INDIE NEWS BEAT
Week of August 23, 2003
* Emmett North Jr. Releases Set Of Three Albums
* Andrea Brachfeld Comes "Back With Sweet Passion"
* Indie Acoustic Project Awards
* Ani DiFranco To Do Kucinich Benefit With Willie Nelson
* 4th Annual CMT/CMT.com NSAI Song Contest Kicks Off
* "Battle of the FANS" At The Knitting Factory Hollywood
* Holiday Songs Wanted To Help Hospice

Emmett North Jr. Releases Set Of Three Albums

Emmett North Jr., former guitarist for Barry White, Isaac Hayes, Chuck Berry & Wolfman Jack, has released a trio of CD albums to match the late summer heat.

'Heart of Stone' features nine R& B/Soul tracks and was recorded in Hollywood at Paramount recording studios and Echo Sound Studios LA.

'Have You Got The Time' is a jazz fusion album featuring nine songs with three covers George Benson's version of 'Living Inside Your Love', ' I'm Ready For Love' and 'Soft Stuff.' The remaining songs were recorded in London at various studios during the eighties using various British musicians.

'Foxy Lady' features seven songs mixing R&B/POP and Jazz Fusion, and was recorded in Hollywood's Paramount Recording Studios.

Emmett has a rich history among the greats, having written songs for Barry White and recorded on "Music Maestro Please", "Barry White Sings For Someone You Love", "The Man" and "Rhapsody in White." At the end of 1979, he started working with Wolfman Jack's Band on a Blues album and later a TV show called "The Wolfman Jack Radio show," playing with "Chuck Berry" on the pilot show taped in 1980.

Emmett eventually moved to Atlanta in 1980 after finishing with Wolfman and The "Blues Brothers" movie to work & record with "Isaac Hayes." He was recorded on five tracks for the "Linda Clifford's" album, which was collaboration between Isaac and Curtis Mayfield - Isaac the Music, Curtis the Lyrics.

You can catch Emmett North Jr. on 'The Danny Schneider's Show' on Adelphia cable channel 77 August 31st at 8:00pm.

Andrea Brachfeld Comes "Back With Sweet Passion"

Flautist/arranger extraordinaire, Andrea Brachfeld, has just completed production of her anxiously-awaited CD "Back With Sweet Passion" with her group Son Charanga. The CD, released on the Latin Cool Label, features Latin music luminaries Alfredo De La Fé and Oscar Hernandez.

The writing for this CD is extraordinary when you consider the special blend of Afro-Cuban and jazz that transcends all previous attempts to fuse the two genres. "On my CD, 'Back With Sweet Passion', I decided to do mostly covers but I arranged the music to add a touch of my own flavor to fit my style of playing. I also wanted to reenter the Charanga market with music people knew and eventually do more originals. There are three originals on this CD as well."

The long-awaited CD has attracted rave reviews, from websites Descarga.com to radio producer/host and columnist Vicki Sola.

"This dynamic new charanga release by Ms. Brachfeld (Charanga 76, Orquesta Broadway, Africando, etc.) is a fiery dance record with more in-the-pocket grooves than one CD can usually handle." - Descarga.com

"Today, Brachfeld's Charanga music is more fiery than ever, and her jazz and boleros more nuanced. Artistic genius and expression quite naturally evolve in relation to the totality of an individual's experiences on this planet, and both Brachfeld's mastery and passion are reflective of a certain maturity that comes only with living and learning." - Vicki Sola

Upcoming September Events:

9/17 - Willy's Steak House - 8:30 pm - 1802 Westchester Ave., NYC
9/18 - Gonzalez y Gonzalez - 9:30 pm - 625 Broadway, NYC
9/25 - Gonzalez y Gonzalez - 9:30 pm - 12 am - 625 Broadway, NYC
9/26 - Reflections Jazz Lounge - 10 pm - 32 Main Street, South River, NJ

Indie Acoustic Project Awards

The Indie Acoustic Project is now accepting submissions for the Indie Acoustic Project Awards: "Best CD '01 to '03". Ten awards will be given-one per category. The ten categories are: Male Singer-Songwriter, Female Singer-Songwriter, Instrumental, Celtic, World Beat, Americana, Folk-Rock, Acoustic Alt-Rock, Multi-Genre, and Lyrics/Social Commentary.

To qualify, a CD must be mostly acoustic, and have been released between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2003 by any person or entity other than a major US record label. Finalists will be announced in late winter, and winners in early spring.

Ani DiFranco To Do Kucinich Benefit With Willie Nelson

Singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco, the latest artist to support Dennis Kucinich for President, will join Willie Nelson in a concert to benefit the campaign. Ani is a successful, staunchly independent performer -- a poet and feminist who launched her own record company, Righteous Babe Records, at the age of 19.

This will be the first time Ani and Willie have appeared together. The concert is set for Cleveland, the hometown of Congressman Kucinich, on Saturday, Sept 6 at the State Theater. Ani will perform solo; Willie with his full band.

Congressman Kucinich said: "Ani DiFranco and Willie Nelson are both socially-engaged artists and it's an honor to have their help in this campaign."

4th Annual CMT/CMT.com NSAI Song Contest Kicks Off

The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) has announced the launch of the 4th Annual CMT/CMT.com NSAI Song Contest. The song contest provides the best avenue for emerging songwriters to open doors to industry contacts and have their song pitched to record labels and top publishing executives. Last year's Grand Prize Winner, Tracey Naples, signed a label deal with DreamWorks Records.

"NSAI made my dream possible. When I got the call that 'Love Me Til the Lonely's Gone' had won the grand prize, I never imagined it would lead to my deal with DreamWorks," said Tracey Naples, last year's Grand Prize Winner.

This year's Grand Prize Winner will receive an invitation to perform on CMT's Most Wanted Live stage during Fan Fair. Along with the performance, the Grand Prize Winner will also receive a trip to Nashville including airfare, accommodations, guaranteed appointments with publishers and record labels, mentoring session with an award-winning professional songwriter, invitation to perform at the Bluebird Café during NSAI's Tin Pan South, and an appearance on a WSM radio program. What's more, NSAI will produce a professional demo of the winning song and pitch it to publishers and A&R record label executives for one year. Five Finalists will also receive a professional demo and song pitching for a year.

"Battle of the FANS" At The Knitting Factory Hollywood

"Battle of the FANS" is calling it for what it is and putting 40 bands to the ultimate test, in a promotionally driven contest where the band that has the most fans wins. Sound simple? It is! Based on ticket sales and walk-up ballots, 40 bands will compete over the course of 8 nights; 10 bands will advance to the semi-finals and 5 bands to the finals. Ticket sales will determine the size of the prize, 60% going towards prizes. There will also be up to $5,000 in additional prizes for semi-final and finalists. To win, an artist will have played on 3 shows, 1 show in October, November and then the finals on December 12th. All shows will be on the main stage at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. The Knitting Factory is ALL AGES and tickets will be $10. Submissions are FREE and will be accepted through August 29th.

Holiday Songs Wanted To Help Hospice

Following this year's release of Ho Ho Ho Spice (out November 1st, 2003), Volunteer Records is announcing their open-call for submissions to comprise their sophomore effort, expected for the 2004 holiday season.

Bands as diverse as NRBQ and Bleach, and Brave Combo and The Chinkees are included on Ho Ho Ho Spice. It is hoped that the sequel will be just as divergent.

Other bands included on the first release include: Better Than Ezra, Graham Parker, The dB's, Flat Duo Jets and Andrea Perry. Members of The Police, Smithereens, October Project and Whiskytown.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2003 - Republished with Permission