Kurt Riley and Orange Julians come together as the The Beforetimes as they released their debut single, “Time Machine” on September 18. The track was written and produced in equal by both Kurt Riley and Orange Julians. Having met as children, both artists grew up to write rock operas, and now have reunited for this joint project. The Beforetimes have also uploaded a music video for their new single.
Kurt Riley has released records produced by Beyoncé/FKA Twigs/Run the Jewels collaborator BOOTS and Grammy Award-winning engineer Will Russell. Riley has also appeared at the CFCU Summer Concert Series, Music Is Art Buffalo, and at the Ithaca Festival. Under the moniker Orange Julians, Julian DeLice had worked on plenty of solo material and has written, produced and directed a stage play called “The Renegade Opera” (benefitting the Elton John AIDS Foundation). Julian DeLice’s music was named “Vermont’s freshest synth-pop” by 7 Days Newspaper, and DeFelice is now recording his fourth LP.
The song was remotely produced across over 2,000 miles and the first release as the “The Beforetimes” begin a side project that will be featured alongside their solo work. For more information on “The Beforethetimes”, their new single, and their respective individual profiles, visit the Apple Music, Spotify, links and both of Kurt and Julien’s websites.
Goose has been loose across New England in the past few weeks, performing Drive-In shows in Yarmouth, MA, Morris, CT, Essex Junction, VT and soon they’ll head to Ohio, Maryland and North Carolina. Goose hit a fever pitch with fans in 2019 and have made the most of this new era of live music, between a successful Bingo Tour in June, and recent Drive-In stops across the Northeast.
So when Goose headed from Northern Vermont down to Southwestern New Hampshire on Saturday, October 3, they marked the closest shows to New York State, and beyond their just announced Halloween run at South Farms in Morris, CT, these shows stand to be the final chances to catch Goose in the Northeast, possibly until 2021.
Arriving at the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, NH, cars were greeted by a friendly staff and it was incredibly easy for you to locate your car’s spot. Areas on either side of your car were marked off for social distancing, and your party could begin once you were parked.
No matter where you parked, the sound was incredibly good. Speaker stacks made it so the folks in the C section towards the back got the same quality as folks in the A section up front, allowing all to hear the new clavinet for guitarist/keyboardist Peter Anspach. Even the sloping hill allowed for good views even from the top of the venue.
Highlights from the evening included an early cover of The Band’s “Look Out Cleveland” and 20-minute versions of “Madhuvan” and the second set opening “Tumble.” Tom Waits’ dark “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis” followed “Tumble,” and was repeated in the encore due to skipping a portion of the song the first time. The encore was polished off by the second ‘Jive’ tune of the night, “Jive Lee.” Listen to the show on Archive here.
Swanzey has succeeded in a state where live music is still embraced and allowed, and should be looked at as a template for how to pull off live music until the pandemic has subsided. On Saturday, October 31st, Pink Talking Fish will headline a at Drive-In Live in Swanzey, featuring Mihali from Twiddle and Neighbor, marking the grand finale for the Drive-In Live concert series.
The night before in Burlington, Goose welcomed Giant Country Horns member Dave ‘The Truth’ Grippo for most of the show, including “Time to Flee,” seen below.
Setlist – Goose at Drive-In Live, Swanzey, NH, October 2, 2020
Set 1:Yeti, Look Out Cleveland*, Honey Bee, Jive I, Madhuvan, 726 Set 2: Tumble, Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis^, All I Need, Echo Of A Rose, Flodown Encore: Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis^, Jive Lee
* The Band ^Tom Waits
For Halloween, Goose will perform two shows on Friday, October 30th and Saturday, October 31st. South Farms has hosted numerous acts, using the multipurpose outdoor venue with a grid-like layout where the audience is situated in pairs, on 8’x8’ plots of grass.
Unlike drive-in shows, South Farms is equipped for the band to use live sound, as opposed to FM radio transmitters. Social distancing guidelines are in effect while attending the event.
Ticket presale begins on Wednesday, October 7 at 10 AM ET, followed by a general onsale on Friday. October 9 at 10 AM ET.
Standing Now is the latest project released by the Jess Novak Band on September 27. Jess Novak, a resident of Syracuse and New Jersey native, sings lead and also plays violin, guitar, and piano. The other members include Byron Cage on drums, Anthony Saturno on electric guitar, Jabare Mckinstry on bass, Gavin George on drums, and Nick Fields on trumpet. Altogether, the dynamic group plays off each other’s energy to create an album with raw musical camaraderie.
