Category Archives: announcements

THIS MONDAY: UnderDogs Across Borders Reaches New Orleans!

Before NOLA MusiCon officially kicks off this Tuesday, we invite you to get a head start on the festivities — whether you’re in New Orleans, or anywhere in the world with internet!

Immediately following our Have You Met…? interview broadcast, we’ll stay put at Cafe Istanbul (2372 St. Claude Ave., New Orleans) to offer you a special UnderDogs Across Borders lineup, featuring artists from across the Southeastern U.S. Several UnderDogs are making the trip to perform alongside rising stars on the New Orleans local scene, offering an exciting preview of the magic to come throughout the week.

The event is open to the public for a $10 suggested donation, which will directly support our ongoing UnderDogs Across Borders campaign. And, if you can’t attend in person, we have good news: this one will be broadcast on YouTube, as well! Funds from this campaign help us connect our creative community to amazing opportunities across the musical landscape — just like those we’ve helped create this year in the Big Easy!

As for the lineup? We think you’ll like it! It features performances from (in order of appearance):

Jazzy the Uncontrolled Goddess
Ja Fearce & Azure Skyz
Yonna Jones
DJX & DJ Agie Gee
Kelsey Muse
Kyle Alexander

Want to reserve your spot? Get tickets here, or make your donation to support UMC as we bring our UnderDogs Across Borders once again!

Meet the UnderDogs (and Special Guests) Monday Night in New Orleans!

We’ve been talking about NOLA MusiCon for months, and it’s finally almost time to take the Starship UnderDog down to New Orleans and do this thing!

We’ve already told you about this amazing conference, and the official Crescent City Crossroads showcases that we’re co-producing alongside our friends at DAWn Audio and Tunetrax.

But… what if we told you there is more to the story? (Around here, there always is!)

Before the conference officially gets underway, we’ll be at Cafe Istanbul (2372 St. Claude Ave., New Orleans) this Monday, October 27 as we preview this year’s NOLA MusiCon with a special UnderDogs Across Borders live event. Join us in-person or online beginning at 5 p.m. CT, as we present two rounds of our popular Have You Met…? interview series. Round 1 (5 p.m.) will feature some of our Nashville crew, while Round 2 (6 p.m.) will highlight creatives from the Big Easy and elsewhere!

Round 1 (5 p.m.):
Host: Jazzy the Uncontrolled Goddess
Guests: Yonna Jones, Joe Baze, Gerard Longo

Round 2 (6 p.m.):
Host: Mandy Ortiz (DAWn Audio)
Guests: DJX, Amelia Ray, Mac Infinity

You’ll want to stick around after that. Beginning at 7 p.m., we’ll remain at Cafe Istanbul to bring you an UnderDogs Across Borders interstate showcase, featuring live performances from an array of artists. We’ll be dropping that full lineup a bit later this week, so stay tuned!

Announcing Crescent City Crossroads: The Official NOLA MusiCon 2025 Showcases!

We’re getting set to head down to New Orleans once again for this year’s NOLA MusiCon, taking place in the heart of the Big Easy Oct. 28-30.

What we’ve been dying to tell you is that there’s more to the story this year…

See, we got together with our friends from the conference, including partners Tunetrax and DAWn Audio, to plan something special. Now, we can officially announce that we’ve joined forces to create Crescent City Crossroads, this year’s official NOLA MusiCon after hours showcases!

What is Crescent City Crossroads? It’s two diverse nights of live music in New Orleans, featuring artists from all over the U.S. (with a healthy dose of NOLA artists on the bill, of course). We’ve spent the past couple of months working together to think of some of the most exciting artists we know, and put them all into a musical gumbo pot as flavorful and exciting as Cajun cuisine.

Dates, times, and lineups are below. Each one has its own ticket link, which you’ll see attached to the corresponding night. Advance tickets are $10, increasing to $15 day of show. The price remains at $10 for those with a NOLA MusiCon badge or Halloween costume (because it is #SpookySZN, after all).

Still need that conference badge? Get it here for 25% off using the coupon code UMC25 at checkout!

