After the Washington City Paper acknowledged the Black Cat near the top of the pack in its 2008 best-of category for dance clubs — right up there with monosyllabic sweat-halls Town and Love — the Cat had a crisis of conscience. For some time now, most Friday and Saturday nights have been guaranteed to be themed dance nights with names like Mousetrap, Bliss, Homo/Sonic, Cryfest, and CATatonia. That means choice weekend slots not reserved for acts like Edie Sedgwick, Civilians, Buildings, Medications, Equinox — District rock ‘n’ roll groups. Could the Cat spare a little change for D.C. bands?
To burnish its reputation as the District’s premiere rock showcase venue, the Black Cat decided to chalk off every second Saturday of the month on the schedule for local groups. Ted Leo played an acoustic set to kick off the series last month. And while he’s no longer a Capital City rocker, picking a star with strong ties to D.C. sent the right message for a program designed to take it back to roots.
The second installment of Second Saturday might well be considered its official kickoff, when Pow Wow headlines for its second concert ever. You might not know the songs, but you’re bound to recognize the sound: Pow Wow is the latest effort by one of D.C.’s favorite daughters, Mary Timony. The start-stop dynamics, fuzzy guitar, and middle-distance shoegaze are all there, but this time Timony is joined by some longtime collaborators: Jonah Takagi, who plays his own guitar (more on that in a second) and Winston Yu, who plays keys. The three share songwriting credits and are joined by Darren Zentek on drums.
Pow Wow plays at the Black Cat back stage Saturday, January 10, with True Womanhood. Doors 8 p.m., $8. DCist talked with Mary Timony and wound up with an interview with Timony and Takagi about the new band, old bands, and homemade instruments.
How did Pow Wow come together?
Mary Timony: Jonah, Winston, and I have been jamming together for kind of a while. We used to just get together and do total improv jams, on and off for about a year. We kind of took a little break. We just started doing it again and suddenly we’re like, “We just have to do shows.” I guess Jonah—this is what happened. I was burned out on doing solo stuff and just taking a break from writing music at all. And Jonah started writing a bunch of songs. I guess that made me motivated, and I started writing songs. We got together with Winston and just started making music. It’s pretty organic. It sort of happened. Jonah and I are dating, and Winston’s our best friend, and we hang out all the time—so this comes out of our friendship.