Photo by Daniel Ware
“Northern Lights” is a ballad about losing your way but not giving up. The background vocals from Nick Fields and guitar solo add a heightened level of reminiscent feelings. “Northern Lights” provides a happy medium balance between the tempo of “Place of Solitude” and “Match.”
“Place of Solitude” highlights the band’s versatility between songs and provides a necessary break from the up-tempo beat. Anthony Saturno’s backing vocals takes the lead from Jess Novak’s to provide a poignant message of hope during the tough times of a pandemic. The effortless transition from violin to trumpet solo elevates the message of taking advantage of self-discovery with the lyrics “Never feel alone.”
Complemented by drums and guitar, the upbeat tempo of “Match” creates an eccentric mood. The beat leaves listeners toe-tapping and wanting to get up and dance. The violins match the fast-paced tempo and create a new level of fire expressed through Novak’s singing. Overall, Standing Now is a quality album that easily allows listeners to fall in love with their unique style of pop, rock, and soul music.
The album was meant to be released in May, and between storms and colds, the band was nearing completion. Then the pandemic hit, but good things come to those who wait. The Jess Novak Band are clearly proud of their latest example of how their band has grown and worked to build each other up.
Quarantine provided many different things for many people. Spending more time with your kids, finding new recipes to experiment with, maybe even picking up embroidery. For New York City-based singer/songwriter, Aniello, quarantine gave him the opportunity to work harder on his music than ever before, leading him to make it to Billboard alongside notable names like, X Ambassadors, Andrew Bird and Kesha.
Promotion for Team Joe Sings
Last week, Aniello debuted his latest single, ‘Stand Up,’ on the virtual concert series, ‘Team Joe Sings,’ created by presidential-nominee Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ campaign team. Aniello says he wrote this single a few years back, during the 2016 presidential election, but it remains so true to our current state of the nation now.
“I wrote this song as a message to myself, at first, to just keep standing up, but as a whole it really means to stand up for equality and your beliefs and is also really an anthem to the LGBTQ+ community.”
Aniello
He views this election as being the most important one to vote in because of how divided our country has become.
“Never have I ever been so open about my politics, but right now it is so important. I think Joe is obviously the right guy for the job. Team Joe Sings is a great way to promote people to get out and vote.”
Aniello Scibelli
Aniello Scibelli, also known as Neil Davis, grew up in the city and describes himself as a New Yorker through and through. His love for music started at a very young age and it just kept growing.
“My parents got me this toy keyboard when I was a toddler. As I grew a little older, I would play tunes that I heard from the cartoons I watched,” recalled Aniello.
He went on to get an education at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, which was founded by musician Tony Bennett and his wife Susan Benedetto.
“It was really amazing to me that I had the opportunity to learn from the best. I mean, Susan was my teacher and mentored me through school and to this day is still a really good friend of mine,” he said.
After his father passed away in 2017, his strength to move on from the grief, turned into creativity. Since then, his ability to stay positive through every situation, regardless how tough, lead him to release empowering and motivational music.
‘Stand Up’ can be found on Bandcamp and Apple Music. ‘Team Joe Sings’ appears on the featured artists’ Youtube page every Thursday through Election Day.
CF Watkins, an Americana pop artist from Brooklyn, released her single “Babygirl” on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The latest single from Watkins’ upcoming sophomore project Babygirl is set to release on Oct. 16 with Whatever’s Clever Records. Watkins has already released two other singles this year called “The Tell” and “Frances” that will also appear on the 11 track LP.
Babygirl will include a combination of Americana/country-leaning and folk/pop songs. Watkins uses other life experiences including homesickness, family, longing, friendship, and her favorite Dostoevsky short story “White Nights” as song inspirations. While the pandemic did not affect the music production of Babygirl, it gave Watkins more mental space to promote the album. “Writing and recording the music is definitely the most rewarding and fun part of the experience- but putting it out can be very daunting,” Watkins explained. “Once the pandemic started, I was able to finally just take the leap and commit to putting it out.”
