If you haven’t been following Secondhand Serenade since the first album, Awake, in 2007, like surely a good portion of his 3 million fans on Facebook have been, then you’ve most certainly heard his hit single, “Fall For You.” The man behind Secondhand Serenade, John Vesely, took some time to speak with The Berklee Groove about songwriting, the brand new upcoming album, and wearing his heart on his sleeve.

Berklee Groove: How did you get started with writing music?
John Vesely: Music has been in my family for quite some time. My brother is a musician and he went to Berklee and my father was a professional musician for 25 years, with some time spent overseas. It was around me constantly as I was growing up, and when I found it on my own, which happened around the beginning of high school/end of junior high, you know, I definitely was not the ‘put in the time and practice, practice, practice [type],’ I just more, dove right in. I had lots of creative surges and writing came really naturally to me, because I had the strive to make music right out of the gate. I started off playing bass, actually, and it was hard to get any writing in because usually the guitar player in the band did all of the writing, and eventually I switched over to guitar. And eventually I stopped trying to find a band and started doing it myself because I just had too much trouble.

BG: Do you have a specific method or process that you go through when you’re writing?
John Vesely: I guess you would call it organized chaos; it comes naturally, as any musician would know. You can definitely say ‘I’m going to sit down and write a song’ and write it, but it’s not going to be your most inspired work. It’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re least expecting it. I’ve written songs, I’ve started writing songs, I wrote melodies, wrote lyrical lines while I was driving my car, going to the bathroom, in the shower; it’s the kind of thing that happens, you know, whenever. Which is nice to have a phone that I can take voice notes on. It’s frustrating though, because nowadays you can’t talk on your phone when you drive. I looked kind of crazy; I actually had my windows tinted in my car for a long time because I would sing at the top of my lungs in my car. It’s the kind of thing that happens on a whim, and you have to be prepared for it. The most important part is that you never take for granted what you’re doing, you know? When you’re out in public and you have a good idea, you have to jot it down. You constantly have to be doing that and then you put the ideas together at some point. It’s like writers that produce literary work, but we hum things and we look even crazier.

BG: Out of all of your albums so far, do you have a particular song that you’re most proud of or the most connected to?
John Vesely: Yeah, well I had a song called “Never Too Late,” which I think musically is a pretty great song, and lyrically. It’s one of my newest songs that I released on my Weightless EP. I produced it myself and did all of the orchestration, the orchestral arrangements, and everything on my own in my own house. I was really hands-on with that song. I also definitely do think the arrangement and the writing for “Fall For You” was done really well, and I worked with Butch Walker for production with that song and it paid off – the song did really well. In this business, there’s a certain amount to be said about that unknown factor that people tend to latch onto songs for, and I don’t know… that song seemed to have it, and I’m not sure what made it so special, but it’s all about trying to harness that, whatever it may be, and trying to do it again.

BG: You’re pretty well known for “wearing your heart on your sleeve” with your music. Do you think that is part of why your music has become so popular?
John Vesely: Possibly. I think so. I think there are a lot of things that go into making a song, especially songs that people are going to listen to and appreciate on a larger scale. I think a lot of it is definitely being able to connect to the lyrics and being able to connect to what the writer is trying to say and get across. The second thing is making sure that the musicality is matching what you’re trying to say – that’s really important. There are some records that do that really well, that harness what they’re trying to get across with the lyrics and make you feel that with the music before you even hear the lyrics, you know, which is very important. And third, is just writing in a way that is just being catchy melodically – and that’s something that some songs are doing really well right now, obviously, that aren’t saying much at all, but that are obnoxiously catchy, and that you’re, without wanting to or realizing, going to be humming walking down the street. But it’s putting all of those factors together, and that’s very, very important, and it’s a necessity when you’re writing a song that you want to be successful. I’ve been trying to learn how to do that, and I’m still learning and I’ll continue learning until the day that I die, but I will always write very personally and I will always try to get my point across as well as possible, and the easiest way to do that is to be very, very honest and not write too cryptically. I’m not one of those writers who throw in a slew of metaphors, I just write really literally. I don’t want to hide what I’m saying. You can be creative and artistic without making it nonsensical.

