The Native American Music Awards (NAMA) announced the postponement of their 20th annual awards show indefinitely. The show was scheduled to take place in late November but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are postponing due to safety and finical concerns. The NAMA intends to plan, present virtual events, and enhanced online activities in 2021.
The NAMA requires a lot of preparation, travel and pre-production work. Presenting their annual awards program, coupled by the industry’s uncertainty, The Native American Music Awards Association felt the need to cancel this year’s festivities. As an all volunteer organization, they do not qualify for available emergency funding such as; the Paycheck Protection Program and because of this they don’t have the funding to prepare, travel and pre-production work right now. However, they will continue to rely on the support of their members and sponsors for their upcoming programs. Currently there is no official date for the postponement but the association hopes to be back in 2021.
All music submissions for the 2020 award show have been postponed until further notice. The host of the event, Seneca Niagara Casino Entertainment, informed The NAMA Association that they are not rescheduling their events for the remainder of 2020 despite their best efforts to reopen in New York which leaves the association in an indefinite postponement until further notice.
For more information visit The Native American Music Awards’ website.
The Who announced their “Join Together @ Home” streaming event featuring archived footage of their 1982 Shea Stadium performances. The series starts on Saturday, Aug. 8 at 1PM EST and will run for six weeks. Donations made will benefit Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America.
The series will kick off with an exclusive ‘red carpet’ premiere clip from Roger Daltrey. The seies will feature five live clips from The Who’s 1982 Shea Stadium show in New York City. The weekly series will feature some of the band’s most memorable performances, including previously unseen footage. “Join Together @ Home” is working as part of YouTube’s #StayHome campaign to encourage people to stay home to help save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series will stream on The Who’s official YouTube channel and will be free to the public with donations encouraged.
COVID-19 has significantly impacted Teenage Cancer Trust and Teenage Cancer America’s income due to fundraising events being cancelled. Lead singer Roger Daltrey has worked with both charities in the past to bring awareness and help raise funds both in the UK and the US. Daltrey. The Who hopes people will take the time to donate to these organization while enjoying their music from the safety of their homes.
“If you can’t donate to both charities just choose the one that’s closest to your heart. But whatever you do please make sure you donate.”
Roger Daltrey
To donate, people can text WHO to 70500 to donate £10 in support of Teenage Cancer Trust will receive 100% of every texted donation or they can text TCA to 56512 to donate $10 in support of Teenage Cancer America. Donations can also be made online here.
For more information on the “Join Together @ Home” series visit The Who’s website.
The Greyboy Allstars have re-released their 1994 debut album, West Coast Boogaloo and their surprise new album Como De AllStars. West Coast Boogaloo features Fred Wesley will be reissued on vinyl Friday, Aug. 7. The recording will also appear for the first time digitally on all streaming and download platforms.
The band was quickly embraced by the Grateful Dead and Phish audiences before there even was an actual “jam scene.” The Greyboy Allstars have paved the way for a new generation of bands to play jazz-based improvisation as dance music in rock venues. The Greyboy Allstars consists of saxophonist Karl Denson, guitarist Elgin Park, keyboardist Robert Walter, bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Aaron Redfield. They are known as some of the most revered players on the modern funk and soul jazz scenes.
When The Greyboy Allstars self-released West Coast Boogaloo in 1994, its eight tunes felt both anachronistic and urgent. But their song, “Fried Grease” centered on an irrepressible new horn riff, bejeweled by wild organ runs and strutting guitar. Built with commanding drum breaks, an itchy bassline, and pensive keys, the song “Gravee” felt like a state of mind that could last forever.
The quintet’s latest album, Como De AllStars is their first in seven years and was released on July 3. It’s 25 years later, and the band is still at it—all while individual members have their own successful careers. Karl Denson plays in The Rolling Stones and his own Tiny Universe, Mike Andrews scores films, most recently The King Of Staten Island, Robert Walter leads his own 20th Congress and plays keys in Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s solo band and Chris Stillwell and Aaron Redfield are an in demand rhythm section with credits stretching from Elton John to Charli XCX. Como De Allstars is a stirring and timely testament to the revolutionary origins and powers of jazz, funk, and their boogaloo blend—and the Greyboy Allstars’ continual ability to deliver them.
