At just 23, singer, songwriter, and producer Chelsea Cutler has achieved more than most of us can dream of. Starting off by simply uploading covers from the comfort of her bedroom, Cutler has amassed over 750 million streams across platforms in just two years. Her relatable lyrics and catchy lo-fi beats have positioned her as a rising pop star. Her two sold-out gigs at Terminal 5 in New York City, however, have cemented her there.
Cutler is well-known for her dedicated fan base; her fans don’t just sing along. The crowd at Terminal 5 was no exception. They sang each word, to each song—so much so that Cutler held out her mic on numerous occasions to listen to her chorus.
In a moment of vulnerability, Chelsea Cutler addressed her hometown crowd. “I told my team that maybe we could do Terminal 5, but I didn’t think it would sell out. I was scared…but New York City…you sold this sh*t out in like 10 minutes!”
The audience erupted in cheers, and Cutler continued, “So we added a second show, and I was like we are definitely not selling this one out. And then you guys sold that one out even faster. I love you so much New York City!”
Kamasi Washington and his talented band came to Buffalo for a sold out show at Asbury Hall at Babeville. Judging by those in attendance, his fans are as diverse as his music. Young and old were treated to a mix of blues, funk, world beat and more, all firmly rooted under the umbrella of jazz. “Is Mr. Washington the savior of jazz?” is not a question I can tackle here but the genre is in good hands if he is indeed the current face of it.
In the spirit of the Allman Brothers, fellow Georgia peaches Widespread Panic graced the Upper West Side with a multi-night run of shows at The Beacon Theatre as a prelude to spring. Southern accents and charm were prevalent throughout the crowd, as many fans made the trek for the noteworthy occasion. Included in the shows was a Leap Day show on February 29, which brought together a “time” theme in the second set of the show.
The music was complimented by a stunning light rig, with vertical rows of lights in the center and left, and a circle of lights on the right. A beacon of rainbow light was often radiating just above Duane Trucks and Domingo Ortiz on their raised drum stands behind the rest of the band. The stage floor contained powerful rotating lights that often embellished the iconic Egyptian-themed ceiling.
Bust-outs were found throughout the run, including “Vicious” by Lou Reed, which hadn’t been played in over 1000 shows, dating back to the band’s Halloween run at Madison Square Garden in 2003, and the rare “E on a G,” which had only been played eleven times prior.
On Friday, the band did not let up in set one, and came out firing as they had the night before. The show started out strong with early Panic classics “Wondering,” “C. Brown” and “Can’t Get High.” Jimmy Herring got loose on “All Time Low,” which followed for the first big jam of the night. Fans were treated to the rare “Dark Day Program,“ last played on in July 2011. To close out this high energy first set, Dave Schools asked the crowd if they wanted to dance and the band unleashed a monster cover of Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues.”
A heavy “Sleeping Man” opened the second set, followed by a pair of covers from The Band, “Ophelia” and “The Shape I’m In.” And while it felt like they were about to dive into Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” just out of “Driving Song,” the band treated the crowd to the twelfth ever version of the instrumental “E on a G.” Herring kept his foot on the gas during the set closer of “Chilly Water,” while the crowd sprayed their water and added a visceral soaking sensation. The night wrapped up with a delicious double encore of “Blue Indian” and “Climb to Safety.”
But how would the band commemorate the quadrennial Leap Day that followed? There are few songs with ‘Leap’ in the title, so a reflection on time was in order, and found throughout much of the second set, in both obvious and subtle ways. Set 1 started with classic Panic numbers “Space Wrangler” and “Walkin’ (For Your Love),” and the newly minted jam-vehicle “Up All Night” which never fails to deliver. A rare “Tortured Artist” followed, along with the fresh “Sundown Betty.” The first set closed with a trio of high energy numbers in “Machine,” “Barstools and Dreamers” and the apropos for Saturday NRBQ cover “Flat Foot Flewzy.”
The second set played off of a ‘time’ theme with references throughout, starting with “Blackout Blues” (in the middle of the night), a tease of the theme to Norman Lear’s All in the Family “Those were the days” (which is set in nearby Queens), “Airplane” (must have been a year ago), “Holden Oversoul” (one last time), “Henry Parsons Died” (6 o’clock on Saturday). A trio of ‘time’ songs followed – “Time Zones,” Los Lobos’ “Somewhere in Time” and The Dillards “There is a Time” – but the time references didn’t end there. J.J. Cale’s “Ride me High” (this mornin’) and the first half of the encore “This Part of Town” (the other day) tossed in some subtle but notable references to time on this extra day of 2020.
Also notable, there were numerous references to Southern USA, including “Up All Night” (Savannah), “Henry Parsons Died” (Georgia), “Blackout Blues” (Mississippi) and the show closing “Red Hot Mama” (Louisiana). For the second half of the encore, the timeless Neil Young classic “Mr. Soul” wrapped the night up with high energy, and the audience holding out for a rare second encore that did not come to pass. As fans made their way into the brisk night, Dr. John’s “Right Place, Wrong Time” serenaded an audience who caught a show of rarities on a rare day in a classic venue.
