NYS Music 20​12

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  • In Memory of Doc Watson, 1923-2012

    In Memory of Doc Watson, 1923-2012

    Sad news in the folk and bluegrass music world, as 7-time Grammy winner Arthel Lane ‘Doc’ Watson passed away due to complications from surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was an amazing flat-picker and played for generations of folk fans, including the third Bonnaroo in 2004. Here, we present a review of Doc Watson’s final Capital Region performance from The Egg in Albany, NY on August 1st, 2010. RIP Doc Watson.

    doc watsonUpdate 6/3/12 – A recording of this show has surfaced. Take a listen here http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=555469

    The first time I saw Doc Watson was in 2004 at Bonnaroo on the recommendation of Trey Anastasio who remarked in the program that Doc was one of the few acts he was dying to see. Having never heard of Doc Watson, I thought, “Well, if it’s good enough for Trey, it’s good enough for me”. I was not disappointed and I even had a chance to chat with mandolin virtuoso Sam Bush before he headed on stage to play a couple of tunes with Doc.

    This performance was a bit more subdued from a tent stage playing to 5,000 sweaty 20-somethings. Instead, there were around 800 fans in attendance averaging around 40-50 years old with a few younger fans sprinkled throughout. Since I had last seen him, Doc Watson received a lifetime achievement award, predated by his 3-disk biographical album Legacy that won him one of his seven Grammys in 2002 for Best Traditional Folk Album. This collection is worth listening to if you want to acclimate yourself to this bluegrass legend.

    With Doc Watson on guitar, T Michael Coleman on bass, David Holt on guitar/banjo and later, Doc’s grandson Richard Watson on guitar, the two 50-minute sets were a trip through American Roots music history. Songs were played that will one day be forgotten in time and were so old that that they bridge the gap from the 19th century to the 21st century in both their meanings and history. Doc Watson teaches this music to us like a non-activist Pete Seeger.

    Still playing at 87 years old, Doc was born Arthel Lane Watson with the nickname ‘Doc’ given to him as a replacement for his stuffy birth name. While he may be blind, this does not define him. His music does. The only indication of his lack of sight is that of him being led to his seat on the stage. This does not hold him back in any form nor has it ever seemed to be more than a footnote to his musical legacy.

    The songs over the course of the night gave a wide range of bluegrass and other blues-rooted music. The Carter Family song “Cannonball” which has its roots in English folk. “Feel Like Cryin’ Since She’s Gone” got the audience involved for the first of many sing-a-longs. The classic “Sittin’ On Top of the World” featured Holt on slide guitar with Doc singing a tune we all know from either The Grateful Dead or Cream or any number of acts that have made this song their own. Lyrics like “now she’s gone and I don’t worry” can resonate with so many different people that dozens of versions are the result.

    The 2nd set featured various solo tunes from Doc, with his southern hills dialect from North Carolina that has a distinct drawl on the I’s which makes each song sound that much more personal and a hesitation of ‘aih’ every so often, giving an extra breath and half per measure throughout the night. Every so often, Doc called out to his guitar to ‘behave now’, while he was prepping for the next tune. It may have been the equipment, but it all seemed to be part of Doc’s character.

    “Freight Train” by Elizabeth Cotten elicited a proud response from the crowd that knew the roots of this song. Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times” was slow and not as uplifting as the original and was nearly somber at points. “Big Bouquet of Roses (for every time you broke my heart)” continued the trend by telling us a story in each verse. “T for Texas, T for Tennessee”, a classic tune of Watson’s, was a great treat for the entire audience.

    The rest of the ensemble returned for “Walk On” and the quartet provided the best tunes of the night. Some tunes in bluegrass are just arranged and meant to be played by multiple strings. “I Am a Pilgrim” by Merle Travis and “Frankie and Johnny”, a sweethearts song, were crowd-pleasers for those familiar with Doc’s catalog. “Workin’ Man’s Blues” was the most upbeat song of the night thanks to bass playing from the youngest Watson on stage.

    A personal treat was “In the Pines”, a song that dates back to the 1870s. This song has the same musical/lyrical roots as ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” (also known as “Black Girl”) and was made popular again by folk troupe Leadbelly in the 1940s and again by Nirvana on their Unplugged album recorded in 1993. This version was a bit more upbeat and happier than the pain and suffering ingrained in the song’s lyrics.

    Sunday night services ended around 9:30 p.m. with Mississippi John Hurt’s “Blues for the Banjo” which had great lines that all can identify with:

    “I get the blues but I can’t be satisfied….
    I need a shot of whiskey to drive the blues away…
    I think I’ll need a quart today”

    The crowd headed home smiling and content knowing that they had seen a living bluegrass legend play great songs that were both known and already forgotten. This was a masterfully guided trip through American bluegrass and blues roots.

  • Festival Preview – Mountain Jam VIII

    Spring has sprung and there is only one thing left to do but strap on our dancing boots, and get ready for THE jam festival of the season – Mountain Jam number VIII.  And yes bigger and better than ever, if that is humanly possible.  For those who are uninitiated the boot reference relates to the foot-ware fashion favored by many- ladies that means the high multicolor rubber kind, gents this is mountain jam,  so look the part- in any event you will be happy you did.  In fairness, 2011 was totally dry and hot so the boot thing was more of a fashion statement, but my inner boy scout always wants you to be prepared!   In terms of preparation for Mountain Jam VIII my best advice is to get ready to be rocked hard and put away wet, this is a festival done right in so many ways, I bet you will be like me and get to a place where you just do not want to stop.

    Mountain Jam is held at the Hunter Mountain ski lodge and slopes.  The four day festival runs May 31st through June 3rd.  The mountain is located in the beautiful Catskill Mountains of upstate New York.  Getting there is both easy- the roads are good condition but they are smaller roads and that always is part of the fun.  Twist and turn through some of the most beautiful early summer farms and woods anyone can imagine.  Once you arrive you will immediately discover why Mountain jam has been voted the one of best festivals of the year.  The festival is completely constructed to make your experience the best it can be.  Put together by the CEO, Gary Chetkof and his team from radio station WDST (Radio Woodstock), these folks live and breathe serious tunes every day, so they made a festival for us.  So instead of getting hassled, you get a friendly face and some assistance.  When you put the music in front of a profit motive, you get a fan experience. Parking is easy, entrance is easy.  It is an intimate festival; tickets are capped at 15,000, so you are never “lost” in a crowd and actually can meet and connect with like minded humans. Staying is easy- plus there are a lot of options from an excellent camping scene, but you can also stay at a ski lodge or a hotel or one of the beautiful bed and breakfast places in town.  From the get-go the festival has adopted green practices and has a whole awareness village to help us connect to the planet in sustainable ways. What is also really nice is that the main lodge is always open- got a full bar, a late late night jam room, lots of real bathrooms, food inside.  The vending is unique so more than the usual stuff you can get some mountain jam homemade Jam, antique silver spoons or a real Jerry Garcia signed watercolor painting. So all and all it is just the best scene and wait, yes then there is the music.

    Musically, the festival is co-produced by Warren Haynes.  Warren sits in with many of the friends he helps to recruit to the festival lineup. And Warren has had an amazing few months as has been well chronicled- playing with Clapton, Jagger, Richards and Obama (yeah the President- pretty cool).  The thing is, topping the Govt Mule sets from last year seems impossible- You tube it and you can feel the mountain shaking through your computer.

