The field for the 13th edition of Mountain Jam is set. The annual Catskills festival, held at Hunter Mountain, announced its lineup and headliners, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Steve Miller Band back in November. Friday, the full line up was announced, including additional headliner String Cheese Incident.
Also added to the June 16-18 bill are indie folk artists the Head and the Heart, reggae rapper Matisyahu, Brooklyn-based sax buskers Moon Hooch, Sudanese pop, krautrock, free jazz artist Sinkane, country legend Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives and “hometown” girl Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers.
Helm is the daughter of the late Band drummer Levon Helm, whose studio, affectionately known as “the Barn,” is located in nearby Woodstock.
Matisyahu, Moon Hooch and Sinkane will participate in the Late Night Jam. The full lineup is available here.
Noticeably absent from this year’s bill are festival hosts Govt Mule and Mountain Jam regular Grace Potter. However, festival mainstays Michael Franti and Spearhead and Gary Clark, Jr. will appear. Also appearing is Peter Frampton, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Holly Bowling, TAUK, White Denim and the Big Takeover.
Mountain Jam prides itself on its family inclusive environment and the kids can expect to see sets from the Paul Green Rock Academy and Ratboy Jr. along with kid friendly activities in the Kozy Kids area.
Three-day general admission tickets, camping and parking passes as well as several VIP packages are available at the festival’s website.
Rock n Roll Resort: v7 returns this year Friday, March 31 to Sunday, April 2 at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kenhonkson, NY.
The weekend will feature three full sets from New Orleans trio, the Nth Power, and two full sets from Pink Talking Fish. Additional artists on the bill include Beau Sasser Trio, Madaila, the Primate Fiasco, Gang of Thieves, Cousin Earth, Goose and SkyDaddy.
Orchard Lounge’s Ben Silver has been announced as the special late-night VIP act, or “Lounge Set.”
More acts, special guests and roaming artists are yet to be announced. Stay tuned for updates.
Event planner and organizer, Shannon Plaquet has high hopes for this year’s event.
We’re on our seventh year, and we’ve really fine-tuned things more and more with each successive event. Last year’s ‘Low Key’ event showed us how much our guests truly care about the family atmosphere and the intimate environment. It’s absolutely about the music, but rekindling with your peers seems to be how our guests truly want to start off the festival season. Rock n Roll Resort isn’t a festival, and we never had a playbook for ‘Throwing an indoor resort-party.’
For more information on rooms and packages, activities and directions, please visit the event’s webiste here.
A mainstay of the Celtic touring bands, Gaelic Storm returned to the Hudson Valley in January with a delightfully entertaining night of music to wrap up one segment of touring before heading back out on the road for a number of shows in Florida.
Hitting the stage with a swift start, Gaelic Storm quickly warmed the room up with “Pina Colada in a Pint Glass.” The mood for the night was set early with some quick jokes from the stage about football including an affectionate jab at the Jets. Before the set was through, the band had a little dance contest fun for both the ale-tipped adults and the few kids in the crowd, to the tune of “Darcy’s Donkey.”
With over 3,000 shows under their belt in their 21 years, it’s no surprise that the band was so natural and comfortable with being on stage. With plenty of humor and wit, singer Patrick Murphy was cracking jokes and sharing plenty of stories between songs which, most of the time, were as entertaining as the music itself.
After a break, Gaelic Storm came back for a looser, rowdier second set with a set of jigs and their version of the classic “Whiskey in the Jar,” getting a few more dancers in the isles. The second set also brought the entertaining far-fetched, but possibly true, story behind “The Night I Punched Russell Crowe” and audience favorite “Scallywag” to close the set.
The band returned for a two song encore starting with a cover of “Stand By Me” and their own “One More Day Above the Roses.” Before the last song, Murphy took a moment to praise the Paramount – “small towns have the nicest theaters” – a remark made with regard to the many venues the band has played.
