Founded in 2006, CAPITAL Zen is known for their innovative riffs and challenging compositions. Having a wide array of inspiration, the band has always provided soul rocking, thought provoking and body grooving jams for their fans. The new album, Grandpa Don’t Disco is no different.
Recording of the Grandpa Don’t Disco album began in 2014 with members Terry Scoville (Guitar & Vox),
Tony Leonbruno (Bass & Vox), and Ryemachine Richard Wylie (Drums). The tracks were later completed and recorded with Max Garrett (Trombone & Guitar) and Scott Hannay (Keyboard). The brand new, previously-unreleased CAPITAL Zen album is available now on Apple Music, Spotify, and CDBaby. Previous albums to revisit by the Zen crew include the debut self-titled album CAPITAL Zen (2009), Fancy Balloon Animals (2011) and Party Booby Trap (2013).
About three quarters through the Fall/Winter 2018 tour, power-rock trio lespecial brought their unique style of genre bending jams to Putnam Place and joined me for a conversation about who they are, where they’ve been, and what’s coming up next.
The show at Putnam Place was a much-anticipated stop for the region since their set at Adirondack Independence Festival this past summer where lespecial played a high energy set that enraptured the audience and grew the regional fan base significantly. The heavy grooving trio is composed of Luke Bemand (Bass/Synth/Percussion/Vocals), Jonathan Grusauskas (Guitar/Synth/Sampler/Percussion/Vocals), and Rory Dolan (Drums/Sampler/Percussion/Vocals.) The three childhood friends, who grew up in Connecticut and are now based in New York and Boston, have a lifetime of experiences to draw on in their creative process. Individually they are musical powerhouses, and together they won’t be stopped.
Emily VanderWiel: This fall/winter tour has been quite extensive so far and you’ve covered a lot of ground since September. What have been some highlights of the tour so far?
Luke Bemand: The Lespectacle show we do every year is usually a highlight for us, it’s our Halloween show, we collaborate with our friends at The Reliquarium and do an interactive art space. This year we did it at their space in Rhode Island where we had two stages. Some of our favorite producers and bands were there; Freddy Todd, Bella’s Bartok, we collaborated with our friends Supersillyus and that for us is our big yearly event. It’s the eighth year we’ve done it… so that’s always fun. It’s stressful and insane but it’s fun and we’ve done it in Brooklyn the last five years so being closer to Boston, Rhode Island and Connecticut is cool for us.
EV: I saw some video from Lespectacle, there were a lot of nice pro shot videos.
LB: Yeah! That was all this guy!! (pointing to his brother and lespecial road warrior Sean Bemand)
LB: Another fun one was Jacksonville with Moon Hooch, and we just announced a show in Burlington, VT with them on December 29 at Higher Ground. Looking forward to that, those guys are really cool, with our friend Honeycomb too.
LB: Honeycomb is a beatboxer from Northampton and we’ve collaborated with him for a couple years, playing festivals in the Northeast but we hope to collab a lot more.
EV: There’s been a lot of new material popping up at shows, do you guys have a new album in the works?
LB: We have a ton of new material, we have enough for a new EP or a new album. We’ve been putting out a lot of live clips of our newer stuff. We have a new track with Zion I that we’ve been working on and playing out at shows. We have a lot of different things in the works, but the focus has been on touring and with playing out so much it’s hard to get in the studio, but we’ve been rehearsing, together a lot more and writing a lot. The easiest place for people to hear our new stuff is to come out to a show. Definitely within the next year we’d like to put out a new EP or a full-length album.
EV: The tour has been covering a lot of ground, so there is certainly a lot of opportunity for fans to get out and see the new material at shows… it looks like you guys are busy straight through New Year’s?
LB: Yeah! Next week we are in Baltimore with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, at Rams Head Live… that’ll be cool and then we are back up to Hartford for more of a hometown show in Connecticut at Arch Street Tavern and then our New Year’s run is going to be Pacific Standard Tavern in New Haven, The Snow Barn in West Dover, VT…which is an awesome place, we did it last year, played two sets and it was a lot of fun, and then Aqueous on New Year’s Eve in Buffalo. Now with Moon Hooch show in Burlington added, it will be four shows in a row.
EV: You guys will probably be ready for a break after that?
LB: (Laughs) There’s no breaks!
