Every October, the Maryland Science Center transforms into what might be the biggest Halloween party to pop up in Baltimore City. By day, its dinosaur, space, and electricity-themed exhibits entice tots to learn about all things science, but by night, the institution turns into a full-on music festival in the Inner Harbor, featuring more than a dozen bands, a wild costume contest, and overflowing craft beer, all to benefit the center and youth education nonprofit Believe In Music.

While its only July, the event, now in its seventh year, has just announced its 2018 lineup, featuring familiar faces who have performed at past parties and exciting new acts. On Saturday October 27, some 22 Baltimore bands will perform across seven stages, from the planetarium to the rooftop to beneath a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“In the same night, you can see a bluegrass band, an electronic band, and dance to James Nasty on the roof,” says Kenny Liner, founder and director of Believe In Music. “There will be so much to do and there will be so many talented, different people from Baltimore who deserve to be highlighted. I just wish we could include more.”

The main stage will feature big-name headliners: soulful sextet J Pope and the HearNow, funky jam band Electric Love Machine, and the main event, mad-scientist electronic artist Dan Deacon. “Dan is the perfect fit,” says Liner. “His shows are so fun and interactive. He makes the crowd feel special and allows them to have a really good time.”

Meanwhile, the Friends of Friends (Records) Stage will highlight rising DIY acts such as soulful R&B singer Joy Postell, experimental duo Wume, post-punk rockers Natural Velvet, and indie trio Outer Spaces, while the planetarium will host a handful of techno artists. As in years past, the Charm City Bluegrass Stage will be dedicated to Americana musicians, such as CCBG Battle of the Bands winner The Dirty Grass Players and folk bellwether Caleb Stine, and both DJs Rob Macy of Save Your Soul and James Nasty will be back on the ones and twos for an epic dance party into the wee hours of the nights.

Exhibits will be open throughout the evening, as will the IMAX theater, where electronic group Deltanine will perform a live score to an immersive film. Tickets usually sell out and are now on sale for general admission ($35) and VIP ($75).

“The best thing about this party is that we’re coming together to support Baltimore,” says Liner. “As much as the city needs to support organizations like Believe in Music, it needs to support institutions like the Science Center. Without it, there would be a huge void in Baltimore for kids to learn and experience cool science stuff. My daughter is only eight months old and she already absolutely loves it. In Baltimore, we’re all in it together.”

As for many of us, 2017 was a year of introspection and growth for the Baltimore music community. Familiar faces returned home, launched new ventures, or released seminal albums. New artists popped out of the woodwork and made their mark on the local scene. Collaboration was prolific, emotions were liberated, and a sort of homegrown catharsis ensued. A sense of change is in the air, and with the amount of talent we saw this year across all genres, we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for 2018. We couldn’t fit them all, but here are a handful of our favorite musical moments from the tumultuous past 12 months.

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Abdu Ali launches a podcast.

This fall, Baltimore native/rapper/writer Abdu Ali got to add a new title to his resume: radio show host. In October, the local artist launched his first-ever podcast, DrumBooty Radio, in iTunes via Mask Magazine. Using his background in journalism, Ali talks with fellow creatives of color about the African-American experience. With five bi-monthly, hour-long segments now under his belt, Ali has interviewed the likes of local writer/editor Lawrence Burney of True Laurels, writer/social justice advocate Bilphena Yahwon, and writer/filmmaker Nia Hampton on topics such as the importance of therapy, being black in the DIY scene, and owning your own narrative. Through this new medium, featuring one special song per episode, Ali continues to craft compelling art in the audible form and shine a spotlight on our city.

Brooks Long sings “Blues for Freddie Gray.”

Local jazz legend Lafayette Gilchrist released a new album this spring with a powerful single titled “Blues for Freddie Gray.” Riddled with Gilchrist’s pounding piano keys, a full brass section, and the soulful vocals of old-school virtuoso Brooks Long, the song is post-2015 Baltimore in a bottle. The lively, driving number is full of energy and emotion, with audio samples from actual television footage following the death of Freddie Gray and subsequent officer trials. But despite the opening police sirens and closing whirr of a Foxtrot helicopter that both speak to the lack of closure in Gray’s case, Gilchrist ends on a hopeful note. “I want to know that there’s a day that’s coming soon and fast,” howls the ever-talented Long. “I want a justice and a peace that’s made to last and last. Don’t ya tell me that we can’t all get it done.” 

Dan Deacon celebrates Spiderman of the Rings.

