NYS Music 20​19

Author: Pete Mason

  • Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band announces Blues Revolution Tour featuring special guests

    The Big Damn Blues Revolution Tour will bring together three artists who are both master musicians and amazing showmen. With five stops across New York in November, The Reverend Peyton, Dom Flemons and J.D. Wilkes will take the blues-roots-folk music that they love and live on a unique tour. Each night will culminate with a special jam session featuring all three artists. 

    Blues Revolution Tour

    The tour begins November 6 in Asheville, N.C., then heads north for a date in Brooklyn at Knitting Factory on November 13. From there, shows in Saratoga Springs (Nov 16), Syracuse (Nov. 19), Buffalo (Nov. 20) and Corning (Nov. 21) will bring blues-driven folk across the Empire State.

    The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, a 2019 Blues Music Award nominee, includes the Reverend’s wife, “Washboard” Breezy Peyton, drummer Max Senteney and is led by the Reverend Peyton, considered to be the premier fingerpickers playing today. A singularly compelling performer and persuasive evangelist, the rootsy, country-blues styles that captured his imagination early in life led him to Clarksdale, Mississippi to study under such blues masters as T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour, and David “Honeyboy” Edwards. The recently released album Poor Until Payday debuted at #1 on the iTunes Blues Chart and #4 on the Billboard Blues Chart.

    Joining Reverend Peyton is Don Flemons, who draws from a repertoire of more than 100 years of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. A Grammy Award winner and two-time Emmy nominee, Dom Flemons is known as “The American Songster” and is a music scholar, historian, and multi-instrumentalist – an expert player on the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones. His 2018 Smithsonian Folkways release Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys received a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album. Flemons co-founded the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2010 and were nominated for Best Folk Album in 2012.

    J.D. Wilkes is a true Renaissance man — musician, visual artist, author, filmmaker, and self-proclaimed “Southern surrealist.”  Also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist (notably on harmonica and banjo), Wilkes has recorded with Merle Haggard, John Carter Cash, Mike Patton, and Hank Williams III. Wilkes is perhaps best known as the founder of the Legendary Shack Shakers, a Southern Gothic rock and blues band whose fans include Stephen King, Robert Plant, and former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. Rolling Stone named Wilkes “best frontman” at the 2015 Americana Music Association Festival for his performance with the band.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wItG_D3Vuvc

    Big Damn Blues Revolution Tour Dates:

    Wed., Nov. 6  ASHEVILLE, NC  The Grey Eagle

    Thurs., Nov. 7 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. The Ramkat

    Fri., Nov. 8  RALEIGH, NC The Pour House Music Hall

    Sat., Nov. 9   LEESBURG, VA  Third Annual Chad Dukes Veterans Day Jamboree @ Tally Ho Theater; without Dom Flemons

    Sun., Nov. 10  ANNAPOLIS, MD  Rams Head On Stage

    Tues., Nov. 12 BOSTON, MA  City Winery  

    Wed., Nov. 13  BROOKLYN, NY  Knitting Factory

    Thurs., Nov. 14  SELLERSVILLE, PA   Sellersville Theater 1894; without Dom Flemons

    Fri., Nov. 15  TUCKERTON, NJ   Lizzie Rose Music Room; without Dom Flemons

    Sat., Nov. 16  SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY   Cafe Lena; without Dom Flemons

    Sun., Nov. 17  HAMDEN, CT Space Ballroom

    Tues., Nov. 19  SYRACUSE, NY   Westcott Theatre; without Dom Flemons

    Wed., Nov. 20  BUFFALO, NY The Tralf

    Thurs., Nov. 21  CORNING, NY Corning Museum of Glass

    Fri., Nov. 22  MORGANTOWN, WV 123 Pleasant Street

    Sat., Nov. 23  COLUMBUS, OH Woodlands Tavern

    Fri., Nov 29  INDIANAPOLIS, IN  The Vogue; without Dom Flemons

    Sat., Nov 30  NEWPORT, KY  The Southgate House Revival; without Dom Flemons

  • The Bardavon launches Hudson Valley Philharmonic 60th Anniversary Season

    The historic Bardavon 1869 opera house in Poughkeepsie will kick off the Hudson Valley Philharmonic 60th Anniversary Season with the opening concert, Moon Landing, on Saturday, October 26 at 8 p.m.

