This Next Song‘s About - A Songwriter‘s Podcast

"How I raised $150k on Kickstarter to buy my album back from my label" ft. Liz Longley

Liz has given us access to an exclusive Making Of video of her brand new single 'Get To Know Someone', only for NYAC listener. Click here to access: http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
Best known for her stop-you-in-your-tracks voice, Liz Longley is an accomplished singer-songwriter based in Nashville. Known for her deeply emotional music, Longley has earned accolades from some of the most prestigious songwriting competitions in the country, including the BMI John Lennon Songwriting Scholarship Competition. Liz’s music has been featured on TV shows such as Lifetime’s "Army Wives,” ABC’s "Beauty & The Beast" and MTV’s “Scream.” The Berklee College of Music graduate worked alongside 5-time Grammy-nominated producer, Paul Moak, on her much awaited sixth album, Funeral For My Past. The record was funded by a loyal fan base on the Kickstarter platform, raising over $150,000. The remarkable fan support made Longley the #4 most funded solo female musician in Kickstarter history - a story covered by Billboard.
In January, Longley’s new single, 3 Crow, was embraced by the press and music fans alike, expressing “the beauty in the song lies within how real the story is…” Liz came by ahead of her Rockwood Music Hall show in NYC to talk about her brand new single "Get To Know Someone" and has also shared an exclusive BTS making of video - get access here: http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf
As mentioned in the episode here are some ways to help and places you can donate: Text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to donate $10 to the relief efforts https://cfmt.org  to donate to the relief effort https://www.hon.org/
If you need help: https://musiccares.com 
https://gideonsarmyunited.org 
https://www.hon.org/ 

"Touring with the Eagles and being an independent artist" ft. Erica Swindell

Erica Swindell is a Brooklyn based actor, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. A native Texan, her introduction to the music world began at the age of 3 through classical violin. She joined her first Country band as a fiddle player and vocalist at the age of 12 and began to incorporate different genres to her classical training. After her Texas years, she went on to attend Marymount Manhattan College where she received a BFA in Acting and minor in Musical Theatre. In 2013 she made her Broadway debut in the musical ONCE and went on to tour the world with the First National Tour of ONCE. During this time, Swindell was spotted by Don Henley of the Eagles and joined his band as violinist and backing vocalist. Currently, Swindell is the Concert Master for the orchestra for the Eagles “Hotel California 2020” tour. Erica stopped by to talk about her first solo release "Phase" and her upcoming plans as a solo artist, actor and instrumentalist. Erica also shared an exclusive video performance not seen anywhere else!
Click here to view the video: http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 

"Writing on the road with Lake Street Dive" ft. Akie Bermiss

Get this exclusive track from Akie here for podcast listeners only! http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
Akie Bermiss with his affable disposition, glasses, and healthy do of cascading dreads that drape down to his shoulders, is unabashedly a self-professed nerd to the nth degree. Since early childhood Akie has been an obsessed science fiction aficionado. Yet he does have an artist-friendly façade and has managed to cultivate and live a double-life as a thriving music protégé, pianist, singer/songwriter, composer, arranger and emerging solo artist. Akie kicked off his 2017 touring schedule playing keyboards and providing backing vocals for veteran indie multi-genre band Lake Street Dive’s national concert tour in support of their latest CD, “Side Pony.” The tour was very exciting and included an opening spot in Aspen for Hall & Oates! Akie is a Brooklyn native raised in a musical household full of jazz and politics fueled by his former- activist mom and dad. He began singing in church, moved it to school for a while, enroute becoming somewhat of a musical chameleon. His raucous, guttural and soulful vocals are a delectable fusion of Donny Hathaway and Tom Waits. He’s equally adept singing neo-soul, funk, contemporary jazz, alternative rock, and hip hop. Akie joins Steph to discuss his brand new single 'Alone Again' - an aptly timed release ahead of Valentine's Day - his experiences in the band Lake Street Dive since being inducted in as a full time member, how they write an album on the road and how his views on the industry have changed with this new perspective.
Check out an exclusive MP3 of Akie performing a cover of Shania Twain's 'Still The One' with Lake Street Dive live at Red Rocks in Colorado here: http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 

