Trey Anastasio adds to an already busy summer of Oysterhead and Phish with three additional orchestra performances in June. In addition to the previously announced performance on June 20 at Tanglewood with the Boston Pops, Anastasio joins the National Symphony Orchestra on June 17 in Washington D.C., the Philadelphia Orchestra on June 23, and the North Carolina Symphony on June 26 in Raleigh.
Tickets are now on sale at Trey.com
Music scenes are riddled with a lot of traditions, a lot of staples that go hand in hand with the community and culture that is created around every genre of music . The bluegrass/jamgrass scene has grown exponentially in the last few years and, with that, the traditions have grown as well. One of these is WinterWonderGrass, held this past weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In its eighth year, the tiny, homegrown festival boasted an amazing lineup for its 2020 edition and was a blessing for bluegrass & string music fans across the nation.
This winter wonder festival takes place in the famous mountain town of Steamboat Springs. Nestled in the upper valley of the Yampa River, the picture-perfect, post card scenery overshadowed the fact that temperatures for the weekend didn’t surpass 30 degrees. Day one included intimate sets in each of the three tents from Buffalo Commons, John Stickley Trio, and an amazing new and rising artist, Molly Tuttle, with headlining sets from Grammy-nominated Nashville band Della Mae, the incomparable Keller and The Keels, and one of the hottest acts in music right now, Billy Strings. His first headlining set of the 2020 festival season included a fitting “Steamboat Whistle Blues,” “Highway Hypnosis,” and a “Train Train” encore that concluded an amazing first day of music, and reminded fans in attendance why Billy Strings is everything they love about this great event.
The second day on the mountain started off with a new tradition, a set entitled WinterWonderWoman. A collaborative set of covers and some bluegrass and country classics was performed by a group of amazing female musicians who performed throughout the weekend. On the main stage Nikki Lane, the extremely gifted country rock songwriter, proved to a packed audience that her blues guitar and vintage ’60s country-pop swagger fit right in with the WinterWonderGrass family. Despite all the firsts on the second day of the festival, it was a headlining set by festival veterans Greensky Bluegrass that reminded fans what WinterWonderGrass is all about. With a chilling and emotional “Wish I Didn’t Know” to start it all off, Greensky filled the rest of their set with tracks like “Worried about the Weather” and “Old Barn” and, with Jennifer Hartswick as a special guest, they rocked the mountains with a debut cover of Pat Benatar’s smash hit “Heartbreaker”. There is a special bond between Greensky Bluegrass and WinterWonderGrass that proves year after year how special the bond is between their music and its fans.
As a festival in its eighth year, WinterWonderGrass is very in tune with how quickly things change in the music industry, and the only way to survive and attract new and old fans year after year is to adapt. Day 3 was a look into the future of the festival and how the recent rise of the proclaimed “Outlaw Country” genre has become a perfect companion to bluegrass, this blend of new blood, veterans, country, and bluegrass was the theme of the final day of the music event. With sets from bluegrass legends The Travelin’ McCourys, and another smoking hot set from Billy Strings, the strings element to this eclectic blend was complete. It was the Sunday headliner that added a new sound to this festival and a brand new flavor to this blend of great music. Margo Price has exploded into the country music scene since her debut in 2016 and she did nothing short of that to make her WinterWonderGrass debut. She debuted a new song “Twinkle Twinkle” and even welcomed Billy Strings for a special cover of Janis Joplin’s “Move Over.” She closed out her debut set by sparking a joint, sharing it with the crowd, and encoring with Dolly Parton’s “9 To 5,” a perfect way to close out an amazing weekend of music.
The roving cold weather music festival will continue its 2020 run with stops in Squaw Valley, California from March 27-29 and Stratton, Vermont on April 10 and 11. It still remains one of the top festivals in the country after almost ten years, bringing together multiple genres of music, community, sustainability, and family in some of the most welcoming, majestic mountain communities in the country.
Hot Clips Volume 2 is now available on Bandcamp. PEAK brings their own brand of psychedelic-indie funk to Bowery Electric on Saturday, February 29 for a Leap Day show featuring The Phryg and Space Junk is Forever. Tickets can be picked up here.
NYC’s Peak are off to a hot start in 2020 and in full gear during their winter tour. Following the release of full set video from their Brooklyn Bowl show in October, they recently released Hot Clips Volume 2, the second installment in our live series with selected tracks from fall and early winter tours, featuring new songs and some of their hand-picked favorite jams from the road.
