Cinema Hearts

An ex-pageant queen who makes power pop? Cue Cinema Hearts, the indie rock musical project of Washington, D.C.’s Caroline Weinroth.

Cinema Hearts’ Your Ideal EP chronicles the experience of competing in the world of Miss America pageants. A former Miss Virginia contender, Weinroth crafts songs about the loneliness, frustration and cut-throat drive it took to win, and then lose, on the glitzy pageant stage. Hear haunting harmonies soar over searing electric guitar and dreamy synthesizers produced by Bartees Strange, who also lent his hand in synths and guitar parts on the project.

\--North by North

North by North is the Rock & Roll dream of two weirdos from Chicago IL. Their garage-y power-pop sound has been forged through years of teen angst, twenty-something alienation, sleeping in vans and practically living on a stage. Anchored by syrupy hooks, roaring guitar and bombastic drums, North by North produces a huge sound that has captivated thousands of people over hundreds of performances and festivals around the world.

\--The Endlings

quasi-psychedelic indie rock for the end times

This is an all ages event

Songbyrd

Cinema Hearts 

North by North

Endlings

Gigs

Washington D.C.

Saturday, June 10th 2023  
Kym Register & Meltdown Rodeo + Tami Hart + Evil  
9:30pm - $15 - All Ages

KYM REGISTER & MELTDOWN RODEO (FKA LOAMLANDS)  
Durham, NC  
https://meltdownrodeo.bandcamp.com/  
Kym Register + Meltdown Rodeo (formerly LOAMLANDS) is a transgressive and distorted country music outfit based in North Carolina that places queer storytelling at the forefront. Their music intimately grapples with identity, retribution, reconciliation and queer existence in both modern-day and historical (inclusive of mostly all) southern culture. According to NOISEY, our music is “written to directly address North Carolina, the people in the Durham DIY scene, and the area's long history with LGBT communities and police violence, the themes Register… wrestle\[s\] with throughout—queerness, police violence, bigotry and general intolerance to those who refuse to adhere to any kind of binary—are poignant no matter where you live.”

TAMI HART  
Brooklyn, NY  
Tami Hart’s music career began while still a high school student in South Carolina, when she was signed to Mr. Lady Records, and toured as a supporting act for Le Tigre. At age 18, Hart’s debut album, No Light in August, was described in the NY Times by Ann Powers as being one of the best albums of 2000. During that time, Hart toured in support of Sleater-Kinney, Indigo Girls, The Butchies and many more. Hart moved to San Francisco, forming the post punk band GangWay! (Featuring members of the band No Age). Following a move to NYC, Hart formed two more bands, Winning Looks, recorded by Kathleen Hanna. Hart also formed the Punk meets RnB duo Making Friendz, who’s album Social Life received several notable licensing placements (Last Bummer Records). In 2011, Hart joined the band MEN featuring prominent artist JD Samson of Le Tigre fame. Tami Hart has recently resurfaced as a solo artist, releasing a collection of old and new demos on the Seattle imprint Disc Drive will be releasing her next EP, Thanks For Saying Hi digitally on Cruisin Records.

EVIL  
Washington, DC  
https://evilmusic777.bandcamp.com/

ACCESSIBILITY INFO: There are 13 stairs at the entrance to Quarry House Tavern

All Ages

Rediscover Fire

Kym Register & Meltdown Rodeo (FKA Loamlands), Tami Hart, Evil 

Kym Register + Meltdown Rodeo - Little River

Kym Register + Meltdown Rodeo - Something New

Tami Hart

Kym Register

Quarry House Tavern

Wednesday, June 14th 2023  
Juan Wauters + Washington Social Club  
9pm - $15 - All Ages

JUAN WAUTERS  
Queens, NY  
https://juanwauters.bandcamp.com/

There’s an almost mythological quality to the world of Juan Pablo Wauters. The Uruguayan-born, Jackson Heights, NY-dwelling musician is best known not for a specific musical style, but instead for the crystalline sincerity that underpins everything he does. From the heartfelt earnestness of his lyricism to the playful rituals of his live shows, Wauters has a knack for fostering community wherever he goes.

A founding member of Queens garage act The Beets, Wauters began releasing folk-tinged, introspective music under his own name in 2014 with N.A.P. North American Poetry and its successor, 2015’s Who, Me? After a several year break that included a long stint in Latin America, he re-emerged in with 2018’s La Onda De Juan Pablo​ and its follow-up, Introducing Juan Pablo. Sung largely in Spanish and steeped in the musical traditions of each country he’d visited, these were Wauters’ most expansive and sonically diverse records to date, tracing both his Uruguayan roots and his travellers’ spirit.

