Ommegang knows how to host a party. At what has become one of the hottest concert venues in Central New York, the Cooperstown brewery’s second show of the summer brought the co-headlining show of The Head and the Heart and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.
Acoustic singer-songwriter Brent Cowles opened the show, winning over the crowd early in his set. He was followed by the first of the co-headlining bands, The Head and the Heart. It’s safe to say that there were just as many in the crowd there to see the indie folksters as were there to see Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Many up front were decked in Head and the Heart gear and singing along with the majority of the songs during the band’s hour plus long set, especially the set closer, “Rivers & Roads.”
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats came out to a packed house, opening with “Shoe Boot,” a slow burner that brings to mind The Band’s “Don’t Do It.” The Night Sweats horn section was on point all night, especially during a raucous rendition of the band’s hit, “I Need Never Get Old.”
Rateliff is a front man with aplomb. His gruff soulful voice and talent to shimmy demand the audience’s attention despite the fact that the rest of the Night Sweats are world class entertainers themselves.
The night ended with all of the evening’s musicians joining together on stage for a rousing performance of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.” The energy on stage carried over into the crowd during the finale as the traditional fireworks show led the nearly sold-out crowd into the Otsego County night.
The Head and the Heart Setlist: Sounds Like Hallelujah, Rhythm and Blues, Ghosts, City of Angels, Another Story, Let’s Be Still, Lost in My Mind, Heaven Go Easy on Me, Shake, Down in the Valley, Backwards Poker, Living Mirage, All We Ever Knew, Rivers and Roads
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats Setlist: Shoe Boot, Be There, Look It Here, A Little Honey, Coolin’ Out, Out on the Weekend, You Worry Me
Wasting Time, You Should’ve Seen the Other Guy, Babe I Know, Intro -> I Need Never Get Old, Hey Mama, S.O.B., Trying So Hard Not to Know
The Thursday on the Village Green concert series is kicking off on July 12th in Hamilton, NY. The concert series takes place in downtown Hamilton and is known for being a 100-year tradition with music on the Village Green dating back to 1902.
Courtesy of Thursdays on the Village Green press release.
There’s a family-friendly theme to go alongside the concert each night this year in hopes of expanding on the traditional musical performances by incorporating these family-friendly themed nights. The family themed activities will start at 5:30 p.m. and music will take place from 7-9 p.m. There will also be local food trucks and 200 ice cream sandwiches provided each week by Hood Dairy. The concert series has no cover charge and is open to the public.
The kick-off event is on July 12th and will include the American Blues Roots band Chris Merkley’s Rocky Bottom Trio paired with a First Responders Night where the local police and ambulance will be present.
Event dates listed below:
July 12 – Chris Merkley’s Rocky Bottom Trio and First Responders Night – Hamilton, NY
July 19 – The Old Main and Comic-Con Night – Hamilton, NY
July 26 – Loren Barrigar and Education Night – Hamilton, NY
Aug. 2 – Nate Gross Band and Racing Night with Matt Janczuk – Hamilton, NY
Aug. 9- Sanguine Penguin and Healthy Hamilton Night – Hamilton, NY
Aug. 16 – JJ Murphy and Veterans Night – Hamilton, NY
Central New York funky big band, Big Mean Sound Machine announced summer tour dates through June and July throughout New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts. The stretch of shows leads up to the fourth annual Big Mean BBQ festival in August.
The festival is set to take place in Trumansburg, just outside Ithaca. Curated by Big Mean the festival has extended to a two-day weekend, featuring over 22 bands and two headlining performances by the band themselves.
Weekend camping and RV passes are on sale now, to purchase passes head to the festival’s website. It l kicks off on Saturday Aug. 24 and features bands Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad, Driftwood, the Blind Owl Band, Marco Benevento and Kat Wright. For the full list of participating acts and ticket information, visit the festival website.
Psychedelic Jam band The Breakfast marks 20 years this fall, and the Northeast has lucky to play host to the regular performances over the past few years, including a recent headlining slot at Sterling Stage Folkfest on Saturday, May 26. Watch footage of the group courtesy of Elan Lafontaine from Tonapac Pictures and Ben Albert of Rochester Groovecast, and stay tuned for news on how The Breakfast will celebrate their 20th anniversary this fall!
