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.

Sam Sessa didn’t always dream of being on the radio—at least not in the role he plays today, as a DJ with Towson’s own WTMD. “Sometimes sports writers are failed athletes, and music writers can be failed musicians—that’s definitely me,” says Sessa, who cut his teeth as a journalist before becoming the Baltimore Music Coordinator and host of Baltimore Hit Parade.

He grew up playing the accordion, eventually pivoting to the keyboard and organ bass during college at the University of Maryland, where he performed with a local jazz and cover band. Upon graduation, the journalism major went on to cover the entertainment beat at The Baltimore Sun from 2005 to 2013, which “just happened to be at a time when Baltimore’s music scene became one of the best in the country. I got really lucky,” Sessa says, pointing to the storied rise and record deals of artists such as Beach House, Future Islands, and Dan Deacon at the time.

“In the ‘90s, we had Dru Hill and Sisqó, which were incredible success stories for the city,” he says. “But we didn’t have as large of an audience, with attention being spread out on so many different bands, like it was in the mid to late 2000s. It was like your home team coming out of nowhere to win the Super Bowl.”

On Thursday, May 19 at The Charles Theater—in the first of what will be several free public screenings in Baltimore—this historic arch will be on full display in Sessa’s directorial debut, Do Whatever You Want All the Time: The Baltimore Music Scene 2005-2020. Created during the pandemic and named after an album by local art-rock band Ponytail (one of Sessa’s favorites), the short documentary film chronicles how Baltimore made its way onto the national stage, from the late aughts, when the city’s musical milieu was dubbed the best in the country by Rolling Stone, through the 2015 Baltimore Uprising, which, Sessa says, “changed the whole conversation on the local scene.”

“The uprising was a reckoning for a lot of different communities, including the Baltimore music community,” he says. “We made the film in the year of George Floyd’s death, and to compare what was happening in the rest of the country to what happened in Baltimore in 2015—that gave us chills.”

Despite the challenges, there’s an overarching theme of optimism as Baltimore’s musicianship continues to evolve. “Between artists like Micah E. Wood, Outcalls, Super City, and Modern Nomad, we’re seeing collaboration in ways that weren’t that common in the mid to late 2000s for a bunch of different reasons—that really gives me hope,” Sessa says. “The Baltimore music scene is perhaps more connected now than it has ever been.”

The film features up-and-coming indie bands like Snail Mail and Peach Face, as well as veteran artists such as Abdu Ali, Lafayette Gilchrist, and Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak (plus images by Baltimore contributing photographer J.M. Giordano and an appearance by senior editor Lydia Woolever.)

Local cinematographer Julia Golonka, who filmed, edited, and co-produced the documentary with Sessa, wanted to make sure that every topic—in particular, racial themes—would resonate with viewers.

“I hope that people feel we did the scene justice,” says Golonka, who went to the same high school as Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan. “Growing up in Ellicott City, I’ve been listening to a lot of these artists for a while now. My Spotify Wrapped for last year was mostly the bands that are featured in the film. I just kept listening to them as I would edit. I hope the viewers feel inspired to do that too. This was a dream-come-true project.”

The same goes for Sessa, who refers to the film as “the bookends of my career, distilled into 24 minutes.”

“In 2005, we still had yet to even realize that the scene was a scene,” he says. “But to watch it coalesce over the years has been fulfilling to me. We’re thrilled to share this little time capsule.”

EAT

June 28: Maryland Food Trucks Foodie Bash

Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Hwy. 5-9 p.m. Free.

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate in National Food Truck Day than by indulging in tasty treats from rows and rows of local mobile kitchens. Join fellow foodies at The Baltimore Museum of Industry for a night of sampling delicious bites from 13 area purveyors, including fan favorites like Dough Boy Fresh Pretzel Co., Baltimore Crab Cake Company, and Deddle’s Mini Donuts. Best of all, the proceeds from this gut-busting event benefit Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland.

 

DRINK

June 29: Drag Me to the Beach

Sandlot, 1000 Wills St. 11a.m.-1 p.m. $20.

Sun, sand, drinks, and a drag performance by Bombalicious—what more could you ask for? Head to Charm City’s “beach” bar in Harbor Point to watch this Drag Wars All-Star winner sashay around the waterfront, with a brunch cocktail or frozen drink in hand, of course. Whether you spend you two drink tickets on Bloody Marys, champagne, or canned beer and wine, you’re sure to be throwing dollar bills all afternoon long.

 

SEE

June 28-July 21: Hamilton

The Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 N. Eutaw St. Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 2 & 8 p.m. $217-2,250.

After months of anticipation, the rapped musical phenomenon that has transcended Broadway and mainstream culture has finally made its way to Baltimore. Watch in awe as the historic story of founding father Alexander Hamilton’s life comes alive on the Hippodrome Theatre stage, featuring inspiring (and ridiculously catchy) songs. While open seats for the musical’s 32-show run are hard to come by, enter into the lottery drawing for the chance to win $10 tickets.

 

HEAR

June 29: Super City, Manners Manners, Peachface

Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St. 8 p.m. $12-14.

Be sure to stretch before heading to the Ottobar on Saturday night, because this all-local lineup of acts will have you dancing until last call. Bop along to a set by Baltimore indie-pop band Super City, featuring the group’s searing guitar solos, thunder-and-lightning drums, and synchronized moves, as well as performances by noise-pop band Manners Manners and alternative indie-pop artist Peach Face.

 

DO

June 29: Yearfest

Earth Treks Hampden, 1700 W. 41st St., Suite 400. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free.

In honor of its one-year anniversary of bringing the mountains to Medfield, Earth Treks is throwing an all-out party for its community of climbers. Stop by the climbing center’s birthday bash, which will be hopping with local food vendors, live music from Munk and Water Cycle, and free drinks from Union Craft Brewing and Wild Kombucha. Kick off this spot’s second trip around the sun with a game of giant beer pong, a few rounds of cornhole, or a chance to hit the wall for a quick climb.