Rumors of a possible Oysterhead reunion ramped up over the weekend when mysterious Instagram and Twitter accounts appeared using the @oysterhead and @realoysterhead tags.
The supergroup, which included Trey Anastasio of Phish, Les Claypool of Primus and Stewart Copeland of the Police last performed in 2006 at both Bonnaroo and the Allgood Festival.
On Tuesday, the band announced two dates for 2020 in Colorado. The band will play Feb. 14 and 15 at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, CO. The ticket request period is open now and runs until Thursday, Oct. 17 at 9:00 a.m. MDT. General on-sale will begin Saturday, Oct. 19 at 10:00 a.m. MDT.
The band came together originally as a one-off for the 2000 New Orleans Jazz Fest when Claypool was tasked by promoters to assemble a band. Claypool contacted Anastasio and the two agreed to ask Copeland to join them to complete the power trio.
They recorded one studio album, The Grand Pecking Order and embarked on a supporting tour in 2001.
Ukrainian metal band JINJER brought their tour to The Montage Music Hall in Rochester for yet another sold out show. With support from The Browning and Rochester natives Poison The Prophet, this was an excellent night of metal music.
Opening the show, Poison The Prophet launched into an aggressive, in-your-face, heavy set that you would expect on this kind of bill. While they didn’t have much room to move around the stage due to the other band’s kits, they made up for it with a pure metal performance.
Poison The Prophet moved quickly through their 6-song set and left the crowd wanting more with loud cheers and applause after every song. Featuring two vocalists, Jason Acevedo and Justin Clay, the duo constantly leaned into the crowd with great interaction and stage presence.
Being a “local” band on a national tour can seem intimidating and often one can tell which bands are the “local” ones of the night. However, Poison The Prophet fit right in, and performed a fantastic set that was the perfect introduction to the show.
Next up were The Browning, the four-piece electronic metal band from Kansas City. Wasting no time opening with “Beyond Stone”, The Browning had the crowd going nuts with their unique fusion of rap, EDM, and heavy metal.
Their 10-song set also went rather quickly as the band flowed through their setlist, with highlights being “Carnage,” “Pure Evil” and “Skybreaker.”
Guitarist Brian Moore was the most notable part of the band’s stage presence as he spun around relentlessly covered in paint while wearing a hoodie that resembled a cross between a zombie and a clown.
Closing out their set with “Geist,” the crowd responded with loud cheers and thundering applause. The Browning was a solid support act to be touring with JINJER and certainly gave it their all on stage. Finally, it was time for JINJER. The lights went dark and fog machines slowly began to fill the venue as the crowd screamed in anticipation. The moment Tatiana took to the stage, the band jumped right into the heavy number “Teacher, Teacher.”
When you think of metal bands with female vocals you probably think of In This Moment, Otep, Butcher Babies, or Arch Enemy. JINJER is very quickly making huge waves in the metal world and, in my opinion, Tatiana has the best voice in metal. The way she can transition from her cleans to the guttural screams is incredible to see live.
JINJER’s set was just pure raw energy. Playing fan favorites such as “Judgement (& Punishment),” “I Speak Astronomy,” “Perennial” and “Outlander,” the band commanded the audience’s attention and left them almost in a trance.
Closing out the night with the encore performance of “Pisces,” JINJER showed exactly why they’re selling out many of their tour dates. Expect this band to be performing at much larger venues very soon. Being able to see them at a club-type venue is something all of these fans will certainly remember.
