Posts Tagged ‘Isis Music Hall’

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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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Meet 2018 NewSong Competition Finalist: Liz Frame

Tuesday, December 4th, 2018

(From the artist’s bio): Boston-based singer/songwriter Liz Frame has been performing her own brand of Americana music since her early teens. She is backed live by her band, the Kickers — John Webb on lead guitars, Sean Hennessy on bass and Pete Whitehead on drums — a group of talented friends whose raw sound and sweet harmonies help to deliver her material with distinction. A prodigious writer, Ms. Frame released her first full-length recording, “Sooner,” in 2011 that drew strong praise and consistent airplay, followed by the EP, Justine. She and the band have spent the last five years on the road and are out there again this year, in support of their brand new full-length record, Sparrow in a Shoebox.

Her voice bears likeness to Patsy Cline and Linda Ronstadt, and her writing is influenced by veterans like Dolly Parton and Lucinda Williams, among others.

We asked Liz 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? 

Being chosen as a finalist is such an honor! It means I get to meet other like-minded artists who take the craft of songwriting as seriously as I do. And it validates my own efforts, which is always nice. So many of us practice our craft in complete anonymity, so to be recognized like this is very special and much appreciated!
 

What is your songwriting process like?

I make time to write whenever I can, and go into my living room to do so. I sit with my guitar, and I just start strumming. Sometimes I work with a preexisting idea, sometimes not. Oftentimes I’ll have a word or two to work with, usually the title of the song, that gets me going. That was the case with “Sparrow in a Shoebox.” I started with the word “shoebox” and went from there! Songwriting is such a mysterious and satisfying process. I love it!
 

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

We are busy promoting our new album, Sparrow in a Shoebox, and that it’s getting airplay around the country!

 

Listen to Liz Frame on Soundcloud and Spotify. Watch on YouTube. 
Follow Liz Frame on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  
 

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Weekly Roundup: NewSong Artist News 12/3-12/9

Monday, December 3rd, 2018

We love to keep up with our past NewSong Music Contest finalists and winners, and, over the years, we have amassed a busy and hardworking group of musicians we admire. 

NewSong songwriters live and perform across the continent and beyond, their work spans multiple genres, and these artists are always putting out new material. To keep track of all their news and upcoming shows, we will be highlighting NewSong artists in our weekly roundup. 

We’ve put together a list of five shows, publications and recordings we think you should be paying attention to this week.

We are very excited to announce the NewSong Music Songwriting & Performance Competition will be held at Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC on Dec. 15. Finalists have been announced, and the full list can be found on our blog. Purchase tickets here. 

 

1. Meet our 2018 NEwSong competition Finalists (and judges!) on the blog 

Keep an eye out this week as we introduce our 2018 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition finalists and judges. We’re sharing videos, artist links and interviews with the artists who will compete at Isis Music Hall on Dec. 15! So far, we have introduced Nashville-based songwriter Suzie Brown and Asheville, NC-based artist Carly Taich. 

Brown speaks to the challenges of balancing her songwriting career with the demands of motherhood and her career as a physician. Taich discusses her songwriting process: “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.”

For our full list of finalists, click here.

2. Rachael Kilgour’s “holy We are” featured in Rolling Stone’s “10 best country and Americana songs of the week” 

 

Congratulations to Rachael Kilgour, whose new single, “Holy Are We,” from her forthcoming NewSong Recordings release, Game Changer, (avail Feb 1) is one of this week’s Top 10 Country and Americana Songs in Rolling Stone.

From Rolling Stone: “‘If my greatest sin is to love her well, you can send me to hell,’ Rachel Kilgour sings, turning this acoustic ballad into a stunning defense of same-sex love. A light string arrangement swoons lovingly in the background, but Kilgour’s unapologetic lyrics are the real treat here, taking an unapologetically personal look at the ways in which ignorant outsiders can mistake something sacred for blasphemy.”

Read the full list here. 