With five sold out shows at The Beacon this year, and three sold out shows last year at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, one can only hope that Widespread Panic will follow in the tradition of another southern rock band, The Allman Brothers Band, and have an annual residency at The Beacon Theatre for years to come.
Setlists – Widespread Panic, The Beacon Theatre, NY, NY
Thursday, February 27
Set 1: Porch Song, Rebirtha > Greta > Jam > Stop/Go > Little Lilly, Proving Ground > Bust it Big > Proving Ground > Action Man
Set 2: Steven’s Cat > Jam > Walk On > Blight > Help Me Somebody > Jam > Fishwater > Drums > Fishwater >Pilgrims, Pusherman > Conrad
Encore: You Wreck Me > Tall Boy
Friday, February 28
Set 1: Wondering, C.Brown, Can’t Get High, All Time Low> Jam> Junior, 1 x 1, Dark Day Program, You Got Yours, Stop Breakin’ Down Blues
Set 2: Sleeping Man, Ophelia > The Shape I’m In, Surprise Valley > Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Surprise Valley > Driving Song > E on a G > Driving Song, Don’t Wanna Lose You, Chilly Water
Encore: Blue Indian, Climb to Safety
Saturday, February 29
Set 1: Space Wrangler, Walkin’, Up All Night, Tortured Artist > Sundown Betty, I’m Not Alone, Machine > Barstools and Dreamers > Flat Foot Flewzy
Set 2: Blackout Blues -> Jam in C* -> Airplane -> Holden Oversoul -> Henry Parsons Died > Time Zones, Somewhere in Time, There is a Time, Ride Me High -> Drums-> Ride me High, Red Hot Mama
Encore: This Part of Town > Mr. Soul
*All in the Family theme tease
Sunday, March 1
Set 1: From The Cradle > One-Arm Steve > Let’s Get The Show On The Road > Ribs And Whiskey, Bowlegged Woman, Honky Red, Trouble, Hope In A Hopeless World > Postcard
Set 2: Let’s Get Down To Business, Little Kin, Disco, Diner > No Sugar Tonight > New Mother Nature, Papa’s Home > Drum Solo > Cease Fire > Protein Drink > Sewing Machine Encore: Vicious, Ain’t Life Grand
Monday, March 2
Set 1: I Wanna Be Sedated, Travelin’ Light, Old Neighborhood, Imitation Leather Shoes, The Last Straw > Pleas, Rock, Jack > Love Tractor
Set 2: The Waker, Pigeons, Hatfield > Impossible^ > Saint Ex^^ > Tie Your Shoes > Jam, Nobody’s Loss, North
Encore: City of Dreams, Life During Wartime
^The Other One tease ^^Won’t Get Fooled Again tease
Bubbling up on the Brooklyn DIY underground scene for the past three years with regular gigs at Bushwick’s Alphaville, The Wants are set to release their debut album, Container, March 13 on Council Records. Madison Velding-VanDam (vocals/guitar/synth), Jason Gates (drums/electronics), and Heather Elle (vocals./bass/synth) put their years of experience together to good use on a solid debut that has all the earmarks of a veteran band hitting their stride.
The set opens with a quickened heartbeat pace and an arresting cacophony of noise. It’s at once danceable and pensive, and perfectly sets the table for what comes next. 80’s style post-punk finds present-day relevance in “Container” and “Fear My Society.” Industrial instrumental vignettes with starkly appropriate names like “Machine Room,” “Aluminum,” and “Waiting Room” nudge themselves in between the more traditional songs, tying together the whole into what feels almost soundtrack-ish.
When the two concepts blend into one, the album hits on all cylinders. “The Motor” hints at this potential in the first half, but the late run of “Clearly a Crisis,” “Nuclear Party,” and “Hydra” shine brightest. Their unhurried punk aesthetic gets drenched in danceable grooves around an accessible rocking core, all without losing the industrial sound fragments introduced previously. Container builds to a satisfying finish, begging you to flip it over for another go round.
Perhaps it would be deemed uncool to flash a broad smile while bobbing your head to these tunes, but it’s tough not to while thinking about the band recording in their all-too-appropriate studio space: a repurposed shipping container sitting in the middle of a dumpling factory parking lot in Brooklyn.
Key tracks: Clearly a Crisis, Nuclear Party, Hydra
When A Boogie With Da Hoodie announced that he was set to release his third studio album, his fans were jubilant. It had been just over a year since we last heard from the Bronx native and in the age of microwaveable music, there was a yearning to hear what new melodies the “Just Like Me” rapper had cooked up. While leaked records delayed the album towards its Valentine’s Day release, they also built anticipation for what was to come.
