Friday June 13 * 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells, bass & Ben Dumbauld, percussion
Jair-Rohm Parker Wells is an American electric bassist, sound sculptor, and experimental music artist. He is a pioneering figure in the world of free jazz and improvised music, with a career spanning over four decades. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Lockwood, Feldman, Braxton, Wilson, and Cage, Jair-Rohm is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of musical expression. Ben Dumbauld is a percussionist and composer based out of Pittsburgh who runs the experimental music label Ephem-Aural.

In this musical context, Fanoplane is an improvisational project focused on projecting the infinite gifts of the Muse. Fanoplane’s performances are unscored, unrehearsed and improvised extemporaneously on the spot.

‘an observance of absence’ by Jason Pappariella is a documentary that blends interior and exterior spaces left vacant and dilapidated by the abandonment of Central & Eastern Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region, with similarly neglected interior and exterior sites in postindustrial Central & Eastern Europe. The score, composed by Adam Parks (Lightning White Bison), is comprised of manipulated field recordings from both regions of the world, layered with ambient organ & synth instrumentals.

2nd Saturday of the month * online at 1130am Eastern * to REGISTER, please email rhizomepuppetlab@gmail.com

Rhizome Puppet Lab is committed to the performance side of puppetry. It supports the development of works in progress. You can present work for feedback or direct others in the lab to improvise or puzzle out specific scenes. You may use the group to figure out how your show might work. Anyone may lead a lab about any aspect of performance.

Puppet Lab’s purpose is to be a hub for all those interested in puppet theater who would benefit from: boosting creative power; honing puppet-manipulation skills; cross-pollinating ideas; receiving feedback about works in progress; building puppet community. Types of labs have included shadows, Laban, suspense, metaphor, music, voice, Clown, character development, props, table top, humanette, hand puppets, and much more. Open to all levels of experience.

Saturday June 14 * 1-9pm * outdoors, weather permitting * $50 / sliding scale * TICKETS

Tyondai Braxton & Ben Vida: Tyondai Braxton is an American composer and electronic musician who incorporates electronic and modern orchestral elements into his music, which ranges in scale from solo pieces to large-scale symphonic works. Ben Vida is an artist and composer. Recent solo exhibitions include \[Smile on.\]… \[Pause.\]… \[Smile off.\] at Lisa Cooley Gallery, New York, and Slipping Control (West) at 356 S. Mission Road, Los Angeles.

Wendy Eisenberg is an improviser and songwriter who uses guitar, pedals, the tenor banjo, the computer, the synthesizer and the voice. Their work spans genres, from jazz to noise to avant-rock to delicate songs.

Josh Dibb aka Deakin is an artist, producer & composer most notably a member of the band Animal Collective. He has released multiple studio & live albums, and as a film composer he has composed music for the films Crestone, The Inspection, Jetty & Obex.

Lucy Liyou synthesizes field recordings, text-to-speech readings, poetry, and elements from Korean folk opera into sonic narratives that explore the implications of Orientalism and Westernization.

The Caribbean (festival founders and co-hosts) is an American experimental project from Washington, D.C., composed of Michael Kentoff, Matthew Byars, and Dave Jones. Described as “minimalist/drone/Phillip Jeck-by-way-of-Carole King,” the band has been critically acclaimed for its deconstructionist approach to pop music, and its wry, literary lyrics.

Emily Robb is a Philadelphia based musician who has been part of the rock underground and experimental scenes for over a decade. She recently released her debut solo album, How To Moonwalk, created almost exclusively on guitar.

Jon Camp is a well-known-and-loved fingerstyle guitarist and composer from the Washington, DC region. He blends twang, drone, and melody into a cohesive whole that is exploratory without forsaking the hook.

Sunday June 15 * 3-5pm * RSVP

Death Cafes are opportunities for people to enjoy refreshments together and discuss the topic of death. The objective is to “increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.” There are Death Cafes all over the country. What's on your mind about death and dying? Contact Death Cafe Facilitators Margaret Branch at margaret603@gmail.com or Monica Lynch at mlynch19@comcast.net.. Death Cafes are NOT therapy, grief support, or counseling sessions. Cost: Free (small donation for the space encouraged)

Sunday June 15 * 7pm * $10-25 * TICKETS

Founded in March 2023, microplastique is an innovative quartet based in Chicago, featuring multi-instrumentalists Ben Zucker, Molly Jones, Josh Harlow, and Adam Shead. Under the direction of bandleader Adam Shead, the ensemble blends diverse skills and experiences to create a dynamic and eclectic sound, drawing on a wide range of influences from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to Misha Mengelberg to Pauline Oliveros. On December 6, 2024, they released their highly anticipated debut album, Blare Blow Bloom!, which was featured on the front page of Bandcamp as a "New and Notable" release and earned a 4-star review from Lawrence Preyer of All About Jazz. With their energetic performances and bold musical approach, microplastique has quickly gained national recognition, establishing themselves as one of the most exciting and innovative groups on the contemporary music scene.

