With two nights in the books, and raised expectations thanks to the lore of the “30th” show, Phish dealt a musical hand that would be hard to beat last night. The first set played like an epic second set at points and saw an old favorite song get revamped. The second set featured the Vermont rock stars in peak jaw-dropping improvisational form and was bookended with two of the more legendary songs in Phish canon. And the encore was filled with thousands of fans singing the keyboardist’s favorite song before “Tweezer Reprise” ended the show in ragingly appropriate fashion. All this and it’s not even 2018 yet.
To the delight of many, Phish went back to its roots with a classic opening sequence of “Mike’s Song” > “I Am Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug Groove” that was once more than a regular sequence on set lists but seems to have petered out in recent years in favor of different permutations of “Mike’s Groove.” The iconic opening guitar lick was met with a resounding roar from the crowd and the band never looked back from there. “Hydrogen” gave Lighting Director Chris Kuroda a chance to show off his mood lighting as he added a perfect visual backdrop for the moody instrumental number. No sooner had the closing notes of “Weekapaug Groove” been played before guitarist Trey Anastasio ripped into another iconic opening guitar riff – this one belonging to “Tweezer,” a first set rarity to say the least. By this time, The Garden was in full “bouncy house” mode with the ground noticeably shaking and seemingly moving along in unison with everything else.
Following a soaring jam that touched on a myriad of themes, Anastasio huddled with Jon Fishman briefly before the drummer belted out the crowd favorite “Ass Handed.” Before long, the entire crowd, with nothing but the house lights on, was singing along in full unison, the first of two memorable sing-a-longs this evening. As if not to stem the energy too much, a blistering “Kill Devil Falls” followed that flowed ever so effortlessly into “Bathtub Gin” which had a majestic jam attached to it, further solidifying the second set feel to this first one. Soon after another energized reception from the crowd, bassist Mike Gordon began soloing in what turned out to be a new take on the old school number “Brother,” with this version taking a slower, more rhythmic approach. First set closer du jour “More” then capped off a first set that already felt like an entire show’s worth of music.
Topping a first set like that would normally be difficult, but Phish attempted to do so with another epic jam vehicle, this one being a more traditionally placed “Down with Disease” second set opener. The ensuing improv was Phish at their finest, with a jam that grew in scale and intensity before settling into “Steam.” This newer song evoked memories of New Years’ past when the band used it as part of their “gag” and played it while elevated on risers. “Light” kept the energy going in full force, highlighted by steady play and typical sound melodies from keyboardist Page McConnell. “Farmhouse” then delivered the second set “breather” song everyone had been waiting for before the set was bookended with another Phish staple, a breakneck speed, intense “Run Like an Antelope.” With no encore even necessary after a performance like that, it did offer the crowd one last chance to join together in song via “Sleeping Monkey” before the expected “Tweezer Reprise” closer blew the lid off the world’s most famous arena…again. Three special nights of music are now complete as Phish begins plans for its 17th show at Madison Square Garden in the year 2017. What they have left in the tank is anyone’s guess.
“Ever want to experience what it’s like to travel with a band?” read the Periodic Table of Elephant’s Facebook post. “Experience travel in a gear-laden vehicle! Participate in the time-honored tradition of unloading! Eat gas station food!” The Rochester-based band had room to take a few people for their headlining show in Tonawanda on Thursday, December 28. It is likely the best ad I ever have or ever will respond to.
I hitched a ride with bassist Greg Horton in his gear-laden station wagon, and we picked up a friend of his on the way to the gig. Cruising along I90, he filled me in on the origin story of the band, which is known as PToE for short. While Horton is the newest member of PToE, he’s not new to playing with the other members, Sean McGinnis Scanlon and Jason Pariseau. They were in a band together until Horton moved out of state three years ago. Before leaving, he suggested changing the name to Periodic Table of Elephants. Pariseau and Scanlon carried on as a duo in Horton’s absence, until he made a return to New York this fall.
This was my first time at Stamps in Tonawanda. The bar is located in a stone building on Main Street. Inside, a long and inviting bar stretched back to a mid-sized room with a stage, some tables and seating, and a pool table. Pariseau and Scanlon arrived before us. After a warm welcome, I was introduced to their entourage of friends and loved ones.
It was still early, so we threw back Coronas by the bucket while the guys held a pool tournament. Pariseau had picked out some epic rock anthems on the jukebox: Social Distortion “Story of My Life,” Queen’s “Somebody to Love” and Goldfinger’s cover of “99 Red Balloons.”
Scanlon was wearing his Lil Bub t-shirt and told us all about meeting the phenomenal feline at a recent appearance at Black Sheep in Buffalo. Lil Bub is a miracle cat, having several rare conditions including dwarfism, extra toes, and the only cat diagnosed with osteoporosis. She’s become a poster child (er… rather poster cat) for disabled and homeless cats, and helps raise awareness and funds for charities. Sean is a cat-lover, and he and his wife share their home with several rescue cats.
The conversation turned to music, and we talked shop for a bit. PToE has been selected for again to play the Homegrown festival at Lovin’ Cup in Rochester. They’re one of seven bands on the bill for the day-long celebration of Rochester’s indie music, food, and beverages. The annual event is scheduled for January 20. They also talked about re-entering the studio to work on a follow-up to last year’s debut EP Henry.
Attention was then directed to the stage, which is lined in vinyl records, as singer-songwriter Jordan Potter took to the mic. The solo performer from the Southern Tier played a handful of originals and finished with a cover of Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” Potter was followed by Buffalo-based progressive band Jon Rizzo & The Conference of The Strange. Imaginative art rock originals incorporating vocals, drum, bass, keyboard and mellotron were intermixed with a handful of holiday classics.
Before starting to play, Horton, a proponent of hearing loss prevention, offered complimentary earplugs to members of the audience. It was a good idea to take him up on it, because these guys play loud. From the first note of the set to the last, PToE put the pedal to the metal and didn’t ease up. They started with their garage rock anthem “Kung Pao Chicken.” It begins with a simple guitar chord progression before Pariseau lets loose the guttural cry, “In America” signaling the onset of earth-shaking rhythms and grungy guitar riffs.
While PToE was doable as a live duo, the addition of Horton to the band gives their performance extra oomph. Not only does he contribute to the added dimension of sound on bass, but also with his stage presence. There’s a dynamic energy between the trio and it’s fun to watch them go all out on stage together. Scanlon is easily one of my favorite drummers to watch play live. He goes at the drums with exuberant expression, and the waves of pure unadulterated joy he emanates are downright contagious.
It was great to enjoy the show among the herd of Elephants fans, surrounded by the friends and family who’ve supported them for years. Playful banter between the stage and crowd erupted between songs.
PToE did a bunch of their most popular songs, and tried out a new one. “Lost” is full of crashing waves of sound, reminiscent of 90’s rock. In a fun twist, they also covered a song from their previous iteration as a band, a punk rock rager called “Lament.” They ended strong with the bar-brawl riot theme “Better Off Dead.”
In the car on the way back home, we listened to some classic rock tunes (Talking Heads, The Kinks, David Bowie, and the like) and talked about shows we’ve been to and the ones we plan to hit up this year. Horton has seen an impressively long list of legendary artists, including Pink Floyd and The Grateful Dead. We arrived back in Rochester after midnight, thoroughly exhausted, but still riding that post-show adrenaline high.
To keep up to date with events, follow Periodic Table of Elephants on Facebook. Read the NYS Music review of Henry. You’ll find their EP and their live album to stream on Spotify or purchase through Bandcamp.
Setlist: Kung Pao Chicken, Head Trauma, Machines, Duck, Whatever, My Youth, Lost, CBT, Lament (Ack! cover), Better Off Dead
The members of Phish returned to Madison Square Garden for an unprecedented 15th time in 2017 on Friday, December 29, 2017, and while the first set showcased a few stumbles along the way, the band showed it’s still pushing brand new boundaries heading into its 35th year.
