There isn’t quite any party like an anniversary celebration. A week ago Sunday, the 13th, saw an anniversary unlike any other in the 1 year celebration of The Nine at DC9. The Nine is a singer-songwriter showcase organized and run by Justin Trawick (who I’ve written about here more than once), which features nine local artists doing rounds all night, about every 6th Sunday. Each artist has a chance to show off with three songs, and once the full list has performed, it starts all over again. An opportunity to enjoy your favorite local acts and learn of new ones (from as far as Richmond and Philadelphia, as some of the regulars are!), The Nine has been a wonderful addition to the DC music scene since December of 2008.
To usher in the show’s second year, Justin invited not just nine of its alums, but all of them. That’s right, last night we were treated to as many Nine alums as were available (18 of them!), jamming on remixes together, showcasing some of our favorites, and getting what’s normally a listening room to hoot and rave all night long. I’ve never seen the upstairs at DC9 so packed and energetic.
The full list of artists is following the jump, along with some of my thoughts. I tried to find every artist online, but would love to update the links (if you have them, just let me know)! Be sure to look out for a free link from Trawick, who offered up an MP3 of one of my favorite tracks, “Untitled” for this review! I’m also including a free MP3 of one of Rene Moffatt’s songs from last week, a gift from Rene, and photos taken and edited by JDavidW!
- Tim Greening | Twitter
- Christylez Bacon | FB | Twitter
- Jason Masi | FB
- Molly Hagen | FB
- Margot Lesourd
- Matthew Hammerlein
- Ken Wenzel | FB | Twitter
- Matthew Gryce
- Sol Roots | MySpace | FB
- Justin Trawick | FB | Twitter
- Techniquelle | FB | Twitter
- Maureen Andary (of The Sweater Set) | FB
- Jason Ager | FB
- Michael Jantz | MySpace
- Amanda Lee | Twitter
- Adrian “Hardkor” Krygowski | FB | Twitter
- Rene Moffatt | Twitter
- Danny O’Hanley
Sadly I missed the solo set of Tim Greening and Christylez, but I got to see Christylez do his beatbox with a bunch of the other artists later in the evening, and I checked out Tim online this morning, truly loving it. I love this format for giving the artists a chance to mix and mingle their styles, moving in and out of each others’ sets with new instruments (the box, which we see Trawick playing in a couple of these photos, is a crowd favorite), funky jams, and a comfortable ease that envelopes the audience as the night goes on.
Probably the greatest thing about The Nine is the pure variety of genres, styles, and attitudes that come to the stage at any given time. From Rene Moffatt’s lyricism to Justin’s energy, Techniquelle’s electronic beats mixing with her beautiful vocals to Maureen Andary’s banjo uke, there is something for everyone. Fans of jazz, comedy, rock, rap, folk, and pop will all find something in these groups of diverse talents. This particular set even saw Adrian Hardkor working out (supposedly on stage that night was the first time they’d thought to try it!) a mash-up between his “Wisconsin” and one of Justin Trawick’s folk-rock favorites (for a free copy of Justin’s “Untitled”, simply download the song here in MP3 format, a great example of his storytelling via song.). Seeing musicians work out how songs get put together, stretching their voices and goals in front of an attentive audience is just a wonderful experience. I believe that this is unmatched in DC.
For an MP3 of Rene Moffatt’s “You Can Have Your Way With Me” (the first half of his two song set) click http://bit.ly/ReneMoffatt-FreeSong to download the song. Please, please, please check out every artist who showed their love for the DC music scene and DC9, The Nine wouldn’t be possible without them all! I’m looking forward to all that 2010 will bring to our great city’s music outlook, and look even more forward to seeing all of you out at the shows!
tmstanton writes 