|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
Archive for the ‘Contest’ Category
2013 Regional Finalists Announced! Final Deadline to Enter is September 15.
Wednesday, August 28th, 2013Lora Faye: Life After Winning A Song Contest
Friday, August 23rd, 2013Sonicbids recently caught up with 2012 NewSong Contest grand prize winner, Lora Faye, about what it’s like to win a songwriting competition. Lora Faye’s grand prize EP, “Waltzes”, was released on August 15 on our NewSong Recordings label. It was produced and mixed by Iestyn Polson (David Gray, Patti Smith) and recorded at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville.
To listen and order the new EP, click here.
Click here for the full interview with Sonicbids and find out a little more about the great opportunities associated with the 12th Annual Mountain Stage NewSong Contest.
Video Premiere: Lora Faye’s “All Night” on American Songwriter
Sunday, August 4th, 2013We are excited to let you know that Lora Faye‘s new video from the forthcoming EP ‘Waltzes’ was recently premiered by American Songwriter magazine on its website. The song, “All Night” was recorded live while shooting the video, which features Lora Faye and her New York based band.
‘Waltzes’, which was produced and mixed by Iestyn Polson (David Gray, Patti Smith)at Asheville, NC’s Echo Mountain Studios, was made as part of the grand prize awarded to Lora Faye for taking top honors in the 2012 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest.
The album will be released on NewSong Recordings on August 15, and you can now pre-order the EP and limited edition, signed posters, at PledgeMusic.
To watch the video, please click here.
David Berkeley’s Northeast run this weekend.
Thursday, July 25th, 2013
We’re happy to help spread the word about some upcoming David Berkeley shows in the Northeast. Tonight he plays Cambridge’s Club Passim in Harvard Square, and heads south to Philly and New York from there.
David is a 2010 standout finalist in the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, and recently performed (with the amazing Bill Titus accompanying on ethereal electric guitar) at our singer-songwriter series at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium in New York City. We’re currently mixing the entire set here at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, and look forward to letting you know about its upcoming release.
David’s dates this weekend:
Thursday, July 25 @ Club Passim in Cambridge, MA @ 8PM
Friday, July 26 @ Tin Angel in Philadelphia, PA @ 8PM
Saturday, July 27 @ Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 2) in New York, NY (Doors @ 6:30 )
For more info on David, click here
Mountain Stage NewSong Contest Regional Round Deadline – July 31st!
Wednesday, July 24th, 2013
The Regional Round deadline for this year’s Mountain Stage NewSong Contest is July 31. Ten (10) finalists will be chosen from each of the six regions. All sixty regional finalists will then participate in a ‘People’s Choice’ award – which last year drew votes from over 10,000 people for their favorite regional finalist.
Twelve finalists in this year’s overall contest will be invited to perform in the live performance finals on Saturday, October 19 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ David Rubenstein Atrium in New York City. There, a panel of music industry judges will select the 2013 grand prize winner, who will then receive a suite of career-advancing recording and performance opportunities that include:
– A fully-funded EP, produced and mixed by producer, musician and songwriter Charlie Sexton at Asheville, NC’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios
– An appearance on National Public Radio’s highly acclaimed Mountain Stage show
– His/Her own featured performance at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City during the 2014 season.
– A Sonus Musician’s Chair, custom made to the winner’s specs by Brian Boggs Chairmakers
– A fully-funded EP release PR/publicity campaign, courtesy of PledgeMusic
– A featured showcase spot at the 2014 Sundance ASCAP Music Café
– Cool new gear from Moog Music.
Additionally, ALL entrants will receive the following discounts, simply for entering:
• Oasis CD Manufacturing is offering a 5% discount off of any order
• Brian Boggs Chairmakers, makers of the Sonus Musician’s Chair, is offering a 15% discount
• Echo Mountain Studios is offering a 15% discount on studio time on their day rates
“This is a unique opportunity for artists to work with one of the top producers in the industry,” said Gar Ragland, director and co-founder of NewSong Music. “And, we’re also proud to continue our long relationship with Mountain Stage. For nearly 30 years, they’ve been showcasing some of the world’s best music performers and songwriters.”
NewSong is an independent music organization. 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.
