How did this album come to be?
TL: Shortly after Ottobar set up its GoFundMe in August, longtime bartender Jerrod Sydnor asked what else we could do to help the venue and mentioned the possibility of pulling together a fundraising compilation of music. What I didn’t know was that he had already started it. We decided to rework the idea a bit to help artists in town who have lost so much with no gigs or venues to play. We wanted to help sustain the Baltimore scene until the day comes that we can open our doors again. We cast a wide net, and then the hard part was that we had so many confirmations.

How did it feel to get that kind of reception?
DM: We’re so grateful that so many artists wanted to be involved in this project and for all of their support. We have more than 90 artists on board who have each cultivated their own distinct sound and present a unique perspective. There’s a little something for everyone.

TL: It’s all over the place by design, because it’s representative of the diversity of the music that has come out of Baltimore and been on our stages for years. There’s jazz, there’s metal, there’s hip hop, there’s punk rock. On top of that, they’re all exclusive, unreleased tracks. Some were actually live Ottobar recordings. That really hits you in a soft spot when you realize we can’t do that right now—be in that room seeing a show together.

After all these years on the local scene, has it been an emotional process pulling this all together?
TL: When everything shut down, it made you realize how fragile it all really is. Things can disappear in the blink of an eye. No one is really sure how many venues will have the opportunity to reopen whenever that day comes. After all of those 23 years that Ottobar has been around, at this point, we’re at ground zero, we’re starting over. There’s a lot of history, a lot of memories. All we can do is reminisce and hope right now, and that’s what this playlist is about—all the music that has happened in Baltimore, and all the music that hopefully will happen again one day when this is over.

How will it be released?
DM: We’re using Bandcamp, which is such a great platform for streaming music. They’ve done a lot for independent artists with their Bandcamp Fridays [when fees are waived to increase musician revenue]. We also had a big conversation about being mindful that, while we want people to hear this, they aren’t in great economic shape because of the pandemic, so we decided to do a pay-what-you-can model. We’re hoping that people with the ability might be willing to chip in a little bit more.

As news of coronavirus cancellations and closures began to take root across Maryland, the Baltimore arts community got creative. If crowds could no longer fill their concert halls and performance venues, artists of every stripe would now make their works and talent viewable from living room sofas. In the ensuing weeks, dozens of virtual events have popped up on the internet, from social media to brand-new website landing pages, by city artists, musicians, thespians, curators, and more, with the list only growing each day. Luckily, the Maryland State Arts Council has created a running tab for the likes of online galleries, livestream concerts, and arts classes. Check out our list below, with updates added throughout the coming weeks.

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Music for the Masses

Ken and Brad Kolodner
5/29. Facebook Live & YouTube. 8 p.m. $10-20 suggested donation.
On Friday night, father-son Old Time-Americana duo Ken and Brad Kolodner will perform their original and traditional tunes from the comforts of their own living rooms.

Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts & Entertainment District’s Mini May Concerts
5/30. Instagram Live. 8-10 p.m. Free.
Pennsylvania Avenue’s new Black Arts & Entertainment District presents its final May concert featuring The Voice star Davon Fleming, rappers Dapper Dan Midas, Tate Kobang, and Deetrana, and hip-hop artist J. Pope, among others.

A Latinx Virtual Celebration of Class of 2020
5/30. Livestream. 8 p.m. Free. $10 donations encouraged. Registration required.
The Roots & Raices festival presents a virtual celebration of the Latinx members of the class of 2020 with DJs, donated taco kits for students through Cocina Luchadoras, and more.

WTMD’s Saturday Morning Tunes
5/30. Instagram Live & Facebook Live. 9 a.m. Free. Tips encouraged.
Gather the kids and start your weekend with 89.7’s morning concert series, featuring live performances by musicians such as Americana songwriter Elliott Park, South African music therapist Jon Samson, and bilingual singer Sonia De Los Santos.

Baltimore Choral Arts Society’s Virtual Singing Series
6/1. Zoom. 7:30 p.m. Free. Registration required.
The Choral Arts Society presents a new community singing event with music director Anthony Blake Clark and associate conductor Leo Wanenchak rehearsing iconic vocal masterworks with virtual audiences, followed by a Q&A session.

Letitia VanSant
6/3. Facebook. 8 p.m. Free. Tips encouraged.
Local singer-songwriter and Americana vocal powerhouse Letitia VanSant will be performing an acoustic living room concert to support Club Passim, a historic Massachusetts music venue, featuring new music and favorite covers. Requests welcome.

