NYS Music 20​15

Category: Artist Profile

  • 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 venuesHolly 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.

  • 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.holly bowling cutting room

  • 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

  • Billy Lord: Up and Coming Artist

    For the last few years I have had the unique opportunity to cover music of many genres, at many venues, with both up and coming artists, and those national acts that are hitting the billboards. The one thing I notice about all the artists I cover? They love what they do and they love the audiences they play to. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small pub or a large stadium, the music is still the same and the passion behind it as well. What I have noticed is that some however tend to stand out more than others. Some just have a special quality to them that catch my attention and pique my curiosity. There’s something that sets them apart from the rest. A uniqueness that makes them shine a tiny bit more than the next star. Billy Lord fits this description.

    Billy Lord - National Anthem Tour
    Billy Lord – National Anthem Tour

    Beginning his career in the music business mid-life, Billy Lord has become an inspiration to those who have always wanted to follow their dream, but let life and responsibility hold them back. What makes Billy unique is that he is not your typical musician. Working in New York City as a media executive for more than 15 years, Billy found himself without a job when his company eliminated his position. Down on his luck with nothing to lose, Billy took that leap of faith to pursue his dream. How many of us have a dream we would pursue…if only we won the lottery!!!! For Billy, he just went for it. The courage it took, and the passion he puts in to his music and song writing, is what makes Billy Lord my Artist To Check Out this month.

    When I was introduced to Billy at his opening show at Toby Keith’s in Syracuse, I was extremely impressed by how passionate he was about his music and achieving this dream. Sharing a little of his back story with me, I could tell that this gentleman truly loved what he was doing and how fortunate he was to do it. I find of those in the business that have been able to pursue it as their career, when asked, they all would still do it, even if they weren’t getting paid. They do it for the love of it, not for the pay. For those lucky enough to begin their musical journey right out of the gate? Well, they never had a Plan B in place. It was only music. For Billy though, he started his journey after an original career didn’t work out. How lucky for us life threw him a curveball. Billy writes all his own music and lyrics.  Making his performances standout that much more.

    He has assembled some of the most talented musicians to surround him bringing out the best of all his music, and their chemistry is spot on. With Amos Sanfilippo on guitar, Colin Boughton on drums, Patrick Dowd on keyboards, and Roger Monteiro on bass, Billy’s band brings to his music a distinctive country rock sound that is unique even in the ever-changing country music scene today.  Another thing I like about Billy is how he gives those locals a chance to sit in and join him on stage to showcase his music alongside.

    I had a moment to speak with Billy to find out a little about him in his own words.

    Kathy Stockbridge: How long have you been performing?

    Billy Lord:  Only about three years. To me, becoming a true top-tier stage performer is the next step on my evolutions an artist. Songwriting and guitar came first, then I worked on becoming a vocalist. Now in really learning the ropes of getting a crowd on their feet.

    KS:  How would you categorize your music…country…rock…?

    BL:  I always consider my music “American music,” though recently its leaning heavily toward modern country. Fans will hear that with the next album. Very country radio friendly stuff.

    KS:  What musicians have inspired you to this style you have created?

    BL:  Kid Rock, Bob Seger, Tom Petty and most recently Brantley Gilbert and Jason Aldean. But, I try not to listen to other people’s music too much because I never want to be derivative. I always want to be mine. Rock a Billy, if you will.

    KS:  Was this just a hobby ever or did you do it as a second job before?

    BL:  This was passion born out of losing everything… My career, my home, and my money. Music saved me during a very difficult time in 2009, when I was working homeless in NYC. It started as a way to keep me sane during a dark time. I didn’t look at it as a career until 2012. When I knew it was going to be my life, I quit my part-time jobs and gave myself to music fully. Jump and the net will open.

    KS:  What was your day job prior to this?

    BL:  I was a marketing manager in newspaper publishing for 15 successful years.

    KS:  How did that job end?

    BL:  I was laid off with several other managers when the economy hit the wall and the Great Recession took hold.

    KS:  How did you know that this is the direction you needed to go?

