NYS Music 20​14

Author: Pete Mason

  • Here are Your Phish Post-Shows at Putnam Den and The Parting Glass

    Phish is coming to Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 3rd, 4th and 5th, and is proud to announce late-night shows brought to you by the Putnam Den at two locations: Putnam Den and The Parting Glass in downtown Saratoga Springs.

    The post-shows in Saratoga have become a destination after seeing Phish at SPAC, with up and coming bands, as well as local bands ready to burst onto the scene and keep fans dancing into the wee hours of the night. The lineup for this year’s post-shows is yet another installment of great music that shows the vibrant scene of Upstate New York.

    As a bonus, this year shows will be held at not one but TWO venues, located a very short walk from each other. See the map below.

    On July 3rd, the hardest working band in the North Country, Lucid, takes the stage at Putnam Den. Careening across the musical spectrum as a V8 blend of genres, Lucid’s sound emerges from a blend of jazz, rock, honky-tonk blues and reggae. Always a Den fave, Lucid gets the 2014 Putnam Den Phish after-party series off to a rollicking start. Tickets are $10. Pick them up here. At The Parting Glass, catch Dead Sessions, a super-group of Vermonters covering the musical of the Grateful Dead. This show has sold out in recent years, so get tickets early!

    July 4th brings us not only America’s birthday, but also Vermont Night! After celebrating our independence and the music of Phish at SPAC, come see Vermont’s Twiddle at Putnam Den and/or Waylon Speed at The Parting Glass.

    Twiddle, a Vermont based quartet, spins tall tales over an intricate soundscape of hi-def shred. Their fresh multi-genre approach conjures up jazz, classical, and bluegrass, but above all, masterfully blends reggae and funk.

    Waylon Speed’s genre is Underground Outlaw Dirt Rock, while the Washington Post has said, “Waylon Speed is a cross between Metallica and the Lumineers, with an unnecessary dash of Prince showmanship.” Not sure what to make of that? Pick up tickets to both shows and check out Twiddle AND Waylon Speed!

    Tickets for this show at $10 each, or pick up tickets to both for $15 and go back and forth between the two shows!

    Pick up Tickets for Twiddle and/or Tickets for Waylon Speed

    On Saturday, July 5th, two rising stars in the jamband world perform late-night shows. At Putnam Den, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong will take the stage at midnight, while The Parting Glass will host Albany’s Formula 5.

    Based out of Baltimore, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong (PPPP) has an undeniably unique and versatile live sound that combines funk, rock, and electronic with intense energy from their improvisational jams, bringing a party with their danceable electro-funk grooves. Opening for PPPP is Richard James & The Name Changers, a Boston-based rock band with a piano driven, song-oriented sound that appeals to adventuresome music lovers with genre bending tastes and a desire to dance.

    Formula 5, Albany’s biggest jamband, will headline at The Parting Glass, celebrating the recent release of their sophomore album Edging on Catastrophe, bringing their funk-infused jamming to Saratoga. Their live performances combine elements of funk, jazz, rock and more to their own original music. Formula 5’s ever-changing melodies with familiar sounds and catchy lyrics are enough to turn anyone into a lifelong fan.

    Tickets for this show at $10 each, or pick up tickets to both for $15 and go back and forth between the two shows!

    Pick up tickets for PPPP and/or pick up tickets for Formula 5

  • Great Music Festival Moments, Part 1

    Festival season is upon us, and with that comes 5 months of music and memories in some of the best locations for live music in the nation. As we prepare for our coverage of music festivals this summer – more than 40 across the country and Canada – we asked our staff to revisit some of the great music festival moments that they have experienced. Here are some of those moments.

    Jeremiah Shea: My greatest experience came just last year at Night Lights Fall Music Festival in Sherman, NY.  Even though the music was incredible and it was my first time seeing Marco Benevento, the highlight was the setting in which it took place.  The festival is known for it’s light show, not on stage, but throughout the venue and the woods surrounding it.  The team that coordinates the festival does an installation of about a mile or so of LED lights scattered throughout the forest where it takes place.  With multiple stages setup, I was treated to an amazing walk between sets of trees lit up in multiple colors, illuminated walkways, and an obvious show-stealing overall exhibit.  I now plan on attending every year regardless of who is taking the stage as that is always held to just as high of a standard as the entire production.

    great music festival momentsPete Mason: When I attended The Hangout in 2012, Sunday had a great afternoon lineup at the Chevrolet Stage – Mavis Staples, Steve Winwood, then The Flaming Lips, who were set to perform Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I stayed put at that end of the beach the entire day, and while the full day was awesome, it was the Lips’ set that made it one of the greatest festival experiences ever. During “Us & Them”, I looked on my phone and saw that an eclipse was taking place momentarily on the other side of the world. I saw images coming through as “Brain Damage” started and as they went into “Eclipse”. As if those lyrics weren’t already some of the best ever, hearing “All that is now and all that is gone and all that’s to come and everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon” was one of the most awesome feelings ever. You know those chills you get despite sweating? I had a rush of those for a few minutes afterward, and any time I hear the song in the future. I can never disconnect the memory of that day at Gulf Shores. The song will never be the same again.

