When NYS Music caught up with Mister F’s Scott Hannay earlier this year, we talked about what it’s like to sit-in with a band, the preparation (often none) and coordination that goes into a guest spot, and his goal of jamming out with Turkuaz.
Fast forward to the end of 2015 and Scott Hannay has sat in with over 50 bands, performed with Mister F in Colorado and stretched his music experience even further. Wrapping up 2015, NYSMusic followed up with Scott on the year he had and what lies ahead for him and Mister F.
Pete Mason: What have you learned over the course of the year, regarding guest appearances and overall musicianship?
Scott Hannay: It’s hard to properly put into a paragraph what I’ve learned from this year compared to other years, but I can certainly tell a marked difference in my own musicianship after this one. Throwing oneself into so many different styles and situations has a way of broadening horizons. I’ve gotten to shred Middle Eastern scales with Consider the Source, travel into outer space jamming with Formula 5, make a run on all the instruments (except drums) with The Werks, tickled keytar with After Funk and The Magic Beans, and those are just a small few of many. It’s been incredibly humbling. I’ve always said you can learn something from everyone, but I’ve been really, really spoiled with the ‘everyone’ that I get to learn from!
PM: What has the year in music been like, for both Mister F and yourself?
SH: This year has been exciting for a lot of reasons. We’ve had some very high-profile musicians play with us this year, and I have also gotten to play with many very incredible players. As a band, Mister F played over 150 shows this year throughout over 20 states, providing many opportunities for collaborations. We even found ourselves in Colorado for the first time, where I took my only night off to go play more music at a jam night in Boulder and got together with Jaden Carlson Band for a session. It’s been a very immersive year in terms of music for me, and will continue to be until 2016!
PM: So with how this year went, what do you set your sights on for sit-ins? That Turkuaz happened pretty fast after we last chatted…
SH: Turkuaz happened pretty quickly, yes – the day after the last article came out! We’re playing with Particle on January 1 at The Hollow. I’ve gotten to play with them before, and Steve Molitz has sat in with Mister F, so, who knows what will happen! We’ve got a string of official Umphrey’s afterparties coming up, too, so hopefully some of them can come out and throw down with us. Either way, 2016 is already looking great!
This video is from Buffalove, the night I played all three stages – the ‘hat trick’, if you will. Mister F played the 2nd stage, then I hopped up with PTF on the main stage after breaking down and packing up. Rick (from PTF) and I then traded keytar solos latenight with After Funk at the woods stage. Buffalove was recently tied with Disc Jam for best small festival in your NYS Music article – it was definitely one of the most memorable nights of my summer!
Don’t have plans yet for New Year’s Eve? Music fans across New York State have got plenty of choices this Thursday. NYS Music helps you get there with the short list of NYE activities.
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at the Historic German House with special guests Danielle Ponder & Tomorrow People and Funknut. Three Heads Brewing Tasting Party start at 7pm with an acoustic jam featuring members of GPGDS and Extended Family. Late night the party continues with Subsoil and Level 7 Hip Hop DJ Set. $20 in advance/$30 day of show.
While most might dream of tropical getaways when it comes to vacation time, music fans accrue their days to travel across the country—or world—for weekends jam-packed with live performances, indulgent food and experimental fun. From the east to the west coasts to the Midwest, NYSMusic staffers traveled near and far throughout the year to see their favorite groups in action. Here we give you our top picks for out-of-state festivals of 2015.
With the growing number of small-scale festivals that seem to pop up each year, it’s no wonder that our team could not pick just one or two as their favorite—so we decided to include the ones we felt deserved an honorable mention. First up is Arise Music Festival, an event in Loveland, CO, that according to Andrew Wyatt “offers a spicy jambalaya of multi-cultural live music, electronic performances, art presentations, along with numerous workshops centered around eco-activism, social justice, and spirituality practice.” With nearly 100 musical acts, the three-day festival now in its third year featured the likes of the Polish Ambassador, Rising Appalachia, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Lukas Nelson, Turkuaz, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Trevor Hall, Emancipator Ensemble, Ozomatli and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, among others.