A lot has changed for Dan Deacon since the release of this seminal record some 10 years ago. He’s grown from a quasi-known experimental musician to a nationally acclaimed artist. His music has become a soundtrack for the New York City Ballet; his mad-scientist compositions have scored award-nominated documentary films. And yet, to celebrate the anniversary of this record, Deacon returned home to perform at the kind of DIY space that started it all. At 2640 inside St. John’s United Methodist church, his exuberant melodies led the city’s most die-hard music lovers through a journey back in time. They danced. They sweat. They stood in awe of Deacon’s humble musical mastery, along for the ride and forever thankful that he is and maybe always will be ours.

Future Islands performs four nights at the Ottobar.

When Future Islands announced a series of shows at the Ottobar this spring to commemorate the release of The Far Field, it seemed like the whole world was vying for a golden ticket in the heart-racing online lottery. When it was all said and done, Pitchfork was there, tuning the entire country in to hear the trio’s heartbreaking new record, but Baltimore was all in tow—John Waters and a medley of other notable hometown musicians included—to welcome the boys home. Through new hits (“Ran”) and old favorites (“Little Dreamer”), frontman Sam Herring sashayed across the stage, William Cashion plugged those iconic riffs on bass, and Gerritt Welmers let that swirling synth fill the sold-out room, it felt like our old hearts—full of local love—just might explode.

Good Fridays makes Baltimore dance again. 

Over a year ago, then-Baltimore arts and culture editor Gabriella Souza was on the phone with John Waters when she got an idea. The local auteur noted that his hit film Hairspray! had been inspired by the variety and dance television shows of the mid-20th-century that had sadly gone the way of the buffalo. Wouldn’t it be great, they mused, if people could get together—regardless of age, race, or class—to just dance like that today? With the help of PipeDreamz’s AC Miller-Abdullah and Baltimore contributor Cassandra Miller, Good Fridays Baltimore was born, bringing all walks of city life together for live music by the likes of Al Rogers Jr., Wendel Patrick, and Eze Jackson, local art by Shan Wallace and Aaron Maybin, and a free-for-all dance party featuring local DJs into the wee hours of the night. As the event continues to grow, we can’t wait to see what—and who—comes next.

J Pope and the HearNow release its long-awaited debut.

After years of performing around town, this alt-soul collective released its debut in June. Produced by local beat wizard Wendel Patrick, Soul Searching captures the dynamic sound of this prolific live-performing sextet—a unique fusion of soul and hip-hop with a touch of R&B and blues. The record highlights the honey-coated lyrical flair and fast-paced finesse of frontwoman Jasmine Pope and showcases the masterful improvisations of her dexterous band mates. From the highs of frenzied funk rhythms to the lows of slow burning jazz numbers, the HearNow touches on the ups ands downs of living as a working artist. This album is Exhibit A of the talent, dedication, and hard work it takes. 

Local musicians spin at Idle Hour.

Last fall, Friends Records began a new residency at our favorite vinyl-slinging dive bar, Idle Hour, in Riverside. With the watering hole newly reopened, we weren’t sure if the famed record player would live on, but thanks to the bar owners and Jimmy MacMillan’s roster of local artists, the ones and twos are alive and well curated. Hometown favorites like Blacksage, Natural Velvet, and Surf Harp have spun handpicked selections from their various genres of electronic R&B, post-punk, and indie rock. In 2018, we’d buy the bar a round of pickle backs to hear Bond St. District’s Unkle Lulu, Microkingdom, or Peals.

Micah E. Wood makes dating easier.

Perhaps our favorite album of the year goes to See Me by Micah E. Wood. On this new record, the local songwriter and music photographer tackles the trials of modern love, pulling our heart strings as he rolls through the tribulations of 21st-century romance with honesty, humility, and humor. In the poignant “Match,” Wood candidly delves into the brutal honesties of online dating. In his first single, “Without You,” his anthemic chorus sums up the jubilant feeling of finally getting over a breakup. In the buoyant “Something,” his bubbly beat embodies the beauty of letting your guard down and liking someone again.  We especially love the additions of fellow heart-pullers Joy Postell, :3ion, and the aforementioned Al Rogers Jr. Through tender electronic melodies and charming talk-sing vocals, Wood and company make our stone cold hearts—thanks a lot, Tinder—finally feel human again.

Natural Velvet drops a timely album on feminine rage.

