Marylanders, never fear, the folk is here. And the blues, jazz, and country for that matter. According to WTOP, the Birchmere, a Northern Virginia mainstay, will be setting up shop across the river. Plans are underway for a Birchmere II in the ever-developing Silver Spring downtown. It will complement the existing Alexandria location, allowing for more fun, more old people getting out, and most importantly twice as much Devendra Banhart.

Birchmere owners said the Montgomery location interested them because traffic makes it difficult for Marylanders to go to Virginia for concerts. A group of residents also pressured the county to bring the Birchmere to Silver Spring.

“People are starving for this kind of entertainment,” said Dan Cohen, who helped create the citizens’ group Silver Spring Forward.

We are assuming this new site will cater to an older crowd with its traditional line-ups, but given the oft-heard complaints about a lack of rock venues in Montgomery and Price George’s county, we’d love to be proven wrong.

It is also unclear how they will share acts between their venues or whether they will use expansion as an opportunity to start merchandising. Birchmere’s owners will have plenty of time to decide, as it isn’t expected to open until 2009.