On Saturday, December 19, the historic Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, NY is hosting a holiday poster art show, presented by NYS Music and PhanArt. The poster art show will feature Woodstock based artists Mike DuBois and Erin Cadigan, who will both be selling their work, as well as PhanArt, which represents a collective of poster artists from around the country. Come and buy that holiday gift for the music lover in your family, or treat yourself!
Mike DuBois will be on hand, and is one of the official poster artists for the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well tour, as well as one of the official poster artists for the recent Dead & Company tour. Mike will be selling some of his highly sought after limited edition prints, and those prints will be announced on The Bearsville Theater Facebook page during the week leading up to the show.
Erin Cadigan is an illustrator whose clients include High Times Magazine, Central Park Summer Stage and Adidas. She spent decades selling her art as a vendor at Grateful Dead and Phish shows. Erin will be selling t-shirts from her THREE Erin Cadigan line, Phanart posters and art prints including her just released DRINKING ALE print. Local folks might know her best as the owner and designer of The White Dove Rockotel.
The Poster Art show will run from 4-8pm, and The Bearsville Theater bar will be serving those over 21 during that time. From 9pm until midnight or beyond, Bearsville Theater will be hosting a Good Ol’ Grateful Dead dance party for those over 21, which will be illuminated by a psychedelic light show from Delilah Rain’s Ambient Experience.
The poster show is free and open to all ages (4-8pm) and the dance party is $5 and 21+ (9pm-12am)
Getting off I-87 and heading on Route 212 towards Woodstock, you pass by a road sign that says ‘Veteran.’ On each trip to Woodstock towards Bearsville, NY, the sign never held any significance to me, but being Veteran’s Day, and heading to see some purely American music – bluegrass from Yonder Mountain String Band and Henhouse Prowlers – it brought a knowing smile to my face, and likely to those of other travelers headed to Bearsville Theater this evening.
Yonder Mountain String Band
Henhouse Prowlers, a five piece bluegrass outfit from Chicago were a well-received opener tonight, channeling Bill Monroe’s classic sound and spreading their music beyond our nation’s borders. There were original traditional numbers, such as Fool’s Carnival Song, with thoughtful lyrics and well-rounded between the five band members. What was truly intriguing this evening was learning that Henhouse Prowlers make a number of international tours through the State Department, bringing American Bluegrass to Africa (three tours so far), Russia, and soon Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Bringing back a little African music, they performed the Nigerian song “Chop my Money”, and as one would suspect, a lively tune, “Dancing Cures All.” The set ended with Todd Livingston’s dobro playing highlighted on the finale, a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire.”
Yonder Mountain’s set opened with “Sideshow Blues” and a cover of Smokey Robinson’s
“I Second That Emotion” fit inside, with Jacob Joliff’s mandolin playing standing out among his bandmates, despite not overshadowing the others as the strings were rapidly strummed. “Things You’re Selling,” about televangelists, stood out in a lively set, as did “C’est La Vie”, featuring Allie Kral on vocals. Yonder brought up Todd Livingston and Dan Andree from Henhouse Prowlers for a stellar extended jam on “Angel” and a segue into the classic Grateful Dead tune, “Shakedown Street.” The second set was highlighted by covers of Son Volt’s “Drown,” and The Rolling Stones’ “Torn and Frayed,”, with originals “Looking Back Over my Shoulder” and “Sidewalk Stars” closing out the night.
Watch a performance of “Black Sheep” and “Insult and an Elbow” with a Q&A from Radio Woodstock, recorded earlier that day.
Set 1: Sideshow Blues > I Second That Emotion > Sideshow Blues, I’m Not Saying, Up For Brinkley’s, A Father’s Arms, Things You’re Selling, C’est La Vie, Angel* > Shakedown Street*
Set 2: Around You> Nothing But A Breeze > Drown, Walking Shoes^, Leavin’^, Torn And Frayed, My Gal, Night Out, All Aboard > Looking Back Over My Shoulder > Sidewalk Stars
Encore: Dominated Love Slave
*Todd Livingston on dobro & Dan Andree on fiddle
^Aaron Dorfman on guitar & Ben Wright on banjo
On a chilly Saturday, November 14, Dopapod played in the town of peace and love, Woodstock, for the first time. The small town was the stomping ground of music greats like Bob Dylan and The Band along with countless like-minded individuals who still call this town home.
Nestled between the pines about one minute outside of Woodstock is The Bearsville Theater. Visitors make themselves comfortable around a fire at the Bear Café next door. Excited fans have a craft beer and a smoke on the back porch overlooking Sawkill Creek. The building’s interior resembles a lodge: dimly lit, cozy and welcoming.
