The ambitious DC duo Dove Lady chose wisely with their debut music video for “Ferbalicious”. Though simply named One, their first full length album is a complex tour through ideas and influences, showing this group’s inexhaustible supply of creativity and ambition. Despite the tags “alternative”, “punk” and “post-hardcore”, the single “Ferbalicious” features a classic and crisp breakbeat vibe that hearkens back to DJ mixes from the mid 2000s. The video, directed by Julian T. Oliver with co-direction and cinematography by Nigel Lyons, features drummer Andrew Thawley as “The Traveller”, meeting vocalist Jeremy Day as “The Dreamer” and joining him on an astral journey to form their musical partnership. Keep a browser tab open to their upcoming EP E that drops on November 17th (or go ahead and pre-order it for $999.99, we ain’t stopping you) and don’t miss their next show on Friday December 8th at Comet Ping Pong with out-of-towners Zula and Dehd.
Columbia MD rapper K.A.A.N. takes his deft lyrics to the Hollywood hills in his new video “The Whole World”. The production from Grammy nominated Dem Jointz takes K.A.A.N.’s vibes to uncharted territories, proving that the fast rap game isn’t all he can do. Jointz has mainstream attention from his production work on Dr. Dre’s final album Compton, and matching that with K.A.A.N.’s independently driven social media following is a powerhouse collab delivering both this single and the upcoming album Dem-A-God.
We’veproclaimedaffection for soulful singer Maimouna Youssef over the years, but her current collab with New York’s DJ Dummy The Genius as The Vintage Babies takes her sound to the next level. Their debut self-titled album is filled with a classic groove and powerful lyrics, and the album’s first music video, the smooth party vibing “Shine Your Light”, casts Youssef and her friends in a warm 70s vintage glow courtesy of director Brian Kyle Atkins. We must give a special shoutout for the wardrobe department, as Youssef looks fabulous in everything from flowing dress and braids to patterned pantsuit and afro.
Today is November 8, 2017, and we are honored to premiere the new music video by Two Dragons and a Cheetah, called “November 8, 2016”.
Like most of this town, singer Maryjo Mattea was disturbed and horrified by the outcome of last year’s presidential election. Her creative response was this cathartic call to action song, recorded with drummer Joel Wu in their musical partnership Two Dragons and a Cheetah. The music video, directed by Stephanie Sapienza, features a number of DC musicians you might recognize, including Amber Walson of The Lucky So & Sos, rapper Ardamus and Mattea’s Color Palette bandmate Joshua Hunter.
Though the last year has been frustrating and divisive, yesterday we saw the tides changing as Virginia voters showed up in droves and rejected the conservative narrative of nativism and demagoguery. Today this protest song feels like the rallying cry we need to celebrate a win and remember what’s at stake in this unprecedented time in American history.
Guess which indie pop trio brought a drone with them on tour this past spring? Yup, it’s The Duskwhales. The aerial footage goes along with the wanderlust theme for “Slow Down, Jerusalem”, the groovy, bluesy single from their album Sorrowful Mysteries that’s still a name your own price download on Bandcamp. They’re taking a break from shows for a minute, so mark your calendar to see them play with Kid Brother and Milo In The Doldrums at the Wharf’s upcoming venue Union Stage on Friday December 29th.
DC, meet Cuchulain Kelly, the folk singer with the boldest mustache in town. Perhaps you recognize Kelly from fronting the folk rock band Handsome Hound. Instead of following up their 2016 debut EP I Guess We’re Doing Alright, Kelly decided to write and record a solo album, and it’s almost ready to drop into the world. The album release show is Saturday evening at Tropicalia, with Kelly’s full band and Boaty Otis and Orfeia rounding out the lineup. “Torn In Two” is Kelly’s debut music video, featuring fellow Hound Claire Daviss and direction from Airline Andouille‘s Mark Williams Hoelscher. The video is a very boardroom DC view on the current state of the country’s troubles and our willful denials to listen to reason.
Hometown Sounds continues its core mission to spread the word about awesome #DCmusic with our November Kennedy Center Millennium Stage showcase presenting The Sara Curtin Five!
It isn’t easy to pigeonhole Sara Curtin’s sound. The Washington City Paper describes her 2017 album Or So It Seemed as “a full portrait of a human being: nuanced, complex, and contradictory.” She writes honest, autobiographical songs which invite the listener to explore the human experience. Born and raised right here in Washington, DC on The Beatles, Michael Jackson, musical theater, and Joni Mitchell, the influences present in her songwriting are eclectic. AudioFemme calls her music “smart yet delicious, like a kale smoothie as yummy as a milkshake.”
Sara Curtin is a CMJ.com premiered artist and her 2015 album Michigan Lilium charted on the CMJ Top 200 charts. That Music Magazine calls her “a gifted songwriter who understands that you don’t write because you want to say something, but because you have something to say and she sure as heck says it exquisitely.” Sara made a name for herself in the folk scene with her duo The Sweater Set (with Maureen Andary), who performed across the US, UK, and Ireland, and were former Artist-In-Residence at Strathmore. Sara is also a current Artist Fellow with the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities (2014 – 2018). Brightest Young Things names her “One of D.C.’s finest.” In 2017, Curtin founded Local Woman Records.
To support the fall 2017 release of Or So It Seemed, Sara toured the East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast and is thrilled to finish the year by playing such an esteemed venue as The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage presented by Hometown Sounds!
The Sara Curtin Five consists of Maureen Andary, Olivia Mancini, Brendan Polmer, and Ryan Walker – each established and highly talented artists & songwriters in their own right.
RSVP here and come to the free performance at 6 PM on Tuesday November 21st!
Paul overdoses on live music, while Tony gives a shout-out to his dog walking boss.
Tracklisting:
Sneaksbees – What’s Eating Harold Smith? [Blip]
Rom – The Pizza [single]
Matt Tarka – Vision Hazy [Vision Hazy]
Backbeat Underground feat. Aaron Abernathy – She Don’t Love Me (Like I Do) [single]
Paperhaus – Nanana [Are These The Questions We Need To Ask?]
Shannon Gunn & the Bullettes – What It Takes [What It Takes]
The Bumper Jacksons are DC’s most devoted ambassadors for the old-timey jazz and folk sound they have evolved over 6 years and an impressive five full length albums. Began as the duo of Jess Eliot Myhre and Chris Ousley, the band now features an impressive brass section, upright bass, pedal steel guitar and an abundance of sass and sizzle. Though still rooted in DC, the band seems rather addicted to the tour life, as their nationwide tour roams through the midwest and the south promoting their 2017 album I’ve Never Met A Stranger. The album’s second single is “Old Birds”, and the band had this to say about song’s bold and timely music video:
We are all put in boxes. We each have experienced what it’s like to be told how we’re “supposed” to behave, what we’re “supposed” to like, who we’re “supposed” to be. We inherit these ideas when we’re young children, and in turn, pass them on to our children and project these rules on others.
This weighs on us daily. This stifles our creativity and squashes our dreams. This closes our hearts to others. Old Birds invites us to participate in the rewarding and messy work of breaking apart the systems and structures that hold us, and our fellow humans, back.
Hometown Sounds 