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18th NewSong Music Competition returns to Asheville, NC this November

Wednesday, September 11th, 2019

 

 

NEWSONG MUSIC PRESENTS 18TH ANNUAL, INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE & SONGWRITING COMPETITION IN ASHEVILLE THIS NOVEMBER

 

EIGHT EMERGING ARTISTS FROM ACROSS NORTH AMERICA TO SHOWCASE & COMPETE
 
GRAND PRIZE WINNER RECEIVES AN EP RECORDING PROJECT AT ECHO MOUNTAIN RECORDING STUDIOS, RELEASED ON THE NEWSONG RECORDINGS LABEL
 
COMPETITION HELD AT ISIS MUSIC HALL IN ASHEVILLE, NC, SATURDAY, NOV. 23

 

Aug. 23, 2019 (Asheville, NC) – For the second year in a row, the live performance finals of the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition will be held in Asheville, North Carolina at Isis Music Hall. NewSong Music has been headquartered in Asheville since 2012, but for most of its 18 years, the competition was held at the prestigious Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. After a phenomenal, sold out event last year, NewSong founder, Gar Ragland, has elected to host the competition finals in Asheville indefinitely. 

“The success and reception we received in bringing the competition finals to Asheville for the first time last year truly exceeded our expectations,” says Ragland. “The support we received from the community here for last year’s finals – as evidenced by the sellout event and its deeply appreciative and engaging audience – affirmed for us that our hometown has indeed become one of the country’s best music towns. We’re excited to build upon last year’s momentum, and to continue to contribute to Asheville’s music scene in this way.”

Eight finalists – selected from advance online submissions from across North America and beyond – will come to Asheville to perform, compete and network with one another in the live showcase and competition finals at Isis Music Hall in Asheville on Saturday, November 23. Located in the city’s hip West Asheville neighborhood, Isis Music Hall is one of Asheville’s best sounding and most intimate music venues.

A panel of national music industry judges will select the overall winner of the competition. This year’s grand prize winner will receive a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Asheville own Echo Mountain Recording Studios and released on the NewSong Recordings label. The grand prize winner will also receive a performance showcase at the esteemed 2019 Sundance ASCAP Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival (January 23 – February 2, 2020) in Park City, Utah and a featured performance in the 2020 Arts Brookfield ‘Summer Plaza’ series in New York City. All finalists will be strongly considered for future ‘NewSong Presents’ paid performances across the United States.

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.

WHAT: NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition Finals

WHERE: Isis Music Hall // 743 Haywood Road, Asheville, NC

WHEN: Saturday Nov. 23, 2019 // 8 pm

TICKETS: $15/$18 

 

2019 NewSong Competition Finalists ANNOUNCED

YouTube Playlist of the 2019 NewSong Music Finalists:

Danielle Ponder — Rochester, NY

Grant Maloy Smith — Kingston, RI

Jae Jin — Wolftown, VA

Jobi Riccio — Brookline, MA

Kelly Hoppenjans — Nashville, TN

Kyshona — Madison, TN

Nathaniel Bellows — New York, NY

 

Spotify Playlist of the 2019 NewSong Music Finalists:

 

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.

 

For more information about NewSong Recordings and the NewSong Music Competition, visit newsong-music.com/

For media requests, contact Lea McLellan at leamclellan@newsong-music.com.

 

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Mel Bryant wins the 17th annual International NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition

Wednesday, December 19th, 2018

MEL BRYANT WINS THE 17TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL NEWSONG MUSIC PERFORMANCE & SONGWRITING COMPETITION

 

AS GRAND PRIZE WINNER, BRYANT RECEIVES AN EP RECORDING PROJECT AT ECHO MOUNTAIN RECORDING STUDIOS, RELEASED ON THE NEWSONG RECORDINGS LABEL, A PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE AT 2019 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL’S ESTEEMED ASCAP MUSIC CAFE AND MORE

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Nashville-based singer, instrumentalist and songwriter Mel Bryant has been named this year’s grand prize winner of the seventeenth annual NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition. Bryant – 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, December 15, in front of a sold-out crowd. The panel of music industry judges included Gar Ragland, music producer and co-founder of NewSong Music; Diana Ezerins, director of public programs at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and Elysa Marden, Vice President of Arts Brookfield in New York City.

