Now that pandemic-related capacity restrictions have been lifted, three Silver Spring venues for live music are booking bands and beginning to host live music again.
Two of those venues, Silver Strings Restaurant and Bar and the Sligo Creek Golf Course, will feature performances starting this Friday, June 4.
Downwire will play the first show from 6–8 p.m. at the course, located at 9701 Sligo Creek Parkway.
The former Sligo Pit BBQ has been rebranded as The Squirrel Shack, offering visitors burgers, hot dogs, sausage sandwiches and more, along with beers from Silver Branch, Denizens and Waredaca breweries.
The following Friday will feature The Airport 77s with The Loose Ends playing at the course on June 18 (the schedule is posted online).
Also on June 4, The Loose Ends will host several small acts and then play as headliners at Silver Strings, located at 8630 Colesville Rd. The music will run from 6 p.m. to about midnight.
“We have an interesting combination where we have four small acts of duos and trios playing from 6 to 8:30 or so, and then our band follows that,” said Gerry Waites of Loose Ends, one of the organizers of these shows. “[It’s] a nice variety of styles of music, folk and blues and acoustic music.”
The multiband concept is a formula that worked well in the past for the band when it played the American Legion Cissel-Saxon Post 41 at 905 Sligo Ave., which will start hosting bands again in July, Waites said.
“On our night at Post 41, every second Saturday of the month, we’d have all this in a single night,” Waites said, “because while our roots rock band, The Loose Ends, hosted, we’d also bring in four or five guest bands with a mix of styles.
“This is how I really saw how much great talent there is in this area because we would also change up the bands every month,” he continued. “I mean, it’s truly amazing, as I likely booked 40 different bands over the course of a year, all local with an incredible range of talent, including some top-level acts like The Airport 77s and the Wild Anacostias.”
The Legion also will host other acts, including those booked by the D.C. Blues Society, later this year.
“After so long being pent up, people want to get back out and see friends, party, dance and make up for all the fun and good times we lost and had to give up,” Waites said. “Live music is a great way to do this, and Silver Spring is emerging as one of the best live music towns around the D.C. area.”
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