Listen to Local Musicians with Washington City Paper

In 2012, Washington City Paper and the Smithsonian American Art Museum kicked off the first Luce Unplugged Community Showcase with a lineup featuring Kokayi, The Caribbean, and Alex Minoff. Since then, we have welcomed around 70 artists to perform and celebrate all that DC’s independent music scene has to offer. Listen to some of the greatest hits with a specially curated playlist of songs from past Luce Unplugged performers created by Emma Sarappo, Washington City Paper’s arts editor.

Part of my job as arts editor at Washington City Paper is commissioning a range of stories that give as wide a view as possible of the city we call home. In our weekly coverage and in our guides and round-ups, I work to make sure there’s an interesting selection of ideas, people, and—of course—art offered up for our readers. Sometimes our taste can be idiosyncratic and sometimes we focus on the unique or the surprising over the things other outlets rush to cover. I think that’s part of what makes our paper different from the other comprehensive and important sources of arts journalism in the District, and it's in the spirit of our mission as an alternative weekly.

This playlist tries to embody some of that alternative spirit. In the last decade of Luce Unplugged, we’ve featured a huge range of talented local artists. That group is so large that we can’t share all of their work, so here’s just a small selection—across genres and across the years—of the music that’s made the program shine. Some of these songs are new releases and others are old standards. All of these artists have been featured, whether in a stray mention or in a detailed profile, in the print or web pages of our paper. Some will make you want to dance (see: “Shake it Off,” “Crawling”), some will make you want to march (see: “Ponle Fin,” “Immigration Song”), and some will inspire feelings that stir from somewhere deeper (“Instant Night,” the back half of “Bloodshot”). It’s just a start, undoubtedly influenced by my personal taste and WCP’s philosophies. I hope it gives you a taste of what Luce Unplugged, and D.C. musicians in general, can do.

—Emma Sarappo