WTMD’s Virtual First Thursday
6/4. Facebook Live. 8 p.m. Free.
In leiu of a large gathering at the Canton Waterfront Park, WTMD is hosting its first First Thursday of the season in a new virtual format, with live performances by pop-soul musician Allen Stone, blues-folk artist Fantastic Negrito, soul revival band Chicano Batman, Baltimore post-punk duo Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, local beloved DJ Landis Expandis, and more.

Cris Jacobs
Tuesdays. Facebook Live. 8 p.m. Free. Tips encouraged.
The beloved musician has started performing regular at-home solo sessions, performing old favorites as well as songs from his latest record, Color Where You Are, with a portion of tips donated to a new charity every week.

Baltimore Choral Arts Society presents Music with the Maestro
Thursdays. Facebook Live. 5:45 p.m. Free.
Spend your Thursday happy hour with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society with at-home performances like Mahler’s 8th Symphony and interviews with fellow orchestra leaders like maestro Marion Alsop of the BSO.

Peabody Watch Party
Fridays. peabody.jhu.edu/live. 7:30 p.m. Free.
Tune in on Friday nights with the Peabody Institute community for previously recorded performances by the Peabody Symphony and Youth orchestras.

GRL PWR presents Virtual Hangs
Fridays. Instagram Live. 2 p.m. Free.
Helmed with musicians Amy Reid and Pangelica, the local DIY arts collective is now presenting weekly programming that includes live music performance, conversations with artists, and variety show content.

Rachel Ann Morgan Band
Saturdays. Facebook Live. 4 p.m. Free. Tips encouraged.
Spend your weekend with this singer-songwriter and her rock fusion band who will be performing acoustic happy hour sets of original tunes and fan-favorite cover songs.

Creative Alliance presents Club Q Quarantine Dance Party
Saturdays. 9-11 p.m. Free. Tips encouraged.
Using the online conference call platform, Creative Alliance is hosting at-home dance party, spinning the very best of Baltimore Club and house music spun by the likes of DJ James Nasty, Kotic Couture, Trillnatured, Genie, and more. Guests can join in their pajamas or decked to the nines.

An Die Musik presents Quarantine Jazz Live Stream Concerts
Ongoing. Times vary. Video stream. 7 p.m. $5. Tips encouraged.
The Mt. Vernon music venue kicks off a new ongoing series that brings jazz and world music to the online masses, with livestream concerts by the likes of gypsy jazz band Ultrafaux, Americana singer-songwriter Caleb Stine, the saxpohone-led Gary Thomas Quartet, and the trombone-led Christian Hizon Quartet, as well as virtual access to videos of previously performed concerts.

BSO OffStage
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has created a new web platform featuring at-home concert and entertaining home videos by BSO musicians, as well as virtual music lessons from the pros and a list of past episodes of the symphony’s podcast.

Peabody ArtReach
The Peabody Institute has compiled a collection of virtual past performances and at-home concerts, education activities, artist resources, and meditation and mindfulness activities for music fans, musicians, and even health care workers with music-driven stretching exercises.

On-Screen Performing Arts

Creative Alliance presents Drag Storytime
Tuesdays & Thursdays. Facebook Live. 1 p.m. Free. Tips encouraged.
This family-friendly lunchtime reading features beloved books read by some of Baltimore’s most beloved drag queens, including Brooklyn Heights, Iyana Deschanel, and Betty O’Hellno. Families are encouraged to dress up, as well.

Baltimore Improv Group
Tuesdays, Fridays & Sundays. Times vary. Free.
Every week, the local troupe is offering an array of evening livestream comedy performances and competitions by BIG comics, as well as an online improv class on March 30 for $90.

Red Emma’s presents Many Worlds
Second & fourth Saturdays. Zoom. 1 p.m. Free.
Red Emma’s presents a new recurring reading of science fiction short story readings and virtual discussions.

The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company presents “Sequestered Shakespeare” and “The Past is Prologue”
Ongoing. YouTube. Free.
The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company has created two new YouTube series, with the first featuring homemade videos by CSC resident actors presenting soliloquies and sonnets and the latter leading a weekly conversation with the global Shakespeare community.

QuaranTV
Ongoing. twitch.tv/quarantv. 24/7. Free.
Local artists Thomas Faison and Gillian Waldo present a new online television channel that encapsulates the eclectic creativity of the Baltimore arts scene, featuring movies, morning cartoons, live music performances, daily news, and original programming with a DIY, arthouse touch.

