Live For Live Music is proud to partner with Sugarshack to bring you a series of special, high-quality, live acoustic performance videos featuring some of our favorite artists. Filmed at a beautiful, historic villa in Little Havana, Miami over the course of several days in January, these Sugarshack Sessions capture the musicians in an unusually intimate setting which allowed them to let loose and provide an up-close look at their unique artistry.
Sugarshack is not simply in the music or entertainment industries; the digital media company/creative studio is on a mission to bring the inherent closeness of an intimate performance directly to the viewer, wherever they may be.
Launched as a digital music series in Bonita Springs, FL in 2014, the Sugarshack Sessions were born from a simple mission: Having friends come and play music in your backyard and developing high-quality video content for them to use to promote their work in the process. However, what started as a simple project soon grew into a full-fledged digital media production company and creative studio, Sugarshack, Inc.
“Sugarshack is the embodiment of a dream,” explains Sugarshack executive producer Jameson Yingling. “But, yes, it’s one thing to have a dream and a completely different beast to bring it to fruition. The clichéd response [to how this growth occurred] is partially accurate: lots of hard work, perseverance, supportive family & community, and luck. But more critically, we all became fully invested in a singular vision, strategy, plan, & execution that we have remained dedicated to throughout the ups and the downs.”
Today, Sugarshack is a multi-faceted media operation that continues its original mission of telling the stories of artists and musicians through quality recordings conducted in an intimate setting. The Sugarshack Sessions remains a tentpole series on the Sugarshack Music Channel, available via YouTube. From acoustic, live music videos to large-scale, full-concert performances and even documentary-style videos, Sugarshack continues to experiment with the conventions of capturing the raw energy of live performances while continuing to capture the kind of gentle atmosphere one can only get by inviting their favorite performer to play in their living room.
While Sugarshack has already come a long way from its humble origins, the people behind it continue to look onward and upward. “On a big picture level, we also will seek a larger platform for the channel to stream from,” says Yingling. “We want to do for live music what MTV did for albums and music videos (before all that reality TV bullshit). We want to build the place where music lovers go to connect with, discover, and experience the raw, real, and positive nature of a live music show. The only thing better than the Sugarshack Music Channel is playing music and watching music live.”
This past year, the company also launched Sugarshack Records, an independent record label that continues the company’s trademark commitment to live performances, whether they be acoustic in-studio or electric in-concert, distributed through the digital market. Artists featured on Sugarshack Records include Mike Love, Little Stranger, Hirie, and many more.
Sugarshack and Live For Live Music have so far released two videos from the Miami sessions: Mihali (Twiddle) performing “Empty Overflow” off his recently released debut solo album and Tom Hamilton (Ghost Light, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead) performing his original tune, “Running in Place”, Aron Magner‘s SPAGA performing “Four Angels”, and Ghost-Note performing “PhatBacc”. You can watch both of those videos below:
Mihali – “Empty Overflow” (Live Acoustic) – Sugarshack Sessions x Live For Live Music
[Video: Sugarshack Music Channel]
Tom Hamilton – “Running in Place” (Live Acoustic) – Sugarshack Sessions x Live For Live Music
[Video: Sugarshack Music Channel]
SPAGA – “Four Angels” (Live Acoustic) – Sugarshack Sessions x Live For Live Music
[Video: Sugarshack Music Channel]
Ghost-Note – “PhatBacc” (Live Acoustic) – Sugarshack Sessions x Live For Live Music
[Video: Sugarshack Music Channel]
Stay tuned for more new live acoustic videos from Sugarshack and Live For Live Music in the coming weeks.