Category: NYS Music Staff

Lenny Stubbe is a Deadhead, Phish Head, moe.ron, live music collector and taper from Buffalo, NY who first saw the light in 1993. After a couple years of collecting high gen cassettes, he decided to go digital and make his own tapes. Still collecting to this day, Lenny got back into taping shows when Phish returned in 2009 with a passion to get it done.

Lenny likes German vehicles, Danish microphones, French and Swiss pre amps, American built high resolution decks, and recording from the mouth of the beast. Having written some reviews in the mid 90’s of Grateful Dead and Phish shows, some published and most scattered around the net, Lenny joined the team in 2012 to add a taper’s perspective.  You can check out Lenny’s website and follow him on Twitter.

Among artists on Lenny’s bucketlist are the bands he wish he could have seen – Pigpen, early Genesis, Bob Marley and 89 Grateful Dead.  For current artists, a Peter Gabriel return with Genesis and a Phish cover of a Grateful Dead album rank high on the list of something I would love to see someday.

Tabitha Clancy sometimes obsesses over one song and sometimes she obsesses over a band (she listened only to Pearl Jam for about a two year stint).  Sometimes it’s a lyric, or a simple measure of musical content that will grab her.  She will hear the music before the words find a way.  She will never say, “I love all kinds of music.”  Sometimes it takes Tabitha time to warm up to a song, or a band, and sometimes that magic just isn’t there.  People who are walking encyclopedias for anything music related fascinate her, though we here at think she has a good grip on music history.  In fact, these are just a few of the reasons she has been writing for us since 2008.   Generally, her coverage area is within the Capital District.  However, she ventures beyond state boundaries to report on scene from various festivals.  She often travels the country, following her favorite band, Railroad Earth.

She credits her late father’s love of eclectic and rather nostalgic taste in music for her ability to listen and enjoy the good stuff both past and current.  She loves singer-song writers like Josh Ritter, folk artists, bluegrass, and rock and roll.  Locally, her favorite band is Eastbound Jesus.  She has not been to every venue in the country to know which is her favorite, but in New York, she believes Bearsville Theater is top notch.  She loves everything about Johnny Cash, his life with June and his music.  She was trained as a biologist in college and currently works as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist in Albany.  While she enjoys dabbling in science, she would like to eventually work full time within the realm of the music world.

Her musical bucket list has more to do with travel than it does seeing actual musicians live as she has seen many of the greats already.  She would really like to get her blues and jazz education in New Orleans.  She would love to visit the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.  One day she will visit the Gorge Amphitheater (WA) as well as Terrapin Crossroads (CA).  If she absolutely had to pick one song to be her all time favorite, it would be “Amazing Grace”, which she considers timeless and truthful.

Jenni Wilson joined the team in the Fall of 2012, writing about shows in and around the Capital Region, specifically the Albany area. She has spent a significant amount of time around live music, growing up with two parents who both played in bands and introduced her to much of the music she listens to and appreciates today. From a young age she traveled to many shows and festivals with her family, seeing everything from bluegrass, to jazz, to psychedelic jam bands. Later in life she established her own love for music, branching off from the roots that were established at a young age. Some of Jenni’s favorite bands include Phish, Sound Tribe Sector 9 and the Grateful Dead.

Jenni also runs the Albany local promotion company Zen Rose Productions, booking a wide array of artists that have included Abakus, The Manhattan Project, Organik Time Machine, Business Casual Disco and many more. Jenni recently graduated with her Bachelors degree from the State University of New York at Albany. Now she spends her time painting, traveling, seeing live music and spending a significant amount of time with her two German shepherds, Django and Dharma (pictured above with Jenni). She currently lives in Albany.

Her Musical Bucketlist includes The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Van Morrison, David Grisman, Talking Heads, Elton John, Daft Punk and Yanni.

Darren Kemp has lived in Upstate, NY his entire life. Despite being born in Binghamton in 1973, he spent most of his formative years in the small Tioga County town of Candor before heading to Alfred State College in 1991 to pursue a degree in architecture. After graduating with an associate degree he relocated to Rochester and spent a few years at the Rochester Institute of Technology in various engineering majors. Post-college he has worked in the internet/information technology field for the past 18 years for various companies.

Currently, Darren works at the University of Rochester during the day. Music has always been a large part of Darren’s life, starting as early as seven years old when he purchased his first cassette tape, Michael Jackson’s Thriller. His interests were largely in classic and metal based rock until the early 1990s when a fellow architecture student introduced him to some Phish tapes.

Darren now lives in the historic and cultural Park Ave neighborhood of Rochester’s Southeast quadrant and often can be seen at shows all over the city throughout the week. After working with a handful of other music publications, he joined in early 2013 and has covered many shows both as a journalist and photographer. He also curates a fan based blog for the Buffalo group Aqueous and has a keen interest in gardening, photography, spending time with his wife and raising his autistic son.

Darren’s Musical Bucket List includes any Pink Floyd reunion that includes Gilmour and Waters, a Led Zeppelin reunion with remaining members, Radiohead, The New Mastersounds, ALO, Porcupine Tree and the remaining Beastie Boys, Adam and Mike D.

Twitter: @UnclePhilsBlog Email: Darren@NYSMusic.com

Lindsay Jones joined the team in 2012, reviewing shows in the Central New York area, where she was born and raised. She loves to travel and tries to see new music in every city she goes to. She credits her small town upbringing and subsequent need for adventure as a catalyst in her quest for live music.

Her favorite band is Phish and in following them from Maine to California, she has been able to see music in some of the most beautiful venues countrywide. Other favorites include Jimkata, moe. and the Felice Brothers, all of whom hail from Upstate NY.

Her Musical Bucketlist includes The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Rush and Lady Gaga. Lindsay is a Senior Insurance Underwriter with a major Insurance carrier, and works with small technology businesses.

She currently resides in Utica, NY, and is always on the lookout for new bands and adventures.