The end is near...Weekly post #10

Image via theswollenfox.com

 

This is my last official post for my Social Media class and though I really had to struggle to squeeze in this last show, I'm glad I did. I decided on the Black Cat this week and a show featuring Jukebox the Ghost. This band is awesome. Obviously I picked them because of the strong catchy vocals, and a piano in the mix is always a favorite of mine. I won't try to compare them because that never fully get the point across, but if you check out last week's entry, you can hear a sample. Added bonus: the lead singer really resembles my fiance. I can't post a pic cause he'll kill me, but trust me.

The Black Cat is another very cool venue. I am no longer surprised by this because all of the word of mouth we've heard here has been correct, so far. Again, the sound was great and the opening band was talented as well, and worth a listen. They're called Wakey! Wakey!, which I think is a great name. They're based out of Brooklyn, NY.

This is the first time I've noticed a high number of underage fans in the crowd. There were lots of X's on hands, but it was OK because their enthusiasm was contagious and even though I didn't know the songs, I didn't have to feel self-conscious dorking out to the upbeat pop-y songs. Overall, a very fun night (except for the somewhat grumpy bartenders at the downstairs bar after the show). Just saying.

So that's a wrap. This has been more fun than I ever would've thought and I think it shows how important it is to choose a niche for your blog that you're passionate about. I love music and my next goal is to continue to post about fun shows I see and cool new music I hear. I also think it's a fun way for my friends to keep up with me besides going on Facebook. It's a little bit more work, but a great way to remember my experiences here in DC. So stay tuned, there's definitely more to come.

What to do?-Blog post #9

So this week I thought I'd take the opportunity to do some crowd sourcing as well as checking out some of the blogs I've written about throughout this class. I've been unable to go to any shows the last couple of weeks so I want to plan ahead so I have something great to report back next week.

I am going to go to another venue I have yet to check out. I plan to go to one of the following shows this weekend (hopefully they don't sell out):

First up is Black Cat:

Thursday: River James:

Friday: Crystal Stilts
  Crystal Stilts - Through The Floor by Slumberland Records 
Saturday: Jukebox the Ghost
  Jukebox the Ghost - Summer Sun by MCT MANAGEMENT 

Or there's Rock & Roll Hotel:

Thursday: Maps and Atlases
  Maps & Atlases - Israeli Caves by FatCat Records 
Saturday: The Slackers
  The Slackers by EpitaphTours 

Which one should I see? Please post your thoughts and opinions below. I'd like to see what others would want me to check out. Thanks!

Response Blog #6-Here Comes the Sun

Recently my classmate posted on her blog Chameleon about the onset of spring and posted her fun experiences enjoying the warmer weather including her experiences at the Cherry Blossom Festival. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the weather and missed out on that. However, I am FINALLY starting to believe that I will not need my coat every night for the rest of my time here in DC. As I have stated many many times, I am from Texas. It is like 90 degrees there already and up until this week, I was rocking my sad gray wool coat. I will definitely be investing in a much more fun, cute coat for next year.

So now that the weather is warmer, I can't wait to see what DC has to offer in the way of outdoor dining, parks etc. I plan to check out the Georgetown waterfront this weekend and begin to come out of my hibernation. I also plan to see if there are any outdoor music venues to check out. This is still a music blog, after all. I'd also love any suggestions anyone can offer about what outdoor venues, restaurants and activities I should check out. Now that the semester is drawing to a close I plan to take advantage of some of my free time, while I've got it.

