First Wednesday of the Month : Local Cream Songwriter Showcase
Hosted by FocusMusic board member Annette Wasilik : For June 7th it's band night! Join Quiet the Mountain, The Peacemakers and Annette Wasilik & The Porchmen for a night of original songs set in a different format! As always, suggested donations are $10-$20.
Every first Wednesday of the Month singer/songwriter Annette Wasilik invites a collection of the best local and not-so-local singer/songwriters to perform with her at Hank Dietle's Tavern at 11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. The show kicks off at 8pm and is free to attend, but a suggested donation of $20 is... suggested!
Sat 6/10 - Lilt (Alexandria)

Saturday June 10th, 2023
FocusMusic and WFMA Present Lilt at St Aidan's Episcopal Church
8531 Riverside Road, Alexandria, VA 22308 | 7pm | adv tickets $25, day-of $30 (member / congregation as-applicable $25 at the door) | Livestream will be available for at least 48 hours after the event
Lilt is the Irish traditional music duo of Tina Eck on flute and tin whistle and Keith Carr on bouzouki, tenor banjo, and mandolin. They play the traditional dance music of Ireland - jigs, reels, hornpipes, the occasional slow air or vocal number. Their performances capture the essentials of Irish traditional music: boundless energy, wildness and melancholy.
They have been performing together steadily since 2009. They have released four albums; "Lilt", "Onward", “Little Falls”, and their latest, ”X", released in 2019. Their recordings have been critically acclaimed in the US and in the international Irish music
press.
Lilt has appeared in concert throughout the eastern U.S., with performances at such notable local venues as The Embassy of Ireland, The Kennedy Center, The Birchmere, The Institute of Musical Traditions, Blackrock Center for the Arts, as well as numerous music festivals.
From the press:
Lilt is “...fresh, exhilarating, and wonderfully,
blissfully alive” (IrishPhiladelphia.com)
"A sound that is often moody, sometimes delicate, and – perhaps when you least expect it – will seize you by the shoulders with a quiet yet prodigious intensity” (Boston Irish Reporter)
“The new CD ‘X’ “...is a Lilt with real fizz, platinum quality. Well done!!" (Irish Music
Magazine, Dublin)
Members
Keith Carr plays the ten-string Irish bouzouki, four-string tenor banjo, and mandolin. He is originally from New York and moved to Washington DC to develop a career as a prominent ecologist working with international nature conservation groups. He recently
retired and is now fully engaged in what he loves to do the most: performing and
teaching traditional music. Having had the benefit of parents who were distinguished music educators, his musical background includes extensive classical training in trumpet and piano, plus many years as a performing guitarist. He is on the faculty of
the Washington Conservatory of Music, he teaches at various Irish music camps and workshops, and he gives private lessons. He also performs with various other notable Irish and acoustic musicians in the Washington area, and he leads several weekly Irish traditional pub sessions around the region.
Tina Eck plays the Irish wooden flute and tin whistle. Originally from Germany and now working as a Washington-based radio news correspondent, she discovered her passion for Irish traditional music in a local pub in Washington DC in the 1990’s. She has
traveled to Ireland frequently and has learned technique and repertoire from some of the best traditional flute players in Ireland and the U.S. She is on the faculty of the Washington Conservatory of Music and she also gives private flute and whistle lessons.
In 2011 Tina was awarded a Maryland State Arts Council Grant for Solo World Music Performance. Tina also holds a 2013 TTCT Teaching Diploma by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (Dublin), identifying her as one of the premier teachers of Irish traditional music.
Tina also performs with the bands Rambling House and The Irish Inn Mates.
