NYS Music 202​0

Author: Pete Mason

  • Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke reunite for first album together in 15 years, “Noon”

    Acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon have announced the release of their first new album together in 15 years, Noon.

    leo kottke mike gordon

    The first two tracks from Noon to be released, “Ants” and “I Am Random,” are brand new, and are among 11 new tracks created by two accomplished and idiosyncratic instrumentalists of American music. Noon also marks Kottke’s first studio record since his last collaboration with Gordon, 2005’s 66 Steps.

    Working with longtime Gordon collaborator, producer/engineer Jared Slomoff, Kottke and Gordon craft a collection of improvisational mood music, including a stripped-back version of Gordon’s classic “Peel,” a fan favorite often performed by Mike Gordon Band, and Kottke’s stark rethinking of the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High.” Noon also drops a bopping cover of Prince’s “Alphabet St.,” featuring Phish drummer Jon Fishman, who joins Kottke and Gordon on four additional tracks.

    In addition, the LP includes nearly ambient appearances by pedal steel player Brett Lanier (The Barr Brothers) and cellist Zoë Keating (Imogen Heap, Amanda Palmer, Tears For Fears).

    The vibe is very different from the other two albums. I was hearing a darkness in the material Leo was bringing, and some of the material that I wanted to bring, that I thought just reflected going through 10 more years of life. There are overdubs, but it’s still more like you’re in a cafe or a living room with these two guys. And even when we had drums, we wanted to maintain that feeling.

    Mike Gordon

    I just knew there was a shape and that we were following it. We were trying to get to that place that we get to in a little room, just chasing each other. We’ve found that at soundchecks, and at my place, or his place, or some motel room. We wanted to get that late night feel. It’s a more intimate record than the others are, I think there are depths to it.

    Leo Kottke

    Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon have both staked out distinctive and original roles in the annals of American music. Beginning his career on John Fahey’s Takoma label in 1969, Kottke virtually invented his own school of playing with his distinct, propulsive fingerstyle. As a co-founder of Phish and solo artist, Gordon has both created both a boundary-pushing discography and helped inspire a generation of improvisers.

    The pairing of Kottke and Gordon began some two decades ago when Gordon – a devoted fan of Kottke’s music – audaciously overdubbed a bass part over the veteran Minnesota guitarist’s 1969 solo track “The Driving of the Year Nail.” Gordon hand-delivered the piece to Kottke and the two musicians struck up a fast friendship and musical partnership, beginning with 2002’s Clone and followed by Sixty Six Steps.

    NOON arrives via ATO Records at all DSPs and streaming services on Friday, August 28 and the album’s physical release is slated for Friday, November 20. Phish Dry Goods has a limited pressing on clear vinyl with red/gold splatter – pre-order NOON here

    Tracklist: Flat Top, Eight Miles High, I Am Random, Noon To Noon, From The Cradle To The Grave, How Many People Are You, Ants, Sheets, Alphabet St., Peel, The Only One

  • Watch performances from Day 3 of Woodstock 1969

    At noon on August 17, 1969, the crowd at Woodstock had dwindled slightly, but roughly 90% of attendees responded favorably to Hugh Romney (best known as Wavy Gravy) who woke the crowd up, saying:

    Good morning! What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000. Now, it’s gonna be good food and we’re going to get it to you. It’s not just the Hog Farm, either. It’s everybody. We’re all feedin’ each other. We must be in heaven, man! There’s always a little bit of heaven in a disaster area.

    Now there’s a guy up there – some hamburger guy – that had his stand burned down last night. But he’s still got a little stuff left, and for you people that still believe capitalism isn’t that weird, you might help him out and buy a couple hamburgers.

    Wavy Gravy, as told in Robert Spitz’ Barefoot in Babylon

    The Hog Farm then distributed plates of cold mush, while a hippie known as Muskrat, read the front page of the Sunday New York Times to “the hippest brunch this side of Fifth Avenue.”

    woodstock watch

    The first two days of Woodstock had the appearances of a tremendous success, especially for fans and observers. The unsung heroes working the show were dealing with any issue that came to them – rain, mud, delays, making sure food and clean water were available, and keeping the show running.

