|
|
|
Archive for the ‘NewSong Music’ Category
Wilder Adkins pays tribute to mothers everywhere with new single
Thursday, May 7th, 2020
Mel Bryant releases new video for single, “Memphis”
Tuesday, April 21st, 2020Nashville-based songwriter and past NewSong winner Mel Bryant continues to treat fans to new music, and we eagerly await each new release! Follow Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers on YouTube for a new video every week.
To learn more about Mel Bryant and her upcoming album release on NewSong Recordings, read our Q&A with the artist here.
2020 LEAF Competition Live Performance Finals to take place Fall 2020
Saturday, March 21st, 2020The 2020 LEAF Singer-Songwriter Competition Live Performance Finals has been postponed until
October 24, 2020.
In the interest of public health, the Spring 2020 LEAF Festival has been postponed. We support our friends at LEAF in this very difficult but necessary decision.
This year’s NewSong – LEAF Competition will continue as planned, EXCEPT this year’s live performance showcase and competition finals will take place at the Fall LEAF 2020 Festival.
We are keeping submission pricing at the discounted ‘Early Bird’ rates throughout the submission period, and have extended the submission deadline for two additional weeks.
Stay healthy, music lovers, and we hope to see you in the fall!
From LEAF:
“During this unprecedented world phenomenon, LEAF Global Arts is drawing upon the beauty and healing power of 25 years of hosting a world gathering built on friends, family, tradition, arts, culture and MUSIC to face the gravity of how we move forward together. … The Spring LEAF Festival, originally scheduled for May 14-17, 2020 is officially shifting to combine with our Fall Festival taking place Oct 22-25, 2020 – for a special 50th Festival Celebration honoring all we hold dear about our Global Community.” Read the full statement here.
IMPORTANT DATES
Monday, May 4: Final deadline to enter
Monday, June 1: 2020 LEAF Finalists Announced
Saturday, October 24: LIVE PERFORMANCE FINALS to take place at the Fall LEAF Festival; Black Mountain, NC (near Asheville, held Thursday Oct. 22 – Sunday Oct 25, 2020).
Submit your songs safely and securely online at newsong-music.com. A portion of the contest proceeds will support LEAF Schools & Streets’ local cultural arts education programming.
With a mission to identify and celebrate exceptional performers and songwriters from across North America, the competition aims to bring some of the continent’s most accomplished emerging artists to showcase and compete at the 50th LEAF Festival. The LEAF winner will also earn a spot as one of only eight finalists in the 2020 annual, international NewSong Competition held in Asheville, NC.
COST TO ENTER
1 song: $35
2 songs: $60
Additional Songs: $20/each
The 7th Annual NewSong LEAF Competition is now accepting entries
Friday, February 21st, 2020THE SEVENTH ANNUAL NEWSONG PRESENTS: LEAF SINGER-SONGWRITER COMPETITION IS NOW ACCEPTING ENTRIES
UPDATE: Due to public health concerns regarding Covid-19, the LEAF Competition Live Performance Finals will now take place Oct. 22-25. Submission deadline is Monday, May 4, 2020.
February 18, 2020 (Asheville, NC) – LEAF Community Arts (LEAF) and NewSong Music are proud to announce the launch of the 7th Annual NewSong Presents: LEAF Singer-Songwriter Competition. With a mission to identify and celebrate exceptional performers and songwriters from across North America, the competition aims to bring some of the continent’s most accomplished emerging artists to showcase and compete at the 50th LEAF Festival, which takes place Oct. 22-25, 2020. The LEAF winner will also earn a spot as one of only eight finalists in the 2020 annual, international NewSong Competition held in Asheville, NC.
“The LEAF Competition continually attracts and recognizes some of North America’s most talented performing songwriters, across a wide array of genres,” says NewSong co-founder and director Gar Ragland. “This program – and the LEAF – NewSong Music partnership behind it – cultivates and supports a community of exceptional artists from across North America, connecting them not only with one another, but to the deep-rooted LEAF community as well as the local community of talented musicians here in Asheville and Western NC.”
The contest is currently accepting online song submissions, and the final deadline to enter is 11:59 PM EST on Monday, May 4, 2020. The deadline for ‘Early Bird’ has been extended through the final deadline.
