U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and John Hickenlooper have introduced a bill to help support music tourism throughout the country, dubbed the American Music Tourism Act of 2024.
According to a press release, the American Music Tourism Act of 2024 requires the assistant secretary to identify locations and events in the United States that are important to music tourism and implement a plan to increase and attract domestic and international visitors to venues nationwide.
Music tourism is projected to bring in over $11.3 billion in revenue nationwide by 2032, with the United States boasting one of the world’s largest music industries – generating over $43 billion in revenue each year. The act will require the assistant secretary to submit their findings, achievements, and activities to the congressional and senate committees within one year of its passage and every year after that.
“Tennesseans know a thing or two about the positive impact that music tourism has on the economy and culture,” said Senator Blackburn. “The Volunteer State is proud to be home to so many iconic musical landmarks for tourists to enjoy – from Graceland in Memphis to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol. This bipartisan legislation promotes music tourism’s fast-growing industry and ensures fans from all over the world can celebrate the rich history of music for generations to come.”
Former Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) speaks at the United States Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, U.S., January 24, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas.
The legislation is endorsed by the Recording Academy, the Recording Industry Association of America, Live Nation Entertainment, the National Independent Venues Association, the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, the National Independent Venues Association, the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development, Tennessee Entertainment Commission, Memphis Tourism, Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism and the Overton Park Shell in Memphis.
“Music venues are keepers of our culture. From Red Rocks to the Grand Ole Opry, and hundreds of small venues across our country, millions visit Colorado and all our states to hear world-class musicians and connect with each other,” said Senator Hickenlooper. “Our bipartisan American Music Tourism Act will support these venues by helping our music tourism industry grow and expand.”
We reached out to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for their views on the bill, but have not heard back. We will update this article if they reach out.
The 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala will take place on Thursday, June 13, featuring a slate of legendary musicians to perform and present.
Along with Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) Chairman Nile Rodgers, Trey Anastasio, Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon p/k/a The Bacon Brothers, Cary Barlowe, Andra Day, Rodney Chrome, El Debarge, Missy Elliott, Jason Isbell, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Deniece Williams, Paul Williams, are all slated to either present and/or perform at the induction.
These musicians will celebrate the art of songwriting and the decades of work the inductees have put into their craft. The SHOF also educates the public about the significance of songwriting through workshops, showcases, and scholarships at programs across the country.
The 53rd Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala will be inducting Hillary Lindsey, Timothy Mosley p/k/a Timbaland, Dean Pitchford, Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe p/k/a R.E.M., and Donald Fagen and Walter Becker p/k/a Steely Dan. Additionally, SZA will receive the Hal David Starlight Award and Diane Warren will receive the Johnny Mercer Award.
They will be joining the likes of Bob Dylan, Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Elton John & Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Pharell Williams in the SHOF, to name a few out of approximately 400 inductees.
Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame event begin at $2,000 each and are available through Buckley Hall Events, 914-579-1000 and SHOF@buckleyhallevents.com. Net proceeds from the event will go toward the Songwriters Hall of Fame programs. Songwriters Hall of Fame is a 501(c)3 organization. The non-deductible portion of each ticket is $215. Contributions, for which no goods or services are received in exchange, are fully tax-deductible as provided by law.
A new exhibition at Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown celebrates another impressive aspect of music legend Bob Dylan’s creativity: his talents in visual art.
Bob Dylan Remastered: Drawings from the Road features ninety-two unique, original signed works. The exhibition is on view from May 25–Sept. 15, 2024.
A selection of portraits from the exhibition Bob Dylan Remastered: Drawings from the Road, on view at Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown starting May 25. (Photo courtesy of PAN Art Connections).
A dedicated performer, Bob Dylan started what is known as his “Never Ending Tour” in 1988; between 1989 and 1992, as he traveled through North America, Europe, and Asia, he began sketching glimpses of his life on the road. The pencil and charcoal drawings were a way to “refocus a restless mind,” as Dylan claimed, providing him a new outlet to celebrate the comings and goings of everyday life.
“This exhibition allows everyone, including Dylan’s fans, to experience another aspect of the range of talents possessed by this music legend,” said Chris Rossi, Director of Exhibitions at Fenimore Art Museum. “We all recognize him as an accomplished singer/songwriter and visitors will be equally amazed when discovering his work as a visual artist.”
Dylan made three different collections out of the original drawings by “remastering” these works, adding vivid watercolor and gouache to digital enlargements of the drawings to create a new, special edition set entitled The Drawn Blank Series, which is the focus of Fenimore’s exhibition.
