Join Washington City Paper at Public Bar Live on October 18th for a conversation on D.C.'s history through go-go.

City Paper Community Conversations- History of D.C. Music
Go-Go Edition
Friday, October 18th
Doors: 3:00 pm
Panel: 4:00 pm
Public Bar Live- 1214 18th St NW

We all know that go-go is the soundtrack of D.C., but do you know the music’s history? Learn the remarkable story of go-go’s creator, the “Godfather” Chuck Brown; about old-school bands like Trouble Funk, Rare Essence, Experience Unlimited, and Junkyard Band; about the powerhouse that is Backyard Band; and the new generation of bounce beat artists that are reinventing the DMV sound.

The conversation will be moderated by WCP freelance writer Alona Wartofsky.

Panel

Alona Wartofsky, Moderator- Alona Wartofsky first fell in love with go-go at the Washington Coliseum shows of the mid-‘80s. Since then, her stories about the music have appeared numerous publications, including The Village Voice, The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Spin magazine, and LA Weekly.

Michelle Blackwell- Native Washington, Go-go artist, songwriter, and author. Blackwell has been an advocate and ambassador for go-go culture for many years. She was recently named by Washingtonian Magazine as one in 150 of Washington DCs most powerful women and has a go-go single "Enjoy Myself" still in rotation at stations like WHUR as well as a newly released self-published fiction novel, Love N Gogo, the first of it's kind to represent go-go music.

Marcus K. Dowling- As a journalist, native Washingtonian Marcus K. Dowling has written for Vice, Complex, Spotify, The FADER, Bandcamp, Red Bull Magazine, Mixmag, DJ Mag, and innumerable others. Sitting comfortably at the confluence of the underground and mainstream, Marcus is obsessed with history, appreciative of the present, and loving the future.

Kato Hammond- A native Washingtonian, Kato Hammond played with the go-go bands Little Benny and The Masters and Proper Utensils. He later created the TMOTTGoGo Magazine and online radio platform, as well as released an autobiography entitled "Take Me Out To The Go-Go", a children's book entitled "I Want To Play Too" and a documentary entitled "Inside The Pocket".

Darrin X- Introduced into GoGo in 1983 as part of the stage crew for Experience Unlimited. In 1985 Darrin X joined Rare Essence as a stagehand until 1988 then as a band member from 91-2001. Following his time with Rare Essence, Darrin X was a member of 911 Band and part of the management and marketing team for TCB The Bouncebeat Kingz.

Stick around after the conversation for Public Bar Live's 5x5 Showcase with:

8:00 pm Dave Phenicie
8:30 pm Deau Eyes
9:00 pm Ya Minko
9:30 pm Chevre
10:00 pm Pleasure Train

This conversation is part of Public Bar Live's grand re-opening sponsored by Heineken.
See the full line up at https://www.publicbarlive.com/ or https://www.instagram.com/publicbarlive/