It’s a tale as old as time: the rich, famous, and privileged get a slap on the wrist for offenses that would ruin anyone else’s life. Previously observed by Truman Capote and Martin Luther King Jr. in the mid 1960s, the assertion that there are “two kinds of laws” still holds true today. NYC rocker Mickey Leigh employs the phrase again in Mutated Music’s new single, just as current affairs reiterate the divide. Nationwide protests have highlighted the police’s double standard in dealing with Black and white Americans, and President Trump has commuted his friend and former campaign advisor Roger Stone’s prison sentence.
About “Two Kinds of Law,” Mickey Leigh told SPIN,
“Music is magical in so many ways. Rock and roll is one form of it that, magically, can be purely fun, but, at the same time can be a way to spread a message. And, aside from having a lot of fun with it, me and my fellow Mutated musicians think both are equally important – as long as it’s an important message […] The importance of “equality” and “justice for all” has come to the forefront of our lives like never before. and, it’s a message that needs to be repeated…repeatedly. There aren’t many ways to repeat a message repeatedly without boring people to tears, aside from immersing it in a catchy chorus and irresistible rhythm.”
Mickey Leigh
This immersion is definitely successful. While its lyrics and melody are simple, “Two Kinds of Law” still packs a punch as a socially conscious earworm. The video opens with Leigh playing guitar on his couch, but quickly shifts to footage of a police shooting. The spreading of such videos can potentially be reckless and traumatic, but here it’s blurry, brief, and non-graphic. Next, Leigh sings “Hush now children, don’t you cry; daddy won’t be home and I’m telling you why” as a Black mother mouths the line to her children. The video concludes with a cameo from a certain disgraced athlete from the 90s, perhaps the quintessential example of the two kinds of law.
Mickey Leigh is partially known as the brother of Joey Ramone, but he’s had his own prolific career as well. He’s been a longtime fixture to the NYC music scene, and was previously in the bands Birdland and The Rattlers. He also published a book in 2009 called I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir.
My Morning Jacket announced on Tuesday July 7 that their new record THE WATERFALL II would be released the following Friday with a special live stream the night before. This record had been teased over the last five years since THEWATERFALL was released in 2015, as they recorded enough material for a follow up. The first record was a break up record and THEWATERFALLII continues that theme, enrolling a dreamy southern rock as if the Beach Boys and Allman Brothers birthed a new cosmic force that is the ever evolving style of MMJ from album to album.
This new record was recorded seven years ago in Stinson Beach, CA and though three of the tracks had been heard as part of a Holiday release (“Welcome Home”), a soundtrack (“The First Time”), and a single (“Magic Bullet”), they fit so well into this psychedelic pop record that after 20 years as a band, it continues to showcase and highlight all the members. The back line of Tom Blankenship and Patrick Hallahan are tight and true, letting Jim James explore with his incredible vocal range, while Carl Broemel’s guitar work weaves pattens through the record like birds in flight across a melting Pacific sunset. Bo Koster really shines on these tracks as well with his fantastic work on keys and backing vocals adding a radiant shine over the entire piece of art. Brittany Howard of The Alabama Shakes also lays down back up vocals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28twddwXhJc
THE WATERFALL II opens with “Spinning My Wheels,” which the band performed on Jimmy Fallon July 15. “Hypnotized from doing the same old thing, It don’t matter where you settle down, It sure don’t matter where they put you in the ground, they only point of things is to break the spell and to love another day and live to tell,” sings James. What a fitting way to start this very hypnotizing track. As mentioned, the theme of breaking up lingers, but in this writer’s opinion, the message is one of peace and tranquility in discovering that change is what you needed most. Track two, “Still Thinkin’,” starts out almost as a bouncy pop song and then delves into a wondrous cave a la Pink Floyd or “Dondante” from MMJ’s album Z 15 years prior. “Climbing The Ladder” has some amazing tempo changes that keep the listener on their toes and remains very upbeat. One could potentially see this as a fun opening song when live music comes back or first encore song.
