Category: Features

Taste of Country Music Festival 2016, Day Three: Jake Owen Fights The Cold To Close Out A Three Day Party

The third day of the Taste of Country Music Festival 2016 kicked off around 1:30 pm on June 12th in Hunter, NY. Coming back to the mountain for the third and last day of the festival was bittersweet for me. On one hand, I was looking forward to seeing country super star Jake Owen perform. But on the other hand, I knew that once he finished his performance, the awesome three day Taste of Country festival would be over until next year.

Despite the weather being fairly pleasant and warm the first two days of the festival, the third day of the festival had 40 mile per hour winds which made it feel more like a late fall NY day. At one point there even appeared to be snow flakes in the air. Needless to say, I immediately regretted not packing any sweatshirts or coats for what I assumed would be a blazingly hot three day summer music festival.

The day started on the festival’s main stage with the up and coming country group, Outshyne. The group was started in 2007 in South Carolina by high school friends who had previously only participated in rock bands. The members of the group did not start to appreciate country music until after they had graduated High School and had grown into adulthood. The group members site their main influences to be Merle Haggard, Lynyrd Skynyrd and John Mayer. Outshyne has a notable rock vibe to some of their music and has recently gained considerable ground on the country music scene, with their latest single “That Girl”. They had a country rock sound to their music that reflected their roots.

Up next at around 3 pm was country music veteran, Neal McCoy who started his country music career in 1981 by winning a talent contest. Since then he has released 10 studio albums and 34 country music singles. This included three platinum albums, one gold album and seven top 10 country hits. I had never seen Mr. McCoy in concert, and did not know what to expect when the 58 year old took the stage. I was impressed with the amount of time he took interacting with the crowd, shaking his butt, and even jumping up and down. McCoy had more energy on stage than half of the younger performers that I have had the pleasure to photograph and his anecdotes made the crowd laugh and stay engaged throughout his performance.

After a short break, Mr. “Buy me a Boat” himself, Chris Janson took the stage. Janson moved to Nashville when he was 19 years old, in 2005 to become a country music star. Like so many country stars of today he began his career first proving himself as song writer. His first hint of success came in 2012 when he wrote the Tim McGraw hit, “Truck Yeah”. But his dreams did not actually come true until, despite not being backed by a record label at the time, he came out with the song, “Buy Me A Boat”. He sent the song to country radio show host, Bobby Jones, who loved it and as a result played the song on his show. Following the exposure, the song became a favorite of country music fans around the country and jumped to the top of the country charts. The mega hit caught the attention of major record labels around the country and Janson was soon signed to Warner Music Nashville.

Janson has a blue collar style and friendly demeanor that makes him a perfect country music star. Several times during the concert, Janson would break into energetic harmonica solos, announcing at one point, “are ya’ll ready to see how 135 pounds of skinny white boy can play this harmonica like you never seen?!” to cheers of the crowd. When Janson would play the harmonica, he would throw his entire body into the performance, swinging his arms and legs, dancing back and forth and truly enjoying every second of it. Janson even threw a few lines from Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” and Hank William’s “Country Boys Can Survive” into his performance to keep things interesting.

I was especially impressed with Janson’s latest single, a song that he wrote about his wife named “Holdin’ Her”. In the song, Janson tells the story of how he met his wife and how much love he feels when he hold’s his her in his arms. Off to the left of the stage, I could see Janson’s wife, Kelly Lynn Janson holding their beautiful infant son, Jesse Bo Janson in her arms (pictured in the gallery at the bottom of the page). During several of the songs, I could see a smile come across Janson’s wife’s face as she watched her husband perform.

Following Janson’s amazing set, I rushed over to the secondary, indoor concert stage of the festival to watch newcomer, Jake Worthington perform. The twenty year old, Texas native attempted to start his country music career in 2013, by auditioning for the fifth season of the NBC reality music competition show, “The Voice”. Unfortunately, he was not chosen by any of the judges and did not make it on to the show.

Worthington showed his resilience by coming back and trying out for the sixth season of the show. This time Worthington was chosen by three out of the four judges, including Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Shakira, but he unsurprisingly picked country music star, Blake Shelton as his coach for his show. Not only did Worthington make it on the show but he finished the season in second place. All three songs that Jake performed on the show became iTunes top 10 hits.

Shortly after his success on the show, Worthington was signed to record label, W3 Entertainment and released his self titled debut album. Despite his young age, Worthington has a twangy, heartfelt, vintage country sound that reminds me of how country music used to sound decades ago. I would not be surprised to see him accomplishing great things in the industry in the coming years.

At around 6 pm, I rushed back to the main festival stage to watch veteran country singer, Gary Allan begin his performance. Allan has been performing since the age of 12, when he would tour country bars with his father’s band. He was offered a record contract at the age of 15, but was forced by his parents to reject the offer and finish high school. After high school, Allan spent several years finding his sound. At the age of 29, in 1996 he signed a contract with Decca Records. Since then, he has released 11 albums and has had four number one singles.

While playing his set, Allan and his band solidified their country music star status by passing around a bottle of Jack Daniels. Allan has what I would describe as a great balance of modern pop country while still keeping some songs faithful to the original, old school, country music sound.

Giving another newcomer a chance to shine on the secondary stage, up next was up and coming singer, Adley Stump. Like several other performers in this years Taste of Country Festival, Stump got her start on NBC’s singing competition reality show, “The Voice” and was on Blake Shelton’s team during the competition. Earlier this year, Stump was recognized with a Grammy Amplifier award, and was the featured music performer at the 2015 Miss USA telecast. I was truly impressed by the passion that Stump displayed during her performance. She kept a large smile across her face, dancing around, shaking hands with the crowd throughout the whole show.

