Category: Features

Magnaball: Phish Goes All Out for 10th Festival (Updated)

Phish will return to Watkins Glen International this coming weekend to celebrate their 10th festival. Magnaball will be a three day festival held Friday, August 21, through Sunday, August 23. As with past festivals, there will be a multitude of activities outside the music. However, this time around, the band is pulling out all the stops to make their 10th festival extra special.

Music

As with Super Ball IX, there will be seven official sets of music. Set times are as follows:

Friday, August 21 – Two sets beginning at 7:30 pm
Saturday, August 22 – Three sets beginning at 3:00 pm
Sunday, August 23 – Two sets beginning at 7:30 pm

It is expected that there will be an unofficial, unannounced “secret set” occurring sometime late Saturday night, similar to the “Storage Jam” that took place at Super Ball IX.

Food & Drink

Magnaball will feature an upgraded offering of food vendors, focusing on local and regional food vendors. The vendors will be setup throughout the festival grounds, including in the campgrounds. They will feature wood-fired pizza, tamales, crepes, smoothies, burgers and more. The food selection covers many different cuisines from around the world. Cafes will spread throughout the grounds, including 24-hour offerings. As with past festivals, there will be a farmer’s market on site selling local produce, baked goods and other pre-made food and drink.

In addition to the upgraded selection of food vendors, Magnaball will feature a full service restaurant called Festival Ate. Five-course, prix-fixe dinners will be available each night of the festival. The Steam dinner on Saturday night will feature pairings with five different beers from Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Sixpoint Brewing, including a Bière de Garde and an Imperial Porter brewed with Stumptown coffee. The restaurant will also be open from 10 am to 1 am each day with an attached bar. Attendees can stop by for a light bite to eat. Festival Ate will be managed by LOFO, a farm-to-table restaurant in Syracuse, N.Y.

Magnaball will feature a craft cocktail program with Phish-inspired drinks, such as The Red Red Worm and Satan on the Beach. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s FOAM lager will return. Additional beer selections include brews from Vermont favorites Hill Farmstead Brewery from Greensboro Bend, Vt, and Lawson’s Finest Liquids from Warren, Vt. Sixpoint Brewing will also be supplying two of their beers throughout the festival.

Ben & Jerry’s will be on site serving free cups of Phish Food and Save Our Swirled ice cream. They will also be taking signatures to petition the leaders of developed nations to work towards clean energy initiatives.

Free water bottle filling stations will be available around the festival grounds. There will also be filtered water filling stations for $1 per fill for up to 32 ounces. Proceeds will be donated to The WaterWheel Foundation. Magnaball Nalgene bottles will be available for purchase. Use of these bottles will allow free fills from the filtered water stations.

Activities

Magnaball will feature a variety of organized and unorganized activities to keep attendees entertained throughout the festival. Lawn games, game shows, yoga and the JEMP Records Store will all be part of the fun.

Cornhole sets will be available throughout the festival for pickup matches. There is also an organized cornhole tournament planned. Those interested in signing up for the tournament can register a team of two people by sending an email to magnatourney@phish.com. You should provide them with your team name, the names of the team members and a cell phone number at which they can reach you during the festival. The tournament will start on Friday. Teams can also register at the Cornhole Tourney Tent located at the crossroads in the festival grounds.

Studio X is the location for many of the other activities. Free yoga classes will be offered Friday through Sunday at 9:30 am. There will be two trivia game shows held during the weekend. On Friday and Sunday at 11 am, teams of four can compete in Survey Says, a survey-style game show with Phish trivia. On Saturday at 11 am, registration opens for Subtle Sounds – A Name That Phish Gameshow. Contestants will battle it out over naming Phish songs by just a few notes. The game begins at 11:30 am, but is limited to only 54 contestants. It is recommended that you arrive early if you wish to participate.

The JEMP Records Store will once again be a part of this festival. The store will include an exclusive release of Rift on blue vinyl. The release will be packaged with a limited edition screen print by David Welker. Past vinyl releases from Phish and side projects will also be available at the store.

An official US Post Office will be setup on site to allow attendees to mail posters, vinyl and other purchases directly home.

The Glurt Institute and Drive-In

The art installations at Magnaball seem to have a science and energy theme. The Glurt Institute and Laboratory will be setup not far from the concert field. There, attendees can learn about the Gravity Harmonograph and about how the magnaphysics of the vortex pendulum work. Adjacent to the Institute is the Drive-In, a 175-foot widescreen display. Thursday night will be movie night, along with a late night showing on Friday. Movie showtimes are as follows:

Thursday
10:00 pm – The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Midnight – First Men in the Moon (1964)
2:00 am – The Time Machine (1960)

Friday
3:45 am – Sullivan’s Travels (1942)

Bunny Radio and Webcasts

The Bunny is back for Magnaball. The Phish festival radio station will broadcast locally on 104.9 FM and on SiriusXM’s Jam On. All Phish sets will be broadcast live. Tune in to hear an eclectic mix of tunes, the much-anticipated From the Archives shows and reports from the festival. SiriusXM offers a 30 day free trial for new customers.

For those not attending the festival, LivePhish is offering a webcast of all three days of Magnaball. The webcast can be pre-ordered at http://livephi.sh/Magnaball.

Shuttle

Festival attendees will be able to take a shuttle off site on Friday and Saturday. The shuttle will cost $10 cash only for a round trip and will run on a 40 minute loop into town and back. There will be a very limited number of tickets available, beginning Friday at 8:30 am, at the Merch Check tent next to the Info Booth. If tickets remain, they can be bought at the box office by Gate 4A. The shuttle will make stops in Watkins Glen at 9th and Decatur, Seneca Harbor Park and downtown, Walmart, Shequaga Falls and historic district before returning to Watkins Glen International. The shuttle begins running at 10:00 am and the last bus will return at 6:00 pm Friday and 4:00 pm Saturday.

Tickets for Magnaball have sold out. If you are still looking for a ticket, please visit our friends at Cash or Trade. Volunteer opportunities to gain admittance to the festival are also still available through the the Work Exchange Program and Clean Vibes. Tickets for the dinners at Festival Ate are available from TicketsToday. If you wish to For additional information, please visit http://phish.com/magnaball.

Phish – 7/2/2011 "Tube" from Phish on Vimeo.

August 18, 2015
Twiddle’s Hometown Takeover in Burlington

Coming off the heels of an extensive summer tour which included a gig at Red Rocks and multiple festival appearances, Twiddle took its momentum home to Burlington Vermont for two shows. The quartet played a sunset two-set show at Burlington Waterfront’s Maritime Festival on Friday and a late night party at Higher Ground on Saturday evening. The Twiddle community has grown immensely over the past few years, and it was shown by attendance at both their shows out numbering fellow jam band moe.

