MONDAY, APRIL 6
MUSIC: South African native Gregory Alan Isakov’s silky song “Amsterdam” is exactly the kind of thing you may want to hear on a Monday night. And that works out great this week, since Isakov will be playing at 9:30 Club with Jolie Holland, who sounds a bit like Joss Stone. $25, 7 PM.
BOOKS: In Torn Together, husband-and-wife team Shaaren Pine and Scott Magnuson tell two sides of a single tale. The first involves Magnuson’s struggle with addiction; the second centers around the couple’s H Street restaurant, the Argonaut, which closed after a fire five years ago, then reopened in 2011. The duo will be at Busboys and Poets in Brookland discussing the book. 6:30 PM.
EAT: The Washington Nationals season opens today, which means you’ve just been given a great excuse to drink lots of beers and eat many, many hot dogs. Check out this list of specials from restaurants and bars in the area for ideas on how to celebrate the occasion.
TUESDAY, APRIL 7
BOOKS: Robin Givhan, the Post’s Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic, will be at Busboys and Poets in Takoma, talking about her first book, the Battle of Versailles. If you’re lucky, André Leon Talley might make an appearance. 6:30 PM.
DANCE: Watch the New York City Ballet at the Kennedy Center this week, between April 7 and 12. The dance company will perform two programs: Balanchine ballets, as well as choreographies by Peck, Martins, among others. On Tuesday, stick around after the show for a free post-performance discussion with principal dancers Ashley Bouder and Adrian Danchig-Waring. $25 to $109. 7:30 PM.
MUSIC: Matthew E. White‘s sound is rooted in the work of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, but really this Richmond singer is his very own man. White, a jazz studies grad with a long brown hair and a bushy beard, will be at the Rock & Roll Hotel at 8 PM. $14.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8
EAT: Yes, National Empanada Day is a thing, and it’s happening on Wednesday. Celebrate the holiday at Cuba Libre Restaurant with a special happy hour from 5 to 7 PM, featuring $1 empanadas and $5 caipirinhas. Rural Society is also getting in the empanada spirit. The restaurant, located inside the Loews Madison Hotel, will offer $5 empanadas and $3 Quilmes beer from 11:30 AM to 6:30 PM.
BOOKS: If you’re into economics, stop by Busboys and Poets Takoma for a conversation with David Graeber, the London School of Economics professor credited with coining the phrase “We are the 99 percent” during the Occupy movement. Graeber will be chatting about his book The Utopia of Rules at 6:30 PM. Over in Petworth, Ian Millhiser will read from his book Injustices: The Supreme Court’s History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted at Upshur Street Books at 7 PM.
