4 September 2012. Winston-Salem, NC
MEDIA RELEASE –
The Hanesbrands Theatre at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts is proud to again partner with Brooklyn, NYC based NewSong Music to present another season of a series that features new emerging music artists.
The series showcases some of the most talented emerging performing songwriters from across North America.
2011-12 performers included The Sweater Set, Arthur Alligood, Farewell Milwaukee, and The Honey Dewdrops.
This year’s performers announced to date include: Raleigh, NC resident and Mountain Stage NewSong Music Contest General Round Winner Roger Gupton, (Friday, September 21), Western Carolina native and folk roots phenomenon Malcolm Holcombe (Saturday, December 15), and Amy Speace (Saturday, January 19), a protegé of Joan Baez and Judy Collins.
All shows begin at 8:00 PM.
NewSong Music is an independent music organization based in Brooklyn, New York. Its mission is to build a supportive community of performers and songwriters across all genres of music and levels of skill, while identifying truly exceptional artists within this community and introducing their music to a broader, international audience. The standout talent NewSong works with is discovered primarily through the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performing songwriters.
Each year, the grand-prize winner of the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest receives a performance on an international broadcast of NPR’s Mountain Stage show, as well as a recording project produced by one of the premier producers in the music industry. The project is then released and distributed on the NewSong Recordings label. The 2010 winner Amber Rubarth’s prize-winning album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones, Tom Waits) and 2011 NewSong Contest grand prize winner Arthur Alligood hit the studio this past winter with award winning producer Mikal Blue and renowned musicians Jim Keltner (John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan), bassist Leland Sklar (James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne) and guitarist Michael Ward (Ben Harper, the Wallflowers).
To learn more about this year’s contest and to submit (the deadline is September 15), please visit mountainstagenewsongcontest.com.
NewSong also holds showcases at various locations across the country. These concert productions feature the cream-of-the-crop of our NewSong alumni, including former contest winners and label artists. Recent series include the NewSong Series @ Bryant Park (NYC), the Summer Plaza Series presented by the Arts World Financial Center (NYC), and the NewSong Emerging Artist Series @ Lincoln Center in the David Rubenstein Atrium (NYC).
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Friday, September 21 @ 8 PM / $15 Vimeo Video of Roger Gupton’s song See Through You performed July 2011 at the Pour House in Raleigh, NC: Click here to purchase tickets. ——————————————————- |
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Saturday, December 15 @ 8 PM / $15 Malcolm’s 2011 CD, To Drink the Rain, came in at #5 on the Roots Music Report for Top 100 most played folk albums of 2011! YouTube Video of Malcolm Holcombes song Down in the Woods from his 2011 release To Drink the Rain performed at the Music Fog ranch house during the 2011 Cherokee Music Festival in Texas. ——————————————————- |
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Saturday, January 19 @ 8 PM / $15 New Song Music Emerging Artist Showcase www.newsong-music.com Amy Speace “Amy Speace sounds uncannily like a 21st Century Joan Baez, her timbred voice full of genuine emotions…the record soars with salient vocals and poetic lyrics,” writes The Classic Rock Examiner in its review of Nashville singer-songwriter Amy Speace’s third album, Land Like A Bird(Thirty Tigers). After releasing two well-received albums on Judy Collins’ Wildflower Records, Bird is Speace’s first record since migrating south from her longtime home in the NYC area. Amy Speace’s path to songwriting may not have been a straight line, but like many journeys, has been better for the winding way. Born in Baltimore, Amy grew up the oldest of 4, moving homes and states every few years, learning early about comings and goings, and finding solace in music very early. After graduating from Amherst College, she moved to Manhattan to study acting, toured with The National Shakespeare Company for a few years until a bad breakup and a $50 pawn shop guitar sparked a late-blooming songwriting burst. An appearance at an open mic led to a regular gig at The Bitter End, which led to an independent release of her first songs and in 2005, a chance encounter with Judy Collins’ manager changed her life. Judy Collins signed Amy to her own Wildflower Records label in 2006, releasing Songs for Bright Street. The Killer In Me followed in 2009, with a rare duo appearance by Ian “Mott the Hoople” Hunter, who brought her to the UK for his Acoustic Tour. USA Today called her “a rising star”, NPR named the title track from Killer “Song of the Day” and wrote “her velvety, achy voice recalls an early Lucinda Williams.” In 2010, John Platt of NYC’s premiere AAA radio station WFUV named Amy’s song “The Weight of the World” in the Top 5 of his list of the “Best Folk Songs of the Decade,” a song that Judy Collins herself would record and call “one of the best political folk songs I’ve ever heard”. In 2009, Amy shifted landscapes, moved south to Nashville, and beginning the writing of her latest album Land Like A Bird. Produced by Neilson Hubbard, it features guest vocals by Kim Richey and is already receiving the best reviews of Amy’s career. “Amy Speace is the perfect torchbearer for the unconscious cool of true Americana” (Houston Press). Amy will also be seen in the upcoming documentary “Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story”. Vimeo Video for Amy Speace song ‘Weight of the World’ from her 2010 EP Into the New |
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Richard Emmett
Chief Operating Officer
Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County
305 W. Fourth Street – Suite 1-C
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
# 336-722-2585 x 1111
remmett@intothearts.org
Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts
Hanesbrands Theatre
