Osiris Media announced their PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE, LIVE! podcast revolving around the artist’s journey through interviews and live performances. The podcast will debut on June 9 across streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and etc.
The podcast will explore artists’ first music lesson to the first paid gig. It will investigate their early inspirations, creative process, what’s driving them towards the future, and everything in between. Executive Producer Adam Caplan said, “We wanted to create a show that taps into the power and spontaneity of musical discovery beyond a typical interview.”
The first season will drop new episodes every Tuesday. They will also release a video of each live performance which will be available on the Osiris website and YouTube. An accompanying curated playlist chronicling the music and artists mentioned in each episode will also be available on the Osiris site and on Spotify.
The podcast will include guest appearances from Eric Krasno, Rhett Miller, Marco Benevento, Ted Leo, and many more. The first episode will feature Eric Krasno, the second will feature Rhett Miller, the third will feature Marco Benevento, and the fourth will feature Ted Leo and more episodes and their guests will be announced later on.
For more information on the PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE, LIVE! podcast visit Osiris’s website.
For tonight’s moe.ron Monday on Nugs.TV, the band goes back to their April 22, 2017 show at Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain, North Carolina. moe. also recently announced the upcoming digital release of their new album This is not, We are, with select songs now available for streaming.
Set 1: Okayalright > Wormwood, Not Coming Down, Seat Of My Pants > Sensory Deprivation Bank, Prestige Worldwide, St. Augustine Set 2: Big World > Ricky Marten > Hi and Lo > Bullet > Kyle’s Song, Opium, Silver Sun Encore: Captain America
All funds received during the webcast will be donated to the NAACP. Tune in here at 8pm on Monday, and watch last week’s installment below.
Recently, music venues in New York City have been opening their doors, the first time for most, since the pandemic swept in. However, the doors are not opened up to ticket holders; instead, venues are opening their doors for racial justice protesters in need of break from their marches.
Since the death of George Floyd, the music and arts communities have been brainstorming different ways to show solidarity. This past Tuesday, June 2, the music industry orchestrated a #BlackOutTuesday which led many to post black squares on their social medias as a way to show support to the black community.
A resource platform taking a timely reaction to the venues in New York City, Open Your Lobby, has been gaining steam on social media. With posts urging theaters and venues to open their lobbies as a safe haven for protesters. The organization also shares information and the locations of venues who will be open on days of marches. With #OpenYourLobby challenging theaters to open their doors, many venues are taking action in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Venues so far who have taken part include Off Broadway venues such as The Public Theater and Playwrights Horizons.
Joe Bonamassa shares perhaps his most monumental rock opus to date, “When One Door Opens,” recorded in the famous Abbey Road recording studio in London, England.
Released in tandem with a music video and co-Written by longtime collaborators, Kevin Shirley and songwriter Pete Brown, this brand new track harkens back to the glory days of Rock & Roll. Harkening back to the 60s/ 70s, ” When One Door Opens” celebrates Abbey Roads iconic history justly. This single marks the second of so far two surprise releases from Bonamassas Abbey Road studio session. Last month, he shared “A Conversation With Alice,” which was a follows in pursuit of Bonomassa instrumental side project, The Sleep Eazys.
Bonomassa is telling fans to keep their eyes peeled, hinting towards future releases. In the meantime, the Non-for-profit, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation continues to gain support for the recently announced, Fueling Musicians program which has been raising profits for musicians who are feeling the effects of COVID-19s constraints around the music industry.
Visit the Fueling Musicians website to find out more.
Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage announces the launch of its digital series SummerStage Anywhere. The series will highlight genres that were born in or deeply represent New York including hip hop, salsa, jazz, global, indie, and contemporary dance. SummerStage Anywhere will start on June 6 at 7PM EST and will feature performances each weekend for the rest of June.
Angélique Kidjo photo provided by City Parks Foundations website.
The series will debut on June 6 with an original performance by New Yorker pop phenom MAX. MAX performing a love letter to New York of sorts. Max has been called a “Young Pop God” by GQ in the past and has been called the “top popstar to watch” by Billboard and was nominated for “Best New Pop Artist” at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards.
On June 13 LAMC (Latin Alternative Music Conference) will be taking the stage and highlighting key voices in the Latino LGBTQ community. Some of the performers include pop singer Kany Garcia, hip hop artist Mabiland, indie electro pop musician Javiera Mena and rock band Circo. The event will be hosted by Los Angeles’ KCRW radio DJ Raul Campos and the Latin Grammy winning artist Cheo, formerly of Los Amigos Invisibles.
