DCist is proud to be an official media sponsor of Cultural Tourism DC’s free event this Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27: WalkingTown DC offers a wealth of free walking tours all weekend long to get Washingtonians out and discovering new things about their city and neighborhoods.
D.C.’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood has a rich history of live music performances. That tradition is one of many reasons groups like Hear Mt. Pleasant have been fighting to bring live music back to the neighborhood after a 10-year old ban was effectively put in place through the use of voluntary agreements that prohibit ABC licensed restaurants from offering live entertainment of any kind.
Seeking to bring some of Mt. Pleasant’s musical past to light for current residents, Mara Cherkasky, author of the book Images of America: Mount Pleasant, put together a group of fellow tour guides for Sunday’s A Musical Tour of Mount Pleasant. All you have to do to attend this free walking tour is show up at 2 p.m. on Sunday in front of the CVS on 14th Street NW, across from the Columbia Heights Metro station. And don’t forget to bring your camera to enter in DCist and Cultural Tourism DC’s photo contest.
Cherkasky took a few minutes to answer our questions about her tour this Sunday.
What attracted you to the idea of a musical tour of Mt. Pleasant?
I found lots of information on clubs on Mount Pleasant Street and nearby Irving and 14th streets when I was researching Mount Pleasant for the Heritage Trail and my book. Only a little bit could be used in each of those projects, and I thought a guided tour would be a fun way to tell these stories. I’m a musician, and so are many of my Mount Pleasant friends are musicians (or they’re otherwise involved in music), so it was easy to find people to talk about other types of music than what my research had dug up.
Given the history of live music in Mt. Pleasant, what do you think about the current struggle by Mt. Pleasant businesses to bring live music back to the neighborhood?
I’m all for it.
What’s your favorite thing about the tour?
We’ll be playing appropriate music (on an iPod with speakers) at each stop, and also showing old photos and other images.
What surprising information will people learn from this tour?
Mount Pleasant Street and 14th and Park Road once were prime spots to go hear hillbilly music!
If someone can only go on one tour on Sunday, why should they pick yours?
The tour will offer an opportunity to time-travel musically to the Mount Pleasant of the 1940s and forward to the more recent past. This is the first time we’ve tried something like this and so we’re very excited about making it happen.
Photo of Mt. Pleasant Street by adamsjp2010
