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GRAMMY Foundation Names Grant Recipients

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GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Program awards $250,000 to archive and preserve Gulf Coast recorded sound collections

 

GRAMMY.com

 

The GRAMMY Foundation today announced the recipients of its grant program, which awarded $250,000 in grants to 10 recipients to archive and preserve recorded sound collections of the Gulf Coast. The recipients are Abita Music Company; All For One Foundation; Backstreet Cultural Museum; Friends of WWOZ; David Kunian; New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation; Ben Sandmel; Tulane University, Hogan Jazz Archive; University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Edith Garland Dupre Library; and the University of New Orleans/American Routes.

 

Funds will help facilitate an extraordinary range of ventures, including: the rescue of an at-risk collection of culturally significant radio transcriptions and their source production recordings by such artists as Fats Domino, Al Hirt, and the Nevilles; the cataloging and digital transfer of a collection of southern Louisiana roots music to make it more publicly accessible; and the enactment of preservation measures developed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to protect collections at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation.

 

In addition to this year's special round of Gulf Coast grants, the GRAMMY Foundation's ongoing annual grant program will dedicate $650,000 in grant funds for its 2007 awards cycle. The program supports archiving and preservation projects that safeguard the history of recorded sound, as well as scientific research projects related to music of the Americas. The application is currently available online at www.grammyfoundation.com, and the deadline to submit applications is Oct. 2.

 

"The Grants Program is central to the GRAMMY Foundation's mission," said Recording Academy, GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares President Neil Portnow. "This year, it was important and fitting for us to dedicate a portion of our grants budget to support efforts that advance the archiving and preservation of the music and recorded sound heritage of the Gulf Coast area. It's an appropriate complement to the hurricane relief work that our sister foundation, MusiCares, has accomplished over the past 11 months."

 

The GRAMMY Foundation's grant program is generously funded by The Recording Academy. Now in its 18th year, the GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program has awarded more than $2 million to approximately 200 noteworthy projects. The grant program administers grants annually to organizations and individuals to support efforts that advance the archiving and preservation of the music and recorded sound heritage of the Americas for future generations, as well as research projects related to the impact of music on the human condition. Recipients are determined based on criteria such as merit, uniqueness of project and the ability to accomplish intended goals.

 

For more information about the grant recipients, please click here.

 

 

Imogen Heap of Frou Frou

Photo: Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images

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Frou Frou Release First Song In 15 Years, "Guitar Song (Live)"

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The duo, which comprises Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth, disbanded in 2004, but have reunited for Heap's Mycelia world tour
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Apr 19, 2019 - 4:16 pm

GRAMMY-winning musician and singer Imogen Heap and GRAMMY-nominated producer/musician Guy Sigsworth have released their first song in 15 years as electronic-pop duo Frou Frou.

"Guitar Song (Live)"  was released Friday (April 19) and is an acoustic love song. "Take your time, we'll feel our rhythm/ And find our feet, just like lovers do/ Me and you," Heap sings. 

 "Guitar Song: It’s a song—with guitar! Easy, breezy and summery. Like João Gilberto playing shoegazer music. Or something :),” Sigsworth said in a statement. 

The duo released their debut and only album, Details, in 2002. The album featured "Breathe In" and "Let Go," which appears and helped bring to life Zach Braff's film Garden State. The duo disbanded in 2004 but reunited for Heap's Mycelia World tour. 

"So happy to be releasing dear ‘Guitar Song’ with Guy, as Frou Frou,” Imogen Heap said in the statement. “We never really got to tour as Frou Frou that much but we are making up for it and opening every show on this World Tour we are on with this song."

The two will launch the U.S. leg of the Mycelia world tour on April 28 in Miami. For more information on the tour, visit Imogen Heap's website. Listen to their latest above. 