Dr. Kimia Hesabi is a D.C.-based violist, educator, composer, and the Co-Director of Learning and Engagement at the National Philharmonic. A versatile and multi-faceted artist and creator, Hesabi’s work and self-initiated projects are centered around artistic, educational, and social impact. Passionate about the music and culture of her home country, Iran, Kimia has recorded and published her debut album entitled Nemāno Gaona, featuring commissioned works for viola by composers of the Iranian Diaspora.

Monday June 16 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $20-25 * TICKETS

Transparent Productions presents: Tomeka Reid, cello; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Jason Roebke, bass; Tomas Fujiwara, drums

"...The quartet is essentially an updated string band. It’s a configuration that oozes a kind of sepia old-time charm, harking back to the early days of jazz when string bands were at their most popular. At the same time, many of Reid’s compositions have a puckish 20th century bop sensibility. “Sadie” is a sweetly swinging ditty with walking bass and sighing brushes, while “Wabash Blues” leads with a tartly melodic head that could easily be the score for a swing-era silent movie showing Model Ts trundling down the streets of black and white Chicago…. Reid reveals herself as a soloist of fierce imagination, moving from fingertip bends and scuttling pings in the freeform opening of “Aug 6” to crazed, soaring arco stridulations in “Ballad”. On “Peripatetic” the quartet even come across like King Crimson circa Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, with sombre, lumbering charts giving way to a frenzied freakout and Halvorson’s guitar crunching through overdriven ecstasies. It’s an album that is convincingly both ‘in’ and ‘out’ at the same time, straightfaced yet self undermining, serious yet playful – and always heaps of fun." – Daniel Spicer / The Wire

Tuesday June 17 * 7pm * $30-35 TICKETS

Transparent Productions presents The El’Zabar : Murray : Duo with Kahil El’Zabar (percussion) and David Murray (tenor sax and bass clarinet).

This startling, legendary duo returns yet again to Rhizome for an evening of great music.

Sir Kahil El’Zabar was Knighted by the Council General of France for his Global contributions to the Arts. Dr. El’Zabar, holds a PHD from Lake Forest College in Interdisciplinary Arts. He taught music and interdisciplinary arts at the U. Nebraska/Lincoln, and U. IL/Chicago. He was Appointed by Pres. Bill Clinton to the National Task Force for Arts representing Education. He won the International Ambassador Award from Pres. Barack Obama’s Administration. El’Zabar has recorded over 100 acclaimed projects, and founded and leads the legendary Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Ritual Trio.

David Murray is considered to be the most influential tenor saxophonist of his generation. He has recorded more than 300 acclaimed projects. Dr. Murray was awarded a PhD in the Arts from Claremont College, and is also a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar. Mr. Murray has won 2 Grammys and is the recipient of the prestigious Jazz Par Award from the country of Denmark.

Wednesday June 18 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $12-15 * TICKETS

Null/Void Presents…

Edging tend a joyful garden of chaos amid the decaying concrete of Chicago. Self-described "landscaper punks", their music is a ravenous jungle of saxophone blasts, punked-up disco drums, and alley-cat howls, calling fans to a party paradise with the allure of a bizarro Eden. 

Bushfire - anti-everything-but-love rock & roll from San Francisco

Sad Roach - dc's infamous rocking duo and finest purveyors of goofy goobercore

Courage Mother - dc adjacent cheat codes for yr heart

Friday June 20 * 7:30pm * $15 * TICKETS

THE ARMORS (DC ROCK N ROLL)

DESERT SHARKS (NYC GLOOM PUNK)

JAMES BONDAGE (BALTIMORE JAZZTRONAUTS)

Saturday June 21 * 11am * $15-35 * REGISTER

Join us for an afternoon of kinky model drawing, guided by painter and art teacher: Dom. We’ll have models & expert artistic guidance. Meet your fellow Washington DC creatives. After a set amount of time we’ll open up the floor for people to make use of the space and create whatever images they wish. This workshop aims to celebrate body positivity and diversity while fostering a supportive, judgment-free environment for creative exploration.

Community expectations:
-absolutely no photography, phones should be tucked away during drawing

-the live model(s) have consented to being drawn, however, they must not be touched, photographed or talked about inappropriately in any way that could be interpreted as disrespectful

-keep conversations to a minimum, no judgment or shaming, this is a safe space for self expression

-avoid physical contact with other attendees

-if you witness someone breaking the rules all we ask is that you feel comfortable enough to go to the facilitator and explain the situation

-we reserve the right to remove anyone from the space

-no refunds

Saturday June 21 * doors at 2, show at 3 * $10-15 * TICKETS

Pilau (DC) / No Model (NJ)
Split 7" Release Show

featuring Psyop (DC)
"Defector" EP Release

Sunday June 22 * noon-4pm * $5-10 suggested * RSVP

The DC Modular Society is a group focused on learning, teaching, and performing electronic music with modular synths. DCMS meetups are open to all with an interest in electronic music, modular and other hardware synths, and hybrid systems for creating and performing music. We encourage and support building a diverse and inclusive community—if you’re wondering if you belong—the answer is yes! No equipment is necessary to attend meetups, but feel free to bring gear if you like. Mixer and PA system provided. We frequently do informal demos of synths and electronic music techniques.

