The Magnetic Pull, a post-rock quintet out of Syracuse, put out their second LP in April. There are no vocals over the course of the 40 minute self-titled set, though the visuals are dense and the narratives vivid. Each track plays out like the soundtrack to a short film. Live, they have been know to pull-off an original live score to the 1922 silent film, Nosferatu, so this comes as no surprise.
They leave the stories up to the listener; titles like “Pacipede” and “Know Seas” leave a lot to the imagination. The tracks flow fairly smoothly into each other providing a singular listening experience with multiple movements, perhaps different chapters to a single story. At times each instrument: guitars, keys, drums, bass, various electronics and samples, take on the roles of separate characters. At other times the instruments mesh in a show of force, pushing and pulling the energy as one combined sound.
From heavy-shredding guitar swells and calming melodic piano breaks to reggae infused grooves, this journey has it all. Whichever way you imagine it in your head, it is sure to be a thrill ride of a listen.
For the record collectors, The Magnetic Pull is being offered in limited release on 180 gram, coke-bottle green vinyl, packaged with a download-code sticker and eight-page anaglyph 3D booklet with 3D glasses. Otherwise, you can find it for download or streaming wherever you consume digital music.
Syracuse classic rock radio station 105.9 The Rebel (WXTL) recently had it’s frequency bought by the non-profit Educational Media Foundation, which operates the Christian music networks Air1 and KLOVE.
In February, Cumulus Media sold six of its stations, including The Rebel, to EMF in a $103.5M deal. And while Cumulus is losing the 105.9 frequency on the FM dial, the station will live on through streaming.
Master of Ceremonies, Dave Frisina
Long time Syracuse DJ Dave Frisina announced on his Facebook page this morning that The Rebel will become a 24 hour streaming station at their website, through their phone app, and on smart speaker devices such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Frisina has two long-running programs on the channel, the free-form Soulshine, which runs on Sundays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Soundcheck, a local music showcase that runs on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. These shows will continue as live programming on the new platform as will the inclusion of local music every hour throughout the day, something Frisina recently began incorporating into the station’s format.
In his Facebook post, Frisina explains that the format for the new streaming Rebel will be similar to the classic rock format of the over-the-air station but with the opportunity to play more deep cuts from the classic rock artists typically found in the format. He also stated that there will be only two minutes of commercial breaks each hour.
On continuing The Rebel in this new format, Frisina says:
All of this is possible because of the incredible response and support of the community who have demonstrated through emails,messages, and calls that you wanted to keep the Rebel brand alive. The music will continue to be familiar but a bit more adventurous and Local music will remain in every hour.
Dave Frisina, The Rebel Rocks
While there is no date set for the change over, it is expected to happen within a month. Frisina is looking forward to the opportunity of continuing the Rebel brand and his live Sunday shows, which he will continue to broadcast from the Cumulus studio in Syracuse.
The second annual Rock for Recovery fundraiser for Helio Health took place on March 29 at The Palace Theatre in Syracuse with Modafferi, Periodic Table of Elephants, Late Earth and The Lightkeepers performing. The event was one of three regional shows to raise awareness of mental health and substance abuse issues. Shows in Binghamton and Rochester preceded this culminating show. The Lightkeepers headlined this year. Late Earth played all three shows as well as last year’s event. Director, Ashley Forshee decided to expand the event to three cities. Helio Health https://www.helio.health/ has services in Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton, and Rochester. It’s where “hope meets healing.”
One in twelve people will be impacted by a substance abuse disorder sometime in their life. Only 10% of those who need treatment will receive it.
Two weeks ago, we started with 64 artists from New York State, representing all genres and corners of the state. Now we have reached the Final Four of NYS Music’s March Madness and these four remaining artists represent four different genres – folk, rock, rap and jam – an eclectic mix of what makes New York State a breeding ground for all types of music.
Beastie Boys bested Billy Joel to take the crown in the TIP the Band region, and they will face off against the lone Upstate victor in the Final Four, moe., fittingly, out of the Funk n Waffles region.
Vote below for who you think is the best artist from New York State in the past century! The finals will start this Thursday, April 4. You can also vote on Twitter!
