Strange Machines made their awaited return to Bridgeport on Friday and they brought their captivating live performance back to The Acoustic with the help of One Time Weekend and, to the crowd’s approval, things got STRANGE.
The young Connecticut talent One Time Weekend started off the night and their high energy set got people dancing early. They formed in 2016 and released their debut album Weekend at the Circus in January. You can check it out on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and Amazon Music. These guys can play and it won’t be the last time you hear their name.
One Time Weekend at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris Sidoruk
Strange Machines, from Boston, who needs no introduction, is always a treat to have in Connecticut and catch live. Their dynamic performance of musical fusion had the whole room moving from start to finish and, much to the delight of local fans, they will be back in the state on December 21. The band will lend a hand alongside The New Motif for Kung Fu’s annual Toy’s for Tots at Toad’s Place.
The Strange train keeps rolling this November with the following shows:
11.14 Syracuse, NY – Funk N Waffles 11.15 Saratoga Springs, NY – Putnam Place w/ Kung Fu 11.16 West Chester, PA – Sprout Music Collective 11.27 Manchester, NH – Jewel 12.10 Chicago, IL – Bourbon on Division 12.11 Columbus, OH – Woodlands Tavern 12.12 Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Music Hall 12.13 Buffalo, NY – Iron Works w/ Consider The Source 12.14 Rochester, NY – Flour City Station
Strange Machines at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris SidorukOne Time Weekend at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris SidorukOne Time Weekend at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris SidorukOne Time Weekend at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris SidorukOne Time Weekend at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris SidorukStrange Machines at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris SidorukStrange Machines at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris SidorukStrange Machines at the Acoustic – Photo: Chris Sidoruk
SweetWater 420 Fest 2020 has announced that Oysterhead – the supergroup of Anastasio, Primus bassist Les Claypool and Police drummer Stewart Copeland – will be headlining the festival along with the Trey Anastasio Band.
Also part of the initial lineup are Gary Clark Jr., Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Lake Street Dive, The Floozies, Dr. Dog, The Marcus King Band, Larkin Poe, Delta Rae and Funk You. Thirty more artists will round out the diverse lineup set to be fully announced in January. The annual festival will take place April 24-26 once again on three stages in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, GA.
Not only does the festival bring to the community local breweries and artists but also plans on maintaining its focus on the environment with priority put on waste diversion and compost creation. In the past the event has recycled more than 240,000 pounds keeping it from landfills and created 60,000 pounds of compost. There will also be the return of the 4:19 Got a Minute to Give charity auction which has seen a lot of artist involvement in the past.
SweetWater 420 Fest also hosts a 5k that is a USATF Certified race and is a Peachtree Qualifier. The 2020 race is set for April 25. Runners can purchase combo tickets. Early bird tickets are on sale via Eventbrite now.
After 32 years Childsplay, comprised with some of the world’s best fiddle players, announced they would be going on tour for the last time. The short six-stop-tour across the Northeast starts in November and will include a performance at Symphony Space in New York City on November 22. Once again, famous fiddler and fiddle maker, Bob Childs, will lead this group as their time together comes to a close. Other members of the group range include Irish and Scottish fiddle champions to performers from the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
It is hard to believe from that first show in 1986 that this day would come, but we have arrived at the final tour of the band. We’ve performed throughout the United States and Europe showcasing different styles of fiddle music. Through all of this, we have experienced so much pleasure and joy performing in front of some of the greatest audiences. This last tour gives us one more chance to savor and enjoy the magic that happens between our audience and the band.
Bob Childs, Childsplay Frontman
Special guests Sheila Falls, National Scottish Fiddle champions Hanneke Cassel and Katie McNally, Boston Symphony Violinist Bonnie Bewick and the talented Virginia fiddler Steve Hickman will be joining the group as they play music selected from their seven albums. Along with exceptional fiddle playing, one can expect original dances by by Molly Gawler, formerly of Pilobolus, Kevin Doyle contributing step-dancing routines. Irish folk singer Karan Casey will also be on the tour, all contributing to what will a series of extra special concerts.
