What a year, 2019! Look at you, 2000’s - all grown up and about to enter your twenties. In another year, you’ll be able to vape!
This past year brought with it a number of changes - probably the most since moving to Maryland two and a half years ago. In personal growth news, the lady friend and I combined households and rented us a townhouse in Downtown Frederick. We’re now walking distance from our favorite restaurants, record stores, bars, and “music venues.” (more on this bullshit in a separate post). Combining households has been a great experience, both financially, and because now my pupper has a “step-dude” who is available to feed and let him outside (since my dog was bequeathed to me after the passing of my grandfather, who is his actual “dad”, I instead call myself his “dude”, hence the lady-friend moniker of “step-dude.” It’s only confusing if you don’t know us). But moving in together has so far been one of the best decisions I’ve made - second to working hard so that the lady friend continues to like me and want to be in a relationship with me. Because that is mos def the best decision I’ve ever made
Musically, 2019 has been a big year. After a random encounter at the final Cheshi show (Fall 2018 I think?), and realizing that Cheshi Drummer Evan Owens and I had a lot of musical commonalities, he invited me to join his new outfit Dumb Valley. We played our first show at Cafe Nola on April 20th 2019, and it has been busy ever since! Between April and December 2019, we played 5 shows (all local) at three different venues (Cafe Nola, Sky Stage, and the Frederick Eagles Club). And if you’re a local reader, we’re playing with our favorite American bands Miss Lonelyheart and Middle Kid on January 11th at Cafe Nola. Come hang.
Toward the end of the year, I got connected with local singer/songwriter Katie Powderly of the Unconditional Lovers, and played a show accompanying her on lead guitar and backing vocals. Hat tip to my old Arkie/Okie music boss Carter Sampson for being the random connection that got me connected to Katie. Hopefully we’ll get to do a lot more pickin and a’singin’ in 2020!
On the professional side, I still have a good job crunching numbers at a local community college, and managed to get hired on teaching a second class at a local four-year institution. I was invited back to teach the same doctoral-level policy course for the third time, so I must be doing something right. I am equally enjoying teaching masters-level education students about research - an area that has taken a backseat to pedagogy until the recent era of educational accountability ushered in with the new millennium. Lastly, I have filed to run in the 2020 County School Board election; however reading the above makes me tired, so we’ll see where my priorities fall as 2020 meanders forward. But if I am in the mix, I’ll be asking for your vote!
Well, hey…look at me…I am rambling. Let’s get to the music!
Looking back, 2019 might be the year when ‘sad white guy’ music ceased to dominate the stereo speakers/spotify ‘spins’. Lady friend has a LOT to do with this. Looking back at “attended show” lists from the past two and a half years is a fun exercise. Though living so close to DC and Baltimore (and Philly for that matter), there is also a broader palate of music to consume live. Not so much here in Frederick, though, where 2019 delivered the closing of TWO venues that hosted music: Guido’s and The Blue Side. Y’all, this town is hemorrhaging music venues…and the rents are so out of reach that even if the Scene gathered up it’s couch-cushion money, we’d be hard-pressed to put a dent in the cost to buy/rent one of these spaces and run it as a legit venue. This has been an issue on our radar since moving to Frederick and is due a post-length tirade.
We digress. So yeah, fewer sad white guys sang through the speakers in 2019, and that allowed for a broader palate of artists/bands to hit this year’s top ten. Don’t get it twisted, there was still a lot of room for sad white dudes on this year’s list - it’s just that they placed lower than they would have in years’ past as our tastes widen.
As in year’s past, we start with ‘The Elevens” - records that just missed the top 10 cut. “The Elevens” are listed here in alphabetical order (by first name or band name) so as not to weight one release as closer to #10 than the next. In reality, any one of these “Elevens” could probably be swapped out for #10 depending on how we’re feeling on a given day…but here is how it shakes out on this day. Each record notes our “standout track” which has been compiled into the playlist below. The playlist also has some of our favorite songs from 2019 that either did not have a full record release, or were a “twelve” but still had a song that we “spun” a lot (i.e., the two Pinegrove songs are an example of this - as the band’s full-length will be released in early 2020). Feel free to listen along as you read.
