Posts Tagged ‘Lincoln Center’

#WeAreNewSong :: Andrea Lopez

Friday, July 20th, 2018

Miami, Florida’s Andrea Lopez, performing as a finalist last November in the 16th annual NewSong Music Competition finals at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Every year, NewSong receives countless song submissions from talented artists across North American and beyond. Only a handful are chosen each year as finalists. And while not all of these finalists take home the grand prize, all of them leave a lasting impression on the NewSong team. Supporting and fostering new and as-yet-undiscovered musicians is what NewSong is all about, which is why we aim to celebrate past finalists and winners in our new video series, #WeAreNewSong. 

Watch our interview with Andrea Lopez, a 2017 NewSong Songwriting Competition finalist, to learn more about what drives her songwriting and her experience with NewSong. 

Watch #WEARENEWSONG video

Andrea Lopez is our first artist featured in the series, and she is no doubt an artist to watch. This 24-year-old, bilingual songwriter from Miami self-released her last album “Echoes” in April 2017. The EP consisted of five original songs, which ranked highly on the iTunes Charts (#1 Top EPS & Singles, #5 Top Latin Albums, #8 Top Singer/Songwriter Albums) and earned her placements on numerous Spotify playlists. Additionally, her song “Por Ti” was awarded as a finalist in the Latin category of the John Lennon Songwriting Competition.

WATCH FULL PERFORMANCE OF ‘ECHOES’ LIVE FROM NEWSONG COMPETITION FINALS 

We hope you follow Andrea’s career, as we will, and check out her work on Spotify and iTunes

To stay up-to-date with Andrea’s news and schedule, visit her website

 

Crys Matthews wins the 2017 NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition

Tuesday, December 5th, 2017

Crys Matthews was named the grand-prize winner in the 2017 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition after performing, along with other finalists, during a live music showcase at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ David Rubenstein Atrium in New York City on Thursday, November 30.

 

Grand prize winner Crys Matthews performing in the live performance finals of the NewSong Music Competition at Lincoln Center in New York on Thursday.

 

Now in its 16th year, the competition showcases emerging performing songwriters. NewSong Music is an independent music organization that aims to build a supportive community of performers and songwriters across various genres of music and skill levels, while identifying truly exceptional artists and introducing their music to a broader international audience.

Click here for a photo gallery of the live performance finals.
Click here to listen to the 2017 finalists playlist on Spotify.


“Each year, the NewSong Music Competition presents one of the strongest platforms for music discovery by giving many of today’s most talented singer-songwriters a way to connect with a wider audience. Its rich legacy of shining a spotlight on incredible artists continues with this year’s grand prize winner, Crys Matthews. While all of the finalists were compelling in their own way, Matthews won hearts and minds with her infectious folk/blues songs that boldly explored everything from the follies of the human heart to our current political milieu. By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifted our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times. ASCAP will be honored to showcase her at the 2018 Sundance ASCAP Music Cafe in January.”  – Erik Philbrook, ASCAP VP/Creative Director and NewSong Music Judge

 “This year’s competition showcased the most talented and diverse cross section of the singer-songwriter category to date. We had musical theater, dark sad love songs and uplifting calls to action. Being a judge this year was challenging as each artist displayed talent and strength. Crys Mathews is a necessary voice. Her depth coupled with her openness and approachability was unmatched. She has a spark that is contagious and shares music that unites us and makes us think.” – Viviana Benitez, Associate Producer at Lincoln Center and NewSong judge


Matthews, a prolific songwriter — whose music blends Americana, blues, bluegrass, folk, funk, and jazz – has drawn comparisons to such other artists as Tracy Chapman, Ruthie Foster and Toshi Reagon. She recently released a new full-length CD, The Imagineers, as well as an EP, Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers

As the NewSong Music competition’s grand-prize winner, she will receive a six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Asheville, North Carolina’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios and released on the NewSong Recordings label; a featured performance at the ASCAP Music Café during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; and future performance opportunities across the U.S., curated by NewSong Music.