    During their second set on Saturday night, Gov’t Mule will be joined by the full Levon Helm Band including Amy Helm, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams and the LHB Horns among others. The set will feature music from Levon’s 50+ year career. Levon Helm, the long-time drummer and singer for The Band, a 2-time Mountain Jam performer and Woodstock resident, passed away in April at the age of 71 after a decade-long battle with cancer.

    “Levon was a musical hero of mine,” says Warren Haynes. “His 70th birthday celebration at Mountain Jam two years ago was a magical night and a truly inspiring musical performance.  So bringing back that incredible band to share in our tribute seemed like a great way to honor his memory.”

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2GlgF-wBc&w=560&h=315]
    Headlining this year is the original boy wonder- Mr. Stevie Winwood, so Gimme Some Lovin’, I am ready! Michael Franti and Spearhead have appeared every year since the first year and have this special ability to bring such a joyful mood to the crowd, last year sending out a boat load of giant beach balls the hill was awash in color. Tedeski Trucks Band, fresh off the Grammy for best blues disc is back this year and they know how to party.  For me a must see will be the Roots.  This is typical of Mountain Jam musically, the diversity of styles harkens back to the old Fillmore Auditorium with jam bands, blues band bluegrass bands (the Traveling McCoury’s), Americana, Urban, late night electronica and up and coming bands that Radio Woodstock has scouted out to turn us on to.  There are four stages filled day and night with so many choices that your schedule is vital.  Some other folks in this year’s lineup that I am dying to see include Trombone Shorty (who also recently played for the President), Lotus, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ben Folds Five (who are reuniting after 11years, so a real musical treat for all of us) and the Word (featuring the other worldly Robert Randolph, John Medeski and the North Mississippi All-stars).  Again that is just a personal list, go on the website and you will see that the lineup is just plain loaded.

    Not to belabor a point but what makes Mountain Jam work so well is that it is organized for us and set in an honestly beautiful place. When music and beauty come together, who couldn’t be happy?  A good example is that the chair lift is open for rides up the mountain (and to get to a seriously long zip line) and we were coming down the mountain last year as Mavis Staples hit the stage and launched into some of the Band’s tunes they had done in the Last Waltz movie way back when, we all were transformed, and that was early on the first day and we all just stayed in that place of pure joy the rest of the weekend.  Take my advice, be kind to yourself and come to Mountain Jam VIII

  • Racebannon Show Review – 4/26/12 The Haunt – Ithaca, NY

    30 people in attendance, 300 decibels. That’s an appropriate way to sum up Racebannon’s performance at The Haunt last Thursday. Diligently working to bring some of the finest in underground music to the 607 area code, Bubba and Ithaca Underground presented the Indiana based noise group to a modest crowd, but that didn’t stop the band and sound guy from doing whatever it took to make ears bleed.

    Unaware I would ever get the opportunity to see the group, all I can say is they are heavy… Very heavy. Opening with a crushing, sludgy jam, I knew right away that it was going to be a fun evening. The 4-pc from Indiana makes A LOT of noise.

    While not overtly psychotic, Racebannon’s stage presence is definitely crazy… The chaotic nature of the noise punk scene necessitates a bit of off-the-wall antics. Not to say the band totally loses it or in any way endangers themselves or their audience, but it is certainly something to watch.  Racebannon’s atypical song structure and punctuated rhythms throughout their songs left you wondering what state of mind the guys are in during their writing.

    Their first time in Ithaca was sparsely attended, but they went for it on stage, anyway. Vocalist Mike Anderson kept it fun onstage between tracks, his maniacal laughter and spastic outbursts adding a layer of humor to the spastic, sludgy grooves and spitfire changes offered by the music.

    Offering a solid selection of tracks off their latest release, , as well as some tasty bits from their array of previous output, their set was dense, crushing, and again… very loud.

    I’d really like to see a tour consisting of Racebannon, The Jesus lizard, and Melvins… It’d be almost too perfect. Check out “The Hard Way” video on Youtube for a dose of what the band is all about… Good jam!

    Cattledrums

    The first thing I’ll say about Cattledrums is that they are a “listeners” band. You’re probablt not going to not going to be able to follow it the first time out, whether you’re into the music or not. The band is very tight, and all 4 members are proficient musicians, but it’s like watching A.D.D in music form. Their songs are spazzy, technical, have lots of time changes and unique melodies and riffs, and progress like they were written out on a chalkboard. Progressive, experimental hardcore/punk type bands are always fun to watch, at least.

    The players are very busy onstage, and you have to really know the changes to truly appreciate what they’re throwing down. The drummer is sick, and his easy yet powerful transitions were a pleasure to see in person. The singer was on the floor the whole time, back to the crowd, undoubtedly watching his band mates lay waste to their instruments. The very small crowd (less than 20) watched eagerly as they tore through their tracks.

    They closed with an incredibly heavy drum/guitar track, ala Hella, making for my favorite song of the evening by the group. ATDI, Volta, Dillinger fans will be pleased, so check it out.

    My apologies go out to Hi, Donna Here who opened the show this evening, as it was necessary to indulge in my longtime calzone obsession. D.P. D’oh!

    www.racebannon.net

    www.ithacaunderground.com

  • Interview with Marc Brownstein of The Disco Biscuits and Conspirator

    Interview with Marc Brownstein of The Disco Biscuits and Conspirator

    Amid a circus of DJs, 20-somethings with computers and dubstep bands, the art of live electronica has been lost. The creation of electronic dance music by a band and not solely on a computer, is an art form few have mastered. Kraftwerk, Justice, Simon Posford, The  Chemical Brothers, Sound Tribe Sector 9 and the Disco Biscuits are in a class of their own. However, from the decreased touring schedule of the latter has grown a 2004 side project that has taken itself and audiences to new heights in the development of live electronic music. Conspirator, fresh off the release of their live album Unlocked: Live from the Georgia Theater, tour 60 or more shows a year from coast to coast, opening the door for the band to make a case as the best live electronic touring act in America today. Numerous festival appearances this summer will likely cement this journey that founding Biscuits’ Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein (who joins us for an interview) has taken with guitarist Chris Michetti and a rotating cast of drummers.

    marc brownstein interview

    While the show itself was outstanding and a cadre of intensely dancing fans came to check out Dirty Paris and Blockhead open up, the interview with Marc Brownstein shed light on Conspirator, electronic music, and the current state of The Disco Biscuits. Marc said at one point, ‘It’s great to be inAlbany’, even though we were in Clifton Park. This just goes to show how big the Albany music scene is, stretching to Troy and points north, meeting up with the high peaks sounds of Saratoga.

    Conspirator 4/26/12, Northern Lights, Clifton Park,NY

    Setlist: So Much More > Step Inside, Hands Up, Countash > Feed the Wolf >Brooklyn Bridge> Hard Acid > Commercial Amen > Caves > Orch Theme > Liquid Sawyer, Gypsy Lane, Neck Romancer E: Fascinate

    Interview with Marc Brownstein:

    Your new live album, Unlocked: Live from the Georgia Theater was released recently. What is it about the creation of live electronic music that leads to such a kinetic response from the crowd?

