We were there

We were there | Hi, How Are You Day 2020

Lucille — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 16:42:20 +0000

We were there | Hi, How Are You Day 2020 Lucille Tue, 01/28/2020

Hi, how are you?

January 22 is the day we celebrate the late great Daniel Johnston.

Daniel Johnston was a singer and songwriter, and a well-known figure in the American art and culture scene. His work helped him triumph over mental health issues and inspired many fans, artists, and writers.

Daniel's life and music inspired the Hi, How Are You Project to celebrate his legacy as a call to action to remove the stigma around mental health, and to encourage conversations about well-being. His birthday, January 22, is celebrated as Hi, How Are You Day.

Since 2018, Hi, How Are You Day creates a platform for music and arts. Hosted at the ACL Live Moody Theatre in Austin, Texas, the Hi, How Are You Day concert showcases Austinites, foreigners, and artists, not only to celebrate the Daniel Johnston’s legacy but also to open discussions about mental wellness. For the second year in a row, we were proud to partner with the Hi, How Are You Project and to offer a free livestream of the show through Stingray Qello.

Behind the scenes of the Hi, How Are You Day livestream

Tom Gimbel and Courtney Blanton, Founders of the Hi How Are You Project

The 2020 edition started with the electric performance of Dan Luke and the Braid, a rock band from Austin that set the mood for the night. The band was followed by singer-songwriter Katie Schecter, whose suave voice and soft guitar chords warmly enveloped the crowd. The third act was performed by White Denim, a four-piece prog-rock band that boasts eight full-length albums.

After a short intermission, lead singer of the Brooklyn-based band TV on the Radio Tunde Adebimpe performed his solo project pieces and captivated the audience with his incredible voice. Songwriter, musician, and guitarist Jason Falkner was then joined by his band’s members of The Spoon for a pure moment of rock’n’roll.

Grammy Award-winners rock band Cage the Elephant closed the night. What a show! The audience’s euphoria most certainly fueled the band’s exceptional performance, which lasted for more than an hour, closing a successful and emotional evening.

Katie Schecter and Jason Falkner

Tunde Abedimpe and Dan Luke and the Raid

White Denim

Cage the Elephant

Click here for behind-the-scenes, pictures and videos.

If you couldn’t watch the livestream, catch-up on Stingray Qello: we’ve got two excellent concert films of Cage the Elephant and White Denim.

Don’t miss upcoming livestreams!

Create your Stingray Qello account and subscribe to our newsletter, follow Stingray Qello on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

To start a project on behalf of Hi, How Are You Project that promotes mental health and wellness and/or to donate to the organization, head this way → https://hihowareyou.org/get-involved

"True love will find you in the end." – Daniel Johnston

M pour Montreal et Stingray présentent Busty and The Bass, Soran et Claudia Bouvette

Lucille — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 19:44:37 +0000

M pour Montreal et Stingray présentent Busty and The Bass, Soran et Claudia Bouvette Lucille Tue, 11/26/2019

M pour Montréal rassemble chaque année les professionnels de l’industrie musicale du Canada, des États-Unis et de partout dans le monde lors de son festival-conférence. L’événement s’est emparé de la ville en ce mois de novembre, et a présenté près d’une centaine d’artistes locaux et internationaux dans plus de 15 salles de spectacle.

En plus de proposer aux festivaliers de syntoniser gratuitement la chaîne « M pour Montreal 2019 » (également disponible sur le site web du festival) pour la première fois, Stingray a soutenu la vitrine Busty and The Bass, Soran et Claudia Bouvette qui a eu lieu le jeudi 21 novembre à la SAT (Société des Arts Technologiques).

Ce showcase inédit a débuté avec la performance rafraichissante de Claudia Bouvette. Découverte dans Mixmania 2, elle a présenté les titres de son premier EP, Cool It.

Claudia Bouvette - © Ville de Pluie

La seconde partie de la soirée était assurée par Soran, que nous avions eu le plaisir d’accueillir au Stingray Café lors d’un concert intimiste. Alors que son premier EP est paru il y a seulement un an, Soran ne cesse d’enchaîner les concerts et enregistrements de nouveau matériel.

Soran - © Ville de Pluie

De retour dans leur ville natale après 18 mois d’absence, le groupe Busty and The Bass a clôturé la soirée en beauté! Leur fameux mélange d’électro-soul et de hip-hop a complètement électrisé la foule, venue en grand nombre danser sur les hits du groupe.

