The Venues: Rhizome, Washington DC
part of a series on avant-music venues
The house gig has been around for as long as there’s been live music. From formal “salons” to just plain ole parties, these gigs are usually much more intimate than your typical bar gig. Sometimes a house gig turns into a series of gigs. Before you know it, you have a real venue … in a house.
Since my last trip to the Washington DC area over a year ago (see story below on Orion Studios, Baltimore), I became aware of another long running avant-music venue called Rhizome. In an old house in a suburban neighborhood on the edge of DC, some 50 volunteers keep an amazing number of events running almost every day; sometimes more than one show a day.
They bill themselves as “Art - Learning - DIY - Culture; dedicated to promoting creativity as a force for personal empowerment and community engagement. We also strive to provide a home for non-mainstream programming in the DC area.”
The shows they present cover a wide range of genres and forms. I couldn’t possibly cover it all here, but if you want to know more, check out their website which includes a link to a video documentary.
The documentary tells its story by moving through the house, showing the shows and interviewing participants who tell us what’s happened there since it started in February 2015. It does this in about 44 minutes. I had not seen it when I made my visit last August. I was surprised how similar my 8 minute video turned out.
My video snapshot has no dialogue, but plenty of sound. I chose to visit on an afternoon with 3 bands playing loud music. If you haven’t been to Rhizome, join me on my first visit in the above video.
As we approach the house on a beautiful sunny day, we notice that it’s surrounded by renovated and newly built housing. It stands out because it’s old and sits on a large lot that includes several parking spaces. It’s so old that it has succumbed to the pressure of the real estate market; i.e. it’s on the chopping block. It will soon be torn down and replaced by a more updated and newly built structure not intended for the arts. Fear not though. The intrepid spirit of the volunteer community that runs Rhizome has found a way through. I’ll post their latest update at the end.
The old house tries to cast our eyes away from the overgrown yard and welcome us in with a display of a funky, rickety, wood and what-not sculpture next to the similarly funky looking porch and sign tacked above it. A chalk board at the base of the porch instructs us to proceed to the back of the house. We do.
The back of the house includes some shady trees and a few seats. A small group is chatting. The house is vibrating. We go inside.
We’re standing alone in a small kitchen trying to put our earplugs in. The small kitchen has a fridge next to the merch counter. No one is in the kitchen, but we can see most of the rest of the first floor. People fill the room to our left as well as the hallway straight ahead. The band plays in what was once the living room, next to the front door that opens to the porch. All doors and windows are closed. It is fortunately not a hot day.
We move down the hallway to find a place to stand. Unlike the kitchen, the two rooms and the hallway are stripped bare, except for the music gear.
We notice some artwork in the hallway which leads us to a stairway. We go up.
The second floor is full of art. We take it in. The band plays on.
Update from Rhizome:
Fri, Oct 11 2024
Hello Rhizome community,
We are perhaps overdue for an update on our new building. Here it is!
First, if you don't know, with help from a grant from the DC Arts Commission, and through an absolutely amazing display of support from community members (to the tune of over $350,000 in donations and loans to date), we were able to purchase a "forever home" at 7733 Alaska Ave NW in late May of this year.
Since then, a hazardous materials survey revealed the presence of asbestos-containing materials in all interior walls and under the flooring. So, what would have been a cheap community-powered demolition project instead required expensive professionals in Tyvek suits. Ah well, there have certainly been surprises every step of the way, no different here. As of early October, the asbestos is out of there and we have a beautiful open space to work with.
We are currently waiting to hear back about another funding application - we were supposed to hear by October 1, but that has been pushed back to "later in November." Mmm, no surprise there…
Once we hear about the grant, we will send an update on a final fundraising push to be able to get the space ready to occupy! (We will need new HVAC, a new roof, accessible bathrooms, etc.) If you'd like to beat us to the punch, feel free to give early and often at our fundraiser page HERE.
As of now, our hope is to have the space ready in the first half of 2025.
In the meantime of course there is more than ever happening at the humble little house on Maple Street - we hope to see you soon!
-Rhizome
Simply brilliant, Rick. Thank you for sharing.