Every year, we’re seriously impressed by the amount of artistic talent in Baltimore, and 2019 was no different, with top-notch music coming out of the city—making its way onto both the local and national stage. It also felt like a year where the musical community came into its own. No, Rolling Stone didn’t name us the best music city in America again (not that we need that recognition to know that we are), but there were numerous moments of reckoning, if you will. Rising artists finally got their due. Established acts performed epic homecoming shows. Hallowed institutions wrestled with their futures. There were both losses of legends and celebrations of lifetimes, and each reminded us of the great impact this city has had, and continues to have, on the musical form. Here, we round up some of the most memorable moments of 2019. And we recommend keeping your ears perked for all that is to come in 2020.

Ethel Ennis passes away.
This past February, Baltimore’s “First Lady of Jazz” passed away at age 86. During the late 1950s and 1960s, the West Baltimore singer recorded for major labels, toured Europe, headlined the Newport Jazz Festival, and performed regularly with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington. As a child, she learned to play piano at the Ames United Methodist Church in Sandtown-Winchester and later became a mainstay at the Red Fox on Pennsylvania Avenue. Disillusioned by the music industry, Ennis ultimately eschewed national stardom and returned to Baltimore for a more simple life, where she performed until her later years. Her mark on the greater musical world remains.

Dan Deacon performs with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
It felt like fate had somewhat of a hand in the moment when Dan Deacon first took to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall stage with members of the BSO this spring. At the time, the orchestra was in the midst of a contentious contract dispute that would eventually lead to a summer-long lockout of the musicians by the organization’s management (see below), while the electronic artist—15 years after moving to Baltimore and forever changing the local music scene—was quietly working on a new record about overcoming doubt, and reckoning with age and death and time. For a few hours, the two iconic musical acts, seemingly from opposite of the sonic spectrum, though Deacon studied composition in college, came together for a night that would become a gift to the city. The musicians filled the halls with hope, as concertgoers got out of their seats, ran down the aisles, and started an impromptu dance party in front of the venerable stage.

Abdu Ali releases FIYAH!!!.
Over the last several years, few musicians have been as influential and integral to the Baltimore music scene as Abdu Ali. From the glory days of their all-inclusive, underground Kahlon dance party at The Crown to national coverage by the likes of The New York Times, The New Yorker, and NPR more recently, the avant-garde rapper has helped put Baltimore’s DIY culture on the map, remaining deeply rooted to their hometown city along the way. This spring, the release of their studio debut, FIYAH!!!, took their artistry to a new level, fusing hip-hop and Baltimore Club music with jazz and punk. The record and its release solidified Ali’s star power with a full-band lineup, led to a sold-out show at the Ottobar, and helped them nab a well-deserved “Artist of the Year” award from City Hall.

André De Shields wins his first Tony.
As a cherry on top of a 50-year acting career, 73-year-old Charm City native André De Shields took home his first Tony Award in June, winning best featured actor in a musical for his performance of the god Hermes in Hadestown. De Shields grew up in West Baltimore, one of 11 children, and graduated from City College before moving from regional theater to Broadway. He would go on to gain renown for his roles in shows like The Wiz and The Full Monty. A few weeks after the Tonys, he was also presented with a mayoral salute and key to the city by Mayor Jack Young. “This is what you get when you blow them out of the water,” he said during his acceptance speech, showing the crowd his Tony. “I did it the only way you could—the Baltimore way.”

Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon slays on American Idol.
If you don’t watch American Idol, you might have missed, in our opinion, one of the most special stories of the television show’s history. If you do watch American Idol, you’ve already been a Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon fan for months. The Catonsville singer-songwriter placed sixth in the competition, wowing judges and viewers with his sensational falsetto, his original song “Almost Heaven,” and his backstory, the son of a Baptist pastor who discovered he was gay at age nine. This fall, Harmon released his debut album and this winter, graduated from Towson University, where he studied vocal performance.

