Author: NYS Music Staff

Live Music in 2022: Reelin with the Feeling, Don’t Stop Continue

As the spark from one tiny blaze affects various live music re-schedules and new formats to end this year, it becomes important to reflect on how far we’ve come in the past 12 months. As I picked up my matches and was closing the door I had one of those flashes I’d been there before, been there before. 2020 marked the first year of major live music cancellations since Phish’s Curveball Festival in 2018.

However, the show of life must go on. Music finds its way throughout history. We live in the same world where the Vatican once outlawed the saxophone because of its effects. Perhaps the most soulful instrument made its way into the best musicians’ hands across the world over time. In similar fashion, many artists around the state immediately went to the streaming options of performance to not skip a beat. Landscapes and climate also play a big part in what’s capable of music. The summer of 2020 in Upstate New York really showed that distanced live shows were easily doable in these spaces now turned venues.

The Sunshine State started things officially live in 2021. Artists like Dumpstaphunk and Oteil Burbridge resurrected Suwanee’s festival grounds in Northern Florida for a Mardi Gras celebration in February. The North Beach Bandshell in Miami hosted these artists in the spring as well. Both with an option to stream the show or attend it live as we took small steps in reopening this year. The new split screen viewing choice if you will, is something that has almost become the new norm. Do we drive to the show or should we just stay home and stream it?

Oteil Burbridge, Miami Beach, April 2021

The most important thing to come out of this year in live music has been the unexpected artist collaborations. Many of which occurred due to ever changing last minute safety protocol changes backstage. All of the road crew, managers, promoters, and all the people behind the scenes deserve praise handling these alterations so that the show will go on so you could buy a ticket again. A buyer beware mentality has taken on the ticket sales in 2021 with various pending circumstances till the day of the event it seems.

Artists however have been on their musical game at the highest level possible as of lately. Alan Evans told NYS Music in February:

For me it’s like a cleanse, to really look at my life, I can’t just do any old gig , I just take everything away and have time to step back and feel what’s really important. What do I want my life to be about? That’s been a positive for me and I hope it’s like that for a lot of people.
Alan Evans

New Orleans artist Tony Hall had not collaborated with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds since their Some Devil Winter 2003 tour. While his band Dumpstaphunk was opening for Dave Matthews Band Labor Day weekend at the Gorge some last minute changes came up. A safety protocol factor had forced bassist Stefan Lessard and drummer Carter Beauford to sit out their first gig in over thirty years. DMB’s Keyboardist Buddy Hall moved to drums and Tony Hall, who was familiar with the catalog, picked up bass on the spot for all three nights so that the show went on. No cancellations, just an alternate format. Silver linings at their finest to bring artists like Dave, Tim, and Tony to play together again for the first time in 14 years. Dumpstaphunk even split the bill for DMB’s two sold out tour closing shows at Madison Square Garden.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band also assisted as part of the alternate format at the Gorge Amphitheater Labor Day weekend shows. His entire band took center stage alongside Dave Matthews and Friends. Robert kicked off New York State’s first free musical festival at the state fairgrounds in June. Randolph was part of the blues festival’s new home at the State Fairgrounds this year. Dumpstaphunk was the last to play its old home in downtown Syracuse’s Clinton Square in 2019. Tony Hall and drummer Devin Trescalir hit up Syracuse’s Funk n Waffles after the 2019 festival. Robert and his band took to Syracuse’s newest music club Jus sum Jazz lounge after the gig in 2021. Them changes. Roll with the funk and turn it around now.

Dumpstaphunk, Syracuse 2019

We should also honor the collaborations that the never ending uncertainties of life’s protocol throw at us as well. The Trey Anastasio Band lost founding bassist Tony Markellis this past Spring. Tony still had his final bow of performing on stage in 2020 with his band mates at the infamous Beacon Jams residency. The first of its kind that still showed how good music will find a way to the masses.

Tony Markellis told NYS Music last November regarding an empty Beacon Theater about his fond memories of playing TAB Fall Tour’s of the past to full theaters in Utica. So full that the balcony was “rocking to the beat of humanity.” His groove carries in “Long Lines” to all future cast members of TAB. The Trey Anastasio Band also took on a new saxophone player for their Fall 2021 tour due to saxophonist James Casey’s personal health challenge.

The freshly formed ensemble itself had another onstage audible due to safety protocol. The band had yet another alternate format the last two nights for the tour’s closing shows at Radio City Music Hall. For the first time outside of Phish, and Trey’s 2019 composition with Tony Markellis on Ghosts of the Forest, Syracuse native drummer Jon Fishman joined him at 30 Rock to finish the tour. Jon and Trey’s first time at Radio City since 2000.