::2019 Standout Tracks Playlist::
::The Eighteen Elevens::
A.A. Bondy ::ENDERNESS:: Birmingham, AL native A.A. Bondy abandons his vintage Gibson hollow body guitars and blistering Fender Super Reverb amplifiers for dreamy and sparse synth on his first record in 8 years. All of the moodiness and stellar songwriting is still here - just packaged differently. Great music for late nights and/or dismal days.
Standout Track ::#Lost Hills::
Basement Brew ::BIG DAMN OCEAN:: Fayetteville, Arkansas “canoe rock” band releases their first record since 2014’s LOST IN RAMBLE. The songs included on BIG DAMN OCEAN occupy a large space in my musical heart because while still living in Arkansas, I played a number of shows with “The Brew” between 2013 and 2016, filling in for guitarist Patrick George who had moved to New Orleans. It also doesn’t hurt that the rhythm section features former Damn Arkansan alum Will Eubanks (bass) and Chris Fletcher (drums). This record is best consumed when you are near open windows.
Standout Track ::Made It Through::
Bob Mould ::SUNSHINE ROCK:: Bob Mould has been making music for forty (40!) years…and his latest packs the same punch he was delivering back in the 1980s with Husker Du. The guitars on this record sound like a buzzsaw (in a good way) and the songs have an immediacy to them that makes this listener want to thrash the room. Mould is arguably one of the most consistently prolific musicians of his generation…and shows no real signs of slowing down.
Standout Track ::The Final Years::
Carlton Jumel Smith ::1634 LEXINGTON AVENUE:: Named after his childhood address in Spanish Harlem, Carlton Jumel Smith’s 1634 Lexington Avenue is another pin in the map of great neo-soul music coming out of New York. His record label (Timmion), based in Finland, worked in conjunction with Daptone Records to release this record, and it fits right in that wheelhouse. Recommended if you like (and miss) Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley.
Standout Track ::Ain’t That Love?::
Caroline Spence ::MINT CONDITION:: Spence’s SPADES & ROSES hit our radar reading year-end lists from 2017 and occupied our speakers quite a bit in early 2018. This year;s MINT CONDITION features the same aching/longing vocals that are cornerstones of her past output. Don’t let the rocking opener “What You Don’t Know” fool you, as this record decelerates to a moderate Americana pace afterward…but it’s a smooth ride throughout.
Standout Track ::Song About a City::
Dragmatic ::PREPARE TO BE DISMAYED (EP):: Ryan Kennemur is my favorite songwriter on the planet. And the only negative about Dragmatic’s follow-up to our favorite record of 2015 (AT LEAST WE’RE NOT DEAD YET) is that is about 7 songs too short! Still, the 15 minutes of this EP were a welcome salve at the end of 2019. The bug guitars, vocal melodies (and harmonies) are front-and-center again as they were on DEAD. More interesting though, is the broad sonic palate on DISMAYED. Echoes of centro-matic ring out on “Sunday Paper” at the bridge with the “bop-ba-das”, there’s a shot of Sloan on “Last to Know” (which ends with some thicc guitarmonies!), and the open-tuned intro on “From the Grave” sounds like a lost Blue Mountain song from Kennemur’s alt-country days…until it kicks in and kicks up, that is. The EP is nicely buttoned up with all the above sonic components in the closing track, “Takeaway.” Maybe the want at the end of this 15 minutes was by design…
Standout Track ::Sunday Paper::
Dylan LeBlanc ::RENEGADE:: In 2010, LeBlanc released PAUPERS FIELD which racked up a significant amount of plays on the ol iPod (yes…iPod. Because 2010). His follow-ups, CAST THE SAME OLD SHADOW (2012) and CAUTIONARY TALE (2016) were a bit more hit or miss to these ears, but with RENEGADE, LeBlanc seems to have found his lane. Washed in reverb and echoing the best influence of Neil Young, this record slaps. Holler if you hear a bit of Neil’s “War of Man” in LeBlanc’s “Bang Bang Bang.”
