NYS Music 2023

Tag: Singer-Songwriter

  • The Brewster Summer Music Series Is Back For A Third Year

    The third annual Brewster Summer Music Series returns with seven straight weeks of programming. Organized by the Town of Southeast Cultural Arts Coalition (CAC), the concerts will run every Wednesday from June 14 through July 26. 

    All of the performances will take place at the Veterans Park Gazebo in Brewster. The concerts will also feature contests, raffles, and food. The artists performing come from a diverse set of genres including rock, pop, jazz, and more. 

    Brewster Summer Music Series

    CAC is a non-profit group that aims to create and preserve the cultural arts of the Town of Southeast and nearby communities. Along with the Summer Music Series, the organization is also involved with a space to showcase local art and the renovation of Southeast’s Old Town Hall. 

    Brewster is a village located in southeast Putnam County and is part of the town of Southeast. The village made a name for itself as it was a prominent stop on the railroad line that ran from New York City.

    The Brewster Summer Music Series is free and open to members of the public. Details and more information is on the website.

    Summer Lineup

    June 14- Jake Wildhorn (Rock, Pop, Americana) and Genevieve Faivre (Latin, New Orleans Jazz) 

    June 21- George Gierer (folk) and Artie Tobia Band (Roots Rock)

    June 28- George Mallas (singer-songwriter) and ⅓ of Sophie (Funk)

    July 5- Francine Tesler and Jay Prince & Friends (Rock, Funk)

    July 12- Bob Stanhope and North Country Band (Country, Western, Americana)

    July 19- Ivan Polanco (singer-songwriter) and Santa Barbara Jazz Quartet (Jazz, Soul, Latin)

    July 26- Erik Rabasca and The Song Island Band (Acoustic Rock)

  • In Focus: Laufey Plays a One Time Show at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center

    Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter Laufey played a sold out show with opener Laura Elliot at the historical Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Massachusetts this past Friday, April 7th.

    Fans of all ages wearing fancy attire attentively listened to Laufey’s captivating vocals as she sang multiple songs from her latest jazz album, Everything I Know About Love. People traveled from Puerto Rico, Florida, and New York City for this one time show.

    Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Laufey
    Laufey

    Laura Elliot opened the show with an incredible set, singing multiple songs off of her first album People Pleaser to celebrate one year since its release. Born and raised in the Hudson Valley she gained recognition after collaborating with Lizzy McAlpine on “weird,” and joining artists like The Walters on tour before having her own People Pleaser tour in 2022. 

    Laura Elliot

    After a twenty minute intermission, Laufey took the stage at 9:05, causing a stream of excited screams to erupt from her eager crowd. The 23-year-old jazz-pop artist got her start in 2020 when her singing videos gained huge recognition on TikTok. Growing up in Iceland and now living in LA, Laufey attended Berklee College of Music and grew up around classically-trained musicians. Since she was young, she listened to jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, who largely inspired the type of music she writes today. Laufey is currently off tour, but previously played at the Bowery Ballroom in 2022 during her Everything I Know About Love tour across North America and Europe. 

    Laufey writes a majority of her songs about heartbreak, which is evident in both her raw and meaningful lyrics and in the short spoken monologues she gave to introduce each song. Her performances of tracks like “James,” “Let You Break My Heart Again,” and “Dear Soulmate” touched on her difficult experiences with past partners, breakups, and feeling lost in the realm of love. Lit by the starlike backdrop of the beautiful Mahaiwe theater, Laufey ran onto the stage with her shiny red guitar and played an incredible show with just her voice and her instruments. Her awed fans—consisting of elders, middle-aged adults, teenagers, and children wearing suits, ties, long flowy skirts, dresses, heels, and intricate updos—stayed completely silent during each performance. No phones were present, as people went to truly enjoy the show. Nearing the end of her set, Laufey announced the workings of a second album, and even performed two unreleased songs for the first time that would feature on it. 

    After playing her last song, “Falling Behind,” Laufey made a quick exit before re-entering to play an encore. She performed a beautiful rendition of “Two Sleepy People” on the stage’s grand piano, and called it a “lullaby” for her audience of one thousand. 

    Setlist: Fragile, Street by Street, Best Friend, I Wish You Love, Dear Soulmate, Valentine, Let You Break My Heart Again, Like the Movies, Promise (unreleased), From the Start (unreleased), Beautiful Stranger, James, Magnolia, Falling Behind
    Encore: Two Sleepy People (Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser cover)

    Mahaiwe

  • Taylor Crawford Releases New Avant-Pop Single “Heartbreak Hotel” 

    Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Taylor Crawford has just released his newest avant-pop single “Heartbreak Hotel” on March 10th. He will also be playing live again on March 28th at Arlene’s Grocery, alongside owynnmusic. 

    Taylor Crawford Releases Upbeat Single “Heartbreak Hotel” 

    With his musical influences as infamous artists like Barry White, Dua Lipa, Remi Wolf, Madison Cunningham, Ichiko Aoba, and many more, Taylor is certainly making his way into popularity within NYC culture. Using a combination of upbeat melody and his unique vocals, Taylor came up with his newest single “Heartbreak Hotel,” a reflection of his trip to Germany where he may have caused a relationship to split unknowingly.

    Taylor Crawford Releases Upbeat Single “Heartbreak Hotel” 

    When asking Taylor what inspire him to write this piece, he responded with, “”Heartbreak Hotel” is actually named after a bar in Bremen, Germany literally called Heartbreak Hotel. I do not play the good guy in this story. I met a delightful lady while I was visiting my friend in Germany. One night we all went out together to this bar, one thing led to another, then she and I spent the evening together. This would have been a happy ending, however, she had a partner at the time. I hurt not only this partner of hers whom I never met, and worst of all, I ruined their relationship. The song is my reflection on the pain that I caused to these people.” 

    Speaking about his profound influence on his own musical journey, Taylor stated, “I initially played trombone and bassoon when I was in 4th Grade. So I was about 10 years old. Then when I got to high school, I honestly did not know who I needed to talk to so I could continue playing in the band. So I stopped with the big band instruments. I started teaching myself guitar when I was around 13 years old. I remember sitting in my brother’s bedroom where we had the family computer. I would look up Coheed and Cambria songs on “Ultimate-guitar.com” and learn the tabs to songs like “Welcome Home,” and “The Suffering.” These were the first songs I was learning and their prog-rock. It’s hilarious to think about considering the music I make now. My brother was getting guitar lessons at the time and I think my mom just did not want to pay for a whole other lesson, which makes sense because they were expensive, but I taught myself everything I know because of that.” 

    Then I basically wanted to become the next John Mayer. I learned ALL of his songs. And they were the only things I could play for about 4 years. I pigeon-holed myself until I got to college where my roommate taught me the pentatonic scale and it completely changed my perspective on music as a whole. Since then, my understanding and love for music has been nothing but exponential.

    – Taylor Crawford

    Taylor Crawford is an incredible musician, artist, and person, he deserves the hype that he gets from his music. His use of vocals is dreamy, making his overall sound so unique and invigorating. Lastly, when asked about the best performance of his career, Taylor says, “I hope the best has yet to come. But, for now I would say the Sofar Sounds show I did in Madrid, Spain this past December. It was just an acoustic show but the reaction I got from the audience was surreal. I’ve never made people cry before and to have that happen means I really touched them emotionally – which is what I aim to do as an artist. I connected with people, and they connected with me. To me, that means I gave a good performance. I hope to continue to do the same as the shows keep coming.” 

    Listen to “Heartbreak Hotel” by Taylor Crawford by clicking the link here.

    To listen to more by Taylor Crawford, click the link here.