“This year’s live performance finals of the NewSong Competition was a particularly special and noteworthy one for us,” said Ragland. “Not only was the caliber of performances and songs as high as it’s ever been, it marks the first time we’ve hosted the event here in Asheville, our beloved headquarters now for the last six plus years. Moving this event to Asheville from New York’s Lincoln Center was long overdue, especially given how amazing and appreciative the fans of live music are here. The energy, enthusiasm and support that the audience provided our finalists’ made for a really magical experience for everyone involved.”

As the grand prize winner, Bryant 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. Bryant also receives a performance showcase at the esteemed 2019 ASCAP Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival (January 31) in Park City, Utah and a featured performance in the 2019 Arts Brookfield ‘Summer Plaza’ series in New York City. All finalists receive a Shure MOTIV microphone, and will be strongly considered for future ‘NewSong Presents’ paid performances across the United States.

 

 

Bassist and songwriter Bryant leads the Nashville-based indie rock band Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers. The four musicians moved together from Philly and New York to settle in East Nashville where they run their own recording studio, Electric Church Records, and work as the backing band for various local artists. Bryant competed in the NewSong Music Competition with her accompanist, Aaron Hicks, on acoustic guitar. Musical influences range from Fall Out Boy and Green Day to Laura Marling, B. B. King and the Allman Brothers.

“It was truly an honor just to be recognized as a finalist and to have been a part of such a wonderful night of music,” says Bryant of her win. “That show was really a career highlight and you could feel the mutual astonishment of all the finalists throughout the show— such an absolutely gorgeous group of musicians. Winning this competition could not have come at a better time for us; it’s so easy to get lost and discouraged by a career in music, but to be recognized by such a wonderful and authentic organization is incredibly heartwarming and life-affirming. I’m so excited to continue working with NewSong, and I can’t wait to see what this next chapter has in store.”

For the first time in its seventeen 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 marks a new direction for the program, relocating from its longstanding host venue, New York City’s venerable Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

 

For more information about Mel Bryant, visit the artist’s website, and listen to her band, Mel Brant and the Mercy Makers, on Spotify.

For more information about NewSong Recordings and the NewSong Music Competition, visit newsong-music.com/

For media requests, contact Lea McLellan at leamclellan@gmail.com.

 

 

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Meet 2018 NewSong Competition finalist: Alice Howe

Monday, December 10th, 2018

From the artist’s bio: Boston singer-songwriter Alice Howe is “at once of the moment and timeless, personal and universal” (Mark Walton, Americana UK). Her pure, distilled sound reflects a musical sensibility rooted in ’60s folk and ’70s Southern California songwriters. … 2017 was the year that Alice began making big waves in the folk world. Her EP You’ve Been Away So Long debuted on the April Folk-DJ charts with a #1 song – “Homeland Blues” – and #11 album. “Homeland Blues” went on to become the #7 song for all of 2017. Alice has been touring consistently in support of the EP in throughout the US, and recently returned from a critically acclaimed tour of the UK and the Netherlands. All in the last year, she was a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist, an Official Showcase Artist at FAR-West, and a Formal Showcase Artist at NERFA. Read full bio here. 

We asked Alice some questions about her songwriting process and what it means to be a NewSong finalist. To purchase tickets for the Dec. 15 event at Isis Music Hall, visit our ticketing page. 

 

What does it mean to you to be selected as a NewSong finalist, and what do you hope to get out of the experience? 

