The Guardian asks a question that followers of indie rock in D.C. should think on: Has the Internet killed local music scenes? Hazel Sheffield writes:
The idea of the local scene has always been an attractive prospect, playing on tribal mentalities and a very human desire for order. It has helped define emerging music, and in [...]
Last weekend, literally thousands of metalheads from around the world descended on Baltimore for the annual Maryland Deathfest, which just seems to keep getting bigger each year. For the 2010 version, there were two outdoor stages in addition to the main inside stage. While I was only able to make Friday of this year's three-day [...]
Joseph Stands With Many is a Cherokee storyteller from Baltimore who wrote "How Wildcat Caught a Turkey" in the Trickster anthology, which features work by a number of area creators. He's performed at the Smithsonian and other D.C. sites, but this is the first comic-book story he's written. While one can't really call him a [...]
Jeffrey Thompson’s worked at Big Planet Comics Bethesda for a long time, but he's also an artist. He’s had gallery shows of his paintings in Baltimore, does spot illustration on demand, and has done children’s books in a very interesting scratchboard style. Recently he began creating in the comics field, although his new works won’t [...]
"I really unabashedly am a bad singer," says Sam Herring of Baltimore's once rough-and-ragged—and now disarmingly introspective and motivic—Future Islands. He quickly qualifies the statement: "I don’t think I’m a bad singer, but I don’t consider myself a singer. I consider myself a performer who can sing a bit and does sing."
On the trio's upcoming [...]
The Tiptons Saxophone Quartet—really a sax quartet plus a drummer—brought its eclectic mix of jazz, world music, and the avant-garde to An Die Musik in Baltimore last night. The all-female group named after Billy Tipton, the biologically female saxophonist who spent his career and adult life identifying as male, played two sets of music far [...]
Swedish melodic death-metal stalwarts Arch Enemy kicked off its 2010 U.S. tour at Recher Theatre in Towson last night. While not quite in top form, frontwoman Angela Gossow and company put on a show that was more than intense enough for a Wednesday night out. More photos after the jump and at the full gallery.
Some people just don't like Christmas. Baltimore Director John Waters knows this, and has taken it upon himself to help such people through the holiday season with his spoken-word performances, in which he elaborates on why you can love or hate–but can't possibly ignore–Christmas. In anticipation of his show at the Birchmere (which, sadly, is [...]
Doom metal supergroup Shrinebuilder played their second show ever on at club stage at Sonar in Baltimore last Friday night to a packed house. They didn't disappoint: the songs from the album came off more powerful live, and some bits of new material sounded intriguing as well. As far as supergroups go, this one's for [...]
In which the author discusses parallels in the lives and work of two Charm City scribes.
Edgar Allan Poe, alcoholic inventor of Gothic literature, died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849. Charm City commemorates the 160th anniversary of his death this week. But what does Poe have in common with David Simon, Baltimore native and creator [...]
