Sanna Chu Ramzi Khoury.

As noted yesterday, the inaugural NYC’s New Music Festival will see over 130 acts across 24 stages around the East and West Village. The performers are coming in from all over the country, but a few, like folk-rock musician Ramzi Khoury, are based in the East Village.

Mr. Khoury, 33, grew up in California – playing trumpet in elementary school and picking up guitar in high school – and came to the East Village because, he said, “it’s got a lot of good arts and music.” His debut album was “Color”; a subsequent EP, “Champagne and Cigarettes,” yielded the above video, for the song “2nd Avenue,” in which an actor is jerked around the East Village at the whim of Google maps (and you thought the iPhone 5’s maps were maddening). The Local spoke to the musician in Unions Square Park.

Do you have a day job?

For the longest time I didn’t, but six months ago I started working for a technology company. Does it interfere with my music? More so than I thought it would. But I do play my guitar every night when I get home. Read more…