| Paste Magazine is excited to announce a new era of amazing original music content and distribution for our readers and listeners around the world. Beginning Aug. 17, Paste Music and their sister publication, Daytrotter, will be joining forces to deliver the best music journalism to more people thanks to a unified social-media presence and a daily newsletter brimming with live performances and coverage from both Daytrotter and Paste Music. Every day on the new Paste Music & Daytrotter social platform, followers and subscribers will find an unbeatable menu of music news, reviews, features, interviews, live-streaming audio/video content from our recording studios, plus free access to the world’s largest archive of live recorded music, all in one place.
All of Daytrotter’s live streaming content—including more than 31,000 unique recordings by more than 7,000 artists going back a decade—will be available for free on pastemagazine.com/daytrotter and via Paste Music. For Daytrotter listeners who enjoy the benefits of a membership, the legacy version will continue to exist at daytrotter.com, with exclusive access to high-quality mp3 downloads, playlists and favorites. Paste Music and Daytrotter will continue to record original live performances every day from both Daytrotter’s Horseshack Studio in Davenport, Iowa, and Paste Studios in New York. Paste Music is thrilled to join forces with Daytrotter—both at PasteMagazine.com/music and PasteMagazine.com/Daytrotter, as well as on social media and in your inbox—to continue bringing you daily helpings of news, reviews and features, from investigative stories on the recording industry to profiles of both emerging and established artists, daily album and song reviews, fun lists and rankings, live-streaming concerts, and deep-dives into our unrivaled archive of live-music recordings, with hundreds of thousands of video and audio files available for free. (Ever seen R.E.M. cover the Velvet Underground? Or original footage of The Who recording in 1966? Or Miles Davis perform “Bitches Brew”? You can find them all there!) Follow them on our socials Paste Music & Daytrotter Facebook page, Paste Music on Twitter, Paste Magazine on Twitter, Paste Magazine on Instagram, Daytrotter on Twitter, and Daytrotter on Instagram! |
Paste Music & Daytrotter Join Forces
Elvis Presley’s Beloved White Grand Piano Goes Up for Auction
Forty years after Elvis Presley’s death, his famous white grand piano is up for auction on eBay from August 10-20. The piano, which stood in the Graceland music room for more than a decade, is expected to sell for millions. Ten percent of the proceeds from the Elvis White Piano, as the auction is listed on eBay, will go to Starkey Hearing Foundation which supports hearing health initiatives around the world.
Originally built in 1912 by Wm. Knabe & Co., the grand piano is one of the most important musical instruments in rock ‘n’ roll history. Prior to its home at Graceland, the piano was housed in Ellis Auditorium and played by musical greats including W.C. Handy, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and many others. As the heart and soul of Presley’s music room from 1957-1969, the piano was played by Presley and his many friends for practice sessions and friendly sing alongs.
Starkey Hearing Foundation, a public charity co-founded by William F. Austin and Tani Austin, gives the gift of hearing to people in need in the U.S. and around the world. Disabling hearing loss affects more than 360 million people, including 32 million children, yet many do not have access to the hearing devices that improve lives and promote understanding. Starkey Hearing Foundation focuses on hearing health missions, hearing loss education and hearing aid recycling. Connect with Starkey Hearing Foundation on Facebook and Twitter, or visit www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org.
“At Starkey Hearing Foundation, we believe music and sound can change lives,” said Tani Austin, co-founder of Starkey Hearing Foundation. “We’re thrilled to be included in the Elvis White Piano event, as the proceeds will allow us to give hearing aids to people in need so they can enjoy music and other beautiful sounds and connect with the world around them.”
The piano is expected to draw music aficionados and collectors from all over the world. For more information on the piano, visit www.elvispiano.com. Bidding starts on eBay on August 10 at 8:00 p.m. EDT and closes at 8:00 p.m. EDT on August 20.
About Starkey Hearing Foundation
Canadian Model Turned Musician POLINA GRACE Drops Game-Changing New Single “High Enough”
Polina Grace , best-known to her over 20,000 followers on Instagram as a fashion-forward woman with brains and musical talent – releases her long-awaited single, High Enough through AMG/SONY.
Polina’s talents have developed into a knockout punch Canada has yet to see in decades, gaining over 1 million likes and shares on her social media pages to date. But it is a love of singing and music that is getting the most attention in her life.