Standout Track ::Bang Bang Bang::
The Get Up Kids ::PROBLEMS:: Another batch of sharp songs from the Kansas City emo/pop punk veterans. Now nested among the impressive Polyvinyl Records family, here’s to hoping that the Get Up Kids can keep cranking out albums of this caliber for years to come (though we won’t be mad if The New Amsterdams put something else out either). Please don’t lose your muse, Matt Pryor! (and please continue to write some of the best bass lines in pop-punk, Rob Pope! See the ‘standout track’ for a review)
Standout Track ::Lou Barlow:
Great Grandpa ::FOUR OF ARROWS:: Fitting that Great Grandpa would show up next to the Get Up Kids as these two bands also toured together in 2019. Fronted by Alex Menne and her haunting longing voice - and hailing from Seattle - there’s a lot to love if you grew up a Gen-Xer steeped in Seattle grunge who also came of age in the mid-aught indie boom. There’s a lot of well-placed dissonance on this record and cascades of loud and soft crescendos.
Standout Track ::Digger::
The Hold Steady ::THRASHING THRU THE PASSION:: Not sure what more can be said about the Hold Steady. Fifteen years into their career, they are still the masters of pairing arena rock riffs with the ongoing saga of the aging scene kids that live vibrant lives in Craig Finn’s head; though there are more horns these days. Not unlike other recent Hold Steady output, the narrators in the songs from that band’s latter career play the role of “scene elder.” Given the adventures of the characters on early records, there’s a lot to learn from the narrators on THRASHING.
Standout Track ::Entitlement Crew::
Josh Ritter ::FEVER BREAKS:: It doesn’t hurt that Jason Isbell both produced and conscripted his band (the 400 Unit) to play on Josh Ritter’s tenth studio record. But the production and players also don’t overshadow Ritter’s strong songwriting. Indeed, FEVER BREAKS is a songwriter’s record. The songs have a familiarity even on first listen - as Ritter employs vocal melodies often traipsed in traditional folk and bluegrass. It’s a hell of a tenth record to hang a hat on.
Standout Track ::I Still Love You (Now and Then)::
Middle Kid ::QUEEN OF ROCKLEDGE:: Frederick, Maryland indie-rock stalwarts almost didn’t release QUEEN OF ROCKLEDGE. Rumor has it that primary Middle Kidder Zack Willis had another record written, scrapped it, regrouped, and then wrote a batch of new songs that would become QUEEN OF ROCKLEDGE. With lyrics like “I traded happiness for straight compensation” on “Intentionally Blank,” Willis presents as a mid-aughts indie kid raised by his older Gen-X sibling, and I am here for it. Don’t sleep on the lead guitar work by secret weapon Evan Braswell (a fantastic songwriter in his own right) who plays like he’s listened to nothing but Sunny Day Real Estate all his life! Damn those spicy bois!
Standout Track ::Queen of Rockledge::
Mike and the Moonpies ::CHEAP SILVER AND SOLID COUNTRY GOLD:: Like the album title suggests, if you’re a sucker for “solid country gold” from the early to mid 90s [raises hand], this record is for you. Unpretentious, but with an intoxicating amount of country swagger, the band’s sixth record perfectly partners with its predecessor STEAK NIGHT AT THE PRAIRIE ROSE. The standout track (see below) on CHEAP WHISKEY is our favorite song of the year by a mile. Just listen to that pedal steel guitar run at 3:19! If that doesn’t get your boots scootin, you may need to check your pulse. Come to think of it…the last time I saw them at the White Water Tavern in Little Rock, Arkansas, I am pretty sure my night paralleled the narrator of “You Look Good In Neon.” Damn. Pass the whiskey and put another quarter in the juke box.
