The next two moe.ron Mondays on Nugs TV will feature a pair of shows from the State Theatre in Portland, Maine, which will also conclude the weekly streaming series.
These two shows did not allow taping and served as record release shows for The Conch, one of moe.’s best-received albums, receiving 4/5 stars in Rolling Stone. The shows, seen for the first time, will offer a glimpse at a band 15 years into their career. Tune in at Nugs.TV
moe. Summer 2005 tour poster by Emek
Setlist, June 10, 2005 Timmy Tucker, It, Lost Along the Way, Happy Hour Hero, McBain -> George, Tailspin, The Pit, Recreational Chemistry, She, The Road, Brent Black Encore: Wind It Up, Blue Jeans Pizza, Crab Eyes
Poster by Marq Spusta
Setlist, June 11, 2005 Captain America, She, Wind It Up, The Road, The Pit, Kyle’s Song, 32 Things, Wake Up, St. Augustine, Head, George, Rebubula Encore: Plane Crash
Watch and enjoy “MacIntyre Range,” featured on The Conch and inspired by the Adirondack Mountain range of the same name.
Even amidst this pandemic, the annual Make Music Day will still be held in hopes of spreading happiness and music to anyone across the globe.
Photo by Thomas Retzer
Originally started in France in 1983 as Fête de la Musique, Make Music Day is the only music festival of its kind: its mission is to bring free music to anyone and inspire them to create music themselves regardless of their age or experience level.
The festival made its North American debut in New York City several years ago, and now has chapters all over the US, including Rochester, Ithaca, and Ossining-Briarcliff. Now every year on the Summer Solstice, over 1,000 cities across the globe take part in this great celebration of music. This year, Philadelphia will dedicate their events to the Black Lives Matter movement.
This year, although events cannot be held in person, the creators of the festival have still managed to invent creative ways to get many involved with music. A global day-long live stream will be held featuring several New York artists, there will be 12-hour long online music lessons for 25 different kinds of instruments for all experience levels, and composers from around the world will be challenged to perform another’s song. A contest for young people from ages 13-21 motivates them to submit their own work. Make Music Day even will even join Bash the Trash Environmental Arts by encouraging all to create instruments out of trash or household items. Performances of Elliot Cole’sFlowerpot Music, in which he makes music using flowerpots as percussion, will be live streamed for eight hours.
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 21: Marching bands perform during Make Music Day at the Brooklyn Museum on June 21, 2014 In the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Make Music Day)
Make Music New York even has their own unique lineup of events for the day. An ever-growing list of musicians and singers will perform Mozart’s Requiem at noon, and it is still possible to sign up and get involved in the performance, and the Third Street Music School will livestream Beethoven Sonatas from 1-5pm. Paul Stein, the activist accordion player, will be entertaining countless via livstream at 4. Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre will host a virtual block party that will feature NYC immigrant and international performers.
Make Music Day has even organized ways to safely bring music in person to some. One June 21, musicians will serenade the elderly from outside nursing home windows in order to maintain a healthy distance. Nursing homes are still looking for musicians! If you are interested, contact your local FirstLight Home Care to be matched with a participating nursing home. One-person marching bands will parade around cities across the US; look out for Matthew Cain, who will be playing the tuba in Park Slope on 9th street in Brooklyn. CenterPoint Arts is hosting live concerts from cars outside of Brooklyn Crepe & Juice (274 Flatbush Ave) at 4:15. Porch Stomp! will host pop-up socially-distant singalongs all around Brooklyn from 6-7:10.
There are even more events which will take place throughout the day on June 21, and there are still many chances to get involved in this global celebration of music.
On Tuesday, Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media jointly announced in a statement that the national show ‘Live From Here with Chris Thile’ will come to an end, along with 28 jobs will be cut due to budget concerns that have occurred since the start of COVID-19. Also canceled is ‘The Hilarious World of Depression,’ a podcast hosted by John Moe.
These cuts come after much consideration to keep MPR and APM running as is. Last month 14 staff members took voluntary staff buyouts in hopes of saving other staff members jobs. Among those announcing they’re leaving MPR/The Current is multimedia producer Nate Ryan and podcast producer Jeyca Maldonado. Despite these buyouts and money raised through emergency fundraising, the staff reduction and program eliminations could not be avoided.
Additionally MPR and American Public Media stated that executive pay will be cut by 20-35 percent, all 2021 pay raises are canceled and the reduction of working hours. At this time any unionized journalists and staff will not be effected by the cuts according to MPR/APM union representatives.
Photo credit: Brantley Gutierrez
MPR says the cuts it made were done in a way that “aligned with our mission, values and long-term vision” and “protects our core strengths” in an effort to provide programming that their audience wants while maintaining in a time of financial uncertainty.
MPR added, “We will find new ways to give you more control over when and how you listen, and greater access to our content on your favorite media devices. We’ll offer fresh, distinctive programming that deepens our value to you and attracts new audiences. We will double-down on trusted, in-depth information that engages and equips you to make informed decisions about your health, the economy and our democracy. And we will invest in understanding and addressing the systemic issues of racism and inequities further exposed by the killing of George Floyd.”
