Dum spiro spero - New album & release concert from Adrian "Hardkor" Krygowski

Fresh off a nationwide tour and SXSW showcase, our friend Adrian "Hardkor" Krygowski returns to DC with a new album, Hope for Us, and an album release show at The Dunes on Friday, April 20. Hope for Us, recorded in Nashville with Ed Pettersen and featuring guest vocals from Garrison Starr, is another step forward for this unique talent.

A little less Vic Chestnutt and a little more Rodney Crowell, the album features a more fully realized and country-inflected sound. Adrian takes the listener along with him on a journey through his own personal growth, the failure of a relationship that doesn't work despite the best of intentions, and his path to reconciliation and redemption. He shares marvelous musical chemistry with Ms. Starr, their duet recalling the great country pairings of Conway Twitty and Dolly Parton or the aforementioned Crowell and Emmylou Harris.

Opening for Adrian will be our old friend Justin Trawick, as well as Wes Tucker & the Skillets. Doors are at 7pm, and tickets are $7.

Bravenoise Album and Concert Preview

DC and Baltimore-based trio Bravenoise are kicking off their selection as an Earth Day Ambassadors with an Acts of Green campaign with the goal of offsetting the carbon footprint created in the production of their album and the corresponding tour. Their debut, Everything Was and Everything Will Be, is a sexy and cosmopolitan J. Robbins-produced affair that demonstrates the breadth of the band's influences, from The Police and Radiohead to Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto. Featuring both uptempo rockers like "A Night of Pleasure" and sultry ballads like "Come Onto Me", the album has something that will appeal to every rock fan.

The first stop in their Acts of Green campaign is the RAW: natural born artists Menagerie showcase at Cafe Asia on Thursday, April 12. Running from 8pm - 2am, the showcase features art, music, photography and fashion. The event is 21+, the attire is fashionable, and and tickets are $10 presale/$15 at the door. Don't miss it!

Photo courtesy of the band

SXSW Debrief with Metro Music Source and DC Setlist

Join our friends Jem and Dave from Metro Music Source and Jennifer from DC Setlist for a special SXSW Debrief Music Industry Meet-Up this Thursday, March 29th, from 6-9 pm at The Dunes. Attached is the press release with all the details and more information about the event speakers and musical guests.

LISTEN LOCAL FIRST, RYAN HOLLADAY FROM BLUEBRAIN 

& SASHA LORD CONFIRMED FOR SXSW DEBRIEF PANEL 

Metro Music Source/ DC Setlist Music Industry Meet-Up

Thurs, March 29th, 2012 6pm-9pm

The Dunes, Washington, DC

The Metro Music Source & DC Setlist will be hosting a SXSW debrief panel discussion next Thursday, March 29th at The Dunes as part of their monthly music industry meet-up event. Fresh from their return from Austin, Texas, the Listen Local First team, Ryan Holladay from BLUEBRAIN, and promoter Sasha Lord will be sharing their experiences about SXSW 2012. The evening will feature a performance from Gypsy jazz vocalist and Strathmore Artist In Residence, Mary Alouette. 

Listen Local First DC (LLF) is a local music initiative devoted to building awareness and creating opportunities for local musicians and venues in order to raise the profile of DC’s local music scene. At the beginning of the year, LLF launched a campaign to get a mobile music venue to SXSW with the aim of showcasing the talent and diversity of the DC area music scene to a wider audience. With money raised from a Kickstarter campaign, Listen Local First (LLF) purchased a van, decked it out with sound equipment, and took to the road. They successfully showcased 15 DC bands/ musicians and hosted upwards of 25 different mobile music venue performances over the course of 3 days. The process, adventure and music were documented via their blog, and soon-to-be-released web series.

Ryan Holladay is one half of the innovative music duo, BLUEBRAIN. They've been featured in everything from WIRED Magazine to the New York Times for their work, which blurs the line between art and technology. Their "location-aware album" for The National Mall is the first ever iPhone app to be included in the Washington Post's Top 10 Albums of the Year awards. Ryan also serves as the new media curator at Artisphere. 

Sasha Lord is the booker and promoter for Comet Ping Pong in DC. She co-produced the “DC Does SXSW” event which showcased a diversity of DC artists including Hume, Deleted Scenes, Edie Sedgwick and DJ Baby Alcatraz. In addition Sasha has partnered, promoted or booked with Civilian Art Projects, The Pink Line Project, U Street Music Hall, The Fridge, Gold Leaf Studios/443 Eye St, Albus Cavus, The Hirshhorns Art Lab program & Tranformer.

The evening will end with music from Gypsy jazz vocalist and Strathmore Artist In Residence Mary Alouette. Alouette describes her sound as “Gypsy jazz, post dubstep, beautiful music and dangerous rhythms”. Her core inspiration is the gypsy legend virtuoso guitarist Django Reinhardt, but her musical influences also range from the great Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Edith Piaf through to progressive contemporaries like Grimes, St. Vincent, and Modeselektor. Mary will be previewing tracks from her debut EP Midas, ahead of her CD Release Show on April 25th at the Mansion at Strathmore.   

The Metro Music Source (MMS) is proud to have Ryan Holladay, LLF founders Christopher Naoum and René Moffatt, Sasha Lord and Mary Alouette at their March Meet-Up. MMS is an informal monthly music industry meet-up event with the goal of bringing focus to the vibrant DC music scene, encouraging support, collaboration, and knowledge sharing amongst music creators and industry professionals. Past MMS events have brought together local musicians, record label reps, artist managers, publicists, filmmakers, music publishers, producer/engineers, and many others. This month’s event is co-hosted with DC Setlist, a popular music platform which recommends, discovers and discusses all things music in the DC area and beyond.

Event Details:

When: Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Time: 6pm-9pm

Venue: The Dunes, 1402 Meridian Place, NW Washington, DC 20009

Cost: Free!

The event will be hosted by Jem Bahaijoub (Founder, imaginePR. Contributor, IndieAmbassador.com), Dave Mallen (Producer, Innovation Station Music) and Jennifer Vinson (Editor, DC Setlist).

Better Living Through Chemistry - "Prozac Rock" by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

Laura Gibson at Iota 1/27/2012

Portland native Laura Gibson has a new album, new label, and a surprisingly bold new sound. Retiring to the northeastern Oregon town of La Grande to write the follow-up to her well-regarded Beasts of Seasons, Gibson enlisted friends including Meric Long and Logan Kroeber from the Dodos, Calexico's Joey Burns, and Nate Query and Jenny Conlee from The Decemberists to flesh out a sound that NPR's Stephen Thompson has described as "harrowingly intimate". Although her sound may be "grander" on this album, her lyrics are still haunting and austere, and her voice quietly gorgeous.

Drawing inspiration from a town that she described as having a "certain gravity" and "curious energy", Gibson bestowed its name upon the album. She signed to Barsuk Records, prepared to release her new album, and embarked upon a European tour. Now back stateside, she graces the DC area with her presence Friday night for the first time in nearly 3 years with a set at Iota Club and Cafe. Doors are at 9pm, and tickets are $12.



Photo Credit - Parker Fitzgerald