“When my name was called, I was absolutely ecstatic,” said Matthews. “To be chosen as the grand-prize winner [from] among so many incredibly talented songwriters was an amazing feeling. To now be included among the ranks of artists I greatly admire – Rachael Kilgour, Wilder Adkins, Liz Longley – is just such an honor. I’m so grateful for every aspect of this experience – getting to play Lincoln Center, planting the seeds of so many new friendships among my fellow finalists, getting to record and release a new project and, thanks to ASCAP, getting to play at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Thank you for believing in me, NewSong Music!”

Invitations also will be extended to other 2017 competition finalists and standouts to participate in future NewSong Music events in various U.S. locations. They also will be given consideration for film and television placement opportunities as well as for future releases on NewSong Recordings. This year’s finalists included Biscay (London, England), Jerome Brooks, Jr. (New York, NY), Brie Capone (Asheville, NC), Dave Ray Cecil (Greensboro, NC), David Robert King (Decatur, GA), Becca Leigh (Charleston, SC), Andrea Lopez (Miami, FL), Cary Morin (Fort Collins, CO), and India Ramey (Nashville, TN).

– by Michael Kornfeld, editor and publisher of AcousticMusicScene.com, an online publication for the folk, roots and singer-songwriter communities.

Wilder Adkins to perform at Sundance Film Festival’s ASCAP Music Café this Thursday and Friday afternoon

Wednesday, January 25th, 2017

Watch via Facebook Live on NewSong Music’s page

 750x450-FBLive-Gar-2

2016 NewSong Music grand prize winner Wilder Adkins’ songwriting gleans as much from the earthy poetry of Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver as it does from the works of folk luminaries Richard Thompson and Bruce Cockburn. He’s a true theosophical spirit, arrestingly taciturn, but possessed of startling guitar skills, a wit as dry as October leaves, and a tremulous, dented voice that’s frankly mesmerizing.

His courtly-but-witty lyrics evoke a Deep South Shelley or Yeats, riding a joyful guitar dexterity. Adkins’ songs, steeped in natural imagery, frequently touch upon the subjects of faith, doubt, and as the title of his new album would indicate, hope and sorrow.

Wilder performs two sets at this year’s Sundance Film Festival’s ASCAP Music Café, and you can tune in to watch and listen via Facebook Live on NewSong Music’s Facebook page at 2:00 PM MST both this Thursday (1/26) and Friday (1/27).

“By turns haunting, spectral, tender and tenacious, Adkins is a master when it comes to conveying uncommon emotion, relying on minimal arrangements that sometimes seem suspended in the ether” – Elmore Magazine

WATCH THE LIVE STREAM ON FACEBOOK

Wilder Adkins on the web
Web: wilderadkins.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/WilderMusic/
Twitter: twitter.com/WilderMusic
Instagram: instagram.com/wildhare_radkins/

2016 NewSong grand prize winner Wilder Adkins releases peace anthem “Side By Side” on MLK Jr. Day

Monday, January 16th, 2017

SideBySide-WilderAdkins-NewSongMusic.jpg

2016 NewSong grand prize winner Wilder Adkins releases peace anthem “Side By Side” on MLK Jr. Day

“This is a song about the city of Birmingham, Alabama and the struggles of the civil rights movement in the 1960s,” says Adkins, a Birmingham resident himself. “It is also an anthem for peace and a call to keep hoping and never give up fighting darkness with the power of light.”


ABOUT WILDER ADKINS
Wilder Adkins15698210_881465828570_6907624843770016758_n songwriting gleans as much from the earthy poetry of Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver as it does from the works of folk luminaries Richard Thompson and Bruce Cockburn. His courtly-but-witty lyrics evoke a Deep South Shelley or Yeats, riding a joyful guitar dexterity.

Adkins hails from Marietta, GA, but now lives and writes in Birmingham, AL. He grew up listening to his dad play renditions of Neil Young and Van Morrison songs on an old Guild Jumbo Acoustic. Adkins’ songs, steeped in natural imagery, frequently touch upon the subjects of faith, doubt, and as the title of his new album would indicate, hope and sorrow.