    Hudson Valley Philharmonic 60th Anniversary

    More than 80 years ago, the Dutchess Philharmonic Community Orchestra was founded by four local amateur musicians, and 60 years ago conductor Claude Monteux elevated the orchestra to a fully-professional ensemble, renaming it the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. The 60th season also represents the HVP’s 21st year under Bardavon management and the 27th under the music direction of conductor Randall Craig Fleischer, who will conduct Moon Landing.

    The Hudson Valley Philharmonic 60th anniversary opening concert at Bardavon celebrates the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with Mozart’s “Jupiter,” Prokofiev’s violin concerto with an HVP String Competition winner and Ravel’s suite from Daphnis et Chloé with projected images from outer space. The program includes:

    Mozart: Symphony no.41, K.551, C major (Jupiter)
    Prokofiev: Violin Concerto no 2, op. 63, G Minor w/ 2018 HVP String Competition winner Cherry Choi Tung Yeung
    Ravel:      Daphnis et Chloé Suite no. 1 & 2 w/visuals from outer space by Dr. Jose Francisco Salgado

    Audience members are invited to a pre-concert talk with the conductor and soloists and/or members of the orchestra one hour prior to the performance.

    José Francisco Salgado is an Emmy-nominated astronomer (BS in Physics, Univ. of Puerto Rico; PhD in Astronomy, Univ. of Michigan), experimental photographer, visual artist, and public speaker who creates multimedia works that communicate science in engaging ways. As the Executive Director and co-founder of KV 265, a non-profit science and arts education organization, Dr. Salgado collaborates with orchestras, composers, and musicians to present films that provoke curiosity and a sense of wonder about the Earth and the Universe. His Science & Symphony films have been presented in more than 350 concerts and lectures reaching a combined audience of more than 400,000 people in 18 countries.

    Cherry Choi Tung Yeung was born in Hong Kong, 22 years ago. Cherry studies with Ms. Ida Kavafian at The Juilliard School and has been admitted to the highly selective accelerated program, where she will finish both Bachelor’s and Master’s Program in four years; she is currently a senior/ first year master student. Cherry was accepted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) Junior Program as a scholarship student at the age of 6. Cherry skipped high school and later at the age of only 15, she was accepted as a full-time student at the HKAPA.

    Single tickets to all HVP concerts are $20 – $58 based on location. For more information visit the Bardovan website.

  • New exhibit at Morrison Hotel Gallery celebrates the Long, Strange Trip of Rock’s Legendary Jambands

    Morrison Hotel Gallery in Manhattan will pay homage to the world’s greatest jambands and the many talented photographers who have worked with these legendary performers with a new exhibition opeing on Thursday, October 17 at 7PM. From the Grateful Dead to Widespread Panic: Morrison Hotel Gallery Celebrates the Long, Strange Trip of Rock’s Legendary Jambands will take music lovers from Jerry Garcia and the gang backstage at the Fillmore East to Greg Allman posing next to a portrait of his brother as well as rehearsing with the band. The exhibit examines the forefathers of the jamband movement and takes visitors on an exploration of many of the like-minded bands that have followed, including The Band, Dave Matthews Band, Gov’t Mule, Grace Potter, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Tedeschi Trucks, and more. 

    The Jambands exhibition will feature images by photographer Jay Blakesberg, known for his iconic shots of the Grateful Dead captured over 41 years of working closely with the band. Blakesberg will also be the featured artist for Morrison Hotel Gallery’s November 3rd Close Up Artist Talk, co-hosted by the ACE Hotel New York. The Artist Talk will be in celebration of the release of Blakesberg’s new book, Jerry Garcia: Secret Space of Dreams, which was released on October 11. 