With biting winds and the repetitiveness of yet another MSG jaunt, fans filled the sideways, bars and restaurants of midtown Manhattan, pre-show prepping for an unpredictably wild night. Off the bat, the band slid into the slinky intro of “Cavern,” typically a set closer. While Trey Anastasio mixed up a few lyrics, he set the tone for the evening. A lengthened “Blaze On” followed that fell into jazzy ambiance before bassist Mike Gordon leaped into his song, “555.”
“I Always Wanted It This Way,” keyboardist Page McConnell’s tune, stretched out from 1980s-like quirkiness into a vast yet quite dark jam. “Martian Monster” and “Heavy Things” saw the band have a little fun, notably the interplay between Anastasio and McConnell in the latter. “Destiny Unbound,” somewhat of a rarity, injected a breath of life into the crowd. Stretching to nearly nine minutes, this version of “Destiny” is longer than all in recent memory, but it was clear the band hadn’t practiced it much prior.
“Ocelot” slowly turned into a jam that featured Anastasio’s slinky fretwork, built up to a peak rife with tension. A little bit of his old school bravado from the mid-1990s was on display, dancing runs of notes up and down with little abandoned. While some fans are growing a bit weary of The Garden, Phish doesn’t appear to be among them. Launching into the set closing “Walls Of The Cave,” Phish was set to send us all to the restrooms and beer lines with a little extra pep in our steps. Anastasio had a little trouble with the intro, but he was pushed by excellent drum work by Jon Fishman, who was quietly the most important piece of the band in the set. With his extra effort rubbing off on Anastasio, Phish set “WotC” into orbit with a frenetic finish, capped off by incredible lighting from Chris Kuroda, who has incorporated seemingly every house light in the building with his rig to make for quite a stunning visual component.
The tone was immediately set when the first strums of “Sand” echoed through the sold out Garden. Anastasio quickly made use of his new toys on his completely redesigned guitar rig. Designed by Custom Audio Electronics, the set features new cabinets and a wide array of new options for Anastasio to incorporate.
With the “Chalk Dust Torture” that followed, the band unleashed a jam that quickly became the highlight of the night. After the typical song portion, Anastasio bullied his way into a quiet jam that really felt forced and out of place. It seemed as if they simply decided they’re going to launch a completely separate segment, which really should be titled “Chalk Dust Torture->Jam” on the official setlist. That was quickly forgotten, as the quiet melodies bled into an Allman Brothers-sounding jam. Gordon and McConnell continued forcing Anastasio to enter new territories before dissolving into what can only be described as a siren-sounding jam.
The execution of the segue into “Ghost” was as smooth as it gets. Almost contrary to the jam before it, this “Ghost” was led in force by the rhythm section. Gordon and Fishman landed on a smooth groove, to which McConnell responded with wavy synth runs to give the jam a dreamy finish.
“Backwards Down The Number Line” may not be everyone’s favorite song, but no one can argue that it’s about as fun of a Phish song as there is. The previous 41 minutes was Phish showing us that nothing gets stale with this band. The following eight minutes was them telling the crowd how it’s as important to the show as the band is. When Anastasio sang the closing “you decide what it contains” lyric, the people on the Chase Bridge went into pure bliss. A very quick “Simple” gave way to the drums of “Split Open And Melt.” This “Melt” was the perfect cap to a show that took a left at every right hand turn. The middle segment was eerie, haunting and quite strange. It was a dissolution into some ambient work by McConnell and Gordon, before Anastasio brought the song — and set — to a close. It was the most improv heavy “Melt” since the SPAC, 2013 version.
For the encore, that bravado of Anastasio resurfaced. “Julius” may have been about the only predictable part of the show, but it gave Anastasio one more chance to show he’s most exciting and innovative guitarist in rock and roll today. The rocking finish was coupled with Kuroda lighting the Garden in some of the most impressive ways of his career, and that’s saying something.
Tonight Phish goes for No. 16 at the Garden. If the first two nights are foreshadowing tonight, we are in for another gem.
Four long months after the final notes of the Baker’s Dozen’s “Tweezer Reprise,” Phish retook the Jell-O stage at MSG on December 28, 2017, for their “Triumphant Return” to the world’s most famous arena. If there were any doubts as to whether they could play with the intensity and passion of the Baker’s Dozen, they were abandoned almost immediately as New York was treated to a show that carried a similar magic to those of the previous run at the Garden. The only noticeable difference was the bitter cold and lack of gourmet donut wrappers on the floor.
The band took no time getting the show on the road with a spacey ‘AC/DC Bag’ which saw Trey sitting back on the solo and letting the rest of the band organically develop a patient groove, which would foreshadow the jamming style of the night. ‘Wolfman’s Brother’ emerged out of the white lights and provided the first (of many) jam highlight of the evening. The band quickly transitioned from the classic Wolfman’s funk to a dark, murky jam that gave the feeling that you took the wrong turn down a shrunken alley on the lower east side, but there was no going back because you already devoted to making it past the sketchy brown walls and back to a world of streetlights and pretzel vendors. An early first set ‘Roggae’ broke out of the darkness and saw masterful interplay between all four band members as they reached a glorious peak that shook the garden.
Another first set highlight came next in the funky ‘Tube’ which saw an extended jam reminiscent of the Dick’s 16 ‘No Men in No Man’s Land.’ Trey played around with his effects to create an echoed funnel over the fast-building Mike led jam. It was brought so far into space they had to take a couple of seconds to catch themselves before fumbling back into the final verse of the song. There was so much packed into this short ‘Tube’ that I still almost don’t believe it only clocked in at just over eight minutes. A standard ‘Bouncing Around the Room’ came next and gave everyone a chance to catch their breaths before the band went right back at it with an exceptionally rocking ‘Back on the Train.’ For a while in recent years, this song played the role of keeping the energy in a setlist up without doing anything too special, but the last few we have seen has broken that mold and become must listen to first set highlights.
A funky ‘Your Pet Cat’ followed and kept up the energy in the room before a dark ‘Waking up Dead’ showcased Mike’s songwriting ability and Trey’s prog-rock roots in the solo. An oddly placed, but much appreciated, set closing ‘Theme From the Bottom’ followed, and quickly broke the mold from a traditional ‘Theme’ jam as the band built a peak similar to a summer 2014 ‘Bathtub Gin.’ The only other time ‘Theme’ closed out a first set was 12/13/1999. While the first set may look standard on paper, it was anything but. Nearly every song saw the band taking a risk and going off the deep end, as they have been doing all year.
After a smile-fueled set break, the band to the stage with a rocking ‘Wilson’ which got everyone in the crowed fired up and ready to boogie. As soon as the opening notes of ‘Wilson’ began, there was a feeling in the air that the second set was going to be special, as second sets that open with Wilson are historically very strong (the last two prior to this shows were 9/6/15 and 7/27/14). ‘No Men in No Man’s Land’ came hot off the high energy ‘Wilson’ produced and catapulted the show from “Wow” to “Did that just happen?!?” The multi-part behemoth saw an array of the band’s play styles from funk to rock to space, and created soundscapes that swirled through the air from Page’s new synth, which defined the sound of 2017 Phish. Clocking in at just over 24 minutes, this NMINML is a jam that will be listened to for a long time. Out of the madness came a familiar riff as Trey transitioned into another anticipated jam vehicle, ‘Twist.’ The band took no time getting things going as they built the versatile song into a fervent funk jam which shot laser beams from one end of the garden to the other. Out of the funk peak saw a push back into darkness from Mike and Fish, which lasted for a few minutes leading many to believe they were going into ‘Steam,’ though Trey had different ideas.
The transition to ‘Everything’s Right’ wasn’t the cleanest, but once the vocals started it did not matter one bit. The new song has been a consistently strong jam vehicle since it’s debut, and this version was no exception, as it dissolved into a misty canal then slingshot the band back into space as they effortlessly transitioned into ‘2001.’ While this ‘2001’ didn’t really break the mold of the song’s structure, it was played exceptionally well with a little extra mustard and no (blatant) missed notes. The band was not about taking a break during this set, so what better song to cap it off with than ‘Harry Hood?’ This Hood saw a patient build with all four members contributing to the jam leading to the peak. While it wasn’t the most over the top peak they’ve played, there was on old school feel to the way Trey approached the ending solo which filled the garden with uncontrollable joy and plentiful high-fives.
