Bluegrass on Brandywine
The 4000 block of Brandywine Street in Tenleytown is not among the most glamorous of boulevards in the Nation's Capital.
On one side, a functional office building fronted by the Sport and Health Club. On the other, a former East German Consul building, now home to WAMU. Engineering folklore has it that the building came complete with bugging devices and a 7th floor luxury Penthouse, presumably for the recreational use of visiting Stasi commandants and their companions.
Periodically, the smell of discarded rotting fish from the alley behind the Dancing Crab prevails on the westerly breeze as a poignant, if noxious, reminder of why upwardly-mobile retailers still have a hard time setting up shop around here.
But this past Sunday 4000 Brandywine Street had its finest hour. Babies jammed the brakes on their strollers. Joggers stopped in their tracks. Shoppers dropped their recycleable Wholefoods bags in amazement. Even the squirrel who nests high in our old Maple tree came down to dance in the grass.
From a small temporary stage in our tiny garden at the side of the building, some of the finest Bluegrass Bands around came to to play live in the sunshine during our Bluegrass Country Open House. The place was packed all day long and it was a chance to meet the stars of our Bluegrass and traditional American music channel and webstream: Katy Daley, Lee Demsey, Bobby Webster, Fred Bartenstein, Mary Cliff, Tom Cat Reeder, to name a few. We heard Hubie King and his specially-assembled Old Timers, the Lisa Kay Band, Andrew Acosta's New Old-Time String Band, and Scythian.
In the morning breaks from the live music, Ray Davis's show boomed live as usual from his basement in West Virginia.
Inside the building we gave tours of the studios and demonstrated HD Radios as listeners and visitors mingled with musicians and WAMU staffers. Sure, we tried to convince folks to buy HD Radios (we gave a few away as well, and demonstrated the in-car versions) and, sure, we were trying to win new listeners for this ground-breaking service. But mostly it was a simple but joyful celebration of the music and the musicians who've been on our air now for more than forty years.
Check out the pictures , taken by our Volunteer Service Coordinator Tony Washington.
The music may have its roots in the cradle of Appalachia, and before that in the mountains of the Celts, but its alive and well in the nation's capital, too. Yes, even in Tenleytown.
Mark
Program Director, WAMU
On one side, a functional office building fronted by the Sport and Health Club. On the other, a former East German Consul building, now home to WAMU. Engineering folklore has it that the building came complete with bugging devices and a 7th floor luxury Penthouse, presumably for the recreational use of visiting Stasi commandants and their companions.
Periodically, the smell of discarded rotting fish from the alley behind the Dancing Crab prevails on the westerly breeze as a poignant, if noxious, reminder of why upwardly-mobile retailers still have a hard time setting up shop around here.
But this past Sunday 4000 Brandywine Street had its finest hour. Babies jammed the brakes on their strollers. Joggers stopped in their tracks. Shoppers dropped their recycleable Wholefoods bags in amazement. Even the squirrel who nests high in our old Maple tree came down to dance in the grass.
From a small temporary stage in our tiny garden at the side of the building, some of the finest Bluegrass Bands around came to to play live in the sunshine during our Bluegrass Country Open House. The place was packed all day long and it was a chance to meet the stars of our Bluegrass and traditional American music channel and webstream: Katy Daley, Lee Demsey, Bobby Webster, Fred Bartenstein, Mary Cliff, Tom Cat Reeder, to name a few. We heard Hubie King and his specially-assembled Old Timers, the Lisa Kay Band, Andrew Acosta's New Old-Time String Band, and Scythian.
In the morning breaks from the live music, Ray Davis's show boomed live as usual from his basement in West Virginia.
Inside the building we gave tours of the studios and demonstrated HD Radios as listeners and visitors mingled with musicians and WAMU staffers. Sure, we tried to convince folks to buy HD Radios (we gave a few away as well, and demonstrated the in-car versions) and, sure, we were trying to win new listeners for this ground-breaking service. But mostly it was a simple but joyful celebration of the music and the musicians who've been on our air now for more than forty years.
Check out the pictures , taken by our Volunteer Service Coordinator Tony Washington.
The music may have its roots in the cradle of Appalachia, and before that in the mountains of the Celts, but its alive and well in the nation's capital, too. Yes, even in Tenleytown.
Mark
Program Director, WAMU
Add a Comment
District Roundup with Jessica Golloher
Mark McDonald's Blog
The Conversation Badge
Spread the word. Get your own The Conversation badge for your website or MySpace page. (Get Code)
© 2008 Created by WAMU 88.5
You need to be a member of The Conversation to add comments!
Join this network