EV: What a great way to ring in a New Year though, that many exciting shows back to back…
LB: Totally, those are really exciting. It’s fun because it’s a couple headlining shows and then a couple supporting shows for bands that we like and that we enjoy playing with. Then January we are going to be headed out to Colorado and we are going to be announcing a whole bunch of other January dates, so there’s no real breaks. People will say “how was the tour?” and it’s like, wait? It’s not over yet! It’s just never stopping, which is both good and bad. We don’t do a full on two-month tour but we will play for a couple weeks and be off for a week and play for a couple weeks so it’s cycles that kinda keep going. It keeps the wheels going, we keep writing on the road.
EV: As far as the song writing goes, do you all write? How does your creative process work?
LB: It’s definitely a collaborative process, one of us could come up with an idea for a song, like maybe Jon will have a riff for a song or something like that and we take it to practice and then we kinda add our parts. There’s never anybody that says here’s a song and this is your part, and this is your part, etc. The whole writing process is very much that somebody can bring an idea to the table and then everyone… it’s the ideas that build. So there’s that give and pull when there’s no band leader and we write our music as a trio.
EV: The show you guys have booked for tomorrow night is a cool concept. Can you tell me a little about that?
LB: So, it’s at the Brighton Music Hall and it also happens to be Jon’s birthday. What’s cool about it is that we are doing one set of originals and one special 90’s “Headbangers Ball” set. Balkun Brothers are playing with us and doing a Nirvana set… pretty excited about this show because we all grew up listening to this music.
EV: You’re finishing the year out strong, ending one hell of a tour with a show with Aqueous in Buffalo!
LB: Yes, we are for sure looking forward to that, love those guys. It should be a good time! It’s not the end of the tour though, we will be announcing some dates out west soon so people should definitely keep an eye out for that.
EV: Thanks for chatting with me guys and I know I will be catching a few of these shows along the way and I will definitely see you at The Town Ballroom! Have a great show tonight!
With a career spanning more than 30 years, including 10 albums, Angel Forrest is very well known in the Canadian blues scene. Forrest, recipient of the Maple Blues Award for Female Vocalist of the year, channels the gritty and spirited sound of Janis Joplin. The first set at the PB&J show this Friday will be her “Rock Christmas” set and the second set is going to be her “Rock Blues” show. Get your advance tickets now here. Advance tickets are $12 and $15 at the door. More information can be found on the Facebook event page.
Plattsburgh Blues and Jazz is busy planning upcoming shows with saxophonist and singer Vanessa Collier and her band as well as a Bluegrass special with Tony Trischka so be sure to keep an eye out for more to come in the North Country.
The ensemble will play six shows, starting in Portland, ME on April 4 and making three stops in New York. Ghosts of the Forest will feature all new material and is said to be reminiscent of Anastasio’s 1998 project 8 Foot Florescent Tubes. Trey is well known for his past side projects such as Trey Anastasio Band, Oysterhead, G.R.A.B. and Surrender to the Air. Fans can look for Trey on stage with Phish for a four–night New Year’s Eve run at Madison Square Garden and in February in Mexico for the destination event Riviera Maya.
Tickets are limited to four per show and go on sale to the general public on Friday Dec. 14 and Saturday Dec. 15 depending on venue.
April 4 – State Theatre – Portland, ME
April 5 – The Met Opera – Philadelphia, PA
April 6 – Anthem – Washington, DC April 9 – Palace Theatre – Albany, NY
April 10 – Orpheum – Boston, MA April 12 – United Palace Theatre – New York, NY
April 13 – United Palace Theatre – New York, NY
Mihali Savoulidis, the lead singer and guitarist from Vermont jam-band Twiddle made a stop on his solo tour at Putnam Place earlier this month. Playing to a sold out crowd, the energy in the room was abuzz with excitement and positivity. Playing a combination of covers, solo originals and Twiddle songs, Mihali shared his usual charisma with the audience and this spirit and animation carried over into our conversation after the show. We discussed collaboration, inspiration and gratitude.
Emily VanderWiel: A new song with Nahko and Trevor Hall just released, “Fading State.” Can you tell me about what the creative process is like when working with them?
Mihali: I wrote the tune and I had them in mind, so when I recorded I literally left those places blank and hoped that they would say yes, they are both some of my very good friends. I met Nahko first, feels like many years ago, probably 6 or 7 years ago and I met Trevor a few summers ago and it was one of those things where both times we jammed, hung out and played. We are all born in 86, we are kind of cut from the same cloth. A blessing for me, truly though mainly because I was a huge fan of their music before I met both. I knew their catalogue and their writing style, and I felt connected before I knew them, and it just flowed from there.
EV: You are a role model for so many of your fans, both musically and personally. How do you feel about the idea of role models, and do you have someone that you look up to?