Judges will select eight finalists from advance online submissions, who will then perform in the live showcase and competition finals at the Fall LEAF Festival during the weekend of Oct. 22-25, 2020. A panel of music industry judges will select the overall winner of the competition.
“Entering into our seventh year, LEAF is thrilled to continue a flourishing partnership with Newsong,” says Ehren Cruz, LEAF Artistic Director. “NewSong has an uncanny ability to attract and curate a selection as diverse as it is talented who are united through a powerful shared passion to perform. We are grateful to provide an opportunity for singer songwriters to expand their audience and receive professional resources helping to build a powerful bridge into new career opportunities. We can’t wait to host this Spring’s finalists at our big 50th LEAF Festival Celebration!”
The overall LEAF winner will advance to perform and compete as one of only eight international finalists at the annual, international NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition held in Asheville in the fall of 2020.
All eight finalists will each receive a complimentary LEAF Festival performer pass for the day of the performance.
‘EARLY BIRD’ DISCOUNTED COST TO ENTER:
$35 – 1 SONG ENTRY
$60 – 2 SONG ENTRY
$20 – EACH ADDITIONAL SONG
Submit your songs safely and securely online at newsong-music.com/contest. A portion of the contest proceeds will support LEAF Schools & Streets’ local cultural arts education programming.
IMPORTANT NEWSONG PRESENTS: LEAF SINGER-SONGWRITER COMPETITION DATES
Tuesday, February 18
– Online mp3 submission platform opens for entries
Monday, May 4
– Final deadline to enter
Monday, June 1
– Finalists Announced
Saturday Oct. 24
– LIVE PERFORMANCE FINALS at the Spring LEAF Festival (Oct. 22-25); Black Mountain, NC (near Asheville)
About LEAF Community Arts
LEAF Community Arts (lovingly called LEAF) is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization with a mission to connect cultures and create community through music and arts. LEAF is comprised of two key cultural arts education programs – LEAF Schools & Streets and LEAF International as well as two signature events – LEAF Festival (the event that started it all) and LEAF Downtown. Attendance at LEAF Festival provides a family-friendly weekend experience infused with music and arts while supporting the long-term vision of the organization. Since 1995, LEAF has served over 200,000+ youth with programs in over 15 community locations and in 10 countries worldwide. Learn more at www.theLEAF.org.
About NewSong Music
NewSong Music is an independent artist development company headquartered in Asheville, NC.
NewSong’s mission is to build and support a community of performers and songwriters across all genres and levels of skill, and to identify the truly exceptional artists to introduce their music to a broader, international audience. Its programs include a boutique record label (NewSong Recordings), artist management services, concert production and the annual, international NewSong performance and songwriting competition.
Its presenting partners include Arts Brookfield and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, the ASCAP Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival.
Mel Bryant to release new single, “I Love You I’m Sorry” Feb 14
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020
Mel Bryant, grand prize winner of the 2018 NewSong competition, will release a new single on Feb. 14, 2020.
The band will premier “I Love You I’m Sorry” live on Today In Nashville, News channel 4, on February 13, and celebrate with a show at The Basement that night.
Jobi Riccio performs at Sundance Film Festival’s Sundance ASCAP Music Café
Wednesday, January 29th, 2020NewSong is thrilled to announce that 2019 Grand Prize Winner, Jobi Riccio, will perform at the 2020 Sundance ASCAP Music Café in Park City, Utah. Join us this Thursday, January 30 at 2 pm MST at the Music Café stage or on Facebook Live. Sundance ASCAP Music Café takes place at 751 Main Street, Park City, UT. Click here for the full Music Café lineup.
Jobi is a songwriter and performer from Denver, Colorado, currently based in Boston, MA. Inspired by artists ranging from Buck Owens to Joni Mitchell, and the bluegrass community she came of age in, she writes songs that meld classic country sounds with modern sensibilities.
In addition to the Sundance performance, as the grand prize winner, Jobi will receive a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Asheville’s own Echo Mountain Recording Studios and released on the NewSong Recordings label. Jobi also receives a featured performance in the 2020 Arts Brookfield ‘Summer Plaza’ series in New York City. Read more about Jobi and her NewSong win on the blog.
Can’t make it to Park City? Watch Jobi Riccio perform on our Facebook Live channel @ 2PM MST on Thursday 1/30.
