Songwriters and Poets converge on the Black Squirrel

Starting last night and throughout June, the Black Squirrel (2427 18th Street NW, Washington, DC, US, 20009) will be hosting a stream of local musicians through the inaugural Songwriters and Poets series.The series includes several popular local artists: Justin Trawick, Ilyaimy, Ken Wenzel, Tiffany Thompson and more...Hope to see you there.

The Concept
Songwriters and Poets intention is to become an annual six week series event to showcase the talents of independent musical and spoken word artists from our region. Much like the highly vaunted SXSW in Austin Texas, it is the goal of this program to develop and expand into a multi-venue event that will attract an audience not only of listeners and tastemakers, but also industry professionals scouting for emerging talent. Each of the artists has demonstrated a dedication to their art that transcends the ordinary and represents diversity in genres from Americana to Folk, Blues, Jazz, Pop, Experimental and Voice. Each headline performer has achieved a level of personal accomplishment defined by their sacrifices, shaped by their performances and established by the support of their audiences. Each supporting artist has demonstrated the dedication to follow in their footsteps.

The Venue
The Black Squirrel has become known as a leader in Craft Beer through its extensive and ever-changing fresh seasonal menu representing artisanal brewers from every corner of the country and world. Two steps below street level in its row home splendor lies a tap room intentionally decorated in street art graffiti with an underutilized sound stage that presents an ideal guerrilla showcase for our first ever event series.

The Schedule
Multi-artist performances will occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Wednesdays during the six week program. Each evening will open at 7pm with two to three supporting artists followed by the headline artist(s) from 9pm to 10:30pm then all artists will once again take the stage together to close out the evening program. All support sets and the final set are free to the public and all headline sets carry a modest $5 advance reserve and $10 at the door entry fee. All audience entry fees inure to the benefit of the artists.

Calendar
Tuesday, May 22
7pm - Emmet Williams No Cover
8pm - Dan Wolff No Cover
9pm – Harris Face $5 Advance $10 Door
10pm - The Parlor Soldiers

Thursday, May 24– Co-Bill
7pm – Bobby Waters No Cover
8pm – Jacqueline Stem $5Advance $10 Door
9pm - Christopher Mac Vittie

Tuesday, May 29 - Co-Bill
7pm – Steve Tibbets No Cover
8pm – Symphonic Refrain $5Advance $10 Door
9pm – Jeremiah “REV” Headen

Thursday, May 31 – Co-Bill
7pm – Mike Burgess No Cover
7:30pm – Paddy Kilrain No Cover
8:30pm – Justin Trawick $5Advance $10 Door
9:30pm – Ilyaimy

Tuesday June 5, 2012
7pm – Damian Anderson No Cover
7:30pm – Steve Rayment No Cover
8:30pm – Misty Boyce $5Advance $10 Door
9:30pm - Nick Africano

Thursday June7, 2012
7pm –  Special Guest  No Cover
8pm – Nikki Smith No Cover
9pm – Silky Dave $5Advance $10 Door

Tuesday, June 12
7pm – Juels Bland No Cover
8pm – Mark G. Meadows w/Stephen Synk No Cover
9pm – Christylez Bacon $5Advance $10 Door

Thursday, June 14
7pm – Tom Dews No Cover
8pm - Gina DeSimone & Pat Quinn No Cover
9pm – Laura Baron $5Advance $10 Door

Tuesday, June 19
7pm – Adrian Krygowski No Cover
7:30pm – Joe Conley No Cover
8pm – Tiffany Thompson $5Advance $10 Door
9pm – Ken Wenzel

Wednesday, June 20
7:30pm – House of Burgess No Cover
8:30pm – Steve Guyger $5Advance $10 Door
                     With Richard Ray Farrell

Thursday, June 21
7pm – Daniella Risman No Cover
7:30pm – Jim Shirey No Cover
8:30pm – Ansel Matthews $5Advance $10 Door
9:30pm – Luke Mitchem “Save Joplin”

Tuesday, June 26
6:45pm – Sarah Kinas No Cover
7:15pm - Benjamin Hofer No Cover
7:45pm – Heather Mae No Cover
8:30pm – Susan Enan $10Advance $15 Door
9:30pm – Andy Zipf

Thursday, June 28
7pm – Jean Bayou No Cover
8pm – The Harley String Band No Cover
9pm – Becky Warren and the Great Unknowns $5Advance $10 Door

Three Days of Songwriters at IOTA Club & Cafe

From May 29th through May 31st, IOTA Club & Cafe is hosting three events dominated by singer-songwriters. All the shows are all ages and require a nominal cover charge ($10.00). On May 29th, Justin Trawick's The 9 Songwiter Series starts at 8:00pm. Trawick organized this series in order to give a forum to under appreciated local artists. We've seen many of these artists at area wineries, so we know this will be a good show.

