Relinquishing their debut full-length album to the world, Sun Parade successfully tugs at familiar emotions to send listeners on a 12-track sensory highway. Shuggy Mtn Breakdown boasts airy pop-rock blended with vibrant psychedelia that comes crashing down in waves. The 5-piece Northampton, MA outfit take you on a journey through self discovery with thematic commonalities all humans endure–love, life, questioning happiness and how to pursue it.
With infectious melodies and light-hearted vocals, Chris Marlon Jennings (vocals, guitar), Jeff Lewis (vocals, guitar), Max Wareham (bass, vocals), Karl Helander (drums, vocals), and Eli Salus-Kleiner (keyboard) are able to instantly grab a listening ear through their radio-ready sound while remaining comfortably candid. Reminiscent of elements of the White Stripes’ prominent and punchy vocals, Tame Impala’s airy singing and the Black Keys‘ american rock tone, the indie, power-pop album was recorded in a one-room studio on the 4th floor of an old industrial Brooklyn building. It’s no surprise that Rubblebucket’s own Ian Hersey sat in the producer’s chair to extend a helping hand and trained ear.
The whimsical opening track of “Sleep Alone” warmly welcomes listeners into a dream-pop state of mind before launching into the cheeky “Cheer Up,” which does just as its title implies with both tempo and mood simultaneously picking up. Distorted noise and spoken word vocals shine on “Steal My Thunder” while “Game Boy” brings forth an extremely relatable message, embracing hooks and easy-to follow lyrics.
A relaxed and slowed down “Braindrain” flips a genre switch as it walks away from the bubblegum sound and introduces a more delicate, soul-leaning attitude, complete with mesmerizing synth sounds and whistle-along tangents. The hard hitting and emotional rock track “Psycho” follows with wailing vocals and gritty grunge guitar breakdowns you didn’t see coming but can’t imagine the album without. “Shuggy Mtn” holds its own as the album’s party anthem. The namesake song dives into sonic exploration and punk tendencies by blending psychedelic rock elements with wailing vocals and hard hitting on the drum kit.
The second to last track on the album, “Echoes of My Heart,” softens the tone and slows the release’s pulse with a quick, dreamy interlude before “Tear (Can’t Stop Believing),” wraps Sun Parade‘s initial release and circles back to the album’s blunt storytelling and hopeful tone.
Through airy vocals and melodic exploration, the quintet proved they aren’t afraid to have fun and dip their toes in a pool of myriad genres while getting emotionally raw with their audience. Shuggy Mtn Breakdown aims to be timeless, allowing their hopeful and tender lyrics to appropriately contrast and offset its darker rock and roll musical elements.
Touring in support of their release, Sun Parade will storm through Rochester’s Bug Jar on Dec. 10 just ahead of Swordpaw on Dec. 15. Listen to Shuggy Mtn Breakdown in it’s entirety below:
Key Tracks: “Steal My Thunder,” “Braindrain,” “Psycho”
After a small break from touring, Fozzy will pack the road gear and continue the band’s “Judas Rising,” tour into 2018 at Upstate Concert Hall. Fozzy is touring in support of the band’s seventh studio album, Judas. The title track of the album, “Judas,” has become a huge hit for the band, blowing up rock radio stations everywhere.
Part two of the “Judas Rising” tour will see support by Through Fire, Santa Cruz, and Dark Star Choir.
New Orleans will get the tour started at the Parish on Feb. 28 and see the “Lights Go Out” on April 8 at Wally’s in Hampton Beach, NH. One of the two New York dates on the tour will come through the Capital Region. Fozzy will make a stop at Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park on April 4, then the next night on April 5 at the the Gramercy Theatre in NYC. Tickets to the UCH show cost $17 in advance. Fozzy die-hards can also purchase a $150 VIP upgrade to each show on the tour.
In a recent Blabbermouth article, frontman Chris Jericho, and guitarist Rich Ward gave their opinions on the upcoming “Judas Rising,” tour.
