Josh and Adam Netsky have been mainstays on the Rochester music scene for the past decade at least. Older brother Josh was writing songs beyond his years, while Adam brought the songs to life both on stage, playing drums, and on screen, crafting accompanying videos. Their creative teamwork reached a new high in 2012 with a song-cycle and experimental documentary about the ghost town of Centralia, PA.
Part of being a great bandleader is crafting the songs. The other part is putting together the right parts to bring your visions to life. The Netsky’s pulled off a bit of a coup, scoring arguably the two best and most versatile guitarists in Rochester: Sam Snyder (Overhand Sam, Anamon) and Kurt Johnson (Moho Collective, Wallboards). Together they became Maybird, providing a more consistent outlet for their output. The band flourished on the Rochester scene and in 2016 they signed to Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Records, on which they’ve released two EPs, Turning Into Water and Unravelling.
On Things I Remember From Earth, their debut LP for 30th Century, releasing Friday, the band’s sound takes a huge leap forward. With major label backing and national tours with acts like Portugal. The Man under their belt, the Netsky’s creative visions are finally reaching their full potential.
The title, “Things I Remember From Earth,” was taken from Kurt Vonnegut’s “The Sirens of Titan,” as were the themes of many of the songs. “Human purpose, holding on to memories, and losing control of your mind/memory are all themes in the book that found a place on the album.” Josh Netsky explains.
No longer encumbered by the what-ifs of a shoestring budget, colorful sounds explode from the record like tubes of paint being smashed with a hammer. The opening track “In Technicolor (for the first time),” sets it all up perfectly: “If you mix the colors in your eyes / darkened tears will fall / into vivid seas and multiply.”
From the driving march of “To You,” to the slinky grooving “Gonna Lose Your Mind,” to the 80’s style bright pop of “Montreal,” track after track, colors are added and the vision becomes more complete and more impressive.
The band might consist three guitarists and a drummer, but they pushed the studio to the limit, layering sounds upon sounds for a complete sonic scrub that leaves no stone unturned: A perfectly placed horn track, catchy backing vocals, an eerie whistle, a burst of piano, a humming organ, alien bubbles and wails from outer space, not to mention, all of that glorious guitar. A bevy of beautiful and unique choices color the edges of the psychedelic pop songs throughout. Don’t fret about the how’s and who’s, close your eyes and let the grooves wash over you.
“When you feel it / for the first time / in spectacular color.”
How will it sound from the stage? Find out at their record release show this Friday, May 3 at Radio Social where they’ll be playing the album front to back. It’s a free show and Maybird will share the stage with Mikaela Davis, Cammy Enaharo and August West.
Key tracks: Gonna Lose Your Mind, Don’t Keep Me Around, When I Find My Out of the Circle
Girlpool played to a devoted audience at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on April 25, rounding out a tour supported by Australian rising star, Hatchie with show opener, Gemma. Supporting the release of 2019’s What Chaos is Imaginary, the show displayed the dynamic range of genre across Girlpool’s records, along with the duo’s knack to look at home on any stage, and make it their own.
Waiving an introduction, the duo, supported by a second guitar, drums and keyboard, dove into “Lucy’s” from What Chaos is Imaginary. The slow, pounding pace driven by full, distorted guitar and an alternating kick and snare quickly enveloped the room, bringing people closer to the stage.
Girlpool began as two teenagers funneling their vulnerabilities and existential quandaries into a piece of pure, self-expression, which became 2015’s Before the World Was Big. Since then, the duo has blossomed with expanding musical sophistication as Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad have gotten a little older, and a little more grounded in perspective. Changes and self-realization are included in that journey, including Tucker’s coming out as trans in 2017.
Photograph By Jazmin Beltran
For a band which started as two people playing instruments together with an ambiguous, co-lead syntax and relying on harmonies shouted over each other or shared in a whisper, Tucker’s now-deeper voice has found a new space to sit among the vocal mix. Rocking into “Hire,” Tucker shouts into the mic, their voice unbounded, cracking and passionate.