Beach House gets sentimental at the Hippodrome.
In June, dream-pop duo Beach House returned to the city for their first big hometown performance since the Windjammer music festival at Pier Six in 2015. Taking over the hallowed stage of the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, singer Victoria LeGrand and guitarist Alex Scally put on a powerful show to promote their latest album, 7, with some old favorites thrown in along the way. Typically stoic performers, they both spoke sentimentally about the city, even referencing the Orioles. Opening acts were also must-see sets by Dan Deacon and Future Islands’ William Cashion.

The Ottobar persists and, as The Windup Space closes, Rituals opens in its stead.
Two big changes took place at local music venues this year, with the announcement of sales and closures stirring fear for a scene that already lamented a dearth of creative space. But a few months after the Ottobar announced that its longtime owners were selling the business, it was revealed that longtime bar manager Tecla Tesnau would be taking over the Remington rock club in late summer, keeping it in local hands, and it seems that little has changed. And just weeks after word surfaced that The Windup Space would be closing its doors, news broke that the location would be reopened as Rituals, a bar and venue that would keep the same all-inclusive, DIY tradition alive and well, allowing the arts community to let out a collective sigh of relief. There, lineups have included local favorites like Lower Dens, Eze Jackson, and Chiffon.

TT The Artist pays homage to Baltimore Club.
This summer, TT The Artist made her directorial debut with the sneak peek premiere of her upcoming music documentary, Dark City: Beneath The Beat. Despite relocating to Los Angeles, the beloved rapper has long been a fierce advocate of, and an active participant in, the city’s hometown musical genre, Baltimore Club—the story of which she tells in her unique, colorful film. Featuring cameos and music by fellow local artists such as DDm, Eze Jackson, Mighty Mark, and Rufus Roundtree, it now enters the finishing-touch and fundraising stages in hopes of joining the festival circuit in 2020.

DDm drops Beautiful Gowns.
This summer, DDm released his debut full-length album, Beautiful Gowns, which, unsurprisingly, turned out to be one of the most fun, infectious records to come out of Baltimore this year. That’s thanks to the pure showmanship of the city-born rapper who has brought bravado, wit, humor, and heart to his music and live performances across the city for years, from the local battle rap circuit through his Bond St. District duo and now in his solo career. A year after his planned debut, Soundtrack To A Shopping Mall, was nixed, these 13 tracks stood testament to DDm’s determination and dauntless creativity. Self-released, locally produced, and spread without the help of local radio, singles like “He Say She Say” and “Pull Up”garnered thousands of listens on Spotify and views on YouTube all on their own. We personally love the bright, buoyant ballads of “Hooray” and “Forever 21.”

Future Islands rocks out at Union Collective.
In early September, thousands of Baltimore City music lovers packed into the parking lot of Union Collective for a night to remember by local dream-pop darlings Future Islands. Much like their impromptu Hampdenfest performance in 2014, the band’s free live show took place outside as the sun set, featuring both new material off their upcoming album and fan favorites like “Seasons” and “Balance,” with frontman Sam Herring’s mercurial dance moves out in full force. Opening acts included Baltimore artists Smoke Bellow, Joy Postell, and DJs Jason Willett and Jay Buim, and the brewery’s neighbor, The Charmery, sold three Future Islands-themed flavors of ice cream to support city non-profits.

The BSO survives a tumultuous year.
It was a long, strange trip around the sun for the century-old Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: ongoing contract negotiations that tumbled into labor disputes, the cancellation of the summer season, a highly publicized lockout of the musicians by BSO management, followed by months of player protests outside the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. But this fall, both parties reached a one-year agreement that resulted in the meeting of many players’ demands and the on-time opening of the fall schedule. The organization has also since launched their newly formed vision committee and brought in outside help from arts-org “turnaround king” Michael Kaiser, so things are looking up. (Except for maestra Marin Alsop hinting at her departure.)

