Category: Profiles

Local Limelight: Let’s be Leonard is the new ‘It Girl’ of Saratoga Springs

If you aren’t from the Capital Region of New York, there’s a good chance you’re missing out on a little gem called Let’s Be Leonard, a five piece rock, jazz, fusion from Saratoga Springs. Hell, even if you live in Albany there’s a chance they’ve slipped under your radar as they’ve only officially formed in March 2015. This was the case for me, although I’m not sure how this happened given their surge in popularity in the spa city and rapidly growing fan base. They have even played Albany street fests Pearlpalooza and Lark Fest.

Regardless of my own lack of exposure, I recently wised up and sat down to listen to their debut album, Cow, just released on November 29. The album is really quite enjoyable, with a few mellow and romantic tunes sprinkled among a largely high energy and up-beat selection of original songs.

According to guitarist Karl Bertrand, he and Matt Griffin, also on guitar, met saxophonist Connor Dunn at Schenectady County Community College just last year. They added drummer Paul Guay and bassist Chris Cronin in March to complete their ensemble. While the album provides a chance for all members to shine to different degrees, it is Dunn whose impressive and smooth notes serve as the lead in most songs.

The strongest tracks on the album include “Rocky Road,” and “Kindergarten Blues,” which, not surprisingly, blend rock and blues. “Young Sprite” is blues heavy with velvet smooth layers of jazz. Listeners are sure to find themselves wrapped up in the groove with a good head bob – the universal body language for “I’m digging this!” The young band has gone beyond having just potential, they sound like the real thing.

Another sign of Let’s Be Leonard’s sudden, yet warranted, rise in popularity is their inclusion on upcoming bills with other local and better known favorites. They’re scheduled to open for Mister F on December 26, and for Wild Adriatic on New Year’s Eve. Both shows are at Grizzly’s Bar and Kitchen, just over the border in Stratton, Vermont. They’re also opening for Lucid at the Putnam Den on January 1. But for the hard evidence, check them out on their own turf at Café Lena in Saratoga Springs on December 22. Based on both rumors and, now, my own listening experience, I would bet it will be one of many packed shows to come.

Check out their Facebook page for information, music, photos and more

Erin Clary: What or who inspires your music?
Karl Bertrand: We definitely draw influences from the Grateful Dead and Dave Matthews Band in terms of song form and arrangement, we also are influenced a good deal by use of jazz harmony from a variety of artists.

EC: What is the ultimate goal of “Let’s Be Leonard?”
KB: To throw a killer show on the Moon.

EC: How did LBL come to be?
KB: Our three founding members, Karl Bertrand, Matt Griffin, and Connor Dunn met while studying music at Schenectady County Community College close to two years ago and we met our current bassist, Chris Cronin, and drummer, Paul Guay, through the Saratoga/Glens Falls music scene in Winter/Spring of this past year

EC: How old are you guys?
KB: We range in ages 21-23

EC: Is there a theme to your debut album, Cow?
KB: We’d probably have to say the theme to Cow is kind of like a day in the life of a kindergartner. A lot of the songs are generated by feelings you have at the best time in your life: childhood.

EC: Do you play all originals at your shows?
KB: We do play mostly originals, we do a number of Dead covers though and a few others as well.

EC: Where does the name “Let’s Be Leonard” come from?
KB: The name comes from a couple of our members having a convo about possible band names, someone said “let’s be ‘Leonard’” as in just Leonard and someone realized “Let’s Be Leonard” had a pretty little ring to it.

December 22, 2015
REO Speedwagon Raises The Roof While Supporting The Stanley Center for the Performing Arts

Here in New York state, we are lucky to have some of the most amazing historical venues still intact, showcasing their spectacular architecture and the history that goes along with each one. One such venue is The Stanley Center for the Performing Arts, located in Utica.

Originally built to be a movie palace, The Stanley opened on September 10, 1928 with 2,963 seats. Constructed in just 13 months, it was designed by famous architect Thomas Lamb, who is considered one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas in the 20th century. His creations include the Fox Theatre in San Francisco and the Capitol Theatre in New York, both now demolished. It is one of three remaining Lamb theaters: The Stanley, Proctor’s Theatre, Schenectady, NY, and The Landmark Theatre, Syracuse, NY.