Follow The Light virtual music festival was announced by We Banjo 3 in celebration of Irish traditions. The festival will take place on August 29, 2020 at 5PM EST. Festival Tickets, Artist Meet & Greets and Exclusive Festival Merchandise are on Sale Now at We Banjo 3’s website.
Follow The Light virtual music festival will work as an ode to the We Banjo 3’s Irish heritage. The festival will feature an evening of musical performances by Gaelic Storm, Sharon Shannon, Nathan Carter and The East Pointers, on top of We Banjo 3. The festival will also host non-music features throughout the evening.
We Banjo 3 debuted in the U.S. in 2012 and are Billboard Bluegrass chart-toppers. We Banjo 3 create a fusion of shared and varied traditions of Americana, Bluegrass, and Celtic music with pop-sensible songcraft to create a unique signature sound. The quartet is made up of Ireland and Nashville sounds and is composed of two sets of brothers Enda & Fergal Scahill and Martin & David Howley.
We Banjo 3 has deep-dived into exploring alternatives to physically taking the stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They find connecting with fans through various online performances, fan Q&A’s, live interviews, poetry and book excerpt readings, general banter about topics of interest, and more, gives them a personalized approach to creating fan experiences. Their hope with Follow The Light is to create this immersive experience to a wider audience while shedding the light to the rich Irish culture that they were founded upon.
https://youtu.be/qc9GvnGR3wc
General Admission Tickets, Artist Meet & Greets Upgrades, and Festival Ticket/Exclusive Merchandise bundles are available now on We Banjo 3’s website. The ticket purchase will give the buyer access to the stream for the festival. The stream will be supported on Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick.
https://youtu.be/YzdNABunUvk
For more information on the Follow The Light Virtual Music Festival visit We Banjo 3’s website.
Not too long after parts of the nation started reopening, did many individuals start to ignore the CDC’s recommendations to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
A picture of the secret rave held under Kosciuszko Bridge.
Footage of a secret rave at Kosciuszko Bridge in Brooklyn showed people gathered without participating in social distancing. Regardless of the global pandemic, hundreds of guests attended and many didn’t wear masks.
“Huge parties whether on land or boat are: Illegal, Disrespectful, violate constant decency, rude,” Cuomo tweeted.
Huge parties whether on land or boat are:
Illegal Disrespectful Violate common decency Rude
Aren’t those enough reasons not to be stupid?
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 3, 2020
Renegade, the rave organizers, told Gothamist that there’s no stopping people from gathering. One organizer said, “people need a release,” referring to quarantine.
This was not the first time Renegade held a group gathering during the pandemic. On July 4, they organized a rave supposedly for the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Among artists asked to play was DJ and producer Mike Simonetti. According to Guest of a Guest, Simonetti declined. He felt the event was disrespectful after his father died alone from COVID-19.
Although many attended the rave, some guests felt uncomfortable once they arrived.
Footage taken from attendees shows no social distancing among the rave.
An attendee told Gothamist that him and his friends stayed on the outside and stating, “I would not do that again….It was too soon for too many people in one spot.”
Renegade continues to defend the cause of the rave, but said it got out of hand.
“I don’t want people to go back to putting their heads in the sand. We need to stay on top of this and keep marching and keep protesting,” said one organizer.
The Palace Theatre along with the City of Albany and Mirth Films have announced that Saratoga Springs natives Wild Adriatic will be featured on the next edition of “The Palace Sessions”. Taking place on August 19 at 7p.m. in a undisclosed unique location within the historic theatre, the performance will stream live on the Palace Theatre’s Youtube page.
Executive Director of the Palace Billy Piskutz notes:
“We are thrilled to be able to welcome live music back to the hallowed halls of the Palace Theatre. This historic building exists to entertain and create memories and after a nearly four-month absence due to COVID-19, it is a thrill to know that it will again. We hope that our patrons will enjoy these performances as much as we do!”
The series kicked off on July 15 with a special performance by Albany locals Wurliday. Additional shows are slated for September 16 and October 21. Those performers have yet to be announced at this time.
Wurliday Performing at Palace Theatre
“Summer in Albany is synonymous with music and entertainment and it is wonderful to have the Palace Theater hosting local musicians albeit in a different way this year. I applaud the ingenuity of the Palace Theater, the Office of Cultural Affairs, and Mirth Films in bringing entertainment to people during COVID-19. I continue to be impressed with how our community has risen to the challenge of keeping the arts alive during this time and look forward to tuning in to the Palace Sessions.”