Set 1: Pina Colada In A Pint Glass, Jigs, Never Drink ‘Em Dry, Cape Cod Girls, Rustling Goat Gang, Girls’ Night In Galway, Girls of Dublin Town, Darcy’s Donkey, Black And Tan
Set 2: Jigs, Whiskey in the Jar, The Night I Punched Russel Crowe, Rubber Arm, Drink the Night Away, Green Eyes/Red Hair, Scalliwag
Marco Benevento kicked off tour last night in Syracuse and performs tonight at Buffalo Iron Works. The Woodstock resident took time to talk with NYS Music about his recording studio in Woodstock, performances with JRAD and The Duo, as well as his forthcoming album Woodstock Sessions, due out this Friday, February 17. Catch him at The Rongo in Ithaca on February 1, Brooklyn Bowl on February 2 and at The Hollow in Albany with Maybird and Band of Ghosts on February 3. Marco Benevento sat down for an interview with NYS Music ahead of these shows.
Ben Landsman: You just played the first Duo shows with Joe Russo in years. What was it like reviving the Duo sound?
Marco Benevento: It was so much fun. It was bit of work because we hadn’t done the music in a while and had to have a couple of rehearsals. I hadn’t done foot basslines on the Hammond in a while, but it was really well received.
BL: Has performing in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead change your chemistry at all?
MB: It did in a way. We play the part when we do the Grateful Dead stuff and go into character, even through we’re doing our own twist on it. We’re doing a very improvisational take on it. Maybe we’ve spent a lot of time playing together and the classic rock stuff, maybe it carries over from the complex nature of the Duo music. We’re good at reading each other’s minds, knowing when to move onto the next section. We have as pretty dialed in musical relationship.
BL: You started singing within the last few years. How has that changed your sound, given that your piano lines/melodies can sound like lead vocals.
MB: Singing is a new instrument for me, and now when I sit down I write lyrics before melodies at times. Coming up with lyrics on the spot and intuitively singing right from the start as far as the song-writing process goes, quite honestly im hooked. I love the new instrument, the new process that I have. I still don’t like the sound of my own voice, but after we do shows I get a lot of positive feedback from the audience, which I need because I’m still a beginner at it. I do love the process of lyric writing and the act of just singing with people live. It’s more of a connection with the audience than ever before. I’m currently working on my seventh record and have about 15 songs and they all have words and vocal melodies, so I can’t stop now.
BL: You are the founder and recording engineer of the Upstate NY recording studio. Fred Short. What artists have recorded there and how has the studio changed you as a musician?
MB: I have a lot more time to create. My studio is right next to my house, so then the kids and wife go to bed, I can get pretty busy out there pretty quickly. It’s all wired up so 1 or 2 on switches and we’re rolling. I’ve been super busy, I can’t believe I’ve been without it for so long. It’s so great to have a recording space that I know so well. I’ve had my friends come and record, a bunch of stuff for other people. A.C. Newman, the keyboardist for The New Pornographers did all the keyboard stuff for his album in my studio. I’ve done some stuff with Mike Gordon from Phish, he came up and we had a nice session with his band there. I did some new stuff with my friend who does the music for Bob’s Burgers and did some music for some of those episodes. Mainly I’ve been working on my own stuff and had Kalmia Traver from Rubblebucket come up to record “Limbs of a Pine” off my album TigerFace. A friend of mine calls it ‘Inspiration Station,’ a small room with tons of keyboards, some drums, bass amp and guitar amp.
BL: Are you still using circuit bent electronics/toys/instruments? If so, which ones?
MB: I’m not using it as much as I used to. For a while I went through a phase where I could use a toy help me write a song. There’s something about those toys – I call them ear candy – that sort of give me fun sounds to get started. Over the last couple years I haven’t been using them a lot, and did it so much. They’re battery operated pieces of plastic and sometimes they break on the road, which is part of why I don’t use them anymore. Casio drum machines I will use here and there and random Japanese kids toys too. I love them to death but haven’t been using them lately.
BL: What have you been listening to lately?
MB: Tons of vinyl, I have a pretty serious vinyl addiction. I’ve been listening to a lot of stuff off this record label Light in the Attic; they put out a Native American compilation that’s pretty dope. This band called Relatively Clean Rivers. I’m a big fan of the keyboardist from The Arcs, Leon Michels, he has some pretty cool stuff out there. I subbed for him this past May and really got a chance to hang out with those guys and check out some real vinyl and got pretty inspired by them. We made a record with Richard Swift from The Arcs, so whatever Richard, Dan or Leon does, I really dig.