The Syracuse Area Music Awards has announced its new class of inductees for the SAMMY Hall of Fame as well as nominees among 13 categories for the 2019 SAMMY Awards.
Lou Reed
The 2019 inductees include ’50s doo-wop band, Little Jan and the Radiants; 95X radio personality and host of the weekly radio program “Locals Only,” Scott Dixon; long-running independent acoustic duo, Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman; and highly influential drummer and music store owner, Al Falso.
Scott Dixon
The SAMMYS will also posthumously honor Syracuse University alumnus, Lou Reed with the Lifetime Achievement Award and internationally acclaimed trombonist, Melissa Gardiner as Educator of the Year.
Other honorees this year are well-known street musician, Elijah Harris, Jr., with the Founders Award and a brand new award named in honor of its inaugural recipient, Jack O Bocchino, the Jack O Bocchino Spirit of Syracuse Award.
Jack O Bocchino
Now in its 26th year, the Syracuse Area Music Awards seeks to honor musicians, educators, industry professionals and supporters of the Central New York Music scene. This year’s Hall of Fame dinner and awards ceremony will take place March 7 and 8. The Hall of Fame dinner will be held upstairs at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que on Willow Street while the awards will be presented at Eastwood’s Palace Theater.
Performers at the awards ceremony include a Lou Reed tribute band that features Stuart Heinrich and Ellard “Moose” Bolles of Reed’s late ’70s-early ’80s backing band. Also performing are 2019 inductees, Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman, past SAMMY recipient, R&B band Stroke, 2018 Best Jamband winner, Barroom Philosophers and Sean McLeod with 2017 Best R&B winner Alani Skye.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame dinner and the awards ceremony are available through the SAMMYS website. Tickets for the dinner are $25 and tickets for the ceremony are $20. The dinner will run from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 7. The awards ceremony begins at 7:00 p.m.
NewsChannel 9 WSYR’s morning show, Bridge Street is hosting the SAMMY Spotlight Series each Thursday at 10:00 a.m. through March 7. Artists featured on the program include:
Feb 7- Late Earth
Feb 14 – Sera Bullis
Feb 21 – Infinity
Feb 28 – Fritz’s Polka Band
Mar 7 – Bad Mama’s Blues Band
The 2019 SAMMY nominees:
Best Pop
Screen Test, Through the Past Brightly
Forgottensong, Forgottensong Vol 1 and 2
Emma Jude, Pocket Full of Postcards
Best Hip Hop/Rap
G-Netics, Elevated
Big Nate MG, No Hooks Needed x Hook Line
J. R. Lottary, Instant Win
Chris Mac, Go For Broke Project
MLA, Salute Me
Best Americana
Joe Davoli, Golden Rule
Eileen Nicholson Kalfass, Crossing Bridges
Ghost Town Ramblers, Ghost Town Ramblers
Dennis McGuire’s One Man Band, Old Songs Rusty Strings
Best Alternative
Townhouse Warrior, Words, Unsaid
The Amazing Shakes, 10x The Crash
Strange To Look At, Strange To Look At
The Beuchesnes, Twilight Interstate
Late Earth, Late Earth
Sympathy, For Everyone to See
Best Rock
Jukin’ Bone, Unfinished Business
Atkins Riot, Atkins Riot “Iguanas”
Tony Touris, Ghost Town
Climbing Stars, Ascension
The Trend, J Marc Memorial Show
Best Hard Rock
One Step From Falling, Stuck
Amerikan Primitive, Down to the Devil
The Last Divide, The Last Divide
Between Hope & Fear, Between Hope & Fear
Damon Larus, Crusade
Best Other Style
Emedin Rivera, Tropical Tubulence
Samba Laranja: The SU Brazilian Ensemble, Gurana′
Fritz’s Polka Band, Hey!
Best Jam Band
Mike Davis and the Laughing Budda Episodes, Find Yourself – › Caterpillar
Syracuse punk band Bridge Under Fire is doing the unorthodox. They are releasing four new songs from their new EP through four different record labels. NYS Music is premiering the L.R.S. Records single, “Self-Unemployed.” Check it out below.