On June 19 SummerStage Anywhere will be hosting a celebration for the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth. Juneteenth for those unaware is the nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. The event will be featuring Jamel Gaines’ Creative Outlet Dance Theatre and poet Carl Hancock Rux, and a panel discussion led by Executive Artistic Director of The Billie Holiday Theatre, Dr. Indira Etwaroo.
On June 26 the series will wrap up with an exclusive performance from Angélique Kidjo. Angélique Kidjo is a Grammy Award-winning Beninese singer-songwriter, actress and activist. She will also be doing a live Q&A session after her performance.
The series will be available on SummerStage Anywhere’s website and streamed exclusively on the SummerStage’s YouTube channel. SummerStage is an independent, non-profit organization, and relies on donations to make it’s free performing arts festivals possible. Anyone interested in supporting the SummerStage series can donate.
For a full schedule of upcoming programming and more information please visit SummerStage Anywhere’s website.
Legendary art-rock group The Residents has released their latest single “DIE! DIE! DIE!” featuring Black Francis of the Pixies. Their upcoming album, METAL, MEAT & BONE is based on newly discovered recordings of Alvin Snow (a.k.a. Dyin’ Dog) and includes 10 Dyin’ Dog Demos, 10 interpretations of the demos by The Residents, and six new works inspired by Dyin’ Dog.
The Residents have been regarded as icons in the world of experimental music for almost fifty years. In addition to their groundbreaking work in the areas of trance, world fusion, electronica, punk, industrial and lounge music, the group has also been credited with being among the originators of performance art and music video, with their videos included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
To know the story of Alvin Snow a.k.a. Dyin’ Dog, one must enter the world of an outsider turned bluesman. Born on Friday, January 13, 1939, Alvin Snow was abandoned on the steps of an orphanage. Snow created his own reality from the fragments of life drifting through his consciousness. He endured thoughts that were lined with the feeling life’s out to get him. This explains Snow’s unspoken rage and overpowering air of entitlement that allowed him to evade lawyers, angry victims, and the police. Lurking in the dark creases of his mind was a beast that haunted his every being.
The penetrating sounds of a jukebox pouring out of a small Mississippi town’s bar suddenly stopped him dead in his tracks one day. “Who’s Been Talking” sung by Howlin’ Wolf left Snow mesmerized and an overwhelming epiphany came over him. He began to devour every song recorded by Howlin’ Wolf and became interested in The Blues ever since.
Alvin Snow needed to come up with a stage name and everyone agreed Alvin Snow just wasn’t it. It took some thinking on his part to match the perfect name to his ruffled voice, and even more blemished character. A hospital bed fell on and crushed his dog which give him the inspiration to come up with the name Dyin’ Dog. Before the debut performance of his 10-recorded demos on January 13, 1976, Snow vanished and was never to be heard from again. In September 2019, the Dyin’ Dog Demos were extraordinarily released as a Box Set. The Residents bring these long-lost songs to fans worldwide with the release of METAL, MEAT & BONE on July 10, 2020.
Need some fresh moe.? Well you’re in luck. For This is Not, We Are, moe.’s first studio album in six years, the band will release individual tracks over the next few weeks, leading up to a June 26 release date. Released so far are “Crushing,” “LL3,” “Jazz Cigarette,” “Who You Calling Scared?,” “Dangerous Game,” “Skitchin Buffalo” and the latest track, “Along for the Ride,” have been released and can be found below.
photo by Frankie Cavone
This is Not, We Are, which is available for preorder as a digital (only) album, will be released on June 26.
“We kind of went back to our roots a bit,” Derhak says. “We just wanted to do something that made us feel inspired like we had felt when the band first started. But it also has everything that we’ve picked up along the way, all the good baggage – and maybe some of the bad – that we’ve dragged along for the past 30 years.”
Rob Derhak
Additionally, moe. has shared video via Relix of the live debut of “LL3” from February 2, 2018 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Read our review of the band’s return from hiatus following Rob Derhak’s successful battle with cancer.
Just released on June 9 is the video for “Jazz Cigarette,” a xylophone-heavy jazz odyssey that was filmed from studio sessions.
Released on June 11, “Who You Calling Scared” is a Derhak-penned tune, with Garvey singing lead. Derhak explained to Relix:
“The song is also a tribute to some of the funk and fusion guys that I discovered when I was younger, like Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power. When I sat down and tried to sing and play the basslines, I realized, ‘This is never going to happen. I can’t sing and play those bass lines at the same time.’ So I recruited Chuck to sing the song for me. He was a little reluctant at first but then he jumped on board.”
The latest track, “Dangerous Game,” written by Al Schnier, gives us two takes – one from the studio spliced with a live version from the song’s debut at the State Theatre in Portland, ME on February 16, 2019. Schnier explains about the song:
“This song came from me watching and reading a little bit too much news these days. I don’t want to say that this song is political in nature; it’s more about the personalities of the people in power and maybe the cult of personality and those things we all contend with. I don’t want it to come across as some leftist, liberal rant against the current people in power. It’s more a song about my personal concerns about anyone who would be in a position of power.”
