Positive Mental Trip recently releasedThe Black and White Album, a collection of 15 songs that spans the genres of reggae, progressive rock, alternative rock, and more. The band is from Catskill, and The Black and White Album is their sophomore album coming five years after Change Your Mind. The band’s core writer/recording musician is Luke Weiler; he taught himself drums and bass to record nearly every instrument you hear on the album. The few exceptions are the sax parts in “The Bronco Rides at Midnight” and “Circles,” recorded by Chris Bonnano, and additional guitar from Steve Repka on “Circles,” “The Happy Old Man,” and “As a Friend” and Walt B on “The Bronco Rides at Midnight.”
The album kicks off with two reggae-styled tracks: “The Road” and “The Happy Old Man.” “The Happy Old Man” is one of those feel-good songs with simple structure, ending each lyrical phrase with “cuz I’m the happy old man.” It makes good use of percussion and guitar arpeggios. “The Road” is one of the best on the album with a laid-back groove emphasized by the scratchy/distorted guitar. “December Winds” stands out as the heaviest track on the album, greatly juxtaposing the lighter works throughout. It has a driving backbeat and prominent guitar until the end where the track suddenly shifts to a slower, lethargic tempo. “Sleeping Dreamland” artistically features some flat pitch bending in the guitar to illicit a dream-like or even a disoriented state by the listener. “Circles” closes out the album with an upbeat, funky, progressive jam that really caps the project with an exclamation point!
The album is quite diverse in song structure, featuring tracks only about a minute long up to almost 12 minutes, and it’s also inclusive of multiple genres; it has something for all listeners. They used a number of vocal effects which added a bit of depth to the vocalist’s sound. Weiler mixed and mastered the entire project with a little help from Tony Gonzo on “The Road.” The bass and drums could have been higher in the mix throughout to give the music a little more support, but still impressive nonetheless that Weiler crafted this album himself.
The album is a bit more experimental than the last, illustrating the artist’s growth in musicianship and willingness to diversify the writing. The band took some liberties with the recording process by tracking anywhere from 5 to 12 layers of guitar and including an array of instruments throughout. They’re not touring in support of this album, save for the CD release party in Athens, NY. So this allowed them to focus on creating densely textured tracks without worrying about how to recreate them live. Click here to check it out!
Key Tracks: The Road, The Happy Old Man, and The Bronco Rides at Midnight
Saturday’s Dead & Company show at Citi Field will have a special sit-in for the encore. Empire State Reality Trust, owners of the iconic Empire State Building, has teamed up with Dead & Company and New York’s classic rock station Q104.3 to provide a synchronized LED light show to illuminate the famed tower as the band performs its encore at Citi Field.
The Empire State Building’s light show will be designed by Marc Brickman and begins at approximately 11:00 p.m. Those not at Citi Field can still enjoy the music through the iHeartRadio app or over the air on New York’s classic rock station Q104.3.
Once the show is over, it will be available for viewing on the Empire State Building’s Facebook and YouTube channels as well as the Dead & CompanyYouTube channel.
Dead & Company recently performed at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. You can read the NYS Music review of that show here and video from SPAC below.
The third and final chapter in NYS Music’s threepart series on moe.down revisits the 11th through 15th festivals. In 2010, the band moved the festival from the grounds of Turin, NY, where they spent the last decade, to a new location at Gelston Castle Estate in Mohawk, New York. For the next two years, moe.down would call this location home.
moe.down XI
Line-up: moe. The Black Keys. Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. Mike Gordon. Lotus. Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. Punch Brothers. Built to Spill. Tortoise. Ryan Montbleau Band. The Macpodz. The Brew. Monkey Wrench. Orgone. Turbine. Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds.
moe.down XI was the first time a multi-day festival had been held at the Gelston venue. Infrastructure had to be built to pump in water to the campgrounds and crude roads had to be roughly smoothed out to get attendees on site. This first year on the grounds also brought drizzles of rain throughout, as well as a chill, damp air that lingered each day, with touches of sun peaking through here and there.
The original line-up in 2010 featured Jakob Dylan, but he unfortunately had to back out and was replaced with Grace Potter and The Nocturnals for this year’s events. It’s not very often that artists on the original line-up have to back out, but this year’s schedule change kept the flow going. Who doesn’t love watching Grace Potter literally grace the stage with her beauty, Flying V guitar in hand, and breathy vocals melting into the microphone? Other noteworthy performances over the weekend included sets by Phish bassist Mike Gordon and his solo band, who’s set included Radiohead’s “15 step,” as well as The Brew blowing up the venue with an unexpected cover of Foreigner’s “Juke Box Hero.”
Host band moe. played on the main stage each day of the festival. The customary kids parade occurred on Saturday, with the stream of kids attending ending up on the main stage while moe. laid down some energetic jams. Each year, a mayor is chosen by the audience. The winner of the annual election of the mayor of moe.down went to Rage Lincoln and his reading of the Headysburg Address.
Notable sets included the evening Saturday set that opened with “Plane Crash” and then closed out the night, before encore, going back into “Plane Crash,” bringing the night’s performance to a smooth finish. The last night of the festival, moe. busted out a twisty turny extended “Farmer Ben” that was crammed with nuggets of unexpected surprises. Hints and teases of Rush splashed about through the jam, including touches of “Spirit of Radio,” “Tom Sawyer,” and “Working Man.”
moe. fan, Mike Quinn, looked back at some of his most unforgettable moments from moe.down and this year in particular brought fond memories. “I’ve been lucky enough to witness some really amazing things at moe.down. I’ve seen friends get engaged (moe.down 11) and then two years later get married at the top of the hill (moe.down 13). I was with my friends when they felt their son in utero kick for the first time at moe.down (11).”
Check out a smoking “Recreational Chemistry” from 9/4/2010:
9/3/10 – Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY Set 1: Zed Naught Z>(nh) Time Again>Waiting For The Punchline, Blue Jeans Pizza>(nh) Captain America>Puebla>George, Brent Black>Akimbo
Encore: Brent Black>Billy Goat
9/4/10 – Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY Set 1: Skrunk>Lazarus>Spine Of A Dog*, New York City^, St. Augustine>32 Things
Encore: Y.O.Y.^^
Set 2: Plane Crash>Hector.’s Pillow>Bring You Down, Daydreaming, Paranoid Android#>Ricky Marten>Time Ed
Set 3: Seat Of My Pants>(nh) Bearsong>(nh) Runaway Overlude>(nh) Recreational Chemistry, Not Coming Down>Wormwood>Plane Crash
Encore: Faker
* w/ Powerhouse ending ^ moe.down Kids’ Tent Parade ^^ Dedicated to Monkey Wrench (who played on the Buzz Stage right afterwards) # Last time played 7/20/07
9/5/10 – Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY Set 1: Buster>Haze>Yodelittle>McBain, Cornflake Girl>(nh) Timmy Tucker
Set 2: Moth>Queen Of Everything, Four>Rebubula
Encore: Deep This Time, Tubing The River Styx>The Pit>Farmer Ben**>Moth
* Ben jam section: Ben>Spirit Of The Radio (Rush)>Ben>Tom Sawyer (Rush)>Ben>Working Man (Rush)>Powerhouse>Ben
moe.down XII
Line-up: moe. The Levon Helm Band (featuring special guest Bob Weir). Ween. TV On The Radio. Slightly Stoopid. Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers. Ozomatli. Railroad Earth. The New Mastersounds. Rubblebucket. Danger Muffin. The Ragbirds. Empire Sound. Band. Gary Clark, Jr.
