Kissing Candice brought their bloody, gory horror themed show to Syracuse’s newest DIY venue, The Rock Garage on December 18th. Syracuse area locals, The Entropic Principle, Welcome the Ancients, and IMPULSE helped get the crowd warmed up.
The lights go dark, smoke rolls onto the stage, the crowd’s excitement builds as the intro cues up; then the band explodes onto the stage tearing right into “Unloaded” off of their newest album “Blind Until we Burn.” They didn’t waste any time before ripping into “Successful test” and their latest single “Put em’ up.” The band played a very powerful and supercharged set consisting of a mix of songs from their EP “Conjured” and newest release “Blind Until We Burn” including highlights “Tusk” and “Nilbog” to which they pay homage to one of the “best” worst movies of all time Claudio Fragasso’s Troll 2!
Even though it was cold outside, Kissing Candice had no trouble keeping fans excited and engaged throughout their 50 minute set. After taking a short break, the band came out a played a two song encore ending the blood and smoke filled set with a song that that is not often played “Rampage.” The band thanked everyone and invited the crowd to hang out with them at their merch table before they were on their way back to Long Island.
It is certain that with their mix of metal, hardcore and industrial and let’s not forget some very catchy heavy and hook – laden songs, Kissing Candice puts on one hell of a blood and gore soaked show!
Assembly of Dust stopped by the Westcott Theater in Syracuse, NY for their second night of their four-date Pre-Thanksgiving Tour. Supportive local bands, Soul Risin’ and Universal Transit warmed up the brisk evening for the energetic audience. We had a fantastic time chatting with Reid Genauer about music, bandmates, songwriting and children’s books.
Kevin Bedford: Welcome back to Syracuse, it’s been a little while since you’ve been here. What is it that keeps you coming back to our fair city?
Reid Genauer: Ah, well you’ve got to start with the Dinosaur BBQ, as a landmark. We had dinner from there tonight. Not in there but from there, so that’s a good start. It may not be a good end but it’s a good start. (laughs)
KB: What did you have?
RG: You know, sort of a disappointing order. I just had a cheeseburger, but it was still good. But I can assure you there was Fred Flinstonian amounts of flesh consumed. (laughs)
KB: It’s been a couple of years since your last album, Sun Shot. Tell us what’s in the works for you? Do you have a new album or anything that you’ve been working on?
RG: Yeah, you know I wish I could report global dominance, but one thing that we’ve been working on is a show from last winter that we multi-tracked in Portland, Ore. And we’ve done this a couple of times but we’ll probably take a handful of the better tracks from that show and release it as an album. So we’ve been working on that.
KB: Anything new that you’ve been working on that will be on that release?
RG: Yeah, I’ve been writing songs for a new album and you’re never sure how long that process will take but we’re due for a new album.
KB: I saw that you posted a new tune from California that you had posted online (you can hear the song on Reid’s FB page).
RG: Yeah, I’ve been going, you know, fits and starts with writing new tunes and I’ve been doing some new writing. Actually It’s not very rock n roll but I’ve been working on a childrens book as well. Which you know everybody and their mom has done but I’m really doing it. I had written a book, like a Shel Silverstein book. A book of kids poems and stuff years ago. Probably 15 years ago and tried to get it published and got rejected from a zillion different publishers and during that time I had connected with an illustrator and things have changed since then, you know, you can self publish now. Which was sort of happening back then, but now it’s really a lot easier to do now. So, I looked him back up and he lives in Michigan. He’s doing the illustration right now, it’s pretty cool. I think the next two things, besides sitting in my back yard and trying to come up with number one jams, are the new live album and the kids book. I’ll see if I can find a picture of it just so you can see it while we are talking.
KB: Do you have an estimated publish date for it yet?
RG: No, I don’t. It’s getting close though. It’s all illustrated and it’s written. It’s called Jeffery’s Jungle and it’s about this little kid that basically turns up the heat in his house and it turns into a jungle. (pulls out his phone to show several great illustrations of jungle animals in a living room) So I mean, in fairness the illustrations are the harder part here. But you know, (chuckles) I wrote the lyrics.
KB: That’s awesome. We all know you’re always good at writing the lyrics.
RG: (laughs) Yeah. Thats my magic, my parlor trick.
KB: Yes it is and I have more questions about that but first, AOD started out as your solo project back in 2003 and now here we are 12 years later. Did you ever think at the time AOD would still be playing together all these years later?
RG: I did. Well, not when we first initially started playing together. It all started out very organically. As we started to set out to be a band or whatever that means, we made more of a concrete commitment to each other. I was thinking about what the matrix for success is right, because, sure, playing the Enormo-dome 5 nights a week across the globe, that’s a pretty obvious one. But there are some less obvious ones. The one that is most central to me was just longevity. The ability to do it just sort of indefinitely. Especially after being in a band that sort of came to a glorious end, I didn’t want to have that same sort of tumultuous end point, you know. I think you can look at us as that we are underachievers on a lot of counts including the Enormo-dome, but in terms of longevity, having a good time with it and enjoying other music that we are making. We’re still at it ya know, still in it.
KB: How is it that you all came together with Adam, John, Nate and Andy?
RG: I knew all of those guys. We were all running around New England playing music in the 90’s and that’s when I met the guys from moe. and they had their own thing going on over here in Western NY, which we were all adjacent to. So there was them, the (Ominious) Seapods and Moon Boot Lover who sort of had one foot in each camp. There was Yep and I’m drawing a blank on a couple others but anyhow, it was a scene in New England, Vermont, New Hampshire and I knew those guys just from the scene. After the last Strangefolk album I spent the summer in New Hampshire and that’s where all of those guys were living. I booked some dates just to sort of test the waters and see what would happen. It was sort of experimental and they just slowly kind of coalesced and it casually all went well. It’s a pretty well known tale but I knew John and then I saw Adam at a Percy Hill gig. He was in the audience and I said, “hey, I’ve got a gig at the Stone Church, would you like to sit in?” and he did. I saw John backstage at the same gig and he said: “you know if you ever want me to play some stand up bass and play some acoustic stuff …” and then it went from there. We had three guys, bass and two guitars and we needed drums and we all knew Andy so we said well, what about Andy, and we all knew Nate so we said well what about Nate it was really that simple.
