Posts Tagged ‘musician’

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

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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/

Congratulations to Wilder Adkins, the 2016 NewSong Grand Prize Winner

Tuesday, December 13th, 2016

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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

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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

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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

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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.