This year’s three-day event called into question whether it may even go on. Hurricane Irene rolled through the area just a few days prior, shutting down the flooded thruway. Those concerns were dashed, however, as the thruway opened and the show went on.
Once again, the festival was held at Gelston Castle Estate in Mohawk, NY. One big draw was heavy hitter Bob Weir as special guest with The Levon Helm Band. Gary Clark, Jr., an up and coming artist at that time, was slated to perform, along with well seasoned bands, Ween and Slightly Stoopid. Railroad Earth also made an appearance, and will be returning to this year’s moe.down.
The weather did have it’s say on some of the schedule during the weekend. The Levon Helm Band was postponed for nearly an hour due to lightning in the area. Fans took shelter under tarps and tents until the storm subsided. When the band finally took to the stage, Bob Weir sat in for their moving set.
On Saturday, moe. performed back to back sets in the evening, with the encore featuring “Crab Eyes” played on iPads to honor the passing of Steve Jobs. Sunday’s moe. evening sets brought Bob Weir to the stage as he joined in on a jaw dropping triple punch during “The Other One>Smokestack Lightning>The Other One.” The winner of this year’s mayor of moe.down was announced before encore and went to both Bob Weir and Rob’s hair. “Spine of a Dog” and “Seat of My Pants” brought the festival to a close.
Check out the band performing “Crab Eyes” completely on iPads:
9/2/11 Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY Set 1: Captain America, Down Boy>(nh) Skrunk>George, Where Does The Time Go?>Dr. Graffenberg, Deep This Time>32 Things
Encore: Plane Crash
9/3/11 Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY Set I: Rise>(nh) St. Augustine, She Sends Me, Nebraska^, Puebla>(nh) Mar-Dema>Timmy Tucker, Hi & Lo>Moth
Set 2: Good Trip>Akimbo, Blue Jeans Pizza, Downward Facing Dog, Tubing the River Styx>The Pit, Haze@>Rebubula@
Set 3: meat.>Don’t Fuck With Flo>Yodelittle>Lazarus, Four>Buster
Encore: Crab Eyes**, Bearsong
* w/ moe.down Kid’s Tent Parade @ w/ al. on ’74 double-neck Gibson ** w/ band playing on iPads
9/4/11 Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY Set 1: Rainshine, Happy Hour Hero, Big World>Ricky Marten>The Other One*#>Smokestack Lightning*##>The Other One*#, Stuck Inside of Mobile (with the Memphis Blues Again)@*%, Feel Like A Stranger*%%
Set 2: Wind It Up, Faker>Billy Goat, Suck A Lemon, Paper Dragon>Recreational Chemistry
Encore: Mayor of moe.ville Election$, Spine of a Dog>Seat of My Pants
* w/ Bob Weir @ w/ al. on mandolin # LTP > 7/17/09 ## FTP – Chester Burnett, a.k.a. Howlin’ Wolf cover % FTP – Bob Dylan cover %% FTP – Grateful Dead cover $ w/ Bob Weir (and rob.’s hair) elected mayor
moe.down XIII
Line-up: moe. Umphrey’s McGee. North Mississippi Allstars Duo. SOJA. Bright Light Social Hour. Timbre Coup. Aqueous. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Galactic. The Wood Brothers. Marco Benevento. Kyle Hollingsworth. The Everyone Orchestra. Leroy Justice. JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. Infantree.
This year’s moe.down was moved back to the original Turin, NY venue at Snow Ridge Ski Resort. It was also moved up to an earlier date, this time in August. The move back to the original venue, as well as an earlier time slot made for a successful festival, and one of their best to date. Fans were ecstatic to be back on the old stomping grounds and, much to their delight, were able to experience two full sets of moe. each day. 2012 also brought much anticipated camping areas designated for families and sober attendees.
It just wouldn’t be a moe.down without some rain in the forecast. Occasional showers rolled in on Friday night, but the bands that took to the stage made sure to keep the energy going late into the night. Once again, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals performed, opening up the main stage on the first day. She later joined in with moe. during their cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.”
Saturday’s second set by moe. in the evening turned spicy as Galactic joined the group on stage to bust out The Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek,” which was immediately followed by a hefty jam session by both. The double jamming session continued as they flowed into “How Many More Years” with both Vinnie Amico and Jim Loughlin on percussion.
One attendee, Chris Perrault, recalls the magic of this year’s festival overall. “Musically, I remember standing high up on the hill as the sun was setting, watching everyone groove. As the sun went down, everything became electric or illuminated. The stage. The hula hoops. The glow sticks. But mostly the dancers and the music just changed course from happy daytime music to crunchy ‘oh, you want to get down? Well, then let’s!’ It was fantastic!”
Sunday’s performances brought a heavy hitting set by Umphrey’s McGee, which included a sit-in by Stanley Jordan. moe.’s evening performance included Umphrey’s McGee joining in for a band switch during a double dose of Pink Floyd covers, performing “Time” and “Breathe.” This year’s mayor of moe.down went to Goldbond. A surprise second set delighted fans as fireworks blew up in the sky, with “Billy Goat>meat.” bringing the event to a close.
8/10/12 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: Plane Crash@ >(nh) Not Coming Down@ > Wormwood > Okayalright, Gimme Shelter*#, Tubing The River Styx > The Pit > Puebla > Timmy Tucker, Letter Home^, Wind It Up
Set 2: Tailspin## > head., Happy Hour Hero**, McBain > Skrunk > Brent Black
Encore: Seat Of My Pants^^ >(nh) Akimbo
@ w/ al. on ’74 Gibson double-neck guitar *w/ Grace Potter on vox ** w/ Kyle Hollingsworth on keys ^ ’97 / Reggae version ^^ SDB tease # Last time played 3/06/08 ## Last time played 1/31/11
8/11/12 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: Crab Eyes>(nh) Down Boy>(nh) The Bones Of Lazarus, Blue Eyed Son@, Captain America>Waiting For The Punchline, Faker>Moth
Set 2: Paper Dragon>Dr. Graffenberg, Sticks and Stones, Zed Naught Z>Don’t Fuck With Flo>Zed Naught Z, Up On Cripple Creek*>moe. / Galactic Jam>How Many More Years**, George, Recreational Chemistry
@ w/ al on electric mandolin * w/ Galactic ** Galactic w/ Vin & Jim on percussion
8/12/12 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: Haze@, It>St. Augustine>Downward Facing Dog, Bring It Back Home*, Spine Of A Dog>Buster
Set 2: Bullet>Deep This Time, The Road>Kyle’s Song>Kids, Time^>moe. / Umphrey’s band-switch>Breathe
Encore: Rebubula
Encore 2: Billy Goat>meat.
