The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize of Popular Music, in its 16 years has reliably been a solid night of tribute to a deserving artist and an anticipated D.C. event even after it moved from the intimate confines of the East Room of the White House to the nearby Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution […]
Category Archives: Music
Remembering Burt Bacharach, 1928-2023
What a long and wonderful career Burt Bacharach gave us before he died last week at 94. Forever associated with the 60s, through a remarkable series of complex yet breezy pop songs, many of which delivered by Dionne Warwick, he was composing ias early as the 50s and continued to do so well into the […]
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Chuck D Presents Hip-Hop History on PBS
With hip-hop reaching its 50th anniversary somehow this year, public television, of all places, is ready to mark the occasion with the new four-part documentary series “Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings). The title cribs from the title of an old Public Enemy track, so that group’s […]
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Remembering Christine McVie, 1943-2022
When I interviewed her in 1984, an astounding 38 years ago, she was just on tour on the heels of her solo hit “Got a Hold on Me.” She had established herself as a solid component to what had become a wildly successful band, Fleetwood Mac. Behind Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, the shiny American […]
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Remembering Loretta Lynn, 1932-2022
The most influential woman in country music, who everybody knows was raised a coal miner’s daughter, died Tuesday at 90, after a career that lasted more than 60 years. Loretta Lynn, whose first No. 1 country hit was “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” broke barriers with songs about “The Pill” and late […]
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Tav Falco’s Panther Burns On the Prowl
Rock ’n’ roll is a sound and it is a style and Tav Falco’s been straddling both since the late 1970s. The latest version of Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, on a cross country tour, stopped at The Runaway in D.C. for a midweek show that was strangely mesmerizing and altogether rocking thanks largely to his […]
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Music: The Decemberists at Wolf Trap
The Decemberists, the charming chamber folk-rock band from out of Portlandia, became famous for live performances as elaborate and detailed as their ornate songs, staging obscure battles or sea scenes with sudden appearances by man-eating whales into their shows. There was none of that Wednesday as the band took the stage at Wolf Trap in […]
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Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe at Wolf Trap
It’s gratifying to have any Elvis Costello concert come around, after two years of pandemic postponements. But the one that finally took the stage at Wolf Trap in Virginia last week had the added advantage of being opened by Nick Lowe, his longtime colleague, producer and influencer. It was a version of “Surrender to the […]
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Sarah Borges Rocks the Pearl Street
Listeners literally place performers on pedestals, onto elevated stages and spotlights. So it was a little shocking to hear Sarah Borges say during her free-wheeling show at the Pearl Street Warehouse last week that she had spent some of the pandemic as a truck driver. She couldn’t tour, and the clubs were all closed and […]
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Here’s Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway
Oftentimes artists will say they’re glad to be at a place. But Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway were clearly delighted to be making their debut at The Birchmere in Alexandra, Va., in between some festival gigs. This, after all, was a hallowed ground for Mid-Atlantic bluegrass, where generations of stars have performed over the storied […]
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