KB: You’ve had some member changes over the years, but Adam and John have been the consistent members, tell me about your relationship with these two guys, musically.
RG: They’re just close friends. It’s familial and so I’ve been looking forward to this first run of shows just to hang out with them. Again, if your aim is longevity, one of the things that you have to build into that is enjoying each other’s company both personally and musically. I think at the core that’s how I would access the relationship. We laugh a lot and tell a lot of, you know, fart jokes. And then I just enjoy the hell out of playing with them. I’ll listen to what’s going on onstage and kind of be enjoying it as a fan, a participant, and an audience member at the same time. And then I’ll listen back to shows from time to time or little snippets that people post online and i’ll be like holy shit. Somebody posted a just a little clip of one of Adams’ solos from last night and I watched it as almost like a third party observer and I was just like holy F*** that guy can play the guitar. And I sort of feel lucky to play music with guys that are that good. I mean, not sort of, I do feel lucky! It’s sort of like having a hot girlfriend. (Laughs)
KB: So you write all of the music and lyrics, I’m assuming, on an acoustic guitar. At what point does the collaboration begin with these guys?
RG: Yeah, well, over the years I have written songs from the get go in collaboration with people. In Strangefolk I wrote a lot with John the guitarist and Eric the bass player. With AOD I wrote a lot with Nate and to a lesser extent I’ve done some stuff with Jason Crosby. So it depends, is the answer. If it’s a song that I sort of conceptualized from beginning to end, then collaboration just begins with showing the band the changes and talk about what it feels like and peoples first impressions. A lot of the time, songs just based on the lyrical content or the key or the tempo that I’m playing in that moment or the rhythmic pattern, might remind someone of something, or suggest something to someone and then well, they have their own default uh, perspective on music or well, voice really, and then we have our group as a voice. So if you go and take all of those, if you look at all of those data points to inform the song, the first iteration usually happens pretty organically then you start to play it a little bit and you say eh, maybe it feels great and you play it just the way you play it and a lot of the times we do or sometimes you kind of say oh maybe this feels better a click or two slower or a more complex or less complex drum part in this section. Or it kinda feels empty here but uh you just sort of …
KB: Adjust.
RG: Yeah, you adjust. It’s sort of like rearranging furniture, if you’re moving furniture into a house. You put furniture in a room and sort of squint at it and say, “does this look like the right set up or does the chair need to be over by the window?” It’s a little bit like that. It’s a mental rearranging.
KB: So our mutual friend Al and I were talking a couple of years ago about Adam’s guitar work. And we both agreed that neither one of us has ever heard him play a sour note. (Reid laughs) What is it that you love playing with him?
RG: Well, I have heard him play a sour note but rarely, to your point. He is an executioner. What do I love about playing with him? Well first of all he is very ego-less and very humble about his talent which is really refreshing in about anybody, right. He is so multi-faceted, he can more or less play in any style and he’s sort of like a painter. While his solos are Bah-lazing and that’s the sort of the most obvious thing to latch onto, especially with what people post on social media. I think what makes Adam so unique are the parts that he plays during the song. The fills that he’ll do between the lyrical phrase or the little embellishments that he’ll do to the harmonic structure of the song while it’s in motion and he really just, like I said I think of him like a painter. I almost see colors as he plays, and it’s sometimes subtle pastels, sometimes its brilliant oil paint. The fact that he can do both is unusual. Because, usually people kind of do one or the other.
KB: I’ve always considered Adam one of the most under rated guitarists. I think he should be spoken of in the same breath as Trey Anastasio, Carlos Santana, Al and Chuck (moe.) and people of the same caliber.
RG: Yeah, yeah. So in the vein of being underachievers, um, people say that a lot about Adam. The only part that bugs me about that is that I don’t think he’s underrated. Anybody that has ever seen him, rates him very highly. He’s just under-appreciated because not enough people know about him.
KB: So do you think Dead and Co. should have asked Adam to join them instead of John Mayer?
RG: I think Adan would have fucking crushed it, I will say that! I don’t know it’s kind of an apples to oranges kind of thing but, the question I’ve asked myself many times when I think about those situations isn’t how would Adam would do in one of those incarnations. I mean he would blow the doors off! I think one of the things that I like about John Mayer’s approach is that you do still hear John Mayer but he does play homage to Jerry in a tasteful way and Adam does a really good job at it when he attempts to. He can sort of accomplish the intent while still having his own soul and his own layer represented. So, he would crush it. So, hey Bob Weir, hey Phil Lesh, if you guys are reading this? Adam Terrell, Adam Terrell, Adam Terrell…
KB: So let me ask you about Jason Crosby. Jason started playing with you in 2013 with the Sun Shot album.
RG: Yeah, and probably before that.
KB: So speaking of the Dead and in that vein, where did your paths cross for the first time and how did it lead to have him joining the band?
RG: So, Nate let us know that he was sort of done, he was tired and the immediate instinct was to sort of rush out and find a quote unquote replacement right away.
KB: But you didn’t for a while.
RG: I didn’t because it dawned on me that it was the wrong thing to do. You know, it had happened so organically because it was just so pleasant for everyone. There was such a good chemistry and rather than trying to cram something there for the sake of cramming someone in there, we just kind of sat tight and figured fate, with the intent of finding someone, would throw us a bone. And sure enough about a year after Nate left, Jason and I both have a mutual friend, Lucy Chapin who is this great singer-songwriter and she lives in Vermont. But she was a girl who was, well, when I was in Strangefolk she was just this little precocious 16 year old hanging out backstage like she owned the place and so I got to know her that way. Just because she was this petite blond 16 year old who’s, you know, making me feel uncomfortable in my own space. (laughs) Ya know, and we became friends and it turns out that she and Jason are good friends and she kinda did the match making thing. So, she said you guys ought to connect. I was living outside of New York and Jason was living in the city and we’ll tell this story till the day that we die. I went over there to just kind of introduce myself, to see if there might be something there for us to do, and we wound up having dinner. His girlfriend cooked this delicious meal, like these salty steaks and this beautiful meal. I drank a ton of vodka with dinner and I got so hammered I couldn’t even really play (laughing), so after dinner on our first meeting we barely and I mean barely played anything. We just had dinner and kinda got to know each other and just took it from there. It was funny, I went over there to jam and when we were done with dinner I couldn’t really string a song together.