    Electronic music in general gets a kinetic response from the crowd. Doing it live just brings in that element of surprise, and that’s the thing that we’ve always been used to having in our world, so that’s one thing that I’m not ready to give up and moving into just playing electronic music with an element of surprise in there. You can create it DJing for sure without instruments; really great DJs are great because they construct their sets the way the great bands of all time have constructed their sets and they’ve made the show flow through, they’ll play half of one song then go into another song then maybe they’ll bring in a little piece of one song over another song, and its like they’re doing the same stuff at this point that the great jambands did back in the day, and still do.

    marc brownstein interview

    What is the origin of the band name Conspirator?

    It’s mostly about collaboration. The whole idea was just to collaborate with everyone out there that we know, Joe Russo to the guys from Umphrey’s to the different drummers we’ve used, Lotus, The New Deal, KJ SAWKA and Adam Dietch. It’s about Aron and I having the chance to bring in these different influences and elements over the tracks that we produce and interpret them differently with different musicians.

    There are quite a few songs that stretch from Conspirator’s debut album, The Key, have been played by The Disco Biscuits as well. Is there a difference between playing them with two different bands, even though two members are common between them?

    It depends on the song. For Portal (to an Empty Head), the difference is that we’re not singing but we’re playing without any tracks, but (Digital) Buddha we’re not singing but we’re playing a whole different version, a computerized version of it and made a track for it. We made a computerized backtrack of Buddha and broke it up, it can be triggered and its totally loose, we’re not stuck on it, we can use it and improvise with it and tweak it, but it makes them completely different from the Buddha that we play in the Biscuits. And then there’s the ones in the Biscuits that we do without any track like Commercial (Amen) or Liquid Handcuffs or Orch Theme but over in Conspirator we play them the way they were written. In the Biscuits we interpret these electronic songs into rock form but in Conspirator we’re playing them as electronic tracks and adding rock instruments to that but staying true to the fact that they’re electronic tracks.

    What are the origins of Orch Theme? How did the song develop into such a slow building aria?

    The song was named for the sound on the keyboard that it’s based around, so the actual sound of the theme of Orch Theme was called orch theme on the computer so he (Aron Magner) named the song after the sound, which happens sometimes. It’s not the first time its happened where a sound has dictated the name of the track; after all it is music.

    So Chris (DJ Omen) and Aron wrote the theme together, then we brought it into the Biscuits, dropped everything except that Orch Theme sound and then we turned it into what we do, which is stretch it the fuck out. Sometimes we even play it without ever playing the theme, we’ve actually put it on the setlist and just played through the whole entire thing and never got to the theme and just left it and went somewhere else. Then at the end of the show we’ll be like ‘we never played that’, and we just got so far out in the jam that we felt like the actual song didn’t even get played.

    (After the show, I asked Aron Magner for his take on the origins of Orch Theme and he gave some more details to the creation of the song)

    “Orch theme I wrote in 2005 and at that time Lord of the Rings was the best thing ever, as it still is right now. I was working in the studio with DJ Omen and I was wondering if we could make some thematic and cinematic music, I wanted it to sound like electronic, like the orcs are coming in. as I was browsing through patches, I was like ‘oh my god!’, ‘Orch theme’. The motif is trying to say orchestra theme because it has layers and layers, the bottom half of the keyboard has tympanis and the upper half has violas and in between has brass, there are 36 instruments laid out throughout the keyboard that double each other depending on their range so that’s the Orch Theme. So that’s how it came about.”

    Recently, electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk performed their albums at MOMA. Did their music hold and influence over your early interest in electronica and if not, who were the first bands that turned you onto electronic music?

    Well, Kraftwerk was a thing I found out about later when people used to say that we were the first band to play electronic music, when Kraftwerk was doing this decades before we came along. So they had no influence, it was like a collective unconsciousness of ‘dude, people have been doing this for a long time”, but for us it was mostly for us, Simon Posford, the person who was our earliest influence, via our friends from England who were friends with Posford and were playing us Hallucinogen and Shpongle back in the mid-late 90s. We had heard house music but it didn’t appeal to us as much as psychedelic music. Clearly, that was the bridge, between rock and electronic, that’s why Posford was the bridge, for all of this, for real. A lot of people attribute us as a bridge in America for bringing rock and electronica together, for pushing the styles together at Camp Bisco and by forging a rock and electronica festival, but the bridge came from similarities between the psychedelia of trance and the psychedelia of the jamband world; it sounded very different but the idea was the same, to try to tweak people out.

    Your drummers rotate, including Lane Shaw, Mike Greenfield, Darren Shearer, Adam Deitch and KJ SAWKA, currently playing this tour. How hard has it been to interlace through different drummers and keep the music consistent from one night/tour to the next? 

    It’s been much better since we’ve had KJ for the last six months. Having one drummer is what we want, it’s preferable, and the band is getting better and better. Last night was one of the best shows we’ve ever played, we know each other now, and we can communicate with each other. It’s great.

    Is Conspirator, initially conceived as a side project becoming the main touring act? Will we see Disco Biscuit tours again?

    Well, when the Biscuits aren’t playing this is certainly going to be the main act. But I’m assuming there’s going to be more Biscuits tours. That’s the assumption I’m running my life on. Of course there’s going to be more Biscuits tours. We wanted 2011 off and we didn’t get it, it just didn’t happen. We wanted to take the whole year off

    You mean including Camp Bisco as well?

    Yeah we were going to take the whole year off and then we talked Jon into doing Camp and we talked him into doing Inferno and then we talked him into doing Nokia and Identity and before you knew it we played 50 shows and said “Well that wasn’t a year off.” I played another 80 on top of it, I played 130 shows and so at the end of that I think we were just like “OK that didn’t work, the only way to do this is to legitimately try to not to talk anyone into playing any shows. For me, I have to be very disciplined, “OK, I’ll book myself to play with Conspirator and play these shows because I have a lot of energy and I put a lot of effort into trying to get The Disco Biscuits out on tour all the time for years and years and years, I’m always just driving it forward and pushing shows, booking shows, pushing festivals, so for me I just have to be disciplined and say “We’re taking time off, I have to accept that we’re taking time off.” I don’t know if I’ll ever take time off myself, personally. I just don’t see the point in taking time off. I get for other people they have to but for me personally, I just don’t…yeah, there’ll be more Biscuits shows.

    Update 4/30, 11pm: This article has been updated to correct the name of a co-writer of Orch Theme. It was Chris Edmonson, AKA DJ Omen. Apologies for the confusion

  • An Interview with Natalie Cressman

    An Interview with Natalie Cressman

    Through Phish side projects, we are introduced to new musicians, some whom we may be familiar with, such as Scott Murawski of Max Creek, while others are new to the Phish family of musicians. Natalie Cressman, who sings and plays trombone in Trey Anastasio Band, sat down with NYS Music for an interview on her musical upbringing, her role in TAB and what the future holds with the release of her debut album.

    natalie cressmanPete Mason: Your parents, Jeff and Sandy are both musicians. Growing up, what was it like being in a musical household, with music that stretched from Brazilian to Jazz?

