NYS Music 20​16

Category: News Desk

  • 518 Songfest at the Egg

    The 518 Songfest, a local singer/songwriter showcase, will take place at the Egg in Albany on Saturday, Feb. 27.

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    The 518 Songfest is part concert and part panel discussion that will showcase four local up-and-coming musicians along with songwriter Tim Moore, who wrote hit songs “Second Avenue” and “Rock and Roll Love Letter.” The other musicians include Bryan Thomas, Ashley Sophia, Benjamin John and Rhiannon’s Lark (featuring Alyssa Yeager). Sandy McKnight, co-producer of this event and producer of the Indie Fest at the Egg, will also take part in the panel discussion. The discussion will be led by the other co-producer, Andy Gregory, and Exit 97.7 WEXT’s Dave Michaels, who will be fielding questions from the audience.

    Attendees will want to arrive as close as possible to 6 p.m., when the doors open, as performers and sponsors will have booths setup in the Swyer Theater lobby and be available for questions and to autograph merchandise. Meet-and-greet sessions will also take place during intermission. Seating will begin at 6:30.

    Tickets for the show are available for $10 at the box office or online. Buyers are encouraged to purchase tickets early, as seating will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, with the best seats going to the earliest buyers. Proceeds from the event will benefit Columbia Arts Team, WEXT and the Egg, all 501(c)3 non-profit organizations.

    [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWbZ4iWWAAQ[/embedyt]

  • Madison House, AEG Live Nears Approval for Big Music Festival

    This summer a brand-new music event could be hitting the festival circuit — although New Yorkers will have to travel west to Colorado. Madison House Presents and AEG Live announced plans for a four-day event with the possibility to host 20,000 people on a ranch near Buena Vista, Colorado. The expected run for the weekend event is Aug. 4 through 7.

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    According to the Denver Post, commissioners in Chaffee County, Colorado, seem likely to approve the proposal for the annual festival at a meeting in early March. “I don’t see having challenges we could not overcome. I have faith in Madison House that is well earned that they can do what needs to be done,” said Chaffee County Commissioner Dave Potts, as reported Tuesday in the Denver Post.

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    Photo from Facebook

    Last August, the Boulder-based Madison House Presents organized a two-day Mumford and Sons Gentlemen of the Road festival in neighboring Salida, Colorado; other artists included the Flaming Lips, Dawes, Jenny Lewis and Blake Mills. Madison House is known for putting on such music festivals as Electric Forest Festival and Rothbury Festival and managing bands like the String Cheese Incident and JJ Grey and MOFRO, while AEG Live produces the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, among others, and Goldenvoice, a Southern California-based regional division of the company, organizes Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival.

    For this new event, the organizers hope to schedule performances until 1 a.m. on Thursday and Sunday, and 2:30 a.m. on the other two days. The festival’s headliners and lineup will not be released until early spring, but Madison House Presents and AEG Live promise a diverse group of acts to attract a wide range of ages. Stay tuned for updates as this story further develops.

    H/T Jambase

  • Barry Manilow to Play Turning Stone Despite Emergency Surgery

    It looks like Barry Manilow will be able to play his scheduled performance at Turning Stone after all.

    The 72-year old singer/songwriter made a surprise return performance Sunday night at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. He underwent emergency oral surgery on back-to-back days on Feb. 8 and 9 and, after performing in Memphis, Tennessee on Feb. 11, Manilow was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital for a third procedure due to complications from the first two surgeries.

    barry manilow turning stoneET Canada reports that Manilow’s third surgery was a success. Manilow was instructed by doctors not to talk, sing or rap for 48 hours after the surgery. According to ET, music producer David Foster said the recent hospitalization isn’t as scary as it sounded and Manilow will be fine, but it was something that he just had to deal with.

    At Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party, Manilow performed his 1974 hit “Mandy.” Manilow told the audience, “I am glad to be here tonight. What a week.” Manilow then performed a duet, “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart,” with the late Judy Garland who appeared on the video screen behind Manilow.