The two night run in Rockefeller felt almost entirely composed by the improvisational material one seeks at any show. How fitting was it that James Casey special guested for the encore on the deep cut “A Life Beyond the Dream” off Ghosts of the Forest only album? It was also Trey’s last performance on his Manhattan island for 2021 after his lonely trip the year prior. Phish has moved their four night New Year’s eve shows at Madison Square Garden till 4/20/2022.

Instead Phish will play a live stream from the 9th cube with its Bat Cave like location to be unveiled on New Year’s Eve. TAB members Russ Lawton and Ray Paczkowski with guest Rob Compa of Dopapod are playing Phish headquarters Nectars in Burlington, Vermont on New Years Eve to live crowd. Trey treated a newly renovated SPAC to a socially distanced three night run of acoustic shows in June and even reunited with Oysterhead for the first time in 20 years on July 4. Mike Gordon’s December 2021 shows in New York were acoustic with Leo Kottke for their first tour in more than 16 years.

Everything feels right since Phish’s last 4/20 show was with the Dave Matthews Band in Virginia in 1994. DMB and Phish crushed “You Enjoy Myself” into “Somewhere over the Rainbow” during the holiday show. The first time Dave Matthews heard Leroi Moore’s saxophone he played Somewhere Over the Rainbow against the Charlottesville bars cash register that Dave was tending at. A week prior to that show coincidentally was Phish’s last New York City April performance on 4/13/1994. What New York venue? The Beacon Theater of course. Ghosts of the Forest closed their tour in the Bronx on 4/13/2019. This could feel like the turn of the dial from Sirius XM’s DMB channel 29 to Phish’s channel 30 on any given day this year. Devon Allman played his father Gregg’s birthday at the Beacon this past December that honored his spirit as well.

Leroi Moore

As we start 2022, we still need to keep rocking to the beat of humanity. Don’t forget about the shows that the cosmos hold above for all of us around the world. They’ve never stopped in all of their live performance history. Jimi Hendrix mentioned it under New York skies during his Woodstock 69 performance. “The Sky Church is still here as you can see.”

Last December Jupiter and Saturn formed “Christmas Star” the first visible “double planet” in 800 years. This December the longest lasting partial lunar eclipse in 580 years formed the Beaver Moon. Not to be confused with the comet in Leonardo Dicaprio’s new film Don’t Look Up. There is Comet Leonard that has been viewed above at the end of this year moving 150,000 mph through space. We need to keep the same momentum with the world’s love for art and music in the new year. Legendary Little Feat’s track “Skin it Back” said it best…

So it seems that the world keeps on turnin’ but so what I don’t doubt it, It just keeps on the move.
Little Feat

December 31, 2021
Brookyln Post-Punk Band Catcher Share “Comparing Saviors and Friends” from Upcoming Debut Album

NYC post-punk outfit Catcher have shared a comeback single entitled “Comparing Saviors and Friends,” off their upcoming debut album, due out in 2022. The single is regarded as one of the first tracks they’d written with the genesis of the band, and comes alongside a DIY music video.

Photo by Kevin Allen

Catcher is a Brooklyn-based post-punk band with a reputation for visceral and powerful live performances. Drawing comparisons to Iceage and Protomartyr, Catcher deliver music with a driving and inundating low-end, provided by childhood friends Cameron McRae and Wilson Chestney, on bass and drums respectively. Guitarists Jack Young and Christian Reech, each having been recruited earlier this year via a Craigslist ad and connection via the band’s shared Tinder, interweave melodies and noise to create an environment that manages to be at once both bleak and moving, desolate but hopeful, violent but tender.

Vocalist Austin Eichler commands listeners with a domineering and chaotic presence. From drawling croons to powerful screams, Austin’s narrative lyrics invoke a wide spectrum of emotion while creating a world of their own. Through endless hours of practice and work, the band has crafted a gripping and tight live performance and a growing international fanbase.

With a sludgy bass and frenetic guitar chords, “Comparing Saviors and Friends” charges forward like an angry bull out the gate, with a deep-seated drawl from vocalist Austin Eichler. The new single comes on the heels of the band’s first four singles: “Yesterday’s Favorite,” “The Skin,” “Only Advice,” and “Fallen Stones,” amid playing countless sold-out shows across New York City, as well as their first headlining tour across the U.S. with fellow NYC rockers Been Stellar.

Catch Catcher at Mercury Lounge on January 2, 2022 with Hello Mary. More information and tickets are available here.