PEAK Winter Tour 2020 remaining dates:
2/26 House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ*
2/27 Thunder Road, Boston, MA%
2/28 The Acoustic, Bridgeport, CT@
2/29 Leap Day at Bowery Electric, New York, NY**
3/13 Tellus 360 Lancaster, PA
3/20 Fete Music Hall, Providence, RI
3/21 Olives, Nyack, NY
3/26 Rochester, NY Flour City Station
3/27 Frankfurt, NY The Bank
3/28 Albany, NY Parish Public House
*supporting Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation
^ w/ Cold Engines
# w/ Kluster Phunk
@w/ Zillawatt
% w/ Mount Pleasant
**w/ the Phryg and Space Junk is Forever–
Zachery Allan Starkey has released “XXX,” the dark and melodic second single and video off of his forthcoming album FEAR CITY. Composed, performed, and produced by Starkey, “XXX ” is a symphonic techno odyssey that brings the listener deep into the pure hedonistic ecstasy of New York City nightlife.
Using analogue synthesizers and intricate arrangements, Starkey creates a throbbing, pulsing arpeggiated Techno bass line, then adds soaring lead melodies and pounding drums and percussion (inspired by the sound of the New York subway system), creating a dynamic club track that brings to mind the best work of electronic pioneers Giorgio Moroder and Patrick Cowley, whilst pushing the track firmly into the future.
Starkey says of the latest track: “‘XXX’ is my musical synthesis of a journey I have made literally hundreds of times, finding escape and release from the struggles of daily life on the dance floor. It’s a song for both my journey and the journey I’ve seen many others make in the safety offered by nightlife spaces. ‘XXX’ is about celebrating sex, pleasure, and freedom. Musically, ‘XXX’ is my attempt to marry my love of both techno and symphonic music.”
The first FEAR CITY single, the acclaimed “No Security,” discusses the political and economic chaos and fear that is consuming the world in 2020. With “XXX,” Starkey shows marginalized, disadvantaged, depressed, overworked, and economically struggling people escaping the present dystopian nightmare to find freedom, expression, and pleasure on the dance floor. The “XXX” of the title is not only a reference to sex and recreational drugs, it is also signifying the excitement of the unknown.
As a whole, FEAR CITY takes the 1970’s nickname for New York City, with a focus on the decadent nightlife, drugs, sex, darkness, class inequality and the opiate epidemic found across the 5 boroughs. It uses hedonism to escape the current, widespread political/economic fears, uncertainties and anxiety caused by the rise of right wing politics around the world. While culling influences from New York’s deep well of dance music history, FEAR CITY is a product of the current times.
“XXX” is accompanied by a music video created by director directed by William Murray and Zachery Allan Starkey, filmed in the seedy sex districts of Manhattan and late night Brooklyn, and features a cameo by revered Brooklyn House and Techno producer Lauren Flax, as well as Starkey’s live musicians, Laura Holden and Ruby Wang.
Boston’s Spiritual Rez has announced nine summer tour dates for 2020. The band will embark on a run of shows that will take them from the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast, with three stops in New York, including the North Country River Jam in Champlain, The Colony in Woodstock and Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. They’ll also make stops in their hometown of Boston, and kick things off on June 4 at Mountain Music Festival in Minden, WV.
Tour dates and more information can be found at spiritualrez.com
Spiritual Rez 2020 Summer Tour
June 04 Minden WV – Mountain Music Festival
June 05 Harrisburg, PA – The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Co.
June 06 Champlain, NY – North Country River Jam
June 07 Woodstock, NY – The Colony
June 10 Portsmouth, NH – The Press Room
June 11 Brattleboro, NH – The Stone Church
June 12 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
June 13 Wakefield, RI – Ocean Mist
June 14 Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory
On the unexpectedly warm evening of February 22, a line of eager concert-goers snaked around the corner and onto the street parallel to Webster Hall. Lighthearted chatter filled the late Saturday night air.
“I’ve never seen the line this long…”
“Who are you guys here to see? Are they really this good?”
They were there to see BAYNK, a Kiwi artist that blends intricately layered beats with soothing vocals to produce mellow earworms. Splashing onto the music scene accidentally in 2016 after posting a single to SoundCloud that garnered attention on HypeMachine, the producer has come a long way in five years.
A move to L.A. and two EPs deep, BAYNK has also stepped up his live performance. The artist largely performs within the confines of a frame-like rectangular LED display, which is pre-programmed with visuals that reflect the intricacy of his music.
For individuals who are at the show just to dance and sing, BAYNK has them covered too. Whipping out his best dance moves to his higher tempo songs, he hypes up the crowd to dance along with him—which they do with no hesitation.
On Wednesday, April 1, The Strand Theater in Hudson Falls will welcome Twiddle frontman Mihali Savoulidis, with a special guest yet to be announced. Mihali has a long history performing in the greater Capital Region, both with Twiddle and solo side projects that have sold out Putnam Place and Pearl Street Pub in the last year. The show is part of the A.I.M. for Spring Concert Series, presented by ADK Music Festival.
