This Saturday night, at the Capitol Theatre, bluegrass diehards and fans of live music, in general, will come together to celebrate a true musical luminary, the one and only Del McCoury. The Port Chester rock palace will host the Del McCoury Band for an eightieth birthday celebration that will feature special guests like David Grisman, The Infamous Stringdusters, Andy Falco, Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman, and more.
A groundbreaking and genre-defining flatpicking guitar master with one of the most recognizable voices in the history of bluegrass, McCoury has done it all—left an impression on them all. From his many years fronting the Del McCoury Band, to his time sharing the stage with other bluegrass giants like Bill Monroe, John Hartford, and more, the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter has had quite the looming career. In our excitement for the show Saturday night, we’re revisiting some of our favorite live moments from the man’s career.
Del McCoury + Bill Monroe: Two Days At Newport
Bill and Monroe and Del McCoury are like the Socrates and Plato of American bluegrass history— teacher and pupil contemporaries and often compared masters of the craft. In the formative days of his career, McCoury came up as a member of Monroe’s band along with other giants like Bill Keith, Kenny Baker, and more. Two years before Newport Folk Festival exploded in infamy after Bob Dylan’s electric set, the group recorded this still-lauded live album.
Del McCoury + David Grisman: FreshGrass Festival 2017
It wouldn’t be a proper tribute to Del if legendary mandolinist David Grisman weren’t on the scene. For the past several years, Grisman and McCoury have toured regularly as Del and Dawg, presenting an intimate style, anecdote-rich, two-man show that is just so special. Watch the two put the charm on FreshGrass Festival back in 2017.
Del McCoury + Preservation Hall Jazz Band: The David Letterman Show
Back in 2011, The Del McCoury Band and Preservation Hall Jazz Band linked up to record an entire album together and perform a great cross country tour in support of the album. Legends of different styles of American roots music came together in a beautiful, and musically hot, way. Watch the two amazing bands light up Letterman in this awesome video here.
Del McCoury + Friends: Winterhawk AllStar Jam 1996
While Colorado has always had Telluride, New York has had Winterhawk, a historic weekend event started in 1984 that continues to run every year and that has seen performances from just about every bluegrass player ever. McCoury has graced Winterhawk, which is now known as Grey Fox, with his presence many times. Check out this clip from 1996 which has McCoury picking alongside titans like John Hartford and Vassar Clements, but also some younger talent like Jerry Douglas and members of the Del McCoury Band.
Del + Trey Anastasio Band: DelFest 2017
We don’t have to say much about this one—the smiles between Del and Phish frontman Trey Anastasio say it all. This fan-shot clip shows the pair at McCoury’s self-hosted event DelFest in 2017, and it’s actually not the first time by any stretch that these guitar gods have performed together.
Del McCoury Band: NPR Tiny Desk Performance
The appeal of NPR’s TinyDesk video series comes in showcasing historically influential and generally mega-popular artists in their intimate, academic-like setting, and it’s no wonder that the Del McCoury Band got their time to shine there last year. The band’s three-song set opens up with a great take on “That Ol’ Train.”
Del McCoury Band + Chris Thile: Live From Here
Another great honor awarded to McCoury and his band over the past year was to be featured as guest performers on Chris Thile’s “Live From Here” events. Now, if you know bluegrass, you definitely know Del. But if you know bluegrass you probably also know Chris Thile, arguably one of the most masterful mandolin players in the world currently. Listen to these guys rip up “Baltimore Johnny” at the one and only Ryman Auditorium from last April.
Del McCoury Band + Billy Strings: GreyFox Bluegrass Festival 2019
In 2019, Del McCoury sounds as fresh as ever, not only continuing to tour and write new music but making sure to pass the torch on to the next generation of greats. That’s right, it was only a matter of time before Del and the young gun Billy Strings found themselves on stage next to one another, which is a number of times by now. Del and Billy crooning together in this clip from Grey Fox this past summer is a thing of honorable beauty.
Denver, Colorado psychedelic jam-trio Cycles are making their way through the northeast this week, performing a series of shows throughout New York state as part of an extensive 2019 fall tour. Last night, the band played at Buffalo Iron Works, with Colorado’s The Magic Beans and Connecticut’s Eggy, for a commemorative night celebrating the venue’s tenth anniversary. This past Wednesday, Cycles sat down for an interview with NYS Music in Brooklyn, NY, just before performing a set at famed music club The Knitting Factory.
This was a first time appearance for the trio’s drummer Collin O’Brien, not only at the venue, but in Manhattan altogether. “I haven’t been to New York in like fourteen years,” he told NYS Music. “I’ve been freaking out walking around all day.”
It was a return, however, for the band’s guitarist Patrick Harvey and bassist Tucker McClung, whom have performed as Cycles in NYC before. “We’ve played New York a few times,” said McClung. “There was Brooklyn Bowl, and then we played at American Beauty once, for a Phish after party. That was really fun.”
“There’s a really sick jam from that [Phish] show,” said Harvey.
Sick jams were definitely in full supply for their The Knitting Factory show, which saw the band deliver a full range of musical styles, from jazz to funky-metal to soulful rock, across a dizzying set of songs that were all linked together via impeccable technical abilities.
While new to the city, O’Brien is also a relatively new addition to Cycles, at least as a full time member. The Chicago-born drummer moved to the band’s home base of Denver earlier this year and jumped on board with the band just in time for huge gigs like Arise Music Festival, Peach Music Festival, and Resonance Music Festival just last weekend. “I love it,” he said. “This has been the best summer of my life.”
He certainly fits into Cycles’ live musical experiment, with constantly shifting drumbeats and tempos thrown up against barrages of shrieking guitar solos from Harvey and slap-happy bass rips from McClung. As a unit, the band navigates an amazing balance between improvisational spontaneity and technical precision, and the results fuse together unique, often even quirky, song material with a sustained sense of freewheeling whimsy. A sense that, musically, anything could happen at any moment.
In their Knitting Factory show, they showed this resolutely. Some songs bled out into super spacey, affecting moments of trippy space rock. Other moments saw battles for highest intensity between chromatic guitar picking and dramatic drums fills—sometimes while McClung was balancing his bass on one finger like a vaudeville performer. At one awesome point in the set, Harvey broke from a melodic guitar solo to incorporate audio samples of an eighties’ sounding, glam rock tune into a hard-driving metal-funk jam from bass and drums. Does that sound odd? Absolutely. It is exhilarating and actually pretty groovy.