As easy as it is to completely relax, The Nth Power begin to play and immediately energize the entire venue. A mix of funk, soul, rock, R&B and gospel, the group also blends a world beat into their unique and sexy tunes. Although only having formed a few years ago at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, this band – which happens to feature drummer Nikki Glaspie, (Dumpstaphunk, Beyoncé) – could easily become the next Lettuce.
Before they even appear on stage, eerie and ominous sounds echo throughout the dark room foreshadowing what will end up being two largely prog rock heavy Dopapod sets.
Drummer Scotty Zwang appears to be his element at times, even given a literal spotlight, as one enthusiastic fan up front yells, “You’re the best drummer ever!” Guitarist Rob Compa’s fingers move as fast as a sewing machine and perfects even the most technical progressions. While often known for his sense of humor, Chuck Jones is all business providing a low and strong foundation on the bass. Eli Winderman offers extended synthesized key solos that deliver Dopapod’s often alien-like hums.
A quick glance around the room finds fists in the air and even some head banging. “Psycho Nature” embodies the quasi-metal sound Dopapod has perfected while “Sleeping Giant” provides another welcomed opportunity for vocals, even a breath from the intensity of the preceding songs.
Dopapod closes their second set with a haunting and powerful “Freight Train.” After the brief but obligatory fake-out, they return for an encore of AC/DC’s “TNT.” It is the first and only break from their overall stern demeanor on this night. Finally, to the delight of the loyal ‘Dopafam,’ they end with a satisfying “Bubble Brain.”
Dopapod’s first time playing The Bearsville Theater was sinister, energetic and intense – a stark, but welcomed contrast to the colorful tie-dye soaked village of Woodstock.
Set 1: Flipped, Priorities, Bluetooth, Upside, Weedie > Bahbi, Off the Cuff
In anticipation of their upcoming show on November 14 at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, Dopapod’s drummer Scotty Zwang took some time to chat with NYS Music about summer tour highlights, Woodstock, and pranking Papadosio.
This weekend’s stop is part of the progressive groove quartet’s extensive fall and winter tour with soul-funk quintet, the Nth Power. The tour follows an action packed summer, with appearances at Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam, Red Rocks, Peach Fest, Electric Forest, Disc Jam, High Sierra and more. Dopapod refuses to stay within the boundaries of one distinct sound. Show-goers will get a taste of prog rock, synthesized keys, and even some country inspired songs, all that have aided in their ever growing and loyal fan base.
Tickets are available for $18 through Ticketmaster, or at the Bearsville Theater box office. Doors at 8, show at 9. Other upcoming dates include:
Nov 14 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater
Nov 18 – Buffalo, NY – Tralf Music Hall
Nov 20 – Brooklyn, NY – The Hall at MP
Nov 21 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Art
Erin Clary: Even though you’re touring, do you ever get a chance to go to shows yourself? And if so, who do you go see?
Scotty Zwang: Yes. That can range. I mean I’ve been off for about ten days since the last show. The day after I got home on Halloween I went to see Ben Folds with yMusic which was really awesome. All things can vary. I try to go to as many shows especially bands that really influence me and bands I don’t necessarily get to see all the time. I like to go see friends, like the Disco Biscuits are playing in New York the day after New Year’s so I am going to go see them after seeing Phish. I try to go to as many shows, not necessarily just jam band ones, but different ones as often as I can, not as often as I would like. Frankly, by the time I get home from tour sometimes the last thing I want to do is go see live music.
EC: It’s been a year since your last album release, do you have another one in the making or are you focusing on touring and improvisation?
SZ: We’ve been focusing a lot on touring for the last year since the album (Never Odd or Even) came out and yeah, usually in general we’re pretty busy with touring. We are actually planning on taking a good chunk of time off in the beginning of the year to finish songs that we’ve been working on on the road and also to write some songs from scratch so that hopefully by next year at some point, or maybe beginning of the following year, we will have an album finished. But we are going to take some time off first and see where that all goes and hopefully take some time to get in the studio shortly after that.
EC: Dopapod crosses a range of musical styles, some are sort of hard, others are a little twangy, others sound more like video games. What is your personal favorite?