    Sunday though, there were the inevitable issues that arise from a three day music festival. Bathrooms were overflowing, and fans were taking to cornfields and the backyards of locals in Bethel to relieve themselves. There were emergency medical issues that needed to be addressed, but roads were blocked. Helicopters attempted to airlift those in the greatest need, but lack of fuel made it difficult to get them to the proper hospital. A helicopter at Grossinger’s was on site at Yasgur’s within 10 minutes of a call to handle a victim of alcohol poisoning.

    sunday woodstock watch

    Joe Cocker kicked the day off at 2pm with a career-defining performance. Woodstock promoter Artie Kornfeld is reported by Spitz to have ‘humped a motorcycle in time to “Delta Lady,” and wept uncontrollably into his arm.

    This is just great! Outta sight! Oh man, look what we’ve done, look what we’ve done. This is forever

    Artie Kornfeld, as told in Robert Spitz’ Barefoot in Babylon

    But the joy was shortlived. A huge storm barrelled towards the festival grounds, and stage was covered in tarps as Cocker and his band retreated. Having yelled into the microphone for everyone to get away from the towers, John Morris changed his tone and approached the rain differently, saying to the crowd, “If you think really hard enough, maybe we can stop this rain!” A chant of “No rain, No rain, No rain” started in the crowd and built up, to the point where even though the stage itself was sliding in the mud, but fans were dancing in the rain and playing in the mud, the iconic imagery associated with Woodstock still today.

    While the storm blew through in 20 minutes, the stage that had slid six inches downhill was restrained so the show could continue. Max Yasgur, the landowner who hosted a few hundred thousand hippies that weekend, was asked by Mel Lawrence and Michael Lang to say a few words to the crowd. Eagerly, Yasgur, who reveled in how nice and police the kids were, took to the stage with encouragement from Lawrence and Lang. Master of Ceremonies Chip Monck introduced Yasgur to the crowd saying “This is the man whose farm we’re on – Mr. Max Yasgur.” Monck stepped back and let Yasgur addressed the crowd, saying:

    I’m a farmer. I don’t know how to speak to twenty people at one time let alone a crowd like this. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place, but I think you people have proven something to the world – that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music. And I god bless you for it!

    Max Yasgur, as told in Robert Spitz’ Barefoot in Babylon

    Music would restart around 5pm with Country Joe & the Fish (the only act to perform twice that weekend) and Ten Years Later followed at 8pm. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young left the stage at 6AM, and Sha Na Na followed. Jimi Hendrix would not take the stage until 8:30AM Monday morning, performing to only 30,000 who were determined to stick it out. The historic “Star Spangled Banner,” followed by “Taps,” would cement his place, and Woodstock’s, in music history.

    Watch a performance from the nine artists who performed at Woodstock on August 17 and well into the morning of August 18, 1969

    Joe Cocker

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfLyK2DVVUU

    Country Joe & The Fish

    Ten Years After

    Johnny Winter

    Blood Sweat and Tears

    Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-azgwfnZu7c

    Paul Butterfield Blues Band

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibfUfVpfAI

    Sha Na Na

    Jimi Hendrix

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFLy8eGtSYo

    Watch performances from every Woodstock artist with our full playlist

  • Watch performances from Day 2 of Woodstock

    Friday left the crowd exhausted, but looking for more. A motionless field was peppered with life around 8AM, hippies making friends with neighbors as they awoke, ahead of the second day of Woodstock.

    woodstock

    According to Robert Spitz’s Barefoot in Babylon, Director of Operations Mel Lawrence, would wake the crowd up with a rousing “GGOOOOOD MOOOR-NINGGG” followed by:

    Sorry about that. Let’s try that one again. Good Morning. Thank You. Listen, last night was incredible, and we just wanted to let you know that everything’s okay. No hassles. We’re going to have another groovy day today and into the night and tomorrow.

