DuPont Brass brings a touch of New Orleans second line brass band style to DC. Combining hip-hop, jazz and R&B, these Howard grads have graduated from street busking to blowout club gigs befitting their full, funky sound. “Sunshine” is their second go-round in NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest, after last year’s song “Common Tones”.
Hometown Sounds
Showing The World How DC Rocks
Handsome Hound – Carina (Tiny Desk Contest)
Our spin through the DC area submissions to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest continues with the utterly lovable folk rock band Handsome Hound. Claire Daviss and Cuchulain Kelly front this unique and accessible quintet of musicians, here performing an unreleased song “Carina” at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop Gallery.
While you’re at it, relive Snowzilla 2016 and watch Daviss and Kelly and trumpeter Allison Rosenberg perform “Hannah”, from their debut EP I Guess We’re Doing Alright, for last year’s contest, which we completely missed presenting to you until now.
Sara Curtin – Call You Home (Tiny Desk Contest)
Singer Sara Curtin never disappoints in her entries for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest. Her third effort is the romantic ballad “Call You Home”, filmed at Takoma Ranch and backed by bandmates Maureen Andary from The Sweater Set and Ryan Walker of The Beanstalk Library. Look for a new album featuring this song out later this year.
Run Come See – Empty Shell (Tiny Desk Contest)
Run Come See is a new soulful folk-rock supergroup featuring John Figura of the Gulley Jimson Quartet, standup bassist Tom Liddle of Letitia Van Sant & The Bonafides, and Lauren Calve. Over the last year they’ve refined each others’ songs live and in the studio, culminating in much highly anticipated debut album release next month. Get a taste of it with this submission to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest, John’s original song “Empty Shell” filmed by Sugar Farm Productions at the Petworth Citizen literary bar, where they shelve books by color. Mark your calendars for the album release show Friday March 3rd at the Black Cat with Turtle Recall and The North Country.
Eastern Standard Time – Miles and Miles (Tiny Desk Contest)
Eastern Standard Time steers their brand of ska away from 90s punk leanings to a more soulful, sometimes romantic direction. Their submission to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest sees them grooving on last year’s b-side single “Miles and Miles” in the office basement of Richmond venue The Camel.
Podcast for February 1st, 2017
Paul shares listener feedback from the front lines of the inauguration. Also Tony finally lands a joke.
Tracklisting:
Derek Evry – Armageddon [Exclusive Premiere!]
Natalie York – Girlfriend [Ghosts EP]
Street Stains – Street Stains [Street Stains]
Mountain Jew – We Only Know What We’ve Been Told [The Art Takes Action Mixtape]
Young Rapids – Nice Nice Very Nice [Everything’s Perfect]
Max Ransay – Ti Kanno (Meistro Sol Power Edit) [single]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast in the iTunes Store or your favorite podcast app! (and tell a friend too!)
Stranger in the Alps – Pattern Matching (Tiny Desk Contest)
Steve Kolowich’s folk band Stranger in the Alps is now a 3 year veteran of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest submissions. This year’s entry “Pattern Matching”, the title track from their pay-what-you-want 2015 EP, got a well-deserved feature on the contest’s official Tumblr. The witty lyrics and laid-back production by Louis Weeks give this track a lot of replay value.
Near Northeast – COL (Tiny Desk Contest)
‘Tis the season for the annual Hometown Sounds spotlight into the best DC area submissions to NPR Music’s annual Tiny Desk Contest. Submissions closed last night, and we’ve found some great gems to share with you.
Indie folk band Near Northeast took great advantage of last year’s blizzard for their 2016 contest entry, playing “What To Say” in the middle of the snow. This year they seized on the climate of protest in our city to play a show at Capital Fringe on Inauguration Day with a community of artists, musicians, actors, and activists. Their new song “COL” derives its name from the lowest point of a ridge or saddle between two peaks, typically affording a pass from one side of a mountain range to another, and reflects on our current situation. Be on the lookout for their long awaited sophomore album coming out this spring.
Tuscadero – Hollywood Handsome
Time for a #TBT! There was a lot more going on in DC in the 90s than just Fugazi. Melissa Farris and Margaret McCartney’s indie rock band Tuscadero blew up quickly, moving from Arlington’s beloved Teen-Beat record label to the majors with Elektra. They toured with Sebadoh and Cheap Trick before Elektra lost interest and dropped them. Teen-Beat never fell out of love, and the band has reunited a handful of times to support the label and their affiliates. Last month Teen-Beat boss Mark Robinson unearthed and posted this music video, featuring footage of the band’s fictitious appearance on 70’s institution The Gong Show playing “Hollywood Handsome” from their seminal record The Pink Album.
Presenting Wylder @ Millennium Stage
Hometown Sounds loves DC music like no one else around, and this month we’re rather excited to present indie folk upstarts Wylder for our February #DCmusic showcase.
Embracing the best elements of indie pop and folk, Wylder instills clear and memorable melodies against a layered acoustic backdrop. Through an eclectic mix of stormy orchestral movements and fun, infectious energy, Wylder evokes emotional peaks, where lyrics of longing and loss take center stage. Their debut album Rain and Laura, released in April of 2016 to enthusiastic reviews, proving them an emerging voice in the independent music scene.
We’re told there is some sort of American football game going on this day as well, but we’re confident you won’t miss anything good seeing this show!
RSVP here and come to the free performance at 6 PM on Sunday February 5th!
Hometown Sounds 