NYS Music 20​19

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  • Goose Visits Flint Tropics, Covers Will Ferrell’s Semi-Pro on Halloween

    Goose lead a capacity crowd through a semi-pro Halloween party for the ages on Thursday, October 31 at Mercury Lounge. Up against the expectations of a sold out show (and $12 tickets were selling for over $100 on the resale market) as well as musical ghosts of bands like Phish, String Cheese Incident, and Umphrey’s McGee who have made Halloween the biggest musical holiday of the year, Goose treated the capacity crowd to a Halloween bash of the highest order.

    goose semi-pro

    Opening band Of Clocks and Clouds lead Joe Salgo promised that if he made it into the room, we wouldn’t be disappointed – a big understatement, as the band opened for Goose. Double guitar shredding, a fast-and-furious pocket groove and complementary heavy jams from the keys made this band hit hard. Their heavy metal costumes contributed to the uber-amplification as, the room began to swell as the Goose crowd filtered in. It was a truly great set that hopefully leads to bigger and better things for this awesome band.

    goose semi-pro

    Goose took the stage promptly at 11:30pm, uniformly clad as members of the Flint Tropics from Will Ferrel’s movie Semi-Pro for their Halloween costume. Jackie Moon’s “Love Me Sexy,” played and sung by Will Ferrell’s lead character in the movie, opened the set, with much more of the soundtrack on the horizon. Goose original “Hot Tea” followed with nearly twenty minutes of crushing jams. Peter Anspach on the keys would move back and forth all night between funky-ass jams on the keyboards and face-melting guitar work. A cover of the Brothers Johnson’s “Get Da Funk Out Ma’ Face,” also from the Semi-Pro soundtrack, began with Trevor Weekz’ bass-slapping intro before melting into the double guitar attack from Peter and co-lead vocalist Rick Mitarotonda. 

    A duo of originals, “Yeti” > “Wysteria Lane” showed exactly why this band, on an exponential rise, sold out the neighboring Bowery Ballroom for their just announced January 24, 2020 show mere minutes after the on sale. Back to their musical costume, they closed the hour long set with Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” and Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band’s “A Fifth of Beethoven.”

    goose semi-pro

    DJ Doey Joey kept the vibe going with great beats both before the set and during the break. The band returned after 20 minutes for a costume contest, and among the three finalists chosen by the band, Happy Gilmore’s caddie won in a landslide.

    goose semi-pro

    With an intro that sounded decidedly like Phish’s “Maze,” a cover of Barry White’s “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up” made a jam sandwich of Semi-Pro covers around original song “Jive 1,” joined on the back end by WAR’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends” and “Jive Lee.” Some major funky vibes coming from Peter’s keys, with Trevor’s heavy bass lines and Ben’s driving beats, the crowd was working a serious groove. Staying with a few more originals, “So Ready” and “White Lights” rocked the room some more as both Peter and Rick gave out high fives to the fans rocking out. Randy Newman’s “Short People” closed the main set before a faux-encore break, “We don’t really have to fake walk away and come back do we?” as it’s not really practical to leave the Mercury stage in a sold out room.

    “A Fifth of Beethoven” (reprise) > “Also Sprach Zarathustra” were the icing on the 90-minute cake called the second set, and put an exclamation point on a wild and exclusive sold out party for 250 of Goose’s closest friends on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. 

    This being an initial Goose experience, it is difficult to resist the temptation to make comparisons to other bands. Goose is a mix of Spafford and Goose’s avian kin, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong; fast and furious jams that stay tight and in the pocket, peaks upon peaks upons peaks until, finally, unable to ascend further, several more peaks, each one flavored with a unique and signature funk. The Bowery Ballroom in January simply can’t come soon enough.

    Goose Semi-Pro Halloween Setlist

    Set One: Love Me Sexy (WIll Ferrell as the fictional Jackie Moon; Semi-Pro), Hot Tea, Get Da Funk Out Ma’ Face (Brothers Johsnon; Semi-Pro), Yeti > Wysteria Lane, Lady Marmalade (Patti LaBelle; Semi-Pro), A Fifth of Beethoven (Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band; Semi-Pro)

    Set Two: Never, Never Gonna Give You Up (Barry White; Semi-Pro), Jive I > Why Can’t We Be Friends (War; Semi-Pro) > Jive Lee, So Ready, White Lights, Short People (Randy Newman; Semi-Pro)

    Encore: A Fifth of Beethoven Reprise > Also Sprach Zarathustra (Deodato; Semi-Pro)

  • Brooklyn R&B singer Amare Symoné Announces the Release of “Ellipsis”

    After releasing singles “L.B.E.,” “Losing,” and “Insecure” earlier this year, Brooklyn based R&B singer Amare Symoné released her latest single “Ellipsis” on October 24. Utilizing her inseparable ties of Jazz and R&B, Symoné creates a modern fusion of the unique two genres. A dissonant sample loops throughout the track, as Amare’s vocals float throughout in her ever-confident delivery.

