The Scene

MusicDetour.com’s commentary on music, performances, and the DC metro area music scene

Shamrock Fest keeps getting bigger because not only is it at RFK Stadium, but it now also has a first class line-up. It’s gone from a drunken fest in Arlington to a great festival that kicks off the festival season. This year The Roots are even playing the show. The show is Saturday March 13th from 1-9pm. Tickets are selling out fast and they have variable pricing. Click here for tickets. Full line-up after the jump. (more…)

Washington City Paper is compiling a “Best of D.C. 2010 Readers’ Poll”. Check it out under “Arts & Entertainment”. There are plenty of categories about music: Best Jazz/Blues Venue, Best Local Band, Best Local Hip-Hop Artist, Best Music Venue, Best Outdoor Venue, Best Place to See Local Music. It’ll be interesting to see the results. Share your opinions in the comments section.

For those of you interested in the state of the music industry, tune into Soul City Radio this Friday at 10pm for the last of four panels on independent music. Yours truly will be participating in the panel with Teisha Marie and Casey Rae-Hunter with host DeWayne Alston. It should be an interesting discussion on the implications that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has on music as a whole. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section of this post about the panel during and after the discussion. More details and the radio widget after the jump.

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From time to time I would like to use this space to theorize about the music industry. It would be great to get feedback from people interested in these ideas. This one is specifically trying to describe what P2P networks are. Leave your comments if you have anything to add.

In its infancy, the internet was nothing more than a few people with computers connected over some servers that allowed those people to gather information easier. Many of those first users (more…)

One of the great things about the internet is it’s ability to allow independent artists new ways to get their music out. Jah-I-Witness is one of those artists that is using the internet to get his music out there. Check-out this collection of videos that he put together on ReverbNation. (more…)

Even though we are still surrounded by the material evidence of winter, Amanda MacKaye and the crew organizing the Fort Reno summer concert series are already accepting applications for the 2010 edition.  Send them your demos!  Contact info is here.

The Fort Reno series is a highlight of the summer for many DCists.  It is in everyone’s interest that the eclectic lineup be as strong as possible.  For bands, these shows offer great exposure to potential fans who might not happen to ever stumble across a given act at a club or on their MySpace.

Photo credit:  Ron Akins

98 Rock hosts a local music showcase every Monday at Bourbon Street.  Unfortunately, they advertise the branded affordability of the night — $4.98 cover, $.98 open bar for the first 98 minutes, and $.98 drink specials after that — better than they advertise the schedule of bands.  I cannot find a listing of this week’s bands anywhere.  Maybe that’s the point.  You’re supposed to come for the cheap drinks and hope to be pleasantly surpised.  However, my sources tell me that this Monday, 2/22, the best line-up of Baltimore garage bands in months will take the stage:  The Expotentials, Fishnet Stalkers, and Lazlo Lee & The Motherless Children.  It’s a good thing the brick walls of The Quarter are bare, since these bands would peel the paint right off of them.