NYS Music 20​18

Category: Profiles

  • Taina Asili is Shaking Up the Status Quo

    Taína Asili is a rising Puerto Rican musician and social justice activist from Albany, NY whose music is breaking into the mainstream while bringing forward a powerful message of justice. One of the ways she is accomplishing this is by performing at several prominent festivals in New York, Rhode Island and Michigan this summer.

    Taina Asili courtesy of her website. Photo by Kiki Vassilakis

    With her recent performance at The Women’s March on Washington last year and her latest music video “No Es Mi Presidente (Not My President),” which was premiered in Rolling Stone and called the 2017 International Women’s Day anthem by Latina Magazine, she’s growing more and more awareness from the general public not only on social justice issues but on the way music can be a platform to bring those issues forward.

    Asili works either as a solo artist or with her dynamic eight-piece band which combines powerful vocals with an energetic fusion of Afro-Latin, reggae and rock. They offer a sound that spans continents, inspiring audiences to dance to the rhythms of rebellion. Taina Asili has been creating music for social change for 23 years and has toured all of the world.

    Asili is dedicated to using her art, specifically her music, as a tool for personal and social transformation. Asili’s writing is based off of liberation themes and so is her activism in political prisoner liberation, prisoner justice, climate justice and food justice movements. She has an MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College and is known for, in addition to her performance and activist work, facilitating arts workshops for both youth and adults.

    She has an array of projects this summer you don’t want to miss which can be found below:

    – June 8 and 9 -Asili will premier her new documentary “Resiliencia”, about Puerto Rico’s resilience after last year’s hurricanes, at Providence’s largest festival, PVD Fest and performing on the City Hall Stage with her full band – Providence, RI
    – June 10 -Performing for over 45 thousand people at Motor City Pride – Detroit, MI.
    – June 14 – Participating in The Human Rights Conference – NYC Pride
    – June 22 – Participating in The Rally – NYC Pride
    – July 14 – Joining the lineup of performers for Hamilton at the Hill Art Center 50th Anniversary celebration “Sankofa, The Legacy” at Proctors Theater – Schenectady, NY.
    – July 18 – Asili will be offering two songwriting workshops at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance pre-festival conference, Culture Camp located just outside of Ithaca – Trumansburg, NY.
    – July 21- Performing for her third time at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance located just outside of Ithaca – Trumansburg, NY.
    – July 22- Asili and her band will be opening for Chilean musician Pascuala Ilabaca at the well-known Music Haven Concert Series – Schenectady, NY.

    For more information visit her website.

  • Local Folk Singer Zan Strumfeld Serves a Cold Dish of Folk Music

    The bottom of Zan Strumfeld’s Bandcamp page says it all. She describes her music through hashtags — acoustic, fingerpicking, folk, indie. Familiar adjectives and verbs used to help draw fans into her book of belonging; the last of which, however, is something that’s less likely to be typed into any search box: winter folk.

    Her tags don’t mislead you. Her 2017 release Book of Belonging is a string of soulful songs about heartbreak, loss, and often times tripping over the mistakes of falling back into the bed of an ex-lover.

    “While all my songs are personal to me and often specific, I want people to walk away with feeling connected to them through their own experiences,” said Strumfeld. “Which is usually the case for all music anyway.”

    Book of Belonging:
    This is my book of belonging:
    How I’ve never belonged to anyone, any place, any time.
    This is my story of longing:
    How I’ve longed for someone every day of my life.
    And then I met you.
    I’m lost from that,
    And I hold onto that,
    So this whole damn thing is for you.

    Strumfeld’s voice and acoustic guitar dominate in each recording, with a little bit of bluegrass and a smidge of Gillian Welch, whose name she drops on the second track “New Girl.”

    “I love Gillian. She’s ballsy,” said Strumfeld. “[She] sings about beauty and darkness, all with this gorgeous voice that truly never gets old. And her musical chemistry with her guitarist Dave Rawlings is the kind of musical relationship I crave. It’s flawless.” Strumfeld said the song was inspired after a night of running into not one, but two ex-partners. Michael Gregg, who plays banjo with the band, was listening to Welch with her that night. In addition to Welch, Strumfeld listens to mostly female songwriters — Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Laura Marling, June Carter.

    This winter folk music lulls you in like a hot cup of coffee next to a warm fire in February. But, like the cruelest of fates, the point of the year that promises love on Valentine’s Day is also the month when most couples split. “Second Plate” wraps you into a false sense of security being alone, never minding you’re stuck in the same routines of brewing coffee and fixing dinner for two.

    Strumfeld is a writer. The metronome for her speech sways a little slower. With a pensive stare, she takes in her surroundings while fully engaged in conversation. Like the late Tom Wolfe, she is saturated into the moments that surround her so she can later write about it. When her stint with newspaper journalism ended at Spotlight News, she picked up and moved to Iceland to be a farm hand. She said she wanted to know how it felt.