All three series were first seen during an exhibition at the prestigious Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz Museum in Germany in 2007. After one additional show in Helsinki, the works returned to Dylan. Today, The Drawn Blank Series is owned by a private collector while the other two sets were sold to a private gallery. His skills as a draughtsman, in keeping with his talents as a songwriter, lie in his ability to tell a tale through the simplest and most evocative means.
Just three days after the release of her debut record When It All Goes Down, Sarah King received the news that she has thyroid cancer. After being told she’d need multiple surgeries beginning in July, she decided to schedule the first following the Grand Point North Festival so she could give her fans a proper “temporary farewell,” with her only full band show of the year.
Her first LP, When It All Goes Down, was released on March 29, 2024, to praise from everyone from American Songwriter to Brooklyn Vegan, The Bluegrass Situation, Glide Magazine, and many more.
Before her hiatus from performing Sarah King, who is based in Vermont, will appear at a handful of festivals, including the Wildflower Festival in Richardson, TX, on May 18 – 19. These will be her first performances since receiving the news.
“While I’m heartbroken not to have the year I’d hoped with this album, the songs will still be there for me when my voice and my body are healthy enough to take to the stage again,” says King, pointing out that while any cancer diagnosis is extremely frightening, having surgery so close to her vocal nerves causes additional anxiety.
King creates thought-provoking, versatile Americana music – touching on real-life emotions and situations, while drawing on classic folk-blues themes, balancing songs about the devil and booze with hard-won moments of reflection and acceptance.
The title track of When It All Goes Down was inspired by doctors not listening to women, seeming like she wrote the song to her future self, somehow knowing that she’d need to “stand up to the devil.”
The album is a testament to King’s strength, reflecting on when she lost her mother, first husband, and dog. Songs like the slow-burning “Stronger Than You’ll Ever Know” find her deftly navigating the hidden spaces between darkness and the light.
“My stories are folk stories,” says Sarah King. “Of the people, for the people, by the people (I’m a person). These are songs for folks who’ve lived through some sh*t and want some music that doesn’t shy away from that.”
For more information and to listen to When It All Goes Down, visit here.
The House passed the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act on Wednesday to increase consumer price transparency with great praise from organizations such as NIVA and Fix The Tix Coalition.
According to NBC, the TICKET Act would require sellers to list the ticket cost to buyers, including fees. They would also have to disclose whether the tickets they are selling are not in their possession and provide refunds if an event is canceled. It was first introduced by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., in June 2023.
The act is one of several recent efforts to curb unfair practices in the ticketing industry. A group of bipartisan senators also introduced the Fans First Act in December, increasing cost transparency and preventing resellers from listing tickets at high prices. Since the Eras Tour incident in 2022, lawmakers have sought to address consumer discontent toward the ticketing industry.
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and the Fix The Tix Coalition applauded the act’s passage. They are calling on the Senate to pass S. 3457, the Fans First Act, which has additional provisions to ban fake tickets, to ensure that deceptive imagery on websites does not trick consumers, to increase mandatory reporting of illegal BOTS, to require clear itemizations of ticket prices and fees at the beginning, and to provide meaningful enforcement of these provisions.
We commend House passage of H.R. 3950, the TICKET Act, which will help to improve the ticket buying experience for fans, to protect the livelihoods of artists, and to preserve independent venues across the nation. Not only has the U.S. House of Representatives moved to protect consumers from predatory and deceptive ticketing practices, but states across the country, including Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota and Nevada, have recently banned, without exception, speculative tickets on a bipartisan basis. We call on Congress to do the same, to build on the act and adopt strong, enforceable, comprehensive ticketing reform legislation like the Fans First Act.
Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association.
Fix The Tix Coalition also applauds the act saying, “The bill provides transparency with all-in pricing and takes important steps to combat speculative tickets and deceptive websites. We urge the Senate to build on this progress by strengthening these provisions, increasing enforcement of the BOTS Act, and providing additional avenues of enforcement to combat predatory and deceptive ticketing practices. The live entertainment ecosystem is counting on Congress to act in the best interests of fans to restore transparency and trust to our countryâs broken ticketing system.”
JazzFest White Plains is back with performances by GRAMMY-winning stars and a food festival from Sept. 11 to 15.
The five-day extravaganza highlights 18 captivating live performances spread throughout downtown White Plains. The artists range from emerging talents to world-renowned artists, including four GRAMMY Award-winners and nominees.
