Sound Advice is a weekly newsletter highlighting upcoming concerts and music-related events in the greater Philadelphia area.
Expect 1-5 shows of note per week published on Thursdays. Guest contributors will show up intermittently.
Why This Exists
The death of Philadelphia's alternative weekly newspapers and large-scale advances(?) in technology have made it more challenging to learn about artists and to uncover information.
Concert listings are useful to a point, if you are willing to invest time in listening to every artist. Not to mention there are numerous shows that never make their way to these places.
In bringing back one of my favorite parts of the alt weeklies—the concert previews—I hope to bridge the gap between the digital and personal networks. No algorithm or AI bot can beat the immediacy and usefulness of someone saying, "Hey, check this out" and providing some context.
The name comes from the previews section of the now-defunct Philadelphia City Paper, of which I was a contributor in the early 2000s. If you have a problem with its repurposing, we can settle it in the appropriate manner: a knife fight under the Grays Ferry Bridge. Also, bite me. Sound Advice has strong information scent, in the parlance of my day job. There are like 5 bands using the same names and no one seems to be doing anything about that.
How It's Made
We look at concert calendars. The picks reflect the interests and opinions of the writers.
We will not share more than 5 shows, because then we effectively stop being a concert preview newsletter and turn into a concert calendar. Which is not the point of this exercise.
Disclaimer
There will be typos and errors. The shows may get canceled, shut down, or sell out. Bands may start late because of "punk time," you may run into your ex, or get hurt in the circle pit. We are not responsible for any of that. Please check the source website for details.
Who Runs This
That would be me, Maria T. I have been a longtime participant in Philadelphia's music scene since the late 90s. I've written about music for the now-defunct Philadelphia City Paper, booked shows, photographed concerts for various outlets, hosted a radio program on WPRB 103.3 FM, and played music myself. You can learn more about me over at my website, Her Jazz (which happens to be Philadelphia's oldest music blog).
How to Support
Tell a friend. Tell your friends to tell their friends. Go see the bands, buy their music and merch. It's really that simple.
My hope is to keep this newsletter free despite the effort it requires, but I happily accept donations to offset operational costs. There may be paid tiers, additional features, and changes to its delivery methods in the future.