BG: You originally started out as just a solo act; what influenced you to start recording and touring with a full band?
John Vesely: You know, I just wanted to keep my options open musically and I really do love to play with a full band. I recently got off of an acoustic tour and then I went with a full band out to Asia shortly thereafter, and the Asia tour was rad. I like the experience of hanging out with a band, and when you choose this as a lifestyle and a career, it’s just you out there. If you have a band with you, it enhances the experience, so that’s a lot of fun. And also just playing on stage, that’s a different dynamic all together. When you’re alone, you can’t put on a big show or extravaganza – it’s just you and a guitar. But touring with a full band is great; it’s really different. As far as recording, I usually record most of the stuff by myself. I’m not a drummer – you will never see me behind a drum set. I may produce some drum parts but I’ll never sit behind a drum set – it’s not my thing and I don’t have the coordination for it. I record it with midi and then send it off to my drummer and he records it and it’s a lot easier that way. My drummer usually puts his own twist on it and I just give him what feel I would like to have, and he turns it into a drummer’s performance.

BG: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to overcome throughout your career?
John Vesely: You know, the most difficult thing has been psychological issues. Especially when you do well and you do really well really quickly. I went through a period kind of going down hill as a person for a while, and it affected me musically and it affected me personally and writing became nearly impossible. When I did write in that stage, it didn’t turn out to be what I wanted it to be, or at least what other people wanted it to be. I kind of had this little awakening over the course of this past year and it’s been great. Creatively, I’m in the best place I’ve been in years or possibly ever. Psychologically, if you’re not in the right headspace, you are worthless musically. It’s something you have to pull yourself out of on your own. You know, beyond that, once you have that inspiration, being able to work on something and being able to step away from it for a moment, sometimes you get too close, especially if you’re producing it yourself or if you’re performing with the instruments yourself, you can get so lost within that song or that recording. You need to be able to step away from it and gain some perspective and it’s a very, very difficult thing. I’m still not perfect at it but I’m getting better. Thinking objectively is very important in this industry.

BG: Your next album is being funded through pledgemusic.com and you’ve already exceeded your goal, which is awesome. What has that been like?
John Vesely: We reached the goal in like, a month, which was great and it’s still going. Now it’s just for promotional and financing to be able put out the record, but the budget for the record is done. I got a bunch of gear that I needed and I’m going to work with some producers and produce a bunch of it myself. I’m really, really excited; it reassures me how I’ve changed my own life and proves that everything is going to be okay. After a while with the label situation – not that they weren’t doing great or I wasn’t doing great, we both had our faults… But the fact of the matter is that nothing was particularly getting done in a really, you know, forward fashion. They were so busy and there were so many other bands on the roster and so few people at the label that it was really hard to allocate resources. I was also not on my A-game and I was lost and seeing crap on tour, and I wasn’t taking care of my body, I wasn’t taking care of myself. With my whole change of attitude and lifestyle, I thought it’d be a good time right now, if I wanted to put out a new record, to go somewhere and maybe get a fresh start. And we did and started to do a few songs and we were going to try to sign to a different label right away, but then I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to try to do this record on my own,’ and it started turning out really well – better than most of the stuff I’ve done, in my opinion. So I said I’m going to go about this without any regulations and without anyone checking up on me, I’m just going to make the album I want to make, like I did with Awake. So far, it’s going so great and pledgemusic.com is available for artists to use, where it worked out perfectly for me. Granted, you need to have a fan base and something to offer, but it’s a really, really great way. So many artists are going that route now and I think it’s scaring labels and putting them in awkward positions because they don’t want to do artist development, right? But the paradox lies within that, because artists that are already developed don’t need the label anymore. I feel really confident in my decision. And we can either choose to license the album out to a major or I can just distribute it myself… it’s just a matter of how busy you want to be, and I think me being busy as shit and not having time for anything else is okay, as long as I know work is being done, because when a label is involved, there’s so much time that you are just assuming that work is being done, and you don’t know for sure. I really like being on top of everything. Since I left the label, my online numbers have skyrocketed, my sales numbers have skyrocketed, it’s all been going uphill since I left the label, and I’m not expecting someone else to do it. But in the same token, it goes to show that they weren’t doing as much as I am doing right now.

BG: Well you do have over 3 million fans on Facebook now, which is nuts.
John Vesely: Yeah, I’m really lucky to have people that support me. And some of them may be stagnant and some of them may be really assertive and really active, but the fact of the matter is - they’re there. And once I have this new material and once I start really doing these major video updates – I’m going to do tons of updates as soon as I start working and this next week, I should be starting full-on on this next record with updates constantly and actually tracking – and once I start doing all of that, it’s going to be a community that’s going to be buzzing and I want people to excited about it.

