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“Just for you, here’s a love song”: the
first DC Record Fair of 2010 drops this
Valentine’s Day. (Poster: El Jefe)
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Valentine’s Day Vinyl at the DC Record Fair
A newly founded Washington tradition, the DC Record Fair, will mark its one-year anniversary on Sunday, Feb. 14 at The Black Cat. Masterminded by the folks at neighboring Som Records, along with the local music bloggers of Vinyl District and DC Soul, the venue’s main stage will be transformed into the District’s largest record store from noon to 6 pm as 30 dealers from up and down the East Coast peddle an expansive array of vinyl past and present.
Make no mistake, however -- this isn’t a depot for all the discarded Billy Ocean LPs languishing at garage sales across the country. Recently converted record collectors and alphabetizing completists alike can both look forward to finding rare, out of print and otherwise overlooked slabs by everyone from Miles Davis to Motörhead at what Vinyl District founder Jon Meyers calls a celebration of “shared love for vinyl and the culture of record stores.” We remember those, don’t we?
Lending a little sonic cachet to the event will be DJs Eric Hilton (Thievery Corporation), Kid Congo Powers (ex-Cramps and Gun Club) and nascent brother-brother electro duo Bluebrain as they take turns providing the afternoon’s soundtrack. And all it’ll cost is a mere $2 admission fee. Watch out or you just may just wind up with several hours worth of albums for the price of one on iTunes.
1811 14th St. NW · www.blackcatdc.com
How to Master the Art of the Cocktail (in Two Hours or Less)
If the success of Cork Wine Bar and The Gibson are any indication, the respective brothers behind those smash hit, mid-city hot spots – Tom and Derek Brown – are no doubt riding high with their first co-developed cocktail lounge, The Passenger. In addition to being the Mount Vernon Triangle’s first upscale gin mill, the brothers’ first venture together is also set to become a learning institution of sorts as Derek inaugurates a new series of “every other Wednesday” cocktail seminars this month on February 17th and 24th.
“We started the series because cocktails over the last decade have made a tremendous impact on the culinary scene. Yet, as far as instruction goes, you don't see the fundamentals being taught -- things like technique and how to make your own ingredients,” said Brown. “We hope to bridge that gap.”
The first, “A Primer on Orange Liqueur,” will identify the difference between all the major brands of triple-sec and set the record straight when it comes correctly using this oft-misunderstood cordial in the Margarita, Sidecar and Fancy Gin Cocktail. The second, flippantly titled “Ice: How to Use It,” will include Brown’s back bar history of frozen H20 and examine how just the right proportion of the cold stuff can elevate everything from a standard scotch on the rocks to a frozen daiquiri.
The Passenger’s cocktail seminars will be held for a maximum capacity of 18 patrons twice a month from 7 to 8:30 pm. Admission is $65 per person. Visit The Passenger on Facebook or e-mail events@passengerdc.com for more information.
1021 7th St. NW · www.passengerdc.com
T-Model Ford: Born Bad, but Who Knows When?
The blues has produced more than its fair share of tall tales, but when it comes to T-Model Ford, there few who can rival his litany of hardscrabble vices -- and even fewer alive to share their side of the story.
Born James Lewis Carter Ford in Mississippi sometime between 1920 and 1925 (he can’t remember the exact date), T-Model claims to have been shot, stabbed, poisoned and served time for a murder rap -- on a chain gang, no less -- before he ever picked up a guitar at the (approximate) age of 58.
More than three decades later, Ford’s long reputation may have made him something of an elder statesman in blues circles, but that doesn’t mean he is -- or ever has been -- polite about it. Far from a traditionalist, the self-taught guitarist pulls threads from Delta and Chicago styles of his youth for a crude and utterly primal creation that has as much in common with Son House as it does to garage rock chord bangers like The Oblivians.
Ever the teenage roustabout with an old man’s body (now complete with pacemaker), this hard living bluesman’s latest album, The Ladies Man, celebrates that most youthful of pursuits -- as songs like “Love Me All Night Long” and “Hip Shaking Woman” clearly attest. As the man himself has been known to say, "I'm a ladies man. The ladies follow me everywhere.” Find out if that much of this self-made legend is true when he sets up his stool at the Velvet Lounge on Saturday, Feb. 27th at 10 pm. Tickets are $12.
915 U St. NW · www.velvetloungedc.com |