Sunday June 22 * 1pm * in the backyard * $15-25 * REGISTER

Itching to get creative? Come dye with me! This class will cover making and dyeing with indigo, including the basics of shibori (Japanese tie-dye).

You'll learn how to:
-make an indigo vat
-dye with indigo for long-lasting color
-tie up the cloth for a variety of beautiful patterns
-care for your indigo-dyed items

Each participant will receive 1 bandana to dye with. All other materials provided. You may bring a few additional items to dye from home. Small to medium sized items with 50% or more natural fiber content work best. In addition, wear clothing that you don't mind getting stained. Bring an apron if you wish, and rubber gloves if you have them.

Sunday June 22 * 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

In their debut album, Lily Finnegan (drums) and gabby fluke-mogul (violin and vocals) give their respects to the queer punk rock & avant jazz musicians of the expansive continuum past, present, future. A prayer, a scream, a steadfast commitment - Finnegan and fluke-mogul weave improvised song, solo, and laughter in this music, recorded in the depths of July 2023 in Chicago.

Lily Glick Finnegan is a Chicago born and based drummer, composer, improviser and organizer. She currently plays in her own self led quartet along with Ken Vandermark’s Edition Redux and punk band Cucuy. This is her second year curating the Experimental Sound Studio Option Series and Catalytic Sound Festival.

gabby fluke-mogul is a New York-based violinist, improviser, composer, educator, organizer and doula. Weaving within the threads of avant and free jazz, with deep roots in improvised and experimental music, their music has been described as “embodied, visceral and virtuosic” and “the most striking sound in improvised music in years”. 

Ollie Becker is a guitarist/vocalist/composer/improvisor based out of Boston. Current projects include: solo guitar, noise rock band Rong, experimental grind band Obsolescence Technician, ensemble Premium Velvet Headache Pillow, and composition for chamber groups. Their solo guitar combines their self-taught background with more recent studies in composition, with influences ranging from “American primitive” guitar to experimental metal, free improvisation, impressionism, and brutalism. Approaching solo guitar like a piano reduction of a larger score, each piece regularly shifts in meter, tempo, harmony, and texture – a review of their acoustic trio album minis said that it “hits like freak-lounge jazz, acoustic metal and hardcore riffing off art pop ... each influence in style and tone holds its place within each song” (Post-Trash, 2021).

4CASSETTES:1DRUM is a surround sound performance piece written and performed by experimental musician Will Hicks. This piece is written for 4 tape players and one floor tom. It takes you on a confusing journey from experimental electronics to a wall of noise to a heartfelt string arrangement that appears to circle the audience while Hicks plays a repetitive pattern on the drum positioned in the center of the room. A classically trained musician and accomplished experimental percussionist, Will Hicks continues to push boundaries through experimental and noise-driven performance. 

Monday June 23 * 7pm * $10-30 * TICKETS

The music of Høly River carries the message of humanity’s need for reconnection with the earth. Mystically political and wholeheartedly grassroots this DIY band finds themselves playing on large festival stages as well as backyard fire pits of intentional communities around the world.

Høly River is a musical duo known for their ethereal pop soundscapes, transcendent melodies, and environmental activism. Rooted in themes of nature, spirituality, and human connection, their music weaves together elements of indie folk, world, and ambient genres. The duo's performances create an immersive experience that transcends the boundaries of a traditional concert, offering audiences moments of reflection, introspection and inspiration.

In addition to their music, Laney and Jameson are passionate advocates for environmental stewardship and community building. They are the founders of Fonticello Food Forest, a thriving urban food forest in Richmond, VA dedicated to nature connection, education and community access to fresh and rescued food.

Valeska Populoh is an artist and performer, educator and cultural organizer living in Baltimore, on the un-ceded land of the Piscataway Conoy and other Chesapeake First Families. Embracing a wide array of tactics, from puppetry to participatory performance, Valeska's work is motivated by an interest in healing and repair, in our relationships to each other and to the natural world. Using the magic lantern of decommissioned overhead projectors, Valeska and fellow puppeteer Peter Redgrave conjure a landscape of transforming shadows in "Groundswell Spell/Who Are We but If Not of Each Other," an incantation to our hoofed and antlered selves.

Talk to Your Neighbor is a band from the DMV playing experimental, genre-bending music that combines rock, pop, folk, electronics, futuristic production, and an array of complex textures. Reviewers have described the band's single 'Knock' as “haunting folk minimalism” with “jazz-touched rhythmic intensity” and the track "Pyro" as having “rich moody textures and sublime keys underpinned by alluring melodic runs.” The song "Half Moon" explores textures as diverse as spaghetti western and hyperpop, which listeners say  “manage[s] to fuse elements of trip-hop, classical, folk and about a million other styles into a haunting curveball.” The band consists of Ana Ruess (lead vocals) and Lukas Keel (guitar, bass guitar, production) both of the duo Help Yourself to the Citrus; Jeremy Padow (guitar) and Andrew Carlson (percussion), both formerly of the band Dope Francis; and Kevin Huang (keys) who collaborates with Be Steadwell and other DC-based artists.

