Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, who are at Artisphere tonight, are a Cajun band. But they’re more than that. Formed in 1988, this French-singing Louisiana group, led by singer/accordionist Riley and fiddle player David Greely, started out by covering obscure Cajun two-step numbers and waltzes with energy and precision. But beginning with their 1995 [...]
The Kennedy Center’s Maximum India Festival opens today with just one performance, a free U. Shrinivas concert from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the Millennium Stage, but over the next 20 days it will feature 73 events involving music, dance, theater, literature, comedy, visual art, cuisine, and film. While the celebration may not include [...]
Bob Mould moved to San Francisco in 2009, and did not release an album in 2010 (let alone one featuring him as an “electronica” vocalist) but that didn't stop him from winning two electronica Wammies at the 25th anniversary WAMA Awards show at the State Theatre in Falls Church Sunday night. Late Monday afternoon, the [...]
Jim Edwards, live music coordinator for the Sunset Grille, says that contrary to, well, a posting on his own club’s Facebook site, the Annandale roots rock, cover band, and karaoke bar is not closing at the end of the month. On Feb. 11, Sunset Grille bartender Jeanie Jensen posted this Feb. 28 “event” message on [...]
Tonight offers fans of old-school blues, soul, and rockabilly some interesting choices. Strathmore is presenting “Blues at the Crossroads: Robert Johnson Centennial Concert.” The show features Colorado jam band Big Head Todd & the Monsters performing with special blues guests David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, and Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm. These folks all worked on [...]
The Crossroads Nightclub and Restaurant Entertainment Complex in Bladensburg, which was suddenly closed for “maintenance” last December, has again run into mysterious problems. Since at least last Thursday, the nightclub has been closed, and the restaurant has been only open for Sunday brunch and for carryout food service on weekdays. No alcohol is being [...]
Since 1995, when he began playing music again after an 18-year break, singer/guitarist/banjoist Otis Taylor has been playing blues like no one else. The Chicago-born, Denver-raised performer, who performs at Blues Alley tonight with his band, generates noisy drones and sharp, deliberate runs that he accompanies with chanted, dramatically evocative vocals and stripped-down arrangements featuring [...]
Afro-Peruvian slaves toiling in the silver mines and sugar plantations were barred access to drums, so they had to make do with what they had around them—wooden boxes called cajon and donkey jawbones. Centuries later, singer Eva Ayllon and music and dance ensemble Peru Negro will bring those Peruvian percussion instruments and more to the [...]
Pianist Terry Adams is best known as a founder of the polymath rock and pop band NRBQ, which existed in various incarnations from 1966 to 2004 (and which received plenty of local radio play here in the '80s courtesy of Weasel on WHFS). Tomorrow, the now 62-year-old (and still wacky) Massachusetts-based keyboardist and his current [...]
My editor suggested in a post yesterday on the Wammies awards ceremony that I might want to add my two cents regarding this year's nominees, and he’s right. The slate of nominees for the 25th anniversary Wammies contains a familiar ratio of impressive choices, mind-boggling omissions, and troubling mistakes (2008-formed Baltimore band Mama's Black Sheep as “New [...]