    Jimmy Chambers: In 1999, my first non-Phish festival, I was at Gathering of the Vibes. I was enthralled by all the different bands and art and people. It was a truly monumental experience but the one moment that would change my life forever happened early on Saturday as I was walking to my car and to my right was the main stage, where I heard music that was different and better than anything I had ever heard before in my life. It was the Disco Biscuits. 15 years and 65 shows later, I still feel they are the best band out there. That is a festival moment that will live with me forever.

    Lindsay Jones: One of my best festival memories was Umphrey’s McGee, Bonnaroo 2006. It was a late show and I was flying solo that night. The set was high energy from the get-go, but when the band broke out into The Beatles “Baby You’re a Rich Man”, one of my favorites, I knew that night was special. As Umphrey’s transitioned into a funky version of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2”, it seemed that the crowd was grooving and moving as one, all dialed in. We were all singing along as “Brain Damage/Eclipse” grew to its climax, and I was absolutely overcome by emotion, bursting out into happy tears. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits and Joe Russo and Tom Hamilton were all on stage contributing to this musical masterpiece. I was just happy to have been there.

    Carly Knaszak: My greatest festival was Uproar Festival 2011 at Darien Lake, NY. My friends and I got there early just to see what merch they had out and what bands would be playing early. The headliners were Avenged Sevenfold and Three Days Grace. My friends and I walked into the venue and we saw a stand that was selling Three Days Grace CDs and we approached and saw if you bought their Life Starts Now album, you would be able to have the band sign it for 5 bucks. We bought the CDs and had the experience of a life time meeting Three Days Grace with their former singer, Adam Gontier. Avenged Sevenfold stole the show when they came on with opening with ‘Nightmare’ and ending with the oh so famous, “A Little Piece Of Heaven’. I came out of that concert with a few bruises, a sore throat, ears ringing and the greatest concert experience, ever.

    Garrett Woodward: Watching The Dead play the sunset set on the 4th of July. It was a surreal moment to stand on that grassy knoll‚ amid tens of thousands‚ and realize everyone (everything) here is a result of the magic created by a band formed some 44 years ago. The angst and beauty associated with traveling to catch that perfect show‚ the effort to drive dozens of hours in hopes of a correctly guessed opening melody‚ the lifestyle and reality‚ the entire goddamn reason I‚ and all in attendance‚ conduct our lives grew out of our unrelenting love for the Grateful Dead. Before I knew it‚ a handful of teardrops rolled down my cheeks during “US Blues‚” as fireworks exploded over the stage‚ celebrating not only the independence of this great land‚ but the independence and progressive nature of those surrounding me. “Wave that flag‚ wave it wide and high‚ summertime done‚ come and gone…”

    great music festival momentsAmy Lieberman:  My favorite festival moment had to have been back in 2010, at the Gathering of the Vibes, a lovely gathering on the beach at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This festival always seems to have an all-around positive vibe hanging over it the entire four days, probably due to the fact that this festival was created to provide a forum for music lovers and appreciators to channel the spirit of Jerry Garcia, which is really what attracted me to want to attend the event in the first place. On top of the obviously amazing shows put on by Furthur, Primus, Jimmy Cliff, and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, my absolute favorite moment of the festival was when Jackie Greene made a surprise guest appearance at the “Teen Scene” stage, where he joined the group of talented young musicians who happened to be playing on the stage after Jackie’s main stage act! I have to admit (and I’m sure I’m not the only one out there), I am a huge admirer of Jackie Greene, but I tend to get extremely starstruck. Well, I managed to work up the courage to tell him what I’ve always wanted to tell him, which was “Your voice makes my heart melt,” and got my photo snapped with him! That was definitely a major highlight of my festival-going years, not to mention my entire life!

  • Show Number One: Bruce Springsteen in Albany

    I’m not sure how it took me this long to see him, but it did and it was fully worth the wait. Bruce Springsteen puts on an amazing show, has incredible showmanship and presence on stage, and even played some wildcard audience requests look like they were part of the plan for the night. This was far from a greatest hits show and I found a few new favorite songs throughout the night. Here’s my take away from my first Bruce Springsteen show, at The Times Union Center in Albany on May 13th.

    bruce springsteen albany

    • The crowd was comprised of everyone from little kids to grandparents, and everyone in between. Bruce spans all generations.
    • “Don’t Change” and “My Love will not Let You Down” were a good 1-2 punch of to open the show. Never heard either before, let alone expected an INXS cover to start a Bruce show.
    • Tom Morello on guitar was a treat. Didn’t know he would be playing with Bruce, let alone that Little Steven wasn’t playing. Fair trade for me.

    • “Death to my Hometown” was tribal as hell.
    • I couldn’t tell if it was a standard show, or if there were bustouts. It didn’t matter either way. This show wasn’t defined by the setlist.
    • The audience interaction could have gotten old fast, and usually it does. Bruce is WAY more patient with the audience and the audience doesn’t seem to be pushy when it comes to getting him things to read or signs for songs they want to hear. Good band-audience relationship.
    • Reading a Mother’s Day card, then dancing with the mom in question was pretty cool. Your Mother’s Day gift is weak by comparison.
    • “Better Days” – new favorite tune. “Seaside Bar Song” and “Meet me at Mary’s Place” as well.
    • When an audience member requests “Stayin’ Alive”, it seemed like it wouldn’t happen. Then Bruce throws on the acoustic and this happens. “Stayin’ Alive” is one helluva a song when Bruce plays it. Stripped of Disco!

