Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Spirit Family Reunion 2016 photo & bio
Spirit Family Reunion began singing together on the street corners of New York City in 2009.
Since that time they have travelled the highways of America delivering raw, high energy, honest music. They have shared the stage with musical heroes such as Pete Seeger and Levon Helm, and have given critically acclaimed performances at noteworthy festivals including Stage Coach, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and the legendary Newport Folk Festival three times. The band has self-produced and self-released two full-length studio albums (2012’s “No Separation” and 2015’s “Hands Together”) along with multiple songbooks and other collections of recordings. They are currently working on a new record.
Monday, November 21, 2016
BONNIE RAITT ON TAJ MAHAL “A 1-MAN GLOBAL WRECKING CREW... I JUST HAVE SO MUCH ADMIRATION FOR HIM”
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ALBUM ‘LABOR OF LOVE’ OUT DECEMBER 16
Bonnie Raitt recently shared her thoughts on Taj Mahal with Living Blues Magazine. Taj Mahal’s 47th album ‘Labor of Love’ comes out December 16 on Acoustic Sounds and consists of an acoustic session from 1998. Raitt says:
“There are very few artists with the wide musical reach of Taj Mahal; I can’t think of anyone who’s heard him that hasn’t fallen under his spell. From the very start, his impact was really groundbreaking—it’s hard to express how much those first two albums meant to me.
As an ambassador for world music—and roots music in particular—he perfectly embodies how music can cross-pollinate across generations and cultures to bring people together. Like Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and Peter Gabriel, Taj has turned so many of us onto musicians and styles we may not have appreciated as much otherwise. Not to mention he’s one of the funkiest blues and R&B singers, harp players, and guitarists alive.
I think his greatest contribution is going [to] be the way that he combines all these musical traditions in such an authentic and rich way. He’d had an incredibly eclectic and deep musical history, which in turn has inspired all those musicians with whom he plays—they learn about all the other tributaries of the music he’s mastered. Fro examples, there’s a lot of African musicians who might never have heard about Delta, Carolina or Texas Blues if they hadn’t met Taj. There are country and bluegrass musicians who love him; folk and jazz artists and Hawaiians, Cubans, Brazilians, and Jamaicans, too. The guy is a one-man global wrecking crew.
There really isn’t just one musical award that could encompass how eclectic Taj is. I think that’s why his Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award is so fitting as it recognizes his impact on millions of people, celebrates his tremendous creative output and speaks to how Taj keeps people coming back seven decades into his career.
I just have so much admiration for him.”
Bonnie Raitt recently shared her thoughts on Taj Mahal with Living Blues Magazine. Taj Mahal’s 47th album ‘Labor of Love’ comes out December 16 on Acoustic Sounds and consists of an acoustic session from 1998. Raitt says:
“There are very few artists with the wide musical reach of Taj Mahal; I can’t think of anyone who’s heard him that hasn’t fallen under his spell. From the very start, his impact was really groundbreaking—it’s hard to express how much those first two albums meant to me.
As an ambassador for world music—and roots music in particular—he perfectly embodies how music can cross-pollinate across generations and cultures to bring people together. Like Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and Peter Gabriel, Taj has turned so many of us onto musicians and styles we may not have appreciated as much otherwise. Not to mention he’s one of the funkiest blues and R&B singers, harp players, and guitarists alive.
I think his greatest contribution is going [to] be the way that he combines all these musical traditions in such an authentic and rich way. He’d had an incredibly eclectic and deep musical history, which in turn has inspired all those musicians with whom he plays—they learn about all the other tributaries of the music he’s mastered. Fro examples, there’s a lot of African musicians who might never have heard about Delta, Carolina or Texas Blues if they hadn’t met Taj. There are country and bluegrass musicians who love him; folk and jazz artists and Hawaiians, Cubans, Brazilians, and Jamaicans, too. The guy is a one-man global wrecking crew.
