Singer Daria Musk to Play Live Google Hangout Concert Tonight

Singer-songwriter Daria Musk hosts her latest Google hangout concert tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern.

Singer-songwriter Daria Musk has attracted thousands of curious viewers and many new fans with the two live concerts she has held on Google Plus (also called Google+ or G+), taking advantage of G+'s features for sharing and commenting on live video through the "hangout" feature. And she'll be holding her third "Google hangout concert" tonight, August 20th, at 6 p.m. Eastern time (you can watch above).

Sometimes a new technology can give an up-and-coming musician a big break; other times a performer can give a new technology a jump start. Both may be taking place in the case of Musk and Google Plus, the search giant's latest move into social media.

I heard of Musk when she held her second concert a few weeks ago and watched part of it. I had to run out and do errands for an hour or so, and was surprised that when I got back home Musk was still singing and playing… and using G+'s features to chat with viewers from around the U.S. and the world. (You can see Musk's Google Plus posts here, and add her to your circles.)

I found out the next morning that the Connecticut-based singer-songwriter's Google hangout concert had lasted seven and a half hours (including breaks to chat with fans and talk about her music, career, etc.). The promotions for tonight's hangout concert say it "Goes all night," so it sounds like you can expect another marathon evening of music from the engaging singer and songwriter. You can watch the concert at the window above or on YouTube.

You can chat with Musk during the concert at www.hangoutparty.com or reach her on Twitter using the hashtag #DariaMusk.

Musk was inspired by her hangout concerts to write a song, "+1 Me," that you can download free. And she has an EP (which includes "+1 Me") which you can buy on iTunes. You can see her videos at her YouTube page, youtube.com/dariamusk, and follow her on Twitter at @DariaMusk.

It's hard to tell what the future of Google Plus will be. But Daria Musk's career has certainly gotten a big boost from the technology's live hangout and sharing features.

Watch Daria Musk's hangout concert above starting at 6 p.m. Eastern, or watch on YouTube.


Daria Musk performing "You Move Me" during her second Google hangout concert.

R.I.P. Vic Chestnutt - Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter is Dead at 45

Some sad news for any day, but especially Christmas day: Vic Chestnutt, an acclaimed singer-songwriter who battled substance abuse and suicidal thoughts, has died, his record company and other sources confirmed. It was reported yesterday that he was in a coma, which some sources said was caused by a suicide attempt. Some Web sites said that he had died, as did a few Twitter feeds from musicians, but the Web sites later changed their articles to say that he was in a coma.

An article on Entertainment Weekly's Music Mix blog says that some reports stated that Chestnutt was in a coma earlier in the week, but that the cause of death has not yet been made public.

Originally from Athens, Georgia, Vic Chestnutt was injured in a car accident when he was 18 and had been a paraplegic ever since. His musician friends later held concerts and produced a tribute album, Sweet Relief II: The Songs of Vic Chesnutt, to help pay his medical expenses, and those projects gave greater visibility to his music and gained him new fans.

Our condolences go out to Vic's wife, Tina, and his family and friends.

Singer Kate Voegele Wrapping Up "Back to School" Tour

Kate Voegele is nearing the end of her Summer/Fall "Back to School" Tour, which has seen the young pop singer-songwriter headlining on a busy tour schedule around the country. The 21-year-old Ohio native has been out promoting her impressive debut full-length album, "Don't Look Away," and she gotten some valuable exposure from the CW Network TV show "One Tree Hill."

But she isn't just having her songs featured on the show. She is getting attention that most musicians in her position would die for: as a recurring character named Mia who is a budding singer-songwriter, which puts her songs and her face in front of the TV audience. (Ironically the character of Mia is rather shy, which Voegele says is the exact opposite of her own outgoing personality.)