As a photographer, it was a challenge keeping up with her, but at the same time, when an artist loves what they do, they are also quite a bit more fun to shoot. You could tell that there was nowhere else that she would rather be at that moment. She played a mixture of country favorites and her own songs. I especially loved the upbeat, full of attitude song, “Like This” and the heartfelt salute to our troops and the families that support them from home “Stay At Home Soldier”. Her impressive vocal range also made it easier to feel the emotion behind her songs.

Last but most definitely not least, Jake Owen took the main festival stage around 7:45 pm. Despite the images of warm summer days, beautiful beaches displayed on the large screen and fake palm trees on the stage behind Owen, a 40 mile per hour, freezing cold wind with some snow flurries made things feel like the concert was taking place in early November rather than early June. I was honestly shocked that I was seeing snow flurries in June. Before I traveled to Hunter Mountain, I was warned to expect crazy weather due to the altitude, so I packed a poncho and an umbrella. What I forgot to pack was a decent coat. Despite the cool weather, Owen’s performance kept the cooled crowd captivated with a memorable performance.

Owen kicked off his set with the title track of his latest album, “American Love”. Despite the weather, Owen stuck to his tradition of performing in bare feet, and did not seem to be phased by the cold weather. At one point during the show, Owen jumped off stage and interacted with fans in the front rows. Owen showed the range of his talent by mixing some of his hits with the theme song from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Drake’s “Hold On We’re Going Home” and even “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce. Owen prefaced his hit song “Beachin’,” by laughing and saying “Who wants to go to the beach with me……in 40 mile an hour winds”. Owen closed out an amazing set and an unforgettable Taste Of Country Music Festival with his first number one hit, “Barefoot Blue Jean Night”.

After three days of awesome music, extremely unhealthy yet delicious food, and meeting hoards of friendly country fans, Hunter Mountain had begun to feel like a second home to me. I always found it amazing how strangers who would ordinarily ignore each other in their normal day to day life, could become almost instant buddies during a music festival. There is something wonderful about a good concert that can take an ordinarily shy person and turn them into a “smiling, while singing at the top of their lungs” party animal. The environment created, somehow punches through the awkward/shy barrier that prevents strangers who have never met from becoming friends. I suppose that knowing that everyone around also loves country music, is great common ground to start on.

During the festival, I met many very cool and interesting people. As I was in the crowd with my professional grade Canon 5D Mk III taking some pictures of the concert, a short woman in a gray cowboy hat, who reminded me of my grandmother, yelled at me and with a big smile across her face, asked me if I would take a picture of her and her friends. I smiled and agreed, she pulled a small drugstore disposable camera out of her pocket and dropped it on the ground, she picked it up and handed it to me. Looking at the cardboard covered camera, I smiled and offered to use my own camera. That is the way I met Santa Bellino, Jessica McGraw and Paul Campione Jr. who traveled from Staten Island, NY to enjoy the festival (pictured below).

Over the three days of the festival, I also met a group calling themselves the Taste Of Country Family. The group started in 2014, during the second annual Taste of Country Music Festival with 4 people from Marlborough, Massachusetts, John Trotta, Danielle Trotta, Britney Hisman and Bethany Hisman. Since then, the group has grown every year and now includes over 31 people from New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Jersey. Each year of the festival, the group creates a community of tents at one of the official Taste of Country camp grounds and spends the weekend partying and enjoying country music.

In addition to the concerts which usually don’t start until after noon, a typical day includes a campfire breakfast (with mimosas), drinking games, and later at night sitting by the camp fire singing songs while one of the group members, Tyler Senecal, plays the guitar. This year they even had group T-shirts with the phrase “BEER CAMPIN & COUNTRY MUSIC” made for the group. I find it amazing that this festival was able to bring all of these strangers together over the years and in my opinion this group embodies what the Taste Of Country Music Festival is all about.

The 2016 Taste of Country Music Festival was an amazing experience and I look forward to coming back next year, as a reporter or even just as a country music fan. As of this writing, two major headlining artists have been announced for the Fifth Annual, 2017 Taste Of Country Music Festival, Jason Aldean and Sam Hunt.

October 2, 2016
Reed Mathis Resurrects Beethoven in Buffalo

Bassist Reed Mathis is embarking on a new adventure. His album, Beathoven, just out September 30, features nine different trios tackling his rearrangements of Beethoven’s 3rd and 6th Symphonies.

But the true nature of the project is the live band, with Jay Lane (Primus, Ratdog) on drums, Todd Stoops (RAQ, Kung Fu) on keys, and Clay Welch, a young guitarist who literally honed his craft while following Mathis’ old band Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. As Mathis explained before leaving the stage at set break, Beethoven’s music was conceived from improvisation and was heavily improvised on when Beethoven himself performed. Mathis felt it was time to take the music out of the museum, dust off the 200-year-old masterpieces, and get back to the true spirit of the original music. So he is taking it on the road for a couple of years with his new band, to resurrect the life of the long-dormant spirits. They stopped at the Iron Works in Buffalo during their short tour surrounding the release of the album.