The SNF Parkway Theatre
Ongoing. Video stream. Times vary. $4.99-14.99.
The Station North movie theater is offering online moving screenings of mainstream and indie flicks. Current offerings include Saint Frances and Fantastic Funghi, as well as species access for members.

Art Space Reimagined

MICA Senior Fiber Exhibition
Ongoing. Instagram. Free.
View artworks by the Maryland Institute College of Art’s senior fiber students through the department’s Instagram page, with new posts dedicated to individual artists and their compelling final pieces each day.

Baltimore Clayworks presents Flora and Fauna
Through 6/20. baltimoreclayworks.org. Free.
In celebration of Clayworks’ 40th anniversary, this spring-inspired exhibit is now on virtual display, featuring sculptural works and vase ware featuring floral interpretations.

C. Grimaldis Gallery
Ongoing. Instagram. Free.
The Mount Vernon gallery is showcasing its latest exhibit, “The Domestic” by Zoe Charlton via photographs on social media. Also be on the lookout for an upcoming virtual gallery tour

#ArtofBaltimore
Ongoing. Downtown Partnership’s social media, as well as city interactive kiosks and the Penn Station’s digital billboard. Free.
The Downtown Partnership, Maryland Art Place, and Bromo Arts & Entertainment District presents a new virtual gallery program. Painter and MICA grad Mike McConnell has been selected as the first artist, with new artists rotating every two weeks.

Mitchell School of Fine Arts Classes
Ongoing. Zoom. Times and prices vary.
Artist-owner Trevor Twist has modified youth and adult art lessons of varying skill levels through a virtual classroom, focusing on artist expressio across the likes of painting, printmaking, and sculpture.

At-Home Museum Exhibits

Shan Wallace: 410
Through 6/28. artbma.org. Free.
This local photographer presents an immersive exhibit that combines her powerful photography featuring portraits, candid shots, and elements of collage, speaking the beauty and resilience of the Baltimore community.

Valerie Maynard: Lost and Found
Through 6/28. artbma.org. Free.
This retrospective celebrates the six-decade career of Baltimore-based printmaker and sculptor Valerie Maynard, featuring her landmark No Apartheid series from the 1980s and 1990s and a rare look at her early sculpture.

Katharina Grosse: Is It You?
Through 6/28. artbma.org. Free.
This internationally acclaimed German artist’s large-scale painting installations that transform the Contemporary Wing into a colorful cocoon and creative experience.

Zackary Drucker: Icons
Through 6/28. artbma.org. Free.
In this new exhibit, L.A.-based artist-activist Zackary Drucker confronts assumptions about transformation, beauty, aging, and mortality, juxtaposing personal narratives, self-portraits, and photographs taken by mentor Rosalyne Blumenstein, who directed the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center’s pioneering Gender Identity Project in the 1990s.

Shinique Smith: Grace Stands Behind
Through 8/9. artbma.org. Free.
This local sculpture presents a new work that stands monument to the complexity of the black experience in the hallowed BMA halls, on view in a virtual gallery.

Jo Smail: Flying With Remnant Wings
Through 8/9. artbma.org. Free.
In this new exhibit by veteran South African-born, Baltimore-based artist Jo Smail, new works convey the strangeness, vulnerability, and complicated beauty of contemporary life, featuring 50 paintings and works on paper, as well as collages produced with fellow South African William Kentridge.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Walters Art Museum, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum’s collections are available for free online browsing, from the BMA’s paintings to The Walters’ manuscripts, to the Lewis’s jazz recordings. Meanwhile, the American Visionary Arts Museum has posted YouTube videos for past visionary talks, downloadable kids’ activities, and tips for building your own art car. The Enoch Pratt Free Library also offers ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines through its website.

Virtual tours are also offered at the likes of the Baltimore Museum of Industry, the Walter’s 1 West Mount Vernon Place, the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum, and the National Aquarium, which also featured livestreams from the aquatic exhibits. In addition to tours, the BMA is also providing virtual gallery walks, while the B&O Railroad Museum has launched a brand-new virtual exhibit, The B&O Lives on, on the railroad’s founding fathers.

Living History

Baltimore Architectural Foundation & Baltimore Heritage present Virtual Histories
5/29. Livestream. 1-1:30 p.m. Free. Donations encouraged.
The two local architectural organizations are teaming up to present 30-minute virtual tours and presentations focusing on Baltimore architecture, preservation, and city history, including the likes of textile buildings in Clipper Mill in mid-May, followed by architectural gems and city gardens at the end of the month.

