{"id":16096,"date":"2019-02-14T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T10:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=16096"},"modified":"2019-02-14T08:01:54","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T13:01:54","slug":"john-the-martyr-up-from-the-subway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/14\/john-the-martyr-up-from-the-subway\/","title":{"rendered":"John the Martyr: Up From the Subway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contrast is a useful and popular device in music. Fast and slow, loud and quiet, simple and complex: creatively combined, the differences can make for some fascinating and memorable music. A group called John the Martyr takes this old idea in a new direction, combining musicians of different generations.<\/p>\n

The 10-piece group is a collective of young New Orleans musicians. But out front is soul-stirring 70-year-old Harlem vocalist Bill Hudson; rooted in tradition, John the Marytr makes music with a gospel feel, adding blues and jazz into the rich stew.<\/p>\n

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Hudson\u2019s experience as a singer spans many decades, but his latest break came while he was performing in the New York City Subway system with an a cappella group. As part of the MTA\u2019s Music Under New York program, Hudson entertained diverse crowds underground, on board the Staten Island Ferry, in Times Square and at Macy\u2019s. Hudson says that those experiences improved his skills. \u201cI learned how to \u2018read\u2019 or anticipate what the crowd wanted to hear, be it a ballad, up-tempo or whatever.\u201d He says that skill is critical: \u201cGrab their attention \u2026 then keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guitarist Kyle Ridley happened by one day and was impressed; the two struck up a conversation and then a friendship. They eventually formed John the Martyr. A single, \u201cFeeling Good,\u201d offers a taste of the group\u2019s alluring sounds; a self-titled debut album is due on vinyl for Record Store Day (April 13, 2019) and via digital in May.<\/p>\n

Childhood friends Ridley and drummer Dustin DiSalvo reunited in New York City after Ridley began working with Hudson. \u201cKyle and Dustin were working out of a shut-down church where they started recording the demos,\u201d Hudson says. That building\u2014formerly St. John the Martyr Church at 250 East 72nd<\/sup> Street in Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side\u2014provided the group with its name.<\/p>\n

Some advice from his grandfather many years ago set Hudson on the musical path he follows today. \u201cHe told me, \u2018You can fail at something that you don\u2019t<\/i> love, so you might as well take a shot at something you do<\/i> love.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And Hudson loves singing with John the Martyr. \u201cI\u2019m motivated by being around talented, creative people,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s rejuvenating to see the fruition of one\u2019s labor.\u201d The song \u201cFeeling Good\u201d was the first collaborative songwriting effort between him and Ridley. \u201cTo be part of a song\u2019s birth is very gratifying for me,\u201d he says. \u201cSo things like that keep you raring to go!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contrast is a useful and popular device in music. Fast and slow, loud and quiet, simple and complex: creatively combined, the differences can make for some fascinating and memorable music. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,69],"tags":[3722],"class_list":["post-16096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-new-release","category-soul","tag-john-the-martyr","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16098,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16096\/revisions\/16098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}