NYS Music 20​18

Tag: the spot 518

  • Mark Anthony Manning: The story of a rising 20-year-old Albany singer

    The 20-year-old man’s voice soared as he played the piano in a minuscule practice room, eyes shut as he swayed to the music and several veins appeared across his face and neck. The dim lighting and tight space made the experience feel more intimate and hearing his voice echo sonically through the surrounding walls projected the impression of a cathartic release of pent-up energy and passion.

    Mark Anthony Manning had invited me to meet him there at the Massry Center for the Arts in the College of Saint Rose in Albany. He is currently a junior student there and studying towards a bachelor’s degree in Music Industry. Performing a few original songs on the black Steinway & Sons piano which he’d penned, he said that he mainly plays pop and R&B music, is a songwriter, and he has two music-related jobs.

    First, he has been working as a wedding singer for Silver Arrow Band, a company which performs at festivals, corporate events, private functions, and weddings, since early summer. In Manning’s case specifically, he travels with them across the state to perform a collection of requested songs for people’s weddings. Silver Arrow Band has won numerous accolades, including WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards every year since 2016.

    “It’s by far the best job I’ve ever had. There’s just so many musicians and you just get offered gigs. I’ve never been to a wedding with like the same exact band, it always like switches out because it’s a company,” Manning said.

    According to him, he usually gets paid at least $500 or $600 per wedding, although it depends on what musical instruments and how many fellow Silver Arrow Band members are brought for the wedding performance. “It helps me pay the bills and I like getting to travel with them,” he said.

    His second stint is being the frontman and lead singer of his own live student band, called Mark Manning and the Sexy Bitches.

    His fellow bandmates are Joseph Taurone on the drums; Gabriel Klinger-Horn playing the guitar; Sam Walczyk on the bass; Dan Carr who is in charge of synth, auxiliary percussion, and can substitute for drums guitar and bass; and finally, Kyle Robinson and Amy Branham who both serve vocals and play the piano too. All are St. Rose students, whom Manning met when he was still a sophomore, and they collectively rehearse together every Monday night.

    Manning first met Klinger-Horn during a college party early last fall where after some small talk, Manning expressed his desire to start a band. He was surprised when Klinger-Horn revealed he plays the guitar and knows of two peers, Taurone and Walczyk, who play the drums and bass. Over time, the remaining members joined but ironically, the band did not have an official name yet.

    It was not until the day of their very first performance together, which occurred at the Rice House — a venue that showcases local collegiate and young adult music talents — in Albany back in October 2017. He noted that that was the night the band made a name for itself in the Saint Rose community and the overall local music scene.

    “That day, I was like, ‘I don’t even know what to call us, guys.’ But there was this other band called Hasty Page and one of its members, Josh Morris [who serves vocals and plays the drums] said ‘Mark Manning and the Sexy Bitches’ as a joke,” he admitted. “I then slipped and said it accidentally onstage. But the performance was so much fun and looking back now, we weren’t really friends back then and we’ve since improved so much. It was the first night we really clicked and bonded. The name just stuck since then.”

    In fact, he recalled that eventually, people from Silver Arrow Band once saw him perform with his own band, and they asked him if he was interested in working for them too as a wedding singer.

    Having started to write songs upon entering college, Manning said “right now, all our songs are about relationships, unreciprocated love and how they don’t work out.”

    “I have not one happy song,” he joked.

    Regarding his songwriting process, it “usually starts with me getting my feelings hurt in some shape or form, and I’ll come to practice and I tend to have the chords first, before getting the melody and tempo. I mean, every song is different though. Some songs, the melody will come to me first in my head before I work on it with the piano.”

    Originally from Long Island, he identifies himself as “maybe a baritone but I’m definitely not a tenor. But I wouldn’t just say I’m a bass either.” Among his sources of inspiration are Beyonce, John Legend, Daniel Caesar and Kirk Franklin. He personally enjoys gospel, jazz and soul music.

    “My three siblings, cousins and I were all like a gospel and sang a lot of gospel, and it was cute that we were all family and being in church,” he recalled his childhood days. “We were called like The Manning 6, but eventually, they all grew out of music and I just didn’t.”

    After Manning began trying to take piano lessons in second grade, then fourth grade, and again in tenth grade, it was not until attending St. Rose where he had to take four semesters of piano to genuinely improve his piano proficiency.

