Author Archives: Morgan Swank

There are some great musical collaborations out there. John Legend and The Roots (and now The Roots and Costello), Jay-Z and Kanye, and who could forget Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead? I know I can’t. Well, another great collaboration you should have picked up on is AM & Shawn Lee—and luckily for you, we’ve got a pair of tickets to their show at U Street Music Hall, presented by 9:30 Club on Tuesday, June 18, to give away.

Lee has collaborated with indie artist AM since 2011. Their debut as a touring duo was at a showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas in the same year. After AM heard Lee’s Music and Rhythm album on the radio in Los Angeles, he decided to reach out to Lee through the Internet. The two became quick friends, sharing a common love for ’60s psychedelia and ’70s Italian soundtracks.

In September 2011, AM & Shawn Lee released their debut album Celestial Electric. When Rob Garza from Thievery Corporation heard the collaboration, he signed the debut album to his record label on ESL Music.

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Happy summer, music lovers alike! The month of June is upon us, which means we’re in the midst of sweltering heat and kick-ass music festivals. (Bonnaroo, Firefly, and Glastonbury, to name a few…) With the turn of the new month, that also means there are new shows at the 9:30 Club to get you excited. With that being said, here is your June preview and an extra chance to win tickets to the show of your choice from the list below. 

The xx and Grizzly Bear, Sun 6/16 at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Fresh off the release of brand new album Coexist and producing a track on the widely acclaimed The Great Gatsby soundtrack, The xx are hitting the road with the soundtrack to summer.

Catch them with co-headliners Grizzly Bear at the Merriweather Post Pavilion next Sunday. It’s going to be an amazing show, “so I’ll ask you kindly to make your way” and join us there!

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If you’ve got the summer blues, I’ve got just the cure. The sultry country meets indie folk meets Americana singer-songwriter Tom McBride is out with a brand new record and will showcase the work at the Black Cat next Friday, 5/31.

McBride’s new record Morning in Glen Burnie is a modern album steeped in an old-school throwback collection of music that blends country, Americana, rhythm and blues, soul and classic rock. McBride recorded Morning in Glen Burnie just outside of Boston close to his hometown, though he said the songs were inspired by the city of Nashville, where his music career began. Boston native, Kimon Kirk (Grant-Lee Phillips, Aimee Mann), signed on as producer.

The stand-out track from the record for me is “Julia.” It’s got a throwback ’50s blues appeal that makes you feel like the girl you’ve been in love with all your life broke up with you in the middle of a Buddy Holly song at the sock hop, so you hurried to the closest diner to buy a chocolate malt to cry into.

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What do you get when you mix a benefit for D.C. Central Kitchen, a mixologist competition, food tastings from area restaurants and food trucks, and kickass bands to groove to while stuffing your face? It’s the Sound Bites DC Central Kitchen’s Festival of Local Music, Food, and Change of course. We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away courtesy of the 9:30 Club and yours truly.

“Sound Bites is an outdoor street festival at the historic 9:30 Club that celebrates local food and music while raising funds to fight hunger and poverty in Washington, DC. On Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 1 p.m., 1,000 guests will enjoy tastings from 25 top area restaurants, hear 7 hot local music acts, and witness an elite mixology competition between DC’s most talented bartenders. All proceeds benefit event organizer DC Central Kitchen.”

For more than 20 years, DC Central Kitchen has pioneered a new model of using food as a tool to change lives. They provide nutritious meals to our neighbors in need, equip unemployed men and women to begin culinary careers, and engineer successful social enterprises that advance our mission while creating good jobs for the people they serve.

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Since their inception in 1988, The Breeders have thrown down some of the best alternative rock music, inspiring artists new and old over many genres for the past two decades. Wow, I feel old.

The Breeders was formed by Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses. Through the years, the band has gone through a number of line-up changes, but Kim Deal has been the constant of the band since its inception. The band’s first album, Pod (1990), received wide critical acclaim without peaking at any real commercial success. Last Splash was released in 1993 and has been the band’s most successful album to date with help from the megahit “Cannonball.”

To honor the 20th Anniversary of Last Splash, The Breeders announced they would be embarking on the Last Splash 20th Reunion Tour, aptly named LSXX, this spring. Luckily for you, the LSXX Tour hits DC at the 9:30 Club this Saturday, May 4, and we have a pair of tickets to give away to the sold-out show.

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Nothing really takes me back to the summer of my junior year of high school more than a whimsical Matt Costa tune bouncing its way out of my car window on a warm summer day.

