THE MISSION

Turn a roomful of guests into a Ball.

I'm Jason Paul Curtis, vocalist and founder of DC Martini.

Etta James said it best - "Two things you can't fake are good food and good music."

Valentine's Day, 2019, I took my brilliant wife to one of our favorite bed and breakfasts in rural Northern Virginia. I'd performed several weddings and even provided the entertainment once for Hilton International there but I had never experienced dinner personally in their famous dining room.

Valentine's Day, 2019, I took my brilliant wife to one of our favorite bed and breakfasts in rural Northern Virginia.

It was a gorgeous restored manor house built in the 1920s. The dining room was exposed stone, vaulted ceiling up past the second story with exquisite lighting and a large, open fireplace.

Valentine's night was pre-fix menu with a limited guest list, and I paid $368 for at table for 2, which included champagne, 3 courses, dessert brought by the chef, black tie service, and live music. I'd made the reservation in December. We'd been excited all week about the kind of the live music they'd have during dinner. We pictured a cozy jazz ensemble playing standards with breathy singer, filling the whole place with romance.

My wife and I arrived dressed impeccably and were immediately shown to our table. The entire room was couples. I looked around to see where the band was set up. In the corner, I saw a single plastic chair with a music stand, and in walked a single violin player dressed in black casual. He placed his iPad on the stand and proceeded to play - solo - for two hours.

I looked around to see where the band was set up.

I tried to keep it together, but the look on my wife's face said it all. The sound completely overwhelmed the room, and had it been a pleasant sound, I might not be telling you this story. It was not a pleasant sound. And it didn't stop the entire time we were there. We could not hear ourselves talking.

We finished our meal as quickly as we could and waked to the car. It was a long drive back.

The next morning, I woke up to two epiphanies.

The first was remembering what I'd heard many times: The event will fail because they waited until the end to hire the music.

The second was this. I never wanted what happened to us that night to happen to anyone, ever again. I decided right there I would create a musical experience that would elevate any black-tie event to the level of romantic, magical and unforgettable.

i hope you understand how seriously we take making your event sound simply delicious.

And so in 2020, I started what would eventually become DC Martini. And in 2022, I returned with DC Martini to that same old manor, now with a voluminous new ballroom addition to perform dinner for one of the most elegant wedding receptions I have ever seen, and I'm proud to say we received a standing ovation.

So I hope you understand where I'm coming from, and how seriously we take making your event sound simply delicious.

—Jason