The album Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol 3, which features vocals by Jason Isbell on one track, goes back to Snider’s more quiet, folk-based roots. While he composed the lyrics for the songs in Stinson Beach, California, the melodies to the songs came to him behind Cash Cabin.
Todd Snider
The album as a whole can be attributed to a list of things that are happening in the world, told in the form of satire with songs about reality TV, the government and just the conspiracy of it all. Calling this album a nod to the world we live in is perfectly conveyed throughout in songs like “Talking Reality Television Blues,” “The Blues on Banjo” and “Framed.”
With the influence of Johnny Cash on his side and, of course, his recording studio, courtesy of Cash’s son John Carter Cash, Todd Snider really taps into the essence of the legendary musician with his Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3.
Snider cites working in the studio and actual reoccurring dreams of Johnny Cash that he had that led him to record in this studio in 2016 and 2017 with his supergroup Hard Working Americans. This, however, is his first solo album produced here.
After being bought in 2017 by Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment and AEG Presents from long time owners the Ballingers, Webster Hall has announced the reopening of the historic New York City venue with their Spring 2019 lineup. The historic night club was closed for extensive renovations with its last show on August 9, 2018.
The Hall will reopen this Spring with a full schedule of performances, including Patti Smith, who last performed at Webster Hall on December 30, 2014. Joining the lineup for the reopening is the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, MGMT, and Sharon Van Etten among those lined up to perform. While Smith and company are the first scheduled show slated for May 1, 2019, a true reopening date and headliner have yet to be announced. For more information on the reopening of Webster Hall, visit the Hall’s website.
The Great South Bay Music Festival is one of Long Island’s longest running music and arts festivals and have just released their lineup. Long Island’s own Taking Back Sunday kicks off the festival with Glassjaw returning as well. These two bands will be joined by ten other artists on two different stages.
Supporting are Scranton rockers, The Menzingers, and ex-My Chemical Romance and Leathermouth guitarist Frank Iero with his new band, frank iero & the future violents.
Headlining Friday is genre hopping reggae rockers, Slightly Stoopid, along with Sublime with Rome, SOJA and Common Kings.
Saturday and Sunday fest lineup announcements are upcoming, promising to serve up more classic and contemporary rock, roots, jam and Americana. This should be coming in the next week or so.
Celebrating its 13th. Anniversary, the four-day Great South Bay Music Festival runs from July 18, through July 21, and will feature a lineup of over 65 performers on four stages, in classic and contemporary rock, punk, indie, jam-band, reggae, and funk genres. The fest will boast multiple craft beer and wine tents, an artisan and craft market, and food court offering a diverse gourmet menu of funky and healthy fare.
Tickets for Taking Back Sunday, Glassjaw, The Menzingers and frank iero & the future violents are on sale to now.Ticket price includes all concerts and entertainment. Food & beverages not included. Children ten and under are free, except for the Sunday children’s concert
Festival Times
Thursday, July 18: Doors are at 3:30 p.m until 10 p.m.
Friday, July 19: Doors are at 4:00 p.m., until 11 p.m.
Saturday, July 20: Doors are at 1:00 p.m. until 11 p.m.
Sunday July 21: 11:00 a.m. doors for Great South Bay’s annual Kids Concert
Sunday Regular Fest Ticket holders: 1:30 doors until 10 p.m.
With The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical making its way to Schenectady, NY on Friday February 22 and Saturday the 23, James Hayden Rodriguez took time out of his busy schedule to talk about the performance. Rodriguez was very excited to be touring again as one of the four original cast members from when the show debuted in 2017 Off-Broadway. With a wonderful attitude and a humble down-to-earth personality, the conversation was fluid with a few laughs. To Rodriguez, acting in a show like this or any musical is second nature and something he always knew he was meant to do.
NYS Music was able to speak to James Hayden Rodriguez via phone on February 14 as he was just reaching his next stop of tour in D.C, before the cast and crew make their way to Proctors in Schenectady. Rodriguez plays Luke and Others in The Lightning Thief.
