Join this video game music jam on Saturday

Good morning, DMV! It’s Thursday, Sept. 17.

A few weeks ago, I called Shepherd Park library in D.C. because I wanted to work on their portion of the 40,320-piece puzzle. Alas, the librarian told me, it had already been picked up to be transported to MLK library for the grand finale of this summer’s community puzzle challenge. Bummer. I hung up.

Then a few minutes later, she called me back to pitch me another event at the Shepherd Park library: the DC Video Game Music Jam this Saturday.

I love quirky events, so I called Ashanti Mills, one of the group’s many organizers, to learn more.

“They are jam sessions where we play music from video games,” Ashanti, 33, told me on a call. “All of us or most of us were volunteering at an annual music festival called MAGFest. We started this because some people said we wish we could do this more than once a year.”

MAGFest — short for “Music And Gaming Festival” — is a 24-hour-a-day, four-day event dedicated to video game music, gaming and the gaming community. The next one is Jan. 7-10 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Video game jams have been organized in other cities, Ashanti told me: “It had been done in New York City, in Durham, in San Francisco … so it was like, let’s give D.C. a shot.”

The D.C. group launched in 2024. It’s a collaborative effort, he said, with a core group, but all are welcome. They’ve played at venues across the DMV and in Baltimore, with about 20 musicians on average. They have a drum kit, keyboard and amps for bass and guitar; and people bring their their own instruments, including a Chinese stringed instrument called an erhu. Ashanti, who performs with local band Strangers That Clique and is department head at MAGFest’s Jam Clinic, plays saxophone and flute.

He sent me examples of the songs they play, such as “Dragon Roost Island” from “The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.”

“Die House” from “Cuphead.”

And “Steam Gardens” from “Super Mario Odyssey.”

“There are so many video game experiences that are online, and this just tries to build community with people physically near you,” Ashanti told me.

Bring your instrument to jam with them or just go check them out Saturday noon to 3 p.m. at Shepherd Park (Juanita E. Thornton) Neighborhood Library.

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Francine Olszewski sent in this above photo she took last week at her home in Boonsboro, Maryland, and another here below that she captured the next day.

Share your photos of wonder, awe and life in the DMV here. And in case you missed the link above, check out the winners of the Maryland Natural Resource Photo Contest.

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