As a recent college graduate, Britton pursues his dreams of writing, playing, teaching, recording, and producing music. He continues to write songs on his guitar, he plays weekly in the Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland area; he teaches at a music school for kids called Bach to Rock, he records music at his home studio as well as his great friend Andrew Dunbar’s home studio, and produces his music there as well. Britton writes about relationships with his loved ones, nature (especially the weather), and his hardships. He’s hoping to write songs that relate to many people and impact them in a positive way.
Brian Franke is an independent award-winning singer/songwriter residing in the Washington, DC area. He is known as both a frequently booked cover song musician as well as an original songwriter. His cover songs range from classic rock songs, to 90s alternative rock, to Top 40 songs currently on the radio.
Represented by Marucci Artist Management, she is well known in the Washington DC area music scene. She is trained classically on the violin but knows her way around a fiddle. She is a force to be seen behind the microphone yet can easily fill the corner for cocktail parties. Laura plays with some of the areas biggest party bands and has a successful original project, Brave Like Us.
David is seasoned musician and has been performing since he was 9 years old. His versatility in the local music scene has made him a house hold name in the DC area with influential styles of pop, rock, reggae, hip-hop, and indie. Though first and foremost a vocalist and rhythm guitar player, he also has performed drums, bass, and keys with various bands.
Hypnotic Willie is a unique musical group located in Northern Virginia, that performs feel-good rock, soul, blues and Americana, playing covers of well-loved, classic tunes and a wide selection lesser-known jewels. The Willie crew is a five piece group consisting of lead guitar, vox/rhythm guitar, bass guitar, vox/harmonica/percussion and vox/box drum. While we carry a full band sound, we do not rely on a traditional drum kit. This gives the group a special sound. This unique configuration allows our performance to be tailored for large spaces or intimate settings and allows us to play in configurations and styles along the electric <=> acoustic continuum. Their music appeals to a wide range of audiences and works across a broad range of venues.
Formed back in late 2009, Ernie Frate and David Cooper took the stage performing across the area as an acoustic duo under the name The Distance. Since the addition of bassist Dave Hakins, The Distance has once again evolved to a pop/rock trio delivering a repertoire of great music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and today …
Phil Rossi has had the pleasure of performing throughout the Washington DC Metro area for the last 16 years at Jammin Java, the Black Cat, IOTA, Parallel Wine Bistro, DNV Rooftop Lounge, 868 Estates Vineyards, Hidden Brook Winery, Fabioli Cellars, 1836 Taproom, Ragtime Restaurant, the Ashburn Pub, Monks BBQ, 930 Club Back Bar, Battlestreet Live, and Whitlow’s on Wilson to name just a few. He performs solo acoustic (your favorite music from the 60s through today, featuring loops, percussion, and tasty grooves) as well as some DJ/Electronica/fun noises.
He writes, records, produces, and subsequently performs a lot of different flavors. He blames an eclectic musical background growing up, from Otis Redding, to the Doors, to Bauhaus, Erasure, Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Waits and everything in between. He has played acoustic for years, solo and in groups
David performs regularly along the mid-Atlantic region of the US. With his addictive melodies, a soulful vocal style and an off-the-beaten-path kind of pop-sensibility, Smith is steadily becoming a well-known performer on the East Coast. He has shared the stage with a variety of well-known acts and has been a featured act for the Washington Redskins, Washington Nationals and the Citi Open.
https://www.facebook.com/dasmithmusic
Building on the success of his recent single “Beautiful Work,” which cracked the Top 40 on the Billboard charts, Maryland-based singer/songwriter Shane Gamble is set to release a batch of new songs on his own label, Rt. 50 Music, this coming May. The self-titled EP features the singles “Love Is a Road” and “Tangled in You,” which were co-written with 1999 “Country Songwriter of the Year” Phil Vassar. “I went to Phil’s place with nothing more than an idea of a song title in mind,” says Shane. “Over the course of a couple hours, we finished the song. I think we captured something special that day.”
The basic tracks for that song, “Love Is a Road,” were recorded at Magpie Cage Studios in Baltimore by famed artist/engineer J Robbins. To round out the mixes, Shane brought in session pros Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters, Wallflowers), and Sean Hurley (John Mayer, Vertical Horizon, Lady Antebullum), while drummers Nir Z, Rich Redmond, and Michael Dawson carry the grooves.
Sonically speaking, these new tracks sound bigger than anything Gamble has done in the past. On “Lost in a Mystery,” the guitars grind and the lyrics take an outsider view on how the modern country business operates. “I wanted to be real and candid” says Shane. “Nashville is a great town, but it has its way of doing things. It’s great but having a family and living almost 1,000 miles away in Maryland means I can’t walk the traditional path, I’ve got to build this thing on the road show by show.
Gamble spent much of 2017 on the road, road-testing new material as he was opening for top touring artists like the Eli Young Band, Lee Brice, Lo Cash, Grainger Smith, Phil Vassar, and David Nail at premier venues like the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, the Fillmore in Baltimore, and the Bluebird in Nashville. “These songs are a journey through where I’ve been in the past two years—the ups and the downs. They were written with the live show in mind, I want to bring something new and fresh to the stage, and speak these stories really clearly.”
In 2013, Shane enjoyed the success of his debut album and the Top 10 single “Turn My Way,” a pop/country tune that’s equal parts punchy and poignant. Thanks to the groundbreaking SiriusXM country music channel The Highway, Shane was able to crash the party as an independent artist, garnering new fans across the globe and making a splash in the music industry crowd.
Shane’s sophomore effort, American Heart, was released in 2014 and features twelve tracks that showcase his ability to seamlessly blend country, rock, pop, and Americana. Gamble co-wrote songs for American Heart with heavy-hitting Nashville players Derric Ruttan, Andrew Dorf, and Zac Molloy. In the studio, Gamble worked closely with Rick Beato, who not only produced “Turn My Way” but is also credited with hits by NEEDTOBREATHE, Shinedown, Charlie Mars, and Parmalee.
Gamble’s new self-titled EP is slated for release this May. Visit www.shanegamble.com or contact for more information.
Heather Renee is a prolific writer and performer. She performs weekly in venues throughout the DC metro area. To demonstrate her writing prowess, she wrote, recorded and released a song every week for an entire year in 2008. This endeavor led to several song placements in Independent Films and garnered interested from labels to sell her work to rising artists nationwide.