“I think when we first started, it used to be challenging to make it sound really full,” commenting on the three-piece driving force behind such heavily improvisational shows night after night. “But now, it just feels like I get to do whatever I want all the time. We’ve been playing together so much over the past three years, I feel like we all know where to get in and fill space, or where to leave space.”
Tucker McClung, Bass.
“Yeah, there is a lot of freedom in not having a lot of people on stage,” said O’Brien. “It’s easier to communicate ideas more instantaneously.” This sense of freedom is what gives the band the inspiration to perform a live musical game show next month, at Denver’s Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom (where they will actually have many people on stage).
Tucker broke the concept down to NYS: “It’ll be one set of us performing as Cycles, but we’ll open up the night with a set of this game show. It’s going to be a super interactive experience. We might have as many as 30 to 40 people coming up intermittently and participating in the show, and we’ll be the host band for this Johnny Carson mixed with Wheel of Fortune kind of experience.”
“And,” added Harvey, “we have a game show host who is the freakin’ man! Dennis Craig. Definitely the best host any game show could ask for.”
“It’ll be a healthy amount of uncertainty,” said O’Brien. “Stuff will go wrong in the best possible way.”
Cycles Guitarist Patrick Harvey. Photo: Miles Hurley
The rest of Cycles’ schedule coming ahead has them linking up with jam scene contemporaries like The Magic Beans, Sunsquabi, and others. The trio looks forward to a huge hometown show in December: a debut at Denver’s The Fillmore Auditorium opening up for Umphrey’s McGee.
“I used to see them all over the place when I lived in Chicago,” said O’Brien. “They’re so nice. They’re just some normal guys that are like really, really freaking talented.” McClung, meanwhile, talked about seeing the six-piece staple act for the first time at this year’s Resonance Music Fest. “Yeah, they did an acoustic set which was pretty awesome. I was getting really pumped watching it.”
This week, catch Cycles as they finish their New York stretch with a show tonight at Syracuse’s The Westcott Theatre, followed by shows next week at Olive’s in Nyack and at The Hollow in Albany. While this season of touring seems to continue a road-tested sense of hardcore gigging for the band, they show no sign of slowing down, an instead an invigorated and grateful attitude for the experience.
When you’re as blessed to be doing what we’re doing, it’s foolish to be agitated at the world. Because you have this awesome opportunity to rock out. There’s nothing better than this. If there was something better than this, I’d be doing it.
Patrick Harvey, Guitar.
For more information about the band, their music, and their upcoming shows, head to their website.
The two-day music and arts event, Adirondack Music Festival, returned to Lake George this past weekend for its fifth year in a row. Held once again on the serene LG section that is Charles R. Park, this year’s ADK Fest felt like the most well-received and celebrated yet, as many attendees seemed to vocally attest. If you were in attendance this weekend, you most likely at some point overheard someone discovering the festival for its special charm. Something along the lines of: “I can’t believe how nice this festival this is” and “Well, I am definitely coming back next year.”
As with every year since its start, ADK Fest opted for a classic setup with two main stages of music, set side by side—the style adopted by big-time events like Gathering of the Vibes and the first few years of LOCKN’. This format, which has bands perform back to back without delays, kept the energy on the field, and white hot, from early morning through sunset, as well as kept collective excitement packed into one shifting, intimate crowd.
A number of recently highly popular musical acts made their debut at ADK Fest. Midnight North, for starters, features members of The Terrapin Family Band and have been a hot ticket over the last year or so. Dead-relation aisde, Midnight North is its own beautiful creation, an americana powerhouse of band that displays a strong breadth of songwriting through dynamic, soulful musicianship. Members of this band were well connected within this music scene from the west coast and sat-in with many other artists as well.
Other buzz-generating artists performing at ADK for the first time ever were artists like The People’s Blues of Richmond, Marco Benevento, and G. Love and Special Sauce. People’s Blues, PBR for short, surely must have unexpectedly knocked a number of ADK patrons out of their musical comfort zone with their fearlessly-intense style of garage-punk blues. But the trio’s ceaseless, air-tight musicianship won many fans over as well. Marco Benevento’s own power-trio took the main stage just a few hours after them and wielded their own no-holds-barred mash of indie-pop, funk, and glam rock.
It felt strange to see G. Love perform a midday set at three in the afternoon -here was an artist, after all, that surfed high through the 2000’s on a number of big hits, but he was a highly received set nonetheless. In addition to a solo acoustic intro, the guitarist and hip-hop-inspired vocalist careened the edge of the stage above a swath of outward hands and starry-eyed expressions. G. Love’s collaboration with Twiddle frontman, Mihali Savoulidis, saw the two trading vocals for guitar riffs on a version of Hall and Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That,” which was much better than the “What I Got” that happened between the two in Twiddle’s headlining show later.
ADK Fest Day 1: G. Love and Mihali cover Hall and Oates. Photo: James Sullivan
Yet the four man dance-ready jamband, Twiddle, still performed a huge couple of sets to close out Saturday evening, to an elated audience that swamped the park’s concert area all the way to the vendors in the back. Highlights of their two closing sets were a guitar-shredding collaboration with Midnight North frontman, Graham Lesh, on their original “Subconcious Prelude” and then the foursome’s searing finish on “The Box.”
Another artist who met the crowd with a freewheeling sense of stage presence was the northeast jam scene’s golden girl, Hayley Jane. Fronting her band, The Primates, for a midday Sunday set, Jane sang face-to-face with a rail-climbing mass of highly excited young women. Hayley and The Primates as a unit announced their decision earlier this year to go on hiatus. This set at ADK Fest was undoubtedly an emotional one for many, despite the fact that Hayley, in her true style, beamed with smiles and soul through her own set. The joy transcended others that she guested on stage such as with polyrhythmic dub-rock band, Bartika, and then Jane sat in with Everyone Orchestra’s set a bit, after her own.
In a very special move, Adirondack Music Festival booked an Everyone Orchestra set for its day two second-to-headlining spot. EO shows are, of course, completely improvisational from start to finish and are always performed by a mix of artists from different bands. Lake George’s set was pretty substantially stacked for its members. Solo artists Haley Jane and Ryan Montbleau handled lead vocals (with the latter also offering some nice guitar solos here and there), while Deep Banana Blackout’s, Fuzz Giovanni, handled lead guitar work.
