First Wednesday of the Month : Local Cream Songwriter Showcase
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Hosted by FocusMusic board member Annette Wasilik : 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!
Sun 8/11 - Ronn McFarlane (Silver Spring)
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Sunday August 11th, 2024 FocusMusic presents Ronn McFarlane at Episcopal Church of the Ascension. 633 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 | 7pm | adv tickets $25, day-of $30 (members $25 at the door)
GRAMMY-nominated lutenist, Ronn McFarlane strives to bring the lute - the most popular instrument of the Renaissance - into today’s musical mainstream and make it accessible to a wider audience.
Since taking up the lute in 1978, Ronn has made his mark in music as the founder of Ayreheart, a founding member of the Baltimore Consort, touring 49 of the 50 United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany and Austria, and as a guest artist with Apollo’s Fire, The Bach Sinfonia, The Catacoustic Consort, The Folger Consort, Houston Grand Opera, The Oregon Symphony, The Portland Baroque Orchestra, and The Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.
Born in West Virginia, Ronn grew up in Maryland. At thirteen, upon hearing “Wipeout” by the Surfaris, he fell madly in love with music and taught himself to play on a “cranky sixteen-dollar steel string guitar.” Ronn kept at it, playing blues and rock music on the electric guitar while studying classical guitar. He graduated with honors from Shenandoah Conservatory and continued guitar studies at Peabody Conservatory before turning his full attention and energy to the lute in 1978. The next year, he began to perform solo recitals on the lute and became a member of the Baltimore Consort. Since then, he has toured throughout the United States, Canada and Europe with the Baltimore Consort and as a soloist.
Sat 9/7 - Joe Crookston (Charlottesville)
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Sat 9/7 - FocusMusic and Unity of Charlottesville present Joe Crookston at Unity of Charlottesville. 2825 Hydraulic Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22901 | 7pm | tickets $20
Joe is a force of nature on stage. He is in his power AND he communes with his audience and welcomes them into the magic.
From touring with Gordon Lightfoot, headlining major US festivals, receiving Folk Alliance International “Album of the Year,” releasing NINE BECOMES ONE (2023) to being named Folk Alliance International Artist-in- Resident, Joe is on fire. He’s played with Suzanne Vega, Dar Williams, David Francey, John McCutcheon, John Gorka, Judy Collins and 100’s more. His songs are are being made into award winning films. Watch this trailer for Brooklyn in July
He’ll surprise you. He awakens the cynics. He’s plumbing for lyrical gold.
His rhythm is infectious. In concert, he is funny as hell one moment and transcendent the next.
More about Joe Crookston at joecrookston.com
Sun 9/22 - Lara Herscovitch w Sean McGhee (Gaithersburg + Virtual)
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Sunday September 22nd, 2024 WFMA & FocusMusic present Lara Herscovitch with Sean McGhee opening at The Gaithersburg Arts Barn. 311 Kent Square Rd., Gaithersburg, MD | 7pm | $25 in advance (WFMA & Focus members $22.50) / $30 at door (members $25), Virtual admission $15 in advance (members $13.50)
Lara Herscovitch is singer-songwriter-poet-performer gem. As described in The Boston Globe, she brings “a luminous voice and a buoyant stage presence… big-hearted lyrics embrace the sum of life… Herscovitch’s music blows on the embers of a lagging spirit or a dormant creative life.” Lara leads with authenticity, integrity, humor and heart. Sound Waves Magazine described her music as “expertly written prose… songwriting at its best… good for your ears AND your soul.” Acoustic Live in New York City added, “She possesses not only a huge reservoir of musical talent and a voice with a bell-like clarity, but a keen sense of global concern and a fierce intellect... It might seem too good to be true, but true it is.”
Sean McGhee has performed with Doris Justis as Side by Side for over 31 years. Sean is an outstanding tenor vocalist and a master of the 12-string guitar, with a quick wit and irreverent sense of humor. In 2000, he joined Mack Bailey (Hard Travelers & Limeliters) and Rick Dougherty (Limeliters, Kingston Trio & The Folk Legacy Trio) to perform as the "Three Folk Tenors" at the Birchmere Music Hall.
Sun 10/13 - Friction Farm (Silver Spring)
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Friction Farm : a modern folk duo shapes poetry, harmony and humor into songs of unlikely heroes in an off-kilter world
Sunday October 13th, 2024 FocusMusic presents Friction Farm at Episcopal Church of the Ascension. 633 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 | 7.30pm | adv tickets $25, day-of $30 (members $25 at the door)
Modern-folk duo Friction Farm is a husband and wife team of internationally traveling troubadours. Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay combine storytelling, social commentary and humor to create songs of everyday life, local heroes, and quirky observations. From ballads to anthems each song is filled with harmony and hope.