After being on tour earlier this year opening for Natasha Bedingfield, Voegele is finishing her run of headlining gigs on the East Coast this coming week. You can find all the upcoming Kate Voegele tour dates at her special MySpace tour page. Here are the final dates listed for the "Back to School" Tour:

9/27/08 : New Haven, CT
9/28/08 : South Hackensack, NJ
9/30/08 : Baltimore, MD
10/1/08 : Falls Church, VA
10/3/08 : West Chester, PA
10/5/08 : Salisbuty, MD

The Wailin' Jennys Craft Beautiful Harmonies in Weehawken

Heather Masse, Nicky Mehta, and Ruth Moody of the Wailin' Jennys




The free annual summer music festival in Weehawken, New Jersey wrapped up for the year not with a bang, but with the lovely harmonies of the Wailin' Jennys. The acclaimed female trio played their brand of folk/pop/traditional tunes with the Manhattan skyline in the background, and showed why they have developed a loyal following in their native Canada and in the U.S., despite a few personnel changes.

The Wailin' Jennys have been together for over six years, with Ruth Moody being one of the original members. The latest addition is Heather Masse, an American now living in Brooklyn. (Moody and the third member, Nicky Mehta, are from Winnipeg, Manitoba.)

The band performed mostly their own compositions, but also did some worthy covers, including "Deeper Well" by Emmylou Harris and fellow Canadian Neil Young's "Old Man." You can hear some of their songs at the Wailin' Jennys MySpace page.

This is at least the second season of the free concerts in Weehawken at Lincoln Harbor, part of the Hudson River Performing Arts Center series. Kudos to Bruce Sherman and all the members of the HRPAC team and the Township of Weekhawken for continuing to put on these great shows in a gorgeous location.

Suzanne Vega Returns to New York

Although best known to most people for her 1987 hit song “Luka,” singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega has had a long and varied career for more than 20 years. Her concert at Manhattan Center on Thursday was a great chance to see this native New Yorker performing in her hometown, playing songs from her very New York centric new album, Beauty and Crime.

In some of the new songs Vega harkens back to an earlier era in New York, and this look is also captured on the photography for the new album, and in her appearance onstage. For the entire show Vega wore a trenchcoat that would have been at home in a 1940s filim noir, with one side pulled down seductively to reveal a bare shoulder. And when playing several songs from Beauty and Crime she donned the type of old-fashioned hat you'd expect a hardened noir detective to wear.

The songs she played from Beauty and Crime talked about New York City of the past—New York is a Woman (“But not always a lady,” she noted), Edith Wharton's Figurines, Frank and Ava (about the stormy romance between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner). But one poignant number, Angel's Doorway, tells the story of an NYPD cop named Angel who worked at Ground Zero.

While Vega's early work had acoustic roots, calling her a folk singer vastly oversimplifies the many styles she's worked in over the years. She showed this range during the concert, from the remix dance-pop version of her a capella hit Tom's Diner to the clanging industrial sound of Blood Makes Noise to the jazzy bossa nova feel of Caramel.

The Manhattan Center show was a fitting example of the many styles and faces of Suzanne Vega.

SMtv Podcast: No TV, But Plenty of Fine Music

There are plenty of music podcasts that include songs and interviews with the artists, but SMtv is one of the few I've heard of that's actually hosted by a singer-songwriter. Samantha Murphy is the "SM" in SMtv, but oddly enough it's not a podcast of her music. Instead, Murphy interviews and plays songs from other artists, from folky singer-songwriters to pop bands to rockers.

What's more, there's no "TV" in SMtv--this is an audio podcast only--though Murphy has mentioned in the past that she'd like to make a video version of it. Nevertheless, it's a good way to learn about new artists. Each one-hour podcast contains three or four songs from the artist (full versions, not excerpts) and several interview segments. I find the interviews interesting because since Murphy is a fellow performing artist and asks her guests different questions from the same old ones asked by radio DJs or music journalists.

SMtv has been around for two years now, but podcasts don't come out regularly--some months there will be several of them, other there won't be a podcast for a couple of months. Considering that Murphy is a touring musician, I'm impressed that she has time to produce a podcast at all.

Some of the artists she's featured this year are Derren Raser and AJ Croce (son of the late great singer Jim Croce). Some of my favorites from last year include Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Clare Burson (whose songs have been recorded by Maura O'Connell and featured on Dawson's Creek), NYC rockers Jared Scharff & The Royals, and power-pop quartet The Animators, who have played with artists including Norah Jones and Ray LaMontagne.

SMtv has even presented a live show recently, at The Mint in Los Angeles.

If you like discovering music by new artists and "meeting" them in interviews, SMtv is a podcast you'll want to check out.