NYS Music 20​17

Blog

  • A Quarter Century Q and A with Greg Bell

    Greg Bell has been promoting and putting on shows in the Capital Region now for 25 years. All month long in April, he will be celebrating that milestone with shows each weekend at the Hollow Bar and Kitchen in Albany.

    In late march 1992, Bell formed a partnership with his friend Dale Metzger called Two Fools Present. They proceeded to put on what turned out to be the first of many shows promoted by Greg. It was held on April Fools Day at the Masonic Hall on lower Madison Avenue. The bands who played were the Sharks, Hard Times, Motherjudge and Brian Kenny and Friends. Two Fools worked together for an outdoor festival and two or three more club shows and parted ways. In 1993 Bell teamed up with Jeff Guthrie to form Guthrie/Bell Productions. Jeff left the business a few years later but Bell continues to work under that name today.

    NYSMusic caught up with Bell to talk about his career and how he’s made it this far while staying so successful.

    Neil Benjamin: You’ve been putting on shows locally for a while, and now you’re celebrating a big anniversary. What’s it been like to be such a huge part of the Albany music scene?

    Greg Bell: I had always been a part of the local music scene .I had many friends in local bands and I probably went to at least one show per week from my college days until  I started promoting on my own. One of the reasons that I started putting on shows was to give local musicians  and the audience a situation to be in that treated them with respect instead of being treated as a product. I was always involved with the local music scene . One night , out drinking with a friend , we decided to throw a party with some friends’ bands just for fun . It was sort of like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland saying “lets put on a show” in an Andy Hardy movie. The first show went well , so we did another . then another and it just sort of snowballed

    NB:Do you know how many shows you’re promoted?

    GB: Probably around 2,000.

    NB:What was your favorite show to put on? Can you share a memory or two?

    GB:Probably a tie between the first time that i had moe. play the Palace and the Phil and Friends show at the Glens Falls Civic Center when Trey Anastasio showed up and sat in for the entire show. the moe. show was exciting for me as they were the first band that I had taken from a small club situation to a big theater show . The Phil show is a given. I first saw the Dead in 1970 and here I was promoting a show with a member of the Dead and a member of Phish on stage. It was an amazing feeling.

    NB: How long do you plan  to do this?

    GB: According to my wife, until I die.

    NB: What’s the most difficult aspect of promoting shows around here?

    GB:The hardest thing for me is putting on an amazing band to a small crowd. I try to promote bands that I think people should see and I feel like I let some bands down when the turnout sucks. Only do this if you love music. If you do it for money, find something else.

    NB: How many concerts do you think you’ve attended and who is your favorite band?

    GB:My favorite band has been the Grateful Dead for 47 years . I couldn’t even guess how many shows that I have attended, but it’s a lot.

    NB:You attend most of the shows you put on. Is your family supportive of what you do and why?

    GB:My family is very supportive . My wife designs all of my flyers and posters as well as Bellstock tee shirts and loves coming to shows . My kids have been attending my shows since they were born and are proud of what I accomplished. They also like the fact that I can get them into concerts that they want to see.. One thing that I made sure of is that putting on shows was secondary to my family . I never missed a school concert or function  . I never missed their soccer games or track meets .I was a teacher , so I was able to spend all summer with my kids.

    NB:How has your approached changed over time as society and technology change? Is it easier or harder to promote in the social media age?

    GB:My approach hasn’t changed. Word of mouth is the way to go. Technology has made things easier, but handing out a flier is the best way to get people in the door.  The danger with technology is that it makes promoters lazy. It is so easy to just to think that you just need to send out a Facebook post or a text to get the word out. I truly believe that the personal touch of talking to people at shows and handing out flyers to people while explaining why they should come to a show is the best way to promote. I am at almost every show that I put on and I am constantly in contact with the people who attend my shows. They know that I only put on shows that I want to see and I think that gives my shows some credibility.

    Catch Guthrie/Bell’s 25th anniversary shows at The Hollow Bar and Kitchen in Albany:

    April 1 Wreckloose w/ School Bus Yellow and Hartley’s Encore
    April 15 Eastbound Jesus w/ Elrod & Motherjudge and the Grassroots Rebels [featuring members of Jerkwater Ruckus ]
    April 28 Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets w/ Lynch [featuring members of Conehead Buddha and Schleigho] and the Eastern Highs [featuring members of Free Beer & Chicken]

    All shows are 18+, tickets $12 in advance, $15 day of show. Doors at 7:30, show at 8pm

  • Comedy Works to call Cohoes Music Hall home, Three Acts Already Signed

    After having been a staple in Albany’s comedy entertainment scene for the previous 35 years, Tommy Nicchi picked up his Comedy Works brand in 2016 and moved it up to Saratoga Springs. As he recalled the move last week during a press conference to announce the new partnership between the Comedy Works in Cohoes Music Hall, Nicchi said, “We would only come back for the right reason. And, this building is the right reason.”

    Less than a year after it was announced Cohoes Music Hall was making its return as a viable entertainment hub under the Palace Performing Arts Center Inc., the storied music hall continues to build partnerships that will ensure its lights will remain on.