"Managing two careers: Acting and Music" ft. Alicia Witt

EXCLUSIVE DEMO from Alicia here: https://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
Years before kicking off her career as an indie-pop songwriter, a seven year-old Alicia Witt took her first classical piano lesson. She landed her debut movie role that same year, appearing in David Lynch's sci-fi epic Dune. Decades later, Witt has built both passions into a thriving business, balancing an acclaimed string of movie, television, and stage appearances with solo records like 2018's 15,000 Days. Her fourth release as an independent songwriter, 15,000 Days is a sweeping, big-hearted record, its songs rooted in modern arrangements and timeless melodies. Witt wrote the material during a busy period that found her starring in the TV series Nashville, stealing the spotlight with an appearance on The Walking Dead, and playing shows — including a performance on the Grand Ole Opry — in the wake of her previous album, Revisionary History. It took years — and thousands of days — for Alicia Witt to find her true voice as a musician. She unveils that voice with 15,000 Days, a record that's honest, heartfelt, and every bit as compelling as her work onscreen. A lifelong musician and actress, Alicia Witt turns a page with her new release, kicking off another chapter in a story that's still unfolding.
Alicia joins us on the show to talk about her song 'Earful' from her EP 15,000 Days and is kind enough to give us an exclusive recording from an upcoming 2020 release called 'Down She Goes' available here: http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
Alicia's Website: https://aliciawittmusic.com 

"From Finland to NYC, finding my voice" ft. Janita

One of Finland's greatest exports - singer-songwriter, Janita. Already established as an iconic recording artist and music figure in her native Finland, Janita (pronounced YA-nee-tuh) moved to New York City early in her career, building on those initial successes by launching her American recording career with two Top-40 Billboard hits. 
"This woman's got the goods" - Billboard.
Janita joins me to tell me about the writing process and the incredible hand-made video for "Traces Upon Your Face".
www.janita.com 

"How to launch a Patreon" Minisode ft. Rebecca Loebe

Continuing with our Minisode series that is artist-focused, today we chat with independent artist Rebecca Loebe about how to go about crowdfunding an album via Patreon!
Rebecca Loebe is an independent singer-songwriter who you may remember from the Voice in 2011. Since then she has opened for Shawn Colvin, the Civil Wars, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Ellis Paul amongst others.
Her single, Growing Up was featured in Rolling Stone magazine listed as the Top 10 Best Country and Americana Songs of the Week. As well as being a talented musician, she has also become quite an expert at owning her own distribution and runs a successful Patreon page - and Patreon even featured Rebecca on their blog after her successful album promotion. As promised, here are the links and references discussed in today's episode: Rebecca's Tips and Launch Timeline: bit.ly/2qOI0Qf Patreon's article on Rebecca: https://blog.patreon.com/rebecca-loebe Patreon's article on Nataly Dawn: https://blog.patreon.com/nataly-dawn-patronage Amanda Palmer "The Art of Asking" TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking?language=en 
Simon Sinek "Start With Why" TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en 
Rebecca's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rebeccaloebe 
We'd love to hear any feedback about this miniseries or any suggestions you have for episodes! Email us: info@newyorkartistscollective.com