Imagine being in a band and living the rockstar life in your 20s—touring, recording, the whole bit. Life happens and you part ways for a mere 44 (Go Orange!) years. Then imagine getting a second chance to write a fresh record and perform live with the group of your youth. That’s the story of Syracuse Area Music Awards (The SAMMYs) Hall of Fame inductee Jukin’ Bone. For years, the band never quite received the recognition they deserved until now. And this recognition sparked the idea to get together and work as a group again. NYS Music sat down with Joe Whiting and Mark Doyle to discuss the past and present of the roots rock band.
Creating the Initial Group
Joe Whiting, a Skaneateles, NY native, and Mark Doyle, hailing from Auburn, NY, met when they took part in a jam session hosted by a music teacher. They were aware of each other for a couple years and things clicked the first time they played together. Whiting and Doyle played a couple of gigs with some rotating musicians-“bits and pieces”- before they formed a real group. Doyle said the group’s formation was “serendipitous” and formed around 1968.
Doyle was teaching guitar lessons at Music Mart, a music store that used to be in Auburn. Dick Howard, a bit of a local legend and shop owner, introduced Doyle to their would-be drummer: Tom Glaister. Tom was out on a Salvation Army truck delivery when he stopped by the store to say a quick hello to Howard. “[Doyle and Glaister] hit it off and somehow he ended up in the band. These things just happened” according to Doyle. Doyle then met George Egosarian at “The Beach” on Marshall St. in Syracuse. Though it’s not there today, it was a space that was across from what’s now Pita Pit for those familiar with Syracuse’s Marshall St. today. It was a big grassy area next to a parking lot where the “hipsters” used to hang out, smoke weed, drop acid, etc. Egosarian started on bass in the group and later transitioned to second guitar. John DeMaso eventually joined the group and became the bass player. Glaister left before the second album, and his talents were so great they opted to replace him with two drummers to fill the void: Danny Coward and Kevin Shwaryk.
Record Deal and Name Change
Before the group was called Jukin’ Bone, they were known as Free Will. Free Will signed with some promoters that worked with Concerts West on the premise that they could help the band secure a record deal. The band played a brutal showcase in New York City that was five sets a night for five consecutive nights. The showcase attracted A&R scouts from various record labels to sign new talent. The band’s efforts were rewarded when they received two record deal offers: one from Janus Records and a “better” offer from RCA. The band signed with RCA.
RCA had strict union policies and mandated that their artists record only in their studios. When someone ratted the band out to RCA for recording a demo at a non-RCA studio, RCA said they had to change the name. Whiting recalled that they had to record the demo again in RCA’s studios just as a formality.
“The first RCA album was a disgrace” according to Doyle. Their producer, Lewis Merenstein, had the vision to record a live album at Electric Lady Studios. Live albums can be a great way to capture the live energy, but their final product was greatly compromised by the hippies off the street in attendance and the “buffet of booze and drugs.” The group would stumble up to the stage to perform multiple takes and the “least offensive takes made the record.” That was Whiskey Woman. The second album was slightly better because it was recorded in the studio, but it still wasn’t what they considered their best sound. That was Way Down East. Neither album adequately captured the essence of Jukin’ Bone’s sound.
Eventually, RCA bought the band out of their agreement before they recorded a third album. “By then the wheels started to come off in all aspects.”
Besides the recording, the group shared their music on tour all around North America, from New York to Minnesota, Florida, Texas, and more. They opened up for the Allman Brothers, ZZ Top, The Kinks, and John Mayall just to name a few.
While opening for John Mayall at a college in Rochester, the power went out not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 times! This was a rocky start as this was during their first song. But they earned fan support as they persevered and played through it.
Though their tour life was relatively mild, they did manage to crack up a few Winnebagos in their travels. When traveling to Texas, they’d drive without stopping from New York. “You gotta be young and high” to do those drives.
The Interim
Before they reunited as a group, Doyle and Whiting kept up with their musical careers and continued their friendship even as the band parted ways. Whiting did stints with Bobby Comstock who had a few hits in the late 50s, Elf, and Savoy Brown. He really focused on his own band for years which opened for Van Halen.
Doyle, who also had an interest in production, worked on a number of records playing and producing. Doyle found that working with great producers was a fantastic way to learn. He played with Meat Loaf and spent time with the record producer Tom Dowd. He saw how to bring performances out of musicians when he observed Arif Mardin in the studio with Andy Pratt. He also hooked up with David Werner and learned from that experience how NOT to produce a record.
Unfinished Business
Fast forward to 2017/2018. The band finally earned the recognition they deserved in the Syracuse community. Whiting called Doyle and asked him “what if we got together and made the record we never got to make?” Doyle didn’t even have to think about it before saying yes. George Egosarian and John DeMaso were also on board and they got to writing.
