It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas at Carnegie Hall.

The New York Pops, the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, is a staple throughout the nation and New York. They’ll be appearing at the legendary city venue this weekend for a jazz-filled Christmas show featuring hits by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Rosemary Clooney.

Friday and Saturday, Music Director Steven Reineke will lead the orchestra, along with critically acclaimed vocalists John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey, for “John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey Wish You a Swingin’ Christmas.”

“The Swingin’ Christmas idea came about because of the style of music John does. But also, I grew up loving Ella Fitzgerald’s album, Ella Wishes You a Swingin’ Christmas. I wanted to do something with that same sort of vibe,” Reineke said.

For my complete article, visit CBS.

It’s nearly impossible to picture a New York City Christmas without the Radio City Rockettes. Celebrities in their own right, the Rockettes are a holiday icon.

A dream career for many young dancers, Jacey Lambros is no exception.

“I think it’s every young dancer’s dream to dance on the great stage at Radio City Music Hall and to be a Rockette,” she said. “A friend who’s a few years older from a nearby town was a Rockette so everybody in my dancing school aspired to be just like her.”

Lambros said she often wondered what kept her friend auditioning year after year – for 10 years. Currently in her eighth season as a Rockette, now she knows.

“It’s the camaraderie, it’s dancing onstage. It’s the spirit of Christmas,” she said. “It doesn’t get tiresome. Being here and being part of the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular, it keeps you coming back for more.”

For my complete article, visit CBS.

Apollo Run performed to a packed room last night at Mercury Lounge. Dubbed their “Dragon Party,” the set included many of the tracks off their newly released EP, Here Be Dragons, Vol II. Blending a three-piece horn section, powerful keyboards, intriguing bass accompaniment and a heart pounding drum beat, the band impressed.

“Dragon Party are you ready?” frontman John McGrew asked the crowd before the band began their set. “Dragon Party is where we’ve been and we’re we’re going,” drummer Graham Fisk later added before McGrew took the stage in a dragon mask while singing the powerful “Fireman.”

Energy jumped off the stage and onto the floor as fans danced and screamed along. One even held a sign high in the air which read, “We Love You Mr. John.” Mr. John, aka frontman John McGrew, leads a double life as Apollo Run’s lead singer and music teacher at a nursery school in Brooklyn.

Throughout the set, McGrew’s striking vocals captivated. While his voice soared impeccably when alone on keyboard, at times the blasting horn and bass beat overpowered. The audience didn’t seem to mind though, as they sang along word for word. Apollo Run ended their set onstage with the beautiful holiday track, “All In Good Time,” dedicated to McGrew’s father, before the trio joined the audience on the floor with the energetic “H B D.” With foot stomping and hand clapped rhythms, Apollo Run showed everyone what they’re made of.

For more on Apollo Run, read my interview with McGrew on CBS and visit their Website.  The band is currently working on their debut full length due out next year. Watch the band play “Fireman” below.

For the past five years, New York musicians have joined forces to produce a holiday album for a good cause.

Each year, A Holiday Benefit is recorded and released by local talent. All proceeds donated to 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills.

The fifth and final benefit show will be held on Wednesday at Rockwood Music Hall Stage II.

Singer-songwriter Benjamin Wagner explained his idea for the yearly event was inspired by the 1984 Band Aid song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Featuring Sting, Bono, Duran Duran, Paul Young and numerous other musicians, the track raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

“It’s not the greatest song on the planet, but at the time no one had ever done that before,” he said.

For my complete article, visit CBS. Watch the group’s video for “Do They Know It’s Christmas” below.

Video Credit: Wendy Hu

Last summer, I chatted with Amber Rubarth after her intimate show at Rockwood Music Hall. A beloved musician to many, she has collaborated with numerous artists including Jason Mraz and Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks and Court Yard Hounds, not to mention toured the California coast on a vespa with Jason Reeves.

During our interview, Rubarth filled me in on her journey to following her passion, something her boss engrained in her while she was an apprentice to a chainsaw sculptor in Nevada, her songwriting process and the inspiration by some of her songs.