Tuesday June 24 * doors at 6:30, music at 7 * $15-25 * TICKETS

Secret Planet presents...

The 12 piece Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp has scoured the stages of Europe to demonstrate that the formula "the more the merrier" has never been more true than on stage. Whether in prestigious festivals (Paléo Festival de Nyon, Fusion Festival, Incubate, Womad, Bad Bonn Kilbi, Jazz à la Vilette) or on the four albums released since its launch, the group shows an incredible fluidity. The Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp (a mischievous title in homage to traditional African groups -- Orchestre Tout Puissant Konono n°1, Orchestre Tout Puissant Polyrytmo etc... -- and to one of the greatest dynamizers of 20th century art) embraces the forms of its musicians while pushing them to their limits. The result is a powerful, experimental, unstable and terribly alive, organic sound. Mixing free jazz, post punk, high life, brass band, symphonic mixtures and kraut rock, their sound only goes beyond the limits of genre. Transcendental, almost ritualistic, the music is coupled with powerful lyrics, declaimed in rage against a world that is falling apart.

Throwaway is acclaimed guitarist Kirsten Carey's post-punk band that acrobatically leaps around virtuosic riffs and unexpected rhythms. Throwaway’s electric energy is “absolutely brilliant” (Soundsphere), with “aerodynamic rock-grit flavors of the likes of Primus or Deerhoof” (eCurrent). In 2019, Throwaway released their debut album, WHAT?, to widespread acclaim, snagging spots on international year-end lists from the likes of Ghettoblaster Magazine, Tinnitist, and Organ Thing. Their follow-up EP, Hand That Takes, was released in 2022 by FPE Records, which It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine celebrated as "a pissed-off, burnt-out, and checked-out soundtrack to the Great Resignation."

Wednesday June 25 * 7:30pm * Free / donations * RSVP

THE SWORD AND THE NECK: A poetry night for Palestine

In memory of Ghassan Kanfani

Thursday June 26 * 7pm * $20-25 * TICKETS

Transparent Presents Gian Pérez (solo guitar) plus Fateful Encounter (Antonyraj/Saifi/Saifi)

Gían Pérez is a multi-disciplinary artist, improviser, and composer from Puerto Rico, based in Brooklyn, NY, whose work focuses on the elucidation, fermentation, and subversion of form. Recently, Pérez has worked with artists like Brandon Lopez, gabby fluke-mogul, Elliott Sharp, Brandon Seabrook, Marc Edwards, among others. He’s performed at venues like The Stone, Downtown Music Gallery, and Joe’s Pub. By extending the guitar to its extremes as a physical material, Pérez denatures the electric guitar beyond its ascribed historical identity, envisioning a language that was never conquered and had been left to govern itself. His debut solo guitar record, bambú, was released on zOaR Records. Ñ, his most recent solo record, is available everywhere now.

Fateful Encounter is a DC based free improvisation trio that centers collective liberation. The trio features saxophonist Lavender Antonyraj, bassist Teymour Saifi, and guitarist Kiyan Saifi. Kiyan Saifi is an experimental guitarist who currently performs with DC-based bands: Red Sunflower, Opposite Tiger, Fateful Encounter, and Sense Memory. Teymour Saifi is a DC based bassist who currently performs with Red Sunflower, Opposite Tiger, Fateful Encounter, and Sense Memory. Lavender Antonyraj is an experimental musician operating in DC. Her practice is grounded in green spaces with natural sounds to uncover methods outside of traditional practice. She brings these methods into improvised performance to genuinely connect and express to fellow musicians and audiences. Her practice has been aligned with grassroots spaces featuring trans and Queer musicians throughout the city.

Friday June 27 * doors at 6:30, music at 7:30 * $15 * TICKETS

B.A.D.G.E (NYC)

https://badgenyc.bandcamp.com/album/whats-not-to-love

Grudge (Baltimore)

https://grudge.bandcamp.com/

Saafewaay (DC)

https://saafewaay.bandcamp.com/album/thank-u-4-shopping

Glycine (DC)

https://glycine.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2025

Saturday June 28 * doors at 7, show at 7:30 * $10-20 * TICKETS

Jacky Cougar & The Vampires from Africa is the electro punk project from Jack Abok ( Foul Swoops, Des Demonas, Sex Faces). Melding his love of the delta blues, hip hop, post punk and Krautrock. 

That This - former members of PRIESTS & EX HEX

Club USA

Sunday June 29 * 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

Shane Parish is a guitarist, composer, improviser and interpreter. He is the leader of the avant-rock band Ahleuchatistas, a member of the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, and a renowned acoustic soloist. Parish’s 2024 album, “REPERTOIRE” (Palilalia Records), is a collection of solo acoustic fingerstyle arrangements of works by musical giants like Alice Coltrane, John Cage, Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, and more. Parish first gained widespread attention as a solo guitarist upon the release of his 2016 album, Undertaker Please Drive Slow, on Tzadik Records. 