December 29, 2021
Leo and Mike Tour Closer at The Strand: From the Cradle to the Grave

The city of Plattsburgh, New York has an Icelandic glow on the shores of Lake Champlain. The Strand Center for the Arts in town hosted Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon’s tour closing show on Sunday December 19. Just across the Lake is Mike Gordon’s Gamehendge in the city of Burlington. It seemed as if it was his first time performing in Plattsburgh since Phish’s infamous Clifford Ball festival that drew 60,000 to Clinton County in 1996. However, Gordon was making the trip to Plattsburgh well before 1996.

Photo by Kyle Donoghue

SUNY Plattsburgh alumnus and saxophonist Dave Grippo was voyaging from Burlington to Plattsburgh in the early 90s. Like Nectar’s across the lake, Plattsburgh has The Monopole around the corner from the Strand since the 1800’s. Owner of The Monopole, Cory Rosoff, remembers Mike playing in random band formations with Dave Grippo in Plattsburgh over the years. “I used to actually have his bands come in and play Homecoming Weekend being that he was alumni. He just played sax on a lot of their (Phish) albums.”

Mike Gordon on Drums, Monopole, Plattsburgh

The quiet majesty of the Strand Center allowed for great stories in between songs. Samuel Johnson kept the audio levels just right inside the old 1924 vaudeville room. Leo Kottke spoke on the origins of his 20 year relationship with Mike Gordon to the Plattsburgh crowd. He reflected about their first jam session at Trey’s barn in Burlington across the lake. It wasn’t until the last riff of the day that a groove was caught between the two and a blaze from one tiny spark was lit. Gordon reflected on how he sent Leo a tape of him adding bass to one of his tracks.

Photo by Kyle Donoghue

After three months with no reply, Kottke responded to Gordon that a lot of people send him what he did over the years and that it usually comes off “cheesy.” However there was something different about this tape and it helped lead them to that first jam session in Burlington.

photo by Kyle Donoghue

Pete Seeger once referred to Leo Kottke as the greatest 12 string guitar player in the world. The duo covered Pete Seegers “Living in the Country”, that made its notoriety live at New York City’s Bitter End club album. Freight train, freight train goin’ so fast, Please don’t tell them which train I’m on, So they won’t know which route I’ve gone. Leo and Mike played material from all three of their studio albums.

Leo gave the historical origins of their record Sixty Six Steps which naturally is named after the Queens Staircase in the Bahamas that is 66 steps high. Mike stepped out front solo again for Hank Williams “Old Habits.” He also offered a tour debut on its last night by collaborating with Leo on his original “I am Random,” of which the studio version features Jon Fishman on drums.

photo by Kyle Donoghue

The duo continued the tour’s tradition by playing through the encore so that we could all exit The Strand Center for the Arts at the same time. They landed on “From the Cradle to the Grave” from their most recent album Noon, singing, “Running for my life at every moment never have time to catch my breath, sometime I wish this crazy race were over, the thought of living scares me half to death. Everyday is the same… same old ways never change and were going to the cradle from the grave.”

photo by Kyle Donoghue

December 21, 2021
The Wooks are “Flyin’ High” and Coming to Syracuse and Brooklyn in April

Award-winning bluegrass band The Wooks embark on a tour in Spring 2022, bringing their traditional and unconventional form of bluegrass with them to New York. They’ll make stops at Funk n Waffles in downtown Syracuse, and the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn this coming April.

The Wooks have established a distinctive sound through original songwriting, exceptional musicianship, and outside influences ranging from jam bands to Southern rock. Their third album, Flyin’ High, due out in February 2022, offers a refreshed lineup of the group, even though its members have been crossing paths with each other at music festivals for years.

Band member CJ Cain (guitar, vocals) started the duo in 2014 in Kentucky, with a lineup that now includes Harry Clark (mandolin, vocals), George Guthrie (banjo, vocals) and Allen Cooke (dobro), with the latter three musicians based in Nashville. Various bass players stay in rotation on the road, filling out the ensemble’s driving sound.

Love songs that stand-the-test-of-time tend to come from unlikely origin stories, and until The Wooks’ founder CJ Cain wrote the song “Flyin’ High,” not one of them has been inspired by the crash landing of a buddy’s World War I bi-plane. The resulting tune is a story of two different couples, real folks from the small town of West Liberty, Kentucky, where Cain’s father grew up, that falls somewhere perfectly between the sound of The Band, Van Morrison, and The Wooks’ ever-evolving signature style.

