Here at DCist, we’re not trying to break music news. We’re not making an effort to tell you what’s going to be driving the indie kids crazy this time next year. But when it happens, well, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t pleased.

Now for the agenda.

Monday:
You know that if flakes fall, half of us will be doing our damnednest to stay away from roads, where flurries turn the normally competent into drooling mouth-breathers, and the other half will be hitting the bars, celebrating the day off tomorrow with evenings that culminate in drunken snowball fights and morning hangovers that fail to obscure the fact that only two inches fell and your boss is on the phone screaming at you to get to work, extra mad because last night he totaled his H2. All the same, it’s the holidays, and nothing gets you into the spirit like a night of holiday music. Tonight, the Kennedy Center presents a Merry Tuba Christmas, which it describes as “a salute to tuba and euphonium artists and teachers.” The touring performance has been around since 1973, and plays Christmas music arranged by American Composer Alec Wilder. The free show begins at 6:30.

Tuesday:
Speaking of the Kennedy Center, we caught Meredith Bragg and the Terminals (with a band expanded to include cello, organ, bass, trumpet, and glockenspiel) last week on the Millennium Stage, in a smooth, elegant performance that included material the group is preparing for a new EP. These guys get better every time we hear them, and we highly recommend their Tuesday show at Black Cat, where they open for indie popsters American Analog Set and Chris Brokaw. $10.

If you can’t make it to the Cat, we also officially plug Iota’s Tuesday show, where you can catch the quiet-ish Britrock act Shwa, out of Washington, DC. $10.