Headlined by Wu-Tang Clan and Life Of Agony, the East Coast Tsunami Festival held in Reading, PA, treated hip hop, hardcore and metal fans to two full days of shows, including favorited groups Body Count, Mobb Deep, Murphy’s Law, Madball and more. And despite sound issues during day one, Jay Saint G. still dubbed the festival as “a wave of brutality that every music lover should experience.”
Up next is the Grand Point North Festival held in Burlington’s Waterfront Park with views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Headlined by Vermont’s sweetheart Grace Potter, the fifth annual installment boasted two nights of music featuring Phish’s Mike Gordon, the Flaming Lips, Shakey Graves, Greensky Bluegrass, Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers, among others, and special guests like Kenny Chesney who joined Potter to perform their single, “Wild Child.” Alexandra Provost and Laura Carbone noted that “as Potter walked onto the stage, her skin glistening from raindrops, the audience went wild” and that she “put on an astounding performance, showing off her piano, guitar and bluesy vocal skills.”
And finally the Werk Out Music and Arts Festival at Legend Valley, a venue favorited by the Grateful Dead in the ’80s. With a stacked lineup featuring the Werks, Papadosio, Dopapod, Lettuce, Umphrey’s McGee, the Floozies, Consider The Source, Break Science and Tauk, the sixth year for the Thornville, OH, festival “was as always a ridiculously good time for all who made the journey,” according to Ben Landsman. With three stages, a silent disco and one fan wedding,Landsman noted that “between the beauty of Legend Valley, the bright spirit of the fans, the innovative music, this festival is one of the treasures of the Midwest.”
Held at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA, the sold-out 29th annual Green River Festival was “fresh, exciting and invigorating,” according to Eli Stein. Featuring four hot air balloon launches, the family-friendly July event pulled out all the stops with a craft tent, Frisbee dog show, acrobats, karate demonstrations, swimming, a Mardi Gras-style parade and exotic local fare like elk, boar and venison burgers, a Korean food truck and kabob vendors. Throughout the three-day weekend, more than 40 performers ranging from Americana to dance, blues and jam graced the event’s three stages nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, including Eilen Jewell, the Wood Brothers, Rubblebucket, Marco Benevento, MAKU Sound System, Langhorne Slim and the Law, the Punch Brothers and tUnE-yArDs, which Stein noted was the perfect mixture:
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.”
Celebrating its 20th year, Gathering of the Vibes offered up an impressive lineup with headliners Wilco, Weezer, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Ben Harper, Greg Allman and the String Cheese Incident. The late summer festival returned to Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT, and treated fans to a super jam called Vibes 20th Anniversary Spectacular featuring Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Meters founding bassist George Porter Jr., Marco Benevento on keys and Joe Russo behind the drum kit, plus Jackie Greene on guitar. Although the four-day festival will take a break in 2016, VibeTribers Julia Wolfe and Steve Olker recounted the last day of the 2015 event and dubbed this run as one that would set the pace going forward:
As the sun set over Vibes for the last time, [Ben] Harper closed out with his song “Better Way,” and it was finally time to head home. Seeing so many bands perform was both enticing and overwhelming at the same time, making leaving Vibes even more bittersweet. The range of genre, popularity, age and background is what makes Gathering of the Vibes separate from other festivals. After 20 years, Gathering of the Vibes has remained one of Connecticut’s most well-known festivals, and it’s attention to bringing about change while discovering your own inner peace is what will bring success for future gatherings to come. Until next time, thank you vibes for a real good time.”
The final set of the night to check out was North American Scum, an LCD Soundsystem cover band who might be the best band to close out Summer Camp. Members of the group are formerly of This Must be the Band, a Talking Heads band from Chicago, who have traditionally played one of the final sets at Summer Camp. This incredible two hour set featured the entire Sound of Silver album and, because everyone else was playing Grateful Dead songs, a spirited version of “Scarlet Begonias” to cap the night.”