KB: That’s great! You’ve had a long career as a musician and you’ve had the opportunity to play with some pretty cool people over the years. In fact, Some Assembly Required was a virtual who’s who of special guest musicians on the entire album. Besides the folks on that album, who would you say was your biggest thrill to play with either a special guest with you or you with them.
RG: Yeah, wow, I mean it’s hard to pick one but one that stands out to me that, is near and dear to this conversation, was singing and playing Friend of the Devil with Phil Lesh and Friends at Jones beach. That was pretty great for me. You know, that was definitely a moment. Um, we backed Dicky Betts at the Jammys one year at Madison Square Garden Theatre for Blue Sky and Ramblin Man, I mean that was pretty cool. In fact, if you look up in Rolling Stone’s 100 best guitar players, Dicky Betts is in there, he’s number seventy or whatever, and the shot they used of him was from that night and I’m standing behind him, so it’s (laughs) really funny, it’s like Where’s Waldo. That was a pretty special experience and I dunno, those are two that just really jump out for me. You know, there are others. We actually had Butch Trucks sit in on an Allman’s tune that we played in Rochester. And the list goes on. Mike Gordon sat in with us several times up in Vermont and that’s just special because you know, I’m a phan boy. So those are some big ones.
KB: I once heard you say at a show that you can often hear musicians try to emulate someone that they love and respect in their music. Is there someone in particular that has influenced you in your writing?
RG: Yeah, I mean for sure, 100%. But I try to emulate many so it’s not all just one. You know, here’s me doing Garcia over and over again but, you know, it’s funny in trying to emulate Garcia. I think you realize that you are actually trying to emulate Robert Hunter as much as you are Garcia, so that’s been on the front of the list for me. Neil Young is another big one. Certainly Lennon and McCartney, Paul Simon, CSN, The Band. Those are the ones that come front and center and I think if you listen to the music, you hear that stuff pretty obviously. Hopefully with a fresh garnish on it. (laughs) A little celery…
KB: OK, so this is a personal question. I’ve been going to the Gathering of the Vibes for a very long time as have you and you’ve preformed at all of them except for one which you mention ever year. I’ve often wondered what was the story behind that.
RG: The story was, that was the year that I left Strangefolk and I thought those guys would have found it upsetting if I was there, so I sort of just politely bowed out, you know, to not make anybody uncomfortable.
KB: Oh, OK. I didn’t realize that because you make a joke out of it at the Vibes every year saying that, that was the year that you were in jail.
RG: I was just in the, you know, leaving the band jail. (laughs)
KB: Ok, I always pictured you on some drunken escapade gone wrong or something.
RG: No, I wish I had a better story (laughs)
KB: So what are some of your other favorite festivals to play at?
RG: Bonnaroo was awesome, right, I mean that place is just a crown jewel of a festival and we played it at noon or something. I mean, it was a really early set. It was like the breakfast set and I remember there were thousands of people. I remember the rush was just amazing. That was awesome. Um, I’ve played Summer Camp a few times and moe. had us out one time for one of there band-melding moments where you take over the instruments one at a time and I remember being in front of multiple thousands of people with AOD and Adam is just blazing the solo and people are going apeshit, it was just awesome!
There are really, sort of, different classes of festivals. The ones that I actually resonate with more tend to be the more sort of folksy ones like the Strawberry Music Festival out in California. Then there’s the High Sierra Festival. The vibe there is just, I mean if you haven’t been, it’s worth going to. It’s like, it sounds cliché but it’s the west coast and it’s just mellow. It’s like people are just, chill. Merle Fest is in there and there are others that are more folk than they are jam band festivals. I think that there is something like it’s more livable, like people are there more to experience the music and it’s not like a gauntlet of how f***ed up you can get, right, so it’s a different…
KB: A different appreciation for the music?
RG: Yeah, A different appreciation and a different approach of just experiencing it.
KB: So you have such a unique style of playing. You mix a lot of major and minor chords together, almost like a walk up or walk down to get to from one chord to the next. Whereas other musicians might just use three or four chords to piece together an entire song. You seem to blend a waterfall of colors to get from point A to point B and it never sounds muddy. How do you approach your melodies.
RG: I’ve written so many tunes that I just feel like if I don’t throw, and they’re not exceptionally complex but I feel if I don’t throw nuggets in there of more obscure chords, we call them chords from the chord museum, that we all know that i’ll just write the same song over and over again. And you know, no matter what you do, your songs sound like referencing each other or sort of cannibalizing each other. So for me, it’s a forced attempt to not do that. That’s what drives that and you know whether or not i’m successful at that I’ll leave for somebody else to access, but that’s what it’s driven by.
KB: Which leads me to my next question. Your songs, like Bootleggers Advice, Etta James, Leadbelly, Paul Henry, you have such an interesting subject matter in your songs. Where does that come from?
RG: Same thing, right. It’s like, I mean, there’s only so many times you can write about a sunny day or a broken heart. I think some of the most interesting songs are about obscure subject matter, you know, like Steely Dan. You know, unlike Phish songs which is often times nonsensical, Steely Dan’s are just about stories, like weird little vignettes. Or if you look at like Appalachian music. I mean they do tend to write about the same themes but they will still be like a tangential event in somebody’s life as opposed to the pillar event. Sure, there’s meeting the girl and falling in love but they’ll talk about nine pound hammer, talks about working in a blue collar situation. I’m trying to think of other examples of that.
I think that some of the most interesting novels are that or movies even. It’s not like your typical western. So, I’m like just thinking about the Marigold Hotel, right, I mean what a random subject matter about this guy who runs a hotel in India and these English people come there, and that makes for a great story. It’s born out of the same thing as the chord question and melody question, which is how do you keep writing songs and not just being the same story over and over again. So you have to pick on something that’s more on the edge that’s more obscure and make that the center piece of your lentance. And once you sort of coach yourself to do it, it’s a thing that you can repeat over and over and over again. So it’s repeatable ya know.