The set traversed the different styles across Girlpool’s albums. Returning to 2017’s Powerplant, the band teetered on a punk-inspired shoegaze, in the space where The Cranberries and The Breeders dwell. “It Gets More Blue” featured grunge-y bass lines and monotone vocals sang in unison, breaking out of the self-imposed trance during the louder, punchier moments.
Photograph By Jazmin Beltran
Tucker and Tividad’s energy ebbed and flowed with the tone of song. Balancing Tividad’s often cooing, softly delivered lines, Tucker was often moving about the stage, always looking to be on the verge of vocally exploding with angst or excitement. Often checking in with one another on stage via smiles during songs or stage banter, the deep friendship the two have with each other enriched the experience. Even in front of an audience, the two looked as if they were just messing around with each other in their living room, experiencing the joy of musical connection for the first time.
Touring with Girlpool and developing a large fanbase of her own, Australian-based Hatchie supported the show with her signature blend of dream-pop and shoegaze. She’s drawn from genre-definers like the Cocteau Twins and has since joined a talented pool of female-led indie groups including Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, and of course, Girlpool. Deserving a mention is show opener and Brooklyn-based electro-soul group, Gemma. Helmed by Ava Luna’s Felicia Douglass along with guitarist Erik Gundel, the group delivered genre-bending dance energy reminiscent of The Talking Heads.
Ending with an encore including a couple of crowd favorites, fans left the venue repeating a favorite line from Before the World Was Big’s “Chinatown”: “Do you feel restless when you realize you’re alive?” As they play stages of all sizes, Girlpool is always able to make it seem as if you’re a guest in their home, listening to music and laughing at their stories. This tour will continue in New Jersey as it moves southwest and ends in Europe. See them at a venue near you.
Once upon a time in Rochester, some teenagers started a ska band. Then they evolved into a rock band. Their third iteration was the pop punk band, Lighters. Two years ago, they went on hiatus. Fans have held their breath, waiting to for their next project. That day has finally come.
Chromaticam is not ska. It’s not rock n roll. It’s not punk. Band members Matthias Galley and Will Westveer have veered off the beaten path. They’ve thrown out the idea of fitting their sound into the confines of a single genre. They also threw out the idea of adding lyrics.
In an age when we are barraged with verbal clutter, instrumental music has become the calm inside the storm, a refuge for the weary listener. “Aqueduct” is a perfect example of this. In this opening track off the eponymous EP, rhythm and melody intertwine languidly over a backdrop of droning synth, giving it an ambient feeling. It has a transcendent quality which teeters on the verge of psychedelia.
The sense of harmony in “Aqueduct” is contrasted by one of discordance in “Withering.” Instead of spacious expanses of sound, the notes follow a dissonant chord progression. The song is made even more anxiety-inducing by the addition of sound clips of an ominous tenor voice.
While there are no lyrics, speech samples are abundant in the remaining tracks. “Sore” is an edgy tune that contains lines ripped from the financial crisis of 2008. “Snow Flurries” is a funky jam that features clips from a winter weather forecast. In “Yellow Tent” a rat-a-tat drum and trombone set a ceremonial tone, heralding in snippets of a political speech.
Chromaticam draws influence from alternative, synthwave, and indie rock, giving them broad appeal. But don’t try to box them into any one category. Throw away those preconceived notions about genre. Chromaticam defies definition.
Calling all aspiring chefs, taste-testers and food lovers; Vinnie’s Kitchen is making a return to Summer Camp 2019! This year, moe.’s Vinnie Amico will be hosting his cooking show during the Thursday Pre-Party. Summer Camp is giving fans a chance to participate in the recording of the episode!
All you need to do to cook with Vinnie is share a description of your favorite festival food and attach a photo/video in a post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In order to enter you must include the hashtag #VinniesKitchenSCamp19 by Friday, May 3. Then, fans will vote to see who wins the grand prize – a 4-day pass to Summer Camp, and you get to pick the recipe you and Vinnie cook together! For more info, visit Vinnie’s Kitchen.
