Taking A Break

After moderating the ArlingtonMusicScene.com Yahoo Group for a little over four years, I'm going to be taking a break from doing that, which will also include a vacation from posting to this blog for an undetermined amount of time. You may see some other people blogging here, but I'll be taking a break to concentrate more on my own music and other things.

I'm happy to help people whenever I can and I feel it's important that there be a source like this for D.C. area music news, but I also spend a great deal of time online--moderating the Yahoo Group, answering emails related to it, etc.--and want to take a break, perhaps permanently, from running that.

If you have any questions about the D.C. area music scene, you might want to consider posting something to the Yahoo Group. Since being launched in February 2001, it has grown to over 1,000 members, who have collectively posted over 15,000 messages there. You can probably find answers to many of your questions in the list's archives or there are many members of that community who will do their best to help you. I'll still be posting things to the Yahoo Group occasionally, but I won't be as active as I've been while running it the last few years.

Thanks for checking out this site.

Mike Holden

Practice Space

The question of practice space came up again recently on the D.C. Musicians section of craigslist.org and now seems like a good time to post something here to the blog reminding people about the list of practice spaces that can be accessed through the link in the right-hand column under "Music-Related Resources." The purpose of that list is to have one central spot where musicians can locate practice space. The comments section of that post is also open for people to post other suggestions on practice spaces.

Two Tsunami Benefits This Saturday

In addition to the previously mentioned benefit shows taking place this Saturday for the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) and Computer C.O.R.E., there are two Tsunami Benefit Shows taking place.

One will take place at Dr. Dremo's in Arlington, raising money for SurfAid International, "a group of surfers and doctors from around the globe that has been offering health and humanitarian aid to the island communities off West Sumatra and the Mentawai Islands for four years." Live entertainment will include music from The Hickories, Crooked Crow, Brother Shamus, DJ Kid Gusto, and comedy from Standup Comedy To Go. More information on this show is available here.

A second Tsunami benefit will take place at Velvet Lounge that same night, with the proceeds from the door going to the Red Cross Tsunami Relief Fund. That show will feature music by Chaotika, Fistful of Fifties and The Organ. More information on this show is available here.

KCRW and the State of D.C. Radio

In a post to the WashingtonPost.com's Going Out Gurus Blog that is beginning to turn into a venting place for those who aren't happy with the state of D.C. radio (see the comment section of that post), Joe Heim reports that "Santa Monica's progressive/alternative rock station, KCRW, has announced that it will begin promoting shows in the D.C. market this summer."

Arts Festival Coming to D.C. in 2006

DCist reported yesterday on a Washington Post article that gives details of "a new experimental arts festival...planned for July 2006. The Capital Fringe Festival will be a 10-day showcase of local and visiting performers working in theater, dance, music and other disciplines."

More information on the festival can be found at www.capfringe.org.

Two Fundraisers This Saturday

Two benefits will be taking place in the Washington area the night of Saturday, April 30, both raising money for good causes:

National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) Benefit
A Musical Benefit for Autism Research will take place this Saturday night, from 6pm to 9pm, at the Cada Vez Restaurant and Lounge, located at 1438 U St. NW, Washington DC. Admission is a $25/person tax-deductible donation to the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR). Music will be provided by Chopteeth Afro-Funk Big Band. Band member Mark Corrales, who son Nicholas has autism, put the benefit together. More information on the event is available here.

Computer C.O.R.E. Fundraiser
A fundraiser is also being held in the backroom at Ragtime this Saturday night, to raise money for Computer C.O.R.E., a non-profit organization that works to "help low-income adults acquire the technological and life skills they need to pursue career aspirations." The event runs from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm and Ragtime is located at 1345 N. Courthouse Road in Arlington, one block from Courthouse Metro stop on the Orange Line. The cost is $25.00 per person, which includes 2 drink tickets, light hors d'oeuvres, and raffle prizes. Mike Holden* will be providing the music. More details are available here.

*That's me. I try to avoid blatant self-promotion in this blog, but I've posted information on other benefits here and I'm playing this one.

WAMA Looking For New Home

The Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) is looking for free or low cost space to hold the organization's monthly board meetings and to receive WAMA's mail. WAMA would prefer the office be in D.C. and convenient to Metro. Please contact WAMA at dcmusic@wamadc.com with any suggestions.