Response Blog #5-New In Town

I had to respond to Miss Major Substance this week and her post about gentrification because this hits close to home for me as well. Austin, TX is also going through growing pains, and to be honest, no one seems to be bothered by it. I have not frequented a lot of the areas of Washington, DC Miss Major Substance speaks about in her blog, but I can imagine they are, or once were populated by a mostly minority population. In Austin, the area East of Interstate HWY 35 was home to a predominantly African-American and Mexican-American population. Now this is not so much the case. The area's proximity to the much-loved downtown nightlife scene made the area the next logical target for expansion. Most of the minority-owned homes are now home to-pardon the phrase-trust fund hipsters. A lot of my friends rent houses in this area, and it's the cool new place live. The thing I find sad is that no one cares that the diversity is being sucked out of the city. I also think it's mildly offensive that when minorities lived in the homes there, this neighborhood was considered scary and dangerous (this is what I was told my whole life), but now, people feel free to ride their bikes and walk home intoxicated at all hours of the night. I happen to personally know people who've still had burglaries occur but the stigma overall isn't there.

This weekend, I plan to go to Brooklyn for the first time. This is another more famous example of gentrification. I think it's sad that families and history get pushed out of neighborhoods, but I'm not sure there's a way it can be avoided. Unfortunately, it always boils down to money.

So FUN!-weekly blog #8

 Image:buzzmagazine.com

Last week we checked out Iota in Arlington, a place that often sells out. We wanted to be sure not to face this predicament again and went there early to eat some food. This venue is a cafe by day and awesome venue by night. FYI- the food is really good, but that's a story for another type of blog. We were there to check out headlining band Heypenny and opening act Ella Riot.

Let's start with Ella Riot, formerly known as My Dear Disco. They recently changed their name after discovering an Australian band with a similar name. They are fronted by a female powerhouse whose voice reminded me of one of my favorite artists, Robyn. I loooooved this band. SO upbeat and catchy. I am a sucker for dance-y pop music. I really do appreciate all types of music but sometimes you just want to dance. Check out the video for their song It could be:

And yes they sound that good live. They closed their set with an electronic bagpipe solo performance by the keyboardist, who's so good he's competed in bagpipe competitions in Ireland. Amazing. I didn't even know that this instrument existed first of all, and I gotta say, I kind of hate the sound of real bagpipes, but this was great and actually kind of had a lot of emotion to it. Check out the audio of the song below:

   Clubbin by Ella Riot

Next up was Heypenny. I was genuinely worried for them because the opening band was so good. Totally different sound but just as enjoyable. This three piece outfit had the energy of twelve. The bassist pulled out some moves I've gotta say, I've never seen before and am not sure I want to see again (I kid, of course). So much fun. The singer had a quirky but strong voice and the songs were bouncy and folksy but with a surprising amount of groove to them. The rhythm section was incredible. My fiance, who plays drums, geeked out a bit with the drummer after the show. The whole band seems very cool and apparently come here fairly often, so I'll be sure to check them out next time they're here. I'll try to post when they're coming so others can also partake.

   Oh No - Heypenny by dubandsegs

As a bonus treat, here's a Robyn video:

Response Blog #4-Silver Lining

Recently, my classmate posted about her PR triumph working to help her friend's non-profit. I wanted to congratulate her and say how inspiring I think it is that she has stuck to her guns in the face of trying to find her next job in PR. I am new to the world of PR, though I know I've used the same skills in other professional capacities. It was nice to see someone else who was excited to be reminded of why we have decided to pursue this career. Her willingness to provide her services to a friend because she loves the work so much is an example of what people are looking for in life: a job you'd do for free because you love it so much. The best thing about it is, she probably learned something in the process, and that's worth it. She mentioned the book Here Comes Everybody and how it talks about the opportunities social media has provided for individuals to interact in a way never before possible. After getting through just half of Social Media I can see how this is opportunity is everywhere. Sabrina's experience shows the power we have to reach a large audience even if we are only working for ourselves. Great job and Congrats!

Social Integration-Weekly Blog #7

I must admit, I am still one of those people who lives and dies by my Smartphone and text messages. I like the control it gives me to contact the person/people I am trying to reach immediately. Most of my friends and I work in places where we don’t have the luxury of checking our facebook pages throughout the day, no matter how sneaky we are and even with the phone app, it’s easy to get sidetracked by unimportant information. It’s much easier to sneak a peek at you phone during a break and send a message to friends. In fact, I’ve mass texted my blog address to friends as a new way for them to keep up with me.

