In the summer of 2017, The Big Baltimore Playlist was born. Back then, we launched this monthly column to showcase the local music scene and celebrate its sonic abundance. Here’s what we wrote at the time:
“Baltimore’s music scene has had a number of peaks—the bluegrass days of the 1950s, the hard (and hair) rock era of the 1980s, the Bmore Club nights of the 1990s, and Wham City in the early aughts. But we have to say: The city couldn’t sound better than it does right now. In fact, we’re having trouble keeping up.”
Those words couldn’t be any truer today—a testament to the kind of talent that continues to brew up, boil over, and burst out of this singular, special town of ours, over and over again. And, by all measures, it doesn’t look like that’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
There are breakout bands like Turnstile, of course—and End It, and Jivebomb, and Pinkshift—bringing Baltimore’s hardcore sound to the masses. And standout artists like trumpet player Brandon Woody and saxophonist Daoure Diongue, shining a light on this city’s deeply rooted and respected jazz legacy, with a next-generation touch. Not to mention prolific DJ producers like SDOT, Tromac, and Kade Young, keeping club beats alive and well in their genre’s hometown, while boundary-breakers like Infinity Knives, Nourished by Time, and Mowder Oyal continue to keep us on our toes. And on and on it goes.
With that in mind, after a (not so brief) hiatus, we running it back to bring you The Big Baltimore Playlist—2.0! Check back each month for some of our favorite new songs (plus a few oldies but goodies) from the local scene, and follow along our Spotify playlist for a soundtrack to the city, to boot.
“Never Gonna Run Away” by Brandon Woody
If you’re new to the city and want to know what it sounds like, look no further than the searing trumpet of Brandon Woody. On his debut record, out now via the esteemed Blue Note Records out of New York City, the Baltimore native buoyantly bottles the many nuances of his hometown—its struggles and its triumphs—crafting a deeply moving tribute along the way. On this opening track, he and his Upendo band are joined by jazz vocalist Imani-Grace for a rich and rousing reminder: keep the faith.
“Could You Love Me?” by End It
One of the fastest rising bands coming out of Baltimore right now, this hardcore quartet is pure powder-keg energy, cranking out a deeply authentic, breakneck brand of its heavy, hard-hitting genre. For the uninitiated, dip your toes in with this euphoric cover of New York pioneers Maximum Penalty off End It’s just-dropped debut album, Wrong Side of Heaven.
And if you missed tickets to their sold-out Soundstage release party at the end of the month, revel in the live action of the music video, featuring scene royalty like No Idols’ Paris Roberts and Angel Du$t’s Justice Tripp, to name a few.
“You, Me, the Reign” by Micah E. Wood
Leave it to this beloved, heart-on-his-sleeve songwriter to make an outright fun album for processing our current moment of societal dystopia. Despite all the horrors, listening to this title track—featuring local rap legend Eze Jackson—you’ll likely find yourself crooning along, laughing out loud at a few lyrics (“silly dudes, combative…”), and positively loving on the music video, featuring protest photography by Baltimore contributor Isaiah Winters—just like we did. Thanks for all that, Micah.
“Baby Baby” by Nourished by Time
Marcus Brown has a sound like none other. Since 2019, the Baltimore native has been making music under this nom de plume, and boy, is “nourished by time” a fitting way to describe his sonic style. Each song is a layer cake of ethereal vocals and eclectic inspiration—lo-fi pop, ’90s R&B, new wave, post-punk, deep house, etc.—all coming together into something truly transcendent, like a dream. We could dance all night to this ninth track off his new album, Passionate Ones, which includes zero misses. This fall, we recommend you do the same.
“Never Enough” by Tromac
We could name so many songs to listen to off the new Turnstile album—aka the entire thing—but by now, we’re pretty sure every reader in Baltimore already knows Never Enough from front to back, too. Instead, do yourself a favor and dig into this Baltimore Club remix by Baltimore-based DJ-producer, who also happens to hail from P.G. County, like Turnstile’s own drummer Daniel Fang. (Afterwards, go read more about the local hit-maker in this Baltimore Beat profile.)
The more dancing the better as this year comes to a close. And any time we need a truly Bmore hype-up, we’ve got this bop on repeat.