Sirius Company is moving go-go into new spaces

If you love go-go, you know the story by now. Central Communications, a MetroPCS vendor in Shaw, had been pumping hyper-rhythmic go-go music from its storefront for years — until last month when a resident of a neighboring luxury apartment building demanded silence. For go-go’s faithful, it felt like a punch in the gut. But then, in the words of go-go mainstay Frank “Scooby” Sirius, it started to feel like “a shot in the arm.”

The community has since rallied around the #DontMuteDC hashtag on social media, and it’s working — the music is playing in Shaw again and the public discussion about gentrification’s harmful effects on go-go have continued to spread. “I think it’s good for us to speak up and stand up for our music,” Sirius says. “It brings new attention to the music and to what D.C. has been about for the past four decades.”

In addition to speaking up, Sirius is bringing his current band, Sirius Company, into new venues. The group — which also features the great go-go vocalist Kimberly “Ms. Kim” Michelle — is currently preparing for a weekly residency at City Winery in Ivy City next month. Before that, Sirius Company will kick off a new weekly go-go series at Hill Country Live in Penn Quarter — a venue traditionally associated with country singers and folk acts. (Other bands booked for the Tuesday night go-go series include Suttle, Team Familiar, Black Alley, Be’la Dona and Secret Society.)

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In addition to inviting loyal crowds into new rooms, Sirius also sees these upcoming shows as a chance to familiarize the uninitiated with the District’s proudest musical tradition. “We try to give them a sense of, ‘This is what we do,’” he says, “‘and you should get with it because you’re here now.’”

Shows: May 21 at 9 p.m. at Hill Country Live, 410 Seventh St. NW. $20-$25. June 5 at 9:30 p.m. (and every Wednesday after) at City Winery, 1350 Okie St. NE. $22.

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