Twiddle

Twiddle performed on Friday evening under a breathtaking sunset over Lake Champlain for Burlington’s Maritime Festival. The first of two sets featured an opener of the semi rare “Atlantic Mocean>BBQ>Atlantic Mocean” to get things started. The fan favorite “White Light” followed and featured an extensive jam, with the song clocking in at 19 minutes. “Latin Tang” was up next, and featured a plethora of sit-ins that included Russ Lawton (Soul Monde) on drums, Ray Paczkowski (Soul Monde) on keys, and Dave Grippo (Giant Country Horns) on saxophone. “Lost in the Cold” was played next and was no surprise to anyone, the band has played it 18 times since it was written by lead guitarist Mihali Savoulidis in early 2015. The lyrically inspiring “Hatti’s Jam -> When it Rains, it Pours” closed out the first set in perfect fashion. The jam heavy second set saw Twiddle play 4 songs. “Brick of Barley” opened and featured a great jam. “Gatsby the Great,” a song about keyboardist Ryan Dempsey’s college pet duck came next and showcased the jam of the night, and possibly the weekend. It included classic sandwich of Bela Fleck’s “Big Country” in the middle of the song. After the song ended, fans could be heard cheering “Frankenfoote” and the band responded by closing the set with a smoking version. The band returned for an encore of “Doinkinbonk!!!” before handing things off to moe. over at Higher Ground for their late night set.

Twiddle

The band took to Higher Ground on Saturday evening to play a late night show after moe.’s set at the Maritime Festival. The show opened with an electronic dance party, started by drummer Brook Jordan and dubbed “DJBJ” by Mihali as each remaining band member slowly trickled into the jam. “Mamunes The Faun” was up next, and contained a lengthy jam that was followed by instrumental “The Catapillar.” A cover of the reggae tune “Harder They Come” by Jimmy Cliff saw keyboardist Josh Dobbs sit in and finger the ivories. An excellent version of “Jamflowman” was up next and the set closed with “Bronze Fingers”. Already after midnight, nobody in attendance showed any signs of letting up, the band included. A fiery “Wasabi Eruption” opened the second set and segued into a 20 min version of “The Box,” that contained an amazing jam with a soaring guitar solo from Mihali. The serious song “Tiberius” was next, and was standard but welcomed. The band ended the second set with jammed out rendition of “Cabbage Face” and the slower, lyrical, “Amydst The Myst,” An encore of “Mad World” by British band Tears for Fears closed out a spectacular weekend of music.

Twiddle

Waterfront Park, Burlington, VT – 8.7.2015

Set 1: Atlantic Mocean > BBQ > Atlantic Mocean, White Light, Latin Tang[1], Lost in the Cold, Hatti’s Jam -> When it Rains, it Poors
Set 2: Brick of Barley, Gatsby The Great > Big Country > Gatsby The Great, Frankenfoote
Encore: Doinkinbonk!!!
[1] “Latin Tang” featured Russ Lawton (Soule Monde) on drums, Ray Paczkowski (Soule Monde) on keys and Dave Grippo on saxophone.

Higher Ground, Burlington, VT – 8.8.2015

Set 1: Mamunes the Faun, The Catapillar, Harder They Come[1], Jamflowman, Bronze Fingers
Set 2: Wasabi Eruption, The Box, Tiberius, Cabbage Face, Amydst the Myst
Encore: Mad World
[1] “Harder They Come” featured Josh Dobbs (Cats Under The Stairs) on keys

[FinalTilesGallery id=’376′]

August 18, 2015
Arise Music Festival-Loveland, Colorado

“I’ve never heard so many notes playing at once!” exclaimed a lanky festivarian draped in a tie-dye T-shirt, following the terrific main stage show of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead at the recent Arise Festival in Loveland, Colorado. Certainly, the hippie’s exclamation served as an apt description of the world’s best Dead cover band. However, the statement served as even more appropriate description of the hybrid event set the picturesque mountain setting. Arise is constructed as a “co-creator” event that offers a spicy jumbalaya of multi-cultural live music, electronic performances, art presentations, along with numerous workshops centered around eco-activism, social justice, and spirituality practice.

For those busy facilitating the weekend workshops, the 100 musical acts may have been mere distant echoes, but the results, at times, gave heartrending results. One such workshop led with a descendent of a man who once led a massacre against a Lakota tribe. The harrowing account was immediately followed by another presenter who is a current Lakota tribe member who offered words of healing regarding the violent past, and finished with a blessing of earth healing. That’s powerful stuff to be sharing at a music festival for sure.

As for the music scene, Arise boasts an advantage of what many are calling “next generation” festivals. Unlike similar events like Costa Rica’s Envision festival, the folks of Arise largely rely on the presence of live music acts. Not that Arise didn’t give electronic bassheads enough whomp. The Polish Ambassador headlined the main stage on Friday and a revamped Area 51 stage featured a full schedule of spin meisters through the weekend.
For me, the joy of the music scene was the live music. And there was plenty of joy in the concert bowl. Friday highlights included an emotional set of bluegrass folk from Rising Appalachia and the rousing rockabilly of Sister Sparrow and Dirty Birds. Arleigh Kincheloe, the band’s lead singer belted out tunes with pipes powerful enough to put plumbers out of business. And these acts were just warming up the crowd. Lukas Nelson, who spent the summer touring with Neil Young, shimmied, jumped, and rocked his way in the free world with a series of serrated guitar solos that Young would admire. And even though funk bands seem to grow these days thicker than mountain thistle, Turkuaz finished with a reasonably fresh and energetic take on the newly popular genre. Interspersed between the live sets were a dizzying array of acrobatic and fire performances from the likes of Lunar Fire and Fractal Tribe.

The 90 degree daytime temps didn’t slow down the Saturday line-up either. Western New York’s favorites Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad have become Colorado’s adopted sons for roots reggae, and their upbeat, jaunty rhythms dropped happily between two festival favorites, Ozomatli and the afore-mentioned Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. The crowd danced so hard, even Dirty Santa and sequined red suit was “almost dead” before midnight.

Still, the peak acoustic show the weekend didn’t arrive till Sunday’s offering of Larry Keel’s Bluegrass Tribute to the Grateful Dead. Edward Sharpe of the Magnetic Zeroes, at times, seemed restless and distracted, but the top-notch band behind him remained strong. Rounding out the main stage show, Trevor Hall’s easy going folk sound glided the crowd safely down to the festival weekend landing strip. Like many of the performers featured during the weekend, the Arise festival, only in its third year, is already hitting all the right notes.

August 16, 2015
Summer Was Cooking at The Green River Festival

After 29 years you figure a thing or two about putting on a festival. The producers of the Green River Festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts are proof of that. Everything ran like a well-oiled machine for the 2015 edition. Not in a way that seemed played out, but in a fresh, exciting and invigorating way. The festival has quietly been chugging along, nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, far enough away from the big cities, though close enough to a hungry crowd of music lovers to reach a sell out.

There were so many ways to enjoy the Green River Festival. The multitude of local eateries selling a ridiculously wide variety of foods, the large and inventive kids’ craft tent, the makers fair, the acrobats show, the frisbee dogs, the karate demonstrations, the shuttle carting people to the Green River to swim, the Mardi Gras parade featuring some fantastic creatures and led through the crowd by Bela’s Bartok and Hannah from And the Kids, and the hot air balloons!

Wait, I forgot to mention the 3 stages jam-packed with music. All that, and many still found the best way to spend their time was tossing around a frisbee in the large open field by the second stage, spurring the Milk Carton Kids’ Joey Ryan to dryly quip, “We have a no frisbees rule… there are a lot of violators here.” A hula hoop vendor made hoops available by that stage as well, creating a mass of hula hoopers present throughout the days. Everyone had the opportunity to enjoy at their own pace, in their own space. The producers have found the perfect formula of addition by addition. Nothing felt tacked on, everything felt right.

