Photos from All Together Now #8 at the Thalia Theatre with artists Oompa (rap), Dev Blaire (poetry and movement), Saraswathi Jones (post-colonial pop), Muhammad Seven and Amanda Graff (songwriting and acrobatics), Jacqueline Ortega (jewelry/armor design). Photos by Reid Simpson of Here and There Photography.
Jaypix took the photos for All Together Now #6 on August 19, 2017 at the Burren in Somerville, MA. Below are photos of rapper REX MAC, comedian Lamont Price, tango dancers Tim Rabin and Darcy Hackley, and musicians Garrett Michaelson, and Tara and David Tresner-Kirsch.
First Frost performs for All Together Now #4 on April 29, 2017 at the Lily Pad at 9pm.
First Frost, a Boston-based indie rock four-piece, debuted in April of 2015 under the name Foliage. Drawing on elements of shoegaze and experimental rock, the band peppers noise and oddity into songs while maintaining an accessible sound. The band was conceived when compositional team Morgan Browne and Lauren Koppelman sought out like-minded musicians following an intense, week-long writing session in the both valiant and foolish hopes to complete an album before their birthdays. But First Frost became a reality after Morgan and Lauren met drummer Chris Mendoza and bass player Michael Kish. The duo brought energy, texture and melody to the rhythm section, arguably the defining element of their sound.
Artist Quotes
Me: What’s your favorite thing about the Boston art scene?
First Frost: Our friends. Since we started playing together as a band, we have met incredible people – bartenders, sound engineers, promoters and bookers, fellow musicians. It’s wonderful to be part of a like-minded community where if nothing else, we can bond over a shared love of music.
Me: What drives you to create?
First Frost: There’s something inside of us and we have to get it out. And if we don’t, it makes us sad, frustrated, anxious – however you want to call it, it’s not good. Creating something leads to catharsis.
Me: What do you want audience members to take away from the show?
First Frost: Clearly, we want our audience to have fun and we want to connect with them on some level. We exclusively play shows for other people. When we’re on stage, we focus on making the performance about the people in the room, and not about us. We want to be unassuming and we want people to reflect the message of our songs on themselves – hopefully discover something about themselves that they didn’t know before. Or, at least, to have a great night out with their friends.
Tashawn Taylor performs for All Together Now #4 on April 29, 2017 at the Lily Pad at 9pm.
Tashawn Taylor was born and raised in Cambridge MA, listening to various hip hop artists such as Rakim, LL cool J, Kanye West, Run DMC, and Nas. He grew up in an apartment as the middle child of four siblings. While everyone was practicing basketball with his father, Taylor was seeking out other interests from comic book writing to video game design. Around this time, Taylor went through many trials and tribulations that shaped his mindset and emotional stability, from money struggles to being bullied at school and at after school programs. This caused Taylor to develop constant anxiety in crowds, social interactions with peers, and develop a crippling emotional imbalance at a very young age.
At the age of 13, Taylor picked up the pen and decided to write his very first 16 bar verse. During his freshman year of high school, he released his debut song “For The Hell of It” under the rap alias TashawnGrey on Soundcloud. During that same year, Taylor released a mix-tape titled “starting from the top” that was only available on CD-ROM. In 2014, Taylor released another project titled “1Life” that consists of 5 songs that includes a remix to the song Pound Cake by Drake and Jay Z. After this release, Taylor attended a program called “The Hip Hop Transformation” through MSYEP (Mayors Summer Youth Employment Program).
The Hip Hop Transformation is a youth program that actively works with students and youth from ages 14-18 to educate them about the history of hip hop, as well as the different forms of hip hop. During the Education Process, they explore the talents of the participants with deejaying, rapping, singing, poetry, and beyond to prepare them for a showcase event towards the end of the summer. Tashawn, along with The Hip Hop Transformation composed, written, and recorded two albums together: The Transformation (released in 2014) and Say no Mas (released in 2015), which featured artists such as Flash from N.B.S, Latrell James, Fran-P, and many more.
Taylor is currently Co-Directing The Hip Hop Transformation and will be assisting the program with music inquiries and outreach events. Tashawn Taylor is currently working on his debut album under his own independent brand. He is also planning on exploring different sides of the entertainment world, such as storytelling, songwriting, and philosophy. With his contagious energy, technical wordplay, and youthful persona, Taylor is just about ready to share his art and his story to the world with confidence.
Artist Quotes
“I want people to understand me by the end of the performance.”
Didi Delgado performs for All Together Now #4 on April 29, 2017 at the Lily Pad at 9pm.
DiDi Delgado is a writer, activist, freelance journalist and poet. She is currently Head of Operations at S.O.U.P (The Society Of Urban Poetry) a collective of artists and musicians whose mission statement, is to help shed light on the diversity amongst creative individuals and groups across gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, faith, ability, age; and aims to bridge the gaps between these intersectionalities. She has facilitated writing workshops at the Haley House and the Dudley Café in Dudley Square. She has served on the leadership team for the ACLU’s BCPA Committee, the Boston Branch of the NAACP’s Young Adult Committee.
As an organizer with Black Lives Matter Cambridge, she is constantly on the front lines blazing pathways, creating channels and fostering connections in support of other activists. She is the recipient of the 2015 Jack Powers Stone Soup Savor award which is awarded annually to one poet that serves the Boston and Cambridge communities as a mentor while consistently providing distinguished contributions to the art of poetry. DiDi has participated in Michael Rothenberg’s 100,000 Poets for Change, adjudicated with Boston Poet Laureate and others for the 2015 Mayor’s Poetry and Prose program, performed for various venues such as: Boston Center for Arts, Boston City Hall, Emerson College performing under the direction of Akiba Abaka and Walter Mosley, Boston City Councilor At Large Ayanna Pressley’s Jump Into Peace initiative and co-curated an event for Illuminus during Hubweek 2015. Deeply passionate about both her local and global community; she believes that poetry and activism go hand in hand.
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