Website for Iowa music of ALL and ANY genres. Showing the wonderful and diverse music our state offers!
We feature music podcasts, interview podcasts, videos, among other media, to present to you what is happening and has happened in the Iowa Music Scene.
To submit a song or website, app, playlist, etc, send audiofile or link to iowamusicshowcase@gmail.com!
"Since 1994 Paul Bridson has played lead and solo jazz trombone with The Des Moines Big Band, and since 2011 he has been the business manager and lead trombonist of the Turner Center Jazz Orchestra. He is a teaching artist with Drake University, and is available for clinics, casuals, commercial and pit orchestra work anywhere within driving distance. He is also the co-founder of Synergy Jazz Foundation, which brings Aebersold clinicians to central Iowa students and provides assistance to students wishing to attend summer jazz camps.
"Paul studied trombone at Truman State University under Dr. Roger Cody and at the University of Iowa under the incredible George Krem. While attending the U of I, he performed at the Montreaux Jazz Festival with the Johnson County Landmark band under direction of Dan Yoder. He spent four years in Austin, TX playing the Jazz chair in the Non-Ego Big Band and playing bass for numerous Texas Swing bands on famous Sixth Street. His credits include Jimmy Dorsey, Sarah Vaughn, Red Skelton, The Lawrence Welk Orchestra, Wayne Newton, The Temptations, Frankie Valli, 10,000 Maniacs and numerous touring productions."
- from Paul Bridson's profile on the Des Moines Musicians Association website
Jazzman Joe for the videos' YouTube page: "TROMBONIST PAUL BRIDSON AND PIANIST JASON DANIELSON COMBINED TO PRESENT A PROGRAM OF BALLADS AND JAZZ STANDARDS TO THE THURSDAY NIGHT JAZZ ON THE HOUSE SERIES AT NOCE JAZZ CABARET 1/3/19. THE VIDEO HERE IS OF THE FIRST SET OF THE EVENING."
Folks, we have a concert this Saturday, May 5th at 2pm. That's the main motivating factor for this week's episode of iHearIC Radio, where we listen to recordings of poet Laura Felleman, musician Joshua Johnson, and members of the iHearIC Oliveros Ensemble. The show will be at Riverside Festival Stage in City Park, and you can check out all the details and rsvp here on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/190222161704598. This is the last concert of our Spring 2018 season, so it's your last opportunity to catch one of these before we take our Summer break. Come hang out with us at the park!
Make sure you also check out the upcoming Black Stork*/Asher Brown show on May 11th at Trumpet Blossom: https://www.facebook.com/events/1781343651887209 (*iHearIC organizer Carlos Cotallo Solares)
And the day after that you can also enjoy the Iowa Dance Festival Concert in Coralville, featuring some music by our very own Justin K Comer: https://www.facebook.com/events/185419328927494
Next week's radio show (May 6th) will feature recordings from the May 5th concert and some guests from Professor Trevor Harvey's Diversity in Music class!
"Christopher the Conquered and his piano have traveled North America and Europe for over 10 years, sharing his self-proclaimed 'Interstellar Soul' with anyone who will listen.
"His 2016 album I'm Giving Up On Rock & Roll has received over 500,000 listens online and has garnered positive reviews, with the songwriter Ryan Adams proclaiming it 'crazy & incredible' and Alternative Press labeling it a 'raw, emotional' record. ABC News declares his music 'compelling, interesting, and funny'.
"Christopher developed his songwriting while growing up in Iowa, but he now calls Colorado home. He has spent time on stage supporting a wide array of magnificent artists, including Leon Russell, Andrew Bird, Sturgill Simpson, The Mountain Goats, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Julien Baker.
"If you've never listened to Christopher the Conquered, then take the advice of Paste Magazine and 'Listen now.'"
- from his home page
Christopher developed his songwriting while growing up in Iowa, but he now calls Colorado home. He has spent time on stage supporting a wide array "Last week Christopher The Conquered stopped by the studio. He was in town briefely working on a pretty sweet project, the Iowa Music 4x10 that we talk about in great detail on the show! Chris is one of the biggest names to come out of the Des Moines Music scene and is making a name for himself across the globe! We really dive into his music in the interview which is accompanied by Pre Recorded tracks off thr most recent album, a single, and an unreleased track*
To celebrate our TWENTIETH radio show on KRUI, I invited a bunch of my friends to come in and party for a couple hours. We listened to recordings from the 4/20 iHearIC concert at High Ground Cafe, discussed things both relevant and irrelevant to the arts and music scenes in and around Iowa City, and enjoyed a live performance from Joe!
Catch the New Music Collaborative Chamber Recital tomorrow night (4/23) at 7:30pm in the Opera Studio at Voxman, organized by Kenken Gorder and featuring iHearIC regulars Justin K Comer and Will Yager among many other excellent instrumentalists: https://www.facebook.com/events/143387889840322/
I was going to present the first playlist last week, but instead put together some playlist for The Uncertainty Festival coming up this weekend. I'll be there Friday night. Say hi if you see a balding, overweight, middle age man in Clark Kent glasses!