    Palace Executive Director Holly Brown announced the partnership, Thursday, March 2, along with three scheduled acts to start later this month.

    “Comedy Works will bring a regular series of comedians to a ‘Comedy Works at the Cohoes Music Hall’ series,” said Brown.

    Nick DiPaolo kicks off the series Saturday, March 25. The next act features  former WWE wrestler, and Glens Falls native, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan on Saturday, April 22. And, on Saturday, May 13, Gilbert Gottfried will take to the Cohoes stage.

    Nicchi said he sent photos of the music hall to management firms before making calls out to comedians. The aesthetics of the venue, and its relative close proximity to New York City — where many such acts call home — made for an easy sell.

    “We made three phone calls out, and got these three acts,” said Nicchi.

    The Comedy Works comes back to the greater Capital District with stiff competition. In 2015, the Funny Bone Comedy Club established business in Crossgates Mall. It, too, brings a steady stream of regional and national acts to its stage. However, the partnership between the Palace, Albany’s Park Playhouse, the Comedy Works and Cohoes Music Hall, promises both a constant and eclectic stream of entertainment.

    The Comedy Works is no stranger to bringing national names to the Capital District. Aziz Ansari famously flew into Albany and immediately took to the Comedy Works stage on what was the anchor leg of a eight-hour marathon stretch of performances in August of 2015.

    Brown said she hopes to see at least one live comedy event at the Cohoes Music Hall each month through the new partnership.

    Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse expressed his gratitude for the positive affect Albany’s performing arts group has had on his city.

    “The Palace Theatre has certainly exceeded our expectations,” said Morse, who added that more than 7,000 patrons have visited the revitalized hall since the partnership was announced last September. “And, [it] has become our economic engine that drives success to our downtown.”

    This article was originally published by The Spot 518. is property of Spotlight Newspapers in Albany, N.Y., and appears as a special to NYS Music. TheSpot518 and NYS Music work in partnership to provide readers with in-depth coverage on the local music scene in the Capital District and New York state, respectively. For more, visit TheSpot518.com.

  • Justin Henricks Steps into Role of Bandleader with Wurliday

    Justin Henricks is taking on a new role as a band leader, as the Hart School graduate and Averill Park native will release Bedtime Blazer this May, the first EP for his new project Wurliday. As he leads his first band, Henricks finds himself poised for the next step in a career that has thus far found him as a key player best known for his guitar work in Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan, Way Down and The Chronicles.

    Henricks has played guitar all his life and considers Hartford to be a second home, thanks in part to the music scene that includes Arch Street Music Hall, West End Blend and Boo-yah Funk Night, while back home in Albany, Justin hosted funk night at City Beer Hall in 2016. NYS Music sat down to discuss with Henricks the shift from band member to band leader, performing with Beau Sasser and putting together the Wurliday EP.

    justin henricksPete Mason: Tell me about Wurliday and how the group came together.

    Justin Henricks: Had this idea circulating in my mind for almost a year, and I’ve been taking my time to let it come to fruition in terms of getting the songs written and making this EP that is coming out. I’ve always wanted, its been long due, having my own project that I have creative control over. I spent a lot of time working with Beau (Sasser), and the Escape Plan and The Chronicles. I’ve learned a lot as a sideman and I’m ready to take on my own project. I figured the best way to do so would be to release something, sort of build the groundwork of the band and the internet presence and everything, before the band actually starts. Almost like a Steely Dan approach  I was able to get some incredible musicians and friends together to play on these tunes. Everyone was really supportive and showed me a lot of love during the process. Trying to create something that will go for a while. Really starting to think of the future of this project and create a home base for myself, creatively and band speaking.

    PM: Where did you record the album?

    JH: We recorded at Alan Evans‘ studio Iron Wax in Millers Falls, MA. The album’s cast is nothing short of all-star. He was a pleasure to work with, he was a great engineer, gave his two cents when needed, and really worked with us to make sure we were getting all the sounds we’re trying to hear. I felt like we had two days of initial tracking and got a lot of overdubs done in the first two days. We brought the sessions back to our house with Bryan (Brundige) at his studio, Grandma’s Studio, in The Attic. Between him and I, he helped a lot in terms of lending gear and his engineering skills. We were able to bang out all the vocals

    PM: Who sings on the EP?

    JH: Arielle O’Keefe, her stage name is Girl Blue. She actually co-wrote the record with me, we worked on all the vocals together, she’s extremely great to work with, hoping to move forward with her and play some shows together. She’s singing on three of the tracks and Jennifer Hartswick (TAB) is on the fourth track, and Tyrone Hartzog (The Chronicles) is featured. In my opinion, he’s my favorite male vocal voice to record, it comes through in the recording so well, something about the timbre and the tone about that dude’s voice that sits real well. He’s like Donnie Hathaway. Between that I also went to Paulie Philippone (West End Blend), he helped me a lot with this record. He’s playing all the keys and synth. We took a trip down to his house, it’s called the Funk House, West End Blend Studio in Hartford. We had a couple fun keyboard days where we went over synthesizers.

    wurlidayPM: How did Jennifer Hartswick come to sing on a track?