@ w/ al on ’74 Gibson double-neck guitar * w/ moe.down Kid’s Tent Parade ^ w/ Umphrey’s McGee Mayor of moe.ville = Goldbond Fireworks went off after Rebubula, and band played a 2nd encore as surprise to fans
moe.down XIV
Line-up: moe. Steve Kimock Band. Mike Dillon Band. Conehead Buddha. Pennyshine. Conspirator. Stanley Jordan Trio. Savoy. Floodwood. Dr. Dog. Del McCoury Band. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. RAQ. Eastbound Jesus. Wolf! The Stepkids.
This year’s event was once again held in Turin, NY. The crowd of attendees was much smaller, and more intimate, than usual. Friday’s musical set began on a stylish note, as the Del McCoury Band took to the stage. With perfectly coifed hair and stylish suits, these guys brought nothing but class and bluegrass to the stage. It was a refreshing musical change to the festival without a doubt. moe.’s Friday set included a tip of the hat to Jerry Garcia with a performance of “Casey Jones,” as the anniversary of his death was August 9. For the first time in recent years, the Friday night sky was crystal clear, without a hint of rain in sight.
Saturday’s events brought a lost wandering Beagle puppy to the attention of everyone. moe. even made an announcement to try and find the owner. Without any luck finding who the dog belonged to, she was eventually turned over to the local Humane Society, to which she was appropriately named “Moe.Na.” Speaking of moe., their evening set busted out a ridiculously energetic version of “Plane Crash” that included Shannon and Terry Lynch, of Conehead Buddhas, on horns. If that wasn’t enough to blow fans away, second set was basically one of the most insane sets they’ve ever played. Fierce compositions followed one after the other, filled with emotional jams that brought a wave of energy up and down as the melodies ebbed into each other. That set brought down the house, and had fans staring in disbelief at the amazing shreds the band was throwing out to the mountain side.
Sunday’s musical delights included the Mike Dillon Band, with Carly Meyers of ROAR! crushing a killer trombone as part of the ever rotating cast of musicians in this project. Stanley Jordan, famous for his two-handed tapping guitar style, had fans who’ve never seen him perform watch on in awe and dropped jaws. Speaking of Jordan, he joined moe. during encore with “Rebubula,” after the new mayor of moe.down went to the ditch. “Happy Hour Hero” closed out the year, followed by the annual fireworks display.
Watch moe.’s entire second set from 8/10/13:
8/9/13 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1 Big World>Ricky Marten>Bring You Down, Casey Jones, Blue Jeans Pizza>Silver Sun>Mexico
Set 2: St. Augustine>32 Things, Deal#, Time Ed>Water*>Brent Black%>Mar-DeMa>Time Ed
Encore: Spine Of A Dog**
# LTP > 12/02/12 * w/ Enter Sandman Jam % unfinished ** w/ Powerhouse ending
8/10/13 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: Skrunk>Timmy Tucker, Wind It Up, Godzilla*, Puebla>Tubing The River Styx>The Pit>Plane Crash**
Set 2: Smoke>Chromatic Nightmare>Smoke>Recreational Chemistry>Akimbo>Tubing The River Styx>Seat Of My Pants>meat.#>Brent Black^
Encore: Traveling Light##, Dr. Graffenberg
* w/ Chris Michetti on guitar ** w/ Shannon & Terry Lynch on horns ^ completes 8/09/13 version # unfinished ## first time played- (cover – JJ Cale) – dedicated to JJ Cale and Mikey Houser
8/11/13 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: Stranger Than Fiction, Suck A Lemon, Crackers, Bearsong*, Billy Goat > CalfironIA >(nh) Y.O.Y.>Buster**
Set 2: Queen Of Everything, Moth>Hi & Lo>Opium, Yodelittle%>meat.#, The Bones Of Lazarus>George
Encore: – Rebubula^, Happy Hour Hero^^
* w/ moe.down Kids Parade & Carly Meyers on trombone ** w/ Mike Dillon on percussion % w/ Stanley Jordan on guitar # completes 8/10/13 version – Ditch voted in as mayor. of moe.ville ^ w/ Stanley Jordan on guitar & Kenwood Dennard switched out for a period of time with Vin, who played percussion with Jim, before switching back with Kenwood on drums ^^ Fireworks were shot afterwards
moe.down XV
Line-up: moe. Gogol Bordello, O.A.R., Lotus, Solve, Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang, Jerry Douglas Band, Everyone Orchestra, Twiddle, Floodwood, Aqueous, The Werks, Conehead Buddha, American Babies, Wild Adriatic
Since 2000, moe. has been hosting this festival for fans, friends and family. This year, the three day festival was especially welcome as the event returned to the original Labor Day weekend date at Snow Ridge in Turin, NY. Not having to go to work on Monday was a big factor for fans, as many did not want to miss the epic fireworks display after the band’s last song on Sunday. The rain held up for most of the weekend, keeping the grounds dry during the day.
Two bands making debut appearances this year included Twiddle and Wild Adriatic. Both bands are scheduled to appear this year for moe.down XVI. Conehead Buddha, Lotus, and Les Claypool’s Due De Twang gave powerhouse performance sets jam packed with high energy. Lotus took the place of The Rich Robinson Band, who were originally scheduled to perform. The most surprising act of the festival was from Gogol Bordello, an intensely high energy band whose music was a combination of bordello, punk and theatrics all rolled into one.
moe.’s Saturday evening performance included the members of Conehead Buddha horns joining the group on stage for the majority of the set. moe. put out the call to fans stating that if their Facebook page reached 100,000 likes, they would play a “Voter’s Choice” song during moe.down. They did not disappoint. They brought out the rare instrumental “Canned Pastries,” that had only been played five times previously, making it’s last appearance on the setlist on August 25, 1994. Before the encore of “Rebubula,” the mayor of moe.ville was announced. This year finally went to Rex Thomson, who had been competing for the mayor for the past few years.
Check out the encore which wrapped up the last moe.down three years ago:
8/29/14 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: meat.*>Dr. Graffenberg>Low, Same Old Story, Chromatic Nightmare, Don’t Fuck With Flo>Timmy Tucker, White Lightning Turpentine, Faker>meat.
Encore: Spine Of A Dog>Seat Of My Pants
* w/ Bullet Jam / false start
8/30/14 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: Mar-DeMa>(nh) Captain America, Okayalright>(nh) Crab Eyes, This I Know, Billy Goat%, Skrunk>Blue Jeans Pizza>Waiting For The Punchline Reprise>Waiting For The Punchline, Downward Facing Dog
Set 3: Silver Sun, Threw It All Away*, Not Coming Down*>Wormwood*>Brittle End*, The Wizard*^, Spanish Moon*>Blond Hair And Blue Eyes*, Late In The Evening*, Plane Crash*
Encore: Jazz Wank>Hava Negilah>Long Island Girls Rule
% w/ moe.down Kid’s Tent Parade * w/ Conehead Buddha horns: Shannon Lynch on saxaphone, Terry Lynch on trumpet, Shaun Bazylewicz on trombone ^ w/ Terry Lynch on vox
8/31/14 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY Set 1: Paper Dragon, Annihilation Blues, Do Or Die, Water>Hector’s Pillow>Four>32 Things, Canned Pastries# Set 2: Big World>Rickey Marten>Time Ed>Moth, Puebla>Kyle’s Song
A weekend spent in Stephentown, NY meant a finely curated lineup over four days at Gardner’s Farm. Having headlined every single year since the festival’s conception in 2011, this year was no different as progressive jam outfit Dopapod prepped for their Friday night set ahead. With a recent spring tour in the rear view mirror, the quartet offered fans a live compilation album, II Saw Live Dopapod, Evil Was II, to curb the anticipation ahead of their impending studio album, which they’ve been placing the finishing touches on. The strings of the group, bassist Chuck Jones and guitarist Rob Compa were kind enough to chat with NYS Music just ahead of their 9:30pm headlining set. Jones, adorned in a mock, heavy metal Celine Dion tee started off by noting their progression as a group over the years as we dove into fun tidbits about the upcoming album and the band as a whole.