Jain On How Coachella Helps International Artists, Honoring Miriam Makeba's Legacy & More

Sheryl Crow & Johnny Cash in 1995

Sheryl Crow & Johnny Cash in 1995

Photo: Steve Granitz/Getty Images

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Sheryl Crow Releases "Redemption Day," A Duet Featuring The Voice Of Johnny Cash

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"Johnny stood up for what he believed in at a time when what he believed wasn't so popular…And I feel like he would be standing up now, probably in his own way through his music," Crow tells the Recording Academy
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Apr 19, 2019 - 4:03 pm

GRAMMY winner Sheryl Crow has released the lead single for her 11th studio album. The social justice-focused song (and video) "Redemption Day" posthumously features the late GRAMMY-winning country icon Johnny Cash.

The song, which Crow originally wrote after a trip to war-torn Bosnia and recorded for her GRAMMY-winning 1996 self-titled album, was dropped with a moving, jarring visual. The music video, directed by Shaun Silva, is centered on a young girl watching scenes from our history play out before her, many of them tragic, of environmental destruction and war across the globe. Despite the tough topics tackled in the song—that really still ring true 23 years later—there is a message, of hope, of redemption.

In 2003, the same year Cash passed away, he was introduced to Crow's 1996 song by a son-in-law, a press release explains, which led the pair to meet and discuss the song. He recorded his version of the song and wanted to release it on his next album, but, due to his passing, it wasn't released until 2010 on the posthumous American VI: Ain't No Grave.

After performing the song on tour in 2014 with Cash's vocals, she asked his estate about rerecording the song along with his vocals. Now, in 2019, the song gets new life as a powerful, poignant duet between the pair.

"I believe Johnny Cash believed there is a train that we all get on at the end of life and what you do with your life before you get on that train matters. So to hear him sing 'There is a train that's headed straight for heaven's gate. Every woman, man and child is waiting,' means to me that what you say and how you treat each other matters every day until you reach that gate. Johnny is the man to have singing that," Crow told the Recording Academy in an email.

"Johnny stood up for what he believed in at a time when what he believed wasn't so popular. I mean he got all up in the middle of things that he believed in. And I feel like he would be standing up now, probably in his own way through his music," she added. "One of the things that's deeply profound for me by having Johnny sing on 'Redemption Day' is that I have small children and everyday I'm trying to teach my kids that it matters what the truth is and it matters that you stand up for what you believe in."

Related: Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, More To Perform At Jason Isbell's ShoalsFest

The album is due out in "late summer," according to the press release, and will also feature an amazingly diverse and stacked list of collaborators, including Keith Richards, Stevie Nicks and St. Vincent. During an interview last summer, Crow said the forthcoming LP would be her "last full album."

Beyoncé Created A Space To Celebrate Black Culture At Coachella & More Things 'Homecoming' Taught Us

NU'EST

Photo:  VCG/VCG via Getty Images

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NU'EST And Tomorrow X Together To Perform At KCON In New York

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The convention, which brings panels, workshops and other events on K-pop, K-beauty, k-food, k-drama and all other things hallyu or Korean culture, will also come the Los Angeles Convention and Staples Center Oct. 15–18
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Apr 19, 2019 - 11:31 am

KCON, the annual Korean entertainment and culture convention, has announced one veteran and one newcomer group of K-pop as the music artists for its 2019 New York event. 

Veterans NU'EST and rising stars Tomorrow X Together will perform at the convention, which is taking place July 6–7 at New York's Madison Square Garden and Javits Center. While no other details have been revealed, KCON says that more lineup information around its fifth annual NY convention will be coming soon.

The much-anticipated announcement was made live via Facebook and Instagram. Tomorrow X Together, known as TXT, released their debut EP The Dream Chapter: STAR in March and debuted at No. 1 On the Emerging Artists chart. They were announced first. 

NU'EST, who was a part of the first-ever KCON in Irvine, Calif. in 2012 and will release their latest album in late April, was announced second. 

The convention, which brings panels, workshops and other events on K-pop, K-beauty, k-food, k-drama and all other things hallyu or Korean culture, will also come the Los Angeles Convention and Staples Center Oct. 15–18. No lineup details on the L.A. event have been announced yet. KCON happens in other countries around the world, including Japan and Thailand. 

For more information on KCON in the U.S., visit their website. 

