Usually, we reserve this spot to spotlight four local acts you should be aware of. However, with the Six Points Music Festival happening in April (see the complete story in this issue), we’ve decided to give you the complete 411 on eveyone performing, local or non. For each band we’ve provided town of origin (showing the wide reach of this year’s festival), the most current album (sometimes soon-to-be-released), and a capsule description of the music (so you can get a feel for which shows to attend). Bon appetit!
-- Joel Sparks

(To read an article on Six Points, click here: http://www.ontaponline.com/view_article.php?article_id=10611

THURSDAY APRIL 12 AT THE RED & THE BLACK
The Singles (Detroit)
Album: “Start Again”
Fab Four sweetness and fuzz pop power.

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir (Chicago)
Album: “I Bet You Say That To All the Boys”
Broad range of Brit-pop styles, from early Kinks energy to Smiths sadness.

The Lisps (New York)
Album: “The Vain, the Modest, and the Dead”
Enjoyably cynical, thinky, and melodica-enabled.

Senryu (Knoxville)
Album: “Welcome to the Pantomime”
Direct, quirky power-pop with a slight tincture of darkness and oddity.

FRIDAY APRIL 13 AT THE RNR BAR & LOUNGE
Death By Sexy (DC)
Album: “Big Hit”
Stripped-down, blues-garage rock songs about partying, booze, and sex.

The Beanstalk Library (DC)
Album: “America at Night”
Pure and youthful power pop.

The Hall Monitors (DC)
Crazy vinyl-era energies, lightly guided by essentially sweet pop structures.

Friends of the Library (DC)
Supercute DIY.

SATURDAY, APRIL 14 AT THE AUSTIN GRILL in SILVER SPRING
The Jenny Boyle Band (DC Metro)
Country-rock singer-songwriter.

SATURDAY APRIL 14 AT THE RED & THE BLACK
The Gulf (Boston)
Album: “Chinatown”
Dreamy, orchestral indie.

Bellman Barker (DC)
Heartfelt indie rock.

The Hard Tomorrows (DC)
Album: “Lights Out”
Chiming indie rock fusing New Wave pitch, jangle pop, Brit-pop charm and DC post-punk drive.

SATURDAY APRIL 14 AT THE RNR BAR & LOUNGE
Gist (DC / New Orleans)
Album: “Diesel City”
Dark, dissonant jams that combine rough edges and a thoughtful core.

The Alphabetical Order (NoVa)
Album: ”I Am Magically Happening”
“Heavy indie” power chords and hardcore vocals decorating tuneful originals.

Lemonface (Maryland)
Album: self-titled EP
Straight-up hard rock charmingly presented by a trio of 16 year olds.

SUNDAY APRIL 15 AT THE MANSION AT STRATHMORE
Tom Principato (DC)
Album: “Guitar Gumbo”
Veteran local axe-meister.

The Galen Kipar Project
(Asheville, NC)
Trio of guitarists playing Kipar’s classical compositions.

Curly and the Rocket (DC)
Album: “Electricshow”
Duo mixing funk-rock guitar and soulful female vocals.

THURSDAY APRIL 19 AT DC9
Lejeune (DC)
Album: “For Club and Country”
Original college rock sounds with a Western twang.

Life In A Hospital (DC)
Album: “So Much Worse (EP)”
Shimmering gloom, Radiohead style.

The Jaguar Club (Brooklyn)
Album: “Ceci n’est-pas le Club de Jaguar”
Delicate indie with a New Wave touch.

The Glory and The Majesty (Arlington)
Straightforward, good-natured, poppy rock.

FRIDAY APRIL 20 AT HR-57
Antonio Parker (DC)
Album: “The Exchange”
Popular jazz sax player and a Howard grad.

FRIDAY APRIL 20 AT IOTA club & cafe
Middle Distance Runner (DC)
Album: “Plane in Flames”
Synth-laced, engaging, haunting and shoegazey, with a DC touch.

These United States (DC)
Album: “The Forest & the Garden”
The rocking folk of Jesse Elliot and company.

Black Tie Revue (Pittsburgh)
Album: “Code Fun”
Totally unselfconscious, Casio-positive pop rock.

FRIDAY APRIL 20 AT THE ROCK N ROLL HOTEL
Kenna (NYC)
Album: “FACE”
Electronic bombast with Prince-like fronting.

The Dance Party (College Park)
Album: “Friction! Friction! Friction!”
Youthful, punk-inflected, Greenday-style rock.

The Vita Ruins (DC)
Album: “Thank You For Your Concern (But We’re OK)” (EP)
Spacey synthesizers and guitar waves in the service of trad rock.

The Sentiment (DC)
Driving hard rock with an introspective core.

FRIDAY APRIL 20 AT THE VELVET LOUNGE
Justin Jones & The Driving Rain (DC)
Album: “Love vs. Heroin”
Classic country music wrapped around a stark personal vision.

Sean McArdle (DC)
Folk songwriter with a punky frankness.

Junior League (DC)
Album: “Waiting on Hannah”
Acoustic roots music with sweet female vox.

Wes Tucker & the Skillets (Arlington)
Album: “Beauty in the Broken”
Smart, eclectic, alt-country Americana

SATURDAY APRIL 21 AT IOTA
Mike Holden (DC)
Album: “Level” (EP)
Veteran singer-songwriter and local music guru.

Todd Watts (Fairfax)
Emmett Swimming frontman playing acoustic.

Margot MacDonald (DC)
Album: ”Torn”
Strong-voiced singer-songwriter at age 15.

SATURDAY APRIL 21 AT DC9
Two If By Sea (Baltimore)
Album: “Safety”
Mix of dancehall and straight rock, complete with Richard Butler-style vocals.

The Roosevelt (DC)
Album: self-titled EP
Confessional, orchestral, moody indie rock.

Bridges and Powerlines (NYC)
On the hard side of power-pop.

Alfonso Velez
Crooner from Monopoli plays sweet and mellow solo work.

SATURDAY APRIL 21 AT HR-57
Luis Faife Quartet (DC)
Alto saxophonist leading his jazz quartet.

SATURDAY APRIL 21 AT THE RED & THE BLACK
The Brindley Brothers (Vienna, VA)
Album: “Filled With Fire”
Smart, musicianly, harmonizing rock.

Pash (Fredericksburg, VA)
Album: “The Best Gun”
Straight rock, chick-fronted.

James Silver (DC)
Folksy singer-songwriter formerly with Confidence Man.

SATURDAY APRIL 21 AT THE VELVET LOUNGE
Hello Tokyo (Brooklyn)
Album: “Don’t Cry in Public”
Fun, formerly local pop, with straight rock players and strong female vocals.

Red Collar (Durham, NC)
Album: “The Hands Up EP”
Youthful expression of mostly hardcore influences.

Red Racer (DC)
Album: “Wake Up Wake Up” (EP)
Nicely constructed nerd pop.

Analog Jetpack (DC)
Album: “And How They Flew!”
Clever and nerdly pop-rock blendings.

SATURDAY APRIL 21 AT THE STATE THEATRE
Particle (L.A.)
Album: “Transformations”
Hippie-style jam band with a touch of funk.