JPEGMAFIA continues to soar.
It’s been another big year for JPEGMAFIA. The alternative rap artist, known as Peggy, toured the U.S., to many sold-out crowds. He performed at the likes of Afro Punk, Firefly, and Coachella, where rolling stone called his set one of the best of the festival. He opened for big-name acts like Vince Staples and Flume. He garnered national press and profiles by the likes of Billboard, The Guardian, and Paper. And this fall, he released his latest album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, to national acclaim— a colorful, cacophonous collage that takes us on a trip into his beautiful, manic, often NSFW dream world. All the while, even though he has since relocated to L.A., Peggy always gave love back to Baltimore, his former city, selling out two nights at the Ottobar, hopping on Abdu Ali’s latest record, and bringing fellow rising local rapper Butch Dawson along on his tour. For that, for as long as we can, we’ll continue to claim him as our own.

Morgan State’s marching band leads the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The holidays came early this year when it was announced that Morgan State University’s Magnificent Marching Machine would be leading the iconic procession of marching bands in the 93rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, making MSU the first of Maryland’s historically black colleges to perform in the parade’s history. Ahead of a giant Snoopy balloon, the college band, led by band leader Melvin Miles Jr., marched triumphantly in blue and white uniforms for nearly three miles from the Upper West Side, around Central Park, and down to the famed namesake department store on Herald Square. Millions of viewers watched from the city streets and on their television sets at home.

A star is born in Maggie Rogers.
In the 12 months of 2019, Eastern Shore native Maggie Rogers released a debut album via Capitol Records, starred as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, sold out her U.S. tour, performed at the likes of Coachella, attended the Met Gala, and garnered her first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. While still a student at NYU, the singer-songwriter got her first taste of fame serendipitously, when a video of Pharrell Williams going ga-ga for one of her songs went viral. But everything that came next, and all that lies ahead, has undoubtedly been the result of her own talent and star staying power.

Check out our Spotify playlist below for Lydia’s Top 30 songs of 2019.

It’s been quite the past few years for Maryland musician Maggie Rogers.

At this point, the singer-songwriter’s success story has been told and retold countless times, from The New York Times to Rolling Stone to the Today show—a living testament to dreaming big.

For those who missed it, the Eastern Shore native skyrocketed onto the national stage after a video from one of her New York University music classes went viral on YouTube in 2016. In it, master producer Pharrell Williams of “Happy” fame literally drops his jaw as Rogers plays her song “Alaska,” which would eventually become her first single. His reaction, and their interaction, is infectious, and the rest is history.

Over the next few years, Rogers would nab a Capitol Records deal, put on a stunning performance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, open for Mumford & Sons on their world tour, take the stage at Coachella, and sell out every venue on her own national run of shows. Perhaps biggest of all, this past January, her debut album, Heard It In A Past Life, was released to critical acclaim and chart-climbing accolades for its come-as-you-are attitude and girl-power folk-pop sound.

Now, those accumulated accomplishments have landed Rogers her first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Announced this morning, her fellow nominees include such big names as rap star Lizzo, electropop artist Billie Eilish, and country-hop wavemaker Lil Nas X, as well as Black Pumas, Rosalía, Tank and the Bangas, and Yola.

Other Maryland nominees include Prince George’s County rapper YBN Cordae, whose The Lost Boy and “Bad Idea” featuring Chance the Rapper were nominated for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song, respectively. Meanwhile, Anne Arundel County’s Brothers Osborne were nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their single “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You).” Baltimore’s very own John Waters was also nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for his audio book of Mr. Know-It-All.

See the 62nd annual awards on January 26, 2020, at 8 p.m. EST. on CBS.