 

3. ListeN: 2018 NewSong Music Competition Finalists Playlist

We’ve created Spotify and YouTube playlists featuring this year’s lineup of NewSong finalists, and these artists are well worth a listen. Follow the playlist on Spotify here, and watch our YouTube playlist here.

 

4. 2018 NewSong Competition Finalist Suzie Brown featured in Harvard Magazine

2018 NewSong finalist Suzie Brown was recently featured in Harvard Magazine in an article titled, “Vocals, Guitar, and Stethoscope: Suzie Brown, M.D., writes prescriptions—and love songs.” The article explores Brown’s journey to balance her two careers as a cardiologist and a musician.

From Harvard Magazine: “For more than a decade she committed herself to becoming a top research cardiologist. Then, in 2009, just as she was about to complete a grant proposal that would have funded her work into her forties, she decided she couldn’t ignore her musical desires any longer. She abandoned the grant for a part-time clinical job, treating patients with heart failure, and devoted the rest of her time to making and promoting her music. She says the decision felt reckless at first: “I think I was afraid to admit to myself that I didn’t want a high-powered academic career…even if I could have had it.”

Read the full article here. 

 

5. NewSong Music Finals to take place in asheville, NC, dec. 15

 

 

 

Thank you to all who submitted their songs to this year’s NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition this year. The exciting process of selecting eight finalists is underway. Stay tuned for the results, coming soon! This year, the finals competition will be held December 15 in beautiful Asheville, NC at Isis Music Hall. Purchase tickets here. 

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Weekly Roundup: NewSong Artist News 11/26-12/2

Monday, November 26th, 2018

We love to keep up with our past NewSong Music Contest finalists and winners, and, over the years, we have amassed a busy and hardworking group of musicians we admire. 

NewSong songwriters live and perform across the continent and beyond, their work spans multiple genres, and these artists are always putting out new material. To keep track of all their news and upcoming shows, we will be highlighting NewSong artists in our weekly roundup. 

We’ve put together a list of five shows, publications and recordings we think you should be paying attention to this week.

We are very excited to announce the NewSong Music Songwriting & Performance Competition will be held at Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC on Dec. 15. Finalists have been announced, and the full list can be found on our blog. Purchase tickets here. 

 

1. Robby Hecht — Support via Patreon

Nashville-based songwriter Robby Hecht, a 2008 NewSong finalist, is sharing two unreleased songs per month via his Patreon page. From Hecht: “I’ll be releasing a new song [November 25] as well as an extra bonus video for my birthday week that will be free for all members. If you’re a fan of my music, it really is a great way to get your ears on new songs, most of which I’ll probably never end up having on a record.”

“I believe that good songs have the power to take us to a place where we can celebrate our common truths and feel less isolated and alone.” – Robby Hecht

 

Support Robby Hecht via Patreon here. 

Listen to Robby Hechy on Spotify here. 

 

2. Lora Faye — Listen: “Waltzes”

 

This week, we’re throwing it way back to Lora Faye’s Waltzes, a 5-song EP recorded with NewSong Recordings in 2013. 

The Brooklyn native took first place at The Mountain Stage NewSong Contest in 2012. These days, Lora-Faye Åshuvud is now the award-winning composer, singer, and instrumentalist behind the band Arthur Moon. Lora-Faye writes many of her lyrics using cut up newspaper and magazine articles, and describes the process of composing the band’s experimental pop arrangements as similarly collage-like. Lora-Faye also curates Soundfly’s “Incorrect Music,” an online interview series with musicians. 

Listen to Waltzes on Spotify and Bandcamp. Listen to Arthur Moon on Spotify. 

 

3. David Berkeley — Listen: “The Faded Red and Blue”

David Berkeley, a 2010 NewSong finalist, released a new album this month: The Faded Red and Blue. Santa Fe-based songwriter and author David Berkeley writes songs capable of both breaking and mending the heart. The San Francisco Chroniclecalls him a “musical poet,” and the New York Times praises his “lustrous, melancholy voice with shades of Tim Buckley and Nick Drake.”