    Strumfeld gets to writing only when she’s inspired. That inspiration comes in spurts that maybe spans once every two years or so. Not by coincidence, that’s about the same time interval between each of her broken relationships. The raw emotion from each romantic bond severed is poured into lyrics. She said it’s almost understood now that when a man comes into her life he is committed to one of two outcomes: a relationship, or a song.

    Part of that emotional cycle includes what had been an on-again, off-again relationship with live performances. The songs would come, followed by the performances, and then it would stop until the inspiration came back again. Last year, Strumfeld deviated from that pattern. Last September, she was asked to perform at Sydney Worthley’s CD-release party at Jupiter Hall. The band she had asked to perform on her own CD agreed to perform. A few more pieces were added to the band as a one-time fling for the live performance, but afterward, they all wanted something more. Practices were scheduled and more gigs were planned. They fooled around and fell into a band.

    This article was originally published by The Spot 518. is property of Spotlight Newspapers in Albany, N.Y., and appears as a special to NYSmusic. TheSpot518 and NYSmusic 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.

  • Behind the Gear: Chris Duffy

    Chris Duffy is the bassist of Denver-based band the Magic Beans. Chris is one of the most well-respected bassists on the scene, as well as one of my favorites. If you listen to the Beans’ recent album, Casino Cabaret, you’ll hear Duffy’s bass prowess exemplified in songs such as “Inventor”, “Casino Cabaret”, “Mr. Scientist”, and my personal favorite, “Hanky Panky”. He knows how to keep a groove going! Check out some more of Chris’ playing in this Beans set from their Fox Theatre show last March.

    Bass

    Lakland 55-02 Deluxe
    Chris Duffy

    Amp

    Markbass Little Mark Tube 800 w/ Markbass Standard 104HF Front Ported Cabinet & 104RF Rear Ported Cabinet
    Chris Duffy

    Pedalboard

    Signal Chain: One Control Iguana Tail Loop MKII 5-channel Loop Switcher

    Loop 1: Boss OC-3 Octave

    Loop 2: Markbass Supersynth

    Loop 3: Source Audio Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter

    Loop 4: Moogerfooger MF-101 Lowpass Filter (w/ Moog EP-3 for Cutoff Frequency)

    Loop 5: Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus > Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run reverb/delayChris Duffy

    Interview

    Photo credit to Conor McMahon photography

    Behind the Gear: Did you take any inspiration from some of your favorite artists when you were building your current board? Who are some of your inspirations as a bass player?

    Chris Duffy: As far as bass players go, Dan Kurtz of The New Deal totally changed my approach to playing bass through pedals, specifically in a livetronica/dance setting. He is the master. When I saw his foot riding expression pedals for an entire show, some crucial things clicked. My use of a sub-octave/ distorted tone through the Moogerfoooger Low-Pass Filter is directly inspired by Dan. No one manipulates their live bass tone so freely on this scene. Except, ya know, Squarepusher (laughs). THAT dude is a mad scientist. As far as I can tell, his current pedal board is some obscene number of expression pedals controlling a few rack-mounted effects processors.

    If you or anyone reading knows the details on Squarepusher’s rig, please let me know, it’s fascinating. Or Dan Kurtz’s, for that matter. What a bunch of hyenas. I’ve only been interested in Squarepusher’s rig since seeing Shobaleader One videos a year or two ago, but Dan Kurtz has been influencing me since I was 16. Growing up listening to and emulating Flea means I’ll always have some envelope filters in my rig. The Source Audio is nice because it can save 6 settings, which I’m always experimenting with. It replaced my Pigtronix EP-1 Envelope Phaser, which I got after working a Turkuaz wedding and talking with Taylor Shell. I really need to fix that pedal, it’s the tits. I wish it was smaller!

    BTG: What is the one pedal on your board you couldn’t live without?

    CD: Definitely the Moogerfooger MF-101 Low-Pass Filter. I use that pedal on literally every jam the Beans go into. I probably over use it, but whatever. It gets me fired up, and that’s important in a jam band, since the flow of energy between the artists and the crowd is so fluid and tangible. If you’re having fun, they’re having fun, and vice-versa. I want to add more expression pedals for it. That’s the great thing about Moogerfoogers, you can control almost every knob on the thing with a designated expression pedal. In a perfect world I’d have four or five on my board, but that takes up so much room. Right now I only have the one controlling the filter cutoff frequency. In the future though… I’ll be Squarepusher!

    BTG: What are some of your favorite pedal combinations to play with?

    CD: Octave through envelope filter sounds are always fun. I’ve been loving the Markbass Synth through the MF-101. Throw some delay on that and suddenly I’m an EDM producer. Speaking of delay, I’m working on a sustained lead tone for taking melodic solos higher on the neck. Some sort of compression/distortion pedal that I have yet to find, through the MF-101, into the Avalanche Run, maybe some chorus. The Avalanche Run is a perfect delay/reverb for bass. That tone knob keeps things from getting too muddy. God I love that pedal.

    BTG: Do you remember the first time you were exposed to the use of effects pedals?

