Welcome to HudsonSounds!

Having covered the local classical music scene for the Times Union since 2002, I knew there was a lot going on around here in the arts, and especially classical music. But putting together HudsonSounds has illustrated that to me in a new way.

We’ve got a batch of top notch venues, a selection of performing groups at the professional, community and student levels and several series that bring in major touring artists. There are also lots of composers living in the area plus a few highly productive record labels. And that’s just during the normal season. Come summer, things get even more active.  From any way you look at it, that’s a lot for any music lover to keep track of!

Now there’s one source to find it all (or at least most of it).  Right here at HudsonSounds!

Newspapers will always have a soft (and inky) spot in my heart and I’m certainly continuing to write for the T.U. But even before the print media began to contract, space in print was tight. Calendars, in particular, are something that’s almost disappeared from print media.  Even when newspapers run them, event listings seldom extend more than a week into the future.  At HudsonSounds we’re doing our best to have several months of concert listings available to you all the time, and searchable in lots of different ways. So plan ahead and reserve the best seats early.

Critiques of recent and upcoming events, the latest news and gossip, and discussion of trends and ideas.  These are also things I also hope HudsonSounds will provide.  I certainly value my little bully pulpit as a critic for the T.U., but I’ve never meant my views and perspectives to be definitive.  And so I’m excited to have gathered an eager group of smart and prominent folks from the local scene to serve as bloggers who’ll chime in with what’s on their minds and in their ears.  I’m giving them full reign to talk about local or national events, or just how their garden is doing. There’s room for your responses as well, so join the dialogue!

Record stores are another thing that’s almost disappeared from our cultural landscape – though new CDs keeping getting released, especially from small labels.  Having toiled away as a record producer for a major chunk of my career, I’m not willing to let go of the physical recording medium just yet.  That’s why we’ll try to keep the record store at HudsonSounds fresh with new and worthwhile titles, especially material from local artists and repertoire that relates to events coming up in live performance.

Buying a CD or two now and then through this site is a way you can help underwrite HudsonSounds. Your support through purchasing ads is also needed.

The idea for HudsonSounds arrived in the late summer of 2009.  That means it’s taken quiet a while to make it to this April 2010 launch.  If you ever hear anyone talk about “the ease of on-line publishing,” don’t believe them!  A simple blog is one thing, but a site like this has lots of moving parts and has taken quiet a while to fine tune so that it’s easy to operate behind the scenes as well as elegant and attractive to visitors. Melissa Mykal has designed it all with great taste, exacting detail and extraordinary patience.  Tim Gudleski, a student at the University at Albany who’s only been in the area for a little while, has become an expert in local venues and input the majority of calendar listings to get everything started. I’m grateful to Melissa and Tim for their generous efforts.

The purpose of HudsonSounds is not to give you one more reason to sit at the computer, but to help you find and appreciate more live music.  Let us know if it’s working. And I’ll see you at the concerts.

– Joseph Dalton