This weekend, my wife and I had a chance to see Richmond native (and current Great Falls resident) Mary Ann Redmond, an awesome blues/rock singer/songwriter/guitarist. Redmond was performing with her kick-ass band on Saturday night in Arlington. One of the great things about living in a place like Arlington is that we get to experience acts like this for free, in this case at the Lubber Run Ampitheatre, one of the coolest venues for a concert imaginable. On Saturday night, we got to see and hear a woman who has won 16 Washington Area Music Awards (Wammies), and whose "live performances and her four CDs to date have earned her acclaim from audiences and recognition from the music industry." Besides her own songs, Redmond and her band did superb covers of Neil Young's "Don't Let it Bring You Down," the Rolling Stones "Give Me Shelter," U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," Bob Dylan's "Not Dark Yet," and others. It was a great time; this woman has one of the best voices around, used to perform with the legendary Eva Cassidy, and should be a national superstar if there were any justice in the music business. Of course, there isn't any justice in the music business (e.g., utter garbage like "American Idol" - barf!!!), so Redmond's "just" a Virginia and metro DC star, but still, that ain't bad.
If you ever have a chance to hear Mary Ann Redmond, I strongly recommend her. The woman's an amazing talent, and she's playing with a superb band these days. Her upcoming schedule is here. Enjoy!