A standard ‘The Wedge’ was placed in the encore role for only the second time in the song’s history (the first being the infamous 11/14/1995 show), and just when everyone thought they were done Trey played the opening notes to “Slave to the Traffic Light” and ripped us back in. Slave is another song that will always keep you satisfied while not quite living up to the glory of it’s younger days, but this version seemed to have a little extra something in it. The jam leading to the peak showcased a band that did not want to stop as Mike, Page and Fish pushed the structure of the song to its limits while Trey held a note for what felt like an eternity and drove the crowd wild. When he finally let go and exploded into the peak it was as if 20,000 people who had just been holding their breath underwater for two minutes came up for air at once and completely let go of any control they had of their bodies. It was a phenomenal way to end an amazing show, and this was only the first night.
Setlist via Phish.net
Set 1: AC/DC Bag, Wolfman’s Brother, Roggae, Tube > Bouncing Around the Room, Back on the Train, Your Pet Cat, Waking Up Dead > Theme From the Bottom
Set 2: Wilson > No Men In No Man’s Land > Twist > Everything’s Right > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Harry Hood
Not all bands make it. Some break up. Some grow apart, others go on hiatus. and fewer return. Mister F is a band about to go on hiatus. The group formed in March of 2013 with 3 members of Timbre Coup joining forces with Scott Hannay of Capital Zen, to form a prog-rock jamband, and one that had a slew of songs right out of the gate. A cover of Particle’s “Elevator” (inspired, purely by coincidence, by a video my friend Mark mad 10 years earlier) was a highlight, as were original tunes “This one Goes to 11” and “Hedgehog” among others. Drummer Matt Pickering gave me the heads up and had incredible enthusiasm for this project, and the half full Hollow agreed that this enthusiasm was well placed for Mister F’s debut, and not just among Arrested Development fans.
Over 5 years, they’ve played more than 580 shows, produced one studio album, with another on the way in 2018, but for now, they’re stepping back from the road and performing for the near future. Their final show, for now, will be at The Hollow on December 30 with Goose, starting a hiatus in the same place where the band started their journey nearly 5 years ago.
But how did the band end up here, calling for a hiatus after five solid years and a strong core fan base across the Northeast and Midwest? Was it preventable, a series of unfortunate events, or something else? With their final show before hiatus this week, NYS Music spoke to members of Mister F, past and present, as well as former managers, to get the first hand account of what led to this asterisk on their career. Read the story of a band who spent 5 years working tirelessly to make it as touring musicians, and discover what drove the band to get this far, and to decide to put the brakes on, for now.
Scott Hannay: We started writing music toward Mister F in late 2012 as a side project – a way to throw some tours in here and there, as Zen and Timbre Coup weren’t able to be in tour mode at that time. We all wanted to get ourselves out there. It quickly became a vehicle to do that, and overwhelmed the other bands. I was let go from Capital Zen, who moved on without me, and later that year, Timbre Coup also folded.
Matt Pickering: When Timbre Coup was slowing down, the 3 of us who were living in the bandhouse were still interested in going full steam ahead and touring as often as possible. At the time, we really wanted to keep the same instrument switching aspects TC had and besides Dan (Gerken), Scott was really the only other person we could think of who played bass, guitar, and keys. We knew him as a keys player from shows with Capital Zen and we were quickly impressed with his guitar and bass skills when he sent us hopeful future parts/tracks that he wrote. Scott was great from the get-go and he was totally on board with our plan to play 140 shows a year. That was how the last 5 years of my life started.
Andrew Chamberlaine: Before Joining Timbre Coup I was pursuing a degree in Music Ed at (The College of) Saint Rose. I had known Ben for a while because we were in the Music program at SCCC together. I played in a band for a short time With Dmitry Bolotny (who went on to form Dirty Paris shortly after) and crossed paths with the rest of Timbre Coup while playing a gig with them at Savannah’s in Albany sometime around 2008-ish. A few months after that gig I got a message from Matt asking me to try out for their band.
We all knew that changes were coming for Timbre Coup so Mister F was formed out of necessity to continue our passion for creating unique music. Initially we wanted to keep the ball rolling with Timbre Coup and make necessary changes but it didn’t work out that way so we re-branded and started from scratch (more or less). In hindsight creating Mister F with most of our existing lineup allowed us to create some really cool new music and fix a lot of the things we felt Timbre Coup fell short with. TC’s music was pretty complex (I mean how does one dance to a song that’s in 7/8, 5/4, and 4/4 at the same time?! lol) so we decided to tone in back and reach our audience better while still keeping the music unique and original. At the very least we discovered two things with Mister F; 1: you really can make a song groove in an odd time signature, and 2: the van doesn’t smell good after a while.
As Mister F began touring, there was a drive to the band to set goals for themselves. Relationships that had been developed over years as fans and musicians, particularly with Umphrey’s McGee, lead to official after-shows and greater opportunities and encouragement.
Ben Pickering: I felt like there were a lot of factors pushing us when we first started touring. We started traveling as soon as we had enough material to play a show. Our sixth show was an Umphrey’s McGee after-show in Chicago. The relationships we made with bands in previous years allowed us to pick up great gigs and some great festival plays really early on. It felt really good and it didn’t take too long to feel like we achieved more in a couple years with Mister F than we did in our previous bands. Getting opening slots for some of the bigger band almost felt like we got their approval and helped push us to work as hard as we could. We’ve always been very goal oriented, whether it be playing X amount of shows in a year, or hitting a couple big festivals a summer, we always focused on one thing at a time and got it done. And we’ve always had a great team helping us along the way: David Limentani our booking agent, Mike Dean and Aaron Hagle both former managers, and Greg Bell were huge factors in getting us to this point.
Mike Dean: I think I had only heard one or two songs the band recorded in their practice room by the time I decided to make the move to Albany. I was a huge fan of Timbre Coup at the time, and knew what the guys could bring to the table musically. Aside from the logistics of moving roughly 700 miles away and entering an industry in which I had no experience, it was a no brainer.
We were fortunate to be able to kind of pick up right where Timbre Coup left off. Already having lots of contacts for venues, promoters and festivals along the East coast was a huge plus. From that point, it was just a matter of increasing that base of contacts all across the country and trying to work our way further from home each tour. Most of what actually gave the guys their running start was their desire to tour relentlessly from the get-go. By 2014, we were already hitting 130+ shows a year. We did quite a few Umphrey’s McGee after parties during my time with Mister F. It was always a right place/right time scenario, and we were lucky enough to get the “official” stamp a number of times, which helped considerably with turnout.
As things got rolling early, all signs were positive. The band dealt with ironing out aspects of their sound, including ending the instrument switching mid-set that was a staple of Timbre Coup and early Mister F.
MP: We were so young when we started Timbre Coup but we learned everything we know about how to play shows in that band. We were very serious about it, but it takes a few years to learn the business and really be on the road. So we started Mister F with lots of experience and one thing we wanted to do was find our sound. We were going for more funky, a bit less edgy. Timbre Coup had so much material so it’s hard to sum it up but it was prog based and more math-y fusion. We were shooting for a toned down version and with more keys. Just changing one member makes you sound incredibly different, though. So while we were writing early on, we worked fast but were very picky and choosy with what we went with. A couple years in we also decided to keep Ben on bass and off guitar, and Scott on keys and off guitar and bass. The instrument switching every show turned into a challenge. It also made it hard for us to find our sound we had so many that we could choose from with in our own band members we felt it was best and we wanted to put our best foot forward.