Guest Artists for this Performance
Kate Bole has been an Irish dancer since age six, receiving tutelage from a number of notable teachers. She has choreographed and performed for productions at the Kennedy Center, the Strathmore Performing Arts Center in concert with Eileen Ivers, The Myerhoff Symphony Hall in concert with the BSO, the Blackrock Center for the Arts,
and the Washington Performing Arts Society Gala. Kate has been featured as a guest dancer with many talented Irish musicians, including Lilt, Natalie MacMaster, Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul, Lúnasa, Téada, and Kevin Burke. Currently she directs and performs with the Culkin LIVE Dance Company, and when not dancing, works as a
physicist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland.
Jim Stickley has played percussion instruments since age eight, and is a former member of the US Army’s Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps. He was raised in Falls Church, Virginia, and recently retired from his career with the Fairfax County Public School system. Jim is an active traditional music session player, often found at several of the regular Irish and Scottish pub sessions in Northern Virginia. He performs frequently with
trad musicians in the area and also teaches privately. Jim has recorded with several notable musicians in the DC region, including Lilt and 2016 US National Scottish Fiddle champion Séan Heely.
More about Lilt at liltirishmusic.com
Tickets available via WFMA.net, click below.
Sat 6/17 - Sara Beck, Lauren Lucas, & Kimberly Quinn (Columbia)

Saturday June 17th, 2023
FocusMusic and One World Coffeehouse Present Lo Fi Dolly Album Release Show
Featuring Sara Beck, Lauren Lucas, & Kimberly Quinn at Owen Brown Interfaith Center – Sanctuary C
7246 Cradlerock Way Columbia, MD 21045 | 7:00 pm | $25 | all tickets include access to OWC's Livestream of the event.
Sara Beck and Lauren Lucas have been individually writing and recording music for over 20 years. You’ve seen them on the road touring with Blake Shelton, Stevie Wonder, Old Dominion, Kevin Costner & Modern West, The Bacon Bros. (Kevin and Michael), and Kenny Chesney – just to name a few. They've graced listening room stages from The Bluebird to Gruene Hall to The Birchmere. They’ve garnered Academy of Country Music and Tony Award nominations, as well as song placements on the ABC network and the History Channel, both as artists and songwriters for other recording artists – including Danielle Peck, Jaida Dreyer, and Risa Binder.
Their love for old country music and classic singer-songwriters is one of the things that brought the two together. In the early 2000’s, they formed an all-women, Nashville-based music collective with several other talented singer/songwriters playing the country standards they grew up on. They called themselves The Honky Tonk Angels, and together they brought heartbreaking harmonies and a hefty dose of sisterhood to bars, weddings, and bonfires all over middle Tennessee. Along the way, they co-wrote songs together that each released separately, including “Come On” (Beck/Chisolm/Lucas) and “Burning Down the Dark” (Beck/Jones/Lucas).
Now – inspired by the “Trio” albums by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris – Sara and Lauren have joined forces with another original Honky Tonk Angel – Kimberly Quinn – to release an album of some of the very tunes that ignited their friendship way back when. In Spring of 2023, Sara Beck, Lauren Lucas and Kimberly Quinn will release “Lo Fi Dolly,” an album of reimagined country classics, including songs by Dolly, Emmylou, Ronnie Milsap, Vince Gill, Roseanne Cash, Willie Nelson and others.
Having toured together for years on and off, Lauren and Sara are looking forward to bringing the flavor of “Lo Fi Dolly” and their original songs to a stage near you in the spring and summer of 2023. Live onstage together, the two women swap stories, guitars, snare drums, and stompboxes – taking the audience on a musical ride that is both intimate and sweeping. Their harmonies are tight, and their affection for each other and the art of making music take center stage. This is a show not to be missed.
