NYS Music 20​17

Category: Regions

  • Christian Lopez Band Brings Syracuse Fans Outside for Perfect Night of Music

    Under the perfect evening sky, with the most gentle of breezes blowing through the amphitheater-like backyard venue, Syracuse music lovers welcomed Christian Lopez to New York.  Being introduced to his music for the first time, house party attendees were in for a treat from this 21 year old musician and his bandmates Jason Navo on bass and Cameron McClaren on drums.

    Despite his age, this young man is a seasoned musician with more than 6 years on the road experience, playing in front of audiences of all sizes, winning them over one by one.  Raised in West Virginia, music was always a part of his family as his mother is a music teacher.  Encouraged by his parents and subjected to many country music greats  including Waylon, Willie, Johnny and Kris, the flavor of those influences as well as his personal favorites blend to become this eclectic mix in his songwriting and playing. Whether it’s a rock-a-billy tune, a slower ballad or an all out rock and roll number, audiences can’t get enough of him from the minute he starts playing and singing.

    Listening to him, his voice had a smooth John Denver-ish tone with the ballads, however, as he played his rock numbers I felt him channeling Jerry Lee Lewis’s energy and Elvis’s prowess. Moving around the back yard to capture new angles, I constantly overheard the awe and appreciation from everyone in attendance.  I would be remiss not to mention his songwriting skills were top notch as well.  His setlist was riddled with these numbers, each as well written as the next.  Two covers were sung (“Hurricane”-Levon Helms and “Use Me” – Bill Withers), however, they were sung more like tributes than as covers as you can see below.

    https://youtu.be/GQQLwTcMf0g

    Treating us to many numbers off the new upcoming album Red Arrow, produced by Marshall Altman, it’s hard to believe this 21 year old has already accumulated the skill set necessary to become a household name. One can only anticipate, as time goes on, the musical genius to come from this talented young man. Mark my words, he is an artist to remember.  Catching the eye of Rolling Stone at the American Music Fest in 2015, and artists such as Amy Helm at Cayamo in 2017, it’s apparent those in the business have already taken heed.  Booked already to partake in Rock Boat 2018, that would be one heck of a vacation and a way to be introduced to the talents of this young man, don’t ya think?

    Setlist: 1972, Man I Was , Finish What You Started , Someday , Hurricane (Levon Helm cover) , All The Time, Between Us , Morning Rise, Swim, Silver Line , Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight , Use Me (Bill Withers cover) , Caramel, Say Goodbye , Will I See You Again, Steel On The Water

  • Photo Gallery: Aqueous Welcomes Joel Cummins and Jake Cinninger to Highline Ballroom

    After a 30 minute set at Summer Stage, Buffalo’s Aqueous headed to Chelsea for a post-Umphrey’s show at The Highline Ballroom. Aqueous was joined tonight by Jake Cinninger and Joel Cummins, who joined the band for a majority of their set. After “Uncle Phil’s Parachute,” Jake and Joel hit the stage during “Don’t Do It,” and joined on a debut of Umphrey’s “Booth Love,” Radiohead’s “National Anthem,” and Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne.” To close the night, Aqueous performed ‘just one more song’ with a 40+ minute “Random Company” > “Numbers and Facts” > “Random Company” and an encore of “Origami.” Umphrey’s and Aqueous seem like a natural pairing, one that we hope to see again later this fall.

    Set: Skyway, Uncle Phil’s Parachute¹ > Don’t Do It¹ ² > Highline Jam², Booth Love² ³, National Anthem², Strange Times², Kid Charlemagne², Random Company > Numbers and Facts > Random Company
    Encore: Origami
    ¹ Unfinished
    ² Ft. Jake Cinninger and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee
    ³ Aqueous debut, Umphrey’s McGee cover

    Setlist via Aquiantances

  • Audience Gets Wet and Keeps Dancing at Umphrey’s McGee in Central Park

    Central Park’s Summer Stage has quite the lineup this summer, with the centerpiece being a double bill of prog/jam goodness in Aqueous and Umphrey’s McGee on July 7.

    Aqueous performed just two songs, “Second Sight” and “Kitty Chaser,” in their 30 minute, all-too-short set to start the night, but that would be remedied by their post-show later this evening. Umphrey’s opened up their set with some technical issues, doing a double take on “Bridgeless” as a result. After the second attempt, the band played “Miss Tinkle’s Overture,” hinting they were slightly pissed off but pressed on with “2×2” and “Dump City” which highlighted the rest of the set, and the final segment of “Bridgeless” finishing the first set.