SH: Our early goal after our other band obligations went by the wayside was just to tour as much as possible. We worked hard at booking ourselves in all sorts of places, doing it in-house with the help of our former manager Mike Dean. He had moved up from North Carolina to work for us because he was a good friend who believed in us and really went to bat for us, and I’ve always understood that’s the kind of person you want as your manager. We were reaching out to all our friends we’d made from our old bands to open for them, some were reaching out to open for us, we tried really hard to get everything we set our minds to. We got an opening slot for Suckerpunch (tDB/New Deal/Lotus side project) at the Howard Theater in Washington DC in our third month as a band, just because our friends rallied for us.
Mike Dean: I reached out about the opening slot for Snarky Puppy the day I saw the show announced at Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, NY. We were playing directly before Snarky Puppy at Mantrabash festival in NC a few weeks before said show, and I still hadn’t heard anything back. I’m pretty fuzzy on the exact details, but at some point after our set, Ben was backstage talking to Michael League (bass/band leader for Snarky Puppy) and mentioned how we had tried reaching out about the gig. Michael said he’d touch base with their management as soon as he had cell service and make it happen. A few days later I got a call from an unknown number and it was Snarky Puppy’s manager informing me that Mister F got the gig!
Over the next two years, the band soldiered on, touring around the east half of the country and filling festival bills and drawing larger and larger audience at the club level. Then the band ran into some unfortunate circumstances beyond their control.
SH: Unfortunately money for these things don’t always align with the opportunity. To make matters worse, our van was broken into and we had two instruments stolen, one of which a very unique and expensive custom-built guitar belonging to Andrew which he had to use buy now pay later loans to acquire. Mike ended up not being able to keep up with the small amount we were able to offer him, and his time with us came to an end around the same time Andrew gave his notice.
MD: I hit that point where it became impossible to balance the life on the road with my own personal financial obligations. I think almost anyone who has ever been involved with a touring band at this level can relate. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Working for Mister F was the most enjoyable and rewarding experience I’ve ever been apart of, and it was tough to leave that behind. I’ll always cherish the friendships and memories I made during my time with the band.
Andrew departed the band not because the guitar was stolen, but due to financial and family reasons.
AC: As much as it sucks having a guitar stolen that’s worth five times as much as your car at the time, that had little to do with my departure. I had two main reasons for leaving Mister F. The obvious one is money. Money had always been tight with both of our projects (Timbre Coup and Mister F), and we were working our asses off to create what we thought was good, forward-thinking music and I thought we were doing a pretty good job, however my wallet never seemed to agree. Around the same time Mister F formed I took a teaching position at Parkway Music. Both were growing at the same time and the balancing act became impossible. I only had one choice if I wanted to use my guitar and music to pay my bills on time. I love creating my own original music, there’s nothing quite like it, but I also love teaching the guitar & teaching people about music. I now have around 45-50 students, manage the lessons department at Parkway and can honestly say I love my job!
The other reason was family. Being on the road as often as we were led to missing out on a lot of things, which for a while I dealt with. The main factor for me was the loss of my last grandparent, my Grandmother Ila. She had always supported me, really ALL of my family has always supported my musical endeavors which is why I’ve been able to take it this far (shout-out to my girlfriend, mom, dad, aunts, uncles and friends!) But she was a huge reason I was even able to pursue my passion in the first place. Sometimes you have a family member that really holds the whole family together, so when she passed away I knew I had to step in and pick up the pieces and be there for those who needed me as much as I’d needed them before.
Guitarist Mike Candela replaced Andrew on short notice
SH: At this point, we had a southern tour scheduled with McLovins less than a month away, with no manager and no guitarist. Mike Candela reached out to us because he’d just left his band. It was perfect timing, and he was able to learn the material and come on the road right away. Our writing dynamic was never the same, and it felt more like a bandaid had been affixed. Mike is one hell of a guitarist, but musical differences upon finding someone on such short notice eventually became apparent.
Mike Candela: I actually opened for Mister F with my previous band Dale and the ZDubs. I left DZD due to creative and personal issues with frontman Dale Rodman. After leaving DZD I actually hit up Scott Hannay and asked if they had ever thought of a second guitarist and he initially told me they were good as a 4 piece but to come sit-in anytime. After Andrew left, Scott hit me up and we hit the road. In my time with the band we handled the road pretty well I think. We were fortunate in terms of the bands we played with and the venues we played at and got to play in front of a lot of people. We all were personal and talkative with the fans we already had who would come to shows and made a bunch of new ones. Musically I think we were constantly pushing ourselves play our best each night. In terms of growth, it seemed to me like we were always generating interest and praise, but we always tried to handle it with humility and stay focused on our goals as a band.
I ended up departing the band for a number of different reasons. I wasn’t really aware of how badly the band wanted new material and thus didn’t try to write any songs. I was also very different stylistically from Andrew as a player, especially when it came to solos. I have always been more of a funk/jam player rather than a progressive/jazz guy. Colin was available and a much better fit for the band in my opinion. Obviously I left on good terms and have since sat in with the band a bunch, as well as covering for Colin when he had surgeries for kidney stones.
When Mike didn’t work out, the band found Fat Aztec guitarist Colin Shore to fill in, but there were complications.
SH: We then looked to Colin Shore for our full-time replacement. We’d played with his band Fat Aztec and had him sit in with us before. We’d had a lot of great musical conversations with him, and had unanimously decided “he’s the guy”. He took over mid-July 2016. But shortly after he started suffering severe kidney stone issues that put Mike Candela back in the van with us for two full tours toward the end of the year. While it was fun playing with Mike again, we were all that time unable to pursue the growth in the areas that we were hoping to continue growing with Colin.
Colin Shore: Fat Aztecwas coming to a pretty organic close at the time. The other members of the band were moving on into other non-musical endeavors while I was still interested in chasing the tour life. My joining with Mister F happened at a good time in my musical career for sure.
Having to take a break from touring to deal with medical issues was a huge drag. I was very fortunate that the guys in the band are such good folks and good friends that they were willing to work with me and be patient despite the roadblock. There may have been some slight interruption to our musical advancement at the time. But overall I felt a renewed sense of purpose and connection with the band coming back into the fold in 2017. I felt the band really evolve musically throughout the year.
Starting in 2017, Colin was healthy and a new manager, Aaron Hagele, joined the band to work with the band and get things back on track. The bands van died only a few months into 2017, just as plans to record an album came into the picture. A Kickstarter with a simple goal of $100 was easily met, but they could not both fund an album and buy a new van.
SH: We didn’t owe it to people to buy a van, we owed it to them to record an album. And we were forced into an expense of minivan rentals for subsequent runs while not making any more than we were before. We then decided to take some time off from touring to complete the album that we owe everyone, and to figure out what as a band we need to do to carry on in a productive way without putting our own well-being at risk.
Aaron Hagele: I started working with Mister F fall of 2016, when Mike was touring with the band temporarily. Colin is a beast, but in the most tasteful restrained way possible. The first time I heard him play I knew he had something unique, the ability to shred and play amazing runs but the restraint to play tastefully and listen on stage, being ever present. I however, would have worked with them with or without Colin. Matt and Ben Pickering as well as Scott Hannay are some of my oldest music industry friends, I had been gig trading with their previous bands going back 7 years. I wanted to work with them because I have always been inspired by ALL of their musicianship: Matt is one of my favorite drummers ever, with chops for days; Ben couldn’t be smoother in the pocket if he tried (which often seems like he doesn’t have to) and Scott has one of the most gifted musical minds on the planet, seriously.
The real underlying reason is I thought I could help them further themselves on a professional level, improve aspects of their organization and help them grow; I wish I would have been able to do more. The reason I ultimately left was because it was clear that I was no longer able to help them enough to merit my role. It had been too little too late to affect the change needed to right the ship, I had become busy with my own band, and it had become clear that the guys no longer wanted to tour in the same way. We remain very close friends, and in fact Goose will be opening for Mister F in Albany on December 30th for a Twiddle afterparty, and as is tradition, hopefully they will have me up for a sit in!
