Posts Tagged ‘Isis Asheville’

Meet 2019 NewSong finalist Danielle Ponder

Wednesday, November 6th, 2019

NewSong is proud to introduce 2019 finalist Danielle Ponder! The singer-songwriter from Rochester, New York will join our other finalists onstage at Isis Music Hall on Saturday Nov. 23 for the final competition.

Danielle performs across the U.S. with her band, Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People. The group transcends musical genres with a blast of deep, powerful groove and soul. According to Ponder, soul is more than a sound. “Soul music is something you feel,” she says. “It gives you goose bumps.”

Beyond Danielle’s musical talent, she is a passionate defense attorney, speaker and Adjunct Professor. She has dedicated the past 15 years to organizing and speaking up for marginalized communities. She has worked on issues such as education funding, women’s rights, and has spent the past 8 years working for criminal justice reform.

We asked Danielle about her musical inspirations, songwriting process and what music news she has coming up in the Q&A below. 

Connect with Danielle on her website, Facebook page, and Instagram. For more information on attending this event, please visit our Facebook event page. Buy tickets here. 

What are your most significant musical/artistic inspirations?

My biggest inspirations include Nina Simone and Lauryn Hill. I’m also inspired by the blues, the black experience, and the church.
 

What is your songwriting process like?

Every song has its own process. Sometime I am in the airport, a line will come to me, and before I land, I have a whole song. Other times, I want to write a song, but the exact words take forever to come. But mostly I hear the music first, and then I immediately know what words belong with the music.
 

What was your reaction to being named a NewSong finalist?

I was excited!!! I am grateful and ready to meet new people!
 

What music news would you like to share with readers?

I am releasing a single on November 22nd. I will be releasing a new album in the spring.
 
 
For more information on attending this event, please visit our Facebook event page. Buy tickets here. 

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Meet 2019 NewSong finalist Kelly Hoppenjans

Wednesday, November 6th, 2019

NewSong is proud to introduce 2019 finalist Kelly Hoppenjans! The Nashville-based singer-songwriter will join our other finalists onstage at Isis Music Hall on Saturday Nov. 23 for the final competition.

Kelly creates empowering rock, combining the spirit of riot grrrl tinged with folky introspection. Her debut album, OK, I Feel Better Now, has garnered praise from NPR who has this to say about the new release: “Band-Aid Girl’ [off album OK, I Feel Better Now]… is an exhausted, exquisitely solitary dirge about settling into a romance that doesn’t quite work with a partner who isn’t quite emotionally available. The torch in Hoppenjans’ heart is reduced to a mere wisp, and she conveys its final embers with her lovely, plaintive alto.”

We asked Kelly about her musical inspirations, songwriting process and what news she has coming up in the Q&A below. 

 

Connect with Kelly on her website, Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter. For more information on attending this event, please visit our Facebook event page. Buy tickets here. 

 

What are your most significant musical/artistic inspirations?

My biggest musical inspirations of all time are PJ Harvey, Bjork, Radiohead, and Joni Mitchell. Lately, I’ve been into Phoebe Bridgers, Angel Olsen, and Sleater-Kinney. 
 

What is your songwriting process like?

It depends! Sometimes I get a hook that comes to me and gets me started. Other times, an idea, or sometimes a rhyme that I like, inspires a song. But when I sit down to write, I usually grab a guitar and start playing around with chords and singing over them.
 

What was your reaction to being named a NewSong finalist?

I was so floored! It’s such an honor to be able to participate, and I’m excited to get to perform with all the other finalists!
 

What music news would you like to share with readers?

I just released my debut full-length album, OK, I Feel Better Now, on Oct 18 and am going to be touring a lot this year to promote it.
 
For more information on attending this event, please visit our Facebook event page. Buy tickets here. 

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Meet 2018 NewSong Competition finalist: Carly Taich

Monday, December 3rd, 2018

Photo credit: Shonie Joy Kuykendall

 

(From the artist’s bio): North Carolina-based musician, Carly Taich, is tough to pin down. Just when you think you’ve got her figured out, she takes off in a new direction with her hand out-stretched, waving for you to follow. She may be quick but she’d never leave you behind. This patient yet resolute nature has been revealed, like most innovative things, to be a strength for the seraphic songwriter. She holds a magnifying glass to her own soul before turning it on others. She has an unexpected, laissez-faire way of tackling the human experience, then holding it with humor and grace as if to always be secretly saying to her audience, “You are not alone.” 

Inspired by alternative-pop egos from the Andrew Sisters to Andrew Bird, Taich has coined her music “fearless folk-pop” to no one’s opposition. Since planting herself in Asheville three short years ago, she has won multiple songwriting awards and in 2018 performed in some of the area’s favorite music festivals and one of the nation’s biggest and best, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Her recent album, Reverie, was regarded by Blurt Magazine as “a start-to-finish, no-filler/all-killer gem—a veritable calling card to greatness if enough ears find it.” 

We asked Carly 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?

My process is always changing and is hard to nail down. When I’m writing, I often feel like two parts of my brain are fighting. One part wants to solve the song like a puzzle, while the other part wants to be totally abstract. I’m just standing in the middle trying to get them to compromise. Lately I’ve been inspired by some good advice to keep working that muscle and write every single day. My number one priority is to always have fun doing it.
 

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 an honor. I hope to be inspired by all the talent and make some lasting connections with the other songwriters.
 

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

I have two new singles I am very excited to release. Release date TBA! 

 

Listen to Carly Taich on SoundCloud and Spotify.
Watch Carly Taich on YouTube.  Follow her on Facebook and Instagram. 

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