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan
During the performances donations are being accepted which will assist the Palace Theatre in continuing its mission to bring world-class arts and entertainment to New York’s Capital Region. Donations can be made HERE or directly through the Palace Theatre’s Text To Give program, by texting Palace2020 to 44321.
Hawkins has released their debut single, “Lights Off,” having arrived on the local music scene in New Haven, CT in May 2019. Hawkins is known for balancing energetic rock ‘n’ roll mixed with infectious hooky pop sophistication. The band consists of Hawkins French (vocals), Joseph Frank (guitar), Richard Frank (bass), and Joshua Frank (drums).
Their debut single is a pop rock anthem that blends soaring guitars, thunderous drums, and melodic bass lines along with the catchy hooks that you’ll hear in contemporary pop music. The subject matter of this track discusses the current superficial state of relationships and wanting more than just a one-night stand. This song intertwines their ability to create memorable pop hooks, lyrics that compel you to sing along, all balanced under a monumental sound that instantly demands the listener’s attention.
The band has performed on countless major stages across the East Coast. Notable performances include Mohegan Sun Casino, The Bitter End, Foxwoods Casino, and the Pleasantville New York Music Festival. In Pleasantville, the band shared the stage with illustrious acts such as Blues Traveler, Suzanne Vega, and Living Colour. In November they are still planning to headline at the Toyota Oakdale Theatre.
Speaking on “Lights Off” the band explains:
“This track evokes the feeling of when relationships don’t have a clear direction and are solely based upon superficiality. This is our commentary on the common tug of war that can occur in tumultuous relationships that people in their youth experience.”
Incarcerated rapper Bobby Shmurda celebrates his 26th birthday today, with hopes of it being his last behind bars. On the heels of the anniversary of his breakout record, the Brooklyn-born drill rapper may have even more good news to look forward to, as a parole hearing — set for August 17— will determine his immediate future.
Why they wanna pin a felly on me?
After a countdown from a website seemingly belonging to the embattled rapper set a date for August 4, many began to speculate about the meaning, with some assuming it was related to his release. Speaking to TMZ in late July, The rapper’s mother — Leslie Pollard — confirmed that the rapper was indeed scheduled for a parole hearing in August. While also divulging his plans for a documentary about his life, as well as new music as soon as he gets out — as the rapper is still contractually tied to Epic Records. For his birthday, GS9 cohort Rowdy Rebel’s official Instagram, shared its own social media ode to his label-mate, hash-tagging “3months left.” It is unclear whether it is referring to his own release or that of Bobby Shmurda.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDeM1vQnXIF/
Nonetheless, rumors of a release as early as August 5, set social media ablaze, with most eliciting thoughts of joy.
When Bobby Shmurda is released from prison his hat finna come back to him like Thor’s hammer https://t.co/InTD5RI1AW
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek thinks that it’s the artist’s own fault they aren’t making enough money because they aren’t putting out enough music. It’s been widely known that the popularity of streaming services instead of buying music from the artists or their labels has hurt the artists revenue but Daniel Ek is taking it to the next level by putting the blame on the artist for their measly payouts.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, photo via Bloomberg.
Spotify has a market value of about $21 billion in 2019 and Daniel Ek himself has an estimated net worth of nearly $2 billion. According to Business of Apps article they say,“Estimates vary on how much a Spotify stream is worth to artist: from $0.006-0.0084 to as low as $0.00318/stream” at a pay rate of $0.006-0.0084 a stream it would take a million streams for an artist to make $7,000. In comparison the article states that, “Amazon Music tops the list in terms of average payment per stream on $0.01196/stream. YouTube Premium delivers $0.00803, Apple offers $0.00563, and Google Play $0.00551. Pandora’s rate, on the other hand, is even lower than Spotify, at $0.00151.” In the first quarter of 2020 Spotify’s revenue brought in $1.85 billion from Premium subscribers, while ad-supported users generated $161 million for the company.
Daniel Ek stated in an interview with Music Ally that, “There is a narrative fallacy here, combined with the fact that, obviously, some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough,” essentially putting the lack of revenue the artists own fault. Daniel Ek explained that, “ What tends to be reported are the people that are unhappy, but we very rarely see anyone who’s talking about… In the entire existence [of Spotify] I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single artist saying, ‘I’m happy with all the money I’m getting from streaming.” Which begs the question, are artists not working hard enough or are they just not being properly compensated for their work by streaming services?