 
I am honored and thrilled to have been selected as a NewSong finalist. I consider it to be an invaluable opportunity to connect with other talented young songwriters and to learn more about and become involved in the NewSong organization. In the several years that I have been pursuing music full-time, I have learned that relationships and community are an essential part of building and sustaining a career, and I see this is a great opportunity to do exactly that.
 

What is your songwriting process like, and where do you find inspiration?

 
I have been singing and writing songs for as long as I can remember. The process has evolved considerably since my days singing into a tape recorded at age 3 1/2, but there remains a strong improvisational element to my process. I like to sit with my guitar, strumming or picking a chord progression that pleases me, and I sing whatever words come to me, changing words, trying new ones, until it feels right. I am inspired by nature, relationships, and history, and I find that I often begin my songs by painting a picture of what I see, then turning inward. I don’t always know what my songs are about when I write the first line, but I soon learn as I continue exploring.
 
I grew up with my parents’ vast record collection, and have always been inspired by the music of their generation, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, and Taj Mahal.
 

What important news about your music do you have coming up? 

 
My forthcoming full-length album, Visions, produced by Freebo (Bonnie Raitt, CSN, Ringo Starr) and recorded in Bakersfield, CA is complete and will be released in 2019. The new album features a collection of new originals and my interpretations of iconic songs such as Muddy Waters’ “Honey Bee”, “Too Long at the Fair,” first covered by Bonnie Raitt, and songs from Dylan and Taj Mahal. The musicians who recorded Visions with Alice include Freebo, Fuzzbee Morse, John Molo, and John ‘JT’ Thomas who have played or recorded with everyone from Bruce Hornsby to Lou Reed and Richie Havens, Phil Lesh, Jackson Browne, Tracy Chapman, Nick Jameson, and a who’s who of West Coast characters.
 
 
Listen to Alice Howe on Soundcloud and Spotify. Follow Alice Howe on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

 

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Meet 2018 NewSong Competition finalist: Alex Wong

Friday, December 7th, 2018

From the artist’s bio: Alex Wong’s curiosity has a varied appetite, and he’s always fed it well. A steady diet of projects as artist, producer, composer, and fittingly, as chef, has taught him that the connections between seemingly separate disciplines can be a source of inspiration rather than distraction. Perhaps this understanding stems from his synesthesia, a rare neurological condition where the brain perceives relationships between unrelated senses. Alex sees sounds and hears colors. What a doctor might deem peculiar, his creative mind appreciates as a gift: this multi-sensory approach allows him to find magic in unexpected connections.

Following those connections has rarely led Alex in a straight line, but it has led him to a Latin GRAMMY-nomination (Miguel Bose), song placements in film, television (One Tree Hill, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Last Song) and major ad campaigns (Google, Aquafina), as well as production credits with Delta Rae (Big Machine), Vienna Teng (Universal), Elizabeth and the Catapult (Compass) and Ari Hest (Columbia), among others. It has led him around the globe, to perform at festivals like Coachella and Outside Lands, arenas in Mexico City and theaters in Europe and Japan. Read full bio on Alex’s website. 

We asked Alex some questions about his songwriting process and what it means to be a NewSong finalist. To purchase tickets for the Dec. 15 event at Isis Music Hall, visit our ticketing page. 

What does it mean to you to be selected as a NewSong finalist, and what do you hope to get out of the experience?

 
Being selected as a NewSong finalist is especially meaningful to me because it’s the first time I’ve put music out under my own name. I’ve been really lucky to have had a career making music as a collaborator, band member and as a writer/producer in support of other artists, but fear always held me back from releasing music under my own name. Even when I put a solo album out over 6 years ago, I used a moniker (A City On A Lake) because I wasn’t comfortable using my name.
 
I realized I’d grown up learning to hide … as a minority kid growing up in suburban U.S., we were taught to fit in to white culture and downplay our cultural identities. As a drummer, I learned my place was in the back of the band and that writing songs and being out front was a job for someone else. It’s been a long path to try and re-write that narrative, to stand in my own space as an artist and to let myself truly be seen in the world without the protective layer of a band or collaborator. The Quiet Voice was the first song I’ve ever released under my own name so it means the world to me that it was recognized by NewSong.
 

