Apartment Showcase Blog

Bluegrass roots: Ben Belcher of The Hot Seats coaxes some sounds from his banjo. The Seats will perform on Saturday and host a fingerpicking workshop the following afternoon. (Gamma Man via Flickr)

If it seems July is the month of festivals here at ApartmentShowcase.com, well, maybe it is. You got a problem with that? Huh? I didn’t think so.

Have we got a different one for you today: The Mike Seeger Commemorative 5th ANNUAL OLD TIME BANJO FESTIVAL.

The date: Saturday, July 16. The place: Birchmere Music Hall, located just outside the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria. The price: $29.50, plus bogus service charge (click here for tickets). The time: 7:30 p.m. The sounds: Hear for yourself.

[ Related: Del Ray’s Birchmere Music Hall Shows Its Roots ]

That’s Buddy Wachter, widely considered one of the greatest living banjo players, if not numero uno. He’ll be there to tickle your ears, along with two-time Grammy Award-winners Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, string band The Hot Seats and fiddler Bruce Molsky.

The next day there will be a workshop for budding pickers in the region, with Wachter, Molsky and The Hot Seats all providing their expertise on a number of different styles of banjo playing. Each session is $40, and space is limited, so those inclined should click away and sign up.

[ Related: Five Years Later, Red Onion Records Still Exploring the Vinyl Frontier ]

My best friend’s late father plucked a banjo, and he was hardly country. It seems there are many styles and hues to the banjo that most laypeople don’t know about; it was a revelation of sorts to me.

At any rate, it’s an interesting instrument that apartment renters near Del Ray might enjoy hearing for a night.

Anyone who knows me – or, more pointedly, has worked with me or ridden in my car – knows how much I like rock ’n’ roll, to the point of getting me to turn the volume down.

It’s good to know that the folks at Del Ray Artisans feel the same way. Through May 1, they proudly wave their lighters in the air (hopefully not yelling for some “Free Bird”) in tribute to this most American of art forms.

Appropriately titled “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, But I Like It!,” this all-media, juried show celebrates all-things rock ’n’ roll, including the bands, lyrics, instruments and the sometimes-sleazy culture that surround the genre.

Many renters in Del Ray, let alone Alexandria, may be unfamiliar with Del Ray Artisans, but we’ll fill you in.

[ Related: Del Ray's Birchmere Music Hall Shows Its Roots ]

Founded in 1992, it’s a nonprofit with a mission to promote art for the benefit of both artists themselves and the community. It’s housed in the Nicholas A. Colasanto Center, which looks to be a converted house at 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue.

The show can be viewed during normal gallery hours: Thursday from noon to 6 p.m., Friday from noon to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The event wraps up on Sunday, May 1, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. with an open mic lyric slam.

Sounds like fun. And the great thing about “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, But I Like It!” is it’s free. Here’s some great rock, just because I felt like it.

Rock on!

Music for the masses: The original Birchmere in Alexandria boasts two performance areas and seating for 500, but it will soon have to share the spotlight. Plans are under way to build a larger, two-story location in College Park.

So, the Birchmere Music Hall is not technically in Del Ray, but what’s 1,000 feet?

Only a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier away, the Birchmere is close enough (how many times do I have to write this?) to Del Ray for the heartier of you to walk the distance no matter what part of the neighborhood you call home. Of course, most of you will drive to the venue, so this is a moot point. (Some would argue that my life is a moot point these days.)

Anyway, existential crisis aside, the Birchmere is certainly a highlight for the music lover who wants to call the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria, Va., home. And I sure hope a bunch of you do.

[ Related: Del Ray: Alexandria Neighborhood Just Steps From Old Town Nightlife ]

In the last decade and a half, the popularity of Americana (or alt-country) and roots music has helped make the Birchmere a name that is bandied about not only in music circles but yuppie ones as well. As the alternative rock explosion of the early-and mid-’90s started to give out, and as kids and the 20-somethings they would eventually become searched for something else – rap, techno, extreme metal, milquetoast indie rock – people in their late-20s and into their 40s started returning to music’s roots with the help, of course, of magazines such as the now-defunct Paste and Generation X staple Spin. Egads, even indie rock bible Magnet writes about these artists constantly.

