Who said the only thing to be found in an NYC subway are rats and questionable smells? The Subway Sets, which brings some of NYC’s best underground musicians up out of the muck and mire of the underground to the sprawling rooftops above the city, has launched an ambitious kickstarter for their initiative, and now, they’d like to capture and document the stories of the artists themselves. The contributions will be allocated toward securing a director, who has filmed the likes of Pharrell, Jay-Z, Elton John and Fall Out Boy.
Many of us have spent countless hours passing these musicians by, chucking whatever change we have into their open instrument cases, but now here’s a chance see more of how they ended up there and where they plan on going in the future. NY can be quite an unforgiving place, but these artists are some of the most resilient, and deserve a true chance to be heard. Personally, I’ve been lucky enough to catch Robert Leslie performing along the F line at the Second Avenue stop, covering a song by The Tallest Man on Earth, which is quite rare to hear. I exited the downtown platform, and ran around to the uptown platform just to find out who he was. I only had seconds to chat him up but he was so talented I was able to remember his name to seek him out when I got home. Similarly, Moon Hooch was another mainstay along the L line, who has since graduated to playing huge festivals and sold out venues across the city. Also, there’s Catey Shaw who I most recently saw during her performance at last year’s CMJ Music Marathon. These are only 3 of the artists who have since played for The Subway Sets, which is further proof of the caliber of artists that they employ.
For more information on The Subway Sets, visit their website and take a look at their kickstarter. Be sure to spread the word.
Article by: Lesley Keller
