John Aulabaugh gave up his musical adventures in his late twenties to pursue a corporate career. That was a successful move that allowed him to propser financially, but he couldn’t ignore the toll he saw of drug and alcohol addiction on friends and loved ones. He channeled his success into philanthropy, and when then clock rolled over to 50 years, he decided to leave business behind, pick up a guitar and add music back into his life. He writes and sings songs with the direct purpose of bringing understanding and healing to those troubled by addiction, and it’s impossible to miss this message in his debut music video for “Road Less Traveled”, from Aulabaugh’s recently released full length album Of Sins Present & Past. A portion of the proceeds from every album sale goes to support drug and alcohol recovery at Transitions in Covington, KY. Find out more about Aulabaugh’s musical journey in this introductory video and mark your calendars to see Aulabaugh perform an acoustic set at Epicure Cafe in Fairfax on June 19th.
Hometown Sounds
Showing The World How DC Rocks
Category Archives: shows
Polyon – More video
Pretty colors and eerie images of food make up the accompanying visuals for shoegazers Polyon‘s second single “More”. This video takes the noisy spaced-out quality of Polyon’s indie rock and propels us on a far-out journey with tasty snacks along the way. Polyon’s been on quite a run of local shows to promote their new pay-what-you-want Three Songs EP, but this Sunday’s matinee show at Hole In The Sky with Two Inch Astronaut and a new band called Green God, billed as “Escape From DC Brunch” is obviously the best possible way to recover from your inevitable Saturday night hangover.
Mittenfields – Optimists video
“Everyone is an #optimist on #openingday”, the tweet from indie rockers Mittenfields read earlier today as their debut music video dropped for “Optimists”, the lead single and title track from their upcoming full length release on April 28th. The famously loud quintet produced these trippy, snowy visuals whose style matches the slacker 90s vibe that energizes the track. The Black Cat (maintstage!) hosts the album’s release show on Thursday April 30th with a Hometown Sounds approved all-DC lineup including Greenland, Magnetar Flares and Night Streets (full respect to Night Streets for naming both a song and their debut EP after themselves \m/ ). If this is the theme song for the opening day of Nats baseball in DC, here’s hoping we don’t have too many bad days ahead.
Blueheart Revival – Early in the Morning video
Bobby Thompson’s blues rock band Blueheart Revival just released the third video from their debut full length album Stone Feathers. Like last year’s premiere video “Setting Sun”, Thompson and his talented crew along with engineer Sean Russel recorded “Early in the Morning” at Cue Recording Studio’s Red Room and Clubhill Media‘s Matt Williams was there to capture footage, but Thompson himself did the editing for this interesting view into the recording process. Iota in Clarendon is the spiritual home of this rugged style in DC, so head there Friday night to hear Blueheart Revival wail and croon with support from Jonathan Slone and Wayward Dog.
Dead Professional – Don’t Be Cruel video
The late 80s were a formative time for me musically, especially when my house got a VCR and MTV. I set to taping my favorite music videos every chance I got, much like devoted music fans taped their favorite songs off of FM radio. 1988 is heavily represented on a VHS tape I still have somewhere in my house, even though I no longer have a device to play it back. Through coincidental synergy, that year two popular songs called “Don’t Be Cruel” flew high in the charts, Cheap Trick’s cover of the original Elvis Presley song and Bobby Brown’s new jack swing anthem. So I’ll be honest with you, when I found Dead Professional‘s spare and beautiful song with the same name, I could not get these two other versions out of my head. This is totally unfair because John Harouff’s song is original, not a cover of either of my ancient earworms. “Don’t Be Cruel” is the latest single from Dead Professional’s 2014 debut EP Hard Hard Hard, recorded by John alone, but he’s recently added bass and drums to his live sets, including this version performed out in a field for The Garage Video Sessions. Dead Professional brings their simple and direct rock to the Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival on April 25th, so wouldn’t it be a grand idea to pre-order tickets today?
Incredible Change – Ecce Mono video
We’ve told you a few times now about Incredible Change, the hot hot synthpop band fronted by Ra Ra Rasputin’s Brock Boss. Their short tour with The Jaguar Club from NYC and Baltimore’s Joseph & the Beasts hits our fair town Saturday night at DC9. This video from last year for “Ecce Mono”, on their FREE self-titled debut EP, shows how much of an intense workout drumming really is. Just try to burn that many calories dancing!
Two Dragons and a Cheetah – Lessons video
Guitarist/vocalist Maryjo Mattea and drummer Joel Wu keep the formula simple in their garage rock duo Two Dragons and a Cheetah. But simple can still rock plenty hard. Their debut music video “Lessons” shows them walking and performing around Chinatown, and I particularly love the incongruity between Wu’s hard hitting drums and the adorably tiny kit strapped to his chest. Pick up their new EP Something, Something... Poetry and Light for a few bucks on Bandcamp and clear your schedule Friday night to descend to the basement of DIT house Bathtub Republic to see the these beasts play with our faves Clones of Clones.
Incredible Change – Night Falls video
Synthpop band Incredible Change continues, despite the recent departure of female vocalist Deena OH. “Night Falls”, a new single not included on their FREE original self-titled debut EP, came out a couple of months ago with this vibrant music video shot by Deena and frontman Brock Boss in one long night from 8 PM to 5 AM. Come meet new vocalist Sarah Stevenson at their next show Saturday March 28th at DC9 with Baltimore’s Joseph and the Beats and The Jaguar Club from Brooklyn, sand RSVP already!
Polyon – Crest video
You guys know Polyon, right? Frontman Ryan McLaughlin’s other other band with Brandon Korch and Adam Lake? Looks like next week is Polyon Week in DC as you’ve got TWO chances to see this powerfully loud band: Monday they join Makeshift Shelters and Taking Meds at Comet Ping Pong and Thursday it’s a show with Stronger Sex and Solids at DC9. Their first release, a cassette and Bandcamp EP simply called Three Songs, comes out next week as well. So now’s the perfect time to watch this music video for their debut single “Crest”. Acclaimed director Nigel Lyons always does a great job of creating visuals that complement the right qualities of the music. I also appreciate all the subliminal reminders to relive the industrial 90s with KMFDM.
Young Rapids – What R U Saying video
DC’s homegrown record label Chimes Records pulls out all the stops for their first major release, the long awaited second album by dead-and-back-again experimental indie rockers Young Rapids. Pretty Ugly‘s new single, What R U Saying, is the first out of the gate for a music video, and Ben Usie from red-hot DIT venue The Beehive delivers this super trippy and colorful visual interpretation of the song. I have no idea what is happening but I like how it makes me feel. Catch these feels for yourself this Saturday at the Rock & Roll Hotel when Chimes Records shows off its all-DC roster of bands, including Go Cozy, Den-Mate and of course The Sea Life. Hit the ATM first and take home some sweet sweet vinyl.
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