Articles

Still Woozy_2025 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn

Still Woozy Love Seat Tour BRIC Arts Media Benefit Concert

BRIC Schedules Third Benefit Concert for Celebrate Brooklyn!

March 3, 2025 by David K. Moseder

There are still three-plus months before the official start of the long-running Celebrate Brooklyn! Music festival, but BRIC is already generating buzz for the summer... read article

Eric Stern/photo by Hoyeon Choi/ courtesy of the artist

Eric Stern Leaning in Brooklyn photo by Hoyeon Choi / courtesy of the artist

Eric Stern: Brooklyn Born, Jazz Driven

February 8, 2025 by Michela Arlia

Brooklyn has long been home to innovative artists, and pianist-composer Eric Stern is no exception. Born and raised in the borough, Stern’s sound is a... read article

BAM Free Music Series courtesy of BAM

BAM Launches Free Music Series

January 25, 2025 by David K. Moseder

Live music returned to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) this January with the launch of the BAM Free Music series on select Thursday evenings... read article

Diana Ross Ross performing in 2022 photo by Raph _PH

Brooklyn Beats of 2025: What to Expect in the New Year

December 27, 2024 by Michela Arlia

Brooklyn’s iconic live music venues are gearing up for an exciting 2025, featuring legendary artists, rising stars, and immersive music experiences across genres. Kings Theatre... read article

Ricky Stein/ photo courtesy of the artist

Ricky Stein On The Street in Brooklyn photo courtesy of the artist

Ricky Stein: Texas Roots in Brooklyn

December 22, 2024 by Giulia Arlia

If you’re looking for music inspired by New York City with a Texan flare, look no further than Ricky Stein, a Brooklyn-based artist originally from... read article

Collage

BROOKLYN ARTSTS PRODUCE A BUMPER CROP OF NEW MUSIC

December 8, 2024 by David K. Moseder

This autumn has produced a bountiful harvest of new music from Brooklyn artists, including several who have been previously featured in Brooklyn Roads. Here is... read article

Jesse Malin On Stage photo by Kyra Kverno

Jesse Malin Shares The Love

December 7, 2024 by Kyra Kverno

Contributing Photographer Kyra Kverno shares some of her images from the Jesse Malin Benefit shows at The Beacon Theatre in New York City on December... read article

Celebrating the Brooklyn Museum’s 200th Birthday!

November 15, 2024 by Udo Salters

Editors Note: Photographer Udo Salters shares some of his images and obervations from the Brooklyn Museum’s 200th Birthday Bash : The Brooklyn Museum, a cultural... read article

Rhiannon Giddens photo by Ebru Yildiz

BAM’s Next Wave Festival Moves Forward

November 11, 2024 by B.L. Howard

Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival gives both well-known visionaries and trailblazing rebels an opportunity to unleash their groundbreaking creativity to the world. In... read article

David Amram and Willie Nelson at Farm Aid Concert in NYC photo by Ebet Roberts

BROOKLYN FOLK FEST SET FOR NOV. 8-10

November 1, 2024 by David K. Moseder

The annual Brooklyn Folk Festival is set for Nov. 8-10 at St. Ann’s Church on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. Presented by the Jalopy Theater,... read article

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Artists on our Radar

Brayden Baird Is Asking the Big Questions – And Making You Laugh Through the Pain

Brayden Baird -photo courtesy of Mix-Tape Media

After decades of producing and releasing music under various aliases, Brooklyn’s own Brayden Baird is stepping into the spotlight with his most raw and refined work yet. Backed by the Once in a Lifetime Band, Baird’s upcoming LP Lord, why do you do these things to me? is a heartfelt and even satirical exploration of grief, identity, and faith that refuses to follow conventional sounds before its time. Across the ten-track album, Baird weaves catchy humor with emotional vulnerability, building a soundscape that feels intimate and extravagant all at once. His lyrics are clever without being cynical and full of sincerity; this delicate balance places him alongside emerging alt-folk figures like Cameron Winter and Nate Amos. The album kicks off with its title track, a sharp, stomping folk-rock number that wrestles with clever anecdotes and the chaos of unanswered prayers. From there, the songs unravel like chapters in a personal essay. The blending of stories of loss, family, addiction, and self-discovery comes about in just about every track. “Light in the Tunnel” turns a daily subway ride into an anthem of personal awakening. At the same time, “When Will the Sun Rise Again?” delivers a haunting, piano-led meditation on mourning and artistic authenticity. Other tracks showcase Baird’s gift for finding light in unlikely places. “Blue for the Body” is a lively reflection on coping mechanisms based on Gatorade flavors, which Baird says “is intended as a fun jam that people can sing and play along to and make light of the weight of addictions.”. “Pelican” draws on childhood lore amid his father’s mythical stories that untangle complex family bonds. With the accompanying music video for this track, Baird draws on whimsical elements of his father’s storytelling, saying, “In life, it is so easy to hate somebody based on the things they’ve done and so hard to forgive. After all, we are just working with the things we’ve got.” One of the album’s most affecting moments, which comes halfway through “It Kills Me to See You Sick,” channels rage and helplessness into a hushed piano ballad that’s both deeply personal and widely relatable, with Baird recounting the pain and sadness behind the song’s creation as his mom was diagnosed with Cancer as other family members were simultaneously hospitalized. On the last track of the album, “When You Were Castrated,” Baird confronts mortality and estrangement with brutal honesty about his father’s passing, delivering a final note that is at once heartbreaking and cathartic. Baird’s musical world is one of contradictions: funny and tragic, sarcastic and sincere, spiritual and grounded. With Lord, why do you do these things to me?* he’s created an album that doesn’t just tell stories but invites listeners to sit with them, question them, and sing along anyway. Catch Brayden Baird and the Once in a Lifetime Band at their album release show at The Rabbit Hole in Brooklyn on June 26 and stream the whole record on June 20.

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