Learn more about them at sarabeck.net
One World Coffeehouse shows open doors half an hour before performance. This event is open to fully vaccinated individuals only. All performers and venue staff have been fully vaccinated. Performers will not be required to wear masks while performing. All tickets for this show are $25 and may be purchased in advance online or at the door with cash, check, or credit card. Ticketholders must present a printed ticket or a scan code via their smart phone on arrival at the venue. Additional details: Your ticket entitles you to view a live stream of the show via Zoom should you be unable to attend in person. Your ticket confirmation information email will include details about the live stream. Please do not share this information with anyone. On Zoom, only individuals whose names match the ticket purchaser will be admitted to the live stream. Note that this live-stream service is intended as an added benefit for those who are unexpectedly unable to attend the show. No refunds will be provided related to quality problems or other issues with the streaming service. We recommend that you test your systems before the show to ensure you are able to participate online. We will do our best to assist anyone who requests our help during the show, but do not have dedicated volunteers for this purpose, so we cannot guarantee we will be available.
Depending on payment method, you will receive 2-3 emails. Registration details will be EMAILED along with a receipt (and sometimes a third email from your payment service). You will receive an email with the subject line "Your ticket for..." For in-person events, there's no need to do anything further. Your name will be at the front desk! For virtual events there will be a link to click in this email, so please save it! If you do not receive that email - please check your spam folder. If you still cannot find details contacting tickets@focusmusic.org.
Sat 7/8 - Girl Blue (Sterling)

…TREMENDOUS SONGWRITING TALENT, WITH THE PERFECT VOICE TO MATCH. IT IS GENUINELY HARD TO WALK AWAY FROM HER WHILE SHE PERFORMS; YOU NEED ONLY HEAR ABOUT 30 SECONDS OF HER TO KNOW SHE’S LIKELY DESTINED FOR WIDESPREAD NATIONAL RECOGNITION.”
Saturday July 8th, 2023
FocusMusic Presents Girl Blue at Community Lutheran Church. 21014 Whitfield Place , Sterling, VA 20165 | 7pm | adv tickets $25, day-of $30 (member / congregation as-applicable $25 at the door) | Livestream will be available for at least 48 hours after the event
If you like Alanis Morissette, Brandi Carlisle, and crying in public, you’re going to love Girl Blue. Writing deeply emotional songs with strong singable hooks, singer-songwriter Arielle O’Keefe is absolutely one to watch.
She’s been featured on top Spotify playlists (New Music Friday) and charts (#2 on US Viral Charts), in national commercials, and on top blogs like the Huffington Post. She has received 7 Thomas Edison Music Awards, twice receiving Songwriter of the Year and Solo Act of the Year. It’s been said “she…has the kind of spark that makes stars” and, most especially as a live performer, she has an authenticity that regularly moves audience members to tears.
She is based outside of Saratoga Springs, NY. She records all her own music at home with her partner/producer Jimi W. and is funded entirely by her community of fans on Patreon and across social media.
More at girlbluemusic.com
Advance tickets $25 / day-of and door $30 (member / congregation as-applicable $25 at the door) - Livestream (unless otherwise noted) is will be available for at least 48 hours after the event and is included with all tickets
FocusMusic encourages all attendees to protect themselves and others through vaccination and masks. If you are not feeling well, we ask you not to attend the event. (COVID policy updated 9/23/22)
Depending on payment method, you will receive 2-3 emails. Registration details will be EMAILED along with a receipt (and sometimes a third email from your payment service). You will receive an email with the subject line "Your ticket for..." For in-person events, there's no need to do anything further. Your name will be at the front desk! For virtual events there will be a link to click in this email, so please save it! If you do not receive that email - please check your spam folder. If you still cannot find details contacting tickets@focusmusic.org.
Sat, Sun 9/30 & 10/1 - Anne Hills and Claudia Schmidt (Charlottesville, Gaithersburg)

“Anne Hills is such an exquisite singer that it’s understandable that people might be swept up in the pure beauty of her voice and thereby overlook her writing. That would be a mistake. For me, Anne’s writing, in songs like ‘Follow That Road’ and many others, is as direct, melodic and deep as any work being done today. She is quite simply one of my absolute favorite songwriters.” — Tom Paxton

To say that Schmidt is simply a performer with a talent to entertain would be a miscarriage of understatement. Schmidt takes her audiences into her world as easily as the child who discovers the endless universes that exist in a cardboard box.
