Sights and Sounds: Michael Ubaldini strikes with new videos, Americana Virtual Conference Lineup

Plenty of important news and music to share for a Wednesday...Robert Kinsler



Watch Michael Ubaldini's timely hard-hitting videos

Michael Ubaldini / Photo credit: Jesse Navarro

Singer-songwriter great Michael Ubaldini has released two new videos that seem to tap into the turmoil of the times more strongly than any other music videos I've seen this year, in large part, because of the power of the songs and his straightforward performance of those songs. The videos for Ubaldini's "Badge of Freedom" and "Peace Sign" are embedded below.

Elvin Bishop, Rosanne Cash, Ry Cooder, Angela Davis, Alice Randall, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Thorn, RIAA’s Mitch Glazier and Michele Ballantyne Plus More First-Rate Speakers Added to Programming Lineup at Thriving Roots: A Virtual Community Music Conference

Three-day virtual music industry conference on Sept. 16-18, 2020, brings together Cash to speak with Davis, Cooder, Raitt and Randall on the history of protest music; Bishop and Thorn to talk about how artists can get creative off the road; Glazier and Ballantyne to lead a discussion on the state of the recording industry
Passes On Sale Now

Top Row (L-R): Elvin Bishop, Rosanne Cash, Ry Cooder
Middle Row: Bonnie Raitt, Paul Thorn, Angela Davis
Bottom Row: Mitch Glazier, Michele Ballantyne, Alice Randall

Just one week after announcing its first programming lineup, the Americana Music Association Foundation (AMAF) has revealed a second wave of programming for Thriving Roots: A Virtual Community Music Conference. The three-day online gathering will host an important discussion led by Rosanne Cash on the history of protest music featuring Ry Cooder, revered political activist Angela Davis, Bonnie Raitt and award-winning author Alice Randall. RIAA Chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier and COO Michele Ballantyne will be leading a conversation on the current state of the recording industry. More programming info can be found below. Passes are on sale here.

In just a little over a month, Thriving Roots will invite attendees online for inspiring panel sessions with first-rate speakers as they navigate talks on music, culture and everything in between. For the panel “Love and Vigilance,” Cash herself shares the idea behind it best, saying, “I invited some old friends — Bonnie Raitt and Ry Cooder — and some new friends — Alice Randall and Angela Davis — to play songs and talk with me about the history of protest music, the long, hard journey of Black musicians to achieve justice, and the anger and longing of the present moment.”

Rosanne Cash performing at the
Grammy Museum in Los Angeles
on Oct. 5, 2010.

Given the ever-evolving nature of the music industry, hearing rare and up-to-date insight from its leading professionals is paramount. During “Record Setting,” join the Recording Industry Association of America's Glazier and Ballantyne for a conversation on the state of the recording industry, current trends and their outlook. Elsewhere, “The Future of Americana” links up Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett with industry veterans Leslie Fram (CMT), David Macias (Thirty Tigers), Linda Ryan (Gimme Radio) and Bruce Warren (WXPN / NPR Music’s World Café) for a forecast into the genre’s future over a decade after The Recording Academy established its “Best Americana Album” category.

Additional new programming includes “Striking a Chord,” which finds GRAMMY® Museum Executive Director Scott Goldman sitting down with this year’s Americana Instrumentalist of the Year Nominees Ellen Angelico, Annie Clements, Brittany Haas, Zachariah Hickman and Rich Hinman as they share stories about their respective career journeys. Attending artists will want to check out “How to Stay Creative When You’re Off the Road,” an inside look at how musicians can maximize their productivity while being grounded in one place, led by Bill Bowker (KRSH) in conversation with roots artists Elvin Bishop and Paul Thorn.

In between panels and after business hours, attendees will also be treated to re-energizing music break segments and immersive special events, rounding out the variety of content found at Thriving Roots. Attendees should tune into Dualtone Music Group’s virtual music break highlighting the breadth of their artist roster and Radio Woodstock's Empire State of Americana, which spotlights five rising stars.

Previously announced Thriving Roots programming includes intimate conversations between Brandi Carlile and Yola; Emmylou Harris and Ken Burns; and Jackson Browne and Mavis Staples. There will also be artist-friendly songwriting workshops and case studies like Mary Gauthier’s "Accessing the Universal in Your Songs: Mercy Now,” Taj Mahal’s “Music Is the Healing Voice” and an artist development breakdown with Black Pumas. Moreover, the Woody Guthrie Center will examine the use of music in political campaigns during “Music as a Rallying Cry,” while “The Anatomy of a Publicity Campaign” groups top PR pros to dissect artist campaigns.