BG: What kind of sound can we expect from the next album?
John Vesely: I’m definitely going to keep off of that hard rock sound that I did a little bit of on this last record, Hear Me Now, and I was definitely going down more of a rock path, and I’m stepping back from that. Awake was a mix of great acoustic music and a kind of rock – but it was acoustic, and then A Twist In My Story was a perfect little median, in between. And then Hear Me Now was a little confused, to be perfectly honest. The songs were all great, in my opinion. I really liked all of the songs, but the album was confused – it didn’t have a lot of identity. This album is going to be a lot more, I guess, cohesive and it’s all going to work together. I’m going back to Awake as far as [being] acoustic goes and moving forward in a different direction. It’s going to be a lot more positive, in sound especially, and in production it’s going to sound more uplifting. Lyrically, it’s going to be the same stuff, a lot more about like, really respecting yourself in positive ways. We have a song called “Back to the Old Days,” which is a really feel-good song, which is about thinking about back to when things were easy – when you didn’t have a dime, but things were so much easier and you could go about your day and you didn’t have to worry about anything, which was a great time. It’s all about thinking positively and allowing yourself to get lost in easier times and letting them inspire you in your current state.

BG: Alright, so last question. Do you have any advice for aspiring songwriters or performers?
John Vesely: Absolutely. A few things. Really, really… well I don’t really have to say this, because if you’re really an aspiring songwriter or musician, then you can’t stop yourself from playing constantly, because it’s like a bug, it’s like a sickness and you can’t get enough of it – so I don’t have to tell people to do that, because it’s obvious. But really, try to focus on what you’re doing not being just for you, because that’s selfish. Music is for everybody to enjoy and you really have to consider that when you’re creating this music. A lot of people when I was growing up would say they didn’t want a big fan base because they wanted to make music that they wanted to do – and that’s cool, you want to make music for yourself, whatever, but there’s no point in making music that people don’t want to listen to. I think it’s important to write about things that people care about and that they can understand, and after so many stories from fans about how my music has affected them in some way, shape, or form positively… every time I hear something like that it’s like, ‘okay – I’m going to be playing music tomorrow.’ And pay attention to your fans – fans are the most important thing in what we do. It allows me to play music as a profession and if I wasn’t playing music as a profession, then I wouldn’t be putting out this music that I’m making, and this music would never exist. So fans are really the most important thing in the equation – for the artist, for the musician, for the record labels… for everyone. You have to rely on them to have your back. Treat them with as much respect as possible. And play all of the time. Make music.

For more Secondhand Serenade, check out these links:
Official Website
Pledgemusic.com Campaign
Facebook
Twitter
Myspace
iTunes

By: Emily Resnevic

Casey Belisle is a drummer in Roz Raskin and the Rice Cakes, a prominent Providence band getting a name for themselves in Boston and other cities around New England. I chatted with him about how the band was going and gathered his thoughts on being in a touring independent band.

Emily Resnevic: Any success you’re particularly proud of with Roz and the Rice Cakes?

Casey Belisle: Well last year we won the Providence Phoenix Best Local Band award, and around here people really read and enjoy the Phoenix so the fact that we’re their favorite local act is pretty cool. Also this year we played at AS220’s Foo Fest, which I’ve been wanting to play for years, and we got this awesome time slot, right in the afternoon, so we had one of the biggest crowd reactions after Andrew W K. So that was a lotta fun. And we toured three times this year! I think that’s pretty impressive.

(AS220 is an art gallery in Providence which also has local and touring bands play shows. FooFest is an all-day event in August where they block off the nearby streets and set up a large outdoor stage with craft and food vendors).

ER: Tell me about your recording process.

CB: Well we’ve been recording our most recent album completely on our own. We recorded, mixed, and made all the album artwork.  It was really hard at first, and it took months to learn everything and get it all right. Justin Foster, who is our bass player, rents out a mill in Central Falls, and we record in that space. So far we haven’t really turned much of a profit from the album yet, but we really learned so much. We paid ourselves in knowledge, you might say. (He chuckles).

ER: Why do you like recording on your own so much more?

CB: Because you have this control over everything, you can make it everything you want to hear. Not that I don’t like hearing other input from an outside perspective…but honestly it was just not within our budget to hire a professional to record our album for us, and in a way this almost seems more genuine. Every single process on this finished product is of our own artistic inclinations. Like, Matt DeCosta recorded an album for us, which was great, and he put his own little flair and input into the mixing, but we really wanted to capture everything ourselves. $5,000 is a lot of money to drop on something like that, especially when we realized we could just do it on our own.

ER: So you’ve been very into the do-it-yourself type of thing.