Prior to this, Doyle had played on a couple of Jimi Hendrix project albums for an Italian record label. The head of the label contacted him ten years later and asked about leasing the early Free Will music. (Not Jukin’ Bone!) This call happened to be the day after Whiting phoned Doyle and this gave them a way to fund the new record.
Aptly named, Unfinished Business is a true Jukin’ Bone masterpiece comprised of all new material. They wrote from scratch, not relying on any residual music from the past.
The first song written was “Nothin’ to Lose.” The old Motown song “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” was stuck in Doyle’s head, and was a sentiment the group felt with this fresh chance. They eventually came to “Ain’t Got Nothing to Lose” to substitute in the song instead. Egosarian, “the master of the unobvious phrase,” got to work on the lyrics which Joe fine tuned later. They were off and running with the rest of the album from there.
The old Gibson SG was used on the new record; Egosarian played it on “End of the Bar” just to have it on there. When asked about how his voice has held up all these years, Whiting says he doesn’t really have a secret in terms of maintenance. He feels has a better high and low end than he ever did, and he feels his voice has held up because he says, “I never shut up.”
They recruited Syracuse University professor Josh Dekaney to play drums on the album. They wanted a percussionist with a classical training like their former drummer. The album was recorded as they wrote between Doyle’s home studio and More Sound Recording Studio and engineered by Jason “Jaco” Randall and Andrew Greacen.
They went into this new project with no expectations. They just wanted to make good music and set the record straight!
Key Tracks: Nothing to Lose, End of the Bar, Gris Gris
Shows in August
With the new album comes live shows. Jukin’ Bone will be playing two nights at Auburn Public Theater in Auburn, NY. The shows are August 17 and 18, and there may be future live dates depending on how this goes. More show information can be found here.
Don’t miss a great opportunity to see some local legends doing what they love once again!
The Salt City’s annual rite of summer, Taste of Syracuse, kicks off Friday June 1 and runs through June 2, 2018. The annual free festival pairs the region’s foods and music in Downtown’s Clinton Square. This year’s headliner is ’90s alt-pop icons, Smash Mouth.
The fest’s claim to fame is the $1 food samples from the various eateries set up in the square. You can find the full dollar menu here.
Other than the food, Taste of Syracuse also provides a great free look at the wealth of musical talent from Syracuse and surrounding areas. With three stages, there is no shortage of music to be found. Things get going at noon Friday with Just Joe on the Clinton Square Stage, Peg Newell and Robyn Stockdale on the Erie Boulevard Stage and Max Scialdone on the Main Stage.
https://youtu.be/1X0BB-61s6Q
Music continues throughout the day with soul being the theme on the Clinton Square Stage. Tanksley performs at 6:30 p.m. followed by Israel Hagen’s Stroke at 7:45 p.m. Prime Time closes out the night at 9:30 p.m.
The Erie Boulevard Stage gets funky Friday night with a double shot of Root Shock and Sophistafunk. The two Syracuse bands recently paired for a mini-tour together called the Salt City Shakedown that also included Syracuse’s Skunk City. Root Shock won the 2017 SAMMY award for Best New Artist and also captured the NYS Music March Madness title that year. Country Swagg and Hard Promises close out the Main Stage Friday night.
Saturday gets started at noon with Lori Ann singing the oldies on the Clinton Square stage. Syracuse’s master of the slide guitar, Colin Aberdeen will get funky on the Erie Boulevard Stage at the same time.
Colin Aberdeen performing at the Dinosaur BBQ in April 2017
The Main Stage on Saturday will feature Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at at 1:30, followed by the folk rock stylings of Poor Tim, featuring Shawn “Big Sexy” Smith, a former contestant on NBC’s The Voice and Justin Smithson, who has performed at Carnegie Hall.
Chris Eves and the New Normal follow Poor Tim. The New Normal’s single “Green and Blue” was recently included on Relix magazine’s June Digital Sampler. You can listen on Spotify below:
Country act, Grit and Grace and the latest “Vinyl Albums Live” set, “The ’90s Mix Tape” follow. Closing out the main stage and the festival is ’90s pop group, Smash Mouth.
Other acts performing on Saturday include Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Hollow, hip hop from Joe Driscoll and the Brownskin Band, Americana from the Old Main, and funk from Skunk City on the Erie Boulevard Stage.
The Clinton Street stage features the soulful alt-rock of the Black River, Tim Herron and Great Blue, Soul Risin’ and the Barndogs DELUXE.
