The Ominous Seapods’ Tom Pirozzi revealed in September that the band’s reunion show at Cohoes Music Hall on Saturday, January 13 would become a two-night run, plus an addition show on Sunday, January 14 at Brooklyn Bowl, followed by the Zen Tricksters.
I want to thank everyone who bought Ominous Seapod tickets for January 13th. The show sold out in just 5 days! The band is overwhelmed by the support. Due to that fact, and the fact that Dana Monteith is coming all the way from Australia for the show, we’ve decided to expand the event to a weekend run. We will be adding Friday night, January 12th at the Cohoes Music Hall and an encore performance at the Brooklyn Bowl on Sunday Jan. 14th. The Brooklyn Bowl show will be one 90 minute set at 7:30pm followed by a set by the Zen Tricksters. The next day is a holiday so we can all rest on Monday. More details coming soon!!!
When we last saw the Ominous Seapods, they were bidding a fond farewell to co-founder Dana Monteith as he and his wife Deb prepared for a life down under in Perth, Australia. The farewell was Dec. 17, 2011 at Valentine’s in Albany. That show saw a tight version of the band throwing down with guest appearances from moe. drummer Vinnie Amico, Josh Himmelsbach on mandolin and promoter Greg Bell on vocals. Tickets for both Cohoes shows are sold out
The original lineup of the band (Monteith on guitar and vocals, Tom Pirozzi on bass, Ted Marotta on drums, Max Verna on guitar and Brian Mangini on keys) will be on hand for the reunion.
Known for their psychedelic jams and onstage humor, the Ominious Seapods came of age during the “New Renaissance of Jambands” in the early to mid-’90s and achieved a moderate level success over the course of four albums. The band broke up in 2001 and have played a handful of reunion shows since.
The Summit, a first time concert series presented by Wild Adriatic and Mean Max Brew Works made it’s way into The Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls, N.Y. for a two night engagement on Friday, September 29 and 30.
Night one featured, Sun Satellites, Sad, The Lateshift, Girl Blue, Madaila, event hosts and organizers, Wild Adriatic and headliner, Aqueous. Night two brought on a full evening of music with Last Daze, Chestnut Grove, Paradox Saints, Ramblers Home, Angels On The Fourth, Let’s Be Leonard and Wild Adriatic to close out the event.
Starbird was joined by Joe Davis of Formula 5 on vocals and guitar, Scott Hannay of Mister F on keys, and Connor Dunn of Let’s Be Leonard on tenor saxophone. Check out this funky rendition of the 1973 tune.
“There’s a tremendous difference in what social media has done for me in {the past} couple of years,” said Kyle Albano, who has taken a different approach to promoting his music since dropping his second album Kings with Queens in June.
Albano is a student of the internet as much as he is a graduate of The College of Saint Rose’s prestigious music program, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. By day, he’s a music teacher at Albany High School, teaching sound production and music composition. At night, he’s working on his own music from his one-bedroom apartment in Guilderland.
Kings with Queens dropped in June. To promote it, Albano hit the keyboard. His computer keyboard. Like most musicians, he’s a one-man show composing music with one hand and shooting out emails to people throughout the music industry with the other. However, the level of his multitasking is not that simple. He is consciously taking steps promoting a brand — #kylealbano — and doing so through multiple channels outside the norm.
“I don’t really gig out too much anymore, because it wasn’t doing me well,” said Albano. For his 2012 release Poor Love, Albano released a video on YouTube and hit the stage several times a week. Despite his efforts, he said he wasn’t getting the results. The video received 800 hits. When sometimes looking at playing a local venue on a Wednesday evening, promising the potential for small turnouts, he said, “It wasn’t worth my time.”
Time is a concept Albano is conscious of, but not beholden to, while he works on his music. He gets to work whenever the inspiration hits him. For one track on Kings with Queens, Albano was struck with an epiphany and went to work at the personal studio he converted from his apartment’s dining room. The sound from his Yamaha HS-7 speakers reverberated throughout the apartment complex. “Sometimes I turned them up too high and they rumble,” he said. It was 10 p.m.
“So, I got a nasty [complaint],” said Albano. He answered a knock on the door to find his neighbor, in his pajamas, with a copy of the lease in his hand, reminding the musician he was breaking the rules. “And, then, I kept doing it,” he said. “Now that the album is done, we’re in a better part. But, yes. I’ve gotten some complaints.”
Outside from his neighbors, the pop-punk sounds of Kings with Queens has been well received. He’s not getting on stage just yet. (Though, he said, there are plans for a show in October.) Nonetheless, Albano’s pop-punk sound is played across local radio on WEQX and WEXT.