We couldn’t have realized how much Natural Velvet’s new Mirror to Make You would resonate in 2017. But with a strong focus on “feminine rage,” as frontwoman Corynne Ostermann puts it, coinciding with the nation’s “silence breakers” that have shed fresh light on widespread sexual harassment and assault throughout multiple industries, we can’t help but find new meaning. Each song is a rebellious declaration of feeling and fury with unabashedly frank lyrics that dissect femininity and endorse the power of the female. Whatever your gender, listening to these songs is cathartic. You finish with the full weight of three small lyrics to live by from “Kronos.” “I am. I choose. I chose.”  

Opera singers unite to form Outcalls.

We love the ladies of Outcalls. With their glittering get-ups, engaging social media presence, and ambitious attitude, Peabody grads Britt Olsen-Ecker and Melissa Wimbish have catapulted themselves onto the local arts scene and created their very own genre along the way. While the band has been around since 2015, the classically trained singers have carved out a sort of baroque indie-pop music on this debut-like record, combining the classics of shimmering synth and shoegaze guitar with ethereal soprano harmonies and robust electronic rhythms that are as hypnotic as they are awakening. Witchy, somewhat tribal, and even a little bit dusty old Spaghetti Western, “Skip to Sunrise” has become one of our top songs of the year. 

Snail Mail shoots to stardom.

It wasn’t long after the 2016 release of Snail Mail’s debut album that Lindsey Jordan and her two band mates started to get national attention. The band’s lo-fi indie rock music was suddenly in the web pages of Pitchfork and, before long, sprawled across a feature in The New York Times. The trio sold out the Ottobar, recorded a NPR Tiny Desk Concert, went off on tour with indie darlings Beach Fossils, and then signed a deal with Matador Records. (We also awarded them a Best of Baltimore for “Rising Star.”) Fresh out of high school and already well beyond their years, it’s safe to say that they are, officially, the next big thing.

Super City get synchronized in infectious music video.

This year, the Baltimore music scene has really upped the ante when it comes to music videos, with few more shining examples than that of this playful spring take on Super City’s most recent single, “Artificial Sin.” The indie slow jam gets star treatment with fresh outfits and unexpected choreography as the band’s five musicians don white jumpsuits and leather Chelsea boots and use coy dance moves to tap, twirl, and even, in one moment, drop it like its hot in a room full of turtle-necked backup dancers. Special guests include Paul Hutson of Bond St. District and Olsen-Ecker and Wimbish of Outcalls, to name a few. You can’t watch it without wishing you were there, too. 

The Cardinal Sheehan Choir performs “Rise Up.”

In September, Baltimore middle schoolers went viral after a video of their choir rehearsal featuring a powerful performance of Andra Day’s “Rise Up” made its rounds, in the millions, around the Internet. Within a couple of weeks, they were performing live on “Good Morning America,” with Day herself responding with a special message for the students: “Your video was so powerful and moved me so deeply and is moving the entire nation right now…We appreciate you so much.” One of the more heartwarming moments of an otherwise turbulent year, the students later performed for Baltimore in their Loch Raven gymnasium, while choir director Kenyatta Hardison shared the back-story of their shot to fame. This below video went viral for us, too.

The Ottobar turns 20.

Two decades is an eternity in the lifetime of a rock club, let alone one in Baltimore where it seems like every old-school establishment is quickly being replaced with a glitzy sky-rise apartment building. But this September, the Ottobar turned a whopping 20 years old. From the rabblerousing rock years downtown on Davis Street to the wide-ranging lineups on Howard Street in Remington today, our dark, dingy, perfectly-imperfect music venue has remained the go-to spot for artists of all genres, still sticking to its unapologetic, underdog guns as more massive arenas open in D.C. and across the country. To celebrate, legends of the past—J. Roddy Walston, Wye Oak, Roads to Space Travel, Candy Machine—stepped back onstage to relive, and continue, the glory days.

WTMD launches kid-friendly Saturday Morning Tunes concert series. As a young father himself, Sam Sessa saw the conundrum: what happens when music lovers grow up and have kids?  They can’t just go see a show any old night of the week anymore. They have bedtimes—and pajamas to put on. Can they not have fun anymore? Enter Saturday Morning Tunes, Sessa’s brainchild concert for both the young and the young art heart. With a smattering of sold-out shows at both the Towson studio and Senator Theatre, and future plans to include more notable Baltimore bands that are otherwise not associated with the “kindie” genre, these weekend morning shows have quickly become a new favorite family ritual. Best of all, like sifting through an old record collection with your mom or sharing that old cassette tape with your son, it’s even an better opportunity for parents—however cool they used to be—to bond with their (hopefully) music-loving kids. 

