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.
Saratoga Springs‘ famous 60+ year old concert venue, Caffe Lena, has begun preparations to reopen, as performance venues are given the green light during Phase 4 of New York’s reopening plan.
In a press release Caffe Lena’s Executive Director Sarah Craig explains their plan:
“We’re taking it in baby steps, starting with 25% capacity. Live performance venues were the first to shut down, and they’re the last to reopen. It’s essential for the future of music that we work out a way to open stages safely. Our goal is to meet and surpass the NYS Health Department guidelines.”
The venue’s first regular concert will take place on July 14 with ensemble members from the New York City Ballet. Serving as an alternative opening night due to the cancellation of their Saratoga Performing Arts Center performance, the five musicians will be able to play for 12 parties as well as hundreds that will be tuning in via an online stream. In compliance with social distancing, guidelines seating will be in groups of two to four with no individual tickets being offered at this time.
https://youtu.be/UCH4LeK8iY4
When New York hit pause in March Caffe Lena was forced to close its doors to the public. Due to designation as an essential business for live broadcasting use, the seats remained empty but thousands watched via the venue’s Youtube channel, concerts taking place on Lena’s stage.
“Recognizing that many of our patrons are not in a position to return to public gatherings, we’re becoming a kind of hybrid live-stream and live-audience venue,” explained Craig. “From now on, our headline concerts will be available in real time via Vimeo for a small fee, and our community programs and shows featuring local amateur talent will be streamed on YouTube for free.”
Tickets and Information about Caffe Lena’s upcoming schedule are available on their website.
Upcoming Schedule:
July 14 – Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet
July 15 – Bluegrass Night with High Peaks Bluegrass Band
Long Island based pop-punk band, Card Reader, released their newest single, “Sore Eyes,” in honor of the loss of a close friend to lead vocalist Tom Petito.
(From left to right) Guitarist Marc Lambert. guitarist/vocalist Tom Petito and drummer Rob Cigliano.
“I wrote this song after I lost a close friend. The message is resounding: life is short, any day could be your last so don’t settle for less. Go after your dreams unapologetically,” said Petito.
Card Reader made their first appearance to the music scene earlier this year with their debut single and music video, “Familiar Voices.”
Petito, drummer Rob Cigliano and guitarist Marc Lambert worked with other bands for 10 years until Petito wanted to start his own project and formed the trio. Petito said the creation of the band was to put passion at the forefront.
Card Reader has struggled since live music has been put on halt, but are determined to get their EP released by fall.
The band’s motto states, “believe in yourself unapologetically. Don’t settle for anything less than what makes you happy in life and in music. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and put your own stamp on what being in a band means.”
CFCU Summer Concert Series is coming back in 2020 taking to the virtual stage. The concert series will start on July 9 and runs every week until September 24. The concert series will include big names like Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People, Terrapin Station, and The Gunpoets.
This will be the CFCU Summer Concert Series’s 21st annual free concert series in Downtown Ithaca, NY. The concert series is organized by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and CFCU Community Credit Union is the keynote sponsor. The Ithaca Downtown Business Improvement District (IDBID) operates as The Downtown Ithaca Alliance. It is a 01c3 not-for-profit organization charged with the revitalization, development, promotion, and management of downtown Ithaca.
The concert series will kick off with Luke G & the Candyhearts on July 9. The series will than host: Empire Kings, Mr. McBean, Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People, Notorious String Busters : Mijail Martínez & The Cantina Ramblers, Fall Creek Brass Band, Terrapin Station, Alex Cano, Maddy Walsh and the Blind Spots, The Comb Down, Gunpoets, Swamp Kids, and then wrap things up with Kevin Kinsella on September 24.
The concerts are usually held at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Commons; however, this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the shows will appear virtually on Downtown Ithaca’s Facebook page until further notice. The series will feature a variety of musical styles, with local, regional, national, and international performing artists and will start at 6:00 pm every Thursday.
The 2020 CFCU Summer Concert Series Schedule and lineup:
July 9 Luke G & the Candyhearts
July 16 Empire Kings: Mr. McBean
July 23 Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People
July 30 Notorious String Busters : Mijail Martínez & The Cantina Ramblers
Aug. 6 Fall Creek Brass Band
Aug. 13 Terrapin Station
Aug. 20 Alex Cano
Aug. 27 Maddy Walsh and the Blind Spots
Sept. 3 The Comb Down
Sept. 10 Gunpoets
Sept. 17 Swamp Kids
Sept. 24 Kevin Kinsella
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!
For the past 18 years the Northwest String Summit has been a festival catering to all things string. Country, folk and bluegrass artists, well-known and just discovered, would descend upon Horning’s Hideout. Festival-goers can listen to the music and enjoyed a myriad of activities including but not limited to arts and crafts, glamping, yoga, and instrument building.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 has created the conditions in which having a traditional festival would be dangerous. In the interest of public safety, the event has closed its on-site activities. Even though the physical festival is no longer possible, the lockdown has not stifled the creativity of the artists that were slated to attend the summit this year.
To connect fans to artists, the Northwest String Summit has gone virtual.