Be sure to check out any of the remaining dates of this tour:
Oct. 15 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Black Circle Oct. 16 – Angola, Ind. @ The Eclectic Room Oct. 18 – Columbus, Ohio @ Al Rosa Villa Oct. 19 – Flint, Mich. @ Machine Shop Oct. 20 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ The Stache @ Interection Oct. 22 – Chicago, Ill. @ Bottom Lounge Oct. 23 – Belvedere, Ill. @ Apollo Theater Oct. 24 – Waterloo, Iowa @ Spicoli’s Oct. 25 – Iowa City, Iowa @ Wildwood Smokehouse Oct. 26 – Racine, Wis. @ Route 20 Oct. 29 – Calgary, Alberta @ Dickens Oct. 30 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Starlite Oct. 31 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ The Rickshaw Theater Nov. 01 – Seattle, Wash. @ El Corazon Nov. 02 – Portland, Ore. @ Hawthorne Theater
Famed author and Syracuse University alumna Joyce Carol Oates will join banjo virtuoso, songwriter and educator Tony Trischka on October 29 for a unique collaboration in Washington Heights. The evening will be recorded for Ben Arthur’s podcast SongWriter, which brings authors and musicians together to collaborate on storytelling and song-making.
The performance, hosted by the black-owned Ethiopian micro-roastery Cafe Buunni, will feature Joyce Carol Oates reading her short story, “A Brutal Murder in a Public Place,” and songwriters Tony Trischka and Jennifer Marks will perform songs written in response to her story. SongWriter is hosted by Ben Arthur, and is released as a podcast and excerpted on the syndicated radio program Acoustic Cafe for 2M listeners.
Cafe Buunni is located at 4961 Broadway between 207th Street and Isham. Take the A Train to the last stop at 207th Street. The show begins at 8pm, with a suggested donation of $10. More information can be found here.
I can imagine it is sometimes difficult to be called an Americana band. I’ve heard a number of music fans hear that description and respond, “You mean they sound like Mumford and Sons, or The Avett Brothers?” That response is not only limiting, it’s unfair. Listening to The Drunken Hearts pending release, Wheels of the City, dispels the notion that they are a one dimensional entity. There is country, with pedal steel and banjo, as well as elements of soul, some of the classic Laurel Canyon sound, touches of rock comparable to Drive-By Truckers, and alt-country stylings reminiscent of Son Volt.
The Drunken Hearts
The album, recorded at Denver’s Silo Sound Studios, starts out with “Fire in a House,” slowly building an intro, leading to a verse, a piano melody, and continuing with layers of other instrumentation and backing vocals. The tune eventually deconstructs to some degree toward the end, sonically arriving back where it began. “Alive ‘n Free” reflects the overall upbeat feel of Wheels of the City, as evidenced by the lyrics
“Sometimes in life, you get to where you want to / Sometimes in love, you fall just where you’re meant to / Sometimes this world shows you how to be free / Alive ‘n free.”
The addition of strings and a female accompanying vocal on “Passchendaele” lend a sense of sad elegance to a song about one of the most prolonged battles of World War I, and a soldier discovering lost love after returning home from war. “In the Middle” is an uptempo tune that can easily have the listener singing along, tapping their toes and swaying to the music.
“Two Hearts (On a Limb)” perhaps best fits the “Americana” genre, although The Drunken Hearts display a much broader range than any one single style. That range is displayed on “Wheels of the City.” The title tune begins with a country music feel, and as horns come in midway through the song, it morphs a bit into a soul sound. That subtle transition reflects the chameleon-like qualities of the songs, and the band as a whole. By virtue of the way the songs take advantage of multiple band members’ instrumental skills, this may well be a group that hits its stride in live performances more so than in a recording studio. That’s not to say Wheels of the City is lacking in any way, it’s simply that some bands build their chops over the course of hundreds of live gigs, and the band took a decidedly different approach to this release – writing and recording eleven new songs in eleven days, rather than recording familiar pieces that had been road tested.
The album closes with “The Cave,” which begins with a spoken word intro and leads into an instrumental section which is markedly different than the rest of the album. As noted, the band’s novel approach to this recording was a rather daring roll of the dice, with unknown possibilities.
Wheels of the City will be released on multiple platforms as well as the band’s website on Friday, October 18. For more about the band, click here.