There are a lot of ‘What ifs’ in the story of Mister F. What if the vans hadn’t broken down? What if touring led to a steady increase in revenue over the years? But more importantly, for touring bands out there who are just getting going, what are the lesson to be learned from the (still unfinished) story of Mister F? Fate is a fickle bitch who plays her hand as she sees fit, and certain fates fell upon Mister F in a slow moving succession that led them to this point. But maybe in a way, they did make it. Andrew Chamberlaine offers this parting thought on what might have changed the band’s circumstances:
“Luck, and maybe more of a “business mentality” but who the hell wants to treat art or music like a business?! So much of this industry is based on luck. For every successful band/musician we know of there are at least 100 bands/musicians with more talent and originality that we won’t hear of because they didn’t catch that break or weren’t in the right place at the right time. I always think “Well what if I gave it more time?,” but the fact is time is finite for us all, just do what you love and have fun with the little time you have here on Earth and I can guarantee you’ve “made it” in your own right.”
Ithaca’s growing music scene includes prog soul project Noon Fifteen. This band of seasoned musicians have blended elements of 60’s rock and 70’s blues, creating catchy songs that make it impossible to sit still. The songs on their debut release, Volume 1, showcase powerhouse vocals, intriguing musical arrangements, and captivating story lines.
The EP captures attention from the first track, “Knock Knock Knock.” Sassy chanteuse Mandy Goldman sings about the time her drunken neighbor was banging on her door in the middle of the night. The story takes a surprising twist as she waits for an apology, and hopes that it would come in the form of an Olive Garden gift card. Goldman’s powerhouse vocals are backed by funky rhythms, starring Harry Nichols on bass and Chris Armitage on drums. The songs have a timeless quality, achieved in part through the use of vintage instruments, with Joe Massa on guitar and Sam Lupowitz on keyboard. Saxophones punctuate the melody, adding yet another layer of dimension to this plucky little number.
A couple other songs on Volume 1 incorporate horns (trumpet and sax), as well as a string section featuring violins and cellos. One of them is “Dave Coulier.” This tale of passion and revenge features a character who realizes that she is only loved when she is needed. “I will be the girl to fix it for you,” later becomes the bitter line “I won’t be the girl to fix it for you.” The instrumentation also reflects the change. It starts as a jangly and upbeat love song, with some hand claps thrown in for good measure. It becomes progressively darker as the narrator becomes more embittered, and picks up as she exacts vengeance. Each chapter is separated by a dramatic musical interlude. The song was originally titled “You Oughtta Know,” but Alanis Morissette already used that title for one of her songs.
“Her (Morisette’s) song is about Dave Coulier, the actor who played Uncle Joey on Full House,” Nichols told NYS Music. “So, in a moment of randomness equal to that of the song’s overall composition, we called the song Dave Coulier.”
Overall, the EP is a jam, with infectious grooves, skillful arrangements, and rich vocals. As the title Volume 1 suggests, this is just the beginning for this group. Just don’t let the name throw you: it’s always a good time to listen to Noon Fifteen.
As I sat in Anthology in Rochester, NY waiting for Victor Wooten to speak with me I had no idea what to expect. The crew setup the stage across the room to get everything ready for the upcoming soundcheck, but there was no sign of Victor. I sat and pondered how different the room would be in a few hours once it was filled up with enthused fans, and enjoyed the calm before the storm on the large, open dance floor. Victor walked in the front doors the same way I did, with a cup of coffee in his hand and a sigh of relief escaping the cold. Without hesitation he walked over to me, asked if I was conducting the interview, smiled and shook my hand as he introduced himself (as if I didn’t know who he was).
Interviewing Victor was less an “interview” and more a conversation. When he spoke, his big brown eyes locked in with mine, and it truly felt like we were the only two in the room. He is a genuinely caring individual who’s love for his craft and dedication to art was evident with every word he spoke. To him, music is about openness, letting go of your ego, and creating magic. He was ecstatic to speak about each project he was working on, and his passion for life and music is something he carries openly with him. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend a half hour sitting down one on one with a music legend of his stature. Below is our full conversation:
Ryan Randazzo: You recently released a new album, Trypnotyx, what inspired you to assemble this particular group of musicians to record this album?
Victor Wooten: I played with these two guys, together, with a jazz guitarist named Mike Stern. Immediately I knew I’d love to do some of my own music with them, so the germ of the idea started years ago. With everyone’s schedules, the time was now right to do it.
RR: When you recorded this album what was the process like? Was it different from other projects you’ve worked on or recording with the Flecktones?
VW: A little bit different from the Flecktones, but very similar to recording my own records. A lot of it is me in the studio by myself working on ideas, then sending them to the other guys to add things to or see what they think. Bob Franceschini, the saxophone player, was doing the same thing; he was coming up with ideas as well. With the Flecktones, we do a lot in the studio together, but because of Bob and Dennis Chamber’s schedules, a lot of it was separately done. Mostly the writing, then we would get together and get parts recorded.
RR: It sounds like technology has made it a lot easier to get things done.
VW: Absolutely. Technology is amazing these days. I would say even more than not, records are done separately. At least for me, it’s rare that I’m in the studio with the whole band.
RR: Do you prefer recording separately?
VW: In many cases yes because then I can record on my own terms in my own studio. I can go up and have dinner with my kids then go back down to the studio. Also, I can take my time getting my parts together rather than having to work on someone else’s stuff, but I like both. There’s nothing like having other people in the studio to collaborate with.
RR: Playing with the trio requires you to fill a lot more space. Do you prefer playing with the trio or a bigger band, and what are some of the differences you’ve noticed as a bass player?
VW: I’m lucky to play in many different situations. I like them all. When the band is bigger I have to do less, which is nice. With a trio like this, and there’s no chordal instrument, I have to do more like playing chords and melodies, but the challenge here is to not feel like I have to fill up all the space. Space is beautiful and it’s easy to go “oh it’s a trio, I better play more.” Sometimes it’s playing less that allows the trio to sound its best, so it’s a challenge.
RR: What do you typically prefer?
VW: I just like choices. If I did one thing all the time I would long for the other. The fact that I get to do a lot of different things keeps me musically happy.
RR: As a well-respected musician, who do you look up to at this point in your life?
VW: I have lots of heroes. There are lots of guys I learned things from growing up. I could name the normal names like Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, before that even James Jamerson, Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, Paul McCartney; I could just go on. Also, people that I grew up with, and they’re names you’ll never know, that taught me just as much because they helped me grow as a youngster.
The biggest influences were my four older brothers. That’s the whole reason that I played. I was born into a band, literally. They all played different instruments. Regi plays guitar. Roy aka “Future Man” from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones is a drummer. Rudy, the lesser known of the brothers, passed away a few years ago and was our saxophone player, and Joseph is the keyboard player. Joseph has been touring with the Steve Miller Band since 1993. We played as a band the first half of my life.
RR: Do you have any particular mentor or a go-to person you like to bounce ideas off of?
VW: My brothers are still those mentors. I also have a few other friends. One guy names Steve Bailey. Steve is now the chair of the bass department at the Berkeley College of Music. Another close friend who lives in upstate New York, Dave Welsch, he’s another bassist and teacher. Anthony Wellington is another great bassist and teacher. Steve, Anthony, Dave and I have been teaching together at my own music camp since the year 2000. We always keep in touch with each other to bounce ideas and teach together. Then I’ve got my brothers, and it’s always good to have people like that close.
RR: What is the biggest challenge you faced as a growing musician, and is it something you still encounter today?
VW: Today, my biggest challenge is finding time at home with my kids and my wife. Because I’m successful at what I’m doing, it keeps me on the road a lot of the time. I miss my kids and my family, and they miss me. That’s really the biggest one.