    Natalie Cressman: It was incredible to be exposed to such a wide array of music on such a subconscious level. I was completely unaware of how unusual my environment was as a kid, but seeing my parents, both American, immersing themselves in these musical cultures (Brazilian and Afro-Cuban) gave me a lot of respect for understanding the music’s roots. Seeing how many different styles of music share similar rhythms and how musical traditions have cross-pollinated over the years helped me think about music on a larger scale. I think being exposed to all of that set me up to be able to play any style of music I set my mind to.

    PM: Considering your musical upbringing and coming from a musical family, what made choose the trombone as your instrument? Do you or have you played others as well?

    NC: I started out singing and playing Suzuki piano at around 5. I was really into Broadway musicals for awhile, I even sang in Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway version of the Puccini opera La Boheme when I was 10 when it opened first in SF. I started trombone as soon as my arms were long enough to reach (laughs), which was around 9. I think I really liked hearing my dad play it so well and there was an extra trombone in the closet so my parents were stoked about not having to buy me a different instrument. I stopped playing piano or singing as much once I got into the trombone. I still play a bit of piano and bass, but I mostly play just when I’m writing new music.

    PM: What was it like when you were asked to join TAB? Was there any hesitancy?

    NC: When I was asked to join TAB, I was absolutely thrilled. It was my first tour ever and I thought the music was just so unbelievably great. To be a freshman in college and have a gig like that was just a total shock, in the best possible way. The only hesitancy I might have had at first was trying to figure out how it would all work with my school schedule. It is fortunate in some ways that TAB doesn’t tour that often because it makes it so I always miss just as much school as I possibly can without rubbing the Dean the wrong way. I had a couple really nice teachers who understood the nature of the opportunity and helped me figure it out.

    PM: How have you adjusted to life on the road and playing huge rooms?

    NC: I have definitely gotten more accustomed to it: I remember the first couple shows physically shaking with stage fright. It’s an intimidating thing to be out in front of a sea of people, but there’s definitely a zone of calm that I’ve figured out how to tap into now that let’s me focus on the music. I’ve always been obsessed with traveling, so being on the road is still pretty exciting. I love wandering around whatever city I’m in. I’m constantly trying to find cute little restaurants and shops that are really unique to the town.

    PM: How did you get together with the members of your band Secret Garden?

    NC: I met most of my band members through my school (Manhattan School of Music). Most of them are either current students, alums or people I’ve met through friends at school. Some of them I’ve known since before college! There are an astonishing number of talented musicians in New York City, but I think I gravitated towards the guys who now make up my band because we all have eclectic tastes in music that lie outside of the jazz world. I think what is so fun about the project is letting all our other influences seep in through the music to the point where the genre-specific lines are blurred. It gives us a lot of flexibility to make music with a fresh outlook.

    PM: You also perform with Peter Apfelbaum and the NY Hieroglyphics as well as Wyllys and the NY Hustler Ensemble. Compared to your other bands, how is that experience different, both in terms of the music and the band dynamic?

    NC: Both groups are incredibly creative and inventive. I grew up listening to Peter’s records and I remember hearing the Hieroglyphics as a teenager and feeling so excited about the music that I felt my heart pounding. Peter’s music has such a deep rhythmic groove, yet the music is definitely experimental and forward-thinking. The music is so soulful and yet at the same time so avant-garde. I think of Peter as my musical godfather, and the way he composes music, freely weaving together so many different styles so that the music itself becomes enigmatic, is super inspiring. The band is filled with old friends of my parents, so I definitely feel like I’m among family and it’s really laid back. But make no mistake, they’re super serious about the music. Wyllys’ Nu Disco and Re Edits also are on that line between soulful/groove and the experimental. With Wyllys and the New York Hustler Ensemble, things are definitely a little more unpredictable and spontaneous. But it’s a lot easier to be that unpredictable with only three musicians on stage. It would be miraculous if all 12 of us in Peter’s band could pull off the type of improvised composition that we do in the Hustler’s Ensemble. Jen and Wade are like family to me too, so every gig is always an incredible amount of fun.

    PM: Which is more creatively fulfilling for you – writing a song or recording/performing it?

    NC: That’s a really hard question. I think they are both fulfilling, but for me the writing process doesn’t feel complete until I hear it fully played, so I’d guess I’d say that performing it is the ultimate fulfillment. However, sometimes a performance doesn’t go as well as I’d like and then it’s hard to be satisfied with an off night. I often lose sleep over it, because you can’t go back and change a live performance. Even once in awhile certain recordings, you have to live with mistakes or things you might have done differently. I really like the relaxed nature of composing, of having the time to go out on a limb and try something different, then being able to erase it if it doesn’t work. It’s easy for me to write freely because there’s no need to be self-conscious or judgmental of your own work when you can tweak and perfect it to your hearts content

    PM: In the Stanford Jazz Mentors program you are teaching others. What is your favorite thing about that process?

    NC: I really love teaching because I think it is the perfect marriage between my musical skills and my killer babysitting skills (laughs). I started teaching at Stanford when I was barely 19, and a lot of the kids I was instructing weren’t more than a year or two younger than me. But I realized that was pretty insignificant, and I just did my best to get them excited about playing music. So much about teaching is psychological: it’s about giving them that bug that makes them want to know more. I’ve seen so many incredible musicians turn out to be mediocre teachers because they don’t pick up on the vibe of their students and are too caught up in teaching them what they think the kids should learn. It’s a balance for sure, but I think I’m good at figuring out how to get students excited about music, which opens them up for focused, meaningful learning.

    PM: You recently had a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund your debut album Unfolding, with fans contributing $7,000 (of a $5,000 goal). As you approached and exceeded the goal and the album’s production became a reality, what was going through your mind at this time?

    NC: It was an incredible surprise that the campaign was successful. I was going to fund the entire project on my own, since I’m not on a record label and being a 20 year-old college student it all seemed really overwhelming. A mentor of mine had recommended I work with a publicist and a radio promoter to help build some good press around the release but that was an extra $8,000 on top of paying the musicians, sound engineers, manufacturing, distribution, etc. My mom urged me to check out Kickstarter and so I did it on a whim with a small goal just to get a little help so that I could hire the PR. It did better than I ever could have expected, and the campaign will nearly fund the whole PR campaign! It was also a lot of fun to bring all the pledgers into the project, to share the process with them was really cool.

    PM: What are your musical hopes and goals over the next 10 years?

    NC: Right now I feel like I’m coming to a cross-road where I can see myself going in several directions. I could get a Master’s Degree, try to establish myself as a jazz musician, start a pop project. But from where I am now, I would love to make a name for my current band in the next 10 years, to be able to play more often, tour with my own group, and reach bigger audiences. I would love to keep writing my own songs and recording albums. With my project, I want to show jazz a relevant art form, I want to motivate other creative musicians to stop playing jazz like its classical repertoire and to tap into all the opportunities found in modern music and technology. I hope to continue playing as a sideman, especially with Trey, as each tour makes me a better musician and a better person too. All I really need to be happy is to have other like-minded musicians to collaborate with and keep me on my toes, and the rest is just the icing on the cake.

