NYS Music 202​0

Category: Festival News

  • Flyday Music Festival postpone until September

    The 4th Annual Flyday Music Festival will postpone until September, and once again return to the Blackthorne Resort in the Northern Catskill Mountains. Taking place over the course of three days from September 10 – 13, this year festival attendees can expect music from all different types of genres including rock, jam bands, soul, R&B and so much more. 

    With over twenty acts already scheduled to perform headliners include Lespecial, returning favorites The Magnetic Pull, Hartley’s Encore, plus first-timers Consider The Source, Schleigho, Now vs Now led by Jason Lindner (keyboardist on David Bowie’s final album Blackstar as well as a member of Meshell Ndegeocello’s touring band), Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, Expansion Project, Space Junk Is Forever, Muscle Tough, Cats Under Stars featuring Adam Czolowski, Acoustic Trauma, bassist Nigel Felony (of Floodwood), The Mark Basil Band, Level:Memory and K-Weef.

    Sun Colored Chair is set to host the first annual Flyday Open MicNight on Thursday in the Phoenix  Pub at Blackthorne Resort, in addition to being part of the festival lineup. Other acts are set to be added to the lineup via the website at later dates.

    Originally scheduled in May, the spring festival was moved to September in response to the COVID-19. As of now tickets sales are set at 250 this time to allow for 6 feet of social distancing. Additional ticket sales will happen at the door if  there is a lift in the gathering bans. Tickets are available for purchase here. 

  • Schenectady Kids Arts Festival is going Virtual and will be Viewable from Your Home

    The 26th annual Schenectady Kids Arts Festival will take place on the weekend of June 6 and 7. The festival is usually held in downtown Schenectady, but due to COVID-19, this staple of the community will be broadcasted on cable television, the Internet and social media and will be viewable from your home this year. 

    Photo from Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s website.

    The festival will be made up of 28 segments. These segments were created by the participating individuals and organizations who are local artists and entertainers. These segments make up four episodes each lasting approximately one hour. Some of these segments were pre-recorded at Open Stage Media on the MainStage at Proctors in Schenectady. Mike Purcell of A-1 Entertainment of Clifton Park also included submissions of Capital District residents dancing to pre-recorded tracks in each episode. 

    The festival will feature: Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra, Puppet People (a professional touring puppet company based in Schenectady,) students of the Dance Me School of Dance and Character Development, the Oneida Middle School Jazz Band, and many more.

    The festival can be viewed on Spectrum on channel 1302 in Albany and Schenectady. It will also be broadcasting on Verizon Fios on channel 37 in Albany. The first and second episode will be broadcast live at 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday, June 6. The third and fourth episodes will be broadcast live at noon and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 7. The festival will also be broadcasted live on the Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s Facebook page. After the live broadcast, the episodes will remain available on the Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s Facebook page and will become available for streaming free at Open Stage Media’s

    Photo from Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s website.


    For more information and a full schedule of events can be found on Schenectady Kids Arts Festival’s website.

  • Dawn: A Celebration of Shavuot with an All-Night Cultural Arts Festival

    Dawn, an all-night cultural arts festival, will take place virtually on May 28 and 29 from 7PM to 6AM PT (10PM-9AM ET) for the celebration of Shavuot. The 11 hour celebration will include three reimagined tracks of the 10 Commandments as well as art, comedy, music, film, and conversation. Shavuot is a Jewish holidays that commemorates both the first harvest of early summer, as well as the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai following the exodus from Egypt.

    The event will live-stream on Reboot’s website. The festivities will include Yoga, Meditation, Sound Bath, Cooking Class, Music, DJ Dance Party among the many activities.

    One of the main attractions will be an Original Score by Cecil B Demille of the Ten Commandments pt.1 performed by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips and Scott Amendola. This reimagining of the silent era film from 1923 will be split into two stories. The first revolving around the Jewish Exodus from Egypt and a present day, or present for 1923, melodrama. The new score will musically follow Moses out of Egypt and into the dessert where he receives the Ten Commandments. 