CB: Yep. There’s no representation backing us, it’s just us and our music. Well, actually we’ve had a few companies helping us out. Narragansett Beer sponsored us, and gave us some beer if we promoted them, which was cool. Another one was Sterlingwear Coats, which is this coat company that’s based in Boston I think? Justin just asked if they’d represent us and they said yes. So they gave us some money to help out and they also gave us three awesome coats. I got this modern day wizard looking coat, it’s awesome. Other than that, we’ve just been selling merch and fundraising to make enough money.

ER: What about the music video that you just recorded, didn’t you do a lot of fundraising for that?

CB: Oh, yeah! That’s another thing we’ve accomplished, the music video. We used Kickstarter which really helped us out. It’s a great website, and anyone in the arts can use it. For us it was really effective. We basically decided that we wanted a visual art representation for one of our songs. So we put up our goal of $5,000 and asked people to donate to us, and we gave gifts to everyone who donated any size note. Like for $1 we’d give a free song out, for $10 we’d give out 2 free albums, and for $50 we’d give a T-shirt, all of our albums, and autographed toilet paper or something like that. People have really creative gifts on that website. We came up with a crazy one for $1,000. We said we’d hire someone to have a seance to bring Jerry Garcia back from the dead to cook them dinner, among other things.

ER: Did anyone donate $1,000?

CB: Nah, but if they did we’d go through with the seance.

ER: So after you made your quota, how did the video turn out?

CB: It was great. The video first of all helped us build our online credentials. If you’re not represented the way you want to be seen on the internet, you have to push through and come up with something memorable. The music video helped with that. It was something that we worked hard on and put a lot of time and money in, and it came out great, so I think that shows in the video. It was a huge group effort, trying to coordinate 60 people to act in it.

ER: What was the general idea?

CB: The idea was we were gonna have a huge monster chasing us through Chase Farm for our song, “Magma.” Our friend Adam knew a puppet designer who agreed to make it for us, and he just asked that we get lots of clothes and PBC pipes. We were unsure what he was gonna do at first, but we got all of our friends to donate old clothing and we would have these dye parties where we would dye them all this muddled purple and skin-toned colors. After that, we spent nights just putting it together and practicing how to run with it. I was the right arm, and our friends Brett and Kyle were the middle and left arm.  We had 60 people in the video just sprinting across the farm from us. It was an all day affair, and it was really hot that day. Thankfully Nice Slice Pizza donated a bunch of pizza to us for the day, and we wore a Nice Slice shirt in the video just to give them that little thank you.

ER: So how has DIY been working for you?

CB: I’ve never understood it more than now. I’ve seen it done in the punk scene, doing it by yourself, which I always thought was awesome. But you have to start somewhere. My entire family all started out working just to live week to week, trying to develop their own ideas and follow their dreams, and they’re all doing really well now. So I saw working hard at the bottom and making your way up from my family, and that was an inspiring influence. Success doesn’t always just come to you, which can be extremely frustrating, especially seeing other bands that become super successful and it seems like they’re not doing nearly as much work as we are. Maybe I’m envious a little, but it’s not easy.

ER: One last question: do you guys still put out rice cakes to eat at shows?

CB: Haha, you remember that! See, that’s great. We still like to give out little gifts and things to spread good feelings and to keep us in everyone’s minds. We give out pins and sometimes even CD’s now. It’s just something extra and nice. But if you get some rice cakes and nutella….mmm, delicious.

*Check out our concert pics here*

*Read our review of Shea Rose’s opening performance here*

Article and Photos By: Lisa Occhino

Sam Sparro’s platinum break-out hit, “Black & Gold,” charted Top 20 in 14 countries, earned him a Grammy Nomination, and was covered by huge acts such as Adele and Katy Perry (read on to find out which version he likes better!). The Australian-born singer/songwriter’s self-titled album debuted Top 5 in the UK and earned Gold certification and further praise from the world’s media. He has collaborated with Basement Jaxx, Mark Ronson, DJ Mason & DMC, remixed Kimbra, OK Go, and Sky Ferriera, and has written songs for the likes of Adam Lambert and Natasha Bedingfield. He has appeared on stage at Glastonbury and Coachella, and has earned prestigious MTV and ARIA nominations in Australia.

On April 19th, Sam Sparro made his first-ever appearance in Boston at the Brighton Music Hall, during which Berklee alum Shea Rose gave an incredible opening performance (read our review of Shea’s performance here). After the show, The Groove got the opportunity to interview Sam about the path his music career took, his advice on songwriting and collaborating, and of course, whether he prefers Katy’s or Adele’s version of “Black & Gold”:

Berklee Groove: How did you get your start in music? Were you a performer or a songwriter first?

