can i freak out now?

RnR has always been about relatively unknown indie local music 'cause, well, the big guys ( i'm looking at you, ian...) usually have conflicts and booking agents and other hurdles to jump and i'm just not about all that. one of the things i love about the DC scene is that it is small and really welcoming, and the bands that i don't personally know genuinely love it when i ask them to play. yes, even the big guys think it's cool, but it never seems to work out. i'm okay with that. anyway, it is kinda laughable to imagine some of the larger-than-life punk icons playing in my dinky backyard. that doesn't mean i won't ask, though! heh. so the bands that play RnR still have day jobs, but their love of playing music is obvious, and i'm sure they'd all quit in a second if approached by a label to make a record and tour the country. or another country. or the world! anyway, the closest i've gotten to booking a "major act" was the carlsonics, who had been signed by some label.... sorry, i don't remember which. they were a bunch of sweet kids playing raucous garage-y rock, who made a record, toured around, played SXSW, then decided to form a new band called nethers, which sounds nothing like the original band. i love their new stuff and would have them play in a heartbeat, but i fear they've gotten too busy (big) for RnR. we've been in touch, but it never seems to work out....

today i received an email from someone who has been a fantastic supporter of RnR, who also happens to be very well-connected in the DC scene, to tell me that he has found someone to fill out the august bill--someone up-and-coming and very cool and who would love to play RnR. someone who just got freakin' signed to DOMINO RECORDS, the home of arctic monkeys, franz ferdinand, stephen malkmus... the list goes on! so this incredibly talented local fellow's name is benjy ferree. remember it. check out a song here. nice, yeah? i think so, too. if you're in town, someday you'll be able to say you saw him play in a sweaty backyard for a bunch of kids! heh. i'm freaking out a little, but i do hope this works out.