Summer Shows Flying In

And the summer season kicks off with...

Nooo, I can't tell you that, yet! Have patience though, you will know all on March 23rd, when our President and CEO Terre Jones addresses the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Terre will be accompanied by a celebrity guest speaker (JK, no Brad Pitt), whom is scheduled to perform as part of our summer concert series. We're currently in the midst of securing Terre's guest, and a leading contender has emerged over the course of the last 12 hrs. or so. Some may argue that we are experiencing the birth of a society that largely reflects the activist efforts of many musicians in the 1960s, making Terre's pending NPC guest highly relevant for the times. You may be able to deduce a couple options from this statement, but nothing has been finalized! Here's a link to Terre's speech from last year, broadcast on CSPAN.

Similar to last year, I will employ contest prior to the season announcement which will award a pair of front orchestra tickets to any summer show of your choosing. I will likely launch the contest in early March, so keep checking back in.

Speaking of contests, I plan to launch another one this coming Monday, so make sure to check your RSS feed or put a reminder in your outlook calendar! If you've never been to The Barns, this is your chance to win two free tickets!

Stay tuned,

Graham

Well, You Can Check the Dead Off my List of Bands to See.

I really am lucky to know a guy named Mike O'Neil. Mike is my senior year roommate from undergrad and one of many College of Wooster alums living in the metro area. He has worked his way up through the political ranks since graduation, and currently holds a coveted position within President Obama's administration. I don't hear from him often, but when I do, he's usually calling to offer up after show passes to hang out with Wilco, invite me out for a beer to talk music, or just this week, dish out a pair of tickets to attend the Mid-Atlantic Ball as part of Barack Obama's inaugural celebration, where a little band called The (Grateful) Dead were handpicked by Obama as featured performers.

Now I'm definitely guilty of not spending enough time with this iconic band's catalogue, especially since I really enjoy the music of the Dead's torch bearers like Phish and the String Cheese Incident, but who doesn't recognize the unmistakable melodies of "Touch of Grey" and "Sugar Magnolia" which the band played to cap off their 1 hr. set. Original members Bob Weir (who has assumed lead vocal duties in Garcia's absence) Warren Haynes, and Phil Lesh seemed to be in fine form, relishing the opportunity to perform in honor of one of history's most celebrated figures. Just like everyone else in attendance, the band was head to toe in black tie attire. Wyclef (out of nowhere) performed as "the opener" and absolutely killed it. His set was heavy on Bob Marley covers, "No Woman No Cry," and "Redemption Song," to name a couple, which are always welcome tunes. A very inspiring performance from a clearly inspired artist.

Photos below, enjoy! It's a mix of my friends who also attended, President Obama, Wyclef, and The Dead.

Heiress to a Major Country Music Legend Tomorrow Night at The Barns

Amidst all of the excitement and media buzz surrounding inauguration activity, we media gurus at Wolf Trap managed to lock down some excellent coverage in the Washington Post and The Examiner for Carlene Carter, daugter of June Carter Cash and Carl Smith, and stepdaughter to Johnny Cash. Plenty of tickets are still available for tomorrow night, so if you've been meaning to listen to Carter's new semi-autobiographical release Stronger, why not do it in a live setting at The Barns?!

Take a peek at the Post feature written by Geoffrey Himes for further convincing. It features some very candid, emotional quotes from Carter, who clearly welcomes the responsibility of carrying on her family's enormous legacy, evidenced by the lyrical content inherent in Stronger.

A rundown of shows this weekend

When I think about what's in store for me this weekend as millions of people flood into the D.C. metro area, I am consumed by a hybrid feeling of excitement, and total claustrophobia. The key is to not let the latter get the best of me, and persevere through the inevitable feelings of complacency that will accompany my thoughts of just sitting on the couch and watching all of the activity unfold on TV as opposed to actually immersing myself in it. I live 5 miles from the mall, how in good conscience can I miss all of this?! In addition to the inaugural ceremonies on Tuesday, here is a rundown of notable music related events running Sat-Tues.

