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1 week ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
When Suzanne Vega emerged from New York City’s folk scene in the mid-’80s, the singer-songwriter tradition that bloomed during the ’70s had fizzled out. The major figures had gone into mainstream pop and rock or more experimental directions, and the audience and market had dried up.
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1 week ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
Throughout their long careers, Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ have promoted the traditions of the blues while pushing the boundaries of the music, making them among the genre’s most beloved, popular, and acclaimed artists. Earlier this year, they released their second collaboration album, Room on the Porch (they initially teamed up for 2017’s TajMo, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album the following year).
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2 weeks ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
I thought I’d never see Paul Simon perform live. In 2018, he announced his retirement after his last tour, which stopped at Capitol One Arena. But retirement in entertainment — be it musicians, actors, or pro wrestlers — is often fleeting. The muse driving their achievements is a relentless beast, and many find it hard to quit. Paul returned to the road this year with his band for the first time since Covid.
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1 month ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
If you were to design a musician in a lab to appeal to me, you’d be hard pressed to do better than MJ Lenderman.
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1 month ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
Thirty-five years ago, Living Colour released their second album, Time’s Up. It achieved gold sales status and won the band a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock performance. But beyond these signifiers of its success, it was an artistically important album, expanding on their musical range from their smash-hit first album, Vivid. It inspired a volume of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series on significant albums.
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1 month ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
Larkin Poe has been compared to The Allman Brothers Band. And, to be sure, there’s Southern Rock in what they do. They also feature a dual guitar attack by the Lovell sisters, although in the form of a standard electric (Rebecca) and lap steel (Megan). While these comparisons aren’t unfair, they just scratch the surface: The Lovell sisters grew up playing bluegrass, and they continue to incorporate country and acoustic into what they do.
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1 month ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
Rhiannon Giddens wears many hats: singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and historian. Her recent show at The Anthem with the Old-Revue allowed her to show them all off, entertaining the audience while educating about America’s folk music traditions and engaging with issues of race and class. Originally, the show was scheduled to take place at The Kennedy Center, but it was moved after the shake-up there initiated by President Trump.
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1 month ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
Like another famous musician named Bob, Bob Mould contains multitudes. In his more than 40-year career, Mould has gone from making hardcore punk with Husker Du to becoming one of the most revered figures in alternative (even if he did write a song called “I Hate Alternative Rock.”) Along the way, Bob made his solo debut with the largely acoustic Workbook in 1989 and dabbled electronica. A lifelong wrestling fan, he worked for World Championship Wrestling during its dying days.
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1 month ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
In his almost 75 years, Alejandro Escovedo has lived an incredible life that has taken him all over to the country and allowed him to be a part of some of the most important scenes in the development of contemporary music. Over 50 years of making music, he’s jumped from genre to genre: punk to alt-country to glam-rock, and, for more than 30 years, he’s been a celebrated singer-songwriter. In his recent solo at The Hamilton Live, Escovedo went deep on an intimate night of songs and stories.
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2 months ago | 
parklifedc.com | Mark Joseph Engleson
Some years ago, Steve Earle — a man who knows goods songs — said that the best writers and artists in Nashville today are all women. One of the people he had in mind may very well have been Ashley Monroe. She’s an ace songwriter whose found her greatest success in writing for other artists, but she’s also made a series of terrific albums. The quality of her writing and singing was on full display when she recently appeared at The Atlantis in a stripped-down set.