There really isn’t just one musical award that could encompass how eclectic Taj is. I think that’s why his Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award is so fitting as it recognizes his impact on millions of people, celebrates his tremendous creative output and speaks to how Taj keeps people coming back seven decades into his career.
I just have so much admiration for him.”
Friday, November 18, 2016
Monday, November 14, 2016
Julia Anrather photo and bio
Julia is an actress, musician, and producer from NYC. She just played a Dandy Minion in Taylor Mac's 24 Decades of Popular Music at
St Ann's Warehouse this fall, which will culminate in a 24-hour long
performance. On screen she most recently played a vegan caterer in The Pioneers,
a comedic web series which is an official selection of the Brooklyn Web
Fest and has been featured on the homepage of Funny or Die. Other
favorite roles include Liz in Stuart Ruston's short film The 9th Annual Brooklyn Pickle Bowl, Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream with director Christopher Hirsh & FoxWolf Productions, and an Angel in the Drama Desk Award winning show The Mysteries directed by Ed Iskandar at The Flea Theater. Julia writes and performs her own music and
has a new EP coming out in 2017. She just finished filming her first
music video and plans to release it this November. She is also the
founder of the Near Thing Productions, a company based in Brooklyn and
the Catskills.
WASHINGTON POST FEATURE TO SPOTLIGHT KINGSLEY FLOOD AS BAND’S MOST PERSONAL ALBUM TO DATE EARNS RAVES
The Washington Post is planning a profile on Kingsley Flood to run Friday
and new album 'Another Other,' written by Palestinian-American frontman
Naseem Khuri about his powerful and sometimes contradictory
experiences. Rave reviews are coming in for the Newport Folk Fest alums'
first full-length since 2013. Kingsley Flood will perform next at the
Sinclair in Cambridge, MA November 18 and at Rock & Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C. November 19. Here’s what we’re reading:
“Acute, razor-sharp tales.”
– Cady Siregar, Stereogum, November 17, 2015
“Ripping… tangle with American identity.”
- Luke O’Neil, Bullet Media, August 16, 2016
“One of those bands that matter… it’s music with something important to say, like the Clash, all backed with a hard-charging folk-inflected rock sound.”
- Pop Matters, October 14, 2016
"A triumphant sound."
- Sjimon Gompers, Impose, October 7, 2016
“Exhilarating… Potent lyrical punch.”
- Glide Mag, September 28, 2016
“Much more than just a boisterous barroom rocker.”
- Chris Palermino, MySpace Music, October 4, 2016
“So good… Every turn comes with something special: a ’70s punk crescendo, a bit of Britpop, a dusty, Western country melody.”
- Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, October 28, 2016
“The band’s best… rocks hard while tackling tough questions about what it means to be an American… as with all of Kingsley Flood’s work, it’s an energy with a purpose.”
- Pete Chianca, Gatehouse Media, November 4, 2016
“Can’t-miss.”
- Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register, October 21, 2016
“Acute, razor-sharp tales.”
– Cady Siregar, Stereogum, November 17, 2015
“Ripping… tangle with American identity.”
- Luke O’Neil, Bullet Media, August 16, 2016
“One of those bands that matter… it’s music with something important to say, like the Clash, all backed with a hard-charging folk-inflected rock sound.”
- Pop Matters, October 14, 2016
"A triumphant sound."
- Sjimon Gompers, Impose, October 7, 2016
“Exhilarating… Potent lyrical punch.”
- Glide Mag, September 28, 2016
“Much more than just a boisterous barroom rocker.”
- Chris Palermino, MySpace Music, October 4, 2016
“So good… Every turn comes with something special: a ’70s punk crescendo, a bit of Britpop, a dusty, Western country melody.”
- Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, October 28, 2016
“The band’s best… rocks hard while tackling tough questions about what it means to be an American… as with all of Kingsley Flood’s work, it’s an energy with a purpose.”
- Pete Chianca, Gatehouse Media, November 4, 2016
“Can’t-miss.”
- Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register, October 21, 2016
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