Mister F guitarist Andrew Chamberlaine is leaving the band.
Chamberlaine, also known as Mister A, announced the news on his Facebook page today. “Making music with my best friends Ben, Matt, Scott, and Mike while visiting at least 20 new states will always be one of the best memories I’ll ever have, however it is something I will not be continuing in 2016,” he wrote in the announcement.
He notes that he will continue his involvement with music, writing songs and playing as much as possible while building his student base at Parkway Music in Clifton Park.
The Albany-based jam band, which formed in 2013 with members of Timbre Coup (including Chamberlain) and Capital Zen, has two New Year’s shows lined up — Dec. 31 at the Monopole in Plattsburgh and a post-moe. show Jan. 1 at Albany’s The Hollow. They will be Chamberlain’s last two shows with the band. The band has an extensive tour schedule for January and February, but there is no news yet from the band as to whether Chamberlain will be replaced for those dates.
The full announcement from Chamberlaine’s Facebook page:
Dear Friends, Family, And Fans of Mister F, I’d like to start off by saying that this last 3 years has been one…
Elise Testone has a voice to be reckoned with and she showed it off beautifully at The Hollow in Albany on the 17th of December. Her all-star band consisting of Todd Stoops, Eric Kalb, Jed Lingat, and Brad Williams played great funk, soul, and rock and roll behind her booming voice.
Unlike other recent shows they have done, Elise Testone stuck to playing mostly all original material. The songs were great and show that she has the “it” factor that is needed to succeed in the music industry. Only bigger and better things can be coming for her as we roll into 2016.
Opening the evening was Brian LaPoint & the Joints with set that mixed covers and originals. The Joints are always a rotating cast of Albany musicians and on this night included members of School Bus Yellow, and MONK. Brian is a great band leader and made sure each member got their moment to shine brightly in the various jams that occurred throughout the set.
Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the masterminded songwriters behind the new wave rock band, Squeeze, rolled out of two makeshift beds in pajamas and instantly pulled in the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall crowd on December 16, as part of the “At Odds Couple” tour. The duo proceeded to rip through two hours of classics mixed in with a few new tunes and works from each singer’s solo careers.
After a brief visit to a set up kitchen table to have a beverage, the dynamic duo kicked off the first set with “Take Me I’m Yours” from their 1978 self-titled release “Squeeze.” Tilbrook briefly exited the stage afterward, to change out of his wrinkled jammies while Difford tackled “Cool For Cats,” one of only two occasions in Squeeze’s grand career where Difford provided lead vocals. Exit Difford, enter Tilbrook for “Black Coffee In Bed,” the only release from 1982’s “Sweets From a Stranger” to chart. The classic tune also featured Elvis Costello and Paul Young on vocal backups. The two ventured back together onstage for six more songs before Difford getting the opportunity to play three solo songs: “Fit As A Fiddle,” “Wrecked” followed by Tilbrook backing on “Cowboys Are My Weakness” providing one of the night’s more memorable moments. “Cowboys,” a tune said to be written for and soon rejected by K.D. Lang, was perfectly accompanied by a video montage of homo-erotic, silly string ejaculate spraying toy cowboys.
The second set featured three solo performances from Tilbrook including “Still,” a beautiful track from his time with The Fluffers and off the release Pandemonium Ensues in 2009. Beside the obvious highlighted classic tracks like “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Tempted, ” the duo lit up the hall with a brand new track, “Cradle To The Grave” from the band’s 2015 album of the same title. “Cradle” featured an official video on the big screen behind the musicians synced perfectly with Difford and Tilbrook. There was an obvious passion in Tilbrook’s voice during “Cradle” that proves the duo still has what it takes to write a catchy, melody driven pop-rock song. It’s hard to believe that the work on the “Cradle” album features a new batch of songwriting that we have not seen since 1998. The night was finished off with the 1978 single, “Goodbye Girl.” A fitting tune for two stellar songwriters who were saying goodbye the Music Hall crowd but will not soon be forgotten.