Though Pink Floyd has been retired since their 1995 “Pulse” tour (with the exception of the 2014 release of The Endless River) all three surviving members of the band have treated New York City to different flavors of the live Pink Floyd experience. Roger Waters made a statement with his present-day adaptation of The Wall at Yankee Stadium in 2013. David Glimour mesmerized Manhattan with three nights between Radio City and The Garden. This past weekend, Nick Mason propelled the Syd Barret era back into the limelight, presenting works from the band’s earliest recordings.
In comparison to large venue shows, The Beacon Theatre provided a much more intimate experience and prompted many to share stories about their first experiences seeing the band in smaller venues before the show even began – a reminiscence which become even more real later in the show.
Nick Mason and Guy Pratt performing at the Beacon Theatre
The intro riffs of “Interstellar Overdrive,” from Pink Floyd’s first album, were quick to establish the theme of the show, something to which Mason remarked upon after a couple of songs. He dismissed considering his band some sort of Pink Floyd tribute-act or a nostalgia machine. His band wasn’t a random assemblage of musicians either. Joining him on bass was Guy Pratt, who toured with Mason, Gilmour and the late Richard Wright, on the post-Waters Pink Floyd tours; on guitar, Gary Kemp, a longtime friend of Mason’s. Kemp’s familiarity and Pratt’s Floyd touring experience were evident in many aspects of the night from performance style to the band’s chemistry and character, just to name a few. It all created the genuine Pink Floyd-esque show Mason intended. Also joining Mason was Lee Harris (former guitarist for The Blockheads) who effortlessly flowed along with Kemp to re-create Syd Barrett’s sound, and Dom Beken on keys, dialing in Richard Wright’s style.
The setlist included several favorites from the early Floyd catalogue, which haven’t been played live in many years by either Gilmour or Waters, and dug into some rarer songs off those albums. Some box-sets and re-releases brought some of these songs back into the light, but other songs in the set like “Green is the Colour” and “Vegetable Man” were a treat from the realm of obscurity for dedicated fans in the audience. Pratt got his wish to pick a song to play on this tour. For Gilmour’s mid/late 2000’s tour, Pratt was given the chance to choose a song for the setlist, to which he suggested “The Nile Song.” He joked that the idea clearly wouldn’t fly as it wasn’t popular, “[that] album was half the cost of all the other Pink Floyd albums and everyone had it.” However, the heavier/louder psychedelic sound was welcomed at the Beacon Theatre and didn’t disappoint the crowd.
Nick Mason performing at the Beacon Theatre
With New York a major crossroads and hub in the music world, the unexpected can happen. Mason was telling a story about not being able to play the shiny gong behind him in the early years for “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” because of a certain bandmate that always took that job from him. During which, Roger Waters emerged from the shadows of stage right to the gasps of the audience. Without a bass in hand, Waters performed the lyrics of the song, capturing an original recording and early performances of it.
The two former Pink Floyd members had been on stage together during Waters’ The Wall tour and previously during the band’s 2005 Live 8 reunion set. But, this is the first time in many years members of Pink Floyd have collaborated on stage for one of that band’s early songs. The surviving members have reunited to a limited degree in the years since the full 2005 reunion, (the three appeared briefly on stage in 2011 with a special appearance by Gilmour) and the experience NYC got with Waters and Mason will probably be the closest thing to a Pink Floyd reunion at this point, but these moments will certainly be welcomed.
Setlist: Interstellar Overdrive, Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Fearless, Obscured By Clouds, When You’re In, Remember a Day, Arnold Layne, Vegetable Man, If -> Atom Heart Mother -> If (reprise), The Nile Song, Green Is The Colour, Let There Be More Light, Childhood’s End, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, See Emily Play, Bike, One of These Days
Encore: A Saucerful of Secrets, Point Me at the Sky
Only Yesterday, the new EP from Izzy Heltai, dropped April 19 on all streaming platforms. It feels nostalgic to his old work with more adult gut-punching overtones that make Only Yesterday something any indie-folk lover should check out.