Jericho stated: “I’m stoked to do this extensive tour of the States now that ‘Judas,’ the song, is a Top 5 rock radio hit and ‘Judas’, the album, has gone top 40! FOZZY is bigger than we’ve ever been, which means bigger production, bigger songs and bigger lighted jackets! So we can’t wait to rock your literal socks off starting in February!! JUDAS IS RISING.”
Rich Ward added: “I started playing guitar because of how deeply powerful the experience of going to concerts was for me. With a hit single and a new album pushing FOZZY to new heights, I can’t wait to get back on the road in America to capture the power that only live music can create. Make sure to bring a helmet and your dancing shoes when FOZZY rolls through your town.”
Fozzy “Judas Rising” Tour Dates:
Feb. 28 – The Parish – New Orleans, LA
March 1 – Scout Bar – Houston, TX
March 2 – Canton Hall – Dallas, TX
March 3 – Jake’s – Lubbock, TX
March 4 – Speaking Rock – El Paso, TX
March 7 – Club X’s – Tucson, AZ
March 8 – Marquee Theater – Phoenix, AZ
March 10 – The Whisky – Los Angeles, CA
March 11 – Count’s Vamp’d – Las Vegas, NV
March 13 – Slim’s – San Francisco, CA
March 15 – Dante’s – Portland, OR
March 16 – Studio Seven – Seattle, WA
March 27 – Turner Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI
March 28 – Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
March 29 – Intersection – Grand Rapids, MI
March 30 – Shelter – Detroit, MI
March 31 – Oddbody’s – Dayton, OH
April 2 – House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH
April 3 – Jergel’s – Pittsburgh, PA April 4 – Upstate Concert Hall – Clifton Park, NY April 5 – The Gramercy – New York, NY
April 6 – The Foundry – Philadelphia, PA
April 7 – Aura – Portland, ME
April 8 – Wally’s – Hampton Beach, NH
Vermont based jam band Twiddle has announced their headlining debut at famed venue Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado. Twiddle will perform two sets on Star Wars day, Friday, May 4. Twiddle will also share the stage with California based roots/reggae/dub outfit Stick Figure. Florida based world beat/indie band the Hip Abduction will play in support.
Twiddle has graced the Red Rocks stage twice in support of String Cheese Incident (2015) and the Disco Biscuits(2016). Their 2017 show with moe. was cancelled after moe. announced a hiatus while bassist Rob Derhak underwent treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer.
The announcement comes as Twiddle hits the road in 2018 along with Stick Figure and Iya Terra for sixteen dates. Twiddle has had a stellar year in 2017 and continued to make headlines. The year was highlighted by a showing on the Billboard charts as their much-anticipated release PLUMP debuted at #6 on the Alternative New Artist Album charts and a sit-in from Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh at the band’s Tumble Down Music Festival.
Self-taught musician Scott Woodruff writes, produces and records under the moniker, Stick Figure. Woodruff tours with a full band to craft his live shows. His latest release, Set in Stone, has solidified the musician’s vision of a new melodic subgenre.
The Hip Abduction toured in support of Twiddle during August and September of 2017. The vibrant St. Petersburg, FL-based collective celebrates a mutual appreciation for West African and early Jamaican reggae/dub music.
Twiddle Fan Club and AEG presales are available online as of the announcement. Several pre-sale VIP packages are available with options including a special VIP performance at Red Rocks on Thursday, May 3. General on sale goes live on Friday, December 15 at Noon EST.
Buffalo had its first snowfall of the year this past Wednesday, but that didn’t stop flocks of people from coming out to Buffalo Riverworks to see the second night of The Kerfuffle Before Christmas. Upon arrival, people were lined up in thirty two degree weather almost forty five minutes before the doors opened. People were in their holiday gear and it was great to see the Christmas spirit alive and well.
Saint Motel took the stage first and brought the charisma that night as they kept fans on their feet with all the antics they did during their set. Front man A/J Jackson sang and played keyboard while using his charming personality to sway the audience, girls and guys alike. Guitarist Dak Lerdamornpong mastered the stage while Jackson was working his way up the scaffolds, pulling a Barns Courtney from TKBC night 1, but upped him by climbing all the way to the top instead of only halfway. Then, towards the end of his set, he decided to run into the crowd and up the balcony, dancing with patrons, only to run back down the stairs and stand on one of the bar tops reminding patrons to tip the bartenders that evening.
