Hometown Sounds

Mr. Jonny Grave, DC’s liveliest blues guitarist and front man, has delivered a steady and welcome stream of EPs and collections to his Bandcamp page in recent years. Now the hard-working and steady-gigging musician is about to unleash his first full album with live band and original compositions in too long. The eponymous album’s first single is “Fever”, and this music video from director Casey McAdams of the Smithsonian gives us the goods on Grave’s ferocity in both songwriting and performance. Shout-out to Jason Mendelson of MetroSongs and the ubiquitous Ben Tufts filling out Grave’s live band. Stay tuned for more details of the album’s release and many many more chances to catch Grave performing live.

Jonny Grave‘s vintage roadhouse blues sound doesn’t fit into any of DC’s neatly categorized music scenes, and that’s why we love him. The folk, punk, indie rock, go-go and funk that rule the club bookings get mined sometimes to the point of exhaustion, but Grave is smooth and comfortable introducing listeners to the unique product of his classical muse, the blues. Paul and Luke from always-stylish rock band US Royalty shot this video of Grave talking about his origin and process and a new song called “Bona Fide”. Grave and his obviously-named band The Tombstones recorded a new full length album in just 24 hours back in February, and its first single, the gritty and wailing “Going Down to the Well”, streams on YouTube to your heart’s content. Social media posts indicate that this album was sold at a show back in March, but I can’t find it for purchase or streaming anywhere online now. Stay tuned!