CPARTS - I`m Ally Schweitzer

CPARTS
One Track Mind
The Wilder
Luray
Bama Control
Bamafied behavior. It’s everywhere. We’ve gotta stop it.
Flip-flops in the club: bamafied. Tipping with change: bamafied. That straw-hat-and-patriotic-suspenders combination Tommy
Wells wore to the Palisades Parade: Sorry, Councilmember, but that
was bamafied.
Some history for D.C. newcomers: “Bama” was a word that African-American D.C. residents applied to Southerners who seemed
unsophisticated—a kind of “black hick,” the Smithsonian’s John
Franklin told Washington City Paper in 2010. The term has since
grown into a more general diss for anyone who’s tacky, rude, ignorant, or simply trifling.
Darrow Montgomery
Arts Desk
Veteran local rapper Black Indian lost ground when trap rap
took over D.C. hip-hop. On his new mixtape, Indian Summer,
he progresses on his own terms.
washingtoncitypaper.com/go/blackindian
Couldn’t there be a way to stop bamafied behavior before it
starts?
Natalie Star and Tremain Davis might have a solution. This year,
the Maryland residents began producing a line of T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Don’t be a bama.” Put it on, and when you
spot someone beginning to act all bama-like, just point to the shirt.
They’ll get the message.
Star and Davis’ product may be the only true D.C. bama T-shirt
currently on the market, but it’s nowhere near the only bama T-shirt
in existence. Here’s a look at some of the T-shirts you may consider
purchasing for the bamas in your life.
—Ally Schweitzer
Luray plays Sixth & I Historic Synagogue on Aug. 24. Listen to “Kalorama” at
washingtoncitypaper.com/go/kalorama
zazzle.com
BAMMA
For bamas who prefer the double-M spelling
of “bama,” and fans of the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts
Nobama
For bamas who dislike Barack Obama
rolltide.com
dontbeabama.com
Alabama Crimson Tide tank top
For lady bamas
backstreetmerch.com
A Tale of Two Cities: Location plays an important role for Luray: The band (which also
includes Wisniewski on electric guitar, C.J.
Wolfe on drums, Brian Cruse on bass, and
Sarah Gilberg on keyboards) takes its name
from the small town in southern Virginia. Because Gilberg was also living in Kalorama at
the time, the song and the neighborhood became a bit more special. As Carey says, “[the
song] refers to the distance between two places and what that’s like.” —Caroline Jones
Alabama Crimson Tide T-shirt
For your regular, run-of-the-mill,
straight-up bama
rolltide.com
Musical Motivation: Much of The Wilder
came together after Luray lead singer Shannon Carey moved to D.C. from Oakland, Calif., and wanted a break from the hectic pace
of city life. (Carey and her husband Gabriel
Wisniewski now live in southern Maryland.)
“In Kalorama, we’ll make it all right,” she
sings, hopeful for the future. According to
Carey, “it’s about a new start and a reprieve.”
She points out some of the neighborhood’s
quirks, like a hardware store that’s been shuttered since 1982 and the lack of street parking,
but the resounding theme is one of shelter:
The song concludes with the refrain, “Take
cover, take cover, take cover from the dark.”
rolltidedistrict.com
Standout Track: No. 4, “Kalorama,” an
upbeat ode to life on D.C.’s Kalorama Road
NW. It rocks a little harder than the rest of
the tracks on The Wilder, partly thanks to a
drum beat added by lead singer Shannon Carey’s brother Sean, the drummer for Bon Iver.
The banjo line strummed throughout lends
the song a rougher edge, like Joni Mitchell
with more bite.
Bama for Life
For dedicated bamas (or Bobby Brown,
recently crowned “bama for life” by
Tom Joyner Morning Show comic
Huggy Lowdown)