Setlist: Take Me I’m Yours, Cool For Cats (Difford only), Black Coffee in Bed (Tilbrook only), Nirvana, Electric Trains, Some Fantastic Place, Beautiful Game, Love’s Crashing Waves, Slap and Tickle, Fit As A Fiddle (Difford solo), Wrecked (Difford solo), Cowboys Are My Weakness (Difford solo), Up The Junction. Second set: Still (Tilbrook solo), Ice Cream (Tilbrook solo), The Elephant Ride (Tilbrook solo), Annie Get Your Gun, Truth, Happy Days, Cradle To The Grave, Pulling Mussels, Is That Love, Tempted, Another Nail In My Heart, If I Didn’t Love You, Goodbye Girl.
Nothing compares to experiencing live music. But when it comes to packing up and leaving the world behind to immerse in a weekend of musical debauchery with a community of like-minded souls, well, that’s the stuff that dreams are made of for music festival fans.
From one-band to multi-artist events and crowd sizes from 2,000 to 50,000, New York State hosts a bevy of festivals annually in some of the most beautiful settings imaginable, and let’s face it, our state knows how to throw a proper fest, as it is ingrained in New York’s rich musical history having put on one of the biggest rock festivals of all time, Woodstock. Here we’ve rounded up our favorites from NYS Music 2015, so sit back, relax and relive some of the festival magic that happened throughout the Empire State this year, because we all know what it’s like to experience those post-fest blues.
The third installment of Buffalove Music Festival saw a venue change from Cole Farm, Panama, NY, to North Fork Music Park, Warsaw, NY, with the new location offering four stages, a private beach, disc golf and wooded-area camping, and a record attendance that doubled previous years. With an impressive lineup including Kung Fu, Pink Talking Fish, Funktional Flow, Particle, Formula 5, Mister F, Space Junk, Dopapod, Aqueous and Aquapod, the three-day June 2015 festival created to celebrate Western New York’s emerging music scene was one for the books, according to Jen Foster and Thomas Sgroi:
Buffalove came through. Co-founder of Buffalive Productions and Founder of Buffalove Cody Conway clearly had one goal in mind: keep the energy as high as possible. Every single band had heads turning and jaws on the ground. There was never a lull, never a band that just played to fill space. Every minute was dance-worthy. If you missed out this year, we can highly recommend you don’t make that mistake next year. Without any problems or unruly attendees, this festival made its mark at North Fork Music Park in Warsaw, NY. The amount of talent coming out of Upstate New York is only paving the road for more incredible shows. Buffalove, you certainly were lovely.”
Another summer fest that saw a venue change was the fifth annual Disc Jam Music Festival, which moved from Massachusetts to New York State—and promoters recently announced that the event will return to Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown for its sixth year in June. Throughout four days of music, camping, disc golf and Flow Tribe, festivalgoers experienced live performances from more than 50 acts, including Lettuce, Electron, Dopapod, Aqueous, Brightside, Kung Fu, Consider the Source, Cabinet, Soule Monde, Roots of Creation, Formula 5, The Hornitz, Soul Rebel Project, Broccoli Samurai, Krewe de Groove and Relative Souls. According to Dave DeCrescente, the festival’s last day culminated with a “healthy dose of guest sit-ins” with jamband Twiddle, noting that:
One of the highlights of the set was the massive guest sit in with DJ Honeycomb, James Woods, and Joe Davis from Formula 5, Scott Hannay of Mister F and Todd Stoops for the ultimate mega jam on “Apples.” The Disc Jam Flow Tribe was out in full force with fire spinners and hooping entertainers that were almost as mesmerizing as the music. The weekend ended just as it started, with mind blowing music and a close knit community who continue to make the Disc Jam Festival special. Tony Scavone and crew did a suburb job of organizing the 5th annual Disc Jam with a new location but still the same friendly, loving festival experience that keeps fans coming back each year.”