In regards to my blog, I have a gadget inviting readers to share posts on Facebook and Twitter. I am still new to Tweeting but I really like the potential it has to instantly connect to others without using up texts. In the future, I can see myself tweeting links to my blog to my followers in addition to posting on Facebook. It seems that my Twitter followers grow more each day and I’m sure at least some of them would be interested in reading my blog too.

One of the cool things that Brightest Young Things does on their site is name a song of the day and provides an Mp3 of the song. They in turn, tweet a link to that page so that even if readers forget to check it out, there's another social media tool driving traffic there. Very cool.

Response Blog #3 Wedding Obsessed

How did I not realize that one of my classmates was writing a blog about weddings?! As you may have figured out, I am engaged to a wonderful man who is my partner in crime in most of my blogging adventures. I have pretty much been in denial about the whole planning of the wedding and instead, concentrated on work and school. Well this weekend, my mom was in town from Texas and we bought a dress! It was just like on one of those shows where the first one I tried on was the one I chose. But how I got to the actual purchase is a bit of a tale.

In her blog, The Wow Factor, Gina writes about how Google can be used to come up with themes and ideas for your wedding. I totally agree, and my first step was to google my way through TONS of websites to find dresses and boutiques. After our initial trip out, I was torn between two dresses at two different places and was bummed because I wasn't allowed to take photos of the first dress and therefore could not remember how pretty it was. The woman helping us at the first boutique said it was an exclusive design. Ha! On a wedding site called One Wed, I found the dress! Well not only did I decide I wanted the dress, but I also decided I did not want to give that dishonest saleswoman my business. I looked at the brand's website and found another boutique, Rosalin's Bridal, that also sells that brand. They didn't have the dress but they are an authorized retailer so they can order it for me. The best part was, I got a GREAT discount on the dress and the service was wonderful. I'm going to have to go in for several fittings and place a lot of trust in them, so honesty is very important to me. Once again, Google saves the day! PS-I will definitely be checking back on The Wow Factor for ideas and advice.

I can't show you a pic of my dress for fear of my fiance seeing it but in honor of their upcoming wedding, here's a pic of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Response Blog #2-The New J Hud

In a recent post about the flack Jennifer Hudson has received about her new slimmer physique, Miss Major Substance writes about how unfair it is that one should be criticized for losing a healthy amount of weight. I completely agree with her. The music and entertainment industry is full of these double standards. I too, was shocked by Hudson's new body when she came out to present an award on the Oscars. However, I would hardly say she looks emaciated. I thought she looked healthy and, as always, beautiful.  Why do we do this to women in the industry? When I was pursuing a singing career, I obsessed about my weight, worrying that that could be the determining factor that kept me from making it big. Jennifer Hudson says she lost weight purely for health reasons, but let's face it, the phones have probably not been ringing lately and she needs to appeal to the largest possible audience. And guess what: I think that's OK. It's just good business sense. Blame society. Even Lady Gaga, who sings about being proud of who you are and who goes out of her way to be as non-conformist as possible, has spoken about restricting her food intake in order to be thin. It is a sad and seemingly unchangeable fact that stars with mass appeal have to be within a certain weight threshold. Why does someone who was probably not at a healthy weight get criticized for not only becoming healthy but also possibly opening up her music to a new audience?

Spring Break Blues (and Rhythm) -Weekly Blog #6

Last week was spring break and though the weather was not very spring like and I had to work, I was determined to check out some more live music. I wanted to get into DC and out of the five mile radius where I work, live and go to school. I did a google search and found a Yelp posting from someone looking to do the same. Someone replied to the post saying that he should check out the Velvet Lounge on U Street. I've used yelp to find a place to get my car fixed but never thought of using it to find live music.

The band playing that night was called The Mighty Heard. They're a Funk/R&B/Hip Hop group from DC and they formed 6 years ago. I'm so glad to find a band in this genre because moving here, I knew I'd get to hear more musical diversity than I'm used to living in Austin. As great as the music scene is in Austin, I don't consider there to be a strong R&B or Hip Hop community.