I can even remember being in a doctor’s office in 2001 where some chick commented (on a mainstream glossy magazine she was reading) that Alison Krauss was “one of my favorite folk artists,” or something like that. Now I could be wrong, but I think someone got in her ear about what was cool and what was not.

Whoever said people are mainly sheep when it comes to aesthetics was unfortunately dead-on; what else could explain Lady Gaga, Katy Perry (OK, she’s somewhat catchy and has nice oops!) or Justin Bieber (who sounds like he thinks he grew up in South Philly)?

Of course, since 1995 Americana/roots has had its own publication in No Depression. But the music, yeah, it was always there, just hard to define and/or pigeonhole to sell to the masses. It’s not quite country, bluegrass, folk, R&B, blues or rock, but what is it? An amalgam of all those plus whatever technology could add to the mix.

[ Related: Adams Morgan's Bawdy, Bluesy Madam Deserves a Look ]

I’m not particularly a fan of Americana or roots music, but I respect it enough not to mind that it flourishes, even in the hearts of pretty suburban girls who don’t know the Carter Sisters from Jimmy Carter or fully understand the ethos of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn.

Less of a cynic might think that these types are getting in touch with what at least some of their ancestors had to go through so they could live a cushy, commodity-worshiping life. But most people, including this writer, tend to focus on the here and now a bit too much – out of necessity – so I understand their lack of knowledge to a point. I’ll climb down from my high horse now. More importantly, I’m all for freedom. Do what you want: Just don’t force anything on me.

Anyone still reading and not offended will be happy to know that the Birchmere, which opened more than 40 years ago, has booked the likes of Emmylou Harris, k.d. lang, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill and a bunch of lesser-known likewise acts. Not that the Birchmere doesn’t stray from the genre.

For instance, on Nov. 16 and 17, the club booked popular ‘90s R&B act Boyz II Men, and in October, power pop greats Fountains of Wayne graced their stage as well.

They also serve food and drinks during performance, and this cozy little place is just a short walk away once you’ve decided to put down roots of your own in Del Ray.

Close to the action: Del Ray puts the renter within walking distance to dozens of restaurants in trendy Old Town Alexandria.

The Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria, Va., sounds like it should be in California, New Mexico or somewhere else in the American Southwest. But alas, it’s right here in the Washington, D.C., metro area. And we’re betting an “S” and a “W” that you might want to set up shop here for the rest of your days. (OK, maybe for the next five or 10 years. Get off my case.)

Del Ray’s roots actually extend back more than 115 years, making them particularly deep ones for Northern Virginia. The neighborhood started out as a planned community of sorts (more like four separate communities, including one named Del Ray) in 1894. In 1908, as an homage to the nearby Potomac Yard (a railroad yard), the communities fused to form the incorporated Town of Potomac. Potomac itself was annexed by the independent City of Alexandria in 1930, and today the Town of Potomac Historic District designates this portion of the city, which includes 1,840 acres and 690 buildings.

While the neighborhood doesn’t have a WMATA Metrorail station within its borders, no one living in Del Ray is much farther than a mile away from the Braddock Road Metro stop on the Blue/Yellow Line, and some are within 1,000 feet or so. Many people surely walk there.

Living in Del Ray gives one great access to many things. You’re only a couple or so miles north of the I-495 Capital Beltway, and only a little farther than that to your northwest is I-395, so commuting to the city is a snap all around.

Plus, you won’t have to use any of the above to get to restaurants and nightlife, because you’ll be right next to Old Town Alexandria. Again, depending on where you live in Del Ray, the heartier of you can actually walk there and have a good time. Not that I’d suggest walking while intoxicated, but it’s certainly preferable to driving while intoxicated, and we here at Apartment Showcase readily condemn that practice. That includes lawnmowers for those who have to ask. Just give us the keys to the John Deere, and we’ll be fine.

[ Related: Alexandria's Old Town Lives Up to Its Name ]

Hey, maybe we’re on to something, because nothing would warm our hearts’ cockles more than watching you ride your John Deere to the Del Ray Farmers’ Market (once you’re living in the neighborhood, of course) to pick up some fresh fruits, veggies and baked goods. Maybe it’ll sober you up. Best of all, it’s open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., all year round.