Laura Burhenn has a beautiful voice. Pure, strong, clear, emotive. I've heard her live many times before, both as part of Georgie James and in solo performances, but her voice may never have sounded so astoundingly lovely as it did inside the acoustically perfect Sixth & I Historic Synagogue last night. And when Adele took the stage after her opener, she put the talented Burhenn to shame. Adele turned 20 years old last month, and......

As the clock rolls down on 2007, we've done as bloggers tend to do and taken a look back. The DCist music staff scratched our chins, tapped our temples, and compiled a list of our favorite local acts of the year. Whether it was because they released a new album, had some great shows, or just finally wore us down with press releases, these are the D.C. musicians that really made us proud to call......

FRIDAY: >> Bay Area songstress Goapele’s (pictured) musical background is almost as diverse as her ethnic background. Born to a South African political exile father and a mother whose parents survived the Holocaust, she studied at the Berklee College of Music and later would form musical partnerships with the likes of hip-hop acts like the Hieroglyphics crew and E-40. However her 2005 release, Change It All, established her as especially talented when it comes to......

Monday >> It’s Saint Lucy’s Day! Hej Hej, the DJ night dedicated to Scandinavian pop and rock, is getting festive for this start of the Christmas season with drink specials and holiday hits in addition to their regular fare. Pop into Café St.-Ex in your finest crown of candles, and you might even get a free drink. 10 p.m., FREE. >> Le Loup are also celebrating tonight, in a homecoming of sorts for the local......

The Mancuso-Suzda Project, an adventurous local avant-garde jazz duo, is currently serving as artist-in-residence at Strathmore. The program selects a different local performer each month and provides educational and performance opportunities in order to cultivate local talent in the fine arts. Previous artists-in-residence include Laura Burhenn of Georgie James, jazz harmonicist Frédéric Yonnet, jazz percussionist Kush Abadey, singer/songwriter LEA, and Celtic harp player Lily Neill. Like so many groups these days, the Mancuso-Suzda Project came......

We were as surprised as anyone to discover we had never done a Three Stars feature on Georgie James. With a big, heralded entrance onto everyone's radar last year fueled by lots of live shows and an EP that won the hearts of pop lovers throughout the city, they became one of D.C.'s premiere bands. The band is driven by Laura Burhenn and John Davis (formerly of Q and Not U), doing their best take......

Good morning, Washington, and welcome to a world of omnipresent peril. That's what it seems like, anyway, given the constant stream of recalls that we've been facing lately. This morning's additions to the list of things that are trying to kill you and your family: children's cribs and Mattel toys. Oh, and microwave popcorn — but then, that stuff's so delicious that you probably already suspected its deadliness. Firefighter Sex Ring Press Conference: WUSA......

FRIDAY: >> We told you all about the Buzzlife White Party at Five yesterday, so follow the link for more details. >> ArtOutlet presents its first ever Flash animation film festival, called Flick, at Warehouse. Tim Bracken opens the event with an alt-country set at 7 p.m., with screenings from selected artists beginning at 8. $5 suggested donation, also Saturday. SATURDAY: >> Like we mentioned in this week's music agenda, the artwork of Mingering Mike,......

Good morning D.C., and thanks for sticking with us. We realize that there may be some confusion about our legal status as a website in light of our failure, to date, to post the HD-DVD decryption key that 95% of the web seems to now be busy defiantly reproducing. Rest assured: we are still an internet website. As soon as we figure out a way to photoshop the 16-byte hexadecimal number into a picture......

MONDAY >> A year ago, Rolling Stone called The Whigs one of ten bands to watch and "the best unsigned band in America." The Athens, GA trio has since been taking their pure rock-and-roll on the road in support of Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip, winning comparisons to the Replacements, the Strokes, REM, and the Drive-By Truckers along the way. The break hasn't come yet, but we've got a feeling it could......

