TRO Essex Music Group

01/02/2025

Happy New Year! A new year is a time for reflection, growth, and resolutions. Let's start the year off right with some fun and uplifting music by TRO's writers!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/42SUq3teumZ2HrTtAwb4TU?si=u2ROGcMoQDaFGlrkL_UEbg

#2025

12/20/2024

Happy Holidays!

The holidays are just around the corner! Get in the spirit with TRO's holiday-themed playlist, featuring songs by some of our top writers. Wishing you all a family-filled time of love, celebration, giving, and joy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PAo9SuhAZ1G3VUmy085gg?si=F7udqS9yTrOoIG0imhcc-g

12/18/2024

Happy Hanukkah! We're honoring the upcoming holiday with a special highlight on Woody Guthrie and The Klezmatics collection of holiday works, "Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah". Woody Guthrie is best known as the father of American folk music, and the writer of “This Land Is Your Land,” but few realize this folk icon also wrote Hanukkah songs.

It all started when Woody moved to Brooklyn in 1942 and became involved with the Coney Island Jewish Community through his mother-in-law the renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt. During this time, he was inspired to write songs about Hanukkah, Jewish history, and spiritual life. After Guthrie's death, the songs he had written for the holiday sat forgotten in archives. It wasn't until thirty years later that Woody's daughter Nora Guthrie discovered the lyrics.

Inspired and invigorated to share his songs with the world, Nora asked the Jewish roots-music band The Klezmatics, to write new music for the lyrics. The end result is a collaboration between Woody Guthrie and The Klezmatics titled "Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah". Released in 2006, the work includes a collection of songs, including ‘Hanuka’s Flame”, “Hanuka Gelt”, and more. The combination of Guthrie's classic folk sound with The Klezmatics' playful interpretation casts a new light on the Hanukkah tradition, one that is sure to become a holiday classic for generations to come!

12/13/2024

Shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen, Flamy Grant has been nominated for the 2024 Artist of the Year award at the International Folk Music Awards (IFMAs)!

The International Folk Music Awards are the premier recognition of folk music industry leaders, legends, unsung heroes, and rising talent. Awarded annually at the Folk Alliance International Conference, the nominee slate is finalized by a committee comprised of FAI staff, the winners are then determined by the voting membership of FAI. Congratulations Flamy, and best of luck! Click below to vote for Flamy Grant!

https://member.folk.org/Login.aspx

12/10/2024

Calling all Oregon residers! Singer-songwriting duo Story and Tune has some upcoming shows you won't want to miss! Look for them at a venue near you!

Click below for more information!
https://www.storyandtune.com/

12/10/2024

Loonis McGlohon was an American songwriter and jazz pianist. He was born on September 29, 1921, in Ayden, North Carolina., As a boy, he became fascinated by the big-band music of the time and learned to play piano. He graduated from East Carolina University and spent several years with the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. In the early 1950s, he began working as a music director for WBT (AM) radio and WBTV (Charlotte's CBS-TV affiliate). Outside his radio work, McGlohon continued to play and write music and formed his own trio for club and concert performances. The Loonis McGlohon Trio recorded more than two dozen albums and performed across the U.S.A.

In 1960, McGlohon began an association with composer Alec Wilder. Together they co-hosted the Peabody Award-winning NPR radio series American Popular Song, featuring 40 programs centered on the contributions of the top songwriters. McGlohon later co-hosted Eileen Farrell’s NPR radio series, American Singers., Loonis He was Eileen Farrell’s musical director from 1980, and together they recorded nine albums.

McGlohon also was an avid songwriter. He wrote operas, musicals, revues, and numerous songs in collaboration with Alec Wilder. Together they wrote about 75 songs including, "Blackberry Winter,", "Be a Child,", “‘A Long Night,”’ and “‘South To A Warmer Place’.” In addition to Wilder, McGlohon collaborated with songwriters Billy VerPlanck, Hugh Martin, and Marian McPartland.

McGlohon was also very active in his home state. He was commissioned in 1985, with his friend Charles Kuralt, to write a piece in celebration of North Carolina'’s 400th birthday and produced “North Carolina Is My Home.” McGlohon died on January 26, 2002, at the age of 80, following a long-term battle with lymphoma. Prior to his death, the NationsBank Performance Place in Charlotte’s Spirit Square was named the Loonis McGlohon Theatre, and in 2004, the biography Loonis! Celebrating a Lyrical Life was published by the East Carolina University Foundation.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IQR6Imo4f3EpDl448ZEe9?si=Uv2-LdUYRGaUb3OWphm9fw

12/03/2024

The COO of Global Music Operations at TRO Essex Music Group Kathryn Ostien was featured in Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA)'s spotlight "A storied past meets a bright future as COO Kathryn Ostien celebrates TRO Essex Music Group’s 75th anniversary", check out the full article below!