    I just need your help with one small favor. We’re going to pass out these bags now so that we can keep our home clean. We’ll hand them out to those of you on this side of the bowl, and I’d appreciate it if all of you over there will toss your junk in and pass the bag on until it gets over to the other side of the field. Some of the guys from the Peace Service Corps will pick them up over there and get rid of that stuff for tyou.

    We’ve gotta keep this place liveable so we can prove to the rest of the world that we can make it to together in peace and comfort. And we’re gonna do it too.

    Mel Lawrence, with intermittent cheers from a quickly awoken crowd.

    A day of heavy-hitters would perform on Saturday, including The Who, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Santana among them.

    Santana’s appearance has always been regarded as one of the highlights of the festival. According to Spitz, with 92′ heat and 97% humidity, the bowl had turned into a sauna, and emotions, fueled by boredom from early performances from Quill, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, and Keef Hartley Band, were heating up. Santana jolted the crowd to their feet, making his mark on the festival and providing an electrifying bridge to the rest of that day’s performers.

    The Who would not perform until 3:30AM on Sunday, playing well into the morning. The set was famously interrupted by activist Abbie Hoffman who stormed the stage to say:

    This festival is meaningless as long as John Sinclair’s rotting in prison!

    Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock

    Hoffman was dispatched from the stage by Pete Townshend, who used his guitar to escort Hoffman into the photographer’s pit.

    Jefferson Airplane hit the stage at 8:30AM on Sunday, with a set that paralleed the exhausted corowd. Much of the audience was passed out even as the hits “Volunteers” and “Somebody to Love” rounded out the set. At 10AM on Sunday, the music would take a break, for a few hours.

    Watch performances from 13 of the 14 artists who performed at Woodstock on August 15, 1969.

    Quill

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfH18WqJuY8

    Country Joe McDonald

    John B. Sebastian

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnsB4Ck__OE

    Keef Hartley Band

    Allegedly, Hartley’s manager demanded payment up front for the rights to record or film the band. Thus, they were never included in any Woodstock footage until 2019, when the full Woodstock set was released.

    Santana

    Incredible String Band

    Canned Heat

    Grateful Dead

    Leslie West & Mountain

    Creedence Clearwater Revival

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75VQp8iGNF0

    Janis Joplin

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h66qXAK-q3o

    Sly and the Family Stone

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fZBaPS_XvQ

    The Who

    Jefferson Airplane

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QAF2qF4wHU

    Watch performances from every Woodstock artist with our full playlist

  • Watch: Jazz at Chautauqua featuring Wynton Marsalis, Becky Kilgore and more

    Jazz at Chautauqua is held periodically and in 2016 hosted Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center during one week of the nine-week long program.

    Located in southwestern New York, near the Pennsylvania border, Chautauqua Lake is home to the Chautauqua Institution. There, a blend of arts programming, educational and religious opportunities and recreational activities are available to those who visit the grounds during the year.

    The Institution, originally the Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly, was founded in 1874 as an educational experiment in out-of-school, vacation learning. It was successful and broadened almost immediately beyond courses for Sunday school teachers to include academic subjects, music, art and physical education.

    On September 21, 2012, a late-night set with Duke Heitger’s Swing Band at Jazz at Chautauqua featured the amazing voice of singer Rebecca Kilgore. Performing worldwide at jazz festivals, jazz parties, and on jazz cruises, Kilgore has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio’s ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross, has appeared on ‘A Prairie Home Companion,’ and with Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Hall.

    Here is Rebecca Kilgore with Dan Block (tenor saxophone), Rossano Sportiello (piano), Frank Tate (string bass) and Pete Siers (drums) performing “I’m Thru with Love” at Jazz at Chautauqua weekend in 2011

    The Rebecca Kilgore Quartet (formerly known as BED) was a popular favorite on the jazz festival circuit: with Eddie Erickson (guitar/banjo/voice), Dan Barrett (trombone), and Joel Forbes (bass). Writer Bucky Pizzarelli says of Kilgore, “If Benny Goodman were alive today, he’d hire Becky to sing in his band.”

