Tag: NYSMusic STAFF

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meredith Snow raised in Buffalo, NY for most of her life. She was brought up on rock n roll music and the local music scene as a young child. Her uncle would bring her to shows as he worked the sound and light for bands at various music venues. He would constantly bring her albums and band stickers to put all over her bedroom. This is partially what inspired her to get involved in the music scene.

Meredith Snow has been part of the NYS Music team for almost a year now and works as a photographer and writer. Her love of photography and music could have not put her in a better spot. When she is not tending to local bands needs with promotional photo shoots you can find her almost any day of the week at a music venue taking live pictures from your just getting their feet wet local bands to world known bands like In This Moment. On top of all this she attends college for business and her end goal would be to work in the music industry helping local bands reach that next level or working as an assistant. 

Her bucketlist of bands she has yet to photograph include Slipknot, Mushroom Head, and her all time favorite Shinedown.

That’s Neil Benjamin Jr., newly tasked NYS Music Associate Editor, in a nutshell. He will tell you some of the worst “jokes” you’ll ever hear, then laugh maniacally even when everyone else sighs. A sports enthusiast who hates the Red Sox more than he loves the Yankees, Neil will even go on a rant of Biblical proportions to defend Phish 2.0 prior to droning on about how “jamtronica” is just a cop-out synonym for “bands who suck at jamming.”

When he’s not saying whatever pops into his head, he is usually at work as the sports editor/music columnist for a newspaper in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. A product of the SUNY system, Neil has been enthusiastic about journalism since he was 5, when he made his parents subscribe to three daily newspapers. Upon graduating college, Neil started working as a sports reporter for the Berkshire Eagle, before taking over as the sports editor at the now-defunct North Adams Transcript (RIP).

He has served as a staff writer for the marijuana entertainment and activism glossy, SKUNK Magazine, has penned some things for Relix and Jambands.com, worked at various Syracuse, N.Y., news outlets and has known our boss Pete Mason for a while now. Neil worked very closely with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart for a few years, chronicling Hart’s new projects and helping publicize his tour. Neil considers having dinner with Phil Lesh at Levon Helm‘s barn in Woodstock, N.Y., in 2012 to be the coolest thing the journalism profession has ever gifted him, although meeting all the guys from Phish isn’t far behind.

Neil has a passion for music of the live and improvisational variety and will not hide his obsession for all things Phish and Grateful Dead, as he has traveled the country seeing them and almost every side project. He considers Trey Anastasio to be a guitar god (he has a cat named Trey, because, you know, they both shred), better than anyone who came before him, and Jerry Garcia an American hero for unwittingly leading an entire cultural revolution that is still alive and well in 2015. He plays guitar and likes all sorts of music, but you might not know it by checking out what’s on his phone (Hint: A ton of 2004, some Oysterhead and every Phil and Phriends show.)

He has a passion for baseball and even has a New York Yankees tattoo melded with a Grateful Dead 13-point bolt. For some unknown reason, he loves the Buffalo Bills and often lives for the agony they provide.

More than anything, he covets his time with friends and family, loves being a journalist (even though he will never make enough money to buy a brand new car) and is beyond thrilled to play a much more active role in helping NYS Music grow.

Neil’s musical bucket list includes the Grateful Dead, with Keith on keys, but no Donna, The Allman Brothers with Duane Allman, Operation Ivy, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Oysterhead.

Carly Knaszak joined NYS Music in early 2014. She is studying Journalism and English at SUNY Fredonia and will be graduating in 2016. She loves going to every rock concert that hits town. Some of the highlight shows that Carly has covered for NYS Music are Paul McCartney in Pittsburg and Ringo Starr at Artpark. 

She started her love of writing in high school when she joined her school’s Writers Guild where she expanded her passion with creative writing and poetry. But as she got older, she become more interested in the music industry and decided to make music part of her writing. She reached out to many websites and soon discovered NYS Music and she loved all the opportunities the staff gave her and the advice editors gave her to become a better journalist.

Carly enjoys watching horror movies in her free time, listening to classic rock and hopes to become Elvira when she grows up.  She is currently obsessed with tattoos and Halloween.

Carly’s musical bucketlist artists include: The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Shinedown, Slipknot and Kenny Chesney

Jay Saint G was born in Syracuse, NY, and his first taste of working in music was taking the radio program at SUNY Onondaga where he wound up launching the first all metal college radio show “Monday Night Massacre” which ultimately landed him with Cumulus Media in Syracuse with 95X (WAQX) working behind the scenes in promotions and board oping.

After a couple years there, he took a stab at radio advertising sales at other local radio stations before eventually landing a job as a Stage Hand Tech at Turning Stone Casino and Resort.  During that time, he met NYS Music on the way to a festival in Columbus, Ohio which led him to join the team.

Jay Saint G is a life long metal fan,  and is also really into old school Hip-Hop he is just as passionate about his favorite music as his sports.  His favorite teams are the NY Giants, NY Knicks, NY Rangers, NY Yankees, and  also a proud SU Sports fan. He also enjoys watching boxing, playing football, volleyball, and travels across the state and country to different shows.