Attendance to the two-day festival is free. For the complete schedule, see below.
A group of fresh faces by the name of FLOTUS are taking over the Syracuse, NY music scene. FLOTUS, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Eric Thompson, keyboardist Ryan McKeown, bassist Blake Trexler and drummer Sean Ferguson, took home the glory at an annual Battle of the Bands competition held by Orange Music Group (OMGSyracuse) at Syracuse University.
This landed the group 6 hours of free recording time at SubCat Studios in downtown Syracuse. With this prize, the group has launched their first EP, Sundance, which is available for listening on Spotify and iTunes. FLOTUS has also just dropped their first ever music video, “Swim To Me,” which is linked below. This video is fun for the summer and features bright, bold visuals, with vocalist Eric Thompson shot singing along to the tune.
Brianna Skelly: Hi, guys!! How are we doing here?
FLOTUS: Hey, it’s going good!! It’s great to be talking to you.
BS: Great, it’s wonderful to become acquatinted with you all. Now, I’ve heard that the name “FLOTUS” was inspired by Michelle Obama’s Twitter handle. Would you mind telling me more about that?
BlakeTrexler: Yeah, of course. Well, the guys and I were messing around at practice one day, just tossing names back and forth and FLOTUS was thrown into the mix. We liked it. It’s actually become a running joke between the band. We like to switch up the acronym at our shows. Keeps things interesting.
BS: That’s so unique! So, how did the four of you meet?
Sean Thompson: Well, we’re all music majors at Syracuse University, so we all happened to meet by chance in a class, but Ryan and I went to the same high school.
BS: That’s amazing. What are your majors underneath music? Are you all majoring in performance or something different?
Ryan McKeown: Eric and I are sound recording technology majors. Blake and Sean are both majoring in music industry.
BS: Wonderful. Both great areas take up as a music major. Being students, do you find it hard to balance school work, shows, and band practices?
Eric Thompson: Time management is always tight, but we try our hardest to make it work and practice as much as we possibly can, even if we have to get together at night after classes. I think what helps us the most is that we became friends before the band formed. We met in class our first semester, and after that things came together. I think it’s important to have a personal connection with people you’re spending so much time with. There has to be a balance. Like, we’ll have practices where we need to buckle down and focus and then practices where we’re just hanging out while we play. Having fun with it.
BS: I think that’s important, too. A balance between work and play, if you will. You can’t have one without the other. Now, getting more into the music. Are there any venues or local cafés that your band frequents?
ET: Yes. We played our first gig as a band at Funk n’ Waffles. It was a good atmosphere. Super rough performance, but we made the most of it. We were opening for a friend and I went out on stage and I had to improvise for a long time. I just remember looking backstage and the guys couldn’t come out because this dude was telling us to move our car in this alleyway. It was definitely a gig the band won’t ever forget, but it was a good time in spite of everything.
BS: Wow, that’s rough. I’m glad it worked out in the end, though. Do you guys have a permanent vehicle?
SF: No. We’re trying our hardest to save for a van. We’re lucky that we have loved ones in our lives that care for us, but there have been times where we’ve had to load equipment into taxis. I even remember a number of times where we’ve had to walk with heavy amplifiers and drum sets to shows because we didn’t have the transportation available that we need.
BS: Now, that is some serious dedication to your music. I’ve never heard anything like that. Keep up with that ambition and it will take you extremely far.
BT: Thank you so much.
BS: Of course. So, your EP Sundance came out this February. What inspired your EP, if anything?
ET: Well, the opportunity came along because our group won a Battle of the Bands competition at our university. The prize was 6 hours of recording time for free. We couldn’t afford any extra time in the studio, so we buckled down and actually got the entire EP recorded within that 6 hour time frame. We didn’t have any time for many editing technicalities, either, so we ran the songs and the recording quality came out sounding very homemade. It’s extremely similar to what you’ll get from a live performance of ours. Also, where we go to school, it’s incredibly cold. I remember once we played a house show in an attic, and it was so cold that you could see your breath throughout the entire performance. It was memorable, though, not just because of the cold, but because of the atmosphere. I think that’s what is most important to our band and the main idea of this EP, as well. We like making light of things and remembering the sunshine when times are hard. We want everyone to find a place in our music and to find the sun beyond the clouds. That was the main inspiration behind it.
BS: That’s an incredible message to express to your listeners. Also, incredible time management skills. Getting an EP done in 6 hours is impressive. You’re an ambitious group of guys. You mentioned wanting everyone to find a place in your music. Is there a specific musical influence driving your band?