Børns was second to hit the stage. He was teamed with all female musicians that died down the audience in comparison to Saint Motel’s performance. His music is what you would call ‘hypnotizing.’ It`s not necessarily a loud vocal dynamic, but more within a range that you could relax to, but also dance with your friends.
The band most people were waiting for was Jimmy Eat World. It’s a lot of pressure being the headliner and they delivered in all aspects that night. Bringing the most energy and also a certain nostalgic factor, playing an assortment of their newer stuff such as “You With Me” and longtime classics like “The Middle” and “Sweetness.” The band set the stage with a minimal appearance but it was adorned with 3 street lights that were placed above the drummer, guitarist and bassist. The lights flashed in sync with the music and it was the perfect addition to the stage without overdoing it. Doing several encores really pleased the audience and you can see it from the expressions and overhearing what fans were saying as they left.
The Kerfuffle Before Christmas was a success and there is one night left of this magnificent concert series. The last one will be held on Sunday, December 17. Performing are Cold War Kids, lovely the band and AJR. Tickets are still available for purchase and can be found at any FYE store and Alternativebuffalo.com
Guitar virtuoso Keller Williams returned to The Egg Performing Arts Center on Thursday, December 7, and performed two intimate one hour sets in the Swyer Theater, alongside stand up bassist Danton Boller, the first of three shows together. Keller recalled his previous shows in the Hart Theater (which he referred to as the “Red Room”), and how years ago before going on stage, he stuck his head into the Swyer Theater and professed a desire to play the room.
Keller started the first of two acoustic sets with the Grateful Dead’s “Bird Song” and Phish’s “Birds of a Feather,” all while wearing a guitar strap featuring Angry Birds. Williams showed some more love for Jerry Garcia in the form of the Peter Rowan tune “Mississippi Moon,” and after the classic “Freeker by the Speaker,” wrapped up the first set with a 78 RPM version of “Samson and Delilah.” Set 2 kicked off with the audience contributing to “Off Time” and “Breathe,” with one of Keller’s best hits, “Best Feeling,” emerging from an open call to the audience for suggestions. A little more Dead followed in the form of a tease-happy “Scarlet Begonias” wrapped up the show with an encore of “I Feel High” off the appropriate album, Vape. Keller Williams and Danton Boller will wrapped up their three show run on Saturday night at Stage One at FTC in Fairfield, CT.
Just last month, after a seven-year run in Chicago, Illinois, indie folkmaster Chaz Hearne returned home to Rochester to continue his music career in his hometown. Hearne is a folk musician that enjoys the roots but is not shy to cross genres and experiment. Although banjo is his primary axe, Hearne is a multi-instrumentalist that performs everything from finger picked acoustic tunes to all-out rock anthems on banjo, guitar, piano, and violin, adding layered vocal harmonies. Regardless of the tune, Hearne performs with passion, honesty, and fragility.
Ben Albert of NYS Music was humbled to sit down and converse with Chaz Hearne about his experience in Chicago, the message behind his conceptual songwriting, and his new politically critical concept album, Rise of Voluminous. The conversation was recorded in collaboration with Rochester Groovecast and released as a Rochester Groovecast podcast episode. Take a peek below and click the play button to listen to the episode. Scroll farther below to find a timestamp of the show.
TIMESTAMP:
00:17: Chaz Hearne- Fun in 82
05:12: Episode Intro
07:19: Interview Part One
14:11: Chaz Hearne- Spicy in The Dim Halls
17:15: Interview Part Two
39:29: Closing Comments
41:21: Raw Performance by Chaz Hearn
Buffalo rocker Jorian Holka is at it again. Not long after the release of his debut EP, EP1, he went right back at it to bring us his new single, “Loser With Ambition.” The track starts off with a pounding drum intro that immediately gets the blood flowing, and leads into a melodic swirl of fast paced, hard rock riffs from what feels like a small orchestra of distorted guitars. The lyrics are a raw reflection of what it feels like growing up differently than everyone else, and what it is like breaking away from the status quo as a youth by rejecting what is forced down your throat by society.