Writing good songs has long been a crutch for many jambands. Many rely on playing lots of cover material, some exclusively so. Though if you are going to do that, you might as play material from one of the greatest composers of all time. Beethoven’s original music served as a mere blueprint, an inspiration, and a launching off point for what became deep dives into massive exploratory soundscapes. The first piece they played, the 3rd movement of the 3rd Symphony, aka “Rebirth,” clocks in just over five minutes on the album. Live, on this night, it ran 45 minutes. Their jams flowed from theme to theme, each taking on a life of it’s own before dissolving or sometimes abruptly shifting into the next. This constant movement kept the long-windedness feeling remarkably shorter, easily digested and invigorating.

The quartet played wonderfully off of each other, under the direction of Mathis, who belted out instruction now and again. Encouraging for more of the same when he heard something he liked, calling for a change when it was time to move on, etc… At one point, during the second composition, he almost brought the music to a stop as he took a survey of those on stage and all in attendance if they liked the last bit they had played. It was something new they were testing out. Moments like these and the freshness of the music to both the band and audience, gave the concert a feeling of an intimate dress rehearsal. It felt like we were in on the ground floor of something big.

The music wasn’t just electric, but eclectic as well. Each member brought a full arsenal to the table. Mathis’s bass could hold the groove or step up and become the lead in any number of unique sounds he could conjure from his numerous pedals. Lane’s drumming, highlighted often, was a constantly moving rumble rolling the music forward with a controlled chaos of bops booms and crashes. Stoops could fill in every empty space with swirls of organ or take the lead in mystifying runs through Beethoven melodies on a variety of keyboards. Welch’s guitar was the line that tied through it all, jawing directly with Mathis, dancing with Stoops’ plinks or crunching out rhythms along with Lane, all the while, never devolving into self-indulgent soloing. It was some high brow jamming, or as Mathis calls it, CDM (Classical Dance Music).

If you’re wondering what Ludwig himself would think of it all, you need look no further than his infamous trip to San Dimas in 1989. He would love it of course! And so did we.

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October 1, 2016
Hearing Aide: Electric Beethoven’s “Beathoven”

Reed Mathis has a lengthy resume as a bassist in the jam scene as a member of Tea Leaf Green, a touring member of Billy & the Kids and longtime part of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. Seems like he doesn’t take a break in his schedule.

Recently, while on the road, he decided to rearrange a few of classical composer Beethoven’s symphonies, “Symphony No.3” and “Symphony No. 6.” When finished, Mathis pieced together an incredible lineup of other musicians, and recorded them by traveling all over and record the music in its natural environment. Page McConnell and Mike Gordon, of Phish, Marco Benevento, Matt Chamberlain, Joe Russo, Robert Walter and Mike Dillon are some of the cast Mathis recruited for an album that really re-imagines Beethoven in a modern — and proggy, jammy — way.

The result is Electric Beethoven, and their debut album Beathoven track “Awakening of Happiness,” featuring Russo and Luke Bolla, answers any question you’ll have about what the band sounds like, as the piano-heavy track melds rock and blues aspects, as well as a little psychedelia, with the noticeable Beethoven composition sound. Andrew Barr and Steve Pryor are featured on “Scene by the River,” before Galactic drummer Stanton Moore and Jared Tyler take over a danceable “Rain Dance.”

The appetizer of “Shepherd’s Dog” (McConnell and Jason Smart) pairs perfectly with the main course, “In Memory of a Great Man” (Gordon and Russo.) The sometimes jazzy, sometimes trippy “Funeral March” (Benevento and Chamberlain) make up a powerful middle of the order combination, which stands out as the most interesting interpretation on the recording.

“Rebirth,” featuring the Barr Brothers, and “Finale” (Moore and Walter) close the album with two numbers filled with jazzy guitar lines, intricate piano parts and a dash of some down south funk.

If you didn’t know who Beethoven was or were unfamiliar with his catalog, you wouldn’t mind in any way. Mathis manages to turn music you focus on into music you boogie to, without losing even a shred of integrity from the original compositions. If this album is any indication, this band is going to see its moment in the sun on the festival circuit in the next few years.

The band performed last week at the Catskill Chill, and are currently out playing a string of dates in support of the new album.

Beathoven tracklist

1. Awakening of Happiness (feat. Joe Russo & Luke Bolla)
2. Scene by the River (feat. Andrew Barr & Steve Pryor)
3. Rain Dance (feat. Stanton Moore & Jared Tyler)
4. Thunderstorm (feat. Matt Chamberlain & Mike Dillon)
5. Shepherd’s Song (feat. Page McConnell & Jason Smart)
6. In Memory of a Great Man (feat. Mike Gordon & Joe Russo)
7. Funeral March (feat. Marco Benevento & Matt Chamberlain)
8. Rebirth (feat. Brad Barr & Andrew Barr)
9. Finale (feat. Stanton Moore & Robert Walter)

Key Tracks: Rain Dance, In Memory of a Great Man, Funeral March

September 30, 2016
Watch The Big Takeover’s “Come Before Five” Video

The Hudson Valley’s The Big Takeover has released the official video for “Come Before Five,” the upcoming single on their upcoming album, due out in January. Lead singer and songwriter neenee Rushie says the song is “about a girl waiting for something she knows she’ll never get.” Directed by Liz Paradise & Zach Thomson, the video was filmed at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

In the next month, the band is playing throughout New York State, including October 1 at Snugs in New Paltz, Damn Sam’s Harvest Fest on October 8 in Lauren, NY, The Liberty in Rhinebeck for a special Halloween show on October 29, and a very exciting New Years show announcement forthcoming.