FocusMusic and Unity of Charlottesville present Anne Hills and Claudia Schmidt.
Unity, 2825 Hydraulic Cir
Charlottesville, VA 22901 | Saturday, September 30th, 2023 | 7pm
FocusMusic and WFMA present Anne Hills and Claudia Schmidt.
Gaithersburg Arts Barn
311 Kent Square Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 | Sunday, October 1st, 2023
Tickets coming soon.
Sat 10/7 - Vance Gilbert (Sterling)

Saturday October 7th, 2023
FocusMusic Presents Vance Gilbert at Community Lutheran Church. 21014 Whitfield Place , Sterling, VA 20165 | 7pm | adv tickets $25, day-of $30 (member / congregation as-applicable $25 at the door) | Livestream will be available for at least 48 hours after the event
“If Joni Mitchell and Richie Havens had a love child, with Rodney Dangerfield as the midwife, the results might have been something close to the great Vance Gilbert.” As the above quote from Richmond magazine suggests, Vance Gilbert defies stereotypes. It’s little wonder then that he also exceeds expectations. In this case, those two qualities go hand in hand. “I’m black, I sing, I play an acoustic guitar, and I don’t play the blues,” Gilbert insists. That may be a broad statement, but it rings with truth.
What he does do is make memorable music, as evidenced by the 13 albums he’s released so far, as well as the mark he’s made on the folk and acoustic music scenes in general. Over the course of a prolific career that extends back to the early ’90s, he’s recorded with his good friend Ellis Paul and shared stages worldwide with Aretha Franklin, Shawn Colvin, Arlo Guthrie, the Milk Carton Kids, George Carlin (150+ shows), Anita Baker, the Subdudes, Paul Reiser and any number of others.
He’s also made a prominent presence at some of the world’s most prestigious gatherings, among them the Newport, Winnipeg, Rocky Mountain, Calgary, Ottawa, and Falcon Ridge folk festivals, the Kate Wolf Music Festival, and Australia’s Woodford Folk Festival and Mullum Music Festival. “There was also that one nude festival in Maryland,” Gilbert recalls. “I don’t recall the name of that one, but I have to admit that the name wasn’t the first thing I would remember.”
Naturally, Gilbert can be forgiven for that minor oversight, given the amount of praise he’s received from the pundits. His remarkable rapport with his audiences and his free spirited performances inspired one critic to hail him as “a folkie trapped in a vaudevillian body,” with “a voice that could have been on the opera stage, a wit that could have been on a comedy stage and a songwriting talent that’s thrust him on the folk stage for decades.”
Advance tickets $25 / day-of and door $30 (member / congregation as-applicable $25 at the door) - Livestream (unless otherwise noted) is will be available for at least 48 hours after the event and is included with all tickets
FocusMusic encourages all attendees to protect themselves and others through vaccination and masks. If you are not feeling well, we ask you not to attend the event. (COVID policy updated 9/23/22)
Depending on payment method, you will receive 2-3 emails. Registration details will be EMAILED along with a receipt (and sometimes a third email from your payment service). You will receive an email with the subject line "Your ticket for..." For in-person events, there's no need to do anything further. Your name will be at the front desk! For virtual events there will be a link to click in this email, so please save it! If you do not receive that email - please check your spam folder. If you still cannot find details contacting tickets@focusmusic.org.
Sat 10/21 - The Ken & Brad Kolodner Quartet (Columbia)

“Ken & Brad are both exceptionally talented musicians and they have created a tight, top-notch sound.” – Bluegrass Today
Saturday October 21, 2023
FocusMusic and One World Coffeehouse Present The Ken & Brad Kolodner Quartet at Owen Brown Interfaith Center – Sanctuary C
7246 Cradlerock Way Columbia, MD 21045 | 7:00 pm | $25 | all tickets include access to OWC's Livestream of the event.
Back by popular demand, Ken and Brad Kolodner bring their world-class bluegrass band featuring hammered dulcimer and clawhammer banjo.
