NYS Music 20​15

Tag: Music News

  • The Empire State Building Syncs Steely Dan’s “FM” to Live Light Show Tonight

    Kick off your high heel sneakers; it’s party time. The Empire State Building is going to sync Steely Dan’s “FM” to a live light show tonight at 7 p.m., in honor of the Master FM Antenna’s 50th anniversary.

    Viewers in New York City can see the show from the Brooklyn Bridge, Bryant Park, The Chelsea Highline, Madison Square Park, Tribeca Park, Union Square or the Williamsburg Waterfront. And for all you Jerseyites, there are viewing possibilities from the Jersey City Waterfront. It looks like the title track of John Alonzo’s ’78 film FM might finally give the beloved scenes from An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle a run for their money.

    In case you miss this spectacular event, you can tune into WCBS-FM 101.1 for a live broadcast. And of course, read about it on NewYorkStateMusic after the show. No static at all.

  • Luke Bryan Will Return to Syracuse on his 2016 Kill the Lights Tour

    Luke Bryan is set to top himself yet again with the announcement of his 2016 Kill The Lights Tour. He will be supporting his number-one album of the same name, Bryan’s fifth studio album, by bringing along special guests Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch.luke bryan kill the lights

    The first leg of the tour will start in mid February and will roll through the Carrier Dome in Syracuse on April 9, 2016. No official date for ticket sales have been set but, according to his website, they will start to go on sale in November.

    This tour announcement comes on the heels of his current single “Strip It Down” taking the number-one spot on the country music charts and on his two ACM Award nominations.

    Bryan’s Kick The Dust Up tour is wrapping up this week, but you can still catch him live on Thanksgiving during halftime at the Dallas Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium.

  • Smashed Face: Cannibal Corpse Collaborates on Craft Beer Release

    If pop-culture critic Chuck Klosterman taught us anything from his memoir Fargo Rock City, it’s that Midwesterners love their metal. And one Munster, Indiana, company has been making new noise for the hard-fast-and-heavy genre by crafting special-release beers in concert with favorite metal groups.

    Smashed FaceThree Floyds Brewing Company, whose coveted Citra-forward American Pale Ale Zombie Dust holds a steady Top 20 Beer Advocate rating, started hosting its annual beer-and-metal festival 12 years ago to showcase rising bands and release its “demonic” Russian imperial stout bearing the same moniker as the once-a-year event, Dark Lord Day. And in 2010, the metal-friendly brewery began collaborating with groups like Pelican (The Creeper Doppelbock), Pig Destroyer (Permanent Funeral Pale Ale) and Municipal Waste (Toxic Revolution Stout) to create limited-batch brews; Three Floyds‘ latest victim is Buffalo-spawned death metal vets Cannibal Corpse.

    On Oct. 14, the brewing company announced through its Facebook page that Amber Smashed Face—a play on the band’s Hammer Smashed Face (1993) album—would soon be released. The brewery describes the beer as “an aggressively hopped American Amber Ale sure to crush your skull and liquefy your brain.” Sounds like every metalhead and beer nerd’s wet-hopped dream.

    Smashed FaceFor a brewery that aims to cook up “intense” beer labeled with Vince Locke’s gore-obsessed artwork and a band whose graphic lyrics of blood and carnage spill across its 27-year catalog, one can only believe it’s the perfect pairing—plus, it’s fun to fantasize about the grotesque tasting notes if life were to truly imitate art. Think: a malty base of crushed bone and blood broth with juicy notes of worm and maggot pulp that finishes with a heavy mouth feel and the nose smells a bit of dead flesh, like a “Rotting Head,” a “brain turned to soup, ears are dripping goop” for fans—err, zombies—to drink up.

    Vince Locke gave fans a sneak peak of the label art on his Instagram account:

    Cannibal Corpse is currently on tour in support of A Skeletal Domain—the bands’ lucky-number-13 studio release—with one nearby stop in Pittsburgh on Nov. 3. The 12-track album, produced by Mark Lewis (The Black Dahlia Murder, DevilDriver) at Audio Hammer Studios in Florida, where Cannibal Corpse is now based, debuted at number 32 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart during its first week, and ASD remains as the band’s highest-charting record to date. We’ll raise our skull chalice to that.

