This was a good year for the Three Stars feature. We got to talk with a lot of up and coming local musical acts who specialize in a variety of styles. We foresee great things happening for acts like Pree and Laughing Man, and we even talked to now-Grammy nominee Christylez. Here, we recount some of our favorite moments from Three Stars interviews we conducted this year. The most interesting and most inspiring moments from January through November are all listed below, as well as some hilarious quotes that you may have missed. more ›

When outsiders (or heck, even locals) think of D.C. music, dance bands don't exactly come to mind. There are a few acts that have added loops or synthesizers on top of jangly pop tunes or angular rock riffs, but straightforward dance bands aren't really around. Enter Lode Runner. They care about putting on an entertaining live rock show and putting on an intricately rump-shaking dance night with equal fervor. It probably comes as no surprise that singer/multi-instrumentalist Scott Bauer helps run Velodrome, which puts a DJ and a live band in the same room. There's a cerebral aspect to Lode Runner, as the music is very technically complex. But they take that technical complexity and try to run it in the same vein as Cut Copy, by mixing in new wave guitars with their electronic blips and steady drum beats. And on top of it all is Brock Boss' baritone, which is of a rare quality you might expect to hear from British post-punk outfits. Bauer, multi-instrumentalist Eddie Rodela and drummer Ken Quam took some time out to talk to DCist in Adams Morgan about the intricacies of their set up and songwriting process. more ›