    CD: Flea’s tone on the “Around the World” intro led me to buy my first pedal, a Boss overdrive. Then I got into jam bands, Kurtz, Brownie, Ryan Stasik, Mike Gordon; I started copying everything those guys were doing. As I said, The New Deal changed everything.

    BTG: What drove you to pick a Lakland to use as your main bass?

    CD: Ryan Stasik of Umphrey’s McGee. It’s a Skyline 55-02 Deluxe that I bought new in 2006 without even trying one, just because I loved Stasik so much. I’m lucky that they sound so punchy and play perfectly, or else I would have been f***ed! Laklands are the truth. But don’t be like teenage Duff. Play before you buy!

    BTG: Who are some of your favorite contemporaries on the scene currently?

    CD: Man, there are so many great players out there. On the Denver scene, Tim Philpott has got to be my favorite. Everything he plays is so in the pocket and seems well thought out, yet he stays creative and interesting. Another killin’ Denver homie is Tucker McClung, who is simply fearless and slaps like a mothertucker. On the bigger picture, Richard Bona really gets my blood pumping when I hear him. His Jaco-like pocket 16ths are so bouncy and energetic, it makes me run and pick up my bass and start running syncopated afro-beat rhythms to a click. His playing with the Joe Zawinul syndicate makes me want to do laps around the house. Who else, Thundercat of course. I listen to a lot of techno and house DJ sets, lots of the Boiler Room videos get me going, especially people like Solumun and other folks on the Diynamic label. On the jam scene, there’s just so much talent. It’s like with every note you can hear people sorting through all the amazing stuff they see on the internet, and we’re all just mushing it into some ever-developing Mother-Groove. I guess thats what music is now, right?

  • Celebrating with The Dave DiPrimo Band

    The Dave DiPrimo Band (DDB) was back at it at Buta Pub on Saturday April 14. The band brought their upbeat attitude to warm up a crowd that was brave enough to venture through the ice and the rain, and had the place on fire all night long. The band consisting of lead singer Dave DiPrimo, saxophonist and guitarist Kares Gregory, drummer Reid Hoffmeier, and bassist Ian Benz; has been performing around New York State together for over a year.

    The band has a constantly evolving sound that is electric and catchy. DDB came to Buta Pub with one goal in mind, to celebrate. DDB did so in a fantastic way with the theme of the show being a glow party. DDB brought glow sticks and glow glasses for the crowd who enjoyed every minute of it. DDB played some some fan favorites like the spicy Latin melody of “Selena” and the always catchy “Caroline”. DDB always brings an eclectic mix of fast paced songs like “End of the World” and slows it down and connects with the audience with the slower rhythms of songs like “Four Letter Word” and “Whiskey Melody”.

    The smooth sounds of Kares Gregory on the sax makes the slow songs methodical and dreamy while on the faster paced songs like “Selena” the sax drives the tempo of the song pushing the pace and then reeling it in in the tense moments of the song. Gregory is also a stellar lead guitar player as he shreds solos on songs like “End of the World” and “Whiskey Melody”.  Drummer Reid Hoffmeier is always great as he controls a lot of the band’s emotions and feelings throughout the show. Not only is Hoffmeier an amazing drummer who can do everything that DDB requires him to do and more, he is the underlying humor and emotion that the guys are feeling during their show. Ian Benz was spectacular as always on the bass; fulfilling that low under tone that DDB was missing back when the original band was put together years ago. The front man and the person the band is titled after is Dave DiPrimo. All the songs are written by DiPrimo and DiPrimo will lead the band to spontaneous jam sessions at some point in the show.

    At Buta Pub the crowd cheered for the jam session as DDB uses this opportunity for crowd participation. Whether it’s a hula contest or simply a call and answer song, the band always brings the room to life. DiPrimo not only has a voice that can hit all the ranges of the demanding setlist; whether its screaming in “End of the World” and in parts of “Selena” or the soft gentle whisper of “Four Letter Word” and at the end of “Out in the Cold”, DiPrimo can do it all as he executes every word with passion and clarity. DiPrimo also sports three different guitars throughout the band performance. The classic electric acoustic he uses for the softer songs, the Resonator he uses for some of the folk songs and the electric for solos on songs like “Glory Days” and “Know you Best”. DiPrimo’s guitar playing has improved over the time DDB has been together as the solos he played sounded crisp. His confidence not only as a singer and guitar player can be seen improving in every show; but also his confidence speaking to the crowd on a more personal level.

    The sizable crowd enjoyed every moment of DDB and was crowded around the stage dancing and having a good time. DDB will be performing on April 27 at Funk ‘n Waffles Music Hall with Corey Glover of Living Colour and The Alchemystics. The Dave DiPrimo Band has released two albums, the first being One Year with original band members and Reflections with the current band. Both CD’s are available for purchase at all DDB shows with other merchandise that the band sells. You can also find DDB’s music on all music streaming sites like: Spotify, Apple Music, I tunes, Google Play, Amazon and all of DDB’s music can be streamed and purchased on their website

  • A Behind the Scenes Look at WITR Rochester Sessions

    The Pulse of Music lies deep in the heart of Rochester Institute of Technology. The 89.7FM WITR DJ booth is visible from the campus’s centrally located student union. But below the hustle and bustle of the popular student hangout lies the original radio studio, complete with recording booths, stacks of physical copies of music, and a recording studio large enough to comfortably fit a full band. It was here on an unassuming Sunday afternoon that, unbeknownst to most students, Rochester alternative rock band Total Yuppies were unloading their gear and setting up to record some songs for Rochester Sessions.