KB: You have always struck me as sort of the Mark Twain of…
RG: (laughs) Of Jam-bands.
KB: Well jam-bands, I mean I consider you just a singer songwriter but a fantastic story teller.
RG: Yeah, I’m not quite sure, ya know. They sometimes say, well they always say, necessity is the mother of invention. I wander and for me it’s just what I gravitate to. I think it was sort of like a cheat, a way for me to ratchet my way into the music world and so it’s like I’ve got a guitar and I can strum a few chords. I really didn’t have the attention span or the discipline to become Adam as a guitar player, so you know, how am I gonna fit into this picture right. That was part of how it happened and I’m sure there is some sort of biochemistry as to why my brain gravitates towards words. So it has always been a fascination, even since I was in grade school.
KB: So did you study English in college?
RG: No, That is one of my regrets. I would have loved it. I really would have enjoyed it. I love it and I just didn’t. Mainly because my parents helped out with college and my dad was like there’s no f***ing way you’re going to college and studying English. (laughs)
KB: One final question. I see that AOD, Strangefolk, and God Street Wine are coming together to preform as Assembly of Strange Wine. Now we all know your affiliation with Strangefolk but with God Street Wine, they took a pretty long hiatus and now they’re back in the game. How did they come into play with the other two bands?
RG: That’s a good question. I’ve known the bass player for years, Dan Pifer. But what happened actually, was Jason was playing with God Street a few years back and through that, they invited me to come down and play a tune. I learned one of their songs and fronted the band for a tune at the Grammercy. That sort of sparked a friendship, and I knew them tangentially for the same reasons as we talked about before as being part of the same scene. Then I needed a sub at one point and a few different times I used a few different members of the band. Dan subbed once and Jon and then Aaron, so I got to know them and then we did a gig as Assembly of Wine where we played each others tunes. That was Jon Bevo’s inspiration and then at a recent Strangefolk show, we did a sort of similar thing with Strangefolk and now we’ve all had this sort of incestuous love affair. Bevo said we ought to do a big mash up and contrary to the story around the Gathering of the Vibes thing feelings are mended and so its like one big happy family.
KB: And what a better place to do it than the Capitol Theatre and Boston at The Paradise
RG: Yeah it’ll be great!
KB: Well, on behalf of NYSMusic, thank you for hanging out, talking with us and have a great show tonight!
RG: Yeah, Thanks. I appreciate it, those were really thoughtful questions.
Central New York’s newest concert venue announced its first acts for the 2016 season today: Classic rockers Journey and the Doobie Brothers will perform at the Lakeside Amphitheater on July 13.
Dave Mason (Traffic) will open the show. Tickets go on sale Dec. 5 and will cost $30 for lawn seats (or four for $89), while pavilion seats range from $39.50-$135.
The 50-date summer tour, dubbed San Francisco Fest 2016, will also make stops at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 5 and Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on July 9.
Journey‘s current lineup consists of lead guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory, keyboardist Jonathan Cain and singer Arnel Pineda. Drummer Steve Smith will join the band for the first time since 1998 on this tour. The band last appeared in Syracuse during the 2014 New York State Fair with Cheap Trick.
The Doobie Brothers’ classic core of Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and John McFee will be joined on this tour by Little Feat drummer Bill Payne. The Doobies last played in Syracuse to a packed crowd at the Fair’s free stage at Chevy Court, also in 2014.
Country star Miranda Lambert christened Lakeview Amphitheater along the shore of Onondaga Lake during last summer’s New York State Fair. Construction was completed just days prior to the inaugural show. Onondaga County officials and the venue’s promoter Live Nation have stated that the new amphitheater will bring acts that often pass by Syracuse on the way to other upstate outdoor venues.
An impressive crowd turned out for All Hallow’s Eve at the Westcott Theater October 30. Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad usually lures a sizable slew of reggae lovers, affording The Simpkin Project an opportunity to bask in the splendor of a well attended venue for the last stop of their east coast debut. Haewa and Ocular Panther appetized the quickly growing crowd with more abstract instrumental compositions.
Ocular Panther, a self proclaimed organic/electro band featuring Jason Gilly (bass), Collin Jones (guitar/synth/samples), and Michael Pantano (guitar), kicked the night off. Despite an optimistic concoction of notes culminating in a highly danceable jam beat, the crowd was not loose enough to dance in response. By the end of their short-lived set, the crowd had already grown to roughly seventy participants.
Rochester band Haewa followed, again utilizing Jones for his guitar work and vocals, plus Brendon Caroselli (drums/percussion), and Ben Chilbert (bass). For Caroselli’s second time playing with the band, he fit into their musical puzzle quite comfortably. Jones’ grungy fashionableness matched his Kurt Kobain-flavored vocals, adding some dimension to their instrumental, at times face melting musical offerings.
The Simpkin Project marked the third band of the evening paying no mind to the looming holiday by sporting a discernible Halloween costume. Phil Simpkin (guitar/vocals), Shawn Taylor (B3 organ/vocals), Sergio Sandoval (percussion) and Jules Luna (guitar/vocals), were joined by Giant Panda members and long time fans of the band, Chris O’Brian (drums) and James Searl (bass). The Simpkin Project’s mild mannered, warm presence conjured that satisfying sensation of joy akin to tearing open a homemade cornbread muffin hot from the oven before slowly savoring each textured, spongy bite.
Their mid-set song, “Everything You Want” professed a deep rooted love. Simpkin sang sweetly, “You are the shelter that protects me from the storm/The vindication for the reason I was born/I want to be everything you are to me/The center of my being.” Such enamor called to mind more than the simple indulgence of nibbling on a plain jane cornbread muffin. The slow-roasted, pan seared passion steaming out of this lyrical love plate was piled high with mashed potatoes, gravy and roast beef (ethically slaughtered of course).
Throughout their set, O’Brian and Searl happily mouthed the lyrics to many of the songs, fully immersed in the experience of playing alongside their musical heroes. Members of The Simpkin Project mirrored their gratitude, announcing towards the end of their performance, “This was a life changing experience, and what it taught us: we’ll be back.”
