I’ve been a fan of Alyson Greenfield’s for over 5 years. In that time, I have seen her evolve as an artist and it has been an amazing thing to watch. She’s a multi-instrumentalist and she is constantly pushing boundaries and trying new things. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know her on a personal level as well as work with her on her project, Tinderbox, an annual music festival that benefits organizations whose mission is to help develop the next generation of female artists.
It seems only fitting that Alyson Greenfield be the one to kick off the Friday 5 feature.

What was the first concert you ever attended?

Tom Petty

If you could form a band with 3 other people in it, who would those 3 people be?

Peter Gabriel, Thom Yorke, Billy Corgan

What are you listening to lately?

Lady Sovereign, Sufjan Stevens, Bjork, Dizzee Rascal, MIA, Michael Franti, Foster The People, Zambri, Regina Spektor

What’s the song(s) you’re most proud of writing?

“Uncharted Places” (my next single!) and “Spirit Soul” (a 10 minute song with a string trio and drums that hasn’t been recorded yet).

Your music has what I would consider to be a lot of feminist themes. Do you write about these things intentionally?

I feel like I used to write a lot about these themes intentionally a few years ago. Lately I feel like my scope of inspiration is wider, and while I still have songs with feminist themes I don’t feel as if I’m quite as focused on them as I once was. I’m more inspired lately just by being a human in general.

Alyson is currently working on the video for her single Uncharted Places and recently released a video for her brilliant cover of LL Cool J’s song “Mama Said Knock You Out” as well as “Michael Cera C​*​ckblocked Me at SXSW”. Check them out below!

Find Alyson at alysongreenfield.com, Facebook, and YouTube.

I love covers and 2011 was a great year for covers. This episode features my favorite covers of the year. I also have posted some videos for some of these. Check those out here. Enjoy!
Adele- Lovesong (original by the Cure)
Ingrid Michaelson- Somebody That I Used to Know (original by Gotye and Kimbra)
Sunday Girl- Where Is My Mind (original by The Pixies)
Wye Oak- Strangers (original by The Kinks)
Birdy- Skinny Love ((original by Bon Iver)
Alyson Greenfield- Gangsta’s Paradise (original by Coolio)
Finding Jupiter- Till the World Ends (original by Britney Spears)
Dum Dum Girls- There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (original by The Smiths)
Karen O and Trent Reznor- Immigrant Song (original by Led Zepplin)

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Somebody That I Used To Know was covered by Ingrid Michaelson as part of her Army of Three project. The original was done by Gotye and Kimbra and is on the top of my favorite songs of 2011. Below is Ingrid’s version and Gotye’s.

I love covers that are by unexpected people or done in an unexpected way. Alyson Greenfield did a cover of Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise using only a glockenspiel.

Finding Jupiter covered Britney Spears using only a ukelele.

The original is a little different.

Everybody loves cover songs so here, for the 300th episode is another cover show.

Anya Parker-Lentz- Drops of Jupiter (original by Train)
Tegan and Sara- Rebel Rebel (original by David Bowie)
Ani DiFranco- When You Were Mine (original by Prince)
Florence + Machine- Postcards From Italy (original by Beirut)
Stac- Cry To Me (original by Solomon Burke)
Melanie Fiona- Cupid (original by Sam Cooke)
Alyson Greenfield- Mama Said Knock You Out (original by LL Cool J)
Karmin- Look At Me Now (original by Chris Brown)

Special Thanks to Ariel Publicity and Cyber PR

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Tinderbox is a music festival featuring female artists and female fronted bands that benefits Girls Write Now and the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls. The festival will be taking place on September 10th at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.

I was on the music submission committee with Shanda Boyett of Music Crush Girl and Koko Ntuen the editor-in-chief of Ladygunn. The lineup is a great mix of artists from singer-songwriter and indie rock to hip-hop.

This episode features some of the artists who will be rocking the stage.

Holly Miranda- Waves
Rebecca Jordan- Souvenir
Annie Fitzgerald- Hero
Sweet Soubrette- Tenderness
Sarah Aument- Gold
Wyatt- Leonah
WOJCIK- Smoke
Canyon- Aeroplanes + Astronauts
Xylos- X-Ray
Charlene Kaye- Different Colored Eyes
Alyson Greenfield- Gangsta’s Paradise
Kalae All Day- O.G.lyricalbookbagger
Eternia- The Half
EULA- Texas Stampede

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I like covers that are out of the norm. I think Alyson Greenfield covering Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise using only her voice and a glockenspiel is awesome. She’s done a lot of covers and you can find them all on her latest release “Rock Out With Your Glockenspiel Out” which features covers of
Bad Boys, All That She Wants , Milkshake , Mama Said Knock You Out and of course Gangsta’s Paradise.

It’s no secret I love covers and it’s no secret I love Alyson Greenfield. I think she is one of the most talented people I’ve ever known. She writes great originals and does great covers. This cover is from an EP coming out this summer called Rock Out With Your Glockenspiel Out which features covers by such artists as LL Cool J and Coolio. This particular cover of Gangsta’s Paradise is done on a glockenspiel. Yes, that’s right, a glockenspiel. Check it out!

Alyson Greenfield – GangstasSIS-MixC by heather-smith

This episode started out being about food and then kind of moved into being about drinks.

Chantal Kreviazuk- Green Apples
Tori Amos- That’s What I Like Mick (The Sandwich Song)
Alyson Greenfield- Milkshake
Sarah McLachlan- Ice Cream
Indigo Girls- Cold Beer and Remote Control
Maeve O’Boyle- Coffee
Kimi Hayes- Watered Down Whiskey
Sleater-Kinney- Milkshake ‘n Honey

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This turned into an electronica episode.

Robyn- Call Your Girlfriend
Alyson Greenfield- Cult Spell
Scanners- Salvation
Sophie Ellis Bextor- Party In My Head
Roisin Murphy- Momma’s Place
Ladytron- Ghosts
Nitty Scott- Work (grustlin)

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First episode of the New Year. Featured in this episode is Alyson Greenfield who spent some time on Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet tour as the teacher for Madonna’s trainer’s son. Glitz and Glamour is about her experience and how things aren’t always what they seem.

Mieka Pauley- All The Same Mistakes
Alyson Greenfield- Glitz and Glamour
Jane Lui- Goodnight Company
Rachel Sermanni- Eggshells
Laura Marling- What He Wrote
Kelli Schaefer- Carry Us Over
The Story- So Much Mine

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