Friction Farm’s lyrically rich, harmony-driven songs have earned them spots as Kerrville New Folk Finalists and Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists. They are winners of the South Florida Folk Festival songwriter competition, have performed as official showcase artists at Regional Folk Alliance Conferences. Friction Farm feels at home on the road and on stage. Audiences lean into their stories, laugh at their humor, are inspired to do a little good in the world, and sing along once in a while. Aidan and Christine read. A lot. Friction Farm released a CD of songs inspired by books and, although they don’t plan another, they continue to use books as a source of inspiration. In order to help promote a love of reading and promote literacy among children under age ten, Friction Farm has also written and recorded a collection of songs inspired by children’s books.
More about Friction Farm at frictionfarm.com
Advance tickets $25 / day-of and door $30 (member / congregation as-applicable $25 at the door).
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.
All sales are final. In the event of a cancellation, event tickets will be refunded or purchasers may offer the ticket price as a donation to the artist. In the event of a rescheduled event tickets may be refunded or transferred to the new event date. Please note there are NO refunds for virtual performances made inaccessible by audience / user-error. If you find that you cannot attend an event or webcast, please contact us in advance of the event to transfer your ticket to another upcoming FocusMusic event.
Sat 10/26 - Carrie Newcomer (Alexandria and Virtual)
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Sat 10/26 - FocusMusic and WFMA present Carrie Newcomer at Saint Aidan's Episcopal Church.
8531 Riverside Rd., Alexandria, Virginia, 22308
Carrie Newcomer is a songwriter, recording artist, performer, educator and activist. She has been described as a "prairie mystic" by the Boston Globe and one who "asks all the right questions" by Rolling Stone Magazine. Carrie has 20 nationally released albums on Available Light & Concord/Rounder Records including A Great Wild Mercy, Until Now, The Point of Arrival and The Beautiful Not Yet. Newcomer has released three books of poetry & essays, A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays, The Beautiful Not Yet: Poems and Essays & Lyrics, and Until Now: New Poems by Carrie Newcomer. Her song "I Should've Known Better" appeared on Nickel Creeks' Grammy-winning gold album This Side, and she earned an Emmy for her PBS special An Evening with Carrie Newcomer.
Carrie is known for her low and resonant voice as "rich as Godiva Chocolate" according to The Austin American-Statesman, for her musical depth and the progressive spiritual content of her songs, poetry and workshops, and for her continued work in justice, spiritual and interfaith communities, and health and hunger organizations. In a time of deep divisions, Carrie has become a national voice for finding how we still connect at the heart of the human story. She lives in the wooded hills of South Central Indiana with her husband and two shaggy rescue dogs.
More about Carrie Newcomer at carrienewcomer.com
Tickets available soon via WFMA.net.
Sat 11/9 - Hiroya Tsukamoto (Silver Spring)
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Saturday November 9th, 2024 FocusMusic presents Hiroya Tsukamoto at Episcopal Church of the Ascension. 633 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 | 7.30pm | adv tickets $25, day-of $30 (members $25 at the door)
Two time second place winner at International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship, Hiroya is a one-of-a-kind guitarist and composer. Born and raised in Kyoto, Japan and in 2000, he received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and came to the US. Since then, he has been performing internationally including United Nations, Blue Note in New York Japanese National Television. Hiroya released six albums.
“Hiroya takes us to an impressionistic journey” -Boston Herald
“The fingerpicking is delicate, fluid, and beautifully detailed” -Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Advance tickets $25 / day-of and door $30 (member / congregation as-applicable $25 at the door).
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.
All sales are final. In the event of a cancellation, event tickets will be refunded or purchasers may offer the ticket price as a donation to the artist. In the event of a rescheduled event tickets may be refunded or transferred to the new event date. Please note there are NO refunds for virtual performances made inaccessible by audience / user-error. If you find that you cannot attend an event or webcast, please contact us in advance of the event to transfer your ticket to another upcoming FocusMusic event.
Sat 11/23 - the Good Folk (Alexandria and Virtual)
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Sat 11/23 - FocusMusic and WFMA present The Good Folk at Saint Aidan's Episcopal Church.
8531 Riverside Rd., Alexandria, Virginia, 22308 | $25 in advance (members $22.50) / $30 at door (members $25)
Virtual Tickets: $15 ($13.50 for members
The Good Folk, Meghan Mette, Eileen Estes, Joanna Clare, Sophie Chang, Agi Kovacs, and Patrick Winch, deliver powerful instrumentals, haunting vocals and three styles of percussive dance. Rooted in the beloved traditional music of Ireland and America, these artists explore familiar tunes and ballads as well as original compositions with respect, intentionality, and innovative interpretation. Offering thoughtful phrasing, delightful ornamentation, and emotive accompaniment, The Good Folk is one of the East coast’s most exciting collaborations bringing audiences a unique and delightful sound with each performance.
More about the Good Folk at thegoodfolk.larksongstudios.com
Tickets coming soon via WFMA.net
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.