    He was also highly active in musical theater growing up, particularly when he attended Patchogue-Medford High School in Suffolk County, Long Island.

    In terms of high school musicals, he played Gary Coleman in “Avenue Q,” Mr. Black in “Wild Party,” The Wiz in “The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical” and Donkey in “Shrek the Musical.” In college, his credits include playing Seaweed J. Stubbs in “Hairspray” and Mitch Mahoney in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

    “It just feels like this was something I was born to do, I don’t want to do anything else,” he concluded. He hopes to eventually move to California sometime after graduation to grow as an artist. He even wants to become head of A&R — standing for artists and repertoire, they choose certain artists to get signed and develop their brand — of a music label someday.

    “In California, there’s so many record labels and young people out there chasing their dreams,” he said. “I just feel like the resources are more open there. If you want to be noticed by someone important, that’s the place to go. But I really believe in myself and have so much faith. You have to, no one else is going to if you don’t.”

    For now, Manning maintains a website at iammarkmanning.weebly.com and has an upcoming extended play coming out in either October or November.

    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.

  • Coffee and Conversation: Learning about Yaddo Gardens

    Locals got to learn more about the Yaddo Gardens, an artist community in Saratoga Springs, and its historical origins during the Friday, Sept. 14, installment of the Coffee and Conversation series at the Bethlehem Public Library.

    Lesley LeDuc, a docent and a member of the Board of Directors at Yaddo, spoke about how it is a recognized place where artists, filmmakers, poets, musicians and writers can apply to stay for a period of time to escape their everyday surroundings and work on their crafts. Its renowned resident artist program is divided into five categories: Literature, Visual Art, Music Composition, Performance, and Film & Video.

    This “artist colony” is located just off exit 14 on Interstate 87. While the area is accessible to the public, the property remains privately owned.

    LeDuc introduced the prominent Trask family, the patriarch of whom was financier and philanthropist Spencer Trask (1844-1909) a graduate of Princeton University who founded his own law firm. He and his wife, Katrina (1853-1922) a fellow philanthropist and author, had several children, all of whom died prematurely.

    Together, they bought this 400-acre estate back in 1881 and moved into the currently-standing house in 1893, after the original burned down in 1891. It became an artist colony around 1926, according to LeDuc.

    “There’s 55 rooms in this 45,000-square foot estate, 20 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and I think if I remember correctly, there’s 16 fireplaces,” LeDuc said, chuckling. “When we do public tours of the area, someone always asks me about the number of fireplaces.”

    Tours of the Yaddo Gardens are offered every summer and fall. The estate, which serves as the site for “25 to 35 weddings every year,” according to LeDuc, is also notably populated with multicolored gardens, fountains, marble and a pergola.

    In addition to presenting numerous historical photographs of the family, the estate and its gardens, LeDuc also displayed postcards that featured the estate in the early 20th century. She also shared about how the property’s overall aesthetic features, including its statues and fountains, began to deteriorate over the years, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s, and how there has been an effort to restore them ever since.

    “We clean the marble statues with toothbrushes once or sometimes twice every year,” she explained. “They’re all marble so they’re very porous and we have to be very careful.”

    The pergola, the so-called dominant feature of the gardens, consists of 38 ionic columns and is about the length of a football field. It is a popular location for weddings at the estate.

    The pergola also had to be restored as it was made out of terra cotta which deteriorates “from the inside out … and the columns were all taken down.” While some columns were still capable of being reused after restoration, others had to be replaced completely.

    “We were all afraid of when the columns were taken down,” she said. “And the restoration cost almost $500,000. But eventually, they were all put up again and they just look like they came back, looking better than ever.”

    An audience member later asked how the name “Yaddo” came about. LeDuc said that while there have been at least six untrue “fanciful” versions of where the name came originated from, it actually came from Christina, the Trasks’ young daughter who once mispronounced the word “shadow.”

    Each week, the Coffee and Conversation series features a visiting speaker who comes to discuss either their professional or personal expertise about a work of art or a local landmark for about an hour. The series, co-sponsored by Bethlehem Senior Projects, Inc., takes place at the Bethlehem Public Library weekly on Friday afternoons beginning at 1 p.m.

    The next Coffee and Conversations event will take place on Friday, Sept. 21. For more information about this week’s visit here.