Video credit: The Big Takeover (c) 2016 and Big Takeover Production (BMI)

September 30, 2016
Catskill Chill Closes out Summer at New Minglewood

Catskill Chill rounded out the New York summer festival season September 24-26 with a stacked line-up and a new location. Moving just a few miles from its former location in Hancock, NY, the Catskill Chill found a new home this year in Lakewood, Pa. Previously held at Camp Minglewood, this year the Chill found its new home at New Minglewood and included an extra day of camping and more music.

The festival’s inaugural Thursday night pre-party was a great addition to the weekend. Twiddle highlighted the evening with two sets including a sit-in with Scott Hannay of Mister F. Although the turn out for the night’s first two bands, Aqueous and Jimkata, was light, the packed house for Twiddle verified that many festival goers had taken advantage of the Thursday night ticket.

Arriving early had more benefits than just the music. Many festival attendees enjoyed the ability to set up camp and explore the grounds before the barrage of attendees arrived on Friday. “The best part of the Thursday ticket was being able to get the choice camping spots.” Jennifer Bliss of Saratoga Springs, NY told NYS Music. “It was also nice to have our camp ready to go, so that we could really enjoy the music on Friday.”

Mike Gordon drew the largest crowd of Friday Night to the main stage. Among the songs performed, the Phish bassist debuted “Let’s Go,” a tune generally reserved for a Phish set list. George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic also enjoyed a great turn out, many of whom had never seen the master of funk live. “I had only heard the name George Clinton, but didn’t really know what he was about. Thinking about it, that set might have been my favorite of the weekend. I liked that Chill has artists like that on their line-up,” noted Brian Thomas of Cleveland, Ohio.

Other much talked about sets on Friday night included Pink Talking Fish and Pink Talking Fu. The Pink Talking Fish set included a variety of Phish, Talking Heads and Pink Floyd with a sit-in from Kung Fu’s Tim Palmeri on “Great Gig in the Sky” and “Crosseyed and Painless.” The B Stage was turned into a dance party during Pink Talking Fu (Pink Talking Fish and Kung Fu.) The two bands highlighted the music of David Bowie and Prince in a tribute set that featured both top 40 hits and beloved deep tracks. Shira Elias of Turkuaz and Hayley Jane both sat in for vocal performances throughout the set.

Friday’s sleeper sets included music by Funky Dawgz Brass Band, Mister F and Goldfish. All three bands are well worth seeing and turned out amazing performances.

Saturday’s main stage was highlighted with an assortment of musical styles that kept the variety going throughout the day. Ryan Montebleau, Cabinet and Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass added an element of relaxation and chill while Lettuce and Particle were funky and dance worthy.

The B-Stage popped off thanks to sets from Turkuaz and Tauk. Formula 5, Big Something and the Magic Beans all generated note-worthy buzz at their various sets on Saturday as well.

Saturday was the day of tribute sets, providing a plethora of familiar music performed by some of the festivals most beloved artists. Fikus and Shwizz came together to perform as Shwikus Plays the Beatles, while the Heavy Pets played the 80’s and Lespecial paid tribute to Primus.

“I just loved all of the tribute sets at Chill,” mentioned Nick Augustine of Silver Springs, MD. “Every one that I saw was executed perfectly!”

The most intriguing set of the night went to Turbine, whose RadioDead set was at times mind twisting and enigmatic. The concept – Radiohead songs played in the style of the Grateful Dead and Grateful Dead songs played in the style of Radiohead. Turbine did a stellar job of translating the songs into the respective styles, so much so that many attendees couldn’t quite wrap their heads around what they were hearing. “Wait, is this Radiohead or the Dead?” was overheard often during the set.

For the second year in a row, members of Dopapod and Turkuaz brought the house down during their tribute set, this year with a tribute set to the preppie-loved classic soft rock of the 80s known as Yacht Rock. The set was fun, campy and executed with perfection. It’s a nod to both groups of Berklee trained musicians, as they take such care with music that could otherwise be dismissed. Somehow they find a way to celebrate not only the music, but the production quality that feels like you are square in the middle of a musical time capsule.

Josh Schwartz (Turkuaz) receives MVP nods for his spot on vocal tribute to soulful baritone Michael McDonald. However, Rob Compa who tackled vocals on the Eagles classic “Hotel California” as well as the entire Dopakuaz crew wins honorable mention during a production perfect version of the song. The set also included the most “had to be there” moment as Dopapod bassist Chuck Jones took to the Chill Fam seas with a stage dive and crowd surfing adventure.

The Chill Fam All-Stars tribute to Michael Jackson was another highlight of the night, however, many festival attendees were turned away as the Late Night Hall was packed to capacity before the music even started. However, despite not everyone being able to attend, the set was highlighted by the vocals of Elise Testone, whuch were a milky and smooth compliment to the original. The Chill Fam All- Stars included Eric Gould (Pink Talking Fish); Adrian Tramontano and Robert Somerville (Kung Fu); Shira Elias, Chris Brouwers and Michelangelo Carubba (Turkuaz); Danny Mayer (Eric Krasno Band); Steve Molitz (Particle) and Robert Volo on trombone (Deep Banana Blackout).

Sunday’s Main Stage was highlighted by performances from Dopapod, Greensky Bluegrass and Electron. Although the festival grounds and attendance at sets appeared to begin to thin out by Sunday afternoon, festival goers that stuck it out were also treated to great performances by Perpetual Groove, Tom Hamilton’s American Babies, The Werks and Broccoli Samurai.