Headlining Friday night of this year’s festival is Nicole Zuraitis, the 2024 GRAMMY Award-winning jazz singer-songwriter and pianist known for her unparalleled expressiveness and lyrical prowess. Headlining on Saturday is the Vijay Iyer Trio featuring Tyshawn Sorey and Linda May Han Oh, hailed by National Public Radio as “truly astonishing” and the New York Times as “the great new jazz piano trio.”
Nicole Zuraitis.
“We’re thrilled to bring such exceptional talent to JazzFest White Plains this year,” said Kathleen Reckling, ArtsWestchester COO. “From soul-stirring vocals to innovative instrumental compositions, this festival promises to be a celebration of jazz in all its forms.” Several performances are free, including all the noon and Sunday shows.
In addition to the stellar performances, the White Plains Jazz & Food Festival closes the weekend on Sept. 15 from 12:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Mamaroneck Avenue between Main Street and Martine Avenue. The food festival will feature a fusion of delectable cuisines and captivating jazz melodies, creating a sensory experience for all ages.
Tickets for JazzFest White Plains are now available for purchase online. For more information about the festival’s full lineup, visit here.
The Blues Society, directed by Dr. Augusta Palmer, will have a week-long run of screenings at Firehouse Cinema in NYC from Friday, May 24 through Thursday, May 30. Dr. Palmer is attending select screenings to introduce the film and conduct a Q&A session afterward.
This feature-length documentary reevaluates the life of the Memphis Country Blues Festival through the lens of race, the counterculture of the ‘60s, and the genre of Memphis blues. It includes interviews with a diverse cast of festival participants and commentators like Dom Flemons, Zandria Robinson, Jamey Hatley, Jim Dickinson, Sid Selvidge, Nancy Jeffries, and the words of Bob Palmer as voiced by Eric Roberts.
The Memphis Country Blues Festival (1966-1969) all started with a $65 check, a ball of hashish, and a bunch of white bohemians who set out to rediscover forgotten bluesmen of the early 20th century.
“I didn’t want to just make a concert film,” said director Augusta Palmer. “I loved the arc of the story. The initial stake was guitarist Bill Barth’s baseball-size chunk of hash and guitarist Jim Dickinson’s sixty-five-dollar check from a Sun Studios session. It was white and black musicians playing together during the height of the civil rights era. The KKK held a rally in that same public park a few days before. I wanted to understand what this moment meant to the people involved.”
The film follows the festival from its start in 1966 as an impromptu happening, through a period of cross-pollinization with New York’s East Village scene, and up to the 1969 festival, which mushroomed into a three-day event. It garnered substantial print and television coverage, including an appearance on Steve Allen’s national PBS show, Sounds of Summer.
Dr. Augusta Palmer. Photo by Paul Reuter.
The Blues Society tells the story of blues masters like Furry Lewis, Nathan Beauregard, and Rev. Robert Wilkins—who had attained fame in the 1920s and 1930s but lived in obscurity by the 1960s. It’s also the story of a group of white artists from the North and the South who created a celebration of African American music in a highly segregated city.
The film’s genesis began as a family affair for director Dr. Augusta Palmer. She grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, went to Rhodes College in Memphis, and Sarah Lawrence College, before settling in Brooklyn. Her father, Robert Palmer, was a founding organizer and player in the festival, and her mother was also there tearing tickets.
“I officially started working on this film in 2016,” she said, “but you could say I’ve been working on it for all my life. When that woman makes a speech at the end, where she’s saying, ‘Why can’t you just pay for your tickets people?’ to people who snuck in. That’s my mom. She was pregnant with me when she made that speech. So, I kind of went to the 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival. I didn’t know my dad very well until I was a teenager, but this festival was a big part of his life.”
Robert Palmer later went on to become a music critic for the New York Times and Rolling Stone and authored the seminal blues history book Deep Blues—which in turn inspired the 1991 documentary Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads.
Music executive and Memphis Country Blues Fest organizer Nancy Jeffries was approached by Gene Rosenthal with 16mm footage of Memphis Country Blues Festival that he shot and kept in his basement. Jeffries brought Palmer on board after seeing her feature film The Hand of Fatima. They began developing the film in 2013, but the project stagnated due to rights issues and conflicting ideas on what this film should be. A few years later, Fat Possum Records bought the footage and put together the 2019 concert film Memphis ’69: The 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival, and were generous enough to offer her access to the footage.