Today, The Stanley is host to shows presented by the Broadway Theatre League of Utica, and the Utica Symphony Orchestra as well as several promoters. Recent acts include Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Tony Bennett, Jerry Seinfeld, Jackson Browne, The Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day’s American Idiot and Shrek: The Musical.

Each year the venue strives to make ends meet and continue to bring those in the central New York region top acts in the entertainment business. Fund raising plays an enormous part in keeping their doors open. Local sponsors see the need in continued support and this year reached out to legendary performers REO Speedwagon to join with them in raising money to support the local Stanley Center for the Arts. It was no surprise to NYSMusic readers to learn their (REO’s) dedication to community support, as we recently learned when Neil Doughty spoke with readers in a two part interview this past summer. They have a reputation for rallying behind community in times of need. As the announcement for the October 17, 2015 show came out, patrons scrambled to purchase tickets to the sold out show.

Opening for the evening was local talent, Justin Smithson, perhaps best known as member of a favorite local band, Showtime. This dynamic musician belted out a few numbers warming up the crowd and literally hit it out of the park, reaffirming to patrons to get out and enjoy local music because today’s local artists are tomorrow’s national acts.

With the crowd sufficiently warmed up, REO Speedwagon took the stage and for the next two hours rocking the house in true rock and roll style, showing up their signature lyrics and instrumental solos they are best loved for. Playing hits from early days such as “Golden Country,” “Keep Pushin,” and “Music Man,” together with 80’s hit’s “Time for Me to Fly,” “In Your Letter,” “Back on the Road Again,” and “Tough Guys,” audience members were up out of their seats dancing and singing along for the entire evening.

It was good to see the venue filled to capacity. It is this support that music venues need to continue to bring us both local and national talents. As the holiday season is upon us, I can’t think of a better gift to give and receive; a night out with good music, time with friends and family, and community support. It’s a win/win.

Setlist: Don’t Let Him Go, Music Man, Take It on the Run, Keep Pushin’, In Your Letter, Can’t Fight This Feeling, That Ain’t Love, Tough Guys, Golden Country, Time for Me to Fly, Back on the Road Again (Bruce Hall on lead vocals), Roll With the Changes
Encore: Keep On Loving You, Ridin’ the Storm Out

November 21, 2015
Meet Your NYS Music Staff: Writer Ally Dean

Ally Dean deeply believes in the magic of unicorns and fairies. She also believes music’s confluence of sound soothes and satisfies the soul in ways no other remedy could muster. Born and bred in Rochester and moving to Syracuse to attend the State University Of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (go stumpies!), Ally has inhabited the Upstate/Central New York area for her entire existence. She graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a minor in environmental writing and rhetoric. With her diploma lazily collecting dust on a bookshelf, she dove into the intoxicating realm of music writing.

From her early high school days spent blasting classic rock in the car with the windows down, live music was a recreational mainstay. Since then she has surveyed nearly every genre, favoring bluegrass, reggae and funk. When not listening (and dancing) to music or slinging espresso at Recess Coffee, Ally can often be found frolicking in a local park and checking under rocks and in small dark holes for her elusive ethereal friends.

Ally has been fortunate enough to witness the performances of such acts as Stevie Wonder, The Black Keys, Foo Fighters, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Rush, The Rolling Stones, Phish, Queens of the Stone Age, Misfits, Fitz and the Tantrums and Glass Animals among some bigger names. She also thrives on supporting local and underground bands, hitting up neighborhood music venues on the regular. Her musical bucket list includes Fleetwood Mac, Gary Clark Jr., Alabama Shakes, Bjork, Arcade Fire, and just about every other band ever.

November 6, 2015
Meet Your NYS Music Staff: Photographer Stephen Olker

Stephen Olker is a social worker by day, photographer by night. Currently living in Jersey City, NJ, he spends a fair amount of time in the Empire State. Musically, his roots are deeply cemented in the Phish scene, having been to more than 200 shows since 1997.

Beyond following 4 guys from Vermont, you can catch him capturing moments at a variety of festivals and shows all across North America. When not damaging his ear drums, he likes to dabble in landscape, portrait, and street photography.