But since I didn't put that playlist up last week, you guys get a twofer! I've got the playlist I made last week, plus a new up-to-date one.
Over half of the first one was hip hop. But there are some instrumentals in there, one rock, one electronic music, and one piano music.
The second is more eclectic featuring hip hop, electronic music, rock, and a singer-songwriter.
On this episode, we feature four pieces from the Iowa Composers Forum, a group of composers based in Iowa. These and other compositions will be featured on their upcoming festival in Iowa City on February 10. They represent the range of styles that our classical composers use.
Brooke and I hope that you will enjoy this exploration into Iowa's classical music. If you do, then check out some of the shows that The Iowa Composers Forum puts on regularly. The latest, Winter Festival of New Music, will be at The University of Iowa School of Music, in Iowa City, on Feb 10th. More information and links are listed below!
Before I go, I just thought I'd let you know that you can listen to and/or get the score for many classical pieces by Iowa composers on their website! Just hit where it says "Catalog"! Here's the link - http://www.iowacomposers.org/?page_id=112
Information on The Iowa Composers Forum:
The Iowa Composers Forum (ICF) was founded in March of 1987 in Des Moines by seven composers who wished to create an environment for the performance and dissemination of music composed by Iowans. Over the intervening years, the ICF has presented more than 100 concerts and tour recitals of works by member composers. These concerts have featured the performances of over 800 works of new music, including works by student composers from the elementary, middle, high school and collegiate level. The ICF has commissioned many new works, both unilaterally and in partnership with other organizations such as the Iowa Music Teachers Association and the Iowa Choral Directors Association. The ICF sponsors its own annual student composition competition, open to students studying at the collegiate level and earlier.
The Iowa Composers Forum will host a one-day Winter Festival of New Music in Iowa City on Saturday, February 10. Two concerts will be offered at 3 pm and 7:30 pm in the Concert Hall of the Voxman Music Building on the UI campus. These two concerts will feature new music by composers from across Iowa and the environs, including two young composers commissioned specifically for this festival. Performers include UI faculty, students, and the CNM ensemble.
Well, it was moving day for me yesterday, and unpacking day today. So even though I had this playlist ready early in the week, it's only coming out now!
We have one of new Iowa music playlist once again. This week, the new stuff up on YouTube!
If you're an Iowa artist or band, and have a YouTube channel, send me a link at iowamusicshowcase@gmail.com!
We start off with an acoustic cover, then a string quartet cover, followed by some hip hop, piano boogie-woogie, Americana, and blues!
"Music institutions and venues Iowa is also home to the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Metro Opera, Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, Cedar Rapids Opera, Orchestra Iowa (Cedar Rapids), Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, and the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra.
"The three major University music institutions in Iowa include the Iowa State University School of Music in Ames, University of Iowa School of Music in Iowa City, and The University of Northern Iowa School of Music in Cedar Falls. Other colleges with music programs include Wartburg, Luther, Cornell, Morningside, and Drake, among others. Also, there is the Celtic Music Association of Des Moines. Major venues include the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines.
"The Nordic Choir at Luther College in Decorah has performed around the world, appearing in Norway, England, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Baltic countries, Mexico and the Caribbean. The Nordic Choir has also appeared throughout the United States, performing in well-known concert halls as Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Luther College has the largest collegiate choral program in the United States with almost 600 student singers."
- from the Wikipedia entry, Music of Iowa
And the Iowa Composers Forum (http://www.iowacomposers.org/), created by 7 Iowa classical composers, features a musical festival and concert event every year celebrating Iowa's own classical works. It evens has a catalog (http://www.iowacomposers.org/?page_id=112) featuring 144 classical pieces written by Iowans, many of which linked to a spot where you can hear the works!
Two pieces had to be cut down for space, "Wellington Victory, Symphony" and "Entreat Me Not to Leave You". Full versions of each song is below on the post and each song's individual post.
All song are copyrighted by the performers and composers, and used by their kind permission.
Next episode: I'm not really sure! Got three possibilities but waiting to hear from some people before deciding! But Episode 50 is my nepotism episode featuring friends, relatives, and relatives of friends!
Well, I've been making playlist of music from Spotify that is picked at random using shuffle. But I decided there is a lot of unheard Iowa music on SoundCloud. So I go on there once in a while and hunt down Iowa artists and follow them.
If you're an artist I'm NOT following, let me know, and I start following you. Just send a link to iowamusicshowcase@gmail.com!
So here's some artists from SoundCloud, totally picked at random. I even used a random number generator to pick them! The playlists features electronic music, world music, hip hop, folk, gospel, and piano music!
