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    Thursday, May 14, 2009

    The Old HMT Transformed!

    Oh happy day! Roscoe’s Pizza officially opened today in the old HMT location at 7040 Carroll. We moved out June 2, 2008, so it’s been almost a year! Paul the Elder walked in this afternoon with a takeaway pizza, and at almost the same time my friend Adam stopped by the store, so we decided to check out the new place. Here’s a little photo essay of our lunch:



    Stream displays the pizza Paul picked up—a “Capricciosa” with tomato, mozzarella, artichokes, mushrooms and Italian ham. Yum! We all tried it and I decided I needed more—therefore the lunch excursion!



    The outside of the 7040 location. The offices of the Takoma/Silver Spring Voice newspaper are now upstairs--where we used to have our lessons rooms, bookkeeping office, and where Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino (aka Magpie) used to live.



    Here’s the bar near the front entrance. They don’t have their liquor license yet, but we look forward to enjoying fine wines and such there in the not-too-distant future. The bar is approximately where our shipping/mail order department used to be located. Somehow that just seems appropriate (heh heh, just kidding Paul!!)



    This wall used to hold our banjo selection!



    Here’s the view of the main room. I didn’t really get a picture of the kitchen, which is located where our back office and my old desk used to be.



    That back wall used to be the home of our repair closet and the Infamous Wall O’ Squeezeboxes.



    Rounding the corner, we get to the bathrooms, which is where our book room used to be. I did not make use of the facilities, but I have no doubt they are far more luxurious than our old ones.



    Then to the left is their separate dining room which you will recognize as our old guitar room! Hopefully soon they’ll have enough customers to open this up.

    I knew the space was going to blow me away—they put an enormous amount of work into this place (kudos John Mangan & crew!). It was definitely surreal walking around the space that I worked in for 9 years, and which had been there for a total of something like 34 years. Check out our posts from June 2008 to see what the space looked like before we moved out. I'm looking forward to enjoying some great food & drink here for years to come!

    Oh yes, and there was food. Adam and I split a mixed salad which had a yummy house dressing and just a bit of fresh parmesan…




    …and we ordered the “Cafone” white pizza which was supposed to have smoked mozzarella, Italian sausage and rapini. Due to a delivery mix-up they didn’t have sausage, so we substituted grilled chicken. It was delicious indeed. Great thin crispy crust, fresh ingredients, yum! Their pizzas are priced between $8-$12 and feed 2 moderate appetites. They also have a selection of Mediterranean appetizers, salads, panini sandwiches and desserts. I look forward to trying out the whole menu.



    The staff was all incredibly friendly; they seemed very excited about their opening day. We met the owner, Ed Gossman. He said they should have their website up and running soon, and they also have plans to have live music.

    Well, congratulations to Roscoes—please come out and patronize this great addition to Old Town Takoma Park!!

    Wednesday, May 6, 2009

    A visit from the Skeptical Guitarist himself!

    We were thrilled to have a recent visit from Bruce Emery, author of the very popular guitar instructional books "Guitar From Scratch" and the "Skeptical Guitarist" series. Many of our teachers recommend these books--you can read more about them and purchase them from our website. Here's a pic of our salesman Paul "The Elder" comically trying to show Bruce some concepts out of his own book...

    Tuesday, April 21, 2009

    Caneridoo!!

    Karl Kalbaugh, our favorite local didgeridoo guy, just sent over these pics of his latest creation: a "Caneridoo" didgeridoo made out of recycled soda cans. This was for an exhibition at The Soundry in Vienna, VA for the Elizabeth Sanford Memorial Art Show (a recycled materials art show).





    Karl has been supplying us with his handmade and handpainted didgeridoos (both PVC plastic and wood) for several years. The Caneridoo is not for sale at HMT, but we applaud Karl's vision with combining art, music and environmental conservation!

    Monday, March 16, 2009

    Cute quota for the day

    Yesterday's Westmoreland Shops open house did bring in a lot of folks to the area who had not been to our new location, so we consider that a success. It did get crazy at times as there were a lot of small children running about, banging on drums, trying out each and every kazoo, and other things that kids do. Some were charming, others...less so.

    Sometimes we do get a real charmer though. Our buddy Tim Johnson just came in to pick up his latest acquisition: a left-handed spruce-top Kala tenor ukulele with pickup (yes, he acknowledges he has a problem, but we don't fault him). He brought his son with him, and they came back to serenade me with a duet of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." Man, it was cute. The little guy even got the "dow-wah" pronunciation. Axl Rose, eat your heart out.

    Tuesday, March 10, 2009

    Westmoreland Shops open house this Sunday!

    Please join us this Sunday, March 15 for a special event hosted by the Westmoreland Ave. Shops. Everyone will be offering special discounts & promotions (10% off Celtic instruments, books & recordings at HMT), there will be live music (new acoustic duo Erik Sharar & Melanie Cobb), Reggae Yoga & dance demonstrations, refreshments and more! Click on the flyer below for full information.


    Wednesday, February 18, 2009

    HMT at the Wammies!

    House of Musical Traditions was well-represented at the 23rd Annual Washington Area Music Awards ("Wammies"), which were given out February 15. Several of our staff and teachers were winners or nominees:

    Christylez Bacon: Winner, Rap/Hip Hop Rapper and Rap/Hip Hop Recording; Nominee, New Artist of the Year and Debut Recording
    Ira Gitlin: Winner, Bluegrass Instrumentalist and Country Instrumentalist
    Esther Haynes: Winner, Big Band/Swing Vocalist and Jazz Vocalist
    Dede Wyland: Winner, Bluegrass Vocalist
    Mark Sylvester: Nominee, Folk Contemporary Instrumentalist
    Trevor Higgins: Nominee, Live Sound Engineer
    Dave Eisner: Nominee, Executive of the Year and Most Supportive of Local Music

    Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

    Friday, January 30, 2009

    Chris Bacon at the Kennedy Center

    Our own Chris Bacon will be performing at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage...



    Monday, February 9, 2009
    6:00PM - FREE ADMISSION - All Ages
    Kennedy Center (Millennium Stage)
    2700 F St NW, Washington, DC

    Progressive Hip-Hop Artist and native Washingtonian, Christylez Bacon, will lead a hour-long concert at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on Monday, February 9, 2009. The concert is commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History & Culture and the Kennedy Center. The concert features a 12-piece orchestra including String Quartet, Piano, Upright Bass, Tuba, Didgeridoo, Human-Beatbox, and other diverse instrumentation. On top of that, this concert will be Free Admission for the public!