Izzy Heltai captured by Emma Kate Rothenberg-Ware.
The four song EP starts with Helai’s single, “Marching Song,” which Heltai says was very much about being in a low point of his depression and not having much self worth in himself. The songs starts with some slow strumming acoustic guitar and slowly, he starts to sing. A piano joins, just slightly, and then completely adds itself as the chorus starts. Heltai sings: “On and on a marching song gets sung inside my head. I’m walking out the door now. It feels like only yesterday I learned I could be here. Now here I go leaving.”
Then, just after the chorus ends, a trumpet adds itself to the mix. “Marching Song” sits in the stomach of the listener and they can’t help, but empathise with Heltai feeling like “He’s drowning and dragging you down and if he says nothing you’ll stay on dry land.” It’s the feeling that someone will be better off without you – a hard thing to admit to oneself let alone sing out to the rest of the world.
The second song on the EP is called, “Common Sense,” and it starts with acoustic guitar and violin. It’s about thinking someone was the love of your life, but realizing, maybe you didn’t know them the way you thought. It’s a fabricated idea in your head. This is an emotion many have felt, but few are able to express in a way that’ll get across to the listener, the way Heltai does. It’s a feeling of nostalgia for someone that you realize, might not even really be for them, but for the idea of them.
“Stuck in Stone” follows the classic Heltai format starting with an acoustic guitar intro. Accompanied with an array of different instruments, percussive guitar works as a satisfying pause to the song. The song revolves around having your mind made up, but your body being “Stuck in Stone,” physically not being able to make yourself do what you’ve decided. As most of Heltai’s songs, it is a relatable feeling. Heltai puts his remarkable twists to make a familiar story one-of-a-kind with his unique word choices.
Izzy Heltai captured by Emma Kate Rothenberg-Ware.
Only Yesterday ends with “Mountain,” which switches up Heltai’s normal format. The song flows from present to past with Heltai’s current feelings on himself and love to things he’s experienced. His mother told him he couldn’t have candles in his room. He would burn the house down. Trumpet returns, adding a layer to the instrumental parts of the song, that resolve with an “ah” feeling for the listener.
The 16-minute long EP feels so much longer than that with its catchy choruses to its insightful words. Heltai is definitely someone too look out for in the indie-folk scene. Heltai is currently on tour and has dates across the United States from now until August. For more information visit his website.
Vocalist Nick Reese, guitarist Blake Allard, bassist Greg Braccio, and drummer Robert Sodaro comprise Joyous Wolf; a rock and roll four-piece from Southern California who are hitting on all cylinders. After only four years together they have signed with Roadrunner Records, releasing their debut EP (out this month) and currently on a two-month tour opening for Buckcherry. Not too shabby.
I spoke with Nick Reese and Greg Braccio before their set at The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The show marked the midway point of the current tour with Buckcherry. We were led by the band’s tour manager, Stripes, to an upstairs back corner lounge to conduct our interview. Nick and Greg sat down in padded bar chairs that had no legs attached, which puts them close to floor level. I’m now towering over the guys (being 6’2”) so I grab a “legless” chair too and join the guys on the floor. They let out a “yeah,” as we are now all eye to eye. “You should make a new show called “Tiny Chair Talk”” Nick says. We start laughing and get down to rock and roll.
Greg Braccio – Bass, Nick Reese – Vocals
Mickey Deneher: You’re a SoCal band. When I listen to your songs, you’re not the Beach Boys. You’re not the Eagles. Who is Joyous Wolf? Why did you put the band together?
Nick Reese: There wasn’t a reason, other than boredom.
Greg Braccio: That’s the interesting thing.
NR: It kind of happened.
GB: None of us went into this like we are going to be this kind of band, or that kind of band. Everyone had their set of influences and it just melded into what it is.
NR: It found it’s own way.
MD: Creatively isn’t that the way you want it?
GB: Absolutely.
