A Case of the Fridays - Early Edition

We kick things off this week with "Under the Gun," a track from DC singer/songwriter Laura Tsaggaris (above) - that's suh-GAIR-iss for the phonetically inclined. It's got some fiery electric guitar and machine-gun drums that lend a powerful energy to Tsaggaris' strong vocals and lyrics. She's been constantly building on her layers of sound with each album release, and her new CD, "Keep Talking" is no exception. Usually it's solo acoustic gigs for Tsaggaris around here in DC, but her full band is in town for this Saturday's show at IOTA (7/18), and she's pretty psyched to have 'em up from North Carolina backing her up - "It takes your own performance to a new level and, I think, makes things really fun for a crowd of listeners."

MP3: Under the Gun - Laura Tsaggaris

And we conclude this week with "In Time" from DC's The List. What starts off as a piano-based ballad builds into an angsty slow-burner, with some nice melodic lines by lead guitarist Tim Young. And lead vocalist Stephen Wright pulls off a good Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty). Anyway, if you like what you're hearing, check them out live at The Red & The Black this Sunday, July 19th.

MP3: In Time - The List