Busty and the Bass - © Ville de Pluie

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Montréal

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Credits: Ville de Pluie

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Francos de Montréal 2019 | Entrevues PausePlay

Lucille — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 16:33:53 +0000

Francos de Montréal 2019 | Entrevues PausePlay Lucille Thu, 06/27/2019

La 31ème édition des Francos de Montréal s’est clôturée il y a quelques jours, et nous vous proposons de revivre les moments forts du festival!

Notre équipe PausePlay a eu la chance de rencontrer plusieurs artistes à l’occasion de leur passage sur les scènes des Francos. Nous avons commencé notre session d’entrevues avec le rappeur Souldia, au lendemain de son concert au Club Soda. Lunettes sur le nez et voix cassée, cela en dit beaucoup sur l’ambiance qu’il y avait la veille au soir!

La journée s’est poursuivi en bonne compagnie, avec l’étoile montante Les Louanges, nommé pour notre Prix Étoiles Stingray, et Stefie Shock, qui signe cette année son grand retour.

Pomme nous a ensuite parlé sans langue de bois d’écriture, du Québec et de liberté.

Notre seconde journée d’entrevues a démarré sur les chapeaux de roues avec l’énergétique Jean-François Breau qui s’est confié sur la genèse du groupe Salebarbes :

Se sont ensuite relayés sur le sofa PausePlay Mario Pelchat ainsi que Tikid et SP de Sans Pression. Deux univers pour deux univers à part!

La jeune Eli Rose nous a ensuite rejoint. L'entrevue d'Eli sera bientôt en ligne! En attendant, Eli Rose sera notamment en concert aux Francofolies de La Rochelle! Si jamais vous êtes dans le coin…

Direction les backstages : quelques heures avant de mettre le feu à la grande scène, Émile Bilodeau nous a reçu dans sa loge, et a partagé avec enthousiasme ce qui l’a poussé à écrire ses dernières pièces. Une entrevue avec un décor anecdotique à découvrir dans quelques jours! Tout comme notre dernière session d’entrevues avec le trio québécois Paupière et l’artiste française Vendredi Sur Mer.

Ce retour sur les moments forts des Francos de Montréal 2019 ne serait pas complet sans ces quelques photos prises en salle et à l’extérieur tout au long du festival :

En haut: Eli Rose en première partie d'Angèle
En bas: Angèle dans un MTelus plein à craquer
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Laurence Nerbonne et Les Louanges, au showcase Stingray x Rendez-Vous Pros des Francos
© Lucille Kerysaouen

À gauche: Vendredi sur Mer à l'Astral
À droite: Pomme au Théâtre Maisonneuve
© Lucille Kerysaouen

À gauche: SP de Sans Pression
À droite: Vulgaires Machins
© Justine Perron-Mongeau

À gauche: Coeur de Pirate dans la Salle Wilfried Pelletier
À droite: Hubert Lenoir à son concert surprise
© Lucille Kerysaouen

En haut: Flavien Berger au Club Soda
En bas: Emile Bilodeau sur la grande scène
© Lucille Kerysaouen

En haut: Fouki sur la grande scène
En bas: Thérapie Taxi au MTelus
© Lucille Kerysaouen

En haut: Les 2 Frères rejoints par Roch Voisine
En bas: Paupière
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Bref. Beaucoup de belles rencontres et découvertes ont eu lieu au cours de cette 31ème édition des Francos de Montréal! Nous avons déjà hâte d’y retourner l’an prochain! ✌️

À PROPOS DES FRANCOS DE MONTRÉAL

La mission du festival est de « promouvoir la chanson d'expression française, de favoriser sa diffusion et de stimuler la circulation des artistes de toute la francophonie ».

Le festival présente des spectacles d'artistes francophones de divers horizons musicaux et de diverses nationalités. Il présente des artistes bien connus, des artistes de l'heure, tout comme des figures montantes. Il offre des spectacles gratuits et payants.

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31e édition des Francos de Montréal | Prix Étoiles Stingray et Panel

Stingray — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 16:53:02 +0000

31e édition des Francos de Montréal | Prix Étoiles Stingray et Panel Stingray Tue, 06/25/2019

Depuis plus de 30 ans, les Francos de Montréal, soit le plus grand festival de musique francophone au monde, offrent plus de 200 spectacles et des centaines de milliers de festivaliers à chaque année. Cette année, Stingray était présent afin de remettre le Prix Étoiles Stingray en plus d’être le diffuseur musical officiel du festival et de participer au panel “Le nouvel âge d'or du vidéoclip”.

