“Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration” is a free, three-day concert taking place on the grounds of the Washington Monument from Friday, Sept. 23 to Sunday, Sept. 25. Co-produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the event ushers in the opening of the Smithsonian’s newest museum Sept. 24.

President Obama is expected to preside over the opening ceremony on the 24th, cutting the ribbon for a museum that was established as an Act of Congress in 2003.

Other performers on the bill include Stax Music Academy, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, 9th Wonder, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Josh White Jr., Dom Flemons, the McIntosh County Shouters and Jean Carne. D.C.-area dance groups the National Hand Dance Association and Urban Artistry also appear on the bill.

“The themes of the festival highlight the social power of African American music as a communicator of cultural values, challenges, aspirations and creative expression,” concert co-curator Mark Puryear says in a press release.

“Freedom Sounds” will run Friday, Sept. 23 from noon to 5 p.m. and the following Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Complete lineup and schedule information can be found on the museum’s website.

More on the National Museum of African American History and Culture:

• WAMU’s interview with Founding Director Lonnie Bunch
• Lonnie Bunch on the Kojo Nnamdi Show
• How The Smithsonian Is Building Its New, Sweeping Collection Of Black American Music
• Death Has Been Called the First Punk Band. Now They’re in the Smithsonian
• Smithsonian Acquires Collection of Classic Hip-Hop Photos
• J Dilla’s Gear Is Headed to the Smithsonian
• Inside the Creation of the Smithsonian’s African American Museum

In the video for Rare Essence’s 1992 hit single, he’s front and center in a white Norfolk State sweatshirt, commanding you to “Work the Walls.” In the video for “Lock It,” released the same year, he’s in denim shorts, leading a ferocious front line. He’s Donnell “D” Floyd, the go-go talker and saxophonist who fronted Essence for nearly 20 years, and now leads Team Familiar.

Floyd helped write Rare Essence’s most enduring songs: “Body Snatchers,” “Uh Oh (Heads Up)” and “Overnight Scenario,” plus “Lock It” and “Work the Walls.” Critics say today’s go-go bands have failed to deliver the same caliber of original tunes that the scene’s luminaries once did. That’s one reason Team Familiar, Floyd’s band since 2001, is taking part in Go-Go New Music Day. The first annual event kicked off today.

But while Go-Go New Music Day strives to smash perceptions that go-go has run out of ideas, its primary mission is to honor the genre’s founder, the late Chuck Brown. Floyd, who performed with Brown in the past, says he’s proud of Team Familiar’s role in maintaining the go-go innovator’s legacy.

To mark Go-Go New Music Day, Floyd’s band Team Familiar dropped a hard-edged track called “Straight to the Bar,” joining a range of other groups releasing new music, including The Chuck Brown Band, Be’la Dona, Backyard Band and Junkyard Band.

Team Familiar has long billed itself as a “grown and sexy” group, but “Straight to the Bar” reminds fans how versatile the ensemble — which features two members of The Chuck Brown Band and six expats from Rare Essence, including Floyd — really is. Uptempo, body-shaking numbers such as this one balance out their sultry R&B covers. Floyd says he’d like to record a whole album of originals, which the group hasn’t done since their early years, when they were still called 911. There’s just one problem.

“It seems to me a good while ago radio abandoned go-go,” Floyd says. “When you spend upwards of $15,000 to 20,000 in the studio and radio doesn’t support it, it’s very difficult to get the money back from it.”

Go-Go New Music Day doesn’t necessarily clear that roadblock — participating bands are releasing their new music digitally, and much of it isn’t available online yet — but the event draws attention to the fresh and vibrant sounds still emerging from the scene.

At a Team Familiar show, it doesn’t feel like go-go is in a rut. Onstage, vocalists Ms. Kim, Marquis “Quisy” Melvin and Frank “Scooby” Sirius hit the high notes, with Sirius and Melvin launching into the occasional falsetto battle between choreographed dance routines. A roar emerges from the back of the stage, as a grinning “Jammin’” Jeff Warren flicks his sticks on the trap drum set, Milton “Go Go Mickey” Freeman slaps the congas and Eric “Bojack” Butler wails on his timbales.

Floyd, meanwhile, seems as lively as he was in those ‘90s music videos, leading vocal chants, shouting out audience members and deftly guiding the band with hand gestures.

