Thoughts on an Audience: Damien Rice at the Orpheum Columns by Brian Carroll - April 8, 2015January 21, 20160 There are two ends of the music listener/fan spectrum, those that go to shows to hear and experience music and those that want others to hear that they were at the show/experience the vast majority of the show through their smart phone. Regretfully, last evenings Damien Rice audience at the Orpheum in Boston was filled with the latter. I find there is a direct relation between audience quality and ticket price. For some insane and inexplicable reason, more popular songwriters/bands whom you have to spend more on a show for (or shows I attend with a heftier price tag) tend to draw, well, shittier people. There are, of course, shitty patrons at most every show you attend, free shows, 5 dollar
Pre Order The Milk Carton Kids “Monterey” Immediately Columns by Brian Carroll - April 3, 2015January 21, 20160 The Milk Carton Kids do not need my help to tell people to buy their record, but I am going to tell you to pre order their latest record anyway. There are very few artists who I would consider pre-ordering for. The exceptions are typically when an unsigned, close friend is running a kickstarter/indiegogo/pledge campaign and needs to front load funds. It is very rare that I will pre-order other than that. However, it is also very rare that an act like The Milk Carton Kids comes about. Truly some of the most beautiful and moving music I have witnessed in the past 10 years has come from the harmonies created by Kenneth and Joey. Truly the best...now go order the
Save the Date: June 13th Red Line Roots Fest ’15 Columns by Brian Carroll - March 4, 2015January 21, 20160 Things going through my head at the beginning of the evening last Saturday for the 2 Year Anniversary Show: will anyone show up to support the people playing? will the performers get anything out of this? is this worth it? where the hell is Deluca, he goes on in 15 minutes? Things going through my head at the end of the night: lets do this again. Working with some of the very amazing people at the Harvard Square Business Association and of course our family at Club Passim we will be bringing you an event, similar in ideal to the 2 Year Anniversary show, but on a slightly grander scale. Outdoor stage with daytime performances on Palmer Street followed up by an evening
Thank You… Columns by Brian Carroll - March 2, 2015January 21, 20160 As a musician, or an artist of any sort, there are very few people who will genuinely support you. That's something I learned the hard way. Through years of feeling sorry for myself or comparing myself to others. Fact of the matter is that the world is flooded with people just like me, or songwriters just like me I suppose. People willing to play crappy gigs for no money that I may not want to play, people willing to put their music out there for free (I guess I am guilty of that too on occasion)...art has shed much of its value because of the world that we live in where you can download a record for free before it
2 Year Anniversary Sponsor: Four String Films Columns by Brian Carroll - February 20, 2015January 21, 20160 I am very happy to welcome back our friends from Brewster Productions, and more specifically in this case "Four String Films" as a sponsor for our 2 Year Anniversary Show. Jon Dorn has been a good friend over the past few years, not just to me, but also to the local music community in general. Pouring his heart (and time...so much time) into concert series, video production, and more. The video work has really geared up in the past few months and both the live video and concept music videos they have been producing are absolutely incredibly. Don't take my word for it though. Check out a few of the videos below, hit them up for all your video production needs and
The Cover Project : New Compilation Idea Columns by Brian Carroll - February 18, 2015January 23, 20160 For those that know me well, I guess you would say I hate being idle, before I even complete one project I usually begin or take on 6 new ones. I am in the midst of promoting a studio EP and tracking a home recorded EP for a release on March 25th. Am currently producing not one, but 2 volumes of the Locals Covering Locals project, writing the blog, playing my own shows, planning a mini-festival...and working 50+ hours a week plus commuting (somedays for 5 hours thanks to the trains not working in Boston...but that's another story). Another thing that folks who know me well would say is that I love covering songs from friends or songwriters that I have
Help My Friend, Jess Tardy with Her Recovery Fund Columns by Brian Carroll - February 3, 2015January 21, 20160 In a world where I have nearly 1,200 'friends' on social media, yet can probably count on both my hands who I would turn to if I needed a place to stay should my house burn to the ground, or ask for help in a dire situation, it can seem funny to overuse a term like "my friend". That being said, a friend to me is someone who despite how well or how long you have known them they make you feel at ease. They put you before themselves regardless of the circumstance. They are generous where they can be and supportive always. In the short time I have known Jess Tardy, she has been an exemplary model of someone that is
On Giving Up: How My Creativity (and Happiness) Was Freed When I Stopped Caring Columns by Brian Carroll - January 30, 2015January 21, 20160 Yesterday I received an email which essentially stated "sorry, Pandora does not feel you are good enough for our internet radio station...rejected". A year ago or even 6 months back this would have ate at me for days. Instead I merely deleted the email as I would with a "Vi@gr@ at half price" spam or most of those junk joke emails my family would occasionally CC me on. What changed was with my last recording I went into the studio not to impress the world, or radio, or press, or really anyone outside of who touched this project. All that mattered was that I got something from this experience. That those who were in the studio molding these songs with
7 North East Songwriters You Need To Be Listening To Columns by Brian Carroll - January 9, 2015January 21, 20160 There is something about a good song. Something where the words cut deep, the melody is all there, everything is in balance where you are getting enough emotionally to feed the need to feel something. There is also something about a bad song...but we won't breach that subject here. I spend most of my work days in excel spreadsheets, creating powerpoints, or writing emails asking folks for things. Collecting, collating, processing information. 90% of the time my ears are plugged up with my blue Klipsch earbuds (name drop, sponsorship, anyone, please?). The point here is that I receive and listen to A LOT of music. A bunch of that music is real good. Some of that music is not so
Andy Santospago’s Boston Singer’s Project at Club Passim 1/14 Columns by Brian Carroll - January 7, 2015January 21, 20160 "Hey really talented musician folk that I am friends with, come cover my songs" may sound like a gimmick or an ego based project, but for those that know Andy it is anything but that. As he says on the blog site, he had qualms and second thoughts about the project, but in the end we are all damn lucky he followed through with it all. What he was able to accomplish is really quite incredible. Coralling some of the most talented musicians in town to perform their take on his music. Creating a close knit community around a central idea of sharing the songs of one another and allowing those folks to interpret them how they felt. Andy is the type