Saxaphone legend Sam Kinninger was a secret weapon here, shining up the band’s various types of funk and rock jams with amazing melodic work. Kinniger and the rest played beside a hefty rhythm section that included moe.’s Vinnie Amico on drums, TAB’s Tony Markelis on bass and Steve Moltiz on keys. Highlights here were a belly-laugh inducing, reggae-tinged sing-along about golf pirates. Super creative vocals led by Ryan Montbleau followed with an extremely moving, soul inspired jam which Everyone Orchestra impresario, Matt Butler, built a vocal tribute to the recently passed Neal Casal.
ADK Fest Day 2: Everyone Orchestra Pays Tribute to the late Neal Casal. PC: Miles Hurley
While some roll their eyes at cover bands, Pink Talking Fish works extra hard and thinks creatively to stand out from the ever-growing pack. The quartet began their set with a great surprise in The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” which Phish has covered on rare occasion. In a climax to their set, PTF reprised a bit of the magic from their Junta album extravaganza at The Capitol Theatre earlier this year, which had Pigeons Playing Ping Pong’s Greg Ormont act as Master of Ceremonies. Here at ADK Fest, PTF began with a beautiful segue-sandwich from “You Enjoy Myself” to Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and back. Upon returning to the Phish hit, Ormont joined the band mid-song, to first engage in some trampoline-style jumping with bassist, Eric Gould, and new guitarist Cal Kehoe. They finished with a very kooky vocal jam.
It was another strong move to have Pigeons Playing Ping Pong return to close the festival Sunday evening, just as they did last year. These four jam-funk players having seen a truly meteoric rise recently (they will be headlining Explore Asheville this coming December). A few highlights for their near-explosive set included an electronically charged collaboration with Steve Moltiz on their own tune, “Live it Up,” and a very colorful jam on Deee-Lite’s “Groove Is In The Heart.”
Major music events in Lake George, NY like Adirondack Music Fest often share in a little community-favorited crown jewel—a post festivities top-off at local music hub, King Neptune’s Pub. Being a time-tested spot for upstate bands to play, King Neptune’s always sees great crowds, but then really turns out when late night performances go down.
For Saturday night’s musical extend, nearby favorites, Funktional Flow from Buffalo, and New Haven, CT’s, Eggy, offered a proper finish to a full first day of music. Eggy, coming from the fertile music scene in New Haven, made a grand introduction for themselves in this venue, and they rocked the opportunity big time. The groove rock four-piece blasted their way through intense versions of originals like “Shadow” and “One More Dance,” along with improvisationally-heavy takes on covers like Traffic’s “Low-Spark of High-Heeled Boys.” For a set-topper, Eggy invited Midnight North keyboardist, Alex Jordan, for a blissful and high-powered take on the band’s “Buying Time.”
ADK Fest Day 1: Eggy rocks late night w/ Special Guest Alex Jordan. PC: Miles Hurley
While night one’s crowd was impressive, festival buzz Sunday afternoon must have spread like wildfire to make late night two’s crowd even more massive and energetic, for Neptune’s at the tail end of the weekend was nearly flooding out the door. After Sunday night’s originally scheduled openers, psychedelic funk outfit The New Motif, had to cancel their slot and the evening switched around to second act, Annie In The Water, opening before a festival-family superjam close out.
Annie in The Water thus kicked off with a very uplifting display of original music, with some cover hits thrown in for good measure. A presentation of styles ranging all the way from folk rock to reggae to even some hip-hop was connected via strong, confident solos and endearing vocals. Members of Lucid, Magic Beans, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong coalesced into one family-type super jam set, for a final set at Adirondack Music Festival, that seemed to represent everything this dynamic music scene is about. At one point in this performance free-for-all, three keyboardists—Magic Beans’ Scott Hatchey, former Formula 5’s Matt Richards, and PTF’s Richard James—hammered away on one rig at the same time, for a spectacle that was also technically impressive.
As with any festival, there’s more musical experiences than can be reported on. From piano wizard Marco Benevento and his trio debuting material from their new record (Let it Slide), to upstate jam favorites Lucid commanding the main stage mid-Saturday as they do with fervor every year, ADK Fest’s fifth year was artistically overflowing. All of this top-notch live music was met resolutely throughout the weekend with a positive and welcoming vibe, upheld via a sense of strong community and creativity. For mid-size festivals Adirondack Music Festival is one of the best you can experience in the ever-musically-fertile land of upstate NY—yet here’s to a steady growth from mid-size to who knows how big.
Check out a gallery of images of Adirondack Music Festival 2019 below, courtesy of photographer James Sullivan.
“Something that won’t necessarily be discussed today, just because we don’t have enough time, is how to do all of this outreach. How do you send that e-mail? How much is not enough, or too much and too annoying? But we should have this discussion, either in a separate function or one-on-one, and you can come talk to me. Because I want this region to do well; there is too much talent here.” Joel Feinberg, CEO of DeWolfe Music, said this at at the end of an engaging panel discussion titled Licensing Update: Moving Beyond Commercials at the inaugural Hudson Valley Music Summit, held August 9 in Kingston, NY.
Feinberg, who calls New Paltz, NY home, is certainly right: The Hudson Valley comprises the section of New York reaching from Upstate to the the edges of the big city itself. And while that’s a vast stretch, it’s a strongly connected one, with many fast-growing musical and artistic performance scenes burgeoning within them. Representing this area and its continually multiplying numbers of talented, independent artists in the context of the music industry is an important and noteworthy, albeit long term, cause.
That’s where the Hudson Valley Music Summit comes in, the single day event planned and organized for as long as over a year by author and independent musician David Hoffman.
Beginning bright and early at 9 A.M. and lasting through a more informal, live music event at Kingston’s BSP lounge, the Summit was a chance for local artists and music career professionals to both connect with highly successful and renowned members of the industry and learn trade secrets from them. Across a series of panel discussions, hosted by a moderator and joined by a small handful of talking heads, the summit’s aim was to demystify the often intersecting, co-dependent niches of the music industry, and offer insight into the many diverse ways to achieve financial, creative, entrepreneurial success within it.
In that Licensing panel, for starters, Feinberg along with a handful of others, like panel moderator Sharon Tapper, CEO of Pivot Music Group, answered questions about the myths, misunderstandings, and gems of truth about getting one’s content into the hands of publicists, label executives and more. When discussing writing music for commercial, “Upbeat always beats depressed in the numbers,” was just one insight of many upon which the panel unanimously agreed.