Monday >> This past December, Matthew Ryan released his latest album, From A Late Night High-Rise, a collection of songs inspired by the death of his friend and the sentencing of his brother to 30 years in prison. Tonight you can experience his acoustic contemplations on stage at Iota Club with Tim Easton. 8:30 p.m., $12. >> Do you want to see Silver Spring's Flaming Cooters? Did you ever think you would hear those words......

If you're sitting at your desk thinking, "I'd really like to spend tonight watching a handful of the most talented people to ever produce music in D.C. or anywhere come together on one stage," then you're in luck. The 9:30 Club is hosting some of the most talented products of our fair city tonight. Headlining the night is Dust Galaxy, the Theivery Corporation side project that's been making blog waves since the fall. Rob......

TUESDAY >> There isn't much going on today, but you might want to check out Black Cat's backstage screening of the 2005 documentary New York Dolls: All Dolled Up. Photographer Bob Gruen followed the band during the early 1970s and shot performances in venues all across the U.S. We expect plenty of sex, drugs and that other thing that comes after drugs. Kittens? $3, 9 p.m. WEDNESDAY >> The Alphabetical Order let us know that......

Monday >> Not every band can pull off the feat of traveling with and playing a turn of the century Vittrolio Grammaphone, playing the saw, or convincing you that the theramin is a real instrument. But Portland band Norfolk and Western seem to be bear this burden with ease and a bit of quirk. This band plays a mix of folksy, whimsical and occassionaly dark rock music, using an eclectic array of instruments and revolving......

Call us slightly obsessed. Yesterday we responded to a recent Pitchfork news piece in which +/- (Plus Minus) lists Ben’s Chili Bowl as one of their favorite hangouts whenever they are performing in D.C., with recommendations of some of our preferred local eateries. We thought even more about the subject and came up with a better idea. Who would be better at recommending pre- and post-show hangouts than local musicians? So we e-mailed a few......

The members of Dead Meadow were born in the wrong decade. While the D.C. scene of the ‘80s and ‘90s revolved around harDCore punk, typified by bands like Fugazi and Rites of Spring, the future members of Dead Meadow found themselves drawn to the Zeppelin-style hard rock of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Jason Simon, Mark Laughlin, and Steve Kille played separately in bands on the periphery of the D.C. music scene, including......

MONDAY >>Two turntables and a…slide rule? If you thought nerdcore hip-hop was isolated to Weird Al’s latest hit, you were wrong. Two of the genre’s best known artists, Optimus Rhyme and MC Frontalot, bring in tha geekiness to The Red & The Black tonight. What better way to gear up for the new Transformers movie than by listening to someone rap about it? $8 >>School’s in after summer, and Alice Cooper is taking a break......

Over the past few years, Carol Bui has been working hard building a following for her inventive and emotive post-punk. After a summer spent in the studio recording the follow-up to her highly praised debut, This is How I Recover, Bui's show at next week's DAM!Fest kicks off three weeks of touring that will take her as far west as Madison, Wisconsin. Bui's reputation for excellent live shows precedes her, and material from the new......

Written by DCist Contributor Abby Lavin Acerbic campaign ads, Redskins season, pumpkin ice cream from Max’s…it’s officially autumn. And what better way to commemorate Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday night than with a sundry cornucopia of local music at the Rock and Roll Hotel? Jazzy songstress Laura Burhenn and indie collective Meredith Bragg and the Terminals are two acts you wouldn’t expect to share a bill with heavy-rock trio Dead Meadow. But together, the three rising......

As a rather fervent concert goer, I've been watching my October Outlook calendar with alternating excitement and dread as my concert calendar gets more and more crowded. This all came to a head yesterday as I started putting in the DAMfest schedule and noticed a whole bunch of scheduling conflicts in the making. Area indie rock fans are going to have some tough choices to make the last full week of October. Thursday, Oct.......