He had bought this plane at a good price and would soon find out why. He lost oil pressure and had to take her down in front of his family who had gathered in the yard to watch him buzz the farm. Luckily he made it out.
CJ Cain

Rather than repeating the formal studio experiences for past albums, The Wook recorded Flyin’ High over two sessions in Nashville in the home studio of bluegrass guitarist Jake Stargel. As a producer, he brought an easygoing vibe as well as acoustic expertise to the project, which is the band’s first full-length album since the fall of 2018. After Tony Rice’s death in December 2020, Cain wanted to honor his legacy in some way, so he cold-called Bill Wolf to see if he would master the album. Wolf wrote back, asking to hear it – and then elevated Flyin’ High to the next level.

While their origin stories are diverse, all four members of The Wooks have forged a common bond that honors individuality and innovation. But with minimal shows to road-test the material on Flyin’ High, Cooke speaks for the band when he says he’s eager for fans to discover these new songs—on the album as well as the stage. “This band is definitely not a band that is set on keeping things to the way they sounded on the record,” he says. “We’re all about keeping these songs fresh and new-sounding as shows go on.

The Wooks are ambassadors for Can’d Aid, a nationally recognized nonprofit that rallies volunteers from all walks of life to build thriving communities; through their work with Can’d Aid, they’ve performed and donated instruments to schools and underserved youth.

The Wooks 2022 Tour Dates

2/24 – Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
2/25 – Huntington, WV – The Loud
2/26 – Lexington, KY – The Burl
3/1 – Atlanta, GA – Eddie’s Attic
3/2 – Birmingham, AL – The Nick
3/4 – Asheville, NC – Isis Music Hall
3/5 – Nashville, TN – Station Inn
3/9 – Awendaw, SC – Awendaw Green
3/10 – Raleigh, NC – Pour House
3/12 – Roanoke, VA – Martin’s St Patty’s Street Fair
3/13 – Richmond, VA – The Camel
3/16 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
3/17 – Washington DC – Pearl Street Warehouse
3/18 – Farmville, VA – North Street Press Club
3/19 – Round Hill, VA – B Chord Brewing
3/30 – Ferndale, MI – Otus Supply
4/1 – Newport, KY – Southgate Revival House
4/2 – Morgantown, WV – 123 Pleasant
4/5 – Syracuse, NY – Funk n Waffles
4/7 – New Haven, CT – Cafe Nine
4/8 – Boston, MA – The Burren
4/9 – New York, NY – Jalopy Theater
4/10 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Saint
4/13 – Philadelphia, PA – City Winery
4/14 – Lancaster, PA – Zoetropolis
4/15 – Grove City, PA – Big Rail Brewing
4/16 – Thomas, WV – The Purple Fiddle

December 21, 2021
Dark Star Orchestra to Perform at The Stanley in Utica on St Patrick’s Day

Legendary Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra will play in Utica at The Stanley Theatre on March 17, 2022. This follows the group’s pair of shows to ring in 2022 at The Palace Theatre in Albany on December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2021.

Performing to critical acclaim for over 20 years and over 3,000 shows, Dark Star Orchestra continues the Grateful Dead live concert experience. Their shows are built off the Dead’s extensive catalog and the talent of these seven fine musicians. On any given night, the band will perform a show based on a set list from the Grateful Dead’s 30 years of extensive touring or use their catalog to program a unique set list for the show. This allows fans both young and old to share in the experience.

View this show and more Grateful Dead shows from across the years in New York State with our interactive map below!

By recreating set lists from the past and developing their own sets of Dead songs, Dark Star Orchestra offers a continually evolving artistic outlet within this musical canon. Honoring both the band and the fans, Dark Star Orchestra’s members seek out the unique style and sound of each era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations.

In addition to appearing at some of the nation’s top festivals, Dark Star Orchestra hosts its own annual music festival and campaign gathering, titled the “Dark Star Jubilee,” currently in its eighth year where they headline all three nights and are joined by a mix of established and up and coming national touring acts. Beyond the shores of the United States, the band has taken its internationally-acclaimed Grateful Dead tribute to the beaches of Jamaica in the dead of winter for the past six years, with their event appropriately titled ‘Jam in the Sand.’ Featuring an ocean-side stage, Dark Star Orchestra sets up camp to perform shows for four nights along the tropical sands of an all-inclusive resort, selling out the event each year for hundreds of lucky attendees.

