Tuesday night open mics at Takoma Spark.
School of Musical Traditions | 7112 Willow Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912 | signup at 6.30pm, music at 7pm
Sponsored in conjunction with Institute of Musical Traditions AT School of Musical Traditions, down the street from HOUSE of Musical Traditions, this is a rare thing : a small LISTENING ROOM open mic. The evening is free, but every night we have a featured artist and we hope that you can support them by tipping or purchasing merch!
Tonight w featured artist Song Riot.
Takoma Park-based Song Riot aren’t your average guitar and accordion duo. They mix genres like a good barkeeper mixes cocktails: with abandon. A cool jazz standard one minute, a rousing Celtic number the next, and that’s just for starters. Yet it all sounds of a piece, anchored by a passion for songs featuring strong melodies, a potential for musical exploration, and words that say something.
It all began during the pandemic, when accordionist Andrew Marcus’s son became enamored with local children’s entertainer Mr. Gabe (aka singer and guitarist Gabe Hutter) via the latter’s weekly Zoom shows. When the two men finally met, Marcus offered his services, thinking he was about to become a children’s music star. But Hutter had something else in mind, and he and Marcus began working up a repertoire for adult audiences. In 2023, Song Riot began appearing at local festivals, restaurants, and neighborhood events throughout the DC area.
For their featured-artist debut at the Open Spark, Song Riot are delighted to be joined by veteran folk musician Paul Oorts on mandolin.
This is NOT a restaurant so bring your own food or drink if you want to eat or drink! We have a house keyboard, but it’s a small space, unable to support acts larger than a quartet, and no drumkits. 2 songs, 10 minutes, 1 pun – whichever’s shorter. We webcast Live on Facebook.com/robsopenmics, YouTube.com/robsopenmics and Twitch.tv/ilyaimy