Benjy Ferree is a seasoned local musician of whom you may not yet know. While he regularly plays local gigs, you will surely never be met head on with advertisements promoting his next show unlike other bands in D.C. -- his music already speaks loudly enough for him. Fans of Ferree’s music will attest to his robust voice and his ability to paint a warm emotional picture with his folk rock music and vivid lyrics......

MONDAY >>West Coast represent! Hailing from Los Angeles, the five-man hip hop collective Jurassic 5 will be bringing their easy-to-swallow beats to the 9:30 Club with the Brooklyn-based X-Clan. $25.00, 7:30 p.m. TUESDAY >> Three Stars alums The Roosevelt (***) might play some tunes off their upcoming EP when they rock DC9 with The Subjects and NOVA's very own The Beanstalk Library. Support your local "The" bands. $8. >> Dave Grohl returns to the city......

Written by DCist contributor Ian Buckwalter D.C. music fans still lamenting the loss last fall of Q and not U had two reasons to celebrate last night. Not only was Georgie James, Q drummer John Davis' new project with Laura Burhenn, playing yet another DC-area show, but they were playing with Scottish twee darlings Camera Obscura, who are so good at doing the "Belle and Sebastian thing" that it's quite possible they may do it......

Tomorrow night at DC9, Unbuckled will feature Deleted Scenes, discussed on the site yesterday, and Georgie James, a new collaboration between John Davis, formerly of Q and Not U, and Laura Burhenn. You can read about the band and listen to their (excellent) songs here. Today, we talk to Davis, who was kind enough to take a few of our questions. Questions for Georgie James: So, it wasn't that long after Q and Not U......

Today, the Post breaks out its election coverage for the races that yesterday went to the polls in Virginia. There are plenty of angles to consider but a few stories stand out. For one, it appears that Herndon voters didn't appreciate support for immigrants, as they yesterday unseated those who backed the public day-labor center constructed there (in fact, only 3,000 folks voted yesterday, suggesting that those with particularly strong feelings on the matter were......

No matter how good you are, you're always at the mercy of the sound system. Two very good bands, The Joggers and Georgie James worked a capacity crowd at the Black Cat backstage last night. Unfortunately both performances suffered from technical difficulties and, in the case of the Joggers, a bonus hangover. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, the Joggers make a broken bottleneck meets deliverance kind of rock. In 2003, the band released their debut LP,......

MONDAY >> As far as rock history is concerned, the name Ray Davies is right up there with names like Paul McCartney and Sly Stone. He led one of the 60s' most important bands, The Kinks, and continued to be prominent throughout the years, stopping along the way to have a daughter with Chrissie Hynde, write short stories and a memoir, and get shot in the leg. Now he's touring in promotion of his brilliant......

MONDAY >> Get your Zydeco just in time for Mardis Gras! CJ Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band bring their Grammy award-winning act to the Birchmere. Whether they play their classic upbeat sound, or their Katrina-inspired latest recordings, it's sure to be a worthwhile show. 7:30 p.m., $19.50. >> If you prefer the funk, or you just really liked PCU, head to 9:30 for George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic Allstars. 7:30 p.m., $40.......

Welcome to Day 2 of February's Three Stars. Yesterday we spent some time with The Hint, tomorrow we'll talk to Shortstack, and today we're featuring The Apparitions. A slight disclaimer before we get started: The Apparitions are not exactly a D.C. band. However, their lead singer lives here and the band held their album release party here last week. Since they're sure to be major presence at local venues in the coming months, we bring......

In yesterday's first installment of January Three Stars, you met Hello Tokyo. Today we're covering local guitarist/singer Mike Holden, and tomorrow we'll round things out with Ris Paul Ric (aka Chris Richards). Mike Holden We saw Mike Holden play this past Friday at Revolution Records, where he was promoting his EP, Level, alongside Sara Kryscio. His music is equal parts rock and folk. The guitar playing is mostly in the folk sphere, and his vocals......