In a panel titled Conceiving a Coherent Image for a Strong Merchandising Strategy, Mara Frankel, Senior Directive Creator of Atlantic Records led a very intriguing conversation on artists’ best approach to visual mediums and making them work for their brand. At one point during this session, John Warner, owner of Hi-Line Merchandising, held up Keller Williams’ newest album, Add, to the crowd and succinctly explained its direct yet effective use of a single title single image to communicate the one-man-jamband’s thematic intention.
Some of the day was less study session and more nifty. One of the day’s highlights, for instance, was a lunch hour overseen by an intimate discussion between Relix Editor-in-Chief Dean Budnick and Capitol Theatre owner Peter Shapiro. Budnick pressed Shapiro for details on the recent success of The Cap, Port Chester’s renowned rock music venue, along with tidbits about its sister venues The Brooklyn Bowl and the now-defunct, yet ever famous, Wetlands Preserve.
One of the more intriguing questions asked of Shapiro concerned how bands might able to transition from playing one size venue to a larger one, to which he offered: “Keep in touch with bookers, and let them know where you’ve played. Also be open to opening, tell bands and bookers you can bring this many people to their show. Go crush Garcia’s and you’ll probably get a phone call from us.”
And, in response to a question from the crowd asking, “Why staff at The Capitol Theatre love Shapiro so much?” which is something you don’t see too much,” Budnick actually answered for Shapiro, giving an answer that seemed to fit. “It’s because he’s there, at the shows. He’s down in it, just like any fan watching a show, and I think that’s what anyone should aspire to.”
In a special panel that closed out the day, Manager’s Roundtable, the Summit gathered together the managers of The Wood Brothers, Wilco’s Nels Cline and others to paint a picture of a day in their life. The four members and moderator Linda Lorence-Critelli (president of the New York chapter of the GRAMMYs) all agreed firmly upon a simple yet paramount idea, one that seemed to sum up the entire day. In response to an audience member’s question about how to make get inside a manager’s door and establish a connection, they said, “It comes from relationships.” Hard Head Management founder and wife of Warren Haynes, Stephanie Scamardo, went on to describe how she recently also became manager of rock sensation The Revivalists, noting that it stemmed from a friendly conversation that led to a lunch date, and then ultimately a strong partnership.
Hopefully, that’s what the collection of local musicians, marketers, content producers and more found in attending the Hudson Valley Music Summit: the chance to connect with an industry leader or two, learn a thing or two, and possibly even offer services to one another or vice versa.
On Friday, July 12, Upstate NY celebrated a final farewell performance from one of the area’s most beloved jam acts,Formula 5. The groove-rock foursome, for their final show, were headlining the third annual Rock The Dock Music Festival in Lake George, NY. Formula 5 had announced their intention to go on an indefinite hiatus earlier this year with plans to to finish out a select handful of live performances, the last of which was their main stage set at Rock The Dock, the one-day music event which they have hosted for the past two years.
On this third time around, Rock The Dock saw a beautiful day of weather and an impressive turnout of festival patrons who flocked to a corner of Lake George to see an intimate list of popular music acts. Other acts on the festival main stage for the day were the funk dance band West End Blend, singer-songwriter Mike Powell, Saratoga Springs’ JT Maple, along with Americana rock outfit Eastbound Jesus and the Colorado-based jam quartet Magic Beans. And, of course, after all of these acts, Formula 5 closed the stage out, performing a highly lauded, headlining set of music.
Adding to its serene views and amiable atmosphere, Rock The Dock equipped itself with an impressively nice sound. Patrons could sit atop the second or third deck of the massive steamboats —three of them boxed in the concert area in grand fashion—and enjoy the music as if they were riding the front row. In between sets, patrons could meander to close by vendors and be serenaded by the music of both JT Maple and Mike Powell.
Magic Beans, one of Colorado’s most promising jamband acts in recent times, were on deck taking the stage just before Formula 5’s send off. And they played a short but strong hour-long set that really managed to warm up the energy of Rock The Dock properly. Towards the end of their set, Beans’ steady, focused approach to uplifting trance funk had hit the crowd right way and had the concert area flush with dancers and smilers. At the apex of this great set, Magic Beans delivered a uniquely slow version of Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime.”
Formula 5 then took their time that evening to put on a proper close to a more than respectable seven year career of touring and recording. Those seven years saw a few different iterations of the band (every member of which was present this evening) craft and refine a highly popular, unique improvisational sound and live experience.
That live experience came out in full force for one last time at Rock The Dock, with the band—in it’s most recent lineup of keyboardist Matt Richards, bassist James Woods, drummer Greg Marek, and guitarist Joe Davis—sounding off to hundreds of their most dedicated fans and family in true, larger-than-life style. The way they performed for this ending display, the band might as well as have been in front of thousands of people, let alone several hundred. It came with perhaps a bit of irony that this last set from Formula 5 was as musically thrilling as some of the best they had ever done. By the last of the exasperated yet tenaciously sung notes from lead Joe Davis on the night’s encore “Breaking Glass,” it didn’t seem right that such a great display was the end instead of being the beginning of a new chapter.
But here at Rock The Dock there was no crazy setlist, no stage antics or tricks. Formula 5 simply offered an extremely well-executed, instrumentally colorful and comfortable display of original jams. A mighty “In The Sand” strapped Formula fans into a familiar rocket, and catapulted them towards the psychedelic reaches of high-energy space funk that this band had always demonstrated they could navigate better than most others playing today.
By the time the band transitioned energetically into “Come Along,” the dock was rife with glee. Whether people were realizing or not that this was in fact Formula 5’s final show, for a moment, that didn’t seem to be clear. People were just happy, and they moved in colorful motion to the quartet’s shifting tempos and amazing collection of weird, wild rock sounds.
One of those sounds was the familiar and super heady keyboard intro from Matt Richards to the band’s “Sad Bed.” If anyone thought “In The Sand” would be the highlight point, they might have been subverted by this tune which was played even more ambitiously than the mega jam before it. Across the last couple of years, since the career-making release of their record All Points North, “Sad Bed” has been one of Formula 5’s most creative and transcendent vehicles for improvisation, stretching out on many live occasions past twenty-five or even thirty minutes in length. This farewell show at Rock The Dock boasted a “Sad Bed” to end all “Sad Beds,” a masterfully groovy, last improvisational exercise for the band. In this inspired performance, Formula 5 sounded like a synthesis between all of their influences, fusing together the cosmic ’70s feel of Parliament Funkadelic, the raunchy grit of Widespread Panic, and the artistic unexpectedness of The Grateful Dead.
