January 26th, 2023
Big news from the NewSong community! Jobi Riccio, the 2019 NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition Grand Prize winner has signed with Yep Roc Records and is releasing her single “For Me It’s You” today.
Riccio – along with seven other finalists – was selected from nearly 800 entries to the 2019 contest. The finalists performed at Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC on Saturday, November 23, in front of a sold-out crowd. Riccio, a Denver, CO native and — at the time — Berklee College of Music student, impressed judges and audience members with her magnetic stage presence, faultless vocals and songwriting inspired by artists ranging from Buck Owens to Joni Mitchell. She had recently released her Strawberry Wine EP.
Read more about Riccio’s NewSong win here.
Riccio performing in the NewSong Music finals at Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC in 2019.
The Grand Prize package included a performance showcase at the esteemed 2020 Sundance ASCAP Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; a featured performance in the 2020 Arts Brookfield ‘Summer Plaza’ series in New York City; and a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Citizen Studios.
Instead of releasing Riccio’s album on the bespoke NewSong Recordings label, NewSong Music founder Gar Ragland worked with Riccio to connect with and sign to Yep Roc Records. That partnership was announced today.
“I’m excited to have found such an enthusiastic and eclectic home for my music in Yep Roc,” Riccio says in a press release. “From Aoife O’Donovan to The Felice Brothers to Watchouse, their roster has hosted some of my favorite acts in Americana, Indie Rock and beyond. It’s truly an honor to be among their ranks.”
“Riccio writes songs that meld classic country sounds with modern sensibilities, upending genre tropes in the process,” Yep Roc says. “Last year, the Berklee College of Music alumn performed official showcases at Americanafest and Queerfest in Nashville, where she is an active member of the burgeoning queer country scene, and earned praise for her ‘tender vocals’ and ‘classic-country twang’ (The Nashville Scene). This year, Riccio is looking forward to releasing new music with Yep Roc and playing shows throughout the United States.”
“For Me It’s You,” is a pedal steel-infused ballad about the beauty in unrequited love. Written and co-produced by Riccio and performed with Mike Robinson (guitar), Josie Toney (fiddle), Bradley Morse (upright bass), and Jesse Timm (drums), the single spotlights Riccio’s clever lyrics and raw candor as she navigates the complicated transition into adulthood with remarkable grace and honesty.
The song was co-produced and engineered by Gar Ragland. It was recorded and mixed at Citizen Studios, the recording studio at Citizen Vinyl in Asheville, NC
Now based in Nashville, Riccio keeps in touch with NewSong Music. Last spring, she toured with 2022 LEAF / NewSong Competition winner Sadie Gustafson-Zook. For early 2023, Riccio has announced a string of dates:
1/26/23: SINGLE RELEASE SHOW @ The Basement // Nashville, TN
2/2/23: Folk Alliance Official Showcase (Brookside Room) // Kansas City, MO
2/10/23: WMOT’s Finally Friday @ 3rd & Lindsley // Nashville, TN
2/17/23: Club Passim // Boston, MA
2/18/23: Baby’s First Rodeo Queer Country Night // Philadelphia, PA
2/19/23: Lic Bar // Queens, NY
3/24/23: Crystal Ballroom // Somerville, MA*
4/1/23: World Cafe Live // Philadelphia, PA*
*Supporting Mark Erelli