What is your songwriting process like, and where do you find inspiration?

 
For me, songwriting has always been a way to ask questions. I’m not really moved to write until I feel there is a question I’ve been wrestling with and can’t figure out. Sometimes I feel I’m most interested in trying to write (what I pretentiously call) “secular spirituals” because even though I’m not religious, the questions that are most interesting and that pop up in my writing the most are metaphysical in nature and often have to do with the relationship between life on Earth and the before/after life, if there is such a thing.
 
I am fascinated with why we are here, what lessons we are here to learn and whether we’ve been here before, and I think that seeps into my writing all the time. As far as inspirations, I used to have a big sign in my studio that said “WWTPD” (what would Tom Petty do?) and anytime I was stuck in the writing process I would just try to channel him. I always admired his ability to cut out all extraneous crap and his brilliant economy with lyric and melody. I also tend to worship Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, Radiohead, Quincy, Pharrell, Stravinsky and Chopin, to name a few.
 

What important news about your music do you have coming up?

 
I just finished my second solo album, called The Elephant and the Seahorse, which I plan to release in April 2019. I will also be releasing a duo concept album with Jesse Terry in 2019, about a town in Alaska struggling with climate change. I’m currently writing a musical called The Paper Raincoat with former NewSong winner Amber Rubarth and NewSong finalist Devon Copley (The Animators, 2006). I will be continuing to release exclusive content and videos on my Patreon site, which I adore. As a producer, I just started work with NC natives Delta Rae on their upcoming double album.

 

Listen to Alex Wong on Soundcloud and Spotify. Follow Alex Wong on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. 

 

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Meet 2018 NewSong Competition finalist: Mel Bryant

Thursday, December 6th, 2018

Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers are a Nashville-based indie rock band led by bassist and songwriter Mel Bryant. The four musicians moved together from Philly and New York to settle in East Nashville where they run their own recording studio, Electric Church Records, and work as the backing band for various local artists. Mel will travel to Asheville to compete in the NewSong Music Competition with her accompanist, Aaron Hicks, on acoustic guitar. 

We asked Mel some questions about her songwriting process and what it means to be a NewSong finalist. To purchase tickets for the Dec. 15 event at Isis Music Hall, visit our ticketing page. 

 

What does it mean to you to be selected as a NewSong finalist, and what do you hope to get out of the experience? 

 
The recognition as a songwriter is so heartwarming and self-affirming in the midst of self doubt and those pesky feelings that we don’t deserve to do this thing we love to do. I’m really excited to connect with like-minded songwriters for future collaborations and play in a really awesome Asheville venue!
 

What is your songwriting process like? Who inspires you?

 
My songwriting process is fairly inconsistent, but usually starts with a lyrical idea: something short like a sentence or even a word pairing, and maybe a rhyming scheme along with that, something that I thought of during my daily life, working as a server at a brunch place, or out of things I’ve overheard or read somewhere. I usually flesh it out on a guitar or just with my voice, and then will refine it with another member of my band, or with my entire band, if I think the song would gel with my bandmates.
 
Some of my biggest inspirations growing up were punk rock bands like Green Day and Fall Out Boy, along with folk songwriters like Laura Marling, Joni Mitchell, etc, but as I got older and delved into other genres, some big influences have been blues artists like B. B. King, classic rock bands like the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, etc. Lately, the low-key, heartfelt indie rock vein has informed a lot of my writing, with artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Pinegrove.
 

What important news about your music do you have coming up? 

 
We released our debut single In My Head in October and we hope to have a lot more music out later in 2019. We are nearly finished building our home studio, which we plan to use to record and film ourselves for weekly videos and to record other musicians in Nashville.

