September 22nd, 2019
There are so many talented artists who are part of the NewSong family — it can sometimes be difficult to keep up. That’s why each week, we compile a list of new releases, shows, and videos from past NewSong artists who we think deserve your attention.
And don’t forget! Your last chance to submit your original music to this year’s competition is Oct. 6. Get the full details on the event here. Submit your original music here.
Max Hatt / Edda Glass, NewSong Grand Prize Winners in 2014, are playing shows from coast to coast this year. Upcoming shows include venues in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington, Idaho, and California. “We’re playing at some super lovely theaters and performing arts centers, including The University of Vermont in Burlington, all the way west to Edmonds Center for the Arts in Washington state,” say the duo, whose jazz americana music has been described as “subtly poignant, elegantly funky, and haunting without trying to be” by Nels Cline of Wilco.
Click here for a full list of tour dates.
2017 NewSong Grand Prize Winner Crys Matthews will release her newest album, These Old Hands, on October 11, National Coming Out Day. The grand prize album was recorded at Asheville’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios with producer Gar Ragland. The result is what Matthews describes as a “breakup album,” featuring some of the most vulnerable tracks she’s ever written.
“’I know you’ll miss these hands and what these old hands can do’ is a lyric from the title track,” says Matthews. “I write songs with these hands, I make music with these hands, I build and break things with them, I comfort loved ones with them. My hands are very much a source of strength and power for me.”
Learn more about Crys Matthews here.
Ben Lubeck, 2010 NewSong finalist and member of the band Farewell Milwaukee, released a solo album this week titled For You Again.
Via Lubeck: “For You Again explores the depth of family dynamics — a topic very near to my heart. For as long as I can remember my wife has always said that our relationship is the core of our family. That our love for our kids should be an extension of that relationship and if we don’t continue to cultivate our love for each other it can impact the way our girls grow up and how they view relationships as they get older. That sentiment is the backbone of this record and the songs weave in and out of that idea.”
Lubeck will perform an album release show at the Parkway Theatre in Minneapolis on Saturday, September 28th. To listen to and purchase For You Again, click here.
Eleven years after her debut solo album, Washington, D.C.-based songwriter Maureen Andary returned to the studio to record “Big Girl Pants.” Andary is a multi-instrumentalist, blending her stellar vocal harmonies with guitar, ukulele and flute on the recordings. Her new songs range from lighthearted tunes about marriage to heavier subjects, like loss and grief.
“It’s called Big Girl Pants because I feel like that’s a kind of brusque euphemism for grow up,” says Andary. “Every day I have new challenges, and I have to pause and think: what is the adult way to deal with this, rather than just reacting. It’s really about pausing, being intentional, and grappling with challenges like mortality, parenting, marriage.” Read our full Q&A with Andary on the blog.
For the second year in a row, the live performance finals of the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition will be held in Asheville, North Carolina at Isis Music Hall. Eight finalists – selected from advance online submissions from across North America and beyond – will come to Asheville to perform, compete and network with one another in the live showcase and competition finals at Isis Music Hall in Asheville on Saturday, November 23.
The grand prize winner will also receive will receive a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Asheville own Echo Mountain Recording Studios and released on the NewSong Recordings label. The winner will also receive a performance showcase at the esteemed 2020 Sundance ASCAP Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival (January 23 – February 2, 2020) in Park City, Utah and a featured performance in the 2020 Arts Brookfield ‘Summer Plaza’ series in New York City. All finalists will be strongly considered for future ‘NewSong Presents’ paid performances across the United States.
Get the full details on the event here. Submit your original music here.