The group formed over 30 years ago with only one common
denominator, they all played instruments made by Childs. Thus Childsplay was
formed. A majority of the music that Childsplay performs is written and
arranged by the group with the intention to cover as many fiddle traditions as
possible, from Irish to Celtic to the classics and more modern sounds.
Phish will perform an exclusive concert for listeners of their SiriusXM channel, Phish Radio, on Tuesday, December 3 at The Met in Philadelphia, PA.
SiriusXM subscribers will have a number of opportunities to win a pair of tickets to this show, including on-air on Phish Radio, online at SiriusXM.com/Phish (see official rules for complete details), via e-mail invitation sent to qualified subscribers who have opted in to receiving email from SiriusXM and who have registered their music interests at SiriusXM.com/perks.
The Met show marks the smallest venue Phish has played in nearly 20 years and will be broadcast live on Phish Radio.
Keller Williams is in the midst of a huge tour that’s stopping in for two upcoming Upstate NY performances in Albany at Skyloft on October 24 and in Syracuse at Westcott Theater on October 25. Keller has been touring extensively this year in support of the release of his latest album, Add. NYS Music was lucky enough to catch Keller Williams for a brief interview during his busy tour schedule. He was very down to earth and easy to talk to. We quickly digressed from talking about his tour to talking about his favorite shows at Red Rocks and Phish at Lockn‘.
Williams’ upcoming record, SPEED, features his bluegrass outfit Keller & The Keels (Williams on vocals, along with progressive flatpicker Larry Keel and bassist Jenny Keel) as they reinterpret popular songs in their trademark psychedelic Appalachian bluegrass style. Some of the covers heard on SPEED include Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn,” Weezer’s “Island In The Sun,” and many more. SPEED is the trio’s third collaboration together, following their 2006 release Grass and 2012’s all-covers album Thief.
When asked about where the name for the new record came form he said, “The inspiration was an excuse to hang out with my friends, the Keels”.
Melting with Larry Keel at Floydfest 2016
Keller’s got so many projects going on like Grateful Grass, Grateful Gospel, Keller & The Keels, it’s hard to keep up! That guy stays on the move. Yet he manages to be on the road for three and a half days and home for three and a half days. Very balanced. Jokingly, Keller says it only took him thirty years to develop an ideal schedule.
Keller will be playing a two-day NYE run in St. Louis at the Old Rock House. On the first night, Keller will play with The Keels, and the second night with Grateful Grass. Lots of surprises are in store, but Keller likes to keep ’em that way. You know, surprising! He is also very excited to play in the psychedelic labyrinth known as Meow Wolf.
On favorite places to play: “Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado…it’s very historic and there’s a certain amount of honor. A certain amount of history that went down there. As a music fan, I just love it. But there’s so many other places that are as epic or as historic as Red Rocks that I love playing. Any given night, any given gig, could possibly be my favorite place to play ever”.
“It’s like the best camera you have is the one you have in your hand,” I said.
“It’s like there’s two types of weed. Some and none,” Keller replied as I burst into laughter.
Yay Keller! At Lockn’ 2019
Keller is a staple of the jam community, a part of the Dead scene, and a “phan.” His music is so easily accessible to the ones around him because he is one of them. He is a Deadhead playing to Deadheads. They breathe the same air, and drink the same Kool-Aid. Keller gets it. He makes it look easy and fun, just like a good show should feel. When he plays five sets at a festival, which isn’t rare for Keller, plan to dance at all five.
All smiles. Keller at Lockn’ 2018
So we digress and start to dig into show stories from Keller’s vault…
On Red Rocks concerts that stood out and Phish: “In 1990, I started seeing Phish. In the early ’90s they started to go into arenas kind of early. And I was used to pushing my car to the Grateful Dead show ’cause the line to get in would take hours. And I would always be in these old cars that would overheat, so you had to push them in…
So I started going to Phish shows, it was probably right after Jerry died. Probably like ’96 or ’97, the run of three Phish shows at Red Rocks. I remember those being super intense.”
