Musicians raised their voices in song to raise money for education Saturday afternoon at the Iota Cafe, which hosted a special concert for the Dave Daly Scholarship Fund.
Four performers from up and down the East Coast took the stage for the charity, a fund that grants money to students who show promise in the fields of math, science and language arts.
Eric Brace entertained concert-goers with his twangy bluegrass guitar along with Philadelphia-based artist Julia Othmer's sultry piano tunes.
"It was such a thrill to get a chance to play the Iota and for such a good cause," Othmer said shortly after her set. "So you might say this was a double-good time for me."
THE SCHOLARSHIP FUND honors the memory of Dave Daly, an electrical engineer for the Food and Drug Administration who died of a heart-attack while playing basketball in 2002.
"After the shock of his death subsided, we thought the best way to remember him would be to do something good in his memory," said his son, Skip Daly, who organized the concert.
The fund grants money it raises to two eighth graders each year. Saturday's concert raised an estimated $1,000. Along with the show, Daly also organizes a golf tournament that raised more than $10,000 last year.
The scholarship is a fitting tribute to his father, said Daly.
"Education was important to him," he said. "My mother was an elementary school teacher and when my brother and I were growing up, he used to tutor kids to help her out and he also coached our sports teams. It was important to him in a very real sense."
DALY IS NOW the co-founder of BOS Music, an independent record label based in Bethesda, Md. The connections he has formed with up and coming artists have helped him put on the benefit each year.
"We wanted this to be a showcase not just for local talent but also for performers from other areas that we wanted to bring to the Iota," Daly said. "This is one of the premiere venues on the East Coast for aspiring musicians."
Guitarist Amy Speace rocked out with songs from her latest album "Why Not Wyoming." Speace, who holds the unusual distinction of being the author of Wyoming's state song, is a regular part of the "Critics Pick" segment in New York City's "Village Voice."
"Some people wonder why a girl from Jersey City is writing about Wyoming," she said. "But then, some people think it's cool."
Steve Yutzy-Burkey, frontman for Philadelphia's indie-pop quartet "One Star Hotel" played a selection of his evocative guitar melodies. The release of One Star's second album in four years, "Good Morning West Gordon" is set for Nov. 23.
"I was really happy to come down here and help out," said Yutzy-Burkey. "It's a really good cause, raising money for something can really benefit a student's future."
In the audience, Arlingtonian Magan McCall said the show was an easy way to help a good cause.
"It's just fun, to come down here on a Saturday and listen to some music, drink some beer and, in the process, you're doing your part to further some young person's education," she said. "And there's also just the fact that this is a great place to hold it. The Iota is like a landmark in Arlington for music."