"Writing a Song That Matters" ft. Dar Williams

Dubbed by the New York Times as "one America's best songwriters" Dar Williams is certainly part of the fabric of the American songbook.
Exclusive recording from Dar available here: http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
Dar has always followed her muse. When she was up in Somerville, Massachusetts in the early nineties, knowing that she wanted to pursue music or theater, she worked backstage at the Opera Company of Boston and wrote plays on the side. But she was in Boston, and the muse led her into the myriad open mics and tip jar gigs of booming folk revival. She opened a trunk of old songs and started writing new ones. Since then, Dar has released 9 studio albums, written two children's books, hosts 2 annual songwriting retreats and is currently writing her 4th book "How to Write a Song That Matters". It’s a cliché that the personal is the political, but for Dar Williams, there really is no separating her life from her worldview. And in the face of a shifting world, she is more aware than ever of the power this approach can create. “I’m now experiencing the fruits of the alternative culture I was part of in the ‘90s,” she says. “I think I’ve made choices about how I lived my life, outside of the world that was going to fit me among the mainstream norms, and I chose to stay with my friends, to stay with my culture. “That turns out to have been the sturdiest structure I could have built for myself. And that’s in my songs, it’s in my teaching. I’m a believer in what can happen when we make music together.”
Dar's website: http://www.darwilliams.com
Dar gave us an EXCLUSIVE LIVE RECORDING of her song "When I Was A Boy" which you can get here: http://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
Dar mentions a couple of useful books in her own songwriting progress, links below..
Books referenced:
What I Found In A Thousand Towns - Dar Williams (link: https://amzn.to/36Er2nf)
Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan (link: https://amzn.to/2tj9EGg)
The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron (link: https://amzn.to/34rBMnm)

"Leaving a major label to make the music we wanted to make" ft. Striking Matches

Nashville duo Striking Matches (comprising of Sarah Zimmerman and Justin Davis) talks to the New York Artists Collective ahead of their New York show at Knitting Factory Dec 6th about their brand new single 'Monster', from their new EP 'Noon'.
Striking Matches got their first big break writing songs for the hit ABC TV show Nashville. They went on to release their debut album 'Anything But The Silence' produced by T-Bone Burnett, and have since released 3 more EPs, many singles, and have had their songs featured on Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, and Monday Night Football, to name a few.
Both lead guitarists, singers and songwriters, Sarah and Justin’s music spans a wide array of sounds and genres, combining pop choruses with blues guitar riffs.  Their musical prowess creates an electrifying and unique experience with each live performance. They are currently in the middle of releasing a new 3 EP project titled “Morning, Noon and Night” each with a different sound and sonic space. While morning, noon and night are three parts of a day, Morning, Noon and Night are meant to be three parts of what makes up Striking Matches “Morning” was released in May of 2019 with Noon in December 2019 and Night to follow in early 2020. Striking Matches recently completed an international tour with dates in Europe, the UK, and upcoming dates in the US.

"Being A Woman in the world of Country Music" ft. Gretchen Peters

Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame member, Gretchen Peters talk to the New York Artists Collective ahead of her New York show at Rockwood Music Hall Dec 8th about one of her songs, "The Boy From Rye" and how it's the heart of her latest album, Dancing With The Beast.
Gretchen also kindly gave the NYAC an exclusive unreleased track for your ears only which you can find here: https://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
For two decades, Gretchen Peters has been one of Nashville's most beloved and respected artists. "If Peters never delivers another tune as achingly beautiful as 'On A Bus To St. Cloud,'" People Magazine wrote, "she has already earned herself a spot among country's upper echelon of contemporary composers.” Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014 by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, who called her "both a songwriter and a poet (who) sings as beautifully as she writes,” and said her song “The Matador”, "moved me so greatly, I cried from the soles of my feet”, Peters has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill.
Her 2015 album, ‘Blackbirds’, debuted at #1 on the UK Country chart and in the top 40 UK pop chart, and was awarded International Album of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2015, The Telegraph named her one of the greatest 60 female singer-songwriters of all time. Her latest album, Dancing With The Beast, was released on May 18, 2018. https://gretchenpeters.com  