For us it’s a chance to recreate some of the magic that was created for us over the years. We offer a sort of a historical perspective at what it might have been like to go to a show in 1985, 1978 or whenever. Even for Deadheads who can say they’ve been to a hundred shows in the 90s, we offer something they never got to see live.
keyboardist and vocalist Rob Barraco

Fans and critics haven’t been the only people caught up in the spirit of a Dark Star show. The band has featured guest performances from six original Grateful Dead members: Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten and even toured with longtime Dead soundman, Dan Healy.

The Stanley Theatre has always adhered to all recommendations and guidelines from Oneida County in regards to COVID-19. With this said, the theatre will require any applicable mandates at the time of the performance.

Tickets for Dark Star Orchestra in Utica will go on sale on Monday, December 20 at 10:00 a.m. and can be purchased through Ticketmaster, or by calling The Stanley Theatre Box Office at 315-724-4000.

December 20, 2021
Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon History Lesson at Troy Music Hall

Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon brought their acoustic duo tour to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Wednesday December 15. The venue has been a sought after performance destination by various artists since the 20th century. The original padded wooden seats help absorb a layer of sound. Listeners in even the deepest seats hear the effect of the entire room. Leo & Mikes acoustic bass and guitars resonated just right into acoustic ear candy at the performance on the Hudson.

Photo by Dave Decrescente

The visual and historic appeal of the Hall must not be overlooked in any discussion of its acoustic character. The ear and the eye are inseparable in the concert-going experience in Troy. The room with equivalent acoustics could not sound as good without also being visually vibrant.

Mike Gordon took note of the Hall’s history on his Instagram by saying

Classical performers consider this room to have the best acoustics in the country. I can’t believe I get to share a chair with Leo Kottke to play in it tonight. Heavenly.
Mike Gordon

Photo by Dave Decrescente

There is even a black and white shot of Leo on the Halls walls from 1996 along side all the other great performers to grace the stage. Leo took lead on alot of the numbers through out the evening. Mike had the best seat in the house next to Kottke as he listened with audience to his various tales coming off the band stand. Mike did jump in front for a cover of Hank Williams Jr “Old Habits”.

I hope you don’t mind how lost I am. I’m just having a real good time up here.
Leo Kottke

Photo by Dave Decrescente

Leo told the crowd of American modernist composer Charles Ives and his struggles to get his work out. Overtime he hired Burlesque dancers to enhance attention on his Concord Sinata 2. After becoming acknowledged for his work someone told Ives over time… “I can tell it’s good music but it doesn’t sound very good” Ive’s reply:

Whats sound got to do with music?
Charles Ives

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

Leo also read a passage of Sunday Morning by Wallace Stevens to the Troy Music Hall crowd.

All Pleasures and all Pains, remembering the bough of summer and the winter branch. These are the measures destined for her soul
Wallace Stevens

Photo by Dave Decrescente

The duo covered a lot of material from their 2020 Album Noon. They also brought the crowd back to their first album collaboration Clone by performing “From Pizza Towers To Defeat” In true Leo fashion the duo sat through the encore so that “we could all leave the room at the same time” They finished with “Invisible” off their Sixty Six Steps album.

The duo truly gave a history lesson on the shores of the Hudson. They split the bill down the middle in Troy for an evening of composition, and improvisation. The live performance that unfolds in front of you is credited it to the moment that we all can share in before leaving the room at the same time. The tour concludes in Plattsburgh’s Strand Theater on Sunday December 18 2021. The venue is 2.5 miles from where Mike performed at the Cilfford Ball in 1996.

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, December 15 2021:

Set List: Rings, Living in the Country, Tiny Island, Old Habits, The Last Steam Engine Train, Airproofing, Ojo, You are My Flower, Twice, Flat Top, From Pizza Towers to Defeat, Invisible

December 18, 2021
Lil Cease performs at Alien Opera House, Reflects on the Moment

The Alien Opera House hosted a Sunday farmer’s market with live music throughout the day on Sunday, December 12. The holiday festive green Sunday on the north side featured performances by Lil Cease, Ryan Mackie, Ebb n Flow with Mozay Calloway, Joe Driscoll, and DJ R Hop. Sound beats by Scott Gagnon.

The Sunday matinee headliner was the Frank White Experience with special guest Lil’ Cease of the original Bad Boy Record label. The ensemble consisting of Deyquan Bowens, Thomas Carter, Danielle Mitchell, Jay Lock, Emanuel Washington and Skribe Da God laid down a live studio session vibe to the music of Notorious B.I.G. Skunk City’s Emmanuel Washington held down the neo-soul beats on drums for the holiday event. He even had Byron Cage carry the groove on the kit for the encore.