RM: I think we all have personal influences musically, but that’s what makes it work. Each of us brings our own individual style to the group.
SF: Right. We also try to make music that is accessible for everyone, whether you like jazz or rock or funk. We want to make stuff that real musicians can appreciate and we try to be versatile. We’ll cover any song. We want to have a place for everything and everyone inside of our music.
BS: I like the inclusive mindset. Being versatile is a smart move. Can your listeners expect an album on the horizon anytime soon?
ET: Our listeners can expect new songs. We plan on writing and touring lots over the summer. Our goal is to be touring all around the country. An album is definitely in our thoughts, but its a long-term goal.
FLOTUS is a great live group with terrific energy onstage and a terrific stage presence, as well. Linked below is a video of FLOTUS where you can find the group performing, as well as talking new music with CitrusTV. FLOTUS has plans of touring throughout the summer, and they are a great new group to give some attention in the coming months.
Saranac Brewery, in Utica NY, has two shows coming up you don’t want to miss. Dark Star Orchestra and Get the Led Out are both making stops at the brewery on their separate tours this summer.
Dark Star Orchestra
Dark Star Orchestra is a Grateful Dead tribute band who’s known for recreating historic dead shows. Dark Star Orchestra formed over a decade ago and their determined commitment to ‘raising the Dead’ has drawn them nationwide attention from publications as big as Rolling Stone who say they are, “Quite possibly the most talented and accomplished tribute band out there… they’ve definitely mastered their inspiration’s vagabond nature.”
Get The Led Out is a Led Zeppelin tribute band who, “have captured the essence of the recorded music of Led Zeppelin and brought it to the concert stage” according to their press release. Get The Led Out consists of six musicians and are based out of Philadelphia. They have been dubbed by the media as “The American Led Zeppelin.”
Tickets went on sale Friday, May 25th at 10AM from Creative Concerts for both shows.
Show information:
Dark Star Orchestra
July 31- Saranac Breweries – Utica, NY
Doors: 7PM // Show: 8PM
All ages.
Get The Led Out
Aug. 10 – Saranac Breweries – Utica, NY
Doors: 7PM // Show: 8PM
All ages.
For more information on Dark Star Orchestra visit their website
For more information on Get The Led Out visit their website
Chiggin, a funk band hailing from Syracuse, has started booking tour stops through Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and NYC off of the buzz surrounding their recently released EP, “Original Recipe.”
Max Rips frontman of Chiggin. Photo courtesy of Chiggin’s website.
“Original Recipe” is a four-song EP containing the songs, “Funky Elbeaux,” “Stevie Wonder’s Morning Breath,” “Eggistential Barnyard,” and “Waiting for Marmalade (Between the Busses)” which keep to the bands funky nature known and loved by Syracuse locals at venues, like Funk ‘n Waffles, where they have become a fan favorite.
The video for their debut single, “Stevie Wonder’s Morning Breath” (which was shot and directed by Kevin Brite) was released April 6th via YouTube. The video has a classic music video format jumping between a recording studio and a live performance, which accompanies the upbeat funk sound Chiggin’s carries, perfectly.
Chiggin formed in July of 2016 in Syracuse and quickly built a name for themselves because of “their fun stage show and their untamed musicality,” according to their website. The band consists of Max Puglisi, Sam Roux, Gavin George, Nick Fields, Ethan Wojcik, Brian Caswell, and Jacob Penner and is currently pushing their plan forwards for an east coast tour in 2018 starting with some shows in Syracuse, NY.
Upcoming shows:
May 31 – Al’s Wine & Whiskey – Syracuse, NY
Chiggin w/ Tiger Chung Lee (Buffalo) – 9:30pm, Free
June 9 – Funk n’ Waffles – Syracuse, NY
Ghost-Note (Members of Snarky Puppy) w/s/g Chiggin – 9:30, $10 Adv/$15 DOS
In episode 4 of Empire State Music Podcast, host Andy Hogan sits down with The Blind Spots, a female-fronted, indie-pop power house out of Ithaca, NY who have toured throughout the United States. From playing with bands & artists like Lake Street Dive, Amy Helm, and Sharon Jones, The Blind Spots are guaranteed to make you shake your bones. Tune in on iTunes and Simplecast or listen below!
Creating the Initial Group
This landed the group 6 hours of free recording time at SubCat Studios in downtown Syracuse. With this prize, the group has launched their first EP, Sundance, which is available for listening on Spotify and iTunes.
