EAT

Sept. 14: Baltimore Seafood Festival

Canton Waterfront Park. 12-7 p.m. Free-$100.

What better way to honor Baltimore’s undoubted love for seafood than a full-blown festival with crustaceans as far as the eye can see? Head to Canton Waterfront Park for this sixth annual extravaganza as local seafood spots—including favorites like Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls, Nick’s Fish House, and The Local Oyster—serve up crab cakes, shrimp salad, oysters, and steamed crabs. Indulge in the only large-scale seafood festival in Baltimore City and spend the day trying new drinks, listening to live music, and taking in cooking demonstrations.

DRINK

Sept. 14: WTMD’s Rock and Rye

South Point, 101 W. Cromwell St. 6-9 p.m. $65.

With five cocktail tastings and unlimited samplings of 75-plus hand-crafted spirits, Rock and Rye is the idyllic goodbye to summer. Sip the night away while enjoying DJ Who’s soundtrack. In between glasses, hear from representatives of 18 Maryland distilleries—including local favorites like Sagamore Spirit and Old Line—which will offer insights into the trade and how to best serve their whiskey, gin, and vodka at home.

SEE

Sept. 14: Central Library Grand Reopening

Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free.

After three years of top-to-bottom renovations to the Enoch Pratt Central Library, the city’s 86-year-old institution will celebrate its grand reopening on Saturday with a block party and open house featuring some of the best performers, musicians, and authors Baltimore has to offer. As you take a virtual tour through the library to see its new additions and expansions, take in the host of activities going on in each section, including a performance by The Ellen Show-famous drummers A1 Chops, a Black Cherry Puppet Theater show in the Children’s Department, and readings by revered local authors like Laura Lippman and Kondwani Fidel in the Wheeler Auditorium.

HEAR

Sept. 13: Eze Jackson & The Backwudz Band

Baltimore Soundstage, 124 Market Pl. 8 p.m. $20-25.

If you haven’t yet tuned in to local legend Eze Jackson’s latest record, Fool, start binge-listening ahead of this Friday’s can’t-miss show at Baltimore Soundstage. Joined on the downtown stage by a packed lineup of up-and-comers—including FUNSHO, Apex Tha Genius, Dre Thompson, MC Bravado, and Christen B, as well as rising comedian Ivan Martin—the frontman of beloved hip-hop collective Soul Cannon will take the audience through new songs like “Unapologetically Black” and “Be Great” in the same fiery, high-energy way that he’s known and loved for.

DO

Sept. 15: Abell Community Street Fair

Abell Ave. 12-5 p.m. Free.

Whether you’re a longtime Abell resident or new to the neighborhood, spend Sunday afternoon exploring the sights and shops along its main avenue during this annual street fair. After grabbing a bite from local food trucks like Farm to Charm and cm.pops, browse through free books from The Book Thing of Baltimore, snag some fall-inspired pieces from The Clothing Swap’s free collection, and jam out to live music from 13 local acts including Bobbi Rush and School of Rock Baltimore. There is something for everyone at this fun-in-the-sun event, including a parade and game booths for the kiddos, as well as beer from Peabody Heights Brewery for the grown-up set.

In the latest iteration of The Big Baltimore Playlist, we found five local songs, ranging from roots-fueled funk and electronic instrumentals to country western ballads, for you to listen to right now. Check back each month for new top songs of the moment, and follow our Spotify playlist as we continue to build a soundtrack for our city.

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“Painted Roads” by Cris Jacobs

The King of Baltimore rock-and-roll is back and he’s bringing the funk. Where 2016’s Dust To Gold was full of Southern trimmings—roadhouse blues, twangy ballads, thunderous stomps—this new tune off of Jacobs’ upcoming Color Where You Are is a downright groove, fueled by a flurry of piano, undulating bass, and spunky drums, speaking to the strange chase of stardom, and finding success on your own terms, wherever you are. The soulful sound is tried-and-true Jacobs to the core, but it’s also fresh territory for the veteran musician. It adds an instant pep to your step, and leaves you hungry, in these heavy times, for the lightness that the rest of the record could bring.

“Dis Ting” by Funsho

By now, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen or heard of Funsho. Be it on your television set—where the Nigeria-born, Maryland-raised musician first garnered national attention last year on NBC’s The Voice—or around the Baltimore region, where he’s been performing seemingly nonstop ever since. As the second single of his upcoming NUMB3RZ EP, this track is an early song of summer, featuring a swaggering Afrobeat melody, Funsho’s silky smooth vocals, and guest flows by fellow DMV artist King Kanja. Combining pop, soul, hip-hop, and R&B, he creates instant feel-good vibes. See for yourself when he performs before Harbor East’s FashionEASTa fashion show in late April.

“Ecola” by The Honey Dewdrops

The first day of spring is officially upon us and few songs feel more fitting than those off of the new album, Anyone Can See, by local folk duo The Honey Dewdrops. This light-as-air instrumental features hearty acoustic strings and a lilting melody. But don’t let its simplicity fool you; it’s a deeply intimate tune propelled forward by the authentic chemistry of bandmates Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish. With each plink of banjo and strum of guitar, it builds and beams outward, rising like the sun at dawn.

“Requiem for Yaya” by Infinity Knives

It’s hard to pick a favorite track off the new full-length debut from DIY artist and Station North stalwart Infinity Knives. On In the Mouth of Sadness (Ugly Nigga from Heaven), each experimental number is a short snippet into another world—one you’ll want to explore for hours, be it a twinkling cosmos, a chaotic underworld, or a glitchy technicolor other dimension. Wavering between minimalistic melodies and complex compositions, this collection is a masterful collage of sound, some six years in the making, featuring special guests such as local rappers DYYO, Josh Stokes, and Giddeon Gallows. We found this heart-tugging fourth track especially transformative.

“Long Gone” by Jesse Hanlon

Out of obscurity, we stumbled upon this new two-song EP from Towson High grad, fledgling musician, and apparent old soul Jesse Hanlon. He makes the sort of hypnotic outlaw country music that’s making a comeback on the national stage, thanks in part to other young backwoods musicians like Tyler Childers and Colter Wall. If these two debut tracks are any indication, Hanlon should keep it up; they’re tall tales of hard luck and heart break—the sort of jangly, guitar-busting blues of a dusty spaghetti western (or the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)—and they’re persuasive. This title track, featuring a hint of psychedelic and surf inspiration, sounds as if it was written from another lifetime.