    Days later, Manilow resumed his One Last Time-One Last Tour Wednesday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Two dates in Tennessee were postponed due to the hospitalization. Central New Yorkers can catch their last glimpse of this music icon when he hits the stage at the Turning Stone Events Center at the Turning Stone Casino on Friday, March 18, in Verona, outside Syracuse.

    From 2008-2011, Manilow held residency in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Hilton performing over 400 shows. Manilow has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide with several Billboard hits to go along with various multi-platinum selling albums.

    Manilow has won various awards in his career including a Grammy for Best Pop Male Performance for the song “Copacabana,” EMMY awards in 1977 for Outstanding Special (Comedy, Variety or Music) – The Barry Manilow Special and 2006 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program – Barry Manilow: Music And Passion, a Tony award in 1977 for Barry Manilow on Broadway and several American Music Awards.

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  • Funk Yes: Lettuce Set to Groove University of Rochester

    Although you won’t find it listed on their current roster of dates, Lettuce will make a third appearance in New York state during this spring/summer tour. According to the University of Rochester’s event ticketing website, the funk-fueled jazz band is booked for a Feb. 26 show on the River Campus. The New York City group will also return to their home state for performances at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on April 8 and Hunter Mountain Jam Festival this June.

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    Known for soulful super jams, Lettuce debuted their fourth studio album, Crush, last year. Jeremiah Shea said in his NYS Music review that this album “is the convergence of road tested and polished material, musical exploration, deep pockets of groove, and a band that is simply on top of their game.” Brian Ferguson was on hand to catch the two-night Crush release party at the Playstation Theater last November, where Marco Benevento opened the show and Lettuce encored with a new tune titled “Phyllis” (hear the song below).

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    Eric Krasno

    The band, featuring Adam Deitch (drummer), Adam Smirnoff and Eric Krasno (guitarists), Erick “Jesus” Coomes (bassist), Neal Evans (keyboardist), Ryan Zoidis (saxophonist) and Eric Bloom (trumpet player), last played in Rochester June 2015 for the city’s Party in the Park (after Taj Mahal cancelled) and made a stop at Water Street Music Hall October 2014.

    Doors will open at 8:30 p.m. with show time of 9 p.m. Tickets are available online through the University, or at the Common Market in Wilson Commons. The concert is open to the public; special ticket pricing applies for students and faculty. If you’re nearby the Finger Lakes area next Friday, pencil in this performance as it’s guaranteed to be one energetic soul shakedown party.

  • Twiddle Hits New York with Four Nights of Plumperdump

    Vermont based quartet Twiddle kick off their Plumperdump Tour this Thursday with a sold out show at the Port City Music Hall in Portland Maine. Twiddle fans in New York State will be able to catch the band in a number of cities during the month long tour.

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    Twiddle will be hitting the Empire State first on Saturday Feb 20 in Syracuse at the Westcott Theater. The band will then kick off a three day New York State run starting at the Town Ballroom on Thursday Feb 25 in Buffalo before heading to the Upstate Music Mall on Feb 26 and Irving Plaza in New York City on Feb 27.

    As Twiddle continues to lock down slots on large festivals and sell out venues around the country, the Plumperdump tour may be one of the last chances fans have to see the band in smaller more intimate venues. And fans wanting to see the band on this tour, shouldn’t wait until the day of the show to buy tickets.

    Twiddle’s December tour included sold out shows at the Brooklyn Bowl and the Paradise Rock Club in Boston as well as a sold out three day New Year’s Eve run in their hometown of Burlington. With several Plumperdump dates close to selling out, fans in New York state may want to act sooner rather than later by locking down tickets in advance.

    Twiddle’s brand of hi-def shredding is a fusion mix of rock, jazz, reggae and funk is gaining a rapidly growing fan base across the country. But fans in the northeast are a large part of the band’s continued success.

    Many Twiddle fans are finding themselves following the band on smaller runs throughout the country. According to Chris Hollywood of Slingerlands, NY, who will be hitting every stop on the Plumperdump tour, it’s a combination of the music and the fans that make the Twiddle live experience what it is. “The music is better than ever! People are realizing how great the fan base is, and even if the music was terrible, it would be worth the experience.”