Floyd has a flair for the dramatic. In 2015, he organized an anniversary show for Team Familiar vocalist Ms. Kim, a 20-year veteran of the scene. She performed from a regal throne upholstered with red fabric. At Floyd’s own 30th anniversary gig at the Howard in 2013, band members rocked the grooves while situated on scaffolding above the stage, like Hollywood Squares.

“Donnell has always been that visual, let’s-be-extravagant-as-I-can type of theatrical guy,” says keyboardist Byron “BJ” Jackson. “He brought [shows] to life.”

But Floyd — whose busy schedule includes working a job at Verizon — believes in routine, too. He has a time-tested regimen onstage.

“Most places we play at, we play three sets. It’s a graduation type of deal,” he says. “We start off instrumentally with a nice, laid-back set. … Our second set we play a little more aggressive as people are getting their drinks and getting adjusted, and our third set is the most aggressive, as the audience has finished their drinks and they’re ready to party.”

This method helps Team Familiar fill local clubs every night from Wednesday through Sunday, whether they’re playing originals or current R&B hits. Meanwhile, it doesn’t sound like Floyd intends to abandon covers anytime soon. That would be going against tradition, he says.

“People were saying on the Internet that go-go has changed and is only now doing…cover tunes,” says Floyd. “But it seems like to me go-go has always had lots of cover tunes.” He points to Chuck Brown’s “Go-Go Swing” and “Run Joe,” both covers that the legend turned into signatures.

Despite criticism from some go-go fans and outsiders not keen on covers, the music still finds new ears and fervent appreciation, even from out-of-towners.

“I love D.C. people more than I can ever express, but I really enjoy watching people who haven’t grown up with go-go, enjoying go-go. This isn’t the normal, but they still think it’s great,” Floyd says. “Meaning, maybe we aren’t crazy to be still playing it after 35 or 40 years.”

A Go-Go New Music Day concert takes place at Howard Theatre May 14.

That’s because the most likely candidate for D.C.’s song of the summer comes from a homegrown band with “real” instruments and 40 years of history: Rare Essence.

“Turn It Up” is the newest single from the beloved D.C. band, and it’s a crusher. In rock terms, it slays. In millennial terms, it’s 10 fire emojis, at minimum. And naturally, that was the idea, says founding Rare Essence member Andre “Whiteboy” Johnson.

“It’s a club record — uptempo. There’s a beat that we play on this record, and everybody seems to love that beat,” says the 53-year-old.

DJ Kool of “Let Me Clear My Throat” fame guests on “Turn It Up,” which melds old-school, swinging go-go with hard-charging bounce beat. When Kool screams, “If you ridin’ in your car now, turn it up!” you’d be wise to comply. Better yet, pull over.

“Turn It Up” is also the name of Rare Essence’s new album, the band’s first studio full-length in 15 years. It’s out today, one day before the ensemble headlines D.C.’s Funk Parade. Rare Essence commissioned muralist Aniekan Udofia to design the record’s vivid cover, and they just dropped a lively and star-studded “Turn It Up” video, directed by Joseph Pattisall and produced by Roger Gastman. (Watch it above.)

In advance of the new album, Johnson talked to Bandwidth about his initial fear of rocking a mic, the limited rewards of a cover song and Rare Essence’s revived attempt to take over the country.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Bandwidth: Turn It Up is your first studio album in 15 years. Why did you decide to release a new record now?

Andre “Whiteboy” Johnson: What we’ve been doing for the past 15 years is mainly just doing live recordings, because those are quick to turn around. But we decided that we wanted to try to get out on the national playing field. … When we were trying to reach out to radio stations outside of the DMV area, they’re not so quick to play a live record. They really want studio records more.

The last time we talked to you, Rare Essence was about to be the first-ever go-go band to play South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. What was that experience like?

That was great. I knew it was gonna be good, but it was better than I thought. Because everybody that was at the show — 90 percent of those people had never even heard of Rare Essence. But they partied with us like they had been listening to us for 20 years.

You’re the only original member of Rare Essence that’s still in the band. How does it feel playing with newer generations of musicians? 

A lot of the guys have been with us for a few years, but it’s cool. It helps to keep you on your toes because there’s a whole new perspective than what we started with. We were doing things one way and playing a certain type of music when we first started, but now it’s evolved into a bunch of other different things.

You’ve been around for 40 years. It seems like you’ve had no choice but to evolve.

[Laughs] Right. ‘Cause if you keep playing the same songs you were playing 35 years ago, I mean, people are bound to get tired of it. As great as the record may be, it’s gonna be like, “Oh, God… come on! Do something else!”