Lil Cease has been in the studio for countless legendary sessions with Brooklyn artist Notorious B.I.G. He took some time before his set at The Alien Opera House to speak with NYS Music about the surroundings:

Matthew Romano: There’s a lot of artists here today all inspired by having you in the building on this 12 21 Sunday. Do you remember a specific session that just came out of nowhere to form something significant?

Lil Cease: Yea that happened to me while working with producer Harry Fraud and French Montana. It was the first time I started recording records on the spot. I would write my rhymes right there and they’d have the music ready to go. We cut a track in two hours tops. You got to take advantage of the moment, ya know? If I went home and messed with it I’d try to refurbish it and wouldn’t be the same. I did my best records like that. Sometimes you gotta take the energy of something around you and run with it. BIG used to do that with songs all the time, he would listen to people and conversations around him and bring it to the booth. We’d be in the studio smoking and he would just go record on the spot… Plans to leave, throw the keys to Little Cease (uh-huh) Pull the truck up front, and roll up the next blunt. It’s like yo we just did that… (laughter)

Writing about your surroundings is really powerful.
Lil Cease

MR: What kind of funk music is an influence on you?

LC: I mean I listen to a bunch of stuff. Is Earth Wind and Fire considered funk? I mean it’s all just music. I listen to music. Once I started learning to DJ I realized how music works. You want to say every rapper is a jazz artist? I have sampled jazz music before. It’s just beats that play, they run, Like Rain Dance.. that’s Crush on You! I didn’t know we sampled other people’s music, I was fifteen years old just thinking the producer made the beat. After I heard the original I said damn we should have left the horns in it.

Photo by Ryan Mackie

Lil Cease joined the experience on the spot for a live “Crush on You” at the Opera house in 12 21. The Frank White Experience also brought “Machine Gun Funk” and “Dead Wrong” among many other B.I.G record classics to the masses. Deep Cuts like “One More Chance” and “Sky is the Limit” really hit hard in the Sunday crowd. Whatever art you dabble in you can guarantee to have a meeting of the minds at this space on Syracuse’s north side. You never know what what will happen in the Alien opera house world. Stay Tuned.

We Love Ya”ll Syracuse. The Vibe here is great. RIP B.I.G. Life is short, lets try and bring some peace in this world. Love and appreciate Ya’ll
Lil Cease

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gIn9InatFY

Photo Gallery by Ryan Mackie

December 17, 2021
G Love Talks Empire State Memories ahead of Bringing the Juice to New York in 2022

G Love has been running the roads since his first American tour in 1994. He’s ready to return in 2022 with his band The Juice, starting in January, as part of a national tour. G Love & The Juice album been nominated for his first Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album as well. Throw in a live from home Christmas special to end this year to celebrate the holidays proper before heading back on tour.

G Love is also an active artist. At his December 2017 annual trip to Art Basel in Miami he came to be involved with the community’s first NFT. G love is releasing Juice Gang the first series of 10,000 unique pieces regenerative NFT. They are all based on the animations by artist Andre Solar. He did all the animated videos for the Grammy nominated album. I saw G Love perform at Blackbird Ordinary that year in Miami. In true holiday spirit, he took some time to talk about his past, present, and future music with NYS Music this December.

Matthew Romano: I was watching your Instagram live to get filled in on the announcements of the various projects you have coming up. I like how you did it while driving To the Beacon Theater for the Midnight Rider Gregg Allman’s birthday show. It reminded me of Summer 2006 when you killed harp and a freestyle live with Dave Matthews Band in Pittsburgh for Smooth Rider

G Love: (laughter) Dave’s probably the sweetest, humblest, most welcoming guy. That be being said I always say stupid shit to him. The first thing was during the 1994 horde tour in the catering line in Orchard Beach, Maine. I was a little shy then. This guy came up to me and said, “Your G love, I love your record.” I said thanks. He said I’m Dave Matthews and I’m like cool. What’s your band? Dave has taken us on the road through Canada and the States over the years. The musicianship with those guys is just unreal. That’s always an immediate “Yes” when that call comes up.

MR: Like when Leo Kottke met Bob Dylan? How about when you were on a full Philadelphonic Sound Bill you shared with Hall and Oates at Constellation Brands Center in Canandaigua, New York in August 2019. That was all Philadelphia music in the Finger Lakes that evening.

GL: I was really blown away by Darryl’s voice still being so strong. Just so great hearing all those tunes I grew up on the radio ya know? All those hits & the cool banter in between songs. They put on a hell of a show and I was glad to be a part of it.

MR: Lets jump cut to your most recent remix release with B Real & Slightly Stoopid on Everyday People.