    Jennifer Graves from New Haven, CT has been listening to the band since 2011. “I’ve seen them play 100 person rooms and I’ve seen them pack the Vibes main field at 11am on a Friday,” she noted. “I see their fan base grow exponentially every year, and some of the people I met at my very first Twiddle show are my best frends today.”

    Graves also noted that even longtime fans are blown away by the bands growth, “Watching how the last year has panned out, I can only imagine where their journey will bring them in the future. Sky’s the limit for these boys.”

    Tickets for all four New York shows are still available.

    Twiddle Pumperdump Winter Tour 2016

    Feb. 18 – Portland, Maine (Port City Music Hall) SOLD OUT

    Feb. 19 – Providence, Rhode Island (Fete Music Mall)

    Feb. 20 – Syracuse, New York (The Wescott Theatre)

    Feb. 25 – Buffalo, New York (Town Ballroom)

    Feb. 26 – Clifton Park, New York (Upstate Music Hall)

    Feb. 27 – New York, New York (Irving Plaza)

    March 10 – Washington, DC (9:30 Club)

    March 11 – Philadelphia, PA (Theatre of Living Arts)

    March 12 – New Haven, CT (Toad’s Place)

    March 13 – New Haven, CT (Toad’s Place)

  • Florida Georgia Line to Play Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

    Florida Georgia Line will play at the 2016 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at the En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott.

    The Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, held July 6 to 10, has become a staple in the area, attracting business to Endicott and the surrounding towns. In celebration of their 10th anniversary, Florida Georgia Line will perform at the Friday Night Concert on July 8. The concert takes place greenside once the golfers have finished swinging their woods and pulled their balls from the hole.

    Florida Georgia Line, the duo of Brian Kelly from Florida and Tyler Hubbard from Georgia, are one of the most successful country acts of the current decade, having won several music awards including Favorite Country Duo and Favorite Country Album, for their album Anything Goes, at the 2015 American Music Awards.

    They are gearing up for their Dig Your Roots 2016 tour, which begins next month in Australia and goes through mid-October in Atlanta. The tour brings them back to New York on July 17 at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, along with a handful of other stops in the Northeast.

    Visions Federal Credit Union is partnering with Dick’s Sporting Goods as a sponsor of the golf tournament. In celebration of their 50th year, all credit union members will have special priority pre-sale access to tickets to the open. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, Feb. 19 at 9 a.m. The $60 ticket provides access to the First Round of Champions Tour Gold and to the Friday Night Concert on the McIntosh Soundstage.

  • Update: Twiddle Finalizes ‘TumbleDown’ Lineup

    In a video posted to their Facebook page, Twiddle announced the lineup for their Tumble Down taking place July 29 and 30 at Burlington, Vermont’s Waterfront Park.

    In addition to Twiddle’s four sets over the weekend, they’ll be joined by New York funk favorites Turkuaz, Montana-based bluegrass act the Kitchen Dwellers, and special guest Holly Bowling on July 29. July 30 will see them joined by Cabinet and Nahko and Medicine for the People, along with Holly Bowling.

    Tickets are on sale now. Both single-day and two-day passes are available.

    Original Post:

    Vermont-based quartet Twiddle and Higher Ground have announced two nights of Twiddle at Burlington’s Waterfront Park this summer. The weekend will be known as Tumble Down and will be held July 29 and 30.

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    The weekend will continue as part of a tradition started last year at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival that included alternating sets with moe. This year, Twiddle will headline the event with two full sets each night. Several supporting acts will be announced.

    In addition to live music, the weekend will include various activities including a charity disc golf tournament supporting Twiddle’s fan-founded charity, The White Light Foundation. Late night sets will also be announced around Burlington featuring members of Twiddle.

    A limited number of early bird passes will be available at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19 for $54 through Ticketfly.

    The announcement of Tumble Down adds a punch to Twiddle’s already packed summer including dates at Red Rocks and multiple festival appearances including the Frendly Gathering, Lockn’ Festival and the Werk Out.

    Twiddle hits the road in support of their latest release, Plump – Chapter One, on Thursday for a sold-out show at the Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine.