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Jain

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Jain On How Coachella Helps International Artists, Honoring Miriam Makeba's Legacy & More

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We caught up with the French pop performer in Indio, where she touched on her first Coachella experience, how living abroad has informed her artistry, and much more
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Apr 19, 2019 - 11:22 am

GRAMMY-nominated French artist Jain makes upbeat yet socially conscious inspired pop music. Using sounds and inspiration from her global upbringing, Jain (born Jeanne Louise Galice) left her hometown of Toulouse, France, with her family when she was nine. From then until she was 18, she lived in Dubai, the Congo and Abu Dhabi before returning to France to attend art school in Paris, where she lives now.

Jain made her Coachella debut at Gobi stage last Saturday, her first U.S. show of the year, and will be returning this weekend for round two. Not only that, but Jain just dropped her first new music since her 2018 album Souldier, a single called "Gloria," which she has been playing on tour in Europe.

We caught up with Jain on the ground in Indio, where she touched on her first Coachella experience, how living abroad has informed her artistry, and much more.

You had your Coachella debut yesterday; how did you feel to share your music at this festival, on this platform?

Well, it was amazing and this show was really cool. We have a lot of fun with the crowd, so I couldn't have been going any better. I was feeling really lucky to be there today in this festival because it's one of the biggest festivals in the world. And in France, it's well known also. Because always there are French artists that are playing over there. So we were really, really happy.

The international contingent of artists on the lineup this year is really strong; what does it feel like to you to be a part of it?

It was amazing because for me to be able to play as a French artist. I'm from a little town from the south tip of France, to be able to play in Coachella and meet other artists from all over the world and to connect with people that I love from my hometown is something amazing. And it shows the real power of music is to be united with something that everybody loves. And that's why music is so international. And I think it's great that a big festival like Coachella makes this actually. It helps a lot of artists.

Yeah. I agree. Were you able to check out any other artists at the festival? Was there anyone you were really excited about?

Yeah, I saw a lot of shows actually. I saw Anderson .Paak; for me it was one of the best shows that I've ever seen. And I saw Childish Gambino. I saw the Boyfriends. They are Australian, I think.

You spent time growing up around the world. How do you think living in these different place inspired your art and music?

It really gave me this need to express myself. Because when you are a teenager and you have to be new in a new high school and make new friends and make friends again, sometimes you get this feeling of loneliness. And for me it was why I was writing music, it was because I felt lonely and I wanted to make kind of therapy with it. So I don't know if I would have done music if I haven't traveled. So the traveling and discovering new countries meant everything for me and my songwriting.

Do you feel like that caused you to grow up more quickly? To have a more mature themes or ideas with your music?

Yeah, I'm definitely sure about this. My music would be very, very different if I haven't traveled. And it's true that when you're young, you're fast and there's no concern with people, actually. When you're doing music and you're young, you can be in a band with different people with different stories also. And that's why I really loved it.

You released your sophomore album, Souldier, last year. What did you wish to communicate with that album?

For me, Souldier is the part two of [debut album] Zanaka, the rest of my experience in the Middle East. The two albums work together. For me, Zanaka was more about when I was 16, 18 years old, and Souldier is the rest. I really wanted to put music that I was listening to and I was listening to—Arabic kind of music, hip-hop, some Rumba from the Congo. And I really wanted to make people travel by listening to my music. I always write about something that moves me. And something, it can be something bad or something sad like the killing in the nightclub of Orlando. I always try to put some optimism in it. I try to heal myself.

Your music video for "Makeba" was nominated for a GRAMMY at the 60th GRAMMY Awards. Can you explain the story behind that specific song and video?

When I worked with [French directors] Greg & Lio, for me it was really important to shoot it in South Africa because [the song's subject, musician Miriam Makeba] was from South Africa. And we were about to shoot this video in Soweto, which is outside of Johannesburg. It's where she grew up, actually. I really wanted for people to know her and to be able to share her legacy of music. 

That's so cool. Is that something that's important for you, to share stories of other female artists or other people that might not have a platform like you have?

For me, it's really important because I was listening to Makeba since I was three years old. She's really part of my music intention. And when I grew up, I realized that actually a lot of my friends didn't know her. When I like an artist, especially a female artist, I really try to support. I think it's really important these days.

Mon Laferte Talks First Coachella Performance, 'Norma' & More