Wauters’ chameleonic songwriting has continued to evolve on his latest effort, Real Life Situations. He’s delved deeper into collaboration, teaming up with Mac DeMarco, Homeshake, Nick Hakim, Cola Boyy, El David Aguilar, and more for experiments in hip-hop, lo-fi R&B, and deft indie folk. Under Wauters’ care, these songs act as coordinates for the peaks and valleys of human experience, coloring the album with his unique shade of realism.

WASHINGTON SOCIAL CLUB  
Washington, DC  
https://washingtonsocialclub.bandcamp.com/

Washington Social Club is a DC-based indie power pop band known for its frenetic energy, soaring melodies, and memorable lyrics. The band has toured with The Hold Steady, Stars, International Noise Conspiracy, The Bravery and more and earned glowing reviews from The Washington Post, The Onion AV Club and Rolling Stone. Washington Social Club's music has been featured on HBO, NBC, the CW and many more. After a hiatus, the band reformed in 2018 with band members Olivia Mancini, Randy Scope, Martin Royle and Evan Featherstone, and began releasing new music. Long Player is their latest single, released September 14. ACCESSIBILITY INFO: Comet is wheelchair accessible

All Ages

Juan Wauters, Washington Social Club

Todo Terminó

Juan Wauters 

Washington Social Club

Comet Ping Pong

::LIBER8 DC::

…In the Green Room...

DJ and producer NIA.WAV from Philly will be warming up the room with their signature genre-busting and gritty DJ sets. followed by live sets from…

SUZI ANALOGUE: an energetic pioneer of the new wave of women producers in electronic music & beyond, recent DJ Mag “Underground Hero” nominee and also the founder of the groundbreaking Never Normal Records which continues to pave the way for artists of color.

DEFORREST BROWN JR. aka SPEAKER MUSIC: a representative of Make Techno Black Again, author of Assembling a Black Counter Culture (which we consider ESSENTIAL reading) and composer of Black Sonic Nationalist Weaponry, an album of “street-level level fire music”

B\_X\_R\_N\_X\_R\_D: a 20 year electronic music veteran who is also a math whiz, self-taught multi-disciplinary artist, dancer, drum machine maestro and founder of Black Techno Matters.

TROVARSI: a live electronic artist specializing in modular and analog synthesis, curator and host of Transduction Signal on DubLab Radio, and also co-founder of the Southern California Synth Society.

…In the Red Room…

DJ UNDERDOG: an expert DJ, graphic designer, educator, community-builder, and contemporary storyteller who is a Kennedy Center Next 50 and resident of AFROPUNK, OkayAfrica DC, Eaton Radio and ElectraAfrique NYC

JAHSONIC: a DC native, DJ, producer, and proud Howard Alum who got his start playing neighborhood house parties at the age of 11, was a national finalist in the 2011 Red Bull “ThreeStyle” DJ competition in Las Vegas, and moves crowds on the regular with parties throughout the city like The Main Ingredient, Onna Saturday, Sundae Sunday, and NO HYPE.

...In the Owl Room...

Photographer Kyna Uwaeme, who took the photo that the Liber8 DC flyer is based on, will be in the Owl Room displaying and selling their prints and artwork!

Sun Jun 18 The Owl Room $25 advance / $30 at the door

BLACK TECHNO MATTERS.

This is a 21+ event

The Owl Room

LIBER8 DC

Vibe With U (feat. Suzi Analogue)

Suzi Analogue

DeForrest Brown, Jr.

Trovarsi

DJ Underdog

Five years since her debut album Delivery, Mikaela Davis has moved away from her hometown of Rochester, shared the stage with the likes of Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Christian McBride, Bon Iver, Lake Street Dive and Circles Around the Sun and entered a new decade. But it’s the ever-evolving relationships between her closest friends and bandmates that has propelled the Hudson Valley-based artist onto her latest album And Southern Star––a truly collaborative effort that ruminates on the choices we make, and the people we always come back to.