    In addition to Blakesberg, the Jambands exhibition will also feature extraordinary images by photographers Danny Clinch, C. Taylor Crothers, Sam Erickson, Herb Greene, Brantley Gutierrez, Lynn Goldsmith, Patrick Harbron, Rene Huemer, Elliot Landy, Gilbert Lee, Catherine McGann, Patricia O’Driscoll, Ken Regan, Amalie R. Rothschild, Norman Seeff, Allan Tannenbaum, Peter Tarnoff, Dave Vann, and Baron Wolman. This exhibition will show many of the musicians in this vibrant scene both on and off stage, over the course of the last 50 years. 

    The October 17 event is open to the public but an RSVP is required to attend. Email RSVPNYC@thepresshouse.com if interested. Morrison Hotel Gallery is located in Soho at 116 Prince Street.

  • Dopapod adds Cycles, Organ Freeman and more to Emit Time Tour

    Following their return to the music festival circuit this summer, Dopapod has announced additional dates on the Emit Time Tour, which kicked off in Denver at the Ogden Theatre, October 4-5.

    The tour picks up in Philadelphia just before Thanksgiving, then makes stops in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast before heading to the West Coast. Dopapod is making the rounds late this fall, bringing with them impressive support acts, with Organ Freeman and Cycles joining already announced bands Ghost-Note, Jojo Mayer / NERVE, paris_monster, and DOMi & JD Beck.

    Dopapod Emit Time Tour dates

    Nov. 23 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts*
    Dec. 6 – Chicago, IL -Bottom Lounge^
    Dec. 7 – Covington, KY – Madison Theatre^
    Dec. 13 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club#
    Dec. 14 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club#
    Dec. 27 – Asheville, NC – Salvage Station&
    Dec. 28 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse&
    Jan. 17 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent@
    Jan. 18 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom@
    Jan. 24 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom%
    Jan. 25 – Seattle, WA – Nectar Lounge%

    * with Domi & JD Beck
    ^ with Paris_Monster
    % with JoJo Mayer/Nerve
    & with Ghost-Note
    @ with Organ Freeman
    % with Cycles

    dopapod emit time tour

  • Joyce Carol Oates and Tony Trischka to collaborate for intimate performance in Washington Heights

    Famed author and Syracuse University alumna Joyce Carol Oates will join banjo virtuoso, songwriter and educator Tony Trischka on October 29 for a unique collaboration in Washington Heights. The evening will be recorded for Ben Arthur’s podcast SongWriter, which brings authors and musicians together to collaborate on storytelling and song-making.

    joyce carol oates tony trischka

    The performance, hosted by the black-owned Ethiopian micro-roastery Cafe Buunni, will feature Joyce Carol Oates reading her short story, “A Brutal Murder in a Public Place,” and songwriters Tony Trischka and Jennifer Marks will perform songs written in response to her story. SongWriter is hosted by Ben Arthur, and is released as a podcast and excerpted on the syndicated radio program Acoustic Cafe for 2M listeners.

    Cafe Buunni is located at 4961 Broadway between 207th Street and Isham. Take the A Train to the last stop at 207th Street. The show begins at 8pm, with a suggested donation of $10. More information can be found here.

    Listen to the first season of SongWriter here.

  • Phil Lesh postpones Halloween run at Capitol Theatre, Dark Star Orchestra to fill in

    Phil Lesh announced on Monday that due to his recovery from recent back surgery and postpones his upcoming “Phil-O-Ween” run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, planned for October 31, November 1 and 2.

    Filling in for Phil and Friends will be Dark Star Orchestra, who plan to perform their own three-night Halloween run, where they will recreate classic Dead shows from The Capitol Theatre. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m.

    phil lesh postpones

    The Capitol Theatre said in a Facebook post, “Phil’s surgery was a success and we are working with Phil to reschedule the shows and will announce new dates as soon as we can.”