So that’s what we’ve been able to do, and we’ve been very blessed in that area to be able to come up with something new and creative that the people still like. They still love the classic songs, because we cannot get out of the building without playing “Work the Walls,” “Lock It” or “Overnight Scenario.” But they want to hear the newer things as well.

I was talking to [Backyard Band leader] Big G about his band’s Adele cover, and he said some classic go-go bands aren’t big on covers. Rare Essence had its Ashlee Simpson cover, but your new album is all original. How do you feel about covers, generally?

Original music is what really gets you out there. Backyard doing a great job with that Adele cover — that brought a new energy to the Adele record for me. I love what they done with it. But that will only take them so far, like the Ashlee Simpson cover would only take us so far. To be able to get out there and do some originals — “Overnight Scenario” was original, “Lock It,” “Work the Walls” — they were all original, so they all have done much better.

Let’s go back in time for a minute. I watched the interview you recently did with Take Me Out to the Go-Go, and you talked about how you initially resisted getting behind the mic in Rare Essence.

Oh my goodness, I did not want to. I went into that kicking and screaming. There were many a night that the managers and the band was in the back room giving me a pep talk — “Come on man, you can do it. Let’s go. We got all these people out there waiting on you.” And I’m sitting back there saying, “Nope, I’m not going out there, I’m not doing it.” ‘Cause it was a frightening experience to come from — I was kind of the band director. I was more in between the front line guys and the band. For me to move from that position up to the lead mic and I’m actually running the show, it was absolutely terrifying.

Plus, I knew the fact that [former Rare Essence talker] James Funk at that time was the MVP. Everybody wanted to hear Funk, and nobody wanted to hear me. That’s what scared me the most. People were looking at me like, “What are you doing? Why are you up here? We didn’t even know you could talk.”

How did you acclimate to it?

The crowd sort of changed a bit. All of the old-school [fans] that really liked James Funk, they kind of phased out, and the new crowd that was more into myself and Donnell Floyd started to be the normal audience. So with Donnell and I doing a tag-team type of thing, we were grooming our own audience. Now, we still get a lot of the old-school people to come out to support — especially when we bring James Funk in as a featured artist. Then we get both audiences [old and new].

Rare Essence is headlining Funk Parade this year. What are your expectations for that gig? 

Oh, man. We played a Funk Parade pre-show last year, and it’s a completely different audience. I didn’t realize that alternative audience was into funk music like that. It’s crazy. They know the records! They know the songs. [Laughs] But it’s great, though, because they have a good time when they come out.

Have you ever had a white-collar day job?

I haven’t. No.

So music is your life’s work.

Yeah! I’ve been extremely blessed to be able to do that. The last job I had was McDonald’s when I was 18 and I was trying to buy a car.

That’s amazing. 

Yeah. I’ve been extremely blessed, for real.

There’s been a lot of talk about problems facing go-go, like a diminishing supply of venues. What do you think about the health of the scene now? 

I think the scene is in danger, but the audience always finds a way to help keep this music alive. We’ve gone through this type of thing before — in the ’80s and the ’90s — but we’re still here. We have a lot less venues than we did back then, but we’re still here.

As long as the audience is involved — and they’ve proven that they’re gonna be here, after 30 or 40 years — they’ve just been terrific [about] supporting the music. So we believe that the music will survive. But we want to really be thriving as opposed to just surviving. That’s the idea behind putting out this new record.

Rare Essence plays May 7 at the Funk Parade in D.C. More show listings on rareessence.com.

Anderson .Paak

BJ the Chicago Kid

Nag Champa

Rare Essence

Rock Creek Social Club

The Internet

Future

Stay woke

All photos by Michael Andrade

Take it from Michelle Blackwell and Gerald Lattimore, two accomplished go-go artists who told me they rarely — if ever — play to stone-faced audiences here.

“Being in the crowd is a really unique experience when it comes to go-go,” Blackwell told me. “D.C. go-go crowds are, like, the opposite of subdued.”

That’s just one of many insights Blackwell dispensed during our conversation at her home in Maryland. The vocalist and band manager talked about the one thing go-go audiences never do — take a guess! — and how she took a stand against violence at her concerts, even when it ruffled feathers.

When Lattimore arrived at the house mid-conversation, we dug even deeper: A keyboardist in one of the most influential go-go groups ever, Junkyard Band, he dished on the unspoken rules and trade secrets of playing go-go music in and around D.C.

