To Eric Hilton and Rob Garza, the duo at the core of the Thievery Corporation, their music is designed to break the commercial mold. They’ve delighted fans for nearly 20 years in venues great and small. They’re back again, on a new mission to unite the sounds of the globe with the likes of you. So keep reading: You can win a pair of tickets to see them at the 9:30 Club.
On play mode for nearly two decades now, Hilton and Garza have crafted themselves as musical journeymen. Further, they’ve built a commune of diverse acts that bring the world’s hemispheres together.
Through Eighteenth Street Lounge and ESL Music — their nightlife hub and album label, respectfully — Thievery nurtures acts such as Congo Sanchez, Thomas Blondet, Mustafa Akbar, Ursula 1000 as well as their own. The label operates out of the basement of a three-level townhouse in Dupont Circle that was once the claim of president Theodore Roosevelt.
A musician’s play-land exists witin the walls Thievery’s 18th Street operations. It’s a funky mix of Gothic-revivial architecture adorned with analog and digital equipment, live jazz and bebop sessions, and riffy, vintage guitars. The basement studio is where Hilton and Garza fashion a revolving door of talent for their own grand playlist: a half-dozen albums, compilations, EPs, and singles. Their body of work makes them a genre of their own, and thus a powerful current in a post-electronic dance music age.
From the District, Hilton and Garza have institutionalized a sound. We come to hear it; it doesn’t find us. Aside from Thievery’s depolarization of Indian classical, trip-hop, acid jazz, lounge, and bossa nova, they’ve cycled their investment back into their DC homeland. Among activities like establishing a musical compound, Thievery is also the party behind local eateries such as Marvin and Chez Billy — Hilton, particularly. Their diverse culinary take matches the tone of, say, their Frequent Flyer series.
It’s another homecoming for Thievery, and we’re delighted to give you the opportunity to win two tickets for the sold-out Saturday (1/19) show, the last of their sold-out three-night stint at the 9:30 Club.
They’ve been associated with a wide variety of musicians, like Paul McCartney and David Byrne. For a chance to win these tickets for the Saturday show, name your favorite act associated with Thievery Corporation. The winner will be chosen at noon on Thursday, January 17.
