NYS Music 20​17

Category: News

  • Buffalo EDM Artist, Grabbitz Releases Video From Upcoming Album

    Buffalo singer, songwriter and producer Grabbitz, has released his music video for the single “Don’t Let Me Go,” which is off the artist’s debut album, Things Change, due May 19 on Grabbitz’s own record label, West Blood Records. The label is named after the street Grabbitz grew up on in Buffalo. Things Change is available for pre order.

    buffalo grabbitzGrabbitz has made a name for himself in his young EDM career. His remix of the Deadmau5 track “Silent Picture,” eventually led to the pair collaborating on the Deadmau5’s hit single, “Let Go,” where you can hear Grabbitz on vocals. The single peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic charts, and has over 10 million views on YouTube.

    He entered the television entertainment industry, when he was called upon to provide compositions for the T.V show CSI: Cyber. His debut EP Friends, was a top 10 dance album on iTunes. His track “Here With You Now,” has over 4 million views on YouTube, and topped the Beatport Dubstep charts in 2014. Grabbitz’s follow up, Better With Time, climbed to #4 on the iTunes Dance chart. His Spotify song catalog currently has over 20 million streams combined.

    Born Nick Chiari, look for Grabbitz to show his stuff off as a live performer, as he plans to perform live shows this summer.

    Things Change Track Listing:
    1. Follow Me
    2. Don’t Let Me Go
    3. I Think That I Might Be Going Crazy
    4. Play This Game
    5. Break Me Down
    6. Pretty Little Melody
    7. Love Like That (Let You Down)
    8. Hold Steady (Better Days)
    9. Things Change
    10. I Shouldn’t Have
    11. A Tragic Interlude
    12. What I’m Going Thru

  • Lamb of God Taking Hiatus

    Metal Injection reports on a recent interview with Sixx Sense that Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has stated the band will go on a hiatus following the bands summer tour. Blythe, in an recent interview, talked about needing rest from a busy last couple of years. In that time, he has dealt with being jailed in the Czech Republic for accidentally injuring a fan, leading to the fan’s death and a grueling touring cycle, in search of money after bills stemming from legal issues started to mount up.

    Lamb Of God is on tour all summer, starting in South America on June 6, at Groove in Palermo, Argentina, with Carcass and Heaven Shall Burn. July and August finishes Lamb of God’s summer run in North America, before heading on hiatus following the Aug. 20 at the Comerica Theatre, in Phoenix, AZ with Slayer and Behemoth. The tour will bring Lamb of God to Madison Square Garden on July 27 for New Yorkers wanting one more chance to see the band before the hiatus kicks in.

    Blythe stated:

    I got out of prison and immediately went on tour, because I had five lawyers and they were just hemorrhaging money like crazy. I went from jail to home to, ten days later, being at Knotfest to home for a month or two, then out on tour with Lamb of God, then back to the Czech Republic to go to trial, found not guilty, then come home, then finish up the rest of our tour and finally end in South Africa. And then we took a little time off, but there were some changes in the organization and they started writing another record and we need to make money, so it was back in the studio. And it was back on tour again for this last record, and that cycle is not gonna end until August or September of this year, I guess. So it’s just been, like, grinding, grinding, grinding. And when I’m not on the road, I’m working on writing and photography.

    [These are] things that make me happy. But it’s at a point now where it’s like, at the end of this tour cycle, it’s gonna be like, boom, it’s time to take a break for real and concentrate more on writing and being at home with the family. It’s time for me now, at the end of this… ‘Cause we got off, after I got done with the whole prison thing and then finishing that tour, we got off the road and then we started writing a new record, and then we recorded that record. And we didn’t tell anyone that we were recording — nobody knew. They thought we were just chilling at home, and then we go on tour before the record even comes out.

  • Legendary DJ to Perform On Top Of Mt Everest

    EDM Sauce reports that legendary electronic dance music DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold will add another first to his list of places that no other EDM artist, or any artist for that matter, has ever performed. Oakenfold’s next stop, on April 11, will see the British-born DJ take the long and dangerous 17,000 foot hike up Mt. Everest and perform at the highest party in the world at the mountain’s Base Camp to celebrate the 3o year anniversary of the Second Summer of Love, which was the name given to the period in the late 80’s when acid house music and rave parties were on the rise.

    When it comes to performing in unique places, Oakenfold is no stranger. Oakenfold has been the first EDM artist to ever perform at the Great Wall of China, The Hollywood Bowl, Coachella’s main stage and Madison Square Garden.