Sam Sparro: I started singing in church when I was really little. My dad’s a musician and my grandfather’s a musician. I started writing songs when I was about 14.

BG: Who are your musical influences?

SS: My favorite singer is Chaka Khan. I really love Prince and Aretha Franklin and Erykah Badu.

BG: Tell me about the path your music career took. What were the most important connections or events in your life that got you to where you are today?

SS: The internet, really. I was living in London and I was doing demos in my bedroom, and temping in the mailrooms at Universal and Sony. I was an intern making five pounds an hour. That wasn’t really working, so I moved back to L.A. and I lived with my parents and started recording and gigging. I put my stuff up on MySpace, of all places – the dinosaur days of MySpace – and from there, Radio 1 in England started playing my music. I signed the deal shortly after that. The internet was definitely really helpful.

BG: How would you describe your sound?

SS: I guess it sort of evolved. People called the first album ‘electro-pop.’ Whenever people ask me what kind of music I do, I always just say pop because it’s a way of not having to answer the question [laughs]. But I’m influenced by so much different stuff. This album, [Return to Paradise], is really influenced by 1978-1984 disco.

BG: Your song “Black and Gold” was covered by Katy Perry, Adele, and Ellie Goulding. How did that work out? Did it come as a surprise to you, or was that all part of the plan?

SS: Well, Adele and I are friends and we’ve done a lot of shows together. Both of our first albums came out around the same time. I opened for her in the U.K. Radio 1 has a live lounge where you have to do a current hit song as a cover, and I guess that was around the same time that Katy Perry and Adele did it. Katy and I are friends as well – she actually had my demo before her album came out.

BG: So did they ask if they could cover your song, or did they just do it?

SS: Nope, they just did it.

BG: Whose version do you like the most? Are you allowed to say?

SS: Adele’s.

BG: What’s your songwriting process like?

SS: It’s always different, really. I’m a lot better at collaborating than I used to be, and I enjoy collaborating more. My advice to anyone who wants to collaborate with other artists is to let go of their expectations and their own boundaries that they place on themselves. Be more open to letting things happen, because that’s how you get some amazing songs. I’ve worked with people that I didn’t think were right to work with, and you get an amazing song out of it.

BG: What advice do you have for aspiring songwriters and performers?

SS: Write as much as possible. I think I probably write 10 songs before I write a good one. Just write as much as you can, because then you have way more to choose from. Even for this new album, I wrote about 60 songs before I had an album that I really liked. It took two and a half years.

Want more Sam Sparro? Check out these links:

Official Website
Facebook
Twitter

*Check out our concert pics here*

*Read our tell-all interview with Sam Sparro here*

By: Ali Veech

What do Led Zeppelin, James Brown, and Missy Elliot all have in common? Normally, not too much. However, if you were at Brighton Music Hall about a month ago, you would have witnessed a perfect blend of all of these musical styles from up-and-coming artist, Shea Rose.  The recent Berklee alum has been touring with Australia native and electro pop star, Sam Sparro. In a matter of 45 minutes, Shea Rose brought down the house with such raw power that I have seen from only a select few performers.

As soon as she took the stage, I immediately felt the energy in the room skyrocket.  To kick off her set, Rose welcomed the crowd with a shred guitar solo and a rap that would make Busta Rhyme’s jaw drop. With songs entitled “ExtraOrdinary Girl,” “I’m the Sh*t,” and “Rock n’ Rose,” this empowered woman is sure to leave you wanting more. With a closing rendition of Rihanna’s “Rockstar 101,” Shea left the crowd rocking out and ready for Sam Sparro and his unique urban disco party.

After her set, Groove Editor Lisa Occhino and I were privileged enough to steal Shea away from her adoring fans for a few minutes. When we mentioned we were current Berklee students, her face lit up and she was immediately grateful for our positive feedback, and how refreshing it was to talk to musicians who not only enjoy her style, but also come from a similar musical background.

Shea Rose is truly a force to be reckoned with. Be on the lookout for more of her music and shows on the way. You can find her Little Warrior mixtape on her Facebook page or her official website, www.shearose.com.

Two of the most talented and sweetest musicians currently touring, internationally known YouTube sensation and singer songwriter Kina Grannis and opener Imaginary Friend (Jesse Epstein), gave a good name to acoustic pop music last month at Paradise Rock Club in Boston, MA. Complete with a crowd that, as Kina said herself, doubled in size since her last time she performed in Boston, Kina (and her ridiculously good cellist Keith) and Imaginary Friend put on a show that fans won’t soon forget.