    WITR
    Foreground: Ben Burdett Background: Jacob Walsh and JT Fitzgerald

    The show’s producer and host Bailey Gribben and audio engineer Austin Frey helped the band members to connect cables and set up the studio. Bandmates chatted lightly, joking about consuming Smart brand water at RIT as they set up for the recording. There was no need to bring a lot of equipment to the studio. WITR has microphones, cables, speakers and a drum kit (if a band wants to use it instead of bringing their own). A full list of amenities is on the WITR website, and it concludes with “…. and 1 red couch.” Bands who have been featured on Rochester Sessions have signed the black walls in white ink. Names include Mikaela Davis, Maybird, Nerds In Denial, Tart Vandelay, and Talking Under Water.

    WITR

    The story behind Rochester Sessions is documented by these signatures, and oral history and social media posts. There’s no formal history. People who originally started the series have long since graduated. Turnover happens frequently as students come and go from the college. And those who get involved have an opportunity to move up the ranks fairly quickly.

    WITR
    Bailey Gribben and Austin Frey

    Gribben became involved with the program just last year. “I started booking last fall semester,” Gribben told me as we walked through the studio, “I started off working with a group called Love Hope Strength. They do bone marrow drives at concerts. They wanted to do a drive at Springfest when we had Walk the Moon. So I started working with them. They got me an interview with Andrew McMahon. That was my first interview and booking. From there, I went with it. I interviewed Kevin Devine. I primarily only do local bands now.”

    When the former producer of Rochester Sessions graduated last June, Gribben took the reins. He’s incorporated some innovations into the sessions, hosting a station takeover where the session was spent with Tart Vandelay, choosing the songs from amongst their influences. As a third year Motion Picture Science student, he also incorporated his videography skills to direct and edit the first video session, featuring Zuli from Long Island performing their song “Kubadiver.”

    WITR
    Jacob Walsh and JT Fitzgerald

    During this session, Gribben asked Total Yuppies to introduce each song by saying a little something about it. With Frey at the helm of the soundboard, the band recorded two songs from their recent EP Care, as well as two new songs they have been working on, “Holy Place,” and “Numb.” Jacob Walsh (guitar and vocals), JT Fitzgerald (bass guitar), Ben Burdett (guitar) and Dylan Vaisey (drums)  play with an intense focus and passion, but also convey the confidence and ease that comes from doing this together for years. Their music is distinctive for its pop melodies and extensive use of fuzzy effects, which balance out the somber nature of the lyrics.

    Jacob Walsh

    Members of the band knew their way around the studio. This was their second time appearing on Rochester Sessions, Fitzgerald and Walsh used to be involved in WITR while students at RIT. “It’s really cool to see the next generation of people doing what we used to do,” Walsh told me after the recording session as the band packed up their gear.

    Dylan Vaisey

    Gribben showed me around the rest of the studio, where RIT students interested in radio broadcasting have access to a vast array of tools and resources. While the upstairs booth is sleek and streamlined, with wall murals depicting WITR alum, the basement has an old-school station feel that hearkens back to the heyday of FM radio. Movable library shelves hold what the school boasts as the second largest privately owned vinyl collection in New York State. In addition to updated technology, they’ve retained some of the traditional tools such as reel to reel machines. There are tapes of interviews with The Ramones and The Pixies from ’88 lying atop a shelf of vinyl, crammed amongst other memorabilia.

    Rochester Sessions airs Mondays from 4-5pm. Local listeners can tune in to 89.7 FM, and it can also be streamed online. The Total Yuppies session airs on Monday, March 26. It can also be found on Bandcamp. Previous sessions appear on Rochester Sessions’ Soundcloud. Follow WITR and Rochester Sessions on Facebook for program schedules and news. For more details about the station, check the RITpedia article.

  • Arielle O’Keefe, Known as Girl Blue, is in Control of Her Own Musical Destiny

    Arielle O’Keefe walks into The Hollow Bar + Kitchen with a guitar case in her hand and only blues on her mind.

    Girl Blue
    photo by Shannon Straney

    She just finished a prior engagement that left her unfulfilled. The audience wasn’t familiar with her. Her music was background noise to their conversations about other things. She stepped onto the stage and dutifully set herself up for her solo act, opening for Wurliday, her name is on the inside jacket of its debut album. She knew she was coming into her own community. She stepped to the mic and apologized in advance. She was going to spend the next hour playing music the way she wanted to. She had nothing to hide.

