By MacKenzie Reagan
Monday night’s lineup at Jammin’ Java features four homegrown acts from the D.C. area. We chatted with the bands to get the lowdown.
Everything Falls
Back in the area with a revamped lineup, Everything Falls is set to release its sophomore EP, Through the Storm, this year. Weathering a tempest is an apt metaphor for the band’s trajectory; after lead singer Aaron Linkous relocated to New Jersey, his bandmates went their separate ways, and he had to rebuild from the bottom up. Back and stronger than ever, the band has opened for Hinder and played venues like The Bowery Electric and the Mercury Lounge. Jammin’ Java is “where we cut our teeth,” Linkous says, eager to return to the venue. Listen to the band’s first EP, Fight From Within, here.
Harry Jay Smith and the Bling
While the band’s eight members met at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, all but two of them went to high school in Northern Virginia. On winter break from school, the members from the area look forward to performing at Jammin’ Java for the first time as a band (frontman Smith, of Arlington, has played the venue with other bands in the past). Smith describes the octet’s sounds as “contemporary R&B funk with a modern approach.” Listen to “The Way it Goes Down (Why Why Why)” from the band’s upcoming EP due out in February, here.
The DickVanDykes
Taking their name from lead singer Patrick Sesko’s childhood nickname, a reference to the Mary Poppins star, The DickVanDykes hail from Olney, Maryland. Composed of guitarist and vocalist Sesko, bassist Ariana Patterson and drummer Howard Levine, the band plays “straight rock,” says Sesko. A Montgomery County native, he’s known Patterson since 1994, when the two met at work and began playing music together after-hours. Levine replaced the band’s original drummer, who moved, in 2012 and learned the band’s songs in just three days. “I just want [the audience] to enjoy themselves,” Sesko says of the band’s upcoming Jammin’ Java gig. The band is currently working on its next EP.
Nikki & Ethan
Marshall High graduates Ethan Schaefer and Nikki Pope compose local duo Nikki & Ethan. Schaefer, whose father, Robbie Schaefer, is in local band Eddie From Ohio, attends Longwood University. Pope goes to the University of Virginia and is a member of The Virginia Belles, the school’s all-female a capella group. The two met through chorus and theater at Marshall and have been playing together as a band since August 2015. “We’re working on a cover of ‘Jolene’ for this show,” says Pope, who appreciates the “intimate” feel of Jammin’ Java that “allows you to make eye contact with the audience.”
Jan. 11, 7:30 p.m.
227 Maple Ave E Vienna
Advanced Premiere tickets: $18 / GA: $10
Day Of Premier tickets: $18 / GA: $13