    This sex-positive track finds Symoné sorting through her head wondering why they both just can’t read the signs. Wrapped up in her own thoughts, this song looks to fill in the blanks, or in other words the ‘Ellipsis’ of her own feelings.

    Symoné, a California born and Brooklyn bred singer-songwriter, poet, activist, and womanist, graduated from Professional Performing Arts High School in NYC. A student at Columbia College working towards a Bachelor’s degree in music business, Amare is inspired and influenced by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Destiny’s Child, Etta James and Eryn Allen Kane.

  • The late Neal Casal’s complete solo discography released

    One day prior to what would have been the 51st birthday Neal Casal, nine of the late artist‘s solo discography that were previously unavailable on digital music platforms have been released. These recordings, which can now be streamed and downloaded in their entirely, make complete Casal’s entire solo discography.

    Recordings by Casal released today include Rain, Wind & Speed (1996), The Sun Rises Here (1997), Field Recordings (1997), Basement Dreams (1998), Black River Sides (w/ Kenny Roby, 1999), Anytime Tomorrow (2000), Ran On Pure Lightning (w/ Shannon McNally, 2002), No Wish To Reminisce (2006), and All Directions (2007). Listen on various platforms here.

    Additionally, a rarely seen video for the song “Reason” from Casal’s 1998 album, The Sun Rises Here, has been made available, including a poignant ending segment with Neal and his father discussing his rock ‘n’ roll dreams.

    Neal Casal—a guitarist, singer and songwriter—passed away on August 26. He was celebrated most recently for his work with Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Circles Around the Sun. Prior to his involvement in those projects, however, he recorded and toured prolifically as a solo artist. Though never reaching the wider success he found in the later stages of his career, he left behind a critically acclaimed body of work under his own name, including nine solo albums, two duo albums and a handful of compilations and retrospectives that intertwined elements of vintage rock, country and soul. 

    Plans are currently in the works for a series of physical reissues of Casal’s solo work in 2020, while the finishing touches are being added to his final recording sessions with Circles Around The Sun a week before his passing.

    Neal Casal would have turned 51 on Saturday, November 2.

  • Ghost Note schedule December 30 late show at Sony Hall

    Ghost Note, the acclaimed jazz, hip-hop, funk and world-fusion outfit will gather a few talented friends for a very special tribute to Prince at Sony Hall on Monday, December 30 for a late-night show following Phish’s performance at Madison Square Garden.

    Former Prince collaborators MonoNeon (bass), saxophonist Sylvester Onyejiaka (saxophone) and Dominique Xavier Taplin (keys) have made sure the Purple One’s pedigree is always well-represented with Ghost-Note. For this guest-filled, late-night Ghost-Note & Friends Play Prince blowout, the insanely gifted outfit led by percussionists Nate Werth and Robert Sput Searight (Snarky Puppy) will dive headfirst into the beloved Prince catalog to help NYC party like it’s (almost) 2020.

    ghost note december 30

    Joining Ghost-Note as the “Friends” portion of the bill will be Trey Anastasio Band trumpeter/vocalist Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band), D’Angelo and The Vanguard singers Rojo “REDD” Lavoe and Ahrel Lumzy, and Cory Henry/Childish Gambino vocal collaborator STOUT. Hartswick will be pulling double-duty during the Phish run, as the TAB trumpeter and vocalist will also be playing with The Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein’s Star Kitchen the night before, Sunday, December 29th, also at Sony Hall.

    Tickets for Ghost-Note & Friends Play Prince go on-sale at 2 p.m. ET, and can be purchased here. 

  • Anthony D’Amato Releases “Wrong Shade of Blue” Single

    NYC based singer songwriter Anthony D’Amato released the first single, “Wrong Shade of Blue,” from his upcoming EP, Five Songs From New Orleans, out on Velvet Elk Records.