    The next night, September 22, Becky performed “It’s Always You” with Keith Ingham. The 1941 Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke song from The Road to Zanzibar, was originally sung by Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. Other members of Kilgore’s band include Dan Barrett (trombone), Dan Block (alto saxophone), Scott Robinson (tenor saxophone), Mike Greensill (piano), Howard Alden (guitar), Kerry Lewis (string bass) and Bill Ransom (drums).

    And from September 2009, here are Duke Heitger, Andy Schumm, Dan Barrett, Scott Robinson, Bob Reitmeier, Ehud Asherie, Marty Grosz, Frank Tate, and Pete Siers swinging around on “Linger Awhile.”

    From Jazz at Chautauqua in September 2009, featuring the late Tom Pletcher (cornet), Dan Barrett (trombone), Bob Reitmeier (clarinet), the late Jim Dapogny (piano), Frank Tate (string bass) and Pete Siers (drums). 

    From 2014 Jazz at Chautauqau, Kurt Weill performs a gorgeous “September Song” with a trio of Dan Levinson (tenor saxophone), Bob Havens (trombone), and Keith Ingham (piano).

    h/t Jazz Lives

  • Discover Local Music With EQXposure Featured Artists Including Lucas Garrett And More

    Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm on 102.7 FM, you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear music from Lucas Garrett, Matt Bosson, Magic Trash Party, and many more!

    EQXposure

    WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to a ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.

    Lucas Garrett – “All Around Me“

    The singer/guitarist hails from Upstate NY and continues to meld styles like progressive rock, folk, classic rock, and indie with every new song. He’s performed all over the capital region at coffee houses and reputable venues including Strand Theatre in Hudson Falls, Little Theater on the Farm in Fort Edward, Charles Wood in Downtown Glens Falls, and Hudson River Music Hall just to name a few. He’s remained busy recording new material since the release of his debut EP Evening’s Come, But It’s Not Dark and you can expect the same steady output in 2020. This is just one of more songs to come and if you want to know who’s on what, just take a look below.  

    Matt Bosson – “From Outer Space“

    This is a friend and former classmate of Tred’s. You know. Tred? From Every Other Tuesday With Tred. On Early EQX? Well, anyway they used to hang out in the Berkshires and now Matt Bosson is making sweet, sweet music in Los Angeles California. He’s spent some time as a singer/songwriter in multiple bands ranging in genres like punk and alt country. Most recently he has been releasing his most personal and unusual music as a solo artist.  

    Magic Trash Party – “Other Flowers“

    Magic Trash Party hails from Windham, NY and they are going for a ’40s-’60s classic pop vibe on this one. If you want to find out more about them like I did you can check out their Facebook page where their bio says they are a “Rock and Pop band from Upstate NY.” Yup. That’s all it says. With a name like Magic Trash Party, who needs details? The magic is in the mystery.  

  • Flashback: Watch performances from Day 1 of Woodstock 1969

    The historic Woodstock Music and Art Festival took place 51 years ago this weekend in Bethel, NY in 1969. Billed as “an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music,” promoters Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld brought together an all-time classic lineup of artists that spanned genres and put an exclamation point on a decade of change.

    Much has been written on the festival, and the (pre-COVID) thriving music festival scene in America owes a debt to the original Woodstock, adding a festival (and city name) to our collective lexicon and providing a template by which to measure all future music festivals.

    Woodstock 1969

    With today marking the anniversary of the first day of Woodstock, revisit performances from the eight artists who took the stage, including Richie Havens, who hurriedly took to the stage when Sweetwater was held up arriving to the site by helicopter.

    When asked by Lang to perform earlier than planned, Havens was initially resistant, thinking that he couldn’t get ready in time. With encouragement from John Morris, and learning that Tim Hardin was “scared shitless” to open the festival, Havens laughed and said,

    What can I say? OK, give me a couple minutes to get ready and to round up the rest of the group. I’ll do it.