"Moving to Nashville to pursue my career" ft. Samuel Lee

Samuel Lee is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist based in Nashville, TN. From an exuberant, arts-centered childhood to an adolescence marked by drugs, difficulty and relocation, singing was one of very few threads of stability in Samuel’s early days. A multi-instrumentalist and popular music enthusiast nearly all his life, he credits his love for rock and roll with having both saved, and shaped his life. Samuel Lee talks to the New York Artists Collective about his journey as a songwriter from Denver to Nashville, getting a publishing deal, becoming an Ambassador for Music Cares (the Grammy Academy's philanthropy arm) and about how he came to write his song 'Right Behind You' Click here to see an acoustic version of Samuel Lee's song 'Right Behind You' https://bit.ly/2qOI0Qf 
http://www.samuelleemusic.com
http://www.grammy.com/musiccares 

"How my songwriting has evolved" ft. Stephen Babcock

Born and raised in Upstate New York, Stephen Babcock is a songwriter all his own. After eight years of writing, touring and perfecting his craft, Stephen began recording what would become his first album, “Said & Done”. The album became a mixture of youth and promise that helped begin Stephen’s career as a singer-songwriter. Stephen’s unique blend of Americana, southern rock, and indie folk helped establish him as a PASTe Magazine favorite in 2018.
Stephen comes in to talk about his latest single "Devil" and how his music has shifted in the last year in terms of his subject matter.
Stephen also performed an EXCLUSIVE LIVE VERSION of his song 'Devil' and you can access that by clicking HERE: http://www.newyorkartistscollective.com/mailing-list/
www.stephenbabcockmusic.com
www.newyorkartistscollective.com

"Releasing my debut album independently" ft. Kevin Daniel

For Americana singer-songwriter Kevin Daniel, it was his
move to New York City and a sudden and unexpected
tragedy which finally pushed him to take on music full
time. In the winter of 2013, during a dinner party in
Bushwick, Brooklyn, Kevin received a phone call from his
sister that would change everything. His mother and
stepfather, adventure-seekers and amateur pilots, had
been flying back from their mountain house in western
North Carolina when their plane crashed, killing them both.
Daniel’s life was turned upside down, his family torn apart,
and the world forever changed.
In 2017, he released his second EP, Myself Through You. In the years since, Daniel’s songs, the ones that thread his EPs have led him through a transformational period of self-discovery, the foundation for his debut album, Things I Don’t See. Kevin comes in to talk about his journey to making his debut album and his latest release "Used to be".
www.thekevindaniel.com

"Finding my Filipina roots" ft. Martina San Diego

Martina San Diego is a Filipina-American singer-songwriter best known for her delicate melodies and her knack for raw and heartfelt songwriting. Her soft, breathy vocals enchant listeners and captivate audiences in mesmerizing euphony.
Currently based in New York City, Martina was named NY Singer-songwriter Sessions Artist of the Month (June 2014) and a Breedlove Guitars Artist (July 2014), all while attending New York University. In December 2016 she completed her B.A. in Songwriting and Recorded Music and released her latest EP "Illuminate", on April 27, 2018.
www.martinasandiego.com

"From losing my voice to finding my songwriter voice" ft. Carli Naff

Carli & The Dark is the project of Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Carli Naff. Born in Phoenix, AZ, Carli studied acting before moving to New York. While auditioning for theatre and television, she learned how to play guitar and wrote her first few songs. No Depression Music Journal says: “(She) stopped us dead in our tracks. One of the best vocalists we’ve heard this year.” 
Carli is a Sofar favourite and drops in to talk about her song "The Acrobat"
www.carlinaffmusic.com 

"Beating the Instagram Algos" Minisode ft. Angela Elia

In this new Minisode, NYAC co-producer and singer-songwriter Angela Elia joins me again to talk about how to be a great fan in today's music world. The topic this week: Social Media!
We discuss what the 'Instagram Algorithm' actually is, and how you can help your favorite artists get more likes, comments, and visibility just by doing a few super easy things.
These ideas cost you $0 to use, but could mean the WORLD to any indie or rising artist whose music you love. Do you have questions about what it's like to be an indie artist? Or have a tip you want to share with the world?
Write to us at info@newyorkartistscollective.com FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @newyorkartistscollective @angelasounds @stephaniemanns