Shout outs to some musical artistes

Spent another weekend in DC with the sis and got a chockful of live music at a couple bars in the Arlington area. Friday night we chanced upon a cover performer from Delaware, Paul Lewis, at an Irish bar, Molly Malone's, He had a pretty varied repertoire--slow versions of Prince's "Seven" and Robbie Williams' "Millenium" were both nice twists on the originals. Was enjoyable, sing-a-long background noise that went well with our cold brews. Sunday night, we stopped by a joint called "Galaxy Hut," a cave of a bar/restaurant that regularly hosts live acts in its intimate space (48 bodies max). We grooved to the tunes of two alternative country acts, New Heathens from New York and June Star from Baltimore. I'm not a huge country fan, but the drums and electric guitars certainly took away the honky-tonk twang found in mainstream C/W. The New Heathens sounded a bit like 'Gin Blossoms lite' and some of the lyrics made wanna say "huh?" (I wish I could remember a sampling), but overall not bad--hell, anyone who can get up & sing in front a crowd of 15 people & act like he's playing to a stadium deserves all kinds of kudos in my book. June Star's music was by far the better of the two--the front man's voice was nice & gravelly and the lyrics were headier. I love watching bands in small settings like this because you get a chance to talk to the performers. They feel comfortable enough to share on a personal level as well. For example, June Star's lead singer suggested several times during the show that the audience should peruse the book they just bought, "Penis Pokey." It's in the format of a children's book, only it has a big hole in the middle. Use your imaginiation. (I prayed that it hadn't been used as we flipped thru it, snickering.) Anyway, another lovely sejour in DC, tunes included.