Musically, the festival served up a heaping slab of New England comfort food. The rest aforementioned activity, as they say, was just the gravy. Not only were the band selections great, they were clearly hand-picked and not just pulled off the nearest passing festival train. The music flowed wonderfully from set to set, and built to a nice peak at the perfect times. There was an evenness to the passion and approach of the musicians that made for a smooth transition no matter where you went.

The whole weekend got set up on Friday night with two simultaneous events. On the main stage, or Green River Stage, it was local music label and festival presenter Signature Sounds celebrating their 20th year and featuring a slate of label mates. It all came to a head with the self-dubbed “Queen of the Minor Key” Eilen Jewell blasting through tracks off her latest like “Warning Signs,” and “Worried Mind,” all featuring the amazing work of her stand out guitarist Jerry Miller. Over on the second stage, or Four Rivers Stage, local coffee company Dean’s Beans was hosting a Latin night, headlined by M.A.K.U. Sound System. This 8-piece out of NYC left enough heat on the stage to keep it warm the entire weekend with their unique brand of high energy Columbian dance grooves.

The pre-heating wouldn’t be necessary however. The sun was shining bright Saturday and Sunday on what will likely prove to be two of the hottest days of the summer. Not to mention, the bands playing kept it plenty warm all day and night. The day started off with The Suitcase Junket, a one-man band consisting of Matt Lorenz. Between the name and his set up, it had schtick written all over it. But Lorenz’s songs were fantastic and his whole bag of tricks, including but not limited to a saw blade, a baby shoe hitting a gas can, bones, silverware and a throat singing method that was simply mystifying, was anything but schtick. Next up, The Stray Birds, a 3-piece folk band that was another very pleasant surprise. The incredible 3-part harmonies sung into a single mic was their strength, but the resonator guitar was damn good too.

Their set was highlighted by a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Loretta” and an original, “Best Medicine,” about a music store owner in Schenectady, NY. The stage was folked up and ready to go for Langhorne Slim and the Law, who previewed some tunes off their new album. Slim built the mid-day energy into late-day form with multiple singalongs and a saunter out deep into the crowd. The transition from folkin’ to rockin’ was complete and the stage was prepped for some loud and raging solo guitar songs from Dinosaur Jr.’s and Amherst local J. Mascis. Down the hill at the small third stage, dubbed The Parlour Room Stage, Arc Iris was also getting going. Led by Low Anthem’s Jocie Adams, Arc Iris is a trip into a cosmic wonderworld that blends elements of folk, blues and jazz but filtered through the glasses of Sun Ra, outfits and all.

Music legend Booker T. Jones blasted through a marathon festival set, playing plenty on the B3 but also taking lead guitar duties much more than expected. His set, which included “Green Onions,” “Hang ’em High,” and “Hey Joe” ended a full 25 minutes over his allotted time with a masterful interpretation of the Beatles’ “Don’t Bring Me Down.” From classic sound to sound of the future, tUnE-yArDs, formerly a student at nearby Smith College, took the stage next. Previously Merril Garbus had played her shows solo relying heavily on loops, but she’s added backup singers, a bass player and drummer to add to the already multi-layered effects she produces on her own.

The band was energetic and active and the crowd matched it with their excited fervor, eating up the band’s every move. Down on the third stage Marco Benevento was cooking up a dance party of his own. Closing his set with the anthemic “At the Show” the band was joined by Arc Iris’ Jocie Adams and And the Kids’ Hannah Mohan bringing the action on the stage and off to a boil. tUnE-yArD’s strongly African-influenced music was the perfect lead in for Saturday’s main stage headliners Rubblebucket. The stage was amply and continually filled with smoke as Kalmia Traver and band showed why the festival keeps bringing them back as they get bigger and bigger, with their amped up dance rock Afrobeat.

Sunday brought more of the same, a blazing hot sun shining down on a full day of superb music. Valerie June, wearing a floral crown and an acoustic guitar, graced the crowd with her unique and beautiful voice on songs like “Working Woman Blues” and telling fun tales of her Martin Stranger guitar and her little “baby” banjo. On the second stage Parker Millsap was also showcasing a unique voice, and showing off incredible range on originals like “Old Time Religion” and “Palisades” as well as his take on “Hesitation Blues.” Preservation Hall Jazz Band brought the spirit of New Orleans, as they’re wont to do. Starting with a perfect Sunday rendition of “I’ll Fly Away,” they rolled through a set with “Go To Mardi Gras” and “Corrina Corrina” and an appropriate sing-along on “You Are My Sunshine.” From there the grass at the festival turned a deep shade of blue.

Starting with Colorado’s Elephant Revival, another addition to the post-Avett string band revolution. A worthy addition, and one worth keeping tabs on, they kept things interesting with Celtic and Gypsy influences, instrumentation including a washboard, pedal steel and the usual mix of fiddles, mandolins and banjoes, and some great songwriting. California’s The Brothers Comatose were kicking up some dust at the third stage with a more traditional take. A quintet featuring mandolin, bass, guitar, fiddle and banjo, they won hearts with their incredible cover of the Ryan Adams/Dave Rawlings tune “To Be Young” before kicking into full hoedown mode with “The Van Song.”

Appetites were thoroughly whetted for the Punch Brothers to take over the main stage. Chris Thile, Chris Eldridge, Paul Kowert, Noam Pikelny and Gabe Wilcher, are all prodigious on their own, but when they combine together their blend of bluegrass, pop and classical music is out of this world. They opened with “This Girl” (which ended with a Sunday-appropriate Amen), finished with “Magnet,” and worked in some DeBussy, acapella, Roger Federer jokes, bluegrass breakdowns and more in between, for a rousing set that had the masses entranced. The Green River Festival served is up right in 2015, wonder what they’ve got cooking for their 30th edition!

August 15, 2015
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo – Love’s ‘Invincible’ Team

Growing up as a Generation X’er was a treat musically. The music of the time was an eclectic mix that allowed us to soak in a diverse appreciation of many styles. As the ’60s faded out, lyrics of the folk sound resonated in our minds while the ’70s and ’80s rock introduced us again to a heavier mix of instrumental solos. As disco came upon us we saw pop sounds interspersed with a mix of more dance oriented music from NYC, LA, Detroit, and the UK. Then as the large hair bands began to fade out, we were introduced to a whole new indie/grunge sound from the Seattle region. I think those that were raised during this time period feel an appreciation more so for music for some reason. The one thing that seems to hold true as you look at this era of music, those that performed then, are still going strong today and still touring to sold out shows all over the world. Included in this eclectic group were stand out musicians Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

They made music on stage and that chemistry extended into their personal lives as they took the ’80s by storm. Pat’s strong vocals paired with the fretting strings of Neil were beautiful music that took your gut and made you stand strong and tall. It’s no surprise that they are still going strong today both on and off stage.

Playing to a sold out crowd at The Turning Stone Casino Showroom, husband and wife duo Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo began the show with a video reel of their history together. I have to admit that this preface to the show gave me even more of an understanding and appreciation of their journey together.

Pat Benatar was a classically trained vocalist who began singing in grade school, and just never stopped. Making her mark on NYC in both the clubs and on/off-Broadway Benatar had a vision for what she wanted to achieve, and this vision held a strong musical partner. She needed someone who would hold their own beside her, as well as inspire her. After hearing Neil “Spyder” Giraldo, she knew that was the perfect match. Spyder was an established musician, writer, producer and had been playing with Rick Derringer band when they met. It was an “Invincible” pairing and together they were unstoppable as they created hit after hit.

