Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A: Dave Hartley of Nightlands (@DC9, 5/30/13)

Dave Hartley of Nightlands (photo courtesy of Nightlands)

Dave Hartley of Nightlands (photo courtesy of Nightlands)

The band Nightlands is the brainchild of Philadelphian Dave Hartley, who actually grew up nearby in Frederick, Md. The band last came through DC in June 2011 after the release of their first album, supporting Sondre Lerche at the 9:30 Club in June 2011.

With second album Oak Island released in January, Nightlands is returning to DC to play at DC9 on Thursday, May 30. Tracks like “Born to Love” suggest lush progressive rock of the 70s, with the tone set by buoyant vocals instead of guitar solos.

Hartley talked to We Love DC about growing to love touring and being a perfectionist in his songwriting.

Mickey: You’re going on the road to support a new album! Can you tell us about it?

Dave Hartley: The tour starts Wednesday in New York. This will be our second tour, supporting Oak Island, which is the second record from Nightlands.

It’s a record that came out in January. We went on tour for a month. This is a shorter tour; it’s like a week and a half. DC is the second stop. We are looking forward to playing there!

We will have my four-piece band. We’ll be singing some beautiful harmonies and playing the songs from the record and some older songs and some new stuff I’ve been writing.

I’m really proud of the band and the way we are playing together right now. I think we are really good. It makes me look forward to the tour.

I didn’t always look forward to tours. Sometimes I make these records and they are very complex recordings, and I didn’t know how to play them live. I would get real stressed out about it. But we’ve gotten to the point now where the band is really good.

I’m really proud of the way it sounds, and I get excited about the tour. I never thought I would be excited to tour.

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Week in Review
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Week In Review: 5/20-5/23

Morning Paper Noe Todorovich

Here’s the most thing you need for this weekend: a weather report. To summarize: it’s looking like a cool, yet mostly sunny, weekend.

Assuming I still have your attention, if I had it to begin with, I’d recommend spending the last hour or two in the office this week checking out these photos. Our contributors will appreciate it. And have a fun Memorial Day! Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: May 24 to 27 (probably)

I guess it depends on whether you get the day off, no? Most of us do and for the most part we’re going to enjoy the city while so many others flee. What have you got on tap? Whatever it is, pour me a tall one.

Rows of Vines Ed Poe

Fedward:  The Social Chair and I already have a three day reservation on a Zipcar so we can visit our friends outside Front Royal.  This means pretty much the same plans as our trips in September 2011 and February 2012.  We usually try to get to Chester Gap Cellars, although with the holiday weekend the visit might not be as peaceful as it normally is. On the other end of the scale we’ll definitely make time for burgers and custard at Spelunkers. We might also take our Zipcar down Skyline Drive.

Long Jaws Mondmann

Joanna: We’re getting out of Dodge for the weekend, and completely unplugging while we’re at it. Come rain or come shine, who cares? My books sure don’t, as long as we get some quality time together – and I’m starting Malone’s Jefferson and His Time series, so quality time is looking likely. If I were staying here I’d probably check out the first of Free Summer Saturdays at The Corcoran and make a bone (you read that right) through the One Million Bones workshop. The bones will be installed on the National Mall in June to raise awareness for genocide happening around the world. For Memorial Day I’d visit the Women in Military Service for America Memorial before a small(ish) town parade – perhaps Falls Church?