J Pope and the HearNow 

Soul Searching (self-released)

One of Baltimore’s most anticipated albums finally dropped this summer. After years of performing around town, this alt-soul collective has released its debut, bottling a dynamic sound that we weren’t sure could be captured outside of a live setting. But on this new record, produced by local beat wizard Wendel Patrick, the soulful sextet, led by frontwoman Jasmine Pope, leaves us wanting nothing but more. Fusing a medley of genres—blues, funk, soul, hip-hop, R&B—Pope showcases her lyrical flair and finesse, zigging and zagging between honey-coated verses and fast-paced rhymes, all delivered with a sophisticated swagger. On each track, her voice is only amplified by her bandmates and their masterful improvisations, filled with heavy runs of bass, the pitter-patter of hand drums, and smoky swirls of sax. Most songs are slow-burning, jazz-influenced numbers, but there are also swift, somewhat-frenzied rhythms, like “Let Them Come” and “Spaz Out,” which truly stand out. The latter is a freestyle feat that’s so pure and raw, it could almost pass as punk rock.

J. Roddy Walston and the Business

Destroyers of the Soft Life (ATO Records) 

It’s been four long years since J. Roddy Walston released new music with his hard-rocking band, the Business. It’s been even longer since they all lived here in 2010—but since their pre-breakout days were spent in Baltimore, we still consider them our own. The years have been kind to the quartet. In a way, this fourth full-length album is a coming-of-age moment for the soulful Southern rockers, as they find more clarity and balance in their giant sound, returning bigger and bolder than ever—but also far more full of light. Walston’s soaring vocals come to the forefront, while the blazing guitar, nimble drums, and pounding ivories balance their time in the sun. Across 10 songs, they confront the past and imperfections with brutal honesty. A new father himself, Walston addresses an estranged dad in “The Wanting,” as well as smoking-and-drinking sins in “I Called You” and “Bad Habits.” Through valleys and peaks, his gospel upbringing shines through, and he finds some sort of acceptance along the way. The band concludes each anthem—be it a raucous rock number or wistful melody—standing powerful and triumphant, somewhere  between the old and new versions of themselves.

See our full interview with J. Roddy Walston and The Business.

Jasmine Pope, frontwoman of J Pope and the HearNow, has been a powerful presence in Baltimore’s music scene for years. Her band is making waves right now for its debut album, Soul Searching, which was released this summer. She joined us to talk about influences, juggling practices with day jobs, and the band’s first Artscape performance.

 I know people are familiar with you from outlets like the Baltimore Boom Bap Society, but tell us what the essence of J. Pope and the HearNow is.

 We are two entities that came together—me, J Pope, got together with Funk Friday around 2009, 2010. They were going to Goucher College and I had done a show there and they were the house band. We hit it off and since then we’ve been performing together. They were Funk Friday without me and our sound changed as we started performing together more. It shifted from funk and we started getting into alternative, soul, hip-hop, a bunch of other things other than funk. The name change came about because we didn’t want to be pigeonholed as just a funk band—we wanted something that captured everything it is that we do.

How would you describe your sound? 

We had more of a jam band sound, but our sound now is much more intentional. Jacob Kohlhas, our guitar player, does a good part of our musical arrangements, so I’ll do lyrics and an arrangement of vocals, but Jacob is very precise and has a lot of wonderful ideas about dynamics in the music. Where we used to be loose and jamming, we’re now precise with swift changes now, and I think this album captures that. It comes off well in our live performance, but for a few years we’ve been trying to capture it in our recorded pieces and we hadn’t gotten it exactly how we wanted it to be until we hooked up with [producer] Wendel Patrick and he was shaping that sound and bringing it out during the recording sessions. 

I feel like I hear this brought up a decent amount in Baltimore, where evolution of sound has more to do with a community of people who come together and work together.

I completely agree. The beautiful thing about Baltimore is, even though it’s a smaller city, our scene is really robust and tight-knit and that’s across genres. Being able to work with different folks, from what I do with Boom Bap and our performance with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the different kinds of music that we do influences what we do when we come together. Our drummer plays with the Bumper Jacksons, which is a completely different type of music than we play, our saxophone player has a basis in jazz, but can play anything. Every experience we have as individual musicians translates when we come together to compose and write. I think that’s another reason why our sound has evolved because we just individually as musicians are interacting with the community of folks who are around us. There aren’t many cities that you can go to where you can hear someone who’s classically trained on violin and a throat trumpet player and a classically trained opera singer from Peabody Conservatory and me. It happens in Baltimore regularly, and I think that’s just so unique, and gives us an opportunity to make sounds that you aren’t able to find in other places.

I wanted to ask you about what has influenced you and got you into music. 