    “I’m more comfortable with the solos because that’s where I come from,” said O’Keefe. She nearly two years removed from being known as the local Spotify phenomenon with 200,000 listens in a day. The following year was seemingly hers, gracing newspaper covers, touring across the country, a CD release and a successful collab with Wurliday kept her name circulating. It’s November, and she just released a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” on YouTube. It’s a video of her sitting in the woods at night performing what appears to be a Wiccan ceremony. By appearance, it’s her, alone, doing her own thing. It’s fitting. That’s how she likes to control her career.

    Girl Blue
    photo by Shannon Straney

    “I like to be able to tell stories, basically,” she said. ”For me, at this level, it’s just easier for me to do when it’s just me. And, the music I love, if someone can just get up there with a guitar or a piano and make me feel something like that, that’s very meaningful to me. That’s more meaningful to me than seeing a full band that jams out all night. Which I love, but I’ve come from hearing singers and songwriters, hearing songs. I want to hear the song.”

    The Hollow crowd treats the diminutive O’Keefe “pretty tall” as she continues to play a stripped down, bluesy variation of her songs. They stand facing the stage, soaking it in.

    “I Am Not a Star”

    Her 2016 Just Pretend Records release of “I Am Not a Star” was her first collaboration effort with a band. It was the first time she trusted her songs, to which she said she’s protective of, with anyone else. She could do that with the help of longtime friends Jimi Woodul and Dan DeKalb of Dark Honey. The three have been friends ever since meeting in Dallas, where they lived before “life happened” and brought them together again in New York a few years ago.

    DeKalb and Woodul were raised in upstate New York and O’Keefe was raised on Long Island. Coincidentally, the three moved to Dallas and during shows. They became really good friends.

    O’Keefe moved to New York City to pursue her music career. The boys moved to Albany, and she would go up to visit. Before long, Albany started feeling like home.

    “I just realized, after four times of visiting, that everytime I went up to Albany, all my stress was gone,” she said. She said she would dread going back to the city, “it’s an overwhelming place, and I never found community.” When she decided to move, she found an apartment, quickly signed the lease, and moved in with little else than her clothing in her guitar case.

    It was during this period she wrote “I Am Not a Star.” Though the song initially sounds like an anthem for strength, O’Keefe said it was a conversation with herself. She had uprooted herself, and worried about taking a wrong step in her career. “I Am Not a Star,” was a means to psych herself up and dispel those worries. A new career path was taking shape.

    “Spotify”

    Spotify placed “Fire Under Water” No. 7 on its New Music Friday playlist in late 2016. On a playlist that boasts anywhere between 50 to 80 songs, she was at a premium location for exposure. In one day, she received 200,000 plays. By the end of the week, her track was played a million times. Record labels took noticed and approached her. There was a push to have her sign a deal. She said no.

    Girl Blue
    photo by Shannon Straney

    “I want to have control and have the rights over what I do,” she said. “[There were pushes made to sign right away] but that’s not really who I am. … I’m not really the type to go and grab a major label deal. I don’t know. I’m just not green anymore with the industry stuff.

    In 2012, she had auditioned for Season 2 of “The Voice.” The production had taken on 120 musicians. She was sequestered into a California hotel for a month and a half before the show aired. However, teams were filled before all of the musicians auditioned, and she never appeared on television. Shortly afterwards, she was approached by Nigel Lythgoe Productions for a television project. She signed a contract without knowing the premise of the show. It would lead to her appearance on “Opening Act” in which she appeared on its first show, in which she was the opening act for Rod Stewart in front of a Caesars Palace crowd in Las Vegas.

    “That whole attitude to make it nowadays, it’s just so not what people think it is,” she said. She has nothing ill to say about the television or music industry, only that she felt that in her television moment she was not true to herself. The vigorous pace and push to get something on presentable on television pulled her in many directions. “It’s so not what it’s presented to be. I got to see behind the curtain just enough to where it became unappealing to me. I don’t know, man. Anything that’s just going to shoot you up there, I don’t know. It seems too good to be true.”

    O’Keefe is less concerned about whether she took the wrong step in moving away from New York City. Her self-described itch to move every year-and-a-half has been quelled. The Albany music scene has allowed her room to explore herself, and the community she couldn’t find in Gotham. The past few years have confirmed that a music career is not defined by where one lives. Instead of trying to wedge herself into the industry machine, she’s trying to “have the plan fit me a little better.” She is presently working on a new album with the help from AntiFragile Music out of New York City. She’s also started an account on Patreon, a membership platform that connects her with fans through subscriptions. It gives her the chance to share her music intimately with fans instead of throwing herself out into the empty ethos of the internet. Her next track “Lolita” is to be released Friday, March 30. Her latest work, she said, is delving deeper into herself. It will be the most vulnerable she has been with her audience, and she’s excited.

    She’s also to play in Capital Records Live at Proctors on Friday, March 23 before a gig at another iconic venue, Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs next month.

    “I want to build it slowly and build something that’s going to last,” she said. “I’ve been doing this since I was young. I’m a young woman, so especially a lot of people want to come in and tell me what they think that I am. At this point in my life, I’m just not really interested. I understand the idea of branding, but I kinda know who I am at this point. I’m trying to build a business.”