NR: That is what we set out for. I could play you our original demos and stuff and it’s a totally different band.
MD: If you take yourself from the beginning to now, where’s the band gone?
NR: Everywhere (said with a very big grin, laughing).
MD: Not only physically, but creatively.
NR: I think we’ve always set out to be creative. I think we just figured it out ourselves. We really didn’t know what we were. We were pretty much a bunch of guys jamming together, putting out ideas. A lot of evolution has happened since then. That’s all I can say. It’s just evolving. Yeah, a lot of evolution.
Blake Allard, guitar
MD: The writing process. Where does that (direction) come from? Who’s the driver?
NR: We all write together. Sometimes, someone will go and write something by themselves and bring it, and we all make it happen. That’s pretty much the main thing, or else we just get together and feel out the room, and what ever happens. Sometimes a song happens right there.
MD: You hear it? You hear it as your playing?
NR: Yeah.
MD: And all of a sudden, it’s like “go over here.”
NR/GB: Yeah.
MD: That’s a cool thing.
Robert Sodara, Drums
MD: In your promo (bio) it says you go from heavy metal to delta blues. That’s a huge swash.
NR: When we did that thing (promo) it was,what do we listen to? What’s the range? We’ll listen to heavier bands and to Muddy Waters. Between the four of us there’s a pretty big collection of music. That’s really what I think makes this band fun, for me anyway.
GB: Yeah.
NR: We get to apply all of it together. There is no one direction. I think people are going to see that on the record. I think they are going to have a lot of different feelings to our music.
MD: Is it always a personal thing when you write? Or is it, I saw something that impacted me?
GB: Honestly I don’t really think of it that way. It’s just kind of what ever we are feeling at that moment, or what ever we are playing, or what ever we are doing.
I think we try really hard try to just venture outside of the parameter of what’s the normal average rock band.
– Nick Reese
NR: As far as myself, that happened to me lyrically. I bring in little bits and pieces, now and then. But the majority of my job is to translate the mass that they create.
MD: Is it you, or is everyone dropping little snippets of sound?
GB: It’s either that or we’re all kind of jamming together and it will come up.
NR: Sometimes it will be at a sound check. Sometimes it’ll be when we are completely far apart. No one’s near each other and someone wakes up in the middle of the night. It’s nothing new as far as how songs are written.
MD: Your right. It’s nothing new, but it is new.
NR: Yeah, it’s a new creation.
MD: You are looking for something new.
GB: It’s almost inevitable to create something entirely new, especially with rock music. But, it’s really just the four of us having our own set of influences and hoping to create something like a weird blend of genres, what ever you want to call it.
MD: That synergy sort of groove thing and follow along.
GB: Yeah.
MD: And bring people with you.
GB: Absolutely.
Nick Reese, Blake Allard
NR: I think for us, it’s all about the energy of our music. I think that’s what makes it sound fresh. That, and I think we also try really hard try to just venture outside of the parameter of what’s the normal average rock band. I think we are going to do even more and more of that as we continue on.
MD: Setting yourself apart. In time, you want people to just say immediately “Joyous Wolf” as compared to “umm, sounds like umm,”
NR: “Whoever else.”
MD: That’s the individuality of it.
NR: We are fully prepared for things like that. Every band that has ever come around has been compared to somebody else.
GB: It is inevitable.
NR: Even when Led Zeppelin came around they said they sounded like Jeff Beck’s band. There is never going to be a brand new band that’s not going to get pegged for somebody else.
Opening for Buckcherry at The Chance Theater
MD: You played at a festival in Sacramento, under a freeway, and got a record deal.
GB: It sounds that simple, but that’s is pretty much how it happened.
NR: And it just happened to be next to the 5 Freeway. I still think to this day that that is the most California thing that could have possibly have happened. We’re playing in Sacramento, in the capital; we’re from California, lived their our whole lives; and we’re playing under the f#cking 5 Freeway.
That performance lead to signing with Atlantic Records’s Roadrunner label and the recording of their debut EP, “Place in Time,” in late 2018.
