On Friday, April 29th, I’ll be at Symphony Space attending a live musical performance by GRAMMY award-winning musician Dom Flemons, with special guest Andy Hedges, which will be the second of three consecutive nights of Flemons’ performances at the venue. Flemons is a multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter with a repertoire spanning a century’s worth of […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
KNABLE GAZING: Reflections on a Dylan Dream
posted by jimknable
“We were in front of a house I knew in the dream but never in real life. He had a black Camaro that I regularly took him out for rides in. I had to do the driving and it was my honor. Top down, dirty old car, two-door so it opened wide and he climbed […]
The Localist: Pitching Publicists
posted by bigcityfolks
Just because you have money to be able to pay a publicist does not mean that a publicist will accept you as a client for your upcoming record release. I repeat, just because you have money to be able to pay a publicist does not mean that a publicist will accept you as a client […]
The Localist: How to Write an Album, Part 7 – The Importance of Singles for Emerging Artists
posted by bigcityfolks
Parts 1-6 have focused more on the theory of writing albums for public consumption, but I wanted to talk a bit about practical matters that affect artists that are starting to pitch records to the public or people in the industry. And so I thought it would be helpful to talk about the concept of […]
For Old-Time’s Sake: Nora Brown Release Show for “Sidetrack My Engine” LP
posted by Ben Bar
Last fall, I was invited to attend a live musical performance at the Jalopy Theater and School of Music and write about it for Big City Folks. It was the release show for “Sidetrack My Engine”, the second album by 16-year-old Brooklyn-based banjo virtuoso Nora Brown. I gladly accepted. Below is my account of Brown’s […]
KNABLE GAZING: The Performance or the Nachos?
posted by jimknable
In college, I had a part time job at the Music School stage managing the final recitals for the graduate students. It was just the musicians and me in the tight backstage space, so I would see them intimately in their pre-performance states before they walked out through my expertly held door and throughout the […]
The Localist: The Birth of Imposter Syndrome
posted by bigcityfolks
I begin with the caveat that I am not literally giving an analysis of the birth of imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome has existed for as long as people have been doing art, and naturally arises from the tension between what an artist thinks they have accomplished, and what an artist has actually done. In this […]
KNABLE GAZING: Mel and The Tall Boys in the Delta of Rockwood
posted by jimknable
An experiential concert review I’ve never felt so uncool as when I stood in the back of the venue where I played in my band’s halcyon days, the only medically masked man in a room full of people in their 20s. The three-man band opening for Mel and the Tall Boys played covers with originals […]
Folk Alliance International’s 2021 Folk Unlocked Virtual Conference: Part 8 of 8 – Linda Marks
posted by Ben Bar
This article is the final of an eight-part series covering Folk Alliance International’s 2021 Folk Unlocked Virtual Conference, dedicated to Linda Marks and her festival performance. Linda Marks is a Bostonian singer-songwriter. On the evening of Thursday, February 25th (CST), Marks livestreamed an hour-long, twelve-song set at her home in Waltham, Massachusetts. Singing and playing […]
Folk Alliance International’s 2021 Folk Unlocked Virtual Conference: Part 7 of 8 – Vienna Carroll
posted by Ben Bar
This article is the seventh of an eight-part series covering Folk Alliance International’s 2021 Folk Unlocked Virtual Conference, dedicated to Vienna Carroll and her festival performance. Vienna Carroll is a singer-songwriter, historian, playwright, actor, and herbalist from York, Pennsylvania. On the evening of Wednesday, February 24th (CST), Carroll streamed an hour-long, eleven-song set that had […]
Recent Comments