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| Source: ThisModernWorld.Com |
Former writer and current Brooklyn resident (*and musician) Brian LaRue had this to say about it:
"Just to clarify things (and I’m sorry, but this is probably going to seem pretty complicated until it becomes clear), there are some people who will probably say the Advocate, the Advocate and the Weekly aren’t going anywhere. Those three papers — collectively, the New Mass. Media Group — are owned by the Hartford Courant, Hartford’s daily and paper of record (which is in turn owned by the long-flagging media giant the Tribune Corp.). The Courant has, for many years, published a weekly pull-out arts and lifestyle supplement called Cal. The New Mass. Media papers and Cal will henceforth be combined into one publication, to be called CTNow. This name reflects the longstanding domain CTNow.com, which had previously existed as a Courant-owned, web-only entertainment publication. New Mass. Media editorial staffers will hold onto their jobs — they’ll just be folded in under the CTNow umbrella. There will be some kind of paper in the old Advocate/Weekly boxes. It’ll just have a different name." - Brian LaRue, ItsBrianLaRue.WordPress.Com
I really suggest reading Brian's entire article. At this point, Nhv.Org advocates finding a new source of information about local music and events. It's evident that for years, the New Haven Advocate has been producing less and less content about New Haven, and more content about national trends. There is a whole world of music and art being produced in New Haven, including locally made videos and a wealth of albums and content that at times is so abundant that it's difficult to keep up with. There is no shortage of great content even from only this week, including Dooley-O's Back to Basics music video (filmed in France; you can dance to his DJ night at Rudy's on Chapel and Howe every Saturday Night), or the talented singer-songwriter Kyle Flynn, not to mention the latest GoodNight Blue Moon video produced by Jimi Patterson, also featured this week on the Arts Council website.
The site has also produced interviews with homegrown groups like The Stepkids (here they are in Hartford at RealArtWays playing a concert, with footage of their performance at Bonnaroo earlier in the summer), and up-and-coming artists such as Juszsmoove. It also features video of local artists like a weekend Graffiti Jam at the Hi-Cru mural wall on Water Street, including a car with turntables.
Graffiti Jam With Mobile Sound System from #NHV Music Scene on Vimeo.
Over the past 2 years TownOfNewHaven.Org has been logging in nearly every music video that it can find, as well as embedding albums from local musician's bandcamp sites, and doing so in such a way that it's browsable by time period, band or artist name, or type of content. There's a mobile version available, as well. Local venues and promoters have been encouraged to access the public calendar system via Google Calendar, and with some limited success, people have posted events to it. It even has its own Vimeo Channel (Vimeo.com/musicscene). All without a budget.
Here is a look at the progression of TownOfNewHaven, better known as The Townie Blog:
Facts about TownOfNewHaven.Org
- Officially started in 2004, it started as a role-playing game where you are a skateboarding reporter. It documented skateboarding and music, and featured short video clips, prior to the existence of YouTube, which began in '05.
- The site went on hiatus from 2007 to 2010 when its founder (me, basically) worked at a highly demanding job. In 2010, the job ended and the site returned, using predominantly the content management system known as Blogger.
- By 2010, the internet had changed dramatically since 2007. The new modus operandi for the website was to copy and paste as much locally produced content as possible, with the sole effort or goal to promote the Local Music Scene as a whole entity, without hindering content or editorializing to a great extent.
- By the numbers, 44 people like it on Facebook, it got less than 300 views this week, yet it continues to host more locally produced content than any other site that I know about.
- The name itself is derived from Jim Morrison's mention of New Haven in his song Peace Frog, in reference to his dislike for the place, after being arrested on stage in 1967.
Give it a try sometime. Maybe even consider requesting writer's permissions or calendar access.