Retour sur une 31ème édition haute en couleurs!

Stingray Musique partout sur le site!

Fier partenaire des Francos de Montréal, c’est pour la première fois que les festivaliers eurent la chance d’écouter Stingray Musique partout sur le site des Francos, autant dans les salles intérieures, que sur les scènes extérieures.

Grâce à la chaîne « Francos de Montréal 2019 » (aussi disponible à la télé, sur l’appli mobile et sur le web), l’équipe de programmation de Stingray proposa un voyage musical au sein de la francophonie, des plus grands artistes aux talents émergents à découvrir.

Fouki, l’étoile montante du rap québécois

Dans la volonté de soutenir continuellement nos talents d'ici, Stingray était fier d’y présenter un Prix Étoiles Stingray, pour la première fois au festival, à l’un(e) des six incroyablement talentueux artistes en lice : De.Ville, Sarahmée, Tizzo, Les Louanges, Fouki et Laurence Nerbonne. Un jury composé de membres de l’équipe de programmation des Francos ont délibéré pour enfin choisir Fouki.

En plus de bénéficier déjà d’une visibilité sur notre réseau de musique partout à travers le monde (vous pouvez d’ailleurs entendre Fouki sur 26 de nos chaînes Stingray Musique), c’était avec grand plaisir que nous avons remis un prix de 5 000 $ à Fouki, lui permettant ainsi de gratiner à souhait son « spaghetti pain à l’ail » … bravo!

À gauche: Fouki lors de son concert sur la grande scène des Francos de Montréal.
À droite: Fouki et Philppe Papineau lors de la remise du Prix Étoiles Stingray.

Panel “Le nouvel âge d'or du vidéoclip”

C’est dans une salle comble que le panel eu lieu le 18 juin à l’Astral, lors des Rendez-vous Pros des Francos. Patrick Binette, Directeur au contenu et à la programmation de Stingray, faisait partie d'une discussion intéressante, animée par Nellie Brière (Consultante stratège communications numériques), sur les stratégies à adopter pour maximiser le rayonnement et la portée du vidéoclip.

Dans un écosystème numérique de plus en plus diversifié, les panélistes affirmèrent que nous assistons à une tendance grandissante de la part des artistes – celle de créer de plus en plus de formats adaptés aux différentes plateformes sociales – pour promouvoir leurs vidéoclips. Émilie Darveau (Chargée de projets Dare to Care Records) mentionna les visuels en format vertical pour les Stories (Facebook et Instagram), des visuels en format carré pour le fil Instagram, les visuels en format rectangulaires pour les publications sur Youtube, Facebook et Twitter. Un autre panéliste, le réalisateur du vidéoclip Ne m’appelle pas de Cœur de pirate, Laurence "BAZ" Morais Lagacé, mentionna que dorénavant il ne se contente plus de penser au vidéoclip en un seul format. Il réalise de plus de petits clips qui sont, en fait, des “teasers” de quelques secondes qui serviront à « vendre » le vidéoclip.

Plusieurs autres thèmes ont été abordés lors du panel, dont l'identité marketing importante que peut représenter le vidéoclip pour les artistes d’aujourd’hui.

À PROPOS DES FRANCOS DE MONTRÉAL

La mission du festival est de « promouvoir la chanson d'expression française, de favoriser sa diffusion et de stimuler la circulation des artistes de toute la francophonie ».

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We were there - Classical:NEXT 2019

Hitske — Thu, 23 May 2019 14:54:25 +0000

We were there - Classical:NEXT 2019 Hitske Thu, 05/23/2019

From May 15th to 18th, the big classical music conference, Classical:NEXT took place at de Doelen in Rotterdam. The conference was the most successful edition yet. Over 1300 professionals represented 45 countries at this year’s edition.

As a proud partner of this conference, Stingray Classica had a beautiful booth at the event to present the Classica app and television channel. Stingray’s Artistic Director, Rob Overman, gave a riveting keynote on ‘Streaming Video and Classical Music’. He talked about streaming as a big opportunity for classical music, and how artists, orchestras, venues, and other classical music companies can benefit from video streaming services such as the Classica app.

Over the course of the conference, there were many meetings and discussions on the future of classical music, as well as interesting presentations that explored the topic. Besides all the talking, the most important part was, of course, the music!