    The Dawn celebration will also have lots of other appearances. Others on the bill include Jill Soloway, Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, Gabi Moskowitz, Kasher vs. Kasher (Moshe Kasher and Rabbi David Kasher), Michaela Watkins, John Schott, Tiffany Shlain, The Milk Carton Kids, Zackary Drucker, and AJ Jacobs.  

    The festival is being put on by Reboot and the Jewish Emergent Network. Reboot has put on festivals in the past in San Francisco for Shavuot but because of COVID-19 this year’s programming will be a little different. The hope of these organizations is that moving to a digital platform will make them accessible to a larger audience.  

    From more information and program highlights, please visit Reboot’s website.

  • Hamilton Movie Theater Announces Hamilton Unity Concerts Part II

    Hamilton Movie Theater has announced that they will continue Hamilton Unity Concerts starting Sunday, May 31 and running through the end of June.

    Concerts will be live streamed at 7PM on their Facebook page.  Hamilton Unity Concerts Part II will support a variety of non-profit organizations. A link will be provided on their Facebook page for people to donate to the organizations and offer tips to the artists. 

    The concerts will kick off with Vermont-based indie-rock band Jesse Taylor on May 31. Other artists who will perform include: Liz Fiddle, Jeffrey Monty, Sam Herbert, and Blaine Holcolmb. Check out more details below.

    Hamilton Movie Theater

  • Levitt AMP Utica Music Series Postponed Till 2021

    The Levitt AMP Utica Music Series was supposed to announce its lineup but unfortunately it has decided to postpone it’s festivities. The ten week free concert series will be back in the summer of 2021. This difficult decision was not made lightly but with COVID-19 alive and raging the Utica Monday Nite and the Levitt AMP committee have decided that with the concerns for the health, safety and well-being of their community that postponing was the only real option. 

    https://www.facebook.com/LevittAMPUtica/videos/3103229943076538/

    The grant money won by the public voting campaign by Utica community members will roll over to 2021. The Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation has assured that the $25,000 will be safe and be able to be used for next year’s festivities. The only catch is that Utica will not have to apply again and won’t have to vote again for next year’s grant.

    The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties usually match the funds and grants collected for the past four years. Alicia Dicks, president/CEO of the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties said she supported the decision to postpone The Levitt AMP Utica Music Series till next summer and look forward to next summer.

    The Levitt AMP Utica Music Series team is currently working on rebooking as many of the headlining bands that were scheduled for the festivities this summer for next year’s festival. The series will also feature local talent each week as it always does. 

    Levitt AMP Utica Music Series. Photo Provided by Levitt AMP Utica Music Series.

    The Levitt AMP Utica Music Series will be joining the 10-Week Virtual Music Series with The Levitt Foundation. They will be joining 19 other Levitt AMP cities for this 10-week Virtual Music Series which will highlight some of Utica’s local talent on a national platform. The Levitt AMP Utica Music Series  will also be exploring the possibility of applying for a new Bridge Grant for 2020. The Levitt Foundation created this grant to bring people together through music in alternative ways and is shaping what that may look like for our community. 

    For more information please visit Levitt AMP Utica Facebook and Instagram pages.

  • JamCast Announces Their First Episode of StreamFest

    Loose Leaf Talent Agency has announced the premiere of the first ever StreamFest via JamCast Network. The live-stream festival will start on Friday, May 29 and will run through Sunday, May 31. 

    The festival included two stages. The first stage that centers around full bands will be The Green Mountain Stage and the other will focus on EDM and DJ sets. The festival will feature completely new or improvised sets from all the artists on the lineup in alignment with its Jam name. 