MD: Had you guys ever been in a recording environment like that? Putting together an album with any other bands or anyone else?
NR: Not quite like that no. Everything else that we had done was very independent.
GB: That was like the first professional setting to be doing that in.
MD: I hear bands talk about the daunting task of going in, getting it right. The producer is such a critical cog in that wheel to make something happen.
NR: He helped educate us in a couple of ways, as far as our ability to write songs. It’s not like we ever had trouble, he just showed us little bits and pieces to help us do that. Honestly, I think in that perspective, it came out pretty great. As far as it being daunting, I think the only thing that we were worried about was having the material. We went and took a couple of weeks after our fall tour last year and we worked until (looking to George) when did we go in?
GB: Late November early December.
NR: We did pretty much the entire the record in around 2 weeks.
GB: So it was very new material still.
Nick Reese, Blake Allard
MD: The sounds you had in your head for those songs, I take it, all the songs where written prior to going into the studio.
NR/GB: Yeah.
MD: Was that sound, the actual sound that came out? Or did it go to someplace else?
NR: I don’t think there was ever an expectation really. You don’t know what you are going to get, you know, until it is done.
GB: Yeah, I mean it was close. I would briefly say it was not quite what we were expecting. But overall it’s us. We shine through as much as we could.
MD: And you can stand up and say, “we are proud of it.”
NR: Yeah, I’m proud of the songs. I am proud of the songs.
Greg Braccio, Robert Sodaro, Blake Allard
MD: I’ve seen a couple of acoustic things that you have done. It’s you (Nick) and Blake (guitar.) Is that something that you may lean more towards going forward? Or is it that just that we need to be acoustic because of where we are and that’s what we do?
GB: I think when it comes to a full-length album or whatever; we’ll defiantly want to incorporate acoustic or anything really. We are not stuck to one thing.
NR: Even on the EP already we are going to have some stuff that a lot of our peers I don’t think would do. I think we’ve already included some elements, things that are not exactly everyone’s idea of rock and roll. We’re really not afraid to go anywhere. We don’t have any machismo. It could be literally anything. I feel like that’s how rock’s going to go forward, just let it fly.
GB: Yeah, it’s not supposed to be still the Sunset Strip all leather kind of thing. It’s got to evolve from that.
MD: No walls. No constraints. You just take if where it goes. Who knows where it’s going to end up, but you are not stopping yourselves.
The guys nod their agreement. As we get closer to show time, we talk about what is ahead for the year
Nick Reese
MD: Two months with Buckcherry.
NR: It’s a lot longer than that. We’re doing their second leg in the summer and even more, later in the year. We are also supporting Slash in July. We are also going to go to Europe for the first time this fall.
MD: This (current) tour you went to Canada and now you are doing a whole leg going back to California.
NR: Yeah and then we go back to Canada with Slash for six shows. We opened for him at the Paramount in New York last fall. He had picked us to come and open the shows. We were going to play Rock Fest, but when Slash calls, you don’t say no to Slash.
We’re really not afraid to go anywhere. We don’t have any machismo. It could be literally anything.
– Nick Reese
There is a reason why Buckcherry, Slash and other top-level acts are booking Joyous Wolf to open for them. As the band hit the stage this night, they took charge. Nick gyrated across the stage as if he had conjured up the spirit of fellow Californian Jim Morrison. All the time drawing in the audience with every word sung. Supporting their vocal extrovert, Blake, Greg, and Robert cranked out some heavy, in your face, rock and roll power playing. By the end of the set, hands were pumping high in the air and Joyous Wolf had left their mark. With an impressive, well-produced debut EP and ever increasing exposure opening for some of rock’s best, it won’t be long till these guys are headlining themselves.
Twenty year old piano prodigy Carly Beth Hand has matured considerably in her musical evolution since her first LP Taking Flight was released at the tender age of 15 in 2014. Beth, who is a native of the sleepy little town Grand Island, NY which is located northwest of Buffalo near the Canadian Border, showcased her considerable musical talents on Taking Flight as a classical pianist and vocalist. This inaugural work gained considerable interest in the States as well as in China, mostly due to her active promotion on social media platforms. Her online live-stream performances on Facebook were received positively by an eager audience in China which she adeptly leveraged by learning to sing, speak, and read in Chinese.