Even “Trout Waters Pt. 1 & 2,” which the band often in past shows would split up as segue points between other songs, was kept together in one long delivery and went near ballistic. Drummer Greg Marek, who was completely in the zone in this moment, deserves credit for helping to launch this one into a fantastic, power-rocking jam.
Through the entirety of this fully loaded yet all-too-quick two hours, the band was all smiles, with all four members beaming at one another at every musical change or, at times it seemed, just because they were so into it. Here, in the last show, they were having fun, and perhaps that’s what counts most. The crowd was certainly more than appreciative, matching the band’s amazing gusto step for step through to the end. When the band had returned to a deafening encore chant, Marek took to the microphone and said a few words that must have eased at least a few minds. “I don’t see why there’s any reason we can’t do this again next year.”
Swimmer continued the party for Rock The Dock at Lake George’s King Neptune’s Pub and the beach bar’s crowd eventually swelled to a cool gathering of festival attendees and turned the local hub into a sizzling last bit of dancing fun. Formula 5’s members, when they weren’t on stage making their last sentimental statements of the evening, were among the late night crowd, having a much deserved beer and mingling with fans and friendsSwimmer, this instrumentally intense yet often very melodically pleasing quartet, ripped up the last few hours of the festival between confident guitar shreds, jamtronic-tinged bass and drum lines, and even some moments of soulful saxaphone work thrown in. At the very least, this band that hails from the still musically fecund hotspot of Burlington, VT showed that while some of our favorites now and then have to call it quits, the music is always being carried on strongly by still younger and continually impressive artists.
Formula 5 Setlist: Friday July 12, Rock The Dock Music Festival
Set 1: Earthbound Tim > Booher’s Pass, Pedro -> In the Sand > Come Along, Trout Waters Pt 1 & 2, Sad Bed > Gettin Tough Again
Blues Traveler, moe. and G. Love all have a long history of sharing the stage together, with the most recent of course being this past spring when Traveler’s John Popper joined moe. at The Beacon Theatre. To hype ourselves up for what should surely be a memorable summer ahead, we’re looking back to a few older collaboration moe.ments.
Coming off hot from a big weekend at their inaugural self-hosted festival moe.down, moe. will be jumping right into their 2019 summer tour with no rest. As fans already know, the All Roads Runaround Tour will see moe. join musical friends, Blues Traveler, for its entirety, as well as special guest, G. Love and Special Sauce, for a number of shows.
The Electric Factory 2002:
Since Blues Traveler and moe. will be playing a collaboration set each show this summer, first up on this list is a whole set of moe. and John Popper jams from 2002! At a famous show at The Electric Factory, the buffalo jamband invited Popper to throw down on the entire second set, and the harmonica wizard lent his chops to one big song after the next, like Buster, Rebubula, AND Recreational Chemistry. Listen to this show here!
Bonnaroo 2003:
Nothing fits the feeling of summertime outside quite like a big, rolling “Bring It Back Home” from moe. Right after a nice Father’s Day message from Chuck Garvey, John Popper gives this fun version some sharp harp shredding.
Summercamp 2008:
John Popper isn’t the only one to have shredded some harmonica in a moe. set! Back in 2008, at the eighth annual Summercamp Music Festival, G. Love joined moe. for a rowdy, party-ready version of the band’s “St. Augustine.”
Red Rocks 2013:
Even better than big Bonnaroo? moe. and Blues Traveler jammed together at the one and only Red Rocks Amphitheater in 2013, and Popper ripped it up beside the band on their classic rocker “Plane Crash,.” This version also featured Traveler keyboardist Ben Wilson. Take a listen to this one for some harmonica and dual guitar trade-off heat!
Tickets for shows on the All Roads Runaround Tour are on sale now. head to moe.’s website for more information.
Last year, Brooklyn-based entertainment and production company, City Farm Presents, debuted a brand new outdoor concert series called Summer Series at Industry City. Starting this week the series is making a return for its second consecutive year. Running from the beginning of June through the end of September, the City Farm Presents Summer Series will see evening performances from over 35 artists and bands, held each night in the outdoor space of Courtyard 1/2.
While City Farm Presents was officially launched in 2017, the core team behind the company is made up of the brains behind two of Brooklyn’s most cherished indie music venues, The Bell House and Union Pool. Those who have seen intimate, one of a kind concerts and performances at these two lower Manhattan music havens know the unexpectedly special talent they often bring in.
The schedule for this season includes a lot of big, Brooklyn-born artists, like legendary afrobeat band Antibalas, JRAD’s Marco Benevento, and formative alternative rock band, Blonde Redhead. At the same time, the festival is pulling hot artists from all over the map; like Nigerian guitar prodigy, Bombino; Brazilian psychedelic rock group, Boogarins; electronic dance guru, RJD2; and indie rockers Guided By Voices, both from Dayton, Ohio.
Summer Series is in fact already underway, with R&B and hip hop artist Lady Wray scheduled to perform Friday night, and rising anti-folk artist Frankie Cosmos and her band performing Saturday night.
In addition to music, Industry City hosts a Food Hall, with a worldy menu of dining options, art installations, and more. To find out more info and to see the full schedule of music events, head to their website here.
Colorado-based, three-piece stringband Head For The Hills released their newest studio work this past Friday, an EP: the politically minded and emotionally vibrant, four-song collection called Say Your Mind. Featuring a heady mix of special guest artists, like Pimps of Joytime’s Kim Dawson, Elephant Revival’s Darren Garvey and others, the record is some of the band’s most creatively satisfying work yet.
Born out of the Colorado music scene, Head For The Hills have been pushing boundaries in the studio and on stage for over fifteen years now, and that decade and a half has earned them regular performances at mega festivals like Telluride, SXSW, and High Sierra, along with recognitions from the likes of NPR and others.
Ahead of an East Coast tour this week that, starting in Virginia, will hit NYC, Burlington, Connecticut, Lima, NY and Mt Holly, NJ, the band’s bassist Matt Loewen talked with NYS Music about the new EP Say Your Mind, the title track’s new music video, and more.
Miles Hurley: So, your new release. How did you guys go about deciding to make an EP of four new songs rather than a full album or something else?