‘Live From Here’ started in 2016 with musician and songwriter Chris Thile at the wheel after the phasing out of ‘A Prairie Home Companion’. Broadcasting via public radio for two hours weekly from legendary Town Hall in New York City. With its blend of musical performances, comedy and audience interaction delivered by Thile and his wide range of guests, the show was an unique experience for audiences nationally.
Chris Thile expressed his excitement and hope for the show when he told NYS Music during an interview in September, “We have this two-hour canvas that we get to paint every week and there is a lot of space for things to happen and it feels good being in a place like this where on any given night there are hundreds of wonderful things happening”.
For the next installment of moe.ron Monday on Nugs.TV, the band heads to Colorado for their February 6, 2015 performance from the Ogden Theatre in Denver. moe. also recently announced the upcoming digital release of their new album This is not, We are, with select songs now available for streaming.
Higher Ground announced this week that a large stage is being constructed at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT. It will be home to a new series called ‘Higher Ground Drive-In Experience.’ All proceeds will go to benefit the Vermont Arts Council providing much needed relief to the arts community across Vermont.
The HG Drive-In Experience officially opens this weekend on June 13 with three area High School graduation ceremonies for Champlain Valley Union High School, Essex High School and South Burlington High School.
A few days later on Tuesday June 16, the archival special Phish: Dinner & A Movie will be available to enjoy on the big screen. Gates open at 6 p.m. est with the show starting at 7 p.m. est. Tickets are on sale now for $25.
In a press release Higher Ground cofounder Alex Crothers confirmed that the drive-in will be used for a variety of events in the future, including “religious worship, charity bingo nights (for which we have a Blackout Bingo promo code for), live streaming of concert events, chamber orchestras, live plays, weddings, political rallies, etc.”
Keeping with a true drive-in experience, 27-foot LED video walls mounted 40 feet high will be erected next to the stage to boost visibility. Cars must be spaced six feet apart and you will be able to sit outside your vehicles in lawn chairs or on blankets.The experience can accommodate up to 250 vehicles, ticketing will be per vehicle and are available online. Visit highergroundmusic.com for an updated calendar of Higher Ground Drive-In Experience events.
Artists strive to develop, grow, evolve. Blacktop Mojo’s latest release, Static, is certainly a product of that ethic. A 4 song EP that it is a get in your car, roll down the windows, crank it up, and drive recording. With their first three albums laying the groundwork, Static represents a defining moment in this East Texas based band’s career.
Blacktop Mojo
Issued as an EP, it equates more to a perfect album side. The bond between the songs begs for it to be played in its entirety. No singling out a song or two, you need to play them all. On first listen, I was so hooked that I played the EP through a second and third time before taking a breath. Simply put, this is a rocker. Raw, hard and an unfiltered.
Statoc = Blacktop Mojo
Twist the antenna around
Is there something wrong
There’s nothing but white noise now
The signal’s gone
“Signals Gone” – Blacktop Mojo
Blacktop Mojo has set a high watermark for future projects. If you are new to the band, what a place to start. For those those who have been in the know, Static will live at the top of the collection.
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.
Words are like honey; they can be sweet to hear but the message might not always stick. And over time, messages get lost in translation. Take the late great Muhammad Ali, who refused to fight in the Vietnam war because, as only he could put it, “no Vietcong ever called me n*****.” When Ali took his stance, he was stripped of his world championships, boxing license and was vilified by the public.
“I am not allowed to work in America and I’m not allowed to leave America,” Ali said in February. 1968, the start of his first full year of exile from boxing. “I’m just about broke.” This is why the Kaepernick comparisons aren’t apt. While Ali struggled to afford groceries, Kaepernick is backed by a billion-dollar corporation in Nike. After Ali’s passing in 2016, revisionist history took over. Ali’s mid-career struggles were now celebrated. Despite being spurned by the very country that now celebrates him.
What does this all have to do with Lauryn Hill? Well, have you ever asked yourself how the first woman to be nominated in ten Grammy categories in a single year, and the first woman to win five trophies in one night found herself out of the spotlight a couple of years after her acclaimed solo debut? Well, I’m here to tell you this was coming all along, oh and she warned us about it.
Lauryn Hill’s Revelation
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a magnum opus of black music, encompassing the best of multiple genres. However, due to her lack of activity musically, Lauryn Hill’s presence in contemporary pop culture is now reduced to jokes about her punctuality, and not the sacrifice she herself prophesied.
On “Final Hour,” the album’s seventh track, she makes her priorities apparent, regardless of her status as a world-famous entertainer. In the chorus she raps “you can get the money; you can get the power. But keep your eyes on the Final Hour.” With the “Final Hour” representing religious salvation. She even raps later in the record “I’m making sure I’m with the 144.” The 144 is a reference to the Book of Revelations. In it 144,000 people are specifically chosen by God to serve as his agents.
by 1998, Lauryn Hill had taken the world by storm
Lauryn Hill has always been open about her faith and spirituality yet, in her earlier work as a member of The Fugees, religious references were further and fewer in between. So, what changed? After selling millions of records, winning awards and being propped as the face of a generation of women, had Lauryn Hill learned new information that brought on this stance?