Alyssa Ladzinski: Your most recent release was a live album of fan-favorites, what can you tell us about your upcoming release?
Chuck Jones: We just finished our new studio album, we’ve been working on it a lot this last month when we haven’t had any shows. I think we’re trying to release that in the fall before touring.
Rob Compa: We just finished all the recording and tracking for the studio album. There’s gonna be some songs nobodies heard yet, there’s gonna be a lot of instrumentation that a lot of people probably aren’t expecting. I.E. people can expect lots of strings, violins and cellos in certain songs. It’s the first time I recorded guitar parts at home with my amp in my closet, trying not to piss off my neighbors too much. It was a lot of fun to make. It was the most fun I’ve had in a while actually.
AL: Your auxiliary chord breaks while touring in the van. What’s one album the four of you can agree on listening to, front to back?
CJ: I don’t know if we could, our tastes are so diverse there’s no one album we can all agree on. We would get to a point where we could settle. Probably Pink Floyd we can all agree on. That’s what makes this group so enjoyable to play in, everyone has such eclectic tastes from all over.
RC:Uberjam by John Scofield or Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd.
AL: Now you’re all alone on a road trip, what’s one album you’re singing along and playing air instruments to?
RC: Lately I’m not listening to that much music. I could always go for Ben Folds Rock in the Suburbs all the way through or Dire Straits first album.
CJ: Silence. I enjoy the time to think. There’s a lot of saturation in listening, at this point I’ll have to think about putting on music.
AL: Create your own super group you’d want to play in.
CJ: Mike from Aqueous, Beau from Kung Fu, I’m not sure. I like to let other people handle these things and I go to my safe spot.
RC: Well I love James Searl from Giant Panda, Tim Palmieri on guitar, Scotty Zwang on drums, Caden from the Jauntee. I’ll leave it at that, no keys.
AL: Favorite show you’ve seen lately?
CJ: I just moved to Colorado a month ago and quickly I went to see two nights of Primus. Once in a smaller room and then at Red Rocks.
RC: Main Squeeze at Brooklyn Bowl for their CD release. Lyle Brewer of Ryan Montbleau Band played a solo guitar set at Rockwood Music Hall in NY.
AL: If the guys were going to surprise Rob and Becky with an impromptu performance at the wedding, what would it be and who would fill in for Rob on guitar?
CJ: Probably a Phish song, I think he would love that. I can only play “Cars, Trucks and Busses.” He would love if we played a Phish song and had Luke play guitar. Or Pink Floyd.
RC: “Kick N’ Bach” by Frogwings but they’d have to get the real guitarists on the track, Herring and Trucks. Becky would scream with glee.
AL: Being with NYS Music, I have to ask, who’ your favorite NY native artist?
RC: The Niche in Rochester, my heroes when i was 18. They’d sneak me backstage and they were the first band in the scene to let me sit in with them.
CJ: Giant panda, Aqueous, NY Jazz Trio. NY is saturated with good music.
AL: If you could switch bodies with anyone in Dopapod, who would it be and why?
CJ: I’d stay with myself. Maybe Neal cause it would be really fun to be that good at drums.
AL: Weirdest thing a fan has done for you?
CJ: A fan once made a T-shirt with my face on it. My mom has it. It’s weird and flattering and my mom loves it. She was wearing it the other day.
RC: One time at a show in Syracuse my 96 year old grandma was there in a wheelchair and people kept offering to buy her shots. She didn’t have them, but I thought that was pretty funny.
AL: What’s your biggest challenge as a band as of late?
CJ: Having more responsibilities. I’m about to be 30 in August and you look around at festivals and realize the age group ranges from 18-24. This is a young person’s sport!
RC: Half of us are on the East Coast while the other half is in Colorado. Trying to make that work is a thing. Today is the first time we’ve played together in a month and a half. Financially, it’s a challenge too. There’s always the ebb and flow of your band being a hot ticket or not. If you haven’t put out a new album in a couple years, you don’t have any fuel or anything to hand people. So dealing with that.
AL: Rob, you offer guitar lessons to prospective students. How has that worked out for you?
RC: I get a lot of bite and about half of the work. With teaching, I like that I’m directly helping somebody. I don’t really feel that so much when I’m playing on stage. Maybe it happens accidentally, but it doesn’t happen intentionally for that reason.
AL: You seem active on Facebook enough to notice the day in and day out analysis of your music in Dopafam. Is it weird to see your music that deeply dissected on a regular basis?
CJ: They notice the small details. The fact that there’s one person, let alone a handful of people spending that much time listening to our music is all you can ask for.
AL: Can you pinpoint one Dopapod show that stands out as a favorite?
RC: I really liked the last Richmond show we played. It was just a lot of fun and my favorite part was Neal, our drummer has a mic, so he talks to us while we’re playing and during a song I was soloing, he told me how to solo the whole time. You can only solo on this string, now you can only solo on this string and the first five frets of the guitar, now only on A flat. It was just goofy. If I had a favorite one five years ago it would probably be bad because you just keep getting better.
Setlist: 8 Years Ended, Present Ghosts, Mucho, Indian Grits > Freight Train Filled With Dynamite, Priorities, Trickery, Cloud World
Dead and Company roared into Saratoga Springs on a rainbow for a show at SPAC on Tuesday, June 20 after a hot weekend of shows at Fenway Park. The national tour has Deadheads and Mayerheads alike buzzing about the continued pairing of the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti. Few tours of this nature attract an audience where grandparents bring grandkids to the show, tying music across generations and inviting fans of all ages to enjoy the music of the Grateful Dead with an infusion of new blood.
Out of the gate, Weir led the troupe through “Hell in a Bucket,” and let Oteil take over on “Next Time You See Me,” laying down the deepest of bluesy grooves that Pigpen would nod at approvingly. “Loose Lucy” and “Mississippi Half Step” had the audience singing along with Bob and John, but “Looks Like Rain” was where the music connected with Mother Nature. Just as Weir returned to the chorus, the skies opened up and a soft sunshower began with a subsequent rainbow appearing over the gleeful crowd moments later. The refreshing rain led to a “Dire Wolf” sing along followed by “Lost Sailor > “Saint of Circumstance” that wrapped up a tight first set.