    Richie Havens

    The stage crew was alerted and at 5:01pm, and once sound was set, Morris strode to the stage and announced,

    Well, it’s time for the music to begin. Let’s welcome, Mr. Richie Havens”

    John Morris

    And with that, the greatest music festival ever was off and running into the history books. Watch a performance from each of the eight artists who performed at Woodstock on August 15, 1969

    Richie Havens

    Sweetwater

    Bert Sommer

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA-NPCq_Jd8

    Tim Hardin

    Ravi Shankar

    Melanie

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr2l9inAryQ

    Arlo Guthrie

    Joan Baez

    Watch performances from every Woodstock artist with our full playlist

  • 24 Years Later: Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters join Phish at Darien Lake

    On August 14, 1997, Phish performed for the second time at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. Just one stop was left on Phish’s Summer Tour – The Great Went in Limestone, ME. And, as is bound to happen, some bozos and pranksters showed up in the parking lot before the show, leading to history being made and generations of jam bridged together.

    phish darien lake
    photo via Kevin Shapiro

    A fluid first set was chock full of jams, and an early “Fluffhead” was reportedly punctuated with a roller-coaster climbing to its peak just as “Fluffhead” was peaking. The first “Tela” since fall 1996 and a raging “Antelope” set closer are among the other highlights.

    Fans reported seeing the famous Furthur bus in the parking lots that day, which had a Grateful Dead feel to them with Furthur Fest on tour that summer as well. Not many would expect Trey to bring out the head Prankster himself, Ken Kesey, later that night. Following an often overlooked segue out of “Harry Hood” in the second set, just as Anastasio started the narration part of “Col. Forbin’s Ascent,” their special guest came to the stage.

    So here we are again, standing at the base of the mountain, and this is a very different and interesting time for Col. Forbin here. Col. Forbin realizes on this particular day, he is not going to find the great and knowledagble Icculus at all, but instead he is going to find (laughs) Ken, Uncle Sam, Bozo, E-Z-Kesey standing there.

    Trey Anastasio, introducing Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, August 14, 1997

    Out walked Kesey dressed as Uncle Sam, and the crowd erupted.

    Ken Kesey with Phish

    Kesey – author, LSD advocate, founder of the acid tests and a key figurehead of sixties counter-culture – took hold of the moment and in a rambling, hilarious and surreal art performance, referenced the loss of Jerry Garcia, the Bozos, and the Wizard of Oz. Kesey spoke and sang to the beat of his own drum:

    My heart is sorely beset because from out amongst the tidbits of these vehicles moving through the nation we have lost an important part of us. For two years no one has seen high nor heard of the bozos. For two years the bozos have been missing. Where are the bozos? Well, what we heard was they were gonna try to make it hear to the Phish concert. We couldn’t catch them up at the Furthur Festival so we decided to come to the Phish concert.

    Ken Kesey

    Around the stage and audience were costumed Pranksters in key roles, making for one of the most infamous sit-ins in Phish history. Two years after Jerry Garcia’s death, Kesey had symbolically passed the torch to Phish

    Kesey began a “Wizard of Oz” narration, mentioning that his brother in Oz usually handles finding the bozos. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” begins and out walks a helper, dress as the Scarecrow, to give a “Bozo Report.” At that moment, the band switched to an instrumental version of “If Only I Had a Brain”, ahead of The Scarecrow saying “We know they were at the Grateful Dead concert and the rumor was they went Phishing.”

    The Tin Man followed, reporting that he has a ‘foolish heart,’ with Kesey and Fishman singing “Has anyone seen the Bozos?” Instead of the Cowardly Lion following next, Frankenstein walks out with his master, and naturally, Phish breaks into Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” with the volume a little lower for Kesey to continue his narration.

    The Cowardly Lion was leading a paramilitary group in Northern Idaho and you brought me this? Wonderful!

    Ken Kesey

    Then, as Kesey and four other pranksters began to come up with lyrics for the Bozos, about 20 Bozo Clowns came running through the pavilion and found their way to the stage. Meanwhile, Kesey and the Pranksters continued to sing while Phish improvised over a funk groove. To close this collective hallucination, Kesey attempted a segue of his own:

    I see a bird. Out comes a bird. Could that possible be Mockingbird? What kind of bird can it possibly be in the nest when the Pranksters sing? I know it. I see it. I hear it. It’s a Mockingbird.