A collection of how he sees things can be found at http://unolker.xyz. Twitter @UNOlkerPhoto Email: UNOlker(at)gmail

October 30, 2015
Holly Bowling: Venue Variety, Pushing Boundaries and Peak Moments

Pete Mason: As you start your east coast fall tour, you are playing a variety of venues – larger rooms such as Higher Ground in Burlington, 8×10 Club in Baltimore, Gypsy Sally’s in Washington D.C., and more intimate rooms like The Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA, and Underground Arts in Philadelphia. How do the listening experiences for the audiences compare in different environments?

Holly Bowling: The rooms I’m playing this tour definitely have a lot of variety! It’s less about size though and more about the feel of the venue. I’m playing some spots where it’s unusual to see a solo piano act – places where you’re more likely to see a full band and spend most of the night dancing – and then I’m playing some spots that are more of a mellow environment, places where you might usually see jazz or classical music.

The contrast between them is something I’m really looking forward to. They both have their strengths. Sometimes I think the setting that classical or jazz music is played in can be hard for people to get into. It can be a little restrictive, a little stifling – you can’t move around during the show and there’s a pretty strict concert etiquette. The freedom in clubs that usually play host to rock music can be really refreshing – for the audience but also for the performer. I think it encourages you to play a little looser, to take chances.

But at the same time, there’s something really special about a room full of people sitting down and intently focused on the music together like what you get in a concert hall or a quiet jazz club. No distractions, no socializing, just a really intense inner musical experience. It can be really powerful even though people don’t really express the emotions the music inspires in them as outwardly in a place like a symphony hall the way they would at a club or an arena show.

You can really get lost in the music in a different way and just get swept away. Especially with as many distractions as there are at music events these days, and in life in general, it’s pretty great to find a space to just completely immerse yourself in experiencing music for a few hours and give yourself over to that entirely. So I’m excited to be playing both types of venues on this tour. I think the contrast will be really interesting and each setting will take the music in a different direction.

Pete Mason: Are you viewing these venues as offering a balance between rock club and jazz club?

Holly Bowling: There are definitely some venues out there that have one foot in each world and I’m always on the hunt for those. They’re few and far between but really lend themselves well to the music I’m playing. I mean it’s not really classical and its not really rock, so where do you put it? I think it can be enjoyed in a lot of different settings – and actually, pushing the boundaries and expectations of what you can do in each venue setting is something that’s really interesting to me – but the rooms that are a crossover between the two are really a great fit.

I love to see music in places where you can be comfortable and have some freedom but the focus is also 100% on the music and there aren’t a lot of distractions. It can be a delicate balance to strike but those rooms and crowds are the best. It’s where I most like to see music when I’m on the audience side, and where I like to play best too.

Pete Mason: How have you found yourself pushing the boundaries so far in your performances this year, and in what way, if at all, do you tailor your performance to setting?

Holly Bowling: This year has been interesting because it’s been kind of a whirlwind of experiences. My first album just came out a few months ago and I spent a lot of time leading up to recording it working out arrangements very carefully and doing a lot of meticulous detail work. Then I started playing shows in support of the album and it took a little while for the arrangements to settle and have a little more room to breathe. Whether it’s pushing boundaries or just allowing things to progress and evolve naturally at this point, I’ve enjoyed letting things open up more as the year has gone on. Allowing myself the freedom for improvisation during shows and even letting the arrangements stray further from where the jams usually go and letting them go off the rails a little… that’s been really fun.

Also, I’ve been playing around with segues in the setlists and a different incarnation of the “jam transcriptions” like what I did with the Tahoe Tweezer. I saw a bunch of Phish shows this summer and it was such a spectacular tour musically that, by the end, there were more memorable jams that I really wanted to study than I could possibly ever tackle if I was transcribing and arranging them all from start to finish. So I started playing around with the idea of just pulling out a peak moment from the jam – the theme that you get stuck in your head for a week and can’t stop listening to – and transcribing and arranging just that part. And then I’ve been weaving those into the setlists. It’s sort of an homage and a thanks for the music we got to enjoy this summer, and also a bit of a retrospective of some of the transcendent musical moments from this tour.

Pete Mason: Can you give a few examples of the ‘peak moment from the jam’ that you have transcribed?

Holly Bowling: Sure, here’s a story of how you know what the peak moment of a jam is. I came back from Phish’s summer tour and woke up in the middle of the night with a fragment of music stuck in my head. Clearly Phish, and clearly from a recent show, but I couldn’t place it. Couldn’t sleep. I sang the melody to my (attempting to sleep) husband and he knew it instantly and finished the phrase. The next morning (with the melody still stuck in both of our heads) we figured it out – 17:00 – 18:00 in the Mann Twist. I’ve listened to that jam a lot since then. Peak moment for sure.