WPA SynchroSwim 2010 Max Cook

Mosley: Memorial Day Weekend!  I always consider this weekend to be the official start to summer.  And with summer comes trips to movie theaters!  The AFI in Silver Spring is showing the Mel Brooks classic History of World Part I this weekend; one of my favorite movies from one of my favorite comedians.  Other than that, I’m hoping to get to at least one Nationals game this weekend, as they are taking on the hated Phillies and the equally hated  (to me at least) Orioles.  Beyond that, I might head out to the Cheverly Pool at some point, as this is their big opening weekend.  In Cheverly, during the summer, this is the place to be.

hot on the grill philliefan99

Jenn: I’ve been having some trouble re-entering the swing of things after several weeks of travel. So Memorial Day Weekend has completely crept up on me, it seems. In years past, the city empties out and I wander around enjoying the lack of lines and the luxury of no reservations. We’ll see if this year is any different. While I was away I missed a ton of theater openings: Synetic’s Three Musketeers, Constellation’s Gilgamesh, and STC’s The Winter’s Tale are among others I need to catch up on. Saturday night I’ll want to dance to the Brazilian funk of Alma Tropicalia, at Tropicalia (the club’s been killing it lately and it’s still my favorite place to dance). Sunday sees a special event celebrating the music of Sierra Leone with the bubu king, Janka Nabay — always a fantastic performance. Other than that, I’m looking forward to all the things you can’t plan for: impromptu grill parties, backyard fireworks, and surprising encounters.

 

Get Out & About
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Florida Avenue (9th to 15th Streets) in Photographs

The Diver, Meridian Hill Park Max Meltzer

Washington DC is a great city. It’s a place where dense, immutable history is intersected with a whirling landscape of constant urban change. Restaurants open and close, green spaces appear and recede, events are inaugurated and ended, and this constant movement is threaded around a city bursting with social, architectural, and historical significance. It’s overwhelming at times, but it’s also what makes DC great. The old and the new collide. Cracks are opened. And within these cracks, residents can lose themselves in an endless space of exploration.

I’ve lived in the DC area for almost my entire life, and I’m perpetually finding new places to explore. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I’ll pick something – a neighborhood, a restaurant, a landmark, it doesn’t matter how large or small – and set out on an expedition. I don’t always stumble into the unforgettable, as I did along Florida Avenue, but more often than not, I see something new. These little exploratory experiences refresh me, and remind me that when you live in a city as diverse and expansive as DC, you can always find something you haven’t seen before.

The bell shaped stretch of Florida Avenue, between 9th and 15th streets NW, was recently the subject of my exploration. It’s a beautiful and meaningful strip of road, wedged between U Street and Columbia Heights, with a story to tell about the history of the city, the diversity of its population, and the speed of its change. My westward route started at the 9:30 Club, took me past The Blind Dog Cafe and the Florida Avenue Grill, stopped off at Pica Taco, and ended at Meridian Hill Park. I took a camera with me. Click below to see what I saw.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

No longer dozing A. Drauglis

I am a sucker for a good bird photo, and A. Drauglis has this sweet one of a Pink Flamingo at the National Zoo. The fine detail is amazing, with the thin, wispy white feathers contrasting beautifully with the solid pink feathers on the bird’s head. And then there is the focusing on the eye; a key ingredient in a great bird or wildlife photo. You can wander your eye all over this shot, but you will constantly bring it back to that eye; it’s almost mesmerizing.

Interviews, People, She/He Loves DC, The Features
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She Loves DC: Jennifer Vinson

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Vinson

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Vinson

She/He Loves DC is a series highlighting the people who love this city as much as we do.

Jennifer Vinson loves music. She loves watching street performers in Dupont Circle. She loves supporting up-and-coming artists on the local level here in her hometown whether it’s at The Dunes, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Comet Ping Pong, or elsewhere. She loves promoting live performances she’s passionate about. But most of all, she loves getting to genuinely know the people who make the music she loves listening to.

Her passion for music (and the people behind making it) led her toward creating content for DC Setlist  (a site that, ” [...] exists to discover and discuss all things MUSIC in DC and around the world. So get in the mix, join the conversation & help us build a community around the DC music scene & beyond!”) and into a life working with some of DC’s finest venues including The Hamilton Live and currently The Howard Theatre.

What is it about DC that makes it home to you? 

Well I was born here.  I’m third generation Washingtonian.  My mother, my grandmother and I all went to the same all girls high school, Holy Cross Academy. Old friends & family are what make it home to me.

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