Kicking off the night was the undeniably adorable acoustic folk pop solo act, Imaginary Friend. With the crowd already swooning before he even finished his first song, it became clear rather quickly that anyone who came to Paradise that night not knowing who he was, surely left as a new and enthusiastic fan of Imaginary Friend. After playing a brand new song that didn’t even have a title yet (which, of course, he introduced as “Untitled”) and one of his most popular songs, “Chasing Ghosts,” it was obvious why he was chosen to tour with Kina, with memorable melodies, thought-provoking and beautifully relatable lyrics, and a sweet and humble demeanor, all similar to Kina herself.

Soon after Imaginary Friend finished his set, Kina Grannis took the stage, accompanied by her cellist, Keith, and kicked off her own set without an introduction, while the crowd enthusiastically showed their love for the singer songwriter, screaming and singing along with every word Kina sang. One of the most memorable aspects of Kina’s show was her intimate interaction with the crowd throughout the entire night, whether it be while she was performing, such as when she invited the crowd to sing along with her, sans guitar, during her performance of “The One You Say Goodnight To” or when she had the Paradise crew turn on the house lights so she could see (and videotape) all of her fans’ faces. Kina proceeded to play a few more tunes, including the ever-relatable “Cambridge,” showcasing her genuine talent as a lyricist with lines such as, “I’m waiting for you to finally say, you are here, and here to stay. But, darling, if you know that it’s through, you can’t keep doing what you do. Is it time to let go of you?”

Following a few more of (very apparent) fan favorite songs, the eager crowd demanded a solo by cellist, Keith. Being a good sport, Keith, representing the lovely humility clearly possessed by everyone involved in Kina’s tour, played a short solo taken from, naturally, Imaginary Friend’s songs. Following Keith’s solo, which of course the crowd went absolutely nuts for as shown by the persistent chanting of Keith’s name, Kina played several more songs, including the dream-inspired tune, “Together,” and the extremely popular, “In Your Arms,” which, once again, had everyone in the audience singing along. Soon after, Keith exited the stage leaving just Kina, her guitar, and the spotlight. The crowd, which represented Kina’s diversity as an artist with audience members as young as toddlers and as elderly as those needing assistance to walk into the venue, continued to go even crazier for Kina as she played a new song entitled “This Far” and a cover, “Gangsta’s Paradise”  by Coolio, that was lucky enough to get the famous Kina-treatment.

Keith came back on stage, much to the crowd’s delight who began chanting his name once again, as Kina told the crowd about “The Goldfish Song,” the song that she wrote about self-improvement, something she thinks about a lot, that her sister thought was simply about flushing a goldfish down the toilet. Kina then thanked the crowd, with one of the most heartfelt and genuine sentiments that has probably ever been said at a show at Paradise, played “Valentine,” and then unplugged her guitar after explaining that she was about to play what many people call the “Bum Bum Song.” Stepping to the very front of the stage, away from the microphone, in true Kina-style, she invited the audience to sing along to the song that she always imagined she would play with hundreds of people singing along to – and that, hundreds of people did.

Soon after, Kina exited the stage, only for about 45 seconds before the crowd demanded one of the most intense demands for an encore that we have ever seen at a show at Paradise, and quickly came back out. After telling a heart-wrenching story about her mother being diagnosed with blood cancer while she was in high school, she played one of the most beautiful and honest songs she played all night entitled “Make It Go.” With most of the crowd tearing up after she finished, she invited Keith and Imaginary Friend back on stage to finish the night out with a stunningly gorgeous folk-styled rendition of “Fix You” by Coldplay.

Overall, the night with Kina Grannis and Imaginary Friend at Paradise Rock Club is one that Kina fans all over New England won’t ever forget.

For more Kina Grannis, check out the links below:
Facebook
Official Website
YouTube
MySpace
Twitter

Tim Coakley Band

*UPDATE: Check out more of the A&R Showcase concert photos here!

Article and Photos By: Kayleigh Mill

“Showcase” is the perfect description of Berklee A&R/Artist Development Group’s first concert. When I walked into to The Red Room, I expected a show filled with not just talent – I expect that with every Berklee concert – but also with diversity and a clear knowledge of popular music. The brand new club, started by Joe James and Steven Gringer, didn’t disappoint.

Alexey Sokolov

The lineup included eight performers (two songs each), and was carefully composed of a variety of genres and styles. After the emcee’s slightly-too-long introduction, the show flowed seamlessly with the help of video introductions for every performer filling the gap between each act.