Needless to say, the singer-songwriter has been making music for a while now and has made a name for himself in the indie pop circles of the music world and even scored a few movie soundtracks bids along the way. I Love You, Man, anybody?

Costa recently released his fourth studio album aptly titled, Matt Costa. To create a fresh new sound he drew inspiration from Dylan and The Band. “I was thinking about the Basement Tapes [a collection of tracks that Bob Dylan recorded with The Band in 1967] and how I always loved the way those songs made me feel, and also how they were all recorded so simply,” he says. “With this album, part of what I wanted to do was work with all these big, over-the-top arrangements that burst open and take off into a whole new dimension—but still ultimately create that same kind of cool, pure feeling.”

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It seems as though America’s obsession with the British indie invasion will never cease. Between Mumford & Sons collecting the award for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and Blur being announced as a headliner for this year’s Coachella, the Brits just keep coming.

We’ve got one more to add to the list. February 20, the five best mates of the English folk group The Dunwells grace America’s shores with their presence at the U Street Music Hall, presented by the 9:30 Club, and we have a pair of tickets to give to one lucky winner.

Having been described as “utterly natural,” the music of The Dunwells and the story of their rise from the dingy pubs of Leeds, England to America, where they scored a record deal and a stunning debut album in just two years is simply that: natural. The music of The Dunwells is both soothing and soul-cleansing. Striking the chord of organic sound between an electric and acoustic balance, their songs sound and feel like a breezy summer day along England’s shores.

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No doubt The Feelies are one of the greatest and most influential acts to survive the 1980s. Having inspired acts from the ’80s rebels R.E.M. to ’90s indie pride Pavement, The Feelies have paved the way for some of the best college rock and indie rock artists of all time.

Before their official reunion back in 2008 and the recent Here Before, they released four albums including Crazy Rhythms, which has been voted 49 of the top 100 albums of the 1980s by Rolling Stone and number 49 of the best alternative records of all time by SPIN Magazine. In short, The Feelies are kind of awesome.

The Feelies play the 9:30 Club this Friday, September 14, and we’ve got a pair of tickets for one of you to win!

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It’s hard not to love My Morning Jacket. Everything from the outstanding lyrics to the innovative musicianship, down to the insanely awesome live show they put on… You just can’t go wrong.

Now you have a chance to catch the glory of My Morning Jacket with opener Band of Horses by winning a pair of tickets to the show at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, August 18th.

Although the band originated in 1998 with a country-tinged classic rock sound, My Morning Jacket began to gradually evolve throughout the decade, challenging the very sound they created. Having experimented in everything from psychedelia, Americana folk, funk, progressive rock, and even reggae with their sound, the band has developed into a musical anomaly unlike any other. By the time the much anticipated Evil Urges album was released in 2008, they had been able to create a new mold for themselves to become one of the greatest most innovative bands in the world.

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Extraordinary violinist, avant-pop artist, and one-eighth of psychedelic-pop band of Montreal, K. Ishibashi, better known as Kishi Bashi (get it?), has proved his merit on the musical world already.

Having been accurately described as “a lush array of looping and vocal/violin gymnastics,” Kishi Bashi’s debut full-length album 151a is nothing less than a sunny, bright, violin-driven masterpiece, which has allowed him to record and tour with acts like Regina Spector, Sondre Lerche, Alexi Murdoch, of Montreal, and more.

Having recently collaborated with Kevin Barnes from of Montreal for their new album Paralytic Stalks, Kishi Bashi was able to excel in exploring his musical creativity. The collaboration also allowed him to experiment with the violin, which is a staple for his solo work. Japanese lyrics add some aesthetic layering to his work, which all together form the deliciously pleasing sounds found in 151a.

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So, the Olympics are just around the corner, and the entire world has gone mad with British fever. We’re no exception here, bringing you the sights and sounds of The Jesus and Mary Chain, coming to DC at the 9:30 Club this September 9th.

With influences ranging from The Velvet Underground to My Bloody Valentine, the genius of Scottish-born brothers William and Jim Reid have boosted The Jesus and Mary Chain babe bandwagon since 1984 through their poppy throwback sound.

Right now, the band is on their first US tour in over four years, and as usual we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away! Since they haven’t released a studio album since the late ’90s, you can expect to hear all your classic favorite tunes while you’re swaying around the club like it’s 1999.

Often cited as one of the founders of shoegaze—proto-shoegaze—The Jesus and Mary Chain helped define a musical tradition that is now carried on by the likes of M83, The Radio Dept, and many, many others.

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