Sunday’s most noteworthy performance went to Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. They made the most of their two sets, including a two-hour cover set late night at Club Chill. The set was one of the most sit-in heavy of the weekend including performances by Tom Hamilton, Shira Elisa (Turkuaz), Steve Molitz (Particle), Elise Testone, and Rob Somerville (Kung Fu).

The New Minglewood grounds felt like home for many Catskill Chill veterans. The added facilities of more “play areas” including the basketball courts by the B-Stage created a fun vibe that more people plan on taking advantage of next year. Wins for the new location included closer parking to the camping grounds, more common areas and the B-Stage, whom many felt housed the best music and sound of the weekend.

However, despite the great sound at both the main stage and the B-stage, many festival attendees found themselves hanging outside both Club Chill and the Late Night Hall due to the facilities acoustics. “It was really loud in both the indoor venues,” noted Mike Dustin of Allentown, PA, “For the most part, we chose to just sit outside and listen there. It just literally sounded like we were watching music in a high school gym. So much of the sound quality was lost.”

Most of this year’s attendees agreed that the cabins, vendors and security were in sync with previous years. However, it was noted by several folks that this year the port-a-potties in the camping areas could have used much more attention, as the usual daily cleanings of the facilities seemed to have been missed in at least one location.

As the weekend’s attendees packed up and returned home, most were happy with the new location and the line-up. But beyond that, it was the Chill Fam vibe that most were pleased to be a part of. “Chill is my favorite festival – hands down,” said Kelly Kepler of Portland, Maine. “I was scared that this year would be different, that changing the location would mean all the things we loved about Chill would be different. Honesty, I think it was better. It was a great way to bond with new people because everyone was on even ground. It only made our little Chill family stronger. I can’t wait for next year!”

September 29, 2016
Hearing Aide: MarchFourth “Magic Number”

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, suddenly a band crosses paths with your ears and changes everything. MarchFourth, a twenty piece band based out of Portland, Oregon, are gearing up for the release of their latest album, Magic Number, on September 30th. Fifteen members of this large ensemble trekked down to New Orleans and spent 10 days in the studio building this titillating album, which was produced by Ben Ellman of Galactic.

Full of auditory goodness, let’s dive right in and examine their long overdue album, that was fan-funded through Kickstarter, track by track. Take a breath before hitting the start button. Things are about to get explosive.

“Call To Action” is jammed with in your face horns that begin nice and steady before blasting off, taking the listener on a brass filled musical escapade. Serious energy from the get go entices listeners to turn that volume dial higher and higher. “The Quarter” slinks into play with smooth tones, funky guitar beats, and playful lyrics before picking things up with “Magic Number.” With a Spanish flair, the song drops listeners into the heart of Mexico, giving the feel that trouble is around the corner. Quick paced, featuring clean trumpet and jazzy guitar, the energy keeps right on rolling.

“Push It Back” is heavy on deep funk guitar tones right off the bat, gluing the song together from beginning to end. With Stanton Moore making a guest appearance on drums, a 70’s vibe is felt, throwing it back to the days of disco balls, feathered hair and bell bottoms. Don’t be surprised when the repeat button is tapped over and over.

If a track would be up to no good, “Inventing the Wheel” would be the perfect musical specimen. This tune is full of attitude, swagger, and stealthily glides along, picking up speed mid-song as if the notes are running to hide from the bad guys. The notes quietly tiptoe back into it’s original swagger, with special guest Trombone Shorty bursting at the seams on the trumpet solo, and Ben Ellman providing harmonica.

“Hotstepper” musically conjures images of a conversation between instruments, with song lyrics refereeing the energy. Danceable and fun, this quick paced jam keeps the party rolling. “Drunk Bears” automatically is lovable by name alone. Hit play and be prepared to jump up and down. The deep, low tones of the baritone sax stand out immediately, grabbing other members of the brass family by the balls to take listeners on a crazy ride.

Mysterious “Jan Jar” has a powerful wanderlust aura dancing around the notes, before “Science (Free Your Mind)” erupts into the ears. Matt Perrine, of Bonerama, hits up the sousaphone on this track that is soaked in New Orleans flavor. This shattering jam would be very much at home marching down the streets of the French Quarter.

Fast paced “It’s a Trap” hints at being more of a brass knuckled punk band with attitude. This speedy tune takes listeners on a roller coaster of a ride, making sure the heartbeat picks up. The album ends on a tender note with “Endless Highway,” shaking off the energy from the explosive beats leading up to this track.

Magic Number is a solid journey of an album, stuffed with intense toe tapping beats and story telling melodies. MarchFourth has modernized the big band sound to today’s generation; this is an album that should not be missed. For more information on MarchFourth, visit their official website.

Key Tracks: Push It Back, Drunk Bears, Science (Free Your Mind)

September 28, 2016
One Night in Buffalo with Quilt and Mutual Benefit

Two underappreciated indie-rock bands made a stop at Mohawk Place in Buffalo on Saturday night. Mutual Benefit opened the evening with the ambient instrumental “Madrugada,” also the lead track off of their latest release, Skip a Sinking Stone. Members switched between guitars, keys, flute and melodica to create the soundscape that served as the perfect introduction to their set, a pleasant drift into the dream state.