    Ken Kesey

    Alas, as Kesey and the Pranksters exited the stage, Trey remarked “See what happens if you take too much acid? 30 years later…” much to the audience’s approval. Trey then declared that because “the funk was too deep,” and they couldn’t stop the funk, the typical “Fly Famous Mockingbird” that follows “Col. Forbin’s Ascent” was passed over for “Camel Walk,” an early funk-filled Phish song, and a rarity at the time. Tune into the show via Phishtracks, and don’t sleep on the set closing “Taste.” At Superball IX, Phish shared a pro-shot clip of the show, footage of which can be seen above.

    phish darien lake

    Setlist via Phish.net

    Soundcheck: Buffalo Bill, The Old Home Place, Funky Bitch, Crosseyed and Painless

    Set 1: Ya Mar, Funky Bitch > Fluffhead, Limb By Limb, Free, Cars Trucks Buses, Tela > Train Song > Billy Breathes, Run Like an Antelope

    Set 2: Chalk Dust Torture, Love Me, Sparkle > Harry Hood -> Jam > Colonel Forbin’s Ascent -> Merry Pranksters Jam[1] -> Camel Walk, Taste

    Encore: Bouncing Around the Room, Rocky Top

    [1] Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.

    The second set featured a remarkable jam after Harry Hood ended and before Forbin’s began, as well as an appearance by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. The Merry Pranksters Jam contained a Somewhere Over the Rainbow tease from Trey, an If I Only Had a Brain tease, a Spam Song quote, and a Frankenstein jam.

  • Listen to Weezer’s “Beginning of the End (Wyld Stallyns Edit)” from Bill and Ted Face the Music soundtrack

    On August 28, we’ll get our first look at Bill S. Preston, Esq., and Ted “Theodore” Logan in nearly 30 years. Bill & Ted Face the Music finds Bill and Ted as adults, each with daughters, but the life-long friends have yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny.

    They’ll run into a new batch of historical figures, as well as a few music legends, while they pursue the song that will set their world right and bring harmony in the universe. And every effort towards universal harmony needs a kickass soundtrack.

    bill and ted soundtrack

    Bill & Ted Face The Music, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, is executive produced by Elliot Grainge, founder of 10K Projects. Premiering today, Weezer’s “Beginning Of The End (Wyld Stallyns Edit)” highlights the band’s characteristic SoCal rock sound and penchant for poppy melodies.

    The star-studded soundtrack features previously unreleased original songs from other notable rock acts including Mastodon, Cold War Kids, FIDLAR, Big Black Delta, and Lamb of God as well as newcomers like POORSTACY, Alec Wigdahl, and more. The album releases on all digital platforms on August 28, the same day the film will be available on demand and in select cinemas.

    Producer Grainge says of the soundtrack:

    I couldn’t be more excited to partner with Orion Pictures on their iconic Bill & Ted film franchise for 10K Projects’ first venture into the soundtrack world. Bill & Ted Face The Music is an ode to music enthusiasts around the world and taps into the Gen Z audience, a generation championed by 10K. We are delighted to have our own innovative acts Alec Wigdahl and POORSTACY featured on the soundtrack, next to some of the greatest rock acts of all time including Weezer, Mastodon and Lamb of God, bringing together artists from across generations to celebrate our shared love of music.

    – Bill & Ted Face the Music executive producer Elliot Grainge
    bill & ted face the music

    There are only two weeks to go before Bill & Ted Face the Music, and the soundtrack gives some hints as to what we can expect from the movie. Tracks by classic metal rockers Mastadon and Lamb of God are standouts, and perhaps they’ll have a cameo in the movie if they stand out on the soundtrack. The final track though, “That Which Binds Us Through Time: The Chemical, Physical and Biological Nature of Love; an Exploration of The Meaning of Meaning, Part 1” is best read in the voice of Ted “Theodore” Logan, a unique if not rambling title that might hold the key to existence as Bill & Ted know it.