  • Jocelyn and Chris Arndt Demand Attention, and They’re Getting it

    In the Arndt family collection of movies is a video of Jocelyn and Chris playing upon the consecrated stage of Caffe Lena. Their father still watches it, though Chris says it’s from a “long time ago.”

    It was six years ago.

    Consider that six years is nearly a quarter of a lifetime to a 21-year-old, and just yesterday to his father. Still, let’s also factor in the sister-brother duo’s professional career; contracts, albums and countrywide road trips. There’s The Whisky a Go Go, Mountain Jam and, yeah, Billboard’s Top 40 that have since followed. From that perspective, it has been a long time.

    “Touring is the best job, ever,” said Chris. “Playing music, making music in general, it is the single greatest job you can have, hands down. I’m not biased or anything. Except for driving through Nebraska.” On cue, David Bourgeois holds up a thick set of tire chains.

    It’s February and the band has returned after several months of touring across the country. There’s still little rest. Chris, Joceyln and Bourgeois sit at White Lake Studios to rehearse for a radio gig in Boston. Bourgeois takes a moment to slump into a comfortable chair. He’s a man of many hats. Visually, he’s the band’s drummer. Behind the scenes, he’s its music director. He owns the Albany studios along with his wife, Anna. Within the bigger picture, he’s president of Bridge Road Entertainment. About five years ago, he discovered the two while they played together at a local festival. He’s been their manager ever since.

    Playing gigs and hitting radio stations like the one in Boston is all in the effort to earn more air time. It’s called chasing radio play. It involves a lot of networking, sending tapes, exchanging phone calls and logging in the miles on the road. Where U2 and Interscope have years of established success and reputation, Jocelyn and Chris need to hustle. On top of being musicians, they also have to act as their own marketers. There are about 120 radio stations across the nation that play under the adult album alternative format, and grabbing a program director’s attention can be “extremely challenging,” according to one.

    “To put it simply — there is so much great music out there, and very few slots they can fit in, and that goes for every format,” said Kim Neaton, former music director for WEQX. She was among three directors responsible for deciding what songs played on the radio. Unknown bands have to win out against trusted record labels, often times against management and promotional companies, for just a few open slots. For a band chasing radio play, “Even if you have one of the best songs in the room,” said Neaton, “you have the smallest voice in the room. But if you find a station that will take a chance, and you do well there, that’s ammo you can take to the next station when you reach out. Maybe things go well there, too. A story can build and so can a song’s success.”

    One of the first stations the band won over was Albany’s WEXT. Its programming has helped local artists earn air time and, “they’ve helped us out so much,” said Jocelyn. There’s also WDST in Woodstock, a good station to have behind you. It originated Mountain Jam in 2004, a three-day music festival that has featured Robert Plant and Tom Petty in recent years. Jocelyn and Chris played there three years ago and will return to play its main stage in June.

    Last December, Jocelyn and Chris broke into the Top 40 on Billboard’s Adult Album Alternative chart. “Red Stops Traffic,” the band’s third single off its 2017 studio release “Go,” debuted at No. 37. Jocelyn and Chris were listed along with the names of The Killers, Big Head Todd and U2. The band topped at No. 35 before slipping back down in January.

    “The next goal is Top 10,” said Jocelyn, with a smile. The volume of her statement tapers off to a near whisper, as if in fear of sounding arrogant. There is no arrogance in the room, as the two siblings are still laughing in amazement over having charted above Bono. Their story has caught the attention of television producers. Four television shows, including NBC’s “The Voice” approached Jocelyn to perform. She turned it down. “That’s not how it works,” said Jocelyn. “We’re a team. Any time it starts to tilt towards one or the other, we’re just weary of and we don’t do it.”

    Jocelyn and Chris resigned a three-year contract with Bridge Road Entertainment, and head back into the studio in April to record a new album. Before retreating to the studio, the band is set to perform at Caffe Lena on Sunday, March 4, at 7 p.m. Edge TV will be following as it films a documentary. The documentary should contrast with the video their father is still fond of playing from years ago. As “Red Stops Traffic” continues to resonate with radio listeners, people can expect to hear a maturity behind their play.

    “It’s definitely a more mature sound,” said Jocelyn. “We’re not kids anymore.” she laughs.

    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.

  • Behind the Gear: Mike Candela

    Mike Candela is the lead guitarist of the D.C.-based band Of Tomorrow and was previously the lead guitarist of Mister F. Mike brings ripping leads to any show he may be playing, as well as extremely skillful looping abilities as showcased in his cover of Girlfriend is Better by the Talking Heads. Catch Of Tomorrow at their official Funk vs. Bluegrass Umphrey’s McGee After Party in D.C. on Feb. 15th! 