    • Seriously 17 band members? Glenn Miller Orchestra I saw last week had 19. But the sound for Bruce was worth it, just surprised to see 17 on stage.
    • “Shackled and Drawn” – HUGE song. Love this song, the Celtic-ness to it, although a bass line here would have been perfect. Good choreography as well.
    • “The Ghost of Tom Joad” – I imagine Pete Seeger looks down from heaven and smiles whenever Bruce plays this one. Major highlight for me.
    • I joked before the show with a few friends that I hope he plays “Born in the U.S.A.”, which was likely my first Bruce song growing up in the early 80s. I was pretty shocked to hear it, thinking it was a song he shelved for a long time.
    • “Born to Run”! Born->Born.

    • The crowd hung on every song and knew them all. Energetic and focused and not there just for the party – they wanted to hang on every note. Reminds me of Pearl Jam and Phish crowds.
    • Bruce’s intro for the E Street Band – never heard that before and damn it’s a good one.
    • Jake Clemons, Clarence Clemons nephew, has filled some very big shoes, and the tribute on the screen during intros was very touching.
    • The whole ‘not leaving the stage for an encore’ is confusing when most bands I see do that. Explains why the lights came on around 1030, if not earlier.
    • Russ Lawton looks like a young max Weinberg.

    Sure, there were some songs I wish I heard – “Growing Up”, “Because the Night”, “Atlantic City” and “Rosalita” – but I’m not disappointed I didn’t see them. It just means I need to go and see him more, chasing those tunes. What an amazing first show!

    Check out Bruce’s Notes from the Road

  • Phish Announces New Album ‘Fuego’

    Fuego, the first studio album from Phish in nearly five years, will be released by JEMP Records on June 24. Later that day, they will perform on ‘Late Show with David Letterman.” Phish recorded Fuego with legendary producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel) last fall, as the band’s 30th anniversary approached. They memorably performed brand new songs for their Halloween ‘musical costume’ on October 31st at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

    phish Fuego albumToday NPR Music’s “All Songs Considered” premieres “Waiting All Night,” one of the album’s 10 original tracks. Fuego is available for pre-order now in digital, CD and vinyl formats at Phish.com. The iTunes album pre-order will launch tomorrow, May 15. Fans who pre-order Fuego at phish.com or on the iTunes Store will instantly receive a download of “Waiting All Night.”

    The songs for Fuego took shape during a series of visits to Phish’s longtime creative hub, The Barn, a rustic, reconstructed barn-turned-rehearsal/recording studio located outside Burlington, Vermont. There they explored dozens of ideas, which led to a notable shift in the band’s songwriting approach. While Fuego includes tracks that individual members brought to the table in usual Phish fashion, the bulk of the material was written by all four, working together at The Barn.

    “For years, there’s been a distinct difference between how we did things live and how we did them in studio,” notes Jon Fishman. “But the way we go about things live, the way the musical ball is passed around, is now happening much more in the studio-not because we’re trying to duplicate how we play on stage, just because this is how we operate as a band, period.”

    Fuego was recorded at Ronnie’s Place and Anarchy Studios in Nashville, TN, Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL and at The Barn in Vermont. A variety of background vocalists and horn players contributed to the album. The title track was recorded at Boardwalk Hall on October 30, as Phish prepared for the Halloween show.

    Fuego – Track Listing

    Fuego
    The Line
    Devotion To A Dream
    Halfway To The Moon
    Winterqueen
    Sing Monica
    555
    Waiting All Night
    Wombat
    Wingsuit

    Catch Phish on Tour this summer!

    7/1 Mansfield, MA XFINITY Center
    7/3 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
    7/4 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
    7/5 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
    7/8 Philadelphia, PA The Mann
    7/9 Philadelphia, PA The Mann
    7/11 New York, NY Randall’s Island
    7/12 New York, NY Randall’s Island
    7/13 New York, NY Randall’s Island
    7/15 Canandaigua, NY CMAC
    7/16 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
    7/18 Chicago, IL FirstMerit Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island
    7/19 Chicago, IL FirstMerit Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island
    7/20 Chicago, IL FirstMerit Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island
    7/25 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
    7/26 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
    7/27 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
    7/29 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Wireless Pavilion
    7/30 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Wireless Pavilion
    8/1 Orange Beach, AL The Amphitheater at the Wharf
    8/2 Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
    8/3 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
    8/29 Commerce City, CO Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
    8/30 Commerce City, CO Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
    8/31 Commerce City, CO Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

  • Hayes Carll Visits Club Helsinki on May 15th with Caroline Rose

    Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll will perform at Club Helsinki on May 15th with alt-country performer Caroline Rose opening.  Carll, known for his outspoken politically infused rockers and his self-described “degenerate love songs”, brings to mind Todd Snider with a hint of Dylan and John Prine added in.

    His “KMAG YOYO” was the Americana Music Association’s #1 Album in 2011 and made year-end Best Of lists in Rolling Stone, SPIN and the New York Times. A mix of rock and honky-tonk, Hayes Carll bring his well-respected sound to Upstate New York just as the summer is approaching, a perfect time for his brand of music.