    The venture will be part of Oakenfold’s “Generations World Tour,” which will cover six continents with new visuals, music and extended sets, playing tracks from a career that has lasted over three decades. Oakenfold will perform on two turntables and two Denon SC5000’s. For fans who can’t make the trip and climb the mountain, don’t worry, Oakenfold will live stream the Mt. Everest event through EXTREME.

    Oakenfold was voted DJ Magazine’s #1 Dj in 1998 and 1999. He has produced over 100 remixes for over 100 artists throughout his career including Madonna, Britney Spears, U2, Elvis Presley, Hans Zimmer, Dirty Vegas, P.O.D., Justin Timberlake, The Cure, Natasha Bedingfield, Moby, Massive Attack, The Rolling Stones, Crystal Method, Jennifer Lopez and The Doors. Oakenfold founded the EDM record label Perfecto, in 1989, which is still going strong.

  • Nameless Ghoul Speaks Out on Ghost Lawsuit

    Metal Injection reports that former Ghost guitarist, Simon Soderberg, posted an lengthy post on Facebook about his pending lawsuit with former Ghost band members. Soderberg and three other ‘nameless ghoul’ former members of Ghost have launched a lawsuit against Ghost frontman Papa Emeritus, real name Tobias Forge, for cheating them out of royalties from music and live tours.

    nameless ghoul simon soderbergThe lawsuit does not include former member Martin Persner, who many believe started the band. It’s said that the band may have gone through more than 10 members. With each band member’s identity being under a mask and known only as a Nameless Ghoul, there is no way to really tell how many former members Ghost really has. The four members in the lawsuit want Forge to disclose all financial income and expense statements, or be forced by the courts to pay a penalty in the $20,000 range.

    Ghost, with new band members will perform at The Palace Theatre in Albany on June 6.

    Soderberg’s Facebook post stated:

    https://www.facebook.com/simon.soderberg.52/posts/10154419061836127

    As of yesterday we, four signatories from the band Ghost, have filed a lawsuit with the Linköping District Court. We are suing Tobias Forge (”Papa Emeritus”) – the band’s lead singer who has also been responsible for the finances of the band since its founding.
    As of the filing of this lawsuit we are requesting that the court, under penalty, oblige Tobias Forge to declare the incomes as well as expenses of the band concerning the years between 2011 and 2016.

    Throughout all the years we have been on tour with Ghost (between 2011-2016 some of us have performed something like 500 shows with the band) and throughout the band’s album recordings, we have neither been allowed to share in the profits of the band, nor have we seen any of the incomes accounted for. The only thing we have received have been minimal advance payments to allow the band to keep going. This despite the fact that we had an agreement that any profits should be shared fairly between the members of the band.

    When we have attempted to raise the issue of the band’s finances with Tobias Forge, his sole response has been that there are so far no profits to be share, but that everyone will be generously compensated once the band turns a profit.

    The reason that this lawsuit is now being filed is a contract dispute that has escalated during the previous year (2016). Over the last year we have received multiple proposed contracts from Tobias Forge in which he seeks to redefine his role in the band.

    Since the conception of Ghost, our common understanding and agreement has been that we are a band on equal terms, but that Tobias will act as band leader and manage the band’s finances through his own companies.

    Through contracts received from Tobias and his lawyers during 2016, Tobias has attempted to make us sign an agreement that implies we are merely consultants working for his company, an agreement also stating that we would receive less that a minimal wage for our contributions to the band. According to this proposal, furthermore we would renounce any and all rights to music royalties.

    All above despite the fact that some of us have been members of the band since its foundation, investing all of our time in the band during the past five years, with as much right to the recordings and trademark of the band Ghost as that of Tobias Forge.

    Our vocalist and former friend is now attempting to, in a underhanded and shameless way, transform Ghost from a band into a solo project with hired musicians. Naturally this is not something we can accept.

    When, in connection with the 2016 United States tour, approached a lawyer in order to sort out the situation of the contracts, we were informed that Tobias Forge no longer wanted us to participate in upcoming tours. Thus, Tobias Forge is now going ahead with the tour, which started March 24 2017 and is set to end in the UK on August 12, on his own together with rented musicians who have replaced all other band members. Tobias Forge has chosen this path of action without any permission from us to carry out the tour on his own. This under the name Ghost, which we regard as our commonly owned trademark.

    The actions of Tobias Forge amount to nothing less than unabashed dishonesty, greed, and darkness. Not the darkness of which Ghost sings, but a darkness that pushes a person to betray his best friends when fame and fortune appear within reach.

    We are terribly sorry that this afflicts the fans of the band as well, and that they too should suffer because of this betrayal and greed.