  • The Heavy Pets Syracuse 4/12/12 Show Review

    The Heavy Pets dropped by Westcott Street in Syracuse this past Thursday and damn, it was a good time! With plenty of space to move around, the crowd took in a solid batch of jams by the 5-piece from Florida, enjoying the sunshine they brought with them. Unbeknownst to me, the group has ties to Syracuse University, so it was a twisted sort of homecoming for at least one of the band members. Go Orange!

    Since their formation in 2007, T.H.P. has released a total of 8 albums (4 studio and 4 Live,) so they have plenty of output to select from when heading into their shows. The band chose lively starter “3am” to get the performance in motion, and we were off on a jammed out journey.

    It was clear from the get-go that these guys are a very good band with a sincere passion for their craft… We need more groups like them coming around. Offering lots of mellow grooves and great tone, The Heavy Pets got right down to business. Throwing down some solid breaks and getting people ready to move, the band seems right at home onstage… No hesitation by the players at all. They could be playing for themselves or ten thousand people, but they seem very comfortable with their crowd and each other. Bonus points…  Singer/Guitar player Jeff Lloyd kind of resembles Dave Mustaine from a distance, though his pleasant personality and bright smile undoubtedly make him the better choice to have a drink with.

    To mix it up a bit, they brought in some definite funk on track two, “Monster Box.” With no hesitation, the bass player laid it right down, making the groove happen. With the rest of the group dialed right in, the cohesiveness of the unit remained for the duration of their performance. Throughout their 10-song set, The Heavy Pets featured plenty of tasty solos over some straight soulful grooves, highly danceable jams, and frantic rhythms.

    To veer off topic a bit, it is very good to know that wherever jam inspired music occurs these days, there will always be a tight-bodied glow stick girl in Ugg boots going off. And I still need an answer as to when in the hell hula-hoops got so popular?

    The Heavy Pets are yet another group that remind me how much music there is out there to explore. Though I’m a bit late in hearing this band, it is more of a relief to finally experience these guys than it is a bummer to know I am just finding out now.

    Lee Terrace

    4-piece group Lee Terrace provided the direct support. A very young looking band, their songs were diverse and unique, offering a wide range of influence and rhythmic texture. Incorporating jam, rock, and touches of punk and ska, their writing seems to be a free-for-all. With some dedicated woodshed time, I feel they have lots of potential to entertain.

    The first thing at struck me was the Bass player… The kid is solid. As primary singer, his higher range was complemented by the occasional harmony by the keyboard player, who exchanged microphone duties throughout the set.  The guitarist was also a good player, though I felt he scribbled out a majority of his solos rather hastily. The biggest detractor from the set was the drummer. I felt his approach was excessively showy, and he constantly nursed same fill over and over again. Hanging back a touch would greatly benefit the group as a whole. Good “House Of The Rising Sun” cover, fellas!

    Haewa

    Starting us off tonight was the young jam trip known as Haewa. Recommended to me by several people, I really dug what these guys were throwing down. Definitely inspired by jam bands, they group incorporates a decent blend of rock, funk, reggae, jam into the mix. I think they could make some nice waves if they keep up the good work.

    All of their songs were heavy on the groove, and they offered a nice pulse throughout their brief set. While the vocals were lacking at times, the kid’s guitar chops were right on, and he wasn’t afraid to show them off. The bass player was also solid as a rock, and worked a heavy bottom end into the mix. The drummer was a tad flubby, but he kept the groove moving along nicely throughout their set. Their incorporation of nice guitar effects, tasteful solos, and infrequent sampler usage filled up the room well.

    The group seems to be in the experimental stage, and, in my humble, they need to move around a bit more while they perform. But overall, it was a good showing by the trio. Check them out if you see them on a bill.

    http://www.theheavypets.com/

  • Interview with Liz Berlin of Rusted Root

    Rusted Root has been turning their performances into sweaty, sticky joy since 1990. I’m convinced the group could get the guards of the Royal Palace bobbing their heads in unison with their infectious rhythms and happy melodies.

    Still riding a huge wave of sustained popularity after their 1994 album “When I Woke,” Rusted Root is one of the few bands that guarantees an enjoyable, energy filled time when they grace the stage. After 22 years, 7 albums, 3 EP’s, and enough touring to make most long distance truck drivers weep, Rusted Root are true warriors of the road… They love what they do, and the proof is right there in front of you when you see them in concert.

    That being said, their May 15th stop in Syracuse is a must-see for eager fans, and arguably the best way you could spend a Tuesday evening in our fine city. I was able to speak with Liz Berlin over the phone prior to their performance to get some insights on the group’s extensive career, musical conceptualization, and how it felt to be the morning soundtrack for NASA.

    Interview:

    G- Hi Liz and thank you for taking the time to speak with Upstate LIVE!

    L- Hi!

    G- Are you currently on tour? Has the tour started yet?

    L- Well, we just completed 3 weeks of touring on the west coast, and we’ve been home for a couple of days. We’re leaving tonight to start the second leg of the tour.

    G- That’s excellent! And this is going to be another 3 week run of dates, correct?

    L- Almost 4, yea.

    G- So how were all the west coast shows?

    L- It was amazing! We played a lot of towns we haven’t been to before, and a lot of towns we don’t go to nearly enough. The tour was 98% sold out, and it was really, really awesome.

    G- Well, hopefully you bring some of the sunshine with you! What is going on after this next run of dates on the east coast?

    L- Well, we’re gonna to be finishing up this run of dates on the east coast and then we are going to be heading into the studio to finish mixing our next album, and finish up on the artwork and just get that all ready for release.

    G- Since 1990, Rusted Root has been playing shows, recording music, and logging in many, many miles… How does the group maintain such an active touring lifestyle? Any secret to it you’d care to share with us?

    L- Well, you know, I think there is a balance to it. We do tour a lot, but we also have our time at home and time to work on other projects so that we don’t get totally overwhelmed with touring.

    But really, we love it! The live performance is the highlight of our careers. Having that connection with the fans… Sort of that ritual of performing those songs and having all the fans come out… It’s wonderful!

    I think, my personal secret for touring, is I try to bring a bike with me as much as possible. I love exploring all the different towns we end up in. If I have a bike with me on the road, it helps a lot with my sanity!

    G- Right on. So, something I have wanted to ask you since my first listen… Where did your name come from?

    L- Well, when we were recording our very first songs, we had the goal of entering into a contest called “The Rock Challenge” and we had to turn in a 4 song tape. We didn’t have a name yet, and the deadline was that night. So, we sat around just brainstorming words together and, you know, someone said “Root,” as in Roots music, and I sort of ended up putting the “rust” and the “root” combination together, and that’s where it came from.

    G- Ok that clears it up for me! I’ve been waiting 16 years to ask somebody that. So, your last album release, “Stereo Rodeo,” came out in 2009, and you have been touring the album ever since. You are currently working on a follow-up to the album… Can we expect to hear any new songs on your upcoming tour?

    L- Oh absolutely! The set list in our shows these days is about 50% new material and the flow throughout the night is wonderful. The new stuff mixes very well with the old stuff and the energy is very high throughout the entire night.

    G- Alright! I’m looking forward to it. Can you tell us a bit about what is your writing process like? Who in the band typically comes up new music and how does each member contribute to the process?

