8:00pm - $10-$20 Suggested donation for the artists.
LOCAL CREAM: THE FOCUS MUSIC VERSION presents board members and the executive director of Focus Music, a community-oriented organization which has been bringing national and regional musicians to the Washington DC/Baltimore area for many years. Tonight, Focus presents some of the musicians who are board members along with the one exception being rob Hinkal who is the executive director. (Unfortunately, one member, Jillian Mutundan, has been called out of town and will not be performing.) But in this performance, we will have a super-charged version of Annette Wasilik’s LOCAL CREAM, (which usually happens exclusively on the first Wednesday of the month here at Hank’s) highlighting some of the talent behind the scenes of Focus.
To find out more about Focus Music and to see what we have coming up check out our website: https://focusmusic.org
Emily Hall
Emily Hall is a songwriter, mindfulness activist, international teacher trainer, and curative arts practitioner from Washington, DC. Imbued with a deep love of global spirituality and the healing arts, her songwriting blends progressive folk with meditative undertones. Visit www.songsbyemilyhall.com to learn more!
rob Hinkal
rob Hinkal’s "Percussive, rhythmically driven guitar freely composites fingerpicking, classical melodies, running bass lines, harmonics, & hard-charging chords. [rob's] vocals are needled & gaunt, with the jittery energy of a dockyard stray on speed ...” – Allzah https://www.ilyaimy.com/
Ross Martin
Over-educated singer-songwriter, Ross Martin, crafts lyrics-forward songs ranging from gut-busting to heart-wrenching — always thought-provoking. His eclectic-acoustic fingerpicking style covers many genres with clear influences from David Wilcox, Peter Meyer, and Ellis Paul.
Learn more about Ross and his music at:
YouTube:
“Put the Patient First” https://youtu.be/5dYn4eTS1pk
“More Than a Memory” https://youtu.be/Op_36X4G0WI
Gabrielle Zwi
Gabrielle Zwi is a 22-year-old community organizer, singer-songwriter and Bossa Nova/Jazz performer in the Washington, DC area. https://www.facebook.com/gabriellezwi.music
Annette Wasilik
Annette has been writing songs ‘from the heart and back again” ever since she found a Sears Silvertone abandoned in a tin wardrobe in the basement when she was 14. Her debut album, Songs from the Talking House won Contemporary Folk Recording of the Year from The Washington Area Music Association in 2016. Her 2020 recording, Love & Fire released at #6 on the FolkDJ chart and #1 on the NACC chart and landed #40 on Folk DJ chart for the year. She also runs “Local Cream”, a monthly performing songwriters’ showcase at Hank Dietle’s Tavern in Rockville Md. https://annettewasilik.com/home
We are a predominantly volunteer organization that provides performance opportunities for emerging and nationally touring singer-songwriters, and folk and acoustic musicians. We have provided an intimate setting for a listening audience since 2002, producing more than 500 shows in a variety of locations in DC, Maryland and Virginia to date.
Our vision is that live folk and acoustic music will be performed somewhere in the DC/Baltimore Metropolitan area every day. To achieve this, we work collaboratively with other folk and acoustic music nonprofit presenters, including local festivals.
We seek to present a variety of music not only to attract and serve diverse cultures, but to expose cultures to each other through music. What the folk tradition offers is a window to the world, an insight into the lives, attitudes, spirit and hardships of those who’ve lived it. And, at its best, contemporary folk song can do the same thing, shining a light on the events, the characters and the attitudes that shape our world so that, in time, the best of these songs will be absorbed into the tradition.
Folk music has a way of connecting everyone — performers and audiences, as well as the greater community. Folk music inspires us and lifts us up, crossing all socioeconomic lines and brings people together. At a folk concert, the audience not only listens; it is encouraged to participate in the making of the music by singing along; thus building a sense of community in the audience. People who sing together are likely to start talking to one another during the intermission and after the show. These newly forged connections can cross the boundaries of age and class.
Thus, FocusMusic invites you to join us in pursuit of building greater community among the residents of the greater DC/Baltimore area through the enjoyment of folk music.