Key Tracks: Alive ‘n Free, Two Hearts (On a Limb), Wheels of the City
The Drunken Hearts current tour will provide opportunities to see them throughout New York State. All five of those shows are in support of Yonder Mountain String Band. The Saturday, October 19 show will be a homecoming of sorts for bassist and vocalist Jon Macartan, a native of nearby Guilderland, New York, in the capital region. The New York State days are listed below.
Wednesday, October 16, at Buffalo’s Tralf Music Hall Tickets here.
Thursday, October 17, at Center for the Arts of Homer Tickets here.
Saturday, October 19, at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs Tickets here.
Thursday, November 11 at Brooklyn Bowl Tickets here.
Sunday, November 17 at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock Tickets here.
Phil Lesh announced on Monday that due to his recovery from recent back surgery and postpones his upcoming “Phil-O-Ween” run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, planned for October 31, November 1 and 2.
Filling in for Phil and Friends will be Dark Star Orchestra, who plan to perform their own three-night Halloween run, where they will recreate classic Dead shows from The Capitol Theatre. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m.
The Capitol Theatre said in a Facebook post, “Phil’s surgery was a success and we are working with Phil to reschedule the shows and will announce new dates as soon as we can.”
Lesh said in a video explaining the postponement “I’m feeling really good, but the doctors recommend that I take more time to recover from the surgery.”
Editor’s Note:Mike Powell is a singer-songwriter from Central New York. In addition to his work as a solo artist, he also leads the soulful rock band The Black River. Powell and fellow CNY singer-songwriter Chris Merkley are embarking on a four-show mini-tour of microbreweries across the state searching for the connection between songwriting and brewing. This feature looks at their stop at the Barn in Pompey
This is the third of a four-part NYS Music series documenting the Original Gravity Tour and contributed by Powell. The first installment of Powell’s tour diary can be found here.Day two can be found here.
Music is a traditional art form that’s continually evolving, adapting and building with each generation. No matter how progressive or unique the sound, if you listen close enough you will hear the influence of a predecessor. I really think that’s the beauty of it all, it’s the connection. It was this emotion that led the Original Gravity MicroTour to a third-generation beef and crop farm in the rolling hills of Central New York. Family farms are steeped in rich history and are forced to evolve alongside the ever-changing economic landscape.
Brothers Nick and Dan Palladino of Heritage Hill Brewhouse took the wheel of their expansive family farm in 2011 with a rough idea of what they wanted to do with it. The one thing they knew for certain was that it had to stay in the family and the tradition needed to carry on. The farm has seen many changes over the years and has countless stories to tell. One conversation with co-owner Dan Palladino and you will feel his strong passion for bearing the torch.
When Chris and I booked this MicroTour we were well aware that we might run into some fall time weather issues. Heritage Hill Brewery, like most microbreweries, highly values live music and has built infrastructure that supports this mission. Besides their large rustic tasting room and restaurant, they built a large outdoor stage complete with seating and fire pits. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t really cooperate and we decided to move the show inside their massive old hay barn. As a kid that grew up on a dairy farm, I was pumped about this idea. This decision turned out to work in our favor and we found the sound to be really magical in this big space.
Five minutes before our show was slated to start there were only three people in the barn including Chris, myself and Dan. I was seriously worried that we were about to play a show for absolutely no one. I said to Dan, “Do you think anyone is going to come to this thing?” He laughed and replied, “Oh, they will be here.” And just as he said that he pulled open the big garage door and people started flooding in and by the time Chris hit his first chord there were well over 100 people. That number just grew and grew as the day went along. So I felt much better, filled a glass with their number one seller, 20 East, a hazy New England style IPA and watched Chris kill it as only he can.
You could hear the goats calling out in the distance and the birds singing along in the rafters. Just like every craft beer and every song, each stop on the Original Gravity MicroTour has been unique and quite different. This was a magical day and everyone in the barn was smiling and having a great time. To make it even more special, we learned that this particular day marked the one year anniversary of the brewery.
