Music is Art has just announced the release of the first collaborative effort of the Music Industry Alliance Songwriter Peer Group. As Buffalo’s music scene continues to “amp up,” there is a growing contingent of musicians, venues, studios, etc., that are coming together to work on a range of projects. This current collaborative effort bears the fruits of multiple songwriting talents that have been meeting on monthly Zoom calls. Members of the group would share a song during the call, upon which time the others would offer feedback. This eventually led to one one of the members suggesting a “song swap,” in which a dozen writers participated. They threw their songs into a “hat,” not knowing who would cover their song.
“The premise of the project was to cover other artists’ songs, and what became clear was we had something special. It’s not often you see local musicians covering other local musicians. This became a nice story of community solidarity.” said contributor, Devin Mullen.
The end result turned out to be a real dandy – so much so that the artists decided to embark upon an “album” (recorded, mastered, and released). That assembled work will be available on steaming platforms as of March 26.
Sara Elizabeth, Music is Art’s Program Director explained “I think it’s amazing that we have this little reminder as we start to move out into the world again, like hey look what we did, what we built, while we weren’t even in the same room together, it’s pretty special.”
Another contributor, Courtney Ann said, “I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive group to hold me up through the pandemic.”
“As the only non-musician that gets to be a fly on the wall for these monthly peer groups, the talent we have in our Alliance group never ceases to amaze me, but the song swap month will always stand out. No one was told who would be covering their song, so watching the pure joy in their faces when they realized they were hearing someone else’s interpretation of their song was simply magical.” said Tracy Fletcher, Music is Art’s Executive Director.
Look for Good Neighbors (Vol 1) on all streaming platforms on March 26th. The release will also be available to download on Google Music and iTunes.
FULL TRACK LISTING
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Oooh – MYQ Farrow (written by Philip Stephen)
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Why Don’t You? – Ethan Weissman (feat Lelan Allen IV)(written by Jen Karlis)
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Clinton St. – Philip Stephen (written by Sara Elizabeth)
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Money is the Devil – Sara Elizabeth (written by Michael Farrow)
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Silly Heart – Courtney Ann (written by Demyia Browning)
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West Virginia – Tom Maynor (written by Ethan Weissman)
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Witness Protection Program – Jen Karlis (written by Mike Criscione)
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Meteor Honey – Demyia (written by Devin Mullen)
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Winter Siren – Anxious Kids Make Good People (written by Mike Chmiel)
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Merrill’s Hat – Mike Criscione (written by Tom Maynor)
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Can’t Breathe – Mike Chmiel (written by Kerry Fey)
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Sad Boy in the Stone House – Kerry Fey (written by Courtney Ann Wofford)
