Passim Awards Singer-Songwriter Almira Ara 2023 Eastern Front Songwriter Grant

Passim announced singer-songwriter Almira Ara as the 2023 recipient of the Eastern Front Songwriting Grant. Established in 2021, the Eastern Front Songwriter Grant is given out annually by Passim to a burgeoning singer-songwriter to help finance a professional recording project. 

The Eastern Front Songwriting Grant honors the legacy of Jerry Potts, founder of Eastern Front Records, who served as chair of the Passim Board of Directors from 2008 to 2020. Jerry's label helped kickstart the careers of many Passim singer/songwriters including Kevin Connolly, Barbara Kessler, Peter Mulvey and Martin Sexton. Jerry's work and leadership truly exemplify the mission of Passim: to provide truly exceptional and interactive live musical experiences for both performers and audiences, to nurture artists at all stages of their career, and to build a vibrant music community.

“Jerry had a huge impact on Passim while chairing our board and we are pleased to help pay his legacy forward through this award. We are committed to helping young artists learn their craft and find their voice,” said Jim Wooster, Executive Director of Passim. “Almira is a talented artist with a bright future, and we’re excited to see their career beginning to take off.”

Originally from Columbus, Ohio, 20-year-old songwriter, singer, and producer Almira Ara focuses on molding rock and R&B together, with creative influences from contemporary R&B artists such as Kehlani and Syd, and rock influences from Willow, Lenny Kravitz, and Nirvana. Almira takes the rarest parts of rock and R&B to wield their sound, to create a genre that is truest to their creations. 

Currently living in Boston, Almira marked their debut at Club Passim on June 14th as part of The Folk Collective, an initiative of Passim to present inclusive and equitable events that welcome and invite diverse audiences and artists to its stage.

The mission of Passim is to provide truly exceptional and interactive live musical experiences for both performers and audiences, to nurture artists at all stages of their career, and to build a vibrant music community. Passim does so through their legendary listening venue, music school, artist grants and outreach programs. As a nonprofit since 1994, Passim carries on the heritage of its predecessors-the historic Club 47 (1958-1968) and for-profit Passim (1969-1994). We cultivate a diverse mix of musical traditions, where the emphasis is on the relationship between performers and audience and teachers and students. Located in Harvard Square, Passim serves Cambridge and the broader region by featuring local, national and International Artists. Our ultimate goal is to help the performance arts flourish and thereby enrich the lives of members of our community. For a complete schedule, visit www.passim.org.