WUMB Member Concert with Eliza Gilkyson

If you are a WUMB Member you know that you can go to free WUMB Member Concerts. We have a Member Concert with Eliza Gilkyson, Rebecca Loebe, Betty Soo, and Bianca De Leon at 7 PM on Thursday, September 24th at David Friend Recital Hall at Berklee College of Music. The event is hosted by Berklee's Professional Education Division, Austin to Boston: Cutting Through The Noise.

Each of the featured artists are based out of Austin, Texas and are visiting Berklee to teach master classes, chat with students, and to perform. Eliza Gilkyson comes from a musical family. Her father is Terry Gilkyson the folk musician, and her brother Tony is a guitarist. Gilkyson has been releasing music since 1969. Rebecca Loebe competed on Adam Levine's team during the first season of NBC's The Voice and has toured with the likes of Ellis Paul and Raina Rose. Betty Soo has won awards from the Sisters Folk Festival, the Wildflower! Festival, Mountain Stage and more. Bianca De Leon is an internationally renowned folk singer who has had her music featured on film soundtracks and in video games.

You must be a WUMB member to attend Member Concerts. Become one here.

-Kendall Stewart

WUMB and Berklee College of Music have teamed up again to present the Summer Concert Series on Carson Beach. For the next three Saturdays you can listen to great music right on the beach--and it's free! This Saturday, August 8th, at 2 PM you can catch the indie folk band Covey.

Covey is the brain child of vocalist and guitarist Tom Freeman who launched the project in February of 2013. Freeman's high school music teacher encouraged him to pursue a career in music because he was the most passionate player. That teacher's name was Haggarty and that is also the title of Covey's forthcoming EP. Covey has performed with Hozier and The Last Bison, among others and they were named the New England Band of The Month by Deli Magazine. The new single, "Stranger" drops on August 19th. More information can be found here. 

-Kendall Stewart

WUMB Member Concert: Sarah Blacker

·         Sarah Blacker was born and raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts and upon graduating from Wellesley High School chose to stay in the area, attending Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee Ms. Blacker studied classical vocal performance and Music Therapy, a form of expressive therapy in which therapists use music to help clients improve their mental and physical health. She worked full-time in the field upon graduation from Berklee and continues on a part-time basis in order to balance with her music career. It is only fitting that her message is, "Songs save lives."

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·         Since 2009 Sarah Blacker has released three albums and an EP, and her new record In Waves is slated for an April 21st release through a Pledge Music campaign. She also took home the 2013 New England Music Award for Female Performer of The Year and her music has been featured on MTV's Jersey Shore and FriendZone.

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·         If you would like to attend WUMB Member Concerts you can become a member today here or by calling the membership office at 617-287-6902.

Folk Alliance International 2015: Laney Jones and The Lively Spirits

Folk Alliance International is a non-profit organization that sponsors an industry conference for the folk music industry every year, attended by artists, record companies, manufacturers, music publishers, music support services, presenters, managers and agents. This year marks the second year that the conference takes place in Kansas City, Missouri. With a membership of over 2,000 people Folk Alliance is among the top five largest conferences in North America. Thursday, February 19^th, was the second day of the conference and one of the best acts that night was a band called Laney Jones and The Lively Spirits.

                Laney Jones and The Lively Spirits were a band that I stumbled upon completely accidentally. And am I sure glad that I did. Though Jones and her band—Matthew Tonner, Curtis Seligson, and Alex Shames—are from Florida, they are not without local ties. Jones landed at Berklee College of Music in 2013 where she studied until, in typical Berklee fashion, she left to tour with her own band.  Since then she has  been busy touring up and down the East Coast. Recently she made her debut on national TV as part of Great Performances on PBS. She performed her track “Broken Hearts” as part of a masterclass with Alison Krauss. Her style is an even blend of the old and the new, Pop meets Americana, some Brandi Carlile and some Patty Griffin with a little bit of Sara Bareilles thrown in for good measure. She performed a selection of songs from her self-produced 2014 debut Golden Road, as well as from her upcoming new record, due out in 2015.

                Laney Jones and The Lively Spirits will even be making a pit stop in Cambridge at The Lizard Lounge on March 5^th. 

What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

This New Year’s Eve – UMass Boston’s WUMB will partner with two other local colleges and First Night Boston for a great concert on Saturday, December 31^st.

Suffolk University has donated use of the newly renovated 184-seat Modern Theatre, which opened last fall. The Berklee College of Music will present alum Liz Longley. And, WUMB will air a live broadcast of Liz’s show at the Modern from 9-10pm.

Liz is a recent graduate of the Berklee College of Music and is already showing signs of becoming the next acoustic breakout artist. In 2010, Liz received first prize in the BMI John Lennon Scholarship competition, grand prize in the International Acoustic Music Award contest (among 9,000 entries) as well as the Chris Austin Songwriting Award. She also appeared at the Newport and Rocky Mountain folk festivals. In 2009, Liz garnered first place in the Rocky Mountain Folk Fest Songwriter Showcase, and was co-winner of the Mountain Stage New Song Contest, among several other honors.

Whether you come and watch the show live, or decide to enjoy it from the comforts of your own home on WUMB, it’s sure to be a great way to bring in the New Year.