Klangmalerei.tv and Stingray recorded many of the daily showcases. Artists from all over the world performed classical music in innovative and creative ways. They pushed the boundaries of classical music and extended the horizons of art in music. For some ensembles, it was the first time that they performed in the Netherlands or as big a conference as Classical:NEXT.

Thursday afternoon started with Ensemble Hope from France. They explored new forms of contemporary music by using technology to present little-know instruments. One of the instruments was the Euphone, which looked very impressive. The ensemble doesn’t only make music, but also gives masterclasses, presentations, and workshops to involve people and explain their vision on the future of classical music and the instruments they use.

We already mentioned the Asko | Schönberg Ensemble in our Artists to Watch article, and it was indeed worth the watch! With the help of a speaker, they explained their way of producing new classical music with video technology that accompanies the music. They played a new piece by the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. He is turning 80 in June and continues to contribute to the future of classical music.

Other inspiring acts, such as Gaybird, The Hermes Experiment and Kathleen Tagg & Andre Petersen assembled a big audience during their performance. You can watch these and all other performances on Stingray Classica soon. Please keep an eye out for the premiere of these showcases and check out our website for the latest information and broadcasting times. A big thank you to Classical:NEXT for having us as media partner and we hope to meet you next year at this inspiring and amazing event.

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The Hermes Experiment © Eric van Nieuwland & ClassicalNEXT

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Festival Santa Teresa, au nom de la banlieue | Stingray Music

Lucille — Wed, 22 May 2019 17:50:25 +0000

Festival Santa Teresa, au nom de la banlieue | Stingray Music Lucille Wed, 05/22/2019

Nous déclarons la saison des festivals officiellement ouverte!

Nous avons passé la fin de semaine à Sainte-Thérèse, au nord de Montréal, à l’occasion du festival Santa Teresa. Pour sa troisième édition, le festival s’est offert un line-up 3 étoiles : Orelsan, Lunice, MGMT, Hubert Lenoir, Koriass, American Football… du beau monde s’est bousculé en banlieue. Et le public était au rendez-vous, déterminé à danser et profiter de la musique, malgré une météo un peu capricieuse.

Le festival se tenait du 17 au 19 mai. La ville de Sainte-Thérèse a été envahie par une jeune foule enjouée, et les artistes ont occupé plusieurs locaux phares de la commune : de la rue Blainville, à l’Église, en passant par les bars et le skate park, les festivaliers étaient invités à passer d’un espace à l’autre au fil des programmations. Les principales têtes d’affiche ont investi la scène principale, située sur le parking de la ville.

De la soirée de samedi soir, nous retiendrons la performance funky et 100% bonnes ondes du groupe français L’Impératrice, l’ambiance électrique lors du show d’Hubert Lenoir, les répliques et hits impeccables d’Orelsan, les notes emblématiques de MGMT et la voix envoutante de Soran.

L'Impératrice
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Hubert Lenoir
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Orelsan
© Lucille Kerysaouen

MGMT
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Soran
© Frédéric Ranger

Quoi de mieux pour se remettre d’une belle soirée que d’enchaîner sur une seconde?

La programmation du dimanche penchait plus du côté rap de la force! Entre un pop-up show de LaF, les mosh pits survoltés pendant le concert de Night Lovell et l’effervescence animée par Koriass et Yung Lean, nous avons pris une petite pause alt-rock dans l’Église Avila où performait le groupe American Football.

Nous avons fini par casser la baraque (littéralement) au Local 41. Après la performance des très talentueux Kirouac et Kodakludo, le plancher du bar n’a tout simplement pas supporté les jumps de la foule qui a dû être évacuée! Le groupe Alaclair Ensemble, qui devait performer en troisième partie, a donc improvisé un show dans la rue, sur le toit de leur tour van. Un moment qui restera marqué dans les esprits!

LaF
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Koriass
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Night Lovell et Yung Lean
© Lucille Kerysaouen

American Football
© Lucille Kerysaouen

Kodakludo & Kirouac
© Lucille Kerysaouen

On a déjà hâte de retourner en banlieue. À l’année prochaine!

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Alberta Country Music Association's Awards Weekend | We Were There

Greg — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 17:27:22 +0000

Alberta Country Music Association's Awards Weekend | We Were There Greg Wed, 02/13/2019

The 8th annual Alberta Country Music Association’s (ACMA) Awards Weekend took place in Red Deer, Alberta on January 26th and 27th. It was their biggest event to date.

This is the first year that Stingray Music and Stingray radio participated as the title sponsor. Events included roundtable discussions, seminars which included some of Stingray’s representatives on site, a Songwriters’ Series, as well as the 2019 Industry Awards.