At face value, Artist 2.0– the sequel to his 2016 breakout mixtape, Artist – gave his fans exactly what they asked for. The man known for his melodic chants and passionate crooning about his love life reverted back to what he knows best and then some. Although recognized as a rapper, that takes a backseat in this latest effort. A boogie never goes more than a few bars in any of the records before his singing takes precedence, exemplified in the emotional ballad “Good Girls Gone Bad,” where he wails about a woman who’s changed as a result of his inconsistencies.
What it lacks for in actual rapping, the album more than makes up for in its infectious choruses. “Right Back,” “Mood Swings,” “Me and My Guitar,” and “DTB 4 Life” are all records that have the propensity to become a mainstay in any playlist. While he doesn’t rap as much as some might have wanted on the album, his guest-features all brought their “A” game. Verses from Dababy, Young Thug, Gunna and Roddy Rich do a good job of balancing out the croon-heavy album, with A Boogie and Roddy Rich’s chemistry being one of the project’s highlights.
Coming into the rap game, A Boogie presented himself as a rapper who would occasionally try his hand at singing. On Artist 2.0, he doubles down on the latter, pushing his own personal boundaries and blurring the lines on what his official title should really be. While the album is enjoyable, it doesn’t always feel like it’s A Boogie at his best and it seems like, to A Boogie, “artist” means less rapping, which inherently is not the case.
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.
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.
2019 was some year for the Allman Betts Band. In March, the band performed its inaugural show 50 years after the first time the Allman Brothers ever played together. June saw their debut album, Down to the River, hit #1 on the iTunes Rock charts the week it was released. The summer brought the band to a host of festivals and sold out headlining shows as well as a European tour. Throw in a medical emergency and a wedding too, and it was some year.
Berry Oakley, Devon Allman, Duane Betts, Johnny Stachela – Allman Betts Band
So what do you do in 2020? You go on a worldwide tour, of course. With a second album in the works (recorded at Muscle Shoals) and having taken some down time to recharge, the Allman Betts Band (Devon Allman– guitar, vocals; Duane Betts– guitar, vocals; Berry Duane Oakley– bass, vocals; Johnny Stachela– guitar, vocals; John Ginty– keyboards; R Scott Bryan– percussion, vocals; John Lum– drums) is going global. We caught ABB at the Tarrytown Music Hall stop of their global odyssey. It was coincidental that this weekend we happened to be celebrating two of our founding fathers while listening to the sons of two men who may not have started the blues, but certainly influenced many a contemporary blues or rock musician.
Jackson Stokes
Opening the night was a St. Louis, MO guitarist and singer/songwriter named Jackson Stokes. Stokes is the first person signed to Devon Allman’s new label Create Records. Supported by a solid three-piece band, Jackson offered an unfiltered, raw performance, worthy of his signing to Allman’s new label. Stokes and his band have been playing multiple dates with ABB on this tour.
JD Simo
In the middle slot was JD Simo, a Nashvillian by way of Chicago. JD’s blistering guitar work most certainly pulls from those influences . This night he took the audience with him on his therapeutic musical journey as he performed, maneuvering seamlessly through the styles with no questions asked. A regular on last year’s ABB tour, JD and his band prove to be more than a warm up act, but one that stokes the fire in preparation for a big night.
Allman Betts Band
After two kickin’ acts, the house was set. The sold-out show (which is becoming the norm) had a mix of old and young in attendance. People were sharing stories of seeing Devon or Duane separately and looking forward to experiencing the coalescing of their talents. The band opened up with “Airboats & Cocaine” from the yet to be named upcoming 2nd album. “Shinin’” from their debut Down to the River followed and the groove for the night was in full swing. With almost a year together, the band has jelled into a musical monster to which you are willing to sacrifice yourself. The set list this tour has been in flux, so no one is sure exactly what each night will bring. Sprinkled through the night, a few covers found themselves being pulled out. Berry Oakley took lead vocals on The Dead’s “Shakedown Street” which had everyone up and dancing, while Devon had the crowd waving their cell phone flashlights, a la lighters in the air, to “Purple Rain” adding a special glow to the house. The encore had the band sharing another new tune, “Magnolia Road,” and took it home in reverent fashion with The Allman Brothers’ “Blue Sky.”
Allman Betts Band at Tarrytown Music Hall
So what is 2020 to the Allman Betts Band? A new album, lots of travel stickers on their guitar cases and a band to see if their trek takes them to your town.
Devon Allman, Duane Betts – Allman Betts Band
Allman Betts Band set list: Airboats and Cocaine, Shinin’, Left My Heart in Memphis, Autumn Breeze, Ain’t Wastin’ Time, All Night, Good Ol’ Days, Jessica, Shakedown Street, Taking Time, Mahalo, Purple Rain, Long Gone
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.
Zachery Allan Starkey has released “XXX,” the dark and melodic second single and video off of his forthcoming album FEARCITY. 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.