    Guitars & Amp

    2007 Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II & 2017 Music Man Cutlass Strat

    Supro Royal Reverb 60W 2×10 Combo

    Mike CandelaKeyboards

    Akai Advance 49 & Novation Circuit

    Mike CandelaPedalboard

    Signal Chain-

    EHX Pitchfork > TCE Polytune 2 > Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone > EHX Micro Synth > Noisekick Almond Blossom > Teese RMC3 Wah > Noisekick Oriole Fuzz > JHS Double Barrel > EHX Small Stone > Xotic EP Booster > Strymon Timeline > Mr. Black Eterna> A/B Box > TCE Hall of Fame > MXR Talkbox > TC-Helicon VoiceTone H1

    Mike Candela
    Behind the Gear: How did you develop your solo show? You have a pretty extensive set up for a one man band.

    Mike Candela: So my one man band set up is actually everything pictured plus a Boss RC 300, and I was heavily inspired by Zach Deputy’s early setups. Basically I needed drums which I get from the Novation Circuit, and keys which I get from the Akai Advance 49. Also the TC Helicon Voicetone gives me some cool harmony effects that correspond to what I’m playing on guitar.

    BTG: How has your new Music Man been treating you?

    MC: This thing is the Strat of my dreams man, haha, the 10″ radius and stainless steel frets make it feel very similar to my PRS, which was refretted with SS by Philtone Guitars in Baltimore MD.

    mike candela
    Photo credit to Matt Way of Moon Daze Photography.

    BTG: What are three pedals on your board that you couldn’t live without?

    MC: The Double Barrel is a really nice sounding 808 clone and a killer Bluesbreaker clone in one box, it’s definitely the foundation of my tone. The EP booster is a great clean boost that’s adds a slight amount of tonal color, but it’s a really great color, I am always using this pedal for solos. The TimeLine allowed me to go from having 3 delay pedals on my board to just 1. The functionality and sound quality is off the charts, and it’s really easy to use live; switching between the different preset banks is a breeze.

    BTG: What kind of synth/keys sounds are you running from the laptop?

    MC: I run a Novation Bass Station plugin to my talkbox and I use the included Akai plugins and VIP software, which groups your VSTs together in a central program that you can control from the keyboard itself.

    BTG: How do you like your Supro Royal Reverb? 

    MC: It’s an amazing clean pedal platform amp. It has a great midrange character that is essentially always there due to the lack of a mid knob, and it’s also got trem and reverb. It also switches between 35, 45, and 60 watts for getting cranked amp sounds at lower volumes, I always run it on 60 watts though since I get all my dirt sounds from the pedals.

  • Syracuse Native Rhiannon Payne Taking Music Career to Next Level

    Rhiannon Payne knew she wanted to be a music superstar since the very beginning of her life.

    “I was 3 years old when someone told me ‘Hey kid you can sing,’” said the Syracuse native. “So that was kind of it for me.”

    She’s ready to take her career to the next level with a new album and tour planned this summer. The album, which she hasn’t titled yet, will include 10 tracks, and she hopes to have it released by early June with a two-month tour to coincide.

    Payne will share her talents at Funk ‘N Waffles on Clinton Street in Syracuse at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9.

    EARLY EXPERIENCE

    Payne explored her musical talent often growing up and she worked hard pursuing her career. She took music classes and participated in chorus, but it was a band that guided her.

    “I was in a band for three years, and that really helped me realize what I wanted to do,” she said.

    From age 13-16 Payne sang for the pop-punk/alternative band Nextake. She familiarized herself with the stage through singing and playing local venues.

    “I love performing in front of people,” she said.

    Nextake performed at local venues around Syracuse, and one big feat Payne was proud of was opening for The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at the Westcott Theater in April 2012.

    “That was an amazing experience,” she said.

    In high school she started buckling down to prepare for the journey ahead.

    “I took every opportunity I could to put myself here,” she said. “It was kind of like my accumulation of taking all of the tools and people I had to help me out — I took advantage of everything I had.”

    “I met wonderful people there who really knew how to tie and relate what I learned in school to my actual career.”

    Payne didn’t want to go to college because she thought it wouldn’t help her career. But she found classes she could apply to singing and help her voice for the long-term. So she pursued a degree from Onondaga Community College and graduated with an associate’s degree in applied science.

    NEXT STEPS

    Now that Payne honed in on her talents, she is focused on her album and the next steps for her path of success. She hired a manager at the end of last year, she has a producer working on her album, and she also hired a promoter as well.

    “My music was beginning to falter because I couldn’t spend time to practice or write,” she said. “It got super overwhelming. I understand why musicians need large teams of people to do what they do.”

    She said she wrapped up recording for mostly everything on the album and is going back and forth with the editing process. Shane Patterson is working as the producer out of Hobin Studios in Phoenix, NY.

    The album includes eight new songs and two she has already released. “Bedtime Stories” was published in October with a music video. “Through Me” was a song she had produced and released in May 2015.

    Payne is shooting for early June to release her album. She is planning to have a huge party and then have a two-month tour lined up around New York and New York City.

    She said her ultimate goal is to move to Nashville, to continue developing as an artist.

    “I want to get experience writing and collaborating with more musicians,” she said. “I want to learn as much as I can from a large music capital.”

    PLAYING STYLE

    When it comes to her music, Payne said she likes to play all types of genres.