Fast forward to today, after raising their two daughters, they have taken to the road again to share this magic once again with fans in their 35th Anniversary Tour. I can attest that the magic is still there, and their talent even more refined and fine tuned. They had the crowd at hello as they sang all of my personal favorites and some unexpected covers. As a teenager in the 80’s, the look and stage presence of Pat Benatar was larger than life. Even though many emulated her look, it was her strength that hooked me. As a female rocker in the 80’s Benatar proved to everyone women could be fierce and sexy at the same time. No more Stepford wives ladies, we were going to break that image wide open and take control of our lives. Pat Benatar knew exactly what she wanted to accomplish, had the vision, had the perfect partner to share that vision with, and in turn we have been blessed to be on the receiving end of her journey.

Pat Benatar/Neil Girlado Set List: Shadows of the Night; All Fired Up; Invincible; We Live for Love; One Love; Precious Time; Strawberry Wine; Promises In The Dark; We Belong; Hell Is for Children; You Better Run (The Young Rascals cover); Hit Me With Your Best Shot; Love Is a Battlefield;

Encore: Everybody Lay Down; Let’s Stay Together; Heartbreaker / Ring of Fire/Seven Nation /Godfather Theme

[FinalTilesGallery id=’344′]

August 14, 2015
Slipknot’s Summer’s Last Stand Tour at Darien Lake

On Wednesday July 29 nothing could prepare the town of Corfu for what was about to be unleashed. Slipknots “Summers Last Stand” tour made a stop at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center and they brought some of their friends.

First up was the Gothic American metal band Motionless in White. The Scranton, PA natives opened up the evening with “Break the Cycle” off of their new album Reincarnate. They continued through a high energy set treating fans to a variety of tracks such as “Abigail,” “Unstoppable” and the title track “Reincarnate.”

Next up, veteran Welsh metal titans, Bullet For My Valentine. Currently on tour in support of their new album Venom, they took the stage opening with “No Way Out.” For fans of metal acts like Metallica and Iron Maiden, this is the band to see – especially the essential track “Your Betrayal.”

They continued to keep the crowd pumped up and excited ending their set with “Tears Don’t Fall” and the mega favorite “Waking The Demon.” I can honestly say that for a band I have not paid much attention to before, after catching their performance, they are on my radar. I am looking forward to listen to more of their music and seeing them live again.

From the deep dark recesses of Richmond, Virginia something wicked and powerful creeped onto the stage; they call themselves Lamb of God! From the moment the band took the stage, they started the frenzy with their hit “Walk with Me in Hell.” Front man Randy Blythe took a moment to honor our country’s fallen military heroes before ripping into their classic “Now You Got Something To Die For,” which criticizes our governments ill gains through war. Lamb of God is currently on tour in support of their newest release VII: Sturm und Drang. They treated fans to “Still Echos” and “512.” This is one band that does NOT disappoint their fans. I have seen them more times than I can count and they are truly a testament to the profession. They ended their set on a heavy note with two of my personal favorites: “Laid to Rest” and “Redneck.” Then, the sweat soaked musicians took their bows and said, “until next time.”

The stage goes dark, you can hear fans chanting, growing restless, getting louder and louder as each moment passes. Faintly at first, then a little louder a voice from the PA system is saying “With my face against the floor, I can’t see who knocked me out, out of the way.” Oh yeah… it’s Slipknot’s killer intro! The curtain drops, the stage explodes and Slipknot, in full force, starts right in with what feels like a punch to the gut also known as “Sarcastrophe!” The band is in top form. They don’t take a break from the heavy bass laden assault ripping right into “The Heretic Anthem” and “Psychosocial.” Front man Corey Taylor only pauses for a second to ask the masses if they want to “hear a new song with an old school feel to it?” The crowd roared with approval as the band keyed up “AOV” off their new album, The Gray Chapter. It felt like the entire crowd sang along to the hit “Before I Forget” off the band’s Vol.3 the Subliminal Versus. I have been going to Slipknot shows since their early days and they are consistently high energy and always discover unique ways to engage the audience in the madness.

During their performance of their mega hit from their debut album Spit It Out percussionist Shawn Crahan (aka Clown) snuck into the audience undetected and emerged by the soundboard where he dumped one of the garbage cans on himself and terrorized fans. While clown was busy making a mess, Corey Taylor encouraged the crowd to get down and when the song crescendos to jump up and sing along. The band took a brief break before storming back on stage and finishing out the evening of metal and mayhem with “People=Shit” and “Surfacing”. Although the tour is titled “Summers Last Stand,” Slipknot proves once again that this is not heavy metal’s last stand and that it is here to stay!

[FinalTilesGallery id=’363′]

August 14, 2015
Taking The Time To Make His Music – A Chat With Country Musician David Fanning

Nashville has not only become a mecca for country music but also has a melting pot of talent behind the scenes. The city has become the place for country musicians to travel to for recording. David Fanning may not yet be a name you are familiar with, but I can assure you that his talent shines through in other ways that you may have been touched by. Working together with artists Parmalee and Thompson Square, among others, this young man is wise beyond his years, and his ear for talent is spot on–not only a songwriter, but also as a producer.

Photo by Jeremy Cowart

Kathy Stockbridge: Hi David, thank you so much for agreeing to talk to NYSMusic. It’s so nice to introduce you to our readers. You grew up on a farm in Alabama, talk to me a bit about how you found your way on this path of music.

David Fanning: Well thank you for talking with me. If you could ever see a picture of the town I grew up in, it’s literally what you kinda write about in a song. It’s kinda one of those one red light kind of towns.

KS: I know them well.

DF: What got me interested in music was honestly my family. Growing up, ever since I was tiny, they were in a 50s and 60s a capella group. So they would sing bebop music on weekends just for fun, nothing obviously professional. That’s just what I grew up doing. So I was a miniature Elvis when I was like 9, 10, 11 years old. That’s how I learned about harmonies and melodies and all of that kind of stuff. It was a great experience for sure.

KS: So in addition to singing, what musical instruments do you enjoy playing?

DF: I play guitar. I’m one of those people, especially in a live setting, that love to perform. I’m definitely not Keith Urban, but when it comes down to it I can hold my own. I do a little piano, but honestly I actually started out on drums. I guess I’m one of those people that decided early on that I like to perform versus being “the guy” on any of that stuff. I do obviously play during the show a bunch, but I have a lead guitar player that is way better than I am at that.

KS: I have a feeling you’re being very humble here. I read that you have a really good ear for music. At at the age of fourteen you began producing music and you taught yourself how to use ProTools. Share with our readers a little bit about how that came about.

DF: Where I grew up we had no studios, and even though it wasn’t that far from Nashville, Nashville was still about an hour and a half away. We couldn’t afford to come up here and spend that kind of money nor did I know how to growing up. I always wanted to, but just didn’t know how to. So, even though all we had was dial up internet, I learned how people recorded music and began ordering gear and just getting by. I ended up getting ProTools and established a little set up to record at the house. I started recording my own stuff and figured out how to do it as I went along. I made a bunch of mistakes, and just learned how to get sounds and different things down. When I was finally able to go to those studios, I took what I learned there and applied it to what I already knew and it really started shaping who I was as a producer. It paid off, because I was about 22 when we produced the first Thompson Square record, and “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not” was my first number one that we did on that album. It was an amazing thing. I never knew growing up that I could use all those skills and apply them to what I’m doing today.

