Bowlive VIII rolled on at the rustic Brooklyn Bowl with Soulive and legendary Meters funk bassist George Porter Jr. sitting in. The setlist had no shortage of covers, including songs from The Beatles, The Meters and The Grateful Dead. Soulive’s current line up includes Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans (organ, bass keys, clavinet).
Eric Krasno
Soulive began the first set as a trio, delivering the band’s signature jazz-funk. Originals “So Live” and “Steppin’” got the crowd ready to party with Krasno’s delicious guitar work. A rocking instrumental version of The Beatle’s “Eleanor Rigby” was up next, followed by a new Soulive original, “Waves”.
George Porter Jr.
Alan Evans addressed the crowd with ,”Is it time?” The crowd responded with a resounding approval and the King of Bowlive, George Porter Jr., joined the funky party. Drawing from his time with The Meters, Porter led covers of “Pungee” and “Africa” and took the lead on vocals. The set wrapped up with the tasty New Orleans classic “Iko Iko,” by The Dixie Cups.
Set two continued with more of The Meter’s catalog, starting with “Look-Ka Py Py” from the album of the same name. The funk classic “Keep On Marching” from the Fire on the Bayou album was up next. The funk single “I Need More Time” had the crowd dancing like no one was watching. Rejuvenation‘s “What’cha Say” then proceeded and “He Bite Me”, also from Fire on the Bayou, closed out this delightfully funky sequence.
This talented group of musicians then switched gears and doubled down on one of Porter’s favorite songs to cover, The Grateful Dead’s “Sugaree.” Porter’s soulful voice and eclectic bass skills brought new life to this beloved classic. The frequent Dead cover and Bobby Bland original “Turn On Your Love Light” lit up the room and was the jam of the night. The set wrapped up with another Meter’s classic, “It Ain’t No Use.” This electrifying group then closed out one hot night with another Rejuvination tune for an encore with “Just Kissed My Baby.”
Setlist
Set One: So Live, Steppin’, Eleanor Rigby, Waves, Pungee*, Africa*, Iko Iko*
Set Two: Look-Ka Py Py*, Keep On Marching*, I Need More Time*, What’cha Say*, He Bite Me (The Dragon)*, Sugaree*, Turn On Your Love Light, It Ain’t No Use*
Thursday night kicked off the second round of shows celebrating the ten-year anniversary of Bowlive, the unique relationship that brought together Brooklyn Bowl and Soulive has produced some of the most interesting and classic musical collaborations in the New York music scene.
For show number four of the anniversary run, Soulive welcomed the extremely talented Marcus King, the southern rock prodigy who has quickly rose in popularity for his immense musical talent and charm treated a sold out crowd to an amazing night of music with takes on a few Allman Brothers classics and the Soulive catalog.
Bowlive is all about collaboration, not only chemistry on stage but a connection between musicians. It’s amazing to see the friendship blossoming between Erick Krasno and Marcus King as it shines through the music and joy shared on stage.
The 2019 Pleasantville Music Festival is now in the books. This was my first time at the festival, held 30+ miles north of NYC, which was celebrating its 15th year. Before heading to the festival I found out a few things about Pleasantville, N.Y. It is a village in a town, it’s first train station was built circa 1846, and has roughly 7,000 people living there, per the 2010 census. I started to think, village, 1846, music festival? I was, well, concerned.
But I was schooled- schooled quickly. With past headliners including Gin Blossoms, Blues Traveler, The Smithereens, and Ian Hunter; the quality of music spoke for itself. The organizers maximized the large enclosed multi-use sports field enabling three musical stages, an abundance of food and drink vendors, large kids play section, tented shade areas and enough space for all to enjoy the day without being on top of one another.
Recycle station volunteers
As part of the festival and “to keep the Earth happy” they instituted a zero waste program including manned recycling stations and volunteers who continually roamed the site, picking up any trash that may have made it to terra firma. I was taken by how well they kept the festival site clean. Water stations offering free fill ups were available for all, whether you bought something to drink or brought a refillable bottle with you.
Then there was music. Three stages offered different musical grooves from local to national acts. The Chill Tent, a very large covered area with a multitude of large fans circulating air throughout, offered acoustic styled acts including Dean Freidman and Chill headliner Matthew Sweet, who filled the tent to capacity. The Party stage, a decibel or two louder than the Chill Tent, true to its name was a party for all. Bands playing this stage were definitely adding heat to an already hot day. Two acts on this stage that caught my attention were Micky James and the band The New Respects, both had everyone on their feet and wanting more.
