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, we're mixing it up a bit, bringing in the DC band Heaven Forbid playing a set after Annette & Rich.
This month features:
DC's Heaven Forbid, "Country Music for city people".
Photo: Chris Suspect
City Paper: Paul Veracka
https://www.instagram.com/heavenforbiddc/
The band pull from all decades and genres of country. “There’s a lot of this music we really love, and we wanted to share that with others,” says Stern. “Gram Parsons was playing old country classics and adding some new stuff in a hybrid that wasn’t exactly like the scene at the time.”
A typical Heaven Forbid show is filled with originals such as “Lonesome DC Cowboy,” about heartbreak in the city, alongside Grateful Dead covers. The audience’s many cowboy hats, glittery pearl snaps, and boots are also part of the high-concept act.
Their debut show was a set opening for the North Country in February 2020 at DC9, where Heaven Forbid played with a rotating group of musicians, backup singers, and a fog machine. But that was their only show in that format, as COVID-19 soon reared its head and shuttered music venues. In the throes of the pandemic, Dave and Bry played together and practiced harmonizing on Dave’s front porch. The rest of the band soon joined up, learning and writing songs by a campfire in the backyard.
When the band could play live again, they debuted a monthly showcase, All Hat, No Cattle, at the now-defunct Northeast venue the Public Option. Inspired by Chicago’s Cosmic Country Showcase (known for its special guest performers, outfits, and kitsch), All Hat was conceived as a variety show of sorts that coalesced into a western-themed night out.
“We kind of had our run of the place,” Bry says. “We created a half-off policy if you came in western wear. So, we got a lot of folks who I don’t think were already familiar with us but were excited to get out on the town and show off their cowboy hats.”
“It’s an open and not-toxic version of a roadhouse, where it’s safe for everybody. That’s very important to all of us,” Tommy adds.
For a recent iteration of All Hat, the band built a stage upstairs at Jackie Lee’s. But capacity was much smaller than the large audiences they were beginning to pull. “A lot of people want to come out and boot scoot,” Bry says. So now the group are looking for a new venue to host the popular (and growing) monthly extravaganza.
Annette Wasilik is a DC born award-winning singer songwriter, now living in Takoma Park. Her first release in 2016, Songs from the Talking House, won Contemporary Recording of the Year from the Washington Area Music Association. Her 2020 album was #1 and #6 on the NACC (National College and Community) and FolkDJ charts and landed at #40 for the year. Her song "The World is on Fire" was the closing song of Chicago DJ, Lilli Kuzma's 3-hour wrap-up of the year and her "Almost" was Baton Rouge DJ, Ken Nagelberg's #2 Song of the Year. She curates and hosts Local Cream as a labor of love bringing local and regional songwriters together every first Wednesday of the month at the beautifully renovated venue, Hank Dietle's Tavern in Rockville Md.
Rich Morey is an award-winning songwriter and guitarist from Laurel Md. He and Annette are forming a duo and this will be their debut performance.