 

Listen to Mel Bryant on Soundcloud, watch on YouTube, and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

 

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Meet 2018 NewSong Competition finalist: Kaiti Jones

Wednesday, December 5th, 2018

From the artists bio: Kaiti Jones has been making her home in the Boston folk scene since 2010. A native of Portland, Maine, she spent four years in Nashville, where she formed her sound in the backyard of Bob Dylan’s folk ballads and Flannery O’Connor’s southern gothic storytelling, before returning to her northern roots. Jones has three studio releases: Arise Child EP (2009), Growing Things EP (2013), and VOWS (2017).

Jones’ music is Americana soaked in melancholy, with the occasional foot stomper thrown in for good measure. Her 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.

We asked Kaiti some questions about her songwriting process and what it means to be a NewSong finalist. To purchase tickets for the Dec. 15 event at Isis Music Hall, visit our ticketing page. 

 
 

What is your songwriting process like, and where do you find inspiration?

 
I often feel as if I am at the mercy of my own songwriting process. I’ll be out somewhere — in the car, walking down the street, tackling a project at work — and a song will crash over me like a wave, often already in full form, strong, unmanageable, demanding to be written down. It’s often stories or experiences from years prior in my life that are suddenly resurfacing, now processed and safe to speak out. Other times, a song will come to me in the raw here and now of a still-lived experience. My muses include Flannery O’Connor, Wendell Berry, Madeleine L’Engle and Bob Dylan. All approach storytelling with mastery, gravity, and wonder, and have each unraveled me with the haunting, unmatched quality of their words.
 

What does it mean to you to be selected as a NewSong finalist, and what do you hope to get out of the experience? 

 
It’s a great honor to be selected as a NewSong finalist and to be recognized alongside high caliber writers and performers. I consider it a privilege to be given any opportunity to share my stories with others, and I look forward to connecting with and becoming part of the NewSong community of artists and industry folks.
 

What important news about your music do you have coming up? 

 
It is now one year since my album VOWS came out. These days, I’m focusing on continuing to perform as much as possible, as well as writing new material and preparing for a new recording project in the coming year.
 
Listen to Kaiti Jones on Spotify and Soundcloud; watch on YouTube; and follow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. 

 

 

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NewSong Music to bring its 17th annual songwriting competition finals to Asheville this Dec. 15

Friday, November 16th, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

NEWSONG MUSIC TO BRING ITS 17TH ANNUAL, INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE & SONGWRITING COMPETITION FINALS TO ASHEVILLE THIS DECEMBER

EIGHT EMERGING ARTISTS FROM ACROSS NORTH AMERICA TO SHOWCASE & COMPETE

GRAND PRIZE WINNER RECEIVES AN EP RECORDING PROJECT AT ECHO MOUNTAIN RECORDING STUDIOS, RELEASED ON THE NEWSONG RECORDINGS LABEL

COMPETITION HELD AT ISIS MUSIC HALL IN ASHEVILLE, NC, SATURDAY, DEC. 15

November 16, 2018 (Asheville, NC) – For the first time in its seventeen year history, the live performance finals of the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition will be held this December in Asheville, where NewSong Music has been headquartered since 2012. The move marks a new direction for the program, relocating from its longstanding host venue, New York City’s venerable Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

“We’re delighted to bring the competition finals to Asheville for the first time this year,” says NewSong co-founder and director Gar Ragland, a North Carolina native (Winston-Salem) who relocated the organization to Asheville from New York City just over six years ago. “The NewSong Competition attracts and features exceptionally talented emerging artists from across the continent, and bringing the program here to Asheville where we’re based is long overdue.”

Eight finalists – selected from advance online submissions from across North America and beyond – will come to Asheville to perform, compete and network with one another in the live showcase and competition finals at Isis Music Hall in Asheville on December 15. “Isis Music Hall is the perfect venue for this event,” states Ragland. It’s one of the best sounding listening rooms in the southeast, and the intimacy of the space is very well suited to the music we’ll be presenting.”