Another one is to try and sell a record. We’re in the record making business, but people don’t buy many records these days. The younger generation expects the music to be free, and that doesn’t make it easy for us. People aren’t buying as much music and they’re not going out to see as much music, but they still want music. As a music maker we face that challenge. For a lot people, if you come to town they have a choice to watch a video on YouTube or go see a show. They can say “I’ll watch it tomorrow” knowing that someone is going to record it. Back in our day, we didn’t have that choice. If someone was coming to town we were there. We didn’t know when or if we would see that person again, so it was a special event when someone came to town. It’s not as special for the young audience anymore.
At the same time, I’ll add this: our generation was different from our parents. Every generation changes. I don’t want to be the old guy complaining about how good it used to be. I want to learn the new way and figure out how I fit into it rather than complain, but at the same time make changes and fix things where we can.
RR: Do you have any daily or pre-show rituals that you do?
VW: Nope, none at all, except to try to be open, calm, and in a good mindset. I have to not be worried or frustrated, and just be calm so the music can flow. I don’t have anything I normally do every time, because if for some reason one day I can’t do it I might get upset or worried. The way I look at it, I’ve been playing bass for about 51 years. I should be ready and warmed up by now.
RR: You’re currently playing with your trio and you’ll be going on tour with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones over the summer, what’s the biggest difference you’ve noticed playing with the two bands?
VW: The biggest difference doesn’t have a lot to do with playing. This band has my name on it, so I have way more responsibilities. With the Flecktones, even though Bela treats all the members equally, I’m still just the bass player. There is a lot less responsibility. That’s nice after coming off many months of being in charge, for lack of a better word. It goes back to me having choices. I like doing my own thing, and I like not having to do my own thing. That’s the biggest difference. The music is different, of course, but it’s fun. Each project is very fun musically, and I really enjoy both of them.
RR: You’ve been really big on music education over the years. What inspired you get into that?
VW: It kind of found me in the late 80’s and early 90’s when Bela Fleck and the Flecktones started becoming more popular. I started becoming more and more popular, and was featured in Bass Player magazine a lot. I found out that if you’re in there enough times people think you must be good, so I started getting asked to do workshops. I had to figure out how to teach what I did. I just learned to play organically, the same way you learn to speak. When you learned to speak you didn’t practice, and no one told you what words to learn first, you just jammed with people all the time. You jammed with people who were better at it then you, and it was the same way I grew up playing the bass with people who were better than me. That’s the fastest, most natural way to learn.
When I started being asked to teach I had to learn how to do it. One of the things I did was start looking at other teachers, and what/how they were teaching. I saw things I liked, but I decided to go a different route. I decided to teach the things that weren’t being taught. Basically, it was anything other than the twelve notes that we use. Most people were teaching twelve notes, and we call that music theory. Music theory, for the most part, only deals with twelve notes and focuses on scales, chords, key signatures, harmony, ear training, and what not, but no one dances to notes. No one jumps up just because a song is in E flat. So what else is there besides notes? That’s what intrigued me, so I started focusing on mostly that. It resonated with a lot of people, and they were asking for more. That’s what resulted in my book called “The Music Lesson.” Many of the lessons I came up with were put into stories.
RR: You’ve played with many people over the years, but is there any particular jam or event that stands out in your mind?
VW: There are a bunch, yeah. Last December, almost a year ago from now, getting to play with Chick Corea for a couple of weeks in a couple of different bands to celebrate his 75th birthday. I got to play in two of those bands, and it was amazing. In one of them I was playing the upright bass, which is not something I do much, but he called me in to do it, so I said okay.
Opening for the Grateful Dead was amazing. I’m not the biggest fan of their music, but I am the biggest fan of them. To open for such a legendary show like that on New Year’s Eve was great. From that spawned me playing with bands like Dave Matthews Band, Phish, and getting to play with all of those kinds of bands. One of my favorites was getting to play with two of my bass heroes Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller. We made an album together titled ‘SMV.’ A lot of times getting to play with my heroes is the biggest treat. But growing up playing with my brothers, and getting to play with Bela Fleck for almost 30 years now, those things are just as special.
Honestly though, the most special gig is the one I’m doing next. All the past ones are just warm ups, training ground, for the one I’m about to do. I need to treat the one I’m about to do as the most special gig ever, or else I feel I’m not giving the audience the full experience they deserve. So really, the most important gig is the one I’m doing or about to do.
RR: What advice do you have for young musicians?
VW: Listen. The same way we learn to speak is by listening. Play more than you practice, find people to jam with, go to hear music, and learn as much as you can, but don’t let learning about music rob you of the enjoyment.
RR: It sounds like this trio is something you’ve wanted to do for a while, are there any other projects you’ve been thinking about that you really want to do?
VW: Oh yeah, lots. One is an acoustic album featuring different acoustic instruments and an acoustic bass. I still have a plan for that. I also want to do a tour with students from my camps, which would be a lot of fun. I usually stay in touch with many of my students, and they make sure of it. They show up at my gigs, and find me on Facebook. Many of them are out doing major gigs themselves.
I have a lot of projects and records I want to do. I still want to do a record with my three remaining brothers, and we’re actually recording something right now.
RR: Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?
VW: Just to let people know they can go to my website and sign up for my camps. We’re about to start our 19th year, and it’s easy to register. Either go to www.VictorWooten.com or you can go straight to the camp website, www.Vixcamps.com. You can just go on and sign up, no audition is required or anything like that.
RR: You have a very large group of students with a very diverse span of knowledge, how do you handle that?
VW: The same way you learn to talk with other kids. You learn much quicker when you talk to people who are older. We apply the same idea to our camp. It benefits both the beginner and more advanced players. For the more advanced players, it allows the people who are stuck to see beginners learning their craft and it inspires them. The most difficult part about that, for me, is finding teachers who are comfortable teaching a group whose ranges of knowledge are so different, and fortunately I’ve found those people.
Our camps our different. I wouldn’t say they’re better, but they’re different. It’s located just outside of Nashville, TN and people can fly in and take a shuttle out there. It’s all inclusive and there is a chef onsite. I’m there 100% of the time, so the mystique of “oh there’s Victor” goes away after a couple of days, and we just become friends. We stay up late, jam by the fire, and get deep into music. It’s a good dream come true for me.
Author and New York native Garret Woodward will host two readings and discussions of his first book “If You Can’t Play, Get Off the Stage.” The bluegrass-centric book covers interviews with dozens of bluegrass, folk and Americana legends, and dives deep into the genre with the performers themselves.
Woodward will be at Champlain Meeting House in Champlain on Wednesday, December 27 and at Nine Pin Cider in Albany on Thursday, December 28. Both events start at 6:30pm. Currently based in Asheville and serving as the Arts/Entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News, in addition to duties as music editor for Smoky Mountain Living magazine, Woodward published his debut book earlier this year to rave reviews. His weekly column in The Smoky Mountain News, “This must be the place,” is a must read.
NYS Music spoke to Woodward about his book, bluegrass in New York and what kind of music scene can be found in Rouses Point.
Pete Mason: Your book “If You Can’t Play, Get Off the Stage” features interviews with numerous bluegrass musicians from around the country. How did you select the interviews that made the book, and do you have any particular favorites?
Garret Woodward: Well, the book itself came as a result of my 2016 nomination for “Print/Media Person of the Year” from the International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, which is the overseeing body of the entire bluegrass industry. Kind of like the Grammys of bluegrass, in a sense. Though I didn’t win the award, I realized those that had won it previously had been involved in book projects. And yet, it’s not about winning the award. In all honesty, it was about realizing I needed to take my music journalism to the next level, which is doing long-term projects. As an arts and entertainment editor in Western North Carolina, in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains, you really can’t throw a rock around these parts without hitting a talented bluegrass picker or singer. This is the birthplace of so many incredibly iconic bluegrass and mountain music performers. What’s interesting is, some of the finest, most intricate pickers I’ve ever come across never actually “left the porch,” where they looked at the picking after dinner or on the weekends as pure enjoyment, as if to say, “if you were lucky enough to hear it and witness it first-hand, you were lucky enough.”