    Caroline Rose will open the night, bringing a sound that recalls Norah Jones, her sweet folk/Americana sound just scraping the surface of her deep talent. Give a listen to “Here Comes the Rain” for a taste of what she has to offer.

    Pick up tickets for the show at Club Helsinki’s website. 

  • Glenn Miller Orchestra Turns the Clock Back at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

    Inside one of the Capital District’s oldest music venues, the Glenn Miller Orchestra brought back the RCA Records sound of the 1930s and 40s amid the pastel pink, green and white interior of Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. While there are no original members, an observation bandleader Nick Hilscher made, eliciting a ripple of laughter from the crowd, they are workhorses, performing 48 weeks a year on tour with typically five shows each week. Honed and polished, the band was the sound of perfection in their extensive catalog of hits from the Big Band era of American music.

    glenn miller orchestra

    With conductor/singer Hilscher, who was classy and decked out in a suit, the 16-piece band played a brief “Moonlight Serenade” to open the show, establishing the most notable Glenn Miller song’s smooth jazz as the theme of the evening. “Caribbean Clipper” and “Tuxedo Junction” followed, with intermittent applause after each orchestra member’s solo. Derbys, plungers, wah-wah and solo-tone mutes were used at various times by the four trombonists – George Reinert, John Tyler, Joe Zeigenfus and Jason Bennett – altering the sound to that of big bands from the pre-World War II era. Following “Serenade in Blue” from the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade, featured singer Natalie Angst came out to sing “String of Pearls” and “Church on Time”, a golden voice that sounded like it had lept from the movie musicals from the same era.

    Glenn Miller, having enlisted in the war effort, he formed a band in the Army Air Force, from which the classic “Begin the Beguine” originated. Alternating brass and woodwinds were featured on “The White Cliffs of Dover”, particularly by Christopher Hearld and Kevin Sheehan whose clarinet was a soothing presence.

    Recalling the Modernaires, a vocal group who performed with Glenn Miller in the 30s and 40s, today’s Glenn Miller Orchestra has the Moonlight Serenaders, including Natalie Angst and band members Joe Zeigenfus, Kevin Sheehan and Ian O’Beirne, along with Nick Hilscher. Singing “Chattanooga Choo Choo”, (the first ever gold record with 1.2 million sales), the audience was moved to sway and sing along with the American classic. A unique comedy/parody tune, “Conchita Marquita Lolita Pepita Rosita Juanita Lopez” from the movie Priorities on Parade, fit the Moonlight Serenaders perfectly. The first set ended with “The American Patrol”, dedicated to the veterans in the audience, who stood up at Hilscher’s request, making up roughly 10% of the men in the audience.

    After a short break, the band returned to continue the night with a “Pennsylvania 6-5000”, “Pennies from Heaven” and “The Lady is a Tramp”. These three familiar numbers put the Music Hall’s incredible acoustics front and center, which have been experienced by thousands since opening in 1875. With big bands having played the room since over the past 140 years, the Glenn Miller Orchestra was well aware of the fabled legends that had preceded them. Closing with “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree”, “In the Mood” and a full version of “Moonlight Serenade”, as well as an encore of Eddie Durham’s “The Tiger Rag”, a speedy club jazz number, featuring piano from James Navan, the current incarnation of the Glenn Miller Orchestra brought a sound from the 20th century and reintroduced it into the American music catalog of the 21st century.

  • Sycamore Slough String Band featuring David Gans – Tonight at Franklins Tower

    One of California’s finest exports, The Sycamore Slough String Band is coming to Albany NY for one night only, tonight, Friday May 9th, at Franklin’s Tower. These musicians share an affinity for the music of the Grateful Dead, and came together in an Oakland recording studio in January 2012 to see what they could conjure. Featuring David Gans on guitar, David Thom on mandolin and guitar, and Roger Sideman on upright bass, these three musicians represent a wide history of performances with other acts, and now bring their sound to Albany.

    Acoustically Speaking, featuring Kat Walkerson and Mik Bondy of The Garcia Project as an Acoustic Duo, will open the show.

    Stop in for dinner and catch the show. Music starts at 8pm

  • UMBowl V – A Most Unique Live Music Experience

    It’s one thing for a band to craft a setlist that fans will be talking about for weeks and months to come. It is another to have the fans decide the setlist through voting, both beforehand and in real-time at a concert. Still, Umphrey’s McGee has found a way to make this a reality, using separate themes over four quarters of their UMBowl experiences, which held its fifth installment at The Capitol Theatre on May 3rd, to put on the must-see event UMBowl V for fans of Umphrey’s but especially those who appreciate live, improvisational rock.

    UM Bowl VUMBowl is nothing short of a smart idea for live music, unparalleled in complexity, audience engagement and the resulting musical odyssey. In the past, I have listened to these shows days after, while fans were abuzz about the experience, and I thought they were interesting, but I didn’t get the hype. Up until last week, I would never have considered flying or driving to Chicago for UMBowl, where the previous four were held, but after being able to drive just over two hours south to take in my first UMBowl, it is undoubtedly not my last. I will happily follow UMBowl wherever it goes – this is a premiere live music experience where the band meets the fans halfway and puts on nothing short of a stellar show, pushing the boundaries of art in musical performance.