KS: Do you think having those skills helped to shape you as a better performer just knowing the whole process and how music is produced?

DF: I think so, it’s one of those things, I’m still growing as an artist. The negative (which is actually still a positive) is I took off about five or six years off from the road. I had been playing my whole life so getting back on the road the past couple years has been a new learning experience as to what works and what doesn’t work and how can I get better. In the studio it’s the same way on each project. We’re doing the new Parmalee project right now. This record is going to be different from the last record, as it’s a little more progressive. It’s awesome, but I’ve learned a lot more [in producing] since that last record too. Sonically I’ve learned a lot. With songs I’ve learned how to make dynamics happen more as well. It’s always just a learning experience. The music industry is always changing so it’s fun to evolve with it.

KS: I like that word–evolve. There are so many different sub-categories within the country genre that it allows you to be creative even more so.

DF: That’s the thing about country music. They are letting you be creative. You might be pop country, or rock country, or rap country even.

KS: Yes, exactly. You spoke of taking some time off. Share with the readers a little about your timeline in the music business and your journey to where you are today.

DF: Even though I took some time off from the road, I was working every day in town. What happened with me is when I was around 20 I moved to Nashville. It’s crazy but I emailed about 300 people when I wanted to move to town. I was actually moving from LA to Nashville, as I lived there for a little while. I had moved out there because I thought, that’s just what you do. When you come from a small town you think LA is the place to be. That’s just what I thought. So I went out there and realized that I’m definitely not that kind of person. I’m definitely more of a small town southern boy, so I moved to Nashville, and when I moved I e-mailed literally 300 people and thought maybe someone would want to give me a shot or something. There was this one guy, his name was Kevin Neal, and at the time he was at a place called Buddy Lee Attractions who booked Jason Aldean. He was like “Man I’ll come out to one of your shows”, and at the time I was playing downtown Nashville at night. He came out and he ended up hooking me up with Aldean’s band who was Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, and Rich Redmond. Back then Jason was just starting to get some legs under him and stuff and have some hits. Me and the guys, his band, just hit it off and started working on my stuff in the studio. We cut about six songs and realized that we really work well together in the studio, so we started a production company. The first act we produced was Thompson Square. It all kinda went from “we actually have some success here”, to “I should focus a little bit on this production thing and build a little bit more of a name for myself on that end and see where it goes”. I went through a few years of working with Thompson Square and Parmalee, who I actually found at the Tin Roof parking lot in Nashville. [Parmalee] used to drive their RV up into town and that’s where they would park. One day I got set up to write with them and we ended up writing a song called “Musta Had A Good Time” together in their RV. I kinda fell in love with their whole vibe and I brought them to the guys and we ended up cutting “Musta Had A Good Time” and “Carolina”, getting them a record deal.

KS: They are awesome. I had a chance to speak with them earlier this year and they are a bunch of fun loving guys. Very talented. Good call there David, great discover!

DF: During their last record we were doing I looked at the guys and said, ‘I gotta go do what I was made to do. I have to go play. I can’t sit here and get this studio tan on any more’.

KS: When you talk about your production company you’re talking about New Voice Entertainment? You’re what they consider a triple threat. You perform, you write and you produce. Do you find yourself being drawn to one particular aspect of music or do all the parts feed your creative soul?

DF: Live performance for me and just live entertainment is my thing. I love it. There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like the rush. I love writing songs and I love producing, but to me they don’t fulfill the void that I have. I could have a million number ones on the side, and still wouldn’t feel complete if I couldn’t play. That’s exactly what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m finally getting the chance to do it. I’m obviously happier than I’ve ever been. I’m a lot more tired than I’ve ever been, but where I’m at is a fun place to be at. Sometimes you’re on a bus, sometimes you’re in a van, and you’re all over the place, and it’s definitely had its growing pains as we just did a 5,300 mile West Coast trip in a miniature bus with me and the band guys getting stuck in there for eight days. It was really cool and fun though. We had a blast. It’s one of those things where we’re definitely creating memories and such. It’s been a fun journey so far. We’re ready to come to NY though.

KS: Yeah, we’re ready to have you here. Hope you’ll be able to take in some sites while you’re here. Our Adirondacks are gorgeous!

DF: Yeah, I hear it’s beautiful.

KS: Well, right now you’re in the studio doing some recording for yourself, talk to us a little about this new album and what we can expect.

DF: I am. We’re cutting music right now. It’s got a good amount of songs and a little bit of a different direction than the rest of the music that we’ve cut previously. It has a little depth to some of it, some is a little more progressive. For me I grew up listening to Chesney and McGraw and all those artists. But I also felt like I was on the verge of where people are now. With iPhones people are able to listen to all different kinds of music; I was kinda there too. I listened to 90s-early 2000s rock, country, and pop. One thing I liked about older records was it felt like each song told it’s own story and didn’t necessarily sound exactly alike. So that’s kinda how I wanted my record to be. Some of it is country-pop, some of it’s country-rock, some of it is happy and some of it is sad. I just wanted every song to have it’s own flavor to it and sound different than the song before.

KS: I’m anxious to hear it. Will you be sharing any of the new material with us at Keg’s Canalside on August 14th, when you play?

DF: Oh yeah, for sure. The fun thing about the show is that I still play some of the music I produced so that people kinda get familiar with some of the work I’ve done. I play a bunch of familiar stuff, but I also sprinkle in a bunch of new stuff too so that people get the whole picture of who I am.

KS: Speaking of who you are. You, like many musicians, dedicate time to charity work. You work with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Can you tell us a little about your cause and why you chose to work with this one?

DF: Honestly, I’ve of course heard of St. Jude’s for a long time, and I didn’t get a chance to go and visit until a couple years ago. We went there for a few days and it was just eye opening of where it’s started, where it’s gone, what they accomplish, and the success rate they are having right now. I was expecting it to be a super sad place when I toured, but it’s not. The doctors, nurses, patients and families are all so positive. It blows your mind because they are going through the hardest time of their lives yet they are building hope and finding cures. Once I saw that I just had to be a part of it. It’s something I’ll always be a part of. It’s a great cause and they can’t have too much support.

KS: Thank you so much David for speaking to us today. I am so thankful for the chance to personally welcome you to NY and allow our readers an opportunity to get to know David Fanning.

So as I finished up the interview, I found myself so impressed by this young man’s range of talent, his down-home goodness, and musical skills. I find the journey musicians take very retrospective as we discuss the beginnings, the journey and the current events occurring in their lives at that time both musically and personally. The one constant I always find among them all? The love of performing. The sheer love of the music. Whether he made a living out of it or not, I believe David would absolutely be on the stage somewhere doing what he was meant to do, perform live for anyone who’ll listen to him.

I urge you all to take a trip tomorrow night over to Keg’s Canalside in Jordon, N.Y. and meet David Fanning and give him a warm Central New York welcome.