When a contract issue arose while Keller was in Boulder, Colorado, he checked out Odesza at Red Rocks. “I used some connections to get me and a couple of friends in. I remember standing on the top, towards the back, where you can see the stage, and hear just beautifully, and you can see the whole skyline of Denver. And I remember elevating, I think I elevated, I elevated, I rose up higher than where I was standing. It was real, it happened.”
When asked about his favorite festival, he narrowed it down to just festivals in his home state of Virginia. “Floydfest: one of the very few festivals I can go with my family. Lockn’, I go and hang out there, me and my wife go. But we don’t take our kids there.”
Keller at Floydfest 2016
His two favorite festivals are right in his home state of Virginia, both at which he makes an annual appearance. “The Blue Ridge Parkway is really popping now with color,” Keller stated as we drooled over the beauty of that mountainous state.
At Floydfest 2016, Keller was seen on stage more than anyone else. They even put him in charge of what is now an annual super jam of epic proportions. “Greg Allman had cancelled, and we put that set together. It’s become a staple at that festival every year since, with me in charge.”
With The T Sisters at Floydfest 2016, filling in for Greg Allman
If he had to be stranded on an abandoned island with one musician, Keller would like no one else to spend his time with than his already good friend and band member, Larry Keel. According to Keller, he’s also a master fisher.
Keller is just so relatable and down to earth, it’s hard to not gravitate towards him. One time at Floydfest I asked a stranger for a lighter only to realize it was Keller who I was asking, another time I ran into him at a festival in Tennessee, and we were both sweaty guys with vapes at Lockn’ in the media tent.
Keller sitting in with Twiddle at Lockn’ 2016
On the hot, hot 2016 Lock’n music festival,”
On the hot, hot 2016 Lockn’ music festival: “That was a really interesting year. There was a couple years, they’d plug in my motor home right behind stage. The year that Phish was there…you know when they come to a festival they create their own fenced in zone. It’s not just like, here’s your trailer, Phish. No, they have their own fenced in area. That extended out the fence between the public and the festival. So I could go to the fence and be in front of the speakers and in front of the screen.
And I saw so many shows sitting in a folding chair, sitting by the fence, looking up. And it was just loud as hell! And it was so hot that year we had to take naps in the day ’cause we’d been up all night, and our motor home would become a subwoofer. And would just vibrate. Yeah, that was a fun year, I remember that year very well.”
Keller Williams Grateful Gospel at Lockn’ Festival 2019
Keller is an incredibly hard working and inspiring musician who seems like he never stops, hence the new album SPEED. This man cannot be stopped. But seriously, Keller is a true staple of the jam community, the scene if you will, and it was an absolute honor to wrack his brain about his music and his relationship with the music we love.
The masterminds behind Yes Darling, songwriters Ryan Montbleau and Hayley Jane, have just announced that they will be taking their debut album to the theatrical stage on Dec. 7 at The Double E in Essex, VT. This announcement comes just one week after their first music video for “Call Your Mother.” Using exaggerated humor, this playful duo brings to stage the reality of what many couples experience in finding harmony in a relationship. Â
“I do think Hayley and I have a pretty special chemistry together,” shares Montbleau. Of the upcoming performance, Jane elaborates, “We try to pull on every string of the heart. Not just the loving, romantic ones. Our show usually starts meaningful discussions. We take you down with us then we make you laugh. It’s real and raw.”
Attendees can expect to hear Yes Darling in its entirety with Montbleau and Jane being accompanied by a full band. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased through Eventbrite.
Jane is headlining the inaugural Harvestfest: Tribute to Mother Earth with special guest Rob Compa of Dopapod on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Woods Valley Ski Area in Central New York.
Songhoy Blues are set to release their new EP, Meet Me in the City via Fat Possum on October 18 in support of a 5-week North American tour. The band also helped kick off the United Nations Climate Change Week in New York City with a breakout performance in support of the historic Great Green Wall initiative they are helping bring to life.
The EP is their first collection of new music since the critically acclaimed album Résistance, which Rolling Stone called one of the best albums of 2017, and will be released on special edition yellow vinyl.
