Mike Posner is Cooler than Us
Mike Posner has announced he will embark on climbing the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, after having spent the last year in intensive high altitude training in Colorado. Posner will be raising money for The Detroit Justice Center (DJC), a non-profit law firm working to create economic opportunities, transform the justice system and promote equitable and just communities. A Detroit native, Posner’s father Jon, who passed away in 2017, served as a criminal defense attorney in Detroit for 40 years.
Melissa Etheridge’s Year of Livestream Concerts
In the beginning of the pandemic, Melissa Etheridge began interacting and giving back to her fans with intimate livestream concerts from her home studio. In the first performance in March 2020, Etheridge announces, “Yeah, I’m gonna do this every day at this time. 3 o’clock.” A year and nearly 300 shows later, the Etheridge TV experience has a strong following of subscribers who tune in for daily immersions including Cover Song Tuesdays, hits, deep tracks and live chats, with insider looks at her home life in quarantine and guest appearances by her wife, Linda Wallem.
Pop Smoke Shoots for the Stars
Pop Smoke's posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon, has become the longest running No. 1 Hip-Hop/R&B Album since 1990. This acclaim means Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon has surpassed Michael Jackson's 1987 Bad and Prince's Purple Rain. The album’s has garnered over nine billion streams and eight platinum or multi-platinum singles, including the Grammy-nominated “Dior.” The Brooklyn rapper was shot and killed in a home invasion in Feb. 2020 at 20 years old.
Ellie Goulding Passes the Mic
Ellie Goulding has taken to social media to present her #PassTheMic series, interviewing experts and social justice leaders. Founded initially as part of the response to the global Black Lives Matter movement, the #PassTheMic series has grown to highlight major social issues, with guests and topics including: Patrisse Cullors, Co-founder of #BLM, Dr. Philip Antiba Goff on policing, Nimko Ali on Samburu Girls Foundation and ending female genital mutilation, Jackson Katz, PhD about sexual violence and Al Gore on climate and indigenous rights.
Switchfoot Float in a Hot Air Balloon
In a recent episode of Switchfoot’s monthly livestream series, Fantastic Not Travelling Music Show, the band performed at 3,500 feet from a hot-air balloon over their hometown of San Diego, CA. Front man Jon says, "In a season filled with low moments, we were looking to lift everyone's spirits. Singing songs from a hot air balloon, rather than in a concert hall? Only in 2021!"
David Bryne’s SOCIAL at the Park Avenue Armory Drill Hall on April 8, 2021.
Photo Credit: Stephanie Berger
Social Distance Dance Club
Park Avenue Armory announced the dates for the world premiere of SOCIAL! the social distance dance club, a new interactive and experiential movement piece commissioned by the Armory as part of its Social Distance Hall. The project was conceived by Steven Hoggett, Christine Jones, renowned set designer for American Idiot, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and multimedia artist and musician David Byrne of Talking Heads.
DJ Battlecat AR-Produced Mt. Westmore
Legendary L.A. producer DJ Battlecat (Snoop, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Xzibit…) is mixing the upcoming hip-hop album from the newly announced supergroup Mt. Westmore, made up of Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Too Short and E-40. An early adopter of Audible Reality and 3D audio technology, DJ Battlecat is producing the album using a 3D Spatial Audio Processor, for fans to hear through Battlecat’s ears, with an immersive studio experience.