August 14, 2015
Coal Chamber, Fear Factory, Jasta Wreck The Water Street Music Hall In Rochester

So I finally made it to a metal show at Rochester’s Water Street Music Hall. Why the long wait? Because there is lots of venues in New York State that I have to cover and yet to visit. And this one took me a while, and one thing that the city of Rochester has going for itself….they have three very high profile venues for metal music. The Main Street Armory, The Montage, and Water Street Music Hall. Main Street being the largest, with the Montage being the smallest, Water Street falls right in the middle and likely have the biggest advantage of booking shows at this point. And let me say that other than the parking situation there, the venue is dynamite. Decent sized stage, clear sound, large bar area, balcony, etc., really nothing not to like about the place. And when you add bands like Coal Chamber, Fear Factory, and Jasta under that roof, magic happens.

I arrived in time to see openers Madlife’s set. The Los Angeles based industrial metallers were received well by the crowd (it was early so at this point the venue was not packed yet) and delivered a high energy set. They had a very goth-like image to them with a sound similar to Orgy. The big highlight from them was their cover of “Love Song” by The Cure as well as a cameo from Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory.

After Madlife, Jasta swept the entire floor with their explosive set that knocked (literally) everyone on their asses. Seeing Jasta was a real treat because he is usually so busy with Hatebreed, he rarely tours as his solo outfit. Jamey Jasta was already in familiar territory, having toured through Rochester and the rest of Upstate New York many times, had already won the crowd over before he even stepped on stage. And it was his time to shine to show off his vocal skills that he normally doesn’t use with Hatebreed. The set consisted of mostly his solo album including “Screams From The Sanctuary” and “The Fearless Must Endure.” His band was real talented (consisting of Steve Gibb, Charlie Bellmore, Chris Beaudette, and Nick Bellmore) gave them all a proper introduction towards the end of their set. The crowd opened the pit up to add to the crazy atmosphere that was brewing, and Jasta gave the fans a real treat by playing “Buried In Black” from Kingdom Of Sorrow’s first album and closing their set with Hatebreed’s anthem “I Will Be Heard.” I believe Jasta should try to find more time to tour because they certainly left the crowd something to remember.

When Fear Factory graced the stage, they wasted no time what so ever. It was down to business, pedal to the metal as they unleashed two songs off Obsolete “Shock” and “Edge Crusher” which is the clear recipe to ignite a crowd. Vocalist Burton C. Bell sounds as brutal and vital as he has been for years, Guitarist Dino Cazares has a very likable stage presence and still has one of the most clutch hands to ever strike an electrical guitar. And now with bassist Tony Campos (ex Static-X, Soulfly, etc.) in the fold, Fear Factory has a new chemistry on stage that the crowd really dug. With the new album Genexus out, it was only appropriate that they played songs off that album, and the songs they decided to play “Soul Hacker” and “Dielectric.” The crowd never stopped moving and security certainly had their hands full as well. Although it was a short eight song set, Fear Factory did right by closing with two songs off Demanufacture including the title track, and finishing with “Replica.” Fear Factory arguably, was the best damn band of the night. Period.

Coal Chamber stormed on stage late into the night. Although a great fast pace set, The Nu Metal legends only played for 45 minutes. Tickets were really cheap so overall I felt I got my moneys worth, I just feel that more songs from their catalog should have been played. Nothing from their second album Chamber Music either. But still played some solid tunes such as their famous opener “Loco,” “Big Truck,” “Fiend,” and a couple off their latest record Rivals that they’re currently promoting. Frontman Dez Fafara at his age still has a fierce voice and a powerful stage presence, however, I have been on the record stating before, drummer Mikey Cox is an absolute wrecking machine behind the kit. It’s not very often the drummer of any band performs their balls off, runs like machine, and still be so precise. The crowd went bananas…and the bodies that were getting thrown out of the venue by security started piling up very heavily when Coal Chamber was on stage. Coal Chambers production was the best from any of the bands that night, with their giant monitors on display and spectacular lighting really makes them a treat to go see. They ended their night appropriately with “Sway.” No encore. Dez Fafara had some choice words before their last song. He’s very anti encore and told the audience that encores are “bull shit” and a waste of time and that if a band is making you wait for another song you want to hear that you should walk away. Personally, the way I feel about it….it’s nice to get a head start on traffic.

In conclusion, it was overall a fantastic night for fans to rejoice 90s metal. It was a damn shame that all the bands didn’t play longer sets.

August 13, 2015
Celebrating the Kings of Blues with Joe Bonamassa

Joe Bonamassa has been playing guitar seemingly since the day he was born. In fact I first saw Joey B play when we were both prepubescent growing up in Upstate New York’s Mohawk Valley. Even then he had a natural knack for the blues. There is no real explanation for his innate emotional response to a genre so filled with passion, heartache, pureness, and an ability to make people both remember and forget the shit happening in their own world. Perhaps someone sold their soul at the Robert Johnson’s Crossroads to become the greatest blues guitarist of this generation and they were reincarnated in this young kid from “the city that God forgot.”

On this particular evening JB played tribute to the three Kings of the blues, Freddie, Albert, and B.B. Starting out with six Freddie King numbers including a Bonamassa favorites, “Going Down” and “See See Baby”.

It was a cool night and the amphitheater that was recently voted the #1 outdoor venue by USA Today was as full as I could have ever imagined for a blues performance with no openers. Though Joe Bonamassa is possibly one of the best marketing minds in the music industry and chose a Monday night in Saratoga, in August. For those that don’t know, August in Saratoga means track season, the thoroughbred horse track is a major attraction and Tuesdays the track is closed. Therefore Monday night IS the weekend night where people can let loose and sleep in the next day. Even though the show ended at 10pm, it was a smart move on the tour’s part.

After Freddie’s set, JB and company focused on Albert King, playing one of my favorites “Cadillac Assembly Line” and “Angel of Mercy” that was cause for a standing ovation of nearly every one of the 4000+ in attendance. After the ovation Joe took the time to introduce his band, and if you’ve ever been to one of his shows he always brings along an all-star cast. The SPAC show was no exception. Anton Fig was up on the kit, and has played with JB before. At least on one occasion in 2009, Eric Clapton joined Bonamassa and Fig onstage to sit in. The Saratoga crowd also had the pleasure of hearing the amazing Reese Wyans on the black and whites. Reese was recently inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame from his time with Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble. Mahalia Barnes was one of the three backup singers for the evening, and Syracuse locals, Paulie Cerra and Lee Thornberg were joined by Nick Lane to round out the horn section.

The night went from Albert King to B.B. King. Starting out with “Let the Good Times Roll” the over 50 crowd were dancing in the aisles, in their seats, or even up on the lawn in the light drizzling rain that cooled the air to make for a very comfortable night in August. Highlights of B.B.’s set were an Anton Fig solo, and Bonamassa’s incredible rendition of the black spiritual “Ole Time Religion”.

The night ended after two solid hours of inspired music with a three set encore of the Kings’ most notable tunes. Freddie’s “Hideaway”, Albert’s “Born Under a Bad Sign”, and B.B.’s version of the Roy Hawkins song, “The Thrill Is Gone”.

As people filed out to their cars to go home, there was that emotional aura in the air that only a live concert can conjure. People were smiling, couples were walking arm in arm, there was a little spring to the step of even the oldest fans. While the blues can be heartfelt and convey a message of hard times, it can also give people hope that tomorrow will be a better day. Bonamassa gave people a gift, a rare look at three legends, on his own path to become a legend in the blues community. Filling a venue as large as SPAC less than a year from playing Albany’s Palace Theater, a short distance away, shows the dedicated following Joe Bonamassa has amassed over the years. While Joe might not be a King of the blues, because honestly Joe King wouldn’t work, he is definitely a prince of the genre that he fell in love with over three decades ago.