Matthew Sweet in the Chill Tent
The main stage was just that with BAILEN, Aimee Mann, Soul Asylum, and headliners Everclear playing to a field full of fans, singing and dancing to their hits. The bands were interacting with the crowd making the main stage feel like the most intimate of places.
The day’s musical extravaganza started with the three winners of the Lagond MusicBattle of the Bands competition. The winners, Mosa, SpitPhyre, and Lillimure, set the tone for each stage they performed on. It was great seeing support for new and developing musical talent. Eighteen acts played this hot, blue sky day. The coordination of the two smaller stages with the main stage allowed you to experience all the acts and not feel you missed out on something going from one stage to the other.
With my knowledge of Pleasantville, N.Y. social studies enhanced and having had consumed a plethora of great music, all I have to do now is wait for year 16 to get on the calendar.
Soul AsylumThe New RespectsDean FriedmanSwahoogieReady for some rock ‘n rollMatthew SweetMosaAlex Cano Aimee MannBruce T CarrollBAILENE’lissa JonesField entertainmentColor Tongue LillimureMicky JamesTough competitionMeltSpitPhyre
Things I Remember from Earth is the latest album from Maybird, their second release on 30th Century, the label founded by Danger Mouse, and in honor of the new album, the Rochester quartet will play at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn on Wednesday, July 24.
The album has an other-worldly feeling – weaving pop, part psych rock, and part experimental into a sci-fi fantasy. Inspiration for the album came in part from Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan. For more on the album, read the NYS interview and the album review.
Ask Jimmie Vaughan what he thinks of what the Fabulous Thunderbirds have done since he left the band in 1990, and he chuckles. “I don’t know what they’ve done. I’m busy worrying about myself.”
The T-Birds may have been his highest profile gig outside of Family Style, the one double-Grammy winning CD he recorded with his late legendary brother Stevie Ray Vaughan, but he’s won two Grammys since then as a solo act and plays the Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, New York on Friday, July 12 and Darryl’s Place the next day touring on the release of his latest CD, Baby, Please Come Home.
The Chicago Tribune summed Jimmie up adroitly when they said, “Jimmie Vaughan is one of the great guitarists of the last 30-40 years, though you might not know it – he’s not about calling attention to himself. He’s about substance and economy rather than excess and showmanship.”
While his guitar work with the T-Birds fused the swamp blues sound of Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester with a gritty bar band rock that made the songs “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up” pop chart hits more than three decades ago, his current style rests comfortably in the retro R&B songs he covers on the new album.
The originals of all 11 numbers were first released in the 1950s including Chuck Willis’s “What’s Your Name,” Fats Domino’s “So Glad,” Jimmy Reed’s “Baby, What’s Wrong,” and T Bone Walker’s “I’m Still in Love with You.” As diverse as that sounds, the arrangements consistently feel like they were recorded in the Duke/Peacock label’s Houston studios between 1947 and ’54. Vaughan’s guitar playing throughout is elemental, retro perfect, on point, prickly and as unlike his late brother Stevie Ray’s sound as Chuck Berry is to Jimi Hendrix.
It is unavoidable that Stevie’s history-making legacy would cast a huge shadow over everything Jimmie has done since his brother died in a helicopter crash in 1990 a month prior to the release of Family Style. Jimmie Vaughan says the pain even today of having to put out that album after his brother’s passing is indescribable.
“We were together every day in the studio. We had a great time. We went to New York, Memphis, Dallas. We had a good time with each other, and we enjoyed it, and we had a fabulous record. We were looking forward to it coming out, and then that happened. I don’t even know how to describe it. I don’t know what to say still.”
Listen to any one of Jimmie’s solo albums back to back with one of Stevie’s, and it makes you wonder how two brothers four years apart in age and living together growing up could be so different. The common thread was Jimi Hendrix.
“We both loved Hendrix. I found the 45 of “Purple Haze” in the garbage can at a TV show. It was a promotional copy that they had thrown away. So, I got it early on before it came out. If you’re already into Muddy Waters, and you hear Hendrix, it’s exactly like Muddy Waters had a kid who went into outer space and came back and knew stuff nobody else knew. But it’s still Muddy Waters.
“I could do “Purple Haze” and “Foxy Lady” with the band I was in. They were all 21, and I was 15, (in 1966). Stevie was there on that set, and then somebody would challenge him. Stevie had to outdo me in his mind. He was my little brother, and sometimes little brothers have to try harder than big brothers.”