“Someone once told me that every song [on Kings with Queens] is different, but inclusive,” said Albano, who is receptive to people interpreting his music for themselves. “Whenever I write a song, it’s however I feel. Any artist is going to write like that. What they’re feeling that day. Hopefully, I try to shed light within the songs. You do your dark times and high times. But, if someone just listens to the song and interprets it in their way, and it helps them… When I listen to a song, I [may] not know what they’re talking about, but I know what that song means to me. Sometimes, it gets me through certain days. … I want somebody to listen. And, if someone listens to that, and it helps them in any fashion, I did my job.”
In the five years between albums, Albano said he plotted out a plan to increase exposure. The end result is a layered strategy that includes hooking up with Made in Truth Clothing. As he models the Albany-based company’s clothing line he shares its brand on social media. On Albano’s home computer, he has a word document with several of his most effective hashtags for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In August, just two months after dropping Kings with Queens, Albano doubled the amount of hits on his promotional video, compared to that from “Poor Love.” He’s also started making connections with people from larger record companies.
“There’s a tremendous difference in what social media has done for me in [the past] couple of years,” said Albano.
The students Albano teaches even catch him on the internet and ask him how they can follow in his footsteps. He tells them to keep on working. Build a fanbase. Read. Watch interviews of artists on YouTube and see how they did it. Just learn as much as you can, and apply it. But how it all will end, the teacher has no answers.
“Right now, this social media thing has kept me up above and on the flow,” he said. “I think I’m just doing it the right way this time.”
This article was originally published by The Spot 518 and is the 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.
While weeknight shows are sometimes a little bit more difficult to make it to, they are just as worth a show on the weekend. On Sept. 12, Bastille made their second Upstate NY appearance along with some help from FRENSHIP at the Palace Theatre in Albany for a nice chip out of a midweek routine.
California-based FRENSHIP opened the night with an upbeat electropop set that seemed to impress new ears as well as fans of the band. While the band only released their debut EP last year, they were dynamic on stage, on par with the fact that they’ve been playing together for a few years prior to their EP release.
When Bastille took the stage silhouetted by the brightly backlit stage, the eagerness of the crowd in the standing area near the stage was like a flock of salmon jumping up a waterfall. The Palace remained tightly attentive to the music from start to finish.
Frontman and lyricist Dan Smith writes lyrics that are typically rooted in not the brightest of themes (though not always, as in “Glory”) which are paired with upbeat musical moods. Without being aware of the lyrics it is easy to place Bastille in a happy-going dance pop category. It is this conflict between lyric and song that work symbiotically on the subconscious ear.
It was this balance which kept the balcony and orchestra levels dancing throughout the show and carefully tuned in to the quieter songs such as the hauntingly melodic guitar and vocal duet between Smith and Will Farquarson on “Two Evils.” Bastille also showed off their knack for intelligently mashing two songs together – “No Angels” as a mix of TLC’s “No Scrubs” and the xx’s “Angels” and “Of the Night” as a mix of the two 90’s dance hits “Rhythm of the Night” and “Rhythm is a Dancer.”
Just as it would seem abnormal for a band like Lynyrd Skynyrd to not end their show with “Freebird,” Bastille rightfully closed their show with their biggest success, “Pompeii,” which got the band in a much brighter spotlight outside of the UK. FRENSHIP came out to jam for the last song, having just as much fun on stage as fans in the audience were having.
Bastille Setlist: Send Them Off!, Laura Palmer, Overjoyed, Warmth, Flaws, Lethargy, Snakes, No Angels, The Draw, The Currents, Glory, Bad Blood, Oblivion, Blame, Icarus, Of the Night, Fake It, Good Grief
Encore:
Two Evils, Things We Lost in the Fire, Pompeii
NYS Music welcomes the Young Dubliners once again to New York as they begin their east coast tour, making their first of three New York appearances tomorrow evening in Cohoes at the Cohoes Music Hall.
Often considered one of Celtic Rock’s hardest working bands, The Young Dubliners blend their musical backgrounds and styles to create a unique sound that encompasses an electric mix of influences which of course includes a Celtic rock sound. Touring the entire year across the United States and Ireland, these few shows are their only east coast appearances scheduled this year in our area. Don’t hesitate to grab your tickets and take in a show as their energy as a live band is a must see.
Sept. 22 – The Kate – Old Saybrook, CT Sept. 23 – Cohoes Music Hall – Cohoes, NY Sept. 25 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY Sept. 27 – Westcott Theater – Syracuse, NY
Sept. 28 – World Cafe Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 29 – Stouts Irish Sports Pub – Providence, RI
Sept. 30 – Amp by Strathmore – North Bethesda, MD
You can stream the Young Dubliners’ latest release NINE here.