I'd been to the Velvet Lounge before but never to the music venue they house on the second level. Again, I'm very impressed with the sound guy's ability to handle multiple horns, percussion, two vocalists, two guitars, a bass and drums. The balance was so good and I didn't spend the whole show going, "geez, why is that guitar so loud?" Maybe there's a strong competition to land these sound engineering gigs here, because there are some really good sound guys in this town. I'll definitely return to Velvet Lounge again. It's a little dive-y, in a good way and it's in proximity to other places I plan to check out. As for The Heard, you should really hear them live. The music is danceable and fun but intermixes some songs with real social meaning. One song chronicles the lead singer's feeling of loss at having not met his biological father until he became an adult. I really appreciate when a band writes lyrics for sober people and puts them to beats for the drinkers.

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To address the topic of how I am beginning to make my blog more relevant to Google searches: I am beginning to add tags to my posts. I think using broad subject matter helps and linking to the sites of the venues I've visited helps also. Finally, in a couple of posts, I've talked about some pretty well known bands. I hope this connection also helps.

Response Blog #1 The Sheen Factor

Recently, a classmate of mine and author of the blog, DC Watercooler, wrote a post about the role traditional and social media plays in the proverbial water coolers of our lives. He mentioned how saving a tidbit of gossip for the next time you see someone in a few days is now out of the question. This was never so evident as today when I checked my twitter account on my phone and saw a tweet from another classmate regarding Charlie Sheen. What he's up to is really beside the point, because who can really keep up. What was more important was that not a second later, I overheard some of the guys I work with talking about being on Charlie Sheen's Team. They are goofballs so who knows what they meant by that. Five minutes later, I step into the receptionist's area out front and notice the news broadcaster on the flatscreen tv talking about, you guessed it, Charlie Sheen! This all within minutes of each other! I didn't even make it to the "watercooler" before I had been barraged by different communications media. I'm glad to say that word of mouth actually was one of these media. Some things never change.

Weekly Blog #5 Pt. Two

Here's a list of some other Blogs and Websites about the DC music scene I've started to check out recently:


http://rockondc.blogspot.com/
http://www.metromusicscene.blogspot.com/
http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-arts/
http://brightestyoungthings.com/

Hooray Beards! Weekly Blog #5

Last Saturday was a night of social multi-tasking. I explored both my sporty and artistic sides while checking out two great reasons to live in DC.  My fiance is from Dallas so he bought tickets for us and a friend to see the Dallas Mavericks play the Wizards at the Verizon Center. I am a big basketball fan as well so I was pretty excited. No offense Wizards fans, but I really expected Dallas to blow them away. The game was pretty tight the whole way through and the Wizards nearly pulled it off. Here's the one judgment I will pass. There was over a minute left in the game and the Mavs only had a four point lead and the crowd started pouring out of the arena. Wow. What an insult to the players. I know waiting for the trains sucks, but really? I thought that was pretty lame of the Wizards fans to not stick it out. So I wasn't really shocked when the wind was taken out of their sails and they lost 105-99. The stars of the game were the Mavericks' Tyson Chandler and his beard. Chandler scored 23 points and the beard definitely had an assist or two. Just a side note, coming home from our initial trip to DC to find apartments, my fiance and I walked next to Chandler in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport and he is frigging enormous! 7'1" to be exact.

After the game we took the bus over to H street to check out another one of DC's more well known music venue/bars, The Red Palace. This bar is in an area that apparently used to be pretty rough, so we made sure not to miss our stop. It's pretty isolated save for a bar or two right next to it on the same side of the street. The decor is of course mostly Black and Red and it's a squeeze to get through if it's a busy night. The cool thing was that there were two distinct bar areas and the music took place upstairs so if you just wanted to hang out and not watch the band, you could do so downstairs.