Here are snippets from our conversation.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

On the one thing go-go audiences never do:

Michelle Blackwell: The only thing that D.C. go-go audiences don’t do is clap. It’s probably just because the songs never end, so they’re not accustomed to the song stopping and then you clap. The music never ends [at a go-go show]. It starts, and 45 minutes later, then it ends. But between songs, the beat’s riding, and it transitions into the next song. So there’s no applause.

On discouraging violence at go-go shows:

MB: Whenever we went into a new venue, I always had a meeting with the security team to make sure that they understood that there were certain procedures we wanted them to follow. First, being, we didn’t allow any men [up front]. That front line has to be women. Because guys tend to be more rowdy sometimes, especially if they’ve been drinking.

Michelle Blackwell

And this was one of the things that I probably wasn’t the most popular for, but if there was a certain group of people that were always starting things — because we were so close with our crowd, we kind of knew who everybody was — we would ban them. They would be pissed off in the beginning, but they would come back and act like they had some sense.

So they kind of knew when they were coming to see [my group] WHAT? Band that that’s not something that we condone. You wanna puff your chest out, this was not the place for it. And I didn’t allow our band members to talk about guns and violence on the stage.

On Junkyard Band’s anti-fighting policy: 

Gerald Lattimore: One of our philosophies is one fight, good night. We have done that — we have literally stopped a show and that was it. People were mad.

But you can almost point to somebody and tell [who’s going to be a problem at a show]. Once we click the sticks, you can almost tell which section of the crowd that’s giving off the most energy. If you see a crowd bouncing around and they real hard and aggressive, why not place the security right there to calm it down?

“You’ve got the national acts now incorporating [go-go] music in their sets. You got Erykah Badu onstage singing ‘Sardines.'” —Gerald Lattimore of Junkyard Band

On how out-of-town audiences have responded to go-go: 

GL: Out of town, they treat you like celebrities. They want autographs, take pictures. And you can tell they don’t get the music that often. I’ll give you an example. We played in Danville, Virginia. I never even heard of Danville, Virginia. We played at this spot, it was about 600 people there. Where they come from? I don’t know. Our talker was like, “This might be one of them nights. These people might go crazy.” We did one song — “Loose Booty” — and the whole crowd sung [along]. I’m talking about all different races. It was wall to wall.

Out of town, they bring a strong energy. You go to towns that’s five or six hours away from D.C., they probably never been to D.C. But they probably get DJs that play the go-go, and they just be waiting on a band to come. And when they finally do show up, man, you talking epic crowds.

It’s almost like the whole world is shut down. In they neighborhood, the town is closed. Junkyard’s in town. Already closed the gas stations, we ain’t selling anymore Smoky Bites at the 7-11, everything is closed. We will open up the 7-11s and the Sheetz when the show is over with. It’s like, they just spent all they tax money, they EBT card is empty, they just bought they — I’m trying to tell you. They spent the child support check, the kids didn’t get no milk, they bought they fresh clothes, fresh ‘do… It’s crazy.

On the power of call and response:

MB: We have our secret weapon. That is [our] secret weapon.

GL: [Listen to this clip] Think about it. Chuck Brown had a lot of songs. But what the first thing [people say] when Chuck hit the stage? chicka-chicka-chicka. “Wind me up, Chuck!” chicka-chicka-chicka. He ain’t got to say nothing. He could be tuning the guitar. That’s all they wanna hear. He can literally do that, and say it, and leave. … Don’t come back on. People swear they got their money’s worth.

MB: He wouldn’t have done that, though.

On how go-go bands can fail to energize their audiences:

MB: That’s the role of the lead talker — to engage with the crowd and to get that call and response. But not all lead talkers are built the same.

You have some bands where the front line is so busy — have you ever seen a rap concert where 20 people are on the stage, and everybody has a mic, and it’s just chaotic? Some bands can be like that, too. Nothing grinds my gears [more] than a busy front line. … If it’s too busy on the front line, and it’s not enough intimacy between the lead talker and the crowd, and they have all these distractions, you can lose them.

On competition between go-go bands:

MB: It can be overly competitive… If there’s more than one band on the card, sometimes you can have a little bit of sabotage going on.

GL: Cut certain monitors off —

MB: Yeah, right. Your monitors won’t be on, cords will be cut — oh, oh! It can get a little cutthroat.