The newest Carly Beth single is “Sleepless Lullaby,” which was released in March and co-produced with Jimmy Bralower, has embraced her evolution from classic pianist/vocalist to pop princess. On this tune the piano takes a back seat to heavy synth and a creative dance/vocal backing track. This newly minted musical style may be the result of Beth’s recent relocation to London, England where she is now pursuing her music career and finishing studying at University. The overall effect of this production is a slick radio friendly number that is contemporary and relevant.
Carly Beth has not forgotten her musical roots and what has propelled her musical career up to this point. Along with the release of this club friendly tune, she co-released a stripped down acoustic rendition of “Sleepless Lullaby.” This distinctly different version of the song focuses on Beth’s piano playing and removes the dance beats, while leaving some of her stark overdubbed vocals. The listener will have to be the judge as to which of Beth’s styles they prefer.
Carly Beth Hand will be performing along with Christina Custode at The Mug and Musken in Youngstown NY on July 19th during their Songwriter Concert Series.
New York City indie-rock band Charlie Sub & Sound Dogs will be releasing their single, “The Bronx Is Burning,” exclusively with NYS Music today, April 25. The single and title track of the EP will be officially released to the public on Friday, April 26.
Charlie Sub & Sound Dogs. Photo Credit: Dariana Sub
The full EP will be unveiled on May 17, which blends 70’s inspired rock and roll with a modern twist. The band goes back to an iconic time in musical history, driving a melody that is full of emotion and passion from a city that never, ever sleeps.
Band leader and vocalist Charlie Sub and his seven-piece band layer elements of blues, jazz and soul over their indie-rock core. The single begins with solo snare, followed by a blazing saxophone melody. The remaining six follow in the energetic tracks. Throughout the song, the band builds up climactic tension, heard through Sub’s rich vocals and the dynamic energy of the band, to help support while reflecting on the chaos, dread and brewing anger of the late 70’s NYC scene.
People were on edge that summer as raw energy pulsed through a smoky city. The highlight of that year was the Yankees, under Billy Martin, winning the World Series. As you watched the home games on TV, clouds of smoke from the burning Bronx buildings would sweep over the field.”
Charlie Sub
When Sub sings “The Bronx Is Burning,” you would think you were hearing the vocals of David Bowie along with this horn-fueled, angsty tune. With the addition of dark horns and a rhythm section to further shape Sub’s story that one could hear through his penetrating lyrics, you wonder where Sub gained inspiration for “The Bronx Is Burning.”
“It was 1977 and I was living on my own just out of college,” said Sub. “New York was in bad shape that year. The city was bankrupt; ‘Son of Sam’ was terrorizing people and landlords were burning down their buildings to collect insurance on their bad investments. People were on edge that summer as a raw energy pulsed through a smoky city. The highlight of that year was the Yankees, under Billy Martin, winning the World Series. As you watched the home games on TV, clouds of smoke from the burning Bronx buildings would sweep over the field.”
Charlie Sub & Sound Dogs perform original music inspired by an iconic era in rock-n-roll history. They combine the singing and songwriting skills of Charlie Sub with the guitar mastery of Pat Branch, keyboard melodies of Rich Brotman, dynamic backing vocals of Genevieve Faivre, saxophone harmonics of Pete Esser, richness of guitarist David Newman and tasteful drumming of Gandhi Gonzalez. Founded in 2014, Charlie Sub & Sound Dogs bring their own infusion of rock, blues and 70’s inspired history back to life, with regular shows of original music throughout New York City.
The inspiration behind Sub’s music goes back to his childhood. His father, Paul Sub, owned and managed the Coventry Club in Queens, a famous club that featured acts like Kiss, The New York Dolls and others that were starting out in the ‘70s. Sub, who previously worked for his father at the club, was inspired by the groups that performed. Sub would later use this inspiration to build his own musical identity and create his original sound.