    Much like their Midwest counterparts playing in the Bronx this evening, Umphrey’s began to heat up when the rain cleared. Jams blossomed through the encore with two huge sandwiches in their second set. “Plunger” opened, as did the skies during “Utopian Fir” which had a “Whole Lotta Love” tease, as well as “Driven 2 Tears” which segued back into “Fir.” If the crowd wasn’t already wet, “Mantis” > “The Triple Wide” > “Mantis” took care of that. An encore of “Rocker Part 2” capped the night and sent the fans streamed out of a moist Central Park and headed to the Highline Ballroom where Aqueous and Umphrey’s would join forces for the after show.

  • Hearing Aide: Intrepid Travelers ‘Everyday is Your Birthday’ EP

    One of New York State Music’s 87/90 bands, Intrepid Travelers, is set to release their EP Everyday Is Your Birthday on Thursday June 29th. The CD release event will be in their hometown of Buffalo at Buffalo Iron Works.

    Everyday is Your BirthdayBirthdays: those special “holidays” that allow individuals to celebrate another year of existence with family and friends. Birthdays carry a different connotation depending on which birthday it is, and perhaps when you reach a certain age, you start to dread that once ever so special day. But overall, birthdays are meant to be positive and enjoyed, and this collection of songs through artistic composition and improvisation shows that each day must be celebrated like a birthday.

    The band, who only formed in 2013, has had their fair share of touring experience, and this EP features “studio cut versions that have been in live rotation for over a year, [that] have been rearranged…to fit a studio sound.” Each of the recordings “were done live, except for vocals which were overdubbed.”

    The first track “Destinesia” has a great groove that sits right in the pocket with almost a bossa nova bass line from David Neimanis throughout the song’s A section. The keyboard/organ sound is dense and adds a richness to the track. “Dark Disease” intersperses a beautiful instrumental ballad that works to elicit a state of peace by the listener. The melodic to and fro of the guitar is well-written and well-textured. The changes in this song are made known by a unison set of eighth notes that up the tempo and bring in the vocals. The last few minutes of the track features Brian Calisto on guitar with some tasteful improvisation, strongly supported by the keyboard. Everything comes full circle with a recapitulation of the ballad theme.

    “On Inside” has rhythmically unison instrumental lines that are quirky and pleasantly dissonant. The best part of the song is when the last quarter where it morphs into a full swing groove with a solid walking bass line. In “Funnel,” the song begins with a nice build up, starting with just piano on the off beats, layering drums, guitar, then bass. Drummer John Fohl does a great job setting up the hits in this song. There’s a wide gap here between the vocal harmonies featuring as much as an octave between parts. This could be a little tighter intonation wise, but overall it’s a good way to create a fuller sound. “Maddy & Anna” is the funkiest track on the EP, where you can hear the inspiration for the EP’s title with the line: “cuz every day is your birthday.”

    The writing throughout is quite impressive properly balancing the main themes and progressions with sections devoted to improvisation. The song sections are quite diverse within each track, but it’s easy to follow the musical layout with their repetition of certain sections. The band self-identifies their writing genres as funk, jazz, rock, and psychedelic which are all evident in this EP. The guitar and keys are really given a chance to show off their written and improvised material with full support from the bass and drums.

    Intrepid Travelers wrote the music and lyrics for Everyday is Your Birthday, and also created the album artwork- both front and back. The back of the album features bright colors, sprinkles, a slice of Birthday cake, and the track names in bubble letters. This perky design screams “joy” and “celebration” in terms of a birthday. The album’s front cover is a chocolate chip cookie cake, arguably one of the best kinds of cakes. The lighthearted artwork reinforces the EP’s title and brings some visual continuity to the aural contents inside.

    The EP was produced and engineered by Ryan Press and Packy Lunn in Buffalo, NY, and it was artistically mastered by John Arbuckle at Room 7 in Sea Cliff, NY.

    Key Tracks: Maddy & Anna, Dark Disease

  • Update: Eastbound Throwdown Returns with Driftwood

    The second annual Eastbound Throwdown returns to Irwin Farm in Salem, NY on September 8 and 9, with a number of New York acts, primarily based around Americana styles of music, including Driftwood and Upchuck Ramblers.