Bridge Under Fire is a Syracuse-based punk/hardcore band with a discography that includes two full-length albums, two EPs, a split 7″ single and several compilation contributions. The new untitled EP has been released in four parts across four labels and through four different media outlets.
Band leader and L.R.S. Records owner, Mark Turley, described the project this way:
After releasing our last full length in 2017, the band was discussing other options than just writing more songs to be an EP or album. We decided to write singles rather than songs that fit together content-wise onto an album. The results were interesting and different than what weâve done so far. Through L.R.S. we had these relationships with the other labels and thought this would be a different way to release our music.
Mark Turley
To celebrate the release of the new music, Bridge Under Fire will host a show at Spark Contemporary Art Space in Syracuse on Feb. 22. Also on the bill that night is Sympathy Band, Talk Wrong and Dimladia. For more information on this show, visit promoter After Dark Presents’ website. To check out more of Bridge Under Fire’s work, visit their Bandcamp page here.
Turley also hosts a weekly podcast called Long Range Sarcasm (L.R.S.) with Nick Oliver. It is available on iTunes and Google Podcasts. The podcast features news and music from the L.R.S. stable of artists as well as other Central New York musicians.
Bridge Under Fire’s brand new single, “Self-Unemployed” is available below as a NYS Music exclusive release. Check it out.
A punk show headlined by St. Catherine’s, Ontario’s Inhalants will take place Feb. 2 at Spark Contemporary Art Space on East Fayette Street in Syracuse. The show will also feature a litany of New York State punk and hardcore bands, including Troy’s Your Brain on Drugs, Syracuse oi/street punks, the War Lovers, Syracuse old school punks, Lucky 33, Syracuse skate punks, the Shuvits and another touring band to be announced.
The $5 show starts at 8:00. Tickets will be available at the door. Proceeds are for the touring band. There will also be an array of out of print hardcore and punk t-shirts available for $5.
Lucky 33, a veteran of two Vans Warped Tours, is currently working on new material. This show will be the band’s first with new guitarist/vocalist Zac Birdslow and last show until their second annual Punk Rock BBQ on Memorial Day weekend.
Check out the official video for their song “Paycheck” below. The song is a solid mix of high energy, late ’80s-mid ’90s era punk with shades of pop-punk thrown in. The band has found a second home in Rochester of late and is looking to further their success in their hometown of Syracuse and beyond.
This low-cost show is the perfect opportunity to check out what’s happening in the Syracuse punk scene. For more information, follow the event page here.
Plan Bee, the Baldwinsville HS Pep Band, is celebrating its 10th anniversary Saturday Jan. 19 at the Palace Theater in Syracuse with a performance and release of its first full-length LP, Bee Sides.The album is being released by Syracuse label L.R.S. Records.
Record sales and the performance, which also includes appearances by ’90s tribute act My So-Called Band and Matthew Blake & the Blues Dragons, will help defray costs for the Baldwinsville Marching Band’s trip to the 2020 Rose Bowl Parade.
The pep band’s origins are owed to band director, Casey Vanderstow. Describing the creation of the band, Vanderstow stated, “A lot of these students are in our field band program. When that ends in the fall, there is indoor drum line, and winter guard, but there wasnât anything for brass and woodwind players who wanted to keep playing. So this band was formed for students to continue playing, and it has grown over the past decade.”
The band also acts as the Carrier Dome’s house band when the Syracuse University pep band is off for the semester break. Below is some video of their performance of “Land of 1000 Dances” at Syracuse’s game versus Old Dominion on Dec. 15 of last year.
Vanderstow modeled the band on his alma mater, Syracuse’s popular pep band, the Sour Citrus Society, and they now boast a repertoire of more than 60 songs ranging from classic rock to top 40 music.
Plan Bee’s partnership with L.R.S. Records began three years ago, with an idea to record a vinyl LP with digital download. Over that time, L.R.S. recorded the band at various venues, including basketball games, at the Onondaga County War Memorial and at the band’s annual summer appearances at Baldwinsville’s Paper Mill Island Amphitheater.
The album will feature arrangements of songs by the White Stripes, Daft Punk, the Beastie Boys, Elton John, Aerosmith and others.
Tickets for the show are still available through the Baldwinsville band website and range from $15 to $50.