BL: What other musical ventures do you have planned this year?
MB: We have Northeast tour right now, then off to the West coast via Colorado, then we have a 3 week West coast tour coming up at the end of March into April from Washington State down to L.A., promoting the new live album we have coming out called Woodstock Sessions, and touring around that for the next few months to promote the new live record.
Platinum recording artist, Luke Bryan announces his new tour with his plans to pack up his hunting gear and hit the road this summer with a unique video of him playing the classic Nintendo Entertainment Systemand the game Duck Hunt, in his living room while wearing hunting gear. Bryan shot at ducks, with country artist faces on them. The “That’s My Kind Of Night” singer missed, and hit several artist. The artist that happened to get shot down, will hit the road, and round out one mega country lineup for Bryan’s “Huntin’, Fishin’, & Lovin’ Every Day Tour.”
Six opening artist were shot by Bryan with his NES Zapper. Those artist include Brett Eldredge, Lauren Alaina, Granger Smith, Seth Ennis, Craig Campbell and Adam Craig.
Spurs will start to spin on May 5, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN, and come to a close on Oct. 28, at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernadino, CA, rounding out thirty-nine different cities, and 40 shows with a two night stay at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Atlanta, GA.
New York state will be well covered with five different stops throughout the state including, July 13, at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, Aug. 12, at the Lakeview Amphitheater in Syracuse, Aug. 25, at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Corfu, Aug. 26, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, and Aug. 27, at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh.
The singer has won various awards in country music including an Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Artist in 2010. Bryan won nine American Country Awards in 2012 ranging from Artist of the Year, to Album of the Year. He has also won Billboard Music Awards for Top Country Artist (2014 & 2016) and Top Country Song(2014) for “Crash My Party.”
Four of his five studio albums have reached platinum certification by the RIAA. His third and forth studio albums Tailgates & Tanlines (2011), and Crash My Party (2013), have achieved a certification of twice platinum by the RIAA. Bryan has sold over seven million albums and over 27 million copies of his 22 singles, many have reached number one on the country music charts.
Bryan the philanthropist, has supported numerous charities throughout his career. Causes he supports include children’s disaster relief, cancer, AIDS and HIV, health and human rights through the Red Cross and City Of Hope.
Bryan’s tour will be part of Live Nation’s Country Mega Ticket. Ticket info will soon be available.
Luke Bryan’s HFETour Dates:
May 5 – Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
May 12 – Jiffy Lube Live – Bristow, VA
May 13 – Xfinity Theatre – Hartford, CT
May 18 – iWireless Center – Moline, IL
June 1 – Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH
June 3 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO
June 9 – Verizon Arena – Little Rock, AK
June 10 – BOK Center – Tulsa, OK
June 16-17 – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Atlanta, GA
June 23 – Hershey Park Stadium Hershey, PA
June 24 – Xfinity Center – Mansfield, MA
June 25 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD July 13 – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts – Bethel, NY
July 15 – Progressive Field – Cleveland, OH
July 16 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ
July 21 – Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO Aug. 12 – Lakeview Amphitheater – Syracuse, NY
Aug. 17 – Veteran’s United Home Loans Arena Amphitheater – Virginia Beach, VA
Aug. 18 – PNC Music Pavilion – Charlotte, NC
Aug. 19 – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek – Raleigh, NC Aug. 25 – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center – Darien Lake, NY Aug. 26 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, NY Aug. 27 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY
Sept. 6 – Pavilion at Montage Mountain – Scranton, PA
Sept. 8 – Citizen’s Bank Park – Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 9 – KeyBank Pavilion – Pittsburgh, PA
Sept. 15 – Klipsch Music Center – Indianapolis, IN
Sept. 16 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – Chicago, IL
Sept. 21 – Austin360 Amphitheater – Austin, TX
Sept. 22 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Houston, TX
Sept. 23 – Gexa Energy Pavilion – Dallas, TX
Oct. 12 – Concord Pavilion – Concord, CA
Oct. 13 – Toyota Amphitheatre – Wheatland, CA
Oct. 14 – Shoreline Amphitheatre – Mountain View, CA
Oct. 19 – Isleta Amphitheater – Albuquerque, NM
Oct. 21 – USANA Amphitheater – Salt Lake City, UT
Oct. 26 – AK-Chin Pavilion – Phoenix, AZ
Oct. 27 – Sleep Train Amphitheatre – San Diego, CA
Oct. 28 – San Manuel Amphitheater – San Bernadino, CA
Just before the New Year’s weekend began, Daryl’s House Club welcomed three local/regional acts on December 29 for a uniquely fun night of music to help get warmed up for the weekend. The night started with a set of homegrown Hudson Valley rock from just down the road in Brewster courtesy of Karma Darwin. After hearing their live set it was fairly obvious why they make frequent appearances at Daryl’s House. Their sound was solid, built off a nice blend of rock, jam, and rhythm.
