Meredith Axelrod is an American
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
singer and multi-instrumentalist. She specializes in early-20th century American music.
Known for touring with
Jim Kweskin, she and he released the album, ''Come On In'', in 2016.
In the 2000s, she met her partner Craig Ventresco while
busking
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and it is with him that she performs most regularly.
''
Fretboard Journal
The ''Fretboard Journal'' is a keepsake magazine for guitar, mandolin, and stringed instrument players. In the same vein of other "coffee table magazines" such as '' The Surfer's Journal'', the Golfer's Journal and the ''Rodder's Journal'', it bo ...
'' co-founder and editor, Jason Verlinde, has described him as "one of the music world’s best-kept secrets".
And, regarding the pairing of Axelrod and Ventresco, he remarked, "Meredith’s playing is just revelatory. She has a voice that sounds like it was lifted straight off of a vaudeville stage; their chemistry is undeniable."
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Axelrod and Ventresco created a nightly
livestream
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...
on Facebook,
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
, and
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.
Each day they have performed a half-hour set in their
North Beach, San Francisco
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, the Financial District, and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's "Little Italy" and has historically been home to a large Italian American popul ...
apartment's kitchen.
Starting the day after the city instituted a stay-at-home order, they have "broadcast" daily for more than two years, producing nearly 1,000 shows (as of May 13, 2023), with very few breaks.
They are two of many musicians who have turned to alternative means to support themselves once the pandemic caused gigs to be canceled. As Ventresco said about viewers' donations to their virtual "tip jar", "It’s definitely helping us not to panic. Meredith put it best. We’re not getting rich, but we’re making about as much as we would at a gig. That’s really a big deal."
References
External links
Official website*
American women singers
American folk singers
Living people
Singers from New York City
Year of birth missing (living people)
Singers from Chicago
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