I made sure to show up early to get a good view of the stage, as The Red Room is standing room only for shows like this. I definitely made a good decision, because when I glanced back as the lights dimmed, the room was absolutely packed with people. Playing into the Berklee stereotype, the showcase started off with a very enthusiastic jazz piece by Russian songwriter Alexey Sokolov. I was a little caught off guard by this beginning, having come in expecting strictly popular genres of today, but both of his songs, “Time To Party” and “Forgiveness,” were played passionately and with an impressive technicality. Up next was Raven Katz, and her style was more what I expected. Inspired by Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, she had a very sweet sound that crooned about lost love and abandonment.

Charles Johnson

The folk theme continued when Charles Johnson and his violinist Kailey Shaffer walked on stage. Having been in several Singer/Songwriter Showcases, Charles Johnson is a performer I know well. His rough, gravelly voice and emotional melodies never fail to keep his audience captivated and this show was no different. The room was silent while he sang the heartbreaking “Squirrel” and bluegrass-influenced “Crazy Horse.”

Female rocker Brooke Villanyi stood out for being the first rock act in the show, but not for much else. Byron Manchest, however, owned the stage from the minute he walked on. The crowd clearly knew who he was, but his funk-infused R&B songs were filled with such soul that I’m sure he could have evoked a reaction if he didn’t know a single person there.

Melanie Lynx

Speaking of owning the stage, Melanie Donnelly has the most stage presence I have seen in my time at Berklee. This girl is a pop star waiting to happen. Whether singing her originals or songs written for her (in this case, pop writer Ben Samama), Melanie knows what it means to perform and sound like she’s already part of the top 40s.  Franka Batelic, who has already gained a level of fame in Croatia, also performed in the pop sector of the show. She was very charismatic, but her music was more reminiscent of ‘90s pop than the hits of today. The night ended with Tim Coakley’s Maroon 5-inspired rock band and a somewhat disappointing drop in stage presence.

Overall, the A&R Showcase was entertaining and, well, inspiring. Most of the artists strive to be playing their music for anyone willing to listen five years down the line or longer. The level of passion and commitment to music that these artists display has taken them this far, and the showcase seemed to allude to the great things to come.

Hot Tips to Fuel Your Music Career

• A recent survey of Fortune 500 CEOs asked what they looked for when hiring employees and promoting managers. A whopping 100 percent of the CEOs mentioned creativity as one of the primary characteristics.

• Rent out equipment you already own to others. Why let that PA system gather dust when it could be generating revenue?

• Hang tough and persevere. Every label in the UK passed on the Beatles. Same with the Stones. Both Alanis Morissette and Christina Aguilera went down to defeat on the ’80s show Star Search. It took playing over 40 label showcases before a record company would sign Linkin Park.

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Romain Collin. Photo Credit: Juri Jinnai.

Pianist/composer Romain Collin celebrates the release of his Palmetto debut The Calling in concert at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 13 at The Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA.  Call 617-395-1393 or log on to www.lily-pad.net.

On The Calling, the French-born pianist introduces an evocatively textured, melodically luxuriant sound on his new Palmetto album to be released April 24, 2012. Flowing from his singular creative path as a classically trained musician besotted with jazz giants like Errol Garner, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett and Bud Powell, his music is utterly idiosyncratic, yet fully part of a generational zeitgeist informed by indie rock and adventurous pop music.

Building upon his highly responsive trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Kendrick Scott, Collin has crafted a ravishing body of music featuring subtly textured flourishes added in post-production. An eagerly awaited follow-up to his acclaimed 2008 debut, The Calling is a quantum leap for Collin, a highly personal statement that embraces the musical currents that move him most deeply.

“My music ultimately focuses on solid writing and composition, on group improvisation and creating a distinct mood and atmosphere that listeners can lose themselves in,” says Collin, 32. “When I’m improvising, I try to improvise within a specific piece of music as a real extension of the melody so it’s an integral part of the piece.”

Walking an unorthodox path requires finding the right collaborators. Collin has hit the jackpot. At 28, Curtis is one of the most sought after young bassists in New York City, a superlative accompanist who has already recorded with masters such as Eddie Palmieri, Brian Lynch, Christian Scott, Sean Jones, Gary Burton, and Dave Valentin. Scott is best known for his six-year stint with Terence Blanchard, but he also worked widely with heavyweights like Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, Maria Schneider, Wayne Shorter, Robert Glasper, Angelique Kidjo, Lionel Loueke, and Gretchen Parlato.