Regan Bowering’s solo work explores the rhythmic and percussive potential at the intersections of improvisation, sound art and experimental composition. Her performance practice incorporates various combinations of drums, objects, amplification, microphones and feedback. She released her debut album in on Bezirk tapes in 2023, Solos for _ _ _ _ Spaces, which was described as “a play of contrasts, contradicting voluminous expressions with confined phrases, taming resounding feedback with faint percussive flutters, but one that feels driven by the desire to craft electrifying drama rather than pure autotelic dissonance.” (The Quietus). She is one third of a collaborative project with Li Song and Conal Blake, with two releases: “2 Movements” (Feedback Moves, 2024) and "Music for Snare Drums and Portable Speakers" (Infant Tree, 2023). Regan is currently a visiting scholar at Columbia University in NYC, as part of her ongoing practice-based PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Heather Stebbins is a DC-based composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work explores porous boundary between memory and emotion. She foregrounds cello, synthesizer, and an array of other electronics, creating music that is imbued with patience, unfolding slowly over the course of multi-movement suites. Her most recent album, On Separation, was released by Outside Time in May.

Sunday June 29 * 7:30pm * OFFSITE at 4429 GEORGIA AVE NW * $5-10 * TICKETS

*THIS MONTH AT INCUBATOR HOUSE: 4429 GEORGIA AVE NW*

Jam nights are an opportunity for people to show up and create art together. Bring a guitar, sticks, sketch pad, didgeridoo, or your dancing shoes and come vibe. Amps, speakers, drum set, and microphones are provided. Featured artist: Stardust Creations

Monday June 30 * 7pm * Free * RSVP

WWPH Literary Salon: PRIDE edition hosted by Washington Writers' Publishing House co-editors Jona Colson and Caroline Bock and featuring award-winning poet and scholar Dr. Tonee Mae Moll (You Cannot Save Here, WWPH), Kim Roberts, and more!

Free creative writing mini-workshops, reading, open mic discussion, snacks & treats reception & more! Free. All invited. Space limited.

Tuesday July 1 * $15-25 * 7pm * TICKETS

Folk Music

Nate Wooley – trumpet/amplifier

Chris Corsano – percussion/half-clarinet/electronics

Ches Smith – percussion/sampler/electronics

After a decade of conceptually-minded bands such as Mutual Aid Music and knknighgh, trumpeter Nate Wooley put together the trio Folk Music to reconnect with pure improvisation. Asking two of his favorite collaborators, the percussionists Chris Corsano and Ches Smith, to join him with the only rules being flexibility and spontaneity. The result has become an improvising trio capable of whispering sensitivity and huge monoliths of sound. 

Nate Wooley (b.1974) was born in Clatskanie, Oregon and began playing trumpet professionally with his father, a big band saxophonist, at the age of thirteen. Considered one of the leading lights of the American movement to redefine the physical boundaries of the horn, Wooley has been gathering international acclaim for his idiosyncratic trumpet language.

Chris Corsano (b. 1975, USA) is a New York-based drummer who has been active at the intersections of collective improvisation, free jazz, avant-rock, and experimental music since the late 1990's.

Originally from Sacramento, California, Ches Smith is a drummer, percussionist, and composer based in New York.

Weed Tree - Amanda Huron and Layne Garrett have been improvising together for 15 years and counting on drums, prepared guitar, and etc.

Saturday July 5 * 1-4pm * MASKS REQUIRED (N95 & KN95) * $5-25 * TICKETS

We are thrilled to announce our second fundraising event! After last year's successful masks-required COVID conscious open mic gathering, we are hosting our second. Come and share your voice - through song, poem, dance, or another creative medium! Sign up to perform HERE.

Proceeds go to helping Clean Air Solidarity continue to fund our COVID-aware community efforts. We provide the DC with a free lending library of HEPA purifiers, and have been working on other ways to expand our contributions. This effort is inspired by many similar organizations across the country who have been helping make artist and musician events safer as the pandemic continues on.

Monday July 7 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $12-25 * TICKETS

Anastasia Coope is also a painter when she’s not singing, playing, and communing with the disembodied, and that is pertinent to her style of recording, where voices are spread across the canvas unevenly, often with little regard for the mess that creates. Coope doesn’t appear to be overly concerned about cleaning things up, and that all adds to the ramshackle charm… while [Darning Woman] sounds like an old-world afternoon tea dance, you suspect some snifters may have been imbibed and that the night is still young and stretching out before us. – The Quietus

Also known for being a lead contributor to the band Chanel Beads as a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist - Maya McGrory’s solo-artist project under “Colle” was initially an experiment in electronic music production, and became her defining sonic identity with the self-release of her first EP “For Now” in 2021 -- the heartfelt work of Colle soundtracks emotional landscapes with expansive glacial synths, strings and driving beats, all enriched by her sincere and alluring vocal expression.

candyweather

Tuesday July 8 * doors at 630, music at 7 * $20-25 * TICKETS

Transparent Productions presents  an evening of music from two DMV-based improvising ensembles.

dream feeder is a jazz and creative music trio consisting of Brad Linde (saxophone) Keith Butler Jr. (drums) and Nelson Dougherty (guitar). The group’s repertoire consists of compositions contributed by each member. They create a sound that is gentle, unhurried, and expansive, yet also discordant and mysterious. Dream Feeder released their debut record Everything at Once on July 9th, of 2024 on Bleebop Records.