Palmer made it a point to bring in diverse voices to give this film a historical context. Memphis writer and filmmaker Jamie Hatley talked about when she wanted to separate herself from images of poverty in the blues, and that it took her a while to come around to appreciating the genre. Henry Nelson, a black man from West Memphis, Arkansas, hoped he could get a ride to Woodstock, but wound up at the Memphis Country Blues Festival. Don Flemons discussed how the blues lost its appeal for young African Americans as we move into the more radical Black Panther era.
We all love the idea that music conquers all. Everyone can appreciate the blues music in this film, but love for this music didn’t cure white supremacy, and white blues fans were part of a power structure that took advantage of black artists. I love the enthusiasm of that white hippy idealism, but the rules were much more stringent back then. There were segregated bathrooms for employees at the bandshell. Racial inequality has become more and more clear to the nation since the pandemic. We’ve come a long way, but still have a long way to go.
Augusta Palmer
The Blues Society premiered Indie Memphis and won the Audience Award, won best Doc Feature at the Oxford Film Festival, and will have theatrical runs in New York City, Memphis, Columbus, Ohio, and Portland before being released to streaming services this summer.
Tickets for its New York City run are available now.
A new partnership with The Town of Guilderland will bring Playhouse Stage Company to the Guilderland Performing Arts Center Stage (GPAC) in Tawasentha Park this summer. Following its run at Albany’s Park Playhouse from June 18 through July 14, Playhouse Stage’s The Marvelous Wonderettes will play an encore weekend in Guilderland from July 19-21.
All seating will be free on a first-come, first-served basis, at 7:30 p.m. performances Friday through Sunday, and an additional 4:00 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Playhouse Stage Company has been producing free, outdoor summer musicals at Albany’s Park Playhouse since 1989, and has been presenting musicals year-round at the historic Cohoes Music Hall since 2016.
The Marvelous Wonderettes tells the story of a group of friends who become the impromptu entertainment at their High School prom in 1958, singing the girl group pop songs of the decade in four-part harmony. Act Two sees the friends reunite to perform at their ten-year reunion, singing the music of the girl groups of the Sixties. With beloved songs such as “Mr. Sandman,” “Lollipop,” “Heatwave,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” and “Respect,” audiences are treated to a night of harmonious hits, wrapped around a touching and funny story of enduring friendship.
The production is directed and choreographed by Ellie Francis, who appeared on-stage as Pythio in 2022’s PSC production of Head Over Heels. Long-time PSC associate Brian Axford, will music direct and lead the live, on-stage band for the production. “We are thrilled to welcome Playhouse Stage Company to perform at GPAC this summer and we look forward to a long-term relationship with the area’s premier musical theatre organization,” added Town Supervisor Peter G. Barber. “I also extend my appreciation to former State Senator George Amedore for his generous support for GPAC’s renovation which has helped bring new entertainment options to our community.” The Guilderland Town Board officially approved the Playhouse partnership at a May 7, 2024 meeting.
We are tremendously excited about this new partnership, and new opportunity to achieve our mission making the arts accessible to all in the Capital Region community. Through the support of the Town of Guilderland, all seating for this encore weekend in Tawasentha Park will be available free-of-charge to both residents and visitors. We are grateful to Town Supervisor, Peter Barber, the Guilderland Town Board, and the staff who have worked to make this inaugural year of this partnership a reality.
Tickets for reserved seating for the run of The Marvelous Wonderettes at Albany’s Park Playhouse are now on sale through The Playhouse Stage Box Office at Cohoes Music Hall, by phone at 518-434-0776, or online. The 2024 Playhouse Stage Company Summer Season will continue in July and August with runs of the musicals Legally Blonde and Disney’s Finding Nemo playing at Cohoes Music Hall.
Caroga Arts Collective announced they are receiving a grant award totaling $850,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the construction of a year-round artists’ lodge at Myhill as part of the Sherman’s Legacy Campaign.
Myhill Lodge Performance Hall rendering by Steven Smith.
This grant is part of a capital project funding announcement by NYSCA, totalling over $32 million for 102 capital projects across New York State. At Myhill, Caroga Arts Collective will construct a lodge, including eight bedrooms, four baths, a large wing, and a basement. The plan will provide needed living space, practice space, dining, kitchen, bedrooms, administrative workspace, rehearsal/performance space, and more.
The mission of Caroga Arts Collective is to reimagine the Adirondack experience through the power of the arts. Founded in 2012, Caroga Arts presents over 50 performances and community events each year, welcoming more than 150 artists to the Southern Adirondacks. They focus on revitalizing the region through community outreach, partnerships with local businesses and non-profit organizations, and arts education programming for youth and adults.