    The Cap was packed downstairs, creating an intimate feeling for the night, with the upstairs reserved for VIP and photographers, but you weren’t missing much up there; the view looked better in the lower house, and that is saying a lot. At times you forgot you were at The Cap, as the show transported the focused crowd of 1,000 with each jam, improv and cover that came across the setlist.

    But first, since this is a four quarter show with OT, the sports theme was present, but mostly in the form of commemorative towels and a couple of guys wearing eye black and football jerseys. But then, ESPN’s Around the Horn came on the big screen, with host Tony Reali hosting his show, giving a brief rundown to his panel of the show that was about to take place. Reali sat in earlier this year with Umphrey’s for “Layla”, so this was a fan sharing in the experience rather than just a hired gimmick. Take a look below for the intro video.

    The themes of each quarter flowed nicely, building progressively on each other as the night went on. The first set was not so much a warm up as it was a chance to stretch improv potential out, then the fan favorites, (halftime/setbreak) audience direction, one pre-approved text at a time, then a set of originals chosen in real-time, a five hour concert experience that keeps the band on their feet and aware of their fans moods and tastes, but without having to deal with them shouting their requests at them.

    Q1 was ‘Raw Stewage’, voted on beforehand by fans among a variety of  “Jimmy Stewart” improve portions of past jams, as they have come to be called. Hardcore fans could identify the song from which each “Jimmy Stewart” arose, some even mentioning the specific date. The rest of us sat back and watched a spectacular improv session develop, pulling on hints from the music to pick out the original song the JS was born from. Essentially, the protean Umphrey’s had created a set of fan choices of their favorite jams from the past. The skill and focus to reconstruct these improvs is mind-boggling.

    Q2 was the All Request quarter, with fans once again having voted on the songs beforehand from a select list. Opening with moe.’s “Rebubula”, the crowd was ignited and we were off and running. The instrumental “All Things Ninja” followed, then a show-stopper in “Crazy Fingers”, with Jake Cinninger on vocals. The audience was floored and dropped jaws all around focused squarely on the skinny guy singing the fat man’s song, to perfection.”#5″ had a nice long jam, while the perfect closing to the set came in the form of “Brain Damage > Eclipse”. The set was just incredible start to finish, although “Bell Bottom Blues” was snubbed in voting. Let’s hope it’s on the ballot for UMBowl VI.

    Q3 was a Stew Art event, where the fans determined via text message what direction the band should go in. You text an idea, such as ‘Frank Zappa-esque Jam’, and the result was the band would segue into a jam that developed into “Willie the Pimp”. Among other highlights of this 43 minute set were “Emergency Dance Party” and “Daft Funk”, leading to some of the best dancing of the night and the moment when the set truly launched onward and upward. “Rockabilly Throwdown” flipped yet another ignition switch while “Barry White Love Letter” with Jake on vocals had elements of the dub version of “Breathe” by Easy Star All Stars. Bill Evans came out on sax for part of this event, adding a seventh member to the Stew Art, no small feat for just any musician.

    Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, Q4  was “Choose Your Own Adventure”, where fans texted choices among three song choices shown on the screen behind the band. Percents rose and fell among them, with some votes getting contentious between a pair of songs and coming down to the wire. “The Haunt” opened things up, and there was a tease of moe.’s “Spaz Medicine” about 2/3 of the way in. “The Triple Wide” beat out “Last Man Swerving” in the second spot, which led into a “Funk Jam”, where the voting vs “Industrial Jam” wasn’t even close, although I did hear Joel Cummins throwing in some industrial tickles of the keys in the vein of NIN. Brendan Bayliss and Ryan Stasik took the lead in the funk jam, each taking a section while the next voting commenced.

    This was shaping up to be the most fun set of them all, particularly as fans cheered for their choice that rose in the voting and drifted back down to earth. “Wife Soup” beat out “Plunger” and “Great American” for a HUGE version of the Anchor Drops classic. Statik drifted over toward Joel to jam along, then returned behind Jake and blended in with Myers’ kit in the shadows of Waful’s lights. Cummins took a patient climb towards the first grand peak in “Wife Soup”, then Jake led towards the second major peak equally unrushed, building and building until the collective ‘gasm on stage and in the crowd sent a rush of chills and cheers throughout The Cap.

    “Flamethrower”, one of the walk on numbers that has been a regular feature of Umphrey’s shows for the past few years, was short and moved into “FF”, with an “All in Time” tease towards end of the jam. “Space Funk Booty” segued into what would be the final choice of the night, either the end of “JaJunk”, the end of “Bridgeless” or the end of “Mulche’s Oddysey”. JaJunk was an afterthought from the moment voting started and was tied or within a point between “Bridgeless” and “Mulche’s”. Cheers accompanied each song as they pulled ahead, one text at a time, but in the end, victory was eked out by “Mulche’s”, definitely the correct call for the punch this song delivers to cap a set.

    Prior to the encore, a tribute to former drummer Mike Mirro aired on the screen, the crowd recalling the fallen bandmate with revered silence. A Goodfellas parody video then aired on the screen,  followed by the start of OT. “Nothing But a G Thing” started things off, with the rarity of Stasik on vocals, followed by “Much Obliged > Glory” with Bill Evans on sax once again, the full encore giving an emotional ending to a premiere night of music. UMBowl ranks as one of the most inventive and marathon sessions of live music you can witness and participate in, and will certainly be a staple of many lucky fans music calendars for years to come.