Holka reminds listeners that it is okay to think differently, and that doing so is often a good thing, even if others believe you are weird for it. The incredibly catchy chorus makes a statement that even if other people might not see the world the same way as us, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are comfortable with who you are and doing the best you can, so you should not care what other people think.
While the song may provide a very positive message, that does not mean it does not rock. It does, hard. The guitar solo following the second chorus highlights Holka’s technical knowledge on guitar, reminding listeners that although he may be playing every instrument on the track, the guitar is where his true talent lies. As he creates more music, it is very clear that Holka is becoming a more proficient songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer.
In nature, flow is associated with movement, like water rippling down a current. In psychology, finding flow is associated with engaging in an activity which brings on a feeling of being energized, focused, fully aware and conscious. Rochester indie pop artists Tart Vandelay have linked these concepts in their new release, aptly entitled Flow.
The jazzy four-track-long collectionpaints a landscape filled with images of whipping whirlpool winds, relentlessly echoing rays of sunshine, midnight moonlight, and misty rain clouds. The elements of the cosmos become metaphors for emotional states, as a story unfolds about facing fear and uncertainty. Tart Vandelay isn’t just stopping to smell the roses; they’re making a mindful exploration into the cyclical rhythms in the universe and tendency for tumult to succumb to order. Songstress Katie Halligan draws from her own experiences when writing, however her words strike a chord deep within. She taps into her uncanny ability to connect what’s personal to what’s common to the human experience. “Sun, melt away by fright, tell me it’s alright,” she pleads in the song “Cloudy Doubts.”
Book ended with birdsong, the instrumentation on the album mirrors the sentiment of the songs and compliments Halligan’s crisp, sparkling vocals. Marty LoFaso’s jazzy guitar work serves as a vibrant accompaniment. The bass line provided by Pete Zamniak and percussive stylings of Christopher Dubuc-Penney intersect to form in an undulating groove that adds dimension to the soundscape. The music demonstrates restraint during the apprehensive disquietude of the first two songs “High Noon Haze” and “Lonely Girl.” Then it swells during “Cloudy Doubts,” before reaching a magnificent crest in “Drifting.”
As the sequel to last year’s debut EP Frontier Pioneer, Flow offers further proof of Tart Vandelay and their endearing ability to uplift and inspire through music. Recorded at Wicked Squid Studios in Rochester, and produced by Josh Pettinger, Flow is available on Bandcamp. You can follow Tart Vandelay on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Brandi Carlile fans are some of the luckiest fans in the world. They can see Carlile just about any time they’d like to because she always seems to be on tour. She’s performed at least once a month, almost every single month since 2014 and will continue this streak well on into 2018, making several stops in New York along the way. These shows include a three-night run at the Beacon Theatre on April 5, 6 (Sold Out) and 7, the Palace Theatre in Albany on May 6 and the State Theatre in Ithaca on May 8. Tickets for all of these shows are available now and are modestly priced. Again, the April 6 show and the Beacon Theatre is sold out.
Carlile will be touring with her five-album discography and will likely showcase some new material from her soon to be released collection, By the Way, I Forgive You. Listeners can get a taste of the new album by checking out the single, “The Joke.” It’s sentimental and a bit melancholy, which isn’t unheard of for Carlile. But taking into account this track’s tone coupled with some emotional album artwork, it raises the question, what will the rest of the album sound like? That question will be answered on February 16, 2018.
Anyone unfamiliar with Carlile’s work should give her the old college try. Her music is wholesome, moving, catchy and beaming with energy. On top of her extensive musical career, she and her bandmates, Tim and Phil Hanseroth also found the time and energy to create a nonprofit called the Looking Out Foundation. They, “band together with fans, nonprofits, and corporations to translate voices of song to voices of action,” as well as donating $1 from every concert to their efforts and related charities.