GL: I cut that in Long Beach with Miguel. Very intricate stuff with each verse. Kyle McDonald of Slightly Stoopid is a really special and unique musician to me and many people. The way he makes beats and delivers flows is to the point where I can’t figure out where the “1” is (laughter) I was real pleased with how my rhymes came out. For Jon Phillips to say we’re gonna put B Real on this track… I was like to the moon. He’s in my top 5 MC’s. The first time I heard Cypress Hill it scared the shit out of me. To come full circle and be on a track with an all time inspiration was a real blessing.

MR: Yea man, it has a Kokua Festival sound to it. From the cold winter shores of Boston to the sunny skies of the San Diego and everywhere in between. Your setup in Cape Cod transcends coasts as well. That Kokua vibe. Your live feeds from home really showed a true homegrown set up. Looking forward to the Christmas special from the colder Orleans for the holidays.

MR: January 2022 has you back on Tour though with the Juice that stops in Buffalo and Brooklyn. How did you connect with Amy Bowles and Aaron Bellamy? I used to see them play with Sam Kininger in the same clubs the Special Sauce would hit in 2006.

GL: Yea they’re now in the super Juice. I love playing with those guys. The juice is kind of an eclectic collective. The unit on tour coming through your neck of the woods will have Chuck Trace on drums, Van Gordon Martin on guitar and Jimmy “Jazz” Prestcott on bass. That being said, the special sauce is well intact and will continue to do shows . The pandemic kind of created a pivot to open new doors to connect with great musicians from New England like the Bellamy’s. It feels like the right time to do a different show with a new sound. It’s gonna be rocking.

MR: Musicians in New York State helped find that same silver lining for new creations. What New York State gigs have you played that stick out over the years?

GL: What pops in to mind was Irving plaza one night where Chris Robinson sat in. He’s always been big bro status. We did our version of the Beatles “Help”. He sang the shit out of that. Actually the night we got signed is something worth talking about. We came down to New York City from Boston for these showcases back in the day in front of the labels and industry folks. We had two shows. One was at the CBGB gallery packed with Industry people; it was right next to the original CBGB club. Ya know we played it and did what we needed to.

But then after that show I felt very… “fuck this man, fuck this vibe”. The next show later that night was at the Bitter End on Bleecker street. So I’ll never forget Jimmy Jazz and I scored a piece of hash on the corner and twisted it up real quick on the street. I remember saying…” I don’t give a fuck about this bull shit.”

We went in to Bitter End that night and it only had one table filled in the back. I remember going in and playing a set that was really potent. You know just for us?
G Love

MR: How was just playing the Beacon Theater for Gregg Allman’s birthday as part of the Allman Family Revival?

GL: The whole thing has been an amazing journey. Devon and I are very close. We had a band called jam town right before ABB did their thing. Devon wanted to take some time after his father passed before these tributes because he needed it. He wanted to let the dust settle out of respect for his father. He finally had the fruition of the dream going on the road recently. It’s so special to be part of the extended family. We toured with the Allman’s during the H.O.R.D.E. tour in ’95 where Warren would take me under his wing. There’s that legacy and comradery at the Beacon. It wasn’t planned for the show at the Beacon to be on Greggs Birthday. It just serendipitously was the available date they had for it. Devon loved that. I even got to do Cold Beverages with the cast . Then to get out front and share the mic with Devon for One Way Out surrounded by these other great musicians was an honor.

MR: I just saw Eric Gales for the first time a couple months ago who joined you at the Beacon on “One Way Out”

GL: He’s so cool man. I just saw him for the first time too and got to hang with him. Sweetest guy and his wife LaDonna. He’s the fucking man.

MR: We know the coldest beverages ever served live was to the thirsty Woodstock 99 crowd in Rome, New York. Speaking of Cold Beverages I remember years ago seeing you at a club in NYC for a Raconteurs show. Jack White said to you backstage “well if it isn’t Mr. Cold beverages” I think it was at Terminal Five.

GL: (laughter) That’s right it was at Terminal Five. I didn’t play with them but I came to the show. Another little side secret story from when we played Pontiac Michigan in 1994 during our first US tour. We played a cool show. There were a lot of Detroit artists at that gig like Kid Rock and Jack White. They told me years later that performance inspired them along their way. Pretty cool to hear that kind of thing.

MR: Keller Williams covered Back of the Bus at a recent gig of his I was at. Thank you for being an inspiration to New York musicians as well. John McConnell music and I cover 50 ways to leave your lover with our own split take on the original. I was able to get feedback from Steve Gadd on the grooves origins in March. Same concept though as putting your own style on it like you did in the studio with the Avett Brothers. It’s wide open for interpretation.

