Port City Live with Justin Trawick and Steve Dawson (of VACO) with Special Guest Rook Richards

Show Description:

Friends and racquetball partners, musicians Justin Trawick and Steve Dawson (of Virginia Coalition aka VACO) present a monthly beer drinking club and listening show at Port City Brewery in Alexandria, VA. Each month Justin and Steve will perform upstairs in Port City's Lighthouse Lounge. In an intimate atmosphere you'll hear the stories behind their songs while drinking your favorite Port City beer (Justin's favorite is Optimal Wit!). Each month they'll feature a guest performance from some of the mid-Atlantic's most talented performers and bands. Doors at 7:00pm and show from 7:30pm to 9:00pm.  Tickets are $20 -- it includes a complimentary beer of your choice!

Justin Trawick

Justin Trawick has been performing in the Washington DC area and along the East Coast since 2006, citing musical influences like Bob Schneider, Greensky Bluegrass, The Tallest Man on Earth, G. Love, Old Crow Medicine Show, and David Gray.  In February of 2014, Trawick won “Song of the Year” at the Washington Area Music Awards for his solo recording of “All the Places That I’ve Been," which can be downloaded on iTunes as a single along with his five other solo records and EPs.  In June of 2015, Trawick released his first single, “Goodbye,” under the band name "Justin Trawick and the Common Good,” written about the search for direction and belonging in a world that always feels one step ahead of you.  In January of 2018, “Justin Trawick and The Common Good” released their first EP, “The Riverwash EP,” which features Norah Jones’ guitarist Adam Levy.  In 2020 the band released the single “Back of the Line” during the coronavirus quarantine and was featured on Reuters, CNN, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, Washingtonian Magazine, Parade Magazine, American Songwriter Magazine, Voice of America and Virginia Living Magazine for Trawick’s livestream series and secret backyard concert series created during the pandemic.  On August 27th, 2021 Trawick released his latest single “I’m Doing Alright”, whose chorus he’d been singing as a theme song on Facebook Live and his secret backyard shows throughout the entirety of the pandemic.

Trawick and the band have performed for the Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival, Appaloosa Roots Music Festival, Floyd Yoga Jam, TedxEast in NYC at the City Winery, and TedxPennsylvaniaAvenue in DC at the Newseum.  Additionally, Trawick has opened for over 30 national acts, including Suzanne Vega, Wyclef Jean, Brett Dennen, Blues Traveler, Enter The Haggis, Bob Schneider, and Edwin McCain, and shared bills with Dr. Dogg and The Avett Brothers.  As the founder of the nationally touring show “The 9 Songwriter Series” and co-founder of “The Circus Life Podcast" with guests such as Kevin Eubanks, Chris Thomas King, Ernie Halter, Yarn, and Snuffy Walden, Trawick has built a brand that extends far beyond his home base in DC.   For more information, please visit http://justintrawick.com.

Steve Dawson

Virginia Coalition is an American rock band from Alexandria, Virginia, whose five founding members met in the early 1990s at T. C. Williams High School.  Often referred to as VACO by fans (and the band), the band self-released their first album, The Colors of The Sound, in 1998. The group toured between Boston and Virginia heavily in the late 1990s, supporting The Colors of the Sound and its 2000 follow-up, Townburg; the band's tour van logged more than 100,000 miles by May 2001.  The band's 2003 album on Koch Records, Rock & Roll Party, peaked at #18 on the Billboard Top Internet Albums chart.  This album marked their transition from a band that primarily played in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States to a nationwide touring act.  The group's next full-length, OK to Go, was released in 2004 and was produced by Matt Wallace.  In 2008 they followed up with the album Home This Year