With over 50 panel discussions and more than 40 special events filled with music, Thriving Roots will bring the Americana music community together from across the world for three full days of engaging insight from its top industry professionals and leading artists. Previously announced speakers include Rhiannon Giddens and John Leventhal.

The Thriving Roots platform will launch ahead of the three-day virtual conference at a later date to be announced so attendees can personalize their online presence, customize their own daily schedule and begin networking with other attendees.
The virtual conference agenda will be announced in late August. For the latest updates, please visit americanamusic.org.

About Thriving Roots:
Thriving Roots: A Virtual Community Music Conference is a three-day music industry conference slated to take place Sept. 16, 17 and 18, 2020. Presented by the recently announced Americana Music Association Foundation (AMAF), the educational initiative brings the Americana music community together from across the world for three full days of engaging insight from its leading artists and industry professionals. With a wide variety of online programming including stimulating panels and immersive special events, attendees are in store for a unique experience that will go beyond today’s webinar-style conferences. Passes are on sale here.

About the Americana Music Association Foundation (AMAF):
The Americana Music Association Foundation (AMAF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational and charitable organization, was founded to preserve Americana music through education. Its endeavors strengthen understanding, awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage, shine a light on inspiration, and promote the capacity and engagement of future creators. The foundation accomplishes this mission through educational programs, musical performances and public events. Throughout the year, its partnership with The Americana Music Association focuses on the preservation of past legacies and traditions that spotlight Americana music’s heritage, while also looking ahead to ensure the future of the community’s generations to come.

Sights and Sounds: Gary Calamar, Americana Music Association, Justin Currie

Happy Tuesday morning everybody! Here is a quick roundup of several items pulled from my inbox first thing today...

NOTED MUSIC SUPERVISOR AND KCRW DJ GARY CALAMAR’S DEBUT RELEASE YOU ARE WHAT YOU LISTEN TO CONFIRMED FOR OCTOBER 14, 2014 VIA ATLANTIC RECORDS

True Blood, Dexter, Six Feet Under Music Supervisor as well as Disc Jockey, Author and Former Record Store Manager’s Musical Evolution Continues with Solo Debut From a Rock and Roll Wordsmith

LOS ANGELES, CA (TUESDAY AUGUST 26, 2014) – Five-time Grammy nominated music supervisor and noted KCRW Disc Jockey Gary Calamar (www.garycalamar.com) announced today that his debut E.P. You Are What You listen To will be released October 14 via Atlantic Records.

You Are What You Listen To is Gary Calamar’s debut as a musician & songwriter of gloriously catchy, sparkly rock and roll songs, filled with abundant wit and melody. Drawing inspiration from his rock heroes, his tunes alternately crunch as well as caress. Produced by John Would (Fiona Apple), the six songs that compromise the E.P. jam their way directly into your head. They are:

1. I Got An Idea

2. Giddy

3. Minimum Day 

4. She’s So Mid-Century 

5. The Last Revolution

6. Back Door Man

So how does one go from music industry soldier to simply musician? Well, it’s actually more like an evolution than a career change. Known primarily as a five-time Grammy nominated music supervisor on shows like True Blood, Dexter, Six Feet Under as well as KCRW DJ, Gary Calamar has always been a songwriter. None other than Iggy Pop recorded his tune “Let’s Boot and Rally”. So after years of being a closeted songwriter with no time to record, up stepped Atlantic Records who heard a few demo tracks and asked to put the record out. And here we are, You Are What You Listen To. 

Gary’s humble beginnings in the music business began behind the counter at LA’s finest record stores: Licorice Pizza (RIP), Moby Disc (RIP) and Rhino (RIP). He managed the criminally underrated L.A. band, The Balancing Act who released 3 indie classics on IRS Records. From there he was offered a job at one of the world’s most influential radio stations, KCRW. He also co-authored the book Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again. But all the while he’s been entertaining his inner circle of music pals with his own compositions. Catchy, sparkling, glorious bursts of rock and roll mischief and majesty, they are. Real, live, can’t-get-them-outta-yer-head songs that will be released in on October 14. 

Live dates to be announced shortly. 

Americana Music Association announces its 13th Annual Honors & Awards Performers and Presenters

(Nashville, Tenn.) August 26, 2014 – The Americana Music Association reveals an initial presenter and performer lineup for its 13th annual Honors & Awards Show. As anticipated, the list reflects Americana’s “spirit of eclecticism” (New York Times) through its diverse production/curation.