The second set started with “Chinacat Sunflower” and instead of expected “I Know You Rider,” Mayer shifted gears into “Deal” where he let off steam, jumping up and down as he led through a rip roaring version of “Deal,” easily the highlight of the night. “China Doll” with Oteil’s heavenly vocals and “Terrapin Station” were the centerpiece of the second set feast. Bass ripples from “Drums>Space” rolled into mellow noodling that soon became “All Along the Watchtower” with Bob charging full ahead before pulling up the reigns for “Black Peter.” To sandwich the set, a patient segue into “Rider” tied the night together with tantric energy built up throughout. For an encore, “Goin Down the Road Feelin Bad” capped the night with a delighted crowd singing loudly and gleefully.
Set 1: Hell in a Bucket, Next Time You See Me, Loose Lucy, Mississippi Half-Step, Looks Like Rain, Dire Wolf, Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance
Set 2: China Cat Sunflower>Deal>China Doll>Terrapin Station>Drums>Space>All Along the Watchtower>Black Peter>I Know You Rider
After three decades Deep Banana Blackout still has their charm. On Friday, June 16, DBB played alongside The Breakfast, who both now have another excellent performance to put under their belts. Their performance Deep Banana Breakfast, although typical, was well received by the wide demographic of people that attended.
Typically, the Fairfield Theater Company gains the attention of people who seemingly aren’t so interested in the band that’s playing, but are more attracted to the idea of seeing live music on Friday night. They come to almost every show the FTC has to offer but always seem so uninterested, sometimes leaving halfway through a show. But not this time. The men and women were flabbergasted by the momentum and energy that DBB brought. Their well-rounded and classic sound combined with a contemporary layout made for an absolutely epic night that was enjoyed by patrons of all ages.
The Breakfast played for an hour and fifteen minutes with their efforts not going unappreciated. The only gripe some people might have had with their performance was that they came out swinging hard – they peaked early and as the room filled out it was easy to see the crowd had lost interest come the end of their set. They consist of: Tim Palmieri on guitar and vocals, Adrian Tramontano of Kung Fu on drums and vocals, Chris DeAngelis on bass and vocals and Jordan Giangreco on keyboards and vocals. They’re very technical and multi-directional with enough talent to last for years. Listeners can sense influences of rock, jam, funk and hints of jazz throughout their pieces. They too have been playing for almost three decades and still performed with unrelenting energy.
DBB, who’s show wasn’t the most incredible one they’ve ever done by any means, was much appreciated for their consistency. There are some member changes compared to their performances 10 years ago, but the feel of their show is still alive and well and that is something to appreciate. There were a few teases and a wide variety of tastes and styles that fluctuated throughout the show. Their selections ranged from a crowd favorite, “Bump and Sway,” to Peter Gabriel’s, “Sledgehammer,” to a lively version of James Brown’s, “Turn Me Loose, I’m Dr. Feel Good.” They played about fifteen total songs before moving to the highlight of the night when The Breakfast combined with DBB to play The Allman Brothers ”Stand Back” and “Southbound” as tribute to the late Greg Allman. As stated before, the show didn’t blow people away – patrons were drinking and talking the majority of the time and kept the smoking section of the patio full the entire time. What was most astounding was the consistency of the group over all of these years.
It’s a shame to see these two groups don’t have plans to work together again anytime soon because they compliment each other beautifully and have a plethora of talent and experience under their belts. DBB’s next show is in Westport, CT at the Blues, Views and BBQ Fest @ Levitt Pavilion and The Breakfast has no plans at the moment. Hopefully this performance is well received enough to have them do a similar show like this one.
With well loved music festivals being forced to fold their cards and encountering unfortunate mishaps in an ever-growing and highly competitive field, it’s both refreshing and reassuring that Stephentown, NY’s Disc Jam 7 can boast a laid back atmosphere and tightly-woven, yet growing community and still come out on top. A jam-packed, 4-day musical jaunt with a star-studded lineup attracted herds of fans from all over the Northeast and then some. Nearly 4,000 flocked to the cozy farm for a potpourri of funky jam headliners, late night producer and DJ sets, skilled vendors, a hula hooping and fire spinning flow tribe, on site artists and food trucks to keep festival dwellers happy, well-fed and entertained.
Thursday set the tone for the sunny weekend ahead, as Albany’s Lord Electro warmed things up on the CEG stage, before Strange Machines welcomed the booming voice and bubbly personality that is Hayley Jane, for the first of her many sit-ins as artist at large. Just after their set, they hopped on Teddy Midnight’s RV, also accompanied by a hot tub, for a quick interview on Teddy TV, which we later found out doubled as a surprise, late night party bus.
NYC trio Lespecial jumped up on the main stage to deliver some night-time grit and grime as Thursday night headliners. Their odd time signatures, heavy tunes and musical fortitude brought fitting teases of Tool, Rage Against the Machine and Primus’ own “Cannibal Holocaust.” After the help of Dopapod drummer Neal “Fro” Evans on the genre bending “Enter Sandman” into “Sandstorm,” the trio closed out their headlining performance on the main stage, riding the wave of symbiotic high energy between fans and artist.
Friday found a string of New York state bands representing their native stomping grounds into the early evening, including an all-star lineup of Aqueous, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Wild Adriatic, Chromatropic, Leila, Litz, The Motet and jamtronica four piece Teddy Midnight, who rolled out phish teases and a number of stellar covers of The New Deal, STS9 and a pair of hard-hitting Disco Biscuits tunes, “Rock Candy” and “Tricycle,” proving Wiley Griffin can absolutely man handle a guitar. Over on the tent stage, Litz worked their magic to hype up the crowd while the saxophonist alone had enough personality on hand for the whole group. A sound malfunction forced immediate improv with bongo and guitar solos. Doing so seamlessly, the group dove right back into the jams once all issues were resolved and held down their set like true musicians and professionals.
The excitement for Friday night’s headlining Dopapod set loomed in the air as other festival favorites, Kung Fu, took the stage. Beau Sasser and company brought an arsenal of just that to the stage at Disc Jam this year for their one of a kind “Sunset-Set.” With Disc Jam 7 being their 6th time playing the festival, Kung Fu has been a fan favorite of the fest since 2012. That being said, the Fu you now groove to in 2017 may not have been the same back in 2012. With fresh tunes and a familiar sound, the group proved why they get invited back every year to the ever-growing festival. Kung Fu welcomed Hayley Jane during their set to perform Joan Jett’s “Reputation,” or for Freaks and Geeks fans, it’s notable theme song while their full set jammed through a slew of songs such as “Chop Suey,” “Joyride,” and a set closer of Steely Dan’s “Charlemagne.”
In past years, Dopapod have been known to deliver two sets to the festival they’ve been with since its culmination seven years ago. Unfortunately a gig in Colorado called for the festival veterans to head out early but not before offering up an eye-opening set that had all on feet and moving to the zips Eli’s keys and defined head bobs. Adorned in a blue Dopapod hoodie, Rob Compa took to the front row of the crowd to incite fan engagement, asking what songs they’d like to hear. After a “Trapper Keeper” suggestion and “Nerds” being loudly projected to the forefront of the stage, they launched into none of the above as they continued with songs of their choice. While the hour and a half set didn’t boast a laundry list of material, each delivery had a flair of its own and incorporated lengthy jams throughout, leaving fans both thankful and energized. Fans were treated to an opener of “8 years,” new track “Mucho, classic Dopapod hits and two-bit favorites “Priorities,” “Trickery” and “Cloud.”