    Captured almost entirely in the living room of an historic 1860’s Garden District home, Five Songs From New Orleans feeds off the Crescent City’s irrepressible creative energy and draws inspiration both from its stately beauty and its haunted decay.

    D’Amato engineered, produced, and mixed the whole EP himself, treating the songs as raw, unfiltered snapshots of his time in town, and the performances documented here are loose and improvisatory to match. The end result is a spare and organic collection, one that’s comprised exclusively of acoustic instruments and draws on an eclectic array of New Orleans sounds, from Cajun fiddle to blues guitar, from Dixieland clarinet to washboard shuffle, from classic country to fingerpicked folk.

    “This whole experience really caught me by surprise,” said D’Amato, a New Jersey native who now calls New York City home. “I came to New Orleans for a housesitting gig in between tours, and I ended up writing and recording a whole new collection with a whole new band and a whole new sound.”

    While each of the songs on the EP grew out of D’Amato’s experiences in New Orleans, some tracks are more explicit in their lyrical portraits than others. D’Amato spins an Ash Wednesday hangover into a metaphor for post-honeymoon love on the playful “Party’s Over,” imagines life after death in one of the city’s largest cemeteries on the bluesy “Metairie,” and uses New Orleans as a lens through which to examine the widening economic, racial, and political divides that have come to define modern America on the twangy “Some Folks.”

    I came to New Orleans for a housesitting gig in between tours, and I ended up writing and recording a whole new collection with a whole new band and a whole new sound.

    Anthony D’Amato

    Those who pre-order the EP ahead of its November 15th release on D’Amato’s web site, will get access to bonus materials (signed CDs, vintage New Orleans postcards, handwritten lyrics, t-shirts, fine art prints).

    Anthony will be celebrating the EP’s release at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City on November 13th. He will be joined that night by very special guest John Gallagher Jr. (TONY Award winner ‘Spring Awakening’, HBO’s ‘The Newsroom’),  Tickets can be purchased in advance of the show.

    UPCOMING TOUR DATES
    Nov 8 – Chesterfield, MO
    Nov 9 – Chesterfield, MO
    Nov 10 – Des Moines, IA
    Nov 13 – New York, NY (Full Band)

    Pre-Order bonus materials

  • Voodoo Music And Arts Experience 2019

    This past weekend, October 25-27, saw the annual Voodoo Music and Arts Experience took place in the city of New Orleans. The festival, in its tenth edition, boasted a genre spanning lineup that included Guns N’ Roses, Beck, Post Malone, Brandi Carlile, The National, Interpol, Big Gigantic, and Young the Giant. The three-day weekend married the close of the 2019 festival season and featured some creepy crawly Halloween festivities.

    In what seemed to be a Voodoo tradition the first day was plagued by a great deal of rain, leaving the grounds of the beautiful City Park under water and a swampy mess. The dismal weather did not deter the voodoo faithful from kicking off the weekend festivities costumes and all. Sets from up and coming artist Hobo Johnson & The Love Makers, and the amazing Bishop Briggs paved the way for a rainy serenade from Brandi Carlile, and an absolute heater from Guns N’ Roses. The world-famous rockers treated a wet and rowdy crowd to a three-hour career spanning set culminating with a perfectly timed November Rain as the light mist turned back into a steady rain shower.

    As day two arrived so did the sunshine as if summer was peaking in one more time before the winter months took over, allowing festival attendees to dawn their best costumes. This was a full music day that included sets from Young the Giant, The National, and Bassnectar with the ever-talented Beck closing out day 2 with his unique dance party sound. He paid homage to hometown favorites The Meters with a soulful version of Cissy Strut showing just how much love so many musicians have for the city of New Orleans.

    The final day of the festival featured an array of new bands and artists that certainly should be on any music fan’s radar. Temples, a psych rock band from England, proved that British rock is still alive and thriving, blending multiple different styles to create a unique hard rock sound. Minnesota native Hippo Campus brought their billowy melodies and concisely written songs for an amazing afternoon performance on the main stage. The array of great music culminated with a powerful performance from Post Malone. The 24 year old rap star closed this amazing weekend with such stage presence and cockiness. Closing the festival with his hit song “Congratulations” exclaiming to the NOLA faithful “Live your life, live your dream, live your truth, be what you want to be, don’t ever let anyone fuckin’ stop you.” A perfect motto for the attitude that the gritty city of New Orleans exudes everyday.