For the third year in a row, NewSong contestants not only have the unique opportunity to perform at Mountain Stage, Lincoln Center and Sundance, but to work with an esteemed music producer to record and release a potentially career-busting project.
The 2010 grand prize winner Amber Rubarth won the opportunity to record Grammy winning producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones, Modest Mouse, Cold War Kids, Tom Waits). The 2011 winner Arthur Alligood worked with hit songwriter and producer Mikal Blue (Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat), and last year’s winner Lora-Faye recently finished recording her grand prize recording with producer and mixer Iestyn Polson (David Gray, Patti Smith, David Bowie).
“The things that are unique and special about the NewSong Contest is that it seemed to be connecting people and has community atmosphere,” said producer King. “It’s nice that there’s a network, and that the NewSong Contest is part of furthering that in the music community and among singer-songwriters.”
“The Mountain Stage NewSong Contest has brought a lot of exceptional talent to our attention,” said Larry Groce, Mountain Stage Host and Artistic Director. “And, it’s not only the winners – but many finalists have appeared on Mountain Stage over the years including Ingrid Michaelson, Diana Jones, Antje Duvekot and Meg Hutchinson. The fact that the contestants are judged by their songs as well as their performances equally makes it very appealing to us.”
The NewSong Contest is officially accepting submissions at https://newsong-music.com/contest. Submissions start at $35 per song, with discounts for multiple submissions and members of songwriting organizations. The contest features both a general and regional rounds, with an upcoming regional round submission deadline on July 31. The final deadline to submit to this year’s contest is September 15, 2013.
CHRIS VELAN CELEBRATES TODAY’S RELEASE OF ‘THE LONG GOODBYE’ WITH FULL ALBUM STREAM AND NEW VIDEO
Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013CHRIS VELAN’S NEW ALBUM THE LONG GOODBYE IS RELEASED TODAY ON NEWSONG RECORDINGS. IN CELEBRATION, THE FULL ALBUM IS AVAILABLE TO STREAM COURTESY OF CBC MUSIC AND THE NEW VIDEO FOR “HANG ON TIGHTLY” PREMIERES TODAY THANKS TO EXCLAIM!. NEW CANADIAN TOUR DATES TO COMMENCE IN AUGUST.
WATCH THE NEW VIDEO FOR “HANG ON TIGHTLY” HERE VIA EXCLAIM!
STREAM THE LONG GOODBYE HERE COURTESY OF CBC MUSIC
“compulsive and compelling” The Toronto Star
In celebration of the release of his new album, The Long Goodbye, Montreal singer-songwriter Chris Velan has teamed up with CBC Music to stream the whole album and with Exclaim! to premiere the new video for album track “Hang On Tightly”.
“This is definitely not a summer beach album”, jokes Velan. The Long Goodbye is a collection of songs that chart the emotional depths and shallows navigated in the aftermath of a relationship’s end. While he may have masked his inner struggles with the pop sensibilities of Solidago (2009) and Fables For Fighters (2011), here he surrenders fully to the beat of heartbreak.
The result is a stripped-down, achingly intimate recording of eight songs that carry the listener through Velan’s most poignant work to date. “I didn’t allow myself anything to hide behind on this album. I couldn’t see any other way to do it.” Velan even wrote two songs on piano – a first for him – and performed them live in the studio as a way to push him into new emotive and musical territory and out of his comfort zone.
Continuing to break new ground, the video for “Hang On Tightly” is first time Velan has experimented with shooting and editing. Filmed entirely on a GoPro throughout the course of one day and edited over the course of one night, Velan takes the audience along to explore comforting yet new territory, barefoot. Velan says, “It took at least a week for my feet to fully heal and for me to be able to walk without limping.”