“Ken and Brad transport the listener to a distant, dusty crossroads across the sea making ancient music that touches a place inside of us that some of us didn’t even know was there.”
“…oozing with variety. From trad standards to new classic folk songs to lush originals, the repertory found here is both dependable and enjoyable. The arrangements include barn-burning twin-fiddle ragers, mellow meditations on hammered dulcimer, and bluegrass settings with solos on the breaks and three-part harmony vocals.”
More about The Ken & Brad Kolodner Quartet at kenandbrad.com
One World Coffeehouse shows open doors half an hour before performance. This event is open to fully vaccinated individuals only. All performers and venue staff have been fully vaccinated. Performers will not be required to wear masks while performing. All tickets for this show are $25 and may be purchased in advance online or at the door with cash, check, or credit card. Ticketholders must present a printed ticket or a scan code via their smart phone on arrival at the venue. Additional details: Your ticket entitles you to view a live stream of the show via Zoom should you be unable to attend in person. Your ticket confirmation information email will include details about the live stream. Please do not share this information with anyone. On Zoom, only individuals whose names match the ticket purchaser will be admitted to the live stream. Note that this live-stream service is intended as an added benefit for those who are unexpectedly unable to attend the show. No refunds will be provided related to quality problems or other issues with the streaming service. We recommend that you test your systems before the show to ensure you are able to participate online. We will do our best to assist anyone who requests our help during the show, but do not have dedicated volunteers for this purpose, so we cannot guarantee we will be available.
Sat 11/18 - Joan & Joni - Kipyn Martin & Allison Shapira (Columbia)

"That was one of the best tributes I can recall. It was totally respectful to the originals. Allison and Kipyn don't try to copy Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell; they play the songs in their own way. It was one of the most enjoyable shows of the year for me." Anne Saunders, Artistic Director, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Saturday November 18, 2023
FocusMusic and One World Coffeehouse Present Joan and Joni
(Kipyn Martin and Allison Shapira) at Owen Brown Interfaith Center – Sanctuary C
7246 Cradlerock Way Columbia, MD 21045 | 7:00 pm | $25 | all tickets include access to OWC's Livestream of the event.
Two outstanding area singer-songwriters — Kipyn Martin and Allison Shapria — present the songs of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell along with their own original music. This show is not to be missed!
More at joanandjoni.com
One World Coffeehouse shows open doors half an hour before performance. This event is open to fully vaccinated individuals only. All performers and venue staff have been fully vaccinated. Performers will not be required to wear masks while performing. All tickets for this show are $25 and may be purchased in advance online or at the door with cash, check, or credit card. Ticketholders must present a printed ticket or a scan code via their smart phone on arrival at the venue. Additional details: Your ticket entitles you to view a live stream of the show via Zoom should you be unable to attend in person. Your ticket confirmation information email will include details about the live stream. Please do not share this information with anyone. On Zoom, only individuals whose names match the ticket purchaser will be admitted to the live stream. Note that this live-stream service is intended as an added benefit for those who are unexpectedly unable to attend the show. No refunds will be provided related to quality problems or other issues with the streaming service. We recommend that you test your systems before the show to ensure you are able to participate online. We will do our best to assist anyone who requests our help during the show, but do not have dedicated volunteers for this purpose, so we cannot guarantee we will be available.
Events
Current COVID policy
Please note that FocusMusic's COVID policy may be updated without notice as conditions require, and may be further modified by the individual venues.
1/13/22
We request that all attendees be vaccinated and be prepared to show vaccination status for admission (or a negative COVID test dated within the past 72 hours). Additionally, we require that the audience and staff wear masks at all times inside the building unless actively eating or drinking. We thank you for complying with what we’ve determined to be best for our community.