Wednesday, May 25, 2016

THE CREAMERY STUDIO RELEASES MIXTAPE OF LIVE-TO-TAPE RECORDING SESSIONS W/ NOTABLE BROOKLYN ARTISTS

On June 3, Brooklyn-based recording studio, The Creamery, will release volume one of its series, The Creamery Mixtape, featuring ten cherry-picked artists rising to the top of the Brooklyn music scene. Los Hacheros, Alpenglow, Live Footage and Uni Ika Ai are a few of the groups to appear. The release showcases a wide variety of the city’s musical genres, putting them in concert under one sonic umbrella.

Producer/engineers Quinn McCarthy and Jeff Fettig, who operate the studio, took the project on almost as a dare. Over a short three-day period during this year’s CMJ music festival in New York, each of the ten groups came through the studio in three hour slots to record a few songs, live to tape.
“It was about finding the right groups who could play and have a sound,” Fettig recalls. McCarthy followed, “We made up our minds before we even started that this wasn’t going to be about producing each band and each song to sound its ‘best.’ Studios are always trying to market their mixes as ear candy. Of course, pushing a band to its stylistic apex is a skill and it’s a logical goal, but so many of the records we love aren’t about technical perfection, it’s about capturing a creative performance and an artistic vision.” The songs were recorded in this way to capture the spontaneous and organic feel of live recording, with the goal of creating a listening experience that blends modern artists with old-school recording styles.

To help create a sonic palette that united each artist, McCarthy and Fettig encouraged them to share instruments and gear with each other, utilizing the same drum set and amplifiers used on a salsa number and for an electronic duo. For the most part, the bands played to the vibe of the room without headphones. Though often an uncommon philosophy, for this session they felt that bleed between instruments is not only ok, but a basis for the sound, with every mic in the room also doubled as a ‘room mic.’ The sounds went straight into their 1985 Tascam MS-16 Tape Machine with minimal mixing in post, leaving nearly everything as it sounded in the room.

The Creamery Mixtape trancends genre and trend, it carries the energy of the studio and the honesty of the moment. It’s as fun to listen to as it was to record.

Featuring: Wolf!, Alpenglow, Los Hacheros, Miay Folick, Uni Ika Ai, Tim Porbaix, Toebow, Vassals, Live Footage, and Whitney Lockert.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

GREEN RIVER FESTIVAL OFFERS CORNUCOPIA OF CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES FROM MUSIC TO GAMES JULY 8-10 IN GREENFIELD, MA WITH MUSIC, ART GARDEN, HAY BALE MAZE, PARADE, GAMES, HOT AIR BALLOON RIDES, & MORE

LATIN GRAMMY & PARENTS’ CHOICE AWARD WINNER MISTER G TO PLAY JULY 9
AND OTHER FEST BANDS TO PLAY 2ND SETS FOR KIDS AS WELL

In addition to an incredible lineup of music for adults featuring
Dawes, Shovels & Rope, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Shakey Graves, and more,
Green River Festival is packed with activities for children and
families.

Called a “kid-friendly, bilingual rock star” by the Washington Post
and “irresistible” by People Magazine, Latin GRAMMY and two-time
Parents’ Choice Award-winner Mister G will perform on July 9.
Mister G has headlined at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Getty
Museum, and The National Zoo, and has played at New Orleans Jazz &
Heritage Festival and Austin City Limits.

Saturday, one of the festival bands will lead a Mardi Gras parade
around the fairgrounds at 5:30pm. A swimming shuttle will run to the
Green River from 2-6 Saturday and Sunday. For the first time this
year, the festival will offer a hay bale maze, bouncy house, and an
expanded lawn games section on Saturday and Sunday.

There will be an Art Garden from noon to 6pm Saturday and Sunday under
the tent in the lower field. The festival will provide an abundance of
quality art materials, inspiring ideas, and plenty of work/play space
to get creative. On Saturday, the Art Garden will focus on making
processional flying creatures, masks and music-makers for the Mardi
Gras parade. On Sunday, it will introduce a variety of new mixed media
projects using paint, fabric and upcycled materials. The Art Garden is
a community supported art-making place located in Shelburne Falls, MA.