SZ: I guess I really do love the darker and proggier kind of stuff. Although the video gamey kind of stuff when Eli synthesizes the sound I think is the more quirkier writing that the band does. I do enjoy all of that. And even some of the twangy… I mean we have a song that is pretty much country, bluegrass, more of an up-tempo kind of feel. As a drummer, I do have to say some of the proggier stuff, when I play correctly on stage, I do feel very good about myself like I’ve accomplished something. Even though we wrote the songs, sometimes I do end up still messing things up live. When something is that challenging it’s definitely rewarding and I still feel good about being able to pull that off live. I would like to say it’s done correctly every time, but sometimes people do mess up. I know Neil Peart from Rush said that anytime he played a song like “YYZ” or “Tom Sawyer,” he wrote it and spent a lot of time focusing on difficult drum parts, and he still gets that excitement when he actually pulls it off live and I would say the same goes for me.
Dopapod, Mountain Jam, 2015
EC: You guys have had some pretty interesting profile pictures on Facebook recently. Who is the creative genius behind those graphics?
SZ: They’re usually fan based. We have a fan page created by fans on Facebook. It’s our top fans around the country or wherever else and they call themselves “Dopafam.” There’s usually some weird stuff that goes around in there (laughs) and every once in a while there is a picture that is just gold. The one you’re talking about is Chuck in his underwear riding a razor scooter on the rainbow road from Mario Cart. That was created by a fan and I’m not even sure exactly who did it. We have some super creative fans I guess because sometimes they strike gold. If anyone in the band likes it, (it’s) usually Chuck and not just because he happens to be in this photo, but usually he will put it up. Chuck has kind of realized throughout the year – well we all have – that people don’t necessarily want to see or have the time and patience to watch a video, or read a long, thought out and touching thing. They just want to see pictures of whatever. Chuck always says that when he goes on Facebook if he doesn’t see a picture of a dog within 10 seconds then he just signs off.
EC: Was that picture from Jam on the River in Philly?
SZ: (laughs) So yeah, there was a bet that happened with Papadosio that was betting Chuck to go out on stage and ride the razor scooter in his underwear. I kind of pushed him to do it because I think those things are funny and that is what people will remember…
EC: Oh I remember it quite clearly!
SZ: I kind of pushed him to do it and I kind of had this thought of how funny this with be if this was an ongoing prank with Papadosio because we play so many festivals with them and they truly are some of our best friends. So at High Sierra, once again I egged Rob, our guitarist to do it and he went out in his underwear on the razor scooter. It was just hilarious and no one expected it. It kind of opened up a whole can of worms since I kept making people do it, I had to do it myself. So I finally did it at The Werk Out. We’ve all done it except for Eli but at this point I don’t want Papadosio to think that every time we play together that one of us is going to appear on stage in his underwear, so I’m not sure that trend is still alive.
EC: Do they ever prank you guys?
SZ: They tried to prank us at the same festival when I did it but because they had to get out of there and go to another show they didn’t have enough time. So it was passed onto the Werks and Dino, their bassist, came out in his underwear wearing…I got this poop mask, it’s a mask that looks like the emoji of the pile of poop with a smiley face. It’s essentially that exact thing. So he came out in his underwear wearing the mask because no one had a razor scooter I guess.
EC: “Nerds” from Never Odd or Even – what’s the story behind this? Are you guys mocking someone in the very beginning?
SZ: No…well kind of. It was Chuck’s idea when we were in the studio and we had a lot of empty space and build up before the lyrics kicked in, which aren’t really a lot of lyrics it’s just “no words.” But it was kind of a nod to Frank Zappa because in…I forget which song, maybe it was “Catholic Girl,” he kind of does a ‘Valley Girl’ impersonation, kind of making fun of people in the California area that he is from. Chuck just thought it would be funny. We came up with this song and originally the band just had a lot of instrumentals. Jam bands are kind of known for not having the best voices at times. We were kind of just mocking the same kind of valley girl and if she was at a jam band show, and all these songs are long and they don’t have any words. So Chuck, after we recorded all the instrumentals and everything was done, we just had a night at the studio where maybe we drank a little too much or something, and he went in there and gave it his all.
EC: I saw you a few times this summer at Disc Jam, and at Mountain Jam where you played two sets, one was on that outdoor main stage. Isn’t it huge?!
SZ: It was the biggest stage I think we’ve ever played on. I am trying to think back because we did have some big performances this summer, but I do remember getting to Mountain Jam and thinking, “this is definitely the biggest stage this band has ever performed on. It’s just massive.”
EC: Massive! I’ve been going there a lot of years and it’s just gotten bigger and bigger. I’ve seen you guys on plenty of regular sized stages so to see you on something like this was really impressive!
SZ: Thank you! It’s funny because that stage next to it is a pretty nice stage and you could have a regular production on it, but it is just dwarfed by how big that main stage is.
EC: What was your favorite festival this summer? You guys really went after it.
