A Case of the Fridays

Some people are working tomorrow, and others are taking the day off – hopefully you’re a member of the latter group like me, and not the former. If you dug Gavin DeGraw’s breakout hit “I Don’t Want To Be,” you should be digging the soulful “I’m In Love With A Girl,” which pretty much mines the same groove. Gavin DeGraw will be playing with Landon Pigg at the 9:30 Club this Friday, February 29th.

MP3: I’m In Love With A Girl – Gavin DeGraw

I had never heard of Chuck Ragan (above) until this past weekend, when his track “The Boat” caught my ear in a CD store back home, and I had to ask the clerk who it was. Turns out he’s got a pretty hardcore past, as far as music goes, as a member of Hot Water Music. But this is an acoustic-based track that makes great use of his husky rasp of a voice and tops it with some electric slide guitar work that completes this soaring track. Take a listen.

MP3: The Boat – Chuck Ragan

Photo Credit

A Case of the Fridays

It’s icy out, so why not listen to a couple songs until things melt? First up this week is “Your Call” from Secondhand Serenade. It’s sweeping emo-pop, in the same vein as classic Dashboard Confessional, building from a simple acoustic beginning to reach glorious crescendos. Interestingly enough, Secondhand Serenade, like DC, is a “band” made up of one guy, John Vesely. Secondhand Serenade will be at Jammin Java Tuesday, February 25th.

MP3: Your Call - Secondhand Serenade

And we close out the week with the instrumental (why not?) band, Russian Circles’ track “Death Rides A Horse.” It explodes out of the gate with some ferocious guitar licks, and things take off from there. They keep things interesting with tempo changes and different parts, almost like a moody progressive metal symphony. These guys (above) will be at the Rock and Roll Hotel Wednesday, February 27th. Most likely you’ll need earplugs.

MP3: Death Rides A Horse – Russian Circles

Photo by Ryan Russell

Shwa CD Release Party Saturday

Former DC resident singer-songwriter Shwa has got a new CD coming out (Chop Chop), and he’ll be in town for a CD release party this Saturday night (2/16) at IOTA. I've only gotten to listen to a couple songs from the disc via his MySpace page. The title track lopes along at a dreamy pace, propelled by a hypnotic drum beat and acoustic guitar groove, with a sing-song hook. But I’m really loving the combination of lyrics and melody of the pop gem “Myriah,” which pbviously you can stream on his myspace page here.

MP3: Chop Chop - Shwa

Photo by Emily Rawlings

U2 - In Three Dimensions

If you missed U2 last time they were here on tour, and seeing them in the two dimensions that is color television just doesn’t do it for you, you might want to check out “U2 3D” over at the Natural History Museum IMAX theatre in DC. Cool 3D glasses and giant rockstars – what more could you want?

MP3: One (live in DC 12/31/99) – Bono & Daniel Lanois

(Photograph Courtesy of 3ALITY Digital)