We missed the opening bands but they weren't from DC so not a huge deal, since I want to find some local talent. The headlining band was called Typefighter. They were great. Their style was indie rock, with a tinge of folk. The songs were melodic and very accessible to the average audience. That can often be something bands get criticized for, but I think it shows you're good at what you do, and others happen to agree. The lead singer continued the beard theme for the night, as he was sporting a pretty impressive one that made my fiance pretty jealous. His voice was unique with a non-offensive rasp that brought added emotion to his songs. The whole set I was thinking how fun this guy probably was a at party, just singing songs with his guitar and how cool it'd be to harmonize to. Then, as if reading my mind, the band announced that the last song would be a singalong. They jumped off the stage and brought the crowd in close to them and with only the guitar began to sing and play their last song. I have been to shows where there was crowd involvement and fans singing their favorite songs, but I've never seen it so intimate. We were all left with a warm fuzzy feeling. I made sure to tell the singer Ryan what a great job they did. He said he could give me more insight into the scene here in DC, so we'll see where that takes me next...

Some of These are Jokes-Weekly Blog # 4

As I mentioned when I started this blog, from time to time, I plan to write about places I visit that aren't music-related. This past Saturday, the fearless duo (me and my boo) decided to check out a comedian named Amy Schumer at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse. This place reminds us of one of are favorite Austin places, the Alamo Drafthouse theater. I'm not sure which came first ( the Arlington Drafthouse is celebrating its 25th anniversary) but they are both very cool. Basically they operate as traditional movie theaters but instead of offering traditional movie fare like popcorn and candy, you can eat a full meal. There's even alcohol...you know, if you're into that sort of thing. I won't go into who does it better so as not to offend fans of either place, but there are some areas where one definitely outdoes the other.

In addition to offering movies at the low price of $5.50 per ticket, the Arlinton Drafthouse features some really big name comedians. We noticed during our last visit to check out The Social Network that Amy Schumer would be performing in a few weeks and we jumped right on getting our tickets. It's a must to do so in advance because they almost always sell out. We had seen her stand-up on Comedy Central and it had us dying. She is extremely edgy and does the whole Sarah Silverman shock factor thing really well. We actually took for granted how much even a risky cable network like Comedy Central censors comedians. She was definitely not holding back. Her comedy ranged from dating and sex, race and of course, picking on the people in the front row. I am always so impressed by the wit it requires to make fun of people so cruelly of the top of your head. If you haven't seen her perform, check out this clip from her appearance on Ellen (it's the most PC clip I could find).

Cult of Personality-Weekly blog #3 pt. 2

So the question was posed as to how my blog will show my personality. Well, that's an interesting question because I have actually found it difficult to fully be myself on this blog, as so much of my personality lies in my facial expressions. I have one of those faces that betray every thought in my head. Really. It can be a problem. But one thing I did realize is that I've had people tell me before that they can hear my (sometimes sarcastic) speech through my emails, so I guess that'll benefit me while writing this blog.

I recently started a new job and, you know, the first few weeks you lay back and get to know your place in the office before you really start to speak up and let people get to know the "real" you. That's kind of what I feel is happening with my blog. I'm getting more comfortable sharing my opinions (they won't all be good I'm sure) and finding my Blogging voice. It's going to be fun looking back at my first post after a few months of steady blogging...my punctuation will probably be the first thing to go.

Now We're Talkin'-Weekly Blog #3

So this past Friday, I was determined to fight through the week's fatigue and check out a band or a new place in town. So in the spirit of cooperation, my fiance did the research while I got ready to go out. We narrowed it down to some contenders but ultimately decided to stay in Virginia and check out what the folks in the 'burbs were into. He'd come across a place called Jammin Java in Vienna. OK I will not lie. I thought this sounded pretty corny but I listened to the band that was scheduled for that night and it sounded promising. Plus, the venue was ranked one of the top 40 music venues in the country by Paste magazine. It's owned by brothers and musicians Daniel and Luke Brindley of The Brindley Brothers so they probably knew how a band would want to sound, right? Right. Jammin Java is located in the suburbs. In a shopping strip. Next to a CVS. When you walk in it becomes clear why its name references coffee. Clearly during the day, this is a cool local coffee shop and cafe. At night, the bar is open for business and the area at the back is cleared to leave room for about 200 music fans. All in all, my first impression was that this was a pretty cool place with a cool concept.