  • Fare Thee Well Setbreak Music to be Released as ‘Interludes for the Dead’

    Those lucky enough to have attended or watched a stream of the Fare Thee Well concerts this summer, celebrating 50 years of the Grateful Dead, will remember the psychedelic jams played during the intermissions. The band behind the music is called Circles Around the Sun, and they have compiled those songs into an album to be released on Rhino as Interludes for the Dead.

    interludes_for_the_dead

    Neal Casal, lead guitarist and co-songwriter for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood and part-time member of Phil Lesh & Friends, convened a group of musicians as Circles Around the Sun specifically for creation of music for the Fare Thee Well intermissions. The new band composed and recorded the songs over the course of a two-day jam session.

    According to a press release announcing the forthcoming album:

    The project began when Casal was asked by video director Justin Kreutzmann to compose and record more than five hours of original music to be played along with the visuals Kreutzmann was preparing for the Fare Thee Well intermissions. “The idea was to not only show reverence for the past but to ultimately, move it forward. If there’s anything to be learned from the Grateful Dead, it is to dissolve your boundaries, push your limits, and discover your own voice in this world,” explains Casal.

    Circles Around the Sun consists of Casal on guitar, Adam MacDougall (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Phil Lesh & Friends) on keyboards, Dan Horne (Beachwood Sparks, Jonathan Wilson) on bass and Mark Levy (The Congress) on drums. All the music was written collectively with nothing prepared prior to the band’s formation.

    Interludes for the Dead will be available on Nov. 27. It will be released digitally as well as in a two-CD package. Additionally, a 180-gram vinyl version will be available on the same day in a limited edition of 5,000 as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday event.

    Interludes for the Dead track listing:

    Disc One

    1. Hallucinate A Solution
    2. Gilbert’s Groove
    3. Kasey’s Bones
    4. Space Wheel

    Disc Two

    1. Ginger Says
    2. Farewell Franklins
    3. Saturday’s Children
    4. Scarlotta’s Magnolias
    5. Hate And Cane
    6. Mountains Of The Moon

    circles_around_the_sun

  • Grunge Legends Unite to Form Ten Commandos Project

    Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepard have collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Alain Johannes and Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan to form Ten Commandos, a hard-rock grunge group whose self-titled debut album will be released in late November.

    The 10-song album features rock musician Peter Frampton and soul musician Nikka Costa. Frampton will perform on the track “Sketch 9,” while Costa sings on “Come.”tencommandoscd

    The record’s opening track “Staring Down the Dust” was released as a single on Oct. 9, featuring Lanegan’s raspy vocals over dirty guitar parts and heavy drumming with enough angst to teleport you back to 1990s Seattle.

    Ten Commandos is available to be purchased on pre-sale at PearlJam.com. CDs are on sale for $11.99, while vinyls cost $22.99.

    This most recent project is just the latest of Cameron and Shepard collaboration projects. The two played together in the band Hater, founded in 1993. Hater released two albums, the self-titled album released in 1993 and The 2nd, released in 2005.

    Cameron and Shepard also paired up in the group Wellwood Conspiracy, which released four studio albums between 1997 and 2003.

    Soundgarden is currently recording their seventh studio album, to be released in 2016.

    Ten Commandos song list

    • Staring Down the Dust
    • War on the Peace
    • Outermost Sky
    • Come
    • You Might Forget
    • Sketch 9
    • Sporthalle
    • Four on the Floor
    • Aware
    • Invisibility

  • Floodwood Announces Lineup Change

    Floodwood has announced via Facebook that Al Schnier and Zachary Fleitz have left the band.

    Floodwood, commonly known as a bluegrass side project for New York’s jam champions moe., will carry on without Schnier, with fellow moe.ron Vinnie Amico remaining in the band. They are currently seeking new members.

