The Connection

Some jam classic rock on stage while others will play Taylor Swift or Maroon 5, competing against each other in the upcoming Braddock District battle of the bands later this month.

Although this is a super local thing with a limited audience, the Braddock District Battle of the Bands competition turned out to be more than just a local thing in 2017 for Caroline Weinroth and the Cinema Hearts Band. The Cinema Hearts Band didn’t even win that year, but it gave them a start, and nine years later, they’re still rocking with mentions in Rolling Stone magazine, a place on the South by Southwest tour and opening acts for bigger named bands. “I think it’s great they offer that opportunity,” said Weinroth, who grew up in Fairfax Station. When she’s not touring, she teaches music locally.

Braddock District Supervisor Rachna Sizemore Heizer (D) is carrying on the musical tradition, supporting the arts in any way that she can. She spent the month of July drumming up support for this musical event by reaching out to musicians via social media and posting flyers at local restaurants like Bunnyman Brewing, Fats Fairfax and Mackenzies. Although she isn’t a musician, her son Jake Sizemore has been involved in music for most of his life, through School of Rock, Fairfax County Public Schools, and his own bands. He recently graduated from the Berklee College of Music, recording and releasing his own original music. Through her son’s passion, the Supervisor has become very familiar with the world of music and the performing arts, believing the arts are core to the human experience, and that musicians and performers are trained professionals and should be compensated as such. Uplifting local musicians as the professionals they are is a priority for the Supervisor.

Battle of the Bands events in the Braddock District are not new. In 2017, then-Supervisor John Cook held a band competition at Royal Lake in the Fairfax area of the district. Over 300 people attended and many made an evening picnic out of it, courtesy of a few food trucks Cook invited to the event.

Cinema Hearts was part of the battle of the bands in 2017 and now they've gone on musically led by Caroline Weinroth, a former Miss America contender. They’ve traveled to shows in Texas, Canada, Nashville, NYC, Richmond and Baltimore.

Some of the battle of the bands elements stuck with Weinroth. She met her band members while attending George Mason University where she studied theater and creative writing. While she was a student, she worked at the Cinema Arts Theater, which later became the name for the band. She teaches music and works with some of the students in their monthly film club.

A fish eye look at Caroline Weinroth and the Cinema Hearts Band. Photo by Alec Pugliese