Homewood Museum Wednesday Webinars
6/3, 10. Zoom. 2 p.m. Free. Registration required.
The Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Museum presents virtual lectures on the historic venue’s antique prints and trend-setting ceramics.

Devin Allen’s The Beautiful Journey
Ongoing. Facebook. Free.
Five years after the death of Freddie Gray, the gallery of Baltimore City Hall presents its first virtual exhibit with photographs by local photographer Devin Allen, featuring black-and-white photographs of local residents, city life, and the Baltimore Uprising.

Baltimore Heritage Five Minute Histories

Ongoing. Times vary. baltimoreheritage.org. Free.

BH’s Johns Hopkins presents a short video series of brief history lessons on iconic Baltimore landmarks and architecture, from the Clifton Mansion and Patterson Park to the historical clubs of Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Peale Center presents “Be Here Stories”
Ongoing. Soundcloud. Free.
In addition to its virtual tour, the downtown museum presentsmore than 1,500 stories by Baltimoreans via webite and Soundcloud. Also check out their online “It’s More Than History” lectures with local historians, tackling topics like women’s suffrage.

Creative Community

Creative Mornings Coffee Breaks

5/29. Zoom & YouTube. 8:30 a.m. Free. Registration required.

The monthly morning speaker series with new Friday breakfast events focused on mindfulness, featuring Baltimore Center Stage head Stephanie Ybarra who will lead onlookers through a class on nature.

Artists Cribs
6/25. Crowdcast. 7 p.m. Free.
The Enoch Pratt Free Library hosts a virtual evening with artists Abdu Ali and Savannah Wood, featuring music and conversation about the creative process.

Impact Hub Skill Shares
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Instagram Live. 12-1 p.m. Free.
The Station North community hub has shifted its weekly in-person class to an online course, featuring authors, artists, and wellness experts discussing the likes of drawing, journaling, and indoor gardening.

Celebration

Albumin (Bella Union)

Celebration sounds like no other band in Baltimore, or anywhere else for that matter. The eclectic trio has expanded to a quintet and infused its psych-calliope whirl with more recognizable blues and rock elements. As a result, the new material unfolds with a propulsive swagger rather than circling in on itself. Drummer David Bergander and guitarist/bassist Walker Teret build dramatic tension while Sean Antanaitis coaxes shades of soul from vintage keyboards and singer Katrina Ford finds catharsis within songs like “Razor’s Edge” and “Only the Wicked.” Best of all, “Blood Is the Brine” and “I Got Sol” use a frisky tribal stomp punctuated by reverb-drenched power chords to catapult swampy Southern rock into the 21st century. The record ends with a wheezy incantation, “Don’t Stop Dreaming,” that could be this innovative band’s mantra.

Check out an extended interview with Celebration’s Katrina Ford.

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Various Artists

Red Hot + Bach (Sony)

The Red Hot organization has, for the past 25 years, raised money to fight HIV/AIDS via ambitious recording projects, often tribute discs devoted to a single composer. Past albums have focused on the likes of Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and Fela Kuti and included performers such as David Byrne, The Roots, and Sade. This time around, an impressive array of artists plays Bach, often with sublime results. A pair of jazz legends, saxophonist/Baltimore native Gary Bartz and bassist Ron Carter, find the swing in Cello Suite No. 1, while Philly DJ King Britt underscores the percolating soul of “Ave Maria.” While those artists set the stylistic parameters, there are plenty of highlights in between, including astute interpretations by mandolinist Chris Thile and ambient vocalist Juliana Barwick. Singer/songwriter Gabriel Kahane contributes the only clunker, a Goldberg Variations inspired pop ditty that feels completely out of place.

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Jad Fair & Danielson

Solid Gold Heart

(Sounds Familyre)

It’s hard to believe this collaboration hasn’t happened until now. Fair—who co-founded legendary band Half Japanese while living in Carroll County in the mid-1970s—is devoted to the transcendent power of DIY rock, much like Danielson frontman Daniel Smith, though Smith’s devotion is tinged with Christianity. Both men are wide-eyed beacons of pop positivity. Here, Fair handles lyrics and lead vocals, while Smith plays guitar and oversees an ensemble that includes percussionists, backup singers, and even a horn section. The ample instrumentation underscores the generous spirit of these songs, which range from the title track’s melodic hush to the anthemic “Rockin’ on the Good Side.” The latter tune name-checks all of The Beatles, urges listeners to “stand up for sunshine,” and builds to a sing-a-long chorus of “Rockin’ on the good side/rockin’ on the side of good.” It’s so joyful, resistance is futile.