Watkins collaborated with producer Max Hart to create an ode to her best girlfriends with “Babygirl.” Max Hart has produced multi-instrumental work with artists such as The War on Drugs, Katy Perry, and Melissa Etheridge. Instead of writing “Babygirl” as a typical love song, Watkins’ new album highlights her personal growth as a woman through relatable, powerful, and vulnerable songs. Watkins describes herself as an empath who draws on her own life experiences, loved one’s experiences, and even characters in books. “I suppose I would identify as an empath, so I feel things that happen to others in a way that sticks with me and moves me- even if they are fictional characters,” Watkins said. “Sometimes being that way is exhausting, but it helps in never running out of song material.”
“When I thought of the purest love I know, these relationships were the first to come to mind. In romance, I’ve always been very confused- but love was so clear, magic, and eternal with my best friends, those I called babygirl – who have danced with me in the early morning rain, laughing through the confusion. This is an album meant for other women to hear — with songs that are vulnerable and powerful.”
CF Watkins
Watkins’s Americana-pop style of music comes from her North Carolina roots. Watkins started performing at 14 and has shared the stage with artists like Langhorne Slim, Future Birds, Chatham County Line, Wilder Maker, Lowland Hum, and Alpenglow. Fans can watch the video for another featured song on the Babygirl album called “The Tell,” down below. Watkins describes the opening track as a mission statement about balancing vulnerability and power.
When I think about my last album, I feel I was writing songs about weakness,” Watkins says. “With this album, I made a conscious effort to write songs about the power of choosing yourself.”
During an incredibly busy year for the band, the Grateful Dead did carve out a little time for Buffalo and Upstate New York in the fall of 1981. After a thorough summer run at mainly Midwest and West Coast Venues, there were a handful of East Coast shows scheduled in the end of September. Immediately afterwards, they would be off to Europe again, their second jaunt over there this year.
These few shows would serve as more than adequate tune-ups. On September 26, the Dead would play Buffalo Auditorium for the fifth and final time, serving as an end to an era of sorts. For the remainder of their shows in the Queen City, cavernous Rich Stadium and its 80,000 seats would serve as host.
A somewhat sluggish “Shakedown Street” starts the show and seems to rely on the certainly palpable crowd energy for momentum. If anything, this recording paints a vivid picture of the effusive Upstate fervor that’s present early. The crowd almost seems to get even louder each time they’re told to “Tell me this town ain’t got no heart.” Before you know it, they easily stretch it past the ten-minute mark with a typically funky groove in tow.
After a brief lull, the first set energy seems to pick back up with a thunderous version of “Cassidy” that’s spearheaded by the harmonies of Bob Weir and Brent Mydland. This carries right over to a raucous “Jack-a-Roe” with some splendid fills from Mydland on electric keys.
The “Ramble On Rose” that later follows gets furious at points with a clearly vibrant Garcia manning the lead vocals effortlessly. Mydland again makes his presence very much felt with some more intimate keyboard fills. There’s a fairly quick transition to “Looks Like Rain” that has now firmly established the first set pattern of Garcia and Weir going back and forth on lead vocals. Seems to be Jerry – Bob switching back and forth throughout the first set with lead vocals. The crowd once again audibly gets back into it with some rhythmic clapping prior to the apex of “Rain.”
The vibrant first set vibe fueled by the rather “percussive” audience this evening continues right on into and through the “Brown Eyed Women” that follows. Garcia, once again, rises through the crowd of sound and delivers an ebullient guitar solo early on that fuels the remainder of the tune.
Weir once again takes the vocal baton from Garcia as the band continues to burst full steam ahead with a somewhat aggressive “Let It Grow” that fits in perfectly in this late early set position. The rhythms equally supplied by the dual guitars and vocals on this one are a true first set highlight.
Weir holds onto and keeps running with the baton as the second set begins with an exuberant “Playing In The Band” that seems to literally piggyback on the end of the first set’s emotions. An early excitable jam leads into some blissful Garcia-supplied guitar licks before it explodes into a full group effort. Some pure, joyous tones lead right up to the beginnings of “Bertha,” somehow marking the last one of only four East Coast performances n 1981 for this live Dead staple.
Upon its finish, the band wastes no time in launching into an epic “Estimated Prophet” with all the Bob Weir-led vocal bells and whistles. The Buffalo audience sounds enraptured as the band eases through one of their classic second set standards.
However, instead of easing into an ambient or “Space”-type section immediately afterwards, the familiar rhythmic guitar into of “Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad” picks up and the room is off and running again. Normally placed later in a second set, this slots in perfectly earlier in this set as the Dead’s version of an American folk classic maintains the high standards of this show.