WATCH THE NEW VIDEO FOR “HANG ON TIGHTLY” HERE
STREAM THE LONG GOODBYE HERE
You can purchase the album from iTunes or the NewSong Recordings Store
TOUR DATES
Aug 22 – Vancouver – Railway Club – w/opening guest, Jake McFadden
Aug 24 – Victoria – Canoe Brewpub – w/ opening guest Jake McFadden
Sept 1 – Powell River – Sunshine Music Festival
ARTIST WEBSITE: http://chrisvelan.com/
LABEL WEBSITE: http://www.newsongrecordings.com
print/radio/digital media – killbeat music
twitter.com/killbeat / soundcloud.com/killbeatmusic / facebook.com/killbeatmusic
Chris Velan, “The Long Goodbye” featured by CBC Music as one of 8 recommended Canadian albums to hear this month
Wednesday, July 17th, 2013
Returning with his fifth full-length album, The Long Goodbye, Montreal’s Chris Velan sheds the sunnier, reggae/pop-sprinkled sounds on his earlier releases and lets heartbreak take the wheel. As you can probably guess, the record chronicles the aftermath of a failed relationship – a lonesome theme that reflected in Velan’s recording efforts, as he often relied on just himself and his instrument to capture the core of each song. Only a few fellow musicians appear on the album’s eight tracks, which were recorded in a former Methodist church in North Carolina.
Velan also tries his hand at crafting two songs on the piano, a departure from his usual songwriting efforts, but one that provides a bare-bones kind of beauty heard on the LP’s title track. – Emma Godmere, CBC Music
Chris Velan’s The Long Goodbye is out July 23 via NewSong Recordings.
To view the full post from CBC Music click here
Arthur Alligood: Daytrotter session now live & music to be featured on USA Network’s ‘Graceland’
Wednesday, July 17th, 2013
July 17. Asheville, NC. 2011 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest grand prize winner Arthur Alligood’s Daytrotter set just went live yesterday, and his song ‘Bring My Heart Out’ will be featured on this Thursday’s episode of the new USA Network series ‘Graceland.’ The show airs at 10 PM Eastern/9 Central.
All in all, a good week for Arthur.
To hear his Daytrotter session, click here.
To learn more about Graceland, click here.
NewSong & Arts Brookfield Present: Grievous Angel – Tribute to Gram Parsons feat. Sarah White, Hartwell Littlejohn, Susan Kane, & Keith Everett
Wednesday, July 17th, 2013FREE (JULY 29-AUGUST 1): ALT-COUNTRY LEGEND GRAM PARSONS TO BE CELEBRATED IN FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES AT GRACE BUILDING
Marking 40 years since country-rock icon’s death, Arts Brookfield & NewSong Music present rising singer-songwriters
performing covers and Parsons-inspired songs
New York, NY (July 12, 2013) – The legacy of Gram Parsons, the iconic singer-songwriter credited with inventing the pop music genre of alt-country, will be celebrated in a free outdoor concert series at Brookfield Office Properties’ Grace Building from July 29th to August 1st.
From Monday, July 29th through Thursday, August 1st, four rising singer-songwriters will pay tribute to the influential musician, who died 40 years ago this year, by performing covers of their favorite songs from the Gram Parsons catalog as well as original material that reflects his influence. Presented by Arts Brookfield and NewSong Music, the concerts will take place at 12:30pm each afternoon.
In his brief lifetime, Gram Parsons invented a new genre of music by combining the sweet twang of country and western music with the urgency of rock and roll. A cult figure who never sold many records, he influenced countless fellow musicians, from the Rolling Stones to his frequent collaborator Emmylou Harris. Although he died in 1973 at the age of 26, Parsons created a prolific body of work as leader of the International Submarine Band and the Flying Burrito Brothers, a temporary member of the Byrds, and a solo artist, leaving a legacy that continues to influence new generations of musicians and songwriters.
“For forty years, Gram Parsons has inspired countless singer-songwriters to defy boundaries and bend genres,” said Debra Simon, Vice President and Artistic Director of Arts Brookfield. “We’re excited to partner with NewSong Music in showcasing the latest generation to draw on his soulful style while embracing his originality and integrity.”
The four performers in “Grievous Angel: The Songs Of Gram Parsons” include:
- Sarah White (July 29) – Sarah White, who started her career in the late 90s on the renowned Jagjaguwar label, erases the boundaries between indie rock, post-punk, country, and folk. The San Francisco Bay Guardian raved that her 2000 album Bluebird “ensures the singer-songwriter a place in the company of Cat Power’s Chan Marshall and Edith Frost,” while her 2006 album White Light has became a cult favorite for its unique blend of driving folk-rock and country ballads. In 2007, White won “Best Song” in the Mountain Stage New Song Contest for the austere “Sweetheart.” She currently fronts the rock band Josephine.
