Singer-songwriter, Kyle Stockman, has released a two-song package titled Opal. It’s been a few months since we’ve heard from Stockman, whose last project, Hearts, was released in June of 2019. “Since I moved back to the city [for school] I’ve been having a lot of trouble finding like-minded people, I was questioning what was going on in my life,” Stockman says of the new project. “It’s me reaching out and asking these questions.”
The records are “Opal” and “Sundays.” The former, is a ballad in which Stockman croons about his longing for that special someone. “I’m speaking through the lenses of talking to one specific person, but it’s really me speaking to everyone around me,” he elaborates. “If someone wanted to love, how could they do it for me without me having to put in all the work?”
“Sundays” sees Stockman break out a lot more spoken-word, while the record itself relies a lot less on melodies for the verses. He evaluates his current standing in life. Surrounded by peers, he contemplates where exactly he fits in, with the record resembling a self-therapy session. “Sundays talks about what I’m seeing around me, the people around me and what I’m realizing about what going on in my life,” says Stockman. “At the end, I go back questioning ‘do you want to be with me?’ Bringing it back full circle.”
On the heels of this new release, Stockman says he is looking more into performing, dialing back on releasing full-length project and focusing more on growing his brand and his name.
Opal is available on all streaming platforms, with a lyrics video for “Sunday” already on YouTube.
The silly and surreal met the seriously groovy at the 9th Annual Wintercourse. The single-night, multi-artist musical event was presented by Brooklyn electro-funk band Cousin Earth.
The historic, hole-in-the-wall Knitting factory hosted the event for the fourth time in a row. This year’s Wintercourse went off with aplomb, delivering the musical goods four times over. Pennsylvania psychedelic punk band Medusa’s Disco opened things up. Additionally, Of Clocks and Clouds performed next, while the legendary jam band The Breakfast headlined the evening. Cousin Earth themselves also performed a complete set in addition to hosting the event.
Cousin Earth performs at their festival: The 9th Annual Wintercourse
The Performance
Medusa’s Disco revved up the beginning of the night with an immediate smattering of fearlessly intense music. Donned in devil horns and Willy Wonka spectacles, the members whipped across head-spinning riffs and cool, classic rock-style melodies. Medusa’s Disco presented a kind of feel-so-bad-it-feels-good rock and roll. A song like “Painters Painting Paintings,” a new song from the band, gives a great example of their essence: punk rock updated sonically for the modern age, without losing the raw spirit of the genre.
Of Clocks And Clouds performed at a hometown venue in Knitting Factory. Their set received fantastic enthusiasm from the crowd. The psychedelic metal quartet tapped into some vibrant improvisation for their performance. They played a few songs that were outright inspirational in their climactic peaks. One in particular was “Who I Am,” which managed to mutate its catchy chorus and composition into a terrifically bright and uplifting jam.
Medusa’s Disco gets down at the 9th Annual Wintercourse
Collaboration Efforts
Many anticipated a collaboration somewhere on this stacked lineup for Wintercourse 9. Cousin Earth’s ukulele lead Joey Calfa made that happen here in the Clocks set. He joined the band on a great version of “Hey Joe,” for which he shared in a sweet guitar shredding session with OCAC’s Tom Salgo. Calfa, for anybody who for some reason is unaware, is a Jedi on his instrument, at danger of ripping holes in time and space when he really gets going on a ukulele solo. But OCAC’s Tom and his brother Joe Salgo are confidently apt guitar players themselves, and they both delivered their own righteous lead solos back and forth.
Perhaps Cousin Earth followed the lead of Of Clocks and Clouds (who wrapped things up with Pink Floyd’s “Time”), for they opened their own performance with a take on “Great Gig In The Sky,” a rare and pretty cool choice for a set opener. Then they dove into their own music and things got groovy real fast. “Burnin’ Up For You” was a great blues-funk number that showcased the insatiable voice of the band’s lead vocalist Melissa Raye. By the time the band led the room through a meticulously played, futuristic-sounding disco rock groove, Knitting Factory took the spirit of Wintercourse 9 and ran away with it.
Prodded on by the ultimate ringmaster/troublemaker, Medusa’s Disco guitarist Wynton Huddle, the show which was musically splendid now became physically and visually joyful.