    Lesh said in a video explaining the postponement “I’m feeling really good, but the doctors recommend that I take more time to recover from the surgery.”

  • Halleloo launches Couch Concert video series

    Halleloo, a Brooklyn-based creative agency and production company has launched a monthly video series featuring artists performing acoustic versions of their songs on the studio couch. With just one take, Halleloo’s series supports their mission of providing unique, creative video content for artists and businesses and empowering them to do what they love.

    Founder Nathan Chang says of the series, “I started this project as a way to highlight musicians in a stripped down, acoustic setting. I love seeing videos of artists I love just noodling around in their living rooms, being amazing musicians, so this is a way to take that setting into a professional video environment, but still in a living room on a couch. No frills. Just great video, great lighting, great music – that was the goal.

    “I think it’s simply because the folks we bring in are, at their essence, just amazing musicians – and sometimes I think that can get lost in a studio edit. But here, it’s highlighted.”

    This month’s featured artist is Lohai, a Brooklyn duo made up of Alita Moses and Devon Yesberger who normally play with a full band. For their Halleloo session the pair sang their hit song “Baby I Know You Will” in the stripped down couch setting. Stay tuned for more Halleloo’s Couch Series through their YouTube and Instagram.

  • Sweet Megg & the Wayfarers to bring a modern twist on 1920s to Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theatre

    Sweet Megg & the Wayfarers have recently announced details about their album release party, set for October 19 at Jalopy Theatre in Brooklyn. With a jazzy style, Sweet Megg & the Wayfarers take audiences back to the 1920s, with a six-member band consisting of a wide range of instruments, including three types of saxophones, upright bass, guitar, drums, and lead vocals by Megg Farrell.

    Farrell describes the new album as a return to “earlier repertoire of the 1920’s and 30’s, but we’ve also been mixing that with some modern elements.” The lead guitarist adds sweet tones of a telecaster and pedals to the album, creating a sound similar to Les Paul. This new album also features some heart-felt original songs, written and performed by Megg. All members of the band have special arrangements in the album—creating a one-of-a-kind, old-fashioned jazz style with a touch of modern bluegrass and western swing. Listen to the band’s first album below.

    Guests of the October 19 show will get a sneak peak of the album debuting in December, which features an array of songs from nearly a century ago. Songs by Jellyroll Morton (“Why”), Billie Holiday (“I Cried For You”), Fats Waller (“Sweet & Slow) and Bessie Smith (“Devils Gonna Get You”) are performed by Megg and the Wayfarers, with their own personalized takes on the ageless tracks. Originals by Farrell are also found on the album (“Under the Moonlight” & “When the Moon Covers Up the Sun”), which drew their inspiration from the moon. The band’s trombone player, Sam Chess, was utilized heavily in these songs to create a youthful and swing-type style.

    Throw on your dancing shoes and join the band at the album release party on October 19th at Jalopy Theatre. Doors open at 8 PM and tickets are only $10! Click here for more info.

  • Montbleau and Jane say Yes Darling and release “Call Your Mother” video

    Yes Darling, a collaboration between songwriters Ryan Montbleau and Hayley Jane, has been seen on festival stages across the Northeast for the past few years, and this week have released a video for “Call Your Mother.” The “lovable duo with one really great singer” uses tongue-in-cheek humor, vaudeville inspired stage banter and characters who lovingly fight throughout their songs and performances. When experienced live, the two effortlessly document a modernized, yet nostalgic, outlook on a (mostly) loving relationship.

    “To me, Yes Darling is Ryan and myself being honest, brutally honest,” shares Hayley Jane. “We’ve taken these parts of ourselves and amplified them into characters. It’s us, but we’ve removed a few filters and added adorable outfits. We tackle the highs, lows, and mundane of relationships. I think there’s a lot folks want to say to their partners, but they either don’t know how or are afraid. So we put it all on blast so we can look at it and laugh. I think laughing through darkness and difficulty is how a lot of us move on from it.”

