Despite what they say about first impressions, in music it’s the second impression that can be the most important. Call it what you want, the sophomore jinx or the sophomore slump, the second album determines whether an artist can match his or her first effort or even grow beyond it. D.C.-based artist Laura Tsaggaris (suh Gair iss) must’ve spent the four years between her 2005 debut Proof and her newest record, Keep Talking, thinking…

So suddenly it’s chilly? Yesterday we were all sweaty messes, but today, with highs predicted to stay in the 60s, we’re wearing sweaters. All this temperature-related confusion has led us to look longingly at the Southwest Airlines web site, since the airline finally began service from Dulles this morning. Cheap flights to Vegas are looking pretty sweet. And while we’re of course very sad to be reminded of the demise of our hometown airline, we…

For those of you that don’t know, Six Points is a D.C. music festival in its third year, hosted at venues in and around the city, including the Black Cat, Jammin Java, the State Theater, The Mansion at Strathmore and more. This year’s lineup was announced yesterday on the festival’s blog. The GOG Blog has an interesting take on the festival, namely, that the bands selected are all homogeneous and don’t represent the full spectrum…

It’s been a fun three months for us here on the DCist music staff, ever since we debuted the Three Stars local music feature. We’ve been to lots of shows, heard tons of great music, and discovered just how many great acts there are out there in the Washington area. And we’re only just getting started. As we said in the first Three Stars ever, we’re going to keep doing this until we run out…

This is the final installment of this go-round of Three Stars. On Tuesday we featured Alcian Blue, and yesterday we reviewed the album Proof, by Laura Tsaggaris. Today we tackle Meredith Bragg and the Terminals. Three Stars will return in November. Meredith Bragg and the Terminals When the first breaths of autumn blow into the city, darkening its leaves and skies, DCist reaches for a certain subset of our album collection, records reserved for cool,…

This week’s version of Three Stars continues today with a review of Proof, the debut album of singer-songwriter Laura Tsaggaris. Yesterday we looked at Alcian Blue, and tomorrow Three Stars concludes with a dicussion of Meredith Bragg and the Terminals. Proof, by Laura Tsaggaris It is said that a singer-songwriter with a major label deal is like a mule with a spinning-wheel. Nobody knows how he got it, and damned if he knows how to…

This week Three Stars returns to feature three interesting local acts. On Wednesday, we try something new and review the album Proof, by Laura Tsaggaris. On Thursday, DCist looks into the work of Meredith Bragg and the Terminals. Today we discuss the band Alcian Blue. Alcian Blue Alcian Blue is the kind of band you know right away. You know them when you see their name. You know them when you visit their website, and…