#l.a. salami

[murobrown]

My boss keeps asking me to ask more questions, And so I asked her “why?” Then I asked her why man chose to work for his food, When it’s clear to me that he’d much rather die? And if we’re all equal does that mean we’re all due some luck? And how many roads must a man walk down Before he stops giving a fuck?

[blackrockandrollmusic-blog]

L.A. Salami - So What Is This

[jungleindierock]

L.A. Salami - Jean Is Gone

Jean is Gone, is taken from the new album, The City of Bootmakers, which is due to be released on the 13th April 2018. L.A. Salami (born Lookman Adekunle Salami in London, England) is a British singer / songwriter.

[npr]

Moments of unexpected magic are the Newport Folk Festival's calling card. The festival typically sells out well before its lineup is even announced — but the official lineup is more of a rough guideline, anyway, since the weekend is peppered every year with surprise performances and collaborations.

An unannounced slot at the smallest of Newport's main stages turned out to belong to Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, who played some new music with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and finished out their set by parading, second-line style, through the enormous crowd that had assembled.

What We Saw At Newport Folk 2017

Photos: Andrew Kissick for NPR

[sinceileftyoublog]

Newport Folk Festival 2017: 7/28-7/30

Jim James and John Prine

BY MICHAEL KINGSBAKER

Year after year, at the Newport Folk Festival, I’ve come to expect an environment of camaraderie and collaboration. I’ve been attending Newport since 2010, and the one thing I don’t generally expect much of is an outward conscientious protest. There have always been plenty of things to protest, but I guess having Barack Obama as our President since I’ve been attending generally kept things about the music. Newport has a long rich history of speaking out against segregation and denying those their civil rights. This year was the first under the Trump administration, and after hearing about Speak Out—a set designed to give artists a platform to speak out musically on issues of our times—I was intrigued. 

And then, I was really for the first time in my history with the Newport Folk Festival, disappointed. 

The set was everything wonderful about Newport, a collaboration of Newport favorites, as members of My Morning Jacket and The Decemberists and Preservation Hall Band served as the backup band, joined by numerous surprise guests on stage including Sharon Van Etten, Rayland Baxter, Shakey Graves, Margo Price, The Lone Bellow’s Zach Williams, Lucius, and Nathaniel Rateliff. A few sang some original songs, but mostly, they did covers of songs from protests past. I was left with two puzzling questions: What exactly were we speaking out against, and why was every artist that came to Speak Out and given a microphone white? Nathaniel Rateliff closed the set singing the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Fortunate Son”, and the crowd was going crazy. It was a pretty electric moment. However, two days prior at that same stage, I saw Alynda Segarra, lead singer of Hurray For The Riff Raff, close her set with that same song, and to be honest, in this day and age, I found it much more powerful to see a queer Latina woman sing about not being fortunate than a straight white male.

The festival itself programmed a pretty diverse lineup, and there were many powerful protest moments, including watching Michael Kiwanuka chant, “I’m a black man in a white world” before a likely 95% white audience, Billy Bragg reminding us how the transcontinental railroad was built (he did play the Speak Out set), and Rhiannon Giddens’ set which served both has a powerful music moment as well as a history lesson of the lives of African Americans in this country past to present. 

Which made the Speak Out set that much more bizarre to me. Both Giddens and Kiwanuka both played on Sunday at the Fort stage just prior to that set. Was neither of them asked to perform at Speak Out? Obviously, there a lot of factors that go into building a set like that, and I’m sure many things happened behind the scenes that I’m unaware of, but the Speak Out set seemed used more to bring in Newport Folk favorites that weren’t performing this year than a real platform “to celebrate an artist’s freedom to write songs that reflect the times in which he/she lives in.” I’m not saying the set wasn’t entertaining—I just feel like a real opportunity was missed to really give a platform for artists who are hungry to speak out about a range of specific issues and to reclaim the Newport Folk Festival as a place that is on the pulse of the current climate in this country.

All that said, I still had a great time and am happy to be able to photograph the Festival year after year. Here are some of this year’s highlights.

Alynda Segarra of Hurray For The Riff Raff stated her intention in coming to Newport this year was to represent the Latinx culture. Her shirt emblazoned with the word “FUERZA” (Spanish for “force”), couldn't be more apropos, as she closed her set with her new anthem “Pa'lante” before segueing into the Credence Clearwater Revival classic “Fortunate Son”.

Shovels & Rope returned to Newport for the third time, but it was their first trip back since becoming parents. Understated in their matching mechanic coveralls, they kept the crowd’s feet tapping with their own brand of Carolina twang, switching back and forth from drum to guitar.