The second act of the record begins with “Feel You” and this is where the album starts to move into that dreamy phase, with a sentiment sung wonderfully and guitar interludes that drift like wind across the waves. It soars and moves as the band feels so tight but so loose at the same time. This is sure to be a fan favorite. “Beautiful Love (Wasn’t Enough)” hits with biting lyrics and guitar solos, and that dreaminess turns into a locomotor chugging through. One could almost see this track on the Dylan album Blood On The Tracks. That driving force comes through again on “Magic Bullet,” reminiscent of MMJ’s work on Evil Urges’ “Highly Suspicious” or Circuital’s “Holding Onto Black Metal.” If we still had Prince, this might be the music he would be making.
The third act as part of one gorgeous record begins with “Run It.” The song itself is a meditation, a call for self discovery and a call for healing, the perfect song for a global pandemic, a Sunday morning, a drive through the country, and anyone searching for a bit of peace in their life. “If you ain’t to kind, you ain’t my type, I’m gonna run you out the door, Don’t need that, Don’t need ya anymore…” Koster’s keys over the beat, Jame’s warm voice, Broemel’s sly guitar might make this the song of the summer. As the song drifts away, don’t take your eyes off the road because you will get hit by what will most likely become a barnburner at live shows.
The first two minutes of “Wasted” set up a groove that Koster and Blankenship start turning up the dial on until it becomes a full on rocker. Just when you have spent every emotion you have on this record, and being floored by the penultimate track, “Welcome Home,” centers you again. The song is like the last kiss of sun across the ocean as night sets in. The placement of each song on this record will keep it flying off shelves at vinyl stores as it is truly a full album. “Send bad habits on their way, let a new year start today, open arms are saying to you, welcome home, and as the snow glazed all the trees, I let my thoughts flow of the breeze, and the air rushed in my lungs saying to me , welcome home,” sings James with another sentiment of being born again. Everyone is hoping for a new beginning in a new year where all people are welcomed home. The final track, “The First Time,” reminds this writer of THEWATERFALL song “Only Memories Remain” which has found new life as a live track and has become part of some amazing sets these gentlemen put on.
THE WATERFALL II is a breath of fresh air, a surprise in these times of seemingly endless bad news. It serves as a bright spot for fans of the band and also came with an announcement that there is another album entirely done, awaiting a release date, hopefully be followed by a run of shows. New listeners of the band will find a group that has been at it for 20 years, from driving in vans, to playing Madison Square Garden on New Years Eve in their first 9 years, and sometimes having to take a breath for themselves. Though their styles keep evolving, the message has always been clear with My Morning Jacket from Louisville, KY – love always wins and in this case can set your mind free.
Because of the threat of the COVID-19, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is replacing its 35th annual Induction Ceremony with an HBO special honoring the inductees. The special will air on November 7, 2020 at 8PM EST on HBO and HBO Max.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
This year, the 35th Induction Ceremony was supposed to take place on May 2 in Cleveland and make history by being the first Induction broadcast live. To ensure the safety of their fans and inductees, however, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will instead create a special program to give the Inductees their earned respect. The show will tell “the stories of their incredible contributions to music and impact on a generation of artists that followed them,” says Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Chairman John Sykes. It will include archived content, acceptance speeches, interviews, and more. Next year, the 36th Induction Ceremony will be moved to the fall and return to Cleveland. After that, the Ceremony will take place every other year in Cleveland.
Even though they can’t have a proper Ceremony, the Rock & Roll Hall of fame is still giving fans ways to honor the Inductees. Their museum is back open and safely following all recommended guidelines from Ohio Governor DeWine, the CDC, public health officials, and infectious disease experts. Advance tickets must be purchased online and the museum requires temperature checks, masks, social distancing, limited capacity, and other safety precautions to ensure the health of their visitors. Early hours are available for at-risk guests, some essential workers, and Rock Hall members. The museum will open a 2020 Inductee Exhibit on August 14. If you can’t make it in person, you can still listen to the Inductees’ curated playlists on Spotify.
The exclusive Induction Ceremony will air on HBO and HBO Max on Saturday, November 7 at 8.
Sisters Kelly and Kat were in high school when they found a Facebook post that encouraged them to participate in the Disney and Kohl’s National Sing Your Frozen Heart Out Contest. To their success, the sisters won the contest and made an appearance during the American Music Awards. Life took them on a different direction, deciding from that day forward they would pursue a musical career as a singer songwriter duo.
The singer-songwriter duo perform at local bars in Long Island and continue to write songs on a daily basis. Their music comprises elements of rock, pop, and jazz accompanied with their soft vocals and smooth harmonies.