A wild unicorn appears at the 9th Annual Wintercourse
The Snowball Fight, Aliens, and More
Huddle snuck on stage in the middle of Cousin Earth’s jam and unleashed dozens of styrofoam “snowballs” into the crowd. A snowball fight occurred between crowd goers and members of Cousin Earth. The spontaneous snowball fight lasted for the entirety of their song. A unicorn making its way onto stage and men in alien and dinosaur costumes dancing in the audience threw the careless whimsy of Wintercourse over the cliff. As the craziness wound down, Cousin Earth’s members sang sweetly into the mic repeating: “Mr. Alien, please don’t kill us. Please don’t kill us, Mr. Alien.” This segment takes its name from the band’s most recent studio album, Please Don’t Kill Us, released in April of 2019.
“Okay, here’s a fish song.” For their finish, the Brooklyn ukelele-led rockers threw down an incredibly unique and formidable version of Heart’s “Barracuda”. The night pointed straight towards a high-reigning set from The Breakfast. The band consists of four unmatchable players: guitarist Tim Palmeri, drummer Adrian Tromontano, bassist Chris DeAngelis, as well as keyboard player Jordan Giangreco, who gets invited regularly to play with far too many notable bands to count. “I’d say these guys are my guilty pleasure, but I don’t feel guilty about it at all. They’re just my pleasure,” introduced Cousin Earth bassist Corey J. Feldman, who was acting as MC for the evening.
Jordan Giangreco of The Breakfast at The 9th Annual Wintercourse
The Closing Act – Final Thoughts
Furthermore, the short set from The Breakfast was a ballistic sprint from start to finish. Those aware of the northeast jam scene know that fast and furious is the only way how to do it. No matter the time, place, or conditions, it will always be a masterclass in how to shred.
Nevertheless, the band played versions of their classic hits in this closing set, including a version of “Over Exposure”. The musically focused song, worked through varying sections of tempo and melody with the maximum tightness. The song hit at the same level of supersonic barbarity as all the other jams produced throughout the night. Lastly, fans cheered on The Breakfast’s following cover of “Teenage Wasteland” as they screamed along to the lyrics.
NYC Winter Jazzfest kicked off last week with over 150 artists spread across more than a dozen venues in the city. We caught up with NYC vets Harriet Tubman at The Sultan Room on Saturday night for a sold out show supporting James “Blood” Ulmer.
The trio has been a staple of the underground jazz scene in New York for more than 20 years and has thus garnered a large following here in the city. Even though Harriet Tubman was billed as the opener, the sold-out crowd was in attendance early to catch a rare live show from the group. After all, there was an 11-year gap between records, spanning the entire decade from 2000-2010.
J.T. Lewis of Harriet Tubman at The Sultan Room – Photo: Joseph Buscarello
The trio consists of bassist Melvin Gibbs, guitarist Brandon Ross and drummer J.T. Lewis, and they can easily be described as a “power jazz trio.” Their style is a very heavy and dystopian mix of jazz, funk and psychedelic rock. Think of a jazz-fusion soundtrack for the end of the world and you have yourself a Harriet Tubman record. On their latest release, tracks like “Prototaxite,’”refer to a pre-historic mushroom measuring more than 20 feet high, and “Unseen Advance of the Aquifarian” gives you an idea what you are in for.
Melvin Gibbs of Harriet Tubman at The Sultan Room – Photo: Joseph Buscarello
The three musicians have amazing chemistry and produce such dense layers of loops and rhythms that you would think the band is twice as large. A setting like The Sultan Room was an ideal choice for their style. A small, crescent shaped floor with a low standing mezzanine provides an intimate setting to be engulfed by the noise they produce. The vibrant and nu-retro backdrop added to the futuristic aesthetic the band goes for in their sound.
Brandon Ross of Harriet Tubman at The Sultan Room – Photo: Joseph Buscarello
The band’s last record, The Terror End of Beauty, came out back in 2018 and, as of right now, they only have a few more US dates scheduled for January, all on the West Coast. Find those dates here and don’t miss a chance to catch this unique avant-garde jazz group in person.
Motion City Soundtrack have been on indefinite hiatus since 2016, but last summer the Minneapolis band began teasing something for New Years Eve. The surprise came in the form of a NYE show in Chicago at House of Blues followed by a month-long “Don’t Call It A Comeback” tour of the US. New York area shows included Webster Hall in NYC, where we caught the tour, Starland Ballroom in NJ and The Paramount on Long Island.
The newly renovated Webster Hall is still very much a work in progress, but that did not take away from the delight and anticipation of the fans. By the time the opening bands were set to play, the room was already mostly full and buzzing. Support for the night came from Gregory Stovetop followed by The Sidekicks who both played very upbeat pop-rock sets.