NewSong Contest Deadline Approaching

The deadline for the previously mentioned 2005 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest is this coming Monday, April 25 at midnight.

AOL City Guide's Local Music Roundup

The AOL City Guide's Notebook: Washington, DC posted their Notebook Local Music Roundup today and it includes a mention of ArlingtonMusicScene.com, along with a link to the recent post here about the Street Sense benefit show.

My Friend Autumn

Matt Cummins, who volunteered and designed the logo, ads and postcards for this year's Six Points Music Festival, has a band called My Friend Autumn, who will be playing their CD release party this Saturday night at Staccato in Adams Morgan. More details on the show are available in this post by the band to the Yahoo Group.

Street Sense Benefit Concert

On Saturday, May 21, Velvet, Monopoli and Gist play The Black Cat in Washington, D.C. to benefit Street Sense, a newspaper with a mission "to make the public more aware of issues related to poverty and homelessness while also providing homeless men and women with an economically beneficial opportunity and a forum to be published."

According to their website, homeless men and women sell the paper, paying 30 cents (to cover publishing costs) for each paper and then selling each for $1, earning 70 cents for every paper sold. This will be the first-ever benefit concert for the non-profit publication.

Tickets are available online ($8 plus service charges) through Ticketmaster, here.

Happy Hour Wednesday Night

The next ArlingtonMusicScene.com happy hour is this Wednesday, April 20, from 6pm to 8pm, at IOTA Club and Cafe in Arlington, VA.

Held the third Wednesday of every month at IOTA, these happy hours are designed to give musicians, music industry professionals, music fans and anyone else who would like to attend, the opportunity to network outside of the typical show scene. Basically, the happy hours are meant to be an opportunity for people to get together once a month, have a couple drinks and talk music or whatever you'd like. If you get there and don't recognize anyone, look for the people with the masking tape nametags. These events are free and open to everyone.

Directions are available on the IOTA website.

[UPDATE: If you don't see us inside, check the back patio. With this weather, we'll likely be back there.]

Shanes Hines on The WB

This Friday, April 22, D.C. area artist Shane Hines will appear on The Daily Buzz, which airs across the country on the WB network. Unfortunately, the D.C. area's WB 50 is not one of the 136 TV stations currently carrying the show (A full list of stations carrying the show is available here). But, Shane returns to town to play The Birchmere the next night, Saturday, April 23, as he opens for The Clarks.

Thanks to The Dish at DecentXposure.com for the tip about Shane's WB appearance.

Adam Richman: Tonight At Midnight

Up to this point, most of the content here on the ArlingtonMusicScene.com blog hasn't focused too much on individual artists and their CDs, shows, etc. This has been more of a news site, with the postings focused on events, opportunities and broader D.C. area music-related subjects. But, it's not everyday that someone who has posted to the Yahoo Group in the past, and worked the D.C. open mic circuit, has a CD released on a major label.

Tonight at midnight, Adam Richman's Patience and Science will be released by Or Music, the same label that Los Lonely Boys call home. Richman, who now lives in New York City and was recently featured at Austin's South By Southwest, will play two CD release shows. One will be held on Tuesday, April 19 in New York and the other on Thursday, April 21 in Philadelphia. There has been no mention of a D.C. area date yet. Details on all his shows are available on his website.

DC101 Last Band Standing Semi-Finalists

The Hint, Aphile, Junk Food, Driving East, Ashes Remain, Fourth Element, Rude Buddha, Halfway Broken were announced this week as the semi-finalists for this year's DC101 Last Band Standing contest. The semi-finals get under way this Sunday night at Lulu's in Washington, D.C. and continue there the following two Sundays. More information is available here, on DC101.com.

2005 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest

From a NewSong Press Release:

The 2005 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, presented by Performing Songwriter Magazine, is now accepting entries to a new regional round of the contest, co-sponsored with the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) at the Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland.

The regional round is open ONLY to performing songwriters who reside in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. This round features online entries only (through sonicbids.com) and a special discount rate for members of the co-sponsoring group, the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA).

This Regional Round of the NewSong Contest is part of a day-long June 19 Mountain Stage NewSong Showcase at the Strathmore (see www.strathmore.org), a spectacular new 2,000-seat performance hall and cultural center that opened recently in Bethesda, Maryland.

Full contest details are available here, on newsongfestival.com.

