On a Sunday walk about Eastern Market I happened upon this all women percussion band raising money for the recent flood victims in Rio and Brazil. Despite the extremely cold weather they beat their drums and got the crowd moving to raise awareness for a good cause. To learn more visit www.batalawashington.com.

Ben Folds and Nick Hornby, October 19th 2010 at Sixth and I St NW, Washington, DC at the Historic Synagogue. Ben performs “Levi Johnston”.

With a song, Reverend Billy and his First Church of Stop Shopping choir introduced the film “On Coal River”. Their gospel style was fitting for the film and I, as a West Virginian, truly appreciated their support of this film and this cause. As we say at karaoke, “These kids got pipes.” This was shot on the iPhone 3GS.

Whilst taking a break from the awesomeness that is Bonerama (and Mike Mills of REM none the less) I ran into Jack DeYoung of Grooveshark outside of the Rock and Roll Hotel on Monday night. He was in town for the Future of Music Summit and gave me a few moments of his time to talk about Grooveshark and the future of music. I really like how his/Grooveshark’s focus is on promoting bands outside of the loop of ‘the industry’. Keep it real Jack! Jack DeYoung is the VP of Label Relations.

A night speckled with stars from all kinds of awesome music came to a climax when Mike Mills, the bass player and third wheel of the juggernaut tricycle, REM, jumped up on stage and rocked out Neil Young’s Ohio with Bonerama Monday night at the Rock and Roll Hotel on H St. in Washington, DC. The audio was hurting because it’s so GD loud in that venue – but that aside – check out this little taste of heaven. Thanks to Mike and all the other amazing folks that came out and put on one of the most amazing ‘small shows’ I’ve ever been privy to.

Check out photos from the concert here.

From The Archives: April 2008. 930 Club, Washington, DC.

@FierceKitty plucked Jonny Goldstein and I from our hotel room to escort her to the Speakeasy for a show featuring Datarock and Kid Sister. I didn’t know what to expect as I hadn’t heard either, but Kid Sister blew the top off the place. A breif interlude of Jump Around (it was Saint Patty’s Day) got the croud rowled up which led to this. This is her hit “Pro Nails”. She’s a lot of fun and full of energy I highly recommend checking her out.

National Gallery Sculpture Garden Jazz Fridays.