Another one is the G major section of the “Down With Disease” from Colorado this year, the build from the 12 minute mark on. I mean the whole jam is great, but from 12 minutes on it just blasts off into bliss.

It’s the parts of the jams that you can sing or play a little fragment of and a good portion of Phish fans will recognize it even though it sounds nothing like the original song. I mean, it’s pretty nuts really… I really don’t know of another band where you could play 30 seconds worth of one particular live version of one of their songs, on another instrument, in a different key, several years after the fact, and people in the crowd would instantly recognize the theme. Every time I’ve teased a theme from one of Phish’s jams, people come up to me and know what it was. It’s just nuts. I think it’s the coolest thing what Phish inspires.

Pete Mason: Regarding your recent setlists – you are playing more Phish songs and transcriptions, have been interspersing a few teases and even a few Grateful Dead songs in the mix. Is this a sign of increased comfort as a performer?

Holly Bowling: Definitely. A lot of the material I was playing earlier this year was very new at the time. It’s hard to be playful and creative with something you’ve just gotten a handle on. Now that the songs I arranged for the album are old friends, I can explore new things to do with them. It gives you a more solid footing to launch into whatever else you want to do.

The Grateful Dead songs made their way into my shows by accident. I was planning on doing one show, the last show of my fall tour (in Pittsburgh) that would be Phish and Dead songs interwoven with each other, just as kind of a one-off thing. But when I started working on learning the songs, I fell in love with them and kept finding myself ending up there no matter what I was playing. And there was no reason to fight it. They’re beautiful compositions and very different from some of the more technically intense and high energy Phish songs. I like the contrast and the ebb and flow.

Pete Mason: If the songs on the album are ‘old friends’, what ‘new friends’ can fans expect to hear this fall, on Jamcruise and into 2016? Surely you’ve had your share of suggestions from fans

Holly Bowling: I like surprises so I won’t reveal much but I have been working on some new Phish arrangements that have been both challenging and rewarding. I just finished learning “It’s Ice” and it was the toughest Phish composition I’ve learned for sure. There’s a lot of different rhythmic patterns and cycles superimposed on each other which is tricky enough when you’re locking several instruments into sync together, but having them split between two hands was really tough at first! I actually ended up color-coding the score I wrote to help keep the patterns straight. My score for the middle section (the part that’s sort of percussive and dissonant and full of repeating rhythms) is full of purple notes, blue notes, green notes… that part took forever to work out but was incredibly interesting to study and analyze. And there’s definitely some other new arrangements I’ve been working on. Albany will have some debuts for sure!

I am especially excited about playing The Massry Center because it’s so different from the venues where most of us often see music. The acoustics are incredible and they have a Steinway concert grand that is going to be just amazing to play. I think they may have to pull me away from it at the end of the night! I’m actually going to play three sets at the Albany show because I’m so excited to play this music on a piano that really expresses the full range of what the instrument can do. The Tahoe Tweezer jam transcription is really meant for a piano like this – where you can unleash a dark tone from the instrument in the heavy sections but you can also find a sweet, delicate sound and create an ethereal resonance in the middle part of the jam. I can’t wait.

See Holly this fall at venues across the Northeast, kicking off with her performance at The Massry Center for the Arts on Wednesday, October 28 at 7pm.

October 25, 2015
Meet Your NYS Music Staff: Photographer Jim Houle

Jim Houle was raised in Oneida, New York, a small town along I-90, between Syracuse and Utica. Being very active as a child had him competing in several contact and recreational sports like baseball, football, skateboarding, snowboarding, and BMX biking. Learning that sports and pretty much everything in life has rhythm, Jim wanted to expand on his passion for music and acquired a guitar at the age of 9. Intrigued by the art and creation of music, he took on the challenge of learning other instruments such as drums, keyboards, and bass guitar.

Being independent most of his life, Jim started working while in high school and continued after graduation. Eager to take on the world, he accepted a job to travel the country working on log cabins with a group of friends. Time away from home, allowed him to focus on music heavily and continue to create. After a few years of exploring the country, Jim was called back home for the passing of his only sibling, which led to staying home to be with family. While taking time to heal, he re-evaluated his direction and gained a new appreciation for life.