MS: I don’t think so, I’ve realized that all the people I have looked up to over the years, and just in general human beings are flawed, sensitive people and no one is really, truly a role model. Nobody is perfect, no one is the end all, be all the best person there is.
EV: How about musically?
MS: Well, both questions go hand in hand because I have to say when I met Trey at LOCK’n two summers ago or something, I walked up to him and said, “Hey I’m Mihali from Twiddle, and thank you for showing me that recovery is possible and that music after recovery is possible.” Trey is just always busy, trying new things, making music and I love that about him.
MS: You know, the least favorite question I ever get asked is “what’s this song about.” It’s never what its “supposed to be about.” It could be totally different than what the singer wrote it about but if it means something to that fan in their world, I’m not going to bust their bubble and tell them that’s not what the song is about. It’s all totally subjective. My question is to the fan, what do you think it’s about? Then I agree.
EV: I have a fan question for you. What was the inspiration for the song Juggernaut when you wrote it and how do you feel about the fan reaction to it?
MS: At this time in age, and where we are right now I know the political climate is gnarly and we (Twiddle) have always stepped away from that because nobody wants to get involved with politics in music. But when I think about my wife and my daughter and all the females in my life and the people around me that I love, and respect aren’t getting their dues, and they are not getting respected then it feels like I have to say something. For the first time ever, well, I have always been the one in the band that’s been like No, no, no, let’s not get involved in politics. So, I wrote it as a joke. In the studio I said “Let’s do a grunge song, Nirvana or something. I’ll just write some chords and we will go record it.” And Kyle, our guitar tech, he had told me a story about when he was in third grade, some kid came up while they were playing king of the kill on a sandcastle and kicked him in the face and said, “You’ll never be king of the hill!” It was a big deal to him in third grade, and so when I was recording that first vocal “You want to kick me in the face cuz I’m different, yeah you think you’re king of the hill.” I had recorded that verse as a joke, and we sat home for months with the demos for the album and as the political climate started changing and we started seeing what was going on, I thought that hey now that really fits. The verses then came after that. What can I talk about that is going on in the world? What is bothering me, so that’s where that song came from.
Mihali’s solo tour has been very successful and is wrapping up Dec 15 at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, MA. Also just announced, Mihali will be joining Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Saturday January 26 at The Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY.
2019 marks the 33rd annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. A prestigious honor for recording artists and bands that have “influence and significance to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.” The seven inductees include The Cure, Radiohead, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, Roxy Music and The Zombies. This is the first nomination for Roxy Music, Def Leppard and Stevie Nicks, although Nicks was inducted with Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and is now the first female musician to be inducted twice. This was the second nomination for The Cure and Radiohead, third for Janet Jackson and the fourth for The Zombies.
Since 1986, artists such as The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd have been honored. It is self-evident that being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a highly esteemed accolade for any artist or band. There were fifteen nominees for the 2019 Class, the artists sidelined this year are Devo, John Prine, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, MC5, Rage Against The Machine, Rufus & Chaka Khan and Todd Rundgren. These artists can be nominated again in years to come.
The 2019 Induction ceremony will be held March 29 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Presented by Kipsch Audio and broadcast by SirusXM and HBO.
2018 has been a tremendous year for Aqueous, hailing from Buffalo, as the groove-rock foursome has taken the nation by storm with their Color Wheel tour and the momentum will continue into 2019 with a Winter West Coast tour co-headlining with BIG Something.
Kicking off in February, the 20-date tour will include several stops in the Midwest, a five-date run in Colorado and debut appearances in Oregon, Washington and California.
Guitarist Dave Loss stated, “We couldn’t be more excited to head west. The band has played Colorado several times now and it almost feels like a second home to us. We always feel so much love there. This will, however, be the band’s first venture out to the West Coast. We’ve been wanting to get out there for a long time now and we’re stoked to finally make it happen. Doing it with our good friends BIG Something just makes it that much better!” The band will then bring their maiden voyage south for three shows in Texas before wrapping up in New Orleans.
Tickets for the upcoming co-headlining tour are on sale this Friday, December 14 here.
Located in the center of downtown Plattsburgh, The Strand Theater is a historical landmark that has been the cultural heartbeat in the North Country for almost a century. Opened on December 29, 1924, as a Vaudeville theater featuring stunning architecture and interior design. The Strand Theater provided the community with theatrical and musical productions of all types and was considered the “Pride of Northern New York.”