Tour Dates:
April 5 – Beacon Theatre – New York, NY April 6 – Beacon Theatre – New York, NY (SOLD OUT) April 7 – Beacon Theatre – New York, NY May 6 – Palace Theatre – Albany, NY May 8 – State Theatre – Ithaca, NY
Tucked away in the mill towns of Western Massachusetts lies the village of Millers Falls. You’d never think that in this little nook of New England is a quaint studio that puts out some amazing music. Iron Wax Studios is the dream-child of the one and only, Alan Evans and his wife, Kim. When people talk about Alan Evans, you’ll usually hear about his long list of projects and sit-ins. From his roots with his also musically-talented brother Neal Evans of Lettuce, through Soulive and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, up until now with Brothers, his band with his brother and Oteil and Kofi Burbridge. What you might not hear about is his work behind the scenes. Alan has been interested in engineering and producing music since he was very young.
Alan Evans Playonbrother
Alan Evans: Neal and I had a band way before (Soulive), called Moon Boot Lover. I started playing when I was 11, and I’m 43 now. I started going on the road when I was 14 or 15, and I started engineering when I was 14 or 15, something like that… It was a PV 12 channel mixer, and a Harman Kardon, TD-202. I can’t believe I even remember that [Laughing]… And then I borrowed my friends ADAT, and that was kind of mind-blowing, and then I got my own. Actually, the first Soulive album was recorded on an ADAT a long time ago.
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The part I found most fascinating about this is that for everything Evans has his hands in on stage, his influence behind the scenes is bigger, much bigger. I decided I wanted to make this side of the curtain available to the world. I approached Evans with an idea: a series or featured article where NYS Music captures the behind-the-scenes life of artists and the engineers who fine tune their sound. He was incredibly excited about the idea, and allowed me to come to the studio for an interview, which basically became an incredibly fun and engaging conversation about music and life.
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Zach Culver: This is a part of the music world no one ever sees, and I especially love this. I’m not a musician, so I don’t get to see this ever. And I’m a huge fan of the artists that are coming through, and yourself, so this is something I’d love to share with people.
AE: I particularly would be into that just cause, I’ve always been a fan of non traditional… I don’t even know if you could call this a traditional recording studio. I guess it is, maybe.
ZC: Yeah, every one is different, even bigger ones, some are just huge rooms, you know, with that one spot with the best acoustics. But then, even this one is bigger than some I’ve seen, where it’s just a mixing board and a closet that people get in one at a time and play.
[Laughter]
AE: Exactly, exactly.
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When you walk into the studio, you’re taken back for a second. When you see the movies, or the giant studios that produced our favorite classics, you think of a massive mixing board with thousands buttons and channels. You see a huge room with a single mic in the center where the pop singer can swing their arms up and down as they hit that high note. Iron Wax is not that studio, and you realize immediately that that’s exactly what Alan Evans wants it to be. It feels like home.
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AE: I like to make it feel warm and…
ZC: Fun.
AE: Yeah! Exactly. I want to make it feel like it’s not a recording studio. They’re just hanging out in their living room.
ZC: Like they’re just coming in and jamming.
AE: Yeah, and then when you hit playback you’re like, “wow, that sounds great.”
ZC: Because of that kind of atmosphere, you’re going to get the best out of people… You’ve gotta catch them when they’re not paying attention, because that’s when you get their real personality.
AE: Exactly. We’ll just have a lot of fun, just hang out. My vibe, as you can see, as it’s always been, is I prefer not to have a control room.
ZC: Yeah, you wanna be with the band. And getting to connect with the band like that…
AE: Like if I’m in the room grooving, I’m feeling it. If you’re on the other side of the glass having fun and they’re over here, they don’t know what I’m thinking… I’d much rather be a part of it… It all comes down to creating a comfortable environment for people to create.
I love being a part of something that’s not about me. I love being in the room when something is being created, when something is being realized. When I hit play, and they say “that’s what we’ve been wanting,” that’s such an amazing feeling. I love being on stage and playing my music, but there’s something really special about helping someone with their thing.
ZC: How long have you been here at Iron Wax?