With a breath of fresh air, Jim began playing with multiple bands around Syracuse in genres including Blues, Hip Hop, Jam, Funk, and Rock. Gaining more experience in the music industry, he began helping his sound-engineer step-father with controlling lights and general stage hand on weekends. After a few years of learning about Lighting, Jim purchased some intelligent lighting, a control board, and ventured into his own business called HOO Productions. While working in the live performance world, he decided to take up photography to capture the experience for his clients. Jim has also enjoys photographing weddings, animals, nature/landscapes, portraits, and sports.

Jim had begun working with the NYSMusic team shortly after a meeting Pete Mason in January of 2015 while designing lighting for Formula 5 at the Java Barn in Canton, NY. Since then, Jim has had the pleasure of meeting many members of the company and working with some of the best people in the business.

October 23, 2015
Listen to Holly Bowling at The Cutting Room

Exclusive to NYS Music, enjoy a soundboard recording of Holly Bowling from her August 18 show at New York City’s The Cutting Room. Check out photos and a recap of her swing through New York State, including video from Relix and audio of her campground set at Magnaball. Don’t miss Holly when she heads to Albany on October 28 for a very special performance at The Massry Center at The College of Saint Rose.

October 13, 2015
No Fake Pearl Tears: Nashville Newcomer Lilly Hiatt is the Real Gem

Rather than shaking things off through catchy choruses and lip-gloss beats, Lilly Hiatt heals old wounds with poetic confession and shadowy synths on her second record, Royal Blue, released in March.

Photography by Gregg Roth

Hiatt, as the sole writer on the album, conjures grim daydreams of soured love and self discovery that float through 12 tracks rooted in traditional folk and alt-country, but draw on Hiatt’s favorite 80s and 90s influences (think The Pixies, the Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.). Hiatt’s sweet, soft voice sings of a starry-eyed woman scorned and she slays through the wreckage with clever lyrics, because that’s what any good woman with her musical lineage would do—she’d move on and write a song or two, as she proclaims in the title track.

It’s Wednesday afternoon and Hiatt dials in from East Nashville; she’s down-to-earth and speaks with the same girlish honesty that’s reflected in her songs. At the moment, she and band mates—Beth Finney on lead guitar, Jake Bradley on bass, Luke Schneider on pedal steel guitar, and Jon Radford on drums—are rehearsing for a 10-date tour. Several of her east coast shows, including an October 8 stop at the Bell House in Brooklyn, are in support of Austin musician Bob Schneider who Hiatt has never shared the bill with but admires for his similar sense of songwriting humor. “Although, I’m getting tired of writing about my struggles,” she quips. But capturing a perfect Polaroid of real life just comes natural to the rising singer-songwriter whose father is iconic musician John Hiatt. “The biggest thrill of all is the initial coming up with the words; it’s some sort of relief for me,” she says. Hiatt confesses that she’s actually staring at her acoustic guitar, a hand-me-down Martin from her father that is her songwriting muse and never leaves home. “I’ll pick up my guitar and start strumming, or I’ll think about something I want to write about or think of a line that I want to put somewhere,” she says of her method. “I’ll sing something that I don’t know where it comes from; it’s decided, well, OK this is how you’re starting it clearly because I can’t stop singing that one thing, and then this helps me navigate where the rest of it goes.”

And when it comes to laying down tracks and playing them live, Hiatt doesn’t shy away from giving her band the creative rein to guide her songs to places she never imagined, she says. Case in point: “Far Away” had a more folk element before the band’s influence evolved it into a riff-y power-pop piece. “We’re in this singer-songwriter twang-y world and there’s sometimes an unspoken feeling of things you’re not allowed to do for this kind of music, but the band finally felt the green light from me that said screw that,” she says. As for Royal Blue in particular, a progressive follow-up to 2012’s more loosely country-rooted Let Down, Hiatt says the record’s sound is a result of working with analog studio producer Adam Landry (Deer Tick, Diamond Rugs) and a natural gravitation to exploring the darker more dissonant sounds. “We’re a four-piece band of all rockers and we have a similar mentality, but we’re not rough around edges,” she says. “My drummer now totally grew up on punk rock and my guitar player is into psych-rock. When you get the right people together and let them do their own thing you hear that come out a little and I like to encourage that.”