“If I had any advice to give, I’d say: Don’t panic when things start to change. Things will change – and that’s just the nature of what we’re dealing with as a business. We have solid agencies that fight for the rights of songwriters, artists, and music publishers – and we actively work with them to advocate for fair rates and legislation.”

https://www.cmrra.ca/spotlight-a-storied-past-meets-a-bright-future-as-coo-kathryn-ostien-celebrates-tro-essex-music-groups-75th-anniversary/

11/22/2024

Check out 3ee's artist spotlight by Jared Lerman!

"3ee's journey in music is proof to the evolution, passion, and embracing every twist and turn along the way. At 26, they’ve come a long way from their beginnings in Dallas, Texas, where music first became a part of their life when their elementary school choir teacher pointed out how gifted of a signer they were.

Although they were too shy to audition back then, their love for music blossomed through years of playing trumpet in marching bands, youth orchestras, and even pursuing a college education in music. For a long time, 3ee’s dream was to become the principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. But life had other plans, and they found themselves exploring a completely different musical path, leading to the genre-bending artist we know today."

11/21/2024

Check out The Rainbow Room's feature on storytelling singer-songwriter, and drag queen, Flamy Grant!

Sponsored by Jennifer Knapp, Inside Out Faith, and LR Baggs the Rainbow Room at Folk Alliance International covers the costs of the room so LGBTQIA+ artists are free to showcase their talents, creativity, and artistic journeys without financial barriers.

Support the cause and donate by Venmo to or go online to https://insideoutfaith.org/donate/

11/21/2024

Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present a triple bill of contemporary folk singer/songwriters - featuring TRO's very own Sam Robbins!

Friday, November 29 @ 7:30 pm
Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, Putney
$20 in advance / $25 at the door / $10 livestream
Tickets & more info at https://www.nextstagearts.org/

11/20/2024

Your favorite Christmas duo, HalleyNeal and Sam Robbins are going on another tour! The pair will be playing songs from their holiday duets album "You & Me on Christmas Eve" and other favorites, you won't want to miss it!

Visit https://samrobbinsmusic.com/ for more information!

Want to get ready to sing along? Check out their album here: https://open.spotify.com/album/2sM3wJCGWbmCdR84WYubwS?si=Gf_k5gNWT7KqOuuGOVpIRA

11/19/2024

Sam Louis’ feature is up on SPIN!

Sam Louis channels his Y2K youth on ‘8 Ball.’ Click the link below to read more about the Canadian alt-pop singer-songwriter’s debut album!

“I studied and listened to Meteora a lot down there, that one album helped me the most when I needed lyric inspiration. It was so powerful to hear what can be buried within melody.”

Toronto singer-songwriter Sam Louis’s first proper studio album, 8 Ball, is comprised of eight songs of eclectic alt-pop. The album title, however, also

11/19/2024

TRO is proud to announce our presence at the 2024 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference in Portland, ME, November 21-24. The Northeast Regional Folk Alliance or "NERFA" is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (FAI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening and protecting the global folk music community.

TRO's own writers are scheduled to perform at NERFA, including Americana singer/songwriter Dan Zlotnick, and "old soul singer-songwriter" Sam Robbins! Look for the TRO team at various showcases, panels, workshops, and more, see you there!

11/18/2024

The Alfred Burt Family Christmas Card for 2024 "Caroling, Caroling" is available for purchase now! Click below to learn more!

https://www.varietyartists.com/alfred_burt_2024_card-Caroling.htm

Musical Christmas Card "CAROLING, CAROLING" BY THE CAROLING COMPANY A Limited quantity available *Play Card Audio* $8.95 per card (plus $2.50 S&H) $11.45

11/11/2024

Here’s to one month of ’s “CHURCH”! Scroll to take a look back at some of our favorite “CHURCH” moments over the past month, and if you haven’t already click the link in bio to stream/buy!

11/11/2024

It has been one month since the release of Flamy Grant's new album "CHURCH"! If you haven't checked it out yet, Flamy Grant's "CHURCH" offers an in-depth look into her upbringing, and coming out, all behind the lens of healing gay religious trauma.

Flamy Grant is a powerhouse vocalist and award-winning songwriter who blends her folk, gospel, and southern roots, to immerse audiences in a theatrical, therapeutic, and wholly original storytelling experience. All delivered through the evocative art of drag!

Click the link below to stream or look for it on your favorite streaming platform!

Presave CHURCH by Flamy Grant.

11/08/2024

Flamy Grant is going on a "Make the Yuletide Gay" holiday tour with Crys Matthews, Jennifer Knapp, Spencer LaJoye, and Heather Mae! Featuring a set of holiday favorites and originals, you won't want to miss it! Click below for more information!

https://www.flamygrant.com/shows