We love to keep up with our past NewSong Music Contest finalists and winners, and, over the years, we have amassed a busy and hardworking group of musicians we admire.
NewSong songwriters live and perform across the continent and beyond, their work spans multiple genres, and these artists are always putting out new material. To keep track of all their news and upcoming shows, we will be highlighting NewSong artists in our weekly roundup.
We’ve put together a list of five shows, publications and recordings we think you should be paying attention to this week. The deadline for the 2018 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition is in less than a week! You have until Sunday, Nov. 4 to submit your original music.
We’re including our Nov. 4 submission deadline first in the lineup because you have less than a week (!) to submit. Now in its 17th year, the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition is one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performers and songwriters across an array of genres.The final deadline to enter this year’s competition is Sunday, November 4.
To learn more and submit, click here.
Beth Snapp continues to perform in support of her recent EP release, Don’t Apologize. This week, you can catch her at Model City Tap House in Kingsport, TN on Saturday, Nov. 3. “To me, this EP is a continuation of a journey,” says Snapp. “My second project was largely an account of just coming out of a storm. I had survived, I knew things were going to get better, but there was some healing and processing to be done. As time passed, and I did the work to heal, I emerged into a new place. I realized that surviving the storm wasn’t enough. I realized I was put on this Earth to do more than survive.”
For more information about the show, visit the Facebook event page. Listen to Beth Snapp on Spotify.
In honor of Max Hatt / Edda Glass recording a new album in Seattle this month, we would like to spotlight the Jazz-Americana duo’s previous album, Ocean of Birds. As grand prize winners of the international NewSong performance and songwriting competition, the duo’s prize included the recording of this album in April 2015 at Asheville, NC’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios.
”I was mesmerized from the first moment I heard them,” says album producer Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) of their cinematic sound. “They have the ability to create a deep sonic landscape with only voice and guitar, with songs that posses a mysterious and soulful magic.”
Purchase Ocean of Birds on Bandcamp. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Chris Velan will play a show at Petit Campus in Montreal on Thursday Nov. 1 for the launch of his latest album, Amateur Hour. A single off the album, “All Time Record” charted on CBC Radio’s top 30 songs of the week in September, and the record has been met with praise from critics. A reviewer from Exclaim! writes, “Amateur Hour gleams with thoughtful and crisp writing and explorative musical shifts.”
Buy tickets here. Listen to Amateur Hour on Spotify.