They recently shared two versions of the EP’s title track — one mixed by Blake Mills (Grammy-nominated producer of Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color, John Legend’s Darkness and Light, and Perfume Genius’ No Shape) and the other by David Ferguson (known for his sound engineering work with “Cowboy” Jack Clement and on Johnny Cash’s American Recordings). The title track was written by Junior Kimbrough (with additional lyrics by Songhoy Blues and produced by Matt Sweeney).
Steeped in the deep traditions of classic Malian music & desert blues fused with a youthful and super-charged sound of today, Songhoy Blues formed in 2012 in Bamako after its members had left Timbuktu, which was under siege by Islamist militants. The band released their debut album, Music In Exile, in early 2015 receiving across the board praise, including a 5/5 rating in The Guardian who claimed, “they have all the makings of African-rock crossover heroes.”
Songhoy Blues says, “We’re really happy to introduce this new EP and our English-language debut on the song ‘Time To Go Home.’ Please enjoy it and get ready for a heavy new album coming up very soon.”
On PBS’ American Masters, Will Oldham spoke of working with Songhoy Blyes, saying, “They are a Malian band that’s really trying to make sense of what they’ve been witnessing, what they’ve been experiencing, and create or transmit a message to people about what they’re seeing and how they’re trying to understand it and make change…And to think, well I want them to know that I’m trying to listen and trying to understand, and if I can give voice to some of what they’re experiencing, that they might be emboldened by this musical connection.”
Most recently, the band completed a sold out run of UK dates, recorded a live session for BBC 6 Music; filmed an episode of the new UK TV show Noughts & Crosses in South Africa; featured in a new photography exhibit called My Rockstars by Hassan Hajjaj at La Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris; and collaborated with UK artist Andy Morgan on a multimedia exhibition called Music & Conflict at the Imperial War Museum, which debuted in June 2019.
Songhoy Blues are also proud spokespersons for the charity WaterAID, and have helped to raise money & awareness toward providing relief in their native Mali. They will be appearing in an upcoming documentary on climate change in the Sahel; and were featured in the award-winning documentary “They Will Have to Kill Us First”, about the plight of musicians in war-torn Mali.
Boston’s Juniper today premiere their latest single “Concrete Ocean,” a song that tackles a theme of ‘aloneness,’ inspired by bassist Scott Johnson’s transfer to Boston University. The constant sensation of being surrounded by thousands of young adults his age, Johnson was still feeling isolated due to a lack of new friends and connections.
Johnson wrote “Concrete Ocean,” with band members Cam Ayer (lead vocals), Ahren Shreeve (guitar), Alejandro Marin (drums, vocals) and Sebastian Themelis (keys, vocals) aiding in the process throughout, making the track a full team effort in various arrangement aspects.
“The line “Who the fuck talks to me anymore?” in the third verse highlights that even though I would engage in conversation, it wouldn’t be about how I was feeling, or of any profound nature—merely day to day topics.”
“I look down on, the concrete ocean, with no notion, of where I’m going” refers to constantly looking out of my dorm window at the vast city and feeling overwhelmed as to whether I made the right decision to transfer, and further questioning what I was to do/what I want to do with my life now being in a completely new environment, and the calamity of both of those coming together. Feeling like I was drowning, “may it be in loneliness” identifies that this perpetual superficiality of my reality and the loneliness I felt was suffocating.
The end of the track and how it repeats the first two lines was meant to allude to the cyclical nature of my experience in transferring, and how others deal with similar issues, and how it may not be my last time having to undergo a similar experience.
A five piece band who began performing in the Spring of 2017, quickly garnered a small but strong fan base and that summer embarked on their first recording project. A 5 song EP was released in September of 2017, and the group have performed in Brooklyn, Burlington, and various venues around Boston MA in the past two years.
Since formation, Juniper have crafted their sound, which takes on a unique and eclectic energy, while maintaining a strong fluidity and purpose. Juniper derives their influence from the notion that what they have to say matters, that what everybody has to say matters. One’s voice and identity and what they experience transcends time and space, and connecting with people on that level through the medium of music is what Juniper values most.