Networking Happy Hour

Please join us next Wednesday, April 20, for our monthly ArlingtonMusicScene.com happy hour at IOTA Club and Cafe in Arlington, VA. The event runs from 6pm to 8pm and is free.

Held the third Wednesday of every month at IOTA, these happy hours are designed to give musicians, music industry professionals, music fans and anyone else who would like to attend, the opportunity to network outside of the typical show scene. Basically, the happy hours are meant to be an opportunity for people to get together once a month, have a couple drinks and talk music or whatever you'd like. If you get there and don't recognize anyone, look for the people with the masking tape nametags.

Update from FMC D.C. Policy Day

An audio update from the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) D.C. Policy Day, taking place today in Washington, D.C.:

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who made the 2005 Six Points Music Festival possible.

Gold Mind Squad Wins Big Break

Congratulations to the winner of the 2005 HFS Big Break, Gold Mind Squad. They'll open the 2005 HFStival on May 14 at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

Six Points Weekend Update

A weekend update on the Six Points Music Festival has been posted to the Yahoo Group. Click here to read it.

As noted in that update, in the days leading up to the festival, Six Points received press from Arlington Connection, DCist, Metroblogging D.C., On Tap Magazine, Washington City Paper, WashingtonPost.com and Washington Post Express. Thank you to the local press for being so supportive and for understanding what we are trying to build.

There are two nights of music left in this year's festival. Visit the Six Points blog for the full schedule and more information.

Big Break Finalists

The finalists in the HFS Big Break were announced this week. The Big Hurt, Can't Hang, Crash Boom Bang, Gold Mine Sqaud, and Victory Twin will compete tonight at the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland for the opening slot at the 2005 HFStival. For more details on the festival and the Big Break, visit www.live1057.com.

More Six Points Press

A blurb appreared in the Club Picks section of today's Washington Post Express about the Six Points Music Festival on page 29, in addition to an ad on page 24. More details, including a link to the blurb, are available here on the Six Points blog. While the festival is going on through April 11, most of the action will be on the Six Points blog, but you can check back here during and after the festival for D.C. area music news.

Six Points on WashingtonPost.com

A write-up previewing the opening night of the Six Points Music Festival appears today in the Nightlife Agenda on WashingtonPost.com. Click here to read the blurb on the Six Points blog, where you'll also find a link to the article.

DC101's Last Band Standing

The DC101 Chili Cook Off, benefiting the National Kidney Foundation, takes place on Sunday, May 14 and the Last Band Standing contest will be taking place again this year, giving the winning band the opportunity to open the Cook Off.

Here are details on how to enter, pulled straight from an email from DC101:

Send a CD containing 3 of your best (and most representational) songs to:

DC101's Last Band Standing
1801 Rockville Pike
Suite 405
Rockville, MD 20852

The deadline is Friday, April 8th, at 4pm! Your CD can be mailed in, or dropped off in person, but MUST be in by the deadline. No exceptions will be made for late drop-offs. **IMPORTANT:** If we already have your material at the station for Local Lix, do NOT consider yourself automatically entered. You must submit another CD in order to be considered for the contest.

Once all submissions are in, a team of DC101 staff members will review all the submissions and choose 8 finalists to compete in a live battle of the bands at Lulu's Mardi Gras club in Washington, DC. Four band will play in the first round on Sunday, April 17th. The other four bands will play the following Sunday, April 24th. One winner from each night will return on Sunday, May 1st, to battle it out for opening slot of the Chili Cookoff!

Local Lix can be heard Sunday nights at 9pm on DC101.

More Six Points Artists on D.C. Radio

Both DC101 and Z104 will be playing music by Six Points artists tonight at 9pm. DC101's Roche will be airing music of Six Points artists on his weekly show, Local Lix. Z104's Jenni Chase will also feature music of Six Points artists on her Capital Scene program, as she did last week. She'll also be interviewing Six Points artist Laura Tsaggaris, who will play a song in the studio, and Six Points Performer Selection Committee Chairperson Melissa DePaulis.

Six Points Podcast #3

The third Six Points Podcast is now online. This MP3 highlights artists who will be playing the Six Points shows at Staccato and Ragtime.

Click here to download Podcast #3. There are also links to all the Podcasts on the mainpage at ArlingtonMusicScene.com. For those with Podcast aggregators, you can access the Six Points Podcast feeds at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SixPointsMusicFestival

More Six Points news is available online at www.sixpoints.blogspot.com.