The 9 Songwiter Series
Justin Trawick
Amanda Lee
Mike Bowers
Robert Higgs
Heather Lloyd
Adrian Krygowski
Dan Fisk
Amber Dutton
Jason Masi 

The following day, Memorial Day, the music starts early for a Concert to benefit The Red Cross

Flood and Tornado Disaster Relief Efforts. This show starts at 3:00pm almost two dozen local artists who have volunteered their time to raise funds for the disaster relief. . The Weathervanes Taylor Carson Tom McBride Jelly Roll Mortals Redline Addiction Todd Daniel (of The Walkaways) Margot MacDonald Little Pink Bethany and the Guitar Victoria Vox Kid goat Meredith Bragg Lissy Rosemont Tom O'Connor Cigarbox Planetarium Wes Tucker and the Skillets Rene Moffatt Addieville Ace Elija The Blue Transfer Band Adrian Krygowski

And finally, the last day in May finds the venue hosting anther set of excellent local musicians for the Open Minds, Open Ears Showcase. We are sure open-minded about these musicians. They are talented. 

 Jaime Potter 

 w/ sol and funk root 

 w/ derek evry 

 w/ Amy Sullivan And the whiskey darlings  

 w/ alex the red parez 

Three Shows at IOTA

 One of our favorite music clubs, IOTA, is hosting three shows we plan to see next week. Its starts Monday the 14th with a local singer-songwriter showcase featuring regular Justin Trawick and several others. We've seen Trawick and Chris Aaron Behrmann of Bad Luck Blue Eyes a couple times, but this will be our fist time hearing Bobbie Allen and Heather Renee.The following night, The Blasters come to town for IOTA's anniversary party. Can't believe Phil Alvin is still going strong. And finally, Justin Jones & The Driving Rain returns on Friday the 18th to entertain us with his alt-country rocking Americana style. Hopefully we will be able to get a video or two to post on MyJoogTV.

Justin Trawick w/ Chris Aaron Behrmann, Heather Renee, Bobbie Allen - Monday, March 14, 2011 @ 8:30 PM

The Blasters - Tuesday, March 15, 2011 @ 8:00 PM

Justin Jones & The Driving Rain - Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 9:00 PM

The 9 Songwriter Series - Coming Soon to the Galaxy Hut

This coming Monday, January 24th, nine local songwriters will be appearing at the Galaxy Hut, in Arlington (Clarendon) Virginia. The show starts at 9:00 and has a minimal cover charge ($5).  We've seen several of these artists previously - starting with Justin Trawick and Ken Wenzel - who are worth seeing again. Plus, Chris Behrmann, from Bad Luck Blue Eyes.

Justin Trawick * Melissa Branin * Ken Francis Wenzel * Danni Rosner * Chris Behrmann * Bobbie Allen * Alexis George * Joanne Kim * Adrian Krygowski

20 Days in November - Day14: PinkJams

Over the past few weeks both Justin Trawick and the members of Memphis 59 have been reminding us of their benefit concert, PinkJams, held at The Clarendon Ballroom. The benefit was designed to raise money to promote breast cancer awareness and was a timely event with regards to this week's new examination guidelines. Memphis 59 has a history of promoting charity goals since currently A portion of all proceeds from their CD sales are donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Since we had seen this band a couple times the last few weeks and plan to attend their CD release show at Jammin' Java on December 4th - I wasn't overly disappointing that I missed their set. I arrived in time for Trawick and his full band - which is always quite an experience. Not only is the music tight - but you never know what you're hear. Maybe some rock, or a 20 minute rap extravaganza, a sax solo from Ken Wenzel, or California surf guitar from Josh Himmelsbach, or a funky bass riff by Jean Finstad - or even a Viennese waltz. Who knows. Because of this versatility and hard work - playing virtually every other night - they have developed a nice fan base.

It was a nice turnout for the evening. The attendance was a bit misleading because the venue is so large - but we hear the organizers met their goals. A good cause and good music - a win win.

Justin Trawick's Acoustic Residency

We have been following local Washington D.C. artist, Justin Trawick, for a couple years now - not only because he's a fine musician, but also because he has mastered the art of social networking. He reminds us often that he has a regular engagement at IOTA Club called Justin Trawick's Acoustic Residency which is held the second Tuesday of every month. The idea is to have one or more national, regional, or local acts play a set, followed by Trawick - either solo or his acoustic team. For August 11th, we noticed that he had scheduled Jamie Mclean, who besides fronting the Jamie Mclean Band is best known as the guitarist for the The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Nice coup. There was a large crowd that evening - I think equally split between both artists - as well as a few holdovers from happy hour. Mclean is an excellent guitarist and playing the acoustic guitar that evening provided a clean picking sound. The songs were mostly from his new CD, American Heartache, which features many special guests such as members of The Black Crowes, North Mississippi Allstars, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Shannon McNally. I can't wait to get my hands on this one. The title track and Cherry Tree were two I really liked.

After Mclean's set, Trawick took over and you never know what you'll get with one of his performances. Sometimes Americana, sometimes something with a reggae flare - or even a little rap. To continue with the unexpected, they played a dance song - actually a waltz with drummer, whisking patrons onto the dance floor - me included. Besides being an accomplished guitarist, he is also a fine vocalist - perfectly displayed during the sound check. I could have listened to an A cappella set all evening. Trawick performs regularly throughout the Mid-Atlantic so there's no excuse not to fit one show into your schedule. Plus he plays with his full band two nights at the end of August at Iota - we'll see you there at least one night.