Kelly and Kat’s new single “We Were” is a piano ballad that shows the discomfort in remembering the good times of a past relationship. Their previous singles like “One Day” describes the confidence in moving forward from a relationship while “Nobody Knows” explains the significance of learning to accept yourself.
Music has allowed the sisters to form a strong bond. Kelly and Kat share their thoughts on the impact it has had on their lives:
I’m happy with our path and the way that everything turned out. We both knew we wanted to do music and we really love what we do. I love waking up every day and seeing this as a part of my life.
-Kelly
I’ve always wanted to make music that can be a support system for others. There is nothing more intimate than helping someone through music.
-Kat
Check out NYSMusic’s coverage of Kelly and Kat’s release of their debut single “One Day” from 2019.
Better Noise Music, the independent music label, announces the Better Noise Music Festival on July 16. The festival will benefit Global Recovery Initiatives Foundation which provides support services for people in early recovery from substance use disorders. The festival will feature live performances, unseen footage and more.
The Better Noise Music Festival has an impressive line-up of new and classic performances, artist messages and sneak peeks at two Better Noise Films projects slated for the fall. The films are Sno Babies and The Retaliators. The line-up includes big names like Motley Crue, Five Finger Death Punch, and the Dirty Heads.
The full line-up includes: Motley Crue, Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Awolnation, Cory Marks, Dirty Heads, The Hu, Bad Wolves, Escape The Fate, From Ashes To New, Fire From The Gods, Bleeker, Tuk Smith, Islander, All Good Things, Hyro The Hero, Eva Under Fire, Nevrlands. Little Stranger, Tempt, The Bottom Line, and Thousand Thoughts.
The festival will air worldwide on July 16 at the following times: 3PM PST, 5PM CST, 6PM EST, 11PM BST, and 12AM CET. The festival will air at 8AM ACT on July 17. The event is in partnership with LiveXLive. All live streamed performances will be simulcast by LiveXLive on YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Twitter. Proceeds will benefit the Global Recovery Initiatives Foundation (GRI) to provide support services for those in early recovery from a substance use disorder.
For more information on the festival please visit Better Noise Music’s website and LiveXLive’s website.
Check out this stream and more through our series NY Stream and Support, where you’ll discover artists around the Empire State streaming nightly, and ways to support musicians and charitable groups close to home!
New York Guitar Festival (NYGF) has announced Set Two of the festival’s 2020 online performance series Reverend Gary Davis: In Search of the Harlem Street Singer. The series focuses on the music of blind blues musician Reverend Gary Davis.
Rev. Gary Davis performed on the streets of Harlem from the late 1940s until his death in 1972. Overcoming poverty, racial discrimination, and blindness, Davis made numerous influential recordings and festival appearances, and also taught students including David Bromberg, Stefan Grossman, Dave Van Ronk, and Bob Weir.
Set Two of Reverend Gary Davis: In Search of the Harlem Street Singer will premiere one video performance each day from July 13-19, at 4pm EDT daily via the New York Guitar Festival YouTube channel. There will be musical performances by Jim James, Chris Thile, David Bromberg, Piedmont Blūz, Jontavious Willis, and a special discourse by DJ Spooky to launch the festival. The schedule for the program can be seen below:
Discourse by DJ Spooky (Paul D. Miller) – Monday, July 13
Access to Reverend Gary Davis: In Search of the Harlem Street Singer is free. The New York Guitar Festival and performing artists are asking viewers to make donations to MusiCares. You can learn more about charitable foundation of The Recording Academy’s MusicCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, and donate here.
The New York Guitar Festival first moved its distinguished musical curation online in May, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, commissioning a diverse group of stellar musicians to participate. Watch Set One ofReverend Gary Davis: In Search of the Harlem Street Singer – featuring performances by Bill Frisell, Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, Warren Haynes, Fantastic Negrito, Amythyst Kiah and many more below.
“We are incredibly grateful to the artists who have collaborated with NYGF to help shine a light on the authentic soul and humanity of Rev. Gary Davis’ music, and taken inspiration from his resilient life,” explains New York Guitar Festival’s Artistic Director David Spelman. “Heartfelt thanks, too, for the continued support of the Augustine Foundation, and for a special gift from the John and Joan D’Addario Foundation – for helping make Set Two ofReverend Gary Davis: In Search of the Harlem Street Singer possible.”