Motion City Soundtrack put out one of the most iconic mid-2000s anthem in “Everything is Alright,” and the crowd was treated to it early as the second song. The entire room jumped along to the guitar riff, stressing the ancient Webster Hall floor, while shouting the chorus in full-throat. Another fan favorite, and pop-rock hit “The Future Freaks Me Out” served as the final song of the night.
Motion City Soundtrack at Webster Hall 1/8/2020 – Photo: Joseph Buscarello
The band had terrific chemistry throughout the night, Justin’s vocals sounded crisp and the band delivered a tight 20 song, career-spanning set, meant to please. The hiatus is certainly over and MCS are back at it.
Motion City Soundtrack at Webster Hall 1/8/2020 – Photo: Joseph Buscarello
The rest of the tour runs through mid February, with stops coast to coast, concluding with three sold-out home town shows at The Fillmore in Minneapolis. Support for those last shows comes from White Reaper, Why Not, Lydia Lizer and Author.
Brooklyn Comes Alive announced it will be back for the fifth time on Saturday, March 21, 2020.
The festival will take place at Avant Gardner, a multistage complex located at 140 Stewart Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237. The location is an 80,000 square foot facility that takes up an entire city block in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. The location includes two indoor stages, Great Hall and Kings Hall.
The festival will include many acts including Oteil & Friends, Turkuaz, Birds of a Feather (feat. Members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong & Goose), The Motet, Dr. Klaw, Robert Randolph & Friends, Anomalie / Deitch / MonoNeon, Here Come The Mummies, SPAGA Plays The Dead and Karina Rykman. Brooklyn Comes Alive will also include late-night sets by electronic music producer Jade Cicada, and a rare Beats Antique DJ set featuring founding members and longtime collaborators David Satori and “Sidecar” Tommy Cappel at the Great Hall Starting at midnight and running until 4am.
Tickets are on sale now including a festival pass to the entire event. There is also late-night only passes available which grants attendees access to The Great Hall only from 12:00 am – 4:00 am. Tickets can be purchased HERE.
The Capitol Theatre has had a lot of impressive shows in recent times: a Neil Young pop up show, multi-night runs with legendary rockers Ween, the opening night of a three-night-only touring run for the vintage jam project Vida Blue, and lots of others. On December 21, 2019, the Port Chester, NY music venue hosted a concert as special or even more so, the “80th Birthday Celebration” of Del McCoury.
For fans of bluegrass, it doesn’t get much more important than Del, at least in terms of still living musicians. Across his more than sixty-year career, Del shaped the way modern bluegrass guitarist approached their instruments, as well as the way they sing a ballad or write an instrumental tune. He has performed with nearly everyone that made a mark upon the genre, which is perhaps fitting that this eightieth celebration show was billed as an evening with special guests. Players both classically recognized and recently popular were invited to be a part of this one of a kind, free-for-all style celebration of one of the guys who helped to start it all.
Del and his family group, The Del McCoury Band, tore open the evening with the invigorating, breakdown-style tune “Traveling Tear Drop Blues.” What was cool about this – it is a song that many bluegrass bands coming up in the past decade or so, from Yonder Mountain String Band to The Infamous Stringdusters, have covered regularly. Pretty much all of the songs being performed this evening at The Cap were now historically famous numbers that Del had either written himself or put his spin on decades ago. It links a sense of timelessness to the man himself.
At 80 years old, not only does Del pick a guitar as well as ever, but he’s spry in both mind and spirit. The entire night saw him bantering back and forth with an incredibly enthusiastic crowd. People screamed covers endlessly, which made him chuckle every time. Calls for perhaps what is his most famous cover, Richard Thompson’s Del joked to the crowd: “Yes, we’ll get that Vincent, for ya, we will! Maybe right after the show’s over!”
But it’s not just a Del show. The Del McCoury Band, who have toured in recent years without their founding father — that there’s three generations of McCoury ripping it up on stage right now. There’s Del, his sons Ronnie McCoury on mandolin and Rob McCoury on banjo, who have been in the band since the 1980s. As of late there is also Heaven McCoury, who takes after his grandfather and picks a mean guitar. Heaven might have hung in the back quietly most of the night, but whenever it was his turn to step up to the mic, he impressed.