    JH: I was really excited to get Jen on a track. It kinda happened organically. Arielle wrote the album with me, and we started the vocal tracking sessions for it and while she sounded great, she suggested to look around for a singer for “Getting There.” On a whim I emailed Jen and sent her the track and asked if she’d be interested in doing it because she really has such a powerhouse voice and she can really sit up there in that high register. She got right back and ended up tracking it in Nashville and did a remarkable job. I couldn’t be happier with her performance, she was the sweetest for helping out with that, it was great.

    PM: How and when did your vocals develop?

    JH: I’ve been working on my vocal chops! I look forward to singing some backups and working on it some more in this new project.

    PM: You went to the Hart School and have ties to Hartford, CT.

    JH: Hartford has always been a second home to me. They have their Booya Funk night on Wednesdays. I try to go down there as much as I can. Arch Street Tavern is one of my favorite venues to play. Going to the Hart School I got all my jazz chops from a really traditional program with some great leadership; I was lucky to study under Nat Reeves, Renee McLean and my guitar teacher Rich Goldstein who taught me everything I know.

    PM: After the Hart School you moved back up here?

    JH: Yeah the Chronicles were gigging a lot and I was playing with Way Down, who were my first sort of band that I had a stake of leadership in. It  was all of our bands but I learned a lot about leadership skills and what it means to be a band leader, which makes me so excited to finally get this project off the ground. Really looking forward to taking something and calling it my project.

    PM: How did you go from playing with The Chronicles to playing with Beau Sasser?

    JH: I met Beau because Way Down was opening for Alan Evans’ Playonbrother and Beau invited me out to do one of his funk nights at Bishop’s Lounge in Northampton, MA, He asked me to come out and play. I didn’t know what to expect and he didn’t send me any tunes, it’s kinda Beau’s way. I went out there and it was a very crazy packed jam party. From there Beau and I became really great friends and he wanted to start the Escape Plan and thought it would be cool to have a band with two guitar players. He brought Danny Mayer to the table and Mary Corso, who are both playing in the Eric Krasno Band now. Beau mentioned he wanted a vocalist and I was able to bring Mary, who I went to Hart School with, into the mix. We had maybe half a rehearsal and Mitch Moriber at Tone Wheel Music Group booked us a bunch of shows and off we went. I definitely do owe Beau some credit in introducing me to a lot of these folks who have been kind enough to play some music with me from time to time; pretty much everybody on the record.

    The Escape Plan is fun, for all of us really, I think it was a really nice vehicle. We played some shows and met a lot of great people and we still play from time to time – Beau is with Kung Fu, Danny and Mary are with Eric Krasno Band. It’s been a funny little stepping stone for all of us I think. It’s like the family band at this point, we have a lot of fun when we get together.

    PM: Who are your guitar/musical influences?

    JH: Guitar-wise, George Benson, John Scofield, Wes Montgomery and Grant Green. Musical influences: Earth Wind and Fire, Steely Dan

    PM: You’re 24 and your roots are in Albany. What do you see your goals are by the time you’re 30?

    JH: I would hope that this original project, long term, has gotten to a sustainable point and something I can really call home, and still doing a lot of the same – getting a chance to play with these amazing musicians and making more records. I hope to have a bunch more records under my belt. This is the first go at it – the first recording process that I produced and had creative say over and I like it a lot. So the bug has definitely bitten and I hope to get back in the studio next fall and do Bedtime Blazer, Vol. 2.

    PM: Thinking of the second one already?

    JH: Absolutely.

    PM: What are your thoughts on the Albany scene? How do you see the Albany scene from the point of view of a traveling musician with a base here?

    JH: It’s a tricky thing for sure. What makes a scene, ya know? People going to shows, we certainly have that, The Hollow and Parish Public House are great rock clubs that host a lot of great bands. A lot of bands have called this place home and had a lot of great times here. There’s a lot of great musicians to play with in the area. It’s a bit of an older scene in my experience. There’s a lot of people that for whatever reason ended up here who are heavy dudes and have their resources available to you as a musician to go seek out and play with them. I was on the phone with Skip Parsons not too long ago. Skip has been doing a gig at The Fountain, he’s been holding that gig for like 50 years, every other Saturday, playing old school jazz and sharing a wealth of knowledge of old music. There’s people to play with here and a lot of history.

    PM: There’s so much going on in this town, and the ridicule of calling it ‘Smallbany’ doesn’t help and you realize there are all these musicians tucked away.

    JH: A scene for me is … there’s all these scenes in all these cities, and it’s the people that are in them that matters. With funk night in these other cities – Beau has in Northampton, West End Blend has in Hartford, Kung Fu has in Bridgeport – it’s definitely a staple that I tried to get going in Albany at City Beer Hall last summer. We had some really successful ones, and some not successful ones, but I learned a lot from it, directing a band, being a band leader. That was my gig that I had to prepare for each week, so I learned a lot from that experience too, all building up to this original project I want to start; all learning experiences.

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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

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