    L- Well, Michael Glabicki is the primary songwriter in the band. He comes up with the skeleton… The guitar and the vocals… and brings it to the band and we all add in whatever our area of specialty is, whether it be bass or drums, vocal harmonies.

    And we’ve been developing the music a lot on the road in front of the fans, and taking a lot of input from the fans just based on how songs go throughout the night, from night to night. In that way, it is really like a collaborative process with the fans.

    G- Cool! You have released 6 albums, 3 EP’s, a Live record, and a greatest hits compilation, but according to your Wikipedia page (notoriously the most accurate website ever), Rusted Root has over 40 tracks that only exist on rare bootlegs recorded between the years of 1991 and 1995. Is this true, and do you have any intention on releasing these tracks on a studio recording? (SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT) I’d be glad to release them for you on Instant Classic Records!

    L- Oh wow! That’s funny I’ll have to read the wikipedia page… I haven’t seen it in a while. It is true that we have a lot of songs that have never been released on albums, some dating back as far as 20 years to the beginning of the band. The cool thing that happens, though, is they stick with us, and sort of surface on albums from time to time.

    For instance, on this next album, we’ll be putting a song on there called “Cover Me Up” which is a song that was written during the exact same time period as “Send Me On My Way,” “Martyr,” and “Ecstasy” and all of those songs that just never ended up on an album for some reason. But we’ve just brought it back in the last year and sort of revamped it and added a lot to it.

    G- That’s very cool! So your song, “Send Me On My Way,” was selected by NASA to be the morning wake up music for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity…

    L- Haha how cool is that?!!

    G- Insane! What was it like to get that phone call and realize your music was going to be in space!?

    L- It was amazing! It’s still amazing! It’s mind boggling to imagine. We just feel extremely honored and blessed and really happy that we could contribute to a positive experience for the astronauts… Up there in space… It’s awesome!

    G- If I was 5, 6, 10 miles above the surface, I’d want to hear it!

    L- Yea hahahahaha!

    G- What is your take on the different performances environments you have been able to perform? Do you prefer festivals, headlining gigs, acting as direct support? Can you tell us a bit about the difference between these forums and situations, and how you approach each performance?

    L- Well, we’ve played in so many different types of venues and situations, and I can’t say that any one type is our favorite over another. It really all has to do with the energy of the people in attendance. Any situation… It can be the smallest, dinkiest pub in the middle of nowhere… If the vibe is right and the people are pysched, it ends up being the most amazing night for us.

    That being said, Bonnaroo was pretty amazing, and so was Woodstock 99… From the stage looking out… I couldn’t see the end of the people! That was quite a rush!

    G- I was at that Woodstock 99 show, and it was something else! Which leads me to the next question… I hope you didn’t answer it already, but, as I am sure there are many great tour stories, can you tell us a bit about your personal favorite Rusted Root show to date? Where was it and what was it like?

    L- It’s not actually one particular show, but I’d say it would be the whole tour when we were asked to play as the opening act for the Robert Plant and Jimmy Page reunion tour. That was just mind boggling to me! I remember we were on the road with the Spin Doctors at the time, and I came out to the tour bus from my hotel and Jim (Donovan) said to me ‘Guess what the next gig is!’ I said ‘What?’ and he said ‘Led Zeppelin!’ I said ‘Stop lying! That will never happen!’

    And just a few days before, I had been thinking about Led Zeppelin and how I wanted to find a really good cover band to watch because I wanted to see somebody play it. But it turns out we spent 3 months crossing the country twice with Page and Plant playing hockey arenas! I basically spent everyday sitting by myself in the middle of hockey arenas watching them sound check… That was just kind of a dream!

    G- Yea well, I’m jealous hahaha! Well, obviously you’ve been on the road for a very long time, and the music industry is a very tough business. In your profession opinion, what advice can you give some of the young, up and coming bands out here in Syracuse, and everywhere for that matter, who want to make it in music, on the road, and as a professional musician?

    L- Well, you know, there is all types of advice that I could give, but really… Just focus first and foremost on the music and your playing skills. Try to write the most original music that you can, and make it solid. After that, it’s really just a matter of exploring your options and being proactive with the opportunities that you have and the resources that you have.

    With the internet and social media and all of the different sites that there are for bands, there are so many resources now that we didn’t have when we were first starting. If you want to do music seriously, then you have to just decide that that is your mission and that’s your job, and treat it like a job. Just work very hard and stay focused!

    I’d like to give Liz a huge “Thank you” for taking some time to talk with me today before she embarks on Rusted Root’s upcoming tour. They’ll be hitting Syracuse on May 15th, so go grab your tickets and go see more live music!

    http://www.rustedroot.com/

  • “Greg’s 10” Interview with… CLUTCH!

    Chevy Celebrity. 1983. Not nearly as cool as the vehicle described on “Spacegrass,” my introduction to Clutch back in high school, but it got me around. A staple on the Top 9 at 9 on K-Rock for months, a buddy of mine and I would hop into my ride, pack a bowl, and anxiously await the DJ to drop the tune. A fan is born.

    Clutch may not have reached to upper echelon of commercial success as some of their contemporaries, but most of their contemporaries aren’t even around anymore. Riding a wave of success that is, in many ways, unparalleled, Clutch’s fan base is cultish, rabid, and fiercely loyal. My last experience with the group found them selling out 2 consecutive nights at Irving Plaza in NYC… Not an easy feat anywhere, let alone a Mecca of the music world.

    I was able to check out the show this evening, and Dan Maines from Clutch was cool enough to answer a few questions about the band, their longevity, tour, and recordings for Upstate Metal.

    Interview:

    G- What’s going on, man, and thank you for taking the time to speak with Upstate Metal! How’s everything going on your current tour? I see you are playing several headlining dates in addition to sharing a bill with Hell Yeah! How have the shows been?

    D- They’ve been good. I’m sorry, but I’ve just noticed that they have Rockin’ Pies down there? This place… Do they make their own pie for sale during shows?

    G- You know, I’m not quite sure but if they do, I haven’t had dinner yet so I’m definitely down to grab one.

    D- That’s fantastic!

    G- I’ve been coming to this club for about 18 years and I’ve never seen that.

    D- Never seen anything about pies?

    G- No.

    D- OK. Moving on, tour’s been going good. We started the tour off with headlining shows. We did a few of those, and then Hell Yeah! Jumped on, or we jumped on with Hell Yeah! For the past 4 shows. Everything is going great.

    G- How’s life on the road with Mr. Vinnie Paul and crew… You guys been partying hard or what?

    D- Not yet. We’ve know Vinnie for a while. We did a tour back in the day with Pantera and we’ve been on a few tours where he’s come out to see some of the other bands. We’re just looking forward to spending some weeks on the road with them. All those guys are great guys… I’m looking forward to it!

    G- Excellent! So, Clutch has been around for more than 2 decades (They formed in 1990) and there is no indication that the group is going anywhere anytime soon… Can you talk a bit about the band’s formation and how everything came about?

    D- Yea, well we first started playing together in 1989. That was our senior year of high school. My first show was trying out for the high school talent show. I can’t even remember what we were calling ourselves, but it was me, Neil, John Paul, and this other friend of ours Brian, and Eric. It didn’t make the cut, but luckily there were so many bands that tried out for the talent show that they just decided to have a totally separate school concert, which we ended up playing.

