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617Sessions unveils ‘Sound of Our Town’ compilation of Boston music

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Studio 52 is a community artist space located in the heart of Allston, and is proud to support the Boston music scene and local artist community.


Here’s something that pairs with well with the just-announced 2018 Boston Music Awards nominations: A compilation of 10 never-before-heard tracks from some of your favorite Boston artists, available to stream today (September 21).

617Sessions has shared a digital album of music from a handful of area artists, now available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music or download via iTunes. The record, titled Sound Of Our Town 2018 was recorded over the past six months in partnership with The Bridge Sound and Stage, where each musician was given a complimentary day of recording time to work on a new track.

While Redefined launched 617Sessions last year, 2018 marks the first year that a digital compilation of the artists involved is available to the public.

“We’re looking at this as a long term music series/project that not only benefits local artists, but also gives the city of Boston something cool to look back on,” says Boston Music Awards owner Paul Armstrong, who is also the co-owner and publisher of Vanyaland. “It’s our attempt to ‘catch’ the very diverse sound of our town year after year. We’d love nothing more than in 10 years time to look back and realize we ‘caught’ the next big thing in Boston music in their early days.”

The artists for the free recording sessions were selected by Redefined via an application process, and will be able to keep 100 percent of the rights to their new tracks. “When Converse Rubber Tracks shifted their focus, we saw this absence as an opportunity to launch a ‘free studio series’ for local artists,” adds Redefined’s Laurie Dowd. “We wanted to eliminate any financial barrier artists may face in the recording process, allowing them to focus on doing what they do best.”

Many of the artists have appeared in Vanyaland before (like Oompa and Paper Citizen), while others also nabbed additional BMA noms this year (like Ali McGuirk and Jonny Glenn).

On top of the record release, each of the artists on the comp is up for “617Session Artist of the Year” at the Boston Music Awards, and will be on the 2018 BMA ballot. The winning artist will perform at the BMAs at the House of Blues on December 12.

Get familiar with the record below so you can prep for casting your BMA vote, which you can do until November 4.