Mongolia’s highest praised rock band, The HU, have released a beautiful new acoustic video for their newest release, “Shireg Shireg.” The video offers insight of the bands recording process in the studio while also showing clips of live performances by the band. The video also showcases some of the traditional Mongolian folk instruments the band utilizes in their music.
The video was dropped as a teaser for the deluxe version of the bands latest studio album The Greg set to drop July 10th. The album features performances from a star studded feature list including artists such as Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, and Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. The original copy of the release has sold an impressive 130,000 copies thus far.
Last weekend, The HU played their homecoming show after their recent sold out world tour, with a televised performance at White Rock Centre in Ulaanbaatar in aid of the Mongolian Covid-19 relief. The concert was aired on TV in Mongolia raising a total of 53 million MNT, approximately $19,000 USD. The concert was also made available to a global audience through streaming on Facebook and YouTube, raising $5,000 and counting.
Acclaimed NYC indie rock band Longwave have teamed up with filmmaker Bill Moldt to debut a music video for their song, “It’s Not Impossible,” from their latest album If We Ever Live Forever.
The idea was to create a unique experience by presenting a choose-your-own-adventure style video for the song. “It’s Not Impossible” is the band’s first debut single off an album in 10 years making the release of If We Ever Live Forever a big deal.
The music video was constructed through a series of bi-weekly Instagram story posts, each depicting a possible scene painted in watercolor. Each post contained a video of the scene being created, a caption, and a question prompting the band’s Instagram followers to determine the direction of the next scene. The video used the “poll” feature on Instagram Stories to tally the audiences choices. The process left director Moldt with 10 scenes that were ultimately created and assembled into what become Longwave’s official music video for “It’s Not Impossible.”
Additionally this week, Longwave have shared full concert video of their November 2018 performance at The Bowery Ballroom. The performance was filmed by Erik Braund at Braund Studios.
Jimkata returned from their indefinite hiatus with the new song “Wanna Go.” The song dropped with a music video on their YouTube channel on July 9.
Jimkata is an electro rock trio that evolved from their original jamband roots, to a more electronic sound. The band started at Ithaca College back in 2005 with Evan Friedell (vocals, guitar), Aaron Gorsch (guitar/keys) and Packy Lunn (drums).
The trio grew up together in the Upstate college town of Oneonta and are the founding members of the band. Dave Rossi served as bassist until 2015, having joined the band after meeting the other members during his freshman year at Ithaca College. Jimkata became a local favorite in Ithaca and across New York state before taking their indefinite hiatus in 2016.
“Wanna Go” dropped shortly after the band teased of new music on their Facebook page starting back on June 16, 2020. They released a new clip of them working on new music every few days with all the titles together reading, “ DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD RELEASE SOME NEW MUSIC?”
The new song comes on the coattails of the release of a Greatest Hits Album, Best, on June 12. Jimkata left a quote on the album’s release saying, “All the best things seem to surface after the worst times, all the worst things seem to come around after the best times…”
To check out the teaser videos check out Jimkata’s Facebook.
The video features the band setting up a living room and sitting on a couch in a picture frame. There is a theme of being surrounded by the color yellow in the video, and in the teases released and on their website. The song is boppy – a solid return to the music realm for Jimkata.
Donations will go directly towards the Jazz Foundation of America to support the music of our future while you watch. Party Brooklyn Bowl-style via Fans.com.
“We started Broolyn Bowl to bring people together to enjoy the magic of live music. We has a great run, open every night of the week, with people coming from every direction, and e loved hosting every type of musician and fan that you can imagine. Then we had to stop. Even though our stage is dark, we are still turning 11 years old. Having a birthday during this difficult time makes us want to get back to doing what we do more than ever. We will be back.”
– Peter Shapiro, founder Brooklyn Bowl
“We have had a lot of fun in our first 11 years! Because we’re closed temporarily, we now exist as a glowing sense memory of warm vibes, soft light, great sights, and sounds. A place that became a refuge from the ordinary crap in modern life. A place where we rediscovered the simple magic of coming together to celebrate life. This anniversary comes at a moment of enormous pain, stress, and loss for so many of us. But it’s also an opportunity — a giant reset button. All of us can practice greater kindness, mindfulness, and generosity of spirit. We all need to love each other and pull together. We will be back!”