The Saturday evening kick-off party included the Industry Awards portion, in which the Stingray radio station Real Country 95.5 Red Deer prevailed as Radio Station of the Year!

Jenn Dalen, Program Director of Real Country 95.5 Red Deer - Radio Station of the Year
© Bill Bonrwardt

Sunday afternoon featured a well-attended Fan Fest for the public with live performances from many of the award nominees and the ACMA’s Gala Dinner & Awards Show. Stingray was also the sponsor for the Video of the Year award which went to the amazing all-women country/rock band Nice Horse for their song “Mansplainin’”.

Nice Horse and Stingray Music's Greg Torrington
© Bill Borgwardt

Nice Horse also took home Group of the Year honours. Stingray’s Greg Torrington announced the imminent unveiling of the all-Alberta country music Stingray Vibe channel, which will be co-curated with ACMA and CCMA Hall of Fame broadcaster, Stingray radio’s Jackie Rae Greening from CFCW Edmonton.

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Nice Horse - Video of the Year Award | © Bill Borgwardt

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ESNS 2019: Overview | Stingray

Rokas — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 21:46:48 +0000

ESNS 2019: Overview | Stingray Rokas Tue, 01/29/2019

There aren’t many music festivals in Europe that have as much importance and weight in the music industry as the Eurosonic Noorderslag. Every year in January, the Dutch city Groningen becomes the European capital of young emerging artists. The annual four-day event has already helped launch the careers of musicians King of Convenience, The Libertines, James Blake, The Subways, Franz Ferdinand, Selah Sue, Ben l’Oncle Soul, Melanie de Biasio, and Anne-Marie. While no one knows who the next big act will be, many professionals from the music industry come to discover new artists. Many professionals take the opportunity to network, create opportunities, and solidify new partnerships. Stingray Music partnered with ESNS 2019 to launch the new format sessions, talk business, meet new colleagues, and spot the next Dua Lipa.

First things first: Stingray Music is launching the new format sessions dedicated to the European market. Although a few of these short-format sessions were filmed in 2018, during Eurosonic Noorderslag 2019, the Stingray team selected four international acts and recorded their performances to help them reach wider audiences around the globe. Stingray became one of ESNS’ official media partners, and the new sessions will be launched later in 2019.

Violetta Zironi

Wild Youth

Eurosonic Noorderslag is a very important yearly event for music industry professionals. During the event, there are opportunities to have one-on-one meetings for partnerships. Booking agents can meet people from various venues, artist managers can meet booking agents, while record labels can meet the previous two all for the sake of helping each other in the struggling music market.

The festival also presents opportunities for music professionals to discuss industry-related issues during various panels, by participating as guest speakers or attending the presentations. Some challenges addressed in this year’s ESNS panels include non-functional promotional models, the overcrowded landscape of music curation, and what comes after music streaming. However, Eurosonic Noorderslag isn’t just for music professionals.

Michelle David and the Gospel Sessions

The Entrepreneurs

Eurosonic Noorderslag is for all music lovers, and many of them only come to watch emerging artists perform all across Groningen. From Wednesday evening to Sunday morning, the northern city of the Netherlands becomes one huge venue. Artists play on every corner, every shop, every cafe or bar, not to mention bigger indoor and outdoor venues. As a result, it is impossible to see everything as many amazing performances happen simultaneously, and going from show to show can be taxing. Nevertheless, Stingray enjoyed some amazing concerts by very promising talents.

One of them was British jazz group KOKOROKO. Being part of Brownswood Recordings record label’s lineup, run by the famous DJ Gilles Peterson, the London-based ensemble blended urban sounds of their home metropolis with a contemporary jazz outfit. Dorian Concept was another remarkable showcase. While the Austrian producer-keyboardist has been around for a while, he hasn’t yet received mainstream breakthrough. His futuristic electro-visual performance was one of this year’s ESNS highlights. One of the youngest, Norwegian soul singer Fieh, embellished her performance with colours and youthful optimism. Her interesting arrangements mixing classic soul, hip-hop, and contemporary R&B set her apart from the rest.

With so little time to see so many shows, it can be difficult to decide which performances to attend. However, Stingray Music made ESNS 2019 successful by meeting new people and further working towards establishing its roots among European markets. Let's see if next year's Eurosonic Noorderslag will be as rewarding. See you in 2020, Groningen.

