The Scene

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

One of the main ways that artists and music fans can subvert the monopolistic radio industry is to go online for radio. Fortunately, Baltimore has a great internet radio site that is focusing on the promotion of independent music. Soul City Radio is focused on non-mainstream Hip Hop, Soul, Neo – Soul, R&B or Jazz. Station founder DeWayne Alston is trying to promote both independent artists and the idea of independent music; look in the near future for more information about the panel discussions that Alston will be hosting on his show “Soul Session”. The station is live at different times, but you can always check-out the week’s shows. The station player and schedule is after the jump: (more…)

One of the great things about Blues Alley is the fact that you can catch artists for multiple nights over the course of a weekend. This weekend Roy Ayers is performing at Blues Alley Thursday, January 28th – Sunday, January 31st at 8pm and 10pm each night. That means that have you have 8 total chances to catch Ayers and his vibraphone, so if you are busy all weekend, you may be able to catch him Sunday night. It also means that you could catch more than one show. Most acts play different shows each night with different set-lists (and of course improvisation). So go to Blues Alley this weekend and watch anywhere from 1 – 8 shows.

Charlie Hunter is bringing his unique guitar style back to Jammin’ Java this Saturday, January 30th at 9:30pm. He’s out touring to promote his new album “Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You, You Will Not Be Getting Paid“.  This time around Hunter will be playing with Eric Kalb on Drums and Curtis Fowlkes on Trombone. If you’ve never seen or heard of Charlie Hunter before, he’s best known for playing guitar and bass at the same time – it’s a really unique style and he’s funky as hell. Check this show out! Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, but make sure you get tickets before they sell-out.

It’s about time that someone finally addressed the constitutionality of the RIAA’s lawsuits. While it has been about a year since the RIAA quit pursuing individual file-sharers and successfully began pressuring internet service providers to end file-sharers’ internet service, but there are plenty of cases still in the courts. Part of the problem has been the willingness of those sued to “settle” for a couple thousand dollars instead of paying the 6-7 figures that juries have been rewarding the RIAA or spend the money that it takes to appeal (and possibly lose). That is until now, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was told that she had to pay 1.5million dollars for sharing 24 songs, the judge then lowered the amount that the jury rewarded the RIAA to $54k (because the judge that 1.5million was ridiculous and 54k was still harsh). (more…)

One of the best shows in the area this week will be The BreakUps‘ CD release party at The Black Cat’s intimate Backstage on Thursday.  Both live and on disc you can expect to hear great familiar old garage grooves in infectious new combinations.  In their own right, The Scotch Bonnets are an intriguing addition to our local scene that should complement The Breakups nicely as the opener.  For only $8, this will be a fun night at a bargain rate.

Whenever some new use of the internet to download music comes along, the Recording Industry Association of America tries to shut the action down through litigation . . . unless of course the action was created by iTunes. This time around Apple is interested in cloud computing where iTunes users can access their music database via streaming technology from anywhere there’s the internet. Users would upload their (legally purchased) music onto an Apple server and always have access to their music. Sounds good, only this idea is not new nor has the RIAA been approving of this structure in the past. (more…)

Generally, when Thievery Corporation comes to the 9:30 Club, they play more than one, but this time around their playing five nights! That is Wednesday January 20th- Sunday January 24th. While most of the shows are already sold-out, you can still get tickets to the Sunday show. Each night they are playing with Ocote Soul Sounds . If you like Thievery Corporation and don’t have tickets to a show, get them now before all five nights are sold out.

This Saturday don’t miss the funk while you celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Monster Band will be bringing it’s funky cover tunes to Whitlow’s on Wilson this Saturday, January 16th. The show should start around 10pm, but be sure to come early and enjoy Whitlow’s happy hour. It’s usually 5 bucks to get in to Whitlow’s, so it won’t break the bank.