Standout Track ::You Look Good In Neon::
Pedro the Lion ::PHOENIX:: Those who dabble in nostalgia and longing will find a lot of purchase on David Bazan’s return with Pedro the Lion. The songs on Phoenix offer a glimpse into the world of a kid growing up in the desert town (“Yellow Bike”, “Model Homes”) to the perils of dealing with being an adult (“Clean Up”). Also, the guitar tones on this record are a magical accompaniment to Bazan’s howl.
Standout Track ::Model Homes::
Purple Mountains ::PURPLE MOUNTAINS:: Look, just Google “Purple Mountains Album David Berman” and enjoy the words of many others who can sum up the story of this album’s release and Berman’s death soon after way better than we could ever do here.
Standout Track ::Darkness and Cold::
Spencer Thomas ::HANGIN TOUGH:: Laurel Canyon rock-n-roll meets Water Valley Mississippi silt. RIYL Dawes and the Water Liars.
Standout Track ::Lift Me Up::
Tyler Childers ::COUNTRY SQUIRE:: Despite the nudging from others, some of us [raises hand] were late to the game with Tyler Childers. His 2017 release PURGATORY was no stranger to our turntable throughout 2018 and 2019. COUNTRY SQUIRE is another set of smart, witty, songs from the Kentucky songwriter. Again, with native Commonwealther Sturgill Simpson at the production helm, Childers pushes his sound a little further toward the boundaries of country and bluegrass. For example, despite it’s spelling, “All Your’n” is more soul than country. Not that there aren’t foot stompers on the record (“House Fire”). Hell, there’s even a country song about rubbin one out (“Ever Lovin’ Hand”). Beat that with…a stick? Childers songs shine brightest when today’s Appalachian are the featured subject or narrator (“Creeker”, “Matthew”).
Standout Track ::Ever Lovin Hand::
Will Johnson ::WIRE MOUNTAIN:: For the second year in a row, a Will Johnson project just missed the top ten cut. Maybe it is because we keep everything Will does close in our hearts because it is always good! Any time capsule of American culture should contain at least one Will Johnson song. This record is an aural painting of sparse landscapes and lost thoughts. Give WIRE MOUNTAIN a full spin.
Standout Track ::Shadow Master::
The Rank Stranger’s Top Ten Records of 2019
10. Kitty Kat Fan Club ::DREAMY LITTLE YOU:: The opening notes of the San Jose septet’s (!!!) debut record, DREAMY LITTLE YOU sound like summer. Scene veteran Mike Park (Skankin Pickle, Jeff Rosenstock) imagined Kitty Kat Fan Club as a vehicle to get together with friends and play music. But it wound up growing into much more. On any given night, the players could rotate and differ - but singers Casey Jones and Brianda Nocheazul’s are pretty standard - and it’s a good thing because their vocals blend together like butter and sugar. A glorious power pop/pop punk record for fans of The Beths and Alvvays.
Standout Track ::This Curtain Call::
9. Holiday Gunfire ::HOLIDAY GUNFIRE:: Veritable Birmingham Alabama supergroup featuring member of Verbena and Vulture Whale (Lester Nuby), 13 Ghosts (Michael Williams) and the Grate Lakes (Craig Ceravolo) come out swinging with their debut, self-titled record. Imagine Bob Mould’s Sugar and Superdrag combined forces and sounds…you’d have Holiday Gunfire. Given Birmingham is not only home to great acts like Verbena and Vulture Whale, with other great rock artists like the Dexateens, Lee Bains & the Glory Fires, A.A. Bondy, and Duquette Johnson hailing from the Magic City, Holiday Gunfire is in excellent company!