    Artists performing on the full band The Green Mountain Stage include: Rumpke Mountain Boys, Sophistafunk, Luke The Knife, DJ Yesmann (Craig Broadhead of Turkuaz,) Bandemic (Ft. Members of The Motet, Shred Is Dead, & Magic Beans.) Also on the Green Mountain Stage, blues prodigy Quinn Sullivan, Rob Compa of Dopapod, Hayley Jane, Higher Education, LITZ, Runaway Gin, The Sweet Life, D’Vibes, The Mighty Good Times, Swimmer, Lee Ross, Squeaky Feet, The Trichomes, The Copper Children, The Mushroom Cloud, Mad Midi, Leon Trout, Isaac Young, Bryan Walters of The Phryg, Solar Circuit, Mt. Pleasant Band, MarSOUPial, Max Kipnis, Cozm & Naught, Amorphic, Devin Bender, Xoa, UN!TY and Wonderkid. 

    EDM and DJ’s performing on the The Rocky Mountain Stage include: Desert Dwellers (Amani Solo Set), Govinda, David Starfire, Living Light, Mlakai, Equanimous, Ruby Chase, Evanoff, Spaceship Earth, Morillo, Cosmal, Laika Beats, Beardthug, Tahabdra, Zoo Logic, PropLydz, Teddy Midnight, Pj Wrecks, Terraphorm, Soley, Bake Joynton, Daze Inn, Ives, Steronest, Sylph, Galactivators, Closed Loop, ILAS, L3tho, The Paplin, and Tendrel. 

    https://youtu.be/JMBZKmt2M7Y

    The festival will be streamed on JamCastNetwork.com. The StreamFest will also feature live painters, dancers and flow artists. The live-stream has a $5 entree fee for a one-day pass or $10 entry fee for the full weekend. Tickets are available for purchase here.  

    For more information, visit the JamCast and Loose Leaf Talent Agency Facebook pages.

  • Memorial Day installment of moe.ron Monday features moe.down 16

    With their new series moe.ron Monday, Nugs TV continues the series on Memorial Day with the premiere of moe.’s Sunday performance on July 2, 2017 at moe.down 16 in Turin, NY. The free stream starts at 8:30 PM ET and can be found here. Read our recap of the festival weekend here.

    Fans are asked to consider donating to the moe. organization via 2nu.gs/moeTouring and MusiCares Relief Fund via 2nu.gs/moeMusicCares.

    Setlist via Phantasytour

    Sunday, July 2, 2017 • Snow Ridge Ski Area • Turin, NY

    Set 1: Puebla> Meat*> Awesome Gary, Crab Eyes, New York City, Johnny Lineup> Mexico^
    Set 2: McBain> Skrunk> Yodelittle> McBain%, Prestige Worldwide, Brent Black
    Encore: Not Coming Down> Wormwood> Okayalright3, America Fuck Yeah
    *First 75% of song. Completes Friday night’s meat which was ending only.
    ^With Mihali Savoulidis (guitar) & Ryan Dempsey (keys) of Twiddle.
    %With Mike Dillon.

    moe.down 16

  • Chenango Blues Association Reschedules 2020 Festival to 2021

    The Chenango Blues Association announced on their website that their 2020 summer festival will be cancelled. The festival which was originally scheduled for Friday August 21 through Saturday August 22  is postponed to next year. Statements from the association can be seen below.

    chenango blues association

    We agonized over this, and we held out as long as we could , but we have arrived at the conclusion that there is no responsible way to move forward with any of our planned events for 2020. We are all as disappointed as we know you are, and it was difficult to contact all our artists and break the news. At this point in events no one was very surprised, and everyone shared the belief that it was the safe and reasonable thing to do. Our artists, our volunteers and of course all our fellow music lovers mean the world to us and the thought of an event that would put anyone’s well being at risk was reason enough to take pause. An event next year where we will all be present to enjoy it means a lot more than rushing in to something we don’t understand well enough to prepare for. We like all of you too much to do that!
    It came as quite a blow to have to do this but I have to tell you-we were uplifted by the many kind words of vendors, volunteers and artists about how much the event means to them and how excited they were to participate next year. In fact, most of our artists have already agreed to perform at the 2021 Fest, and we are all thrilled to death because we thought it might be our best lineup yet!
    Hope to see you all next year-it will be bigger and better than ever. Until then-wash your hands, cover your face and stay safe!