The latest track, “Skitchin’ Buffalo,” looks back at moe.’s early days in the Queen City. The performance from Observatory North Park in San Diego on March 7, 2020 can be seen below, along with insight on “Skitchin’ Buffalo” from Derhak as shared to Relix:
The song looks back on the group’s early days. Rob Derhak was prompted to write it following a conversation with Mike Norris, the singer for Monkey Wrench, one of the band’s early contemporaries. Derhak recalls, “The first time I had ever heard of ‘skitching’ was when I was hanging out with him and it was icy and snowy in Buffalo on some winter night. We were on our way home and he grabbed onto the bumper of the back of a car that had stopped at a stop sign and then just got in a squatting position and the car took off. He hung on and it’s basically like water skiing off the back, except you’re holding onto the bumper. He called it ‘skitching’ and we called it ‘bumper sliding’ where I grew up, and he thought it was funny. He held on and kept getting dragged. His belt buckle was completely scratched up and it looked like he was completely shiny and we were laughing about that incident. And then later, I was like, ‘This is what the song can be, about the memories of Buffalo.’ Basically, I took a bunch of memories of fun stuff we did when we were in college and playing in the band and I put it into one incident. One thing after another.”
The last track to be shared prior to release, “Along for the Ride,” gives fans a mix of studio and live takes, the latter pulling from their February 28, 2020 performance at Revolution Hall in Portland, OR.
Vinnie Amico spoke to Relix about the Derhak-penned song:
“Part of it changed before we got into the studio. The whole slow part that gets kind of spacey, coming out of Chuck’s solo, changed over time. That wasn’t there and we morphed it into that, which ended up making the song a little more interesting because all of a sudden we go into this different part, different tempo, different soundscape. Production-wise, it’s one of the coolest parts of the whole album.”
moe. 2021 Summer Tour
June 24 – Birmingham, AL – Avondale Brewing
June 26 – Pelham, TN – The Caverns
June 27 – Black Mountain, NC – Pisgah Brewing
June 29 – Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre
June 30 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre
July 1 — Rocky Mount, VA – Harvester Performance Center
July 1-4 – Scranton, PA – Peach Music Festival
July 9 – Portland, ME – State Theatre
July 9-11 – Marshfield, MA – Levitate Music & Arts Festival
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.
Buffalo Iron Works, in partnership with The Transit Drive-In in Lockport are bringing the “LIVE AT THE DRIVE” concert series to life. The concert series will be featuring many artists starting with Aqueous on Friday and Saturday, June 19 & 20.
The socially distanced concert series will be held at The Transit Drive-In and will feature two concerts a week through August. Future artists performing will be announced in the weeks to come. The concert series aims to have 16 shows in total. Thursday nights will feature a concert and movie combo night while Saturdays will host concerts in the afternoons between 2PM-5PM.
Aqueous will be starting off the concert series on June 19 & 20. They are a groove rock band that hails from Buffalo, NY. Aqueous is a locally famous band to the Buffalo area and have been involved in many live-stream shows since the halt on live shows due to COVID-19.
Tickets will be available for purchase though the Transit Drive-In website. Gates for the concert series will open at 1pm both days with the show starting at 2pm. GA tickets are $40 per person and VIP are $80 per person. VIP tickets will include a ticket to the show, a vehicle spot in the front two rows, and a limited edition poster. All ticketing will be through internet pre-sale only, and tickets need to be purchased for all occupants of each vehicle under one transaction. A minimum of two people per vehicle must be purchased, with a maximum of six people.
For more information visit Buffalo Iron Works website and The Transit Drive-In website.
The Mockingbird Foundation has announced its plans to start an emergency grant program that will help protect music education amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The fund will run off of donations from The Mockingbird Foundation and donations from the public.
The Mockingbird Foundation logo.
The music industry has been extremely affected by this pandemic particularly music education. Music education programs across the United States have been experiencing significant negative impacts from the economic fallout of the pandemic. The foundation aims to use this collected emergency grant fund to help music educators and their students who have been affected by COVID-19.
The fund will start with an initial $25,000 provided by The foundation. The foundation will then match an additional $25,000 in donations made from the general public between now and July 31st, 2020. The foundation hopes to collect enough to make $75,000 available to music education by the end of it’s donation period.
The Mockingbird Foundation is a non-for-profit that is volunteer based. It has existed since 1996 and works to raise money for music education for children. It has donated more than $1.6M in grants to 450 grantees covering all 50 states. For more information or to donate visit Mockingbird’s website.