Tuesday, October 28 | 8:30 p.m.
Cafe Istanbul (2372 Saint Claude Avenue, Room 252)

NOLA All-Star Band | Rantz Davis | Amber Sweeney | Jason Da Hater | Darnell McKenzie & Esteban | c’beyohn | Craig Greenberg | Amelia Ray

Wednesday, October 29 | 8 p.m.
The Rabbit Hole (1228 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard)

Ray$av & Mac Infinity | Ronday | Brother Dusty | Lapis | Da’ Healerz | PLUS! A live Beat Battle, hosted by DAWn Audio

Have You Met…? Live! Returns to Nashville Oct. 1

It’s been a minute since we’ve sat down and gotten to know some of the UnderDogs, hasn’t it?

Let’s fix that — and let’s do it live!

Join us at Helping Our Music Evolve (615 Main St., Suite G1, Nashville) at 6 p.m. CT — right before our FREE Building Your Authentic Artist Brand workshop — for an in-person edition of Have You Met…? This series, hosted by Jazzy the Uncontrolled Goddess, is an opportunity to get to know the creatives in our UnderDogs community through real conversations in an intimate setting.

Joining us for this edition of Have You Met…? are…

  • Hip hop artist, producer, and 1/2 of Da’ Healerz Foundation Mecca
  • DJ, sound engineer, producer, and songwriter Agie Gee
  • Revolutionary hip hop artist and industry educator T.R.A.N.E. Spitta

Attendance is FREE — and, unlike other editions of Have You Met…?, the only way to catch this one live is to be there in-person! A replay will be made available on our YouTube channel at a later date to be determined.

Want to be featured on an upcoming edition of Have You Met…? Join the UnderDogs today!

Can Sound Heal? DJX Aims to Find Out this Friday in Nashville

On Saturday, we became officially acquainted with DJX. The South Carolina native has arrived in Nashville, delivering a short, high-energy set last weekend as part of our UnderDogs Across Borders showcase during the Nashville African Street Festival.

Consider that an appetizer for what is coming this Friday night, as DJX seeks to answer the question: can sound heal?

DJX: The Public Experiment will take place this Friday, September 26 from 6-9 p.m. at Helping Our Music Evolve (615 Main St., Suite G1, Nashville). This live experience is part concert, part ritual, part science lab featuring Four artists, three rooms, and one goal: to test what happens when music, technology, and human energy lock into the same circuit.

From live rap and cyber-trap, to acoustic resonance and soulful R&B, each set becomes a pulse that shifts the crowd’s frequency. EMF pyramids anchor the space. WiFi interference is tracked and visualized. Audience resonance is measured at the door and again at the exit.

By the end, you’ll have proof of how sound changed your system. This isn’t just entertainment—it’s Frequency Training.

NASHVILLE: ‘Building Your Authentic Artist Brand’ Returns October 1!

We’re gearing up for an action-packed October, with events happening all over the Southeastern U.S. — including our debut at Confluence Carolinas, and an exciting, expanded collaboration with NOLA MusiCon.

(More details on NOLA are coming soon, we promise — and they’ll definitely be worth the wait!)

Of course, it all starts from a solid foundation at home. That’s why we’re kicking off the month by bringing our popular Building Your Authentic Artist Brand workshop back to Nashville!

Join us at Helping Our Music Evolve (615 Main St., Suite G1, Nashville) on Wednesday, October 1 from 7-9 p.m. This interactive workshop — as experienced during SXSW 2025 — guides musicians (and other creatives) through the steps of developing a purpose-driven, values-based creative ecosystem. Building Your Authentic Artist Brand is designed to help artists identify the unique “why” behind their work; learn best practices for attracting their true audience across three key segments (fans, collaborators, and business partners); and build a sustainable, profitable creative business on their own terms.

Building Your Authentic Artist Brand is free to attend, and it’s all part of the work we do to educate and connect artistpreneurs through the UMC Academy. You can learn more about what we offer here!

REPLAY: UnderDogs Across Borders, Vol. 3

Donate to UnderDogs Across Borders here!