Hurray For The Riff Raff
is Alynda Lee Segarra /
Photo: Josh Shoemaker

In addition to previously announced performances by Loretta Lynn, Flaco Jimenez, Taj Mahal and Jackson Browne, the tastemaker event will feature Buddy Miller, Cassandra Wilson, Hard Working Americans, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Jason Isbell, Jim Lauderdale, Marty Stuart, Parker Millsap, Patty Griffin, Robert Ellis, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Ry Cooder, Sarah Jarosz, St. Paul & Broken Bones, Sturgill Simpson, The Devil Makes Three, The McCrary Sisters, The Milk Carton Kids and Valerie June with presentations by Amy Ray, Carlene Carter, Elizabeth Cook, Emmylou Harris, JD Souther, Joe Henry, John Paul White, John Ritter, Keb Mo, Rhett Miller, Shovels and Rope, Todd Snider and Vince Gill.

The 13th Annual Honors & Awards Show — held at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday, Sept. 17th — will be hosted by Jim Lauderdale and feature a house band led by Buddy Miller that includes Don Was, Joachim Cooder, Tim Lauer, The McCrary Sisters and legend, Ry Cooder.

Broadcast live with radio partners SiriusXM "Outlaw Country" and online via NPR's Folk Alley, and edited for television for PBS that will air November 22 in the Austin City Limits time slot. The Americana Honors & Awards, for the first time, will also air on Australia's CMC (Country Music Channel). The show kicks off the 15th Annual Festival and Conference that runs Wed. Sept, 17 through Sunday, Sept 21.

For a full list of performers, panels, and ticket and registration information, please visit americanamusic.org.

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The 15th annual Americana Music Festival & Conference, a “smaller, rootsier version of South by Southwest” (New York Times) will take place September 17-21, 2014 in Nashville, TN, kicked off by the 13th annual Americana Honors & Awards Show on Sept. 17 at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

The Americana Music Association is a professional non-profit trade organization whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American Roots Music around the world. The Association curates events throughout the year including the annual Americana Music Festival and Conference, presented by Nissan, the acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards program and most recently “Americana NYC” Aug. 4th – 11th — a partnership with Lincoln Center. For more information, please visit www.americanamusic.org.

JUSTIN CURRIE US TOUR IN SUPPORT OF LOWER REACHES

Justin Currie will tour the U.S. in September and October of 2014.

Justin Currie, the lead singer and songwriter of Scottish pop-rock band Del Amitri, is pleased to announce U.S. dates this fall in support of his newest release, Lower Reaches.

Watch Justin Currie's Video "Bend To My Will" here Visit Justin Currie's website here The new album is the follow-up to Currie's 2010 critically acclaimed project The Great War which garnered 4 star reviews and earned Currie the moniker of "a songwriter's songwriter" from Mojo.  On Lower Reaches, Currie's pop sensibilities and radio ready vocals are ever present, but it's his songwriting that is perhaps most striking.  The new set of self-penned songs show Currie emerging as a writer of great depth and sensitivity, deftly examining life, relationships and the human condition, albeit delivered with the healthy dose of cynicism and wit that his fans have come to count on. Currie wrote most of the songs on Lower Reaches during a solitary songwriting retreat on the Isle of Skye off the coast of Scotland.  Hunkered down in a remote cottage in the shadow of The Cuillins, the mountain range that dominates the Hebridean island, Currie had no internet and no mobile phone, just an acoustic guitar, a piano, and a ghetto-blaster on which to record his ideas.  "I suppose it was a bit like my Brill Building", he smiles. "You're being your own boss and putting yourself under pressure to write."  Currie wrote fifteen songs in eleven days, something of a personal best in terms of rapid-fire delivery. When it came time to capture the music in the studio Currie traveled to Austin, Texas to work with producer Mike McCarthy (Craig Finn [The Hold Steady], Spoon, Patty Griffin, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead).  The process was, in Currie's words, "a brilliant experience" and the resulting tracks have been heralded by the UK press as among the songwriter's recent best. Watch Justin Currie's Video "Bend to My Will" here As singer and main songwriter in Del Amitri, formed in Glasgow in 1983, Currie wrote many of their biggest hits including ‘Roll To Me’, ‘Always The Last To Know’, and ‘Nothing Ever Happens’. During their long and distinguished career, Del Amitri released four Top 10 albums, including ‘Waking Hours’ (1989), which sold over a million copies in the UK alone.

About Compass Records Billboard Magazine has touted Compass Records Group as one of the leading independent labels of the past decade. The label group is home to more than 500 releases across the Compass Records, Green Linnet and Mulligan Records imprints with a roster that boasts a variety of artists including Colin Hay, A.J. Croce, Victor Wooten, Claire Lynch, the Farewell Drifters, Peter Rowan, The Gibson Brothers, Darden Smith, BeauSoleil, Michael Cleveland, and label co-founder Alison Brown. For more information, visit www.compassrecords.com.