Keepsake House is a family and every artist has a seat at the table.
How we work with independent artists
We are fans of all our artists and offer performance opportunities for both songwriters and storytellers in our open mics, community shows, and annual Artists in Residence program (below). No matter the show, we manage the venue relationship so that artists don’t have to. We further amplify artists via our:
Resources
performance opportunities, grants, & artist network
Blog
interviews
& album reviews
Photo & Video
of performances
Artists in Residence
Every year, we select 4-10 Artists in Residence* to perform in multiple Keepsake House shows and work together to write new original work for the show that ends each season, From Story to Song. Our Residents are made up of songwriters and storytellers—activists, actors, comedians, filmmakers, poets, etc.—who are diverse in their art and identities, independent (i.e. do not have a record deal or management team), perform solo in New York City, and are searching for both a performance platform and community space. Our Artists in Residence are actively involved in the creative direction of our roundtable shows and excited to share the stage and learn from each other.
*Artists in Residence are selected via public submission during our annual application cycle. We typically launch applications in late summer / early fall. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram to be the first to hear about the application.
These are our 2024 Artists in Residence…
Adeline Um (she/her)
Songwriter
Adeline Um is a Korean American songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts, where she started her music journey as a Berklee City Music scholar. She is passionate about Asian American representation and visibility within the Western entertainment industry while also providing a soft landing for vulnerability and conversations regarding mental health within her music. Adeline has been recognized by BBC Scotland, BBC Introducing, The Rolling Stone India, UKSC, and Amazing Radio and is currently working at Berklee College of Music. Her favorite hobbies include going for coffee with friends, hiking, and spending time with family.
Azhar Bande-Ali (he/him)
Storyteller
Azhar is an Indian-American storyteller from Atlanta who believes that great stories wrap vulnerability with humor like sushi or, as he calls them, a stushi. His stories tackle the core of our shared human struggle - self worth, identity, hope, and suffering - in search of meaning. He is a Moth StorySLAM winner and a Moth Showcase performer. As a writer, he’s worked on Rob McElhenney’s Adimverse. In his free time you can find him strolling through Central Park listening to podcasts about the technique of writing. Ask him about the time an essay he wrote about Michelle Obama landed him the best surprise ever.
Emily McNally (she/they)
Songwriter
Emily McNally is creating the soundtrack for the lovelorn and anxious with their genre-fluid, DIY folk pop music. With vulnerable lyricism, Emily confronts her own naivete and yearning in layers of lush vocals. They hope to share a time capsule of life's emotional whirlwinds in order to ease the sense of loneliness in others (and herself). Emily currently freelances full time as a singer/songwriter, taking commissions on sites like Fiverr.
Kacia Flórez (she/her)
Songwriter
Kacia Flórez is a Colombian-Ecuadorian Queens native singer/songwriter, whose music is inspired by folkloric rhythms from her country of origin. From an early age, Kacia’s father taught her how to play and interpret a diverse amount of Latin American genres from the most renowned artists of his time, including Julio Jaramillo’s classic “Bolero, Vales and Pasillos” to Andean superstars Los Kjarkas with their Caporal hits. Kacia has performed for the Ecuadorian American Cultural Center, The Queens Museum, The Museum of Human Achievement, and has been involved with ongoing community work through Queens-based art collective Kaleidospace. Today you can check out her newest release “Kacia Flórez - Vol. 1,” an EP honoring her Andean roots, on all streaming platforms.
Katherine Gan (they/them)
Storyteller
Katherine Gan is a multimedia artist based in Brooklyn, NY with a focus on poetry and film photography. They also have experience with mediums like film, printmaking, and digital art. Katherine seeks to center queer and trans people of color in their work, particularly with a focus on intimacy and care.
Their art has been supported through fellowships and scholarships from Brooklyn Poets, The Poetry Project, Poets House, and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. Their super 8 film "Friday in Flushing" screened at MoMA through MONO NO AWARE.
Katherine graduated from Duke University in May 2022 as Robertson Scholar and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow with a B.A. in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and a minor in History. They won the 2022 Honor’s Thesis Distinction Prize for their 134-page thesis "Excavating the Afterlives of Empire through Asian/American Women’s Aesthetics & Poetry."
Paula Croxson (she/her)
Storyteller
Paula Croxson is a science communicator, neuroscientist and storyteller who is passionate about bringing together science and the arts. She moved to New York from the UK in 2010 with dreams of becoming a professor and researcher, but after discovering the power of storytelling she completely changed direction to focus on making science accessible to everyone. She is a senior producer for The Story Collider, and her stories and performances have been featured in podcasts, videos and around New York City in science shows, nerd shows and storytelling shows alike. She is also a musician, playing flute in two indie rock bands, and a long distance open-water swimmer.
Past Artists in Residence
2022
2023
Want to join the Keepsake family?
One of the best ways to connect with us and understand what we do is by attending a Keepsake House show and introducing yourself! Check out our upcoming shows and open mics here.
If you have a specific question, pitch, or project you’re looking for support with, fill out the contact form here and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.