    “No one can really ‘genre-tize’ my music,” she said. “One song will sound jazzy, one will sound like Irish folk.”

    While she can play many different instruments, she is often seen with a guitar. At her shows, fans can expect to hear her original songs with some covers added to the setlist.

    Since she likes to play all genres, she said she covers anything — giving classic rock, Ariana Grande and Paramore as examples of the variety she includes.

    The show at Funk ‘N Waffles will include a set by former Nextake bandmember Dylan Aird. Payne said she is excited for the show and they will perform together for a song during each other’s set.

    One last thing about Payne’s name in case it sounded familiar: She was named after the Fleetwood Mac song. And Stevie Nicks did inspire Payne at a young age.

    “I saw her rocking on stage and I would say ‘Yup, that’s gonna be me.’”

    SEE RHIANNON PAYNE LIVE

    WHAT: Rhiannon Payne with Dylan Aird

    WHERE: Funk ‘N Waffles 307 Clinton St., Syracuse, NY 13202

    WHEN: Friday, Feb. 9

    MORE INFO: Funk ‘N Waffles Website

    Rhiannon Payne Facebook

    Twitter: @RhiannonPayne7

    Instagram: @RhiannonPayne7

    Interview with #thePostshow from KROCK

    Rhiannon Payne’s music is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and iHeartRadio.

  • Behind the Gear: Joe Davis 12/30/17

    Behind the Gear, a new website from Jared Lindquist, covers the fine details of the gear that helps to create a musician’s sound. Each week, NYS Music will bring you Jared’s latest in depth coverage of various musician’s gear.

    Joe Davis is the guitarist of Albany-based band Formula 5. Joe is one of the most precise players on the scene, shredding with a tone so wonderful that you can’t help but smile. He brings the heat every time he takes a solo, and can settle into any groove the band throws at him. Check out his playing on Formula 5’s recent live release from November 24th.

    Guitar

    2012 Gibson SG ’61 Reissue

    Joe’s SG has some serious meaning to him, saying, “It was gifted to me by my Father and has accrued some serious road rashes, including having its headstock snapped off after a show in Canadaigua, NY. It was repaired by Dan Neafsey who built Mihali’s (Twiddle) guitars and speaker cabinets amongst other things in his rig and Zdenek’s (Twiddle).”

    Amp/Cabinet

    Amp: Traynor YBA-1 Bass Master (ca. ’72-75)
    Cab: Fuchs 2×12 w/ Jensen Jets (Debadged)

    Joe runs a pretty impressive head and cab, saying, “My amp setup hasn’t changed much over the last few years. I use a Traynor YBA-1 Bass Master head, which based on the serial number I can date to roughly 1972-75. It’s an old amp and it’s using the original tubes that were in it when it was gifted to James (bassist of Formula 5) from a friend’s dad. Not sure on the model but they are old and sound GOOOD! The head actually needed to have the original ungrounded power cable removed and replaced with a grounded one after it got wrapped around a tube during a show at Mojo’s in Jamestown, NY. Ryan Nogle, gear wizard and former drummer of AQ fixed it for us and we had a good time trying to get the head out of the enclosure chasis. Let’s just say the things a tank and they don’t make em like they use to. My Cabinet ironically is also owned by James Woods and was formerly owned by Andrew Chamberlaine the original guitarist of Mister F and Timbre Coup. Andrew hooked it up with the road case too. That cabinet is a huge part of my tone, loaded up with two Jensen Jet speakers rated for 100 watts each. The thing can SCREAM whilst being buttery smooth.”

    Pedalboard

    Quick note from Joe, “Missing from my chain currently is my Fulltone Deja Vibe, which is on the mend, and my Electro Harmonix Switchblade + A/B Switch that switched between just my amp and the Motion Sound Pro 3 Rotary Speaker.”

    Signal Chain

    Dunlop 535Q Wah > Digitech Whammy II > Ibanez CP-835 Compressor II > Ibanez TS-9 (no mod) > J Rocket Audio Archer Ikon > Xotic Effects EP Booster > Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe (with Preset Controllor) > Mad Professor Silver Spring Reverb
    img_1539

    He says that a huge part of his tone is the vintage gear he uses, especially his Ibanez CP-835, “The Ibanez Compressor I received as a gift from my sister, Shannon, for Christmas the year I joined Formula 5. Being a huge Trey fan my entire life, I was searching for a set and forget, always on, comp that would smooth out my clean tone and give a lil more transparency to my fully saturated TS-9 tone whilst adding sustain. Another thing I was looking for was a comp that was very quiet during operation. Most comps I tried had a lot of noise and hiss when engaged. A lot of that is to do with requiring 9V power; this old beast, which dates to roughly 1981 and is an original model, runs on an 18 V 1/8 inch power supply and is eerily quiet, even with the sustain rolled to 5. I don’t use it to squash as my sustain knob rests at 9 o’clock, but I use it to boost the signal from my guitar to my amp just a tad to really brighten the attack. That pedal is never off and is a huge staple of my tone.”

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