That said, in my five years at The Smoky Mountain News, I’ve had the pleasure of simply being around so many great bluegrass players, many of which live within an earshot of my home-base in Waynesville, North Carolina. Heck, one of the most successful and award-winning bluegrass groups nowadays, Balsam Range, all live in Waynesville. I run into them at the coffee shop, post office and local breweries. We’ve become great friends over the years, too, which I cherish. You also have folks like The Steep Canyon Rangers and Mountain Faith hailing from these parts. Beyond that, the more I immersed myself into the bluegrass scene, the more I kept discovering, the more questions I had, the more musicians I came across, all of which I had, and continue to have, a deep, unrelenting desire to interview and document.
Truthfully, each of the interviews in the book hold a special place in my heart. First and foremost, my decade-long friendship with Peter Rowan, who also wrote the introduction to the book, stands out. He and I have sat down and interviewed more times than I can remember. A true cosmic cowboy. Alongside that, I would also have to add the time I headed up to Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame in beautiful Bean Blossom, Indiana, and covered the Hall of Fame induction of my friend, Western North Carolina native and banjo great Raymond Fairchild. That was a tear-jerker standing there, watching him finally get the recognition he deserved after so many years of being either overlooked or forgotten. And then there was the time I drove all the way down to a bluegrass festival in Florida, and had planned on doing a backstage interview with David Grisman, only to have the “Dawg” bluntly say he wasn’t interested in talking to me. So, I went and sat sidestage and still watched his show, mesmerized. I swear, he kept looking over at me every-so-often and grinned, as if to acknowledge my pure love and interest in what he was doing. Following the show, he came up to me and said, “Ok, you can ask one question, but it better be good.” We ended up talking for the better part of an hour, walking away as friends.
PM: Why bluegrass? What is the appeal of the genre to you to compile a book of this nature?
GW: The beauty of bluegrass comes from the mere fact you can’t hide behind anything. It’s a human being with an instrument and a voice, standing amongst others doing the same. What you see is what you get, what you hear on an album is exactly what you will hear onstage, and amid layers of intricate jamming and soloing. There are no gimmicks or stage tricks with bluegrass. It’s honest music about honest people trying to make an honest living in a sometimes cruel and confusing world. It’s also the music of the history of America. At its core, bluegrass is the intersection of British Isles ballad traditions and African/African-American culture, in terms of slavery coming to this country. Most folks don’t realize that the banjo is actually an African instrument. So, you take those two backgrounds colliding, add in centuries of mountain isolation and a crucial tradition of oral storytelling in these mountains, and you have bluegrass.
PM: You grew up in Rouses Point, one of the northernmost towns in all of New York. I may only be able to get an answer once in a lifetime – what’s the music scene like up there?
GW: The music of Rouses Point was, and I would surmise remains, similar to many other towns of the Northern Tier and Route 11 corridor. It’s a ton of tribute bands onstage in just as many dive bars, many of which playing a heavy mixture of The Tragically Hip, Grateful Dead, April Wine, Phish, an oddly large amount of southern rock, and so on. So many tribute bands, but all of which filled with familiar faces that had, and still have, a deep love for music and musicianship. Aside from that, there is a large segment, and also appreciation, for string music and bluegrass. You have to remember, a big portion of that British Isles culture didn’t come through Ellis Island in New York City, but rather through the St. Lawrence Seaway into Quebec and Ontario, onward into Upstate New York and Vermont. As a kid, I remember plenty of bluegrass festivals, in Plattsburgh, Jericho, Mooers Forks, or wherever there was an open field on a day that wasn’t freezing. Rouses Point is pretty far away from any type of scene, unless you wandered down to Burlington, Vermont, or over the border to Montreal. So, we’d all get a bonfire together and a group of folks, grab a few cases of Labatt Blue, and rock out. There were always instruments around, but more so it’d be somebody blasting the new Phish or Strangefolk bootleg in their rusty truck with a stereo and speakers worth more than the whole vehicle.
PM: The North Country has a music culture all its own. What do you see as a standout feature to the music coming from this region of the state?
GW: A big component of the North Country music scene kind of pertains to what I had just mentioned, which is this huge appreciation for music, and also a keen aptitude for sound and rhythm. In terms of the music itself, it’s sonic signature would reside in that every band is unique, and also a sponge that soaks up whatever everybody else is doing. Running around covering shows in the North Country, and also managing one of the area’s biggest bands for a spell, I will say the camaraderie between groups is incredibly unique for a scene. Everybody who is onstage playing one show will, like clockwork, all go and see the late-night band next door following their set, the same late-night band that was rocking out in the crowd at the initial show. I also have to point out that though the North Country may seem, and is, geographically isolated, it’s that same isolation that attracts interesting and talented folks from all over the world. You see and hear so many musicians up there where many of them came from somewhere else, and with that, brought along all their musical influences and skills, only to contribute to the ever-evolving and growing pile of creativity in the North Country.
Beyond that, with never-ending, merciless winters and just the sheer nature of isolation from urban areas, folks up there have a lot of free time when they’re not hard at work trying to live and trying to survive. So, with that precious free time, they either practice their instruments or spend endless hours listening to music.
What I’ve also always liked about my fellow North Country folks is their sincere gratitude for the experience of a live show. They’ll, and myself included, go to any band that’s playing anywhere in their town, just to get down and sweat out the lingering winter and perhaps stagnant nature of life itself in that small town. And the live show is a congregation of small towns in the North Country, maybe the one time of the week you run into most of the people you know where you live. Those same folks will also throw down on a big show, too. I can’t tell you how many friends and family members of mine truly save up throughout the year to do a Phish New Year’s Eve run or follow moe. around the East Coast. We love our music, especially when performed live.
PM: How have you seen the brand of bluegrass found in New York compare to that of other areas of the country?
GW: With New York bluegrass, the obvious ambassadors would be The Gibson Brothers. They’re from a couple towns over from where I grew up, in Ellenburg Depot, the epitome of a “cow town,” where there are more cows than people when it comes to the population. They have made quite a name for themselves locally, regionally, and nationally, as one of the premier bluegrass acts anywhere today. And their story of how they came across bluegrass, and what it means to be from the North Country and such, is very similar to mine, which is why we’re become good friends over the years of crossing paths at shows and events. With the Gibsons holding strong to that traditional sound, you also see a lot of scrappier, what we would call “mountain music” bands in New York, where it’s not technically bluegrass, in terms of a traditional or mechanical sense, but the attitude and sincerity of the stage show resonates just as deeply and passionately. That scrappier New York style of, well, I guess bluegrass, seems to be played much faster than the traditional style, and with more urgency, where it’s more about getting the crowd going than actually trying to impress the audience, as if to say, “there’s no time to show off, let’s get this party started.”
PM: What is it about music that inspires you to write?
GW: Music is the one thing that makes sense to me. Whenever I’m frustrated with life, whether my own or the world-at-large, going to a live show or throwing on a favorite album brings an immediate calmness to my heart, and also a much-needed spark to the fire within my soul. I started writing about music purely by accident. It really kind of happened out-of-nowhere. And it felt good, so I kept doing it. Now? It’s my “Zen zone,” almost like a meditative state, where I have my headphones on and I dive into the depths of my thoughts, emotions and interpretations of what I see and hear, and why it’s important to, and for, the greater good. I aim to share my love for music with others, because, as we music lovers and freaks are well-aware of, there’s nothing like a live show and making a connection with those onstage and around you.
They played moe.down this past summer, they opened for J.J Grey and Mofro at NYC’s PlayStation Theatre, they released an EP—Ripe, a relatively still new six-piece pop-funk outfit from the Boston Berkley scene, has had a year of accomplishments. This weekend was another notch, when they made a terrific debut at The Capitol Theatre on Saturday, December 16. With a couple of guest bands joining, it revealed itself over its course of the evening as a really special kind of show.
One of these guests were Juice, a fellow Boston group of a similar musical flavor. The pairing of these two bands was perfect, as it made for a full night of uniformly bright personality and musical zest.
