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february | march and beyond

Monday March 2 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 8pm show

Greg Laswell + Jay Nash + Anya Marina


"Greg Laswell is already a critic's darling, and with the right marketing his second album will give him a proper shove into the mainstream. Through Toledo is an impressive collection of densely lyrical, deeply melodic indie pop that refuses to settle into predictability. Laswell -- on guitar, piano, drums, and production -- is clearly more than just another singer-songwriter." -Jonathan Zwickel, Rhapsody.com

Greg's music has been placed in several TV shows including "Grey's Anatomy", "True Blood", "Shark", "The Hills", "Without a Trace", "Damages", "Cold Case", the season finale of "NUMB3RS", "90210", "Smallville" and "One Tree Hill". "What a Day" is featured in the 2006 film "Danika" starring Marisa Tomei.


Tuesday March 3 $10 advance/ $12 at the door

Honor by August



Wednesday March 4 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 8pm

Peter Mulvey + Gregory Douglass



Thursday March 5 pop/rock $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 8pm show

Tyrone Wells + Keaton Simons


Tyrone Wells has delivered an epic pop/rock album with his second major label effort, Remain. Pursuing a more collaborative process and having added a more lush production to his singer- songwriter roots, the new album proves to be a great showcase for his powerful and emotional voice. Remain is now available digitally and will be available in stores January 27th, 2009.

The Spokane, WA native's desire to 'open up the process' found him traveling to London to work with a circle of songwriters/musicians who aligned with Wells' musical direction. "Half of the album was done in London and the other half completed here in the states," says Wells. "I didn't know what kind of record I was going to make before I got to London, but something just seemed to click while I was there that really defined what I wanted to do with this album." Invoking a cathartic creative process from the very beginning for Remain, the songwriter penned an astounding 60 songs for the record.

*****

With his warm, rich tenor and emotionally powerful songs, Brendan James announces himself as an artist-to-watch on his dazzling debut album The Day Is Brave. Rooted in the classic singer/songwriter tradition, with its introspective lyrics and unforgettable melodies, the album is 11 tracks of stunning songcraft: elegant, earthy, and displaying a total lack of artifice that is rare in the pop world these days.

Influenced by the understated simplicity of the Carly Simon, James Taylor, and Carole King records he grew up with, James knew he wanted his debut to sound natural and unaffected. "The phrase 'stripped-down' is so overused, and 'bare-bones' doesn't really describe it," he says, "but I wanted the simplicity of the art to come through. I wanted it to have tasteful blend of folk and pop influences."


Friday March 6 rock $12 - 8pm show

Shane Hines CD Release Show + Stepanian + Madi Diaz


Blending aggressive arrangements with hook-filled melodies, SHANE HINES AND THE TRANCE have found a way to get inside listeners’ heads. Laced with elements of British rock, The Glory Journal is an album that surprises, sometimes shocks, and moves you to new places. Songs like "Way Up" and "We Can Never Be" have you singing every word and clenching your fist while wondering how the band got so close to your own little world. Impassioned wrath with metaphorical and lyrical nakedness are unveiled with What a Beautiful Day. You're enveloped in exquisite torment that gives way with searing honesty, and a brave insistence of freedom from the past. All the while your head will bob, and you'll crave the driving sound that's enmeshed with a voice that is as compelling as it is addicting.

Shane Hines (lead vocals, lead guitar, song writer) and Brian "Mr. Thumbs" Keating (bass, vocals) met while touring with other bands, gelled and have masterfully created The Glory Journal, which was recorded entirely through online donations from fans and supporters. The Glory Journal is already gaining momentum . "Way Up" was a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and online blogs such as The Daily Vault and Top 40-Charts have been saluting the SHANE HINES AND THE TRANCE’s successful excursion.

With a resume that reads like any of your favorite major label breakout bands, including key placements on MTV shows such as "The Hills" and "The Real World,” D.C. area-based SHANE HINES AND THE TRANCE are moving at a pace that will undoubtedly land them on your iPod before your best friend can call to tell you they heard of the band first.