Based in Montreal, the genuine, mature, and centred 22-year-old spent over 2 years independently recording and financing her debut album Eclectic under the wing of Vancouver-based internationally renowned music producer John Webster. Having recorded an album with a large focus on a very organic sound and soulful vocal performance, supported by real musical instruments, Ms. Grace defines her music as being a “hybrid” of all the genres that she grew up listening to and admiring—from Rock and Alternative to Soul and R&B. Polina’s goal has always been to record music that she simply loves as opposed to conforming to contemporary popular music standards.
The first buzz track, High Enough, shows her virtuosity, vocal variety and powerful presence, while highlighting her next-door charm and appeal. The basic tracks of the album were recorded at Bryan Adam’s famed Warehouse Studios, and the overdubs were created at JW Studios in Vancouver. An array of Canada’s best musicians played on the album including: Randall Stoll, Tony Marriott, Dave Corman and John Webster.
Out of the public eye, she has received a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce with a minor in Psychology from McGill University—one of Canada’s top academic institutions—Polina has as much of a business orientation as she has an ambition to perform and create. Polina is fluent in 4 languages—English, French, Russian and Spanish, has a background in dance and has been a commercially successful model since taking on modeling projects in 2016 to help self-finance her music-related projects. As she correctly states, “Music is my ultimate passion and modeling has been a helpful and fun entry-way into the entertainment world as well as a way to finance my musical dreams”.
In May 2017, Polina signed a major worldwide licensing deal with AMG/SONY, and is enthusiastically preparing to release her full debut album, Eclectic, internationally on October 13, 2017.
Listen to the buzz track, High Enough, on Spotify:
Polina Grace socials:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polinagraceofficial
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polinagraceofficial
Website: https://www.polinagrace.com
The Shins Performed NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
“A kid in class passed me a tape, a band called The Jesus and Mary Chain…”
The Shins have been a constant part of NPR’s musical DNA for much of the 21st century. The group’s poetic pop has shown up in something like 25 stories on our website, not just because many of us are longtime fans, but also because our listeners love them. Stories on our site include: The Best CDs of 2003: Listeners’ Picks, The Shins In Concert from 2012, Song Premiere: The Shins And Zach Braff Reunite, a recent interview on All Things Considered and so many more. It’s remarkable that there’s never been a Tiny Desk Concert from The Shins until now.
In celebration of the band’s fifth studio album, 2017’s Heartworms, singer and guitarist James Mercer, the emotional and creative center of The Shins, came to NPR to perform a handful of songs that included two new tracks and one that reached back to 2003 from the album Chutes Too Narrow. It’s a moving performance with just James on guitar, no band, no amplification – simple and perfect.
The top songwriter in the US is…
The most successful songwriter in the US for the second quarter of the year was Kendrick Lamar, according to Royalty Exchange. But nearly half of this list of the top songwriters behind the biggest hits of the quarter aren’t performing artists like Lamar. Rather, they’re the talent that form the backbone of the music business, and deserve better recognition.
The April release of Lamar’s DAMN was the biggest debut of the year, with sales and sales-equivalent streams totaling over 600,000 units in its first week. All 14 songs on the album landed on the Billboard Hot 100 in its debut week, and many continued to chart for weeks after. So with writing credits on each track, Lamar easily replaced the Q1 top songwriter—Metro Boomin—for the April – June period.
But most of the artists who make the Billboard charts week-to-week didn’t get there by themselves. The songs that make the charts often have many co-writers and producers who rarely get the same level of attention.
Just comb through the other top 20 songwriters of the quarter. What really pops out are the many supporting songwriters and producers listed.
They include:
- Michael “Mike Will Made It” Williams II, who co-wrote three of Lamar’s songs on DAMN.
- Benjamin “Benny Blanco” Levin (credited to hits from Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabbello, Halsey, Julia Michaels, and Major Lazer).
- Justin Tranter (Imagine Dragons, Julia Michaels, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Selena Gomez).
Others include Kiari “Offset” Cephus, Joshua “Southside” Luellen, Nana Rogues, Shane McAnally, and Adam “Frank Dukes” Feeney.
These writers/producers are just as responsible (sometimes more) for the success of the songs on Billboard’s charts as the performers themselves. But while their names may be familiar within the music business, they’re hardly household names.