Dada Dada --- Tim Carolla (guitar), Jeff Cosgrove (drums), Carter Stevens (piano, accordion) --- is dedicated to a shared love of both the experimental improv techniques of the North-Eastern Free Jazz Scene and the lush romanticism found in the classical  and jazz standard repertoire.

2nd & 4th Wednesdays * online at 8pm Eastern * Free / donation * RSVP

A weekly guided dream-sharing hangout…. Welcome to the theater of your dreams—an inexhaustible source of images and stories that can provide entertainment and insight, and that requires no cable service and no subscription—just attentiveness and an open mind. Participants will share dreams, using a gentle, non-intrusive method for unlocking the metaphors that structure dreams (derived from the long-tested method of Dr. Montague Ullman). We’ll also talk about techniques for recalling and recording dreams, as needed.

Please click through for more details.

Thursday July 10 * 7pm * Free / donations * RSVP

Please join us for a special performance to celebrate the release of Fargo Tbakhi's TERROR COUNTER. This hourlong performance will be supported by Francesco Leandri, and books will be available for sale after the performance courtesy of People's Book.

TERROR COUNTER is a debut collection of poems which acts against the many languages—interpersonal, legal, literary, rhetorical—constricting the lives and meanings of Palestinians. It moves through sections of varying experimentalism, from an invented visual form (the Gazan Tunnel) to all-caps queer ecstatic, attempting to carve out a space for the negotiation of an alternative subjecthood. The voices in this collection are driven by despair, futility, utopia, vulnerability and the spirit of a collective liberation; they move in search of a lyrical voice which can inhabit both the paranoid preservationist mode that facilitates Palestinian survival, and the imaginative possibilities that might make possible Palestinian life. TERROR COUNTER asks: where and how might a Palestinian subject escape the public consumption of American letters? And, ultimately, how can we continue to love each other amidst the endless terror of the colonial world?

Friday July 11 * doors at 6:40, music at 7 * $15-20 * TICKETS

Joseph Allred is a Tennessee-based guitarist, singer, multi-instrumental composer, and visual artist with deep roots in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee and Kentucky. Their guitar playing draws from diverse musical styles including Appalachian folk, bluegrass, blues, flamenco, and classical guitar, as well as from folk iconoclasts John Fahey and Robbie Basho, figures of the 20th century avant-garde like Albert Ayler, Derek Bailey, and Henry Flynt, and the musical traditions of India, Iran, and the Arab world.

Growing up in the Annapolis area and attending University of Maryland with friend and labelmate Robbie Basho, Max Ochs contributed two tracks for the 1967 "Contemporary Guitar" on John Fahey’s Takoma label. Inspired by his friend Fahey, Ochs developed his own interest in fingerstyle guitar, learning from one of the masters, Mississippi John Hurt, during a one-month residency in Ochs’ New York apartment when Hurt reappeared on the folk scene in 1964.  Ochs was also performing with the legendary band, Seventh Sons, founded by Greenwich Village mainstay and early folk innovator Buzzy Linhart.

Since 2003, Philadelphia-based improv ensemble Kohoutek has constructed a dynamic, stylistic range of abstract sound, consisting of textural drone, atmospheric rock, harsh noise freakouts, clattering percussion, guitar heroics and alien electronics, all congealing to form a multihued psychedelic extravaganza. Inspired by such varied musical entities as Can, Amon Duul 2, Trad Gras Och Stenar, Dead C, Sun City Girls, Hawkwind, This Heat, Sun Ra, Art Ensemble of Chicago, and King Crimson, they inhabit a world of murky terrain where drone, musique concrete and noise coalesce with cosmic folk, where doom and sludge metal merge with fiery jazzoid polyrhythms.

Sunday July 13 * 11am * MASKS REQUIRED * $35-45 * REGISTER

Dye sessions act as an interactive introduction to natural dye. Every dye session is uniquely tailored to each group and may change seasonally due to the availability of natural dye materials. Each participant will work with cotton bandanas to learn and practice a variety of dye techniques.

Fatima Janneh is a Gambian American fiber and textiles artist. Based in DC, she works primarily with natural dye and is an avid knitter. Currently teaching dye workshops and selling at markets around the city.

Scholarships are available - please reach out via email to info@rhizomedc.org

Sunday July 13 * 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

Eric Frye is an American composer and artist. He is known for his solo performance and installation work - an exploration of the dissociative and psychoactive functions of sound and image. Frye’s music dances and drips around the inside of your skull, a folding transmutation of paranoiac pastiche and entropic jamais vu. Over the past decade Frye has toured extensively in the US, UK, Europe, and Asia. He has presented lectures at The Institute of Sonology Den Haag, held residencies at EMS Elektronmusikstudion Stockholm, and been featured in The Wire Magazine and Neural Magazine. Frye is a recipient of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emerging Composers Grant.

