Some of New England's Most Talented Local Artists Will Take The Stage at Club Passim For The Iguana Music and Gecko Fund Showcase

Passim will host a showcase of the 2023 Iguana Music Fund grant recipients on Monday, May 13th at 7pm, featuring Nicolás Emden, Paul Willis, Spirit 47, Maddie Lam, and this year's Gecko Fund grant winner Noble Dust. The show is part of Passim's monthly Discovery Series. Tickets are free and available online at passim.org. 

The Iguana Music Fund awards grants from $500 to $2000 annually to musicians with a New England connection for career building projects and for projects that provide community service through music. This year, Passim awarded $41,350 to 23 artists through their Iguana Music Fund. To date, Passim has awarded more than $594,000 in grants and funded more than 300 projects. 

In addition, Passim introduced the Gecko Fund, which supports creative narrative works in the New England music community, granting $5,000 to one artist annually. Awarded side by side with the Iguana grants, the recipient of the 2023 award was the folk/pop band Noble Dust, who will use the grant to make their sophomore album available on vinyl.

Over the past 16 years, the Iguana Fund has helped to finance hundreds of projects to the benefit of the music community including Della Mae, Oompa, and Lake Street Dive. 

"We're honored to have such talented artists perform on the Passim stage," said Abby Altman, Passim's Club Manager. "This year's projects ranged from new albums to supporting music festivals and a band's tour. There are so many types of artists we want to support in our music community, and it's fulfilling to be part of these new projects from their first steps."

The artists performing in the showcase are all working on new recording projects with help from their Iguana grants. 

Nicolás Emden is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer and songwriter, originally from Chilean Patagonia. Nicolás was a former member and founder of the Chilean band “Tejado Pimiento” (2007-2012) and moved to Boston USA in 2014, where he's currently based, for completing his music studies at Berklee College of Music.

Paul Willis is a Hip Hop Teaching Artist who is currently writing a book, album, and curriculum about Hip Hop Leadership.

Spirit 47 is an American Roots duo made up of Johanna Wacker and Arthur Terembula. Johanna Wacker is a singer-songwriter and roots musician from Queens, NY. Arthur Terembula is a passionate student of the country blues and ragtime guitar.

Maddie Lam is an artist focused on cultivating healing, softness, and self-love. The daughter of immigrants, Maddie was born and raised in Boston, MA.

Other 2023 Iguana Fund Recipients include Abby Lokelani, Adeline Um, Almira Ara, Chrysalis, Elias Cardoso, Hannah O'Brien & Grant Flick, Lila Wilde, Maddie Lam, Model Peril, Naomi Westwater, Nicolás Emden, Paul Willis, Spirit 47, Terry Borderline, The Rough & Tumble, Simon Robert French, Ryan Curless, Circus 617, The Medford Trad Jazz Festival, Mint Green, and The Opening Doors Project. 

For more information on the Iguana Music Fund and the Gecko Fund and how to apply, visit passim.org/grants.

The annual Iguana Music & Gecko Fund Showcase will take place on Monday, May 13, 2024 at 7:00 pm at Club Passim. The event is free and open to the public with donations going to the Iguana Music Fund. A free livestream of the show will be available at passim.org/stream. Club Passim is located at 47 Palmer St., Cambridge MA 02138.

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