free feral Pays Tribute to Medical Workers on the Frontlines of the Pandemic With A New Video Series

New Orleans-based 2019 Fellow free feral launched a project with their neighbors called “Letters from the Porch: New Orleans Serenades its Medical Community”.  They have been making videos of local musicians and poets performing short sets on their porches or on the sidewalk in front of their homes as a tribute to doctors, nurses, and hospital staff working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.  So far they have released 7 videos, including one with a performance from 2013 Fellow Aurora Nealand. free feral said that, thanks to “Letters from the Porch”, they are “paying some artists who need to get paid right now and offering the community a small window back into festival season and street music which many folks are missing.  Most of our shoots have drawn neighbors onto their porches and sidewalks to listen and dance.”   Watch free feral and Aurora Nealand’s performances below. For more […]

Watch a video for “Ka Se Zaljubile”, composed during OneBeat Balkans 201

“Ka Se Zaljubile” or “When They Fell in Love” is a traditional Macedonian song that tells the story of two young lovers. This piece emerged as a collaboration between Serbian vocalist Minela Bogdanovic, New Orleans-based bassist Martin Masakowski (who performs on his self-made contrabass with electronics), and rapper/poet Akinyemi from Queens. This video was shot and edited by Ora DeKornfeld using a decommissioned sauna and steam room in the Rugova mountains of Kosovo, during OneBeat Balkans 2019. OneBeat Balkans (2019) is an initiative of Exchange Programs – U.S. Department of State, produced by Bang On A Can’s Found Sound Nation and Balkan Art Zone, U.S. Embassy Pristina, Kosovo, U.S. Embassy-Tirana, U.S. Embassy Belgrade, and U.S. Embassy North Macedonia