After typical “Drums” and “Space ” segments, the slow, rhythmic start of “Not Fade Away” starts up, signaling the beginning of the final hurrah for this final indoor Buffalo show. This one doesn’t get a chance to stretch too far as it quickly peters out and dissolves into the beginning of a poignant “Morning Dew” that gets the crowd back on its collective feet.
Afterwards, the band collectively toys around with the “Playin’ In The Band” theme before settling into a brief reprise. Normally, this would be more than enough to end the set but “One More Saturday Night” takes care of that as Weir leads the group through one last rockin’ number to end the set.
stubs via Bob Migden
This being Chuck Berry’s birthday, a quick dedication from Weir precedes the fitting “Johnny B. Goode” encore. And with that, the Dead’s last indoor show in Buffalo comes to a close. The next time they would come through town, five years later in 1986, Rich Stadium would take over hosting duties.
For a full listen to all Buffalo and The Grateful Dead had to offer this evening: click here.
Grateful Dead Buffalo Auditorium – Buffalo, NY 9/26/81
Set 1: Shakedown Street, CC Rider, They Love Each Other, Cassidy, Jack-A-Roe, On The Road Again, Ramble On Rose-> Looks Like Rain, Brown Eyed Women-> Let It Grow-> Don’t Ease Me In
Set 2: Playin’ In The Band->Bertha->Estimated Prophet->Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad->Drums->Space->Not Fade Away->Morning Dew->Playin’ In The Band (reprise)->One More Saturday Night
Saturday Night Live returned for its 46th season on October 3, with host and SNL alum, Chris Rock, and musical guest, Megan Thee Stallion. The season debut was also the first to be recorded live, from New York, back in Studio 8H since March 7, prior to the pandemic. In the cold open take on Tuesday’s debate, Jim Carrey played Vice President Biden, and Alec Baldwin returned once again to play President Trump. The top memories of the night though belonged to the musical guest.
Megan Thee Stallion has had a huge year. She collaborated with her idol Beyoncé on “Savage,” broke the internet with Cardi B’s “WAP,” made the Time 100 list, and quickly recovered from a widely-publicized shooting. She also remained enrolled in school, continuing to study health administration at Texas Southern University.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9wq14EnezU
Megan’s first performance of the night was “Savage,” in front of a black-and-white graphic saying “Protect Black Women.” While Beyoncé wasn’t in attendance, Megan did a dance break over her verse. Midway through the performance, she stopped rapping as the black-and-white set turned red with bullet holes to reference her shooting. Audio of a Malcolm X speech began playing: “The most disrespected, unprotected, neglected person in America is the black woman.” Beyoncé herself previously sampled the famous speech in her 2016 visual album Lemonade. Megan then chimed in with her own words:
"We need to protect our Black women. And protect our Black women. Cuz at the end of the day, we need our Black women.
We need to protect our Black men and stand up for our Black men because we're tired of seeing hashtags of our Black men." – Meg #SNLpic.twitter.com/wJfTxSu4Cc
She closed out the night with her new song “Don’t Stop,” featuring Young Thug. While not as immediately impactful as “Savage,” it arrives just in time for Halloween with references to Casper the Ghost and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcJxX6h3770
Besides her performances, Megan also appeared in two sketches: “Bottom of Your Face,” a song about catfishing on dates by wearing a mask, and “NBA Bubble Draft,” a fictional game show where basketball groupies compete to enter the Bubble. Watch sketches from the season debut below.
The ‘Heroes Act’ passes in the House of Representatives on October 1, 2020 including the Save Our Stages revisions which were added on September 28, 2020. The $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus aid package will include $10 Billion set aside for independent music and live-entertainment venues.
The relief bill passed in the largely Democratically – controlled House of Representatives with votes 214 to 207. The votes were split largely along party lines. Unfortunately the bill still needs to be passed in the Senate which is notoriously slow in passing bills and is largely controlled by Republicans.
The State Theater of Ithaca lit up in red during the “Red Alert” demonstration in support of Save Our Stages.
The addition to the ‘Heroes Act‘ including Save Our Stages revisions will make a huge impact on the live entertainment industry that’s suffering horribly due to the coronavirus Pandemic. According to the Variety article, “A poll taken by the 2,600-member National Independent Venues Association, some 90% of its members said they will be forced to close permanently without federal assistance.”