Giant Panda opened up with Searl soothingly offering the crowd, “This is a group meditation, please enjoy yourself,” following it up after the first song with “The first step to positivity is moving your body,” spoken like a true music yogi. Searl stood front and center, flanked by Dylan Savage (guitar/vocals) and Dan Keller (guitar/vocals), with Chris O’Brian (drums) and Tony Gallicchio (keys) rounding out their sound.
They covered a lot of ground, playing a range of older material from their 2006 debut album titled Slow Down, and mixing in a collection of everything since then including tracks off their May 2015 release Bright Days. Searl, Savage and Keller stood in a row, gatekeepers of reggae revolution, harmonizing before a crowd of mostly humans, mixed in with a few dancing pandas, princesses and superheroes, cuz ya know, Halloween.
As Giant Panda flowed into the marijuana-endorsing number “Mr.Cop,” the crowd dutifully sang along, to the delight of Searl and Savage who exchanged toothy grins as they strummed along. Before the next song, Keller divulged his entertainment from earlier in the day which consisted of flying a stunt kite. This anecdotal story was most certainly not followed by any references to how elevated the kite or any persons involved may or may not have been.
Known for effortlessly blending from one song to the next in a continuous swell of sound, Giant Panda transitioned from “Pockets” to “Healing,” followed by “Steady” and “Move” in a nonstop reggae rumble. Toward the end of the evening Simpkin reemerged as a guest vocalist. Sandoval added his percussive expertise to the high energy “O.K.” with Keller briefly adding some saxophone work to the lively tune. Leaving the audience buzzing with energy, Searl bid them farewell bellowing, “Peace, Panda and good night!”
Township 5, a mixed-use shopping center and apartment complex located in the Syracuse suburb of Camillus, was designated as the location for the area’s newest movie house this past spring. This week, ground was broken on a Movie Tavern at the quickly growing development. Movie Tavern takes the work out of choosing dinner and movie by providing both in the same location.
With 21 locations in nine states, each Movie Tavern features a full bar and an in-theater, “chef driven” menu for diners to enjoy with first-run movies. The Camillus location will be the company’s first in New York state and is expected to open in May 2016. Among the new theater’s amenities will be 11 screens, stadium seating, recliners and in-seat service.
According to the company’s website, prices will be on par with the typical movie-going experience while entrees will be priced in the $12-15 range. Private groups will also be able to reserve special showings and reservations for seats will be required.
For more information on the experience, visit the company’s website here.
Boston’s Spiritual Rez never sit still for long, and the band just announced a coast-to-coast fall tour that will include a good smattering of New York dates.
They will start their Northeast leg of the tour in Buffalo on Oct. 8 at Buffalo Iron Works. From there, they hit Rochester, Erie and the new Funk ‘n Waffles in downtown Syracuse.
For Halloween, Rez will be teaming up with Vermont’s premier funk rock band Gang of Thieves at Smoke Signals in Lake Placid. With more and more Halloween shows being announced the past few weeks, this is definitely one to consider making the trip for.
The band is about to embark on a month-long West Coast tour in September. They will hit Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and finish it up in Colorado. California will get the biggest dose of Rez, with stops including Sacramento, San Francisco, Chico, Mammoth Lakes, Los Angeles and San Diego.
For close to 10 years, the Spritual Rez team has been gaining momentum, and even more so since their 2014 release of Apocalypse Whenever. They have become a consistent festival favorite over the years, including eight years in a row at Backwoods Pondfest in Peru, N.Y. Their explosive live performance and unique style of volcanic reggae has been winning over the hearts and minds of music lovers across the country for years. So if you’re looking for a dance party that will leave you sweaty and rejuvenated, be sure to get to one of their shows on this lengthy fall tour.
10.8 – Buffalo, NY | Buffalo Iron Works
10.9 – Rochester, NY | Flour City Station…
10.10 – Erie, PA | King’s Rook Club
10.11 – Syracuse, NY | Funk N Waffles
10.16 – Hartford, CT | Black Eyed Sallys
10.17 – Princeton, NJ | Terrace F Club @ Princeton Univ.
10.23 – Northampton, MA | Hinge
10.24 – Providence, RI | The Spot
10.30 – Burlington, VT | Club Metronome
10.31 – Lake Placid, NY | Smoke Signals
11.7 – Cambridge, MA | The Sinclair
11.18 – Jupiter, FL | Guanabanas
11.19 – West Palm Beach, FL | Lafayettes
11.21 – Jacksonville, FL | Jack Rabbit’s
11.25 – Orlando, FL | The Social
11.27, 28, 29 – Key West, FL | The Green Parrot
12.4 – Raleigh, NC | The Pour House
12.5 – Richmond, VA | The Camel
Central New York-based Lonesome Crow know right where the sweet spot is when it comes to Southern Rock/Outlaw Country music. Their pedigrees that include Savoy Brown, Mad Jack and Last Train Out gave them plenty of road experience, along with opening for such acts as The Outlaws, The Marshall Tucker Band and Blackberry Smoke.
Composed of “compadres for decades,” Lonesome Crow is Rick Jewett (keys, harmony and vocals), George Lamb (bass), Lou Kaplan (acoustic and electric guitars, lead and backing vocals), Slaus Brown-Paul (lead and slide guitars, banjo, harmony and vocals) and Barry Westfall (drums). Recording was done at Conan Fioramonti’s The Ghetto studio in Syracuse, produced by the band, engineered by Fioramanti, mixed by Bill Aldrich, Jewett, Brown-Paul, mastered by Scott Patnode.
Photo by Deborah Brooks Miller
This band could claim to be formed in the early to mid-1970s southern rock scene in the Carolinas and Georgia. They can honky tonk it with anyone, each member knows their role and is strong within it. Kaplan and Jewett are the primary songwriters with Brown-Paul contributing two songs as well, they even re-make a couple of Mad Jack numbers in the middle. While the terms Outlaws, Hell Raisers and Renegades are thrown around a lot these days, LC live it as much as reality allows. Much like their influences and heroes, LC’s live shows are spirited romps through decades of history while creating their own on the way.
