NewSong Music & Arts Brookfield present

‘Come Together’ Summer Concert Series

Arts Brookfield and NewSong Music are proud to announce the New York City summer outdoor concert series ‘Come Together: New original music inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ last studio album, Abbey Road.’ The series is presented by Arts Brookfield and curated by NewSong Music.

‘Come Together’ features four free outdoor lunchtime concerts taking place every Wednesday, July 10-31 in and select Thursdays in July and August at Brookfield Place. Each Wednesday concert begins at 12:30 PM at One New York Plaza, located at 1 New York Plaza in New York City’s Financial District. Each Thursday night concert takes place 7-8:30 PM at Brookfield Place in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan. The lineup features some of North America’s most talented performing songwriters, and represents an eclectic array of styles and genres.

Come Together: Summer Music Series 

July 10: Kaiti Jones @ 1 NY Plaza
July 17: Crys Matthews @ 1 NY Plaza
July 18: Crys Matthews @ Brookfield Place 
July 24: Suzie Brown @ 1 NY Plaza
July 31: Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers @ 1 NY Plaza
Aug. 1: Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers @ Brookfield Place
Aug. 15: Slow Packer & For Def @ Brookfield Place 

All of the performers featured in the ‘Come Together’ series are members of the NewSong artist community:

Kaiti Jones (7/10 @ 1 NY Plaza)
(2018 NewSong Music Finalist)

A native of Portland, Maine, Kaiti Jones spent four years in Nashville, forming her sound in the backyard of Bob Dylan’s ballads and Flannery O’Connor’s southern gothic storytelling before returning north. Jones’ voice is simultaneously earthy and ethereal, carrying the listener a few feet off the ground on a cloud of rich, sophisticated melodies while whispering truth and contemplating the human condition through good old-fashioned storytelling.
kaitijonesmusic.com

Crys Matthews  (7/17 @ 1 NY Plaza & 7/18 at Brookfield Place)
(2017 NewSong Music Grand Prize Winner)

A southeastern North Carolina native who now calls Herndon, Virginia home, Crys Matthews blends Americana, folk, jazz, blues, bluegrass and funk into a bold, complex performance steeped in traditional melodies and punctuated by honest, original lyrics. Having been compared to everyone from Toshi Reagon to Tracy Chapman to Ruthie Foster, Matthews’ eclectic infusion of genres won her the grand prize in 2017 of the international NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition finals at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
www.crysmatthews.com

Suzie Brown  (7/24 @ 1 NY Plaza)
(2018 NewSong Finalist)

A 1970s-inspired folk-pop songwriter, Suzie Brown has chased her unique muse for a decade, making modern-day roots music that nods to the soul singers, heartland rockers, and blues artists who came before her. Gluing the sound together is the unforced voice and honest, autobiographical songwriting of a Renaissance woman who’s not only an acclaimed musician, but also a part-time cardiologist and full-time mother. She dives into her personal life and subjects such as mortality, money, and motherhood on her sixth album, Under the Surface, which includes songs that have been named as finalists in the NewSong Music Competition, the Great American Songwriting Competition, and the International Acoustic Music Awards. www.suziebrownsongs.com.
 

Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers  (7/31 @ 1 NY Plaza & 8/1 @ Brookfield Place)
(2018 NewSong Music Grand Prize Winner)

Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers are a Nashville based indie rock band comprised of lovers and friends. Led by bassist and songwriter Mel Bryant, their screaming guitars are met with a unique feminine energy that is equal parts powerful and sensitive, groovy and grungy, memorable and true. Mel uses the gift of rock music to promote thoughtfulness, respect, justice and love throughout the human community. 
www.melbryantmusic.com

Slow Packer & For Def  (8/15 @ Brookfield Place)

Slow Packer is a musical project formed by songwriter and producer, Jack Victor. The project also includes collaborations with several other singers and instrumentalists. After the break-up of his band Midnight Snack in 2017, Victor continued to write songs and make recordings. In 2019 he decided to adopt the moniker Slow Packer to release this new music. A quote from Slow Packer: “Songs are made from starts and stops, periods of fullness followed by periods of emptiness. I’ve been around this cycle many times in the last few years. Each time, there is one song that is the inspiration for many others to come. This initial song becomes like a mission statement – a set of ideals and values – to expand upon.”

For Def is the “for fun” band of Jack, Maddie, and Mike of Slow Packer. It started as a weekly jam and has turned into a “real band” because they are working on a tape now. So far, a lot of the music has been improvised live but For Def is currently working towards through-composed tunes that are low-key contemplative and emotional and only go high-key a few times. Overall, you will probably think “nice, this is actually pretty chill. I could listen to this on a pleasant drive, maybe on the way to a hike or something like that.” There is electric guitar (Maddie), bass (Mike), drum set (Jack), and sometimes – on the demos they are working on – there is a lush synth pad in there too.

slowpacker.bandcamp.com.

—————————————————————-

About Arts Brookfield

Arts Brookfield presents exciting, world-class cultural experiences to thousands of people for free each year in both indoor and outdoor public spaces at Brookfield’s premier buildings in Denver, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto, Perth and Sydney. From concerts, theater and dance to film screenings and art exhibitions, Arts Brookfield brings public spaces to life through art.
ArtsBrookfield.com

About NewSong Music

NewSong Music is an independent artist development and music production company headquartered at Asheville, NC’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios. 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 record label (NewSong Recordings), artist management services, concert production and the annual, international NewSong performance and songwriting competition.
newsong-music.com