February 27th, 2026. Going the Distance.

ilyAIMY playing at Dark Horse in Annapolis, MD – February 26th, 2026. Photo by Rob Boucek.

I am actually NOT going the distance. I’m about to call it a day. Cake’s playing in the background from a Pandora channel inspired by Cranes – the band. Not THE Cranes. They don’t call themselves that. But I find that confusing in conversation. I was about to END this channel because, though it’s been pretty amazing with a preponderance of driving but chill trip hop tunes and of course the strangely sludgey tones of Cranes – after a while it’s just too many women trying to sound both sexy AND like little girls and that eventually just gets weird.

Photo by Rob Boucek.

Last night we played Dark Horse, and we were exceptionally locked in. It felt really, really powerful, tight – my fingers and voice were good. Maybe we really needed it. Maybe *I* really needed it. The audience was there for it, excited and dancing and playing air guitar and at least in one instance throwing tater tots, but not AT us so I guess that was okay. The night had started a little moodily because the inevitable front table that was still in the way was a couple of Trumpers complaining about how not everyone stood up during his state of the union speech. I kept imagining what I was going to say if they apologized for not sticking around for the music – and wondering how I’d change the setlist if they did – shoving New American and Masters of War up front maybe? But they just paid their tab and got the Hell out of the way, which was probably the best way that was going to go. As I said to them in my mind, I didn’t think we’d be there speed. Or aesthetic.

The night before, we were visited by a couple of old fans
and a couple of new fans on Live from the Lair – Shattered
Monkey Circus from over 20 years ago?!? I am STUNNED
that he was able to recall such specific details about “Will”
and requested it TWO DECADES after we last saw one
another! I guess we leave a mark.

After the show, stepping into the quiet outside Pinky’s office as she wrote the check, we had a quiet conversation about keeping your head above water. We have the invariable “wish I was paying you better” “but you’re paying us good enough” conversation. We both know we could make sliiiightly better money at some of the other local spots, but the spaces aren’t as good, or the hours aren’t as good, or… and this is a big one… they’d want us to play more covers. Fuck that. I like it here. That’s worth $50.

And no-one’s gonna beat their pot roast grilled cheese.

So Pinky and I are talking about how hard the world is beyond finances, and we’re talking about how we’re just trying to make little pockets of community in the world, making that spot where people are feeling okay, if even only for a moment. And she’s built that and we get to be a part of it.

I try not to think about the actual numbers. We had the place packed. For a Thursday. We had a lot of people packed up front and WITH US. For a small bar. Perhaps the level of satisfaction is out of proportion to the actual number of Lives touched, but I feel like we touch them pretty deeply. At this moment, when ilyAIMY takes the stage, every single one of us could give you a “how I saved a Life” story, and that feels pretty good.

Yeah, being able to say that playing a little dive bar on the outskirts of Annapolis, MD, as the frost creeps back in in late February…. that feels pretty good.