Michael Masaru Flora is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in the Santa Cruz Mountains. His work explores the emergent phenomena that occurs through non-deterministic and autopoietic processes. Informed by architecture, systems, perceptual psychology, and computer music, his works often take the form of large scale installation and performance.

Heather Stebbins is a DC-based composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work explores the porous boundary between memory and emotion. She foregrounds cello, synthesizer, and an array of other electronics, creating music that is imbued with patience, unfolding slowly over the course of multi-movement suites. Her new album, On Separation, was released by Outside Time in May.

Monday July 14 * 6-10pm * $10-20 * RSVP

Come celebrate the release of Mt Plantry Zine Volume 1 at Mt Plantry-fest on Monday, July 14! This science-fair style event will feature multiple interactive stations where you can learn how to:

-Make pinhole cameras and take photographs using them

-Develop film and prints using coffee and wine

-Develop motion picture film with sustainable developer made using local invasive plants

-Create chemograms (photographic prints without a camera)

All methods are featured in Mt Plantry Zine Volume 1, available for purchase at the festival. Art from the zine and from collective members will also be on display.

No experience in photography or film development is necessary!

Festivities start at 6pm and run until 10pm. Come for a bit or come for the whole night! We’ll end the night with a movie screening of Super 8 film processed in plants at the event! It will be an homage to the original Rhizome event where this collective first formed.

Entry is $10-20 sliding scale, with any proceeds over $10 going to DC Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid.

Tuesday July 15 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Cube -  Cube is the electronic music project of NY-based artist Adam Keith. The project touches on industrial, noise, dub, drum & bass, and more, but it does so with a distinctly personal, infectious touch – the spirit of a songwriter lurks somewhere underneath. Live, Cube conjures a whirlwind of strobing light and video to hypnotic effect. Searing textures and violent rhythms give way to moments of hushed, eerie beauty.

Keith has toured extensively in the US, and performed in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Hong Kong. He has performed alongside artists like: Boy Harsher, Container, Lightning Bolt, Helm, Hieroglyphic Being, Pharmakon, Beak>, The Soft Moon, Anika, YHWH Nailgun, Bill Converse, HIDE, Wolf Eyes, Vessel, and more.

Hen House - Oakland, California. Members of Relay for Death.

Creation In Vein - abstract percussive terror

Sunday July 20 * 7pm * $10-$15 * TICKETS

Light Beams is a dance-punk band from Washington, D.C.
https://lightbeams.bandcamp.com

Time Room is a a Rock and Roll Music Group from Minneapolis
https://timeroom.bandcamp.com

Oddbodi is a DIY punk rock trio based in DC, known for their raw energy and introspective lyricism. Their 2024 EP, “ordinary / people” captures the bands gritty sound through four tracks that blend garage rock with post-punk influences. The lineup features thadMc on vocals and guitar, Ben Schultz on bass, and Antonio Peluso on drums and percussion.
https://oddbodimoe.bandcamp.com

2nd & 4th Wednesdays * online at 8pm Eastern * Free / donation * RSVP

A weekly guided dream-sharing hangout…. Welcome to the theater of your dreams—an inexhaustible source of images and stories that can provide entertainment and insight, and that requires no cable service and no subscription—just attentiveness and an open mind. Participants will share dreams, using a gentle, non-intrusive method for unlocking the metaphors that structure dreams (derived from the long-tested method of Dr. Montague Ullman). We’ll also talk about techniques for recalling and recording dreams, as needed.

Please click through for more details.

Thursday, July 24 * 7pm * $15 * TICKETS

Potosí (NoVA screamo bilingüe)

https://potosiherndon.bandcamp.com/album/fujimori-is-dead

Sunshower (screamo from winston-salem, NC)

Muhnday (DC post-hardcore)

https://muhnday.bandcamp.com/track/gone-again

Cuni (DC emotional music)

https://cuni.bandcamp.com/album/prescribed-burn

Friday July 25 * 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

CHEER-ACCIDENT

Hailing from the singularly vibrant musical hotbed known as Chicago, CHEER-ACCIDENT has been a creative, vital force in rock music for over 30 years. They constantly strive to surprise their audiences and themselves through relentless reinvention. From dreamy pop to angular art-rock, CHEER-ACCIDENT strikes a powerful balance between personalized and unique studio wizardry and the visceral excitement of a well-honed, explosive live rock band.

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/vacate-2

Sunday July 27 * 4:30pm * $20-25 * TICKETS

Transparent Productions presents Jen Chapin (vocals, guitar), Stephan Crump (bass), and Jamie Fox (guitar).

Jen Chapin, accompanied by GRAMMY© nominated bassist Stephan Crump and “impeccable melodist” (New York Times) Jamie Fox on electric guitar, will debut a new cabaret-style performance of her urban folk songs entitled Anything Goes, and How Did We Get Here? The two-set show weaves historically-informed, jazz-inspired questions and answers about our current and rapidly-changing political moment around old and new selections from Jen’s critically-acclaimed urban folk catalog.

