Music

Quality Quality Tex-Mex Tex-Mex and Latin-American Latin-American Cuisine!

467 W Patrick Street, Frederick, MD 21701 301 663-3800 mexicalicantina.com

Airporttransportation to BWI, Dulles &Reagan DoctorsAppts • Outoftownspecial events TrainStations

COUPON PROMO CODE 3 $10 OFFROUNDTRIP

www.rideisready.com 240-575-1000 • 301-733-8888

From the creator of CATS, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!

July 22-30

New SpireArts •15West Patrick St. tickets: landlesstheatre.com Rainbow Rock at this week’s Summerfest Family Theatre

Rainbow Rock will perform from 10 to 10:45 a.m. July 14 in Frederick’s Baker Park Band Shell as part of Celebrate Frederick’s Summerfest Family Theatre weekly music series.

Rainbow Rock are winners of a Parents’ Choice Fun Stuff Award. Their music is playful, educational, family-friendly, and fun and easy to follow. Their sound consists of a mix of musical genres, including folk, pop rock and rockabilly. Everything they do is colorful and cheerful!

Here Comes Trouble! will take the stage next week on July 21.

Shows continue each week through Aug. 4.

While each performance is free to the public, the Summerfest Family Theatre Committee encourages guests to bring a canned food item in lieu of admission to support the Foodbank Program operated by the Frederick Community Action Agency. Non-perishable items such as canned meats and vegetables, soups, peanut butter, cereal, rice and pastas are preferred and appreciated.

For more information, contact Celebrate Frederick at 301-600-2841 or visit celebratefrederick.com.

Gaithersburg Summer Concert Series

End the day on a musical note with Evenings in Olde Towne at Gaithersburg City Hall Concert Pavilion. These free, family-friendly concerts run through September, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. each Thursday.

Wind down the workday with music in a casual, outdoor setting. Bring a blanket or low-back chair for lawn seating.

Parking in Olde Towne is free.

Lineup Limited spaces are available at City Hall, the upper parking lot July 14 Moxie Blues Band by Wells/Robertson July 21 Juliet Lloyd Band House and at the July 28 Billy “T” Wilde Band Community Museum Sept. 8 Quimbao Latin Band across the train tracks. Sept. 15 Pebble to Pearl Limited free parking is also available in the Parking Garage located across Summit Avenue at 112 Olde Towne Ave. For more information, call 301-2586350 or visit gaithersburgmd.gov.

MUSIC

Michelle Hannan and One Blue Night perform at Sky Stage

BY COLIN MCGUIRE

Special to The News-Post

Of all the Frederick groups that love to get out and play, Michelle Hannan and One Blue Night has consistently been a presence in the local music scene for the past several years. Be it their stripped-down version featuring husband-and-wife duo Jason and Michelle or their full-blown country band that has no problem plugging in and turning up, the Hannans have become some of the most prolific musicians around.

And they are going to bring that versatility back to downtown Frederick this weekend when they set up shop at Sky Stage for a 7 p.m. performance on July 16. 72 Hours caught up with them recently to talk about the show, Jason’s new record label, coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic and what’s next for the group now that they’ve enjoyed the success of having their songs played on the radio.

I know you guys always seem to have new projects in the works, so update me on everything you have going on musically currently. I thought I read at some point that maybe it was Jason who was going to put out a solo album? Is that true?

Michelle: We do have a new project in the works. It’s going to be called “Out There in the Dark” and, as the title suggests, it will lean heavily on songs that are relatively dark in nature. Over the last several years, mainstream country has trended towards a very pop-oriented sound and has drifted away from what country music used to be, the joys and sorrows of living and dying. We tend to write songs closer to that older style, and this album will reflect that. And we really hope this album can carry on the momentum of our last release back in 2021, “Cheater’s Waltz.” It was our first album to get any mainstream country airplay — big thanks to WFRE in particular — and it was also our first to chart, reaching No. 51 on the FAI albums chart. It opened some doors for us, and we hope we can capitalize with this next album. As far as solo albums, Jason’s been wanting to release a bluegrass album for awhile and he might be doing one in 2023, but it’s too early to tell at this point.