While Catskill Chill is speculated to make a move to Lake George in 2016, the festival’s last waltz at bucolic Camp Minglewood in Hancock, NY, this September was a success, selling 5,000 tickets, according to Chill promoter Dave Marzollo. Headlined by moe. who kicked off their fall tour at the festival and including other bands like Lotus, Zappa Plays Zappa, Lettuce, Twiddle, Turkuaz, Dopakuaz plays Studio 54 and The Motet, the sixth annual installment of Catskill Chill featured on-site cabin rentals, daily yoga, live art, a farmer’s market, craft and food vendors, a communal bonfire nightly and an open mic. The three-day event was packed with guest sit-ins and collaborations like Dopapod and Turkuaz joining forces to play as Dopakuaz, which Chill organizer Josh Cohen noted is the type of community mindset that sets this festival apart from others its size or larger by creating an environment where rising bands can experiment and grow in a unique setting:
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. 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.”
It’s no surprise that Magnaball takes the cake for this category. During late August more than 30,000 phans invaded Watkins Glen International race track for Phish Festival 10. And while the three-day event took place at the site of their 2011 Superball IX festival, this time around the setup featured many upgrades, including local and regional food vendors, the five-course restaurant Festival Ate, MagnaWater Program, speciality Phish-themed cocktails and coveted craft beer from Lawson’s Finest Liquids and Hill Farmstead. (And let’s not forget to mention the interactive Glurt Institute, Drive-In movie theater, JEMP Record Store and cornhole tournament.) The Vermont quartet majorly delivered throughout the weekend’s eight sets busting out rare tunes like “Mock Song” and jamming out typical breather ballads such as “Prince Caspian” to uncharted territory, but perhaps one of the highlights was the Saturday festival tradition of performing a late-night set, which according to Pete Mason raised expectations for future secret sets:
Magnaball’s foray into the history of Phish’s special festival sets was the Drive-In Jam and it raised the bar while putting forth a performance on par with the ‘Storage Jam,’ if not exceeded this established upper echelon of improvisation. On a 183-foot movie screen, a wide array of visual treats combined with a progressively growing ambient jam that eclipsed the Lemonwheel by a longshot and morphed into a full on jam for 50 minutes. The Drive-In Set raised the bar for surprise performances and gave fans a treat after the music on the main stage ended an hour prior.”
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.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Troy played host to a very special event this past Saturday for a band near and dear to the local music community. Nestled next to the Green Island Bridge on the riverfront, the famous barbecue joint’s back end was teeming with excitement as the Albany-based Formula 5 shuffled onstage for what would be their final performance of 2015. Perhaps more significantly, though, as the event’s poster artwork indicated, it was “Mike’s Farewell Show,” the last hoorah of keyboardist Mike McDonald with the band he helped start.
The band broke through the anticipatory bustle with the dark and searching prelude that introduced Jeff Beck’s “Freeway Jam.” The tune set the tone for the evening with a texture that was thick and blissful with melodious playing from guitarist Joe Davis. The music seamlessly morphed into the reggae-bounce and staccato hooks of “Coming Home.” Here the lyrical themes were appropriately reflective. With impressive precision in the rhythm section, the band jammed this one to an exuberant peak, McDonald banging passionately on the piano. A verse from the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” was subtly dropped in the transition to Phish’s “Sand.”
Tucker Callander joined the band onstage to contribute energetic fiddle playing, helping bring “Mister Elixir” to a frenzied peak. Next up founding bassist Bill Shattuck was brought onstage, reassembling the original Formula 5 lineup. Stepping outside of time, where past and future merge into the eternal now, Shattuck led the band through the deep funk of “3 Ring Circus,” which gave way to a jam featuring F5’s new keyboardist Matt Richards. The first set ended with a poignant “Floating,” again featuring Callander’s fiddle and McDonald slicing it up on synth.