    God, what was the name of the band? I can’t remember the name of the band… It was something terrible (laughter). And then we got Tim in the band and it was narrowed down to 4 of us. We put out our first 7” in 1991 with our friend Dave and then put out Transnational Speedway League, our first lp on Atlantic Records, or East West, in 1993. And we’ve been releasing albums ever since.

    G- Your recordings run the gamut… You incorporate many different styles into your music, and each album is a bit different, but purely Clutch. Is this intended?

    D- Umm, I think you’re gonna run into that phenomenon of a band sounding like the previous album because it’s the same people. It’s difficult to kinda stray away from your core sound in a lot of ways, and we try to do that, and we don’t try to make the same record we made the last time. We may end up making 10 albums that, in our minds, were vastly different from each previous album, but I think, as a whole, it’s pretty easy to identify our music, if you’re listening to it. I’m too close to it… I can’t tell.

    G- Can you tell me a bit more about your writing process? Who in the band typically comes up new music? Is there a primary writer, or do you guys just drink a few beers and jam out until something clicks?

    D- As far as writing the music, it is definitely a group process. All 4 of us are heavily involved in the writing. Vocally, Neil is the sole lyricist and vocalist. But we just get together at John Paul’s place and start jamming. He pushes record until we start playing something we like playing for more than 2 minutes, and we move on to another idea. Neil will take those instrumental ideas home with him and come back a day or 2 later with some vocal ideas. And usually the vocal ideas will dictate which direction a song goes in. We may drop a part altogether. A part we thought was the chorus of the song may turn out to not be the chorus of the song once you have vocals put on it. You just build it like that. It’s very rare that somebody comes to the table with a completed song.

    G- So Clutch now has their own record label, WEATHERMAKER, and you have been reissuing your classics. Are you currently working on any new releases right now? What else is in the works for Weathermaker?

    D- Well, we have a lot of things coming out, actually. We just re-released the last 3 albums we put out on DRT Records, which has folded. We acquired ownership of those 3 albums, so we’ve re-released those on cd last year, and this year we are releasing them all on vinyl.

    G- Nice!

    D- Yup. And we have a 7” inch that we are releasing right now called “Pigtown Blues” and it’s a picture disc 7”. One side is an acoustic song called “Pigtown Blues,” and the other side is an acoustic version of “Motherless Child,” which was the first song on our last full-length album “Strange Cousins.”

    And at the end of this Summer, we plan on going into the studio with the songs we are working on right now and record those and put those out on an album that should be out early 2013.

    G- Will you be demo-ing or premiering anything during this tour?

    D- Yea. We don’t have anything established as far as titles go, but we’re definitely playing new songs on the road right now. It’s Tim’s set list… We change the set list every night… and I think tim was talking about putting 3 new songs on the set tonight, which would be fun.

    G- That’d be great!

    D- But yea we have about 10 songs right now that we will be playing throughout the tour, and when we get home we are gonna continue writing and then go into the studio with, hopefully, 15 ideas and see what happens.

    G- So, after 9 albums, rare compilations, live albums, etc… Where does Clutch see itself in the next decade? Are there any countries or continents you haven’t been to yet that you are working on, or any acts you are looking/hoping to share a bill with in the future?

    D- Yea. We’ve been lucky enough to get over to places like Australia and Japan. The European tours are starting to pick up for us. We’re just starting to consider playing European festivals “routine” now, which it never was. But yea we’re still trying to get into places like South America. We’re trying to get over to Japan more often… We haven’t been over there in a while, so we’re working on that. But yea… Global Domination is definitely part of our plan in the next 10 years.

    G- On that note, what’s the craziest show Clutch has played to date, and what was it like? Do you have any particular spots that always go off?

    D- Yea (laughter)… I don’t know. I can’t remember so many shows. You definitely see some weird things. I remember playing a show in Ohio and, uhh… I spend a lot of my time looking down, and I play with a hat on a lot of times, too, so I don’t really see a lot of what’s going on in the crowd. And one show taught me my lessons in paying more attention to what is actually happening.

    (Laughter begins)

    G- Oh boy!

    D- Uhh, I mean, this was a small stage, too. Maybe 3-feet high. But these people were engaging in coitus directly in front of me! They could have touched my feet!

    At this point, I’m cracking up.

    D- And it was that close to a threesome.

    G- I think we have a winner!

    D- But the reason it caught my attention was because you could hear very clearly the guy saying something along the lines of  ‘I can’t do it with all these people around.’ That was pretty bad.

    G- Upstate Metal… I think we’ve got a winner. Clutch has the gold star so far, so it’s gonna take a while to top that one!

    But lastly, so you can go get ready for the show this evening… I just want to ask your professional opinion. You guys have been doing this for a long time, and you’re clearly doing it well. You’ve made lots of waves, and you’re still going strong… What advice can you give for up and coming bands and artists who are looking to record, tour, and make it as professional musicians these days?

    D- I think what helps a lot is figuring out what you can do by yourself on your own. It’s that DIY attitude that was in music when I first started listening to bands. I was really into hardcore, and being from DC and having bands like Minor Threat and Fugazi as your local heroes, you kinda get that DIY attitude exposed to you early on And I think that that kind of mentality is what is gonna save a lot of bands in the long run. Not necessarily having to do everything yourself, but at least figuring out what you can do by yourself and not putting your hopes or expectations on other people or other companies.

    We’re a band that’s learned you cannot rely on a record label. You thought you could… You thought that that was your ticket… That if you could make it onto a record label, your problems were solved, and that’s the farthest thing from the truth. It took us a long time to figure it out, but what was most gonna benefit this band is forming our own label and just trying to put as many things in our control as possible.

    http://www.pro-rock.com/

    http://weathermakermusic.com/

  • Brenden Small’s (Metalocalypse) debuts GALAKTIKON!

    Brenden Small’s (Metalocalypse) debuts GALAKTIKON!

    Dig Metalocalypse? Keep reading. The multi-talented Brendon Small, who acts as primary songwriter, performer, actor and writer for the wildly popular animated series, is back at it with a new project, Galaktikon. If the show is any indication, you’ll probably assume that Galaktikon is going to be somewhat over the top, and it is. But not in a way you may expect.

    Brendon describes the album as “…an audio comic book, an over acted chamber drama, a ridiculous premise that takes itself way too seriously all the way to the end.” This statement definitely has its merit, but the album does come across as a completely serious piece of art. Not in a cookie monster, super heavy, grandiose, or obnoxious way… It’s just ambitious in a way Dethklok is not.

    The songwriting captures the heaviness and intensity one may expect from Dethklok, but with a more progressive rock feel. The tracks offer lots of tasteful melody, excellent guitar work, and exude a completely different kind of tension than the listen may expect, especially coming from the guy who wrote “Murmaider.” The musicianship is superb.

    Oh yea… Gene Hoglan is a hitter, so Galaktikon gets an additional star for that reason alone m/!

    The occasional moment of cheese, particularly the “Mr. Roboto” vocal effects during “Arena War of the Immortal Masters,” threw me for a quick loop. But, given the intention and ambition of the project, everything fits very well into the grand scheme of the album.