Stevie would go on to become the biggest influence in helping blues cross over into the mainstream since Hendrix himself, eclipsing his brother’s popularity by a huge margin. And when they recorded Family Style, it was that process that added a capability to Jimmie’s talents that finally would turn him into a solo recording artist four years after Stevie died. The biggest boost to Jimmie’s solo career came from handling vocals for the first time.
“I never had any vocals training. It wasn’t my goal. So, when I got to Family Style with Stevie, (producer) Nile Rodgers said, ‘Stevie’s gonna sing his songs. What songs are you going to sing?’ I said, ‘Well, I wasn’t really thinking of that.’ He said, ‘Well, you gotta sing.’ So, I said ok. I had to do it. That was a good way to start for me. and I’ve been singing ever since.”
Jimmie’s vocals on Baby, Please Come Home are a perfect complement to his extraordinary guitar playing.
Eric Clapton who lost three members of his entourage in the same helicopter crash that killed Stevie, invited Jimmie to perform at five Royal Albert Hall blues concerts in London soon after the accident. I was working on my Buddy Guy biography at the time and spent an evening with Jimmie, his mother, and the Beefeaters guards in their pub in the Tower of London. The Brits made this American blues journalist feel like royalty. The good cheer was palpable, but it was as if Jimmie were inside a bubble apart from the goings on. I didn’t know what to say to him. “Well, neither did I. I didn’t know what to say to you or anyone. So, it’s just what I had to do, and actually it was the best thing for me at the time to play which is what I’ve always done anyway.”
It was four years after Stevie’s passing before Jimmie released his first solo album Strange Pleasure including the song “Six Strings Down” dedicated to his brother. It was produced by Nile Rodgers and featured Dr. John on bass. Career highlights since then have included a special guest appearance on Bo Diddley’s 1996 album A Man Amongst Men, playing guitar on the tracks “He’s Got A Key” and “Coatimundi.” He played a member of the fictional Louisiana Gator Boys led by B.B. King in the Blues Brothers 2000 film and earned a Grammy for Best Blues Album for his 2001 release, Do You Get The Blues?
In the new millennium he’s recorded with Omar Kent Dykes’ On The Jimmy Reed Highway, Lazy Lester’s Blues Stop Knockin’, toured with Dylan in 2006, and joined Gary Clark, Jr. for the encore of Clapton’s show at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 2017.
If you read between the lines, you could get the impression that Jimmie’ career is about the guitar licks where his brother’s was about the glory.“The thing about Stevie and I playing so differently is just that he would do the Hendrix thing, and he would do Albert King and Hendrix incorporated into his style. He stole their riffs and put it into his playing and did it so well, that it became part of his thing.
“I already was doing a different thing. So, if Stevie were here right now, it would be interesting to see how he played, but when you’re young and you’re out there having a good time and – ”
He pauses.
“This is not to take away from Stevie’s playing. I don’t want you to think that. I’m just trying to explain why he did all that.”
One has to wonder where Jimmie would be today if Clapton hadn’t pulled him back out on stage. “I’m grateful that Eric got me to play ’cause I didn’t know what to do and how to handle a group at the time. I had left the Thunderbirds, and I was just in turmoil. Like, what do you do with all this information? Where do you put it? Where’s my place in it? You know what I mean? So, anyway, that was my first outing, and I’ve been playing ever since. So, I think I was good for me that Eric got me out of the house and away from myself.”
Shira Yevin, better known as Shiragirl, upset The Vans Warped Tour atop her pink tour bus in 2004, so much that the following year she was given her own SHIRAGIRL stage to curate the amazing female talent in the industry. Since, she has been drawing fans with her edge and overwhelming personality – full of energy. So infectious that she has shared the stage with Joan Jett, NOFX, and Rancid, whom she is currently working on her upcoming album with.
“I’m Stoked to be playing the Warped 25th Anniversary in AC. I lived in Brooklyn for a long time, but I am originally a Jersey Girl, little known fact, so it’s pretty cool to be here.
Shiragirl. Photograph by Lisa Johnson – Rock Photographer. All Rights Reserved.
I’ve played in a lot of awesome, fun Jersey shows and obviously all the Warped Tours over the years. In Jersey we would do a lot of basement shows and in New York it’s about the clubs. I love New York City, it’s my favorite city in the world.”