  • Holographic Roy Orbison & Buddy Holly Come to New York

    The ‘Roy Orbison & Buddy Holly: The Rock ‘N’ Roll Dream Tour’ will be coming to New York in November. This once in a lifetime tour began in September and has made several stops along the way throughout North America. Now fans from New York will have a turn to see this duo in concert. First up will be at  The Egg in Albany on Nov. 15 before moving to Rochester’s Auditorium Theatre on Nov. 17.

    Developed and produced by BASE Hologram, the audience will be treated to a high tech holographic performance with the accompaniment of a live band and back-up singers, all coming together to bring to life many of Orbison and Holly’s best hits. Eric Shaeffer (Million Dollar Quartet) will return as the director. In 2018 Shaeffer led the extremely successful ‘In Dreams: Roy Orbison in Concert’ tour across the world breaking many records.

    “When you look at the architects of the Rock and Roll era, the names that come to mind are Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly,” said Brian Becker, Chairman and CEO of BASE Hologram, the leading content developer, producer and distributor of concerts, theatricals and spectacles that combine holographic cinema and mixed reality with live entertainment. “Both of these men weren’t just gifted musicians, but skillful innovators who helped influence others in game-changing ways.”

    “These men weren’t just one thing – they were artists in every sense of the word,” said BASE Hologram CEO of Production Marty Tudor.  “Like Roy, Buddy has a truly impressive songbook and in many cases, audiences may not have realized he was the one behind so many hits. Part of the beauty of these productions is we get to share the legacy of these performers and remind people of the full range of their talent.”

    Despite several jam and recording sessions, these two rock and roll trailblazers have never toured together. Combined they have earned 16 platinum and 19 gold records, dozens of hits and 10 GRAMMY Awards combined. Being of a different era has not stopped these two from having three million Facebook followers and five million streams monthly on Spotify. To this day their musical capabilities captivate millions.

    Information is available here for the tour that continues throughout the month of November.
     
    North America Tour Dates

    Nov.1 – Au-Rene at Broward Center  – Fort Lauderdale, FL
    Nov.2 – Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts – Melbourne, FL
    Nov.3 – Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL
    Nov.4 – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall – Sarasota, FL
    Nov.6 – Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
    Nov.8 – Atlanta Symphony Hall – Atlanta, GA
    Nov.9 – Memorial Auditorium – Raleigh, NC
    Nov.10 – Scottish Rite Auditorium – Collingswood, NJ
    Nov.12 – State Theatre – New Brunswick, NJ
    Nov.13 – AMP by Strathmore – North Bethesda, MD
    Nov.15 – The Egg – Albany, NY
    Nov.16 – Boch Center Shubert Theatre – Boston, MA
    Nov.17 – Auditorium Theatre – Rochester, NY
    Nov.19 – FirstOntario Concert Hall – Hamilton, ON
    Nov.20 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON

  • Sweet Honey in the Rock celebrates 45 years, will stop in Albany this December

    Celebrating their 45th anniversary in 2019, Sweet Honey In The Rock remains among the most vibrant, versatile and ever relevant musical collectives around today. Together, they perform an inspiring signature mix of soul, gospel, folk and world music, with elements of hip-hop and jazz. 

    While founding member Bernice Johnson Reagon has since retired, the torch continues to be carried by longtime members Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, and featured musician Romeir Mendez. This powerful and unique female a cappella vocal quartet is best known for their uplifting concerts. 

    Sweet Honey in the Rock

    Sweet Honey in the Rock will “Celebrate the Holydays” with a selection of traditional American holiday spirituals and hymns, as well as songs from other cultures.

  • Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt announce Acoustic Duo Tour

    Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt of Leftover Salmon will hit the road as an acoustic duo tour this winter, with dates stretching across the Midwest and East Coast.

    The two long-time collaborators are hitting the road for a rare run of acoustic duo shows performed in intimate settings that will celebrate over thirty years of musical friendship.  Each night will be a journey through the pair’s long history and touch on all realms of their vast musical catalog including everything from well known favorites to long-forgotten gems, and everything in between.

    Vince Herman Drew Emmitt

    They first came together on a late October evening when Vince Herman wandered into the Walrus Saloon in Boulder, Colorado, after being enticed by a sign reading “Bluegrass Music Here Tonight,. He met Drew Emmitt, whose band was playing that night, and the pair have been reshaping the musical landscape ever since.  First at house parties and in the campgrounds at festivals, then in Emmitt’s bluegrass outfit the Left Hand String Band, before forming the legendary roots band Leftover Salmon on New Year’s Eve thirty years ago.