Matt Loewen: So, we’ve been in a little bit of a transitional period, in terms of being a band that had a mandolin player in it, to being a band that plays with percussion in it. We’ve been an acoustic four-piece band for a long time, so we’ve been in the process of evolving a little bit, I guess. And we went into the studio and recorded those four songs, and I really thought it was a strong statement. But in terms of the EP thing…the way the music industry goes, to make it work you kind of have to put stuff out all the time. And I think we’ve shifted from everybody just put out a record, and then twelve to eighteen months later you put out another record, and then twelve to eighteen months later you put out another record. But that’s just not the way it goes anymore. I mean, I love albums, I have thousands of records, I love the long play album format.
But I also think it’s cool how things have opened up, and how you have the full myriad of ways of going about releasing music, whether its a record, or an EP, or just a single, or just a video, etcetera. So we’re starting to look at doing all of that different stuff, and we’ve got some other interesting things later this year that are, again, not in the full album format, but just making music and getting it out there.
MH: That’s cool. So then, would you say the band is in a writing period? Or do you have material that you’re currently sitting on?
ML: I wouldn’t say we’re sitting on things, but writing, it’s just always happening. We all write a little bit, but there’s two primary writers, Adam and Joe, and they are always writing. So we’ve got some songs that we haven’t recorded. But we don’t do the thing where you hole up for a month and write a bunch of songs. We’re always writing and coming up with stuff.
MH: I’ve heard a similar sentiment from other artists I’ve spoken with recently, that it’s more common to be touring and working, and living life and all that, and songwriting is worked into the lifestyle.
ML: Yeah. Which is cool and not cool, sometimes. But overall I think its cool.
MH: So, for Head For The Hills, bringing guests into the studio process is not something new. But can you tell me about some of the artists you invited this time around? I see Kim Dawson, Todd Livingston, even a horn section. Are these old or new friends to the band?
ML: Everybody that’s on the EP are people that we’ve known for awhile. The drummer, Darren, was with Elephant Revival, their percussion guy, although they aren’t playing right now. That’s how we know him. The rest of the people we’ve known for awhile, and it was fun to have that kind of family atmosphere. Sometimes you do bring in people that you’ve never met before, and the first time you meet them is when you’re trying to be creative, which can in and of itself be really awesome. But yeah, this time it was bunch of friends, and we got them in there and it was cool. We’d been bringing in some of those people into the live show, locally, because they’re all our Colorado friends. We’ve had the horn section up at some concerts, we’ve had Kim come and sing…so there was a familiarity thing, and it was really rewarding.
MH: That’s always an interesting thing, hearing what artists create in the studio and then they sometimes have to choose what of that makes its way into the live show. For the EP, did you have to make decisions about trying to recreate some of it’s different sounds live, or maybe just playing them in a stripped down way?
ML: Well, that’s all part of the process, exactly what you’re talking about. Because inevitably, in the recording we do, there’s typically going to be overdubs. There’s always little things that you add, like Joe will double the violin part, and no matter what you just can’t be two people at once, right? (laughs) So we can’t do that live, and we have to figure out how to approach that. And, with this new stuff, these four new songs, we play pretty much everything. Like “Can’t Stay This Way For Long,” which has a pretty significant horn section on the album, we still play that live. What’s cool about it is, Joe and Todd Livingston, who is playing dobro on the road with us, they’ve learned those horn parts, right? So they’ll come in and replicate some of those parts. And, inevitably, the songs become their own thing live, because that’s just kind of what happens, which is cool. But that’s how I’d say we’ve kind of approached that, on this new stuff. Picking some of those new pieces up, and playing them in the tunes. It’s been fun.
MH: “Say Your Mind,” the title track, has a great music video along with it, which you directed. Can you tell me a bit about what’s going on in this video?
ML: The guy that plays the main character is Boots, the one with all the jewelry and that drives the car. He’s been a friend of the band for a long time, and he’s a local. He lives up in the canyon, outside of town. I just think he’s so f***ing interesting. You know, he was born in Queens, had famous parents, moved to the Bay and knew The Grateful Dead and Bill Graham, he was a technical guy that went on tour, was an animal person that was on the Jack Parr show. He’s just a fascinating dude. And I always wanted to make a music video with him, and the original concept was that he was going to be driving around town in this convertible. That was an idea in my head for a really long time.
Then it came time to do a video for this “Say Your Mind” song, and I started kicking that idea around again, with Boots, and it evolved into this story about a father and his relationship with his kid. There’s some heartache there, and so the story is about reconciliation, about coming together, and love and family can really bring things together. So that’s the story of the video, which to me is a parallel narrative to the song, because the song is really a message from a father to their child. Adam wrote it, he was inspired by this experience to write a song as a sort of letter to your child, and about doing your thing and being happy, living life to the fullest.
When I think about music videos, I’m most interested in parallel narratives if it’s going to be a narrative-based thing. So instead of something that’s directly following the words of the song, I’m into doing something that’s similar but not exactly the same thing, and telling a related story that can maybe highlight some elements of the lyrics but not be directly tied to it. So that’s what we did with “Say Your Mind.” The party at the end of the video is shot at Joe’s house, with a bunch of our friends and family, it’s Adam’s family that’s in the video, like his daughters.
MH: You’ve done a bunch of videos for your band in the past as well. Has video production been in your background for a long time?
ML: You know, I actually started doing it for the band. And yeah, I’ve been doing it for a little while at this point. My background with it is really all centered around making content for us. I’ve expanded and worked with other people. I’ll eventually be doing a video for another group, when we get back from tour. But yeah it began, well, years ago, before video became as ubiquitous and necessary as it is now. But I rented a camera when we recorded our self-titled record in the studio. And I thought, we should video this, why not? Let’s just rent a camera. So we took a bunch of video footage and then I was like, “Well shit, I guess I’ve gotta edit this, or do something with it.” (Laughs) So I got my software and did up the whole thing. That was pretty much the beginning of it, for me, and I’ve had a bit of a network from it, other bands and creative people that need stuff. It’s allowed me to grow and do different stuff, and I’m always looking for more work.
MH: The last track on the EP, “I Am The Problem.” Honestly, I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite like that, the mix of hip-hop and Americana songwriting.
ML: Good! Well thanks, I’ll take that as a compliment, whether you mean it that way or not (laughs).
MH: Definitely a compliment!
