On the latest installment of Touchdowns All Day with Jon Barber, the guitartist for the Disco Biscuits sits down with bandmate Allen Aucoin. The drummer and Barber have an incredibly candid conversation that goes deep into Allen’s Cajun family life and growing up around the military with his father in the Special Forces.
Tune in to hear about his family’s crawfish boils in Germany, his healthy lifestyle, meditation and rudimentary drumming practices, influences, and more in this TDAD exclusive interview.
As Biscuits fans are aware, these two episodes (let alone one) have more Allen vocal mic input than the last 14 years of Disco Biscuits shows combined.
A sample exchange between the two bandmates includes:
Jon Barber: “The fans sent in a bunch of questions & they are all kind of scratching at the surface of: Are you a superhero?” And, it ends up you kinda are, in a weird way.”
Allen Aucoin: “Yeah, I had a keyboard player named Dr. Dan that I used to play with. He called me The Special Forces of Drums.”
Spaghetti Eastern Music, a genre-leaping solo project from NYC and Woodstock guitarist/keyboardist Sal Cataldi has released his latest single “Peace Within.” An ambient piece that slowly unfolds in a series of waves, this aural meditation gives the listener an instrumental chapter of chill with an apt tonic for these troubled times.
Using an echoey piano, vibraphone and phased strings, ones that could be a lost track from Eno’s “Another Green World,” Cataldi provides a soothing musical bedrock. This is complemented with sustained drones from a duo of Ebow guitars, drenched in reverb, setting the stage for the lead guitar which propels the searching melody of the piece. The calming and cavernous ambience created is periodically shocked and heightened with heavily processed, thunderous percussive accents.
Cataldi’s cheekily titled debut album, Sketches of Spam, and his January 2020 single, “Her Lemon Peel Raincoat (Because It’s Raining),” have drawn notice from critics at a multitude of prestige outlets like The New York Times, Time Out NY, Jazz Times and The Huffington Post.
The single is available for download and streaming via Bandcamp, CD Baby, iTunes, Spotify. The track was recorded by Cataldi during the Covid19 crisis at the studio aboard his houseboat in Port Washington, Long Island, Houseboat Garlic Knot Studios, and at his Sonic Garden in West Saugerties, right down the road from Big Pink. The track was mixed and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Bob Stander at Parcheesi Studios.
The Empire State Building synced its lights to Billy Joel’s “Miami 2017” for a unique music-to-light show that served as the surprise finale to Robin Hood and iHeartRadio’s “Rise Up New York” virtual telethon on Friday, May 15, hosted by Tina Fey.
Beginning Monday, May 18, Nugs TV will kick off the free weekly series moe.ron Mondays. The first edition features moe.’s performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO on July 12, 2018. Two sets of seamless jamming are in store, including an encore featuring members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.
Set 1: Seat Of My Pants> Who You Calling Scared> Captain America> Buster> Pastorus*> Silver Sun> Akimbo> ATL> Puebla Set 2: Plane Crash> Buster> Four> Skrunk> Prestige Worldwide> Silver Sun> Plane Crash> Letter Home> Wind it up Encore: Fame^ *official title of segue/jam debuted at Summer Camp 5/26/18 ^w/ Greg Ormont & Jeremy Schon on guitar / vox from Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
Prince’s estate, sitting on a trove of unreleased Paisley Park studio recordings as well as video footage, will stream the March 30, 1985 ‘Purple Rain’ show from Syracuse at The Carrier Dome which will be livestreamed on Prince’s YouTube channel from Thursday, May 14 until Sunday, May 17.
The album from the show will be available for purchase digitally for the first time on Friday. Donations will benefit the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and Google will match donations up to $5 million.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRa8ZH_iOXo
“Hello Syracuse and the World,” Prince says to open the show. “My name is Prince, and I’m here to play with you.”
A Thursday pre-party kicks off at 6pm with Prince & the Revolution drummer Bobby Z with a live Q&A with the Current’s Andrea Swensson.
The Carrier Dome concert also aired live to more than 12 million viewers in Europe through Eurovision and became a hot bootleg shortly after.
Setlist: Let’s Go Crazy, Delirious, 1999, Little Red Corvette, Take Me With U, Do Me, Baby, Irresistible Bitch, Possessed, How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?, Let’s Pretend We’re Married, International Lover, God, Computer Blue, Darling Nikki, The Beautiful Ones, When Doves Cry, I Would Die 4 U, Baby I’m A Star, Purple Rain
On that night Little Feat opened the show and “Dark Star” was teased a few times and jammed out of “Drums,” a first since 1974. Read an in depth review of the 1991 Grateful Dead show at Giants Stadium here.
Setlist: Eyes Of The World, Walkin’ Blues, Brown Eyed Women, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Loose Lucy, Cassidy, Might As Well Saint Of Circumstance-> Ship of Fools-> Truckin’-> New Speedway Boogie-> Uncle John’s Band-> Drums-> Jam-> China Doll-> Playin’ In The Band Reprise-> Sugar Magnolia
Encore: The Weight
Additionally, the Dead’s series “All The Years Live” has released footage of the show opener from June 14, 1991, at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in D.C., “Cold Rain and Snow.” Lemieux has been sharing videos from previous releases will be shared, with unreleased videos coming soon as well.