    We who are suing Tobias Forge are:
    Simon Söderberg (Alpha) – member of Ghost since 2010.
    Mauro Rubino (Air) – member of Ghost since 2011.
    Henrik Palm (Eather) – member of Ghost since 2015
    Martin Hjertstedt (Earth) – member of Ghost since 2014
    The Nameless Ghouls

  • Syracuse University’s Bandier Program Moves to Newhouse School

    Syracuse University has announced the relocation of the prestigious Martin Bandier Program for the Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the College of Visual and Performing Arts to the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications, as reported by Billboard. The move houses the Bandier program alongside nationally ranked programs in broadcast journalism, television, radio and film, and newspaper and online journalism.

    bandier Joining the Newhouse School ensures that non-performance students interested in pursuing careers in the music industry have a variety of options to conduct interdisciplinary studies at Syracuse.

    “Over the years, graduates of the Bandier Program have gone on to achieve very successful careers in all sectors of the music industry,” said Martin Bandier (class of ’62)  in a statement. “I wanted to ensure that the program will continue to groom our future innovators — students that will lead the trends and growth across all entertainment industries. The Program is honored to join the Newhouse School, where it will continue to provide curricula that will prepare students for the ever transforming and growing music and entertainment industries.”

    martin bandierThe Bandier Program was founded by Mr. Bandier in 2006 and Billboard has ranked it among the top music business schools in the U.S.  Students study all aspects of the industry and have the opportunity to take part in internships at leading music companies in New York, Los Angeles and London. They earn a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in recording and allied entertainment studies.

  • Comedy Works to call Cohoes Music Hall home, Three Acts Already Signed

    After having been a staple in Albany’s comedy entertainment scene for the previous 35 years, Tommy Nicchi picked up his Comedy Works brand in 2016 and moved it up to Saratoga Springs. As he recalled the move last week during a press conference to announce the new partnership between the Comedy Works in Cohoes Music Hall, Nicchi said, “We would only come back for the right reason. And, this building is the right reason.”

    Less than a year after it was announced Cohoes Music Hall was making its return as a viable entertainment hub under the Palace Performing Arts Center Inc., the storied music hall continues to build partnerships that will ensure its lights will remain on.

    Palace Executive Director Holly Brown announced the partnership, Thursday, March 2, along with three scheduled acts to start later this month.

    “Comedy Works will bring a regular series of comedians to a ‘Comedy Works at the Cohoes Music Hall’ series,” said Brown.

    Nick DiPaolo kicks off the series Saturday, March 25. The next act features  former WWE wrestler, and Glens Falls native, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan on Saturday, April 22. And, on Saturday, May 13, Gilbert Gottfried will take to the Cohoes stage.

    Nicchi said he sent photos of the music hall to management firms before making calls out to comedians. The aesthetics of the venue, and its relative close proximity to New York City — where many such acts call home — made for an easy sell.

    “We made three phone calls out, and got these three acts,” said Nicchi.

    The Comedy Works comes back to the greater Capital District with stiff competition. In 2015, the Funny Bone Comedy Club established business in Crossgates Mall. It, too, brings a steady stream of regional and national acts to its stage. However, the partnership between the Palace, Albany’s Park Playhouse, the Comedy Works and Cohoes Music Hall, promises both a constant and eclectic stream of entertainment.

    The Comedy Works is no stranger to bringing national names to the Capital District. Aziz Ansari famously flew into Albany and immediately took to the Comedy Works stage on what was the anchor leg of a eight-hour marathon stretch of performances in August of 2015.

    Brown said she hopes to see at least one live comedy event at the Cohoes Music Hall each month through the new partnership.

    Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse expressed his gratitude for the positive affect Albany’s performing arts group has had on his city.

    “The Palace Theatre has certainly exceeded our expectations,” said Morse, who added that more than 7,000 patrons have visited the revitalized hall since the partnership was announced last September. “And, [it] has become our economic engine that drives success to our downtown.”

    This article was originally published by The Spot 518. is property of Spotlight Newspapers in Albany, N.Y., and appears as a special to NYS Music. TheSpot518 and NYS Music work in partnership to provide readers with in-depth coverage on the local music scene in the Capital District and New York state, respectively. For more, visit TheSpot518.com.

  • Albany Common Council Greenlights Ownership Transfer of Palace Theatre

    Less than a week after the opening of the Albany Capital Center, ownership of the city’s most storied stage changed hands — the first big step required for the upgrades it needs to expand.

    The Albany Common Council approved the sale of the Palace Theatre to the Palace Performing Arts Center, Inc., the not-for-profit organization which operates it on Monday, March 6. The transition, from a municipally owned venue to privately owned, will secure additional funds for a $65 million expansion and renovation project.