“Rollin’ Into Town” (K), the opener of this eponymously titled album, establishes much of what “Lonesome Crow” is all about. Melodic, well-written songs that are easy on the ear and easily remembered. This could’ve come straight from a Marshall Tucker (MT) issue, much like ‘Lay Me Down’ (K/J), the next track. The story is plausible, the mix is smooth and you can dance to it. Gary Burns’ steel line with Jewett’s piano just make it bounce, the rest is solid, especially Brown-Paul’s solo. ‘American Small Town Boy” (J/K), revs it up several levels, Jewett’s piano and Hammond sound just right with Brown-Paul’s raved-up rhythm. George Lamb and Barry Westfall are great role players, with lead abilities. This music isn’t going to ask them for gymnastics, do what you do, everyone’s feet listen. Kaplan is out front and he knows how to sell what he’s got, he has the look, swagger and chops to get it.
“Wicked Ways” is the first Jewett/Kaplan (J/K) piece although they switch to Kaplan/Jewett (K/J) too, I’ll note them as they have a different flavor and the mix of them is cool. Kaplan does his best Doug Gray and the band is swinging or skiffling, is that a word even, great ooos in the background, Brown-Paul’s finger picking and slide drops. Jewett honky-tonks it and off they go, he delivers a great solo mid-song too. “Pick-Up Truck” (J), is where Jewett takes the mic and kicks it into gear, his organ sounds are dead-on and Brown-Paul’s pick and slide jump like Toy Caldwell, the bluesy backing shouts and the same in Jewett’s voice compliment nicely. Brown-Paul shines again in solo, did I say the rhythm section was tight? That.
“Shot To Hell” (K/J), brings a bit of Allman Brothers Band here with the acoustic rhythm brought up, the slide and the piano. The MT is still present as Kaplan re-takes the lead and the harmonies really come through with the help of Fioramanti in the equation, a percussion shake too. Brown-Paul’s (B-P) first piece, “You’re The One” is also his first lead singing role, his voice is softer and smoother, it is just right for this true sad country tune. Gary Burns’ lilting steel guitar licks behind the tremble of B-P’s vocal, Jewett gets a little country majestic and you could wring the sweet out of the backing vocals. “Tonight We Ride” TWR is a (K/J) plus Alan Macomber and Mike Brown piece from their former band, Mad Jack, as is the next one, ‘Desperation Road’ DR. ‘TWR’ is a nice up-tempo love song, more country flavored with a updated guitar solo and a Allman Brothers bridge. It’s got the right swing and sway, DR has it too while of course the topic matter is 180 degree spin. DR opens in a dark mood, Westfall paces with a marching snare, but quickly turns its cheek, Brown-Paul leads to Jewett mid-song as they stretch it out with a couple of great solos. Lamb is running steady on the bottom as Kaplan tells the tale of redemption from his soul and heart. Cool outro too.
“Way Past Mad” (B-P), with B-P at the lead, is tweaked with Texas-Blues and a similar swing. It feels like you’re riding a railroad car, then Jewett jumps on piano line right out of a western barroom. All of the elements that culminate in Texas Swing with a big-rock ending. Great jam. “Fast And Free” (K/J) rocks a bit more than previously heard here, Jewett stealing the show in the middle with a ripping piano solo, only to have B-P top it off. When Kaplan sings, “Packin’ up this old guitar, Packin’ up my guns, Loadin’ down that truck out in the drive, Say goodbye and wish you well, Put the hammer down, Takin’ one last run while I’m alive”, you know he’s been there before. Then B-P drives it home.
“Take My Drunk Ass Home” (J/K) closes with a bluesy country twang, Jewett at the mic, it’s a descriptive, with the title’s protagonist talking to himself. It’s possible he’ll get everything he’s lost back, but we know what he’ll have to do. LC’s dexterity within a loose genre is expressed throughout this album. They tell you stories, whether they’re reality or fiction, they’re plausible, they’re presented authentically and played at the level that is allowed by most prefectures. They love what they do and it shows clearly what the idea of being in a band is all about. If’n all y’all maight prefer this heya musical style, might right give a listen, all y’all be durn happy fo it! Check out Lonesome Crow on facebook.
Key Tracks: “Pick Up Truck,” “Way Past Mad,” “Fast And Free”
Portland born Folk artist, Todd Snider, brought his musically charged, humorous life stories to the Westcott Theater in Syracuse, on June 24, for his first show in central New York. Of what was supposed to be a duo with John Craigie, turned out to be a one-man show of Todd all by himself. News of why Mr. Craigie wasn’t playing or why he couldn’t make the show, was left unannounced but that didn’t stop the crowd from patiently waiting and thoroughly enjoying the only performance of the evening.
Todd’s artistry is not about the music, it’s about the story in whole. The lessons he learned from his travels, the wisdom he’s acquired from meeting strangers, past relationships and living on the road all have a say in how each show pans out. The diverse audience loves it though. From the moment Todd stepped on stage and waved his hat in the air to greet the crowd, everyone cheered in excitement to hear what he had to say. It was as if he had played in Syracuse many times before. For the following One-Hundred minutes, Todd played soft chords on his nylon-stringed acoustic guitar and told stories, which gave way to laughter, smiles and even some frowns.
Entertainment shows it’s face in many forms and Todd naturally entertained the crowd. He provided a unique and vulnerable show for everyone in attendance, aiming to show himself as an enthusiastic, opinionated, musical story teller of truth and tall tales. He accomplished just that and more as the audience was drawn into every detail that he presented about his time on this wonderful planet.
I can’t express to you music lovers just how important it is to support your local talent. Without the support of us, many of these talented artists fall between the cracks and have nowhere to go.
Unfortunately, the music scene is losing another great local band because local venues just won’t open their doors and give musicians the exposure they deserve – Loose Cannon. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard Syracuse-area venue owners or managers tell a band that they couldn’t play there because they were from Oswego County. I just don’t see the logic in that. I mean seriously, several Syracuse bands are welcomed with open arms in other county venues. In my opinion, “You’re not from Syracuse” is a poor excuse.
With that being said, I’d like to say farewell to the amazing, talented group of guys from Loose Cannon. Hopefully things will turn around in the near future, and these bands that have had to call it quits will be able to rejoin the music scene. Until then, I beg all of you to get out there and support your local artists and voice your opinion to these venue owners/managers.
