Time to Improvise

Left: Boat Burning playing a house show at Rhizome D.C. in 2016. Right: Blues Alley is one of the District’s most prized institutions. When the pandemic hit, the storied jazz venue had to think creatively — so it left its longtime home for a series of events livestreamed from the National Press Club. “Every business that’s been closed for a year has to think about building their business from scratch,” says owner Harry Schnipper.