I just had the awesome privilege of witnessing the last evaaar show of DC local band Secrets between Sailors. These four queer ladies play a lovely, strummable, hummable blend of what they call "Raw Cuddle Core," but we're losing three of the members to the Bay Area.

Secrets Between Sailors is made up of a classically-trained violinist/harmonica player, a cellist/vocalist, and two guitarist/vocalists who also trade off playing in the self-proclaimed "silly area" (a.k.a. some sparse drums). They play a soft, sweet, and intimate show.  I managed to snag some of the last copies of their homespun recordings for $5!

Check out their MySpace page here -- there are two sample tracks.  To my ears, Secrets Between Sailors sound like Mirah set to a four piece band, but with some Ida and grrrl rock mixed in.

Rion, the cellist/vocalist has a beautiful voice, and all the sounds just mesh.

And this show was a great way to get pumped about the other ways to stay gay this weekend here in DC.  After all, we're losing some key members of the District's queer women's community, so we gotta keep the memory alive.  Here's just two ways to do that:

The Dyke March has been revived this year in DC. Check it out on Saturday at 2pm in Dupont Circle.  I've only experienced a Dyke March in San Francisco, but I can say for sure that it was the best part of SF Pride. The parade starts with a motorcade of "Dykes on Bikes" (check out that link to read about the crazy legal battle to keep their name). The main pride festival in SF has turned into a space for a bunch of corporations to hold booths to show off how gay friendly they are to an audience of mostly gay men.  So Dyke March serves as a great alternative that has a lot more of a community feel.  Hopefully the one in DC will be the same.

Capital Pride 2008 (DC's LGBT pride) has been hosting events for the last week, but the main parade and festival take place this weekend.  Check out their website for a listing of all events.

My recommendations? The parade on Saturday starting at 6:30pm and the festival on Sunday.  There will be some great performances on Sunday, including some of my favorite drag king regulars. You can see them on Sunday's mainstage. Don't miss the ever-entertaining E-Cleff at 12:20 p.m. for some Justin Timberlake-inspired moves.

Also, local folk guitarist/vocalist Mara Levi puts on a good set -- check her out at 12:05 p.m. on Sunday. She usually hosts the music sessions at Phase 1, the nation's oldest lesbian bar, located right here in DC.

Check it all out!