    Floodwood - Celtic Harp

    While not an audition (or is it?), Floodwood also announced they would be performing a Dec. 5 Holiday concert at the Kirkland Arts Center in Clinton NY with special guest bassist Tony Markellis (Trey Anastasio Band). Ticketing information has yet to be released.

    Check out the full announcement below:

    Hi Folks,

    We know things have been quiet for the last couple of months and there some big changes we want to share with you…

    Due to shifts in various life circumstances, both Al and Zach have made the decision to move on from Floodwood. This is a huge change and we will certainly miss their presence on and off stage. Our hope is that occasionally when they have time that one or both of them will be able to make appearances with us.

    That said, Vin, Jay and Nick have decided to carry on Floodwood in some fashion or another. You may be wondering what the new band will look like, who will be involved, what it will sound like, etc….. So do we. We have started the process/brainstorming but it may take a little time. What we do know is that we absolutely love to play, love to have fun and of course we love the interaction with our amazing fans. In the upcoming months, we will be making decisions about who we want to be in the band. We are going to be trying some different combinations of musicians/friends until we get that “fit” we are looking for. We hope that you all will come see some of these shows as we try out different things… Please get involved! Let us know what you think about what you hear; we want your input!

    To get it all going, we are going to start with a holiday concert at the Kirkland Arts Center in Clinton, NY. We’re excited to have special guest, Tony Markellis from Trey Anastasio Band on bass! Show is December 5, more details to follow!

    Thank you all for your incredible support of the band for these past 5 yrs. We’ve had so many great times with you all and look forward to many, many more.

    Thanks!
    Vin, Jay & Nick

  • Bob Weir Hints at More Performances with Fare Thee Well Lineup

    With Dead & Company hitting the road later this month, starting at The Times Union Center in Albany, Bob Weir shed some light on the the upcoming tour as well as the potential for more shows with the Fare Thee Well “Core Four” in the future.

    Weir had high praise for John Mayer, filling in for lead guitar with this modified FTW lineup. “John’s enthusiasm for this is amazing — I couldn’t believe it. He learned the songs, has great enthusiasm, and he’s a great guitar player. So he fits in perfectly.” Mayer addressed his role in a humble manner, referring to his role by saying, “I don’t feel the pressure, but I would say I feel a responsibility.”

    For those looking to see the Core Four perform together again, Weir offered hope to Deadheads hoping for more shows with bassist Phil Lesh. “Phil doesn’t want to hit the road. He’s 75 now. It’s kind of not an option for him, the way he puts it. And so, you know, that’s still where we are; that’s still where we’re going to live, at least I am. And so, if we’re going to see him, we’re going to see him around here or around someplace where he is.”

    Suffice it to say, if there were to be shows, they would be similar to the two and three-day events held in Santa Clara, California, and Chicago this past summer, and not a full-blown tour.