As for her own favorite band, Hiatt says without hesitation, Pearl Jam (she even recently guest hosted on the band’s Sirius XM radio channel). “They have been a band for so long and have been a part of my life for so long. I just have this immense admiration for them and it awakens something in me that I can’t even, it just feels like home when I hear them,” she says. “They have such a base of hardcore fans, and I know because I text with some of them; we’re giggly texting about Pearl Jam and it’s so funny because I think they’re really good to their fans and they make you feel like you’re part of something.” Hiatt is also influenced by other modern-day front women taking risks in their music like Bully’s Alicia Bognanno and Jenny Lewis. “I really look up to Jenny [Lewis]; she always takes chances and she’s so honest in her writing,” she says. “I just love her, and I freaked out for her album [Voyager]; it just brought out something different, and it was awesome.” And Hiatt plans to continue forging her way and not feeling limited in her work. “Records are records. For me, an album isn’t so much a massive representation of this is me the artist, but more of a snapshot of a period of time of what I’m doing right now because there are so many components of being a creative person. It’s hard to hone in on what you do best no matter what profession, but if you’re genuine about things and you work hard it’s going to pay off, or maybe I’m just naive,” she laughs.

Photography by Gregg Roth

Although she’s only three years into her professional career under Athens, Georgia-based label Normaltown records (and still held her supermarket chain day job until last year), Hiatt says she always had this “weird understanding” that she’d end up in music. “In the back of my head I knew this is what I’m going to do, but I didn’t know how because I’m shy,” she says. “I would write in my room and sing and record, but I never performed until toward the end of college… Some people can shake a tambourine and work it and that just doesn’t come natural to me; I’d literally crawl out of my skin before every show and it was excruciating, but I knew I was going to go through with it and that’s now dissipated into a more OK-let’s-go energy that is fun to channel into the show… I think it’s important to be humble.” After graduating from Denver, Hiatt returned to her Music City roots and admits she is still “building my thing” and searching for ways to tap into her creative rhythm. “Writing, or just growing as a human, is an ever-evolving thing, so the goal is to find a spot where the process is effortless,” she says, noting that she admires writers like John Prine and Guy Clark. “When I’m in vulnerable open thought is when the best stuff happens, but I’m trying to write new stuff right now, and I feel like Royal Blue went in a specific territory, a little self indulgent, which is fine, but I’ve gotten so accustomed to writing about painful things and changes and now I’m not so much in that spot. I used to wait until I’m feeling it, but you have to generate that for yourself sometimes; there’s a discipline involved, and I’m trying to look out a little more and figure out how to find the inspiration from all the positive things.” While Hiatt may ponder about getting things right, it’s clear she’s going to be just fine in this “mean machine, this lonely world,” regardless that she’s somebody’s daughter.

Lilly Hiatt Tour Dates
10/8 The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY*
10/9 Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA*
10/10 Mr. Small’s Theatre, Millvale, PA*
10/11 Culture Center Theater, Charleston, WV
10/17 Hill Country DC, Washington, DC
10/22 Southgate House, Newport, KY**
10/23 Rumba Cafe, Columbus, GA**
10/24 Musica, Akron, OH**
11/11 Old Town School of Music, Chicago, IL***
*Bob Schneider Music
**Patrick Sweany
***Del Barber

October 8, 2015
Magic City Music Hall to Re-open After Seven-Year Hiatus

Promoter Stu Green and his partner Charlie Schmitt announced the re-opening of the Magic City Music Hall after a seven-year hiatus.

The venue will be at a new location at 1240 Upper Front St. in Binghamton at the old Ames plaza and will re-open Oct. 23. The new venue’s first national artist, REO Speedwagon, will perform that same weekend, on Oct. 25.

Excitement and news of the re-opening has been spreading quickly on social media with the venue’s Facebook page gaining over 2,000 likes in the span of a few hours. That’s proof that the area has sorely missed “the magic” Magic City Music Hall brought to the area.

The first month of performances include:
-REO Speedwagon on Sunday, Oct. 25
-Sublime with Rome on Saturday, Nov. 14
-Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland with Special Guest Brandy Clark on Friday, Nov. 27

Tickets for all three shows go on sale at 10 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Magic City Music Hall Box Office and on Ticketmaster.

You can find their official Facebook page here.