Mel Bryant records new EP with NewSong Recordings
Saturday, January 18th, 2020
Mel Bryant records new EP at Echo Mountain Recording Studios.
The NewSong team was thrilled to welcome 2018 NewSong Grand Prize Winner, Mel Bryant, to Echo Mountain Recording Studios last month. The songwriter and her Nashville-based band, Mel Bryant and the Mercy Makers, were joined by producer and NewSong founder, Gar Ragland. Melding classic rock and contemporary indie influences, Bryant has compiled a group of songs that tackle big themes, ranging from love and relationships to social justice.
The opportunity to record at Echo Mountain is part of the musician’s grand prize package, and the EP will be released on NewSong Recordings in 2020.
Mel took a break from recording to answer a few questions about the upcoming record.
How would you describe your vision for this new batch of songs?
Mel Bryant: A lot of the songs are justice focused, in a way. There is kind of a dichotomy between the songs that are about, you know, relationship stuff — the really relatable, personal things that everyone goes through … and the songs that zoom out a bit and look at more grand issues that are less personal and more political.
I like to think of things that are political, not in terms of candidates or government issues, but, instead, political as in a woman’s inability to walk alone on a street alone past midnight. That’s a political issue to me, and that is the kind of thing I like to write about. Or the fact that when I was in college, I was scared of being shot on my campus. That’s a political issue, and it’s something that we all have a stake in and we are all worried about and we all want to fix. Those are the things that are important to my music: things that matter. Sometimes things that matter are life and death situations, and sometimes things that matter are when I can’t communicate properly in my relationships. Making those statements in these songs was really important to me.
What has it been like to record at Echo Mountain Recordings Studios?
This has definitely been our best treatment of a recording setup that we have ever had. The crew is so accommodating and patient. The energy in here is amazing. There is such a beautiful ambiance, and the availability of the gear they have here is like nothing we have been able to access before, so from that standpoint it’s been incredible. But also just the feeling of being in that cathedral with stained glass light coming through. And, of course, it sounds amazing.
In terms of sound, how do these new recordings relate to the band’s past work?
From a sound perspective, the EP is a marriage of the different sides that this band has been developing over the past few years. We definitely have one foot in really classic rock roots, blues, and delta music roots, coming from our guitarist, and then we have the more modern roots of my childhood musical influences and now. We are continually inspired by music being put out and indie rock influences. So certain songs are more in the classic rock tradition, and certain songs are in the modern. Our goal has been marrying those ideas within each song, and within the whole EP, showing that these two things can coexist to create something that isn’t derivative of classic rock or just another indie rock band. We are paying homage to the historic greats and constantly taking in new musical influences and applying that as well.
For more about Mel Bryant and the Mercy Makers, visit the band’s website. Stay tuned for updates about the new EP release via NewSong Recordings in 2020!
JOBI RICCIO WINS THE 18TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL NEWSONG MUSIC PERFORMANCE & SONGWRITING COMPETITION
Tuesday, November 26th, 2019
Jobi Riccio is named the Grand Prize Winner of the 18th Annual NewSong Competition.
AS GRAND PRIZE WINNER, RICCIO RECEIVES AN EP RECORDING PROJECT AT ECHO MOUNTAIN RECORDING STUDIOS, RELEASED ON THE NEWSONG RECORDINGS LABEL, A PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE AT THE 2019 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL’S ESTEEMED SUNDANCE ASCAP MUSIC CAFE AND MORE
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Boston-based guitarist and songwriter Jobi Riccio has been named the 2019 grand prize winner of the eighteenth annual NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition. Riccio – along with seven other finalists – was selected from nearly 800 entries to this year’s 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 current 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. The panel of music industry judges included Gar Ragland, music producer and co-founder of NewSong Music; Ehren Cruz, Artistic Director & Co-Event Director for LEAF Community Arts in Asheville, NC; and Elysa Marden, Vice President of Arts Brookfield in New York City.
“It was tough. There was so much heart shown out there this evening,” says Cruz of the judges’ decision. “Jobi ultimately sang from the depth of her soul, and I think there is something so natural, fluid and charismatic about how she delivers onstage. It’s an honor to catch someone at that stage in their career and celebrate where they are, and hopefully this [NewSong win] helps her soar.”