“The Bronx Is Burning” will be available everywhere tomorrow. The four-track EP slated to be released on May 17, can be pre-ordered on Apple Music and Amazon. The band will celebrate the release of the EP with a series of upcoming shows, with further summer announcements to come. The Bronx is Burning was recorded by Michael Abiuso (The Venetia Fair, Kiss Kiss, The Gay Blades) at Behind the Curtains Media.
You can follow Charlie Sub & Sound Dogs on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Spotify, YouTube, and their website where you can learn about their music and future gigs HERE.
Updated 4:15: Bloomberg quotes promoter Michael Lang saying weekend passes for Woodstock 50 will cost “around $450.” Lang is also exploring expanding the festival to an annual event, taking place at locations around the world.
Tickets for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair were supposed to have gone on sale this past Monday, April 22. On Saturday the Woodstock website revealed that tickets would be “on sale soon” with no reason given for the delay.
On Monday, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported that Schuyler County Administrator Tim O’Hearn thinks the Aug. 16-18 festival at Watkins Glen International Speedway could be looking at a maximum capacity of 75,000 attendees rather than the 100,000 organizers had originally anticipated.
When asked if the county had placed an attendance cap, the county administrator stated:
We have maintained the position that the attendance number would be set at whatever number the production team and promoter could demonstrate they could support with adequate infrastructure and security. That number has been determined to be 75,000â¦
Tim O’Hearn, Schuyler County Administrator Pougkeepsie Journal
In order to begin promoting and selling tickets for the event, organizers are required to obtain a temporary mass gathering permit from the New York State Department of Health. According to Rochester TV station WHEC, the state received the permit application on April 15 and is currently reviewing the paperwork.
Michael Lang, Woodstock Promoter
The Department of Health’s website states, “Application for a permit to promote or hold a mass gathering shall be made at least 15 days before the first day of advertising and at least 45 days before the first day of the gathering,” making April 30 the earliest possible date organizers could begin advertising the event.
Promoter Michael Lang announced the performers for the 50th Anniversary event last month. Headliners include Jay-Z, The Raconteurs, Miley Cyrus, Dead & Co, Santana and Robert Plant.
Rumors about the stability of the event began circulating when another headliner, The Black Keys, announced they would not be performing due to a scheduling conflict. Flames were then further fanned with the delay of ticket sales.
Woodstock 50 is scheduled to take place Aug. 16-18 at the Watkins Glen International Speedway in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
Woodstock 50 Lineup:
Aug. 16: The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Santana, The Lumineers, The Raconteurs, Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, John Fogerty, Run the Jewels, The Head and the Heart, Maggie Rogers, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Bishop Briggs, Anderson East, Akon, Princess Nokia, John Sebastian, Melanie, Grandson, Fever 333, Dorothy, Flora Cash, Larkin Poe, Brian Cadd and Ninet Tayeb.
Aug. 17: Dead & Company, Chance the Rapper, Sturgill Simpson, Greta Van Fleet, Portugal, The Man, Leon Bridges, Gary Clark Jr., Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, David Crosby and Friends, Dawes, Margo Price, Nahko and Medicine for the People, India.Arie, Jade Bird, Country Joe McDonald, Rival Sons, Emily King, Soccer Mommy, Sir, Taylor Bennett, Amy Helm, Courtney Hadwin, Pearl, John-Robert and IAMDDB,
Aug. 18: Jay-Z, Imagine Dragons, Halsey, Cage the Elephant, Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monae, Young the Giant, Courtney Barnett, Common, Vince Staples, Judah and the Lion, Earl Sweatshirt, Boygenius, Reignwolf, The Zombies, Canned Heat, Hot Tuna, Pussy Riot, Cherry Glazerr, Leven Kali, The Marcus King Band, Victory, Hollis Brown, John Craigie, Amigo the Devil and Liz Brasher.