Syracuse shoe-gazers Trench has announced a series of November dates that sees the band hitting up venues throughout the Northeast. The tour kicks off in the band’s hometown at the legendary Lost Horizon on Nov. 9.
Joining Trench at the Lost Horizon show are Rochester’s The Joke’s on Us, Boston’s reprieve., and Syracuse’s Buggin’ Out and The Same Page. Tickets for the 6:30 p.m. show are available now through Ticketweb. Advanced sale tickets are $10. Tickets the day of the show are $12.
Trench formed in 2015 when Chris Reilly (guitar/vocals) and Roberto Becerra (bass) got together. They were soon joined by Ron Ballweber (guitar) and Dan Sanborn (drums) to round out the band. They released their debut EP Sun Soaked on Flesh and Bone Records in 2016 and followed it up touring with Nothing, Thrice, Basement, and Silversun Pickups.
Their second release, 2018’s genre-spanning Ritual Love has the band visiting spaces that include post-rock, shoegaze, post-hardcore and dream pop. Speaking about the album, Reilly states, “The most important thing when writing music is to be honest and genuine, and I think we accomplished that both musically and lyrically on this record.” Ballweber adds, “We never write a song and say that isn’t ‘us.’ When you write honestly and without a conscious influence or direction then everything you create is sincere.”
Trench is part of a growing Syracuse alternative scene that includes artists such as Mattydale Music Collective, Late Earth, Lucky33, Atkins Riot, Major Player, Lily Grave and Outside Voices. Reilly, speaking to Rochester alternative culture magazine Floated recently said of the scene, “I feel like the community is stronger than it’s been in a long time…It doesn’t feel like a competition. Everyone’s moreso contributing in building a community.”
Goose has let loose their third studio single of 2019, “Butter Rum,” ahead of the start of their Fall Tour which kicks off in Albany on Friday, October 18. The track is the band’s third consecutive song mastered by Grammy award winner Emily Lazar (Beck, Vampire Weekend).
“Butter Rum” is a playful tale of holiday romance heartbreak. The song’s lively tropical momentum will carry you through butterflies, barbeques, and blue Hawaiians as a boy and a girl wander aimlessly hand-in-hand for days. The couple weave through sweat-soaked night clubs and piercing 6 AM sunshine until the vacation ends he’s left with “nothing but the rum.” Grab a drink and prepare to have your heart broken by the sweetheart you were never meant to have.
As their fall tour kicks off, Goose has four sell out shows and surely more to follow given the buzz they’ve been gaining over the year. A stellar Peach Festival set is just one of the highlights of this Norwalk, CT based indie-groove outfit. At the tour opener in Albany at Parish Public House, Eggy will open the night, with music starting right at 9pm, followed by two sets of Goose.
The rest of the 20+ date tour carries Goose to NYC on Halloween, Buffalo in mid November then out to with a year end show at Goosemas, the band’s annual holiday extravaganza, held at the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk.
Fall 2019 Tour Dates
OCT 18 – Albany, NY, Parish Public House Sold Out
OCT 19 – Cambridge, MA, Sonia Sold Out
OCT 25 – Wilkes-Barre, PA, River Street Jazz Cafe
OCT 31 – New York, NY, Mercury Lounge Sold Out
NOV 02 – New Haven, CT, College Street
NOV 07 – Harrisburg, PA, Club XL
NOV 08 – Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
NOV 10 – Richmond, VA, The Camel
NOV 14 – Pittsburgh, PA, Roxian Theatre
NOV 15 – Columbus, OH, The Summit
NOV 16 – Buffalo, NY, Nietzche’s Sold Out
DEC 05 – Fort Collins, CO, Aggie Theatre
DEC 06 – Denver, CO, Cervantes Other Side
DEC 07 – Steamboat Springs, CO, Old Town Pub
DEC 08 – Steamboat Springs, CO, Old Town Pub
DEC 11 – St. Louis, MO, The Bootleg
DEC 12 – Chicago, IL, Lincoln Hall
DEC 13 – Cincinnati, OH, Top Cats
DEC 14 – Indianapolis, IN, The Mousetrap
DEC 21 – Goosemas VI – South Norwalk, CT, Wall Street Theatre