GL: Just an example, let’s say Junk and the WHAT? Band was to perform together. And let’s say they were to play first, and let’s say we was to cut their system down — cut the monitor, ’cause we would say, it’s our crowd. We don’t want them crankin’ hard in front of our Southeast crowd.

MB: We’ve never done that…. But it happens. … and there are certain bands that are actually known for doing it.

GL: And it’s crazy how it is — it’s like automatic goin’ in. If you know you playing with a certain band, you already know. You just get your money and leave, ’cause there’s nothing you can do about it.

On the optimal environment for a go-go show: 

MB: When it’s a lot of women, number one. Because guys follow girls. If a guy walks into a club and the ratio of women to men is higher, they know that they’re gonna have a better time, because women aren’t that aggressive. They’re there to party, generally, and have a good time.

GL: Because I’m a musician, the first thing I wanna know is… whose system in there? ‘Cause it could be wall-to-wall packed, and it’s one of them sorry systems, we ready to leave anyway.

MB: So the ideal situation is if the sound system is on point, if there’s a good ratio of women to men in the club, if the club itself is nice and they have friendly bartenders —

GL: And [the drinks] don’t be watered down for $20… They be like, “Man I just paid $20 and I feel nothing.”

MB: I have a song called “Party Mode.” ‘Cause that’s the best way to describe it. There’s no tension. Everybody’s happy. You can almost walk into a party sometimes and also see the energy of the crowd, too, and say, “This is gonna be a good night because everybody’s in a pleasant mood.”

GL: This is when you really know it’s good. When you pull up, people in line dancing. [Excited voice] “Oh that’s my joint!” They don’t even wanna get pat down, they already paid, they don’t care. A hundred dollars? Take it all. They just wanna run in. They don’t even want the change.

MB: I don’t know about that —

GL: I went a little live with that one, but I’m just saying.

MB: He is crazy.

GL: [What I’m saying is] that it sounds so good that they just want to get in there. They been in line, they partying, they hear the music, they ready to get in there. ‘Cause one thing about go-go — it’s not a DJ. So if you miss your song, that’s it. You won’t hear it again that night.

On D.C. audiences’ preference for live bands (versus DJs): 

MB: Because it’s a go-go town — let’s just say you’re at the Howard and it’s an R&B act. [The crowd is] probably not going be jumping around as much, because they’re used to live entertainment here. Here, it’s kinda like, “Look, I’ve seen a lot, and by the way, where’s your band? Because I’m used to live instruments.”

GL: Go-go has spoiled D.C.

MB: Yeah, we want live instruments… This one [referring to Gerald] — let us go somewhere, it’s not a band onstage.

GL: I am mad. I am sick. I feel like I need to see a manager. ‘Cause I feel like you just took my money.

MB: [Listen to this clip] Some national acts, when they come here, they want to perform with a band.

GL: Then you’ve got the national acts now incorporating our music in their set. You got Erykah Badu onstage singing “Sardines.”

MB: They’re hip. … They know the little tricks of the trade.

GL: They know the tricks of the trade. You gonna come to D.C., if you don’t have a go-go on the stage with you, you’d better play some of it. Unless you just got a bunch of hits — or unless you old-school, of course. Old school, R&B — they don’t need it. The Whispers, Frankie Beverly, all that, they gonna play what they come to play. They not getting up there crankin’ no go-go. You not gonna hear Frankie Beverly say, “Tell me what you feel like doin’, y’all!” And throw the mic out there. [Laughs] Frankie ain’t doing that.

Top photo by Flickr user Eva Rinaldi used under a Creative Commons license.

“What’s With Washington?” is WAMU’s new listener-powered journalism project. We invite folks to send us their burning questions about life in the D.C. region — no subject is off-limits — then we ask the public to vote on which questions we investigate.

In one of our latest rounds, a question from Centreville resident Alisa Pappas touched a nerve, drawing thousands of votes.

“Why do Washington audiences seem so subdued?” Pappas asked. “Are we really cooler customers than in other cities?”

As editor of WAMU’s Bandwidth — and a longtime audience member at D.C. concerts — I had no qualms tackling this one.

So what did I discover? Are D.C. music audiences really the tamest in the land? Check out my story on WAMU’s website. I’ll also discuss my findings on today’s edition of The Kojo Nnamdi Show, joined by go-go artist Michelle Blackwell and Black Cat club owner Dante Ferrando. Stream or tune in at noon.

