StopSmiling

• DC Issue Release Party
• with George Pelecanos and Anwan Glover
• 11.13.2008

Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC

As we sat down to work on STOP SMILING Issue 37, the DC Issue, we realized there are two different sides to the capital city: one that belongs to the politically entrenched and the other to the permanent residents of the city, the people who dwell in the somewhat sleepy southern town that is DC. We decided to celebrate the latter side, and so it was with great pride that we chose crime novelist George Pelecanos and musician-turned-actor Anwan Glover, both DC natives, to be our cover subjects for the issue and featured guests of honor at the release party that took place last week at Civilian Art Projects in Washington, DC.

While their paths converged during the filming of HBO's The Wire, for over a decade, Pelecanos and Glover have been making significant contributions to their own individual fields: Pelecanos has written 15 crime novels set in and around DC and Anwan is the frontman for DC go-go legends the Backyard Band. They talked to a fully packed room about what DC was like growing up, its current cultural climate and what its future might hold. Leading the discussion was documentary filmmaker and STOP SMILING contributor Walker Lamond, who interviewed them both for the issue.

The discussion was bookended on one side by an impressive DJ set from local music historian and DJ Kevin Coombe, who spun soul and funk records from the DC area, and on the other by Ian Svenonius, frontman for legendary DC punk bands Nation of Ulysses and the Make-Up. The crowd danced well into the night and everyone took home a complimentary copy of the issue.

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A huge thanks goes out to Jayme and Civilian Art Projects for hosting the party, Walker Lamond for moderating the discussion, our DJs – and guests – for helping throw one of our best release parties yet!

photography by: Michael Dugan