Musicians are not happy about this mindset in the music industry that Daniel Ek has been promotin. Ben Albert of Rochester Groovecast thinks Daniel Ek’s remarks are, “Disrespectful” saying that, “Music is not a fast food chain.” The fact that Spotify’s CEO believes that artists aren’t working hard enough and should just turn out more music is disheartening to the music community particularly those who are on the road a lot and believe in creating more complex and artistically driven music. Gabriel Marin from Consider the Source spoke on this matter saying, “People like [Daniel] Ek seem to only look at pop and commercial music as how all music is made. Yes those forms of music are easy to make happen and often a whole career of someone in that field will be 3-4 years. Music that has more weight takes longer; bands that make a living and artistically thrive in a live setting can’t put albums out at a predictable pace like that.”
In times like these where COVID-19 is hitting the music industry harder than many industries it’s hard to understand how someone running one of the biggest music platforms can so easily criticize artists instead of supporting them. Justin Henricks of Wurliday and Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan chimed in on the matter saying that, “Spotify is in a very unique position of ability to offer some real aid and relief to an industry that is in dire need of it at the moment. Take a page from Bandcamp who offered to relinquish their revenue share and give 100% of their proceeds on specific days to the artists/labels. I find it appalling that not only has Spotify chosen to ignore their ability and responsibility to help in any way but have actually double downed to say Artists should work harder, churn more music into their billion dollar money making machine, and leave us all out to dry. Shame on them.”
Dopapod‘s Rob Compa shared a similar sentiment, saying “I don’t think Daniel Eck understands that touring was how bands like mine and many friends of ours was how we raised any money to record albums, let alone make a meager living. Now, with COVID, we can’t even do that. So if he expects us to produce album after album, where does he expect us to get the money to make them? To me, he’s a little like some general who’s never even been in a fight, telling all of us to get out of the trench and run into no man’s land.”
For more on this story and Ek’s point of view, read Music Ally’s original interview here.
With Senate recess looming at the end of the week and Congress still in talks over the details of the next COVID relief bill, the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) is urging Senate leaders to continue support in its Call to Action Campaign for the RESTART and SaveOurStages (SOS) Acts. Without bipartisan support, the survival of live music industry would be uncertain as many venues remain shuttered to the public. This is a call to save live music as we know it.
“So many people in our industry live hand to mouth, day to day. There are no pensions and no health insurance or retirement plans for indie musicians or the people who tour with and support them. At least musicians can try to reach out to their audience online for support, but what is a guitar tech to do? What of the drum tech or the sound engineer or the road manager or driver — not to mention the promoters, the booking agents, the bartenders? The ripple effects of the world of live entertainment going dark are vast. Let’s shine a light on all the people whose work helps all of our lives to be enriched by live music. Let’s support them through NITO’s advocacy.”
Buffalo singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco
Both acts have gained momentum with a total of 44 cosponsors in the Senate according to a press release from NITO. If passed by Congress, RESTART and SOS would aid the hardest-hit small and mid-sized businesses, potentially for the next 6 months. Among the supporters of RESTART is ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, NAMM, NIVA, Spotify, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, American Society of Travel Advisors and YouTube, all of whom have recognized how devastating it would be for the U.S economy to lose the nine billion dollar contribution that independent music businesses make under normal circumstances.
RESTART’s sponsor Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) recently acknowledged the importance of the live music industry’s survival in a tweet of support of NITO.
Today, @HowardSchultz and over 100 business leaders are calling on Congress to include the #RESTARTAct in the next relief package. They know our economy will only recover if hard-hit small businesses get the support they need to stay afloat into 2021. https://t.co/yGqPDmmSgO
That is why NITO is imploring “lovers of live music and all performing arts” to take part by sending letters of support via email and social media to Senators and House Representatives encouraging them to #SaveLiveMusic.
During the past four month NITO has grown tremendously. From 14 founding agencies to over 800 active live touring organizations including; management companies, talent agencies, artists and a vast array of industry professionals. All have seen a significant financial impact as the doors to our venues remain close for the unforeseen future.
If you would like to share your story or show support fill out a Call to Action form here.