Lastly, and not just for kids, hot air balloon rides are an integral
part of the Green River Fest experience since its inception. For
little ones who might be scared of heights, tethered rides are
offered, which take about 5 minutes and see the balloon rise above the
field while held to a stationary point. Tickets can be purchased that
day on the field at $10 for kids and $15 for adults.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

KLEAN KANTEEN® TEAMS UP WITH THE GREEN RIVER FESTIVAL AS THE OFFICIAL SUSTAINABILITY PARTNER

Klean Kanteen, the leader in reusable
stainless steel food and beverage solutions, is partnering with the Green
River Festival, western Massachusetts’ favorite music and hot air balloon
festival taking place July 8-10, as the event’s official sustainability partner.

Headliners at the festival include Dawes, Shakey Graves, Shovels & Rope,
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Los Lobos, and Peter Wolf.

The Green River Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and
Klean Kanteen is helping them celebrate with a unique collaboration called
Cup Karma®. Created by Klean, this program helps events and festivals
strive to be zero waste by partnering with promoters to offset the effects of
plastic cups and bottles. As part of this program, Green River will offer
discounts on drinks purchased in reusable Klean stainless steel pints
throughout the event – a token of appreciation for doing the right thing and
eliminating waste with a reusable solution that lasts a lifetime.

Klean Kanteen will also provide water refill stations at as part of the
festival’s commitment to not sell bottled water. This will dramatically reduce
waste from single-use water bottles. In 2015, Klean helped divert over
450,000 single use cups and over 400,000 single-use plastic bottles
through collaborations like these at events all over the country.

“The Green River Festival is an ideal partner for Klean Kanteen because
they are committed to banning the sale of plastic bottles onsite, and that’s
where Klean Kanteen can really make a difference,” said Assistant
Marketing Manager, Melissa McClary. “By partnering with the Green River
Festival, we hope to inspire festival goers to do their part and make
conscious decisions when it comes to single-use waste.”

The Green River Festival is a leader among sustainable festivals and is
making other efforts to “green” the event, including compostable plates and
utensils for food vendors, a bike-to-the-festival initiative, with a new bike
path to and from the campground, a bike-check service at the festival, and

“At Green River we are advocates for minimizing single-use disposables at
events and utilizing green transportation solutions,” said Festival Director,
Jim Olsen. “Klean Kanteen is an ideal partner to help continue to make this
festival as environmentally friendly as possible.”

For information about the festival visit http://www.greenriverfestival.com/.

A leader in BPA-free, stainless steel drinkware and food transport, Klean
Kanteen is family owned and operated, with distribution in 40-plus countries
worldwide. With environmental stewardship and fair labor central to the
company’s philosophy, Klean Kanteen is in Business for Good™. Since
2008, Klean has donated over $1.5 million in sales to environmental
organizations working towards positive change through 1% for the Planet.
From non-profit partnerships to grassroots events, Klean works closely with
values-aligned companies and organizations to support efforts toward
health, the reduction of single-use plastic, and environmental education
and awareness. In 2012, Klean Kanteen proudly became a B Corporation,
certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and
environmental performance, accountability and transparency. For more
information, please visit www.kleankanteen.com.

The Green River Festival combines a spectacular lineup of over 40 acts,
local food, beer and wine, handmade crafts and hot air balloon rides; it is
western Massachusetts’ largest event of the summer taking place July 8-
10, 2016. The Green River Festival is also the only music festival in the
country that features hot air balloons. The festival has achieved massive
growth— last year’s ticket sales were the highest to date— and media
coverage about the festival has spanned outlets like Rolling Stone, the New
York Times and USA Today. www.greenriverfestival.com.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

MUSIC MAKER RELIEF FOUNDATION AND CHEF BILL SMITH COMPILE FOOD-THEMED COMPILATION ‘BISCUITS FOR YOUR OUTSIDE MAN’ TO BE RELEASED JUNE 24

Music Maker Relief Foundation and chef Bill Smith have partnered together to compile the new compilation ‘Biscuits For Your Outside Man’ to be released June 24 on the Music Maker label. It features 1 previously unreleased song out of 17 tracks.

Among the artists featured are dual Blues Music and Americana Music Association Hall of Famer Taj Mahal, National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellows John Dee Holeman and Drink Small, North Carolina Folk Heritage Fellow Algia Mae Hinton, longtime James Brown sideman Robert Lee Coleman, and Pink Anderson’s son Little Pink Anderson. Smith has contributed brand new liner notes. ‘Biscuits’ is the 179th album to be released on Music Maker Relief Foundation. Songs range from folk standard “Shortnin’ Bread” to “Hambone,” which inspired the Bo Diddley beat. The album also includes Captain Luke’s baritone rendition of the Elvis Presley hit “Polk Salad Annie,” written by Tony Joe White. Many of the songs are hokum numbers that function as double entendre, using food as a way to talk about sexuality.