One For The Braves just debuted their first music video, for the song “Dirt Nap” off their latest release Does Anybody Honestly Care.
The EP’s a mile-a-minute pop punk revelry, with pop culture references bringing levity to heart-on-sleeve lyrics. The quintet from Poughkeepsie features Adam “Radam” Rebillard on vocals, Avery Avello and Brian Morgan on guitars, Nick Ferraioli on bass, and Sean Mercado on drums. NYS Music spoke with Rebillard about the band, their latest release, and their first music video.
Photo: Sabrina Leviton
Paula Cummings: When and why did you start writing songs?
Adam Rebillard: I started writing lyrics when I was really young, mostly just to kill time. When I got older, I got bored of doing it. Then I discovered punk and pop punk and all those wonderful styles of genres. It sounded fun to me, so I started singing and putting melodies to some of the lyrics. Then my freshman year in college I met our guitar player Avery, and the two of us started jamming together and it kept going from there. We got a few new members over the years.
PC: How would you describe your band?
AR: We take the nostalgic pop punk style, which would be bands like New Found Glory, and mix it with a newer style like The Wonder Years and Story So Far. We find ways to make it our own, so we’re not a clone of another band. That’s not what we want.
PC: What was your most memorable show so far?
AR: We did a show back in January. It was our first headline show at our local venue, The Loft. It was fun to finally be the main event of a local venue that we all grew up going to.We had a good turnout. We were on with some of our best friends’ bands. It was laid-back. Everyone was happy, having a good time. We do everything we can to grab an audience and keep their attention. I personally move around a lot. We incorporate solos in our songs. We do our best to get the audience interactive, talking between songs.
PC: You recently released your sophomore EP. Tell me about the team you recorded this one with.
AR: The first EP we did over at New Paltz. But the sophomore EP, Does Anybody Honestly Care, we did at Nada Studios in Montgomery. It was awesome. We recorded these songs with another studio, and got it back, but it wasn’t what we were looking for. We emailed Eric and Nada, told him what we were looking for, and that we wanted to record again from the ground up. We went in and he had ideas to bring to the songs. We made this amazing EP that we’re all so proud of.
PC: What was it like to film your first music video?
AR: It was weird, but it was fun. Like I said, I like to move around a lot – jumping, spinning. I’m doing my usual stuff. We’re filming and the guy’s like “Hey, man, that’s really cool but you need to stay in one spot so I can keep up with you.” We did it at a high school track. The song we did it for is called “Dirt Nap.” The idea behind the song is regardless of what people think you keep moving forward in life. People are going to like you, people are going to not like you. You can’t let that get to you. So when I feel anxious or whatever, I go run on a track, so one day I got the idea. So we drew up some signs and had people stand around holding these signs. The idea was to keep going regardless of the signs and what people think, and keep moving on and pushing forward.
Does Anybody Honestly Care is available on Bandcamp. Follow One For The Braves on Facebook or Twitter for updates and show announcements.
Glens Falls native Frank Palangi has released “Set Me Free,” the title track off his upcoming EP. The hard rocking single puts Palangi’s gritty vocals and grunge-tinged sound on display ahead of the October 2 release of the Set Me Free EP.
Palangi draws on hard rock and metal influences such as Metallica, Creed and Daughtry, and has opened for a variety of artists including 3 Doors Down, Candlebox, Buckcherry, Starset, Spiritual Rez. Using powerful vocals layered on driving, upbeat rock and roll, Palangi brings a fresh sound to modern rock.
Set Me Free was produced and mixed by Frank Palangi, mastered by Robert Venable, and recorded at The Cat Room Recording Studios, Off The Wall Studios, and Palangi Studios.
“Set me Free” will be released on October 2. Pre-order on iTunes or Amazon.
For those who love modern classic rock, Midnight North returns to New York this week, bringing with them songs off their latest release Under the Lights. The band has found followings on the West and East coast, and perform on Tuesday at The Hollow in Albany, Friday at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock and Saturday at Brooklyn Comes Alive. Connor O’Sullivan, who plays bass and mandolin in Midnight North spoke with NYS Music about their latest release, their East coast fanbase and how things have changed in the past year for the group.
Pete Mason: What can fans in the Northeast who are venturing out to see you the first time expect in a live setting?