    “Yes Darling is a duo that I let Hayley Jane be in even though I carry all the weight and am clearly the main talent,” chimes in Ryan Montbleau, sarcastically. “No, honestly, Yes Darling is a duo and we play a couple and we fight in our songs. I think at our deepest, we explore male/female archetypes and dig at some truths about couple-hood in a way I’ve never seen any musical project do before.”

    The song “Call Your Mother” echoes a sentiment that will ring true with many listeners: “Call your mother, she’s getting worried she has not heard from you. Tell her you love her, just don’t tell her everything you do.” It proceeds to chronicle the antics of love, lust, promiscuity, and recreational alcohol and drug use, among other modern trials and tribulations we all face, packaged in such a way that almost anyone can sit back and laugh.

    Watch a full set of Yes Darling from Green River Fest in Greenfield, MA.

  • Groovesafe Allstars to perform at Brooklyn Bowl benefit on October 14

    Groovesafe, a movement within the musical community to bring awareness about unwanted touching and sexual assault at concerts, has been making in roads through the music industry since the charity was formed in 2017 by Ashley Driscoll. On Monday, October 14, members of Turkuaz, Lespecial, Escaper, Goose and many more will join together as Groovesafe Allstars, for a benefit concert supporting Groovesafe at Brooklyn Bowl.

    groovesafe allstars brooklyn bowl

    Driscoll has been bringing together musicians from across the jam scene to spread the word about Groovesafe. A topic such as unwanted touching is one that is all too common but the issue had not been brought to light until the past few years, around the same time the #MeToo movement pushed back against sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace. Through music scenes that intertwine, the mission of Groovesafe can be spread and consent culture can become the norm.

    The October 11 Groovesafe Allstars benefit at Brooklyn Bowl has Driscoll’s mission front and center in the jam scene. Speaking to NYS Music about the event, Driscoll says, “I’m excited about this inaugural event because it allows us to showcase what our mission is all about. The thrilling thing about the “AllStar” aspect is we can unite different GrooveSafe Artist Ambassadors from bands of all genres. Bringing everyone together to highlight the importance of our work at GrooveSafe and our main goal to rebuild consent culture in the live music realm.”

    “All we want to do is spread awareness that these bad behaviors are happening and that we won’t stand for them anymore. Change in behaviors begins with this awareness. We will be out there at The Brooklyn Bowl on Monday night to remind people how important it is to respect each others dance space, and focus on why we see shows;  the music.

    Ashley Driscoll – founder of Groovesafe
    groovesafe allstars brooklyn bowl

    The show features The GrooveSafe AllStars – Sammi Garett (Vocals – Turkuaz), Josh Schwartz (Sax – Turkuaz), Greg Sanderson (Sax – Turkuaz), Chris Brouwers (Trumpet – Turkuaz), Luke Bemand (Bass – lespecial), Will Hanza (Lead Guitar – Escaper), Ben Atkind (Drums – Goose), Matt Dolliver (Keys, EWI – Swimmer), Sam Lisabeth (Guitar – Guerilla Toss), Melissa Goscinski (Vocals – Cousin Earth), and Tara Lawton (Vocals – Cousin Earth), with an appearance by Tom Salgo (Guitar-Of Clocks And Clouds). More info can be found here.

    This initial event will be the start of a series of benefit concerts, spreading the mission of Groovesafe.

    We hope to have a rotating act and continue to put on benefit concerts with talented musicians who support the movement to stop unwanted touching at shows in cities throughout the country. Our touring bands work so hard to bring you the music, let’s work together and make the show experience better. Let’s help people love the music again and give us a voice to create safer shows. Practice consent and take care of each other. 

    Ashley Driscoll – founder of Groovesafe

    Additionally, at the upcoming HarvestFest at Woods Valley, Groovesafe will receive a portion of ticket sales from the weekend event, which features Rob Compa of Dopapod and Hayley Jane, among others.