Decoding The Lyrics
At the end of the first verse she says, “People feel Lauryn Hill from New-Ark to Israel (clever play on words here as she makes a reference to the “Ark of the Covenant” and she’s from Jersey). And this is real, so I keep makin’ the street ballads, while you lookin’ for dressin’ to go with your tossed salad.” Followed by the aforementioned chorus, these lyrics emphasize her stance on the music industry. After all, tales of the the entertainment industry’s sexual deviance are now far too common. Hence, the “dressing” and “tossed salad” lines.
Throughout the song, she juxtaposes her glamorous life with her faith. Symbolizing that one wouldn’t be there without the other. In the last verse she says, “now I’m a get the mozzarella like a Rockefeller / Still be in the church of Lalibela, singing hymns a cappella / Whether posed in Maribella in Couture / or collecting residuals from off The Score.” While it may seem braggadocious, she lets the listener know what she would choose if it came time for a decision by saying, “I’m making sure I’m with the 144.”
Hence why she denounced the “dressing” (a symbolism for opulence) because the cost is her spirituality and beliefs. Being Lauryn Hill of course, (at one time one of the world’s most popular entertainers) there may not have been an option to continue her career without politics, corruption and possible harassment (there’s Harvey Weinstein’s in the music industry too).
Aftermath
It comes as no surprise that by the turn of the millennium, Lauryn Hill was out of the public eye. Yet, sehe returned in 2002 with her MTVUnplugged No. 2.0 live album. However, critics weren’t as kind this time around, as chic hip hop girlie Lauryn way to a spiritually devoted Mrs. Lauryn Hill. While her lyrics pick up where she left of on “Final Hour.” So, no. Lauryn Hill didn’t go crazy, she didn’t lose her rapping and songwriting abilities. She made a decision.
Lauryn Hill is now 45 years old. She still tours and performs medleys of her most popular songs (oftentimes restructuring the entire song and keeping the lyrics). She never regained the same level of stardom and probably won’t ever grace the covers of Time, Rolling Stone, Vibe, People or Entertainment Weekly ever again. Yet, it seems to have been a conscious sacrifice, preferring to sing her hymns for those that are keen to listen for their education and enjoyment. Not because the machine tells them to.
Washington, D.C. based Restless World today premiere the lyric video for their latest single “Precipice.” A globe-spanning journey follows the inspiring lyrics, which blends an R&B/Trap vibe in the verses with a classic pop ballad chorus.
The ‘trap ballad’ celebrates all creators and those who stay the course towards achieving their dreams, even when the road ahead is uncertain. Lyrics include “I’ve got nothing in my hands, just my dreams struggling to stand” will resonate with anyone fighting to turn their dreams into reality. The song’s inspirational message is supported by powerful vocals from Cadence XYZ, and acoustic piano from Berklee grad Suwon Yim.
Restless World‘s “Precipice” was named one of the Top 5 songs received by SongwriterUniverse in April and has been announced as a finalist in their May 2020 “Best Song Of The Month” contest.
CEO of SongwriterUniverse Dale Kawashima says of “Precipice”:
“I enjoyed listening to this song; I think it’s one of the best songs you’ve submitted for song evaluation. Your demo production is very good; it has a modern pop/soul quality with excellent musicianship. The female vocalist is very good, and she does a good job of conveying the emotion of the song and lyrics. I also like the female vocal harmonies in this demo; it adds to the hook and to the fullness of the arrangement. The melody is well crafted in each section, especially the chorus which has the good harmonies. So the whole song flows pretty nicely…this is good song that has feeling and emotion, and has a demo that is well sung and produced.”- Dale Kawashima (Founder and CEO of SongwriterUniverse, former President of ATV Music and of the publishing division of Giant Records)
It’s Memorial Day weekend and typically, you might find yourself at a music festival to kick off summer. With COVID-19, the collective experiences are on hold for the year, but festivals are doing their best to provide fans with a bridge to the experience they look forward to all year. Summer Camp Music Festival, founded by moe. in 2001 is holding a Virtual Festival all weekend, with live performances, throwback highlights, new songs, interviews, panels, and much more to bring Scamp vibes to the Scamp family across the country.
Each day kicks off with OM On The River hosting Yoga. Then Scamp will dive into various panel discussions, artist retrospectives, and close it out with bangin’ late night sets from some of the your favorite performers over the years, including hosts moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Keller Williams, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Twiddle, Gov’t Mule and more. As a bonus, Zac Brown Band, Trey Anastasio Band, Jane’s Addiction, Willie Nelson, Tedeschi Trucks Band and The Roots will be making appearances in Headliners: A Look Back segment, on Sunday, May 24.
Get a 3-Day Summer Camp Virtual Festival Pass and you’ll have the ability to rewatch the entire stream through June 17! Each 3-Day Virtual Pass is just $24.99 with a portion of proceeds going towards nonprofits including Headcount, Conscious Alliance, and Backline, plus participating artists and their crew. Get your pass here, and check out the schedule below!