Feeling wired post-Dopapod, a two hour “after party” ensued at the tent stage with the Motet’s uplifting and encapsulating music. Their kinetic energy and signature style made it impossible to stand still, as everyone underneath the tent found a dance partner in the strangers to their left and right. Paired with groovy visuals on the back wall of the tented stage, the Motet provided time travel through the decades with their genre-spanning music. Just in case anyone let out a yawn or felt their bodies slowly yearning for sleep, singer Lyle Divinsky doubled as hype man for the group, spewing catch phrases into the mic and pumping up the crowd as he stalked back and forth across the front of the stage.
With late night sets and DJs playing through the early stages of the morning, many found their way back under the tent to witness the magic that poured out of the tips of Holly Bowling’s fingers. While first depicting psychedelic visuals to pair with her compositions of well-loved jam tunes, Bowling offered the audience a “behind the scenes” look at her performance with a special camera placed in front of her hands. Viewers were able to watch her fingers tickle the instrument as she raced her hands back and forth while banging on the black and white keys, all while sporting a quirky smile on her face. It’s evident that Bowling is not only great at what she does but that it embodies the happiness she feels inside. Her takes on Grateful Dead, Phish and The Disco Biscuits found sweet symphonic sounds mimicking “Franklin’s Tower,” “It’s Ice,” and “Magellan” among others. Thankfully, this wasn’t the last we saw of the all-star pianist.
With at least one expected day of rain, the only dampening of the weekend came from the early morning dew and spilled beer across widely spread campsites. If you even attempted to get some sleep between the late woods parties and the beat boxers dressed in all black outfits adorned in glow sticks, the sun was enough to jolt you up out of your increasingly heated tent making you feel just Bearly Dead, or at least awake enough to go catch their early morning Grateful Dead tribute set–a slot they held at the tent stage all weekend. As Saturday progressed, Consider the Source took on their late afternoon set on the main stage, gathering a large crowd regardless of the fact they had a highly anticipated late night set scheduled for 2am. Ripping through well-known source tracks like “This Dubious Honor,” “Many Words of Disapproval” and “Closer to Home” paired with the wailing of instruments and heavy emotion written across their faces, the trio proved and surpassed reasons why they deserved two slots at disc jam. Never missing a note and playing the most difficult instruments and arrangements, consider the source managed to put a spin on their already involved tunes, oozing mastery musicianship.
Wild Adriatic brought their Saratoga Springs flair to the Disc Jam stage as declarations of “getting my hair like that guy’s” were made in the crowd, referencing to the stellar afro rocked by bassist Rich Derbyshire. Keeping it in the Capital region, Formula 5 boasted an unforgettable set, complete with a sit in by Holly Bowling and an emotional Allman Brother’s Band tribute cover. Drawing a solid, dance-ready crowd, Formula 5 brought the jams to those swaying back and forth on feet as well as those sitting and relishing in the moment. Bowling sat in for “Floating” as the group made what was the only Gregg Allman tribute of the weekend at the time, with an impassioned selection of “No One to Run With.” Mister F kept the upstate grooves going directly after, despite their recent misfortune of being down a tour van and itching to get new music out to fans, Scott Hannay showed his chops and delivered hard on keys before treating fans to a late night surprise.
Anticipation struck Gardner’s Farm for the party that Turkuaz was about to unleash on its weekend inhabitants. Making their rounds on the festival circuit, the 9-piece power funk ensemble offered harmonica stylings and powerful vocals with a groovy dance party to match. Shira Elias and Sammi Garrett have been getting more and more attention and for good reason. Their dialed up vocal chops, coordinated dance moves and soulful sound give enough reason as to why–plus, a cover of The Band’s “Don’t Do It” didn’t hurt.
Saying the tent stage was filled to capacity for Break Science Live would be an understatement. When they took the stage on Saturday night, the original duo of Adam Deitch and Borahm Lee reeled in a humongous crowd as well as support on stage when they were accompanied by a handful of Lettuce members– Erick Coomes on Bass, Eric Bloom on Trumpet, Adam Smirnoff on Guitar and Ryan Zoidis on Tenor Sax. The super group, paired with an intense light show captivated the audience with a combination of trip-hop, dub and jazz which found the tent jumping as a unit. During their set, Manic Focus joined Lee on the table to help with DJing, which brought a unique sound to an already extraordinary group of musicians.
A 2am set drew in a rather large and sleepy crowd underneath the tent stage. Known for their magical history with performing late night festy sets, most of the audience knew to place their blankets and tired bodies on the floor to witness an amplified, yet scaled back Consider the Source set in a more intimate setting with calming visuals to match. Two girls, however, missed the memo and kept prompting everyone to “stand up and enjoy the music” while others retaliated with, “but it’s a seated performance!” Nonetheless, all in attendance found themselves in awe at the mastery level in which the trio plays. Having checked off deliveries of stirring tracks, including one they learned during their trip to India and haven’t played since, Jeff Mann, John Ferrara and Gabriel Marin know how to nail a performance through tempo, chord progressions, arrangement and elements of surprise.
At the same time Consider the Source was delivering their intimate set to a lulled crowd, Teddy Midnight’s surprise RV party bus was at full force. Disc Jam artists swapped on and off the luxury bus, playing tunes from the backside of the opened vehicle and slithering guitar necks in between its doorways. Joe Davis and Matt Richards of Formula 5, Scott Hannay of Mister F, Adrian Tramontano of Kung Fu, Wiley Griffin of Teddy Midnight all took a musical ride on the bus.
As silent discos were offered into the premature minutes of the early mornings, Saturday night/Sunday morning offered listeners a stroll through the Techni-colored woods to “No Diggity” as one looked around and noticed life in the woods is a bit different than out on the wide open spaces of the farm. After placing a pair of silver headphones over your head, you were welcomed into a wooded world of festival dogs, multiple pin boards circulating and growing raves.
Sunday morning’s sunrise guided everyone to their tents for a quick nap ahead of the final day of Disc Jam 7. Upon awakening and being lazy around camp, the opening notes of Dopapod’s “Bubblebrain” trailed widely across the farm, conjuring many to the stage. Quickly, it had to be discovered who was playing such a top-notch delivery of the unique track. To the surprise of many, it was a group of kids from the ages 11-18 in Zachademy of Music All Stars, including a young boy with luscious blond locks, reminiscent to that of Formula 5 bassist James Woods. A mind blown audience watched as kids half the age of the festival goers shredded through a difficult catalogue including covers of Vulfpeck, Consider the Source and Kung Fu. Dopapod’s Compa went forth to share the “Bubblebrain” video to Facebook, announcing that even he messes up his guitar solo at times and further affirming the true talent boasted by the all stars.
Around noon, a very talented group new to the scene took the tent stage and made it their own. New Paltz’ The Other Brothers brought a unique sound to the festival, drawing a nice crowd to their set that blended a variety of genres. As always, Chris Owen was able to captivate the crowd with his larger than life vocals and impressive dance moves while Bera, Marquez, Morrison, Nelson and Mendelson kept every groove as tight as possible. Where one song took on the structure of a love ballad, the others were sure to get toes tapping and hips swiveling, gaining a new circle of Disc Jam fans. Be sure to check out this humble group on the rise, you won’t want to miss these brothers in a city near you before they ultimately break through. They’re currently out in L.A. recording their spirited music at the famous Sound City Studios.
