DC Indie Film Festival Highlights
Poetry is the currency of culture, and in this absorbing half-hour documentary, the poet Alejandro Murguía waxes on not only his years fighting for social justice, but on how the Beat generation (Ginsburg, Kerouac, etc.) bred a sense of rebellion against the way things “always” had been. Murguía was born in America but his family moved to Mexico when he was very young, so when they returned to California, he had to learn English—but soon had such a command of the language that he used it to fire up an ever-expanding circle of admirers. Little surprise he was drawn to San Francisco, where so many movements took hold in the ‘60s.
The DC Film Festival Will Go On This Year, Albeit A Little Differently
Last spring’s D.C. International Film Festival was among the last major in-person fetes prior to lockdown. Even as nervous planners nixed SXSW and other events, Maria Datch, chair of the board and director of international relations for DCIFF, and her team pressed on to make 2020’s iteration happen.
“Last year’s crew specifically thanked us, saying, ‘My film is not going to be seen anywhere live. You were it,’” Datch said of the “before” times.
Accordingly, this year DCIFF will be a hybrid affair, with many screenings and panel events taking place online, along with a few in-person events as capacity and social distancing restrictions allow. Several live events will be held at the Arlington Drafthouse in Virginia, where it is more feasible to space out patrons.
Jacob Green Says There’s “No Reason To Stop”
Recent Articles Eric Althoff There’s no better time for the blues than while we’re still all prevented from gathering together to enjoy music together. We will do so again soon, but meantime, you just gotta keep singing the blues. Thus Jacob Green entreats the universe—as well he should—with “No Reason to Stop,” a plaintive, gently […]
Ryan Summers Tells A Curious Story
Recent Articles by Eric Althoff A rather creative musician from Marshfield, Wisconsin, Ryan Summers takes us to a dreamy, electronica-infested dreamscape on his new album, Undue Influence. Summers has some hallucinatory tunes for your listening enjoyment, be it the dancetastic “Holy Criminal” or the slow-moving, and yet somehow very soothing, album-capper “There Is Nothing for […]
There’s Not “Enough” Love Coming Out of Richmond
Recent Articles Eric Althoff Richmonder Brian Penczak, who hits the drums for the group The J.O.B. [with new music coming Feb 8], decided that sitting idle during the pandemic wasn’t an option—it’s much better to rock out hard-core. This he has done with his new project, the B.E.N.I.S. COMPLEX, whose premiere album is called “Perspective.” […]
After a Decade in Gestation, D.C.’s own Kemi Adegoroye is Set to Release EP ‘For the Record’
Kemi Adegoroye dreamt her entire life of having her own album-release party. It will finally happen on Jan. 29, but thanks to the coronavirus, it won’t be quite as she imagined. Absent from the event, to be broadcast online from Crescendo Studios in D.C., will be a live audience, though several of her bandmates will be present to share her music with the DMV—and the world.
“It’ll be full lights, five cameras, a full production. And people will be able to watch it safely and comfortably from their homes,” Adegoroye said this month, adding that the song arrangements will be slightly different from what will be heard on the EP, also recorded at Crescendo. “I love that it’s full circle. So to be able to come back [to Crescendo] for the release out into the world is a really special thing.”
NoVa’s Jasmine Gillison still has a day job, but says now’s the time to work on new music.
Jasmine Gillison’s day job, as an event planner at George Washington University, has been rather quiet of late. This has afforded her more time to spend on her passion for writing music.
When in Shutdown, Work on Your Art, Says Nova’s Kemi Adegoroye
Kemi Adegoroye hadn’t written a song in over a decade. With little formal training in composition, she had worked on melodies in her youth but, by her admission, she suddenly stopped at the age of 14.
Baltimore’s Shelby Blondell Wants Us to Know “It’ll Be OK”
Shelby Blondell of Baltimore has always had music in her life, but it was the well-being of others that inspired her to pursue it as a calling.
The Reign of Elizabeth II in D.C. Has Begun
In a city so absolutely filled with talent, the singer-songwriter known as Elizabeth II knew she needed to stand out.
