Why Gentrify?!

Thanks to all who left a post to qualify to win David Ford’s “Songs for the Road”!  The lucky winner of the CD is “Spence.”  Spence currently lives in Columbia Heights.  He’s hails from New Jersey, but has lived in DC for four years, attended George Washington University, and now works as an IT contractor in Rosslyn, VA.  Spence discovered Ford after a college friend, a fellow guitarist, told him about Ford last year, and says he was a fan instantly after the first listen.  Why Gentrify?! is happy to reward good taste, so congrats to Spence!

For the rest of you who didn’t win, you can still attend the concert tomorrow at the 9:30 Club at 7:30 and get the full David Ford effect.   Here’s one last video.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe7d7141m4Y&feature=related]

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqt6FoiQZl4&feature=related]

I’ve been talking about musician/singer David Ford for several days now.  He’ll be performing with headliner Augustana, seen in the video above (not bad huh?), at the 9:30 Club at 7:30 pm.  They will be joined by Wild Sweet Orange.  Cost is $15.

This is the final installment of the Why Gentrify?! interview with musician David Ford, who will appear at the 9:30 Club tomorrow, 5/22, with Augustana and the Wild Sweet Orange.  This is the last opportunity to post a comment on David Ford to be entered to win his album, “Songs for the Road,” for free!

MM:  How many times have you been to DC and how did you enjoy playing at the 9:30 Club?

DF:  [April's show at the 9:30 Club] was only my second show in DC.  I played at the Rock and Roll Hotel. [In 2006], I did a brief tour of the Capitol area.  I have a keen interest in politics and would like to see more of DC.

[The 9:30 Club] is a very nice, very good sounding club.  When things sound good, you get more confidence.  I like it to be cranked and a bit loud.

 [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZjXu6uxjAM&feature=related]

MightyMe:  Tell me more about the single “Go to Hell.”  What’s behind that song? 

David Ford:  “Go to Hell” is an old song, actually.  I wanted to use it as a bridge between my first and second albums.  Thematically, it is more with the first album.  It’s a slip take on wanting a second chance, kind of a lack of forgiveness song.  I’m kind of a forgiveness guy, but I think some things can’t be forgiven. 

MM: Does this song come from experience?

DF:  No, I would never be unfair or impolite [to women].  This is my version of a girl power anthem.  You know, against some philandering bastard. 

MM: Do you ever draw from your personal life and experiences in your songs?

DF:  I don’t write songs about myself.  I like to write from experience but not necessarily my own experience or what I’m going through in the here and now.  My life outside of music doesn’t get mixed with my life inside of music.

MM:  Is there anything else you’d like to tell potential fans and existing fans about your music?

DF:  I just encourage them to listen to my music and decide for themselves.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PcsfPPUsE]

–

WhyGentrify?! would like to thank David Ford, Amy Funke, and Original Signal Recordings (Independiente) for facilitating the interview.

X, a punk band from Los Angeles that formed in 1977 and whose first LP was produced by Doors’ keyboard player Ray Manzarek, will perform at the 9:30 Club tonight at 7:30 pm with fellow rockers, the Detroit Cobras (see video below). Cost is $25.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8ZhLBO9NZY]

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIicqULYhGw]

The Helio Sequence, an indie rock band from the Portland, Oregon area, will perform at the Black Cat at 9 pm with Pattern is Movement.  Cost is $10.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLBRUZOxnTw&feature=related]

Wye Oak, an indie rock duo from Baltimore, consisting of Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner, both in their early 20s, will perform at the Black Cat tonight at 9 pm. They’ll be joined by Dead Science and Yukon. Cost is $8.

Check out Stack drumming below. One handed drumming is pretty impressive, at least to a non-drummer such as myself. Seems like a good workout. What is the keyboard/synthesizer for? I don’t hear it.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQTt4JtLn9c&feature=related]

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSyxy-gjboM]

Red Racer, the local DC quartet that creates “pop-addicted rock and roll,” will perform at the Black Cat with Mother at 9 pm.  Cost is $8.

Saturday, May 10, 2008, 7:30PM, Lincoln Theatre, Cost is $40
Us Helping Us
Black Mother’s Day Gospel Concert
Dorothy Norwood & Friends Perform at the 5th Annual Black Mother’s Day Gala. Affectionately known as “The World’s Greatest Storyteller,” Dorothy Norwood’s soulful vocals and uplifting delivery have made her a trailblazing pioneer and living legend of modern Gospel music.

“Funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrLJvDoM27M&feature=related]

Take a blast to the past, circa 1967. The Electric Prunes are an experimental psychedelic rock band from the 1960s. The disappeared for a good 30 years, but have now regrouped. And, you have an opportunity to see them perform tonight at the Black Cat at 9 pm. They’ll be joined by indies rock band (The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope, parentheses and all. The cost for the show is $15.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZZfuCJ970w]

I know you remember ’80s Aussie band, Crowded House, of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” fame. If not watch the video, it’ll ring a bell. Anyway, they are now reunited and will be performing at the 9:30 Club at 7 pm. The cost is $45.