    BL:  When I was working homeless, I was unloading trucks at night and I’d get out at 3am and nowhere to go. I had an old guitar that I’d never learned to play. It was my last material possession. So when I got off work, I started teaching myself to play. Almost immediately I started hearing songs… Pure fits of inspiration, it was cathartic for me. But I really knew it was the right direction, when I got radio play on Z100 two days after recording my first demo. To me, it was a sign to keep going. And I have no plans to stop. There is no Plan B.

    KS:  Have you written all your life or is it something you just picked up as life went on?

    BL:  The funny thing is… My whole life I never knew I had this talent. And if I hadn’t been fired, I would have never known.

    KS:  Where do you get your inspiration for writing songs?

    BL:  I get asked this often because I’m such a prolific songwriter… And I tell people it’s like I have a radio station in my head. I hear full songs. Most recently, I’ve fallen in love, so that station is tuned in to the sound of endless summers and new love. I think listeners will live the new songs.

    KS:  What has been your support system throughout this venture?

    BL:  I’ve been very fortunate to have extremely supportive fans. The first two albums were crowd funded and our upcoming tour will be as well. I also have a few angels on my shoulder looking out for me.

    KS:  How did you assemble your band…what were you looking for?  How long have you played together?

    BL:  Only a few months.  My drummer Colin Boughton and keyboardist Patrick Dow and I have known each other since we were kids. We played little league baseball together. They both chose music and have been playing their whole lives while I pursued a business career. They were there ready to go when I needed a band. My guitarist, Amos Sanfillipo was a family friend and has had a long, successful career touring with major bands, and Roger Montiero, and amazing bass player with a similar touring career was suggested by Amos. We’re a motley, funny bunch. But we’re hard workers too.

    KS:  What is your advice to those that may be afraid of taking that step towards achieving their dreams?

    BL:  If you want to be something, give your self to it one hundred percent. Become it. Believe in yourself when others don’t, which will be always.

    KS:  Where can our readers see you in your tour?

    BL:  Our 2015 National Anthem US Tour dates are posted at www.reverbnation.com/billylord
    While most new artists tend to perform 95% covers, slipping in a few of their own tunes, you find that Billy does the opposite. Billy’s set features the majority of his own music, rocking the crowd with his own sound, only to use the covers as exclamation points on his set list.

    I highly recommend you taking the time to check out Billy at one of his live shows. His live show is worth the drive.  For those in the Central NY area, Billy will be playing in Vernon this Saturday the 21st at The Stampede Steakhouse.

    I see so many wonderful artists….but sometimes there’s just something unique that makes an artists stand out.  Can’t pinpoint it to just one thing with Billy,  Perhaps it’s the combination of his inspirational story, mixed with his prolific songwriting, and the energetic live show that makes him stand out.  Whatever it is though, his unique style is what makes Billy Lord my Artist To Check Out this month.  Not coming to a venue near you? Don’t fret you can purchase his recent album at www.reverbnation.com/billylord.  From what I understand, the next one is right on the horizon!

  • The Moonshine River Band – A Great Syracuse Country Band

    I headed out to Toby Keith’s at Destiny this past Friday night to check out a local country act I haven’t seen yet.  Once I got there,  I noticed these guys had a really good following. I spoke to a few groups of people and was told they make it out to as many of Moonshine River Band’s shows as possible and that the last time they played at Toby Keith’s a bus from the Altmar area was chartered to bring in their fans. Needles to say, this really sparked my interest and I couldn’t wait til the guys hit the stage.

    48-(1-of-1)

    They are a modern country band composed of three talented guys: Joe Battles (guitar/lead vocals), Mark Ramsden (bass/vocals) and Angelo Depasquale (drums/vocals). They play some of your favorites from Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Luke Bryan and Garth Brooks, just to name a few.

    Once they took the stage I have to say I was quite impressed. They sounded fantastic.  Not only did they have their scheduled set list, but they also took a few requests. The vocals were smooth yet powerful and they kept their fans engaged and on the dance floor. I am really excited to have another local country band to add to an evening out. You can see them open for Easton Corbin on Jan. 15 at Toby Keith’s – I Love This Bar and grill in Syracuse.