According to section 619 of the ‘Heroes Act,’ “Grants for Independent Live Venue Operators (H.R. 7806, Save our Stages Act or the SOS Act) 37 1. Authorizes $10 Billion for the SBA to make grants to eligible live venue operators, producers, promoters, or talent representatives to address the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on certain live venues. 2. The SBA may make an initial grant of up to $12 million dollars to an eligible operator, promoter, producer, or talent representative; and a supplemental grant that is equal to 50% of the initial grant. 3. Such grants shall be used for specified expenses such as payroll costs, rent, utilities, and personal protective equipment.” Basically this is saying that independent venues, producers, promoters and talent representatives can use the funds to cover things like rent, mortgages, utilities, insurance and other expenses that these businesses are in during the ongoing pandemic.
One factor that may hold up the passage of the ‘Heroes Act’ relates to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 among Senators and the President. Three Senators – Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) – all tested positive and are quarantining. Thus, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has postponed all floor activity until October 19, thus prolonging the time it will take to debate and vote on the ‘Heroes Act’ by two weeks.
For more information on the ‘Heroes Act’ read the one page summary here.
The music documentary Fandango at The Wall premiered on HBO Latino on Friday, September 25 and is now streaming on HBO Max. Taking place on both sides of the United States/Mexico border, founder Jorge Francisco Castillo invited multi-GRAMMY Award-winning musician Arturo O’Farrill and multi-GRAMMY Award-winning producer Kabir Sehgal to Veracruz.
The intent behind the film was to meet the masters of Son jarocho, who perform 300-year-old folk music. Musicians took their places on both sides of the Tijuana-San Diego border, playing big band, jazz arrangements. People gathered on both sides, enjoying the presence of the harmonious music despite being on alternate sides of the United States/Mexico border.
Since the election of our current president, border tension has been rising in the past few years. The wall may be symbolic of division, but the annual “Fandango Frontierizo” music festival aims to unite all people together, regardless on whatever side of the wall a person is on.
The film was directed by Varda Bar-Kar and executive produced by Quincy Jones, Andrew Young, and Carlos Santana.
Our film shows how the border can become a place of friendship and amity by harnessing the power of Afro-Mexican music known as Son jarocho I’ve been making music for decades, and I’ve never experienced a more enveloping and transformative artform.
Fandango at The Wall features Son jarocho legends Andrés Vega, Martha Vega, Ramón Gutiérrez, Wendy Cao Romero, Tacho Utrera, Fernando Guadarrama, and Patricio Hidalgo. Guest appearances include multi-Grammy nominee and MacArthur Foundation fellow Regina Carter, CNN historian Douglas Brinkley, Mandy Gonzalez, The Villalobos Brothers and Grammy nominees Rahim AlHaj and Sahba Motallebi. For more information regarding “Fandango at The Wall,” visit the film’s website, as it sure to present a diverse, and interesting, expression of music on visual platform.
In preparation for the release of his album The Atlas Underground, Tom Morello played 2 sold out shows at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge on October, 2, 2018.
For the first part of the show, Tom Morello was interviewed for almost an hour where he told stories about playing with Bruce Springsteen, meeting Chris Cornell for the first time, and shooting the music video for Rage Against the Machine’s “Sleep Now in the Fire,” where filmmaker and director Michael Moore was arrested. During the interview he also played his guitar solo from Audioslave’s “Like A Stone,” a song he wrote for Chris Cornell called “The Garden of Gethsemane,” and jammed along with Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley.”
Morello recently spoke to Rolling Stone about what it was like to play with Springsteen, in celebration of The Boss’ 71st birthday.
For the next part of the show, Tom let the audience hear The Atlas Underground in its entirety and gave a quick synopsis before every song about the featured guest and how the songs came to be.
The show concluded with Tom playing “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and inviting audience members on stage for a cover of “This Land is Your Land,” and concluded the show by playing “Killing in the Name” while the audience sang vocals.
Setlist: The Garden of Gethsemane Like a Stone Guitar Solo (Audioslave song) Mr. Crowley Jam (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
The Atlas Underground: Battle Sirens, Rabbit’s Revenge, Every Step I Take, We Don’t Need You, Find Another Way, How Long, Lucky One, One Nation, Vigilante Nocturno, Where It’s At Ain’t What It Is, Roadrunner, Lead Poisoning, The Ghost of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen cover), This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie cover) (Fans brought on stage), Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine song)
