NYS Music 20​17

Category: Regions

  • Hearing Aide: Dangermuffin ‘Heritage’

    Melding multiple genres, Americana quartet Dangermuffin has put together eight unique tracks for its new album, titled Heritage, which is set to drop on March 31.

    Kicking off the album with a Corona-in-the-sand vibe is the wavy and groovy “Ancient Family,” an almost surfer dude type of track, but with a more elegant and highbrow vibe. It’s a solid song to blast on a beach vacation with your friends, or late-night at home when you want to wind down.

    “Fidel” continues the seashore and ocean theme, except this time it’s strictly a reggae song with quite the fun nearly sky, rhythmic musical interlude in the middle. “Kindred Sun” starts out sounding like a slowed down version of “Jack Straw” by the Grateful Dead, but quickly morphs into a psychedelic excursion based around the biggest star in our solar system.

    “Methuselah” begins with a simple drum beat that slowly builds into a five note rhythm that might play out very well on the live stage. “One Last Swim” combines a country feel with bluegrass twang that simply adds to the eclecticism of Heritage.

    “Sea and the Rose” brings back the breezy and free feel of the beginning of the album, enlisting the use of the clavicle in a simple but quite effective way. “Waves” would have closed out the album in the perfect way, adding a little bit of all the themes on the previous six songs. The gentle guitar leads and danceable rhythms make this the feel good song of the record. “Ode to my Heritage” closes out the album in an old timey, campfire circle sort of way.

    Dangermuffin hails from Charleston, S.C., and this album reflects the light and airy ways of the south. A little pickin’, a little grinnin’ and a lot of soul and groove have given Dangermuffin an album to be proud of.

    Key Tracks: Waves, Methuselah, Kindred Sun

  • The Finals of NYS Music’s March Madness 2017

    We have made it to the finals of NYS Music’s March Madness! From our Final Four, two bands, Intrepid Travelers from Buffalo and Root SHOCK from Syracuse have reached the finals in our month long friendly competition between bands.

    A brief intro to each of our finalists:

    Intrepid Travelers specialize in creating sprawling improvisational soundscapes, infusing elements of  jazz, rock, funk, and bluegrass. Most of what the group plays are original compositions, and their covers get a groovy IT makeover.

    The group holds their annual IT Fest each year, and last year NYS Music had this to say about their performance: “The first two sets were a mixture of original songs with a few covers thrown in the mix. The last set they covered MGMT’s album Oracular Spectacular from start to finish. They put their own twist on the album, showing fans a side of the band that they might not be aware of.”

    Root SHOCK was formed in Winter of 2012 with veteran musicians whose love of reggae music flows deep. Last  fall we reviewed Root SHOCK’s self-titled release and said “Their self titled debut is an authentic embodiment of the magnetizing performances that have continued to draw in larger crowds wherever they go” amid an interview with Phil Grajko.

    In September 2015, we reviewed the group’s Funk n Waffles show and editor Ally Dean said “The high-energy atmosphere fostered a connectedness and comfort level allowing several liberated spectators to remove their shoes, showing off some fancy footwork, toes unrestricted.” The band just last week released their latest video “Sunlight.”

    Check back Monday for the 2017 winner!

    Voting begins at Noon on Thursday, March 30 and ends at midnight on Saturday, April 1 and we’ll announce the winner on Monday, April 3!

    We’d like to thank our regional sponsors The Hollow Bar and Kitchen, Nietzsche’s Buffalo, The Downtown Barn and Castle Studio. These small businesses represent the best of what New York State has to offer and celebrate music while inviting local and touring bands to perform for growing local scenes across the state.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Moe. Tour Springs Up in the Northeast

    One of New York’s most popular homegrown jam bands will embark on their 2017 Spring Tour with a brief Northeastern run this week.  moe. hits the road on Thursday, March 30th at The Wellmont Theatre in New Jersey for the first time since 2012.  The 5-piece will close out the month on Friday the 31st at the College Street Music Hall in New Haven, CT before celebrating April Fool’s Day at The Paramount in Huntington, NY on Saturday.

    All three of these venues are easily drivable or trainable from NYC, where fans have been clustered since the band’s origin over 20 years ago.  Speaking of cities where moe.ron’s like to dance, the short and sweet Northeast run will end with a four-night residency at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA. The max capacity at this Harvard Square establishment is only 525 people making it a space normally reserved for up-and-coming bands, not veteran acts capable of packing much larger venues. If you were lucky enough to score tickets to one of these four sold-out shows from April 5th-April 8th, you are in for a real treat!

    Moe. will head south in April for a handful of shows before they kick off their annual festival season with headlining performances at Summer Camp in May and the return of Moe.Down at the end of June.  Another well-known jam band from the Northeast will host a “Baker’s Dozen” run in July at Madison Square Garden and Moe. already has extra special plans for a late-night celebration on the opening night.  They are “coming home again” to New York City on July 21st for an after party at the PlayStation Theater that is not to be missed.

    “Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s Party!’” -Robin Williams

  • X Ambassadors Curate Inaugural Cayuga Sound Festival

    Ithaca natives, the X Ambassadors, will return to where it all started, as the alternative indie rockers return home to headline and present the inaugural Cayuga Sound Festival. The festival will take place at historic Stewart Park, on Sept. 22-23. Tickets go on sale March 31, at 10 a.m.