Saturday March 7 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 7pm early show

Theresa Andersson


Melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre; these are the traditional building blocks of pop music. Yet although you will find them in abundance on Hummingbird, Go!, the new album by Theresa Andersson hardly sounds like conventional pop. That's because the New Orleans singer-songwriter chose to approach her craft from different perspectives before she even began composing. "I stopped thinking in terms of traditional songwriting," Andersson explains. "I worked on shapes, forms, and textures, scents and colors. Elements which are more earthy and organic inspired me." She would walk along the Mississippi River, or relax in her garden. As ideas emerged, she caught them in her butterfly net – or rather, on her laptop – and let them converge, then blossom.

"Swedish vocalist blends chockablock rhythms, fairy tale instrumentation and dreamlike melodies for music that recalls a spacier, sultrier Feist." - ROLLING STONE

"She's reached a clear career peak with the unconventional, focused and utterly charming Hummingbird Go!" - PASTE


Saturday March 7 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 10pm late show

Green River Ordinance



Sunday March 8 $8 - 2pm matinee

Local Matinee with Mary and the Poor + Headless Mantis



Sunday March 8 $20 - 7pm show

Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun with Special Guest Austin de Lone


*Bill Kirchen plays American roots music. He received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance 2001. A Titan of the Telecaster guitar (Guitar Player magazine May 1998 & June 2002), he celebrates an American musical tradition where country music draws upon its origins in blues and bluegrass, and in the Western swing of Texas and California honky tonks.
*Bill Kirchen first gained renown as lead guitarist and a vocalist for Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, the renegade country-rock band that tuned a whole generation of rock fans into the joys of unvarnished country, boogie and rockabilly. It was the resonant twang of Kirchen's battered Telecaster that drove "Hot Rod Lincoln" into the Top Ten in 1972.
*Kirchen has played guitar on recordings and performances with Gene Vincent, Link Wray, Danny Gatton, Emmylou Harris, Hoyt Axton, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello.


Monday March 9 fingerstyle guitar $15 - 8pm show

An Evening with Andy McKee


Andy McKee is one of the world's finest acoustic soloists. After receiving over 20 million views collectively for his Youtube videos which were posted by the independent record label "Candyrat", Andy's success is a testament to the changing nature of the music industry as well as people's desire for something new and interesting to listen to. At one point, Andy held the #1, #2 and #3 positions for Top-Rated Videos of All Time on the hugely popular website. His videos are still among the highest rated on Youtube. Consequently, Andy has performed to sold out shows in all over the world.


Tuesday March 10 $12 - 8pm show

Keri Noble + Rachael Sage


Self-taught musician, poet and producer Rachael Sage radiates what MOJO Magazine calls “warm, intelligent…NY indie charm”. An innovative, improvisational keyboardist, she performs over 150 dates a year with her band The Sequins at venues ranging from large festivals to more intimate clubs & theaters throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Sage, who has shared stages with Ani DiFranco, The Animals, Melissa Etheridge and Marshall Crenshaw, was recently named one of the Top 100 Independent Artists Of The Past 15 Years by Performing Songwriter magazine. A Grand Prize-Winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (Rock) as well as a 2-time Independent Music Award Winner, Sage has earned a loyal following for her infectious melodies, poetic lyrics, and often-outrageous, colorful stage banter.

Her latest self-produced album, CHANDELIER contains 13 tracks of what Performing Songwriter magazine calls “engaging pop arrangements and gripping melodies”; focused on the central theme of fragility, it is her most soul-baring work to date.


Wednesday March 11 $10 - 9pm show

Rude Buddha + Ballyhoo



Thursday March 12 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 7pm show

Steve Moakler (full band) + Gabe Vitech and the Ivory



Friday March 13 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 6pm early show

The Independent + Charlie Duda



Saturday March 14

Private Party


Jammin' Java is an ideal space for any event - receptions, birthday or anniversary celebrations, business meetings, workshops, planning sessions, and more. Its award-winning design creates an atmosphere that is intimate, comfortable, and very stylish. Jammin' Java is primarily a cafe and concert venue whose unique features are suitable for all types of events. Contact daniel@jamminjava.com for more information.