August 12, 2015
A Chat With Neal Doughty of REO Speedwagon, Part 1

As the CMAC Summer Concert Series continues, the remaining lineup proves to keep the momentum building for Central New Yorker’s to enjoy the best of the best this summer. This week’s featured band, REO Speedwagon, has proven to be one of the crowds favorites for many years, and personally they are my favorite. So please accept this disclaimer right up front that if you’re looking for an unbiased interview from this editor, this will not be one as it was almost impossible for me not to gush like a school girl as I spoke with Neal Doughty about the band, their careers and personal life. Yep, just call me Madden on this as I blatantly show my favoritism for this band. How can you not?

A southern Illinois gal myself, I feel a kindred connection with these guys as they began their careers only 114 miles north of my home town of Flora. While attending University of Illinois in Champaign, IL, Neal and classmate Alan Gratzer formed a band and after a few gigs on campus, found a strong following of fans. Traveling all over campus and the local region, it took REO Speedwagon (named after a flatbed truck built by Ranson E. Olds) no time at all to be recognized by the powers that be with a record deal. The rest? Well, I’ll let Neal fill you in.

Kathy Stockbridge (KS): Hi Neal, thank you so very much for agreeing to talk with us today at NYS Music. I have to say I’m a huge fan. I’ve been listening to you folks since eight-tracks were around. I can recall cruising Main Street on a Friday and Saturday night with the windows down blasting the music. Yep, I’m a diehard fan.

Neal Doughty (ND): Wow, you don’t sound old enough to be listening to eight-tracks.

KS: Already Neal, you are my favorite person!

ND: Well we are off to a great start then.

KS: When you guys started out, you started out in college. Talk to my readers that might not have been around as long as I have, about the experience of how you came together and formed REO Speedwagon.

ND: Well this band started off strictly for fun. The original four members back in the dormitory at the University of Illinois, well we were all engineering students; like scientific types, and totally planning on becoming some sort of engineers, as the University of Illinois is a very respected school for that. Across the hall from me in the dormitory happened to live a guy named Alan Gratzer. He was our first original drummer, and he and I became really good friends in the dorms. I had never even played in a band. He was in a little campus band that was just playing radio hits and I started following them around and became friends with them. Their keyboard player just wanted to stick with what they were doing but the other three guys wanted to explore some newer music coming out of the west coast, Europe, and England; so we just kinda started a new band with me playing keyboards instead of him. Really strictly for fun, playing on weekends, making enough money to buy doughnuts. And that original group was called REO Speedwagon. That’s the name of an old truck I had read about in engineer class. This was 1967, there was no MTV, there was no satellite radio, or video.

There were bands out in California like The Doors and Hendrix the people in the Midwest had not even heard of when we started doing their songs. Since we seemed to have more of an alternative set list and things that people hadn’t heard before, we quickly became the most popular band on campus and we got busier and busier until eventually we didn’t have time to go to class any more. The University of Illinois is not a place you can get away with that, it’s a tough school, so we just went with it. We thought, well we can always go back to school if this doesn’t work out. But slowly over a period of ten years we just got more and more serious about it until we woke up one day realizing this is what we did. We’re never going to become engineers, we’re just going to keep doing this. This was just totally an accident and the farthest thing of what I thought would happen in my career. Now here we are, almost 50 years later.

KS: It was meant to be. Were you from a musical background, and I read that you saved up to purchase your own keyboard and taught yourself how to play. Is that accurate?

ND: Yes, that is. My parents had a piano at home and my mom played it. Eventually it ended up in the basement. I started sneaking down there messing around on the thing. That’s about the time that The Beatles hit, and I would try to play their songs by ear on the piano, at my high school parties. I played it a lot at home but I never even thought it would be something I would do professionally. I had always been interested in some sort of entertainment. I looked at some colleges that had good theater departments, even some radio and television. So that was in the back of my head, but what at the time I was good at was engineering. I had a scholarship to the University of Illinois based on how well I scored on the scientific parts of the pre-college testing. I was pretty sure that’s what I was going to do. I probably would have really liked it as I still keep up with development with physics and science in general. But, this has worked out just fine.

KS: Yep, I’m pretty sure this was the path you were meant to take. I read that your first gig was at a fraternity house. Share with our readers about your first gig experience.

ND: We had been rehearsing in the dorm and one of the members that lived off campus had his own townhouse so we rehearsed there a lot. We just rehearsed all the time and we figured sooner or later we’re going to have to actually play a show and see what happens. So we put an ad in the campus newspaper with a picture of us saying ‘we’d love to play at your event, we’re a new band on campus’, so yeah, it was a fraternity party where the fraternity invited a sorority over for dinner, but the thing was the dinner was going to turn into a food fight that they had planned in advance. We got paid $40 and we set up on top of a bunch of tables that were shoved together. When we got there, there was brown wrapping paper on all of the walls. We wondered what that was about, and it turned out because of the food fight that the sorority did not know about.

KS: Oh, so you guys did not know about it either?

ND: No, we did not know about it. We were suspicious of why they had covered up all the walls with brown paper, but it was our first show ever and we were kinda excited actually. We were doing just fine then the big food fight broke out as we were finishing up and there was just food all over our stuff. Mashed potatoes in the drum hardware, and that’s not easy to get out. We kinda thought it was funny and actually we were not mad. This is what happens when you are in show business.

KS: Whoa, so please tell me this is not what show business is all about, and it’s not happened again?

ND: No, this has never happened again. There have been a few instances where people have thrown things at us, but they were not planned in advance. No, we’ve been pretty lucky, none of us have ever been hit with mashed potatoes again in our entire careers. So it’s working out okay.

KS: After you played gigs in town and started traveling out to the surrounding area did you start performing original songs or were you strictly covers? When did you start writing and performing your own music?

ND: The first little four piece band, two of the guys left after the one semester because they graduated. So it was just Alan and myself so we were in search of a singer and a guitar player. That’s the record we made with Terry Luttrell, he had originally brought a guitar player with him who left because he was more of a jazz player and didn’t think there was any future in rock and roll. So then is when we got Gary Richrath, the guitar player on all of our records we did for EPIC, and he played guitar on all the hits. Shortly after that we got Kevin, our singer who is still with us to this day. Kevin and Gary were song writers. They very quickly started bringing in original material and that’s when we went to a whole different phase. We stayed popular, but it was with our own original music. We still played some songs by The Doors and The Beatles but we interspersed pretty well with our own material.

Actually, we got our record contract because a producer from NY, our management talked him into coming to one of our shows in the Midwest and a couple of thousand people at an outdoor show. We were playing all of our original stuff and a terrible thunderstorm came along. We had to cover up all the equipment with plastic and run for cover to the side of the stage but the people were standing there in the rain still cheering for like half an hour, hoping we could come back. So we went over to the, his name was Paul Leka, he wrote “Green Tambourine” and “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Good” which were huge hits from that time period, e had his own studio and I said “wow that’s too bad you didn’t even get to hear our best material” and he pointed to the screaming crowd and said “that’s all I need to hear”. And literally, that’s really what happened. So he had a studio in Connecticut and we made our first record there. He shopped it around and eventually found some people at EPIC that really liked it. We had some big fans there at that record label. So that’s how we went from campus band to as soon as we got our own material we got some interest. Took us forever to get a hit, but..