This month’s UnderDogs Across Borders concert is perhaps our most genre-diverse offering to date, featuring performances from across the musical spectrum and beyond.

Tonight and through October, your support of UnderDogs Across Borders helps us bring the UnderDogs to New Orleans for NOLA MusiCon 2025, taking place Oct. 28-30. More details about our plans are coming very soon!

Our September 16 lineup includes:

  • Impactful spoken word artist Jazzy the Uncontrolled Goddess
  • Nashville hip hop legend E.T.
  • Revolutionary hip hop artist T.R.A.N.E. Spitta
  • Multi-genre, multi-instrumental wizard Brother Dusty
  • Dynamic ‘ROCK&B’ artist Tony Carpenter

Sept. 20: UnderDogs Across Borders at the Nashville African Street Festival

As though next week wasn’t already exciting enough, it turns out that our UnderDogs will be taking the stage not once, but twice in Music City!

We are proud to partner with the Nashville African Street Festival — now in its 43rd year — to present an UnderDogs Across Borders showcase on the Beats & Rhymes stage. The festival takes place all weekend long at Hadley Lillard Park (1038 28th Ave. N., Nashville), with the UnderDogs Across Borders showcase taking place Saturday, September 20 from 4-5:30 p.m.

Hosted by Kelsey Muse and Jazzy the Uncontrolled Goddess, this showcase will emphasize performers from across the hip hop and R&B spectrum, including:

  • Kelsey Muse
  • SADGURL
  • DJX
  • Nicolas Soul
  • Yonna Jones

The event is free to attend. As always, those looking to support the cause are encouraged to donate to our UnderDogs Across Borders campaign, which fuels live music experiences and activations for our UnderDogs in Nashville and beyond!

UMC, NOLA MusiCon Partner on 2025 Music Showcases

Our return to the Big Easy this October’s NOLA MusiCon just got a whole lot sweeter!

We’re proud to announce that we are partnering with NOLA MusiCon alongside our friends at DAWn Audio and Tunetrax to present this year’s official showcases. The team is currently putting the finishing touches on two spectacular lineups — one set for Tuesday, October 28 at Cafe Istanbul, and another on Wednesday, October 29 at The Rabbit Hole — which will showcase talent from across the musical spectrum and geographic borders.

We’ll be announcing full lineup and event details shortly. In the meantime, we’re looking for a few good partners to support us in making this year’s NOLA MusiCon one to remember! Your organization can sponsor these incredible showcase events, and we’ve provided a few informational slides below.

For individuals, you can always support our UnderDogs Across Borders campaign — and we’ll be putting every penny raised between now and the conference toward these two extraordinary showcases!

Oh, and one more thing: you can get 25% off your NOLA MusiCon passes by using the code UMC25 at checkout. Register now!

LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT: UnderDogs Across Borders Vol. 3 on September 16

As we recently teased on social media, our next installment of UnderDogs Across Borders: The Concert Series will take place live from Helping Our Music Evolve in Nashville on Tuesday, September 16 from 7-9 p.m.

WATCH OUR JULY CONCERT | WATCH OUR AUGUST CONCERT

Co-hosted by Nicolas Soul (with an assist from the guy writing this post), our next UnderDogs Across Borders concert is perhaps our most genre-diverse offering to date, featuring performances from across the musical spectrum and beyond.

Our September 16 lineup includes:

  • Impactful spoken word artist Jazzy the Uncontrolled Goddess
  • Nashville hip hop legend E.T.
  • Revolutionary hip hop artist T.R.A.N.E. Spitta
  • Dynamic ‘ROCK&B’ artist Tony Carpenter
  • Multi-genre, multi-instrumental wizard Brother Dusty

If you’re in Nashville, join us at H.O.M.E. (615 Main St., Suite G1, Nashville). If you’re not, join us from absolutely anywhere in the world with internet on our YouTube channel. As always, we kindly ask you to make a $10 suggested donation to our UnderDogs Across Borders campaign, which you can do anytime by clicking on…

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