Review: Iris DeMent, Loudon Wainwright III
Iris DeMent’s career had already been something of a miracle: a clear voiced Southern gospel wail from a woman who wasn’t even that sure of her religion, whose vocal power…
Remembering Candye Kane, 1965-2016
The year took another musician Friday as Candye Kane, the big blues singer died at 50, following a long bout with pancreatic cancer. The singer, who released dozens of albums…
Opera Review: ‘Ring’ Lout ‘Siegfried’
In the third installment of the Washington National Opera's mammoth staging of Richard Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung" at the Kennedy Center, a new Brünnhilde awakens, Fafner's dragon turns…
Opera Review: A Sub for ‘The Valkyrie’
Ten years of planning and $10 million in production costs couldn't prevent the Washington National Opera from pleasing all the gods in its ambitious staging of all four operas in…
Remembering Janis Joplin on PBS
This year’s been a bruising one for musician loss, with David Bowie’s death followed by those of Merle Haggard and Prince. But it was almost more showing in 1970 when…
At the Kingman Island Bluegrass Fest
The Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival started seven years years ago as a kind of harbinger of spring in D.C. but also to raise funds and awareness for Living…
Music Review: John Hiatt at the Birchmere
Salutes since the death of Prince last week have come so far from artists as wide ranged as Janelle Monae to Bruce Springsteen. Tuesday, John Hiatt found way to tip…
Remembering Prince, 1958-2016
The pillars of popular music continue to fall with shocking crashes this year. In a death-filled year that began with Bowie, now comes word of the death of Prince at…
The Feelies Do Record Store Day
The Feelies spent their Record Store Day in D.C. playing music — a lot of it. The bulk of it was a three hour show with two full sets and…
Jonathan Richman at The 9:30 Club
Jonathan Richman is the very picture of the traveling musician. On the expanse of the 9:30 Club stage, empty but for Tommy Larkins’ modest drum kit, he walked in for…