Sunday, May 27, 2007

Deaf Dog and the Indictments, the band of D.C. judges who got their start a couple of years ago at a court talent show in Western Maryland, are moving up in the musical world.

Next month, the Motown-inspired group of seven Superior Court judges and their psychologist-drummer will make its Kennedy Center debut, giving a Father's Day performance on the Millennium Stage.

Created in 1997, the Millennium Stage offers free performances daily. Over the years, thousands of artists from across the country and around the world have performed there.

But this will be a first for one of the most popular programs in one of the country's most prestigious performing arts centers.

"As far as I know, in the history of the Millennium Stage, we've never had a group like this," said Erin Dowdy, who has been at Millennium Stage for five years.

"We're very excited."

And so is the band. The June 17 show will be the biggest gig yet for Deaf Dog and the Indictments. So the members have been adding more rehearsals and have a couple of warm-ups scheduled in coming weeks.

On June 2, they'll entertain at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northwest Washington, and June 8, they will return to the D.C. lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, where they were a hit last spring among a crowd of prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges.

"This is kind of a crazy run, three weekends in a row," bass guitarist John "Trash Can" Campbell said Friday, sounding every bit like a road-weary rock star.

And they're not resting on their early accolades and attention, which included a spot on CNN and a story in this newspaper.

They've added "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," by the Temptations, and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," by Marvin Gaye, to a playlist that included "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett and "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis.

So far, the group appears to be avoiding the sort of artistic squabbling that can break up a band.

"The only tension," said founder Russ "Top Dog" Canan, "is whether we're going to have two Wilson Pickett songs or just one. We decided to have two."

-- Henri E. Cauvin