  • Geek Week: An Interview with Scott Hannay, Creator of Umphrey’s McNES

    As Geek Week continues, we catch up with Scott Hannay, keyboardist for Mister F, who also happens to have one of the geekier methods of composing music. Using software and Cakewalk SONAR, Scott rebuilt Umphrey’s McGee songs into the style of NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) songs, sounding like they came right out of the 8-bit games from the 1980s. With over a dozen tracks of Umphrey’s McNES and sit-ins with Umphrey’s, Scott has created one-of-a-kind remakes of the original tracks. He spoke with Editor-in-Chief Pete Mason to discuss his long running McNES music and how these tracks initially came together.

    Pete Mason: How did you one day decide to develop Nintendo remixes of Umphrey’s McGee songs?

    Scott Hannay: When I was 15, I used to transcribe old school Nintendo video game music – entire games’ soundtrack – to sheet music and MIDI files for fun (and instead of homework, usually) and learned a lot about the structure of the 8-bit NES sound chip in the process. I dealt with the limitations, workarounds, ways the old music programmers would simulate chords, making sounds, etc… Fast-forward to 2004, when I learned of Umphrey’s McGee and had been listening to (and absolutely loving) live recordings for a while via etree.org torrents, but never owned a studio album. At one point I visited my friends from Michigan that I’d met that year at moe.down who introduced me to UM, and they had the Anchor Drops album. When “Miss Tinkle’s Overture hit”, I knew right away what I had to do.

    PM: What challenges did you come across in lining up an Umphrey’s song to be developed in the NES format?

    SH: I hit many hurdles along the way. In the beginning, I still didn’t have any studio versions, and listened to the live versions of songs, sometimes pretty rough AUDs where I couldn’t always hear exactly what the bass was doing in this one spot, or the kick drum in another spot, and maybe the keyboards were muddled. To add to this, the NES can only make 5 sounds simultaneously – two square wave (lead) channels, a triangle wave (bass, mostly) channel, a white noise (cymbals, most snares, some SFX) channel, and a 1-bit DPCM wave (kick drum/toms, voices, some SFX) channel. For those keeping track, let’s recall here that that’s only 5 sounds at once – to try to represent the sound of a band with 6 people, each with 10 fingers across their two hands, making an exponentially larger number of notes than I could even begin to use at once.

    So much had to be either sacrificed or compensated for, like chord simulation for example. It’s a very signature sound on the NES – instead of playing a bunch of notes at the same time (which you mostly can’t), you’ve got to alternate the notes so inhumanly fast that it actually sounds like a chord. I try to be a purist to the NES capabilities 99.5% of the time. Their live versions also weren’t as definitive as an album version would be – there would be a lot of jamming sometimes, and I had to find the common denominators between many different versions of the same song. Oh, and one day, after I finally had some studio stuff, I started making my version of “Blue Echo“. I was too lazy to get up, walk across the room, grab the album, walk back across the room, and put it in, so I just started making it from memory. I ended up finishing it that way too, and when I finally listened to their version, I only had to change out two notes in one part each time that part came around – I learned no lessons about being lazy on that day. I guess this last one wasn’t really that much of a hurdle.

    Umphrey's McNESPM: What equipment do you use to create these?

    SH: I use just a simple piano roll-style editor and my ear to input notes in Cakewalk SONAR. The sounds come from a sample bank I found online long ago that sounded almost perfect – if you like out-of-tune music. I went through and tuned all the note samples, organized them by instrument, stereo panned them (in)appropriately. NES audio is supposed to be mono (there’s that other .5%) and ReWired the sounds into SONAR using Reason. Additionally, I have an NES cartridge (appropriately called MIDINES) that has a MIDI cable coming out of it that I can use to run one of these sequences from my computer. It’s not reliable enough to use for my regular tracks, but it’s certainly something special to hear something you’ve made playing through a real NES. There’s a video of my version of Prowler playing through it on YouTube.

    PM: Was there any word back from Umphrey’s after these started circulating among Umphrey’s fanbase?

    SH: Before I had even seen Umphrey’s live for the first time, I had already completed three remakes – “Miss Tinkle’s Overture”, “Bridgeless” and “Prowler”. Well, kind of finished. They all faded out before the end. But I thought of them as being as complete as this silly project needed them to be at the time. I posted them to The Bort, an Umphrey’s fan message board, to see if anyone had the same weird idea I had about their music. The reaction was great! I ended up finding a very supportive community surrounding Umphrey’s. That was impressive to begin with. When I first saw them at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY on 12/7/04, I introduced myself to them after the show and handed them burned discs with the songs. They all gave me hugs and told me someone had already burned it for them somewhere across the country, and they’d already heard and loved it. Brendan Bayliss even told me he showed them to his mom.

    This all blew my 20-year-old mind – that my favorite band out there was cool as hell, really appreciated what I’d done, and had actually heard something I’d made before I’d even met them. Since then, I’d stayed in correspondence with them and eventually was asked to play with them in at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, MA on 4/8/09, and I managed to sit in again in on 11/4/10 at Higher Ground in Burlington. They are very gracious people. I still can’t believe I got those opportunities when I did. I had at that point just finally broken into being in a jam-scene-friendly band – Capital Zen – and suddenly I had also become an asterisk on Umphrey’s setlists. I also have a track on their Soundcloud (“Miami Virtue”) and have had a track featured as bonus content for their album Mantis (“1348”).

