Nine weeks ago at the beginning of the COVID-19 Shutdown, local artist Fred Yonnet decided to keep his creative fires burning by hooking up with DJ DNice out of LA to plan a live music streaming series from his Capitol Hill neighborhood called “EAVESDROP”.
He notified his Capital Hill neighbors they were going to be cranking music from the second floor and sent out a notice to listen in on Sunday from 4 to 6 pm as he rehearsed performing live from his makeshift social distancing compliant space. Neighbors could hear but not see.
This intrepid reporter’s curiosity got the best of him when he saw the hipsters and porch pirates grooving on a spectacularly sunny Saturday afternoon, and crashed the party. I was allowed to wander for 45 minutes and get up-close-and-personal with Fred and his band of Chris “Biscuit” Bynum on drums; Robbie McDonald on lead guitar; Dennis Turner on Bass; and Warren Jones on keyboards.
Fred was of course center stage as the bare rafters and brick walls in the total gut rehab corner townhouse, but his Three Musketeer Team of videographers choreographed by Carla Sims was backed up by another three-person team of mixers and video monitoring gear in the rear of the room that made sure the Instagram feed through DJ BNice’s platform went smoothly.
The rest was pure Fred Yonnet magic! I first saw Fred Yonnet magic! I first saw Fred at last year at the opening reception at the City Winery, and after the smoke cleared everyone was wondering how this undercard performer stole the stage. That Break Out performance sent a clear message to the local music scene that Fred was here to stay,
Fast forward almost exactly a year, and this COVID HERO is shouting his unique mix of Stevie Wonder inspired harmonica beats from the second floor of a total rehab townhouse on Capitol Hill and letting the world know that this ‘Creative’ will be not be held back by the silent killer.
The 3-hour concert ended around 6:45 and Fred took a four corner Victory Lap around as his neighbors cheered and shared elbow bumps from Fred. Don’t miss this Sunday’s encore performance sponsored by Blues Alley at #EavesDropOnFred and @JazzClubQuarantine or stream live on @bluesalleydc.
© 2020 Malcolm Lewis Barnes AKA DMV2020ARTS.COM