- Saturday night's show at Ibiza featuring Common, Mary J. Blige and Nelly sponsored by the Hip-Hop Caucus;

- Sunday's star-studded free "We Are One" event on the Lincoln Memorial steps featuring U2, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Bruce Springsteen, Usher, Will.I.Am, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Shakira, Jamie Foxx and many others. This 90 minute event begins at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast that evening on HBO;

A likely, but yet to be confirmed free kids show at the Verizon Center on Monday night from the Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus;

"An Evening With Jay-Z" at the intimate Warner Theater on Monday night. The iconic hip-hop artist will be flanked by a full band;

A Monday night Rock the Vote-sponsored gig at the 9:30 Club billed as "Hey, America Feels Kinda Cool Again" from the Beastie Boys, Cheryl Crow, Citizen Cope, Justin Jones and others;

Monday night's Big Shoulders Inauguration Ball at The Black Cat with Andrew Bird, Ted Leo, Tortoise, Waco Brothers, and many others.

Tuesday's DC Neighborhood Ball at the Washington Convention Center with Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Faith Hill, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Shakira, and Stevie Wonder

I have a ticket for the Black Cat Ball, and at this point, have committed myself to attending the insanity that will be the Lincoln Memorial show on Sunday. Let's hope I make it out alive.

Anyone out there with similar plans?

"Talk about fiddling while Rome burns"

Love this post from Bob Lefestz on the new iTunes variable pricing initiative -

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2009/01/06/itunes-variable-pricing/

Only a handful of tickets left for the 8pm Altan show at The Barns tonight! If you like traditional Gaelic/Celtic tunes, this is your group. They have consistently remained at the apex of traditional Irish music for over 20 years, and feature Ciaran Tourish, one of the finest fiddlers in the world, and one of Ireland's most revered and celebrated musical ambassadors.

Buy your tickets here.

2008? My Thoughts, and Hopefully Yours Too

And...I'm back!

Welcome to 2009. I've returned to find my office just as cold as it was when I left, so it's good to see that some things just don't change. But here's hoping a few things do change for the better as we move forward with a new year. It's easy to reflect on some of the negatives of 2008, and I won't mention the laundry list of problems our society currently faces, but we all know there are some significant barriers to overcome, particularly from a socio-economic standpoint.

All of this aside, as sort of a supplement to Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton's All Songs Considered blog post on 12/30, I'd like to briefly reflect on some of my musical highlights for 2008. I feel compelled to do so because in the face of negativity, music has the transcendent power to alleviate all worries, and personally, 2008 was one of the greatest, if not best music specific year of my life.

Seeing Fleet Foxes in their first of two 2008 headlining dates at The Black Cat - click here for the All Songs Considered recording

Catching Dr. Dog twice...1st time at Iota with Delta Spirit, and 2nd at 9:30 club. 9:30 show was the better of the two, if for no other reason than it represented a massive shift in venue size for the band, resulting in a 2+ hr. show time and a wildly energized Scott McMicken.

Ari Hest at The Barns at Wolf Trap. Brilliant singer/songwriter in the vain of John Mayer meets Jeff Buckley.

Wilco, everytime I see them, but especially at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in March. Never heard them sound that good.

My Morning Jacket in Charlottesville. Got to see them before Jim James fell off the stage at a later show and cancelled the rest of his tour.

Wild Sweet Orange in Charlottesville. A day before the MMJ show at a tiny, tiny little club on a co-bill with What Made Milwaukee Famous, who were just, ok.

Radiohead at Nissan Pavilion. It rained 1.5 inches that day, but I didn't care.

Andrew Bird at Virgin Mobile Festival. Possibly the most talented individual I've ever seen.

The Everybodyfields at Iota. Love Jill. Sam's new beard is questionable.

And lastly, discovering Bon Iver. His debut LP, For Emma, Forever Ago, is a hauntingly beautiful musical storybook of emotional strife and struggle that singer Justin Vernon clearly had bottled inside him for a long while, and finally let it be released.

What made your 2008 musically memorable?