Over 28 different artists will be streaming their performances live or remote this July 17-19 on LiveXLive. Archival footage spanning the history of the event will be sprinkled in-between sets. Thirty hours of never-seen-before footage will be shown. All of the proceeds will go back to the artists, crew, and industry. The Early Bird special pricing of $29.99 will be available until July 7 for this three-night event.
Check out this stream and more through our series NY Stream and Support. You’ll discover artists around the Empire State streaming nightly, with ways to support musicians and charitable groups close to home!
“Drag” was written before the countless changes of the past few months. The song explores the pre-pandemic ‘normal,’ but doesn’t paint it as being perfect. It looks into the monotony of life.
“I love New York City, though, some days it feels like a dysfunctional landscape of ill-routine. Living here, you realize you’re functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within the larger enterprise. I’m immersed in a series of habits: standing in line, getting on a train, heading to work, buying coffee, buying booze… Are these choices I want to make or am I just keeping the machine going?”
Sean Cahill, Songwriter.
This will be the band’s second album after I’ll See You in the Art You Love, released three years ago. The Next Great American Novelist, or NGAN for short, wanted their music to be something that could be enjoyed best live, by all sorts of people. Art You Love delves into depression with an emo-folk sound. Careless Moon includes songs that will “make sense live.” Atwood Magazine, who debuted the album’s first song “Blackberry,” notes that that the band’s new songs have “a heavy alternative sound that simply wasn’t present in NGAN’s previous repertoire — and yet, this growth feels natural and exciting.”
The upcoming album comes from a place of joy rather than sadness and is marked by their new sound. Despite the band’s evolution, fans will still be able to recognize NGAN in Careless Moon from their three-part harmonies and meaningful, storytelling lyrics. It explores the relationship between romance and indifference. The two can coexist at the same time within one symbol.
Watch The Music Video for “Drag” Below:
Cahill has gone through ups and downs with his relationship with music. Yet he realized that it is his calling. “For a while I felt guilty about playing music, playing shows, as if it was a shameful or self-serving pursuit,” he tells Atwood. “After some reflection, I’m realizing that music is the best way I can spend my time, as it brings more light into the darkness and opens up an avenue for sharing joy.” Cahill eventually met Helm and Cummings through a “chance encounter,” and the three then formed NGAN through a shared music taste and interest in becoming creative collaborators.
Atwood reports that Careless Moon is “bigger, edgier, and more alternative; an unabashed outpouring of raw dynamism. The Next Great American Novelist are ready to be your Next Favorite American Band.” “Drag,” along with “Kubler,”“Baby Duck Song,” and “Blackberry,” are available for streaming now.
After tirelessly recording live at Long Pond (The National’s Studio) and elsewhere, Alan Braufman is releasing the second album under his name, The Fire Still Burns, will debut Aug. 28, 2020 (Via Valley of Search). Accompanying Alan Braufman (alto sax, flute) is Cooper-Moore (piano), James Brandon Lewis (Tenor Sax), Andrew Drury (Drums), and Ken Filiano (bass).
In preparation for the album’s release, Alan shares the lead single off The Fire Still Burns titled, “Sunrise.” This dreamy track rises and falls amidst the dance of Alan’s saxophone, and Cooper-Moore’s Piano, producing another heightened evolution of the “Loft Jazz” Alan is so well known for.
Born in Brooklyn, Alan moved into a vacant building at 510 Canal Street in Manhattan with several other musicians, after studying at Berklee College of Music. Considering the fact that rent at the time for a whole floor was $140 a month, the space quickly became an area for rehearsals and a venue for shows. It was in this gritty atmosphere that the tradition of a “do-it-yourself” attitude was forged for the creatives of the city as well as Alan’s cult classic ,Valley of Search, released with the label India Navigation in 1975 and rereleased by Alan in 2018 amid popular demand.
You can find Alan’s work on his Bandcamp and follow along with updates on the new album on hisFacebook.
The new play contest is produced by the Capital Repertory Theatre and features new works written by artists in the Capital Region and around the country. TheREP is the only professional theatre in the Capital Region, and has been creating, “meaningful theatre with an authentic connection to the community” since 1981. The theatre donates more than 83% of their profits back to their local community and tries to ensure that all young people are able to experience live theatre before they graduate high school.
TheREP also hosts an annual weekend-long summit to produce new plays. The New Play Summit “seeks to highlight new works that use theatre to address injustices, inequities, and cultural collisions, providing a voice for the unheard and unrepresented.” The Summit has drawn more than 4,000 audience members to date, but will take place online this year due to COVID-19.
The Summit will be held from July 13-16, and will kick off on July 13 at 7PM with the New Voices: Young Playwright Contest with readings from the winning six short plays written by young people ages 13-18 in the Capital Region. The top plays selected are: An Artist’s Hand (Grace Bombard), Just a Normal Friday (Jeremiah Choudhury), Almost a Fairytale (Megan Dellenbaugh), The Deadly Dinner Party (Clare Reilly & Regan Roberts), Our New Colossus (Maya TerryStein), and A Series of Unfortunate Ideas (Jasmine VanDyke & Jonathan Jordan). The plays include the poetic, the hilarious, the profane, and the poignant.