    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.

  • USPS remembers Beatles legend John Lennon with new stamp

    Preceding the ceremony to unveil the new John Lennon stamp, his late-Beatles wife expressed gratitude for the throngs of fans who gathered at the Naumburg Bandshel in New York City’s Central Park for the event.

    “Even if it was five or ten people, I would have appreciated it,” said Ono, with their son Sean at her side. “But, look at this. This is beautiful.”

    Instead, hundreds of fans gathered to pay tribute to a complex man who first stirred teenage girls into a frenzy and later helped lend a voice to a rebellious generation against war. John has been dead for nearly as long as he was alive, assassinated outside of his home in December 1980, at the age of 40. Earlier this month, the U.S. Postal Service honored the singer and songwriter with a stamp.

    John Lennon Stamp

    “It’s a privilege to commemorate the life of John Lennon – one of the most celebrated musicians and iconic personalities of the 20th century,” said Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan. “The world was influenced by John Lennon’s music and his commitment to the ideals of peace and unity. We continue to be inspired by his memory.”

    John joins Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Sarah Vaughan as artists immortalized by the USPS in its Music Icons stamp series. The commemorative stamp features a photo taken by noted rock ’n’ roll photographer Bob Gruen in August 1974. It shows the musician on the rooftop of his Manhattan apartment taken for the 1974 album Walls and Bridges. The original black-and-white image was treated in gradations of color to create the artwork for the stamp, which is now available for purchase.

    John Lennon Stamp

    Gordon Thompson has yet to purchase the stamp. The Skidmore College professor is considered the local expert on all things Beatles. He is the music department chair for Skidmore. He said he remembers the Ed Sullivan broadcast that introduced his generation to the Mersey Sound. Thompson is a ethnomusicologist, or one who studies the relationship between music and culture. He’s taught classes on how The Beatles influenced culture from the 1960s to today. Though he is a fan of John and the Fab Four, he said he does not collect memorabilia.

    “Unless books and recordings are memorabilia,” said Thompson, “in which case I’m guilty.”

    Ono’s perplexing admission that she was concerned few people would attend the day’s ceremony contrasts against her late husband’s iconic status. He was, of course, a founding member of the Beatles. The Beatles still hold records for a string of hits released from 1962 to 1970, including “All You Need is Love,” which later served as an anthem for John’s humanitarian endeavors. John also was a successful solo artist. His last of seven studio albums, “Double Fantasy,” was released three weeks before he was killed. It includes “Beautiful Boy,” a lullaby to his son, Sean.

    Julian Lennon, John’s son from his first marriage, did not attend the ceremony. Since his father’s death, he has been candid with details describing a dismissive and abusive father. In a 1998 interview with The Telegraph, Julian called his father a “hypocrite.” As the world recalled hearing him sing “give peace a chance,” Julian recalled how that same voice could easily “tear someone up.” Julian had a distant relationship with his father, both geographically and emotionally. He didn’t know him as the doting father Sean did.

    “I think [John] Lennon offered us an example of our best and worst impulses,” said Thompson. “He was no saint, but neither was he evil; and we watched as he wrestled with his impulses on a very public stage.”

    Thompson referenced a line from The Beatles’ 1967 hit “Getting Better.”

    “I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved.”

    It was an innoxious statement fans seldom thought to analyze when it was released on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonley Hearts Club Band.” John, however, would later admit to Playboy magazine, quoting from his own song, that he was an abuser.

    “I was a hitter,” John told Playboy. “I couldn’t express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace.” He added that he did not curb his volatile behavior until he met Ono. Soon afterwards, the world would see Lennon as an advocate for peace, a champion for women’s rights and a critical voice against organized religion.

    “He questioned the role of religion in society and the righteousness of those who present themselves as religious,” said Thompson. “He recognized the hypocrisy inherent in religious practice and spoke out about it. And for that, he was assassinated. His killer had harbored resentment over the comments about the relative popularity of Jesus and brought these with him to New York.”

    John Lennon was shot dead on Dec. 8, 1980, in the archway of the Dakota Apartments by Mark David Chapman. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994.

    Julian was left out of his father’s will. Though a trust was established to benefit all of John’s children, Julian sued to obtain his share of his father’s estate. Julian told The Telegraph that he continues to reach out to his brother, Sean, but that the relationship is distant.