To find out more, watch the video below and be sure to purchase a copy of her latest album, A Common Case of Disappearing, which features collaborations with Jacquire King, Brad Bivens, Adam Levy, Frank Swart, Marco Giovino, Oliver Kraus, Zac Rae, Jason Reeves and Jason Mraz. Catch Amber Rubarth live tonight at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2.

Long before he was part of popular country trio Lady Antebellum, Dave Haywood acted as engineer and producer for his friend, Mary Bragg. The two met in high school and started singing together their first week of college.

With adjacent dorm rooms at the University of Georgia, Haywood and Bragg formed a band and even opened for a still-unknown Miranda Lambert. After Bragg graduated, Haywood and the now-Brooklyn-based Americana songstress began working on her debut record, “Certain Simple Things,” in the fall of 2003.

“He was really the first person to push me to write songs. We were in a band together for three years and he’s like, ‘We’re gonna make a record,’” she recalls. “He said, ‘I’m going to send you these MP3s of me playing these random chords and I want you to write some lyrics and melodies.’”

For my complete article, visit Billboard.

Finding the perfect song to fit a poignant scene in a film can often take months to a year to select. With the right placement, the entire mood of a movie can shift, making all that hard work pay off.

Remember Rocky’s warm-up routine to “Gonna Fly Now” and that pinnacle stair scene? How about when John Cusack’s character in “Say Anything” held up his boombox blasting Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”? These scenes are easily distinguished as landmark moments in Hollywood and it’s impossible to imagine any other song being played.

I chatted with music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, known for her work in the “Twilight” series, to find out just how she selects the perfect track for each scene and the steps she takes from start to finish.

“Once a music supervisor gets hired, we sit down with the director and talk about the musical feel and vibe of the songs and the movie. That starts the musical conversation that might include CDs going back and forth or listening to tracks together,” Patsavas said. “Sometimes we start pitching tracks while the movie is being shot. And, of course once the movie is assembled and edited a supervisor pitches songs to picture.”

For my complete article, visit IFC.com.

Mary Bragg has been winning over audiences in the New York singer-songwriter community for years.

With three albums under her belt, the Georgia native said the first time she visited New York as a teen it was love at first sight.

“When I was in New York, I felt this incredible sense of energy and thought and challenging circumstances,” she said. “I knew in order for me to have fodder for songwriting I needed to not live so wonderfully. I actually moved to New York both wanting to experience the world more and to find hardship.”

Bragg began writing songs in college thanks to the urging of her friend Dave Haywood. Now one third of popular country trio Lady Antebellum, Haywood engineered and produced Bragg’s debut album.

“I think in theory I knew that I could be a songwriter, it’s just that I had never actually sat down and done it,” Bragg recalled. “He was the person that said, ‘Alright, next Monday you’re going to come over and you’re going to have some stuff to sing for me.’”

For the complete article, visit CBS. Be sure to catch Mary Bragg tonight at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1.

It’s no secret Mary J. Blige portrays her life, good and bad, in her songs.

“When life is real it’s not going to be smooth,” the Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul said onstage at the New York Time’s Times Talks event on Monday (Nov. 28) in NYC. “I was just singing from my life, singing through my experiences, singing through the hurt and the pain in order to survive,” Blige said.

Blige finds it important to relate to her music, she told New York Times music critic Jon Pareles during the onstage interview.

“It has to be relative to the audience and you have to have dealt with something,” she said. “I can’t just make a song people can dance in a club to… it still has to be real.”

For my complete article, visit Billboard.

Photo Credit: Wendy Hu

Last month, I met fellow music journalist Markos Papadatos while covering Martina McBride’s performance at the Empire State Building. This weekend, Papadatos was kind enough to interview me for Suite101.

We chatted about my beginnings as a writer, You Sing I Write, some of my favorite interviews (which include Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman as seen above) and being one of six music bloggers nominated to cover a red carpet event honoring Paul McCartney during the Grammy’s. Below is an excerpt from his article.

“Annie Reuter is one of New York’s most accomplished, dedicated and passionate music and entertainment journalists. Reuter’s articles and feature interview profiles with some of the biggest names in pop and country music have appeared in such prestigious outlets as Billboard‘s official website, Rolling Stone, Marie Claire’s website, AOL’s The Boot, CBS, MTV, among many others; moreover, she is the founder of her successful music blog, ‘You Sing, I Write.’”

Read the complete writeup here.