As it dissolved into “Skipping Stones” (as it does on the album), the opening lyrics, “You are the first thing I see / When I open my eyes when I wake from a dream” reinforced the dream-like quality of the music that would envelope the room for the next 40 minutes. It was two guitars, bass and drums. Nothing too unusual, save some flute here and banjo there and a drum kit composed mostly of hand drums, but together they formed a blanket of sound, soothing, mellow and beautiful. It was the soundtrack of your most pleasant and colorful dreams. The songs drifted in and out of nothing, and like your subconscious thoughts, once the next began the last became a distant nearly forgotten memory. Each song existed wholly in the moment.

“What’s today, is it Thursday?” asked lead man Jordan Lee. It was Saturday. “For us, every day is Thursday, it’s a blessing and a curse.” The set closed with their most energetic number, “Golden Wake,” again with the all too appropriate line, “We woke for golden morning hours / Just to soak in all the power.”

With our minds sufficiently relaxed and pliable, Boston’s Quilt emerged to knead and massage our mental state into the trippiness of 60’s psychedelia. There is a sound that resides in the musical real estate between “Taxman” and “Crimson and Clover.” They find plenty of room to explore the landscape therein though, showing their influences but sounding fresh and original all the same.

The quartet that started as a trio had grown to a quintet, with keyboardist June West joining guitarist Shane Butler, guitarist Anna Fox Rochinski, drummer John Andrews and bassist Keven Lareau. They opened with the enchanting “Passersby” off of their early 2016 release Plaza. Throughout the set, composed fairly democratically between their three albums, it was apparent that what set them apart was the incredible songwriting and unique and various vocals. They have a knack for “discovering” new music that seems to have existed forever. Familiar, yet exciting and new. Rochinski, Andrews and Butler all shared vocal duties, harmonizing in pairs and altogether, both syncopated and out-of-sync, injecting a variety of different elements and surprises through their voices alone.

During extended improvisations, notably the early set “Saturday Bride” and late set “Secondary Swan,” like oil in a lava lamp, the music oozed slowly up and around themes, collapsing into itself and reforming into something different but similar. The environs did nothing to aid in this mental transportation, a dive bar with limited lighting, dark and overpowering backdrop, and disappointing crowd threatened to cut off the escape. But the music powered through.

“Is it Sunday?” Rochinski inquired. “No? Well it feels like Sunday.” It was in fact, most definitely still Saturday. It must be tough to keep track though, whether touring in a dream state or a time warp. No matter, that night was the right time to partake in a little bit of both, via Quilt and Mutual Benefit.

Setlists

Mutual Benefit: Madrugada > Skipping Stones > Closer Still, Let’s Play / Statue of a Man, Lost Dreamers, ?, Strong Swimmer, ?, Advanced Falconry, Golden Wake

Quilt: Passersby, Young Gold, Saturday Bride, Eliot St., Roller, Searching For, Arctic Shark, Hissing My Plea, Penobska Oakwalk, Secondary Swan, Talking Trains

September 28, 2016
Gwar Declares the Next President

The night was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that the only thing that could make it better was blood covered concert goers. That is what was going to happen in downtown Buffalo and Town Ballroom in the heart of the theatre district. People were wrapped around the building waiting to get in. You know who the veterans are in regards to going to Gwar concerts; they are the ones dressed in white or any lighter color they didn’t mind trashing.

Hardcore metal band Mutoid Man was first to hit the stage, and that they did with vulgar sexual references; everything from penis to boob jokes. Guitarist Steve Brodsky and bassist Nick Cageao poured huge, unrelenting riffs out of their amplifiers, while Ben Koller drove songs with his innovative style of drumming. The thing that stood out most about Mutoid Man was they were having fun playing on stage and you saw it in each of them based solely off expression.

Crowbar is a sludge metal band from New Orleans known as “some dudes” and have been in the music scene for nearly 30 years now. Windstein interacted brilliantly with the crowd and kept everyone engaged in between songs as Crowbar tuned their instruments. Spitting like a cowboy who thinks he’s still in the saloon, Windstein rumbles and roars into pit-starter “Conquering,” and so the riffs start falling. Frontman Kirk Windstein, metal legend that he is, still sets up his own gear from scratch, tunes guitars himself, and distributes set lists to the band. This shows the humbleness he has a reputation for.

Then as the lights lowered and the elaborate stage was set up by a crew of about 10 workers, people got as close as they could to the front of the stage. This is where my previous statement about being a beautiful night for concert goers comes into play. What`s the indication of Gwar coming on stage? When the music stops you know that’s when things are about to get messy.

The screen they bring on stage lit up and showed an unflattering picture of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. First to the stage was ring announcer Sleazy P. Martini, who talked about what was going to unfold this evening – 3 separate wrestling matches and one of them would be Trump vs. Hillary. The fight between the two led to Hillary as the triumphant winner. She ripped his face off then took out his intestines and pointed his blood splattering chest towards the crowd, soaking several rows of patrons. As Hillary was celebrating her win, Blothar came up and ripped off her breasts and spewed even more blood onto the crowd ranging almost to the back of the venue in distance.

Viciously some aliens from another planet came in and fought Blother and Bone Snapper, stealing the title! Musically this group of guys are very talented in their respected instruments; Brent Purgason (Pustulus Maximus) shreds a mean guitar, and Gwar front-man Blothar has appeared on Ted Talks and is quite intelligent. The cult following they have is undeniable. Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus) was the front man prior and that’s what most people knew Gwar as, granted it will never be the same but Blothar is a great replacement.

Back to the wrestling match, the intruder aliens came back to fight the final fight and this time Bone Snapper and Blothar were victorious! They won the title and Blothar announced to the crows that he was best suited to be the president of the United States. Fans cheered like they were at a rally and with the election candidates we have now, I think our best bet for a better future is Blothar for president!

