The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced a partnership
with the Association of American Voices to engage with people across the world through music.
Known as American Music Abroad, this people-to-people exchange will feature a wide variety of
American musical genres through international cultural exchange initiatives that will reach more
than 40 countries around the world during 2012 and 2013.
The U.S. Department
of State’s Bureau
of Educational and
Cultural Affairs
THE BOSTON BOYS
Bluegrass /Americana / Soul
Press Kit Contents:
THE BOSTON BOYS (BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS) are
a quartet eager to spread joy to the world through
their music. Each member is rooted in different styles,
new and old, and the quartet blends their unique
sounds together to create a new form of Americana.
Honest lyrics, soulful vocal melodies, and bone-shaking
grooves inspired by the brilliance of jazz and bluegrass,
the accessibility of old-time blues and modern pop, and
the fearless attitude of rock and hip-hop creates an
energetic experience that rings true with many generations and cultures.
Introduction/Biography
Band Members
Background
Song List
Photos / Videos
Artwork
NICHOLAS FALK (DRUMMER/PERCUSSIONIST)
graduated from the Berklee College of Music in
Boston, Massachusetts. He is originally from Cape
Elizabeth, Maine. He has taught in both public and
private schools, and been on faculty at numerous
camps including the Mt. Shasta String Summit in
California. Nicholas has taught privately and led
ensembles of all levels. Nicholas has performed
internationally in Japan, Ecuador, Korea, China.
Italy, and France. He has also performed stateside
at venues including the Blue Note Jazz Club in
New York City and Monterey Jazz Festival in
California. In spring of 2009, Nicholas was selected to attend the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
located in New Orleans at Loyola University, where
he graduated with a Master’s degree in 2011. He
has had the opportunity to study with Ron Carter,
Jason Moran, Lewis Nash, Hal Crook, Jack
Dejohnette,
Jamey
Haddad
and
Terence
Blanchard, among many others. He has also
performed with such Jazz luminaries as Herbie
Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Clark Terry, Chris
Potter, George Garzone and Greg Osby.
ERIC ROBERTSON (MANDOLIN) hails from Greensboro, North Carolina, and has established
himself as a mandolinist, singer, and songwriter with a unique and original sound, recording with
a wide range of artists and performing in ten countries around the world. He graduated high
school at the Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts in ‘07, and is currently in his
final year at the Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, he developed his passion for songwriting
and playing electric mandolin, and in his explorations founded The Boston Boys— drawing
connections between old R&B and early country music, but writing original songs in an unknown
musical territory. Eric previously toured with The Earth String Band on the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program in 2011. As part of the tour he spent 5 weeks playing large public
concerts, educational workshops, and intimate performances from orphanages to ambassador’s
residences in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and South Korea.
JOSH HARI (BASS) is a producer and music educator from Oakland, California and Guadalajara,
Mexico. A long-time advocate of improving the music curriculum in public schools, Josh has
helped found and teach at several after-school programs in the San Francisco Bay and Boston
areas, and has done both Jazz and Hip-Hop master classes throughout the country. He has
performed in a professional setting and/or recorded with: Dianne Reeves, Terri Lyne Carrington,
Lalah Hathaway, Goapele, Lyrics Born, Killah Priest, Richie Rich, Phife Dawg, Joe Louis Walker,
John Ellis, Gary Thomas, Nonah Hendryx, Julian Lage, Greg Osby, Living Legends Crew and
many others. Josh has worked extensively in musical/hip-hop theater, including a residency as
musical director at San Francisco’s Lorraine-Hansbury theater and more recently writing the
music for ”The Limp” a one man show by internationally renown slam poet Rafael Casal. He
currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
DUNCAN WICKEL (VIOLIN) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose reputation has been
growing quickly on a national level as a wildly diverse and highly accomplished improviser, composer and technician on the violin. He is sought after for his stylistic mastery of Jazz, Irish, Old
Time and Bluegrass music, captivating audiences and fellow musicians with his creativity as well
as the subtle authenticity and chameleon-like ease in which he blends and changes styles. He
has performed and/or recorded with John Doyle, the Duhks, Ruth Moody and Emily Elbert. He
is a recent graduate of the Berklee College of Music where he was a two- time recipient of the
Fletcher Bright Award in Recognition for outstanding musicianship, an honor that is bestowed
once a year to a promising young string player at Berklee.
http://americanvoices.org/ama
American Music Abroad builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power”
diplomacy, which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools – in this case music – to bring
people together and foster greater understanding. It also builds on the historic legacy of the Department of State’s Jazz Ambassadors, who first traveled the world in the 1950s to connect with people
through music.
The Department of State and the Association of American Voices create a series of month-long,
multi-country exchange programs. During the exchange, 10-12 ensembles representing American
music will conduct public concerts, interactive performances with local musicians, lecture demonstrations, workshops, and jam sessions with diverse audiences. American Music Abroad activities will focus
on younger and underserved audiences in approximately 40 countries with little or no access to live
American performances.
American Music Abroad ensembles are selected on the basis of artistic quality and commitment to
education and cultural engagement through an open competition. Further information about the application process for musicians will be announced fall of 2012.
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs promotes international mutual understanding through
a wide range of academic, cultural, private-sector, professional, and sports exchange programs. These
international exchanges engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and emerging leaders in
many fields in the United States and in more than 160 countries. Alumni of ECA exchanges comprise
over one million people around the world, including more than 50 Nobel Laureates and more than 320
current or former heads of state and government.
The Association of American Voices has presented concerts, workshops and master classes, and
summer youth performing arts academies to over 200,000 audience members in 110 countries during
the past 16 years. With a focus on nations emerging from conflict or isolation, American Voices has
taken its unique brand of cultural engagement programs, Jazz Bridges, YES Academy and Hiplomacy,
to nations such as Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. In recognition of its work, American Voices was
selected as a Best Practice Organization by the International Cultural Engagement Task Force and the
U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (USCCD) in 2010.
Song List
1. Listen - The Boston Boys
2. Pigeon (Do What You Can Do) - The Boston Boys
3. A Change Is Gonna Come- Sam Cooke
4. Sow Them On The Mountain- Traditional
5. The Patience - The Boston Boys
6. Since You've Been Gone - Aretha Franklin
7. Louisiana 1927 - Randy Newman
8. All I Need - The Boston Boys
9. Sad & Drunk - The Boston Boys
10. Black Tuesday - The Boston Boys
11. Such A Night - Dr. John
12. Become Like One - The Boston Boys
13. Carry On - The Boston Boys
14. Mr. Pitiful - Otis Redding
15. Tuk-Tuk - The Boston Boys
16. Hypnotized - The Boston Boys
17. Amelia - The Boston Boys
18. The Shape I'm In - The Band
19. Riverman Dan - The Boston Boys
20. Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
21. Stand - Sly And The Family Stone
22. What You Say?! - The Boston Boys
Photos
Click to download
Hi resolution photographs here
Videos
Hypnotized
Busted
Amelia - Acoustic
Download Here
* Poster
* Concert Program
* Roll Up Banner