The 8th Annual 2020 Beanstalk Music Festival will be moving forward in spite of COVID-19 with a little thinking outside of the box. The festival will go on for a two nights at Holiday Twin Drive-In Theater in Fort Collins, CO.
The festival will take place during the weekend of June 26th and 27th. The festival will feature two nights of music from Beanstalk festival founders and annual hosts Magic Beans. There will also be performances from Kitchen Dwellers and Cycles, as well as Colorado artists The Great Salmon Famine and Envy Alo.
The Beanstalk Festival will be observing all state & county social distancing protocols while providing the music and a brand new way of experiencing a festival. There will be a limited capacity in order to work with the drive-in theater’s layout. Beanstalk Festival producers have also decided that attendees will be parked with an empty spot between each vehicle to help ensure social distancing is properly being followed. This decision by the producers will cut down on capacity, and profits for the event but have decided it is the safest and best way to keep everyone safe. Attendees will be permitted to set up a “hang out area” directly adjacent to their vehicle that is safely distanced from other guests. In adherence with typical drive-in admission policies, there will be no entry after 8:30pm.
Existing ticket holders will be granted admission for themselves, a guest and their vehicle. Tickets for Beanstalk At the Drive-In are now on sale at www.beanstalkfestival.com and on Eventbrite.
For more information on the Beanstalk Festival visit their website or on their social media pages.
Lettuce once again flaunts their funky prowess, proving they can take the form of any sub genre of funk on the planet on their new ablum Resonate. Each of these tracks nods to an iconic genre, idea or artist that have breathed life into the sounds we love today. Listeners will find an ode to pivotal musicians like Ndugu Chancler, famous studio drummer, to features with Big Tony Fisher of Trouble Funk. This is a very special collection that could not have come at a better time.
The album kicks off with three classically funky instrumentals, chock full of memorable hornlines, flavorful solos, and a stupendous production value. “Blaze,” “Good Morning Mr. Smink” and “NDUGU” are all snappy, precise and detailed tracks, sure to light a fire under your ass. Listeners will feel and hear quintessential flavors from the founding mothers and fathers of funk. Not too much flair, just a steady flow of good music.
Then “Checker Wreckers” comes barreling through the door with a heavy footed beat accompanied by Big Tony Fisher’s gravely, hype lyrics. It’s easily the most powerful song on the album and is without a doubt, a key track. Nobody quite knows what a Checker Wrecker is, but who cares, it’s fun to say.
One of their more adventurous funk fusion attempts is “Moksha,” where Lettuce presents their usual grooves and beats while award winning sitarist, Indrajit Banerjee, laces some electrified sitar throughout the track. Everyone comes together to share the space of the track, while still seamlessly blending the two genres together. It’s an incredible feat considering how the two genres could not be more different.
‘Remember The Children” is a near perfect cover of Earth, Wind and Fire’s 1972 hit. An untrained ear would genuinely not be able to tell the difference between this and movements from the original track. (Obviously, Lettuce put some of their own person flair in their version.) There was never a doubt that the funk outfit was talented or not, but this takes a level of dedication and perfectionism that must be admired – especially when a song like this has so many different elements of instrumentation.
It’s a shame Lettuce won’t be able to flaunt their new album in a live setting for some time due to recent events, but that won’t stop fans from breaking it down in their living rooms. Lettuce is doing their part to help our first responders and medical care workers. Fans can buy Lettuce branded masks, and when they do, Lettuce will donate a mask to healthcare systems in need. Take your favorite bands, take care of those on the front lines of this pandemic, and take care of yourselves.
Key Tracks: NDUGU, Checker Wrecker, Remember the Children
Two more festivals moved their events to 2021, as mass gatherings look unlikely for the rest of the summer. Much loved festivals Peach Fest and Camp Bisco (which called Mariaville home for a number of years) will postpone and move their 2020 dates to 2021. Tickets for 2020 are still valid for the 2021 editions of the festivals. Announcements from the two festivals can be seen below.
With the uncertainty of when we will be able to enjoy a play on Broadway, Disney Studios is giving us another option. Announced through their twitter account today, Disney Studios will be releasing the original Broadway production of ‘Hamilton’ on July 3 to stream via Disney Plus.
Surprise! The original Broadway production of Hamilton, filmed LIVE onstage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, is now coming exclusively to @DisneyPlus this July 3rd. Shout it to the rooftops! #Hamilfilmpic.twitter.com/s43oW0hJGc
— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) May 12, 2020
The release comes 15 months early, with the original release date set for Oct. 15, 2021. Due to the continuous cancellation of live performances and social distancing protocols, the expedited release was the only course to take.
“In this very difficult time, this story of leadership, tenacity, hope, love & the power of people to unite against adversity is both relevant and inspiring,” Disney executive chairman Robert Iger said on Twitter.
Featuring the original Broadway cast, the film is based on the live performance shot at the Richard Rodgers Theater June 2016. Like the stage production, the film is directed by Thomas Kail and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also starred as the title character in that cast.
‘Hamilton’ has risen to blockbuster status since it first graced the Broadway stages in 2015. Since then it has won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 11 Tony Awards and grossed over $650 million on Broadway. Before the shuttering of mass gatherings started to occur, the play was also touring in London and around North America. Stream Hamilton on Disney Plus today.