September 27, 2016
Joy Formidable interview on Recess with Spinelli

Alexander Spinelli of the new music radio program, Recess with Spinelli spoke with Rhydian, the bassist of the Welsh band the Joy Formidable. Rhydian discuses motivation, recording process, tour life, Welsh culture, music & language and their new album, Hitch.

Listen to the abridged feature/interview

You can listen to the full feature/interview on the live radio broadcast

While on-stage, the Joy Formidable are a well pieced band who look like they are having the best time of their lives. But don’t take our word for it; look at the photos below.

Recess with Spinelli can be heard every Wednesday 8pm-10pm EDT on WSPN in Saratoga Springs, NY on 91.1FM and on Hoxton FM in London, England every Wednesday 11pm-1am GMT 6pm-8pm EDT

Follow Recess with Spinelli: Instagram Twitter Facebook Youtube Soundcloud Mixcloud Tumblr and online at longbowmedia.us

September 26, 2016
Rock Allegiance Stands Strong Among Competition

For the second straight year, Chester, PA was home to Rock Allegiance. The Rock Allegiance festival, which is one of the many Danny Wimmer Presents events, returned to Talen Energy Stadium (formerly PPL Park) on Saturday and Sunday September 17 and 18.

Unlike last year’s festival, Rock Allegiance 2016 was set for 2 full days that included some of the biggest bands today, such as Avenged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, The Offspring and Slayer. To accompany two full days of music, this year added even more of the festival’s signature Gourmet Man Food and other experiences for fans to check out. Some of this year’s experiences included The Music Experience, The Jack Daniel’s Experience, FYE Experience and Zippo Encore. As always, proud sponsor, Monster, was on site giving away free products and hooking fans up with chances to meet their favorite bands.

Saturday’s festival lineup featured quite a mix of bands. There were heavy metal bands, cover bands, comedy bands, grunge bands and more. Some of Saturday’s stand-out performances were Skindred, Avatar, and Motionless In White. Each one of these bands brings something unique to the table that not an everyday band does. Skindred had the most unique sound of the day. The Welsh rockers mix heavy metal with reggae and create some insane grooves. Lead singer Benji Webbe certainly knew how to lead his band and give the crowd a set to remember past the weekend.

Certainly no one was disappointed with headliners Alice In Chains, Breaking Benjamin and The Offspring. Each one of those bands has earned their keep and each had their own die-hard fans in attendance. Alice In Chains was joined by Billy Duffy of The Cult for their song “Rooster.” One band that failed to bring out the special guests that everyone was hoping for was Taylor Hawkins’, Chevy Metal.Â Chevy Metal, which is Hawkins’ cover band that rips through classic rock songs with ease, is known for bringing out big names at their shows. Unfortunately, when the band closed out the Liberty Stage, no guests came out to join the band.

Fans of Sepultura got to hear the legendary album, Roots, in its entirety during Max & Igor Cavalera’s Return To Roots set. This was one of the most bad-ass sets of the day. Seeing the two brothers back on stage doing Sepultura songs was absolutely incredible and the crowd went wild. One band that seemed to sneak its way into a huge main-stage slot was Baroness. These guys have been growing and growing non-stop and have been receiving incredible support from some of the biggest musicians on the planet. The love and support of Baroness landed them a late evening slot and definitely gave the band a chance to reach an audience of plenty of Baroness virgins.

It’s impossible to not mention Trivium when it comes to kicking ass. The guys in Trivium seem to live on the road and never show any signs of slowing down. Although their last album Silence In The Snow, wasn’t as “heavy” as some old fans would have liked, this monster of an album has been a commercial hit and the tracks are solid. Gone are the signature screams of singer Matt Heafy, but the record showcases Heafy’s ability to actually sing. Together with long time band members Corey Beaulieu and Paolo Gregoletto and new drummer Paul Wandtke, Trivium continues to give festival crowds around the world a brutal, fast and a seemingly too short set.

Saturday’s top performance didn’t come from any headliner or by any band that played on either stage inside the stadium. The top band of the day took the Liberty Stage at 4:15. That band was letlive. For people who skipped letlive., saying they missed out is a complete understatement. Often times, writers will say a band had “high energy” and all these other generic compliments about a band they thought was pretty good. On Saturday, letlive. could be described to someone who missed them simply as, f*&King insane. Singer Jason Aalon Butler gave Rock Allegiance everything he could, without getting in too much trouble. Butler ended up hanging upside down at the soundboard tent and running throughout the crowd while his team of roadies tried to keep the audience from becoming strangled with this microphone cord. If there’s one thing fans at Rock Allegiance aren’t ever going to forget, it is letlive’s set.

Out of the 2 day festival, Sunday was definitely the day with the stacked lineup. The day started off with what would be one of the best sets of the day from Death Angel. Singer Mark Osegueda is by far one of the best vocalists in heavy metal. This guy can hit any note imaginable. If there was one bad thing to say about Sunday, it would be Death Angel’s set was too damn short. Next time, Death Angel deserves a mid-day main stage slot to show the crowd what they bring to the table.

After Death Angel, bands like Devour The Day, Twelve Foot Ninja, Crobot and Kyng were all back to back one after the other. Although none of these bands have hit it big yet, they’re all in the process of knocking down that door. This year was Devour The Day’s second year in a row playing Rock Allegiance and the crowd was definitely excited to see them again. The singer of Kyng wasn’t too happy with them and Crobot playing at almost the same exact time. He went on to say that whoever booked that should be fired.