Adkins is the grand prize winner of the 2016 international NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition.


Nov2016-SponsorBanner

Congratulations to Wilder Adkins, the 2016 NewSong Grand Prize Winner

Tuesday, December 13th, 2016

WinnerAnnouncement

Introducing the 2016 NewSong Grand Prize Winner: Wilder Adkins

Congratulations to Wilder Adkins, this year’s grand prize winner of the 15th Annual NewSong Music Showcase and Competition. Adkins took top honors on Saturday night at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium in New York City.

Adkin’s songwriting is steeped in earthy poetry and is imbued with a theosophical spirit. Thematically, his songs frequently touch upon faith, doubt and the natural world. He counts poets Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver among his influences, as well as Neil Young and Van Morrison. His aptly titled latest album, Hope and Sorrow, is a characteristic marrying of poetry and musicality.

“Getting to meet and hang out with the other NewSong Music finalists totally affirmed for me that this is a supportive community of artists serious about their craft. Playing at Lincoln Center in New York at the Holidays was a dream come true. Being named the winner of such a talented pool of songwriters is an incredible honor and one of my proudest moments!” – Wilder Adkins, 2016 NewSong Grand Prize Winner

Click here for a photo gallery of the live performance finals.

“The NewSong Music Competition is one of the country’s strongest platforms for discovering and showcasing some of the today’s most talented, emerging and most deserving singer-songwriters. It has a rich legacy of shining a spotlight on true artists who are serious about their craft. While all of this year’s finalists were compelling in their own way, this year’s winner, Wilder Adkins is an extraordinarily gifted lyricist, vocalist and guitarist from Birmingham, Alabama, who mesmerized everyone in the room at Lincoln Center. He’s the real deal and I’m thrilled to play a part in exposing him to a wider audience.”  – Erik Philbrook, NewSong Music judge and ASCAP VP and Creative Director

“We had another outstanding group of finalists this year, which made our job as judges all the more challenging. But after the first two rounds, Wilder’s deeply poetic songcraft – paired with a passionate and at times comical performance – led him directly to this year’s top honor. We look forward to working with him over the next year and beyond, and to help him and the rest of his fellow finalists take their music to the broader audience they richly deserve.”  – Gar Ragland, NewSong Music Producer and Co-founder

#MeetTheJudges: Erik Philbrook, Vice President and Creative Director of ASCAP

Friday, December 9th, 2016

Erik Philbrook

ASCAP’s VP and Creative Director

ErikPhilbrook_4EP2016

Erik Philbrook serves as ASCAP’s VP and Creative Director. In addition to writing editorial, producing video and managing content for ASCAP’s various media channels, he has interviewed and written about many of today’s leading songwriters and composers from across the musical spectrum, from legendary icons to today’s emerging artists. He has helped lead ASCAP’s advocacy efforts in protecting songwriter rights in the digital age. And he has played an essential role in the success of high-profile ASCAP events such as the Sundance ASCAP Music Café and the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO, where he has interviewed on stage many top music creators, including Tom Petty, John Mayer, Bon Jovi, ELO’s Jeff Lynne, Ingrid Michaelson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Steve Lillywhite and many others. In addition, Philbrook is a songwriter and musician himself, having recorded three acclaimed albums with his band NYC-based band The Brilliant Mistakes.

#MeetTheJudges: Elysa Marden of Arts Brookfield

Friday, December 9th, 2016

MEERA DUGAL

2016 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition

EM at Grace

Elysa Marden is a curator and producer based in NYC. She is currently the Co-Director of Art Brookfield, a national public arts program that produces, commissions, and presents music, dance, film, visual art and spoken word year-round and free to the public. She has had the pleasure of working with NewSong Music to present NewSong artists in Brookfield spaces in NYC and Denver for 8 years.