Sunday March 15 $8 - 2pm show

Local Matinee with Transient Attack + New Experience Band



Sunday March 15 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 7:30pm show

Pete Francis (from Dispatch) featuring Barefoot Truth + Ammar Malik


Perhaps one of the most interesting musical pairings to come out of the northeast's thriving music scene in recent memory, Pete Francis of indie phenom Dispatch and rising jam-rock upstarts Barefoot Truth have announced plans to join forces for a run of tour dates in early 2009. Rather than the traditional headliner/support billing, Francis and Barefoot Truth will perform as one band – playing an assortment of tunes from their respective catalogues and bringing a new energy to their already rampant audience.


Monday March 16 reggae/roots $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 8pm show

Mishka + The Dirty Heads + Chris Velan


Mishka's biography has an almost cinematic sweep. He spent most of his early life on a boat in the Caribbean, sailing from island to island with his seafaring parents and older sisters. A child of the islands, it was almost inevitable that he'd be drawn to reggae, Rastafari, and the natural mystic that inhabits his music and his soul. Above The Bones is his third album and the debut release for Matthew McConaughey's j.k. livin label.

"The music I heard growing up from my parents, sisters and the places we visited gave me a lot of musical and cultural flexibility. Everything I've ever heard blends together in what I do. I'm a huge reggae fan but there's folk, soul, rock and other elements in the music."

*****

"We want to be positive and entertain," says Dirty Heads vocalist Jared Watson. "We just want to make you feel good."

With an extensive tour history under their belts and a solid fan base, The Dirty Heads have played with bands like 311, Matisyahu, Unwritten Law, Fishbone, Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, and many more. Some strategic music placements have also contributed to the growing awareness of the band including the Summer blockbuster hit movie and soundtrack for "Surf's Up" (Sony 2007). They were also featured in the television drama "Shark" staring James Woods (CBS 2007), Tony Hawk's "Downhill Jam" video game (Activision 2007), and the recent movie from Matthew McConaughey called "Surfer, Dude."


Tuesday March 17 $12 - 8pm show

Josh Hoge + Curtis Peoples + Ernie Halter



Wednesday March 18 $15 advance/ $18 at the door - 7:30pm show

Dave Barnes + Gabe Dixon Band


Where is Dave Barnes taking listeners? Judging by a spin of his latest, Me and You and the World, just about anywhere. The Steely Dan jazz-pop of "Someday." The Blind Boys of Alabama-style gospel of "Carry Me Through." The lighters-in-the-air sing-along chorus of "When A Heart Breaks." The crowd favorite and first single, "Until You." Or, perhaps, the delicate, cello-laced ballad of "On A Night Like This." It's all here.

Me and You and the World refers to Barnes' expanded lyrical perspective. Profoundly affected by his work with the Mocha Club (mochaclub.org)—which builds orphanages and supplies medical care in Africa—and service trips he's taken to the continent, the songwriting began shifting. As he says, "You can beat your fans up when you write about yourself all the time. I never want them to be like 'okay, give us a break you egomaniac.' Now I love to write about my experiences, but I think this record is much more about realizing there are so many other stories to tell."


Thursday March 19 $15 - 7:30pm early show

Old School Freight Train "Six Years" CD Release


Old School Freight Train, from Charlottesville, VA combines thought provoking lyrics with captivating melodies, soulful vocals, virtuosic instrumentals and imaginative arrangements. Blending folk, jazz, soul, pop, bluegrass, latin and celtic, OSFT offers a unique musical experience the BOSTON GLOBE claims is "the Next Big Thing" and the CHICAGO TRIBUNE claims is "accessible but uncompromising in creativity." DAVID GRISMAN says, "After forty years of recording acoustic music, it's not very often that a new band catches, and keeps, my attention. Old School Freight Train has done that and more."