Soon enough, after the core band had whipped the audience around for a bit, they brought out the night’s first special guest. “He’s one of the best in the entire world on his instrument,” introduced Ronnie McCoury, “please welcome, Jerry Douglas.” Yes, he is even objectively speaking probably the single greatest dobro player of all time, but in addition, he matches Del’s smile and charm. He instantly helped pick one of Del’s most famous tracks, “Nashville Cats.” The first set ended on a fantastic, strong note. Douglas lead the way on a quick but searing instrumental breakdown tune.
Set breaks aren’t usually magical, yet The Capitol Theatre always surprises its audiences with tricks. As The Del McCoury Band watched backstage, The Cap played a montage clip of musicians giving sentiments about the eighty-year-old legend on the venues wall. Giants from Paul Simon and Robert Plant, to jam scene heroes Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, and bluegrass newcomers Trampled By Turtles and Chris Thile, all spoke words of thanks and admiration towards Del. His limitless influence upon them, and American music in general, was clear.
Post montage, Del ushered the second half of the night with a duo, alongside noteworthy David Grisman. Grisman, just a few years younger than Del (as he made sure to point out humorously this evening), also earned his place in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, across countless records and collaborations with others of the genre. Del and Dawg, as they have billed themselves over the past few years, have an old folkster sort of camaraderie. Corny jokes were as present as the solos traded off back and forth.
The rest of the evening absolutely shined, getting better with each song and new guest called up. The last two guests, Leftover Salmon’s guitarist Vince Herman and mandolinist Drew Emmitt, ensued a full bluegrass ensemble – it was a magnificent sight and sound to behold. The entry of Andy Falco, guitarist for the Grammy-winning jamgrass outfit The Infamous Stringdusters, was especially touching as it was his first time getting to sing on stage with Del.
With all centered around Del, musicians picked in glorious, uniform and flawless fashion. All the songs “Midnight Blues” again a classic number but once that saw a resurgence of popularity with Leftover Salmon’s cover in the early 2000s, was a highlight of the night. It brought that great, country-rock kind of groove, but amplified with the intensity of a lot more players, and of course brought sharp solo after solo, after solo.
After a double encore of one of the most famous bluegrass songs of all time, “Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” Del’s 80th Birthday Celebration clocked close to three hours, with the main McCoury strumming and singing as effortlessly as he did around its opening. If that doesn’t speak to the fascinating amount of vitality this man commands as a performer, nothing will.
Legendary trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and his Uptown Jazz Orchestra will be playing songs off their upcoming album, Jazz Party tonight, Friday Jan. 10, in NYC. The album promises to deliver modernized twists on New Orleans traditions as well as homages to modern jazz musicians. Tickets are still available.
“Jazz, the indigenous American music, is a music of celebration and optimism. The Uptown Jazz Orchestra is such a fun band that I wanted to capture its uniqueness. The idea was to keep the wide variety of styles that we play but to really capture the joy that is a central trademark of the band.”
Delfeayo Marsalis
Jazz Party is set to release on February 7, 2020 via Troubadour Jass Records. It’s Marsalis‘ seventh album as a band leader, and the second major recording with Uptown Jazz Orchestra. It’s a follow-up to 2017’s Kalamazoo.
Gov’t Mule wrapped up 2019 with two shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, with a fair amount of Beatles covers in the process. The band teased the possibility of some Beatles songs on their social media ahead of the run, with pictures of mules walking across Abbey Road as well as playing on the rooftop of Apple headquarters.Â
Night one included covers of “She Said She Said,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “And Your Bird Can Sing,” and “Revolution.” Night two’s crowd was treated to an entire eleven-song post-midnight Beatles set with songs including “Get Back,” “Come Together,” “Oh Darling” and “Something.”
Prior to the December 30th show, The Madison Square Garden Company (owners of the Beacon) presented the band with a commemorative plaque honoring their 40 shows at the venue (as of New Year’s Eve). The plaque will be on display backstage at The Beacon.