  • Hollywood Vampires Kicking Off Tour in Verona

    The supergroup that had Bruno Mars wondering what he was witnessing at Monday’s Grammy Awards has announced a set of dates. The first stop for Hollywood Vampires tour is set for Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona May 24.

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    Hollywood Vampires is fronted by Alice Cooper, also includes Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, actor Johnny Depp and Guns N’ Roses rhythm section of Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan. The Vampires are a loose collective of rock royalty, with roots in the 1970s LA scene. Artists such as John Lennon, Elton John, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr have been associated with the group.

    hollywood vampiresCooper told Rolling Stone:

    We have to carefully schedule the Vampires. That’s because you have Johnny’s movie schedule; you’ve got Aerosmith; you’ve got Guns N’ Roses and you’ve got me! It’s five entities going in five different directions. To get those guys all at one time when we’re not working is really unique. So everybody looks at their calendar, and you have to find that two weeks where everybody’s off.

    The band performed a tribute to Lemmy Kilmister at Monday’s Grammy Awards, lighting the stage aflame with Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” as well as their first single “Bad as I Am” from their eponymous album, available now through the usual outlets.

    Tickets for the Turning Stone show are $74, $69 and $64 and go on sale Tuesday, Feb. 23, according to a Facebook post from Turning Stone.

  • Cannibal Corpse Thrashes Through North America, Vinyl Reissue

    This week death metal legends Cannibal Corpse kicked off a quick run through the United States, including stops in New York City and their hometown of Buffalo, before they’ll head off to Europe in April.

    Joining the group as supporting acts this tour will be fellow Floridians Obituary, as well as Cryptopsy and Abysmal Dawn.

    Cannibal Corpse is still touring in support of 2014’s A Skeletal Domain; however, in conjunction with the tour, the classic releases Butchered At Birth, Eaten Back To Life, The Bleeding, Vile and Tomb Of The Mutilated are to be commemorated on vinyl. Limited quantities are available as part of the Metal Blade Classics series. Each LP includes an exclusive poster.

    Tampa death metal vets Obituary will join the headliners throughout the full United States tour. The band’s last release was 2014’s Inked in Blood, which in his review for NYS Music, Jay Saint G noted that, “overall, fantastic album that really takes the listener back into the nasty swamps of Tampa and showcases what true death metal is all about.” Most recently, 3 Floyds Brewing co-created a session pilsner with the band called Hopped in Half. (3 Floyds crafted Amber Smashed Face with Cannibal Corpse last year.) Crytopsy, an extreme metal band from Montreal, released a series of EPs entitled The Book of Suffering October 2015, and Los Angeles-based black metal group Abysmal Dawn debuted their fourth studio album Obsolescence in 2014.

    Presented by the Noise, the 33-date tour got started last night in Atlanta and will cap off at Revolution Live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on March 20. The five-piece band originally from Buffalo makes two stops in New York State, including a hometown gig at the Town Ballroom on Feb. 19 after performing at New York City’s Irving Plaza on Feb. 16. Tickets for the Cannibal Corpse 2016 U.S. spring tour can be purchased through the band’s website.

    2016 Tour Cannibal Corpse w/Obituary, Cryptopsy, Abysmal Dawn:
    2/13 The Sea – Wilmington, NC
    2/14 Baltimore Soundstage – Baltimore, MD
    2/15 Theatre Of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
    2/16 Irving Plaza – New York, NY
    2/18 Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA
    2/19 Town Ballroom – Buffalo, NY
    2/20 Opera House – Toronto, ON
    2/21 St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
    2/23 Turner Hall Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI
    2/24 The Ready Room – St. Louis, MO
    2/25 The Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS
    2/26 Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN
    2/27 Metro – Chicago, IL
    2/29 The Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
    3/1 The Complex – Salt Lake City, UT
    3/2 Revolution Center – Boise, ID
    3/3 Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR
    3/4 Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC
    3/5 El Corazon – Seattle, WA
    3/7 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
    3/8 Avalon Hollywood – Los Angeles, CA
    3/9 The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
    3/10 House Of Blues – San Diego, CA
    3/11 Club Red – Phoenix, AZ
    3/12 Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM
    3/14 The Aztec Theatre – San Antonio, TX
    3/15 Gas Monkey Live! – Dallas, TX
    3/16 House Of Blues – Houston, TX
    3/17 Varsity Theatre – Baton Rouge, LA
    3/18 The Side Bar Theatre – Tallahassee, FL
    3/19 The Ritz Ybor – Tampa, FL *no Obituary
    3/20 Revolution Live – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