Comparable to the tunes of Twiddle and their upbeat feel, Annie in the Water proved to be the fun 5-piece they are with a super involved set– a smorgasbord of sit ins by Holly Bowling on ‘Carry the Burden,” “Girl Let’s Dance,” with Twiddle’s Dempsey and Hannay of Mister F as well as Hayley Jane and Meadow Eliz offering assistance on “Crispy.” Keeping the theme going, a bulk of talent joined the Twiddle side project known as Gubbulidis. The group’s name derives from the combination the two members; Zdenek Gubb on bass Mahali Savoulidis on acoustic guitar and vocals. Usually all the two need are some loop pedals to make their sound one that very few could duplicate but to add depth to their one-off set, the power duo was joined by a plethora of talented artists such as the other components of Twiddle, Holly Bowling, Honeycomb, Billy Comstock of Annie in the Water, Wiley Griffin of Teddy Midnight and two members of Mister F; Colin Shore and Scott Hannay, making their Disc Jam set one of a kind. The full performance, which pieces together “Juggernaut,” “Rocky Raccoon,” “Mad World,” and more, can be found on Archive.org.
Later on in the day, a tent stage party was hosted by none other than G-Nome Project. The Israeli-based Livetronica Electro-Funk band rocked the tent and everyone inside with their synth-heavy instrumental tunes. Resembling jams taken on by trans-fusion/jam bands such as The Disco Biscuits, Lotus and Phish, G-Nome Project appealed to the masses, zeroing in on a unique blend of genres and inverted jams with covers of tunes from Game of Thrones, Lotus’ “Livingston Storm,” the Biscuits’ “Abraxas,” and Phish’s “Frankie Sez.”
Pink Talking Fish helped round out the festival with a Sunday evening performance, rotating their famous Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish covers to an appreciative crowd. Mixing up the music of three undeniable bands in the scene, treats came in all sizes with covers of “One in a Lifetime,” “Run Like Hell,” “Mother,” “Rift” and “Harry Hood.” To close out their set, guitarist Eric Gould and artist manager brought out his latest guided talent, Hayley Jane to end with the second and final tribute to Gregg Allman with a moving version of “Soulshine.”
Neal “Fro” Evans, Holly Bowling and Hayley Jane certainly made their rounds throughout their four days on the farm, collectively marking an impressive number of sit ins. Evans brought his skill on the kit to help Lespecial and Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad on stage. Bowling spent time jamming with Electric Beethoven, Formula 5 and Annie in the Water while Hayley Jane notched an impressive sit in count of nine, with a TLC “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls” cover alongside Roots of Creation and appearances with Strange Machines, Bearly Dead, Aqueous, Congo Sanchez, Kung Fu, After Funk, Pink Talking Fish and, Annie in the Water. Her final performance with Ryan Montbleau tucked Disc Jam 7 into bed and put the weekend to sleep with one last performance as Yes Darling, as they ripped through a set of original material.
An intimate experience and independent effort, Disc Jam 7 sure packed a punch of a weekend before coming to a close. Every year, Disc Jam sees exponential growth and although it’s tucked away in the cozy knolls of Stephentown, NY, it’s small town aesthetic and low maintenance atmosphere is exactly what keeps fans coming back for more. When you step onto the farm, you step into the Disc Jam Fam–a world in which you meet and click with those you cross paths with if only for the weekend, a world in which you most likely already know an abundance of people there. After a widely successful seventh year in operation, those who self-identify as Disc Jam Fam left Gardner’s farm already mapping out next year’s detailed blueprints for Disc Jam 8.
The Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary released a statement via e-mail after reports of illnesses at the venue caused concern to attendees of two festivals. Over the course of two weekends, a multitude of symptoms were reported from patrons, staff, volunteers and musicians during the Mad Tea Party Jam and the WickerMan Burn.
Anyone suffering symptoms associated with viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu) are encouraged to contact the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The venue is working with local health officials to collect accurate data. Organizers of both events as well as the venue are hoping this data can help further explain what happened and why some some attendees became ill.
To our Visitors and Friends
Recently we have suffered at Four Quarters outbreaks of a very contagious Viral GI illness that is following the pattern of the 2008 season outbreaks. We have been in contact with our public health officials about Viral GI prior to the outbreak at The Mad Tea Party and have been in continuous contact since Sunday morning, June 18th. We have been forwarding contact information, hospital information, test reports and samples directly to the PA Epidemiological Dept, and will be meeting with them on site shortly.
We have confirmed with some public health officials that this is a “hot” season for Viral GI with outbreaks emerging. It is our own opinion that we are experiencing a very contagious variant this season with one day incubation times, less than 24 hour mean duration and high transmissiblity through surfaces.
We have confirmed ill parties arriving on site and passed this information forward, while protecting identities of individuals and venues involved. It is important to remember that the virus can travel through casual contact with surfaces and does not reflect on the personal habits of the persons afflicted; in fact, for the virus to survive every person casually infected must, on average, infect another person.
In working with the PA Health Dept after our experience with Viral GI in 2008, we put into place policies and improvements under their recommendation. We believe these policies prevented a much wider outbreak at Mad Tea Party.
* We quarantine campers and campsites that display symptoms of any kind of GI distress, until it is known they are not infectious, and we supply these camps with chlorine wash-down supplies. We track arrival times, travel histories and first symptoms of cases reported to us.
* We educate through signage and publications about the nature of Viral GI. Much of our staff has passed Safe-Serve educational certification.
* During high risk events we continuously clean and chlorine wash-down all potties, water spigots, hand-wash stations and smooth public surfaces many times during the day.
* Our water supply is tested and licensed with daily chlorine readings and monthly sampling. We volunteered for this highest level of testing.
* Food vendors are safe-serve certified and are Health Dept. inspected prior to events. Our own kitchen is licensed to the commercial level with safe-serve certified staff.
This announcement is intended to answer in small part some of your concerns. Please understand that science takes time and we are currently focused on supplying the raw data that will allow the experts to identify and understand what may be an especially contagious variant. If you have information to share do call PA HEALTH at 717-787-3350. As you travel and attend events, be very aware of the increased risk factors for Viral GI and practice good hygiene in it’s prevention, with Wikipedia @ Norovirus a good reference. As we receive information back from the science community we will pass it on to you.
In closing we wish to express our sympathy and concern to those people who have experienced this contagion, and our appreciation to those who have shared with us their medical histories. Our praise for the outstanding work of EMS and sanitation staff who went far beyond the call of 16 hour shifts to treat patients and keep the facilities clean. And our thanks to the very many people whose recent messages of support and appreciation for our work, has made that work worthwhile.
Orren Whiddon
Four Quarters InterFaith
Anyone who attended Mad Tea Party Jam over the past two weekends are encouraged to disinfect supplies, wash clothing, and seek medical attention if symptoms worsen. According to the Center for Disease Control, the virus that causes Viral GI may be present in vomit and stools both before and after symptoms are present. Proper hand hygiene is the best way to prevent infecting others.