Heard It In A Past Life

Maggie Rogers

What a wild few years it’s been for Maggie Rogers. By now you’ve likely heard the story: the young Eastern Shore musician sings a song for Pharrell Williams during her college music class, the video goes viral, and in two short years, the singer-songwriter has turns turned into a bona fide folk-pop star, nabbing a Capitol Records deal, performing on Saturday Night Live, and selling out every stop on her U.S. tour. But what’s lost in that narrative is Rogers’ own true talent, and mighty potential, as showcased on this first full-length album. With big anthems, barebones ballads, and buoyant dance numbers—including that fateful “Alaska”—these 12 songs are a testament and a time capsule, capturing the elusive, ephemeral, earthshaking transformation that took place as her dreams became reality. On each track, she embraces the change, rediscovers herself, and emerges newly potent and powerful, ready for the road ahead. We see no horizon in sight.

Lake Accotink

Marian McLaughlin

If you’ve found yourself overwhelmed by the world recently (haven’t we all?), this Marian McLaughlin record is for you. The local singer-songwriter has crafted a tome of chamber-folk songs to honor the natural cycles of the environment, and each experimental arrangement is a petition to unplug, to be present, and to observe the world around you. Unfurling in a stream of consciousness, McLaughlin’s lilting, labyrinthine verses speak to the relationship between humanity and nature and serve as a way for the artist—and listener—to process our impact on the planet. But through ballads, dirges, and outright epic poetry, her poetic meditations maintain a sense of hope for the future, found in the balance of regeneration and the belief in nature’s omniscience. Give it a listen, then get off your phone, and get outside.

In the latest iteration of The Big Baltimore Playlist, we found five local songs ranging from dance-ready folk-pop and punkish hip-hop to an adrenaline-pumping electronic score. 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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“The Breakway” by Dan Deacon

Maybe you caught the premiere of Time Trial during last year’s Maryland Film Festival. If you did, and you’re anything like us, you found yourself undeniably drawn not just to the documentary film’s visceral story of resurrection and redemption for Tour de France cyclist David Millar, but also its captivating score, released late last year. Baltimore electronic artist Dan Deacon has been flexing his composer skills over the last few years, with this being his second via Domino Records. (See also 2016’s Rat Film.) This pump of adrenaline is Deacon’s digital mastery at its finest, building in small, pulsing tones before bursting into a sparkling dreamscape. It draws the listener inward while creating a vast, vivid portrait of the physical endurance required by this limit-pushing ride. We’re equally and anxiously awaiting both Deacon’s upcoming electro-pop record and his next score.

“Hustle” by F City

A great under-the-radar record from last year was the dual personality of Agenda/World of Good by local supergroup F City. Founded by singer Lala Anderson, drummer Landis Expandis, and drummer Paul Joyce, the genre-busting trio puts 12 tracks divided between a punkish A-side and an electronic B-side. Whichever side you land on, you’ll appreciate the songs’ raw energy and no holds-barred funk. This particular track, situated in the latter, is a throwback to early hip-hop rhythms and rhymes that’s all about hard work, featuring one of the city’s most dogged rappers, Eze Jackson. Follow him and the trio as they wander the city streets of Baltimore in the song’s old-school video, released last month.

“Bear The Burden” by Haint Blue

There’s folk music, and then there’s Haint Blue. The local sextet’s bold take on the Americana genre lands somewhere in the eye of the storm—between calm and chaos—a lilting chamber orchestra meets a holy roller gospel choir. This first single off the upcoming Overgrownembodies that ethos. It’s a tight tour de force with valleys and peaks as frontman Mike Cohn bares his soul. Each song on this new record is a reckoning with the singer’s flight from a fundamentalist upbringing and his fight through serious drug addiction, and that sort of internal digging gives these melodies a deep and hearty authenticity. In the three years since the band’s debut EP, their chemistry has coalesced into a crescendo of emotion and talent. You feel their rich harmonies, of voice and instrument, in your bones.

“Past Life” by Maggie Rogers

Maggie Rogers might not be from Baltimore, but we’ll continue to root for this Eastern Shore singer-songwriter as our own. Her debut record, Heard It In A Past Life, out now via Capitol Records, is an emotional catharsis, reckoning with the earth-shaking transformation she’s experienced over the last two years while becoming a bona fide folk-pop star. It’s an outright fun, fiery, dance-ready feat—listen to “Retrograde” and “Burning” to see what we mean—but we personally love the quiet moments that remind us of the Maggie we fell for before her face was sprawled across billboards and bright-light marquees. This title track was reason enough for an entire record. She bares it all and stands stronger than ever before.

“Money Don’t Grow On Trees” by Sneaks

Keep this MICA alum and now D.C.-based singer-songwriter on your radar. Eva Moolchan’s (aka Sneaks’) third album, Highway Hypnosis, now streaming via NPR First Listen and out soon via Merge Recrds, is garnering a bunch of hype for its singular sound—a feminist fusion of hip-hop and post-punk that’s as much M.I.A. as it is Priests, though completely all her own. It’s easy to get hooked on her hushed vocals and repetitive spoken-word lyrics that create a sort of mantra for each track, such as this song’s title chorus. With bare-bones instrumentation and a staccato, bass-forward beat, she creates a soundscape that immerses you and, in its mere two minutes, leaves you wanting more. See also “Beliefs” and “Hong Kong to Amsterdam.”

It’s been a long, strange trip for Maryland native Maggie Rogers.

In 2016, the Eastern Shore singer skyrocketed to stardom after an infectious video made its way around the internet of the then-21-year-old student and her fellow New York University music classmates being surprised by special guest Pharrell Williams, the hip-hop superstar behind hits like “Happy” and “Get Lucky.” Rogers played a song she wrote—her now hit single “Alaska”—and Williams’ reaction was priceless—his eyebrows raised in astonishment, his head bopping along to the folk-pop beat, eventually comparing her sound to the originality of the Wu-Tang Clan, Stevie Wonder, and even the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. “Wow,” said Williams, when the song ended. “I have zero notes for that. . . I’ve never heard anyone like you before.”

Needless to say, the rest is history, and in two short years, the Easton-born singer has released her own acclaimed EP (and documentary film), rocked her way onto the lineup of big-name music festivals (Firefly, Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, Glastonbury, etc.), and sold out nearly all of her shows, including her most recent hometown visit at Baltimore Soundstage (where her dad introduced her on stage—it was magical). “I’m having a lot of fun,” Rogers told us last spring. “At the end of the day, I’m a college graduate with a job, working for myself, doing what I love, and that is pretty awesome.”

And now, before she releases her debut full-length album, Heard It In A Past Life, due out in January, and embarks on her first world tour next spring, Rogers takes the stage this Saturday, November 3, as the musical guest on the legendary late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live alongside actor-host Jonah Hill. In a few years of many firsts, “My, how my world has changed,” she recently said on Instagram. “And how I hope it always will.”

The show airs at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC.

Remember the name Maggie Rogers. Last summer, this Eastern Shore songwriter shot straight to stardom after an internet video gone viral. Go ahead, YouTube it: Rogers is sitting in her NYU music class next to a special guest—beat-making bellwether Pharrell Williams—when she starts to play a song she wrote. A few beats in, Pharrell’s reaction is priceless (he compares her sound to the perfection of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup), while Rogers’ reaction is infectious (she tries to play it cool).

It doesn’t take long to understand why, in a matter of months, that very track, “Alaska,” has taken over the radio, and that bright-eyed college student has gone from graduation to sold-out tours around the globe. But she’s so much more than Pharrell’s protégé. She hasn’t even gotten started.

You just got back from your first international tour and just started your first sold-out tour here at home.  Your life has completely changed in a matter of months so this is a really basic but loaded question—how do you feel?
I haven’t really had enough time to figure out how I’m feeling yet, but for the most part, I’m really happy. I’m having a lot of fun. At the end of the day, I’m a college graduate with a job, working for myself, doing what I love, and that is pretty awesome. I’m so satisfied just to be part of an artists’ community and surrounded by creative people making music. This is really the only thing I ever wanted to do, so I really can’t imagine graduation going any smoother.

Because you love what you do, is it easy to stay grounded? It seems to come so naturally to you.
I’ve always made music. I’ve always made it for myself. It’s always been my way to process things about my life, and none of that has changed. The focus for me is really on the work itself, and I’m really excited to have work in a field that is so engaging.

How did you first get into music growing up here on the Eastern Shore?
There’s not really anyone musical in my family, but I sort of begged my parents for harp lessons as a kid and I actually started studying the harp at Salisbury University with a teacher when I was about 8 years old. I was taking piano lessons at the same time. I lived in Ocean City until about fourth grade and sang in the choir at our church. I was always participating in music as much as possible.

You’ve said that nature influences your music. How did your upbringing  and the outdoors affect your sound?
I grew up in Easton on the Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay. In school, we talked about water health and spent time at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels. We’d go to Baltimore and learn about crabbing boats and canneries and the Inner Harbor. I think about summer in Maryland, and crabs and Old Bay and being surrounded by fields of corn and soybeans. Having that sense of geography, Maryland is just incredibly comforting.

I think what growing up there did do was actually make me hungry for music, because there wasn’t much of it around. It always took four hours round-trip to go see a concert in Philly or Baltimore. When I moved to New York City, I was 18 and I pretty much saw as much live music as humanly possible. I think that dichotomy is actually the reason I’m making the music that I am. I love where I’m from and I love Maryland so much, but I also really love New York. I had a really difficult time rectifying that I could be both people at once, and I think that’s what my music represents right now.

You shot the video for your first single, “Alaska,” at your parents’ home in Easton.
I started thinking about that music video last March. I spent a lot of my childhood inviting all my friends over, making them wear pink eye shadow and make music videos with me. So to actually make that was really, really, really fun. It brought the whole thing to life.

We have to say, we are obsessed with your backup dancers.
[Laughs.] Thank you. They’re my best friends from college. They’re just my friends, and those clothes are my clothes, but there is an element of fancy to it, too. At the end, it becomes a dance scene in the woods and I get to wear my rock star white outfit.

Do you get home often?
I haven’t been back too much—I came home for Christmas for about a week—but I play Firefly [in Dover, Delaware] in June, and I have my five-year high school reunion. I take off for Europe right after that, but I’m excited to have a little bit of that Maryland summer. You know, grab a bushel of crabs, have a beer, and chill outside.

Is it rejuvenating to come back?
It’s incredibly grounding. I love where I’m from and I love the Chesapeake Bay. It’s quiet, and familiar. It’s like a sanctuary. I don’t really leave the house too much when I come back. The only thing about Maryland is that it’s kind of hard to get to an airport, so New York has really been my crash pad. But it’s so nice to come home.

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Fusing her folk upbringing with a newfound appreciation for French dance music, Maggie Rogers writes songs that are as much big city as they are small town, each rhythm infused with an earthy energy and spiritual soul that’s well beyond Rogers’s mere 23 years. They’re for anyone who’s ever stood on an urban rooftop and danced under the stars (“On + Off”), and yet they’re for anyone who’s ever listened to the chirp of crickets in the gloaming light of a hot August moon (“Color Song”).

As Pharrell Williams said on that aforementioned fateful day at NYU, her sound is “singular,” and yet, it’s universal, all at once. Get lost in her heady melodies, stunning falsetto vocals, and openhearted authenticity—not to mention her dream-like, dance-inducing music videos—and follow her wherever she goes. (Like at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, on June 15.)

In addition to seven stages of music, Firefly—which bills itself as the largest music and camping festival on the East Coast—is about the experience. Hammocks are strung from trees and attendees are encouraged to camp, either with a BYO approach or through event-sponsored accommodations. Popular attractions, including the Dogfish Head Brewery, a farmers market, yoga lessons, and a headphone disco are all returning, as well.

General admission, camping packages, and VIP tickets go on sale today at 1 p.m., available through the Firefly website.