Hellyeah, the heavy metal super group that was formed from the ashes of Mudvayne, Nothingface and Damageplan, have been a whirlwind of recording and touring since 2006. What did you expect to get when you take vocalist Chad Grey, add in drums by the legendary Vinnie Paul, and bring in some serious crunch with Tom Maxwell, then round out the tempest of sound with Kyle Sanders and Christian Brady? You get one heavy as hell band ready to throw down some thunderous metal.
Hellyeah lays down some serious heaviness with the release of their newest album “Blood for Blood” Where unlike they’re previous albums which focused on some more prevalent rock elements, they return to their heaviest roots with this release.
Myself, being a fan of Chad Grey’s former band, and let’s be honest who doesn’t like Pantera? When I was approached with the opportunity to interview Chad Grey, it goes without saying, I was excited to interview him. We talked candidly about what drives him and his music and we hit upon the writing of their newest single “Hush” which dives into the horrors of domestic abuse and how Hellyeah got involved with NOMORE.org.
One thing I can say about Chad is that he is a very up front and straight shooting person not only about his life but also about his music. I was very humbled and honored to have the opportunity to interview someone I have listened to since his early bands. Enjoy.
Hellyeah kicks off their tour on April 24 supporting Godsmack and Papa Roach, making a stop at the Oncenter War Memorial on what is sure to be one hell of a Cinco de Mayo party on May 5.
BESAW: Alright, so tell me what’s new with Hellyeah and what’s going on with you guys?
CHAD: We started a new tour 4 days ago and rocking it out man. We played Texas last night, Tucson, El Paso, Houston, Austin. It’s been some radio shows with multiple bands, the kind of the level of the bands you know what I mean. Seeing how people are going to receive you.
BESAW: Nice. You guys recently released the single “Hush”, in my opinion it is a very powerful and gut wrenching song which addresses the horrors of domestic violence. Tell me a little bit on the inspiration for writing it and how you guys became involved with NOMORE.ORG.
CHAD: The inspiration is life, most of my music, all of my music is usually from some part of my past, or something and you want to take that creative outlet and exercise the little demons. I grew up in that world it’s all I knew. I think that when I was in that time of my life, you feel like you live in this bubble that you create, this bubble of isolation that you create for yourself and it’s not necessarily comfortable but it kind of beats what’s going on the other side of the wall. So, it’s kind of a lonely place and you do feel alone, and that’s kind of the mantra of the song just putting it out there, people do feel that way. Which I know that people do because I did. This reminds them that they are not alone and I think it helps them seek out and because maybe the abuser, there can’t be an intervention for that person usually in that situation, it’s happening within the family so there while there’s this violence and abuse going on there is also a lot of love. So people kind of swallow a lot. To protect that, to protect the family. Maybe not really the way they want to do it but just to speak out, to be able have some level of intervention or maybe make that person realize what they’re doing is wrong even make them take a step back and it might actually help it, it might wrinkle it a little bit at the beginning but I think overall it will help it by speaking out. No More, our publicist felt the power of the song and ran it by them and because they’re advocates of it and that’s what they want to do is raise awareness of stuff like that. Somebody over there heard it and read the lyrics and started inquiring more and more about it and wanted to couple with us and obviously in cooperation and not competition to help raise awareness. I didn’t know what NO MORE was; I’m a big football fan so I didn’t know what NO MORE was until the NFL thing with the all-white backdrop with the Chris Carters and the other NFL players doing that commercial bit and everything that happened in that. And that’s one that is good for NO MORE for being able to do that and it’s a huge fan base but at the same time not every heavy metal kid is a NFL fan so I think they saw an opportunity to double their outreach to different markets. In the heavy metal community and I think there’s a lot that, that goes on in this community, I think there’s a lot of that goes on in the hip hop community, I think a lot of that goes on in a lot of stuff and I think that music is really a great way for them to be able to target those certain genres of people. It’s been really exciting to be able to be a part of doing this with them. I believe in the raising of awareness as much as anybody else. I don’t really consider our followers fans. I look at all the people who stand in front of us who are sharing that moment of music when we play as family. It’s a heavy metal community in that area and music really did save my life and it was the one thing that I had with me in that isolated space that I lived in. That I can attach myself to and it really helped me get through a lot of really hard times and it’s something that we can all share.
CHRIS: Absolutely. Music is definitely a mystical force, in many different ways as I have come to understand it, it heals, it excites, and it’s a force unto its own.
CHAD: Its emoting man, and that’s what I love about metal. It’s so anthemic, it’s so aggressive, and on the other side it can be so helpless and it can be so emotional. That’s my take on metal personally. If I hear this beautiful guitar part or something that’s being written and it’s got melody all over it , well my first though because I’m in a metal band is I got to go all “WAAAAH YEAH” and scream all over it. (laughs) There’s something in that part that is touching me. So I want to embrace it and Tom knows that riff and that’s just my knee jerk reaction, just know you pray for quiet. And that’s how it started, hell is where I was born and hell is where I was raised. It takes that kind of almost if you took the vocals off of that, it’s kind of a more poppier sound but the vocals and the lyrics are what really gives it cheese and I think that’s the beauty of the band. Everybody works together in order to get to the pinnacle of the composition. And really give it air and let it breathe and let it be its own thing, be its own entity. Sometimes it comes together perfectly like this and sometimes it doesn’t. (laughs) You just gotta keep reworking them till you get to where you want them. That’s the beauty of being an artist; we use our instruments, our voices as our paintbrushes.
CHRIS: You guys have been performing for the last 10 years plus, been all over the world, what drives and inspires you guys to keep touring and doing music. What’s the inspiration behind that drive?
CHAD: It’s just part of me man, it really is, it’s who I am. Me and Vinnie were just talking the other day about when I started singing. I had the is little bass amp or whatever and it had two inputs on it and I would run it out of a stereo and plug one into one input and I had this little BS radio shack microphone that had a quarter-inch jack on it and I would plug that into and just run the music through that and sing with it. That’s how I kind of learned how to sing metal. Which is what we were just talking about..
CHRIS: That’s really cool.