    The USPS designed the John Lennon stamp pane to resemble a vintage 45-rpm record sleeve. One side of the pane includes the stamps and brief text about John Lennon’s legacy. A black-and-white photograph of him seated at his white piano appears on the reverse.

    “Not to be too cliched, but I think Lennon’s death symbolized for us the official passing of an era,” said Thompson. The Beatles expert was absorbed in the music and culture of India when Lennon was killed. The young ethnomusicologists had “moved on.”

    “Lennon and the Beatles had shaped a major part of our lives, he said, “but we, and they, had moved on. We had abandoned a phase in life when we had ignored the consequences for our actions. We had become adults. John Lennon had once been Peter Pan, lured into the world of mortals. Now, we recognized that we had lost something special.”

    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.

  • Lark Fest to Pack a Punch this Weekend in Albany

    When Adrian Lewis takes the stage at Lark Fest this Saturday, Sept. 22, he will complete an unofficial Triple Crown here in the Capital District.

    Better known as The Age, Lewis played Rockin’ on the River and Alive at Five this year. He and his band will headline upstate New York’s largest one-day street festival this Saturday.

    “I’m super excited about Lark Fest,” said Lewis. “I’ve wanted to be a part of it for a few years now and it’s kind of mind blowing that we are going to be a headlining act this year.”

    To place his excitement into perspective, he opened for the B.B. King Blues Band featuring Tito Jackson at Alive at Five this June.

    The Age is one of two headlining acts which also includes Stellar Young. Saturday’s performance will be Stellar Young’s third at Lark Fest.

    “We’re so humbled to be a part of such an awesome event,” said lead vocalist John Glenn. He added that the band will be selling sunglasses to fund its third release “And Turned to Ash.”

    The lineup to this year’s festival, the 37th for Lark Street, is worth taking note.

    The music starts with Becoming a Ghost at 11 a.m. Becoming a Ghost most recently played at WEQX’s Battle of the Bands at Jupiter Hall. It put on a high energy, interactive performance that moved the crowd. The band could have just as easily won the competition to open last week’s Pearlpalooza.

    The lineup continues with the Ryan Leddick Trio, Onlyness, Bendt, Greens, Mirk, Apostrophe S, Kimono Dragons, Useless Cans, and JB & Victory Soul Orchestra. Stellar Young takes the stage at 3:45 and The Age follows at 4:20 p.m.

    The all-day event expects to attract 50,000 people with live music, local vendors, food trucks and more. Start walking at 10:30 a.m. and finish the day at 5:30 p.m.

    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.

  • Hearing Aide: Ariana Grande ‘Sweetener’

    When a terrorist bombed the Manchester Arena in England after Ariana Grande’s concert there in May 2017 which killed 22 and injured 500, this overt attack on music caused many to wonder what the singer’s next move would be, or if she would consider leaving the industry altogether. But she bravely returned for a $23 million-raising benefit concert called One Love Manchester on June 4, and was an apt appetizer to her next album, Sweetener.

    This theme of healing and inner peace would tightly inform this album, which first welcomed worldwide listeners on Aug. 17. An overt contrast from her last album, 2016’s Dangerous Woman which was darker and sexual in nature, Sweetener is lighter and calmer.

    “It’s kind of about like bringing light to a situation, or to someone’s life, or somebody else who brings light to your life, or sweetening the situation,” Grande said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last May.

    Given the album’s tragic background concerning the fateful concert, it was assumed that Sweetener would have a melancholic and depressed sound overall, which lead single “No Tears Left to Cry” briefly teased when it premiered back in late April. But after 20 seconds, the song jumps from its expected slow tune into a bopping uptempo dance-pop number, with Grande dancing animatedly on her feet. Its lyrics related to that transition, in that Grande has to move on and be resilient professionally and personally.

    Sweetener actually begins with a 38-second a cappella introduction, “Raindrops (An Angel Cried)” which hauntingly soothes the listener with her bare vocals. The second song, “Blazed,” features acclaimed singer and producer Pharrell Williams whose signature happy-go-lucky sound is very evident, as listeners start getting warmed up with this delicate dancing number.

    The third entry, “The Light is Coming,” features rapper Nicki Minaj, who actually released her own album, “Queen” a week earlier on Aug. 10. This disappointing collaboration failed to measure up to high expectations like “Side to Side” (another Grande-Minaj duet in 2016) and only peaked at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.