NYS Music will continue to update this story as it develops.
Patrons, staff, volunteers and artists at the Mad Tea Party jam have reported a multitude of illnesses over the weekend. Many attendees of the three day event reported sickness through social media that prevented performances and sent several people to the hospital. The festival was held at the Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary in Artemis, Pa.
Mad Tea Party released a statement via their Facebook Page on Sunday evening.
Despite our best efforts to maintain the health safety of our patrons, people were falling ill. We ourselves are seeking any and all answers. The Pennsylvania Center of Epidemiology has been contacted by the venue in order to properly ascertain what has happened this past weekend. In order to better understand and identify the issue and better yet, how to fix this issue, we are openly asking people to report their own health issues to the Pennsylvania board of health. Please call this number in order to aid us. 1-877-PA HEALTH
We will be posting more information as it is received.
Headliner Papadosio was forced to cancel their third and final performance of the weekend which was scheduled for Saturday night. Three of the band’s five members were reportedly too ill to perform.
Ona Hogarty of Bedford, PA was taken to the emergency room at War Memorial Hospital in Berkley Springs, PA. She reported to NYS Music that doctors there gave her a dysentery diagnosis. She said doctors noted that dysentery is often given as a broad term diagnosis to stomach viruses accompanied by bloody stools. Hogarty is awaiting test results to further explain her illness.
Online accounts point to a potential Norovirus outbreak. Although the symptoms match reports from sick attendees, NYS Music has been unable to confirm the official cause of the weekend’s illnesses. Symptoms were reported as early as Friday morning. Norovirus is often the cause of mass outbreaks in nursing homes, cruise ships and daycare centers.
A similar situation was reported at last weekend’s WickerMan Burn. A pinned post on the WickerMan Burn Facebook group early Sunday morning, dated June 16, read:
The organization team and the 4QF board of directors are sympathetic and full of compassion for those who got sick after WickerMan. You have all already heard that we test the water and septic systems, that we bleached everything we could as often as we could, and that some number of people still got sick. We can’t go back into the event and change the fact that a highly contagious illness got passed around.
However, by Sunday evening, the post was updated with the above text deleted. Only an explanation about norovirus and stomach bugs remained from the original post. Several post in the group were made, questioning the link between the illnesses over the two different weekends.
Although the venue has signs posted about norovirus prevention at the showers, the venue offered no other warning about potential issues from the previous weekend.
While the organizers of Mad Tea Party Jam have been open with its patrons, Four Quarter’s has been silent about the situation. Over the past two days, long-time attendees of the grounds are commenting on their positive experiences in vast numbers, which has some of the sick attendees crying fowl. Brooke Lown of Richmond, Va, who became ill early Saturday morning told NYS Music, “It’s really upsetting and makes me feel like we are going to have to try hard for this to be taken seriously and be addressed. They are all trying to play it off like we don’t have personal hygiene and are just some dirty hippies who are always bound to get this sick at fests.”
This story is developing and NYS Music will bring you the latest developments. Request for comments from Mad Tea Party Jam and Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary are pending. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is working to provide accurate data on the total number of cases reported, both over the weekend and throughout the venue’s history.
NBT Bank summer concert series in Norwich will see a diverse mix of genres during this years lineup, every Thursday night during the months of July and August. These free shows will see a mix of Grammy winners/nominees, and young up and coming artists.
Hartford, CT area band, McLovins, will kick off the summer festivities in Norwich’s East Side Park on July 6, at 7pm with a block party. Rotary Club will be serving free hotdogs, while the Norwich Cheer Team, will be serving free ice cream by Gilligan’s, along with other treats.
The 2017 lineup will also consist of Grammy nominated blues artist Kenny Neal. Neal was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album, for his 2016 release Bloodline. Grammy nominated guitarist, singer/songwriter Bill Kirchen. In 2002, Kirchen was inducted into the Washington D.C Area Music Association Hall of Fame along with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters/Nirvana). Two time Grammy award winner Terrance Simien will close out the summer series on Aug.31. His band, Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience Band have toured in more than 45 countries and performed over 7000 shows in their 30 plus year career.
Rain will not stop performers from taking the stage, as Chenango County Council of the Arts Auditorium in Norwich will serve as the rain location if inclement weather happens.
The event is brought to you by the Chenango Blues Association with support from corporate sponsor NBT Bank. Grants from the Greater Norwich Foundation and the R.C. Smith Foundation were also provided. The program is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Chenango County Council of the Arts, with support by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the New York State Legislature.
NBT Bank Summer Concert Series Lineup:
July 6 – McLovins
July 13 – John Brown’s Body
July 20 – Kenny Neal
July 27 – Dangermuffin
Aug 3 – Bill Kirchen
Aug 10 – Vanessa Collier Band
Aug 17 – Honey Island Swamp Band
Aug 24 – Billy Strings
Aug 31 – Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience Band
Positive Mental Trip recently released The Black and White Album, a collection of 15 songs that spans the genres of reggae, progressive rock, alternative rock, and more. The band is from Catskill, and The Black and White Album is their sophomore album coming five years after Change Your Mind. The band’s core writer/recording musician is Luke Weiler; he taught himself drums and bass to record nearly every instrument you hear on the album. The few exceptions are the sax parts in “The Bronco Rides at Midnight” and “Circles,” recorded by Chris Bonnano, and additional guitar from Steve Repka on “Circles,” “The Happy Old Man,” and “As a Friend” and Walt B on “The Bronco Rides at Midnight.”
This year’s three-day event called into question whether it may even go on. Hurricane Irene rolled through the area just a few days prior, shutting down the flooded thruway. Those concerns were dashed, however, as the thruway opened and the show went on.
This year’s event was once again held in Turin, NY. The crowd of attendees was much smaller, and more intimate, than usual. Friday’s musical set began on a stylish note, as the Del McCoury Band took to the stage. With perfectly coifed hair and stylish suits, these guys brought nothing but class and bluegrass to the stage. It was a refreshing musical change to the festival without a doubt. moe.’s Friday set included a tip of the hat to Jerry Garcia with a performance of “Casey Jones,” as the anniversary of his death was August 9. For the first time in recent years, the Friday night sky was crystal clear, without a hint of rain in sight.
Since 2000, moe. has been hosting this festival for fans, friends and family. This year, the three day festival was especially welcome as the event returned to the original Labor Day weekend date at Snow Ridge in Turin, NY. Not having to go to work on Monday was a big factor for fans, as many did not want to miss the epic fireworks display after the band’s last song on Sunday. The rain held up for most of the weekend, keeping the grounds dry during the day.
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Mad Tea Party released a statement via their 
While the organizers of Mad Tea Party Jam have been open with its patrons, Four Quarter’s has been silent about the situation. Over the past two days, long-time attendees of the grounds are commenting on their positive experiences in vast numbers, which has some of the sick attendees crying fowl. Brooke Lown of Richmond, Va, who became ill early Saturday morning told NYS Music, “It’s really upsetting and makes me feel like we are going to have to try hard for this to be taken seriously and be addressed. They are all trying to play it off like we don’t have personal hygiene and are just some dirty hippies who are always bound to get this sick at fests.”