Headshot via jameshaydenrodriguez.com
Shannon Marie Palmo: In the musical you are said to play Luke and others. What are the other characters you play aside from just Luke?
James Hayden Rodriguez: My main two characters that I play are Luke and Ares, who is the god of War, who ends up being one of Percy’s biggest villain in the show.
SMP: I read that you guys used the book as your bible, how do you articulate the books on stage? How does that fuse with who you are as an actor, and the freedom that comes with being an actor?
JHR: With Luke specifically, I really have a lot of freedom to just use a lot of my own personal experience. We are all children of Greek Gods, but we are also still human and we have human qualities so we are able to use our personal experience to create these characters which is pretty cool. We have a lot of freedom.
SMP: What do you think are the disadvantages or advantages? What do you like/dislike about doing the tour verse being at one venue in NYC?
JHR: I don’t think there are disadvantages, I think it’s very exciting for us to be just doing the show again at all and the fact that we are able to bring it to all of our fans who were unable to see it in NYC because our fanbase is really massive and its spread and not just in the United States. We are even surprised by coming to these cities and selling out houses and the kids in the audience have read the books and seen the movies and know these characters. They are just really excited that we are bringing it to them. The great thing about the movie is that it has reached a lot of people, so we have a lot of people who are coming to see the show because they have seen the movie. We have the young book fans, but also the people who are new to theatre. They saw this really awesome film so they want to check out how we put this on the stage.
SMP: What is the balance between stage production between dialogue, there’s fighting scenes and it’s also a musical. So how would you say that balances out because some musicals are non-stop music with very little dialogue.
JHR: There’s definitely a lot of dialogue, and Percy is thrown into this world where he is learning this completely new universe to him. He is also dealing with the fact that his mother was just killed by this monster that he didn’t know existed. But when he gets to these really emotional parts in the story, it turns into these big rock numbers, which is really cool. I think we have a good balance from music to dialogue. There’s definitely a lot of scene work which helps us develop the characters and tell the story.
SMP: What is something that goes through your mind when you’re on stage performing whether it’s an actual performance or rehearsal?
JHR: I try to be as present in the story as I can and actively listening to everything on stage. I can’t concern myself too much with who’s in the audience because then it will throw you out of the world and the more you can focus on what is actually happening on the stage the better the performance will be. I don’t like to know if there’s press, or family, or casting directors in the audience.
SMP: With a show being about Greek Mythology, what’s it like being thrusted into such a world as Percy Jackson trying to portray that world on stage because like you said, you guys don’t have CGI as the movie did.
JHR: Yeah, it definitely allows us to be more creative with how we tell the story and that’s what has always been so exciting about theatre in the fist place, and why I got into theatre. You have to use your imagination to tell stories like this and we have been doing this with puppetry, which is cool this time around. We have a puppet team who has really elevated our storytelling. They are scary when revealed. People in the audience scream when they come out.
Rodriguez in The Lightning Thief. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.
SMP: So, what’s it like playing an antagonist like Luke or a character like Luke. When I saw the movie, and who Luke really was, I was completely shocked – without giving too much away.
JHR: (Laughs) Ares is more of the antagonist of this story. I don’t like to think of Luke as the antagonist because he starts out in the show with really good intentions and he’s just really misunderstood. He’s just dealing with his own insecurities and resentment issues because of the relationship with his dad. He’s a teenager as well and coming of age and learning all these new things and starting to have to make choices for himself. And Luke ends up going down a darker path than the rest of the characters. He doesn’t start off this way so you really get to see his journey from being a really good kid to more of a bad kid. I don’t think Luke is an antagonist, I just think he’s trying to make his own path.
SMP: How do you keep up with the physical demands of the show?
JHR: All of us are pretty good at making sure we are going to the gym, doing physical warm ups and stretching so we are not hurting ourselves in the show because the fights are pretty intense.
SMP: Did you guys have to go through fighting boot camp to train?
