8:00pm - $10-$20 Suggested donation for the artists.
Every first Wednesday of the month, Annette Wasilik curates and hosts this showcase of the area's finest singer/songwriters at Hank Dietle's Tavern in Rockville, which has literally risen from the ashes and it looks, sounds and feels fabulous! $10-$20 Suggested donation for the artists.
This month features:
Eleanor Ellis, a native of Louisiana, has since performed at clubs, festivals, and concerts in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She has also traveled and played with the late gospel street singer Flora Molton and bluesman Archie Edwards, and sometimes accompanied Delta Blues great Eugene Powell.
She is a founding member of the DC Blues Society and the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation, has written about the blues for several publications, and is producer and editor of the video documentary Blues Houseparty, which features well-known Piedmont blues musicians such as John Jackson, John Cephas, and Archie Edwards. She also worked at the Archive of New Orleans Jazz at Tulane University in New Orleans, and at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Eleanor Ellis has developed a distinctive and personal approach to music. She distills the elements of original style and transmits her own uniquely expressive sound. She credits her musical reach to such greats as M phis Minnie, Skip James, and other early recording artists, as well as to the influence of the blues players she has known personally. Eleanor’s recordings include Comin' a Time on the Patuxent label; Backyard Blues, a CD of solo blues guitar and vocals; Preaching in That Wilderness on the Riverlark label with Bill Ellis and Andy Cohen; appearances on several anthologies, including the 25th Anniversary Kent State Folk Festival collection, Sisterfire : Music by Women, and Archie's Barbershop Blues, released by the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation; and two recordings with Flora Molton, I Want to Be Ready to Hear God When He Calls, on Mrs. Molton's own Lively Stone label, and Flora Molton, recorded for Radio France.
Originally from the Blue Ridge region of Virginia, Ash’s music and work as a community based teaching artist is influenced by her upbringing in a small college town nestled the central Appalachian region, her studies with acclaimed folk musicians, and by international travels with health care activist M.D. Patch Adams.
In 2015 Ash Devine starred as the legendary Maybelle Carter and musically directed the play Esley: The Life and Music of Leslie Riddle�. From 2016-2018 Ash Devine studied Appalachian traditional folk songs from the Western, NC area with Smithsonian Folkways Award winning ballad singer Sheila Kay Adams. In 2018, Devine accompanied a group of WNC Appalachian song carriers to perform at the Library of Congress at the American Folk Life Center in Washington, DC.
Ash has a B.A. in Theater and Community Arts from UNC Asheville. In 2017 Devine studied Gerontology from Appalachian State University, with aim to deepen her ability to provide meaningful music programming for older adults, and inter-generational groups. Over the past fifteen years, Devine has developed a number of inter-generational programs, bringing together youth and older adults for community arts activities. For example, the adult day community folk choir� was one such program that successfully engaged older adult participants living with advanced dementia related conditions in meaningful group music activities and performance. Another program, Youth Clowns to Elders, 2016, brought school aged youth to elders living in the institutional setting in order to share in music, arts, and celebratory arts based activities.
Azalea City Recordings artist Jesse Palidofsky has been performing his original songs in folk venues, coffeehouses, and festivals for decades. "I Am An Immigrant" reached #1 on the International Folk Radio charts and "Dancing Toward the Light " was the #5 CD. Jesse’s updated “America the Beautiful: 2020” with Bluegrass vocalist Claire Lynch and Blues singer Lea Gilmore has 71,000 hits on YouTube. He is the recipient of numerous songwriting awards.
Jesse has shared stages with Pete Seeger, Claudia Schmidt, Kim and Reggie Harris, Brother Sun, Zoe Mulford, Yasmin Williams, Bob Franke, Ken Whiteley, Pat Humphries, Magpie, Erica Wheeler, Sonia disappear fear, Ben Tousley, Lee Murdock, Ted Ramirez, Hot Soup, The Ronstadt Generations, Jon Carroll, Ruthie & the Wranglers, Karen Collins, Carey Creed, Joe Uehlein, Patty Reese, In Process and many others.
Jesse’s appearances include: National Theatre, Hugh’s Room (Toronto), Sloop Clearwater “Pumpkin Sail”, "On Your Radar" (NYC), Daily Antidote of Song, Common Ground on the Hill Roots Music & Arts Festival, FOCUS Music, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Institute of Musical Traditions, Association of Professional Chaplains Annual Conference, Washington Folk Festival, Friends General Conference, Mt. Toby Concert Series, Common Ground on the Border (AZ), Takoma Park Folk Festival, The Mountain UU Retreat Center, Pastoral Care Network for Social Responsibility, Tikkun Magazine, Club Sandwich, Folkal Point Coffeehouse
"Love & Fire is a masterpiece." ~ Tom Prasada-Rao
Annette's performances are marked by her compelling alto and moving songs that "touch you to the bone". In the tradition of the poet songwriter, with rich tones reminiscent of Linda Thompson or Natalie Merchant, she weaves a spell both startling in its intimacy and expansive in its vision. Her songwriting influences include Jane Siberry, Lucinda Williams and John Prine to mention just a few. Both down to earth and deeply atmospheric, Annette’s songs are explorations into longing, love, loss, God, home, homesickness and hope.
In her late teens and twenties. Annette was performing in local cafes, small venues and eventually festivals. When her daughter was small, Annette took a break from performing to attend her family and grow her healing practice. Now she is out performing again and becoming known in the DC area and nationally as a powerful songwriter and performer. Annette's debut CD, Songs from the Talking House, was awarded Contemporary Folk Recording of the Year by the Washington Area Music Association in April 2016. She also won Honorable Mention for her song Don't Look Down in the 2016 MidAtlantic Song Contest. Her January 2020 release, Love & Fire, is her first album on the Azalea City Cooperative label. On release, it landed at #6 on FAI Folk DJ chart and #1 on the NACC chart and ended up #40 for the year.
In 2019, Annette created a new concert series, Local Cream, to showcase the best local and regional songwriters and co-hosts a popular monthly songwriting circle. In the spring of 2022, her song "Almost" was a finalist in The Great American Song Contest and won "Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting" Award.