The Head and The Heart returned to Newport, filling the harbor with hit after hit.

This was the first appearance for Regina Spektor at Newport. Apparently, her bus arrived just in time for her to close out the Quad Stage on Friday night, wooing the hearts of the audience with her quirky, authentic charm, engaging lyrics, and otherworldly voice. This was a highlight for me.

Fleet Foxes closed out Friday night at the Fort Stage. They last appeared in 2011, and this year, they sounded as lovely and harmonious as ever.

A young audience member climbs the rail at the Quad Stage to get a better look at Julia Jacklin on Saturday.

Marlon Williams wowed the Quad Stage on Saturday. The New Zealander had the standout performance of the day!

Chicano Batman got the audience at the Fort grooving, adorned in their matching blue tuxedos and reminding us all that Freedom is Free.

Every year, there's one group that just rocks the ceiling off of the Quad Stage. This year, that honor goes to Seratones on Friday.

The Avett Brothers, always a fan favorite at Fort Adams, made a triumphant return to Newport. They covered Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”, honoring the late Chris Cornell.

British Folk Prodigy L.A. Salami made his Newport premiere at the Harbor Stage.

Wilco closed out Saturday at the Fort Stage, ending by playing “California Stars” with Billy Brag.

Billy Bragg was joined by Joe Henry at the Harbor, later joined Wilco at the Fort, and on Sunday participated in the Speak Out set singing Anais Mitchell's “Why We Build the Wall”.

North Carolina duo Mandolin Orange brought their beautiful heartbreaking tunes to the Quad on Saturday--a wonderful score for the overcast afternoon.

Ruby Amanfu and Nicole Atkins joined Steelism at the Quad on Sunday. Here, Amanfu takes a minute to show some affection to Steelism's steel pedal guitarist, Spencer Cullum.

Margaret Glaspy brought her haunting voice and dirty guitar hooks to the quad stage on Saturday.

This year saw Michael Kiwanuka’s return to Newport. Watching him chant, "I'm a black man in a white world" relentlessly and with grace to what must have been a 95% white audience was one of the most affecting moments all weekend long.

Rhiannon Giddens gave a heartbreaking and joyful history lesson at the Fort that had me in tears multiple times.

At the Speak Out set, Rayland Baxter and Shakey Graves sang their satirical song "I'm Better Than You".

Sharon Van Etten covered Sinead O'Conner's “Black Boys on Mopeds” at the Speak Out set.

Margo Price and Zach Williams of the Lone Bellow covered Jackson Browne's “I Am A Patriot”.

Nathaniel Rateliff closed the Speak Out set by covering Credence Clearwater Revival's “Fortunate Son”.

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon was on hand, part of Grandma's Hand Band, a tribute group to Bill Withers. Here, he joined John Prine in the closing set.

2015 Newport headliner Roger Waters made an unannounced appearance joining John Prine for a tender rendition of “Hello In There”.

Jim James sharing a moment with John Prine as the festival came to a close.

[newportfolkfest]

Please welcome L.A. Salami to our 2017 Friday lineup.

[art-school-anxieties]

It’s wild to think that I almost burnt out when at the same time I’m receiving catalogues in the post from exhibitions my prints have been to. I know I’m a student, but I haven’t taken that to mean that I couldn’t be submitting for art shows outside of the university. I guess because I moved 1800 km away from my friends and family to study art, which I love, I feel I have to take every opportunity I can to prove that it has been worth the distance.

♪ L.A. Salami - Day To Day (Another Lazy Sunday Session) ♪

[fortherecordpodcast]

In Episode #58 of For the Record, we depart from our usual format to tell you about our favorite new discoveries from 2017's South by Southwest music conference (aka SXSW) in Austin. We discuss Lizzo, Sweet Spirit, L.A. Salami, Weaves, Lisa Prank, Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, and CHAI. If you want to see all of our notes and photos, they are here: http://sxsw2013gg.tumblr.com/

Episode link: http://fortherecordpodcast.com/podcasts/media/2017-03-27_ftr-episode-58-sxsw-2017-wrap-up.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast by clicking here for iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/for-the-record-with-gg-and-adam/id943710156, or by copying and pasting this XML feed into your favorite podcatcher’s “subscribe” field: http://fortherecordpodcast.com/podcasts/feed.xml

Stream the episode via your browser here:

Or tune in to BFF.fm to hear us every other Thursday at 9:30am!