Connor O’Sullivan: For fans who’ve never seen us, it’s maybe rock n roll with a bit of twang, with a little jam thrown in there. It’s not a classic rock show, but it’s maybe a classic rock kind of sound with what we’re trying to do – write songs that will become classics, with a few covers sprinkled in here or there from the 60s or 70s – Dead or Dylan or CSNY – but it’s gonna be a rock show focused on classic songs and a lot of singing. We have 3 very powerful harmony singers in the band and every once in a while I’ll throw my voice in as a fourth. We try to keep it balanced between vocals, harmony, and soloing. I think the focus is on new classic rock songs and that’s what you’re going to hear.
We’ve been able to grow our fanbase in the Northeast after playing nationally for the past couple years, but the New York area is sort of a second home to us. We have super fans who travel 2-3 hours to see us and we are able to borrow gear from other bands. Sometimes the shows on the East coast are even better than the West coast and we feel that love. It’s a grind – you gotta stick to it and keep your head up and slowly build it up and that’s the philosophy behind us.
PM:Under the Lights is a fantastic album about the road, touring, traveling and the life of a band. How have the experiences since the album’s release compared to those that were reflected on the album?
CO: I think it’s similar – we’ve taken a very small step up. Those songs were written last summer. Since then, the shows are slightly bigger, and sometimes we still worry that we might not have a crowd. We know that we’re still a band building it up and growing, but because we’ve put in the work, the experience on the road is a bit easier and we’re more used to it. We are only a year and a half removed from the album, but we’re a little bit more experienced.
PM: At Brooklyn Comes Alive, you’ll perform a CSNY tribute. What is the influence of CSNY on your sound, and what will the set will be like?
CO: The set is going to be awesome. We started the idea at Terrapin Crossroads in the early days of the venue, even before there was a stage – there was no stage in the bar, no music every night, and we were one of the first bands to play there every night, so we would play there once or twice a week. We did the entire Grievous Angelalbum by Gram Parsons. Grahame (Lesh) would do the Gram parts and Elliott (Peck) did the Emmylou Harris parts, and there are few albums like that with male and female parts. It was great and we got a great response, right at the beginning of the band.
CSNY came about when we decided to spitball some new cover ideas, and we wanted a folk rock opus like “Suite Judy Blue Eyes.” There are different feels, difficult harmonies, tempo changes, and it took a couple months to learn it and people were losing their shit the first time we played it. That was one of the big covers we did for a number of years. From there, we left Gram Parsons at Terrapin and we ended up learning more than a whole set of CSNY songs and we did a show at Slim’s in San Francisco a year ago that was all CSNY. Phil Lesh played with us at Slim’s along with a bunch of other guests – Jay Lane (Primus, Furthur) and Lebo (Dan Lebowitz, ALO) on guitar. Brooklyn Comes Alive asked us to do the same. We also had a Terrapin Crossroads show with Mike and Phil on bass to start second set, just bass solo, and I sat back and played mandolin along with Grahame’s brother Brian and Rob James – this was sort of the original Terrapin musicians lineup playing all together.
PM: Has there been a moment where the band, or you individually have gone ‘Wow, this is… this is what we’ve been working for,’ throughout your career?
CO: There’s definitely been some shows on the East coast – The Acoustic in Bridgeport, CT – it was close to a sell out show and it really felt good – a place we hadn’t played before, where the room was full, it was our show only, and everyone was there to see us. It felt like it was starting to work.
Same feeling came when we toured with Twiddle and started opening for them. They draw a ton of people across the country, and they packed the Westcott Theater. We had the thought “This is a good band, this is gonna work,” and going on tour with them paid off and playing with them helped a lot, on top of being some of the nicest people in the world.
PM: What role does improvisation have in the live performance?
CO: Well, it depends on what kind of live performance. I grew up playing a lot of classical music and there is no improv there. Rock n roll, you get on stage and you’re essentially winging it. Your equipment might break, an amp might go down, you’re putting yourself out there, standing on stage in a rock club where people are usually drunk and things are supposed to be a little wild, and if it’s not, you’re not doing it right, and getting the real essences of rock n roll. It plays a big part in rock n roll, even if you’re not a jamband, you’re still up there with an anything goes attitude and I’d call that improvisation.
Tickets for Tuesday’s show at The Hollow are on sale now. Space Carnival takes the stage at 9pm, with Midnight North taking the stage shortly after.
Little Feat played to a sold out crowd at The Egg on Sunday, September 10 in Albany, NY. Wasting no time, the group opened up with “Spanish Moon” and throughout their two hour set, Little Feat gave the fans what they wanted with tunes such as “Oh Atlanta” and “Time Loves A Hero.” For more information on Little Feat’s upcoming tour dates, visit littlefeat.net
