Being residents of the DMV, we are lucky enough to have great music nearly every night of the week at a wide variety of world-class venues.  Big names make the D.C area a must on their tour date schedule.  Another thing that the area has a lot of, is local artists who are incredibly talented.  Local podcast and radio host of DC Music Rocks, Brian Nelson-Palmer is a huge fan of the people and music that come out of our area and is helping others to discover and become the same.  

Brian originally started the show​ in order to “shine a spotlight on the great songs, artists and incredible people behind the DC music scene” and he has managed to do just that.  With more than 400 local music acts in his directory, along with a calendar that is packed full of chances to check out a new act, Brian’s 10,000 plus followers can never say that opportunity is something that is lacking.  Brian’s following and reach have grown so much so, that on August 18^th the second DC Music Rocks Festival is coming to 9:30 Club boasting a great lineup that spans multiple music genres.  ​He first was given the opportunity in 2017 to put on a festival and impressed the right people enough to​ almost immediately get an offer to host a year two. 

This year, attendees will be treated to the sounds of Black Dog Prowl, Allthebestkids, Fellowcraft, Pebble to Pearl and Kid Brother and just like last year, it will be something incredibly special.  Fellowcraft's JR MacDonald said this about the D.C. Music Scene, “The DC scene wills itself to exist almost solely on the commitment its artists have to cultivating not just their art, but their community.  DC Music Rocks, to my knowledge, is the only musically centered project in DC that is 100% designed and curated around the promotion and celebration of local acts. It’s gained thick roots in this city in my opinion for the aforementioned reasons. The scene supports itself, and DC Music Rocks is a product of the love, solidarity, and kindness that this city propagates. It was a natural extension of itself. Shows in DC are frequently diverse, and genre blended. This allows us to meet so many different kind of people. It’s far more common to see an Indie Shoegaze, Dream Synth Pop, Power Pop, and Hardcore Punk band take the same stage during the course of a show if you're in DC.”

Important to fans and artists alike, this festival represents the DMV and the plethora of what live music junkies love – the opportunity to find a new sound that they can enjoy and appreciate.  Cody Valentine of Allthebestkids, a ten person hip pop psyche rock band from the future, as he described it had a great point about why this festival is such a big deal.  “It's important to have this type of festival because it helps everyone get over the stigma of local music.  People think that you need the million dollar marketing and studio engineering budget of a mega star to be a credible artist. You absolutely don’t. The local scene is thriving with incredible talent. That talent may be judging themselves right now because only 10 or 50 or 100 people come out to their show. What they don’t realize is that those 10 - 50 - 100 people represent a sizable portion of the local music consumers. They might have 10% of the people that care about local dc music at a show, but wouldn't realize it because of the standards that have been set by big multibillion dollar record labels/factories. An event like this gives local bands something to shoot for, and it gives the local dc music consumer something to appreciate.  The fact that it's in the INCREDIBLE 9:30 Club is the neon bow that makes this all come together in its highest form.”

Taking the time to appreciate not only music, but local music is what keeps the interest of countless fans and encourages other young musicians to pursue their goals of starting a band to add to the already rich, local D.C. music scene.  Thanks to Brian and this festival, the recognition will continue to grow and thrive, shining a spotlight on some very impressive talent.

To learn more and buy tickets for the festival, please visit their event page here.