ML: Sweet! Yeah, that’s definitely a product of Joe’s personal background as a writer and as a musician. Separately, he has had different hip-hop groups, one in particular called Whiskey Blanket that still makes records. He’s done that for as long as he’s been with our band. I think, over time, those things get closer to each other, more and more hip-hop worked into his writing for Head For The Hills. Another example is from a few records ago, a song called “Never Does.” It’s very rapid-fire, and if you were to look at the words on a page and the way that the rhymes actually make out, and the way the end line rhymes, all that stuff, it’s pretty similar to the way someone would concept a hip-hop verse. So, flash forward to now, on “I Am The Problem.” The concept for the song was alway that there would be this part in the middle where he raps, essentially. And the decision was made to just go for that. And he goes on and on and on, which is progressive. It’s cool to hear it live, it’s a lot of words, and he just goes for it (laughs). I hope that people are ready for it!
MH: So, you have a little tour coming up soon, which will start on the East Coast and then head back out west. So I’m curious – over the years, as you’ve toured more and more with Head For The Hills, have there been certain scenes or places around the country that you’ve really taken a liking to, or looked forward to returning to?
ML: Yeah, I’d say so! You know, being based in Colorado, it’s a lot easier for us to get to the West Coast and the Midwest, so over the years that’s where we’ve spent a lot of time. Especially the Northwest, love going there, love Portland and Seattle and that whole area, it’s been good to the band. I would say the same for Chicago, it’s been a favorite for the group. But over the past couple of years, we’ve just started to expand a little bit more eastward, and have actually really enjoyed getting out there. And I say that because…my initial answer is always the Pacific Northwest, but part of that is bred in familiarity, like we go there all the time. I haven’t been to Burlington, VT ten times, I’ve only been twice, and I love that area. It’s a big-ass country, and there are just so many different people and places. And I find myself enjoying a lot of them where people are open minded, proudly respecting people for who they are, stuff like that. As long those elements are in place, I’m down. (Laughs) If people are close minded and weird, and there’s a bunch of bigotry going on, that makes it harder to really enjoy a place. I’m also really looking forward to getting back to New York, always such a crazy, vibrant place.
MH: Nice! Well I am personally planning to catch you guys on April 4 when you perform at Rockwood Music Hall. Have you played there before?
ML: We have been there before. The last time we played somewhere else, but the first time we played at Rockwood, and yeah, that’s a cool spot. The first night we played there, the music that was presented before us was a singer-songwriter with a pianist and bassist, and the bassist ended up being Leland Sklar, who’s like one of the most recorded, most famous studio bassists of all time. Which is just random, but that’s the way that place definitely is, and I got to meet him which was f***ing awesome. And then after him was this band from, like, South America. I’m not even sure what you would call it, definitely not a salsa band but like a modern dance, but it was so good. So yeah, such a cool place. I’m a big fan and definitely looking forward to getting back there.
Last week, NYS Music covered staple jamgrass group Railroad Earth during the incredible northeast run of their 2019 winter tour. While all musicians put on a strong showing every night, one performer stood out in particular: Mike Robinson, special guest musician for the run that shined on pedal steel, guitar, and banjo.
Many music fans may have discovered Robinson during this tour, or maybe already knew him from his days with the progressive grass outfit Jeff Austin Band. Yet, soon enough, the musical world will get to know the singer-songwriter in his own right, when he releases his debut EP, Clevidence, on March 7. Featuring five emotionally and sonically rich songs, Clevidence comes as a great introduction to not only Robinson’s prolific talent across a number of instruments, but also his natural affinity for songwriting and singing.
The album’s release on March 7 will be celebrated with a special performance at Owl Music Parlor in Brooklyn NY, with singer songwriter Emma Frank opening up the show. In anticipation of the date, NYS Music talked with Robinson about the making of the record, his musical upbringing and more.
Miles Hurley: My first question is on your experience with working in the studio. Being that Clevidence is your debut solo EP, was the making of this album a new kind of experience to other recording stuff you may have done in the past?
Mike Robinson: Recording almost all of this project at home was a big departure from other studio experiences I’ve had. I was able to give everything the time it needed without the pressure of the clock that comes with being in an expensive studio. I find that in fancy studios with high hourly rates I am never I able to fully relax. Doing a majority of the recording in my home studio in Brooklyn made it possible for me to focus on the nuances that might have been otherwise overlooked.
MH: One thing that stands out on the EP are the lyrics, which are pretty intense throughout. Do you feel like you were able to express the ideas or messages behind the songs in the way that you wanted?
MR: In the process of writing, I found that using hyper-specific language was a potent way to paint a clear picture of an emotional situation. My goal was to give a listener clear mental images to hold on to. I think the specificity of the lyrics contributes to the ability the songs have to convey an emotional message. This can make things seem especially intense and revealing personally, but not sharing the whole story would feel fake. Songwriting is cathartic for me and can be super helpful for me if I’m struggling in my life. Hopefully it can also be helpful to listeners struggling with their own experiences.
MH: Listening to “How Do You Know” in particular, I’m interpreting a sense of something like self-doubt, or worry. Would that be a close guess? Could you comment on what this one means to you?
MR: “How Do You Know” is about a generation that is terrified, broke, and leaning on substances to deal with it. I’m twenty-six and I’m struck by how many conversations I have with people my age evolve to this conclusion. I don’t want to get into the politics of the specific things that could be to blame for a generation wide problem, but I do want to address that it is a real thing that many people are going through. From lack of health insurance, to being buried in student loan debt, to facing an uncertain collective future, there is a general sense of uneasiness in the air. And I see those around me relying on substances to cope. I don’t know if these are new problems. I just know that they are real ones.
MH: The range of instruments you perform, in general and on this record, is nothing short of impressive. Did you develop an interest towards learning these instruments around the same time in your life, or has your progress as a multi-instrumentalist been more spread out across your career?
MR: My dad plays a few instruments so I grew up with guitars, fiddles and mandolins around. My older brother played bass and drums in high school and my grandpa is a classically trained pianist and even played the cello for a while. I started guitar at age six and it has always been my main instrument. But being surrounded by different types of instruments, I wanted to learn how to play more of them. My first serious double was banjo which I picked up around 15. I didn’t become interested in the pedal steel until a few years ago, but I really got into it. That thing will make you crazy! I was listening to these lush records from the 60s and 70s and wanted to be able to relate to those sounds on a deeper level.
MH: Follow-up question to that, asked by a non-musician interviewer: how hard is pedal steel to learn?