Standout Track ::The City::
8. Cabana Wear ::CABANA WEAR:: Yeah…in the bridge of the opening song and title track to Cabana Wear’s debut, singer Brian Mietz is singing “I threw up…” But it is easy to look over because every damn thing else about this record is SO CATCHY! Hailing from Philadelphia (a city whose bands are no stranger to our top ten lists of the past), musically, Cabana Wear seems to pull from influences all over - including Nada Surf (NYC), Superdrag (Knoxville, TN), and Dinosaur Jr. (Amherst, MA) and Weezer (LA, CA). Lots of fuzzy guitars and rich vocal harmonies throughout. This band definitely now sits on the “must see” list.
Standout Track ::Scaredy Horse::
7. Foxhall Stacks ::THE COMING COLLAPSE:: Velocity Girl, Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion, Government Issue, and Jawbox are all bands on the collective resume of Foxhall Stacks. But THE COMING COLLAPSE leans more toward power pop than it does DC Hardcore, for which the members’ former band were best known. Indeed, the hook-y guitars, jangle, and call/response vocal harmonies sound more like early-90s Seattle (think the Posies), so we’re not mad about it in the least. In fact, do an A:B of the harmonized vocal melody at the 0:55 mark in the song “Take Control” - then listen to the Posies “Ontario” at the 0:51 mark. Pretty damn!
Standout Track ::Turntable Exiles::
6. Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster ::TAKE HEART, TAKE CARE:: There is a stretch of I-40 between Memphis and Little Rock that is the bane of my existence when I make my annual trek to the Natural State each year. The semi-trucks all have governors, but still try to pass one another causing long traffic backups since the speed differential is only a half MPH. Then there is the landscape. Flat. Unkempt. Struggling. Desolate. Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster (or JPKS…or ‘Pete’ for short) has penned the perfect soundtrack for this drive with TAKE HEART, TAKE CARE. And JPKS is likely no stranger to that drive, given that he recently moved from Water Valley, MS to Fayetteville, AR, and one would assume he has been back-and-forth a time or two. The songs on TAKE HEART are musical vignettes of an elder southerner’s teachings to their next of kin (“Educated Guesses”, “Cut Your Teeth”, “Flies on Shit” and the title track). Whenever I get to missing the south, this record makes for a nice salve.
Standout Track ::Friend of Mine::
5. Roger Bryan and the Orphans ::KEEP YOU IN MIND:: Roger Bryan and the Orphans last record, 37, was released eight years ago, and still remains one of our favorite records. Their latest has all of the same components that vaunted 37 - hook-laden guitars, creaky, longing vocal melodies indicative of a narrator who is about at the end of his rope, and a solid rhythm section (yeah, yeah…despite what was said at the beginning of the post, there are still gonna be some sad white dudes on this list!). Few bands have so perfectly blended the jangle of Big Star with the loneliness of mid-90s alternative country like Roger Bryan. If the narrator on KEEP YOU IN MIND sounds like he is about to give up, we’re pretty glad he hasn’t yet.
Standout Track ::Leave a Light::
4. Peter Bruntnell ::KING OF MADRID:: UK singer/songwriter Peter Bruntnell first came across my radar in 1999, after he released his third (and arguably best) record NORMAL FOR BRIDGEWATER. Not sure the ol’ Discman got much of a reprieve from that record between ‘99 and 2002, when his next, ENDS OF THE EARTH was released. In a period where the mid-90s alternative country boom was starting to bust, Bruntnell’s music was the dim light in the distance. It helped that original members of Son Volt were featured on these two records. In the age of the internet, where streaming services became king, Bruntnell’s presence was more lacking than other artists, which made it easier for him to fall off the radar. Indeed, KING OF MADRID almost slipped by this year were it not for the Postcard From Hell and a well-placed Facebook ad. Though released in June of this year, KING OF MADRID sounds less like a summer record and more like one where the narrator just woke up after a long period of hibernation. Bruntnell’s weary vocals come out of the speakers like a fog from the thawing earth. There’s more Brit-Jangle on this record than past efforts (“Thief of Joy”, “Dinosaur”) but it still works well alongside the more somber tones on this record.