"Shades of Jack Johnson, Ben Harper... even a kiss of Van Morrison... Old School Freight Train is off on a timeless new track blending roots and rock to create a sound that's all their own." -Tim Dickinson, National Affairs Correspondent, Rolling Stone


Friday March 20 $15 advance/ $18 at the door - 8pm show

The Click Five + Atomic Tom + Todd Wright



Sunday March 22 $10 - 7pm show

Todesbonden + Ephemeral Sun + Origin Theory


The Society of Art Rock invites you to experience rare forms of musical life, to throw light in places of the mind, place your left foot first, enter the realm of the inventive, and expect the unexpected! Willing participants include: Origin Theory, Ephemeral Sun and Todesbonden.

Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gents, there will be some unexpected twists and turns!


Monday March 23 $2 cover 7-10PM

Open Mic Showcase


Hosted by Ron Goad. "Best Open Mic in the DC area" Washington Post.


Come and enjoy an array of talented local performers and touring musicians.

Participants are signed up in advance online to be guaranteed their time onstage.

How do you sign up to play?

Write to Ron Goad and tell him about the music you perform.

Food and Drink Specials: $6 Gourmet Chili and so much more!


Tuesday March 24 unlike anything you have heard before $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 8pm show

That 1 Guy


"When That 1 Guy is in town, his grooves are so bombastic they rattle china cabinets and dissolve kidney stones well into the next zip code." - Judah Gold, Relix Magazine

"Like a one-man band plucked from the pages of Dr. Seuss, That 1 Guy delivers earthshaking future funk from the magic pipe to accompany his madcap lyrics about turbo snails, meat storms, and weasel pot pies." - J.G., Bass Player Magazine

"That 1 Guy is one of the most prolific and insanely genius musicians we've met in quite some time. With a rap sheet a mile long, and a reputation for turning out live shows where ever he plays, this virtuoso is a class act all the way.' - M.S., California Best Bet


Wednesday March 25 $10 - 7:30pm show

Taylor Carson + Matt York + Andrew Hoover



Thursday March 26 $15 - 7:30pm show

Garnet Rogers



Friday March 27 $8 advance/$10 at the door - 6pm show

Sex and Missiles + Feed God Cabbage + Mistaken For Strangers + Redline Addiction + The Rail + Shrine of the Silver Monkey + Combat Funk + The List



Saturday March 28 bassist $15 - 7pm early show

Michael Manring


Michael Manring is an electric bassist from the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to a long tenure in the 1980s as house bassist for Windham Hill Records, Manring has recorded with Spastic Ink, Michael Hedges, Alex Skolnick (in the bands Skol-Patrol and Attention Deficit), Larry Kassin, and many other notable musicians. He headlined his own band, Montreux, throughout the 1980s. He has been a member of Yo Miles!, Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith's Miles Davis tribute band, since its inception. Michael continues to tour the world for performances and clinics.


Sunday March 29 $8 - 2pm

Local Matinee with Tieweb + Pat Sommer’s Project



Monday March 30 $2 cover 7-10PM

Open Mic Showcase


Hosted by Ron Goad. "Best Open Mic in the DC area" Washington Post.


Come and enjoy an array of talented local performers and touring musicians.

Participants are signed up in advance online to be guaranteed their time onstage.

How do you sign up to play?

Write to Ron Goad and tell him about the music you perform.

Food and Drink Specials: $6 Gourmet Chili and so much more!


Tuesday March 31 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 8pm

Chris Merritt + Judd and Maggie



Wednesday April 1 $15 - 8pm show

Johnny A


For Johnny A., the guitar has held a lifelong fascination, her six strings exerting a powerful influence and addictive beauty since the first time he held them. The pursuit of this musical lady with the perfect shape has driven his years - shaping the course of his life – taking him places he never could have imagined. Through inspiring moments of ecstatic improvisation, deep contemplation and inevitable gaps of frustration it has been a stormy affair with a tempestuous hollow-body lover, but the marriage has been nothing less than remarkable.

