Music Church
The Boom Room Music Church
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The Boom Room Music Church Project is a free and open collaborative songwriting workshop held at The Boom Room, a recording studio in Philadelphia. Since October 2011, Music Church has invited a dedicated community of vocalists and instrumentalists to join in a long-term songwriting and production process where spontaneous improvisations (“jam sessions”) are later arranged to become studio quality records to be released and distributed internationally via Fishtown Records.
This is a free opportunity for emerging musicians to meet and develop their ideas while connecting with their community. The goal is to create fresh musical ideas while developing listening and communication skills among a diverse community of musicians. For each new song that is created through the workshop, the participating musicians collectively share in their deserved copyrights and publishing royalties for these songs created through this experimental project. During many of the live improv sessions, Music Church also often hosts a community of aerial acrobats who gracefully perform above the band on aerial silks suspended from the ceiling of The Boom Room Studio. Listen to the before and after of each song below to hear the song idea transform from a loose improvisation among friends and strangers, into a finished, workshopped studio song.
Music Church in the news!!!
Check out this awesome article in The Philly Inquirer from Brion Shreffler
OFFICIAL RELEASES
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All In My Head
Release #004
Veteran vocalist Jaguar Wright was first introduced to The Boom Room Music Church Songwriting Project in early 2012. “All in My Head” is the very first song concept that she sang to the workshop when she first walked in the studio that night. Riding on the high from writing and workshopping this song successfully, a new band, “The We”, was formed with Church members and fronted by Jaguar (credited for her work with The Roots, Al Green, Jay-Z Unplugged, and a roster of critically acclaimed solo releases). Although the band parted ways after only a few performances, this rock and soul gem is a keepsake from a storied moment in time. On stage during The We ft Jaguar Wright’s final performance at The Blockley in Philadelphia, Jag told the audience at the end of this song, “That was the first song this band ever wrote together….We met one night at Boom Room Studios in Fishtown…and I heard that groove playing and I walked to the mic and every lyric that you just heard me sing I made it up off the top of my head and THAT’S WHO THE FUCK I AM…THAT’S WHAT I DO.”
Jaguar Wright (vocals), Mitch Beer (bass), Erik Berta (guitar), Stephen Honsberger (keys) Gary Dann (drums/engineering) *Original improvisation also included Butch “OddKidOut” Serianni (drums), Mike Tyler (guitar), Paulette Branson (guitar), Julian Hinson (backing vocals) **Mixed by Micah Forsyth
All In My Head (Original Improvisation April, 2012)
All In My Head (Official Release)
Gotta Believe It
Release #003
Winner of a 2015 NAFCA Award (aka the ‘African Oscars’) for Best Original Score, “Gotta Believe It” is an anthem dedicated to trust and triumph. The song, which was written and recorded through The Boom Room Music Church’s improvisational songwriting workshop, was featured in the movie “Transition”, starring singer/actor David M Raine, who is also a Music Church member and co-writer/lead singer of the song.
Music Church members that participated on “Gotta Believe It” received the opportunity to appear in the concert scene shown here in the film’s trailer.
David M Raine (vocals), Ayumi Perry (backing vocals), Julian Hinson (bass), Erik Berta (guitar), Rob Gibbs (keys), Gary Dann (drums/engineering/mixing) *Original improvisation also included an unidentified additional guitar player
Gotta Believe It (Original Improvisation March 24, 2013
Gotta Believe It ft David M Raine (Official Release)
Take This Hammer
Release #002
“Take This Hammer” is a modern day adaptation of the American prison, logging, and railwork song with the same name having roots dating back to 1915 and more famously recorded by legendary musician Lead Belly in 1940. Singer Joshua Lee Mallory and rapper Ai-Que embody the original intent and soul of this folk traditional’s ‘take this job and shove it’ attitude while the Music Church’s instrumentalists provide the head nodding blues based track, virtually turning themselves into a chain gang enslaved by the modern day trappings of money, technology, and inequality.
Joshua Lee Mallory (Vocals), Kevin Ai-Que Smith (Vocals), Julian Hinson (Bass), Mark Sulik (Keys), Rob Gibbs (Guitars), Josh Kodroff (Guitars), Gary Dann (Drums/Engineering/Mixing) *Original improvisation also included Didi Brave Deir Littlejohn (backing vocals)
Take This Hammer (Original Improvisation March 31, 2013)
Take This Hammer ft Joshua Lee Mallory and Ai-Que (Official Release)
Gimme Gimme
Release #001
“Gimme Gimme” featuring Alexis Simmons is the first official single to be written, arranged, and produced entirely through The Sunday Music Church Project; an improvising, writing, and recording workshop held at The Boom Room studio in Philadelphia. This recording is a studio re-creation of the original song concept from the November 4th, 2012 installment of The Sunday Music Church. You can listen to both versions below.
Alexis Simmons (Lead Vocals), Julian Hinson (Bass), Ryan Aloisi (Keys), Rob Gibbs (Guitars), Dan Keller (Saxophone), Gary Dann (Drums/Engineering)/Mixing) *All players from the original improvisation are on the released song