Standout Track ::Broken Wing::
3. The Sensational Barnes Brothers ::NOBODY’S FAULT BUT MY OWN:: “How many Believers we got out there…who’s tryin to get Home?” is how the Sensational Barnes Brothers spectacular debut gospel record NOBODY’S FAULT BUT MY OWN opens. Here’s the thing…I am not a Believer…and if I am, I’m pretty bad at it. But damn…this record makes me want to believe. Don’t be scared of the genre here (gospel) as this record is as much a Memphis soul record as it is a gospel record…but here, both elements are combined, and it is radiant. It’s Stax goes to Church. Even Vice took note of the Memphis Gospel Resurgence. Maybe if us sinners listen to the Sensational Barnes Brothers (and the other amazing Memphis Gospel acts enjoying a resurgence) enough, we will eventually be redeemed! Let’s give it a try!
Standout Track ::I Won’t Have to Cry No More::
2. Lizzo ::CUZ I LOVE YOU:: Imagine a world where everyone woke up one day and shared Lizzo’s no-fucks attitude, really…and I mean really practiced the self-love and body positivity that Lizzo exhibits, I think this grand community of ours would be a kinder, gentler place. Since the #MeToo movement began picking up speed, and women’s voices started getting louder, there was a land for a pop start to emerge and coalesce around that sentiment. The thing is, Lizzo’s been doing it for a while…it’s just that CUZ I LOVE YOU broke through at the right time. With lines like “I’m my own soul mate, I know how to love me…” and “look up in the mirror and like ‘damn, she the one’” and “I’ma marry me one day” from “Soulmate” to “the only exes that I care about are in my fuckin chromosomes” from “Like A Girl” in an anthem that co-opts the sentiment of “you do that like a girl”, oft a patriarchal dig, and makes it the point of pride it always should have been. Hell, my rock band even covered “Juice” at a Halloween show where we did a whole set of covers (which are basically costumes for songs, right?). If you think that putting CUZ I LOVE YOU near the top of this list is pedestrian, then you’re hereby welcome to come to the house and spin it with me on the turntable, where I’ll try to further my case. This record should be taught in schools.
Standout Track ::Like A Girl::
1. Yola ::WALK THROUGH FIRE:: Throughout 2019 I did my best to broaden my musical palate. Granted, I still spun a lot of stalwart sad white bois, but no artist presented what I was seeking better than Yola - a black British woman who sings like Bonnie Raitt over tunes that could have just as easily been lost Glen Campbell tracks. Some credit is due to the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who was at the production helm of WALK THROUGH FIRE, but a lot of what is happening on this record is not new for Yola; her smoky vocals are featured on two records released by her former band Phantom Limb (2012’s THE PINES and 2010’s PHANTOM LIMB). Auerbach pulled some weight making the record as Vince Gill guests as a vocalist, and country/bluegrass fiddler to the stars Stuart Duncan rosined up his bow for the recording as well. Still, Yola is clearly the feature here - and I don’t think I’ve ever listened to the end of “It Ain’t Easier” without my heart rate increasing. This record makes me want to open all the windows on my 1979 Ford F-250, crank these songs at full blast and just drive.