“The over 100 projects we’re supporting through this funding will showcase arts and cultural organizations across the state and spur economic development for decades to come,” Governor Hochul said. “From historic sites to new multi-use arts centers, these diverse projects will expand the accessibility and the sustainability of arts and culture organizations while growing local economies, driving tourism and creating jobs all across New York State.”
Recently, the 2024 Caroga Lake Music Festival lineup was announced, featuring over 150 world-class artists and 40 performances. Among the artists appearing this summer is future hall-of-fame guitarist, Cory Wong on July 30. This event will be unique and rare with Wong performing “unplugged” tunes with an intimate string section, and interspersed conversation about his life/music making between pieces. Moreover, a special raffle drawing for a Limited Edition Fender guitar, The Cory Wong Stratocaster (case included), signed by Cory Wong himself will be held.
We are incredibly grateful to the New York State Council on the Arts for their support of constructing a year round multi-use lodge at Myhill as part of our Sherman’s Legacy Campaign. This grant will help us create the supporting infrastructure for year round engagement and programs in Caroga Lake and surrounding regions thus helping further our mission of reimagining the Adirondack experience through the power of the arts.
Kyle Barrett Price, Founder, Executive and Artistic Director of the Caroga Arts Collective.
The Sherman’s Legacy Campaign will help Caroga Arts revitalize Sherman’s Park and the Myhill Campus into an Adirondack vacation destination where music, arts, community, and culture flourish. Constructing an artists’ residential lodge is part of the project’s first phase, which also includes the creation of a state-of-the-art amphitheater.
NYSCA Executive Director Erika Mallin said, “We are grateful to Governor Hochul and the Legislature for their support. These projects are essential to the prosperity and well-being of our creative industry and our communities, especially as we continue to navigate the recovery of our creative sector. This support will help stimulate local economies, catalyze investment in our communities, and help to ensure the vibrancy of our cultural organizations for now and for the future. Congratulations to Caroga Arts Collective, NYSCA is a proud supporter of your contributions to New York’s arts and culture.”
For more information about Caroga Arts, visit here.
Stop Zena Development Coalition is organizing a family-friendly event to bring awareness to the importance of protecting the wild spaces surrounding Woodstock that are being proposed for development with the Woodstock Walk & Rock: A Benefit to Save Our Forest on June 15 at 11 a.m.
Woodstock Walk & Rock: A Benefit to Save Our Forest will take place in the heart of the village. The event is a peaceful walk from the Woodstock Playhouse to the Colony’s outdoor event space, culminating with an eco-conscious puppetry performance by Arm-of-the-Sea Theater at 1 p.m.
Stop Zena Development is a partnership between the Woodstock Land Conservancy, environmental activists and nonprofit entities. The coalition believes the proposed development by Zena Development LLC (formerly Woodstock National LLC) will negatively impact the habitat in the eastern Catskills region. The project includes land designated a “Critical Environmental Area (CEA)” by NYSDEC because of its importance to protect water resources and habitat protection and diversity.
We designed Walk & Rock to encourage families to join our effort to save the Zena Woods. Habitat loss can give children a feeling of despair and helplessness. Being a part of a walk-a-thon to save a local forest gives children a voice in what happens to their future. By proactively engaging in a local issue, helplessness is replaced with empowerment.
Susan Paynter, environmental activist and co-chair of the coalition.
Attendees will kick off the half-mile walk at the Woodstock Playhouse (103 Mill Hill Road). The group will walk up Mill Hill Road ending at the Colony (22 Rock City Road). Those who can’t participate in the walk can still join the group at the end. There, guests will enjoy a puppet show by the acclaimed Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, a mask and puppet theater company based in Saugerties that combines art, ecology, and social action in its performances.
The event is a follow-up to the coalition’s sold-out benefit last October, a concert featuring resident and nationally acclaimed musician Marco Benevento & Friends, which applied pressure to the Zena Development Group (formerly Woodstock National). This and other grassroots activism campaigns stopped previously proposed development by the firm, such as an 18-hole golf course with a helipad.
Advance tickets are available for $15 starting May 10 (free for children 12 and under) and can be purchased here. There will be full-price tickets for sale at the Playhouse for $20 on the morning of the walk. Commemorative T-shirts will also be available for purchase. The event is positive-weather only; in the event of inclement weather, updates will be announced by 6 a.m. day-of on the website and social media, with a rain date TBD.