    The schedule for this year’s Eastbound Throwdown has been released. The two-day event will have acts on two stages, featuring a main stage set each night from host band, Eastbound Jesus.

    Acoustic Stage:

    Friday
    4:00-4:30 – Big Stone Gap
    5:30-6:00 – One For the Road
    7:00-7:30 and 8:45-9:15 – Ian Fitzgerald

    Saturday
    11:30-12:00 and 1:00-1:30 – Dan Johnson
    2:30-3:00 and 4:00-4:30 – J. Schnitt
    5:30-6:00 – Upchuck Ramblers
    7:00-7:30 and 8:30-9:00 – The Saratoga Strings Band
    10:15-10:45 – Turf n’ Turf

    Main Stage:

    Friday

    3:00-4:00 – Cobblestone
    4:30-5:30 – Under the Blacktop
    6:00-7:00 – Formula 5
    7:30-8:45 – The Mallet Brothers Band
    9:15-10:45 – Eastbound Jesus
    11:15-1:00 – Green

    Saturday

    12:00-1:00 – Graveyard Poets
    1:30-2:30 – Wreckloose
    3:00-4:00 – The Old Main
    4:30-5:30 – Swampcandy
    6:00-7:00 – Black Mountain Symphony
    7:30-8:30 – Cousin Earth
    9:00-10:15 – Drifwood
    10:45-1:00 – Eastbound Jesus

    Pre-sale tickets are still available for $60. The price rises to $70 at the gate. Saturday only passes are available for $40. Camping is available on site with the purchase of a weekend pass. Those wishing to bring an RV or camper must purchase a separate RV pass for $25. All tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite.

    Festival organizers Eastbound Jesus headline the event with two sets. Eastbound Throwdown also features Driftwood, the Mallett Brothers Band, Black Mountain Symphony, Wreckloose, Swamp Candy, Green, The Old Main and Cobblestone.

    Tickets for the Eastbound Throwdown are on sale now for $60. Tickets include two days of music and camping.

  • Photo Gallery: The Tea Party at Canalside

    This past Thursday, July 6,  The Tea Party made an appearance in Buffalo as part of their Summer 2017 Tour. The Canadian hard-rockers brought out an older crowd for this week’s Canalside Live concert. Based on their performance, it was apparent that this wasn’t their first rodeo. The Tea Party came together in the early nineties, and the same three members stuck together ever since (with the exception of their 2005-2011 hiatus).

    the tea partyThe Tea Party’s sound features a blend of hard rock with all sorts of other genres, including Middle Eastern, Celtic, and Mediterranean music. Their songs feature a wide range of unique instruments, including the mandolin, sitar, hurdy-gurdy, and the list goes on. At one point during the show, front man Jeff Martin swiped his hand around what looked like an old theremin.

  • Photo Gallery: Third Eye Blind at SPAC

    Third Eye Blind’s twentieth anniversary of their debut self-titled album tour came through Saratoga on a rainy Saturday evening on July 1.

    Setlist: Weightless, Company of Strangers, Horror Show, Wounded, Queen of Daydreams, Shipboard Cook, Losing a Whole Year, Narcolepsy, Semi-Charmed Life, Jumper, Graduate, How’s It Going to Be, Thanks a Lot, Burning Man, Good for You, London, I Want You, The Background, Motorcycle Drive By

    Third Eye Blind

    Silversun Pickups

  • Hearing Aide: Escaper ‘Skeleton Key’

    Brooklyn-based band Escaper recently released their debut album, Skeleton Key. Escaper consists of Will Hanza on guitar and vocals, Johnny Butler on saxophone, Adam Ahuja on keys, Jay Giacomazzo on bass and Andrew Nesbitt on drums. This seven track album takes listeners on an unpredictable stroll through exploratory tones, multicolored rhythms and colorful melodies full of airy notes that leave songs wide open for improvised jams to be interjected during live performances. A unique element to this record is that the band laid down all the tracks in one day, with one take each, at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, NY. Each musician simultaneously played in separate rooms, beautifully capturing the raw essence of a live performance.

    The first track, “Skeleton Key, Pt. 1,” eases listeners into the album by playfully winding back and forth between light, jazzy beats and kaleidoscopic intonations. Picking up the energy, “Mutiny” lays out the vibes with heavy drums, deep bass and extended guitar notes that wrap around jazz infused keys and saxophone tones that linger on the edges of euphoric spaces, creating a relaxed mood for the listener.