You guys are playing Sky Stage. What can we expect from the perfor-

Courtesy photo

One Blue Night

mance? Is there certain material you’ll lean heavily on?

Michelle: We’re very excited to be playing Sky Stage, and we are beyond thrilled to have the incredibly talented Shannon Bielski and Rob Benzing of Shannon Bielski & Moonlight Drive opening the show. They are one of the very hottest bluegrass bands in the greater D.C. area and are longtime friends, so it’s great to have a chance to share the stage with them. We anticipate them joining us on stage for a few songs at the end of our set as well. As far as our material goes, we’ll be leaning on our original songs, particularly from the last album. Two songs from the last album really resonated for us, particularly regarding radio airplay. One was the single for the album. It was called “Nothing Left to Lose” and it was the one that WFRE and others liked the best. Another was an album cut called “Living on Barroom Time.” Our former bandmate Brent Progecene gave us the idea for that one. It’s a fun little tune that people seem to enjoy. We’ll also include some covers that work well alongside our originals. We love paying tribute to our musical heroes like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn.

Sky Stage is a beautiful venue here in Frederick. What are some of your favorites within the county? Vineyards and breweries always seem to be a popular destination this time of year; how has your experience been with them?

Michelle: Sky Stage is great! This is our first time playing there. We also love Rockwell Brewery, who has been very supportive of our various musical ventures over the years. Jason hosts an open bluegrass jam every Thursday night there that’s been a lot of fun and has created a very nice communal vibe amongst the bluegrass musicians in the area. We loved playing Alive@5 at the Carroll Creek Amphitheater last year. That was a real blast. And of course we love Cafe Nola. We’ve played there more than just about anywhere else over the years, as have many of Frederick’s terrific indie artists. We’ve also had great experiences with the various breweries and wineries in Frederick County and beyond. They’ve really been the bread and butter for us and lots of other musicians as venues focus more on outdoor events for obvious reasons.

How do you think Frederick is doing as a music town? It seems like

Michelle Hannan & One Blue Night

When: 7 to 10 p.m. July 16 Where: Sky Stage, 59 S. Carroll St., Frederick Tickets: $10, free for kids under 12 Info: skystagefrederick.com

the never-ending conversation, but I have to ask. Have you seen strides over the last, say, three years or so?

Jason: I have to be careful here before I get us in trouble [laughs]. We dearly love Frederick, but we would love, love, love to see more real music venues here. Obviously, Frederick’s notorious tavern laws are largely to blame for the lack of true music venues. So you pretty much end up playing music in restaurants where half the patrons are just trying to eat a meal or have a drink with friends and the other half want the music good and loud. It can create difficult circumstances for both the bands and the venues to navigate. But we do what we can and so do the venues, so we’re always grateful for the opportunities. And Frederick does have some great events, like Alive@5. There’s also the Sky Stage, the Great Frederick Fair. We were supposed to play the main stage there last year but got rained out. I also want to shout out Mark Lawrence, who does a great job promoting and supporting local original artists through his Noteworthy Frederick Facebook group. There have been some strides towards Frederick being more of a music town, but we can always improve.

That in mind, it’s been more than two years since the COVID-19 pandemic halted a lot of stuff. Do you guys feel fully back? Do you feel like the local music scene is fully back?

Michelle: Needless to say, it’s been a tough two years for everybody, musicians included. Having said that, I do feel like our band is truly back in business. We’re typically playing about four times a week now, which honestly is more than we’ve ever played before. I think there is an increased appetite for live music after all this time. I think the local music scene has recovered to a

(HANNAN from 7)

degree. We lost some venues, some artists have shut it down and haven’t returned, but I feel like the opportunities to play are close to what they were beforehand, particularly with the explosion of all these outdoor breweries and wineries, which have been a huge boon for musicians like us.

To each of you, who are you listening to most these days and why?

Jason: I’m really loving some of the stuff that’s coming out of the indie country scene these days. People like Joshua Hedley, Zephania Ohora, Kelsey Waldon, Joshua Ray Walker. Also enjoying music from our friends like Domenic Cicala and Shannon Bielski. There’s a ton of great independent country and bluegrass out there if you know where to look.

Michelle: I’m still stuck in the ‘90s. I love ‘90s country, and I also listen to a lot of the older stuff and am always discovering country classics I wasn’t aware of.