Johnny A. is widely regarded as one of America's finest contemporary guitarists. Gibson thinks so – their Custom Shop designed a Signature Edition guitar per his specific requests which, when it was marketed in 2003, placed him in an exclusive club that included legends like BB King, Wes Montgomery, Chet Atkins, Joe Perry, Pat Martino and Les Paul himself. The public thinks so too - Johnny A.'s latest works have sold many thousands of copies as well as being his personal best. The most recent CD's - 2004's Get Inside and 1999's Sometime Tuesday Morning, are the critically acclaimed solo culmination of a lifetime of learning, sharing and bonding in a long parade of bands and players.


Thursday April 2 acoustic/rock $20 - 7:30pm show

Cary Pierce + Creede Williams


Cary Pierce is a Producer, Songwriter and Performer. His mission is to connect with millions and millions of people and make their lives better through his music, performance and production. His songs and co-writes have appeared on more than 2 million records. Cary has shared stages with John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Matchbox Twenty, and Counting Crows - to name just a few.


Friday April 3 $15 - 7:30pm early show

The Nields



Friday April 3 $15 - 10pm late show

An Evening with Charlie Hunter



Saturday April 4 acoustic/pop $20 - 7:30pm

Ellis Paul


Ellis Paul is one of the leading voices in American songwriting. He was a principle leader in the wave of singer/songwriters that emerged from the Boston folk scene, creating a movement that revitalized the national acoustic circuit with an urban, literate, folk pop style that helped renew interest in the genre in the 1990's.

His charismatic, personally authentic performance style has influenced a generation of artists away from the artifice of pop, and closer towards the realness of folk. Though he remains among the most pop-friendly of today's singer-songwriters - his songs regularly appear in hit movie and TV soundtracks - he has bridged the gulf between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger more successfully than perhaps any of his songwriting peers.


Friday April 10 $12 - 6pm early show

The Downtown Fiction



Saturday April 11 $17 advance/ $20 at the door - 7pm early show

Deanna Bogart Band



Friday April 17 $10 advance/ $12 at the door - 6pm early show

The Hint CD Release



Saturday April 25 $10 - 1pm matinee

Tom O'Connor



Saturday April 25 acoustic/roots $20 - 7pm early show

Steve Forbert "The Place and The Time" CD Release Show


Nearly 28 years since breaking into pop consciousness with his second album Jackrabbit Slim and its infectious Top Ten single "Romeo's Tune," Steve Forbert remains a master of songs offering clear-eyed insight and plain-spoken, heartfelt eloquence. On his 429 Records/SLG debut, the well-traveled Nashville-based troubadour—who maintains a busy touring schedule of over 100 dates a year — explores his ongoing fascination for Strange Names & New Sensations with characteristic wit, a sense of social consciousness and the ever-present romantic optimism that has endeared him to two generations of folk/rock fans.


Sunday April 26 acoustic $20 - 7pm show

An Evening with Al Petteway and Amy White


*Award-winning, critically acclaimed, passionate and playful, Al & Amy are an acoustic music duo that draws inspiration from musical traditions across the globe and distills these myriad styles into a rich and unique voice – a timeless recipe for healing, heartfelt music.
*During an Al and Amy performance, the audience is treated to a variety of acoustic stringed instruments and percussion with a dash of pristine vocals. *They capture the hearts of audiences with colorful stories of wildlife in their own back yard in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina and the people and places along the way that have influenced their music.


Wednesday April 29 $15 - 8pm show

Will Hoge



Sunday May 3 $20 - 7pm show

Mary Fahl (October Project) + Glenn Patscha and Byron Isaacs (Ollabelle)



Friday May 15 $15 - THE 7:30pm SHOW!

