NYS Music 20​16

Tag: Election2016

  • HeadCount Presents “Soundtrack to History” at Brooklyn Bowl

    Tuesday night saw, what seemed like, a never ending election style end to the tune of some funky, improvisational music at this photog’s favorite small NYC venue, Brooklyn Bowl. It was here that HeadCount presented a “Soundtrack to History” via the Everyone Orchestra. Hosted by Matt Butler, Everyone Orchestra is an ever changing cast of musicians who are conducted through a dry erase board and crowd participation.

    This evenings cast for Headcount’s “Soundtrack to History” was no slouch, and included Marc Brownstein, Steve Kimock, Marco Benevento, Karina Rykman, Mihali Savoulidas, Vinnie Amico, Jeremy Salken, Jay Jennings, Chris Bullock, Natalie Cressman, Jans Ingber, and, unannounced for the second set, Robert Randolph. What a list… apologies if I missed someone.

    headcount Soundtrack to HistoryAs you can tell from the gallery below, the Bowl had televisions tuned in to the election, offering a unique vibe to say the least.  There were cheers, jeers, eyes locked high to the walls and not at the stage, and nearly everyone on their cell phone. Not a reflection of the music in any way, as this was my favorite EO show I’ve caught over the years, exceeding expectations to be quite honest. Feel free to make your own call as the show is available on YouTube.

  • HeadCount Talks Politics and Music with New Hampshire Voters

    HeadCount headed to New Hampshire prior to yesterday’s primary to discover young voters’ favorite candidates and musical preferences. The organization interviewed volunteers for the various campaigns, rally attendees and people still shopping for a candidate.

    Music and politics have a long history together. Woody Guthrie wrote songs promoting populism and socialist viewpoints, particularly with “This Land is Your Land.” The civil rights movement adopted “We Shall Overcome” as their chant. The ’60s saw war protest songs being written by popular rock and folk artists. Punk music took an anti-establishment swing.

    So, it’s no wonder that HeadCount, which has become pervasive at concerts helping attendees register to vote, would ask those they interviewed about their favorite music. The last question they asked was, “If you could pick any artist to rewrite the national anthem, who would it be?” (The final answer might surprise and/or delight some of our readers.) HeadCount also managed to catch Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz walking by and asked him about his favorite music. Sadly, he did not respond and simply kept walking.

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    The biggest takeaway from this video is that you cannot determine who a person might support based on their looks, occupation or musical preferences.

    The most glaring omission from the video is a lack of any Hillary Clinton supporters. HeadCount said that they reached out to the campaign and even visited their New Hampshire office, but the Democratic candidate’s campaign chose not to participate.

    The video (included below) was filmed prior to yesterday’s primary and catches the voters’ excitement for the process. Now that the primary has ended, we have the results. In the Republican primary, with 95 percent of precincts reporting, Donald Trump won with 35.3 percent of the vote. John Kasich came in second with 15.8 percent. Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush are in a virtual tie for third with 11.7 percent and 11 percent, respectively. In the Democratic primary, also with 95 percent of precincts reporting, Bernie Sanders won with 60 percent of the vote, while Hillary Clinton received 38.3 percent.

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