  • Holly Bowling Announces 2015 Fall Tour

    Classical pianist Holly Bowling has announced that she plans to hit the road for a tour in the fall of 2015 to support her current album, Distillation Of A Dream: The Music Of Phish Reimagined For Solo Piano. The tour will feature some headlining dates in between opening shows for Pink Talking Fish.
    Holly will start the tour opening a pair of shows for Pink Talking Fish in Denver, Colorado, at Quixote’s True Blue, while ending the 13-date run with a two-day stay at the Pittsburgh Winery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
    Holly Bowling Tour Art
    Bowling will also play two shows in New York, first appearing at The College of Saint Rose’s Massry Center for the Performing Arts in Albany on Oct. 28 and Rockwood Music Hall in New York City on Nov. 8.
    Fans can also catch Bowling sail off on Jan. 6-11 on Jam Cruise 14, and she’ll appear at the AURA Music and Arts Festival on March 3-5.
    Bowling’s album Distillation Of A Dream: The Music Of Phish Reimagined For Solo Piano has been released on Royal Potato. Fans can also snatch up a vinyl version of Bowling’s arrangement of Tahoe Tweezer, also on the Royal Potato Family.
    Touring Cycle:
    10-16-2015 – Quixote’s True Blue – Denver, CO
    10-17-2015 – Quixote’s True Blue – Denver, CO
    10-18-2015 – Owsley’s Golden Road – Boulder, CO^
    10-28-2015 – Massry Center for the Arts – Albany, NY^
    10-29-2015 – Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
    11-03-2015 – The Lilypad – Cambridge, MA^
    11-05-2015 – 8×10 Club – Baltimore, MD
    11-06-2015 – Gypsy Sally’s – Washington, D.C.
    11-07-2015 – Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA
    11-08-2015 – Rockwood Music Hall – New York, NY^
    11-10-2015 – Woodlands Tavern – Columbus, OH^
    11-11-2015 –  Pittsburgh Winery – Pittsburgh, PA^
    11-12-2015 – Pittsburgh Winery – Pittsburgh PA^ **
    01-06-11-2016 Jam Cruise 14 – Miami, FL
    03-03-05-2016 AURA Music and Arts Festival – Live Oak, FL
    ^ headlining dates
    **featuring music of Phish and the Grateful Dead

  • Gail Zappa Passes at the Age of 70

    Gail Zappa, born Adelaide Gail Sloatman, has passed away. According to a release from the Zappa Family Trust, Gail “departed this earth peacefully at her home . . . surrounded by her children, ” in Los Angeles Oct. 7.  The cause of death was not released, but TMZ reports she had been fighting a long-time illness.

    gail zappaZappa was predeceased by her husband Frank, who succumbed to prostate cancer in 1993. She is survived by their four children, Diva, Dweezil, Ahmet and Moon.

    Gail Zappa formed the Zappa Family Trust, following her husband’s death, to preserve Frank Zappa’s musical legacy and, in that time, released 38 albums of previously unreleased Zappa music.

    The statement released on the official Frank Zappa Facebook Page, praised Gail as one who, “enthusiastically executed her role as guardian of her husband’s creative life and, with his passing, strove to ensure his legacy as one of the leading American composers and musicians of the 20th century. In this and all business endeavors, Gail passionately advocated to establish clear definitions of intellectual property and copyright laws on behalf of not just her husband, but all artists.”

    The family trust had recently been turned over to son Ahmet and announced plans for a documentary on the life of Frank Zappa, to be directed by Alex Winter, earlier this summer. Speaking with Rolling Stone about the upcoming doc, Gail stated, “My obligation was to get the work out there the way Frank built it in the first place.”

    Frank and Gail met through mutual friend, Bobby Jameson in 1966 and were married the following year, while Gail was pregnant with Moon.

  • UPDATE: The Cure Add Third NYC Date at MSG in 2016

    The Cure‘s first announcement of  a single performance at Madison Square Garden sparked such a demand that a second show was added. Now, the demand was such that a third (and final) MSG show with The Cure has been announced for Monday June 20, 2016 (in addition to the 18th and 19th). A presale will happen Thursday Oct. 22 at 9am EST on Ticketmaster with password DISINTEGRATION. Regular on-sale will happen Friday Oct. 22 at 9am EST on the same site.

    Original Article:

    The Cure will hit North America next year with a 25-show tour. The announcement comes with a tease – only three of those dates have so far been announced while the rest will be released in January.

    On June 18, 2016, The Cure will play Madison Square Garden. A special pre-sale will take place Thursday, Oct. 8, starting at 10 a.m. and tickets will be available to the public Friday, Oct. 9, at 10 a.m.

    Check out the tour announcement posting on The Cure’s website here for full details on the pre-sale and public on sale.

    The other two dates announced so far are May 22 at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and June 10 at UIC Pavilion in Chicago. While The Cure have played several shows (namely, festivals) in the past handful of years, this will be the band’s first major tour in North America since 2008.

    Joining The Cure at these MSG shows in 2016 will be The Twilight Sad, a post-punk outfit from Scotland with four studio albums under their belt.