So I came to music probably the way most brown girls will tell you they did, which is through the church. There was a gospel group that would come to my grandmother’s Baptist church. They were five sisters and the only instrument was a piano that one of the sisters played, and they performed like there were 1,500 people watching, even though that church probably held about 200 and probably had only had 45 people in the audience. But the energy they created when they performed had me awestruck, and they came every year to the church, so that made me more interested in music. As I got older, I started getting into Donny Hathaway and Nina Simone. I heard Lauryn Hill and saw that girls could sing and rap and I was ok, I can do this. I was in a gospel/rap group when I was in high school in Prince George’s County, and our administrators would let us out of school to go to other schools and perform. That started everything, and when I went to college at Towson University is when I started my first band. I had a history of jazz class there and the professor gave us the option of writing a paper for our final project, or forming a band, and little did he know there were some pretty amazing musicians in the class. I ended up forming a band and we did good stuff and we ended up staying together for five years. I stayed with them until I started rocking with J Pope and HearNow.

So what do you have planned for Artscape?

We’ve played Artscape a few times, but this is going to be our first time together as a band. Wendel Patrick will be accompanying us, and we’re also going to have a background vocalist that we hope will make our live show feel a little bit bigger since this is a bigger venue. We’re going to do a lot of really cool surprises, and we’re going to do what we always do which is have fun and entertain.

Now that the album is out, are you thinking about future plans for you and the band?

I’ve wanted to do another solo, straight hip-hop album, probably because my little brother is always like, “Yeah, this is great, but when are you going to do more rap?” So I’ve been kicking that around in my head and writing a little bit. As a band, we’re writing new music. Once we finally finished this album, it felt like a permission slip to be able to write new music. We’ve been writing and practicing and writing and practicing.

One thing I don’t think most people understand is the time commitment that’s required to be in a band like this. Can you talk a little about what your schedule is like?

(laughs) I also work a 9 to 5 job—I run an HIV and sexually-transmitted infection prevention program with Chase Brexton—so between that and having a five-year-old, I  practice with the band every weekend and sometimes during the week, getting off work at 5 and practicing sometimes 6:30 to 11. But that’s just my schedule. Most of the guys in the band teach music professionally, so they’re up early to do that, and then they practice all day individually, and they also gig with other bands. It’s really about juggling, but we’ve been together for a few years, so I think that testifies to the commitment we have. We’ll do whatever it is we need to do to make sure we can continue to make music together.   

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.

For that, and thanks to always inspiring music chats with local audio authority Sam Sessa of WTMD, we’ve decided to start a big Baltimore playlist—The Big Baltimore Playlist—as a showcase and celebration of Baltimore’s growing brood of talent. Check back each month for our top five songs of the moment, and follow our Spotify playlist as we continue to build a soundtrack for our city. 

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“Chariot” by Beach House

This single, previously unreleased and now on the local duo’s upcoming B-Sides and Rarities, is a hazy slow jam that twinkles like summer stars. Lead singer Victoria Legrand’s luxurious vocals drift in and out like a cotton-candy-colored fog, and Alex Scally’s smooth, saturated guitar chords twang with our heartstrings. After more than 10 years, Beach House’s music is as gorgeous as ever.

“Soul Searching” by J Pope and the HearNow

Get lost in the funky rhythm of this title track off the brand-new debut by alt-soul sextet J Pope and the HearNow. It’s an addictive, slow-burning beat that lingers with smoky swirls of sax, plugging runs of bass, and the honey-coated, sophisticated rhymes of frontwoman J Pope—and leaves you wanting more.

“Good Thing” by Michael Nau

This velvety, vintage-tinged tune is built for warm weather. Cumberland native Michael Nau’s vocals swim softly along with his sunny-day melody, riddled with gentle jangling rhythms and an important message: forget the bad stuff, focus on the song title.

“Kronos” by Natural Velvet

There are lots of rabblerousing rock songs on the new record, Mirror To Make You, by post-punk quartet Natural Velvet, but we love the anthemic chorus of this ninth track. “I make the rules for tonight…” warbles frontwoman Corynne Ostermann, before she crescendoes into a high and brilliant, “I am, I choose, I chose!” Lady power at its most badass.

“No King” by Outcalls

Combining lush chamber vocals with a robust layering of electronic and acoustic sound, opera singers Melissa Wimbish and Britt Olsen-Ecker create their own brand of baroque indie-pop. Their whimsical pipes wind around an energetic beat that pulses in your ears long after its gone. It has us excited for what’s to come.

*Not available on Spotify yet. We’ll add it when it comes online.