"With songs delivered in a style that ranges from tender fragility to unexpected steeliness, Chapin brings a jazzy edge to the folk form. Sometimes she explores a fleeting emotion, sometimes she weaves a solid narrative—not at all surprising from the daughter of Harry Chapin, a master musical storyteller.” - The New Yorker

Jen Chapin has been celebrated for writing “brilliant soulfully poetic urban folk music” (NPR) for three decades. Nurtured in and around NYC by a large family of artists, writers, and musicians, Jen's “observant, lyrically deft, politically aware and emotionally intuitive” (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) songwriting features both her "extraordinary voice” (De krenten uit de pop, The Netherlands) and “astonishing jazz band” (popmatters). As much as an artistic legacy, the roots of Jen's upbringing have inspired her "potent, jazzy, layered folk" (Newsday) songs and a lifetime of passionate activism, through ongoing work with WhyHunger (founded by her late father Harry Chapin), and teaching high school global history in Brooklyn. Since 2023, she has led the J. Chapes Jazz Band, playing spontaneous traditional arrangements from the classic American songbook.

Saturday August 23 * doors at 1, show at 1:30 * $10-15 * TICKETS

Gooma Productions 1 Year Anniversary

Metalcore Blast Matinee Cookout

Out to Destroy (DC)

Balisong (DC)

Denouement (MD)

HardTruth (New DC Metalcore!)

Thursday August 28 * 7pm * $25-30 * TICKETS

Transparent Productions and the DC Jazz Festival presents Marty Ehrlich Trio Exaltation with Marty Ehrlich (reeds), John Hebert (bass), and Nasheet Waits (drums).

My new recording by Trio Exaltation extends my decade long meetings with bassist John Hebert and drummer Nasheet Waits into a new chapter. The trio context is a place where much has started in my music, and a place to which I return. My first recording, The Welcome (1984) was with bassist Anthony Cox and drummer Pheeroan akLaff. In 1978 I recorded Relativity with Michael Formanek and Peter Erskine, and C/D/E in 2000 with Mark Dresser and Andrew Cyrille, both collective ensembles. John, Nasheet, and I first played together in the Andrew Hill Sextet for a good number of years. John’s hornlike conception on the bass, and Nasheet’s open- ended drum choir rhythms inspired me nightly, within the nexus of Andrew’s compositions. A few years later, I wanted to return to the immediacy of the trio and thought right away of John and Nasheet. Our first recording Trio Exaltation came out in 2018. THIS TIME (2025) on Sunny Side Records is the next stop in this search.

Monday September 8 * doors at 7pm * $20 * TICKETS

A collective turned trio, Tara Clerkin craft free-flowing psychedelia with heavy dub drums amidst woozy washes of harpsichord and synths. Influenced by the natural landscape and their West Country hometown, their 2023 EP On the Turning Ground is a mesmerising sophomore release. Their sound lies somewhere between the avant-jazz of Moondog, the sun-tinged psych-folk of These Trails, and something else entirely. Tara Clerkin Trio embody an extraordinary otherness that should be witnessed by all.

“Drifting from dubby minimalism to smudged acid jazz, Tara’s stark and tuneful voice acts as the vehicle for her concise poetic lyricism. The group coalesce disparate influences into a cohesive sound, reflecting a romantic view of a familiar world.” - The Wire

The Caribbean - "They're taking Brill Building songs and writing them in invisible ink, turning jazz standards into Twilight Zone episodes, turning folk songs into clouds of fog." - PopMatters

Sunday November 9 * doors at 630, show at 7pm * $15 * TICKETS

“For 15 years the trio of Ak’chamel has built a solid reputation as a compelling stage project. Wearing nightmarish costumes and engaging in hallucinatory “rituals”, their singular sound comprising desert-scorched psychedelia, post-apocalyptic shamanism, and lo-fi ritual-folk is as unique as the physical theater of their live performances.”

Zelzeleh - Iranian multi-instrumentalist Kamyar Arsani (Faraway Ghost) and Indian-born drummer/electronic music producer Ravish Momin (Sunken Cages) create their own brand of digital folk music that draws on Sufi mysticism, traditional Persian Music, street rhythms from Mumbai and contemporary electronic music at once. Momin accompanies Arsani’s vocals and daf (frame-drum) with a masterful blend of electronic and acoustic percussion, including live-looping via his unique drum-loop performance system.

Derek Monypeny sees his musical mission as adding to and expanding on what he calls the "desert continuum;" the psychedelic sirocco swirl of desert-based stringed instruments played with utter abandon by musicians the world over. Derek is a former member of the bands Oaxacan (Oakland, CA), ALTO! (Portland, OR), and Sir Richard Bishop's Freak Of Araby Ensemble. He has an ongoing duo project with Bryan Hillebrandt, OAE (Oakland Afternoon Ensemble). He has performed and toured with artists such as Bill Orcutt, Mike Watt, Jozef van Wissem, Lau Nau, Arrington de Dionyso, and many others.