    Since then, these two have been blazing new musical paths with Leftover Salmon, taking the music at their core: rock ‘n’ roll, folk, bluegrass, Cajun, soul, zydeco, jazz and blues, and crafting it into something new that has spawned a legion of bands in their wake.  With their unpredictable approach in a live setting, their willingness to take chances by fusing disparate musical styles together and their incorporation of non-traditional bluegrass covers into their repertoire, Leftover Salmon has pushed that progressive bluegrass sound they were originally influenced by to the next level.  Instead they are firmly settled in the long lineage of bands that defy simple categorization, always setting their own musical agenda.

    Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt Acoustic Duo Tour
    Dec. 19 – Barley’s – Knoxville, TN
    Dec. 20 – Asheville Music Hall – Asheville, NC
    Feb. 6 – City Winery – Atlanta, GA
    Feb. 7 – City Winery – Nashville, TN
    Feb. 8 – 185 King Street – Brevard, NC
    Feb. 9 – Richmond Music Hall – Richmond, VA
    Feb. 11 – City Winery – Washington, DC
    Feb. 12 – City Winery – Philadelphia, PA
    Feb. 13 – City Winery (2 shows) – New York, NY
    Feb. 14 – The Egg – Albany, NY
    Feb. 15 – Stage One – Fairfield, CT
    Feb. 16 – City Winery – Boston, MA
    Feb. 27 – Kenny’s Westside Pub – Peoria, IL
    Feb. 28 – Redstone Room – Davenport, IA
    Feb. 29 – City Winery (2 shows) – Chicago, IL

  • In Focus: Aqueous and Lespecial storm Putnam Place

    One of the fall’s best tours made their way to Putnam Place on Saturday, October 26 for a night of PR&J (prog-rock and jams) with Aqueous and Lespecial, two bands that highlight the fantastic Northeast music scene, who are just starting out their 13 shows together, which run through November 10 in Louisville, KY.

    For Lespecial’s opening set, the Massachusetts power trio performed an industrial set of standards “Donut Ghost House I” and “Gallows Hill.” They dipped into their Primus playbook for “Too Many Puppies” and invited up Jaq from Burning Monk, a Rage Against the Machine tribute band out of Burlington, for “Know Your Enemy,” which had the crowd jumping up and down as if Morello and De La Rocha were on stage.

    For Aqueous, their two sets were a build over the night from prog-inspired tunes “20/20” and fan favorite “Warren in the Window” in the first set towards more dance-filled numbers including “Strange Times” and “Half In, Half Out” in the second set. A cover of the Raconteurs “Steady as She Goes” and a debut of Tame Impala’s “The Less I Know the Better” gave fans a taste of familiar and new tunes inspiring Aqueous. An encore of “Uncle Phil’s Parachute” found drummer Rob Houk working the drum pad for a venue filled get down.

    The bands next perform at The Rex Theatre in Pittsburgh on October 31, then The 8×10 in Baltimore on November 1, and Richmond Music Hall in Richmond, VA on November 2. Find more tour dates here and download the show from Nugs.net.

    Lespecial photos by Sean Bemand, Aqueous photos by Jim Gilbert.

    Lespecial Setlist: Improv > Donut Ghost House I , Gallows Hill , Fruit Wolf Dance, Too Many Puppies > Hello Skinny > Too Many Puppies+, New Fish, Know Your Enemy*, The Vessel, Tonberry^

    *Rage Against the Machine, with Jaq from Burning Monk 

    + Primus

    ^bad guy, Billie Eilish tease

    Aqueous Setlist:

    Set 1: 20/20, Warren in the Window (1), Realize Your Light, Steady As She Goes (2) > Weight of the Word, Going Nowhere

    Set 2: Strange Times (3), Mosquito Valley, Pt II, The Less I Know the Better (4), Half In, Half Out, They’re Calling For Ya > Kitty Chaser (Explosions) (5)

    Encore: Uncle Phil’s Parachute (6,7)

    1- Closer to the Heart (Rush) tease
    2- The Raconteurs
    3- Gordon’s Mule tease
    4- Tame Impala cover, debut
    5- Crepes the Sloth Jam
    6- Schism (Tool) tease
    7- Falling Away From Me (KoRn) tease