JHR: Oh yeah, we have a really great fight choreographer who has helped us through our process, and I’m also the fight captain in the show. I take the fights a little more seriously, making sure everyone is safe and doing what they are supposed to do because our choreographer was only here for rehearsals, he doesn’t travel with us.
Proctors is thrilled to announce that THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL, an “electrifying” (Newsday) musical adaption of the New York Times best-selling novel written by Rick Riordan, will play Schenectady, 8:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22; and 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23.
As a son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson has newly discovered powers he can’t control, monsters on his trail, and is on a quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt to prevent a war between the Greek gods. Based on the best-selling novel by Rick Riordan and featuring a thrilling original rock score, THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL is an action-packed theatrical adventure that has been celebrated by audiences and critics alike.
Tickets, which range from $20–$50, are available at the Box Office at Proctors, 432 State Street, Schenectady; by phone at 518.346.6204; and online at the Proctors website.
For the first time ever Father John Misty and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit will be co-headlining a national tour that will run throughout the month of June. The tour will begin June 5 in San Diego and end in Tulsa, OK on June 29. The tour makes stops in New York at Celebrate Brooklyn! on June 19 and at CMAC in Canandaigua on June 20
Father John Misty is currently supporting his acclaimed 2018 release God’s Favorite Customer. While four time Grammy award winner, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit is touring in support of their album The Nashville Sound. Joining the tour will be Jade Bird, June 6-25 and Erin Rae, June 27- June 29.
Pre-sale tickets begin Wednesday Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. (local), with general public tickets going on sale Friday Feb. 15.
June 6 – Cal Coast
Credit Union Amphitheater*- San Diego, CA
June 7 – Santa Barbara Bowl*- Santa Barbara, CA
June 8 – Greek Theatre*- Berkeley, CA
June 9 – Les Schwab Amphitheater* – Bend, OR
June 11 – Marymoor Park Concerts* – Redmond, WA
June 14– The Armory* – Minneapolis, MN
June 15 – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island* – Chicago,
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School of Rock: The Musical takes Schenectady, NY by storm with its five-night performance at Proctors in the heart of downtown. Based on the Paramount film, written by Mike White and starring Jack Black, the musical follows suit. With lyrics by Glenn Slater and new music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, in addition to director Laurence Connor’s vision, this musical takes the movie into a completely different light.
School of Rock follows failed rock star Dewey Finn, played by Merritt David Janes, as he takes a class of straight-A prep school kids and turns them into rock stars. With the pressure of needing to pay rent from his roommate and best friend Ned and Ned’s bossy girlfriend Patty, Dewey finds himself in an unusual predicament. With Ned being a substitute teacher, the principle of Horace Green Prep School calls in need of a fill-in. And thus, the kids at this prestigious prep school go from model students to rock and roll stars, playing in battle of the bands and learning to go outside their comfort zone.
Opening the show was an announcement allowing the audience to know that the children in the musical do play their own instruments. Right in tune with the opening announcements, the musical was treated as a live rock concert and began with a performance in which Dewey was originally in – which was refreshing compared to most musicals.
Throughout the show there was a balance of musical numbers and dialogue that both adults and children were able to enjoy. Keeping up with the humor that fans of the movie came to enjoy, the musical had plenty of laughs for everyone. With jokes referencing Harry Potter and making light of hot topics like, “the man” can also be a woman, it kept the crowd pleased and laughing.
The show also had songs that everyone could relate to and enjoy. One song sung by the students called “If Only You Would Listen,” allowed children in the audience to relate to what the actors were saying. The song featured four of the students and showed us what home life was like with their parents, and the expectations parents had for their children. This song resonates not only with the children watching, but even adults because at some point we have all felt the pressure of our parents. Another song that also was relatable and hilarious was when Dewey was teaching the students to learn to relax. “Stick It to the Man” rang through as more of an anthem for the musical as a whole; the idea behind it was to teach the kids to loosen up – what rock and roll is all about. Throughout School Of Rock the audience watched how these kids went from being shy and rule-bound, to loosening up and having fun. But it’s not just the kids who go through a transformation, Dewey does as well. He goes from being a selfish, fame hungry, failed rocker to someone who realizes what it’s like to be in a band and part of a team. Dewey becomes someone the students can confide in and trust.