SZ: Yeah there were a lot of them. They start pretty early. Obviously we do have random festivals that go into the fall or destination ones in the winter, or musical festival in the end of February or beginning of march this year. So they just go all year long now. Summer Camp is a real great one as far as “real festival” season in summertime, its kind of the first weekend. Bonnaroo was a dream ours and the biggest audience we’ve ever played for. It was broadcasted over the Internet for RedBull.com and we were interviewed by Sal Masekela, who I’ve been watching as the host for the X Games since back in the day when I was a little kid and loved flinging myself off of stairs and other things, whether it was a bike or skateboard or whatever. It was just a really crazy experience to just look and someone is powdering his face and asking us if we want water, and actions like que cards in order to sync with the video. So that was definitely one of the most mind blowing experiences of the summer. There was just so many great ones. I mentioned The Werk Out is a lot of fun. High Sierra in California is great. It has a really nice family vibe and is one of those festivals that has survived two decades. It’s a festival that is almost as old as all of us in the band. It’s really cool to be a part of stuff like that.
EC: Now that the season has changed in the Northeast, it’s time to go inside. What are you looking forward to and what can we expect from your show at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock on Saturday.
SZ: It’s our first time playing in Woodstock. Although my family has a house in West Saugerties, it’s actually on the same road as the house where The Band lived, ‘Big Pink.’ So I have a lot of experience in Woodstock and when I joined the band we actually went up to my family’s house and did videos of songs like “Nerds” and “Picture in Picture” for the first time. That was all shot in Woodstock. So really excited. I’ve actually never seen a show at “the bears,” and my family really loves it there. They’re excited that we’re finally there, we get to have dinner next door at the café. It’s going to be a great time. It’s got such a great vibe, especially with music and especially this time of year, it’s just very beautiful.
EC: Will your family and friends be coming to the show?
SZ: Oh yeah, I know I have my brother-in-law, my sister, my mom and dad, in-laws and my girlfriend, everyone is coming up. It’s going to be quite the weekend. I hope I don’t disappoint them.
For the seventh year in a row, Bob Dylan’s birthday will be celebrated with a benefit concert in Woodstock Memorial Day weekend.
A group of Hudson Valley-based artists will perform Dylan’s hits at the Bearsville Theater at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 24.
The current lineup features Happy Traum, Cindy Cashdollar, Jules Shear & Pal Shazar, The Stacks, Sara Fimm, Marc Black, Lindsey Webster, Eric Redd, Jerry Marotta, Zach Djanikian, Tim Moore, Kyle Esposito, Sin City, and The Saturday Night Bluegrass Band. More artists are to be announced.
The concert will benefit the Family of Woodstock’s Crisis Hotline and the John Herald Fund for musicians in need.
Tuesday nights in February are not the ideal time to be venturing outside of your house, but if there is good music to be had that will warm you up, get your boots on and get to your closest venue. Luckily for many people though, they were close to Bearsville Theatre for Chris Robinson Brotherhood making first area appearance since Mountain Jam. The sold out crowd gave a roar as the band took the stage and ripped right into “There’s a Good Rockin’ Tonight” by Roy Brown, setting the scene for the night showing they were here to rock and jam only as bands should when they come to Woodstock.
Touring in support of Phosphorescent Harvest The CRB, as they are known by their fanbase, played a few highlights of the album with “Meanwhile in the Gods…” and “Jump the Turnstiles” in the first set. The band was tight throughout the evening, which was great to see as they are breaking in new drummer Tony Leone. Sometimes when bands change members it takes a while to gel as a group, but The CRB was in fine form. Chris Robinson was in vocally great, as he always is, and even showed off some impressive guitar playing from time to time. Neal Casal handled much of the work on the guitar and it was wonderful to listen to his playing all night. He can solo with the best of them, but can also intricately shape songs without taking over the whole sound. “Tulsa Yesterday” closed the first set out with a thrilling jam that was a preview of what the meat of second set was going to be.
After a short break they came back out and hit the ground running with “Try Rock & Roll”. Everyone in Bearsville was tuned in to what the band was giving them and smiles were seen on everyone’s face, including the band between songs. Adam MacDougall seemed to be steering the jamming ship throughout the second set with some great work on the keys. The psychedelia was strong from his side of the stage and only pushed the others to join in. Chris Robinson is of course no stranger to that sound, so it was easy to see why he recruited Adam into the band. Mark Dutton may have gone unnoticed by many throughout the evening on the bass, but he has mastered being the grounding sound during the intense jams that happened. The biggest jam of the night took place during “Vibration & Light” that bled into “Hard to Handle” with a beautiful transition. The two songs were great, but the middle area where the band got weird and just jammed for a while was the clear highlight of the evening. This was followed by “Rosalee” where they once again went off the rails of the traditional song and let the space around them dictate where the song would go. Coming back with a live debut cover of Van Morrison’s “Call me up in Dreamland” was a fitting end to the evening.