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Fieh, on stage at ESNS, Groningen | Photo credit: Wouter Wolff

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So What’s Next? 2018 | Nubya Garcia & London Jazz Scene

Rokas — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 15:13:50 +0000

So What’s Next? 2018 | Nubya Garcia & London Jazz Scene Rokas Fri, 11/09/2018

When it comes to jazz, Eindhoven is not usually the first place you think of in the Netherlands. Yet, for the past 5 years the “So What’s Next?” festival has transformed the city into the Dutch jazz capital during the 1st weekend of November.

This year was no exception and Eindhoven once again became the epicenterfor the hottest jazz acts: the 6th edition of the acclaimed music festival gave special attention to musicians coming from the London jazz scene.

Back in 2016, when Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings released Yussef Kamaal’s debut album Black Focus, it was increasingly obvious that the global jazz capital had started moving away from its longtime home, New York, to a new, although perhaps temporary one, in London. However, after 2 years it looks like jazz has fallen in love with the British capital and is the musical culture.

London’s music scene is diverse and can probably only be compared to New York. Although both cities share similarities (especially when it comes to music), there is one fundamental difference: American and Afro-American musical cultures are native in New York and not to London. In other words, the influences aren’t as dominant in London and the UK in general, as they are in the United States. Hence, certain musical elements associated with jazz tend to play lesser roles when performed by British and, more specifically, London-based jazz musicians.

Perhaps the most obvious example is heard on drums and thesnare drum in particular. Since the early 1940s the role of percussions n jazz hasn’t really changed: various on and off beat accents overshadowed by the pulse-keeping cymbals. Yet, exposed to different genres of EDM, sound culture, or hip-hop, UK jazz drummers quickly reshaped the snare drum’s role, moving it from the background of the overall sonic picture up to the front.

Together with other harmonic and melodic aspects formulated by the UK jazz artists, the new sounds of the London (and the UK) jazz scene has been exemplified by this year’s So What’s Next” festival more than anywhere else in the Netherlands.

GoGo Penguin, Moses Boyd Exodus, Theon Cross, Dinosaur, Zara McFarlane, Poppy Ajudha, or Oscar Jerome are names gaining increasing attention within the global jazz scene. The festival also organized a panel discussion on the already much discussed London jazz scene.

The highlight of the festival, however, was Nubya Garcia. Coming to the stage with drummer Sam Jones, bassist Daniel Casimir, and pianist Joe Armon-Jones (whose name is also on the list of today’s top young British jazz artist), the saxophonist’s presence was so compelling that throughout her performance the audience seeing the future of jazz. And what a sight it was, as everyone went mad during Garcia’s closing number “Lost Kingdoms”.

The most beautiful thing, however, is that “So What’s Next?” is different from other jazz festivals, bringing together established jazz acts with even bigger musicians from the jazz tradition’s suburbs.

The festival felt fresh and exciting, introducing the most cutting-edge jazz artists of today, keeping an alternative-underground vibes, while not diving too much into the avant-garde scene. My only hope is that it does exactly the same next year, reflecting the happenings in the jazz scene of the day, instead of relying on something from the past.

Listen to Nubya Garcia on Stingray Music

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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival | Photo Album

Greg — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 15:39:44 +0000

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival | Photo Album Greg Wed, 10/10/2018

After so many years, I got to cross off one item off my bucket list last weekend in San Francisco by attending the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

This is the 18th edition of a festival that drew over half a million people to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to watch shows on 6 stages over 3 days. Folk, Roots, Americana, and Bluegrass are not exactly music genres one associates with crowds of that size! Past years have seen the audience swell to 750,000. It’s safe to say that California continues to be a cultural tastemaker!

The festival was founded by Warren Hellman, the late billionaire/philanthropist whose love of bluegrass and corresponding roots genres drove him to underwrite the festival as a gift to the city, rejecting all forms of commercial co-sponsorship along the way and securing it as a free event.

Most of the artists performing at the festival are in heavy rotation on our roots music channels:

Sweet Home Americana

Today’s Folk Tunes

Modern Bluegrass

Crowd for Emmylou Harris

Buddy Miller’s Cavalcade of Stars Featuring the McCrary Sisters, Tracy Nelson, Buddy Miller, Molly Tuttle, and The War and Treaty.

Courtney Marie Andrews

Dustin and Kevin Welch

Kacy and Clayton - Saskatchewan duo making big strides in the US folk and America scenes

Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets

Steve Earle

The Lone Bellow