    PM: What songs do you hope to convert in the future in the McNES style?

    SH: Lately, I’ve mostly been making remakes for Northeast-based bands, including the likes of Dopapod, Kung Fu, Twiddle, and Aqueous. I’ve had tracks featured on official lespecial and MUN releases, and another brand new one I made for Elephant Wrecking Ball will be on their upcoming release! What I consider to be the hardest one I’ve ever done for anyone is still currently unreleased – I’m so terrifically proud of it and really can’t wait for it to surface. I can’t give it away, but rest assured it’s from some unbelievably good source material. I’ll also be doing one for my band, Mister F, in the near future. However, there are a bunch of older Umphrey’s McGee songs I’d still love to remake someday. “Hurt Bird Bath”, “All in Time”, “Slacker”, “Utopian Fir” … one of these days! I am also considering doing something from their upcoming album, Similar Skin, just for good measure.

    Check out Umphreys McNES on Facebook and Soundcloud, as well as  Scott’s NES remixes of other bands

  • Local Limelight: North Country Stalwarts Lucid

    Lucid is the top band in New York’s smallest market yet perform quite well in the larger markets throughout Upstate and beyond, making them true underdogs in the Upstate New York scene. This passion to prove their mettle has netted the band of 10 years a recent hit album, Home is Where We Wanna Grow, their own music festival, Backwoods Pondfest, a following of passionate fans, and of course, their iconic bus ‘Lucy’.

    lucidChampions of the inaugural March Madness tournament, Lucid embodies the North Country spirit and is one of the most successful acts to come out of the region. Playing a mix of rock, jam and funk and self-described ‘wood rock’ in their powerhouse performances, Lucid mixes the sound of six members to create a sound that can be imitated but not duplicated. Featuring Kevin Sabourin (guitar), Lowell Wurster (percussion/harp), Jamie Armstrong  (saxophone), Chris Shacklett (Bass), Andy Deller (Keys) and new addition Chris English (drums), the future is bright and the potential for a burst out of the Upstate area seems imminent for the septet from the northern 518.

    Pete Mason: How did Lucid first start out?

    Lowell Wurster:  Kevin (Sabourin), Jamie (Anderson) and Nick (Sauvie, our first bass player) played with a few different people, just jamming mostly, who found our first drummer, Ryan “Rippy” Trumbull. I knew Jamie and Kevin from growing up in Plattsburgh. One day I saw Jamie walking and we got to talking; he said he was playing with some guys and to come check them out. I went and really dug what they were doing. They were having so much fun and I asked them if I could come to a practice and jam a bit. After practice they asked if I wanted to be in the band! A few months later we were playing a show in Plattsburgh at this horrible place called Maggie’s and had a friend sitting in on keys. There was this dude (Andy Deller) yelling to our buddy what the key changes were. At break we asked our friend Steve who that dude was and he told us his name was Andy and a great key player at that. He played with us the whole second set and the rest was history. Five years later our bass player Nick wanted to pursue higher education instead of being in a band. We had a few fill in bass players until St. Patrick’s Day five years ago we had Chris Shacklett play a show with us, and it was like magic; he fit right in. That night on the bus ride home we asked him if he wanted to join and he said yes. After our first big tour down to Florida, our original drummer, Rippy decided he didn’t want to travel anymore. As sad as it was he decided to leave. we tried out a few different drummers and we asked Kyle Murray to join the fun. He rocked with us for about a year and a half. Kyle decided life on the road wasn’t for him and wanted to phase out as our drummer, then just like magic, Chris English popped up at the perfect moment. By the grace of God, Chris decided Lucid was exactly what he needed in his life and we knew he was exactly what we needed in ours. Chris moved up to Plattsburgh about two months ago and shit is beautiful now.

    Jamie Armstrong: Sabo, Nick (our original bassist) and I were spending time together playing music and hanging out. Stumbled into it really. Andy, Lowell and Rippy (our original drummer) came along shortly there after. We all had mutual musical interests and loved hanging out together, so naturally the band grew more and more over time as we bonded and our music developed. As some members decided to leave (as things started getting more committal) along the way, we’ve seemed to have perfect luck picking up new members to fill the role and evolve the band in a positive way. Great examples of that are Chris Shacklett, who joined on bass in 2009 and Chris English who recently joined on drums.

    Chris Shacklett: I joined the band about four years after the initial formation. The band formed for me when I graduated from Plattsburgh state in 2009 without having any idea how I was going to be an “adult”. Everything felt right from the very beginning and every place in time the band has taken me has been exactly where I needed to be. For my whole life I knew music was the main element of my being, but I never seriously considered playing music to be a career until I joined Lucid.

    PM: What are Lucid’s main influences on their music and style?

    Jamie Anderson : The band itself is very eclectic. We draw on many styles as we all have differing musical backgrounds. If I could some up a style for Lucid it would be ‘homegrown blues Americana.’