The band, made up of Davis (harp/vocals), Alex Coté (drums), Cian McCarthy (guitars/vocals), Shane McCarthy (bass/vocals) and Kurt Johnson (steel guitar), have been playing together for over a decade and it’s the first time they’ve appeared on a full length record together. Weaving 60s pop-soaked melodies, psychedelia and driving folk rock, And Southern Star picks apart the reflection we used to recognise, while trying to build a new one. It navigates the periphery of past selves, the coexistence of isolation and excitement in a new environment and the tension of growing away from what we thought we wanted, tackling it with a luscious, kaleidoscopic grace. “I finally feel like this album is more me than anything else that’s been released,” Davis says, adding that producing the album along with her four bandmates allowed them to carve out their own ideas, rather than someone else’s. It’s the band’s collective step into adulthood that has informed much of And Southern Star’s thematic landscape.

This is an all ages event

Mikaela Davis 

Mikaela Davis - Pure Divine Love

Mikaela Davis

Raina Mullen

Saleka is an Indian American songwriter/musician/actress who began playing piano at age 4. She left behind years of classical piano training to begin pursuing R&B music at age 16. She now recalls this passion-driven, teen rebellion moment as a pivotal one as she’s on the cusp of releasing her first full-length body of work, 2023’s Séance via Range Music/Virgin Music/Capitol Records.

This debut full length incorporates her over a decade of classical training while she creates a sound both entirely new and also deeply rooted in the world of jazz, R&B, singer-songwriter, and neo soul. Each song compliments the next, the album serving as a free-flowing stream of consciousness as Saleka—who writes, produces, and plays instruments throughout—walks listeners through her experiences as if you are getting to read her personal journal.

Saleka has performed at iconic venues across the United States, opening for both R&B legends and up-and-coming artists such as Giveon, Summer Walker, Baby Rose and K. Michelle. She has also performed at Bonnaroo, ACL, Philly Music Fest and Jakarta Jazz Festival. Over the past few years, Saleka wrote several songs (EP titled Songs from The Attic) for the Apple TV+ hit, Servant, which served to portray the never seen, but omnipresent character, Vivian Dale and the beautiful song, “Remain,” which also served as narration for the M. Night Shyamalan blockbuster, OLD.

This is an all ages event

Saleka - Summer Tour

Saleka - Remain (From the Motion Picture "Old")

Saleka

Throughout her fruitful independent career, spanning three EPs and multiple collaborations, Madison has earned accolades from The New York Times, NPR, The FADER, and Pitchfork, who named her a Rising Artist in 2018. Her genre-bending work has led to Questlove dubbing her early sound “soul-appella.” In addition to a stirring performance on the renowned COLORS Studio platform, McFerrin has also performed at Lincoln Center, Central Park SummerStage and BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, and shared stages with the likes of De La Soul, Gallant, and The Roots. Off the stage, Madison’s music has been featured in episodes of Comedy Central’s Broad City and HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness. Working at the intersection of artistry and community building, McFerrin co-curated programming for the BRIC Jazz Festival in 2021, and in 2022, aligned her MAD LOVE initiative with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy to present three installments of Summer Fridays—a series focused on themes of RELEASE, RESTORE & REJOICE with DJs, comedians and musicians providing some much needed space for healing from the collective trauma and grief of the pandemic. Most recently, Madison has performed at the Saint Joseph’s Art Society in San Francisco and Joe’s Pub in New York City to support fundraisers benefiting the National Network of Abortion Funds.

This is an all ages event.

Madison McFerrin

Outré Lux (feat. Madison McFerrin)

Thursday, June 29th 2023  
Swim Camp + TBA  
9pm - $15 - All Ages

SWIM CAMP  
Philadelphia, PA  
https://swimcamp.bandcamp.com/

After releasing projects entitled Barlow Hill and Fishing in a Small Boat, Swim Camp’s Tom  
Morris accumulated a reputation for measured, introspective alternative country that drew on bedroom recording traditions and the bucolic soundscapes of his native Pennsylvania. Now, on the project’s forthcoming LP, Steel Country, Tom cranks up the distortion in a gentle nod to shoegaze that evokes senses of desolation and chaos that unfurl around him. Tom’s always been fascinated by visual signs of desolation, observing the abandoned century structures in his Philadelphia neighborhood and dreaming up stories of what they must have been. It’s through this narrative practice of archiving that Tom explores figures outside of himself after dedicating Swim Camp to autobiography and confession.

ACCESSIBILITY INFO: There are 13 stairs at the entrance to Quarry House Tavern

All Ages

Swim Camp

Stupid Thing

When Rich Saunders was a child, he and his family would spend long, relaxing afternoons sitting in a circle, singing together in the way that only blood relatives truly can: creating close harmonies whose naturally blending tones seem the result of some kind of inbuilt genetic code.