How did you come up with the name One Blue Night?

Michelle: That’s a good question! We came up with that when we started the band back in late 2015 and I just can’t recall exactly what the reason was. I think we just felt it represented what we felt our sound would be. We certainly lean into the “blue” side of things. Over the years, we’ve sort of rebranded as Michelle Hannan & One Blue Night for the full band, and Michelle & Jason Hannan for the duo shows, which actually represent most of our output these days. We’ve also released our last two albums under the name Michelle & Jason Hannan since we tend to split lead vocals a lot and Jason plays most of the instruments in the studio.

What are you listening to that would surprise some of your fans?

Jason: I like a lot of the old, scraped from the earth gospel quartets from back in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Stuff like the Brown’s Ferry Four, the Golden Gate Quartet, the Soul Stirrers. A cappella harmonies sung the old-time way really give me the chills. We did an a cappella quartet version of the Soul Stirrers’ “Feel Like My Time Ain’t Long” to close our last album. That came as a surprise to some people.

Michelle: I don’t think anyone would be surprised by what I listen to. Is that boring? I certainly have a deep appreciation for the stuff Jason mentioned, too.

Does music ever bore you? Are there times when you think you might put it down for good?

Jason: Never! I live and breathe music. When we’re not out gigging, we’re recording or I’m working the phones trying to get more shows scheduled. Or trying to flesh out ideas I have for new songs. What I need to do is practice guitar more often [laughs]. That one always somehow ends up being the lowest priority. I’ll be playing forever unless I lose a limb.

Michelle: I wouldn’t say it ever bores me, but there are times when I get a little tired of playing individual songs after we’ve played them a million times. That being said, it does give me an opportunity to really hone those songs in, and it also motivates me to bring in new material.

What’s next for you two? Any recordings in the near future? Any big shows you’re excited to be part of?

Jason: I started a record label. It’s called Waiting for Lester Records. I’ve got two artists I’m working on producing right now for the label. Matthew Geiger, the former lead singer of ClearSpring, is doing a full length LP of original tunes and some really cool, relatively obscure covers from the bluegrass/ Americana/country realm. We anticipate a release date for his album this winter. I’m also in the process of producing a single for a brand new country singer named Vito McCartney. Nobody knows anything about him yet, but I’m telling you, he has vocals and a songwriting touch that just can’t be beat. We don’t have a release date in mind yet for his single, but it should be this year. And in the near future, I’ll be producing either an EP or LP for Dominica Knapp, an Americana singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is just a powerhouse. I’m very excited about all of these projects.

Michelle: I’m teaching a class on country harmony singing with Arty Hill at Davis & Elkins college in West Virginia starting July 11. I’ve also been very fortunate to get to sing backing vocals on a number of really cool studio projects this past year, including Domenic Cicala, Arty Hill, Shannon Bielski & Moonlight Drive and a few others that haven’t yet been made public yet. Exciting! As far as our band goes, we have a pretty full schedule through the rest of the year. We’re very excited to play West Virginia’s Mountain Heritage Festival again this year — that’s always a blast. We’ve got a really cool duet show lined up at the National Harbor Marina on Aug. 18, plus some fun festivals in the late summer/early fall at Summers Farm in Frederick and Magnolia Meadow Farms in Thurmont. It’s been a great year for us.

DAY INTHEDAYINTHE PARKPARK

Funkstown Re-enactment July 16 & 17

SATURDAY

10am-8pmFood by: Funkstown Fire Company andSt. Paul’s Lutheran Church 12pm-3pm Car Show 1pmCivil War period fashion show and tea 2pm-4pm Live Music by Ding band 5pm-8pm Live Music by South Mountain Breed Fireworks at dusk SUNDAY

Christmas Cr In af J t uly Fa M ir D

250+ Vendors!!

Maryland’s top rated Christmas in July craft show. Largest in Maryland. Featuring one-of-a-kind handcrafted decorations, gifts and more. Plus all other handmade crafts and gift items. Visit with Santa, petting zoo, butterfly safari, magic show, face painting. Indoors, A/C. Free parking.

JULY 23 9AM ––24, 2 4PM 022