The second set opened with a twofer of guest vocals. First Brian LaPoint provided an authentic delivery of the Allman Brothers’ “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.” Then Bill Shattuck was summoned back to the stage, where after professing his love for and gratitude to the band, he danced and shouted his way through an uproarious version of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” A string of original songs was then triumphantly delivered. The rubbery but rhythmically exact style of James Woods’ bass playing supported and propelled the soaring jam on signature original “Hot Box.” Drummer Graig could be seen with eyes locked on any of his band mates, playing with nuance and finesse to bolster and compliment their contributions to the improv, or at times would play with eyes closed, engrossed in the tight aural soundscape F5 has increasingly mastered in recent years. Glittering guitar phrases from Davis scampered around in “The Clear,” and a “Little Drummer Boy” tease reminded the audience of the festive time of year despite unseasonably warm weather. The set culminated with a nod to the band’s full set of Phish covers performed at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que this past summer, this time uniting the crowd in celebration by debuting their version of “Run Like An Antelope.”
Mike’s Farewell Show was an even mix of Formula 5’s most memorable originals and heartfelt tributes to the band’s roots. Influence from Phish could be sensed in the texture and pacing of the group’s improvisations. Years of hard work were evident in the coherence of a band sounding tighter than ever. At one point departing keyboardist Mike McDonald took a moment to assure the crowd that “Formula 5 is going nowhere,” but not in that sense. Though the void at the end of the show was filled with chants of “Mike! Mike! Mike!” and McDonald will be moving on to life’s next adventure, Formula 5 demonstrated themselves to be a band with some staying power. Expect great things from this band in 2016 with keyboardist Matt Richards in the mix.
Setlist:
Set 1: Freeway Jam* -> Coming Home -> Sand# -> Coming Home, Mister Elixir+, 3 Ring Circus%, Floating+
Set 2: Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More^, Sledgehammer@, Hot Box, The Clear -> Ride -> Run Like An Antelope#
*Jeff Beck cover
# Phish cover
+ feat Tucker Callander on violin
% feat Bill Shattuck on bass/vocals & Matt Richards on keys
@ feat. Bill Shattuck on vocals
^ Allman Brothers Band cover feat. Brian LaPoint on vocals
Video of two unreleased Wild Adriatic songs were released today from Otis Live. The tracks, “The One” and “Cruel Lovin,” are from Wild Adriatic’s debut performance at Otis Mountain Get Down from this past September. Performed on September 11, 2015 (also drummer Mateo Vosganian’s birthday), this video is part of Otis Live’s new series of videos, directed and edited by George Watts and produced by Watts and Quillan George.
Since Otis Live started, they have sought to create a platform for artists to gain exposure. The fall of 2015 marked the beginning of bringing this goal to life in a digital realm, with bi-weekly releases of diverse live performances from on and off the mountain. An interview with Wild Adriatic here.
Otis Mountain Get Down is an independently & cooperatively produced festival in the heart of the Adirondacks in Elizabethtown, NY. Otis is an open, intimate and affordable festival, offering an eclectic and unique mix of artists and genres. Otis Mountain encourages new and meaningful interactions with art, music, the outdoors and each other, while embracing and supporting our local communities, music and culture. The festival is held each September and was named one of the “Top 5 Lesser Known (But Incredible) festivals for artists to play” in 2015 by Sonic Bids.
Fast forward to the end of 2015 and Scott Hannay has sat in with over 50 bands, performed with Mister F in Colorado and stretched his music experience even further. Wrapping up 2015, NYSMusic followed up with Scott on the year he had and what lies ahead for him and Mister F.
PM: What has the year in music been like, for both Mister F and yourself?
PM: So with how this year went, what do you set your sights on for sit-ins? That Turkuaz happened pretty fast after we last chatted…
Best Small Festival: 
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.
