Dance Place is a series of studios located near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception—the largest Catholic Church in the United States. Different color paints contribute a bit of flavor to eight or so units, closed off with garage-type doors. 

A short walk down an alley finds a mural and a small door leading to a smaller room. While ballet or jazz occupy the remaining studios, this space is crammed with amplifiers of differing shapes, sizes and brands; drums before the entrance; keyboards in one niche; computers on a desk.

This is Georgie James’ house. 

Make yourself at home, because you’re about to meet two people that may change your view of pop music.

“We have jobs,” smiles John Davis, brushing a mob of blond hair from his eyes and rubbing a three-day old beard. “But they’re not real jobs. I’m a co-manager of a video store in Takoma Park."

“And I sell shoes,” Laura Burhenn chimes in. “I just quit my full-time day job. Otherwise, this is it.”

The this is Georgie James: occupant of Dance Place and the name of the duo’s new band—set to debut in DC at the Black Cat on March 23rd.

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Burhenn and Davis come together as veterans of DC music. Davis is best known as the drummer for Q And Not U, while Burhenn created Laboratory Records out of high school to release her four solo efforts, including 2004’s "Wanderlust." Introduced by a mutual friend and brought together by a shared history in music, they make it clear that Georgie James is their new passion.

With Burhenn on keyboards and Davis alternating between drums, bass and guitar, Georgie James is infused with a study of the history of pop—a genre recently lumped with the "American Idol"s of the world.

“Pop music is the Beatles,” Davis defends. “[But] Pop music is [also] Harry Chapin. Pop music is Michael Sembello. Pop music is Milli Vanilli. It’s so broad. That’s why people think of the Spice Girls and go, ‘ugh, pop music.’

“We’re going to write pop songs,” he continues. “We know pop music that we like, we’re going to make songs that we like. And they’re very much steeped in the tradition of '50s, '60s and '70s music. I’m not going to shy away from that.”

Burhenn and Davis recorded "Demos at Dance Place" over the course of last summer and fall. Currently available online at www.myspace.com/georgiejames, the songs are much as Davis describes them: unfailingly progressive, but undeniably steeped in decades past.

With echoes of the Zombies, the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks and others, Georgie James remains a progressive entity unique unto itself. Laced with harmonies and countermelody, it is obviously the product of two seasoned and driven musicians who pay an uncanny attention to the elements of music that make it function well.

 “I am a student of music,” Davis states. “I think that’s what sets people like us apart from a lot of people who play music—they might enjoy it, but it’s not a passion. It’s not an obsession.”

“I think the good thing that we have going for us is that our musical backgrounds are so diverse,” Burhenn offers.  “When you put us together into a room and we start playing a song together, it might remind me of Neil Young and it reminds him of something else.”

This honest infusion vintage pop influence is the charm of "Demos at Dance Place," and perhaps is the most surprising aspect of Georgie James—especially based upon the band’s origins.

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John Davis was introduced to music by his father, a Program Director for DC101 in the 1980s. Attending his first punk show in ’91 or ’92 —Fugazi, L7, and Bikini Kill—he developed a fierce admiration for the freedom that DC punk provided.

“The thing that I have most taken from growing up and being a part of the punk scene here is that there is no one way to play music,” Davis explains. “There is no one way to be a punk person or musician or anything. And that’s sort of what I’ve always liked. That’s why I think this is the best punk music scene that there has ever been in the United States.”

Davis took this spirit with him as a founding member of Corm and The Elusive in the mid-to-late ‘90s. He eventually found his niche with the recently defunct Q And Not U, who spent seven years touring the world as a part of the Dischord Records family.

Laura Burhenn, however, grew up on traditional hymns and choral music, with her mother teaching her piano at age five. A striking platinum blonde, Burhenn’s small stature is deceptive—behind the exterior lies a powerful vocal delivery. Pushing into her own realms in the early ‘90s, she found artists like Portishead, Nirvana, and PJ Harvey, and went on to write her own material.

“When I was in high school,” Burhenn says, “I had a bunch of friends that were involved in so many different kinds of bands—electronic projects, punk, hardcore. I got to play in a lot of them because I was the only person who could play keyboards. And when I moved down to DC, I did a whole open mic circuit.”

Moving to Van Ness, Burhenn continued to develop her solo career, playing up and down the east coast and in Los Angeles. After Davis moved to Cleveland Park in the February 2005, the pair discussed the possibilities of a new project.

“Q And Not U was still happening,” Davis says of his previous group, “but I really wanted to do something new. I could tell that Laura and I were coming from the same place musically. And it just kind of came up that ‘yeah, we should do a band together.’”

“There was an idea [of what we wanted our sound to be],” Burhenn recalls. “John made me mix CDs. We sat down and talked a lot about our favorite music, and the kind of sounds that we liked.”

The two initially bonded over old pop music from the '60s and '70s, and shared an affinity for DC punk—bands like Minor Threat, Nation of Ulysses, Fugazi and others were big influences for both individuals, as musicians and people alike.

“Fugazi, when they came out, was something that was very confrontational with how different it was,” Davis explains. “Georgie James is completely fueled by the spirit of those bands in DC.”

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On "Demos at Dance Place," punk elements fuse with the duo’s affinity for harmonic pop. The resulting songs are edgy and vibrant, carrying with them a certain familiarity. Hooks abound, accented by an innovative instrumental background that give the songs depth. 

Yes, you may think of the Who or the Zombies. But is much more than homage: "Demos at Dance Place" is an infectious and skilled brand of forward thinking songwriting.

“Georgie James is doing music that isn’t what you’d expect from people who came out of a punk or indie rock scene,” Davis says. “And to me that’s kind of what it’s about. I’m fueled by that spirit. This is what I want to be doing. This is music that I love. From day one of playing the guitar, this is the closest I’ve been to doing music that I want to do.”

As Georgie James continues to write new songs, these two musicians now seek to create a vibrant pop album that combines all of their past experiences.

“My idea of a perfect record is something that captures a perfect moment in time,” Burhenn says, looking around the small Dance Place studio. “If we put microphones in this room, you get every sound in here—the hiss of the speakers, the sound of the train going by, the note that was just a little bit off.  You can’t recreate that. It’s just there.”

While a full-length record remains the primary goal, the band has enlisted the aid of Adam Robinson on bass and Andrew Black on drums. They plan to take the Georgie James version of vintage pop on a test run prior to entering the studio.

“I think that we’re really going to get a dose of what it’s like when we play live,” Davis says with anticipation. “It’s really when you get out there and you’re interacting with people that you’re going to find out.

“People are going to say, ‘Yeah, the new stuff is okay, but I like Laura’s solo stuff better, or I prefer Q And Not U,’ Davis continues. “There are absolutely going to be people like that and that’s fine. Fuck it. We are this band, we’re happy with it, and we are sharing it.”

“I think it’s really exciting,” Burhenn says. “The stuff we’re doing—I think it’s really good. I have a lot of faith in it. It’s a new side of my personality and my musical ability that people haven’t seen.  And I think that’s the same with John.”

So who is Georgie James?

“That’s the question you must answer yourself,” Burhenn says, grinning slightly.

You’ll get your chance at Black Cat on March 23rd. The Black Cat is located at 1811 14th St., NW, Washington. 202-667-4490. www.blackcatdc.com.