More effort is needed to highlight the contributions songwriters have on the music created today. Until lawmakers and fans are more aware of the names behind the music they love, they don’t have much incentive to help make their lives better.
Royalty Exchange helps artists raise money by connecting them to private investors interested in buying royalty income. They allow songwriters (and others) to sell a stake in their royalty income in return for an upfront payment, but without having to give up their rights or creative control. You can read about some of the songwriters they’ve worked with here.
Glen Campbell And Six Banjos Play “Cripple Creek”. One Of The Players Was An Unknown Steve Martin
The late, great, Glen Campbell hosted his own The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS. A variety show featuring music and comedy, and one of the writers on the show was this guy named Steve Martin. In this clip from 1969, Campbell teamed up with three of his banjo-picking peers (Don Lineberger, John Hartford and Roni Stoneman) and two of his own comedy writers (Mason Williams and a 24-year-old Martin) to play a six-banjo version of “Cripple Creek.”
Bruce Springsteen Is Playing Broadway. I Repeat, Bruce Springsteen Is Playing Broadway.
Bruce Springsteen will make his Broadway debut this fall with “Springsteen on Broadway,” a solo show at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street). Performances for “Springsteen on Broadway” begin Tuesday, October 3, with an official opening on Thursday, October 12. Springsteen will perform five shows a week through November 26th.
Tickets for “Springsteen on Broadway” will go on sale August 30 at 10am ET exclusively through Ticketmaster Verified Fan. This unique fan-first technology levels the playing field to combat bots and get real tickets into the hands of fans who intend to go to the event.
Ticketmaster Verified Fan registration begins today and will close August 27. Verified fans will be notified August 29 for the August 30 onsale. Visit brucespringsteen.net/broadway for more information about how to pre-register and details on the show.
“I wanted to do some shows that were as personal and as intimate as possible. I chose Broadway for this project because it has the beautiful old theaters which seemed like the right setting for what I have in mind. In fact, with one or two exceptions, the 960 seats of the Walter Kerr Theatre is probably the smallest venue I’ve played in the last 40 years. My show is just me, the guitar, the piano and the words and music. Some of the show is spoken, some of it is sung. It loosely follows the arc of my life and my work. All of it together is in pursuit of my constant goal to provide an entertaining evening and to communicate something of value,” says Springsteen.
“Bruce Springsteen is one of our greatest musical storytellers, and Broadway is built on a beloved tradition of musical storytelling. What a once-in-a lifetime thrill for all of us at Jujamcyn to welcome Bruce home to his rightful place in the Broadway legacy,” says Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, which owns the Walter Kerr.
The creative team for “Springsteen on Broadway” includes Heather Wolensky (scenic design), Natasha Katz (lighting design) and Brian Ronan (sound design).
For more information on the show and how to register for tickets, visit brucespringsteen.net/broadway.
Province Investing in the Revitalization of Toronto’s Historic Massey Hall
Ontario is investing in the revitalization of Massey Hall, the site of many historic cultural performances and experiences, to ensure it continues to engage and entertain people for years to come.
Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, and Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, were joined by JUNO award-winning band July Talk at Massey Hall this morning to make the announcement.
Ontario is supporting the restoration of the interior and exterior of the historic venue and planning for a future tower connected to the south of the building. This project will ensure that Massey Hall — which has hosted artists from Glenn Gould to Neil Young and Bob Dylan to Justin Bieber over its 123-year history — continues to host many more iconic performances and enrich peoples’ lives for generations to come.
The province previously provided support for Massey Hall renovations, including the construction of a foundation for the new south tower.
Quick Facts
- Ontario is investing $4 million in phase two of the revitalization of Massey Hall.
- Ontario previously invested $8 million in phase one of the revitalization of Massey Hall.
- Massey Hall’s revitalization is a seven-year multi-phased project. To complete the project, it will close temporarily between summer 2018 and fall 2020. It will continue to operate until then.
- Built in 1894, Massey Hall was designated a heritage property under the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Toronto in 1975. The venue became a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981.
- Massey Hall holds about 100 cultural events every year.
- Through the Ontario Music Fund, Massey Hall has received support for “Live at Massey Hall,” a program designed to showcase new Canadian talent on Massey Hall’s stage for the first time.