CHAD: Vinny started on buckets and pots and pans and stuff. That’s basically my point is that long before I was ever in a band or thought of being in a band, it’s something I wanted to be. And I was willing to do whatever I had to do in order to satisfy my need at that time and that’s all I have and that’s what I used. It just grows and grows and here we are. It’s obviously something that is very deep seeded inside of me. God knows nobody is in it for the business anymore (laughs) it’s not like I got a Ferrari in the garage in my mansion over here, nor do I want that. I don’t really care about that.
CHRIS: A friend of mine, a local musician, once put it “I got into music not to make a dime and I have succeeded admirably” (laughs)
CHAD: Exactly! There’s kids looking at you asking “What’s it like, What’s it like” , I don’t know but if you want to do this you’d probably not helping anything. You just got to support and represent. It does do so much and it is so cathartic and it would be a shame to see music go away. But at the end of the day it is a job. You’re sitting at a table which somebody built that table and they didn’t build it for the fun of it.
CHRIS: Absolutely. Your music whether its Mudvayne or Hellyeah has inspired younger generations of musicians, who are the musicians and music that inspired you?
CHAD: Oh man, first real clear-cut understanding is that I grew up around music and was fortunate to have a young mother, my mom had me when she was really young and she was kind of still being a kid when I was a little kid, so it was the Bob Seeger and the Aerosmith’s and Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath. Stuff like that was always around. I enjoyed music but, man I got at some point in one of those dark times of my life, a friend of mine gave me the Motley Crue “Too Fast for Love” cassette, and I was like somebody flipped the switch in me, like holy shit I understand this. You know what I mean, this is where I belong, so it was like full metal being for that time and then it was from that to Metallica’s of the world and Megadeth, the big 4. Then from there I got into a lot heavier stuff like Deicide, Obituary and Emperor and stuff like that, black metal and kinda pulled back into that whole Seattle scene. I was a big Pantera fan and I don’t anyone that’s wasn’t a Pantera fan and I don’t want to know anyone who wasn’t a Pantera fan to honest with you. I was a Pantera fan, through that whole kind of Seattle movement and from that big 4 the band I really gravitated towards was Alice in Chains cause the darkness of the vocals , the performance of the vocals. It was just so really separate from the other ones like Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Sound Garden; I really think that Alice in Chains stood on their own. I was really into that and that really helped me become a better singer listening to that. All that kind of stuff is just kind of the usual suspects of that time. It was great, I do see younger bands now that I tour with and play shows with and those bands are like dude I have been a fan for 15 years of Mudvayne and me and what I have done. The Suicide Silence guys are really good friends and they were inspired by what I did and the early days of Mudvayne. It’s cool to see how your inspiration kind of helps develop music because obviously Suicide Silence liked Mudvayne, but it still something really great. I fucking love that band.
CHRIS: Wrapping up here anything you want to say to fans or any final thoughts?
CHAD: Come to the shows man, come and give Hellyeah a chance. We started as more of a rock band because I was doing the Mudvayne thing, both of them simultaneously doing them together and really had to separate myself from that but the more the line that’s been let out of Mudvayne. I really just wanted to get back to being a metal singer and I think that Hellyeah has really kind of landed where we always were meant to be. I think “Blood for Blood” is the record people have been really waiting for from us. So if you have written us off in the past or whatever, give us a shot. I’m back to being me and Vinnie is back to being Vinnie Paul and Tom’s back to being Tom. We’re not behind the facade that we got to keep separate from other things anymore. We wrote what we believe is a great record and I think that we really touched people, and I think that if you’ve shut your eyes to Hellyeah that you should open them again and give us another shot.
The lights go dark, smoke rolls onto the stage, the crowd’s excitement builds as the intro cues up; then the band explodes onto the stage tearing right into “Unloaded” off of their newest album “Blind Until we Burn.” They didn’t waste any time before ripping into “Successful test” and their latest single “Put em’ up.” The band played a very powerful and supercharged set consisting of a mix of songs from their EP “Conjured” and newest release “Blind Until We Burn” including highlights “Tusk” and “Nilbog” to which they pay homage to one of the “best” worst movies of all time Claudio Fragasso’s Troll 2!
It is certain that with their mix of metal, hardcore and industrial and let’s not forget some very catchy heavy and hook – laden songs, Kissing Candice puts on one hell of a blood and gore soaked show!
Dave Mason
With 21 locations in nine states, each Movie Tavern features a full bar and an in-theater, “chef driven” menu for diners to enjoy with first-run movies. The Camillus location will be the company’s first in New York state and is expected to open in May 2016. Among the new theater’s amenities will be 11 screens, stadium seating, recliners and in-seat service.
“Shot To Hell” (K/J), brings a bit of Allman Brothers Band here with the acoustic rhythm brought up, the slide and the piano. The MT is still present as Kaplan re-takes the lead and the harmonies really come through with the help of Fioramanti in the equation, a percussion shake too. Brown-Paul’s (B-P) first piece, “You’re The One” is also his first lead singing role, his voice is softer and smoother, it is just right for this true sad country tune. Gary Burns’ lilting steel guitar licks behind the tremble of B-P’s vocal, Jewett gets a little country majestic and you could wring the sweet out of the backing vocals. “Tonight We Ride” TWR is a (K/J) plus Alan Macomber and Mike Brown piece from their former band, Mad Jack, as is the next one, ‘Desperation Road’ DR. ‘TWR’ is a nice up-tempo love song, more country flavored with a updated guitar solo and a Allman Brothers bridge. It’s got the right swing and sway, DR has it too while of course the topic matter is 180 degree spin. DR opens in a dark mood, Westfall paces with a marching snare, but quickly turns its cheek, Brown-Paul leads to Jewett mid-song as they stretch it out with a couple of great solos. Lamb is running steady on the bottom as Kaplan tells the tale of redemption from his soul and heart. Cool outro too.
Hellyeah lays down some serious heaviness with the release of their newest album “Blood for Blood” Where unlike they’re previous albums which focused on some more prevalent rock elements, they return to their heaviest roots with this release.
CHRIS: Absolutely. Music is definitely a mystical force, in many different ways as I have come to understand it, it heals, it excites, and it’s a force unto its own.