The Strand went through some changes over the years. In the 70’s the theater was renovated in such a way that it became a two-room movie theater, and eventually a four-room theater. The changes covered the original interior design. The beautiful and ornate features were no longer visible, and the theater took on a different feel. The theater struggled financially and went on to change hands several times until in 2004 when the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts purchased the building. This was the beginning of a ten year, four-million-dollar restoration project.
Years of hard work, public and private grants, donations, and the dedication of the community has paid off. Now known as The Strand Center Theater, the venue is flaunting the ornamental design meant from its inception in 1924. Two highlights from the restoration include the replica of the original chandelier, donated by Swavorski Lighting, and a 1924 Wurlitzer organ. The Wurlitzer was donated by Leonard and Louise Johnson of Hingham, MA, owners of the Colney Theater in Philadelphia. A group of volunteers refurbished the 1924 instrument and it is now fully functional and an astonishing sight.
Not only has the theater completed its restoration and is sporting its fancy facelift, but The Strand Center Theater also has a new Executive Director creating quite a buzz in Plattsburgh. Mr. Bob Garcia relocated from New York City to Plattsburgh and is the first permanent director for The Strand in three years. Mr. Garcia has an impressive background in theater and production. He worked at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden in finance positions for many years. Mr. Garcia has much enthusiasm about the future of The Strand and has great ideas about ways to make the theater more and more successful with each event.
Recently Mr. Garcia brought Dave Mason, Traffic co-founder, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee to The Strand. Dave Mason is a rock legend, having an artist of this caliber grace the stage in Plattsburgh was a huge honor. Between his unsurpassed guitar playing, storytelling and great sense of humor, Mason gave the audience one of the best shows to date. Receiving several standing ovations throughout the night Dave Mason’s performance brought an undeniable, tangible energy to the theater. The seated crowd ended the evening on their feet and dancing in the aisles. The following weekend The Strand Center Theater welcomed another world-class musician. Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters brought their classic soulful blues to Plattsburgh, and it was a show the audience won’t forget. Earl is known for his old-school style, mesmerizing fans since he started playing in the 1970’s. B.B. King has stated, “…he is one of the most serious blues guitarists you can find today. He makes me proud!” Another top-notch performance for The Strand, with many more to come.
The Strand Center Theater is excited to announce that The Allman Betts Band set to perform on March 30, 2019 and Lonesome Traveler, a concert version of the acclaimed off-Broadway musical with special guest star and Folk Legend Peter Yarrow, the only living member of Peter, Paul & Mary. The musical tells the story of Americana music over the years. More event listings including comedy shows, ballet, theater, art and orchestra events can be found at the venue’s website.
The future of this historical theater in the North Country is bright. With Mr. Garcia at the helm, continued passion and support of the community, this venue is bringing back the heartbeat in downtown Plattsburgh.
It’s been just over a week since Curveball was cancelled. Rarely does a festival get cancelled so close to showtime, and this one came down to the wire, with the plug pulled just as Phish was about to start Soundcheck at 4:00 pm on August 16. Thousands were already on site, and tens of thousands en route to the southern tip of Seneca Lake for Phish’s semi-annual music festival, held for the third, and perhaps the final time, at Watkins Glen International. Sadly, due to circumstances beyond the band’s control, Curveball was cancelled. Despite the shock, sadness & disappointment that flooded the festival grounds, what came next was a very humbling and incredible experience.
The pre-show excitement that built while preparing for a Phish festival has the joy of feeling like a kid at Christmastime, with surprises in store for all. Ahead of Curveball, fans counted down the days, dreamt up setlists, and stayed on top of the tour leading up to the climatic festival, hoping to get something on their wishlist, if not everything.
When the news broke, fans stood around just stunned. Those who made it into the venue wandered back to their campsites, a point at which the comradery that is felt among Phish fans came into focus. Deciding to make the best of the circumstances, Curveball’s temporary inhabitants banded together and sought out group therapy as they dove into the Kübler-Ross stages of grief, or postponed them, if not for a single night. New friends were made as they always are, Phish memories were discussed and fans commiserated about “what could have been.”
Fans still wanted to boogie and Kenneth Horgan, Production Manager for The Loop Tent, onsite working for Phish Inc. and JEMP records, made that possible. Horgan used his equipment to set up a live stream of the Joe Russo’s Almost Dead show from Red Rocks, where JRAD paid homage to Phish by weaving teases of “Wilson” into “Slipknot” during the second set. While JRAD was streaming from The Loop Tent, next door, The Skinny Pancake turned into a hotspot for hangouts. A mini wiffle ball game took shape, impromptu acoustic music was played, and there was an invasion of dancing mimes.