    Euphoria and positivity mostly permeates through this album though. A highlight is “Breathin” which addresses the singer’s anxiety, its lyrics confessing that people have told her to use drugs to feel better. Its universal message of self-help, hope and mental health can easily connect with listeners, especially within the music realm as fellow musician Demi Lovato survived an overdose in late July. It is a clear example that exposing one’s vulnerabilities can ironically showcase their strengths.

    The four last tracks—“Better Off,” “Goodnight N Go,” “Pete Davidson” (her fiance’s name) and “Get Well Soon”—particularly continue Grande’s mission to spread tenderness and optimism. These are slower and quieter, and her almost-whispery diction make the quartet the perfect soundtrack to one’s slumber.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6QwoGTCJsk

    Sweetener slightly recalls her earlier albums, back where she was not too concerned with landing chart toppers and focusing more on delivering joyful, grin-inducing pop and R&B songs.

    Still unafraid to use art and visuals for getting her point across, the marketing for the album, including its lead single, “No Tears Left to Cry,” and the album cover itself, often displayed Grande and words as being literally upside down. This was a subtle commentary on how Grande’s personal life and career spiraled aimlessly for a while, in the aftermath of the May 2017 concert bombing.

    But with Grande’s determination to not be swayed away by negativity and danger, she bravely set out a new course for herself, making this light-sounding album sound less like a scared murmur for pity but more like a stance of defiance.

    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.

  • The X takes to The Net: Popular radio program returns to the area as RadioRadioX.com

    Art Fredette, of RadioRadioX.com, is banking on the belief listeners will turn on and tune in to his newly launched internet radio station. It’s a continuation of the “X” brand that disappeared when 106.1 WAIX-FM dropped off the air in May. Fredette was both a sales representative and program director for the station.

    Internet radio is far from a new concept, but it’s growing. NetRadio is credited with the concept of web-based audio when it started broadcasting back in 1995. That’s when a network of four different formats out of Eden Prairie, Minnesota took to the “world wide web” through the program RealAudio. With most audiences consuming data at 56 kilobits per second, reception was spotty. Compared with today’s tech, the sound quality left something to be desired after overcoming several minutes of buffering.

    Flash forward 20 years, Forbes proclaimed the medium as the next marketing boon with the screaming headline, “Why Internet Radio is The Biggest Advertising Opportunity of The Future.” By now, audio streaming services like Spotify have had the largest influence upon the music industry since college kids pirated Limp Bizkit songs off Napster. The ubiquitous presence of iPods have stepped aside to smartphones, unlimited data packages and bluetooth. Auto manufacturers don’t roll out cars with CD players anymore, because everyone streams music.

    According to a Pew Research Center survey, nearly half of Americans (44 percent) listen to internet radio in a car through their phone.

    Now, as we sit inside his Waterford studio, he continues to wear multiple hats to jump start his new station.

    “You are literally looking at the entire staff,” he said.

    That will soon change.

    For listeners of “The X,” the musical content will be familiar, deep cuts and B-sides intermingled with familiar tracks. There will be an emphasis on local music, too. Ralph Renna and Jim Barrett will return to the airwaves, each with their respective shows, “Shuffle” and “Kaleidoscope.”

    When The X was taken off the air in May, people responded. The station’s social media channels were bombarded with angry listeners who wanted it back on the air.

    “Everything was taking off, and then it was all taken away,” said Renna. “Artie asked me to bring [Shuffle] back, and I volunteered.” Renna will return as an on-air personality in the coming weeks.

    It’s a Collar City contingent among the three personalities, so far. Barrett’s radio show had a 50-year run before WAIX went off the air. Outside the show, he runs The Beat Shop record store on Troy’s River Street. Renna has long been advocate for Troy’s heavy metal scene in addition to acting as the frontman for Let Go Daylight and The Otherside.

    The station is on the air now as it continues to develop. Renna said he’s confident in the direction this new station is heading, without corporate interference. “We’re just doing it our way — Artie’s way,” said Renna. “All the songs are great. I’m into it and I’m also getting educated on songs I’ve never heard before.”

    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.