Produced by studio maestro Matt Pierson, who has helped shape albums by jazz’s most distinctive artists (including Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Taylor Eigsti and Mark Turner), The Calling features 10 Collin originals and his seductive arrangements of John Mayer’s “Stop This Train” and Horace Silver’s classic “Nica’s Dream.” Rather than demonstrating the trio’s versatility with an eclectic array of grooves and structures, Collin has crafted a highly cohesive program that explores similar emotional terrain from a variety of perspectives.

The album opens with “Storm,” a tempestuous piece that briskly establishes Collin’s aural agenda. Rather than serving as a launching pad for solos, the tune sweeps through a series of overcast spaces, moods enhanced by the almost subliminal laying of processed vocals, keyboards and electric guitar. Rather than clearing the air, “Storm” gives way to the album’s title track, an insistent, almost incantatory minimalist theme that builds to an ambiguously pacific resolution.

Reflecting his engagement with pop music and singer/songwriters, Collin decided to arrange “Stop This Train” just a few days before the recording session. Encouraged to tackle the piece by Pierson, he passed it out to the trio and ended up with a lovely rendition that stands as one of the album’s highlights. If “Train” finds Collin with his heart on his sleeve, the angular “Pennywise the Clown” captures the pianist as trickster. With its mercurial stop and start melody, the piece makes multiple head fakes, showcasing Scott’s exquisite trap set touch and inherent sense of structure.

Equally revelatory is Collin’s haunting arrangement of “Nica’s Dream.” Reharmonizing the opening section, he maintains the spirit of the original while turning it into his own unsettling tale. He closes the album with the rueful “One Last Try,” a solo piano excursion where half-hearted optimism gives way to resignation. It’s another unexpected move on an album that constantly leaves listeners checking their emotional bearings.

For Collin, The Calling is much more a notebook than a manifesto. “It’s not about a concept, it’s just the sounds that made me feel good and I want to hear,” he says. “The music doesn’t come from a rational process, it’s mainly the result of a combination of sounds from different genres.”

While Collin’s music reflects his unique vision, it can be seen as part of a sensibility shared by players like James Farm pianist Aaron Parks, saxophonist Tim Green, and pianist Robert Glasper. He’s forged particularly close ties with like-minded contemporaries such as trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, saxophonist Walter Smith III and vibraphonist Chris Dingman, who all performed together internationally while earning a Masters Degree at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute.

Born in Cannes and raised in the nearby southeastern town of Antibes, Collin soaked up jazz at home listening to his mother’s Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald albums. But he was also widely exposed to jazz via the celebrated Jazz à Juan festival, which featured many of the music’s greatest improvisers.

“My house was five minutes from the jazz festival, so I got to see a lot of that growing up,” Collin says. “I was studying classical music. As a young kid, I was always curious about jazz and improvised music.”

He performed with a pop and rock band in high school, but with no jazz program and few peers interested in jazz, he had no one to explore the music with in person. When the time came to start college at 17, Collin honored his parents’ wishes and enrolled in an international management program in the UK. But his love of music won out. “I always felt a need to listen constantly every day, and play whenever I could,” Collin says. Upon discovering new practice rooms with good pianos “I was playing six to eight hours a day, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

It might sound like a formula for flunking out, but class attendance was optional as long as Collin kept up with assignments and tested well (which he did with some intensive cramming). He made enough progress at the piano to earn a full scholarship to Berklee, relocating to Boston in 2001. While he studied performance with masters like Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano, Collin majored in Music Synthesis, learning about sound design and synthesizer programming.

“I didn’t want to be a jazz or performance major, I knew I’d be shedding eight hours a day anyway. I did the same thing in business school, kind of going to classes, doing okay, but mostly doing my own thing. I was never a tech geek, just wanted to get whatever information I needed.”

He quickly put his skills to use, co-producing the critically acclaimed album Moving by Hiromi’s Sonic Bloom bassist Tony Grey (one track, “White Woods,” appeared on a Weather Report tribute album).  Graduating in three years, Collin moved to New York City, but he almost immediately got the call to audition for the Monk Program. Selected by a panel including Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard and Wayne Shorter, he moved to Los Angeles for the two-year program, joining a prodigious cast of peers.

“Terence tried to have us compose as much as we could,” Collin says. “He really stressed the importance of having a sense of focus, a theme that’s always present through a piece.”
His heralded debut album The Rise and Fall of Pipokuhn featured bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Zach Harmon, fellow Monk Institute alumni. Since moving back to New York City in 2009, he’s gained recognition as a singular artist, “a visionary composer, an extraordinary jazz pianist and a very bright young rising star in the jazz world,” in the words of Jon Weber, the host of NPR’s PianoJazz.