Beirut Jam Sessions is a Lebanese concert promoter, booker, music management agency and media company founded in 2012 by Anthony Semaan, Jessica Naime, Talia Souki and Roy Jamhouri in Beirut, Lebanon. [1] The organization plays a central role in developing and defining the Lebanese alternative music scene, [2] namely by organizing filmed jam sessions between the more established international acts they book and the local Lebanese acts who they arrange to open for them at concerts. [3]
As concert promoters, Beirut Jam Sessions have worked with a wide range of alternative music acts from around the world, including Pony Pony Run Run, The Royal Concept, Thomas Azier, Mike Dawes, We Were Evergreen and Son of Dave.[ citation needed ]
Beirut Jam Sessions has also managed the Lebanese folk act Postcards.[ citation needed ]
One of Beirut Jam Sessions main ways of creating an audience for Lebanese artists is through the production of high-quality music videos on its YouTube channel. In February 2020, there were 94 original videos on the channel, with over three million views. [4] The videos are meant to be in "raw conditions, completely unplugged, in a random location in the country". [5]
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Police, he played drums with English rock band Curved Air from 1975 to 1976. As a composer, his work includes the films Wall Street (1987), Men at Work (1990), Good Burger (1997), and We Are Your Friends (2015); the television shows The Equalizer (1985–1989), The Amanda Show (1999–2002), and Dead Like Me (2003–2004); and video games such as the Spyro series (1998–present) and Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (2001). He has also written various pieces of ballet, opera, and orchestral music.
Frederick Jay Rubin is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records.
The music of Lebanon has a long history. Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, has long been known, especially in a period immediately following World War II, for its art and intellectualism. Several singers emerged in this period, among the most famous Fairuz, Sabah, Wadih El Safi, Nasri Shamseddine, Melhem Barakat, Majida El Roumi, Ahmad Kaabour, Marcel Khalife, and Ziad Rahbani, who—in addition to being an engaged singer-songwriter and music composer—was also a popular playwright. Lydia Canaan was hailed by the media as the first rock star of the Middle East.
Haifa Wehbe is a Lebanese singer and actress. She is considered one of Lebanon's most famous and successful singers, and one of the best-known artists in the Arab world.
"El Scorcho" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It is the first single from the band's second album, Pinkerton, released in 1996. The music video features the band playing in an old ballroom in Los Angeles, surrounded by light fixtures of diverse origin, flashing in time to the music. The name of the song supposedly came from a packet of hot sauce from Del Taco, labeled "Del Scorcho".
Najwa Karam is a Lebanese multi-platinum singer-songwriter, producer, fashion icon, and TV personality. Nicknamed Shams el-Ghinnieh, Karam is noted for her powerful Mawwal-skilled vocals. She has gained an international audience due to her distinct blend of traditional Lebanese music and contemporary sounds which has contributed to the spread of the Lebanese dialect in Arabic Music. Having sold tens of millions of records, Najwa Karam is the best selling recording Arabic language singers. She has sold over 60 million records worldwide, and she became the highest selling artist in 1999, 2008, and 2011. In 2023, Karam boasts a social media following of nearly 40 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and X. Karam was mentioned on Forbes 50 Over 50: Europe, Middle East and Africa 2023. She continues to frequently perform throughout the Arab world and internationally.
Alesana is an American post-hardcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The group was founded by Shawn Milke, Dennis Lee, Patrick Thompson, Steven Tomany and Daniel Magnuson during the fall of 2004, and is currently signed to Revival Recordings and Artery Recordings. In total, Alesana has released five full-length studio albums and three EPs.
Erin Elizabeth McCarley is an alternative music singer-songwriter. McCarley attended college at Baylor University, and is now based in Nashville, Tennessee. She has been compared to Sara Bareilles, Regina Spektor, and Sheryl Crow. Erin released her follow-up to 2009's Love, Save the Empty on August 28, 2012, titled My Stadium Electric.
Lydia Canaan is a Lebanese singer-songwriter, poet, humanitarian activist, and diplomat. She is noted for her four-octave vocal range, distinctive vocal stylings, and for being the first Lebanese artist in music history to achieve global success. Widely regarded as the first "rock star" of the Middle East, she is cataloged in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Library and Archives.
Neon Trees are an American rock band from Provo, Utah. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the band the Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records. Their first single, "Animal", climbed to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart.
Mashrou' Leila was a Lebanese four-member indie rock band. The band formed in Beirut, Lebanon in 2008 as a music workshop at the American University of Beirut.
Knuckleheads is a music venue in Kansas City, Missouri. The facility is a complex of four stages: a large outdoor stage with a converted caboose to one side as a VIP seating area; an indoor stage; a large indoor stage known as Knuckleheads Garage and a lounge, the "Gospel Lounge" for Wednesday-evening blues-oriented church services. Live music can be presented on all four stages at once. The venue presents live music Wednesday through Sunday, with occasional Tuesday concerts.
Elissar Zakaria Khoury, commonly known as Elissa, is a Lebanese singer, actress, television personality and businesswoman. Known for her romantic musical style and emotive vocal performances, she has been dubbed as the "Queen of Emotions" by fans and journalists alike. Her musical career began in 1992 when she was featured in the Lebanese talent show Studio El Fan; later being awarded the silver medal. In 1998, she released her debut studio album Baddy Doub through EMI Music Arabia. While the album was a success, the titular song’s music video initially received criticism for its racy content. Her second album W'akherta Maak (2000) featured the single "Betghib Betrouh", a duet with Ragheb Alama which achieved commercial success and won accolades.
"Battle in Me" is a song from rock band Garbage's fifth studio album Not Your Kind of People. It was released as the lead single to promote the album in United Kingdom. "Battle in Me" preceded the band's underplayed headliner concert in London, and served as the band's Record Store Day 2012 release in Europe.
Craig Gene Benzine is an American video producer, musician, and vlogger better known by his YouTube channel name of WheezyWaiter. On July 15, 2020, his channel hit 1 million subscribers and has over 155 million total video views.
Who Killed Bruce Lee is an alternative Lebanese Rock band currently based in Germany. The band was formed in Lebanon in September 2009 and is made up of Wassim Bou Malham, Hassib Dergham, Pascal Sarkis and Malek Rizkallah.
JamBase is an online database and news portal of live music and festivals with a focus on jam bands. It was founded by Andy Gadiel and Ted Kartzman in 1998. The website primarily acts as a service, providing a public API that concert promoters and venues use to publish concert data to the site. The data is also used by third-party developers for other products. In addition to raw data, the website includes a news section publishing information about concerts in a blog format.
Coin is an American pop rock band formed in 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. It currently consists of Chase Lawrence, Ryan Winnen (drums), and Joe Memmel.
The Backyard Sessions are a series of music performances by American singer Miley Cyrus. The first sessions featured Cyrus performing cover versions of classic songs in an outdoor setting, and were released in 2012. Subsequent sessions have since been released in support of Cyrus' own projects, including the launch of her Happy Hippie Foundation in 2015 and the release of her albums Plastic Hearts (2020) and Endless Summer Vacation (2023).
Marwan Daou, better known as Maro, is a Lebanese singer-songwriter and YouTuber from Beirut. He started his musical career posting cover videos on his YouTube channel in 2015, and gained a following in 2018. In 2019, Maro caught the attention of tech-music label SNAFU Records, which led to him signing a deal as an original pop artist. Maro's debut single "Carsick" was produced by Carl Falk and Albin Nedler, and released in August 2020, followed by "Take It Back", released in January 2021.
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