I would like to thank Len Widdekind, the entertainment director, for allowing us to play. Len is a fellow musician with great taste so we were honored that he fit us into the schedule. After the show, Dan invited us into the tasting room and laid out a spread of delicious farm-raised food that Chris and I devoured while he told us passionate stories of the family’s origin. You could feel his sincerity and pride with each story he told.
Many thanks to the Palladino family and all of those involved at Heritage Hill for carrying on a tradition and creating such a wonderful space for the community to enjoy. The only thing more abundant than the beer were the smiles. Happy anniversary Heritage Hill Brewhouse and here’s to many more years of music, beer, crops & beef.
Two things that I have come to realize during this short run:
1. Playing the shows, contributing the written pieces, filming and editing the videos, writing poetry on demand and taking the photographs all while drinking craft beer is exhausting. So when I pulled into the parking lot and saw Brian Cornish with his camera it really helped take the pressure off. Thank you to Brian for capturing these wonderful photos.
2. I’ve have discovered a common thread throughout this tour. I understand that this is a general statement but from my experience, brewmasters don’t like to be recognized. They like to just do their thing and make their beer. I’ve had a really hard time getting these guys to open up and take credit for the amazing brews they are making but they are too humble. It almost adds more mystic to the art of brewing.
Below is fan-recorded audio of Powell’s Saturday set courtesy of Chris Fisher.
The Original Gravity Tour concluded Sunday with an outdoor performance at Local 315 Brewing Company in Warners. Powell’s thoughts on the final day of the tour will publish here on Tuesday.
Marco Benevento threw a party in Cohoes and the audience came prepared to get down and dance. As he always does, the Mad Hatter of the jam scene brings a show full of non stop fun to the Capital Region, and for the first time, at historic Cohoes Music Hall. Energy was in no short supply with bassist Karina Rykman jumping for joy and happily bouncing around the stage throughout the groovy, disco-tinted set.
Opener Mikaela Davis was equally impressive, playing harp with a full band, and driving the songs home collectively. The pairing of Davis and Benevento is wonderful and one we hope to see more in the future.
Setlist: Say it’s all the Same, Let it Slide, Solid Gold, Dropkick, Greenpoint, Heartbeats, Baby don’t make me Wait, Live a Certain life, Stay in line, I can’t see the Light, You got Away, Coyote Hearing, Story of Fred Short, Tyrone Encore: At the Show
World music and electronic act Thievery Corporation closed out the Summer Concert Series at the Pier 17 Rooftop on Friday night to a sold out crowd, despite temperatures in the 50’s and high winds. The show featured a number of talented musicians who rotated in and out during the set, as well as two acoustic songs. They were joined by Brooklyn-based nu-disco band Escourt.
Nikki B and Escourt
Escourt opened the evening and got the crowd’s blood flowing with their signature disco dance-hall style beats plus synthesizer-driven harmonies. The band was led by singer Nikki B, sporting a long white tiered train, as well as founders Eugene Cho (synthesizer) and JKriv (guitar). The lineup also included Jim Orso on drums and singers Daniela Bauer and Layla Dionne. Their set had plenty of banter from Nikki B, and closed up with “Cocaine Blues” from their 2011 album Funkytown.
Thievery Corporation co-founder Rob Garza
Led by co-founder Rob Garza, Thievery Corporation was up next. They cycled through a number of musicians throughout the night, and delivered their eclectic mix of electronica, dub, hip-hop, Indian, Brazillian and other genres. The core band included Garza (synthesizer, producer), Jeff Franca (drums), Rob Myers (sitar, guitar), Frank Orrall (percussion, drums, vocals), Ashish “Hash” Vyas (bass) and two unknown trumpeters. Additionally, the following musicians were on stage providing vocals for various songs: Racquel Jones, Puma Ptah, Natalia Clavier, Mr. Lif, and Loulou Ghelichkhani.