    The Palace’s expansion project is billed as a means of revitalizing its surrounding neighborhood. Once completed, its proposed to enhance traffic to area restaurants and provide a bridge to downtown’s entertainment district from the city’s burgeoning Warehouse District. PPAC estimates there will be an “on-going indirect” annual impact of $10 million on local businesses.

    “The Palace Performing Arts Center is clearly an important driver of the local economy as proven through the theatre’s exceptional growth under the leadership of Holly Brown and her partners at Park Playhouse and Albany Symphony,” Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said in January, when PPAC announced it had secured a labor agreement for the expansion project. “The exciting project will certainly spur additional downtown development, and create an even more dynamic venue for arts and entertainment in the heart of downtown Albany.”

    According to PPAC, the Palace has doubled the number of featured events at the 86-year old theatre in the past five years, from 77 events in 2009-10 to 170 in 2015-16. The Palace is also home of the Park Playhouse, which uses the building space for offices and classes for the community.

    Palace Executive Director Holly Brown and PPAC Chairman Alan Goldberg said they anticipate the proposed expansion to occur in different phases. The first of which will include restoration and expansion of the theatre’s stage and backstage areas, and creation of classroom and rehearsal space. Additional elements of the project includes a new 600-seat theatre, expanded lobby and box offices, a video post-production studio, the addition of a loading dock and rehearsal space.

    In preparation for the expansion, the Palace has spent more than $750,000 to purchase properties along North Pearl Street, and to fund appraisals and various studies to investigate further steps.

    The renovation plans rival those implemented by Schenectady’s Proctors Theatre over the years. Proctors Theatre has about 2600 seats to the Palace’s approximate 2800.
    The city sold the theatre for $750,000, the aggregate value to be paid over the next 30 years. The city first purchased the property for $90,000 shortly after its doors closed in September 1969.
    Over the theatre’s eight decades of operations, it has features iconic figures of both the arts and pop culture. Bob Hope, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones and Jerry Seinfeld have all taken to the Palace’s stage. The Palace is also the home of the Grammy Award winning Albany Symphony Orchestra.

    The sale of the theatre did receive some opposition from members of the Albany Common Council, who expressed concern the city was not receiving a fair price. Though the PPAC reportedly presented its purchase proposal based on two, separate assessments, Councilmember Frank Commisso, Jr. took to social media hours before the 12-3 vote last Monday.

    “As Mayor Sheehan and her allies on the Albany Common Council are preparing to give away the Palace Theater [sic.], an inconvenient data point is presented,” stated Commisso, attaching an Albany Business Review article reporting the sale of $497,000 sale of the 13,500-square foot eba Dance Theatre on Albany’s Lark Street and Hudson Avenue. Late last week, Commisso announced he will run for Albany Mayor.

    This article was originally published by The Spot 518.

  • Premiere: Wild Adriatic’s Music Video for ‘Come Back Baby’

    Wild Adriatic premieres today their video for ‘Come Back Baby,’ off their latest album Feel. Drummer Mateo Vosganian shares a little on the making of the video:

    “For this video we had the idea of involving the local community a bit more and put out a call for local young theater students to cast in this video. We ended up working with kids from Ballston Spa and had such a great time shooting with them. They were, of course, way more professional than we were on set and committed a whole weekend of their lives to making a fun video with us. Everything related to the video stems from our home community. Our friend Josh Casano is a band director at Oneida Middle School and connected us with the school principal who agreed to let us shoot there. Our friends Chromoscope Pictures are based in the Troy area and directed, produced, and edited this project. All in all it ended up being a super fun concept and we loved being able to sneak nods to some of our heroes into it.“

    Tour Dates
    Wild A Tour Dates
    3/31 – Nectar’s – Burlington, VT
    4/01 – Port City Music Hall – Portland, ME w/ The Maine Youth Rock Symphony
    4/07 – Parlor Newport – Newport, RI
    Come Back Baby
    Wild Adriatic & Leopold & His Fiction Tour
    4/11 – Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn, NY
    4/12 – Coda – Philadelphia, PA
    4/13 – Daryl’s House – Pawling, NY
    4/14 – The Haunt – Ithaca, NY
    4/15 – Dogfish Head Brewing – Rehoboth Beach, DE
    4/16 – Rams Head Baltimore – Baltimore, MD
    4/18 – Broadberry – Richmond, VA
    4/19 – MotorCo – Durham, NC
    4/20 – The Evening Muse – Charlotte, NC
    4/21 – Ashley Street Tavern – Augusta, GA
    4/22 – Sweetwater 420 Festival (Just Wild Adriatic)
    4/25 – Empire Control Room – Austin, TX
    4/26 – Gas Monkey – Dallas, TX
    4/27 – House of Rock – Corpus Christi, TX
    4/29 – Limelight – San Antonio, TX
    5/02 – Atomic Cowboy @ The Bootleg – St. Louis, MO
    5/05 – Schubas – Chicago, IL
    Wild Adriatic Summer Tour
    5/26-5/28 – Summercamp – Chillicothe, IL
    6/1-6/04 – Hazelnut Hang – Isle of Palms, SC
    6/30-7/02 – moe. Down – Turin, NY

