As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Thursday, February 7, 2019

The Nighthawks (acoustic) – St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 2/4/2019


The shows presented by the Institute of Musical Traditions generally lean in more of a folk direction, but the mix of “blues, R&B, honky-tonk country, doo-wop, gospel and rockabilly” that the Nighthawks embody certainly has plenty of tradition to it as well. Most of my previous experience with the band has been at outdoor summer shows (Rockville Town Square, BlackRock in Germantown, etc.), so it was a nice change of pace to see them in an acoustic setting (and a fully-electric show would have probably overwhelmed the church’s fellowship hall setting).
 
In addition to the stellar musicianship from all four members of the band, I was particularly struck by the gritty, blue-eyed soul vocals of drummer Mark Stutsko; his rendition of “When I Go Away” from the band’s 2017 studio album All You Gotta Do was the highlight of the evening for me. They did a few other numbers from that CD as well, in addition to four (by my count) from their earlier acoustic album Back Porch Party. Each set lasted close to an hour. Things were a little more free-flowing after intermission, as the band covered Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” and Mark Wenner unleashed his inner Elvis on “Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do”. They ended that set with a rousing version of “Red Hot Mama” and encored with T-Bone Walker’s “I Know Your Wig Is Gone”.
 
The Nighthawks have been a major part of the DC music scene for over 40 years now. Although they never quite managed to break through nationally, their live performances are still top-notch – be sure to catch them somewhere if you can.

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