    Andy Deller: I think our home is the main influence. That and a stubborn refusal to pigeonhole ourselves in any kind of way. It’s hard to point to other artists that are influences. That is to say, each member brings his own particular influences. Our tastes do intersect; I don’t think there is a one of us who would say they did not like Zeppelin or The Beatles or Hendrix. But I am the only avid Rush fan I know of in the band, and the other fellas have their particular favorites. So we each bring our own thing to the total sound.

    Chris English: My main musical influence and style is all over the map. I’m into a lot more local artists than anything. Some of the music I started listening to at a early age include Donny Hathaway, The Clark Sisters, Buddy Guy, Paul Simon, Grateful Dead, The Funk Brothers, Stevie Wonder, and many more.

    PM: What separates the North Country from rest of Upstate? What makes it distinct?

    Kevin Sabourin: Wilderness, a deep appreciation of nature and life that comes with being a fairly self-reliant people who are hard working. Crafts people, music loving, tough, rugged and beautiful, like the surroundings in which we live.

    Andy Deller: What separates us from the rest of Upstate is the Adirondack State Park, to be geographically obvious. We’re maybe a little more backwoods and redneck than the rest of Upstate – not that there’s a value judgment on that. It’s neither better nor worse, just different. To be more serious, I think the people in our area really make the difference; I’ve never seen audiences more gracious, more open to something new and different, or more ready to dance.

    Chris Shacklett: I don’t think there is any separation. Separation is not conducive to the band’s purpose. I may be saying this because I believe my scope of the North Country or Upstate is not broad enough to draw any borders.

    Jamie Armstrong: We live way up here in the Northern Adirondacks. Next to Lake Champlain. Fresh air! Being sandwiched between a beautiful mountain range and a huge blue lake is all I need. And the geographical diversity reflects in the people who live up here. The music community is encouraging.

    PM: For those who don’t live there or venture north, what is the music scene like across the North Country?

    Chris Shacklett: Don’t tell me this town ain’t got no heart. You just gotta poke around.

    Lowell Wurster: Well we are spread out up here, but there are amazing pockets of music lovers spread out around the ADK’s. Beautiful little communities that love original music. Folks up here look at music as a necessity, not a luxury. I’ve never met bigger music lovers then in the North Country. Plattsburgh is undergoing some amazing changes and I’m really happy and excited to be on several different community action boards that are helping spread art and music around the area. Saranac Lake is amazing and filled with real folks who thrive for music; their Winter Carnival is something to behold, hearty folks up there. I love it up there, right in the mountains and cold as hell. Backwoods Pondfest has brought tons of amazing acts to the North Country over the last eight years and with its continued success shows the thirst these mountain folks have for original music. They can’t seem to get enough.

    Andy Deller: Well, because of the audiences I described above, the scene is VERY diverse, creative, and supportive. On any given night you can stroll through Plattsburgh or Burlington and find any number of different styles – rock, blues, funk, reggae, metal, jazz quartets, and brass bands. What I truly love is the cross-pollination: people from highly diverse bands getting out and jamming with one another in impromptu acts. It happens all the time here.

    Jamie Armstrong: It’s very rich, with a wide array of styles and ideas floating around, but all held together by a supportive arts community. There’s a lot of support up here. Kids are movin’ and shakin’ and motivated. That goes for our community in general. A lot of great people are trying to make positive change all the time!

    PM: What other musicians do you think also encompass the spirit of the North Country?

    Kevin Sabourin: The Blind Owl Band, who have the same North Country work ethic and attitude that we do of going until the job is done and playing long hours and working hard.  The crowd has been busting there ass all day working, building farming, so we have to work as hard as they do for them.

    Lowell Wurster:  The one that immediately comes to mind is The South Catherine St. Jug band from years and years ago, Sven Curth (who plays solo mostly) but is in the band JIM who plays a few times a year and is made up of some of the North Country’s best.

    Andy Deller: The local artists that don’t receive much press, and maybe even avoid it: Trinity Park Radio, Will Scheifley, and his on again off again Shameless Strangers, Mike Pederson, Giovanina Bucci, Catie Wurster and her band Doomf**k – the list can go on and on. We have a huge, hugely diverse, and highly active music scene up here where people can take the time to have some real professional fun, and it’s all thanks to the audience – the people of the North Country.

    Jamie Armstrong: I guess to sum it up, there’s a lot of musical diversity in a very tight knit community up here in the mountains. People are trying to make things happen in a positive way up here. We love it.

    Chris English: I can say George Wurster is the spirit of the North Country. I love that guy.

    Catch Lucid on tour this summer throughout New York and select New England dates, wrapping up with the Lucid-hosted Backwoods Pondfest Music Festival.

    May 7 Firehouse, Rochester, NY
    May 8 Spring Revival, Macedon, NY
    May 9 Nietzche’s, Buffalo, NY
    May 10 Keegan Ales, Kingston, NY
    May 16 Shake the Mountain Festival, Solid Rock Ranch, NY
    May 22 Blarney Stone Pub, Norwich, NY
    May 23 Olive’s, Nyack, NY
    May 29 Nanola, Malta, NY
    May 31 Main Pub, Manchester, CT
    June 10 Church, Boston, MA
    June 12 Theos BBQ, Springfield, MA
    June 20 Shepard’s Cove, Lake George, NY
    July 25-26 BRYAC, Bridgeport, CT
    August 8-9 Backwoods Pondfest Music Festival, Peru, NY

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