Gov’t Mule next performs in Jamaica on January 17 for their Island Exodus shows. Warren Haynes will also be part of The Allman Brothers’ 50th Anniversary show at Madison Square Garden on March 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot5XpIcRBWk
Setlist: December 30, 2019
Set 1: Railroad Boy, Larger Than Life, Fool’s Moon, Painted Silver Light, Effigy > Folsom Prison Blues Jam, Effigy, Which Way Do We Run, She Said, She Said, Tomorrow Never Knows, And Your Bird Can Sing#, Revolution*^ Revolution Come, Revolution Go
Set 2: Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground, So Weak, So Strong, Doing It To Death, Fallen Down, The Other One Jam@, Play With Fire#@, Birth Of The Mule&
Encore: Live With Me*+
# with The Better Half Singers @ with Aaron Heick * Debut ^ with Connor Kennedy & with Oz Noy Mule + with Carmine Appice & Jimmy Vivino
Setlist: December 31, 2019
Set 1: Mr. Man, Lola, Leave Your Light On, Unring The Bell, Endless Parade, Whisper In Your Soul, Thorns Of Life, Game Face > Mountain Jam > Game Face, Don’t Step On The Grass, Sam, Eternity’s Breath Jam, Tastes Like Wine
Set 2: (full set with Connor Kennedy) Get Back*, Don’t Let Me Down, I’ve Got A Feeling*, One After 909*, Dig A Pony*, Dig A Pony (Reprise)* > Auld Lang Syne, Come Together*, Oh! Darling*, Something*, I Want You (She’s So Heavy), The End
Encore: Brighter Days, Silent Scream Pt. 2 > Scenes From A Troubled Mind > Starship Trooper Jam > The Gates of Delirium Jam > Starship Trooper Jam > Scenes From A Troubled Mind > Silent Scream Pt. 2, Sco-Mule^, Lay Your Burden Down >, Smokestack Lightning^ > Lay Your Burden Down, Catfish Blues^, Bad Little Doggie
* debut ^ with Jimmy Vivino
Opening for Gov’t Mule on Monday, December 30 was The Record Company. The Los Angeles-based band consists of Chris Vos (guitar, lead vocals), Alex Stiff (bass, backing vocals), and Marc Cazorla (drums, backing vocal). The trio was influenced by blues singers as well as early punk and rock bands like The Stooges and The Rolling Stones.
The Record Company began their set with the second single “Make it Happen” from their most recent album All of This Life. As soon as they started playing, the crowd was immediately engaged. They followed that with two cuts from the first album, “On the Move” and “Rita Mae,” plus their 2017 single “Baby I’m Broken.” Only a few songs in and the Beacon was nearly filled to capacity as people finished filing in. Many people were dancing in the aisles and singing along as the band did a few more songs from the first album Give it Back to You. The set ended with a tremendous version of “I’m Getting Better” that left the crowd wanting more.
The band will be playing The Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe,IL, as well as The Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, TN this summer.
Setlist: Make it Happen, On The Move, Rita Mae Young, Baby I’m Broken, Turn Me Loose, Off The Ground, Life to Fix, I’m Getting Better
The work of iconic singer-songwriter and musician Carly Simon will be honored on a special night at NYC’s Carnegie Hall with “The Music of Carly Simon,” hosted by Cyndi Lauper. The event takes place on March 19, and all the proceeds will be donated to music education for underprivileged youth. It will feature more than 20 artists who will be paying their tributes.
The star-studded lineup includes Lauper, Livingston Taylor, Indigo Girls and Michael McDonald. Also slated to appear is Rachel Price of Lake Street Dive. More artists will be announced.
“I’m so proud to be involved with bringing music into the lives of underprivileged children. It’s a tribute to them. I will be singing along with all of the exceptional performers who have given their time. If it’s only in the rehearsals, I’m going to be footloose in the aisles.”
Carly Simon
Tickets are on sale now. For more information and updates, visit musicof.org.
The Alpaca Gnomes, fresh off of a holiday toy drive show, head to NYC Friday night, January 10, for a set at Rockwood Music Hall‘s Stage 1 at 10 p.m. The band has built up a loyal following with their vibrant, stomp-and-groove, 7-piece original rock-folk jam band. The Gnomes ensemble currently features violin, electric & acoustic guitar, bass, drums, sax, and percussion. Check out their set for FREE this FRIDAY.
The Alpaca Gnomes at Soupstock 2018 – Video by: LiveMusic420
The Alpaca Gnomes’ eclectic style always gets crowds moving and has allowed them to appear on a multitude of bills with varied acts and musical genres such as Living Colour, Blues Traveler, Twiddle, DJ Logic, Funky Meters, Anders Osborne, Railroad Earth, The Drifters, The Tokens, Rick Derringer, Soul Rebels, Roots of Creation, Kung Fu, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, Funky Dawgz Brass Band, Box Set Duo Trio, and The Main Squeeze, as well as private events such as ESPN Radio’s NCAA College Football National Championship pre-party in Pasadena, California.
