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The Saint · May 2nd, 2008, 01:20 PM

There's actually a book about the DC scene called "Capitol Rock" written by Mark Opsasnick.

It all had to do with a flourishing nightclub scene for both country and rock music and it really started in the late 50's and early 60's. The combination of tourism and the large number of servicemen who were stationed in the area meant the clubs were pretty much rockin' every night of the week. You could actually make a decent living playing music in DC and it drew players from all over the region.

Besides Roy and Danny, there was also Link Wray, Roy Clark, John Fahey, Mike Stern, Jimmy Nalls (who played with Doctor John and went on to play with Chuck Leavell's band 'Sea Level'), Nils Lofgren with his band 'Grin', Punky Meadows with 'Angel', Clarence Perry who worked with Roy Orbison, The Nighthawks (as mentioned above) and a ton of others. It was a great melting pot of diverse styles and personalities. Everyone knew everyone, "sat-in" with each others bands and went to each others gigs to steal licks and learn.

There was also a healthy "teen" scene which started in the early 60's with local radio personality Barry Richard's shows at Silver Spring Armory where kids were exposed to the likes of Link Wray, Bo Diddley and Micky and Sylvia and then carried on into the British invasion with shows at Wheaton Youth Center where you could see bands like Rod Stewart and Small Faces on their first visits to the US. Later it was the Punk scene as mentioned above.

But during the 70's, Disco and the DJ began replacing live music and work slowly started to disappear.

But the 60's and part of the 70's was a glorious time to be a musician in DC and I feel fortunate to have been a part of it. It couldn't happen today.

May 2nd, 2008, 01:20 PM	#14 (permalink)
The Saint TDPRI Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Palmdale, CA Posts: 57	There's actually a book about the DC scene called "Capitol Rock" written by Mark Opsasnick. It all had to do with a flourishing nightclub scene for both country and rock music and it really started in the late 50's and early 60's. The combination of tourism and the large number of servicemen who were stationed in the area meant the clubs were pretty much rockin' every night of the week. You could actually make a decent living playing music in DC and it drew players from all over the region. Besides Roy and Danny, there was also Link Wray, Roy Clark, John Fahey, Mike Stern, Jimmy Nalls (who played with Doctor John and went on to play with Chuck Leavell's band 'Sea Level'), Nils Lofgren with his band 'Grin', Punky Meadows with 'Angel', Clarence Perry who worked with Roy Orbison, The Nighthawks (as mentioned above) and a ton of others. It was a great melting pot of diverse styles and personalities. Everyone knew everyone, "sat-in" with each others bands and went to each others gigs to steal licks and learn. There was also a healthy "teen" scene which started in the early 60's with local radio personality Barry Richard's shows at Silver Spring Armory where kids were exposed to the likes of Link Wray, Bo Diddley and Micky and Sylvia and then carried on into the British invasion with shows at Wheaton Youth Center where you could see bands like Rod Stewart and Small Faces on their first visits to the US. Later it was the Punk scene as mentioned above. But during the 70's, Disco and the DJ began replacing live music and work slowly started to disappear. But the 60's and part of the 70's was a glorious time to be a musician in DC and I feel fortunate to have been a part of it. It couldn't happen today.