My good buddies from Big O and Dukes might not be in a band, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know good music. Every once in a while, Big O and Dukes decides to use their powers of persuasion for good and convince a musical act to come to town and play a show for the horde. That’s exactly what happened on this night, when the Wrinkle Neck Mules, along with If Birds Could Fly, played in front of a sellout crowd at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia, Sept. 19.

The Pietasters have played with everyone from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to the legendary James Brown, and if that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about this D.C. institution, I don’t know what to tell you.

On this day, The Pietasters, along with Black Masala and Askultura, kicked off the new year in style with their annual show at the historic 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., Jan. 10. While I had been fortunate enough to attend a Pietasters show or two previously, this was the first time I ever worked a show as a credentialed photographer.

What I quickly learned is just how spoiled a photographer is because there are so many people on stage, all playing their asses off, it’s almost an embarrassment of riches as you’re deciding which musician to focus the camera on.