Racquel Jones on stage with Thievery Corporation
The set began at 8:20 p.m. with “Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)” from the 2005 release, Cosmic Games and featured Orrall wearing a contraption of lights radiating from his back and hand. Racquel Jones joined the party for “Letter to the Editor” from the 2017 release The Temple of I & I. Puma Ptah stepped in for the next tune, also from The Temple of I & I, “Babylon Falling.” Natalia Clavier then lended her vocals for the classic downtempo tune “All That We Perceive” from The Richest Man in Babylon. Orrall stepped away from the percussion kit to sing “The Heart’s A Lonely Hunter,” also from Cosmic Games. At one point, Orrall was standing above a speaker, swinging an illuminated poy above his head. Next, Mr. Lif made an appearance in the hip-hop meets downtempo “History,” from their most recent release, Treasures from the Temple.
Natalia Clavier
“The Forgotten People” from Radio Retaliation preceded a delightful acoustic sequence with two songs from Saudade. Loulou Ghelichkhani contributed vocals for “Le Coeur” and Clavier rejoined the band for “Claridad.”
Loulou Ghelichkhani
Thievery Corporation returned to their electronic instruments for “Sweet Tides,” also from Radio Retaliation. Puma Ptah was back in the mix, providing vocals for the Cosmic Games classic reggae tune, “Amerimaka.” Ghelichkhani took over vocals for the next song, “Voyage Libre” from Treasures from the Temple. The band next played their classic downtempo tune from The Richest Man in Babylon, “Omid (Hope),” followed by another Cosmic Games tune, “Warning Shots.” Mr. Lif then rejoined the band and announced that the next song is for those in dark places, which caused the crowd to erupt with emotion. He then provided vocals for hip hop based “Fight to Survive” from The Temple of I & I. The show closed out with the Indian music-inspired and rarely played original “Lebanese Blonde” from 2000’s Mirror Conspiracy.
Rob Garza and Rob Myers
Thievery Corporation’s tasty electronic and world mix of original tunes kept the crowd warm on a chilly night in New York City’s Financial District, atop the Rooftop at Pier 17, closing out the Summer Concert Series at the venue. NYC eagerly awaits the return of this talented electronica outfit.
Pier 17 lights always delight
Setlist: Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun), Letter to the Editor*, Babylon Falling**, All That We Perceive***, The Heart’s A Lonely Hunter, History%, The Forgotten People, Le Coeur****^, Claridad***^, Sweet Tides, Amerimacka**, Voyage Libre****, Omid (Hope), Warning Shots, Fight to Survive%, Lebanese Blonde
As Live From Here continues its fall run from their new home at The Town Hall in New York City, fans were treated to another glorious episode (with slightly more than the usual phanfare) due to one particular name on the guest list. Being a live air show with a strictly dicatated schedule, 6:00:00 PM sharp brought on the opening notes of “Fugue State,” a Vulfpeck tune in its second year as the LFH theme song. After a mulit-faceted and highly layered “C Q,” this week’s song of the week (yes, Chris Thile writes a song every week!), which sounded somewhat like a venue appropriate mini Broadway musical, Thile announced this week’s first guest.
Photo courtesy of Live From Here
Trey Anastasio entered to thunderous applause as there were many Phish fans in attendance who probably saw their first and only episode of LFH last night. “Theme From the Bottom” was Trey’s first offering, rearranged to play alongside the house band of Chris Thile (mandolin), Mike Elizondo (musical director/bassist), Chris “Critter” Eldridge (guitar), Kush Abadey (drums), Brett Williams (keys), Brittany Haas (fiddle) and guest Sarah Jarosz (vocals, banjo, mandolin, guitar). “If I Could” was Trey’s next choice, and if you didn’t know better you might think it was a duet written specifically for he and Sarah Jarosz. Trey really opened up a beautifully composed solo for this one, his tone so clean as he played out of a very stripped down set up and not his usual Phish rig.