    Bill & Ted Face The Music (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) tracklisting:

    1. Big Black Delta – “Lost in Time”
    2. Alec Wigdahl – “Big Red Balloon”
    3. Weezer – “Beginning Of The End (Wyld Stallyns Edit)”
    4. Cold War Kids – “Story Of Our Lives”
    5. Mastodon – “Rufus Lives”
    6. Big Black Delta – “Circuits Of Time”
    7. POORSTACY – “Darkest Night”
    8. Lamb Of God – “The Death Of Us”
    9. FIDLAR – “Breaker”
    10. Culture Wars – “Leave Me Alone”
    11. Blame My Youth – “Right Where You Belong”
    12. Wyld Stallyns (feat. Animals As Leaders, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah) – “Face the Music”
    13. Wyld Stallyns – “That Which Binds Us Through Time: The Chemical, Physical and Biological Nature of Love; an Exploration of The Meaning of Meaning, Part 1”

  • Ryan Dempsey takes a trip down Memory Lane

    Back in 2015 I took a closer look at Twiddle, who I had seen previously as a small-font band at music festivals around the Northeast. Nothing had stuck out just yet, beyond a surprise version of the “Duck Tales” theme song at The Big Up in 2010. But after seeing them in small rooms and grow to perform at The Palace in Albany and as far away as Lockn‘, my perspective of the band changed, for the better.

    The recent Roots Tour was a rousing success, where Twiddle made stops at venues that served as notable points in Twiddle’s history in Vermont. The Roots Tour – featuring archival and recently recorded streams, band interviews, plus two live streams from Higher Ground – brought out the best of the band, collectively and individually.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDB5S_ahEx2/

    The band interviews were the hidden gem of the Roots Tour, and worth the price of admission alone. Each band member spoke individually, and later collectively, providing insight into each of the venues they performed at during the tour, and how that little corner of Vermont (of which there are many) affected Twiddle’s growth over the last 15 years, especially those important formative years.

    With three shows at Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT taking place this weekend, NYS Music caught up with keyboardist Ryan Dempsey to talk about Roots Tour, how he has spent time during quarantine and where he would be had he not been a musician.

    ryan dempsey
    photo by Dave Decrescente

    Behind the keys for 15 years, Ryan Dempsey doesn’t wonder where the time has gone.

    “The time was well spent, and I really have no regrets. I’ve been having fun along the way. So sometimes it seems like a long time but other times I feel like it was just yesterday.“

    Twiddle started out at Castleton State College and almost immediately met Mihali Savoulidis and would form Twiddle. And it does surprise him how this all got started.

    The universe has a way of working itself out. I wouldn’t have imagined myself ever being a professional musician when I met Mihali. I was studying to go to L.A. and be a film director but I’m happy it worked out the way it did. I trusted Mihali’s leadership and his confidence in the fact that we would be a band one day and it would all work out.

    photo by Dave Decrescente

    The concept for Roots Tour, taking the viewer and band through the roots of Twiddle in Vermont, could have worked in a non-COVID-19 world. A tour, with exclusive tickets and chances to see the band at old haunts (The Perfect Wife, Nectar’s, and The Pickle Barrel, among others), would have been as well received as anything Twiddle has done in the last five years. But given the circumstances of no live music, the Roots Tour would be presented as a wholly online experience.

    I think it was a collective and unanimous vote between the full band that it would be a good time to bring up old footage and a bunch of material that we’ve been collecting for 15 years and releasing it in a documentary kind of style. I think it was just the right time to do it. We have been talking about it for years and we always said, “Just hold off, let’s hold off, let’s hold off,” and then, when COVID became prevalent, we thought it was just the perfect time to get down and look at all of our material we had over the years and compile it all together and see what we had. And I think it was a successful venture. 

    There was of course the nostalgia that will evoke and tap emotions in the unexpected places. For Dempsey, that place was the Eaglerock Estate, also known as the ’Twiddle House’ where Mihali, Ryan and Brook Jordan lived, wrote, rehearsed and played shows, and later met Zdenek Gubb who officially joined the band.

    Going there was very nostalgic and seeing my band there as adults and looking back and thinking back to when we were children or you know just out-in-the-world young adults and not having a clue what we were doing and scared to death on what we were doing, but always following our intuition. It was cool to go back to Eagle Rock and be with my brothers and have our own moment and go up to our rooms and have stories of years that we were there and how the music shaped itself in those early times. That was very cool. 