  • Brantley Gilbert’s BlackOut Tour Will Change Your Perception on What Country Music Is Today

    Brantley Gilbert IMG_9232 copyOne thing to love about country music is its diversity. When you think country music, most people automatically visualize the country music of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Buck Owens, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, or Merle Haggard; and rightly so. These forebearers of country music have paved the way for the genre bringing light so many amazing country musicians to the Opry stage and radio stations across the nation. Originating from a mix of cultures within the area at the time, you see styles merged together such as Old World, Americana, and Bluegrass to name a few.

    This compilation of twangy lyrics and upbeat tempos emerged and somehow imprinted itself on how people perceive country music still today. Country music is much more than the twangy renditions you have imprinted on your mind. Allow NYS Music to introduce you to one of the many genres of country music today; country southern rock. A new millennium of southern rock has emerged, and the sound once categorized under the rock genre back in the 70’s, can now fit neatly into the country southern rock category which is so much more than the twangy vocals, slide guitars, and fiddles of what is perceived of country music today.

    Enter Brantley Gilbert.

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    One of today’s biggest country southern rock musicians, Mr. Brantley Gilbert would definitely have fit in back in the day with the likes of such musicians and groups as Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Marshall Tucker Band, Ted Nugent, and ZZ Top to name only a few. This was the ass kicking country rock we loved back then and the southern country rock we love still today. Gilbert’s rocking country music is remiscent of this era and has categorized him as a badboy of country music today.

    As Brantley Gilbert rolls his Blackout Tour into the Turning Stone this February 20th, skeptics are encouraged to join us at the Turning Stone Event Center to put the myth that all country music is the same, to bed for once and for all. Not all country music fits neatly in one package.  Brantley is definitely not the “Bro Country” mold you may try to fit him into. Brantley’s music and live show give you a sense of being at a rock concert with sick guitar riffs, drum solos, and hair flying all around the stage.

    IMG_6361 copyTo help you prepare so that you know what to expect at your first Brantley Gilbert concert, here is a list of what to expect and not expect.

    • If you are expecting cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and plaid, you may be in for a surprise. You may see these things but they will sported more so by the crowd than those on stage. On stage you’ll see baseball caps, tattoos, chains, spiked hair, dreadlocks flying around, and brass knuckled microphones. Okay, you will see perhaps a beard on the keyboardist, but who doesn’t rock a beard these days? Awesome beard BJ Golden!
    • Classic country, nah you won’t hear this most likely, and if you do it will be one of the best classic country songs ever because of the twist Brantley gives it. Electric guitar riffs, deep base chords, drum solos, and pounding keyboards will accompany Brantley as he rocks the crowd.
    • Will there be lyrics about girls, partying, and back roads. Yeah most likely, but what rock band doesn’t sing about those topics. Any guy singing about bottoms up while dressed as a bootlegger sporting a zoot suit and tommy gun ‘rocks” in my humble opinion.
    • Will you leave feeling like you may have missed so much over the last few years as country music has evolved into something completely different than what you anticipated? Probably so. That’s okay. It’s better to arrive late to the party than never at all.
    • Will you have a good time. Oh yes, most definitely. Especially if you arrive early enough to grab a bite to eat at one of the amazing restaurants at the Turning Stone. (shameless plug hoping from something from the Harvest Buffet)

    IMG_9415 copyJoined on this tour are special guests Canaan Smith and Michael Ray, bringing their own kinda country party to the Turning Stone.  February 20th will be the hottest ticket in town during one of the coldest weeks, so don’t wait, get yours today and join NYS Music in welcoming this new millennium of country southern rock to Central New York.