Photo courtesy of Live From Here
Tom Papa left the audience in stitches with his Out in America segment, followed by a jazzy house band number and then Sarah Jarosz covering Joanna Newsom’s “Book of Right-On.” Edward Norton was next up, explaining how he got hooked up with Thom Yorke and guest Wynton Marsalis for music for his new movie premiering November 1, Motherless Brooklyn, a 1999 book by Jonanthan Lethem from which he read like the world class actor that he is.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis quietly assembled on stage during Ed Norton’s segment and wowed the crowd with two numbers, the second of which saw them joined by Chris Thile. Fifteen members strong with twelve horns, an upright bass, baby grand piano and drums, Wynton immediately distinguished himself from the rest of the similarly clad ensemble, treating the room full of Phish phans to a heavy dose of culture from one of New York’s finest professional jazz outfits. The birthday segment was next, where Thile recognizes musician’s birthdays and plays their songs. Sarah Jarosz shined bright again and showed off her range during a cover of Natalie Maines “Cowboy Take Me Away,” followed by Fela Kuti’s resounding protest song “Zombie” and Sweeney Todd’s “A Little Priest,” a nod to Miss Lovett and Angela Lansbury’s birthday. One more birthday for this segment and another opportunity to introduce Trey Anastasio, who quipped, “Everyone who’s ever strapped on a guitar owes a little to Chuck Berry,” before covering “Back in the USA,” again sounding so clean on his minimalist rig.
Photo courtesy of Live From Here
Before Trey’s next selection, Thile asked him just how he chooses only four songs from the mighty catalog at his disposal, “You know, I play in a band that goes on stage without a setlist so a lot of it is just feel and the vibe from…you people {pointing to the audience}. This is just a song I like a lot right now,” as he launched into a chilling “Life Beyond a Dream,” which was a perfect song choice for the setting.
Photo courtesy of Live From Here
Dulce Sloan was next with an outstanding set of stand up comedy as she opened with, “I can’t believe I’m gonna do stand up after the chillest song I’ve ever heard,” and, “did you notice the only black people here are me and the drummer?” A trio of fiddle songs featuring Britanny Haas was next before Tom Papa had a belly-laughing, eyes-tearing reading about parenting. “I used to listen to Phish,” he quipped, “now I do it quietly…in the bathroom.”
Photo courtesy of Live From Here
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra played another mind-boggling number (best music city in the world, anyone?), again highlighted by Mr. Marsalis though his company of professional musicians was almost equally impressive, and was soon joined by phan favorite Trey Anastasio, now set up stage left in front of the orchestra, for what would be the On-Air finale of “Blaze On.” Watching these musicians watch and marvel at each other, Thile and Trey at Wynton, Wynton at Trey, along with Thile’s endearing and wild gesticulations, just drove home the fact that the Live From Here faithful (and a roomful of LFH first timers) were treated to something special last night. A final off-air performance of Lester Flatts’ “I’m gonna sleep with one eye open,” with the audience on their feet sent everyone home reeling.
Photo courtesy of Live From Here
The crowd was grateful for the intimate performance, and that New York City is the new home of LFH, along with Trey, Winton, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Just another ho-hum night in New York of world class music and collaborations.
Halleloo, a Brooklyn-based creative agency and production company has launched a monthly video series featuring artists performing acoustic versions of their songs on the studio couch. With just one take, Halleloo’s series supports their mission of providing unique, creative video content for artists and businesses and empowering them to do what they love.
Founder Nathan Chang says of the series, “I started this project as a way to highlight musicians in a stripped down, acoustic setting. I love seeing videos of artists I love just noodling around in their living rooms, being amazing musicians, so this is a way to take that setting into a professional video environment, but still in a living room on a couch. No frills. Just great video, great lighting, great music – that was the goal.
“I think it’s simply because the folks we bring in are, at their essence, just amazing musicians – and sometimes I think that can get lost in a studio edit. But here, it’s highlighted.”
This month’s featured artist is Lohai, a Brooklyn duo made up of Alita Moses and Devon Yesberger who normally play with a full band. For their Halleloo session the pair sang their hit song “Baby I Know You Will” in the stripped down couch setting. Stay tuned for more Halleloo’s Couch Series through their YouTube and Instagram.