Listen to The Faded Red and Blue on Spotify. 

 

4. brie Capone — Performs at New Belgium Brewery in Asheville, NC Dec. 7

 

2017 NewSong finalist Brie Capone will perform at New Belgium Brewery in her hometown of Asheville, NC for “Fat Tire Friday” on Dec. 7. Capone is a singer/songwriter and performer with belting female lead vocals and heartfelt, introspective lyricism. Brie’s 2018 EP ‘If I Let You In’  was recorded at Echo Mountain Studios. After returning from a nation wide run this past April and California tour in July, Brie has continued to promote her record with a run of shows in the Southeast.

Find event details for the Dec. 7 show here.

Listen to Brie Capone on Spotify here. 

 

5. NewSong Music Finals to take place in asheville, NC, dec. 15

 

 

 

Thank you to all who submitted their songs to this year’s NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition this year. The exciting process of selecting eight finalists is underway. Stay tuned for the results, coming soon! This year, the finals competition will be held December 15 in beautiful Asheville, NC at Isis Music Hall. Purchase tickets here. 

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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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Weekly Roundup: NewSong Artist News 11/12-11/18

Monday, November 12th, 2018

We love to keep up with our past NewSong Music Contest finalists and winners, and, over the years, we have amassed a busy and hardworking group of musicians we admire. 

NewSong songwriters live and perform across the continent and beyond, their work spans multiple genres, and these artists are always putting out new material. To keep track of all their news and upcoming shows, we will be highlighting NewSong artists in our weekly roundup. 

We’ve put together a list of five shows, publications and recordings we think you should be paying attention to this week.

We are very excited to announce the NewSong Music Songwriting & Performance Competition will be held at Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC on Dec. 15. Stay tuned for finalist announcements, coming soon. 

1. Rachael Kilgour — “Holy Are We” single release out this Friday

Rachael Kilgour will release her single “Holy Are We,” off her forthcoming record Game Changer, this Friday. 

Recorded in Asheville, NC at Echo Mountain Studios and produced by Gar Ragland, the EP will be released on NewSong Recordings and features captivating string arrangements by violinist Sara Pajunen.

Pre-order your digital copy here. 

2. Jeffrey Martin — UK TOur

Past NewSong finalist Jeffrey Martin will embark on a tour in the UK this November, with his first show on Nov. 30 in Coggeshall, UK. If you won’t be across the pond for his tour dates, we highly recommend seeking out his music and giving the Portland, OR-based songwriter a listen. 

Praise from Portland Mercury: “Jeffrey Martin’s music is not widely known, which is a shame, because he might be the best songwriter in Portland. With lyrics that read like Raymond Carver stories and a voice that’s one breath away from breaking completely apart, Martin’s songs are beautiful, sparse, and utterly devastating.” 

Listen to Jeffrey Martin on Spotify. 

3. Ana Egge — ListeN: White tiger

Ana Egge, a NewSong finalist from 2007, is another artist we have in our rotation this week, and we think you should, too. Her tenth studio album album, White Tiger, is an ethereal, emotional treat, not to be missed. Folk Alley has this to say about the artist: “Ana Egge has one of those voices—full of breath and breeze one minute, grounded like a boot in a puddle the next—that just feels free.”

Listen to Ana Egge’s latest, White Tiger, on Spotify. 

 

4. Amber Rubarth — European tour + Listen: “A Common case of Disappearing”

Amber Rubarth was NewSong Music’s 2010 grand prize winner. She has spent her fall performing on stages across Europe, with her next show taking place on Nov. 13 in Barcelona, Spain.

For those not in Spain, we recommend listening to the artist’s Grand Prize album, A Common Case of Disappearing, produced and mixed by Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Kings of Leon). 

Listen to Amber Rubarth on Spotify.