Top image: Ace Cosgrove performs at the 2015 Landmark Music Festival in D.C.

Backyard’s cover has been on the rise for more than a month now, gaining radio play and a spot on The Fader‘s list “11 Songs You Need In Your Life This Week.”

The band’s lead talker, Anwan “Big G” Glover, says the cover has been an enormous hit with live audiences, too.

“Oh man,” Glover says in a phone call. “You gotta see it. They cry. They singing with it, and they be so loud with it.” (He’s not exaggerating — check out the video of Backyard knocking out “Hello” at Howard Theatre last month, below.)

On the track’s recorded version, vocalist Tiffany “Sweet Thing” Monroe delivers a masterful performance on par with the English singer’s original. But Backyard doesn’t strive to be that faithful, Glover says. Their version is definitely steeped in go-go.

“We just created a whole new sound,” Glover says. “Once that beat dropped in, it was just crazy with the cowbell… when we got onstage and played it, I started calling out the crews with it. When Tiffany started saying, “Hello!” on the break, then I just said ‘Southside, uptown…’ It was crazy, man.”

But while Backyard’s cover has earned them new fans, Glover says it’s also generated mild controversy in town. Some listeners and musicians have criticized go-go bands’ emphasis on cover songs, rather than originals, and publicity over Backyard’s version of “Hello” has heightened that criticism.

“A lot of the old-school bands really are not too cover-friendly, and we’re getting a lot of backlash over it. But it’s good backlash,” Glover says. Why? “Because everybody has Backyard on their tongue right now,” he says.

If momentum stays strong, he says the band might even try to team up with Adele when she plays D.C.’s Verizon Center in October.

“That would be crazy for us to it with her — to do it at the Verizon Center live with her,” Glover says. He suspects the pop star might be open to the idea. “It seems like she’s a very sweet lady. I seen her on Instagram yesterday singing a Nicki Minaj song… I was like, ‘Aw, look at Adele, she’s rocking that, man.'”

Sharing a stage with Adele wouldn’t be Glover’s only high-profile appearance this year. An actor who’s played roles on TV series The Wire and Treme, plus acclaimed film 12 Years A Slave, he recently wrapped up a pilot for HBO. Glover plays a character named Leon on The Deuce, a gritty-sounding series from David Simon and George Pelecanos. But he doesn’t plan to move to New York or L.A. anytime soon.

“I fly back and forth because I don’t like to miss stage time with Backyard, and my band needs me and my city needs me,” Glover says.

The talker says Backyard Band has new, original material in the works, including the latest version of their long-running “Dope Jam” series.

A 264-page hardcover slab with photos and tales from the venue’s history, 9:30: The Book will include stories from original clubowner Dody DiSanto, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, songwriters Natalie Merchant and Sarah McLachlan and the club’s current owners, Seth Hurwitz and Rich Heinecke. Expected out in January, it’s available for preorder.

The book coincides with a three-day anniversary party at the V Street club, the 9:30 World’s Fair, taking place Jan. 5 through 7. 9:30 Club is calling the event a “funhouse of interactive, jaw-dropping imagery chronicling 35 years of memories and memorabilia.” A limited number of free tickets are up for grabs now.

The 9:30 Club opened in 1980 at 930 F St. NW and quickly became the city’s most consistent alt-rock venue, hosting early performances from bands across new wave, no wave, punk rock and D.C. hardcore. Go-go band Trouble Funk played the F Street spot’s final show in 1996 before 9:30 relocated to the former WUST Radio Music Hall at 815 V St. NW. The Smashing Pumpkins played the first gig there. (If you’re thirsty for more history, check out the Washington Post‘s 2010 oral history of the club.)

Today, the 9:30 Club is generally considered D.C.’s best music venue and one of the top clubs in the country.

Top photo: Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney performs at the 9:30 Club in February 2015.

Tonight, the D.C. band opens the Radio One Holiday Jam with Grammy-winning vocalist Jill Scott, R&B group New Edition and songwriter/producer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. It’s the latest step in the band’s progression from small neighborhood venues to big stages.

Black Alley has steadily played local spots like Bar 7 and the shuttered Indulj, moving up to larger venues including Merriweather Post Pavilion and now, the nearly 20,000-capacity sports complex in downtown D.C.

“Verizon Center was on my bucket list, so for it to come this soon is amazing,” says Black Alley’s Josh “Josh on Bass” Hartzog.