September 17, 2015
Catskill Chill: Where Young Bands Come to Grow Up

The 2015 incarnation of the Catskill Chill Music Festival may serve as a farewell to host site Camp Minglewood, but since its inception, the festival has really been a big introduction to new music and groups, while also bringing in established bands that many people know.

For instance, this year’s lineup features moe., Lotus and Zappa Plays Zappa as the headliners, while groups such as the Motet, Lettuce and Electron also support the bill. Just like all festival flyers, the headliners get the most ink, while the font size shrinks with each passing line.

Twiddle

Enter Twiddle, on the fourth line of the Chill’s flyer. Just three years ago, it seemed Twiddle was a name at the bottom of so many festival advertisements. Yet, now, the group from Vermont has risen steadily up to headlining smaller festivals such as Disc Jam, while throwing down what band members describe as one of the best sets the group has ever played at this year’s Bonnaroo.

At the Chill last year, Twiddle played a normal set, and a Grateful Dead set, the latter being one of the most well-received sets in the history of the festival. Since then, Twiddle has exploded, headlining tours and playing venues such as Red Rocks in Colorado.

“One tidbit I often appreciate about our fest is what is great about a lot of small-to-medium size fests, which is how great it is to hear bands who are still in the early stages of their career on the main stages and in prime, night time slots,” Catskill Chill organizer Josh Cohen said in an email.

He went on to specify about Twiddle: “For instance … Twiddle. Twiddle always plays daytime sets at larger festivals, even have at the Chill the last couple years actually, but their Dead set was at night. Anyway, (they’re playing a late-night Dead set this year) and I’m pretty sure that’s going to make a lot of Twiddle fans very happy (including me!).”

This kind of exposure can do wonders for a band, especially in the jam band scene, where people listen with the most open of ears.

Just ask Ryan Dempsey, keyboardist from Twiddle.

“Last year at Catskill was one of my favorite Twiddle sets. Ever,” Dempsey said. “I thought we were all very connected and we had the privilege to have some of our mentors and favorite musicians from the scene sit in on our songs with us.

“It was also the debut of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hats idea that took on as a fad even after Catskill.”

That statement says a lot about just what the Chill has done for Twiddle. In the last year, every Twiddle show is littered with fans wearing Ninja Turtles hats, shirts and even full-on Turtle costumes. It also helps that Twiddle has one of the most dedicated young fan bases in the entire scene.

Mihali Savoulidis, guitarist for Twiddle, summed up his thoughts on Catskill Chill in a few short words.

“Bottom line is Catskill creates a super creative environment that I believe all the artists can feel and feed off of,” he said.

This year, Dopapod and Turkuaz are collaborating on a late-night set that Cohen referred to as Dopakuaz, saying this type of community mindset is what sets the Chill apart from other festivals its size or bigger.

“Point is that when comparing us to larger festivals, we’re at this cool stage attendance-wise where in many band’s cases we have the best ‘music’ out there in our prime slots,” Cohen added. “I love tons of bands who’ve been around since the ’90s or earlier but there’s nothing like seeing musicians in their youthful stages, when creativity is just exploding and you can feel it dripping off the stage as opposed to later-in-their career bands who are playing mostly songs they first wrote and fell in love with decades earlier.”

Dempsey echoed that sentiment: “They are a great ally of ours and have helped us play in front of new and old fans. They have a strong and professional staff and crew along with a lot of great music and people.”

Camp Minglewood has a unique setup which allows attendees to rent cabins if the traditional tent-style camping is not wanted. Savoulidis closed his interview by summing up not only Twiddle’s experience at the Chill, but also spoke for fans, calling it one of the best festivals he has had the opportunity to play.

“Catskill is one of our fans’ favorite festivals,” he said. “It gives them the opportunity to see us play and interact with our fellow artists in an incredibly unique setting. The way that Minglewood is set up provides a very cool experience for both the festival goers and the artists. I believe this is our fifth Chill and each year is better than the last. Our career has grown as the festival has and it’s usually the last one we do of the season so I think whenever we play at Minglewood all our creative juices are primed from a long summer of shows enabling us to come up with some really strong performances. This year should be no different.”

If hearing these words from the Lion’s mouth got you as pumped as I did writing this, clear your weekend plans and get yourself to the Lion’s den. It’s an experience that cannot be recreated anywhere else.

September 17, 2015