Juice channeled the finessed pizazz of a Broadway production. But their material was a mix of R&B and pop rock, that also radiated an extremely positive mood from the start. Among other strengths, like their charismatic electric violinist Christian Rose, Juice have a real vocal power going for them—something becoming less of a rarity for jam scene acts than it’s been in the past. Most of the material of their set featured at least a couple members either harmonizing or rapping improvised bars.
If you can believe it, the band’s banger for the night, and a topper for the entire evening, was a take on Kanye’s “Gold Digger.” It didn’t sound like such at first, but the band put a Little Feat-inspired, piano-touched funky groove behind the song that made it surprisingly heady and listenable. They finished out very strongly, with a song that they announced would be on an upcoming album: a tune that revolves around a great, gospel-inspired chorus of “Mercy, mercy.” It actually echoed the sound and feel of the more soaring section of Tedeschi Trucks Band number.
As they started out, Ripe introduced a similar yet also unique brand of this positive-funk Now it was something like a modern, more revamp of 80s dance pop. It also got slightly groovier in tandem with its building—as Ripe would reveal over the course of the night, they were good at taking things up from an already good level to an even higher one. By the third song into their set—which now was delivering a sound that fused The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Stevie Wonder, they’d tapped into a huge momentum already.
Robbie Wulfsohn, Ripe’s almost dizzingly enthusiastic lead singer, had enough personality for everybody in the theatre, but there was the “it” kind of talent to back it up. To his band’s suave yet hard-pushing grooves, he stood out still as a strong point, with a far-reaching, soulful, youthful voice that didn’t let up as the night went on.
“This is crazy,” he was panting to the crowd halfway through the set. He was no doubt addressing the surreality of the night, the fact that his still very much up and coming Boston band of friends was getting this golden opportunity to do their thing in the big, majestic space of The Capitol Theatre.
For that golden opportunity, they were really doing it up right all night. Track after track, the components from Ripe, from the two-man horn section, to the two-man guitar team, to the dramatic builds, was combustible with energy, and radiating a concoction of confidence and gratitude. The amount of hype the entire band was clearly feeling thankfully fueled a set of more than solid playing, with strong solos from all around, and even some squaring-off-style improv sprinkled throughout.
For the crowd that they managed to bring into the Capitol Theatre, they rocked them. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Cap’s audience absolutely ate this show up. People jumped around, they danced like they were drunk, they screamed in the middle of songs, many sang along for the entirety of the show.
The fun boiled over at some point. Ripe’s guitarist, Jon Becker, at one point snuck away from the stage, only to reappear in amusing fashion in the presidential box above everybody’s heads. Right after this, the band invited up Christian Rose from Juice to add a few short but shiny violin rips to one of their jams.
At the tail end of what Wolfsohn called the “final stretch” of the night, Ripe laid down a pretty remarkable, multi-segmented version of The Lion King’s “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King.” Taken through a few different waves of funk, a couple builds, and even a quick section of jazzy space that preluded a big return to the chorus, if was a keen choice for rounding off a big night of music.
Ripe and Juice might be some names to listen for in the coming times. For all the fun and musical radiance this Capitol Theatre show brought, it certainly also came across as a rock concert equivalent to stepping up to a big plate, and knocking it out of the park.
Chris Eves and The New Normal debut their album Find Your Way this Friday night, December 22 at Funk n Waffles in downtown Syracuse, and on a busy night of Christmas parties and shows, its a must-see show given the prowess shown on this release. Recorded, produced and mastered at More Sound Studios in Syracuse by The New Normal and Andrew Greacen, this homegrown album and band sound ready to deliver in a live setting.
Chris Eves Band
Opening tracks “Remember to Forget” and “Green and Blue” show off the guitar work of Jay Lock, with the latter a stand out track on the album, truly soaring to height after height. “Walking on a Wire” is light and poppy in a Dave Matthews/Dispatch way, down to the built in crowd sing along. “Find Your Way” – all eight minutes of it – is a journey of a song, with peaks and valleys with an Assembly of Dust vibe throughout, down to Mike D’Ambrosio’s keys, which shine even more on “On Rainy Days.”
The album doesn’t have a lull or soft spot, and halfway through there’s a steady rock groove that gets harder with “The Chains You Wear,” with an early Soundgarden vibe. “Fall” is the hardest rocking track, bringing to mind moe.’s “McBain” and “George” amid an accelerated raging first half and a mellow reflective second one that turns up with Bayliss/Cinninger-esque guitar licks. Eves’ vocals are a treat throughout the album – like a diamond in the rough of jam band vocalists – notably, on the soul-extending “New Normal” and song of longing that closes the album, “Flown Away.”
Most tracks clock in between 4-6 minutes, giving a sign that these songs will stretch out much further in a live setting. After a few listens to the album, two things are apparent: Find Your Way is a debut album with shine and depth, and The New Normal might be the best new band out of Syracuse.
Key Tracks: Green and Blue, When the Stars Start Falling, Fall
To the delight of many, Phish went back to its roots with a classic opening sequence of “Mike’s Song” > “I Am Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug Groove” that was once more than a regular sequence on set lists but seems to have petered out in recent years in favor of different permutations of “Mike’s Groove.” The iconic opening guitar lick was met with a resounding roar from the crowd and the band never looked back from there. “Hydrogen” gave Lighting Director Chris Kuroda a chance to show off his mood lighting as he added a perfect visual backdrop for the moody instrumental number. No sooner had the closing notes of “Weekapaug Groove” been played before guitarist Trey Anastasio ripped into another iconic opening guitar riff – this one belonging to “Tweezer,” a first set rarity to say the least. By this time, The Garden was in full “bouncy house” mode with the ground noticeably shaking and seemingly moving along in unison with everything else.
“I Always Wanted It This Way,” keyboardist Page McConnell’s tune, stretched out from 1980s-like quirkiness into a vast yet quite dark jam. “Martian Monster” and “Heavy Things” saw the band have a little fun, notably the interplay between Anastasio and McConnell in the latter. “Destiny Unbound,” somewhat of a rarity, injected a breath of life into the crowd. Stretching to nearly nine minutes, this version of “Destiny” is longer than all in recent memory, but it was clear the band hadn’t practiced it much prior.
The band took no time getting the show on the road with a spacey ‘AC/DC Bag’ which saw Trey sitting back on the solo and letting the rest of the band organically develop a patient groove, which would foreshadow the jamming style of the night. ‘Wolfman’s Brother’ emerged out of the white lights and provided the first (of many) jam highlight of the evening. The band quickly transitioned from the classic Wolfman’s funk to a dark, murky jam that gave the feeling that you took the wrong turn down a shrunken alley on the lower east side, but there was no going back because you already devoted to making it past the sketchy brown walls and back to a world of streetlights and pretzel vendors. An early first set ‘Roggae’ broke out of the darkness and saw masterful interplay between all four band members as they reached a glorious peak that shook the garden.
Scott Hannay: 
There are a lot of ‘What ifs’ in the story of Mister F. What if the vans hadn’t broken down? What if touring led to a steady increase in revenue over the years? But more importantly, for touring bands out there who are just getting going, what are the lesson to be learned from the (still unfinished) story of Mister F? Fate is a fickle bitch who plays her hand as she sees fit, and certain fates fell upon Mister F in a slow moving succession that led them to this point. But maybe in a way, they did make it. Andrew Chamberlaine offers this parting thought on what might have changed the band’s circumstances:
Interviewing Victor was less an “interview” and more a conversation. When he spoke, his big brown eyes locked in with mine, and it truly felt like we were the only two in the room. He is a genuinely caring individual who’s love for his craft and dedication to art was evident with every word he spoke. To him, music is about openness, letting go of your ego, and creating magic. He was ecstatic to speak about each project he was working on, and his passion for life and music is something he carries openly with him. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend a half hour sitting down one on one with a music legend of his stature. Below is our full conversation:
RR: Do you prefer recording separately?
RR: You’ve played with many people over the years, but is there any particular jam or event that stands out in your mind?
Woodward will be at 