Standout Track ::It Ain’t Easier::
Shows/Performances Attended in 2019
[1]. 01/05/2019 Mess/North by North/Baby Razors; Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[2]. 01/26/2019 Neko Case/Margaret Glaspy; The Lincoln Theatre, Washington DC
[3]. 01/28/2019 Thin Lips/Grace Vonderkuhn/Born Dad; Songbyrd, Washington DC
[4]. 02/08/2019 Nellie McKay, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC
[5]. 02/09/2019 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC
[6]. 02/21/2019 Cirque Mechanics, Weinberg Center for the Arts, Frederick, MD
[7]. 03/01/2019 The Beths/Bad Hats/Bad Moves, Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York, NY
[8]. 04/03/2019 Amanda Palmer, National Theatre, Washington DC
[9]. 04/13/2019 Middle Kid/Blue Heaven/Andy Burns, Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[10]. 04/22/2019 Durand Jones & the Indications/Divino Nino, The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
[11]. 04/25/2019 Levar Burton, Weinberg Center for the Arts, Frederick, MD
[12]. 05/09/2019 Neil Gaiman, Weinberg Center for the Arts, Frederick, MD
[13]. 05/18/2019 Eddie Izzard, Warner Theatre, Washington, DC
[14]. 05/25/2019 The Fun Boys, Guido’s, Frederick, MD
[15]. 06/01/2019 Live from Here with Chris Thile, feat. Guster & Adia Victoria, Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA
[16]. 06/02/2019 Middle Kid/Puddle Splasher/Although, Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[17]. 06/20/2019 Although/Spooled Up/Sunniva, Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[18]. 06/26/2019 Hannah Gadsby, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC
[19]. 07/03/2019 Hamilton, The Hippodrome, Baltimore, MD
[20]. 07/24/2019 The Get Up Kids/Great Grandpa, The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
[21]. 07/27/2019 Frederick Jams Presents: Rozwell Kid/Middle Kid/Soul Meets Body, New Spire Stages, Frederick, MD
[22]. 08/16/2019 Ibram X. Kendi, How To Be An Anti-Racist book tour, Sidwell Friends School, Washington DC
[23]. 09/21/2019 Billy Bragg, The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA
[24]. 09/25/2019 Lizzo/Ari Lennox, The Anthem, Washington DC
[25]. 09/26/2019 Pinegrove/Boyscott/Derek Ted, Nightclub 9:30, Washington DC
[26]. 10/04/2019 West By God, The Keegan Theatre, Washington DC
[27]. 10/19/2019 Jordan Hudkins (Rozwell Kid)/Mr. Husband, Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[28]. 10/25/2019 Sleater-Kinney/Joseph Keckler, The Anthem, Washington DC
[29]. 11/17/2019 Katie Powderly & Josh Crews, Roasthouse Pub, Frederick, MD
[30]. 11/22/2019 Middle Kid (record release), Frederick Eagles Club, Frederick, MD
[31] 11/25/2019 Tool/ Capitol One Arena, Washington DC
[32]. 12/06/2019 Holiday Hangout night #1 w/ Isaac Hoskins, The Baptist Generals, Jeremy Pinnell, John Calvin Abney (full band), Vandoliers, and Legendary Shack Shakers @ White Water Tavern, Little Rock, AR
[33]. 12/07/2019 Holiday Hangout Saturday Day Party w/ Brent Best, Shane Sweeney, Chris Flemmons, and Isaac Alexander @ Lost Forty Brewing, Little Rock, AR
[34]. 12/07/2019 Holiday Hangout night #2 w/ Bonnie Whitmore, Clownvis Presley, John Dee Graham, Patrick Sweany, Slobberbone, and Lee Bains & the Glory Fires (w/ John Calvin Abney on guitar) @ White Water Tavern, Little Rock, AR
[35]. 12/20/2019 Sprouts, Cafe Nola, Frederick MD
Shows Played in 2019
[1]. 04/07/2019 Listening Room Session with Ashli Cheshire, Caleb Rose (solo acoustic) and Diane Buch, Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[2]. 04/20/2019 Dumb Valley/The Beatnik Termites/Luna, Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[3] 08/24/2019 Dumb Valley/Middle Kid, Cafe Nola, Frederick, MD
[4]. 10/19/2019 Dumb Valley/Miss Lonelyheart/Dot Dash, Sky Stage, Frederick, MD
[5]. 10/26/2019 Dumb Valley/The Fun Boys Halloween Party, Cafe Nola, Frederick MD
[6]. 12/13/2019 Dumb Valley/Natural Rat/Mishima, Frederick Eagles Club, Frederick, MD
[7]. 12/28/2019 Katie Powderly w/ Caleb Rose/Silent Old Mts, Music Cafe, Damascus, MD