PREVIEW: DCxPC Live Presents Rally in the Valley 2
04/11 & 04/12 @ Snapper Magee’s, Kingston
**This article originally appeared in our April 2026 print issue**
Photo of Lake Lanier by put.over.photo
“Studio albums can take months or years to record. A live album is that exact moment in time — that 25, maybe 30-minute set that maybe 100 people were at or maybe ten people were at. Even if it’s ten, it mattered to somebody.”
Scott Pasch, the founder of the DCxPC Live record label based in Kingston, came of age in Washington D.C. in the early 1990s. While he was a little too young for the heyday of Dischord Records, Minor Threat, or the emo pioneers Rites of Spring, Ian MacKaye’s follow-up band Fugazi was right in the Goldilocks zone for Pasch.
“The first show I ever went to was at the old 9:30 Club,” Pasch recalls.
Notice how Pasch was careful to call it “the old 9:30 Club.” Dude is an O.G. The place that now bears the name “9:30 Club” is a giant venue. The original was “a dank, crappy little place that was awesome.”
“I was a freshman in high school and, because it was an all-ages show, I was able to go,” Pasch continues. “I went to see The Meatmen and there were two bands opening that night. It was The Offspring and Pennywise.”
Pasch learned two things that night: one, always go see the opening bands. And two, the importance of accessibility and having shows to attend.
“I don’t know if I ever would have joined a band if I wasn’t able to go to so many shows,” Pasch admits.
That D.C. ethos of providing access to live music, coupled with Pasch’s past life as a social studies teacher, provides the backbone to the work he now does under the moniker “DCxPC Live.” As a business model, DCxPC is essentially split into two parts. The first is hosting and promoting live shows. The second part is recording those live performances and issuing them as live albums on vinyl.
The whole thing started almost by accident. Teaming up with his old bass player, who’s from Port Charlotte in Florida (Get it? DCxPC? Pasch is from DC, bass player is from… yeah, you got it!) Pasch started booking shows right before the pandemic, and slowly transitioned into livestreams out of necessity. The first one was in a studio, and as a result, they decided to record it and put it out on a 7” record. That prompted the shift into becoming a live-album-only record label.
“It’s kind of a unique niche. Because I’m a history teacher, I like the idea of documenting these moments. Studio albums can take months or years to record. A live album is that exact moment in time — that 25, maybe 30-minute set that maybe 100 people were at or maybe ten people were at. Even if it’s ten, it mattered to somebody.
“It’s not about me making a bunch of money and becoming the next BMI. It’s about documenting the scene, sort of like Dischord Records. I’m not documenting D.C., I’m documenting wherever I can find a great band and great people.”
Now, five years in, Pasch has released 55 records and worked with over 100 different bands, and it’s time to celebrate. DCxPC Live will be hosting Rally in the Valley Vol. 2 on Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12 at Snapper Magee’s in Kingston. The two-day takeover is an anniversary celebration for the label as well as Pasch’s 50th birthday. (He’s not a narcissist, it just so happens that he started the label right around his birthday, okay?)
This year’s Rally features a collection of bands that have worked with DCxPC in the past, as well as two bands that Pasch hopes to work with in the future, including performances from The Raging Nathans, Teenage Halloween and a Metroland favorite, The Snorts.
Doors are at 3 p.m.,music starts at 4 p.m. both days, and you damn well better believe the music is going to start at 4 because Pasch “puts the punk in punctuality.”
“I think people that go to shows deserve to have bands start on time and I think the last band deserves to go on when they were promised,” Pasch explains. “People will eventually learn that they’re going to miss the opening band if they don’t show up. I could be wrong, but after a year of doing these shows at Snapper Magee’s, it’s worked.”
One other thing: Don’t you dare call this thing a festival! Pasch didn’t put “festival” or “fest” in the title for a reason. Festivals take place over multiple days and include multiple venues or stages. This is just two back-to-back, really long shows.
“I just want to avoid calling it a festival before it really deserves that title,” Pasch clarifies.
He is a history teacher after all. Let’s make sure that we document these events correctly.
To purchase tickets to Rally in the Valley Vol. 2 ($10 for a one day pass, $20 for a two day pass) visit their website dcxpclive.com. You can thank the Rally’s lovely community sponsors (listed on the poster) for keeping those prices so low!