Fast forward a couple of decades and, though much has happened in the interim - a period as one-third of Universal-signed group Thirdstory; a stint singing backing vocals for Chance the Rapper; a trans-Atlantic, more experimental duo going by the name Refs; and an exploding TikTok profile with over 770K followers - it’s still those magical vocal moments that are at the crux, however now they’re coming primarily from the singer himself under new, voice-centric solo project Rich

\- Linda Diaz is a singer, songwriter and performer from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She is the winner of the 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Contest and co-host of the PBS musical education series Sound Field. The gentle yet soulful artist is easily recognizable by her lush vocal arrangements and powerful lyricism that accompany a jazzy r&b sound. In December of 2019, Diaz independently released “Magic,” a 6 track EP. In August of the following year, she won the 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Contest with a live rendition of the project’s lead single “Green Tea Ice Cream.” Her entry garnered early recognition from the contest judges, including NPR Tiny Desk Creator Bob Boilen and Grammy Award Winning Artist Brittany Howard. Diaz also featured in the 2020 MTV VMA’s J Balvin x Toyota collaboration where she opened the commercial singing and performing Balvin’s hit single “Mi Gente.” She is based in Brooklyn, NY.

This is an all ages event

Rich -  Still Alone Tour

Trouble

Rich

Linda Diaz

Wednesday, July 26th 2023  
Bug Hunter + The Narcissist Cookbook  
9pm - $25 - All Ages

BUG HUNTER  
Seattle, Washington  
https://bughunterbug.bandcamp.com/

"Bug has the very unique skill of being able to put a lifetime of experiences in a single song. There is also a very rare quality where even the most painful lyrics manage to have a silver lining or hope within their theme. Every song has a story, and every story has something profound to pull from it. Every single album and song is an entire rush of words that manage to perfectly capture so many specific emotions and moments in time. There is such a rare quality in the writing, and I’ve yet to find another artist that I can fully compare to Bug Hunter."

THE NARCISSIST COOKBOOK  
Stirling, UK  
https://thenarcissistcookbook.bandcamp.com/

  
Mudslinger/songwrecker The Narcissist Cookbook uses five-rounds-rapid storytelling and powerful songwriting as a siege weapon trained on the barker between the stage and the audience. An irreverent, unpredictable and inimitable voice in modern spoken word.

ACCESSIBILITY INFO: Comet is wheelchair accessible

All Ages

Bug Hunter, The Narcissist Cookbook

Bug Hunter

The Narcissist Cookbook

Indie pop and afro-soul sounds enthusiast, deeply rooted in the African continent, the very talented Cameroonian singer-songwriter Blick Bassy will soon unveil his new album (InFiné).

Blick Bassy has chosen to address the environment, particularly the burning issue of water, on its new album due out in the spring of 2023. Known for his vibrant live performances, he will present it on stage.

At the confluence of several living sources, navigating between Africa and the West, Blick Bassy's music – for which he mainly uses Bassa, its mother tongue – is distinguished by its mix as much as by its density. Tending towards the essential, it reaches a high emotional level.

This is an all ages event

Blick Bassy 

Kaät - A COLORS SHOW

Blick Bassy - One Love

Blick Bassy

On his Polyvinyl debut ​Born Hot​, Chris Farren opens with a question he'll spend much of the album trying to answer: ​Why do I feel out of place in my own outer space? ​Telegraphing his inner narrative with a childlike candor, the Florida-born artist lays bare his most intense anxieties and -- in the very same breath -- documents the mildly soul-crushing minutiae of everyday life: the strange indecency of blasting AC/DC bangers through an iPhone speaker, the inexplicable bleakness of a Starbucks franchise tucked inside a Target. But with his irrepressible sense of humor and utter lack of self-seriousness, Farren defuses the pain of even the deepest insecurity, gracefully paving the way for pure pop catharsis.

On Born Hot​, Farren fully embodies the sensitive-goofball dichotomy found in all his work, especially his exuberant live show: a solo performance in which he plays to live-recorded backing tracks while projecting purposely wacky visuals (his own face duplicated thousands of times, text that reads "ANOTHER PERFECT SET" at the end of each closing song). By the same token, Farren went full-on tongue-in-cheek in choosing ​Born Hot​'s title and cover art -- a crudely drawn self-portrait that captures him lounging shirtless, looking every bit the '70s-pop Lothario.

This is an all ages event

Singer songwriter Shows in Washington D.C.

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