    “Lighthouse” throws out crunchier funkadelic rhythms, begging the listener to sway back and forth to the beat. Punchy keys start out this refreshing track before flowing into a combination of jazzed out saxophone and trippy guitar. Once again, deep bass and tight drums keep the musicians in line throughout the melody. The fusion of so many genres puts Escaper into a unique category, blurring the lines between the jazz and jam scenes.

    A slow building “Night Crawler” is fully stocked with short bursts of brisk notes that tap dance their way through the tune, picking up varying musical elements that effortlessly move around the sweet-sounding melody. “Narwhal” glides around smooth jazz beats that flow on the edge of picturesque tones merged by the guitar, sax, and keyboard.

    The album wraps up with “Skeleton Key, Pt. 2” in a way that highlights breathy sax and a splashy guitar/key combo before an energetic “Castles” brings the music to a close. Overall, this debut album is filled with fluid compositions that will come alive during live performances due to the spacious range left open for improvisational play. A solid package of laid back, uncomplicated tunes that seamlessly run the gamut from jazz to jam with  touches of psychedelic grooves that will ease any listener into a relaxed mood.

    For more information regarding Escaper and their new album, along with tour dates, please visit their official web site.

  • Tedeschi Trucks Band Rocks SPAC with Hot Tuna and The Wood Brothers

    Tedeschi Trucks Band‘s Wheels of Soul tour rolled into Saratoga Springs on July 3 with rock legends of new and old, The Wood Brothers and Hot Tuna. Hot Tuna performed with their electric trio, featuring Justin Guip of Levon Helm Band on drums and two energized 70+ year old rock legends, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, strutting through classics and bouncing around the stage. The Wood Brothers brought a stripped down sound that was full of gusto, including spirited renditions of “Luckiest Man” and a set closing “Ophelia.”

    tedeschi trucks hot tuna wood brothersTedeschi Trucks Band stole the show and brought the audience to their feet numerous times throughout the show, sparking the crowd on this 4th of July weekend as though they had bought tickets for spiritual renewal. In many ways, that is what the night provided. TTB opened the night with a cover of Derek and the Dominoes’ “Anyday” with Mike Mattison providing ample vocal support to Susan Tedeschi. (Coincidentally, on June 16, Bobby Whitlock of Derek and the Dominoes opened his show at The Egg with the same track off Layla and Assorted Love Songs.)

    tedeschi trucks hot tuna wood brothers“Don’t Know What It Means” was one of the numerous times Susan showed off her powerful vocals, as well as Kebbi Williams’ jazz chops, during a breakdown at the end with drummers Tyler Greenwell and J.J. Johnson. Susan didn’t let up by then belting out “Anyhow,” supercharging the venue with three big band numbers to kick the set off. Carey Frank, filling in for the recovering Kofi Burbridge, made his presence known on “Let Me Get By” and “Save Me,” adding to the big band sound as the show wound down. Rock goddess Susan and husband Derek put on a clinic of blues guitar, pounding out powerful chords and engaging the audience, eliciting cheers as peaks were reached, only to then be taken higher and higher. The final songs of the set bookended a monster rock ‘n’ roll show that had hardly a mellow moment.

    For the encore, a perfect tribute to the late Gregg Allman in “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” preceded Susan’s calm rendition of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?,” one that made it feel like we were at a revival and ready to head out and preach her good word. To close the night, “Made Up Mind” allowed all vocalists, including Mattison, Mark Rivers and Alecia Chakour, to show off their vocal chops. Susan then asked the audience to offer birthday wishes to a member of the TTB crew, Bobby, by singing “Happy Birthday” to him, an exclamation point on a night of pure rock ‘n’ roll.

  • NYS Music’s Guide to Baker’s Dozen Pre and Post Shows

    Phish’s Baker’s Dozen of shows at Madison Square Garden starts in just two weeks, and with 13 shows spread out over 17 days, the marathon of music won’t be relegated only to the ‘World’s Most Famous Arena.’ Pre and post show events can be found on virtually every day surrounding the Baker’s Dozen. For phans looking for a complete list of what New York City holds for Phish fans both before and after each night of Phish, NYS Music presents our handy Baker’s Dozen guide. Save the images, share with friends and rest up – this will be a musical endurance test like no other!

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