    Alternative hip hop, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon house band, the Roots, will headline an evening as well. Other artists performing during the two-day festival include K.Flay, the Knocks, Tei Shi, Margaret Glaspy, Jukebox the Ghost, Savoir Adore, Crush Club, Sammus, Izzy True, Imperials, Stone Cold Miracle, and Mail the Horse. More artists will be announced later.

    Cayuga Sound will showcase vendors from across the region that will be on hand to feed festival goers, along with local brews made just for the festival from Ithaca Beer Company. The full food lineup will be announced soon.

    X Ambassador frontman Sam Harris commented about the upcoming fall festival:

    My brother Casey and I are proud to call ourselves native Ithacans. The city is an important part of our identity, personally, and professionally. We cut our teeth as musicians in Ithaca, so X Ambassadors owe the city a great deal. We wanted to curate a music festival in Ithaca that celebrates the city where we hail from. With an eclectic line-up of artists from all different genres of music, wonderful food and drink from local vendors and the opportunity to give back to the community we are so proud of.

    X Ambassadors debut full length album VHS, debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, and is certified gold by the RIAA. The album churned out three hit singles.  Their single “Jungle,” which features Jamie N Collins and Jay-Z, is certified gold. The band’s release of the single “Renegades,” earned them their first certified platinum hit, and the X Ambassadors biggest selling single, “Unsteady,” is certified twice platinum. X Ambassadors are featured in the hip hop track “Sucker For Pain,” which is certified twice platinum and features Lil’ Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons, Logic and Ty Dolla $ign.

  • Fishbone Reunited at the Fairfield Theater Company

    It was an interesting night for all of those that attended the Fairfield Theater Company on March 23. Most guests were obvious die hard fans of the eclectic group. People of all different ages were dressed for the occasion, bobbed their heads to every song, mouthed out lyrics and moshed their way through the center of the floor. But those who were unaware of the strange nature of Fishbone, seemed to be unpleasantly surprised by the brash and outrageous group.  Eight band members mobbed the stage, which was just a few too many for the venue to hold – there always seemed to be a competition between instruments and voices. It didn’t seem to bother those who were familiar with the music because they were recognizable inflections, but there were times when it was hard to make out the melody being sung from horn section, which made up a third of the band.

    The group is known for their diverse musical styles and tones. They range from funky and technical ska, to bold and brash thrash. But different venues work well for different bands and genres. For example, seeing Metallica at the Blue Note wouldn’t be very fitting, nor would putting John Coltrane at Red Rocks. This is all an outsider’s point of view as well.  Again, those die hard fans were having the time of their lives. But there were many out of place patrons (ones lacking leather clothing and chains) that left early or lost interest halfway through. Fishbone was undoubtedly very talented and professional and the venue has hosted some incredible shows that were perfect for it’s size,  but they  just didn’t have the space to let Fishbone loose. There were too many sounds and tones to be shoved through their PA system, which ranged from a theremin, to a fret-less acoustic bass guitar. It felt unintelligible at times, which was only true during the heavy parts.

    It wasn’t all indeterminable noise. As stated before, Fishbone is well known for there buck-wild performance and expansive genre selection. They played a well-balanced setlist, oscillating from ska, to punk, hard rock and back over again, so it wasn’t a constant barrage of sound the entire night. Ska and reggae styled songs like “Unyielded Conditioning”  were very well done. Each instrument could be heard clearly and it was enjoyable for everyone. But songs similar to “In The Cube” a ten minute hard rock/metal track about sitting on the toilet, were musically all over the place and contained too many tone variations for the sound system to handle, especially during the heavier parts.

    Again, no one was at fault here. The Fairfield Theater Company is a fantastic venue with a huge stage, open area, and Fishbone and Rebuilder, the opening act, did their jobs and did them well. Rebuilder is a punk/ rock band out of Boston Massachusetts and gave 100 percent. Their sound was a little familiar, pulling out all the stops listeners would expect from a punk band. But it was reassuring to see that genre of music still thriving.  Fishbone gave it their absolute all as well because this is the first time all of the original members have shared a stage for sometime. But somethings aren’t meant to go together. Like pineapple on pizza – great for some people, but just not a good mix for others. And when a band is trying to make a come back like they were, they need to appeal to as many people as possible, and a more intimate venue in central Fairfield was not the place to gain a larger audience.

    This may seem like the interpretation of an older, less tolerant soul. But rest assured, loud and brash music is still fantastic to see live, but only in the proper setting. Fishbone is a group known specifically for their wild performances, but just be sure to see them in the right venue to give listener’s ears some space to enjoy the music instead of leaving them ringing.

  • Riff Raff’s Rap got the Crowd Roaring at The Lost Horizon

    Riff Raff gave Syracuse “4 million” reasons why they should have been at The Lost Horizon This past Thursday, March 2, performing his signature brand of crunk braggadocio to a packed house of CNY’s trillest. Draped in a gold chain to match his shiny rings and belt buckle, the Houston-based rapper dazzled the audience with thumping beats and catchy refrains about his lavish lifestyle. The crescendo of his set was the aforementioned banger “4 million,” which had the crowd singing in unison about Riff Raff’s purported income from the 2016 fiscal year.

    riff raffAll in all, it was a high-energy performance and unforgettable party for everyone in attendance. The opening acts were Sig Roy, Dom x Vince Cioci, followed by Cuse Williams featuring DJ Lionheart. Yola Cerew replaced Atrilla for one last crowd exciter before Riff Raff hit the stage. The first song in Cuse Williams’ set “Left for Dead” was definitely a highlight of the evening. The track began with clips from a news report about a shooting in Syracuse, and was followed by heartfelt lyrics against gun violence.

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