ARLive Network with Newsmakers party

ARLnow is a great Arlington news blog that turns four years old today. The website started out small in 2010 and now has grown to hundreds of thousands of readers and lots of timely links to local events content. It's an excellent local news source that I use frequently to keep pace with upcoming events.

On Tuesday February 11, ARLnow is throwing a party to bring together Arlington residents, businesses and officials to "meet the people behind the headlines." This ARLive party goes from 5:30 to 8pm in Crystal City on the 10th floor of 2011 Crystal Drive.Tickets are $25 available here and the event includes a DJ, hors d’oeuvres by Jaleo, wine by the Crystal City Wine Shop.

Free week at Iota

This upcoming week of January 27 Iota will feature four days straight of no-cover shows! Here are four great reasons to brave the cold and stave off cabin fever this freezing week:

• Monday starts out strong at 8pm with five live performances for free by Jackson (of the Weathervanes), Todd Daniel (The Walkaways), Lauren Calve, Grant Skalak (James Francis) and Kenny Paul (from The Highballers)
• Tuesday Jan 28 White Russians galore ate Iota as it is showing the movie The Big Lebowski twice for free at 7pm and 9pm.
• Wednesday is always free open mic night at Iota with anyone getting to play two songs from 8pm to midnight. The night includes fives songs by guest performer Andrew Gaddy of These Future Saints, who is also playing at Galaxy Hut on Feb 17
• Thursday Jan 30 doesn't feature any live music, but instead features DJ Sam Snow spinning for no cover charge starting 8pm.

Alchemy Extravaganza at Iota Sunday

Tonight, Sunday January 26, Iota is throwing the first ever Alchemy Extravaganza starting 7pm. This adult 21+ variety show will feature everything you can imagine, and the $15 cover includes:

• Music by YellowTieGuy, Joe Rathbone & The Mercy Alliance, Spencer Joyce, and Johari
• Comedians Andrew Bucket and Jamel Johnson
• Poetry by Hundred Dollar Bill
• Burlesque dancing by Aurora Wells

Mussel Bar Oysterfest

The new Mussel Bar & Grille in Ballston is having its Inaugural Oysterfest on Saturday, February 8. The party goes from noon to 4pm, and costs $25 for unlimited oysters. Drink specials include $4 Stone Porters beers and live music by Phil Komniski.

Clarendon Grill HH with DJ Neekola & The Benderz

Check out Clarendon Grill tonight, January 23, for happy hour and late night music with HiBall Events Thursday party that features no cover charge all night. The pink haired mixer DJ Neekola starts off with music at 5:30pm and happy hour priced drinks. Then Philadelphia based cover band The Benderz takes the stage at 9:30pm

Super Bowl Sunday at Wilson Tavern

Every bar in Clarendon is hosting specials and blasting the Broncos vs Seahawks on Sunday, February 2, but only Wilson Tavern is offering that plus all you can eat crab legs. Starting at 5:30pm, this second annual Super Bowl party offers up ten different beers on tap. $20 gets you unlimited crab legs for the night, with the kickoff scheduled for 6:30pm.

Justin Trawick's birthday at Iota

This Friday, January 24 local musician Justin Trawick will be celebrating his birthday at Iota. His "4th Annual 29th Birthday Party" will start out at 8:30 with 9 Songwriter Series member Louisa Hall followed by Justin Trawick taking the stage at 9:15 with his Americana band The Common Good, featuring Josh on mandolin, Jean on upright bass, and Peter on fiddle. The party continues with gypsy brass band Black Masala taking the stage at 10:30. Cover is $12.

"No Work Monday" Sunday party at Wilson

Given this three day weekend due to the MLK Jr. holiday, Wilson Tavern is having a "No Work Monday" party this Sunday night, January 19. If you come in anytime Saturday to Wilson, you can pick up a free ticket for Sunday's party, which includes an open bar from 9 to 10pm.

Also, Clarendon Grill is hosting a Sunday party at the same time. Starting at 9pm local DJ Pat Premier with probably a $5 cover.

Tall Heights at Iota Jan 31

Tall Heights is coming to Clarendon on Friday, January 31 to Iota's stage. This Boston based acoustic duo of Tim Harrington and Paul Wright have been playing catchy folk for a several years and touring the country. Opening for them is one of my favorite local folk singers/guitarists Molly Hagen. She starts at 9pm and there is a $12 cover for both performances.

Highballers album release party at Iota

Local modern country rock band The Highballers are celebrating the release of their latest album this Saturday, January 11 at Iota in Clarendon. The self titled album The Highballers follows last years success of Soft Music and Hard Liquor. This five piece band is opened up by John Howie Jr. and The Rosewood Bluff starting at 9pm. Cover is $12.

Skyward at Jammin Java

This Tuesday, January 7 Jammin' Java in Vienna is throwing their annual Midatlantic Battle of the Bands. This is the tenth battle Jammin' Java has hosted, with east coast bands competing for a $2,500 prize, studio time with producer Jim Ebert, and other prizes. Tickets are $13 including the service fee.

Skyward, a band of JMU grads with powerful driving rhythms, is one of the bands playing Tuesday. This Harrisonburg band shares passion for big music and will be making their first appearance to this Battle of Bands with catchy melodies like "Love Song." Skyward will face off against five other bands that night including Whyte Crimson, Bachs of Rock, Good Morning Tides, CODA, and Playground Etiquette.

District Karaoke at RiRa

Trey W. from team Mr. Holland's O Face

District Karaoke, the region’s only social, team-based karaoke league, is currently registering people for Monday nights at Ri Ra Irish Pub in Clarendon.

For 10 weeks, teams compete for a chance to go to the City-Wide Finals. Each night, teams compete in three rounds. The first two rounds are solo performances with a group performance for the third round. What makes District Karaoke special is that everyone at the bar, whether on a team or not, has an opportunity to score the performance. Winners are decided by smart phone voting using District Karaoke's web app.

At the end of the season, District Karaoke will host the top teams from every division at the City-wide Karaoke Championship on April 9, 2013 at Penn Social. Interested singers can register at here as "free agents," as an eight person team, or as a group. Membership costs $55.00 per person. Teams can have a maximum of eight players.

The Winter 2014 season will begin on January 13, 2014. While most of the DC locations are already full, there's still room on Mondays at Ri Ra in Clarendon and at Irish Channel in DC.