 Photo by Rachel Brown Photography

 The band that we went to see was called Kid Architect. They sounded melodic and well-produced from the clip on the website, but nothing could prepare for their live performance. The show doubled as their album release party so the crowd was filled with their fans. I was beginning to wonder if the crowd was going to talk loudly near the bar throughout the entire show as the did during the first band's performance, but as soon as the first note from the lead singer's keyboard rang out, it drew the crowd to the stage like a super-magnet. I was so impressed with the balance of the sound again at this venue. Props to all the sound guys I've heard so far. Kid Architect's songs were creative and well-written. And though I am a singer and the lead singer was one of the best male leads I've seen in a long time, I will also say that all the members were strong on their instruments. No weak links here. There were even some strong harmonies toward the end. So to sum it up, it was pretty good night. Definitely worth the trip.

Sad Sad City-Weekly Blog #2

It is Friday night and I am sadly too drained from the week-and tonight's attempt to work off the pizza I ate today at the gym-to go out. So I decided to figure out what my next foray into the DC music scene would be. Initially I thought of blogging as literally an online diary of sorts, but as the readings have reminded me, another key use of blogs is to "log the web". So I decided to use my blog to post some of the websites I'm visiting in this week's search for a new place to go, or music to hear.

Imagine my delight when I turned on my computer, still logged in to Twitter, and in the first couple of tweets I see the 9:30 Club (last week's venue) announcing that Austin band Ghostland Observatory is doing a show Saturday at a place called Rams Head. This band is of course popular in their hometown  but I am really starting to grasp their popularity abroad. I had the pleasure of meeting them years ago and they couldn't have been nicer, in addition to being super-entertaining. If anyone does happen to read this before tomorrow, and you're looking for an awesome show, you should definitely check them out. I am considering going myself because it's been years since I've seen them play, but I kind of think that defeats the purpose of trying to find a local scene. So I keep searching...

Then I noticed a link at the bottom of the same tweet to a website/blog called brightestyoungthings. This is a site my fiance told me about because it's written by a friend of a friend. I'm already starting to see a smaller community beginning to form. Maybe I'll shoot her an email and formally introduce myself. No sense in lurking on her site and not making contact. We'll see...

PS-here's some video of Ghostland Observatory. You may know the song.

Welcome gtown850! Weekly Blog #1

I recently moved to the Washington DC area for grad school. I moved from Austin, Texas, which is known as the "Live Music Capitol of the World." I was raised going to live shows and music festivals and kind of took it for granted that every city of a certain size had tons of bands and music venues. So I thought it might help me learn more about my new city and maybe even meet some fun people to blog about my experiences in trying to figure out the music scene in DC. I am working full time, and attending school but I knew before I moved here that I'd still have to find a way to make time for fun. In Austin, I sang in bands and really felt pretty connected to the music scene. It would be great to find that kind of community here in DC (if it exists). I never thought I'd be putting my thoughts on the Internet, but I gotta say, somewhere deep down, I think it seems like fun. I look forward to trying out a new online medium and hope to not bore people too much. Any input, comments or suggestions for new places to check out would be greatly appreciated.

So far I've gone to a few bars where local musicians sat alone or in a duo with a guitar and played cover songs. There's definitely a market for that, and often, I'm part of that market but I really was excited to go to a full-fledged music venue last weekend. I went with my fiance to see the band Dismemberment Plan (not hardcore as the name might suggest). They are one of his favorite bands and appropriately they're from right here in Washington DC. They haven't done a show together in years and you could tell from the sold out crowd that it was much-anticipated. The show was at the 9:30 Club near U Street. I'd heard great things about this venue, and it didn't disappoint. The sound was great, not too loud and I could hear the vocals, which is often a problem. I love when things live up to their own hype, and the 9:30 Club definitely did.