A panel of national music industry judges will select the overall winner of the competition. This year’s grand prize winner will receive a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Asheville own Echo Mountain Recording Studios and released on the NewSong Recordings label. The grand prize winner will also receive a performance showcase at the esteemed 2019 ASCAP Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival (January 24 – February 3, 2019) in Park City, Utah and a featured performance in the 2019 Arts Brookfield ‘Summer Plaza’ series in New York City. All finalists will receive a Shure MOTIV microphone, and will be strongly considered for future ‘NewSong Presents’ paid performances across the United States.

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.

 

WHAT: NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition Finals

WHERE: Isis Music Hall // 743 Haywood Road, Asheville, NC

WHEN: Dec. 15, 2018 // 8 pm

TICKETS: $12/$15 https://public.ticketbiscuit.com/IsisAsheville/Ticketing/357131

 

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.

For more information about NewSong Recordings and the NewSong Music Competition, visit newsong-music.com/

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Crys Matthews and David Robert King team up to record new single

Monday, July 30th, 2018

Finalists often tell us that one of the best perks about being a part of the NewSong Songwriting Competition is having the opportunity to meet likeminded songwriters. The spirit of the competition is far from cut-throat and often opens doors for collaborations and networking, which was certainly the case for songwriters and 2017 finalists Crys Matthews and David Robert King. The duo met at Echo Mountain Recording Studios in late July with NewSong founder Gar Ragland to record a new single, “Have Mercy.” 

We took some time to talk to the artists about their songwriting processes and experiences with collaboration. 

Q&A with Crys Matthews and David Robert King 

NewSong: How did this song collaboration come about? 

David: I woke up one morning with the first verse running through my head. I had been digesting the 24-hour news cycle for too many days in a row and was crushed. Specifically, by the separation of families along our southern border. This was different than my usual introspective and dark stuff, it had an inherent hope to it. I immediately thought of my immensely talented friend Crys, who I met through the NewSong community. I knew her voice and perspective would take the song where it needed to go.

Crys: David and I met during the NewSong finals back in November. I loved his style and especially his voice (it’s so reminiscent of Tom Waits) and his guitar playing is incredible. We kept in touch after that night at Lincoln Center in the hopes of getting to become better friends and share a show or two. He reached out to me not long after the family separation crisis started and sent a snippet of the song. We went back and forth — adding, subtracting, shaping, reshaping — until it felt like we had it right.

How would you describe the meaning and/or impetus behind “Have Mercy”?

Crys: My mom, who is a preacher, talks to me all the time about how hard she is praying for our country these days with all of the turmoil and despair that seems to be running rampant. The song to me just feels like that prayer, a sincere hope that we will get through this chapter the way we got through the 50s and 60s and 9/11 and countless wars and everything else that America has had to endure and overcome.
 
David: [The song expresses] my thoughts on what America can be if we turn on all the lights, expose the shadows, and put down our remote controls and iPhones and stand up together against injustice. We need to face our demons, current and past, and make things right. We need mercy
 
What has it been like to work together on this project? 
 
David: Crys got it right away. We didn’t discuss the song or the message. I just sent her what I had (first verse and chorus) and she went to work. It usually takes me months or years to write a tune. Doing this with Crys, it took days.
 
Crys: It has been wonderful! It’s only my second co-write, and I’m so grateful to David for this chance to help bring some tenderness and beauty to people.
 
Stay tuned for “Have Mercy,” the new song from Crys Matthews and David Robery King. For more information on Crys Matthews, visit crysmatthews.com. For more information on David Robert King, visit davidrobertking.com.
 
 
 
 

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Clarence Bucaro to perform at Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC on June 20

Monday, June 18th, 2018

Clarence Bucaro performs in Asheville, NC at Isis Music Hall Wednesday June 20.