Stepping over the Massachusetts border we arrived at a unique five-song set from freestyle beatboxer Honeycomb. His set was composed entirely from his beatboxing, each tune and freestyle consisting of percussion, melody and even some apparent harmony all at once. The beats were seamless and clean to the point where he would be a direct competitor side-by-side against any drum-and-bass DJ. As a common collaborator with the night’s headliner, Honeycomb was joined by members of Moon Hooch on his final song.
Hailing from Brooklyn with a NYC subway busking origin, Moon Hooch’s Wenzl McGowen (sax/contrabass clarinet/EWI) , Mike Wilbur (sax), and James Muschler (drums) quickly turned Daryl’s House into a Union Square station dance session with “Something Else” from their recent 2016 album Red Sky. Through the set they touched upon their other two albums as well, This Is Cave Music (2014) and Moon Hooch (2013) and brought Honeycomb back out for some help during their encore.
Using only tenor and bari saxes, a contrabass clarinet, drums and some electronic effects/processing, Moon Hooch approaches the conventional sounds somewhat unconventionally and turns them into rhythmic hooks and lures – the embodiment of exploring sound and its interaction with other sounds and the ears absorbing it. That was the driving force behind a sustained level of energy that gripped their set from start to finish, from the hyped-up “Number 8” through the entrancing arpeggios of “St. Louis” and extended sustained notes that require a level of mastery to achieve on the sax.
Moon Hooch’s sound on their four albums, including their latest free EP release Joshua Tree (check out NYS Music’s review of that album here) is incredibly fun to listen to, but remarkably infectious in their live performance. While most of their live show is composed, there is plenty of improv and room for surprises different from the CD version of their songs that make it a must-see performance for fans who have only heard their CDs, vinyl, or videos.
Aside from the arrangement and composition of the songs in the live setting, Moon Hooch has a tight-knit energy driven stage presence that the audience thrived from, and even vice-versa. The cozy setting of Daryl’s House lets the audience get right up close with the band, which got everyone in the room (Moon Hooch included) chewing into the experience of the show.
Moon Hooch is back in New York at Buffalo Iron Works on Feb. 8, Waterhole in Saranac Lake on Feb. 9, and Brooklyn Bowl on Feb. 18 as well as several other shows around the Northeast in the next month.
Brooklyn’s Life of Agony is looking to make 2017 a huge year. They recently announced the arrival of their long awaited album A Place Where There’s No Pain, and last week announced a full U.S. tour on the East Coast. The tour kicks off in Allston, MA and finishes in Sayreville, NJ. The dates include April 28 in New York City at the Irving Plaza (CD Release show), April 29 at Poughkeepsie’s The Chance Theater (with Sworn Enemy opening) and Long Island’s Mulcahy’s host a show as well on May 13. Check out all the tour dates below.
The band has yet to release full songs online and have not performed any of the new material live, so this tour is the perfect opportunity to hear the classics and the new material live for the first time. All of these shows are expected to sell fast so it is recommended not to wait to get them at the door.
