Let's begin with a hearty "Hello!"

Washington, D.C.- that tiny little slab of land that finds itself sandwiched awkwardly in between the 'burbs of Maryland and Virginia. Known for it's capitol hill interns, The White House and, unfortunately, sometimes finding it's way onto the list of America's Most Dangerous Cities (gasp!), D.C.'s night life, specifically music scene, is often left unknown outside of the metro area. I feel bad, really, that the out of towners sometimes seem to shy away from the hot music venues here, scared that they are going to either need to have their political debating "A" game for "those damn interns" or that they will have to be "packin' " in order to fend off crooks lurking in dark alleys between buildings. I, for one, don't put much stock into the hype. You see, from about age 5, D.C. always seemed to be the Emerald City for me. Growing up in the Maryland suburbs, and thanks to my super cool, forward thinking parents, we were constantly taking day trips down there- and not always to take a sunday afternoon stroll down the mall, there were FAR too many things to see in the city. The old 99.1 WHFS (r.i.p.) always blared through the speakers of our '87 Ford Escort. While I was too young to stand in the lines at the shows @ 9:30 Club, that deejays Weasel and Neecee were always raving about, I at least got to hear the sometimes live feeds from the safety of my car seat.



However, now that I find myself in the age group making car and rent payments on the regular, I've decided I am going to show everyone on a week to week basis that one little Maryland suburbanite gal, who happens to have an insatiable appetite for live music, can get (and has been getting thus far) into some of the coolest D.C. music venues- without the national guard in tow, of course! Whether it be at D.C.'s historical 9:30 Club, or the up and coming Rock 'N' Roll Hotel, each week I'll be cruising out to one or all of the myriad of music venues D.C. has to offer. Then, at the end of the week, you can expect to catch reviews of not just local, but national acts, cool live-action pics of the bands and artists, and maybe and mp3 clip or two to see if your musical tastes jive with ours! Please, feel free to leave comments, as well, regarding any of the shows we post about- maybe you were there and had such an electric experience, you want to discuss with us! Also, for anyone out there that has any show suggestions, feel free to shoot me an email with date, time, and venue to Heidi@urbancodemag.com. Thanks again for swingin' through, and happy musical trails, folks!

In our next blog:

- Live from THE BLACK CAT, D.C. : Chuck Ragan (of Hot Water Music), Ben Nichols (of Lucero- can't WAIT to see this guy!!)

-Live from IOTA CLUB & CAFE, Arlington, VA: Baltimore's J-Roddy Walston and The Business (I've REALLY been looking forward to catching these cats live!)