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.

A/V + Editing: Catherine DeGennaro

For more, check out Lightfoot’s albums on Bandcamp

Video: Sydney Browning
Audio + Editing: Catherine DeGennaro 

What: Grasping At Straws competes at the DC Next Big Thing Tour
When: 11am-11pm on Sunday Feb. 19 (exact timeslot will be announced after reporting ticket sales on Thursday)
Where: To be determined by ticket sales (But we hope the 9:30 Club!)
Cost: $15 for the show + the possibility of a post-show party for everyone who comes out to watch

For tickets and more information, contact Anatole Doak at ajd76@georgetown.edu

Camera: Sydney Browning
Audio + Edits: Catherine DeGennaro

“Time Travel”

So last week, when 20-year-old Londoner Alessi Laurent-Marke, dba Alessi’s Ark, came to campus for a Rolling takeaway show, there was really only one spot worth visiting. Perched high atop the roof of LXR, Alessi braved the impending elements and serenaded us with some gorgeous tunes as the clouds rolled in.

“Stalemate”

“The Bird Song”

After enjoying these videos, make sure to check out Time Travel, now available everywhere for purchase or download!

Camera + Crew: Emma Forster + Catherine DeGennaro

We proposed another Music From Big Chair session to the Portland-based punky-folk rockers The Ascetic Junkies, but the band had another locale in mind: Georgetown’s famed exorcist stairs, so-called because of the scene in the 1973 horror flick The Exorcist. If you’re from the area, you’ve definitely seen it, 70′s film effects and all; Georgetown hosts a showing every Halloween in Gaston Hall. But in recent years the stairs have been better known for the quad-burning workout they offer (we caught some of these dedicated athletes in the video – thanks folks!)The charming Ascetic Junkies wooed runners and passerby alike with two jangly tunes, which you can check out below. And they were quite impressed with the DC contingency, many of whom actually understood the band’s name. Real nerdy, Georgetown!

If you missed our last Music from Big Chair session with Jeremy Messersmith, check it out here.

When Beast Make Bomb settled into a cozy corner on the top floor of Georgetown’s pristine business school building, they were itching to finally play a song free of interruption.  Their first attempt in Dahlgren Square proved near perfect, aside from the earth-trembling twelve o’clock chimes of the neighboring clock tower.  On the second try, we secured permission from the kind folks at Uncommon Grounds to play inside the café, a venue that turned from humble to nightmarish once the coffee grinders went on in full force.

Undeterred, we led the Brooklyn quartet over to the Rafik Hariri Building to play a lovely tune amongst the business school’s suit-clad professionals.  As lead singer Ceci Gomez belted out the final “Ooo’s” of the song, however, a woman in a fuchsia suit and a temper to match stormed over to our crew to demand that we stop the show immediately.  Apparently, the business school’s board of advisors didn’t care for rock n’ roll.  Stifling giggles, we apologized and went out front to greet lax bros, MBA candidates, and undergrad students alike with one last song as they entered the building.

Eager for their 9:30 Club show with The Whigs, the band thanked us for the borrowed guitars and slipped out of sight into misting rain.  A day of setbacks and delays couldn’t stop the music.

Camera + Crew: Scott Lensing + Dan Stokes

Just hours before Yellow Ostrich parked their van on 37th and O Street NW, Fiona and I scrambled to find something — anything — for Alex Schaaf, Michael Tapper and Jon Natchez to play. A slight miscommunication had resulted in the band planning to stop by Georgetown to record a plugged-in studio session before their soundcheck at the Black Cat with us waiting on the other end to film an acoustic takeaway show. Easy fix, right? Not quite. They didn’t have the equipment to play acoustic, and we didn’t have the equipment to go electric. Hoping to salvage the afternoon, we rounded up the best instruments we could find, and thankfully, the flexible trio was willing to stretch the definition of both ‘best’ and ‘instruments’ far enough to rework a few cuts from their album The Mistress live on air. Crammed into the tiny studio tucked away in the corner of Hoya Court, Schaaf strummed Fiona’s acoustic guitar, while Tapper kept time on its case, adding in some percussive flourishes with whatever he could bring along after politely declining the toy tambourine we dug up for him. Bassist Jon Natchez broke out the brass instead of the bass on “Hold On” and effortlessly translated the buzzing, electric end of “Mary” to an unplugged setting with some light clarinet.

Later on that night, we were lucky enough to catch Yellow Ostrich’s opening set at the Black Cat and were treated to a whirlwind of sound — vocal loops with reverb, a full drum kit, electric guitar, bass, brass and synths — pumped through large speakers. On what is the band’s first real tour, they played to an impressively full room that shouted requests (if it wasn’t busy being eerily quiet, listening with rapt attention as Schaaf tuned up between numbers) and hung on to every note of favorites like “Whale” and newer, unheard songs like “Charles Lindbergh” alike. And as good as that set was (and it certainly was good), there’s something to be said that these three musicians could pull something equally striking and captivating out of little more than a hastily tuned guitar and the beat of its empty case.

Crew: Fiona Hanly + Catherine DeGennaro
Edits: Catherine DeGennaro

Listen to and download the audio from the session:

Yellow Ostrich: In-Studio with WGTB by WGTB Rotation