  • 518 Songfest at The Egg provides special moments shared between musicians and fans

    518 Songfest at The Egg proved to be an intimate experience between songwriters, performers and fans throughout the night on Friday, May 18. Some of the best stories, however, happened prior to the show.

    Below, we’ve captured the evening through vignettes under each artist.

    Sydney Worthley

    Michael Worthley looks with a smile on his face as Rose Gabriel puts the finishing touches upon the merchandise table. It’s two hours before 518 Songfest at The Egg, and everyone is getting ready. She just placed battery-operated tea light candles in each of several miniature lanterns.

    518 songfest

    “It’s looking good,” he said, with the sound of appreciation in his voice.

    She looks up with a smile on her face and shares how someone already asked how much the lanterns were going for.

    “Priceless,” she said.

    Rose and her husband Andrew Gabriel make it their jobs to make his daughter, Sydney, look good. The owners of Ambassador Music Group have been doing just that since Sydney dropped her debut album last September.

    Michael shakes his head when asked how things are going. He and his wife, Shauna, are sports parents. They’re accustomed to corralling the kids and traveling long hours on the road for their son’s hockey games in Buffalo or in Plattsburgh. Sydney’s burgeoning music career has added another wrinkle to that lifestyle. The two parents helped convince their son to put a hold on hockey. He’s since transitioned to soccer. The family just recently returned from Ohio, where the Gabriels hoped to persuade one of the largest radio stations in the Midwest for more airplay by offering facetime and an interview. Michael shows off a few pictures from when the family stole away a few hours to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

    The local music scene has looked at Sydney and asked two common questions; The first is, “Who is this?,” once asked in a disconcerting tone. Here was this local girl with a 14-track CD with a high-polish shine. It made no sense until you popped it into a player and listened. Then, the following question,“Where’d she come from?” would follow with surprise.

    “We thought Tulip Fest was big,” said Michael, at which Sydney played only last May. Next month she’ll be at Mountain Jam. She’ll play at one of the largest festivals in the Northeast, on the same playbill as Grammy Award-winning artists Sturgill Simpson, The War on Drugs and Portugal. The Man.

    Nonetheless, Michael said, she hasn’t developed an ego. Her softball teammates have nicknamed her “Famous.” But, he said, there’s still plenty of her classmates who don’t know who she is.

    518 songfestJulie Gold

    Julie Gold listens attentively while seated in the auditorium with her companion as Super 400 conducts its sound check on stage. Despite attending the show as the night’s special guest, the Grammy Award-winning artist sits unassuming while attendees prepare the theater.

    Gold is from Pennsylvania and lives in New York City. In this one-day festival focused on showcasing music from the 518 area code, the commonality she shares with the region is her proximity to the Hudson River.

    “I love this piano,” she exclaimed during her own sound check. “I could play it forever, but The Egg would kick me out.”

    The river served as inspiration for her song, “Love Is Love Is Love.” Later in the evening, while introducing the song to the Songfest crowd, she shared her fascination with the river.

    Each morning, at 9 a.m., Gold would call and speak with her mother while walking along the banks of the Hudson River in New York. Gold’s mother immigrated to America and processed at Liberty Island in 1930. She was a part of what she called the “great generation” of people who left their homeland for a better life for their children. As she watched the river roll past, Gold said she imagined that some of that same water helped bring her mother to America.

    Gold fell in love with music while watching The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show when she was 8 years old. Her first piece of music was a 45 of Petula Clark’s “Downtown.” Within its dust cover was the mystery behind finding who “T. Hatch” was. Gold approached her mother, only to learn that there was such a thing as a songwriter. “Before that moment, I thought songs were always there,” she said. Tony Hatch, the songwriter behind the words to “Downtown,” was “one of the lucky ones” to create them.

    When it looked like music would be in Gold’s life, her mother didn’t stand in the way. She was open to all sorts of music. In their home, rock and roll was not the “Devil’s Music,” she said. When Gold introduced friends to her mother, with music ever-present in her life, she would always ask what instrument they played. On those morning phone calls — despite her clockwork-like frequency — Gold’s mother would answer, “Oh, Jules! I was hoping it was you.” Last year, on the last day of summer, Gold’s mother died. She said it was the most appropriate time for who she called the “most beautiful of people.”

    “Everyday, for all those years, I had her in my life. Until just recently.”