Enter the Haggis


There aren't many groups in North America who are literally impossible to pigeonhole or classify, but Toronto's Enter The Haggis is one of them. To engage this quintet is to indulge rock, fusion, bluegrass, traditional Celtic fare, folk, even Latin flavors. Sounds awfully confused, right? Wrong. ETH is one of those rare jewels that actually pulls it all off as if to own everything.


Friday May 15 $15 - THE 10pm SHOW!

Enter the Haggis


There aren't many groups in North America who are literally impossible to pigeonhole or classify, but Toronto's Enter The Haggis is one of them. To engage this quintet is to indulge rock, fusion, bluegrass, traditional Celtic fare, folk, even Latin flavors. Sounds awfully confused, right? Wrong. ETH is one of those rare jewels that actually pulls it all off as if to own everything.


Sunday May 17 $17 - 8pm show

Asylum Street Spankers "Sausage Fest 2009"


Founded fourteen years ago at a booze and hallucinogen-fueled party at the Dabbs Hotel along the river in Llano, Texas, the Asylum Street Spankers stand as one of America's most distinctive groups. Defiantly acoustic, fiercely independent and absurdly good, the Spankers have been led by founders Christina Marrs and Wammo from being a country-blues revival act playing happy hours in Austin, through nearly 40 musicians, endless touring and constant evolution to being an internationally reknowned underground institution. Fueled by an ethos born of their punk roots, Marrs and Wammo have built their lives around making unique music that surprises and entertains.

"...inspired, lunatic brilliance.!" - Richard Skanse, Rolling Stone

"Christina Marrs is on maternity leave, and while their diva is away, the guys in the band are getting raunchier and rowdier than ever before."


Saturday July 11 $10 - THE 11AM SHOW

Billy Jonas


"A Billy Jonas performance is an explosion of energy. In singalongs, bangalongs, whisperalongs, as well as improvised songs, his primary instrument is the audience. Everyone becomes part of a performance that reaches out and... touches even the most hardened of hearts." -Fayetteville Morning News

Concerts begin with a simple "tuning" of the audience; from there a whimsical trajectory carries listeners through stories of life, love, and triumph over 'Murphy's Law.' Jonas' original pieces are played on fanciful "industrial re-percussion" instruments made from found objects. He sings in a clear tenor voice; his guitar work is adventurous, alternately percussive and lyrical.


Saturday July 11 $10 - THE 2PM SHOW

Billy Jonas


"A Billy Jonas performance is an explosion of energy. In singalongs, bangalongs, whisperalongs, as well as improvised songs, his primary instrument is the audience. Everyone becomes part of a performance that reaches out and... touches even the most hardened of hearts." -Fayetteville Morning News

Concerts begin with a simple "tuning" of the audience; from there a whimsical trajectory carries listeners through stories of life, love, and triumph over 'Murphy's Law.' Jonas' original pieces are played on fanciful "industrial re-percussion" instruments made from found objects. He sings in a clear tenor voice; his guitar work is adventurous, alternately percussive and lyrical.


february | march and beyond

MON 7PM: Open Mic Showcase
TUE 7PM: Taking Saturn + TRUSTCompany + Go Home Robot + Knife at a Gunfight
WED 8PM: Sonya Kitchell "Burn Brightly" Residency with Special Guest Erin McKeown + Jesse Harper
THU 8PM: Taarka + Roman Candle + Whiskey Rebellion
FRI 6PM: The Machiavelli Group presents Crash Boom Bang CD Release Show + The Dance Party + Boys Will Be Boys + Diesel Pigeons
10PM: TMG Shows presents K-Beta + Bo Jankans + D II
SAT 5:30PM: The Machiavelli Group presents Crash Boom Bang CD Release Show + Boys Will Be Boys + Sunset Shootout + Surprise Attack
10PM: Mambo Sauce + Passafire + Echo Boom
SUN 7PM: Rock 'n Roll Songwriters Circle featuring Anthony Fiacco + Shane Hines + Todd Wright