Pictured: AEA Actor, Joshua Redfield and local actress Emily Curro
On Tuesday, July 14 at 7PM, SLAM!, the winner of the NextGen contest, will be read. NextGen is a collaboration between theREP and SUNY Albany’s Fresh Acts festival, which puts on new plays written by students. SLAM!, a comedy written by junior Billy Feerick, was chosen among the plays written and submitted to UAlbany’s Fresh Acts. The play is about students in a college poetry club vying for the coveted title of “Best Poet.” SLAM! was written entirely in iambic pentameter verse with rhyming and hip hop rhythms.
The play chosen to headline this year’s festival is A Distinct Society, written by director and playwright Kareem Fahmy. It was selected from more than 350 across the country and is inspired by the true stories of Iranian families reunited at the Haskell Free Library & Opera House at the border between Quebec and Vermont. Fahmy was raised in Canada by his Egyptian parents, but now lives in NYC.
The play is directed by theREP’s Megan Sandberg-Zakian, who directed Lobby Hero and The Royale during past seasons. Sandberg-Zakian and Fahmy are the founders of Maia Directors, a group which supports artists from the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia) region. Fahmy is also a founder and chair of the Middle Eastern American Writers Lab at The Lark. The reading of A Distinct Society will be at 7PM on Wednesday, July 15.
Photo by Albany Business Review
The Summit will end on July 16 at 7PM with The First 15: You Be the Judge!, a reading of the first 15 pages of 4 plays submitted to Next Act. After 15 pages, the audience will be asked whether or not they would like to read the rest of the script. The show will be interactive and include a discussion.
Although all events will be available for free, theREP is accepting donations to help fund their new work development. The donations will allow theREP to continue to develop scripts and produce world premieres of new works every year. You can donate by going to www.capitalrep.org or by texting NEXTACT to 41444.
You can watch the performances from July 13-16 on theREP’s Facebook page, the Proctors Collaborative Youtube channel, or the Open Stage Media’s .
Holly Bowling will releasing a new Grateful Dead album full of solo piano renditions this fall. The new album, Seeking All That’s Still Unsung, is made of music recorded at 25th Street Recording in Oakland, CA.
Holly Bowling Photo Provided by Press Release.
Holly Bowling is a classical pianist who is based in San Francisco. Bowling uses the influence of jam band music to create an unique style. Her sound is emotionally rich and highly technical. She has already created albums focusing on Phish in the 2013’s Distillation Of A Dream album and the Grateful Dead focused Better Left Unsung (released December 9, 2016 through The Royal Potato Family). She known for her new band Ghost Light with Tom Hamilton, Raina Mullen and Scotty Zwang.
In this new album Bowling is attempting to create a record that feels similar to her live performances. Bowling is also using this album to create unique sounds that can only be done in a studio. The album will have the feel of a live album while accomplishing things that are impossible from a musical standpoint to create live on the road.
How Holly Bowling is Making the Album Possible
The album has been in the works for the last year and a half and has been recorded and mastered. But Bowling has a Kickstarter to get the album out to fans. The freedom that’s given her using a Kickstarter makes it so she can be an independent artist. The contributions to it will help to cover mechanical license fees, vinyl creation, and expenses associated with the release of the album. Some of these expenses include distribution, marketing, publicity. The mechanical licensing allows her to release covers of Grateful Dead songs and makes sure the original creators are fairly compensated
For more information on Seeking All That’s Still Unsung and Holly Bowling visit her website and her Kickstarter.
NYC Based Band Jeremy Beck & The Heavy Duty Horns dropped their Take Me By The Hand EP on June 26th. The four song EP has a soulful, gospel, jazzy sound. Band leader Jeremy Beck has roots in rural Alabama and New Orleans. These roots influenced his music and sound greatly which can be heard throughout the EP.
The Eight piece band decided to release their EP amidst COVID-19 and the fight for racial justice and equality in the United States. They understood the implications of releasing this EP during a pivotal moment for civil rights in America with it’s soulful, gospelly, and jazzy roots. “In a musical context, Black music has created what we know as American music. Without the great Black musicians, artists and writers, plain and simple, American music would not exist.” Beck explains, “So much of the music I’ve played and produced throughout my career has been directly inspired by Black musicians and I will be forever grateful. Growing up in Alabama and during my time in New Orleans, Black music and culture molded me into the musician and person I am today.”
Jeremy Beck & The Heavy Duty Horns. Photo provided by Jeremy Beck & The Heavy Duty Horns press release.
The EP includes the title track, “Take me by the hand” and then the love song “Oh Baby!.” The EP wraps up with the upbeat, high tempo, song “Somebody Call Frank,” and ends with “Sing Hallelujah,”about a perfectly imperfect love. This Ep marks the first compilation of songs credited to a band composed of sidemen who have cut their teeth playing with big names like Bonnie Raitt, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Missy Elliot.
Take Me By The Hand is out and available everywhere now. For more information on Jeremy Beck & The Heavy Duty Horns visit their website or their official Facebook page.