From 2:30 onward, many fans may not have even left the two main stages inside Talen Energy Stadium. Unfortunately for bands like Neck Deep, Amity Affliction and Pierce The Veil, the main stages where were the party was at. Although, even though the inside floor was packed in, these bands attracted their own die-hard fans and fans who may have been curious to check out someone new. Pierce The Veil certainly could have played inside due to the crowd and the stage setup they had. The guys in Pierce The Veil are an absolute blast to watch on stage and their spaceship on stage isn’t something every band brings out on the road.

Sevendust had a huge crowd over at the Bridge Stage for their set. One of those fans at the Bridge Stage was Anthrax singer, Joey Belladonna, who joined Lajon Witherspoon to sing “Face to Face.” Sevendust was another victim of the dreaded short festival set. Only having time for a handful of songs, Sevendust wasted no time between songs and gave fans as much as they could. The band closed out their set with their Grammy nominated track “Thank You.”

Some other highlights of the day were Hellyeah and Killswitch Engage. Both of these bands are entertaining to watch from start to finish. Hellyeah singer, Chad Gray is one of the most explosive front-men in metal. Hellyeah’s setlist only featured songs off their 2 latest albums Blood for Blood and Unden!able. During the track “Sangre por Sangre,” bassist Kyle Sanders spit fake blood all over Chad’s face. Chad would sport this blood for the rest of the set and it was clear this band meant business. Hellyeah have certainly been working their asses off creating new music and trying to win over the haters of their group.

Killswitch Engage, on the other hand, doesn’t have to do anything fancy on stage to win over fans. The guys in KSE are purely bad-ass and get the crowd going regardless if they’re fans of their band or not. Certainly one of the rowdiest crowds of the day, Killswitch gave them all the reason to be. Guitarist, Adam Dutkiewicz, did what he does best and got the people of Rock Allegiance in the KSE mood. Dutkiewicz and singer Jesse Leach lead the charge and helped give Killswitch Engage one of Sunday’s best performances.

The rest of the evening after KSE was great as anyone would have guessed. Chevelle, Anthrax, Volbeat and Slayer were all fantastic. Each band had a giant fan base in each section of the floor. Slayer fans waited all day along the rail of the Bridge Stage to be in front of Kerry King and Tom Araya. Having half of the big “four” on one stage was an easy choice for thrash metal fans on where to set up camp. Getting that front row spot for both Anthrax and Slayer would put any thrash metal fan in heaven, or in this case, hell.

As expected, Anthrax stuck with their casual festival setlist. This setlist is fine for any casual fan of Anthrax, but the die-hard fans who traveled to see them definitely wanted something a little different. Tracks like, “Got The Time” and “Antisocial” could definitely be replaced by songs off their latest two albums, which were both outstanding. Both Chevelle and Volbeat, on the other hand, picked their setlists well offering a nice balance between new and old material. Slayer was also another band that seemed to surprise the crowd with their setlist choice. Instead of playing mainly tracks of their latest album Repentless, they only chose to play the title track. The rejuvenated Slayer lineup dug into deep cuts as well as playing the fan-favorite classics like “Raining Blood” and “Angel of Death.”

The two top performances on Sunday belonged to two bands that toured together not too long ago. Those two bands are Ghost and headliner Avenged Sevenfold. Ghost, who just kicked off their Popestar Tour days before, opened their set with their new EP single “Square Hammer.” For fans who hadn’t caught on to Ghost already, were probably walking out of the stadium that night with a shirt or CD from the FYE tent. Ghost definitely had one of the biggest fan bases over the entire weekend. Ghost shirts were seen by the minute on both days of the festival. The stage show wasn’t what fans will see at headlining shows due to time restrictions, but fans weren’t complaining. The Ghouls, complete with their new female bassist, ripped through 6 more songs after “Square Hammer.” Together with Papa Emeritus III, the band flawlessly performed songs such as “From the Pinnacle to the Pit,” “Cirice,” “Year Zero”, and more. Unlike headlining shows where the band closes with “Monstrance Clock,” Ghost changed things up and said their goodbyes with “Mummy Dust.”

The chance of Avenged Sevenfold disappointing the fans at Rock Allegiance this year was practically 0%. It’s been a while since Avenged Sevenfold has toured and fans were ready for something that was new and fresh. The band went on stage and opened with “Nightmare.” Fans could quickly point out that Avenged no longer had the extensive stage setup like they did on their Mayhem Festival run a few years back. This time, Avenged kept things simple with an empty stage and a giant LED screen. People who thought that was all they brought were definitely mistaken. It didn’t take long for the onslaught of flames to come from the back of the stage song after song. The new tour not only meant a new stage but also a refreshed setlist. This time around, Avenged played tracks like “Planets,” “Acid Rain,” “To End the Rapture,” and “Second Heartbeat.” The weekend ended with “Unholy Confessions,” instead of the typical encore of “A Little Piece of Heaven.”

At the end of the weekend, it would be hard to say fans were left disappointed. The lineup for both days of the festival was solid and seemed to have something for everyone. It may have been noticed by people at Rock Allegiance that it wasn’t close to a sold-out capacity crowd, but that doesn’t affect the experience negatively. With two other festivals going on over the same weekend, both within reasonable driving distance, Rock Allegiance held its ground and drew a decent size crowd for what it was up against. Hopefully next year, Chester, PA. can once again be the host of Rock Allegiance for the 3rd straight year.

September 26, 2016