Smith is as well known for his sumptuous take on Southern comfort food as he is for his exceptional food writing—including the New York Times Notable and Food & Wine Best-of-the-Best cookbook Seasoned in the South and his recent book, the bestselling Savor the South title, Crabs & Oysters. He stands out as the only James Beard Foundation “America’s Classic Restaurant” chef ever to have been named a final-five finalist for Best Chef in the Southeast—and twice. Among the recipes that have become classics are Green Peach Salad (featured in the New York Times), Tomato & Watermelon Salad (featured on the cover of Southern Living), Cheesepork! (the southern schnitzel), Southern Risotto & Tamales and of course his many desserts, including his most famous, Honeysuckle Sorbet and Atlantic Beach Pie (dubbed by NPR the “Oh, My God Pie”).

‘Biscuits For Your Outside Man’ Track Listing

1.    Cook Cornbread For Your Husband (Biscuits For Your Outside Man) – Algia Mae Hinton
2.    Shuckin’ Corn – Cootie Stark
3.    Poke Salad Annie – Captain Luke
4.    Shortnin’ Bread – Neal Pattman & Taj Mahal
5.    Livin’ in a BBQ World – Drink Small
6.    Greasy Greens – George Higgs
7.    Cherry Pie – Adolphus Bell
8.    Cook Good Salad – Little Pink Anderson
9.    Down on the Farm – Guitar Gabriel
10.  Cookie Jar – Robert Lee Coleman
11.  Lima Beans – Algia Mae Hinton
12.  Cabbage Man – Sam Frazier, Jr.
13.  Chicken Pie – Mudcat
14.  Shortnin’ Bread – Red Rover
15.  Chicken Raid – Mr. Frank Edwards
16.  Old Bill – Big Boy Henry
17.  Hambone – John Dee Holeman

Monday, May 2, 2016

“EBULLIANT” (BLUEGRASS SITUATION) NYC-BASED AMERICANA BAND SILVER CITY BOUND TO TOUR IN TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN FOR CROSS-CULTURAL COLLABORATION, BENEFIT FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES

NYC BON VOYAGE CONCERT MAY 11 AT BARBES

“TAKE MY PICTURE” MUSIC VIDEO TO PREMIERE MAY 5 AS EP HITS BANDCAMP’S TOP TEN AMERICANA ALBUMS CHART

“Silver City Bound has their own loose-limbed charm...serving up a sprightly mixture of folk, country, mariachi, and more." - The New Yorker

“New York’s Silver City Bound play a fun, eclectic brand of Americana that blends in folk, zydeco and a bit of indie rock.” – Pop Matters

"Love the whole spirit of it." -Bob Harris, BBC

Following the recent and heralded release of its EP ‘Take My Picture,’ which reached the top ten of Bandcamp’s Americana chart, Silver City Bound will be traveling to Azerbaijan to do concerts and workshops on behalf of the U.S. Department of State's Arts Envoy Program. While in Azerbaijan, the band will collaborate with local musicians and perform at high profile festival America Days.

On their way to Azerbaijan, the band will stop in Istanbul, Turkey to collaborate with Country For Syria May 14 and 15. Based in Istanbul, Country For Syria is comprised of American, Turkish, and Syrian musicians who play a mix of American and Arabic folk music and do performances and collaborations with Syrian refugees all over Turkey. Like Silver City Bound, an accordion is featured prominently in the band.

The proceeds will go to Istanbul & I, an organization that is focused on helping refugees in Istanbul from various countries build a positive relationship with the city and sponsoring creative projects.

Silver City Bound's intent is both to raise money and awareness for the Syrian refugee crisis as well as to show strength and solidarity with other young artists living and working in Istanbul. Together, they will celebrate the positive cultural power of music and hopefully plant the seeds for further collaborative work. Silver City Bound's mission is to promote cross-cultural collaboration and dialogue through American roots music.

A kick-off concert at Barbes in Brooklyn is planned at 9 pm on May 11, the site of the band’s overflowing EP release show. On May 5, a new music video for title track “Take My Picture” will be premiered.