MR: My cousin is studying to become a helicopter pilot and it sounds similar to that with lower stakes. The toughest thing for me was to be able to establish independence in all of my limbs. your left leg is responsible for 3 or 4 pedals and 2 or 3 levers, right leg is on a volume pedal and 2 levers, right hand is picking and stopping strings from ringing and the left needs to make sure the bar is in the right place and in tune. Physically, it’s a very complex instrument to master. While it’s also challenging mentally, it would be even harder if you are a non musician to start. Most of my knowledge came from guitar and I was able to transfer the theory to steel.
MH: There are some great harmonies on the album. Can you give a little background on who’s there with you?
MR: I sing all of the lead and some of my own harmonies, most of the female vocals are an amazing singer and composer based in Brooklyn named Emma Frank with the exception of “How Do You Know” which is sung by Abby Hollander.
MH: Speaking of the pedal steel, it sounded great in the Railroad Earth setting—I caught The Egg show and you sounded fantastic! You’ve been on tour with the band and have performed many shows with them now. Can you speak a little to what that’s been like? Has playing with them met or been different from any expectations?
MR: I did three shows with them that week: Albany at the Egg, Boston at the Wilbur, and the Capitol Theater in Port Chester. That’s been it so far, but I will play with those guys whenever they want. That band and crew are incredible. The songs are great, the players are great, everyone was very supportive and positive. It was a complete lesson in how the business is done and how to keep the music as the focus. The fans are some of the most genuine music fans I’ve had the pleasure of playing for and I would be very fortunate to do some more work with those guys. One of the highlights of my career so far, without a doubt.
MH: You moved to New York at an early age, and is where you are based now, if that’s correct? Have you found NYC to be a fruitful creative environment towards your career as a performer or songwriter?
MR: I’m from Colorado. I moved out here at 18 for college. I was pretty overwhelmed by the city but determined to study with all the inspiring New York musicians I grew up listening to. I had every intention of moving right back home to Colorado when I was done with school but right about when I graduated I had just started seriously gigging in New York. I decided to give being a full time freelance musician a try for a few months. One thing led to another and I found myself living with some of the most inspiring musicians in my generation, touring in several bands and growing as an artist. My life was working too well that I didn’t have a compelling reason to leave. I’m constantly pulled towards a the desire to live somewhere more calm and connected to nature. But 8 years later, New York has yet to let me down in the ways I’ve feared.
“Nothing but love songs, folks,” said Todd Scheaffer last night at Albany music theatre The Egg. Scheaffer and the rest of the formative jamgrass group Railroad Earth were having lots of fun at the capitol region venue, the first stop of their northeast run this weekend. So was Holly Bowling, the well-known pianist opening up for Earth, that also joined the band for most of their headlining performance last night. Bowling and Railroad kicked off the run magnificently, winding through song material ready-made into a bluegrass Valentine’s Day playlist, but also putting heart into all the musical treats of the evening.
Bowling opened up with her own welcomed performance before the two main sets, as is the plan for the rest of the northeast shows. Among the most well received of her Phish and Grateful Dead piano versions was a full-stretched “Divided Sky” on which she put a lot of personal touch. Another highlight was, no doubt, the set ending of “Dark Star” > “I Know You Rider,” where Bowling invited Railroad Earth bassist Andrew Altman and mandolinist John Skehan to play.
Droning cello from Altman, soft strumming from Skehan and piano sound effects from Bowling wound through a wonderful version of the early Dead song that shifted between delicate moments and chromatic, jazzy creativity. The trio easefully guided one another into “Rider.” Holly started to really hammer on the keys and Altman played a cool standup bass solo. From this beautiful opening segment, the stage was set for the magic to be made between Bowling and Railroad Earth.
After Bowling’s set, Railroad Earth descended upon The Egg with a great opening “Hunting Song,” giving this particularly psychedelic original a bit of musical power. When Railroad starts a show off with something extra heady like this, the chances for a strong show are in the cards. Bowling, who joined the band on stage from the beginning, got her first real sounds on “Old Man and The Land,” playing a ragtime-style solo that got a beaming smile from Todd Scheaffer.
Love songs did indeed imbue much of the band’s two sets through the evening, with “Happy Song,” “For Love,” and “Came Up Smiling” following the opener, and these cheerful songs started to get the audience, from the front row to the back of The Egg, out of their seats and dancing. “Raven’s Child” > “Only By The Light” was a powerful combo that saw expert playing from Skehan and Mike Robinson. Robinson was sitting in as special guest for this entire night on banjo, guitar and pedal steel; and he deftly held his own beside Railroad Earth, standing out in multiple moments. On “Dandelion Wine,” the romance number to end the first set, the younger musician picked an incredible guitar solo that elicited not only cheers from The Egg, but a fist pump from violinist Tim Carbone.
The second set kept the welcome love theme rolling, starting with the bittersweet “Been Down This Road.” “Lovin’ You” and “Long Walk Home,” alternatively, brightened the attitude on. “Old Dangerfield” came in the middle of these as a particularly hot version, with Carbone’s fiddle soloing propelling the tune between its breakdown tempo and an Railroad-style funk beat.
The last stretch of the night received the most adventurous musical treatment from Earth and Bowling. “Goat” was standard length, perhaps even shorter than many versions, but it was a rocking version at that. The thing to note about this one was Altman’s mighty standup bass work – huge and resonating. It sounded like a giant tap dancing on the roof of The Egg. Following on his and the drummer’s sturdy backbeat, the rest of the band ditched the song proper for a dynamic, colorful jam, and Bowling and Robinson were both well footed within the fray. “Jupiter and The 119” took this energy and ran away with it, for a very special version of this Railroad classic. The band showed their fearlessness in furrowing through an uptempo jam segue, and made a seamless and uplifting transition into “Butterfly and The Tree.” The playing from everybody on stage was a thing of progressive bluegrass beauty.
While the band soared from the one song to the next, there was one particular moment in which Bowling and Skehan’s soloing linked up, and the two complimented one another musically much in the way they had in the opening Dark Star segment, only this time at a breezy speed. If anything best presented how well Bowling fit into Earth’s melodically dramatic and unpredictable style, it was here.
Many fans are understandably buzzing about the night’s encore as much as anything else in the show. “Said What You Mean” is definitely on the rarer side of Railroad Earth originals, having been performed only twice over the last two years. A song that sounds like it could have been co-written between Sam Bush and The Band (but it’s all Scheaffer, a genius in his own right), this was maybe the best loved hit of the night.
