showing off outside our windows right now, but so what? We are a tough and weathered bunch — especially my fellow 2013ers. From trudging through the hip-high piles during Snowpocalypse to hiding away from Irene and straightening up the books on our shelves after that magnitude-5.8 earthquake, we have prevailed. And now I’m sure that we’ll all survive Sandy. Heck, at this point, even if the Mayans are spot-on with their prediction, I have no doubts that we’ll all just post celebratory Facebook statuses about class being cancelled and get on our daily lives in the hellscape of the post-apocalyptic world.
But just because you’re tough doesn’t mean that you can’t curl up on your couch (away from your windows) and put on some good tunes to help you weather the storm. So here’s a mix of rain and wind. And here’s to you, Sandy. Click through for the mix and the full track listing. Read More »
First round of papers and exams getting you down? Do you find yourself gazing longingly out of the windows of Lau pining away for the better days of summer 2012? We’ve got the cure. This week’s Friday mix is bringing you back a little bit of the beach. Click through for the full track list. Read More »
Whether you’re melting away on Capitol Hill or kicking back in your friend’s backyard on O Street, WGTB has fourteen tracks for your summer. Check out the full track list after the jump!
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the blog in the past month, you’ve already heard a bit about rising sophomore Peter Fanone. He stopped by the WGTB studio in early May to talk a little bit about his newest single, “Friends For Now.” But he also took a break from studying on a sunny Saturday afternoon during finals to serenade us and the rest of the front lawn with two original songs. Take a listen after the jump, and keep an ear out for more from Peter in the fall.
Last Friday night, Dahlgren Quad was full of couples in tuxes and gowns snapping photos on their way to Dip Ball. And they were lucky that we dragged DC’s own Lightfoot outside to set up shop on top of the fountain for some impromptu serenading. Led by the strong voice of singer-songwriter Jessica Louise Dye, Lightfoot pared down its numbers to a folky, earnest sound with just a couple of guitars and a trumpet–accompanied also at points by the bells from Healy’s clock tower and many, many planes en route to Reagan. Take a listen to four originals as well as a killer cover of Hall and Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” after the jump!
Not all covers are created equal. There are the straight-ahead renditions, and then there are the personal twists and complete genre re-workings. There are the covers that render your favorite songs unlistenable and, maybe most importantly, the kind that take a song you’d never given a second thought to and trigger that ah-ha! moment: “So that‘s what this is all about!” Suffice to say, most of us probably didn’t give JoJo’s 2006 hit “Too Little Too Late” a first thought. Read More »
