Seasons Greetings, All.

*** Christmas & Holiday Themed Open Mic Parties!

Let's get festive! Bring your Ugly Sweaters, and/or jingle bells, whatever.

-Wed. Dec. 18th. at Ward 4, Newton, sign up 6:30pm, music 7-10pm

-Thurs. Dec. 19th. at KoC, Melrose. sign up 7pm, music 7:30-10:30pm

-Mon. Dec. 23rd at Porter Belly's, Brighton. sign up 7:15, music 8pm-12

*** New Year's Day Open Mic at Ward 4!!!

Celebrate the first of a new year with music. Come to Ward 4's open mic on Wed., Jan 1st. Sign up at 6:30pm, music 7-10pm.  Hope to see you there!

*** Thank you fellow musicians, 2024

It has been another year of joy hosting my open mics, meeting so many new musicians, and witnessing the talent continuing to grow with the mainstays. Plus all the chances to jam with different people!  Willie Nelson said it best... "The life I love is playing music with my friends"!  (I'll be playing Jan 1st brunch at Devlin's, 12-3pm, fyi)

~ Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays. ~ Tim

> MUSIC RELEASES

Artist: Tom Crea

Release: "York Beach" (single)

Tom is a familiar performer from Ward 4's open mic and more. Originally a drummer from Athens, GA, but now in Boston, he focusses on guitar playing and writing really nice songs in the Laurel Canyon vibe. Check it out!

\https://tomcrea.bandcamp.com/track/york-beach

> MUSIC BIZ

*** Conferences

This past November, I attended 2 music conferences... TAXI in L.A.CA, and NERFA in Portland, ME. Both were very interesting and inspiring, but also quite different from each other. Feel free to ask me about them sometime. The best part was being surrounded by other passionate musicians, much like being at an open mic!

***Local Music Resources

Help! We have a page on our site that lists local instrument shops, studios, etc and would love to add more. If you know of a place that should be listed here, please let us know by filling out the form at the bottom of this link. More here:

https://bostonlovesmusic.com/resources

> CONGRATULATIONS

***New England Music Awards Announced

WOW, check out the winners of the New England Music Awards! Quite a few from our open mic community, we'll mention below. Follow the link after that for more winners and details.

Album of the Year: Jennifer Tefft and the Strange Things, "Strange Beginnings"

Songwriter of the Year: Kai Wilson

Rising Star/Rhode Island: Jesse Humphrey

Producer of the Year: Sean McLaughlin / 37'Productions

https://nemusicawards.com/award-winners/2024-nema-winners/

***Boston Music Awards

I personally didn't notice any names from our open mic world, but congrats to all of these winners and those nominated. Check out the results here.

https://bostonmusicawards.com/bma/boston-music-awards-2024/

>UPCOMING SHOWS

If you're playing a gig or porchfest, let us know by filling out this form.

https://bostonlovesmusic.com/gig-submissions

> Book Club

Here's something a little corny, but fun. Since 2018, me and some fellas have participated in a somewhat monthly gathering to listen to music at Studio Bates. Each month, a member picks an album to listen to, and afterwards, we take turns choosing individual songs. The people attending have a variety of tastes and styles and there's always some new music being discovered. Bates took the time to put a fairly accurate song list history together that you can peruse, if you're so inclined.

https://shorturl.at/Tnz96

> OPEN MICs, (Hosted by TIMKO)

*** Mondays at 7:30pm

at Porter Belly's Pub, 338 Washington St., Brighton, MA 02135

*** Wednesdays at 6:30pm

at Ward 4, 277 Auburn St, Newton, MA 02466

*** Thursdays at 7:00pm

at KofC (Knights of Columbus) 23 W. Foster St., Melrose, Hosted by TIMKO (3rd & 5th), Mark T (1st) ., Johnny O.(2nd & 4th)

More info at: www.BostonLovesMusic.com

***Author unknown: Listening to music is one of the few activities that involve the use of all parts of our brain.

PS I'm working on my new website. Any feedback is welcome. www.TIMKOmusic.com