AE: In this spot? Almost two years. Actually, the very first session here was The Brothers, and that was February two years ago. Immediately before this, all this was at my house. That was insane, having a studio at home. I did all the [Alan Evans Trio] stuff. I mixed a bunch, and before that I was down in Hatfield [Massachusetts]. I did a bunch of stuff there… I definitely get focused when I get in here. As much as I like the idea of a big studio, and I don’t know if it has to do with the style of music I’m working on, or if it’s just my vibe, but I try to make things sound smaller, or things end up sounding smaller; not in a bad way, but just tighter. Some people really dig the explosive sound, like drums or something, but, I listen to all my favorite albums, and it’s not that at all. All this [equipment] should be in the background. You shouldn’t notice the microphones. Who cares what mic or pre-amp you use. It doesn’t matter. Really in the end, it’s about the song. I can get a lot of people in here, its kind of crazy. The biggest band I’ve had in here, are these cats from London, Crowd Company, an 8-piece group, and pretty soon I’m having a ten piece coming through, Aztec Sun, from DC. Super killer band.
ZC: I really love who’s coming through here, not only because they’re some of my favorite artists, but they’re also some of my favorite people. I’ve met a few of the guys from Harsh Armadillo. They’re so much fun, and they have a lot of personality.
AE: Those cats blew me away. Kim told me this band from New Hampshire is coming through to work with us. So I checked them out, and they sent me some demos, and stuff they wanted to record, and it was cool. And, I don’t know what happened, whether I missed something which I don’t usually do, but when they came in here, I was like, “Woah.” They were ridiculous, man. [Laughing]… There’s a reason why they wanted to come here, and man, I’m really glad they did.
ZC: What brought you to this area?
AE: Kim and I were down near Woodstock, NY and Kraz joined [Soulive] and when we got going, he said his mom had a vacation home up in Vermont, and so she said we could live there. We paid maybe fifty, a hundred dollars a month, huge house, hundred acres. We were just kickin’ it up there, so when we were starting, we could do a lot of gigs and travel a lot, and not worry about living expenses. So once we started making money, Neal and Kraz moved to Northampton and then from there down to Brooklyn, and I had no desire to go back to New York. I lived there for a long time in the early 90’s. So Kim and I were just kicking it up there in this huge house, and we found out we were gonna have our first kid, and we had to drive over an hour to get to, like, Keene to see the doctor, we were just like, this is not gonna work… we started looking for places and we looked at a place in Greenfield, and then found a place in Deerfield, and that’s where we ended up.
ZC: You just started Matador Soul Sounds. That was about a month or two ago, you did your first show.
AE: Yeah, at Brooklyn Comes Alive. That’s been a lot of fun. I was actually just talking to Eddy (New Mastersounds) earlier today. We’ve got some shows coming up in the spring, going on tour in march, right after I get back from London with Soulive, I go on tour with Matador for like three weeks. They’re some fun cats to hang out with. You know just, hanging with like minded people.
ZC: That’s easy in this industry to find that. Everyone is so welcoming… and doesn’t have a bad bone in their body.
AE: I mean that’s the really cool thing about the time we’re living in… there’s no reason to not be cool.
“Life’s too short to not be cool”
Alan at Iron Wax, Photo Credit: Kim Evans
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ZC: Back in the 90’s, you played with Oteil Burbridge a lot, which I feel like a lot of people would never know that. You just came out with Brothers, with your brother Neal (Evans), and Oteil and Kofi (Burbridge). What’s it like working with them?
AE: So Oteil and I met way back in the day with my old band Moon Boot Lover. We met in like, ’93 or ’94 when he was playing with Aquarium Rescue Unit, we used to do a bunch of shows together. We talked about actually doing something, the four of us, but its just tough. Oteil and Kofi, they’re just special dudes. you know, its crazy, when the four of us play together, its hard to describe. Because you know, Neil and I have always had like this, telepathy type s***, but with them it’s the same thing! Like we all know where each other is gonna go, and it’s just really special. They’re just the nicest people, really in tune with, just, something else.
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ZC: You’ve worked with so many people over the years. I mean, the list is never-ending. Is there anyone you wish you could work with, either A) you never got to, or B) Never could get around to?