  • Dopapod to Release Live Album this Friday

    Dopapod will release their second live album II Saw Live Dopapod Evil Was II this Friday, March 31. The album takes choice tracks off live recordings from Fall 2016 and early 2017 shows in Colorado. This live release is in addition to the high quality soundboards of most performances available at music.dopapod.com. Highlights include the new song “Trickery”, as well as fan favorites “Trapper Keeper,” “FABA,” “Picture In Picture,” and many more.

    dopapod live albumFans can pre-order the album and get an instant download of “FABA” and receive the album immediately upon its release.

    Track Listing:

    Trapper Keeper > Mudwalkin’ > Trapper Keeper (1/29/17 – Frisco, CO)
    Priorities (11/17/16 – Stroudsburg, PA)
    FABA (12/30/16 – Covington, KY)
    Hey Zeus! Que Tal? (12/9/16 – Iowa City, IA)
    Nerds (12/14/16 – Ann Arbor, MI)
    Psycho Nature > PLSS > Psycho Nature (1/29/17 – Frisco, CO)
    Vol. 3 #86 (12/14/16 – Ann Arbor, MI)
    Trickery (12/15/16 – Kalamazoo, MI)
    PIcture In Picture (12/30/16 – Covington, KY)
    Present Ghosts (11/17/16 – Stroudsburg, PA)
    STADA (11/18/16 – New York, NY)
    Bluetooth (12/2/16 – Charleston, SC)
    Blast (12/2/16 – Charleston, SC)
    Bubble Brain (12/2/16 – Charleston, SC)

    Catch Dopapod on tour this spring!

    3/29 Columbus, OH: Park Street Saloon
    3/30 Pittsburgh, PA: The Rex Theater
    3/31 Philadelphia, PA: Theatre Of Living Arts
    4/1 Philadelphia, PA: Theatre Of Living Arts
    4/5 Portland, ME: Port City Music Hall
    4/6 Burlington, VT: Higher Ground
    4/7 Boston, MA: Paradise Rock Club
    4/8 Boston, MA: Paradise Rock Club
    4/9 Fairfield, CT: The Warehouse @ FTC
    4/12 Ithaca, NY: The Haunt
    4/13 Cleveland, OH: Beachland Ballroom
    4/14 Detroit, MI: The Magic Stick
    4/15 Grand Rapids, MI: The Intersection
    4/18 Urbana, IL: Canopy Club
    4/19 St. Louis, MO: Ready Room
    4/20 Lexington, KY: Cosmic Charlies
    4/21 Nashville, TN: Mercy Lounge
    4/22 Atlanta, GA: Sweetwater 420 Festival
    4/25 Wilmington, NC: The Throne Theatre
    4/26 Carborro, NC: Cat’s Cradle
    4/27 Charlotte, NC: Neighborhood Theatre
    4/28 Richmond, VA: The Broadberry
    4/29 Baltimore, MD: Soundstage
    6/9 Stephentown, NY
    6/10 Boulder, CO: Fox Theatre
    6/29-30 Quincy, CA High Sierra Music Festival
    7/01 Ozark, AR: Highberry Music Festival
    7/15 Berryville, VA: Pasture Palooza
    8/04 Thornville, OH: Werk Out Music & Arts Festival
    8/06 Loveland, CO: Arise Music Festival
    8/10 Scranton, PA: Peach Music Festival

  • Metal Couch Cast Returns With Season 2, Talk The Rods Returning, Feuds, and Review Obituary’s New Album

    Metal Couch Cast, the metal talk show on YouTube based in Syracuse returns after a brief hiatus, now featuring two of NYS Music’s writers Jay Saint G and Black Metal Steve

    Along with voice actor Matthew “Moshpit” Fardo, with Steve Losurdo Productions handling all of the show production go into a frenzy of metal topics including Tool’s recent tour announcement, along with The Rods new album and label with much, much more.

    Check out the video below and be sure to subscribe.