- Hartwell Littlejohn (July 30) – Raised in South Carolina and based in New York City, Hartwell Littlejohn’s influences range from Gram Parsons and The Band to Dave Brubeck and Guided By Voices. His bands have included The American Tenants and The Ex-Lovers, whose well-received This Might Kill Us was released in 2004. The NY Press described his solo work as “charged with an authenticity so conspicuously lacking in most of the New York ‘anti-folk’ scene.”
- Susan Kane (July 31) – Susan Kane is a New York-based singer-songwriter who released her third CD, A Word Child, late last year. Addressing timeless and universal themes of love, loss, and hope, the record reached high rankings on radio charts all over the world. Kane is a regular fixture at venues and festivals throughout the New York area.
- Keith Everett & the Orange Morris (August 1) – The music of Keith Everett & the Orange Morris draws on jazz, country, blues, rock, and pop, culminating in solid Americana. Notable accomplishments include: finalist in Starbucks Music Makers Competition; songs licensed to television and film productions; and selection by the John Lennon Songwriting Contest to play NAMM in Austin, TX.
About Arts Brookfield
Arts Brookfield is a free, year-round, privately funded performing and visual arts program that takes place in Brookfield’s flagship properties around the globe. More than 5 million people have enjoyed over 5,000 dance, music, theater, visual art, and film events presented by Arts Brookfield since 1988.
Brookfield Office Properties owns, develops and manages premier office properties in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Its portfolio is comprised of interests in 109 properties totaling 81 million square feet in the downtown cores of New York, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, London, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, making Brookfield the global leader in the ownership and management of office assets. Landmark properties include Brookfield Places in Manhattan, Toronto and Perth, Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles, Bankers Hall in Calgary and Darling Park in Sydney.
About NewSong Music
NewSong Music is an independent music organization with the following two-fold mission: to build a supportive community of performers and songwriters across all genres of music and levels of skill, and to identify the truly exceptional artists within this community and to work closely with them to develop their careers and introduce their music to a broader, international audience. You can find out more about NewSong Music at www.newsong-music.com.
For information contact:
Patrick Kowalczyk, patrick@pkpr.com
Jason Gordon, jason@pkpr.com
PKPR, 212.627.8098
Event Listing: http://www.artsbrookfield.com/new_york/grace_building/event_422.htm
Download photos at: http://imgur.com/a/G1qI4
NewSong Presents: Lora-Faye with Parker Smith and Bandwith @ Isis Restaurant and Music Hall
Friday, June 21st, 2013Thursday, June 27th
Isis Restaurant and Music Hall
743 Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC 28806
(828) 575-2737
www.isisasheville.com
$5 at door. General Admission.
Doors 5pm, Show 8pm, 828-575-2737 (for reservations)
Seated concert with limited tables available with dinner reservations. There is also theater style & balcony seating and standing available on a first come first serve basis.
Tickets Available at:
http://isisasheville.com/
Lora-Faye was the grand prize winner of the 2012 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest. Her forthcoming album, Waltzes, was recorded in Asheville at Echo Mountain Recording Studios. The album was produced by Iestyn Polson who has worked with David Gray and Patti Smith among others.
Lora-Faye is a singer and multi-instrumentalist with a deep understanding of the power of the strange and the idiosyncratic in American rock and folk traditions. With songs that run completely on raw and untethered emotion while retaining an intellectual and political bent, Lora-Faye draws from such disparate sources as Gillian Welch and Jeff
Buckley, Etta James and Anais Mitchell, Harry Smith and Andy Warhol.
In 2012 alone, Lora-Faye’s songwriting won her such accolades as the Grand Prize Award at The Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, Hudson Valley Songfest’s “Best New Artist,” and a winning slot at The New Jersey Folk Festival’s Songwriting Competition. Lora-Faye performs her energetic live show with a constantly evolving band of New Yorkers: a rotating cast of jazz musicians, untrained folkies, opera singers, and everything in between.
Parker Smith and Bandwith. This is a great young band out of Atlanta. They’re a southern rock band in an essential way, though their songs run the gamut from sprawling, fast-paced jams to tight, quiet ballads. Smith’s lyrics, backed by tight guitar and mandolin playing, are poignant and full of yearning: for a cleaner life, a distant woman, fresh ground. It’s honest, heartfelt music that—without taking itself too seriously—contemplates the space between who we are and what we want to be.