The stage set up and lighting was just as impressive as the cast. The backdrops for each scene was easily movable by either sliding up, or to the side and even turning around. For the opening number and the finale of the show, the audience gets thrusted into a rock and roll concert. The kids performing for battle of the bands had their parents in the audience watching in awe, as well as us being a part of the show. With the lighting matching to that of an actual concert, bright and flashing, we were part of the show, cheering on the band of students aptly named School of Rock.
This show was both engaging and fun. With a great cast and song selection to keep the audience both engaged and interested, School of Rock knocked it out of the park. It is both a new and inventive show, fun for all ages. The music was meaningful and there are songs that will resonate with each person. School of Rock: The Musical enhances the movie to a whole new level of interactions. Altogether the show was enjoyable and kept you laughing at every turn.
Performances will take place at Proctors in Schenectady Tuesday through Sunday. Following the Capital Region, the tour will makes its way to Boston.
It seems that the Zac Brown Band won’t be slowing down anytime soon with the announcement of their 2019 The Owl Tour, with 36 dates starting this spring and going through to the fall.
Opening for the band will be Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real with Caroline Jones joining the group for nine dates on the tour. Along with the tour announcement, the band is hinting at a brand new album. Both the tour and album will be inspired by the mythology and mystery surrounded by the great horned owl.
Tickets for most of the dates go on sale Feb. 8, with tickets to the Boston and Dallas shows going on sale Feb. 15.
Zac Brown Band 2019 tour
May 25 — Legends Day – Indianapolis 500 – Indianapolis, Ind.
June 7-8 — Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion *- Gilford, N.H.
BRIC House Sessions is back for another year with its Thursday night concert series. BRIC House has featured world-class artists that reflect the diversity within Brooklyn. Celebrating 40 years of pioneering the arts and media in NYC as well as one of the leading presenters free cultural programming in Brooklyn. The BRIC organization presents and incubates work by artists and media-makers that reflects New York’s diversity and reaches hundreds of thousands of people each year.
With BRIC House being its main venue, it houses a public media center, a major contemporary art exhibition space, two performance spaces, a glass walled TV studio and work spaces for artists. It also is the space for the Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park and has BRIC TV, radio and Brooklyn Free Speech media. It’s lead sponsor and supporter is the innovative entertainment and retail destination company City Point, which is 1.8 million square feet of retail, residential, office and entertainment complex at the epicenter of Downtown Brooklyn.
So far this year headlining artists Son Little with special guest singer-songwriter Melissa Laveaux and guitarist Christopher Paul Stelling performing in Fort Greene on Feb. 28. Then on March 7 they have the Electro Arabic act 47SOUL who party with a message, with the female fronted, neo-beat deconstructionist Underground System to open. You can check out other artists performing on their website. Tickets can be purchased online at BRICartsmedia.org.
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is holding a poster contest in honor of Woodstock Festival’s 50th, Golden Anniversary. The press release describes this as not just another “festival poster” design.
Bethel Woods is looking for students, amateurs, and professionals to design posters that not only celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, but also captures their mission to inspire passion and purpose.
The concept they are trying to capture is expressing progress in the world through creativity, self-actualization, love, and understanding for the next 50 years to come.
Winners of the poster contest will be displayed throughout the Vibrations event series produced by Bethel Woods. Winners will also receive a cash prize of $2,500 but will also be given $1,500 in travel and lodging to visit Bethel Woods on June 5 to participate in the Power of the Poster event during Vibrations.
The judges of the contest are two well known poster artists, with renowned Broadway poster artist Frank “Fraver” Verlizzo joining original Woodstock poster designer David Edward Byrd. Submissions can be entered starting Feb. 6 until March 14.