It’s a major plus that headliner Jill Scott “is someone we all listened to growing up,” Hartzog says. “Just to be on the same stage as her is pretty dope.”

A hybrid of rock and R&B, Black Alley has never lay claim to one genre. But its heart is in go-go. The band appreciates that Scott is no stranger to D.C.’s homegrown sound: she brought go-go swing to “It’s Love,” a highlight on her 2000 debut album, and she recorded with go-go godfather Chuck Brown before his death in 2012.

Go-go has been on a slide in the D.C. region, with gentrification taking a toll on the scene and local law enforcement cracking down on venues that host the music. Black Alley pays homage to the genre inside its chameleonic tunes.

“We are lucky that we can cater to more crowds and slide go-go in,” says drummer Danny “Animal” Henderson.

For Black Alley, getting to the Holiday Jam has required a lot of diligence. They take it “one show at a time,” Henderson says.

Authenticity may have played a role, too, says lead singer Kacey Williams.

“I feel like if you are going to enter the music scene in D.C., you really have to be honest and do what you feel is right for you with the music, as opposed to doing what people expect,” Williams says. “Because I feel like D.C. fans — more than any other — can tell when you’re faking.”

Black Alley is currently working on a followup to its 2012 debut album, SOUL.SWAGGER.ROCK.SNEAKERS. It’s expected out before the end of the year.

Photo courtesy of Black Alley.

Nationwide this week is called Banned Books Week. At the D.C. Public Library, it’s called “Uncensored.”

Banned Books Week was established in 1982 to raise awareness of books that people want off the shelves. It’s not an issue limited to the McCarthy era — even now, parents, leaders and various interest groups rally to censor or remove books from libraries for all kinds of reasons. But the D.C. Public Library widens the scope of Banned Books Week, looking at any form of expression that’s been challenged, including music.

That’s why the library has made a playlist for Banned Books Week two years in a row, says Maggie Gilmore, a librarian in DCPL’s adult information services division. This year, the D.C. Public Library Foundation asked her to compile a list of songs with a dual theme: censorship and D.C. music.

Gilmore consulted her fellow librarians for ideas and solicited input from attendees at August’s D.C. Record Fair at Penn Social. This is the resulting playlist, streamable via Spotify and YouTube, below:

Bad Brains, “Banned in DC”
Chain & the Gang, “Free Will”
Parliament, “Chocolate City”
Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, “Run Joe”
The Evens, “Wanted Criminals”
The Cornel West Theory, “DC Love Story”
Ice-T, “Freedom of Speech”
Coup Sauvage & the Snips, “Don’t Touch My Hair” (JD Samson Remix)
Minor Threat, “Straight Edge”
Bikini Kill, “Rebel Girl”
Unrest, “Malcolm X Park”
The Blackbyrds, “Rock Creek Park”
The Roots with Wale and Chrisette Michele, “Rising Up”
Diamond District, “March Off”
Marvin Gaye, “Got To Give It Up”

The playlist comes across as a celebration of outspoken music — not hard to find in this town, Gilmore says.

“[D.C.] is a natural environment for people to discuss political issues,” Gilmore says. Plus, she says, the city’s constantly shifting population can aggravate local tensions.

“With D.C. having so many people moving in and out of the city, there’s always been tension in the various groups that are represented in D.C.,” Gilmore says. She cites D.C.’s signature funk sound as an example. “Go-go has always been challenged by those who may feel it’s obtrusive — and maybe not even the music itself, but the social scene around go-go.”

The playlist debuted at last Friday’s opening party for “Uncensored: Information Antics,” the library’s new exhibit in honor of Banned Books Week. The show remains on view at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library through Oct. 22.

Gilmore says “Uncensored” and this playlist are part of the library’s larger efforts to document and support local expression in all forms. DCPL’s D.C. Punk Archive has been in the works for a year now. Gilmore coordinates the library’s series of punk-rock basement shows, meant to highlight its punk collection. After this, the library focuses on archiving go-go, then jazz, Gilmore says.

“Trying to highlight local music, [D.C.’s cultural] history and current artists — that’s one of the main goals of the basement shows, to provide a space for bands to play,” Gilmore says. “So this was an opportunity to continue on that.”

Related: WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show airs a segment on Banned Books Week Tuesday at 1:32 p.m. Can’t tune in? The segment will be archived on kojoshow.org.

Warning: Some songs contain explicit lyrics.

Via Spotify: