If you were to put together an all-star roster of next-generation Baltimore musicians, Peach Face would be in the starting lineup. The musical project of 23-year-old singer-songwriter Alison Ramírez is a gauzy, indie-pop daydream, marked by lush, synth-fueled songs of love, loss, and identity, such as her cell phone-recorded first single, “Grilled Cheese,” which has over 2.5 million streams on Spotify. Her debut full-length album, Grocery Store Flowers, is out now.

Ahead of the release, we sat down with Ramírez to discuss her roots, musical inspirations, and what comes next.

You grew up in Baltimore. How did you first become interested in music?
I didn’t have any family in music. Honestly, my parents didn’t really even listen to it. I think I started just singing a lot when I was younger, probably to myself, sometimes as a way to remember things. I started writing my own songs around fourth grade and had a little songbook that I’d write in and bring to the playground to show to friends. I just kept writing and haven’t stopped.

You started performing at a young age, too. How old were you then?
I started performing in School of Rock some time in high school. I was performing covers with them around Baltimore, on stages like Ottobar and even Rams Head, which was definitely weird. But I think it was a really good opportunity to get me used to a stage and singing in front of people and playing with a band, not just singing songs by myself in my room.

What was some of your inspiration at the time?
I started getting inspiration from artists like Fiona Apple and Sylvan Esso—a lot of cool alternative women in the music scene. Those were two big artists who taught me about things like vocal loops. I had never heard anything like it before and that really influenced my music. I didn’t have a way to record my music, but I got friends of mine to learn parts of my songs and sing them over top of each other to see if it sounded good.

Did you learn how to use any production or recording technology through your time at School of Rock?
Not really, but I had one guitar class with Dan Ryan, who was a teacher there, and who is also in Super City. We didn’t end up doing guitar at all; I just asked him questions about writing music—I don’t think I’d ever really met another musician who writes, or who has a band. I was like, how do you do it, how do you put music on the internet, how do people listen to it? He pulled up Garage Band and we spent the whole lesson just playing around. From there, I started using that just on my phone and that’s how I made “Grilled Cheese.” Now that I’ve graduated and am a young adult we’re like peers and play shows together and it’s a cool thing being able to share the scene with him.

You started performing live in earnest in 2019, which was of course right before the coronavirus pandemic shut down music venues. How do you think that impacted your trajectory?
I had a good year of figuring out what was even happening. Because everything happened really quickly. “Grilled Cheese” got put on Spotify’s Discover Weekly, like, everywhere. Then all of a sudden, thousands and thousands of people were listening to it and I was getting all of these Instagram followers and messages on Twitter, so it was honestly kind of hard to process. So having that break was kind of nice. I needed to give myself some time to slow down and figure out what direction I wanted to go in. I think it was very necessary for me.

What are you looking forward to in this next year?
I think just hopefully traveling a little bit more and expanding Peach Face outside of Baltimore. I love it here and I love the family I’ve created here and the supporters I’ve gotten out of everything. I couldn’t be more grateful for all of that, it’s gotten me to where I am now. But I’m excited to push a little bit. I’ve had the idea for this album in my head for the past six years, and a lot of these songs that I wrote six, four, two years ago, so it feels really good to finally get them out there, especially in a new way.

What began as a film about arts education in the country being under-appreciated and under-funded turned into a documentary about a Baltimore native with a remarkable story. As a child living on the streets in West Baltimore, Richard Antoine White defied the odds and became the first African American to earn a doctorate in music for tuba performance.

Local filmmakers David Larson and Darren Durlach, of the Baltimore-based production company Early Light Media, found White during research for their original film and felt that White’s story was just too good to not share. R.A.W. Tuba is a documentary detailing White’s life will be screening it at the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) on February 8.

“During the first minute of conversation, we knew Richard was special,” Durlach recalled. “The very simple, non-nuanced story about Richard is his educational journey. That’s what initially drew us in. When you hear that a kid was basically eating out of trash cans in Sandtown and has gone on to become a professor at a university and is well-respected in a symphony orchestra, there’s something there.”

White’s story begins like most young, black men in Baltimore—he grew up in poverty with a parent that suffered with addiction and was had to survive a life unsuitable for a small child. He was found at the tender age of four, shivering in the vestibule of an apartment building and was taken his grandparents. After that day, he took hold of his destiny and did all he could to make sure that he succeeded in life. But his dreams weren’t exactly what he planned.

“I was planning to go to Carver Vo-tech and to be a carpenter and a football player,” he said. “I broke my hip, so that was the end of Carver and being a carpenter. I thought, well I have this tuba, so I picked up the sousaphone and went to the school for the arts—I had no research and no knowledge.”

Chris Ford, a teacher at the time and is now the director of BSA, recalls a big kid on crutches with a plastic tuba coming into the school demanding to audition on the wrong day.

“He was not the normal sort of person to walk in the door,” Ford recalled. “My reaction was, ‘What is this story here?’ I’m glad I took the time to find out because look what happened. I’m really grateful that he had that insight. It showed that he really wanted it.”

The thing that really attracted Ford to White was his determination—it was like none he’d ever seen. After learning more about White’s background, he knew that the transition to BSA would not be an easy one, but was very impressed by the student’s will to succeed.

“When he got here, he was actually behind the curve on a number of levels,” Ford said. “The thing that was remarkable about Richard was that he was able to say, ‘Here I am, here’s where I want to go, tell me how to get there, and I’ll do the work.’ He threw himself into the work in a really remarkable way.”

That drive propelled White to earn a scholarship to the Peabody Institute and later pursue his doctorate and join the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra as a principal tuba player. The documentary goes into the ups and downs of White’s journey, even allowing viewers to catch a glimpse of him revisiting his childhood memories in West Baltimore..

“I was remembering where people lived, I saw a fountain that I used to bathe in, and what stores used to be there,” he said. “We randomly see this lady and she says, ‘How do you know that’s a shoe store? That hasn’t been a shoe store in 30 years, who are you?’ I told her who I was and she verified everything that I remembered as a child growing up on the streets.”

Durlach says that this film is not just about White’s specific journey as a tuba player, but it emphasizes the importance of mentorship and cultivation.

“There were moments that he wanted to quit,” he said. “And at each of those moments, he had a mentor that would not give up on him, and it pushed him. I think the real story here is not necessarily that through sheer will and determination this kid forcibly changes his life circumstances, I think it’s really a perfect case study of ‘it takes a village.’”

Visual Art

Maren Hassinger: The Spirit of Things
Maren Hassinger’s four-decade career in art is rooted in sculpture and dance. A selection of her sculptures, made with wire rope, plastic bags, and newspapers, are on exhibit in the Contemporary Wing of the Baltimore Museum of Art in the solo show The Spirit of Things. Some have been reconfigured for this exhibition, which also contains video installations of her performance art and dance. She’s also known for her role at the Maryland Institute College of Art as director of the Rinehart School of Sculpture, which she has served since 1997. July 18-Nov. 25, performance and conversation with the artist at 3 p.m. Sept. 8. BMA, 10 Art Museum Drive.

ISLA: Regarding Paradise
Ironically, the etymology of the word “paradise” goes back to its Greek and Old Iranian roots meaning “walled enclosure.” In this group exhibit at Towson University, curated by Baltimore artist Jackie Milad, contemporary artists working in an array of mediums examine the figurative and literal walls that enclose the pristine beach images of the Caribbean islands, a place that has worked toward political autonomy and environmental justice. Sept.7-Oct. 20. Reception on Sept. 6. Center for the Arts Gallery at Towson University, 8000 York Rd., Towson.

DOS-à-DOS
Baltimore artists L. Nef’fahtiti Partlow-Myrick and Jenny O’Grady met as students in the Creative Writing and Publishing Arts master’s program at the University of Baltimore and will now exhibit the fruits of their labor: a collection of art books, made from a variety of materials both traditional and unorthodox (paper—but also metal and beans, for example). The show’s title references a bookbinding technique that ties together two text blocks with a shared spine-that spine being the MFA program, in this context. Sept. 7-30. Hamilton Gallery, 5502 Harford Road.

Baker Artist Awards 2017 & 2018
Recent Baker Awards awardees—Abraham Burickson (interdisciplinary, 2018), Sara Dittrich (interdisciplinary, 2017), David Marion (visual art, 2017), and Amy Sherald (visual art, 2018)—will show work in an exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Included in the show will be Burickson’s “The Odyssey Works Box,” an archival box filled with books, photographs, and other ephemera, accompanied by a video tour of the history of the arts collective Odyssey Works; Dittrich’s wall sculptures, arranged with hundreds of clay ears; Marion’s multimedia sculptures “Extinction Event” and “Fracking,” which explore violence perpetrated on the natural environment; and two portraits by Sherald. Sept. 12-Oct. 14, with a free opening event with performances on Sept. 13. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive.

Balancing Act
Joseph Paul Cassar has been working in Baltimore for 13 years as a visual artist and art historian, and is a professor at the University of Maryland University College. He’s shown his work around the world, and this month will exhibit in our city, when Y:ART Gallery in Highlandtown shows his recent work in Balancing Act—drawings in ink and pastel, paper cut-outs, collage, and acrylic on canvas. Sept. 12-Oct. 20, opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Sept. 15, artist talk from 4-6 p.m. Oct. 13. Y:Art Gallery, 3402 Gough St.

Mark Bradford: Tomorrow is Another Day
Renowned contemporary artist Mark Bradford represented the U.S. at the 2017 Venice Biennale and will bring that work to Baltimore for the exhibit Tomorrow is Another Day, accompanied by a new site-specific installation, at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Bradford explores themes from his personal life, black identity, Greek mythology, and the universe through mixed-media pieces, paintings, and video. Sept. 23, 2018-March 3, 2019; opening celebration, 1-5 p.m. Sept. 23. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive.

What Makes Us (Us)
Gina Pierleoni exhibits some 200 paintings and mixed-media portraits of people encountered over a 25-year period in Baltimore and beyond. She’ll lead a coinciding workshop which will include live music to help to dig deeper into questions of place and perception. Aug. 25-Sept. 29; workshop, 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 15. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

AfriCOBRA: The Evolution of a Movement
This group exhibit at Galerie Myrtis celebrates artists in AfriCOBRA, aka African Commune for Bad Relevant Artists, a coalition that was born from the black arts movement that began in the 1960s and is now celebrating its 50th anniversary. The aesthetic of these artists emerged from activism and aims to speak to black people specifically. The show will display paintings, photographs, prints, and 3-D pieces by the group’s earliest and most recent members, including Akili Ron Anderson, Kevin Cole, Adger Cowans, Michael D. Harris, Napoleon Jones-Henderson (founding member), James Phillips, Frank Smith, Nelson Stevens (founding member), and Renee Stout. Coinciding programming will include Tea with Myrtis (as in, founding director of Galerie Myrtis, Myrtis Bedolla) and an art salon with AfriCOBRA members who will talk about their artwork and its impact on the black arts movement. Sept. 15-Oct. 17, with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 15. Galerie Myrtis Fine Art, 2224 N. Charles St.

Music

Taste of Tuva
Celebrated artist Joyce Scott will host this special evening featuring the music, art, and food of Asia. Alash Ensemble, a trio of throat singers from the Central Asian state of Tuva, will bring both their music and culinary specialties, while collaborating with Baltimore musicians Shodekeh and J Pope. The event supports the Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University. 6-9 p.m. Sept. 15. TU South Campus Pavilion at Towson University, 8000 York Rd.

Abdu Ali’s Last Show of 2018
Baltimore music artist Abdu Ali will perform their last live show of the year this month at Metro Gallery, joined by Kotic Couture (hip-hop with pop, Baltimore club, and underground art influences), Pamela_ and her sons (the solo music project of Alessandra Hoshor), and W00dy (Philadelphia-based experimental pop artist). 8 p.m. Sept. 5. Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles St.

BeatClub at the Lewis
Over the years, Bmore BeatClub has met regularly inside clubs, bars, and initially a record shop to celebrate hip-hop and beats. Novice artists rap alongside experts at these gatherings, and this month’s event will be extra special, as Bmore BeatClub will bring hip-hop, spoken word, and poetry to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. 7 p.m. Sept. 28. Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St.

Theater

Fades and Fellowship Barbershop Stories
Barbershops are places of conversation and camaraderie—and from this idea came the production Barbershop Stories by Baltimore-based theater troupe Fades & Fellowship. A cast of real barbers will perform the stories overheard in the shop—and then give actual haircuts to selected audience members. Sept. 28. The Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.

Literary Arts

CityLit Swing: A Special Celebration Honoring Kwame Alexander
CityLit will honor poet, educator and New York Times bestselling children’s author Kwame Alexander with its Chic Dambach Award for Service to the Literary Arts during a celebratory evening at The Motor House. Sliding-Scale tickets are available for this CityLit fundraiser, which will include lite fare, libations, jazz, and a reading by Alexander. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 13. The Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.

Small Press Expo
The annual Small Press Expo celebrates indie cartooning and comic arts, bringing more than 4,000 creatives to Bethesda for readings, workshops, and to meet with one another. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sept. 15 and noon-6 p.m. Sept. 16. Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda

Miscellanea

Mortified: Share the Shame
Everyday adults share their most mortifying moments via teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics, and locker notes in this popular show. 6 and 8 p.m. Sept. 22. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Mono Practice
Founding director Ruri Yi is opening a new contemporary art gallery, Mono Practice, in Station North this month, with a focus on abstract and reductive art. The inaugural exhibit, Pointing To The Sun | An Exercise In Abstraction, is curated by Rod Malin and will feature work by Baltimore-based artists David Brown, Zoë Charlton, Ariel Cavalcante Foster, Terence Hannum, Stephen Hendee, Bill Schmidt, and Yi. Sept. 6-Oct. 13, with an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Sept. 6. Mono Practice, 212 McAllister St.

True Laurels has evolved from a blog to a fan zine to a glossy print publication since it began in 2011, and its next iteration begins tonight, when Red Bull Radio launches True Laurels radio show at 6 p.m.

True Laurels founding editor Lawrence Burney will be joined live in the studio in New York with Baltimore legend Lor Choc, the 20-year-old West Baltimore R&B hip-hop artist featured on the cover of issue 3 of the print edition.

The hour-long radio show will stream live each Wednesday on redbullradio.com, hosted by Burney and exploring the music and culture across the African diaspora through discussions with artists, journalists, and other guests who can bring insight and perspective.

A Baltimore native, Burney sees music as a byproduct of society and wants to investigate those connections, covering music from his home region as well as the South, the Caribbean, West Africa, and beyond.

Also a staff writer for Noisey, Lawrence splits his time between Baltimore and Brooklyn.

“To me, the music is not just the music,” Lawrence told Baltimore in an interview earlier this year. “Music is the best introduction to any society. That’s why it has to be taken seriously.”

Visual Art

First Fridays Free Curatorial Tour: Meleko Mokgosi: Acts of Resistance
As part of a free series at the Baltimore Museum of Art, curators give tours of exhibitions they curated and explain the shows in further detail, providing rich insight into the artists and their work. This month, senior curator of contemporary art and department head Kristen Hileman will lead a group through the much-talked-about show Meleko Mokgosi: Acts of Resistance. Mokgosi explores race and gender through intimate yet larger-than-life portraits and paintings of domestic environments. Curatorial tour from 2-3 p.m. Aug. 3; the show remains up through Nov. 11. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive.

We Are Everywhere: Travels of the African Diaspora
Photographer Schaun Champion will show images from Baltimore and around the world that represent the African diaspora in her exhibit We Are Everywhere: Travels of the African Diaspora at Ida B’s Table, a beloved Southern soul food restaurant in downtown. The show is part of the monthly series Necessary Tomorrows, created by resident curator Sharayna Christmas to feature work that complements the visit and mission of the restaurant. Opening reception and artist talk, 5-8 p.m. Aug. 7. Ida B’s Table, 235 Holliday St.

Counterweight
Sera Boeno, Cevahir Özdoğan, and Noa Heyne examine concrete as a material and as a gender—its cultural and sociological implications and history—in the show Counterweight. Artist talks, a printmaking/archiving workshop with Lebanese archivist and artist Celia Shaheenon (Sept. 9), and an exhibition catalogue release on Sept. 21 will accompany the show. Aug. 10-Sept. 21, opening reception from 7-10 p.m. Aug. 10. The Menial Collection, 243 W. Read St.

Music

Summer in the Squares: Symphony Number One
Pull up a chair (or blanket) for the finale of this season’s Summer in the Squares. Symphony Number One will perform at Mount Vernon Place for the free series of shows that bring the work of emerging composers to the stage alongside beloved pieces by classical greats. During this show, the Baltimore-based chamber orchestra will feature the Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” alongside new works and pop favorites. 7-8:30 p.m. Aug. 29, Mount Vernon Place, 699 Washington Place

Baltimore International Surf Music Showcase
Four instrumental surf acts from around the world will take the Ottobar stage this month for a totally tubular night. Headlining the show will be Surfer Joe, based in Italy and often called the “international surf ambassador.” The legendary California surf band The Volcanics, and Les Agamemnoz (France) will also perform alongside local surf rockers the Flying Faders. 8 p.m. Aug. 15. Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St.

Art/Sound/Now: Suldano Abdiruhman and The Compositions
In collaboration with the High Zero Foundation, The Walters Art Museum will present its annual ART/SOUND/NOW, featuring artists creating soundscapes throughout the museum’s various gallery spaces. This year’s event highlights work by interdisciplinary artist Suldano Abdiruhman, a member of the artist collective BALTI GURLS and cofounder of 4c Gallery. 7-8:30 p.m. Aug. 23. The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St.

Film

High Fidelity / Empire Records Double Feature
When a beloved music shop in Baltimore turns 25, a nostalgic screening of two cults classics is in order. The Sound Garden was born in 1993, and shortly thereafter, the films Empire Records and High Fidelity were released—in 1995 and 2000, respectively—both set amid the backdrop of record stores. And if watching these back-to-back on the big screen weren’t nostalgic enough, please note they’ll be screened on 35mm. 7-11 p.m. Aug. 30. The SNF Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave.

Theater

Variations on Sacrifice
Rapid Lemon Productions will present its annual Variations Project this summer with Variations on Sacrifice. Eleven 10-minute plays by local authors will premiere during two weeks, followed by a third week (new this year) of staged readings of eight additional plays. Audiences of 2017’s Variations on Magic voted to select this year’s theme, Sacrifice. Plays, Aug. 3-12; staged readings, Aug. 16-19. Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St.

Literary Arts

‘Sentiments’ by Press Press: Baltimore Book Launch
What could be better than a summertime potluck? A summertime potluck hosted by Press Press, with readings to satiate your palate. The launch of “Sentiments: Expressions of Cultural Passage,” the latest publication by Press Press, will feature readings about creating sanctuary, by Bilphena Yahwon, Rami Karim, and others, beginning at 5 p.m., plus a reading of “Manifesto for Sanctuary-Building & Sanctuary-Keeping.” Bring along a snack or something to grill at this community potluck of Baltimore creatives. 3-7 p.m. Aug. 11. Press Press, 427 N. Eutaw St.

Miscellanea

Comedy, Music and Poetry Showcase with Heda Rose and Guests
A lineup of Baltimore talent will take the Motor House stage for an evening of poetry, standup comedy, and music, headlined by vocalist, songwriter, actress, model, activist, and film producer Heda Rose. The remaining lineup includes comedian Larry Lancaster, comedian Ebony “Miz Jaxxxn” Jackson, comedian Ray Diva, and poet Gradalove. Heda will perform a comedy set and music set with a live band. 8-11 p.m. Aug. 31. The Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.

Fluid Movement’s ‘The Water Ballet’
The Baltimore-based performance art group Fluid Movement channels the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock for its latest production, “The Water Ballet” at Patterson Park. Take a deep dive into all that horrifies you. Day and night shows, Aug. 3-5. Patterson Park.

Visual Art

Young Blood
Art has the power to reflect the culture in which it was made, often expressing ideas that cannot be articulated as effectively through words alone. In the case of the exhibit Young Blood at Maryland Art Place, we see—through painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and animation—what inspires and stimulates the minds of our local creative youth culture. Each year, MAP celebrates recent Baltimore-area masters of fine art grads with an exhibit of their work.

This year’s Young Blood showcases pieces by graduates of Maryland Institute College of Art; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Towson University, including Caroline Hatfield, Mollye Bendell, Mitchell Noah, Madeline Stratton, Ryan Lytle, and Sara Kaltwasser. Through Aug. 25, with an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. July 11 and an artist talk at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 at MAP, 218 W. Saratoga St.

Sondheim Artscape Prize exhibition
From sculpture to photography to painting, fiber art, and video installation, work by this year’s Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize finalists is visually spellbinding, and the artists don’t shy away from exploring such issues as spirituality, race, gender, and immigration. Baltimore-area visual artist finalists Erick Antonio Benitez, Nakeya Brown, Sutton Demlong, Nate Larson, Eunice Park, and Stephen Towns are each exhibiting selected works at the Baltimore Museum of Art through August 5. The winner will be announced during a ceremony at 7 p.m. July 14 and awarded a $25,000 fellowship. Exhibit runs through Aug. 5, awards ceremony at 7 p.m. July 14 at the BMA, 10 Art Museum Drive.

Summer ’18
The current show at C. Grimaldis Gallery in Mount Vernon revisits the exhibitions shown over the past year while giving a little preview of what’s to come. This survey exhibition features pieces by British sculptor Anthony Caro, abstract expressionist Grace Hartigan, and Korean light artist Chul Hyun Ahn. It also debuts work by 2018 Guggenheim Fellow Rania Matar, Colin Van Winkle, and 2017 Rome Prize recipient Beverly McIver. Through Aug. 18 at C. Grimaldis Gallery, 523 N. Charles St.

Intimate Women
Intimate Women, currently on view at Full Circle Gallery, explores the relationship between women’s minds and bodies through photography-based collage and sculpture by women artists. Their inner worlds are revealed through stories of culture, gender roles, and sexuality. As curator JiaJia Chen puts it in a statement about the show, “Every work in the exhibition is an adjective, presenting personal but universal subject matter from different perspectives.” Artists include Asha Holmes, Jianan Liu, Layla Choi, Michelle Cuevas, and Rachel Hartman. Through Aug. 4 at Full Circle Gallery, 33 E. 21st St.

Music

Jack Novotny Sextet
The Jack Novotny Sextet will bring their original music, composed in the spirit of the great jazz masters, to An die Musik. They’ve studied the nuances, style, and flavor of works by icons such as John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman, and expand upon and integrate those ideas into their own pieces, rather than duplicate the originals or even replicate improvs.

“Performing new material that has never been heard is exhilarating for our group,” says Jack Novotny, saxist in the group. The sextet also includes bassist Juini Booth, pianist Benito Gonzalez, trumpeter Marlon Jordan, tenor saxophonist Edwin Bayard, and Baltimore drummer Nasar Abadey as a guest, filling in for regular drummer Mark Lomax II. Novotny will play tenor/soprano saxophone and flute. 8:30 and 10 p.m. July 12 at An die Musik, 409 N. Charles St,.

Literary Arts

John Lingan
Rockville-based John Lingan, who has written for the Oxford American, New York Times Magazine, and others, brings us his debut book, Homeplace: A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk. Lignan spent four years researching the early-American town of Winchester, VA, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He first went there to seek out Jim McCoy, a honky-tonk owner and the DJ who first gave Patsy Cline airtime. What he uncovered though was a story about a town facing an identity crisis. He’ll launch his book tour this month with a reading and signing at Bird in Hand. 7 p.m. July 17 at Bird in Hand, 11 E. 33rd St.

Miscellanea

Cirque du Soleil Crystal
Cirque du Soleil’s show Crystal explores the artistic limits of ice through jaw-dropping acrobatics on the ice and in the air—synchronized skating and adrenaline-pounding extreme skating will be performed alongside traditional circus arts like trapeze. This dreamlike world is brought to life with visual projections and an original score. July 5-8 at Royal Farms Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St.

Artscape
Our beloved Artscape returns this month, taking over 16 blocks of Baltimore and boasting three outdoor stages, 11 indoor venues, over 200 concerts, an artist market with more than 150 vendors and craftspeople, plus large-scale projects showcasing visual and performing arts, visual art exhibitions, film, street theater, and youth-focused entertainment. Performances include theater, dance, comedy, and more. And all of the above is free. It’s a great way to celebrate the city and all the arts in one fell swoop. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. July 20 and 21, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. July 22 at Mount Royal Avenue & Cathedral Street, Charles Street, Bolton Hill, and Station North Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods.

Ratscape
After a two-year hiatus, the wonderfully bizarre Ratscape will return this year in conjunction with Artscape. A lineup of more than 40 local bands spanning rock, rap, punk, experimental, hardcore, and more will perform free shows at the Ynot Lot, an outdoors venue in Station North, throughout the weekend: JPEGMAFIA, Jeff Carey, and Bound by the Grave on Friday; Butch Dawson, Joe Bidan, and Homosuperior on Saturday; Wume, Sneaks, and HexGirlfriends Sunday. The grassroots festival is produced by Baltimore Music Preservation, aka Joshua Christy Schuelpner, Mike Franklin, and Caroline Devereaux. 2 to 10 p.m. July 20-22 at the Ynot Lot,1904 N. Charles St.

Betty Davis is a legend.

If you know who she is.

The revolutionary psychedelic-funk singer, affectionately known as the “Queen of Funk” in 1960s and ’70s Greenwich Village, put out three solo albums and radically changed music history. She wooed Miles Davis—marrying him, introducing him to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, altering his musical direction—then left him within a year. She exploded on the scene . . . and then pretty much disappeared for more than three decades.

In the 2017 documentary Betty: They Say I’m Different, the title of which is named after one of her studio albums, she resurfaces in Pittsburgh 35 years after vanishing from the spotlight. We hear her making a telephone call in the film’s trailer: “After all this time,” she says, “I’m ready to tell my story.”

WTMD will host the Maryland premiere of the film on June 28 at the WTMD studio in Towson. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. for the free event, and the film starts at 8.

“She was an enigma,” says WTMD general manager and program director Scott Mullins, who curates the film series there. A funk and soul DJ who has hosted WTMD’s Dirty Soul Party for nearly 20 years, Mullins found her as a record collector, “just digging through old 45s—crate digging, as we call it.”

Her records were out of print for 40 years, and they became highly coveted as funk and soul DJs discovered them recently, elevating her to cult figure status as a radical pioneer of black women’s music.

“As her reputation grew, I think that sparked the filmmakers,” Mullins says. “Now she’s in the limelight again because of this growing interest in her music. It’s a classic case of an artist ahead of her time. She was too hard-edge, too out-there. Her voice, the music, the production—it’s really hard-hitting, edgy, deep funk.”

From those early recordings, Davis has gone on to influence contemporary artists up through today, Macy Gray and Erykah Badu among them. The documentary has been screened in a handful of places in the U.S., and WTMD staff is psyched to be able to provide a free screening for the film’s Maryland premiere.

“It coincides with our mission,” Mullins says. “These artists deserve to be heard.”

Visual Art

Profiles of Color III
Fredericksburg, Virginia, artist Ronald Jackson reimagines African-American portraiture in his solo show Profiles of Color III: Fabric, Face, and Form at Galerie Myrtis. The mixed-media pieces are collaged with bold shapes and patterns, reminiscent of Klimt but with a contemporary African accent. June 30 through July 28, with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. June 30 at Gallery Myrtis, 2224 N. Charles St.

Landmarked
Ada Pinkston explores historical landmarks and monuments in Landmarked, a highly participatory show that invites visitors to respond to prompts and, in doing so, become part of the exhibit as it unfolds. A pedestal in the gallery will serve as a space for performance art pieces throughout the duration of the show, including a special night of guest performers on June 16. June 1 to 22 at Cardinal, 1758 Park Ave.

Music

BSO’s New Music Festival
Imagine the elegance of classical music performance against the backdrop of Graffiti Alley and you have the June 22 Chamber Jam with Mind on Fire, Shodekeh, and Ok Miss, part of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s four-day New Music Festival. In its second year, the fest brings contemporary classical music to venues across the city, highlighting living composers. This year, Kevin Puts’ oboe concerto Moonlight, a piece commissioned by the BSO, will premiere at a free show at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. June 20 to 23.

John Williams at Camden Yards
Celebrated American composer (and lifelong baseball fan) John Williams—who has written scores and served as music director for films that include E.T., Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars—will be at Camden Yards on June 11 to throw the first pitch. Before the Orioles game, the BSO will perform a selection of his well-known pieces, starting at 6:30 p.m. The game will be followed by the June 13 Evening with John Williams performance at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Theater

Nights on the Fringe
Ballet, theater, puppetry, film, crankies, spoken word, dance, circus arts . . . the list goes on for Nights on the Fringe, a vaudeville-inspired cabaret weekend presented by Charm City Fringe—in case you are itching to see some Fringe-worthy shows before the main festival in November. The evenings will be hosted by Aaron Henkin (WYPR’s Out of the Blocks) and Umar Khan (Gin & Jokes, Super Comedy). 8 p.m. June 8 and 9 at the Baltimore Theatre Project.

Literary Arts

Books in Bloom
The daylong Books in Bloom festival brings a host of writers across all literary genres to Columbia for readings, discussions, children’s activities, and a pop-up bookstore. The lineup includes Amanda Lucidon, Edwidge Danticat, Elliot Ackerman, Ian Mackenzie, Jane Delury, Jeannie Valasco, Katia D. Ulysse, Nathan Bomey, Sujata Massey, Vikram Sunderam, and others. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 10 at downtown Columbia Lakefront, 10221 Wincopin Circle, Columbia.

Miscellanea

CreateScape
Creative Labs’ CreateScape event celebrates the DIY arts culture of Baltimore through a free, three-day open house at the group’s headquarters. With a focus on health, creativity, sustainability and collaboration, the fest, hosted by Creative Labs, will cross yoga and dance battles with live music and street art. An array of artisan vendors will give this event a festival feel. June 8 to 10 at Creative Labs, 1786b Union Ave.

Healthy Baltimore: A Festival of Wellness
The free Healthy Baltimore festival at Port Covington will bring an array of music, food, and health and fitness vendors aimed to get you on track—plus the inspiration to move your soul and your body with a performance by Talib Kweli. Pre-registration is required. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 16 at The Field in Port Covington, 200 E. Cromwell St.

Under a dramatic black light inside The Windup Space in Station North, MCs are called onto the small stage, two at a time. The packed crowd hoots and hollers as these novice and veteran rappers are given the task of rhyming over beats they’ve never heard before. However daunting, each rapper approaches the mic like a jazz artist, taking turns freestyling and testing new bars as if trading fours. “This is what it’s about!” shouts host Eze Jackson from the stage. “It’s about building the culture.”

This is the latest installment of the Bmore BeatClub, a hip-hop open-mic series, now in its third year. The event is a platform for emerging artists who want to step up their game, as well as for producers who are scoping out new talent and people like its founder, Brandon Lackey, who want to help the Baltimore hip-hop community grow.

“BeatClub is really a family,” says co-producer and EDM DJ Marat Buberman. “Everyone here is supportive. . . . We know what it’s like to be struggling artists.”

With the help of dedicated staff and friends, Lackey, a producer himself, and his Lineup Room Recording Studio have been producing BeatClub since it was a free, BYOB event at the now-defunct Shockwave Records store in Parkville. What began as a way for young producers to show off their beats has evolved into an open-mic with MCs rapping over tracks and drawing hordes of hip-hop fans from Baltimore and beyond.

BeatClub has grown out of its former venues, including, most recently, the basement of the Maryland Art Place—a setting Lackey describes as Cheers meets 8 Mile—and into a bimonthly series at the larger Windup Space that also includes an epic all-night dance party. “I wanted to kill it or grow it,” says Lackey. “I didn’t want it to get stale.”

The most important thing to understand is that BeatClub is not a battle. The stage acts as an even playing field, with national legends like Bobbito and Psycho Les standing alongside fresh-faced up-and-comers, some of whom have gone on to bigger things, like creating collaborative EPs, opening for big-name acts at Baltimore Soundstage, and performing at Artscape.

Those incentives create the hungry edge that keeps artists coming back. As Lackey puts it, “That’s the competition.”

Fine libations and heartfelt music enjoy a partnership that goes back millennia. Whether you rock red Solo cups at outdoor festivals or immerse yourself in a wine glass at the opera, we’ve got three grooves to get you in a musical mood.

Clement Rhum Agricole “Select Barrel”
($40, Washburn)

Global beats and Caribbean melodies are woven into the fabric of spring and summer outdoor festivals, and we can’t imagine a spirit more connected to tropical culture than rum. This special bottling will elevate any dark rum cocktail, but enjoy it straight, as well. Its soft strains of spice and warm vanilla notes deserve to be savored on their own.

G.D. Vajra Barolo “Bricco Viole” 2013
($80, Country Vintner)

It’s a tired cliché to compare fine wine to classical music, so we’ll take a more literal approach: This stunning bottle of Northern Italian red can be likened to the orchestra itself. Firm structured tannins are the low-frequency foundation of the wine, supporting the compact red fruit tones akin to the role of cellos and violas. Finally, high-toned delicate floral aromas ornament the experience like a virtuoso violinist.

North Coast “Brother Thelonious”
($13 4-pack bottles, DOPS)

Jazz represents a rich tapestry of styles and moods, unified by a willingness to push boundaries and blend influences. Strap on your best headphones and settle in with this Belgian-Style Abbey Ale brewed in California. Its subtly sweet timbres of caramel, plums, raisins, and brioche are best enjoyed at a contemplative pace. A portion of all proceeds support the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire

Jonathan Abrams (Crown Publishing Group)

In the first season of The Wire, methodical veteran detective Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters) tells a young cop he is mentoring that in an investigation “all the pieces matter.” Apply the same to Jonathan Abrams’ collection of oral histories behind the groundbreaking show’s unflinching depiction of inner-city America and the war on drugs. The firsthand accounts from co-creators David Simon and Ed Burns, as well as the actors, directors, writers, and HBO brass, are not to be missed by fans of the show.

Musical Maryland

David K. Hildebrand and Elizabeth M. Schaaf  (Johns Hopkins University Press)

“O we’re full of life, fun, and jollity . . . we’re all crazy here in Baltimore.” Such is a song verse to celebrate the laying of the first stone of the B&O Railroad. You might find yourself singing along as you flip through Musical Maryland, a survey of the musical heritage of the Old Line State, spanning some 300 years in time, up to the late 20th century. If you read music, even better. The book is peppered with images: old-timey photographs (like The Peabody Orchestra rehearsing in Peabody Concert Hall circa 1880), colorful and beautifully drawn covers for musical scores, and, yes, small snippets of sheet music. From slave songs to the legendary stories of Eubie Blake and Billie Holiday, from the Baltimore Opera Society (in existence long before the Baltimore Rock Opera Society) to the Baltimore Orioles festival marches, and, of course, our country’s national anthem—this book is thorough and makes a great addition to any music lover’s bookshelf. And though it’s the story of our music, the music is a story of ourselves, Marylanders—sailors, artists, activists, and dreamers.

Rams Head Live
Veronica M Eduardo top ($66) and Joggers ($84) at Brightside Boutique. Long fringe earrings ($10.95) at Doubledutch Boutique. Lovoda Black Satchel ($28) at Doubledutch Boutique. BLANK NYC Onyx studded suede jacket ($218) at Brightside Boutique. Donald Pliner Billie sandal ($345) at Sassanova.

Merriweather Post Pavilion
Fiona Midi dress ($58) at Brightside Boutique. Hammitt North Mist Snake Clutch ($175) at Sassanova. Savana heels ($99.95) at South Moon Under. Gold Circular Earrings ($28) at Sassanova.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
One shoulder green dress ($280) at Panache. Sam Edelman Haide Black heels ($91) at Sassanova. Statement necklace ($32) at Poppy & Stella.

WTMD First Thursdays at Canton Waterfront Park
Echo Panama hat ($69) at Sassanova. Kara bag ($88) at South Moon Under. Cotton Candy LA gingham tie dress ($40.95) at Doubledutch Boutique. Clear sunglasses ($15) at Doubledutch Boutique. Adam Tucker Tarin suede heels ($100) at Poppy & Stella.

Inside an old brick rowhome on North Charles Street, the walls are lined with dangling guitars, vibrant show posters, and a cheeky “No Stairway to Heaven” sign to keep patrons from playing the opening lick of Led Zeppelin’s ubiquitous song.

In a time when large corporations and online retailers swallow up mom-and-pop shops, there are still a few determined fighters, like siblings Brian and Ian Goldstein with their new-and-used instrument store, fittingly named Brothers Music, in Station North. Three years ago, the brothers—hobby musicians of the former Towson band Evolve—noticed a lack of independent music shops in Baltimore.

Two-and-a-half months later, the Goldsteins, along with Ian’s now-wife Jenny, opened Brothers with no past business experience and used equipment from Craigslist to stock their shop. In between their full-time careers (Ian, right, is a government affairs specialist in Washington, D.C., and Brian, left, is a special education public school teacher), the brothers have grown the store to include drums, locally made pedals, and even rare pieces, like a 1966 12-string Wurlitzer. But Brothers Music is more than a cozy shop with a “Corporate Chains Still Suck” motto.

Moved to action by the 2015 Baltimore Uprising, the Goldsteins have prioritized local engagement and community outreach—they’ve petitioned for street lighting, hosted food drives, and done meet-and-greets with mayoral candidates.

The Station North store is also a frequent stop for local musicians, among them members of Future Islands, Wye Oak, and Black Lung.

“It’s our go-to,” says Jeff Koplovitz of Baltimore indie band Surf Harp. “They’re knowledgeable about what they have without being pretentious gearheads. They just want to help their fellow musicians and give them a personable experience—something you can’t get from a Guitar Center or Amazon.”

In 2011, Lawrence Burney started a local music and arts blog by the name of True Laurels. As a Baltimore native, he saw a hole in the city’s ever-evolving media landscape and in no time evolved his web-only format into an indie zine and now today’s integral print publication, featuring compelling photography and both first-person and reported stories on Baltimore’s black creatives. On the eve of True Laurels Issue 04, we sat down with Burney to talk about his musical upbringing, his gig at Vice, and the importance of giving back to the place where he grew up.
 
 

How did you get into writing? 

My interest didn’t start until like my 12th grade year. I got into a lot of trouble in school. I was suspended for behavior-related things. I had this one writing teacher at City in ninth grade and we never liked each other. We always clashed. In the 11th grade, I had him again for college writing. We got into altercations—all this crazy stuff—but in the midst of all that, I still got As and Bs on all of my assignments. That’s something I kept in the back of my head: I must be pretty okay at writing if this guy, who has every reason to fail me, is still giving me As and Bs.

When it was time to start applying for colleges, I decided I was going to go to school for journalism. It wasn’t like a thing I did since I was a little kid; I stumbled into it because I needed to do something with my life.  

Do you come from a creative family?

My mother is a writer. She actually went to University of Baltimore at the same time I did, for creative writing. She’s also a musician. She and my grandfather were in a jazz-funk band together, Wolf Pack, so I would travel with them to local gigs and be in studio sessions with them. We all lived in the same house for a good part of me growing up, so my alarm clock was my grandfather playing his guitar. He toured with George Clinton for like two tours as the drummer, and my mother opened up for Gil Scot-Heron one time on Charles Street when I was probably eight. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I knew he was important by the way people talked about him. 

So music was a part big of your upbringing.

In high school, my reputation amongst my friends was just knowing a lot of music. I would make them mixes and just impose my will on making them like the music that I liked. It’s basically what I’m still doing now. Then my daughter was born when I turned 20. I was feeling pressure from that. I had to do something. I had to gain some clarity on my life’s path. So I just combined those interests—the writing and the music. It was the end of 2011 when I made the True Laurels’ WordPress.  

What was the rap scene like back then?

It was constructed in a completely different way at that time. Growing up, it was just battle rappers. Baltimore was more of a club music city. This whole rap scene really started in 2014 when Young Moose and Lor Scoota got hot. Before that, some artists like Los, Skarr Akbar, and Comp had some national success, but because technology wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now, people didn’t look at it as “the Baltimore scene.” Even when I started True Laurels, that wasn’t the case. When I went to UB was the first time I even started learning about central Baltimore. That part of town was not a place that most black people from Baltimore really knew too much about. We’re on the east and west sides.  

Whereas, for at least the last decade, the local and national media has considered Baltimore’s “music scene” to be headquartered in Station North. Station North was just North Avenue when I was growing up. There was a Tyrone’s Chicken that I would go to with my grandfather after we played basketball at Druid Hill. He knew about the Copycat and all that because he was a musician, but I was never exposed to it. It was all new to me. The Windup Space. The Ottobar. It was an exciting time because I was being put in a new environment. I didn’t ever party with alternative types of black people or artsy white kids. I didn’t hang out around queer people or anybody who thought a little differently. That just wasn’t my upbringing. But I was learning about a new part of Baltimore while staying in tune with what was coming out of the parts of the city I was familiar with and bringing it all together.    

You founded True Laurels as a music and arts blog in 2011. 
I wanted to document the scene but also really try to paint a full picture of what inner-city, black Baltimore is. If you left it up to a place like the Urbanite, where I interned in 2012, you’d think Baltimore was only Hampden, Charles Village, Station North, and Mt. Vernon. This is still a struggle in the perception of Baltimore. When I’m in other places, people only know about the crime, the drugs, The Wire. That’s people’s main point of reference. And The Wire is a good show—mostly accurate in my opinion. I resisted watching it until I was in my 20s, but I ended up watching and it actually helped me make more sense of my own life. Even this whole Gun Trace Task Force can be tied back to things that were talked about on that show.  

Speaking of the task force, your profile of local rapper Young Moose in Issue 03 was a great piece of journalism. 
The problem is there hasn’t been someone who is actually a black person from the inner city writing these stories, with the nuance to show that black people from Baltimore are a very diverse group. This is an almost 65 percent black city, so not everybody is going to be living on a block that’s mostly vacant. That’s a lot of people’s reality, and part of my life I lived in those kinds of neighborhoods, too, but it’s not everything. There’s diversity that needs to be depicted, and I’m trying to pull all of those pieces together.     

You are also a staff writer for Noisey, the online music publication of Vice, where you’ve written a number of stories on Baltimore artists. Do they give you a lot of creative freedom? They put a lot of trust in me. Through Vice, I’ve been able to tell stories about Baltimore that just don’t get told. I think stories like the one I wrote on Young Moose help people understand what it’s like for a person like him to grow up in a city like Baltimore—how they’re perceived by institutions, and how that trickles down into every part of their life. I do want to expand my voice and speak to different audiences, but if I can’t speak to the people that I come from, that’s not a win. That’s not enough for me.  

You’ve recently done deep dives into the youth-driven music scenes of other cities like New Orleans and Johannesburg. Does that inform the work you do in Baltimore, or vice versa? 
True Laurels has helped me form what I want to be as a journalist. Because I’m from a city like Baltimore—misunderstood and oversimplified— I’m really interested in regionality and how the politics of a city affect the way that the young people there operate. I have a lot of curiosity about how things work, here and around the world. To me, the music is not just the music. Music is the best introduction to any society. That’s why it has to be taken seriously.  

You live in Brooklyn, but you come back to Baltimore every week? 
At the very least, I’m here every 10 days, spending time with my daughter, trying to stay updated on what’s going on. I’m constantly in communication with the younger musicians on Instagram and YouTube. I’m 27 now and I realize that I am in some ways an elder statesman for these young people. Lor Choc’s 19. Deetranada’s 16. Young people drive culture, so you have to embrace them. Even when changing True Laurels from a fan zine to a more conventional magazine, I had to ask myself: what would a 17-year-old Lawrence think about this? In hip-hop culture, presentation and looking fresh matters. But there are artists here who are now starting to get traction and make it believable that you can actually get somewhere. And that’s why I feel encouraged to keep going—who knows what could happen next?  

You’ve talked about True Laurels existing as documentation—a physical record of black culture in Baltimore. 
You have to know the history and apply that to the present to know what’s coming next. That’s why, every week, I’m trying to post archival black Baltimore-related footage on the True Laurels Instagram. It’s important to inform people there has always been cool shit going on in this place for a long time. It’s helping me paint an even broader picture of Baltimore, and like The Wire, it’s helping me make sense of my own life.  

Issue 4 comes out in June. Who are you really excited about right now? 
Lor Choc is one of my favorite artists. I’m super impressed by her creativity. She’s a great storyteller, which I really enjoy. She has her own approach. But it’s not just artists. . . . I’m excited to see any young person from this place make strides on the national stage. Coming from here, a lot of people don’t think they can make it. The whole crab-in-the-barrel thing has become the narrative that people accept. I want people to recognize how amazing Baltimore is. If I can play any role in having less people settle, that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to do publications. I’m trying to do film. I’m trying to do movies. The same way [film director] Ryan Coogler incorporated Oakland into the Black Panther, I want to do that for Baltimore. I’m trying to diversify the perception. I have no finish line for what True Laurels can be. I want to push it to every height that it could possibly achieve.  

Waverly regulars might have noticed a colorful new addition to the neighborhood. Turn a corner and you’re faced with a long blue wall, where a mural features deep purple paint dripping down as wax from a candle atop a lavender Planet Earth, which doubles as a Magic 8 Ball. This is the new Normal’s.

Ahead of its 28th birthday on E. 31st St., this beloved home of books, records, zines, and one very friendly dog named Max got an early present—a facelift. In 2017, the building’s landlord contacted Emilie Drasher of Waverly Main Street about available funds for local businesses. One year, a few months, some design changes, and a lot of hard work later, the storefront now has a new look and the structural integrity to last.

“They stripped it all the way down to the core,” says Rupert Wondolowski, who co-owns Normal’s with John Berndt and Walt Novash. “I don’t think anyone knew what was awaiting them beneath the stucco.” 

Local artist Greg Gannon of Signs of Intelligent Life merged past and present by enlarging the store emblem created in 1990 by Peter Pan (yes, you read that right), one of the store’s original nine owners, so that it could fit between the two front windows. The store’s name would also get added prominence thanks to a new font created by friend-of-the-shop Tim Hill. Once the plan was settled, Gannon teamed up with Spectrum Mural Studio to paint the whole building in less than two days, giving this beacon the update it needed to shine for the future explorers of its many wonders.

But, as they say, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Normal’s began as an attempt at a “normal” 9-to-5 gig for some artsy kids in the early ’90s, and at one time stocked clothing and bikes (they sold one to John Waters) alongside the current inventory of books and music. It has attracted burgeoning musicians, aging artists, and autodidacts looking to expand their understanding of the metaphysical, all brought together by the shop’s vast collections.

Beyond the fresh signage, you’ll find the same winding haven of bound pages and vinyl that locals have come to know and love. Kitsch still covers the walls, and something good always spins on the turntable. For those uninitiated, expect to wander for a while between the record bins, stacked shelves, and various nooks and crannies full of new and used finds ranging from the mainstream to the avant-garde.

“The investment of the community in our space feels like a bright new phase is ahead,” says Wondolowski. “Speaking as someone who’s not normally an optimist, I feel like there’s a movement back to appreciating simplicity and beauty, time machines without wires.”

On a chilly Thursday morning, hairstylist Danny Elder greets his first client of the day. After the two catch up and make a game plan for today’s appointment, Elder goes to mix the client’s color, but not before calling over his wife, business partner, and fellow stylist Katie Elder to get a second opinion on the shade.

This is typical of the collaborative spirit inside the new Soul Love Salon in Roland Park. The Elders, married since 2001, have been in the hair business for more than 20 years, having worked at several salons in the Baltimore area.

“We really love our industry,” says Danny. “It’s allowed us to fall into this place where we can truly be ourselves.”

The Roland Park salon, which previously housed Balance Salon (before it moved to Remington), opened in October and not only showcases the couple’s hairstyling skills, but also their love for music, with an extensive record collection and a turntable by the front door.

The pair have been DJing at local venues for the past nine years, spinning at places like the Paradox and Red Maple—both now closed. Their most recent musical venture has been hosting a pop-up seasonal party—also called Soul Love—which they debuted at Ten Tigers Parlour in D.C. and plan to host at various venues throughout the year.

“We grew up on the dance floor,” says Katie. “We realized that the feeling you get on the dance floor, when you release and let go, is similar to when you walk out from a great haircut and you feel your best—like you’ve been lifted.”

So why not combine the two? As you get your hair cut and colored, an expertly curated playlist blasts from the speakers, and a disco ball that once dangled at Paradox spins above the hair stations. There is even a shelf displaying what record is currently playing and what music is yet to come, in case customers want to add something they hear to their personal playlists.

Soul Love specializes in cuts, color, highlights, fantasy color, and specialty styles, but it’s really all about lifestyle.

“We want to share our love of music and love of beauty but also have a safe space for all types of people,” says Katie. “We are a bunch of really creative people. Our motto is, ‘You dream it, we make it.’”

Visual Art

Devin Allen’s A Beautiful Ghetto exhibit
Baltimore street photographer Devin Allen became known across the nation for his work after one of his images of the 2015 Baltimore protests was featured as the cover of Time magazine. Three years later, and in honor of that anniversary, the Institute for Integrative Health will exhibit a series of his black-and-white photos documenting the riots in A Beautiful Ghetto. Maybe more importantly, the show will serve as a launchpad for community-wide discussions. This kicks off with an artist talk during the opening reception, where his 2017 book by the same title will be available, and it continues with various events with a focus on healing, such as the April 13 dialogue with artists, writers, and leaders about creating healing spaces for their communities. The Institute for Integrative Health, 1407 Fleet St. Opening reception: 6 to 8:30 p.m. March 15.

Adam Davies: Reroutings
Creative Alliance resident artist Adam Davies will transform the space there to bring us Reroutings, an exhibit of his large-format film photographs of outdoor structures that have served as unofficial public forums (think graffiti-strewn bridges and unexpected street art found during a stroll). The gallery space will be completely darkened and the walls painted black and replaced with his huge (56- by 70-inch) photographic images, which will be lit from behind. Alex Zhang Hungtai of Dirty Beaches will perform his lo-fi electronica soundscapes—which were an influence on the photography series—during an opening reception on March 10, and more events will follow. Opens March 10 at the Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Stephen Towns: Rumination and a Reckoning
Story quilts are an African-American tradition dating back at least some 200 years. Some historians believe that secret codes were sewn into quilts, providing maps for navigating the Underground Railroad. Baltimore artist Stephen Towns continues in this tradition, exploring themes of slavery and perspectives of women and people of color through his large-scale fabric and bead-work pieces, often featuring faceless black figures that appear as silhouettes. The Baltimore Museum of Art will exhibit 10 of his quilts in Rumination and a Reckoning beginning this month, seven of which depict the story of Nat Turner and his 1831 rebellion. As if that weren’t enough, the museum will host Towns in conversation with internationally renowned artist Mark Bradford. March 7 through Sept. 2 at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive.

Music

Baltimore Plays The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20th Anniversary
Hard as it may be to believe, it’s been 20 years since the release of the seminal album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. In a homage to the work, several artists—Jasmine Pope (J Pope and the HearNow), Christen B, Joy Postell, Karin Sings Evans, Marc Avon Evans, Jamaal Black Root Collier—will gather at the Creative Alliance to perform its tracks in their own style. March 18 at the Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Theater

Humbug: The Great P.T. Barnum Séance
Magician David London will attempt to summon the spirit of The Great P.T. Barnum via—what else?—séance in his new show Humbug at The Peale Center. While we can’t guarantee audiences will make contact with the legendary showman, we do guarantee the exhibition of genuine Barnum artifacts (honestly, that might be a hoax, too—in the spirit of P.T. Barnum, of course). March 8 to 25 at The Peale Center, 225 N. Holliday St.

Film

Everything is Terrible!’s The Great Satan
Imagine being able to get a taste of more than more than 2,000 horror, satanic, and religious films in under two hours. You don’t have to imagine anymore. Everything is Terrible! has done the work for you, creating a narrative from scraps of material to make the kitschy, trippy new film The Great Satan. In their own words: “Since the dawn of time, man has searched for answers . . . and failed. But the fog of existence has finally cleared thanks to the eternal fruits of your favorite found footage collective.” The makers will be at the theater to present their film as part of their cross-country tour. Guests are encouraged to bring offerings of VHS tapes of Jerry Maguire. March 7 at SNF Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave.

Kékszakállú

Baltimore’s Matt Porterfield, best known for his films Hamilton and Putty Hill, will host and do a Q&A at two screenings of the gorgeous Argentine film Kékszakállú, co-written and co-produced by him and directed by Gastón Solnicki. The coming-of-age film’s title and inspiration comes from the opera Bluebeard’s Castle and follows a group of upper-class girls as they enter the world outside of their privileged lives. March 2 to 8 at SNF Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave.

Literary Arts

An Evening with Laura Lippman at Federal Hill Prep School
Baltimore’s literary darling and New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman will be at Federal Hill Prep School as part of a book tour for her latest release, Sunburn. The novel tells the story of Polly, a runaway wife who’s ready to start a new life but wasn’t quite ready to fall in love in the process. March 24 at Federal Hill Preparatory School, 1040 William St.

With the theme “More Lights, More Love,” Light City Baltimore will expand from two to three weekends this year. The art and music festival presented by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA) is held primarily on Baltimore’s waterfront and highlights social innovation by way of the arts—large-scale art installations that light up the evenings, alongside live music and pop-up performances.

“This is a unique festival in the sense that the art is supposed to elucidate and illuminate social issues,” says Verna Myers, representing the Light City leadership council at a press conference today. “Art is awesome because it helps us to see things differently.”

The three-part event kicks off with Neighborhood Lights from April 6-8, continues with the Light City art and music festival from April 14-21, and concludes with Labs@LightCity from April 18-21.

Perhaps the most obvious signal that the event is in full swing will be the BGE Light Art Walk along the Inner Harbor’s promenade, showcasing 21 light-based installations made by artists from across the world. Tom Dekyvere’s glowing Elantica will be an off-the-grid sculpture replica of Earth, made from solar panels and electronic waste. Another piece will explore human relationships by way of interactive light and sound. Another will serve to illustrate—through a moving, patterned surface on the ground—that color is made up in our minds.

Beyond the Inner Harbor, Neighborhood Lights showcases various cultural pockets in the city during its own weekend this year. The collaborative artist-in-residence program has grown from five communities in its first year to eight in its second and now 14: Belair-Edison, Bromo Tower Arts and Entertainment District, Darley Park, Federal Hill, Baybrook (Brooklyn and Curtis Bay), Remington, Hamilton-Lauraville, Highlandtown, Hollins Roundhouse/Southwest Baltimore, Little Italy, Locust Point, Patterson Park, Pigtown, and Waverly. Artists are paired with community organizers to create site-specific work that reflects the personality of Baltimore’s neighborhoods.

New this year, self-guided audio tours of the BGE Light Art Walk and Neighborhood Lights installations will be available through a quick phone call.

Also new, the Labs@LightCity conference at IMET Columbus Center will be pay-what-you-can. The “labs”—HealthLab, GreenLab, EduLab, SocialLab, ArtLab, MakerLab, and FoodLab—put local voices alongside nationally known ones to discuss ideas and innovations that will take our world forward into the future. These guided conversations will explore focused themes, such as the role of education in society, greening our cities, and how art can create change. Speakers include Art Smith, DeRay Mckesson, Aaron Maybin, Sonja Sohn, Shanti Das, and many more.

Music performances at the Inner Harbor Amphitheater and Kaufman Pavilion by Rash Field, as well as pop-up performances—illuminated hula hooping, stilt-walking, caroling, dance, and puppets—will round out the event. Acts will include DJ Grandmaster Flash, G. Love and Special Sauce, Trillnatured, and Outcalls.

Also not to be missed: A drone race will bring drone league racers from across the U.S. to compete in a light installation that doubles as an obstacle course.

Visual Art

Reflections: Intimate Portraits of Iconic African Americans
Photographer Terrence A. Reese’s career has led him to take portraits of such stars as Lauryn Hill and George Clinton. The artist, who goes by TAR, will exhibit a selection of his work at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum this month in the show Reflections: Intimate Portraits of Iconic African Americans. Black-and-white images will depict such luminaries as the Nicholas Brothers and Gordon Parks in their natural environments and living spaces so as to better reflect who they are, through their personal objects, style, and the context of their lives. Wednesdays through Sundays, Feb. 1 through Aug. 12, at Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St.

Artist talk with Shirin Neshat
Iranian artist Shirin Neshat explores gender, identity, and politics in her work, as well as the differences in culture between the West and Muslim countries. Because she tackles such complex themes, there is no shortage of questions and discussion surrounding her work. It also makes her a perfect candidate for MICA’s Mixed Media lecture series, which brings to Baltimore artists from across the globe. For this installment, Neshat will be in conversation with Baltimore Museum of Art Director Christopher Bedford. 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Falvey Hall, Brown Center, 1301 W. Mount  Mount Royal Ave.

Music

Charm City Django Jazz Fest
Nothing like some live gypsy jazz to add a little heat to a cold winter’s day. Creative Alliance has got us covered with not one but three days of its annual Charm City Django Jazz Fest, which will bring in acts from across the region and world, including headliner Samson Schmiit, a legendary Manouche gypsy guitarist from France. Swing on by to see Sara L’abriola, Ultrafaux, ‘Nuff Said, and others, to experience a range of styles within the genre. Feb. 23 to 25 at the Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Out of Darkness: Two Remain
A new opera looks at what you might consider atypical Holocaust survivors: one, a political prisoner, and the other a homosexual Protestant, both of whom used words to overcome the traumas of captivity during the war. World-renowned composer Jake Heggie developed the two-act opera based on the true stories of these characters who “survive through their poetry,” says Garnett Bruce, stage director of the Peabody Chamber Opera’s production of the piece. Feb. 8 through 11 at Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St. The composer and librettist will attend opening night, with a talk following the show.

Theater

Constellations & Crossroads
Constellations & Crossroads is a theatrical double-header steeped in American history and exploding with life. Baltimore Rock Opera Society partnered with Arena Players, Baltimore’s historic African-American community theater, to present two short musicals in their entirety, backed by a live band. The Determination of Azimuth tells the story of Katherine Johnson, a black mathematician who worked for NASA and was responsible for comp[uting paths for rocket ships sent into space. Battle of Blue Apple Crossing leans more on fiction to tell the tale of blues legend Robert Johnson, said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical ability. The score follows America’s musical heritage from field spirituals to rock ’n’ roll to garage rock. 8 p.m. Feb. 9 through 18 at Arena Players’ venue at 801 McCulloh St.

All She Must Possess
The Rep Stage premiere of All She Must Possess tells the story of Baltimore’s famed Cone sisters, Claribel and Etta, extravagant world travelers and collectors of art and curios. During the early 20th century, they stored thousands of paintings—including work by Matisse and Picasso, among other greats—in their homes, amassing what would become one of the world’s largest collections of modern art (a large portion would eventually be housed at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where it is today). In the theatrical version of their lives, written by University of Maryland Baltimore County professor Susan McCully and directed by Rep Stage artistic director Joseph W. Ritsch, paintings come to life and Gertrude Stein—Etta’s lover—makes an appearance. Coinciding with the play is an exhibition of historical women’s clothing from the Cone sisters’ time, on display at Howard Community College’s Rouse Company Foundation Gallery through March 11. The play runs Feb. 8 to 25 at Rep Stage at Howard Community College.

Dance

The Community Project
Each year, The Collective pulls together dancers from the community and pairs them with a professional choreographer to develop the Community Project performance. This year, 22 dancers—ranging in age from teens to baby boomers and across all skill levels—met on several cold January weekends to rehearse under dancer Caitlin McAfee for this year’s show, which is but one component to the Baltimore Dance Invitational. Set to Indian Wells’ song “Cascades,” the group will show through movement how the mind races, gets distracted, and follows its own trails of thought. Gordon Center for Performing Arts on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts, 3506 Gwynnbrook Ave., Owings Mills. 

Beyonce vs Rihanna Dance Party: Round 2
The Ottobar event flier states it best: “Are you ‘Drunk In Love’ or ‘Drunk On Love’?!” At the Beyonce vs Rihanna Dance Party, that is precisely the question. And also, are you ready to duke it out—through dance, of course, to support your diva de jour. The dance party battle will light up with Beyonce tracks from DJ Mills and Rihanna tracks from Ottobar owner Craig Boarman. 9 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St.

Miscellanea

African-American Arts Festival
The University of Baltimore helps us to celebrate Black History Month specifically through art at its annual African-American Arts Festival. Its offerings span an array of artistic mediums: film, visual art, music, theater. Some highlights: a panel with Black Ladies Brunch Crew of D.C., an African drumming circle, readings of Langston Hughes poetry spliced with live, improvised jazz piano, and a screening of Jonathan Demme’s film of Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. Feb. 15 to 18 at the University of Baltimore, 1420 N. Charles St.

Exhibit of Original Costumes

We may be 2,500 miles from Hollywood, but John Klisavage brings us a touch of its wonder by way of costume. At his bookstore in Havre De Grace, he’s displaying several outfits worn in major motion pictures, including Hunger Games and The Notebook. February and March at Washington Street Books & Music, 131 N. Washington St., Havre De Grace.

A culinary documentary on Basque cuisine
Parkway Theater has teamed up with a local restaurant to bring a food and film pairing, naturally. After a screening of The Txoko Experience: The Secret Culinary Space of The Basques, scriptwriter Marcela Garces and director Yuri Morejon will answer any questions the audience has, and then . . . everyone can partake in the food portion of the evening: passed pintxos from the Basque-inspired La Cuchara restaurant. Renowned Basque chefs serve as narrators of the culinary documentary, which explores Txokos, groups of people who gather to explore innovative and experimental ways of cooking. As Morejon puts it, “Txokos represent a distinctive, albeit enigmatic element of Basque gastronomy. As the private temples of traditional Basque cuisine, they captivate people with their warmth, ambiance, and great respect for fresh products.” 7 p.m. Feb. 22 Parkway Theater, 5 W. North Ave.

On the eve of their fifth birthday, Natural Velvet has released a stellar new album, their second with local label Friends Records, and it is everything we wanted and more. On each track, the post-punk quartet shows up with a pure, raw energy that’s packed with searing guitar, thunderous drums, and the wild howl of frontwoman Corynne Ostermann. 

As they tackle themes like femininity, identity, and rage, the band careens between melodies that are dark and brooding or bright and loud as a hot strike of lightning. It’s the kind of music that, as Ostermann puts it, blooms, the more you listen, even as a black rose on the vine. We talked with her about their new songs, band gangs, and villainesses like Cruella de Vil.

How long have you been working on this new album, Mirror To Make You?
Corynne Ostermann, lead singer and bassist, pictured far right: There was a natural break at the end of the last record, She Is Me, because it came out in September 2015, and by October, I had lost my long-term relationship, as well as the home I was sharing with that person, and a good friend from high school, who died overnight. I think everyone had a really rough 2016, and I would say mine started in late 2015 and I’m still just trying to push through it. The music was my natural reaction to the world trying to cut me down. 

At the end of the day, I knew what I wanted to write about. I wanted to write about this specific feminine rage, which is something that doesn’t get any play within popular culture. I wanted to talk about both the over-the-top camp aspect of that feminine rage, but I also wanted to humanize it in a way. From there, it was just fitting the puzzle pieces where they needed to go.

Was writing these songs cathartic?
Yes and no. Anytime we perform them, I’m re-experiencing that rage. I also think there are a lot of people out there, especially feminine people, who don’t allow themselves the right to anger because it’s not culturally sanctioned. Masculinity, sure—you can be angry and break things and be hardcore—but it was very much a learned thing for me. I grew up evangelical Christian and there’s a lot of unlearning that had to go with that. Allowing myself to be angry and dark and brooding took years of practice. You can still be soft and feminine and pretty but also angry. Anger and rage can be positive influences. They can signal change—like a calling to arms—where you have to express yourself but also step back and ask, ‘Okay, how do I fix this? How do I make my place right in the universe?’

I was also learning to identify with these overly camp feminine icons of film and pop culture. A lot of it was based off of me repeatedly watching Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest. And Sailor Moon cartoons, where the villainess is like, ‘You’ll never defeat me.’ Ultimately I’d be sad at the end when the protagonist would win over the antagonist because they were so much more fabulous and well dressed and way more fun to watch. Another great example of this is Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmations. You love it when she’s sitting in her chair yelling at her subordinates. It was super cathartic for me to watch these films and write these lyrics based within that kind of femininity because it’s pretty much private revenge fantasy. [Laughs.] 

Ultimately the goal is to talk about these realities of living while also still having fun. At the end of the day, I’m an entertainer. I want people to enjoy this record. I don’t want to make them have a bad day. But I do want there to be something for them to chew on. 

Have you always been interested in that deconstructing the concept of femininity? 

I am a trained painter and I’ve been working with the concept of aggressive femininity for years, specifically related to pop culture. Give me Paris Hilton and Britney Spears with a shaved head in 2007 or give me nothing. Painting has always been a feminist battleground from the get-go. The painting department at the Maryland Institute College of Art is also like bro-zone USA. [As a student there,] I was an out feminist, making work within this hyper masculine culture, so I had to defend myself. 

Having been raised religious in the Midwest during the Bush years, by the time I figured out that I was a feminist, I was pretty saturated in it. I was a high schooler with a copy of Simone de Beauvoir’s Second Sex. I also minored in Gender Studies at MICA.

How do you share concepts with your bandmates?
My bandmates have their own inspiration and we have our own little band culture and language, as all bands do. Bands are pretty much glorified street gangs. But my band mates are people of color and also queer people, and I have to contend with the fact that I am a white woman, writing about feminism. Ultimately I’m writing about my perspectives—nobody else’s—because I couldn’t pretend to speak for them. 

Instrumentally, we write all of the songs together. The majority of the time, they’re jammed out in the basement. We’re blessed that we’re all good friends and we hang out outside of band time. Just the other day, we went over to Greg’s [Hatem, drummer] and did a double feature of John Waters’ films that Spike [Arreaga, guitarist] had never seen. We started the band so young—I was 21—and we’ve all seen each other go through so many different phases.

Speaking of friends, Mirror To Make You is your second album with local label Friends Records. How does it feel to be a part of that musical family?
We are incredibly blessed to be able to work with Friends. Jimmy [MacMillan, owner] is one of the good guys. He looks out for each band on the label and his active roster is on the smaller side so you get a lot of individual attention. It has been instrumental in allowing us to grow.

They have nurtured such a nest of diverse local talent. 
I was at a talk last night at The Crown where they were interviewing younger artists. The word ‘artist’ had such a connotation to them. They were like, ‘We just need to be respected,’ and I’m like, you also have to understand that ‘the artist’ is the product of the community in which you’re based. Future Islands does this particularly well. They have always been very local  and have really favored working with local bands and artists. 

Like Beth Hoeckel and Lesser Gonzales for past album art, and Post Typography for their current tour posters.
They’ve always given back to the community. We would be nothing as a band if it weren’t for working with the community and playing on bills with all of these local artists and musicians. There’s accountability in Baltimore, especially with the art scene being so small. You can’t be shitty. You have to take care of your neighbors. 

Now that it’s out there, how do you feel about this new album?
I did have to give myself some distance, but when I finally came back to it, it made me extremely happy. Is it perfect? No, not by my standards at least, but there is an utter freshness that is present only in this record. It’s also sonically the most well produced record we’ve made at this point because we recorded with Martin Bisi in New York. I mean, Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch—the giganticness of that room, the history of that room, our excitement to play, plus getting to work with Rob Girardi back here in Baltimore at WrightWay Studios. Rob is unbelievably talented; he knows how to keep a big fat sound without crushing the bloom of it. 

Do you have any favorite songs?
“It’s All Mine” is probably the most direct—I’d call it more or less the manifesto of the record. “Kristina” is probably the purest song on the record. I love that one. My friend Kristina is my BFF from college and I had not seen her for three-and-a-half years. The idea of writing a love song makes my skin crawl, like ew, barf, and I was thinking it would be way more relevant to write this song of longing and love for a friend, because those are the people who are going to stick with you longer than anyone else. 

Speaking of “It’s All Mine,” that video was so wild and fun.
That started off as a complete joke. It was born out of being stuck in a van with my band mates for too long. But it was a great shoot—I was crying and laughing the whole time. 

You’ve mentioned that it was partially inspired by the 1953 film, Gentleman Prefer Blondes.
I love Jane Russell in that film because she plays a very specific trope, which is the sassy brunette. And the script for that was written and acted out before the Hays code was reversed, so it’s loaded with innuendo, completely inappropriate for the 1950s, and unbelievably campy. I mean, you know she’s not trying to find love on that cruise ship full of the Olympic gymnastic team . . . And the beautiful part of this is, every man in that synchronized gymnast scene in flesh-toned swim trunks definitely wasn’t interested in what she was selling anyways! There’s only one instance in our entire video when I’m touched by one of the guys, and that’s when I’m thrown into the pool, and there’s a reason for that. I ultimately didn’t want to function as a sex object, where I’m being looked upon by the camera in this male-gazey kind of way. I wanted my character to function as the aggressor, the person who objectifies. I was the feminine grotesque. The anti-diva. 

It really was a feminine fantasy, with the glitter and the gold swimsuits and the aquamarine pool.
It was also really body positive in its own way. If you can at least feel comfortable enough in your own skin to drink a beer and ride an elliptical for a few hours on film, that’s great. If that makes you feel good, thank you for jumping on the trampoline.