Tickets for the New York City show are available through Live Nation. The Poughkeepsie and Long Island shows can be bought through Ticketweb.
Life of Agony Spring Tour:
April 27 – Brighton Music Hall – Allston, MA April 28 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY April 29 – The Chance – Poughkeepsie, NY
May 12 – Sherman Theater – Stroudsburg, PA May 13- Mulcahy’s – Wantagh, NY
May 19 – Chameleon – Lancaster, PA
May 20 – Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ
Marco Benevento is set to blastoff in 2017 with a new album and tour on tap. The multi-instrumentalist dubbed the Mad Hatter will start the year spinning forty-fives for an intimate hometown get down at the Catskill Mountain Pizza Company in Woodstock, NY on January 7. Teaming up with music journalist Brian Turk, the event is called Brian Turk and Mr. D present “I’m a DJ Too,” and will feature tasty pizza and beer from the Catskill Brewery, not to mention a set of fresh cuts straight from Marco’s head to the floor. But only 75 tickets will be available. Click here to get yours.
Later in the month, Benevento will launch a tour in support of the Feb. 17 release of The Woodstock Sessions, a new live album recorded last September at Applehead Studios. The first show will take place on Jan. 30 at Funk ‘n Waffles Downtown in Syracuse. Local Grateful Dead tribute act, Pearly Baker’s Best, will open. Tickets are $20 at the door and $15 in advance. Tickets are available through Ticketfly for the Syracuse show.
Other New York stops for the Woodstock resident include Buffalo, at The Iron Works on Jan. 31, Ithaca, at The Rongo on Feb. 1, The Brooklyn Bowl on Feb. 2, and at The Hollow in Albany on Feb. 3. See below for full tour information.
With a full schedule ahead of him, Marco Benevento has gone ahead with a Pledge Music campaign that will put fans at the forefront of his new album and musical adventures throughout his 2017 tour stops. Packages include a chance to pre-order The Woodstock Sessions, opportunities to receive show tickets, signed setlists, a bookshelf made from Marco’s grand piano, a band lesson, or even the chance to record with Marco at Fred Short Studios in Woodstock, NY; plus, Marco is making himself available to spin vinyl or play a solo piano concert at a lucky fan’s private party. More information is available here.
Tour Dates:
Jan. 30 – Syracuse, NY – Funk ‘N Waffles Jan.31 – Buffalo, NY – Iron Works ^ Feb. 1 – Ithaca, NY – The Rongo Feb. 2 – Brooklyn NY – Brooklyn Bowl * Feb. 3 – Albany NY – The Hollow ^^
Feb. 4 – Burlington VT – Higher Ground
Feb. 6 – Portland, ME – One Longfellow Square
Feb. 7 – Hamden, CT – The Ballroom at The Outer Space ***
Feb. 8 – Holyoke, MA – Gateway Arts
Feb. 9 – Boston MA – The Sinclair *
Feb. 10 – Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall *
Feb. 11 – Baltimore, MD – Ram’s Head Live **
March 25-26 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Festival
March 31 – Denver, CO – Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
April 1 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
April 2 – Avon, CO – Agave
April 4 – Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room
April 5 – Bozeman, MT – The Filling Station
April 6 – Spokane, WA – The Bartlett
April 7 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
April 8 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
April 9 – Eugene, OR – Hi Fi Music Hall
April 11 – Bend, OR – The Capitol
April 12 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
April 13 – Petaluma, CA – The Mystic Theatre
April 14 – San Francisco, CA – Independent
April 15 – Los Angeles, CA – The Bootleg
* w/WOLF!
** w/Psycho Killers
*** w/Superhuman Happiness
^ w/Mayabird
^^ w/Mayabird + Band of Ghosts
Ben Landsman: You just played the first Duo shows with Joe Russo in years. What was it like reviving the Duo sound?
Six opening artist were shot by Bryan with his NES Zapper. Those artist include Brett Eldredge, Lauren Alaina, Granger Smith, Seth Ennis, Craig Campbell and Adam Craig.
Stepping over the Massachusetts border we arrived at a unique five-song set from freestyle beatboxer 