Purchase A Common Case of Disappearing. 

5. NewSong Music Finals to take place in asheville, NC, dec. 15

 

Thank you to all who submitted their songs to this year’s NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition this year. The exciting process of selecting eight finalists is underway. Stay tuned for the results, coming soon! This year, the finals competition will be held December 15 in beautiful Asheville, NC at Isis Music Hall.

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Weekly Roundup: NewSong Artist News 10/1-10/7

Monday, October 1st, 2018

We love to keep up with our past NewSong Music Contest finalists and winners, and, over the years, we have amassed a busy and hardworking group of musicians we admire. 

NewSong songwriters live and perform across the continent and beyond, their work spans multiple genres, and these artists are always putting out new material. To keep track of all their news and upcoming shows, we will be highlighting NewSong artists in our weekly roundup. 

We’ve put together a list of five shows, publications and recordings we think you should be paying attention to this week. 

 

1. Ordinary Elephant – new album announced, kickstarter in progress

 

If they aren’t already, Ordinary Elephant should be in your music rotation. After being awarded the Folk Alliance International Artist of the Year award, the 2016 LEAF Contest finalists recently announced that they’re heading in to the studio with producer Neilson Hubbard to record their next album. 

Hubbard has produced albums by Mary Gauthier, Sam Baker, Glen Phillips, and Amy Speace. “After meeting with him,” says the band, “we’re confident that our visions are aligning, and that he’s going to help us serve these songs, giving them only what they are asking for. This means that overall this record will be fairly stripped down, highlighting the emotional intensity of our live performances.”

Pre-order your copy of the band’s new album and support the project via Kickstarter.

Listen to Ordinary Elephant’s latest on Spotify. Learn more about the duo on the band’s website. 

 

2. Andy palmer – new music video For “The Switch”

 

Andy Palmer announced the release of a new video for his song “The Switch,” created by award winning digital, animation and claymation artist John Grigsby. The striking video has been accepted in film festivals across the country. In addition to the film release, Andy announced his indefinite hiatus from the music industry and invites fans to join him at his last show (for now) at the Walnut Room in Denver, CO on Oct. 20. 

Andy Palmer and Brie Capone shared a bill at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in August 2017 as part of NewSong’s ‘Exploration of Song’ series there. Watch a video of Brie and Andy singing Andy’s song “Off” on YouTube.

Listen to Andy Palmer on Spotify. 

 

3. Brie capone – Carole King Tribute oct. 7

Brie Capone is keeping busy this fall with a full lineup of shows. This week, you will find her at Isis Music Hall on Oct. 7th, performing songs from Carole King’s “Tapestry” album, with Asheville musician Jesse Barry and others.

Recorded and released in 1971, “Tapestry” is one of the best selling albums of all time. It received four Grammy Awards in 1972. With an all-star lineup of musicians including Peggy Ratusz, Kelly Jones, Aaron Price, Zack Page, Micah Thomas, Dean Mitchell, & Kate Kinney Barber, this is bound to be another night to remember. 

Listen to Brie’s music on Spotify. 

 

4. NewSong recordings spotlight: Kelly English

Kelly English is a singer-songwriter from Hartford, Connecticut. A finalist in the 2015 NewSong Songwriting Contest, Kelly traveled to Asheville to compete at the LEAF Singer-Songwriter Competition. There, she found a home at Echo Mountain Recording Studios and partnered with Gar Ragland and NewSong Recordings to record  and release “City Limits.” The debut album was released a year ago, in October 2017.

Kelly will return to Asheville later this month to record songs for her follow up album, and we can’t wait to hear what’s next from this talented artist. 

Purchase “City Limits” on Bandcamp. Listen to Kelly’s music on Spotify. 

5. SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN FOR 2018 NEWSONG MUSIC PERFORMANCE & SONGWRITING COMPETITION 


Now in its 17th year, the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition is one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performers and songwriters across an array of genres. To learn more and submit, click here.

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