Set 1: Good Rockin’ Tonight, Jump the Turnstile, Shore Power, Roane Country Blues, Star or Stone, Meanwhile in the Gods…, Tulsa Yesterday
Set 2: Try Rock & Roll, Beggar’s Moon, Clear Blue Sky & the Good Doctor, Reflections on a Broken Mirror, Vibration & Light>Hard to Handle, Rosalee, Sunday Sound
The Chris Robinson Brotherhood will be taking the stage at Woodstock’s Bearsville Theater February 10. The band, Chris Robinson, Neal Casal, Adam Macdougall, Mark Dutton, and newest member Tony Leone, will be bringing their brand of psychedelic rock to hollowed stomping grounds. None of the members in The Chris Robinson Brotherhood are strangers to Woodstock as they have played at either Bearsville or at Levon’s Barn, which is right down the road, in other bands through the years.
They are touring in support of their latest release Phosphorescent Harvest, which came out last April. It is the band’s third studio album in under 4 years of being together. The constant output of music by CRB have kept them tight as a band and lets them feel at home on stage playing to crowds all over the country. Chris has a strong love for this band saying that this is his future in music and sees no signs of it winding down.
Tickets for the show are on sale now and cost $30 for standing room, $49 for balcony, and $59 for the first two rows of balcony. Tickets can be purchased here. The show is an evening with, which means it is going to be a long two set show with a great rock and roll band that will move in and out of psychedelia at will. This is their only Upstate appearance for the band before they play the rest of the East coast, go to Australia, and go back to the West coast so don’t miss this one.
As easy as it is to completely relax, The Nth Power begin to play and immediately energize the entire venue. A mix of funk, soul, rock, R&B and gospel, the group also blends a world beat into their unique and sexy tunes. Although only having formed a few years ago at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, this band – which happens to feature drummer Nikki Glaspie, (Dumpstaphunk, Beyoncé) – could easily become the next Lettuce.
This weekend’s stop is part of the progressive groove quartet’s extensive fall and winter tour with soul-funk quintet, 
EC: It’s been a year since your last album release, do you have another one in the making or are you focusing on touring and improvisation?
EC: I saw you a few times this summer at Disc Jam, and at Mountain Jam where you played two sets, one was on that outdoor main stage. Isn’t it huge?!
The concert will benefit the Family of Woodstock’s Crisis Hotline and the John Herald Fund for musicians in need.
Touring in support of Phosphorescent Harvest The CRB, as they are known by their fanbase, played a few highlights of the album with “Meanwhile in the Gods…” and “Jump the Turnstiles” in the first set. The band was tight throughout the evening, which was great to see as they are breaking in new drummer Tony Leone. Sometimes when bands change members it takes a while to gel as a group, but The CRB was in fine form. Chris Robinson was in vocally great, as he always is, and even showed off some impressive guitar playing from time to time. Neal Casal handled much of the work on the guitar and it was wonderful to listen to his playing all night. He can solo with the best of them, but can also intricately shape songs without taking over the whole sound. “Tulsa Yesterday” closed the first set out with a thrilling jam that was a preview of what the meat of second set was going to be.
After a short break they came back out and hit the ground running with “Try Rock & Roll”. Everyone in Bearsville was tuned in to what the band was giving them and smiles were seen on everyone’s face, including the band between songs. Adam MacDougall seemed to be steering the jamming ship throughout the second set with some great work on the keys. The psychedelia was strong from his side of the stage and only pushed the others to join in. Chris Robinson is of course no stranger to that sound, so it was easy to see why he recruited Adam into the band. Mark Dutton may have gone unnoticed by many throughout the evening on the bass, but he has mastered being the grounding sound during the intense jams that happened. The biggest jam of the night took place during “Vibration & Light” that bled into “Hard to Handle” with a beautiful transition. The two songs were great, but the middle area where the band got weird and just jammed for a while was the clear highlight of the evening. This was followed by “Rosalee” where they once again went off the rails of the traditional song and let the space around them dictate where the song would go. Coming back with a live debut cover of Van Morrison’s “Call me up in Dreamland” was a fitting end to the evening.
Set 1: Good Rockin’ Tonight, Jump the Turnstile, Shore Power, Roane Country Blues, Star or Stone, Meanwhile in the Gods…, Tulsa Yesterday