    While the Chenango Blues Fest is off for 2020, check out NYS Music’s coverage of past Blues Fests from 2019. 

  • Uptown Drive-In Festival is Parking Itself at Yankee Stadium

    Yankee Stadium parking lots will be filled with cars this summer, but not for the usual reasons. A new festival, Uptown Drive-In, will be situated in Yankee Stadium’s parking lot following the new trend of drive-in events due to COVID-19. 

    News of this festival was dropped in an exclusive in Time Out New York on May 15 and is quickly making buzz for itself. According to the exclusive, Uptown Drive-in will happen every weekend starting in July and feature live music from local artists from NYC, movies, on-site live interactive games, raffles and giveaways, and car-side food service from an array of New York Street Vendors. Uptown Drive-In is planning on organizing it’s weekend activities by having date-night experiences on Friday, Saturday and Sundays in the evening, while having a more family-friendly style brunch series during the day on Saturdays and Sundays.

    The Festival is being put on by MASC Hospitality Group who is the same company responsible for events like Bronx Night Market and the Bronx Beer Festival. Not many details about the event have been announced yet, but MASC Hospitality Group’s Marco Shalma did confirm within the exclusive that the plan is for people to view the performances from their cars just like you would at a drive-in theater.  This comes from Governor Andrew Cuomo gave New York state permission to re-open some drive-in movie theaters on May 15 as part of New York state’s phased reopening. There is a plan to lift the stage and have the sound be accessible from a PA system to visitor’s car radios.

    The cost of admission is still undetermined. But those interested in attending can sign up on their website to receive information on booking dates, promo codes, exclusive packages, and giveaways.

  • Suwannee at Home: Spirit Raiser 2020

    From Live Oak, Florida the Suwannee at Home: Spirit Raiser 2020 will take place May 15th through 17th. This will be a virtual online festival streaming across multiple platforms. The festival’s intention is to raise the spirits of the music community and to raise some funds for festival support staff.

    The festival is being presented by Spirit of Suwannee Music Park and Relix Magazine and will be hosted by Suwanee Rising Event Co-Producers: Beth Judy (Suwannee Spring Reunion, Suwannee  Roots Revival) and Paul Levine (Hulaween, Purple Hatters Ball). The festival will take place Friday, May 15th from 4PM-9PM, Saturday, May 16th from 4PM-9PM, and Sunday, May 17th from 2PM-8PM.

    Suwannee at Home: Spirit Raiser will Featuring Members of: Big Gigantic, Donna The Buffalo, Doom Flamingo, Dopapod, Dumpstaphunk, Eric Krasno, George Porter Jr., Grass Is Dead, Greensky Bluegrass, Jennifer Hartswick & Chris Chew, Jim Lauderdale, Joe Craven, Jon Stickley Trio, Keller Williams, Larry & Jenny Keel, Leftover Salmon, Lettuce, Luther Dickinson, Mike Dillon, moe., Nikki Talley, Railroad Earth, Rev Jeff Mosier, Roosevelt, Collier, Sierra Hull, Snarky Puppy, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Duhks, The Motet, The New, Mastersounds, The Nth Power, The Travelin’ McCourys, Toubab Krewe, Umphrey’s McGee, Van Ghost, Verlon Thompson, Weedie Braimah, Will Kimbrough, Zach Deputy, with more to be announced.

    Artists are both performing live and sending in pre-recorded content from their respective areas of self quarantine. These artists are volunteering their time with performances to brief cameos to 30 minute slots to Q and A sections.

    Suwannee at Home: Spirit Raiser will be able to be viewed online everywhere on Zoom via Facebook and Website. Live Oak Music and Art Foundation Inc, a 501c3 organization will collect and distribute any collected funds and will be the sole recipient of any merchandise sold.

    For more information please visit Suwannee at Home: Spirit Raiser’ website.