AE: Those are always hard for me to answer, because I always find that the unexpected sit-ins or, whatever you want to call them, connections that are made, are always the best. They’re organic… but with that said, years ago we got invited to play a party at Paisley Park. Prince wanted us to come play—like some friends of ours had done it before and we were all gonna go. He had these parties, a couple a year maybe, and we just thought it was going to be amazing. And, for whatever reason, he ended up having to cancel the party, and we were saying “well, that sucks but I’m sure we’ll connect at some point,” but it never happened. And Pete Shapiro (Brooklyn Bowl) was always saying we should get Prince for Bowlive. And that really would’ve been pretty special. It could’ve gone either way… That’s definitely one cat that I would’ve loved to be around just for even ten minutes just to soak up that kind of energy.
AE: Like, Stevie Wonder sat in with us years ago. It was the end of the show and we left the stage and someone said “Stevie wants to come sit in” and I had no idea he was even at the show [Laughter]… so he comes out and Stevie is in between me and Kraz. And dude, that was the first time I’ve ever seen him live, and it was just crazy… He came out, played harmonica and just killed it. And then was feeling good and started singing, I mean he was right next to me. And to just see him—not just hear him but to see him sing. I mean he used his entire body, down to his toes. It was crazy man, crazy. I remember [Ryan] Zoidis and I went across the street to this party, and his whole vibe was all over us. It was the craziest thing. It was just this cosmic, like, aura and it rubbed off on us for a little bit.
But to answer your question, Prince.
[Laughter]
ZC: What are you looking forward to, going into 2018?
AE: Definitely the release of the Matador Soul Sounds album. We put out this little single, two songs or something. The full album is coming out, I’m doing some touring with that, and then obviously, the new Soulive thing, because it’s been a long time.
ZC: I was gonna say, looking through, I know you took a year off for Bowlive, and came back this year, and everyone was like, what was that? Are you done? Everyone had faith but, your last album was 2012?
AE: Yeah that sounds about right… we’re definitely not trying to push Soulive too much, cause we’ve been playing these tunes for a long time. We wanted to have some new s***, some new stuff to talk about. So we were just chillin’ until it came out… and all of a sudden it was like, man, we need to put something out, cause we just went to Japan, and we had a great time there… so finally we’re gonna get together and record.
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Evans is a true pioneer of the industry. He really does it all and has an influence in so many bands, and genres. Later this month Soulive will be coming to Iron Wax to start fresh on a few new tracks for the world, and Evans was gracious enough to let us return to document the occasion. This will be an inside look at how the band writes and interacts with each other, something that fans rarely get to witness.
Stay tuned for more from “Behind the Iron Wax Curtain.”
Twiddle has graced the Red Rocks stage twice in support of String Cheese Incident (2015) and the Disco Biscuits(2016). Their 2017 show with moe. was cancelled after moe. announced a hiatus while bassist Rob Derhak underwent treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer.
Keller started the first of two acoustic sets with the Grateful Dead’s “Bird Song” and Phish’s “Birds of a Feather,” all while wearing a guitar strap featuring Angry Birds. Williams showed some more love for Jerry Garcia in the form of the Peter Rowan tune “Mississippi Moon,” and after the classic “Freeker by the Speaker,” wrapped up the first set with a 78 RPM version of “Samson and Delilah.” Set 2 kicked off with the audience contributing to “Off Time” and “Breathe,” with one of Keller’s best hits, “Best Feeling,” emerging from an open call to the audience for suggestions. A little more Dead followed in the form of a tease-happy “Scarlet Begonias” wrapped up the show with an encore of “I Feel High” off the appropriate album, Vape. Keller Williams and Danton Boller will wrapped up their three show run on 
Holka 
The jazzy four-track-long collection paints a landscape filled with images of whipping whirlpool winds, relentlessly echoing rays of sunshine, midnight moonlight, and misty rain clouds. The elements of the cosmos become metaphors for emotional states, as a story unfolds about facing fear and uncertainty. Tart Vandelay isn’t just stopping to smell the roses; they’re making a mindful exploration into the cyclical rhythms in the universe and tendency for tumult to succumb to order. Songstress Katie Halligan draws from her own experiences when writing, however her words strike a chord deep within. She taps into her uncanny ability to connect what’s personal to what’s common to the human experience. “Sun, melt away by fright, tell me it’s alright,” she pleads in the song “Cloudy Doubts.”