Curveball’s cancellation impacted many people, but the 14 surrounding counties that had been ravaged by heavy rains and flooding for almost a week leading up to the event left many people displaced from their homes and in need of supplies. Many vendors were onsite ready to supply food and drink to 60,000 people over the course of the weekend, and Silo Food Truck, Copper Horse Coffee and the Finger Lakes Cider House banded together to feed as many people as they could with their unused inventory, donating 50% of proceeds to the Lodi Flood Relief fund. With the added kick of Schuyler country losing millions in tax revenue, donation stations were set up in the surrounding counties and many Phish fans donated their unused food and supplies to help the flood victims in the area. Phish has announced that they will be selling Curveball merchandise online, including the Curveball Nalgene bottle that was intended for the WaterWheel/Reverb water program. Ticket holders get first dibs, and all proceeds for Curveball merchandise will go directly into relief funds.
Curveball will go down in music history as the Phish festival that never was, but memories were made despite the unfortunate circumstances. The weekend was a check for fans, who by and large made the best of their weekends and spent time with friends, creating lasting memories, even if the soundtrack was not close to expectations.
Fans can now look forward to the stream of Phish this weekend, with the code on the back of the Curveball wristband redeemable for the webcast of all three shows at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO beginning August 31, 2018. Couch Tour ticket time is 9:30pm EST.
It’s that time again! Time to get packed and head out for Curveball! Phish will hold their 11th music festival is being held this weekend, August 17-19 at Watkins Glen International Raceway in Watkins Glen, NY. This will be the third festival held at this venue, and it is sure to be as over the top & extravagant as SuperBall IX & Magnaball.
Over the last 30 years Phish has developed a large and loyal following, and the 2018 summer tour leading into Curveball has fans ready for an incredible festival experience that only Phish can provide. Summer tour kicked off in mid-July in Stateline, NV, and altogether the band has hit nine venues, playing 2-3 night runs at some of the largest venues in the country. Among many highlight was the return of Hot Chocolate’s ‘You Sexy Thing’ throughout the band’s third night in Alpharetta, GA, plus three versions of “Tweezer Reprise” at the final night before Curveball at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
The much anticipated Curveball festival has sold out, selling 60,000 tickets and maxing capacity at the raceway. If you are heading into Watkins Glen, find updated travel info through the festival website, as recent rains have caused road washouts and closures throughout the region. The Schuyler County Sheriff’s Office has announce some road closures around Watkins Glen International to help control the incoming traffic for the festival. Read more information on specific traffic routing via WENY.
In preparation for the festival, fans should make sure to bring their rain gear! The venue has been receiving a healthy dose of rainfall, but we all know that a little petrichor isn’t a bad thing! All things are running on track for the event despite the weather and the show will go on as scheduled, and a source has shared that the ferris wheel is up and ready to rock!
Among the many things to look forward to at Curveball are the Runaway Jim Memorial 5k on Saturday, the which takes place on Friday at 12 noon, Saturday at 9am and Sunday at 10 am, and a cornhole tournament also held all three days. There will be dozens of food vendors in and out of the festival grounds, as well as a farmers market, and a farm to table restaurant on site called Farmhouse.
The water program is also returning to Curveball. The WaterWheel Foundation will have limited edition Nalgenes for sale in conjunction with Reverb and there will be several water refill stations around the venue to make sure fans stay hydrated throughout the weekend.
And for those who need to ship something home, Phish has you covered, and they also want you to write to your mother! They’ll be giving away Curveball postcards all weekend long on site, while supplies last. Since Curveball will be something to write home about, an official US Post Office will be on site to send both your postcards and merch – just bring your own packing supplies.
The JEMP Records Store at Curveball will have a series of releases over the course of the weekend, including a vinyl edition of 1997 live album Slip Stitch and Pass, the accompanying poster by Drew Millward, as well as Phish photographer Rene Huemer’s photo print sale.
The Bunny will once again serve as the festival’s radio station throughout the weekend, with three episodes of “From the Archives,” hosted by archivist Kevin Shapiro and offered a dive into Phish’s catalog. Episodes will air on Thursday at 10pm and on Friday and Sunday at 3pm. Tune into The Bunny on SiriusXM Radio channel 29 or at LivePhish.com.
Can’t make it to Watkins Glen for Curveball? Order the webcast at livephish.com, either for a single day or the entire weekend and enjoy Couch Tour! Stay tuned to NYS Music on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and look for daily reviews and photos starting on Saturday!.
Emily VanderWiel: This fall/winter tour has been quite extensive so far and you’ve covered a lot of ground since September. What have been some highlights of the tour so far?