 

#MeetTheJudges: Meera Dugal (Lincoln Center)

Friday, December 9th, 2016

MEERA DUGAL

2016 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition

MeeraDugal-540

Meera Dugal is the Programming Manager for the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. The Atrium is home to over 100 free, extremely eclectic performances a year that are curated with the aim to reflect the diversity present in New York City. Originally from Charleston, Meera has a Bachelor of Arts from New York University’s Gallatin School where she studied ethnomusicology. Before coming to Lincoln Center, Meera worked with globalFEST, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, The Jazz Gallery, and Iraqi-American musician Amir ElSaffar. She is the manager for the New York-based traditional Moroccan Gnawa sextet Innov Gnawa and a member of Women of Color in the Arts.

 

Three Questions With Wilder Adkins

Tuesday, December 6th, 2016

Three Questions With Wilder Adkins

WilderAdkins

Wilder Adkins, a Birmingham, Alabama-based folk musician, discovered that he was a NewSong finalist at a friend’s house in Cambridge, England. “I had just played a show at a 900-year-old church when I heard,” says Adkins. “So, suffice to say, it was a great bit of news to cap off a great evening.”

Adkin’s songwriting is steeped in earthy poetry and is imbued with a theosophical spirit. Thematically, his songs frequently touch upon faith, doubt and the natural world. He counts poets Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver among his influences, as well as Neil Young and Van Morrison. His aptly titled latest album, Hope and Sorrow, is a characteristic marrying of poetry and musicality.

We took the time to ask Adkins about his songwriting inspiration, career news and his hopes for the NewSong competition.

What is your songwriting process like, and where do you find inspiration?
Generally, I write about things that move me. Usually, the music comes first, but not always. Oftentimes it takes a while for a song to grow on me — even my own songs. In terms of musicians that inspire me, I love Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. It’s one of my favorite albums. Recently, I played at a folk festival in Scotland hosted by another of my songwriting heroes, Dougie MacLean.

What does it mean to you to be a NewSong finalist, and what do you hope to gain from the experience?
It can be pretty hard for folk musicians to get attention these days, so it is really wonderful to receive that kind of recognition for my work. I’d love to connect with the NewSong family of artists and hopefully make plans for future shows and collaborations.

What music news do you have to share with fans?
I put out a new album called Hope & Sorrow in 2016. I’ve also got an album of pirate music hopefully coming out soon.

To learn more about Wilder Atkins, visit wilderatkins.bandcamp.com and follow Wilder Music on Facebook and Twitter. You can also listen to his music on SoundCloud.

#InstagramTakeover with Wilder Adkins

Tuesday, December 6th, 2016

WilderAdkins

Follow 2016 NewSong Music finalist Wilder Adkins as they take over the official NewSong Music Instagram account.

 

 

Good day, my name is Wilder Adkins and I’m a #NewSongMusic finalist from Birmingham, AL doing an Instagram takeover today. Thanks for joining me. Follow along for a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the life of a songwriter/janitor in the Deep South. #instagramtakeover #songwriterslife #singersongwriter #meditation #snoopy #joechristmas

A photo posted by NewSong Music (@newsongmusic) on

 

 

On the phone with a big-time music publisher! Part of the #WilderAdkinsTakeover today. #wilderadkins #carlyraejepsen #musicindustry #songwriter

A video posted by NewSong Music (@newsongmusic) on

 

 

#WilderAdkinsTakeover If you’re ever down in Birmingham, come check out the best little music shop in the land, Bob Tedrow’s Homewood Music. These guys are great luthiers and set up all my guitars for me. #musicbham #luthier #birminghamal #wilderadkins #alabama @wildhare_radkins

A photo posted by NewSong Music (@newsongmusic) on

#wilderadkinstakeover Everyday I'm hustlin'. #onemoreday #holdon #wilsonphillips #wilderadkins #inspiration

A video posted by NewSong Music (@newsongmusic) on

 

#wilderadkinstakeover Everyday I'm hustlin'. #onemoreday #holdon #wilsonphillips #wilderadkins #inspiration

A video posted by NewSong Music (@newsongmusic) on