Shiragirl just released a new single on Tuesday, July 2, called “Nothing to Loose” off their upcoming EP, Andi Underground. Produced by Rancid’s Tim Armsrong, the album weaves a mysterious concept loosely inspired by Alison in Wonderland. “It’s a dystopian tail where black mirror meets the runaways,” said Shiragirl. The album was recorded at The Boat studio, mixed by Cameron Webb and mastered by Andrew Alekel. Shiragirl features co-performers Raine Palladino and Leanne Bowes.
Finally, Andi’s crew hacks the system and takes down the filter software, and all that it upholds: social control, apathy and compliance. Now the people are free to see reality how it really is, rise up, empower themselves, and most importantly, do as they please.
Depicting “Creepin” – Andi Underground (To Be Released July 19).
“Nothing To Loose” when Andi follows Rabbit down a dark hole to an underground world.
“This is the character Andi Underground,” as she pulled a pair of anime-esque stickers out of her bag and showed me. “It’s about this girl that runs away from home and falls into an underground world and decides she needs to save everyone. I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland. There’s a lot of different ways you can spin it; a lot of metaphors.”
The record is also inspired by our current political climate. “I feel that as much as we escape into TV and movies talking about futures, it is here already. Technology controls our lives, there’s a lot of things happening in the news where one could say we’re already in borderline dictatorship. There’s a lot of scary things happening so the record is an artistic way to make a statement about what I think, or dangers of the cultural norms that grow from being so technology based.”
“I think its hard in the social media day and age you have to put everything out there, you have to be on it – on it- on it. It’s hard to live in the moment with that, but constantly sharing content, music, videos and sharing, speaking to the fans and being connected to the fans. It is so cool to meet people after the show, just to feel like we made their day better is a great feeling.”
“It’s amazing to see how the tour has grown and affected so many people,” said Brooklyn’s Shiragirl. “To be apart of this is a huge honor – there are so many amazing bands. We are super stoked to be apart of the final chapter. Last year we were lucky enough to bring back the stage for the final full cross country tour. I just have nothing but great things to say about Kevin Lymann. I wanna be like him when I grow up.”
Dead and Company returned to play a mainstay of their tours, Citi Field, on June 23 for an all-around solid show with a seemingly near capacity crowd in tow and The Wolf
Perfect weather ushered in the first set, filled with mellow jams and easy grooves. Since the band’s inaugural shows in 2015 at the Times Union Center in Albany and Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, fans have seen a partial core group of Grateful Dead members with a few guests grow into the new touring force in the wake of the Grateful Dead. John Mayer’s increasing share in vocals and frontman duties alongside Bob Weir manifested from the first refrain in the opening song “St. Stephen.” In a surprise to fans, Jerry Garcia’s famed Wolf guitar was played by Mayer for the entire show, which added a subtle accent to his imitation of Garcia’s style.
The second set resembled the construction of a late 1970s Grateful Dead set anchored by two giant ballads, “Terrapin Station” to start the set and a post-Drums/Space “Morning Dew.” In contrast with these two more-scripted songs, the rest of the set took to a rather lengthy jam with “Truckin’” expanded well beyond its original form, teased upon in the outro of Space, including a few doodles from Mayer which briefly echoed a bit of David Gilmour’s guitar style. The set concluded after a rather short encore break and a melodious “Breakdown Palace” (the show was possibly running into a venue or local curfew).
Set 1: St. Stephen -> Cold Rain and Snow, Samson and Delilah, High Time, They Love Each Other, Ramble On Rose, Sugaree, Jack Straw.
Set 2: Terrapin Station, Althea, Scarlet Begonias -> Fire on the Mountain -> Drums -> Space -> The Wheel -> The Other One -> Morning Dew.
Kris Kelly has released his newest single “Cracked Porcelain,” featuring an all-star team of musicians, including” Todd Sickafoose (“Hadestown”, Ani DiFranco) on bass and arrangements by John Philip Shenale (Tori Amos). The track will appear on his forthcoming album, Runaways, due out on August 29, which also features previously released singles “Birthplace” and “We Flew.”
Kris Kelly is a singer/songwriter based in Brooklyn, NY. Originally from Austin, TX, he moved to New York City to attend NYU, where he studied classical vocal performance and music composition. For years he performed his original compositions for guitar, vocals, flute, violin, bass, and percussion at many popular NYC venues. He then spent five years traveling through South America with just his guitar and a suitcase. Living mostly in Argentina and Brazil, Kelly met his husband, and his travel experiences inspired the core of Kelly’s album – pure love, loss, discovery, and growth.