KS: I disagree. It was your earlier material that drew me to you guys. In 1977 when you put out your Live – You Get What You Play For album, because you definitely are a Live Band. Your energy levels you create at a live performance is off the charts. When you recorded that “Live..” album, especially the song “157 Riverside Avenue”, you hooked me then. And that was way before your commercial success with Hi Infidelity.

ND: Yeah that was our first really successful album. That album went Gold, and eventually Platinum. EPIC was so happy about that one that they flew us out to London for their big convention and presented us with the Gold Album there in front of record people from all over the world. But our first hit single on the radio didn’t happen till 80 or 81. That Hi Infidelity record that really put us on the map worldwide. That was our 11th album.

KS: My favorite album, besides the Live album was You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish.

ND: Those were all popular as albums, but we had never had a number one song and EPIC was really wanting us to getting around to doing that. That all just all came together on Hi Infidelity. I really have to give credit to the people at EPIC Records, and they still handle our older records and we still have a good relationship with them, but they don’t think we need to make any new records. They aren’t really interested in that. We’ve made a couple that we’ve basically produced ourselves; financially and artistically. They had their own audience. They haven’ t been as successful as the ones before, but it just let’s people know that we haven’t stopped thinking. But a group now a days isn’t going to get eleven chances on making a hit record. The label will say, you get one shot. So we were lucky to be in that era when a record company would nurture a band for years instead of giving up on them. And we sold it door to door all over the country. You just played EVERYWHERE. Still to this day we are known best and most respected for our live shows. Even critics who don’t really like our “pop”songs from the 80’s they will still begrudgingly admit that our true strength is as a live band. We’ve always done that. People who only know us by the power ballads that we played in the 80’s are shocked when they see who we are live.

KS: It’s funny that you bring that up because I wanted to ask you; there was a completely different sound to Hi Infidelity from your earlier albums. You were more rock-based with strong instrumentals, whereas Hi Infidelity was more pop based. Did you find yourselves gradually moving towards that direction and sound or was it conscious choice to mix it up a bit with a new sound?

ND: It was not a purposeful choice. Kevin who wrote those two big number one power ballads, he wasn’t really, they were just songs he wrote like all his other songs and came from an honest place somewhere inside of him. They just happened to click as radio hits. He didn’t go about them any other way than all the songs before. Those songs are probably why we are still able to fill up shows. You have to have a couple of things like that at some point in your career, but our live show isn’t based around power ballads. Yes, there is a couple of them in there, but many others are just rock and roll.

KS: Yes and you definitely are a rock and roll band.

ND: Yeah, and when you’re hearing those power ballads live and you hear those guitars crunching, maybe the tempo slows down but not the energy level. Especially with those songs because everyone in the audience is singing along. So that adds a lot of energy right there. The show does not slow down when we do those power ballads, if anything it kinda comes up a notch. You feel a new energy because everyone in the world has heard those songs so that’s a big moment in the show, but we’re not an hour and a half of just power ballads.

KS: Since the ’80s you’ve been touring non-stop. How do you explain that and your audiences have new generations added to them.

ND: We’ve been able to tour this long because generations have passed this music down to their kids. We have people of every age in our audience. There a people there in their 70’s and there are people there that are pre-teens. I saw a little 10-year-old girl singing along with every song in the front row. That happens a lot of times. Before The Beatles came along, it hardly ever happened that you and your parents would like the same band. In fact it never happened. But my parents liked The Beatles. They first kinda established that hey there is nothing wrong with two generations going to the same concert. We see that all the time now. People in their 20’s say that they grew up with our music playing in the house all the time, because their parents were constantly playing our music and others of that time frame. We are best buddies with Pat Benatar, Styx, Journey, and Foreigner. They have had the same kind of career where it’s been passed down, and they still get big crowds at all their shows.

KS: You are on the road a lot. That’s had to be difficult with families and getting along with each other being on the road all the time together. What’s your secret?

ND: Especially when it comes to making a new record or writing new songs, things can get a little touchy, but it’s almost like a family where you get into a big fight and then be okay the next day. We’ve definitely had our spats in the band, some of them bad, but you still have each other and you work it out. I’d say we’re not as bad as a lot of groups and things have really mellowed out in the last couple years where we seldom disagree on anything. I guess we’re like an old married couple where you get to know each others behaviors and you don’t fight about anything any more. We’ve never stopped touring, where there’s never been a year that we don’t tour, but we do take some years where we play less.

This year is actually one of them. We’ve done twice as many shows in a year as we’re doing this year. We’re just picking out special spots where people like us. I’m finally after turmoil throughout my life in relationships, I am finally in the happiest personal life I can possibly imagine. I think a lot of the other guys would say the same thing. So we just don’t want to be gone all the time so we’re playing fewer shows, but there’s still not going to be a year where we don’t play any.So we’re balancing being on the road and being home, because everyone is happy at home. But when people are going to let you be a rock star when you’re pushing 70, you don’t turn that down.

Read Part two of our interview with Neal Doughty of REO Speedwagon.

So as I wrap up part one of this interview I need to share my excitement with what an awesome conversation Neal and I had. We spoke for almost a full hour. It was as though we were old friends swapping old times from long ago, and in a sense we were. Both from the Midwest, we shared a common understanding of the way of life of the area, and the importance music played for our generation and the culture. Like many of that generation, music was our thing. Yes, we had Atari but seriously, we didn’t have the video games we do today, or the social media, cell phones, or even MTV right away (and I’m referring to the music video television with the veejays; not that stuff we see today). We spent hours listening to it in our cars, on the radios, and on our turn tables and these bands and performers were larger than life to us. We couldn’t imagine ever seeing them in person, let alone interviewing them. Concerts were few and far between for most, and so our only connection to music was through albums, cassettes, and vinyl and with this diehard fans were created. My love as a fan was the fuel that propelled Neal and his band mates to a career far from the University of Illinois goals they began with, and the same fuel that propels this photojournalist to bring you music through the lens and pen each and every week.

It was a pleasure to hear the story from Neal’s perspective. As I was cruising Main Street in Flora with the windows rolled down and blasting my music, he and the rest of the band were going to college and through a love of music themselves, found the course of their lives moving in new directions. Whether it was playing fraternity houses, outdoor venues in Midwest during torrential storms (which until you live there you cannot fathom their power), or traveling the world ranging crowds that were small, medium, and then huge arenas, they knew it was what was meant to be and followed their dreams to a career that has spanned almost 50 years. Creatively they started out to bring new music to their classmates and within a few years began writing some of today’s most legendary rock and roll tunes of the days.

As I reflected on the first part of our conversation I couldn’t help wonder what magnificent feats of architecture these men could have achieved had they not followed the path they did. However the lives their music touched couldn’t have compared. So very glad they too took the chance and played as mashed potatoes were thrown at them and continued despite the fact that some felt that there wasn’t a future in rock and roll.

Join NYS Music as they cover the upcoming show on August 13 at CMAC where REO Speedwagon will be joined by locals Teagan and the Tweeds. Gates open at 7pm and show begins at 8pm. Hope to see you all there.

August 12, 2015