 
Our NewSong Songwriting Competition finalists go on to do incredible things, and 2013 finalist Clarence Bucaro is no exception. 

In May 2018, Clarence Bucaro released his powerful new studio album, Passionate Kind, on indie 2020 Records. Rolling Stone said of the album; “Buoyant, sometimes playful folk songwriting with a deep well of social consciousness,” and named him one of “10 Artists to Watch.”

Clarence is currently playing shows around the country to promote the album. The artist performs at Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC on Wednesday, June 20. In advance of the show, we asked Bucaro about his new release, as well as his songwriting process. 

For details on the June 20 show in Asheville, visit the Facebook event page. For ticket giveaway info, check out NewSong Music’s Facebook and Instagram accounts @NewSongMusic. 

 

Can you tell us about your latest release, Passionate Kind? What was the inspiration behind it? 
 
Passionate Kind is a collection of songs that engages in the current moment. It’s a plea for direction in confusing times and asking for answers of today’s social ills. It ruminates over social issues and attempts to find answers. 
 
What is your songwriting process like? 
 
Songwriting to me is a deeply personal thing. I take intimate ideas or images and turn them into tunes. Typically, I start with a lyric or image and spend time (days sometimes years) creating melodies. I try to connect to human feelings and imagine them thru different prisms. All the while asking myself, is it honest and is it real. My intent is to innovate on lyrics yet keep them completely relatable. 
 
Is there anything that you would like fans to know (upcoming news, tour dates, etc)?
 
Check out my website for tour dates this summer. I will be hitting up most major markets. 
Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @clarencebucaromusic.

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Meet ‘Sanctuary Sessions’ performer Maya de Vitry

Friday, June 15th, 2018

Maya de Vitry will perform Saturday June 16 as part of the ‘Sanctuary Sessions’ series, a benefit for Blue Ridge Public Radio.

 
NewSong welcomes Maya de Vitry to the ‘Sanctuary Sessions’ stage. She has spent the last six years touring the United States, Canada, and Europe with her Americana band The Stray Birds. In her solo work, her lone, dynamic voice, as well as her muses and meditations, explore a striking new landscape. 
 
The Nashville, TN based songwriter will perform as part of the Sanctuary Sessions series Saturday, June 16th at the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Asheville. Doors at 7 pm. Acclaimed Canadian songwriter Rose Cousins headlines the show. All proceeds from the event benefit Blue Ridge Public Radio.
 

“It’s so cool to be coming to Asheville,” says de Vitry. “I’ve actually lived in Asheville twice before. The traditional fiddle music scene was like a magnet to me when I first came to the Swannanoa Gathering in 2008.”
 
de Vitry eventually left Asheville in 2011 and moved to Boston to study music. “Rather than finish unpacking in my new apartment [in Boston] I remember rushing off to the legendary Club Passim in Harvard Square to catch the end of a songwriter show, and Rose Cousins was performing when I arrived,” says de Vitry of her fellow ‘Sanctuary Sessions’ performer. “Her voice and her songs and her delivery — it was all very stunning to me. She was a catalyst, and now she is also a friend. I’m honored to support her in Asheville.” 
 
de Vitry says the transition to playing solo has been an exciting one. “I have been writing and touring exclusively with The Stray Birds since 2012, so to be out here right now playing these new songs just feels like a celebration and a release to me,” she says. “It’s not an album release tour yet, but it’s a release of something else. It feels like such a celebration to grow and explore new directions as a human, and to find a more and more focused voice as an artist. Sometimes the process itself is a highlight!”
 
Stay up-to-date with Maya de Vitry’s news and show calendar on her website, mayadevitry.com. 
 

WHAT: Sanctuary Sessions: Rose Cousins / Maya de Vitry

WHERE: Central United Methodist Church, 27 Church Street, downtown Asheville

WHEN: Saturday, June 16. Doors @ 7. Music @ 7:30.

TICKETS: $15 advance / $20 day of show; advance tickets available theorangepeel.net

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