Kris shares some insight into ‘Cracked Porcelain:’ “This is a story about two gay men who find freedom in defining their relationship in an unconventional, ‘open’ way but who end up getting lost in the revelry and ultimately drive each other apart. I think the LGBTQ community has a unique opportunity to redefine our relationship with sex within our partnerships. Not having forced onto us the traditional ways of defining a healthy partnership gives us the freedom to discover it for ourselves, but it also comes with a great responsibility, and I think we often fail. I failed at least. And that’s OK, because I realized if I wanted to be happy, I had to make a change. I’ve been forced to reevaluate constantly my relationship with my partner and to figure out how to respect each other while maintaining a healthy individuality, and we’re still navigating it to this day.”
“It’s easy to go unconscious and do whatever feels good in the moment, but without consciously, intentionally taking care of the relationship, it falls apart. There has to be a balance in order to nurture both carnal desires and the spiritual connection with another human being (if that’s something that you value). And when things are out of balance, suffering is inevitable. That’s what happens in ‘Cracked Porcelain’.”
New York City based duo, Silver Relics, is Alex Sepassi and Justin Alvis. Their latest release, Generic., is anything but what the title suggests. Sepassi started writing songs and singing at the age of ten, and over the years his craft has been incorporating elements of the influences he listens to. This runs anywhere from 80’s indie rock and post-punk, to 90’s grunge. The duo’s songwriting first philosophy lends itself to this easy-listening album. The familiar song structures and melodic phrases give heed to pop-punk, while the instrumentation is rich and intriguing, with aspects of countless genres woven throughout the songs. Each tune brandishes a fun chorus, while the verses and intermittent instrumental parts hash out the soundscapes that Silver Relics build.
The production on this album is a bright spot. Sepassi has worked with New York producer, Howie Beno, since meeting him in 2016. The skills he’s honed in those years, evinced by the loaded yet not bloated instrumentals. The second song, “Generic,” opens with a cinematic string intro that eventually turns into an quasi-prog rock song with shoegaze elements interspersed throughout. Here, the verse and chorus are well defined apart from each other, and flow well in and out. While the songs are not structurally challenging or progressive, the way the atmosphere changes between these parts is noted and appreciated as a transition mechanism.
A standout song with a lot of grit, ‘Timebomb’, offers an edgier look at the band. Much of the song is unrelenting; its furious intro leads the listener into an anthemic chorus, as a beautifully effected shoegazuing guitar outlines the nuances in the chord progression. For fans of shoegaze like My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive, this album provides a shmorgishborg of tried-and-true shoegaze guitar tones that sit well on top of vintage synths and spry drums. The tenth track, “Yellow Master Motive” opens with a very intricate vocal part, performed to great effect. The opening instrumental that follows is lush and sits well behind the spotlighted vocals. There’s a lot of moving parts here, as the song slowly builds up into a rock anthem.
Overall, Generic. was an exciting listen. The energy is kept up, as Silver Relics blast out earworm after earworm while leaving traces of their influences hidden underneath the solid base of the song. The songwriting first philosophy the group took in recording this record really shows. What the songs lack in compositional variety, they make up with instrumental diversity. Huge ranges of tonality come together as a woven basket, with each influence offering an essential purpose to the whole product. Generic.is streaming now!
Key Tracks: Time Bomb, Yellow Master Motive, Wanderlust
Thai-Funk trio, Khruangbin, made their debut at the historic Capitol Theatre on Wednesday June 19, where curious music fans were treated to something special. For the first time the Texas trio played their 2018 album, Con Todo El Mundo, in its entirety, followed with a complete performance of their 2015 debut album, The Universe Smiles Upon You.
Bassist Lara Lee, guitarist Mark Speer, and drummer Donald “Dj” Johnson have come up with this amazing sound that blends many global musical influences working towards never being pigeonholed into one label. As the band played the final note of “Zionsville” to close out the show, an extremely diverse group of music fans erupted in ovation, showing why this is one of the must see acts in music right now, and hopfully cementing many returns to the The Cap.
Setlist – Khruangbin at The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY
Set 1: Como Me Quieres, Lady and Man, Maria Tambien, Aug 10, Comom Te Quiero, Shades of Men, Evan, A Hyman, Rules, Friday.
Set 2: Mr. White, Two Fish, Dern Kala, Little Joe & Mary, White Gloves, People, The Man Who Took My Sunglasses, August 12, Ball and Pins, Zionsville.