    Now with Roots Tour behind them, and three Drive-In shows in Vermont this weekend, Dempsey was asked what he was missing the most about playing live right now.

    I miss the gathering of people. I’m a very social person, so playing live is important for me because obviously it’s great to see fans interacting and showing their love for the music as we play on stage, but I also miss going out after and before shows talking to every fan I can, in the front or the back, and shooting the shit with them. A lot of good family with our fan base that I have come to know and learn to love over the years and I miss being able to interact with those people personally.

    photo by Dave Decrescente

    One would suspect that musicians of any ilk are spending their time in quarantine these past five months staying productive and writing songs. That is true for Dempsey as well, but with the distractions that come from not having a typical routine to fall into.

    So, my duck and my raccoon poop on me while I play so that’s affected my concentration; when I’m on the piano, I like to have one of the animals up there. But actually it hasn’t really affected it because I’ve been busy doing Cameos and we still practice with Twiddle, but it’s hard. It’s like when you work out, you get used to working out every day and then, when you stop, you kind of get out of your original routine. So I guess I’m not playing as much anymore even though I can still practice, but being able to be with Twiddle every day on the road, every day you wake up and you immediately go to soundcheck and you practice for hours. So without having that daily routine it’s kind of throwing me off. I still am trying to stay creative, but as far as practice, I should probably be a little bit more disciplined about practice.

    Now with 15 years of Twiddle under his belt, when asked to look back and give Ryan Dempsey in 2010 advice, he turned to the last five years of his life with his wife for words of wisdom.

    Watch out for that Alexandra girl, she’s coming for you. To relax a little bit more and not be so stressed out. To trust your intuition and just not listen to anyone, not family, friends or even haters – just do you and believe in your passion and your dream and not take shit from from anyone. 

    And what advice would he give his 2015 self? He thought of that Alexandra girl, simply saying “You’re about to meet the love of your life.”

    Now, with Drive-In shows this weekend in Essex, Twiddle will hold their first public performance since their Winter Tour in March. What does Dempsey expect from the show?

    “I expect us to be so nervous that we fall on our faces and make fools of ourselves. We will be so scared that we will start playing a song and we’re all gonna just forget the song! It is going to blow and the audience will say “you suck, I hate you Twiddle” and then I don’t know… I’d like to see people in bubbles… big plastic bubbles just rolling around while we play.”

  • Jazz at Lincoln Center asks ‘Everybody Wear They Mask’ in latest single

    The message that Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis’ is sending in their new single doesn’t mince words. “Everybody Wear They Mask” was composed by Marsalis and recorded at orchestra members’ homes in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, and Iowa during quarantine.

    The song is the band’s call for everyone to do their civic duty and use face coverings in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And for those who don’t want to wear a mask, the song has a slightly more pointed message: “Why you gotta be like that?”

    Please, wear a mask.

    Some of jazz legend Mynton Marsalis’ best work of the last four decades has been influenced by socio-cultural and political issues. In 1985, his Black Codes (From the Underground) won a Grammy, in 1996, Blood on the Fields became the first jazz piece ever to win a Pultzier Prize, All Rise was performed by Symphonic Orchestras all across the world in 2002, and in 2007, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary was said to “[reveal] some important truth about this country with a lot of anger and heart.” It seems only fitting that now, during this historical time of national protest, Wynton Marsalis release a new work that reflects on these human rights issues.

    “The Ever Fonky Lowdown” directly addresses the racism, deception, and greed that clouds the country’s chances of human rights for all and pushes us further away from democracy. It was written in 2018 to combat human suffering and exploitation on the universal scale, but is now, in 2020, more topical than ever. The album’s narrator, “Mr. Game,” says it himself: “We are here tonight, but this is an international hustle. It has played out many times across time and space and is not specific to any language or race. It takes on different flavors according to people’s taste, but always ends up in the same old place.” These issues have been happening to countless all throughout history, and it is time to strip away the distractions to attack the injustice’s sources directly.