Between songs, 22-year-old Riccio shared bits and pieces about her musical upbringing, living near Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado and listening to musical heroes like Alison Kraus soundchecking from Riccio’s backyard. Driven by the bluegrass community she came of age in, she writes songs that meld classic country sounds with modern sensibilities. Her Debut EP “Strawberry Wine” is an ode to the women of country music she grew up singing along to in her bedroom.
“I’m totally overcome by the support I felt last night and all weekend from NewSong and the greater Asheville community,” says Riccio. “I am absolutely honored to have been selected as the grand prize winner for the 2019 NewSong Competition. I can’t wait to work together again and am so grateful for all the opportunities and collaboration that lie ahead. I can’t express my gratitude enough. “
Riccio was one of three artists to advance to the final round. She was joined by Parker Ainsworth (Joshua Tree, CA) and Grant Maloy Smith (Kingston, RI). Riccio also won the People’s Choice competition, which was awarded to the songwriter with the most audience votes. Ainsworth was the People’s Choice runner-up.
“Jobi immediately won favor with the audience from the moment she first walked on stage, only then to astonish us all with her instrumental command, deeply emotive singing and most importantly, a precocious storytelling sensibility that’s well beyond her mere 22 years of age,” says Ragland of Riccio’s performance.
As the grand prize winner, Riccio will receive a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Asheville’s own Echo Mountain Recording Studios and released on the NewSong Recordings label. Riccio also receives a performance showcase at the esteemed 2020 Sundance ASCAP Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and a featured performance in the 2020 Arts Brookfield ‘Summer Plaza’ series in New York City.
For the second time in its eighteen-year history, the live performance finals of the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition was held in Asheville, NC, where NewSong Music has been headquartered since 2012. The move to Asheville was a long time coming for the program, which relocated from its longstanding host venue, New York City’s venerable Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
For more information about Jobi Riccio, visit the artist’s website, and listen to her latest EP, Strawberry Wine, on Spotify.
For more information about NewSong Recordings and the NewSong Music Competition, visit newsong-music.com.
For media requests, contact Lea McLellan at lea@newsong-music.com.
Meet NewSong finalist Aaron John
Wednesday, November 20th, 2019NewSong is proud to introduce 2019 finalist Aaron John! The Nashville-based singer-songwriter will join his fellow finalists onstage at Isis Music Hall on Saturday Nov. 23 for the 18th annual NewSong Final Competition.
We asked Aaron about his musical inspiration, songwriting process and what music news he has coming up in the Q&A below.
Connect with Aaron on his bandcamp, Facebook page, and Instagram. For more information on attending this event, please visit our Facebook event page. Purchase tickets to the NewSong finals at Isis Music Hall on Nov. 23 here.
What are your most significant musical/artistic inspirations?
What is your songwriting process like?
For me, it’s pretty essential that the melody and rhythm guitar part materialize together. Just about everything I write starts off with a tidbit of a melody/guitar part that gets stuck in my head, followed respectively by a guitar part/melody that flows into place most naturally. After the initial idea is established, I turn off the objective and analytical side of my brain and let lyrics out until I find a phonetic current that folds into the guitar and melody. From there, I ride that current out until more direction has been uncovered and change most all of the words (because everything i’ve let out up to this point in the process is likely grammatical gibberish). And then on it’s just a slog of a pursuit for maintaining purpose and cohesion.
What was your reaction to being named a NewSong finalist?
What music news would you like to share with readers?
Meet NewSong finalist Grant Maloy Smith
Thursday, November 14th, 2019NewSong is proud to introduce 2019 finalist Grant Maloy Smith! The Kingston, RI-based singer-songwriter will join his fellow finalists onstage at Isis Music Hall on Saturday Nov. 23 for the 18th annual NewSong Final Competition.
Grant is songwriter heavily influenced by country/roots music — boasting an artful blend of country, bluegrass and folk. Grant has performed at Carnegie Hall and won numerous awards, including two Grammy certificates. One of his songs was turned into an award-winning children’s book, launching him into the world of publishing. When he isn’t playing music, Grant is also an actor.
We asked Grant about his musical inspiration, songwriting process and what music news he has coming up in the Q&A below.
Connect with Grant on his website, Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. For more information on attending this event, please visit our Facebook event page. Purchase tickets to the NewSong finals at Isis Music Hall on Nov. 23 here.