Julia Wolfe joined the NYS Music bandwagon in the fall of 2014, entering her senior year of college. Now graduating from Syracuse University in May, she hopes to continue her career in writing her own music as well as live show reviews. Throughout her studies of the Music and Entertainment Industries at SU, she has participated in a number of internships, both in London, Syracuse and New York City. She has also done live sound for a variety of college campus events, and has performed her original music to venues all over Syracuse and her home state of Connecticut.

When she’s not playing or listening to music, she serves as an Event Chair for the Syracuse University Relay For Life Committee, which organizes year-round campus fundraising events that raise upwards of $100,000/yr for the American Cancer Society. After graduation, she hopes to stay involved in the development of campus and community Relay events around Connecticut and New York.

She is a frequent concert and festival attendee, but her greatest passion is interviewing artists. Though her musical bucketlist is pretty scattered across genre, some tops include: The Monkees, Fleetwood Mac, The Civil Wars, Atreyu, Motion City Soundtrack, Blink-182, Incubus, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Barr Brothers, Gary Clark Jr., Atmosphere, Kendrick Lamar, The 1975, MGMT, Snarky Puppy, Mayer Hawthorne, Nine Inch Nails, Led Zeppelin, Dixie Chicks, Raphael Saadiq, Moby, David Gray, and Glass Animals.

Garrett Montgomery joined the NYSMusic staff in 2014, covering The Mad Tea Party Jam. During the summer of 2014, he tag-teamed many shows with long-time friend Chris Cleary, covering MTPJ, Umphrey’s McGee, Luna Light Festival, Catskill Chill, and other festivals together. Contributing to NYSMusic gives Montgomery the opportunity to combine his love for music and writing; he has enjoyed interviewing bands such as Consider the Source and TAUK and writing features on venues such as The Bardavon 1869 Opera House.

Highlights in Montgomery’s career since joining NYSMusic include covering and photographing Umphrey’s McGee on New Year’s Eve in Atlanta, getting to know folks in the scene, and exploring many beautiful venues in New York. Sharing his musical experiences through the NYSMusic medium has been a great privilege and Montgomery only hopes to improve in 2015 and beyond.

Montgomery grew up heavily influenced by his parents’ love of classic rock and is a huge Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, and Queen fan. He attended Mountain Jam as a high school senior in 2007 and was awestruck by the entire experience and one act in particular– Umphrey’s McGee. He has been to 39 subsequent UM shows and identifies as an Umphreak.

When not attending concerts, Montgomery is an avid Mets and Rangers fan. He also enjoys hiking, kayaking, and hanging out with his yellow lab, Ajax. He has lived in Montana and New Zealand but his heart is in the Hudson Valley.

His musical bucket list includes attending an Eminem show and partying together after, going on a date with Taylor Swift, and raging at an Umphrey’s concert with at least three generations of Montgomerys one day. When asked about his taste in music, Montgomery says, “I used to be all about the blues but now, I usually say ‘funk it.’”

Kim Neaton has been lucky enough to find a career in the music world, where her obsession and over analyzing of it has a purpose, instead of just making her friends and family wish she’d just shut up about it once in awhile. Born and raised in Cohoes, NY, about ten miles north of Albany, being the only child in the house led to a lot of time being alone with music. Between sitting in front of a radio and scanning through stations and genres, and obsessively watching ‘Behind The Music’ type programs on VH1, she not only gained an interest in the music itself, but also the industry behind it.

The pressure to go into a more “normal” field lead her to attending SUNY Albany where she received a BA in psychology and sociology. However, while working in group homes for at-risk youth for several years, and spending the majority of her paychecks on concerts and festivals she thought “There’s people out there that make a living being involved with concerts and festivals, why not me?” After a couple years of internships, and part time work at several small local festivals and radio stations she is now Music Director and midday host at WEQX 102.7fm based in Manchester, VT. When she’s not at the station or attending shows throughout NY’s capital region, she’s likely sitting on the couch at home in the hills of Valley Falls, NY listening to records with her cat and boyfriend Chris, who also, thankfully, can’t shut up about music. Whether it’s good music, terrible music or bizarre music, the research, debate and conversation is never-ending.

While radio is one way to share music with people, Kim wanted to branch out in new ways that may allow her to help others discover and fall in love with new music, this is what led her to becoming involved as a contributing writer with NYS Music. She is very supportive of Albany’s local music scene and appreciates the community aspect it has along with the wide range of genres and truly amazing talent. You’ll find her at shows ranging from metal to jam and from punk to bluegrass, and she feels fortunate that Albany is home to excellent examples of each.

Her longtime addiction of seeing live music has led her to being able to cross off many acts from her live music bucketlist, including: Beck, Beastie Boys, and Rage Against the Machine. Bands she wishes she could see if time travel were an option: The Band, R.E.M, and Talking Heads.