Tickets can be purchased here or via ADK Music Fest.
Kamasi Washington and his band came through Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre this week as part of his latest round of winter tour dates. Although there has not been new music since 2018s critically acclaimed double LP, Heaven and Earth, Kamasi just released a film, Kamasi Washington Live at the Apollo Theater, on Amazon Prime Video. The live film was recorded at Kamasi’s show at the Harlem theater on February 23, 2019.
The show opened with a short R&B and Soul DJ set from Natasha Diggs. Natasha paid homage to many late artists with her set; music filled the room as fans filed into their seats. The setting was a perfect fit for Kamasi’s music, and the first thing he said when the band took the stage was in admiration the beautiful theater.
Flanked by two drum sets, Kamasi stood center stage and dove straight into “Street Fighter Mas” from Heaven and Earth. When the band plays live, they tend to only play five or six songs, but extend them with solos and improvs to fill a nearly two-hour set. Both drummers took their turn during the show, delivering very different drum solos, accompanied by two separate solos on upright bass.
After the first song, Kamasi introduced his father, Rickey Washington, on stage who continued to play flute and soprano saxophone for the rest of the night. The father and son stood side by side. The chemistry between them could be felt across the theater.
The main set ended with a lengthy rendition of “Fists of Fury,” which featured soaring vocals from singer Patrice Quinn. There were several movements during the performance of this track, but the final solo of the night was reserved for Kamasi on tenor. The man is a master on the saxophone and his solo ended with a standing ovation from the audience, followed by a reprise of the epic conclusion. It was the most powerful moment, ending the show with a thunderous finish.
In addition to the live film, Kamasi released the stand alone track “The Bombshell’s Waltz,” earlier this month also on Amazon Music. The band is just beginning this stretch of live dates, which continue across North America until a final show on March 12 in San Antonio – see the full itinerary HERE.
Mount Sharp is back with their first release in five years, That Shadow, due out on February 21 via Dadstache Records. They’ve just released the single and video for “Ordinary” ahead of the album’s release and their record release show at Gutter in Brooklyn on Saturday, February 22.
The first taste of the new record came with their first single, “Apostate.” Post-Trash, who premiered the video, said,”Our first taste of the band’s long-awaited new music comes in the form of ‘Apostate,’ a song that pulls from the band’s more serene end, a dreamy song to melt away to during this heat wave. Built on a resonant twang and a pulsating rhythm, the song breathes at a natural clip, drawing between a soft intimacy and a thick fuzzy build up by the bridge. There’s a syrupy quality to the vocals that stick with you after the song has ended, and while you may not instantly remember the lyrics, the melody is now part of consciousness, like a distant memory that repeats in your mind.”
Mount Sharp began on a rooftop in Brooklyn, or on a boat in Maine, or perhaps somewhere in between. The band grew around the bittersweet, poetic songwriting of Swood (Sarah Wood) paired with Bryan Bruchman’s noisy, chaotic tendencies around 2012. On 2014’s WEIRD FEARS EP (with the rhythm section of Ryan Zumsen and Maia Macdonald), the band exhibited a blast of unbridled energy, excitement, and confusion – a fitting soundtrack to a brief, blissful, carefree time before so much changed. The band – now with Sal Garro and Jonathan Pilkington Kahnt firmly holding down the drums and bass – has matured, and the songs are maybe a little more serious, maybe a little more reflective, but no less cutting and catchy. Taking inspiration from the cosmos, sci-fi TV, and the messed up state of the world, Mount Sharp puts all the feels into song.
That Shadow follows, too. It’s full of sticky melodies, lyrics that cut, and surging waves of noise. It’s designed to get under the skin. Inspired by years of watching all the assholes they know win, figuring out how to be kinder to themselves, and all the beautiful and tragic machines in space, the band says the record is everything that pulls them to look behind themselves. They believe we should be looking up and dreaming.
All tracks were produced by Brian Sendrowitz (Beat Radio) at Miracle Flag in Bellmore, NY, mastered by Sarah Register (Talk Normal, Protomartyr, Caroline Rose, Chastity Belt, Big Thief, Lower Dens, and Big Ups), and with artwork using images of textile artist Jenna Breiter’s work, including an original illustration for the LP cover.
Valentine’s Day is a day for celebrating someone special in your life. For the sell-out crowd at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City, that someone was Anna of the North.
Performing on a stage lined with dozens of roses and adorned with two white teddy bears, the Norwegian artist left no question as to why the room chose to spend their night with her.
Despite fighting off a sore throat on only the second night of her tour, Anna of the North maintained high spirits by encouraging the crowd to sing to her, making the occasional quip in between songs, and of course, drinking her medicine—whiskey. Her infectious smile and energetic dancing reflected back onto the audience, which was full of couples whipping out their best moves.