    If you are looking for a new Dethklok album or another batch of Metalocalypse, wait for season 4. The pomposity and lunacy that comes from Dethklok, though occasionally present here, is tucked away backstage, guzzling Jack Daniels and doing lines of cocaine while waiting for Galaktikon to finish their opening set. But if you are looking for an album of space aged travel odyssey, look no further than right here and grab yourself a copy!

  • Interview with Sim Redmond Band

    Ithaca based Sim Redmond Band is something to behold. Formed in 1999, the 6-piece have traveled many miles to bring their distinctive sound and positive energy to eager fans. The group’s unique blend of Roots/Afro-Caribbean/Reggae is a strong statement of how lively and diverse our local music scene really is. Offering strong rhythm, wonderful melody, and rich three-part harmonies, the group truly reaches their crowd with intent.

    With 9 albums to their credit, Sim Redmond Band is constantly working to expand their collective output, and minds of their listeners. Garnering new fans globally takes constant dedication and lots of legwork, but the group’s talent, ambition, and desire give them a full musical skill set to see their goals to fruition.

    I wanted to get in contact with Sim himself prior to their May 18th performance to discuss the band’s musical influences, their writing process, future plans, and a cross-cultural comparison of their performances. Here ya go!

    Interview:

    G- Hi Sim! Thanks for taking the time to speak with Upstate LIVE! If you could, please introduce the members in the group… Who is everyone and what do they play?

    S- My brother Asa Redmond plays the drums.  Dan Merwin plays bass and djembe.  Jordan Aceto plays guitar (and builds many of our instruments and pedals!).  Nate Silas Richardson plays rhodes, guitar, and sings.  Jen Middaugh sings.  And I sing and play guitar, and occasionally pick up my mbira, a Zimbabwean thumb piano.

    G- You formed this band in 1999… How did everyone meet up and when did you perform for the first time?

    S- I had begun writing songs in the late 90’s and we started out playing as the Sim Redmond Quartet: Asa, Dan, Jordan, and myself.  Our first gigs in this incarnation were at coffee houses and such late in 1998 and early 1999.  Soon after that, Uniit (our original female vocalist) began singing with us and we became the Sim Redmond Band.

    G- Your group is known for having a very diverse musical influence…. You blend several different styles together to form your unique sound. How would you classify yourselves as a group, and who in particular influences your style?

    S- Yeah, we all have a wide variety of influences that we bring to the table.  When forced to classify the music, I try to sneak around it by saying SRB is “all original feel-good music”.  But as far as genre, I guess it’s a blend of roots-rock, African, and Jamaican music, but even that is a limited description… There’s a lot more than that in it.  A lot of that diversity I credit to growing up around the Fingerlakes Grassroots Festival.  They bring in world class bands from all over the world.  Year after year, seeing groups like Burning Spear, Thomas Mapfumo, Super Rail Band, Lucinda Williams, and countless other greats, have all had a big impact on us.

    G- Dig that! So, what is your writing process like when you begin creating new songs? Who in the band typically comes up new music? Is there a primary songwriter, or is the process more organic and jam based?

    S- Our process in the past has been that anyone with a song (usually me, but not always) brings it to the band and the band then shapes and molds it until it’s ready for the stage or to be recorded.

    G- Cool… It’s great when artists all have a strong sense of collaborative effort. Speaking of which, SRB has a host of releases… 9 in total! Can you discuss your recording process? Do you have any new releases in the works?

    S- We’ve always really enjoyed recording new releases.  It’s a chance for us to explore all the potential of each song; to add that horn or string section we’ve always imagined, and the fill out that vocal part, or throw in a big drum jam.  We allow ourselves the freedom to do things that we might not be able to recreate on stage.  Then later, we figure out how to transform it back into something we can play live.  Sometimes that means Nate and/or Jordan have to cover a horn line on guitar or keys, or that we have to split up the vocal parts differently, but there’s usually a way to make it work.  Sometimes a song never makes it to the stage though, and we’re okay with that too!

    We haven’t written much over the past couple of years, so it may be time to take another approach.  Maybe this organic, jam based process you speak of….

    G- Right on hahaha! Now, Sim Redmond Band has a strong following overseas, particularly in Japan… Could you tell us about some of the musical and cultural differences between performances in the U.S. and overseas?

    S- Yeah, we’ve traveled to Japan several times… It was a blast!  It’s a whole other world over there, but we felt very much at home.  They treat us like rock stars, people constantly asking for pictures and autographs.  At performances, during songs, they are very quiet and respectful.  But in between songs they are quite appreciative.  And we did play in some more relaxed environments (beach parties, festivals, etc) where they showed us they certainly know how to party!

    G- Yea I’m told it’s tough to get around a healthy dose of alcohol in Japan if they want to warm up to people! Tell us a bit about what you hope the future holds for Sim Redmond Band… Do you have any touring coming up, new areas of the world you are striving/looking to perform in, or projects that you are working on with other artists?

    S- There’s nothing too different on the horizon.  We’ve never been a conventional touring band.  Our family ties keep us close to home for the most part.  But we’ve been playing at the newer Grassroots festivals (Shakori Hills Grassroots, Virginia Keys Miami Grassroots) that they have been developing.  They’ve got a festival for each season now.  Grassroots festivals have such a special vibe, and we’re really happy to be a part of that community.  Hopefully, we’ll continue to be involved with them and develop a more complete and consistent presence up and down the East Coast.  We’ve also been talking more and more about getting out to the West Coast.  So hopefully there will be some fun trips in our future.

    G- Do you have any particular bands that you would like to share a bill with in the future or events you would like to perform at?

    S- Wow, there are so many amazing bands and musicians it would be impossible to start naming them, and I’m sure some of the most amazing musicians are ones we’ve never even heard of.  As far as events we would love to be a part of:  New Orleans Jazz Fest would be very cool, Fuji Rock in Japan, maybe Bumbershoot out in Seattle, I could go on and on.  The world is a big and beautiful place…

    G- What is your personal favorite Sim Redmond Band performance to date? What was it like?

    S- I’ll admit it, I’m a homebody.  I like being around the Ithaca area.  One of my absolute favorite venues is the Taughannock State Park Summer Concert series just outside of Ithaca in Trumansburg, NY.  It is an evening event, there are lots of families and children.  We’ve been lucky and the weather has always been beautiful.  We’ve played there at least 5 times and it’s always like a dream come true.  We’re playing there on August 18th this year.  And of course it’s hard to beat the Fingerlakes Grassroots Festival, the biggest party I’ve ever been to.  That’s July 19-22 this year.  Those are some of my favorites, but we love them all!

    G- Lastly, can you give some of the young, up and coming bands who want to make it in music, on the road, and as a professional musicians a bit of your knowledge and expertise as a professional musician? Any words of wisdom or helpful tips you can offer from your experience?

    S- My advice would be to keep it simple and just have fun playing music.  If you’re doing that, then the rest should fall in line.  If you enjoy it, and play music that is true to you, people will respond to that.  Music is such a simple and beautiful thing, just let it be that.

    And there you have it. We would like to thank Sim and SRB very much for their time, and let everyone know that they’ll be rocking the crowd in Syracuse on May 18, so make sure to grab yourself a ticket and see some live music!

    http://www.simredmondband.com/