Capital Blues

Corey Wright

Originally from Southeast Missouri (just north of that place they call the Delta); Corey was introduced to the blues at an early age. Though recently Corey has currently pursuing a Masters of Medical Science in Anesthesiology his heart has never strayed from the music that propelled him through his childhood and out into the world. Corey has DJ'ed events all around the country from nationally known events to that house party in your friends basement that everyone was raving about; he has only one goal when he's in the DJ booth and that's to get you out on the dance floor and dancing until dawn.

Some of Corey's favorite DJ gigs have included: spinning (or pressing play as was actually the case) at Glen Echo's Back Room Blues and other DC Blues events such as Bambloozled and Red Hot Blues n BBQ, North Star Blues (Minneapolis), Blues Muse (Philadelphia), DCLX (Washington, DC), Bluesalicious (Memphis), Blues n Soul (Orlando), SOFLEX (South Florida), Poor Mans Blues (Tampa), CHEX (Charleston), Dirt Cheap Blues (Virginia Beach), and numerous others that were so much fun he had to purge them from his mind so he could get some studying done!

Julie Brown

Julie has DJed around the country at bluesSHOUT, Emerald City Blues Festival, Down Home Blues, Mile High Blues, BamBLOOZled, and more. She also DJs regularly in Boston, where she lives, dances, works, and occasionally sleeps. Julie's musical tastes span from the soulful to the sultry, the dirty to the demure, but always with a healthy dose of attitude.

Mike Legett

Mike's love of blues and jazz has been obsessive for some time, and once she started running a weekly blues dance out of her home in Atlanta in 2008, she committed herself to the art of DJing. She has since gone on to DJ sets around the country, from Austin to San Fransisco to Boston. She prides herself on providing a variety of styles and eras in each of her sets, and strives to create a sound that is both unique and inspiring; she also aspires to expose people to new music, and to challenge their dancing.

Duane Grover

One of the regular DJs for the DC area's weekly blues dance, Thursday Blues in the Back Room, Duane has also DJed for a number of national events over the past few years. However, there's really only one thing a dancer needs know about him:

"I like my blues like I like my scotch -- straight up."
...the other acceptable answer would be "a lot!"

Diana Schenck Chapin

A dancer and musician from a young age, Diana started swing dancing in 1993 and quickly fell in love with both Lindy hop and blues. Always interested in and excited by the songs she was dancing to, she began collecting music in earnest and started DJing in Baltimore in 2005. Since then, she’s been a DJ, instructor, and organizer for a myriad of Lindy and blues events in Baltimore, including Tuesday Blues, ChileSwing’s and Charm City Swing’s weekly dances, and Hi-De-Hon, as well as for events in neighboring scenes, like D.C.’s Back Room Blues and Red Hot Blues ‘n BBQ 2011. The founder of Nevermore Blues, Diana oversees blues events at the Mobtown Ballroom - she is the organizer behind the Baltimore Blues Summits and Swing, Soul, & Blues Parties, which bring together instructors, DJs, and dancers from up and down the East Coast.

As a DJ, Diana loves to create sets that have a great flow. She enjoys energizing and inspiring dancers, and thinks there’s nothing like playing a song that makes the dancers in the room light up. A DJ with eclectic tastes, she is a fan of many styles, but is especially fond of New Orleans jazz, saucy lyrics, and most anything with a killer horn section.

John Graner

John Graner began DJing in the Midwest almost eight years ago. He spent the next six years spinning tunes at swing and blues dances, weekend events, and house parties around Minneapolis, MN and Madison, WI. Having moved to the DC area two years ago, he's now dancing and DJing it up on the East Coast. When it comes to blues, he enjoys playing a range of music, from gritty electric to classy big band. But whatever the type of song, it's guaranteed to soothe the dancer's soul

Mike Marcotte

Spinning out of control from Washington D.C., Mike Marcotte began triple-stepping back in 1998. Raised with fond appreciation for music that extended past jazz, in high school he played cello and joined the jazz band playing piano. Improvisation did not come easy, but with encouragement and a good ear, anything seemed possible. Soon after learning the basics, Mike did what a lot of dancers do -- play their idea of good music, and by all accounts there was a lot of room for improvement.

Thanks to some breaks from Nancy at Zoot's back in the day, Rayned at k2, the organizers of every DCLX, and Donna and Craig with Virginia State Open there soon was no turning back. Collaborating with Glenn Scales and Jerry Almonte for several years at ALHC prepared him for the rewarding challenge of DJ Coordinator for ILHC and further collaboration with Allen Kerr.

Somewhere along the line, Mike developed interest for blues dancing and with his partner, who was also his first instructor, Donna Barker, helped foster the D.C. blues scene into what it is today. So, with all of these different events and tastes, Mike does his best to read the crowd and ride the collective wave of dancers on all around the floor. Looking back, Mike feels honored to be asked back to many events including ILHC, Lindy Focus, DCLX, Philly Lindy Love, Blues Muse, Pitt Stop, and many more.