Members are affiliated with 12 different chapters nationwide. While there’s been a visible uptick in Boston membership in recent years — community staples like Oompa, DJ WhySham, and Dutch ReBelle have been invited to join — there is no Boston chapter. Instead, New Englanders are welcomed into the New York contingent.
Which is why it’s major that a Boston creator is one of 14 track professionals selected to participate in the Recording Academy’s new initiative, The Sound Board. Red Shaydez, a Boston emcee and Recording Academy member since 2022, is part of this rotating cohort of artists and visual storytellers who will work to “elevate the voices of our 23,000-plus members,” per John Loken, EVP of marketing at the Recording Academy. The initiative has been in the works since February, and was announced earlier this month.
Despite its name — a play on the soundboards found in recording studios — The Sound Board isn’t an elected body. Rather, these 14 members will use the Recording Academy’s social media platforms (and their own) to offer a two-pronged spike in visibility: their posts will offer a deeper perspective on the Recording Academy’s work via behind-the-scenes content, as well as a nuanced look at members’ experiences within their creative communities.
“Through their storytelling, the initiative spotlights the Recording Academy’s year-round impact beyond the Grammys—advocating for legislation like the HITS Act, helping artists navigate the emerging world of AI, partnering with the Grammy Museum on educational initiatives, and much more,” says Loken.
Red Shaydez’s contributions could range from her experiences as part of track Advocacy Day — which pairs members with local Congresspeople to discuss legislation regarding the arts — to boots-on-the-ground coverage of the national-level track events happening around Boston.
Looking to the immediate future, she plans to highlight next weekend’s Mass track and Arts Summit in the Seaport, which will feature representatives from major companies like Warner Records, Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation, and the streaming platform Audiomack. Another strong contender for a feature, she says, is the annual Boston Art & track Soul (BAMS) Festival, which attracts national headliners every summer with a carefully-curated lineup of promising Boston artists.
“We might be a stop on people’s tours, but nobody’s really looking in with a magnifying glass to see what we have going on here,” Shaydez says, referring to a lack of national attention on Boston’s track scene.
Some of that disconnect stems from Boston not being perceived as a major track city that’s on par with New York City, Los Angeles, and Nashville. In other cases, content gets crushed by social media algorithms, making it harder to spread the word about high-level Boston events and local artists’ accomplishments.
Case in point: the Recording Academy’s CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., was born in Boston, although you wouldn’t know unless you took a stroll across his Wikipedia page.
“Even when you share good news, that doesn’t mean everybody in the region or the state is going to see that,” she adds. “That’s why it’s important for us to get coverage and for people to push this information forward.”
“To say that I had a hand in changing the narrative of the Boston track scene . . . that, to me, is what it’s all about,” she concludes.
GIG GUIDE
Good luck to everyone who’s placed a bet on whether or not Saturday’s Morrissey show at MGM track Hall at Fenway will be cancelled. The former frontman of the Smiths has a penchant for backing out of shows – including in Boston — to the point that there’s a website chronicling over 380 dates that have been cancelled, postponed, or shortened.
Also at the Lansdowne Street track hall, Elvis Costello & The Imposters swing by with jangle-pop (and guitarist Charlie Sexton) in tow on Monday, followed by a visit from Queens rapper Lil Tecca on Wednesday.
Country fans have ample A-list shows to keep up with this week; Eric Church brings a touch of twang to TD Garden on Friday with his new album “Evangeline vs. The Machine,” while Boston country favorites Dalton & the Sheriffs headline Leader Bank Pavilion on Saturday.
Thursday presents a tough call, as Tyler Childers heads to the Xfinity Center, while Toronto veterans Cowboy Junkies toast their 40th anniversary as a group at the Boch Center’s Shubert Theatre.
Other highlights from both venues include TD Garden appearances from folk-rock group Mt. Joy — whose biggest banger traces back to Northeastern University’s Green Line Records — on Saturday and billions-streamed pop singer Shawn Mendes on Thursday. The undiluted reggae of Ziggy Marley & Burning Spear also heats up the final weeks of programming at Leader Bank Pavilion on Thursday.
At Roadrunner on Friday, MTV Video track Award viewers (and Aerosmith fans) will recognize YUNGBLUD from his Ozzy Osbourne tribute alongside Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Also on deck at the venue: Canadian DJ Dabin (Saturday), the other Welsh wonder, pop singer MARINA (Sunday), and cheeky alt-rock outfit The Beaches (Wednesday), who were a highlight of our fall arts preview.
And a final trio of highlights from this particular hodgepodge of shows: dreamy Londoners Wolf Alice at the House of Blues on Saturday, toting their new album “The Clearing”; pop-soul singer (and Berklee Summer Gospel Choir collaborator) MAJOR. at City Winery on Sunday; and buzzy Brits Maruja at the Sinclair on Monday, who just released their debut LP “Pain To Power.”
today SPINNING
Ivy Boy, “‘80s Babies.” Boston singer-songwriter Perry Eaton – whom you might recognize from the memorably-titled local rock band Beeef – continues a streak of solo singles with “‘80 Babies.” On his new release as Ivy Boy, Eaton presents swells of alt-rock wrapped in a country fringe.
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, “Buckingham Nicks.” There’s nothing “new” here, per se, but that fact didn’t stop the internet from unleashing a landslide of excitement over this reissue of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks’ first (and only) album as a duo. Keep an eye out for the remastered edition of 1973’s “Buckingham Nicks” on vinyl – select versions come with two replica 7-inch singles.
The Urban Renewal Project, “Money (feat. Oh No).” It takes a lot of alignment to make a dozen-plus musicians sound this smooth. The Urban Renewal Project streamline their 16-member collective into overlapping pools of soul, hip-hop and jazz on the new single “Money,” a slice of commentary so suave that it doubles as entrance track.
BONUS TRACK
Hop to it: Bad Bunny fans who didn’t get the chance to see his concert residency in Puerto Rico can livestream the series’ final show live on tienda online track, Prime Video, and Twitch this Saturday. This event caps off the Puerto Rican star’s 31-date extravaganza in San Juan, which boosted the island’s economy by approximately $200 million.
Victoria Wasylak can be reached at vmwasylak@gmail.com. Follow her on Bluesky @VickiWasylak.bsky.social.
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