    518 songfestSuper 400

    After more than 20 years of establishing a reputation as a hard-rocking trio, Super 400 prepared itself for a rare acoustic set.

    Guitarist Kenny Hohman said he didn’t like playing acoustic guitar, and stayed away from it all together until he and his wife, the band’s bassist Lori Friday, started the Troy Music Academy nearly seven years ago. The school was created out of necessity. Friday sustained serious injuries to her neck, back and kidney after a car accident. Hohman said he learned to appreciate playing acoustically while teaching people the guitar.

    Hohman, Friday and the band’s drummer Joe Daley sat inside the auditorium to talk about catching a quick dinner before the show when Julie Gold interrupted.

    Gold was listening in on the sound check and wanted to compliment each of them on their musicianship. Before long, a genuine moment of musicians bonding over their craft ensued. Hohman immediately complimented Gold on her “radiating positivity” and the two hugged.

    Musicians have a natural curiosity to learn how another started in music.

    Check out a full gallery courtesy of The Spot 518.

    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.

  • 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.

  • Lera Lynn has fun showing fans she’s not as gloomy as you think she is

    Fans of HBO’s “True Detective” know Lera Lynn. Kinda.

    Fans will discover just how much they really do know about Lynn when she performs at the Massry Center for the Arts on Friday, Feb. 2.

    Lynn played the sulking singer in the dive bar frequented by Colin Farrell’s and Vince Vaughn’s characters. Her music, such as the single “The Only Thing Worth Fighting For,” set the tone of a gut-wrenchingly somber television experience.She earned the opportunity to write and appear on the show after producer T Bone Burnett heard her cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” To separate herself from legions of musicians who preceded her, she said she tweaked the tune by playing it with a melancholic minor key. It was just the sound Burnett wanted to capture for the show’s second season.

    Nearly four years later, people aware of her acting career, and less so of her musical career, still see her as the brooding bar singer from the show.

    “Following the show, a lot of people expected that the girl — that character — I was playing was me,” said Lynn. “It’s interesting to try to bridge the gap between a character who people perceive to be as me, and me.”

    Lynn’s Americana sound is defined by her sultry voice and a succinct narrative. Lynn’s 2016 release, “Resistor” drew comparisons to Gillian Welch, Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, Margo Timmins and Norah Jones. It was an album she started writing while on set. To offset the gloom from the show, she said she poured a glass of wine and popped in a Pink Floyd CD. The result was the upbeat track “Shape Shifter.”

    “‘Resistor’ was a challenge,” said Lynn. “Because, I am a happy person, and I like to have fun! I like to dance, and I like to headbang, and I like to play a really loud electric guitar! I want those things to come through in my music, too.”

    “Resistor” was that bridge for Lynn and the fans who found her through the television series. There was a touch of the melancholy with a splash of the whimsy, such as the surf-noir track “Drive.” The play of her fuzzy guitar helps draw some fun from the surf rock genre local fans would recognize by Troy natives, and now Nashville residents, The Los Straitjackets.

    Lynn has already caught a big wave in 2018. She was named guest judge for the ongoing American Songwriter’s 2018 Lyric Contest alongside Charlie Worsham and Peter Bradley Adams.

    Two years removed from “Resistor,” Lynn said she has two albums worth of song material. A few of them she plans to play before audiences. Currently, she’s on a brief tour that will take her into New York City followed by Northampton, Mass; Albany and Vienna, Va. She hopes to have a new album out by this summer.

    Lynn’s writing process has changed over the years. Despite her gift for prose, she hates the process. Whereas her younger-self would sit down, write and be happy; she said she continuously works on each draft to strengthen her weaknesses. It’s a “squirmy” act she said she enjoys once it is done.

    “As you progress in songwriting… you learn to revise,” said Lynn, “and revise, and revise. Try to strengthen and outdo yourself. Learn to identify the weaknesses… I’m trying to hone, always.” Later this winter she will headline a show at Celtic Connections and perform overseas in a television tribute to one her favorites, Tom Petty. Petty, too, is said to have struggled through the writing of his songs. But, the finished work, Lynn said, “no one did that better.”

    “I think my whole life I’ve been searching for a way to write something that is succinct and poetic,” said Lynn. “Something that is commercial and artful. Something that people can understand on the first listen, but also has layers beneath for people to dig into.”

    This article was originally published by The Spot 518.