What We’re Watching
BackSeat Jukebox is an ongoing performance series that takes place in the back seat (surprise!) of a car as it roams the streets of Houston. Musicians serenade the driver with one of their songs while they go for a ride. The idea of putting musicians in interesting settings isn’t a new one. Almost every media organization has tried to pull this off in some form or fashion. A few actually caught on and became regular series with lots of fans. Some of the most well known are NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, Black Cab Sessions, Take-Away Shows, and Pitchfork’s Juan’s Basement. Most of these series are highly produced videos that require lots of nice equipment and serious editing skills. On the other side of the spectrum, you have Tiny Desk Concerts and BackSeat Jukebox, which are very low-fi. The lack of soft camera filters and whiz-bang video effects actually gives these performances a more intimate feel than some of the more highly produced music videos. The BackSeat Jukebox videos just seem a bit more honest or approachable than the slicker Black Cab Sessions. The fact that it is local videographers working hard to promote their own local music scene just makes it that much cooler.