GL: Awesome. My manager said since you can’t make a hit why don’t you cover one? (Laughter) I said all right, let’s cut 50 ways. The beat is so iconic so I’m like OK let’s get away from that. When I play it live with Chuck we do the Steve Gadd beat but when I play it with house man we do it like the studio.

MR: As far as your illustrious career in song writing goes, I have to ask about songs like “Willow Tree’ and “When We Meet Again” where the sentiment sounds organic and from in the moment.

GL: Yea its about making things personable. You try to capture an emotion and a feeling of a certain thing around you. “When We Meet again” I remember specifically it being a spring day..you know the opener…Spring time is here the wind from the south blows strong and warm to clean up your house. Then I went back to the golden first year I had as a street musician where I met my band and the corner bar The Plough and Stars we played at in Boston which was important to us. Same with Willow Tree. I was living across from the Delaware River and the Penn Treaty park across had a lot of Willow Trees.

The park had a bunch of willow trees and I always loved them. I thought about the relationship between the river and the willow tree is so symbiotic. I also used that as a metaphor for a love song too ya know?
G Love

Full G Love & The Juice 2022 Tour Dates

New York Dates:

January 24, 2022: Tralf Music Hall, Buffalo

January 27, 2022: Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn

August 21, 2022: Saratoga Performing Arts Center **with Dispatch and O.A.R

December 16, 2021
George Harrison’s iconic ‘My Sweet Lord’ receives official music video

“My Sweet Lord,” the iconic song from George Harrison, was finally received an official music video, 51 years after it was first released. An all-star cast honors Harrison in a video directed by Lance Bangs and executive produced by George’s son Dhani Harrison, and David Zonshine.

The video stars Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer as metaphysical special agents who are tasked by the head of a clandestine agency, played by Mark Hamill, to search for that which can’t be seen. Along the way dozens of agents team up to look high and low for what may have been right in front of their face all along, mirroring the seeking nature of the song.

Over 40 musicians, actors, comedians, directors, artists and other creatives make appearances, ranging from Harrison’s friends and former band mates Ringo Starr and Jeff Lynne; to actors Darren Criss, Jon Hamm, Rosanna Arquette; musicians Joe Walsh, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Reggie Watts, comedians Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero, Patton Oswalt; comedy duos Tim and Eric (Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim) and Garfunkel and Oates (Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome); and others like writer, actor, director Taika Waititi, and visual artist Shepard Fairey. The video also features Harrison’s wife Olivia Harrison and their son Dhani Harrison, who appear in scenes with actress Aimee Mullins and actor Rupert Friend.

In addition to Harrison’s massive influence on popular music as a member of The Beatles and his successful solo career, the legendary songwriter, musician, film producer and peace activist also greatly influenced the comedy world through his groundbreaking British film studio, HandMade Films, which was responsible for such classic films as Monty Python’s “Life Of Brian,” “Time Bandits” and the cult favorite, “Withnail and I.” This music video pays tribute to the sense of humor that George Harrison possessed and his indelible impact on both music and comedy.

Making this was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. The approach was to represent the song visually while these agents and inspectors kept missing the metaphysical wonder around them. Images are choreographed to the sounds of vocal melodies, guitar strums, drum patterns, chord changes. George threaded a sense of humor through all of his videos, so we kept that spirit and filled the cast with friends and admirers of his music, many coming from the current comedy landscape. I tracked down vintage prime lenses from some of the films George’s HandMade Films had produced, and I hope that viewers can feel a sense of wonder and searching while they watch it, and that the song continues to add to all of our lives.
video director Lance Bangs

The video for “My Sweet Lord” boasts the new 2020 mix of the song mixed by triple GRAMMY Award-winning engineer, Paul Hicks (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon), released August 6 via Capitol/UMe on a suite of 50^th anniversary editions of Harrison’s monumental masterpiece, All Things Must Pass.

December 16, 2021
Aqueous Announce Spring 2022 Tour Dates

Buffalo’s Aqueous has announced dates for their Spring Tour 2022, including shows at the new Brooklyn Made and Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs.

Aqueous will wrap up 2021 with a show at Town Ballroom in Buffalo, with Eggy joining them to close out the year. They’ll venture to New York City for their debut at Brooklyn Made on January 29. After a pair of shows in Colorado in March, the band returns east for a show in Pittsburgh on April 1, Cleveland on April 2, then Saratoga Springs on April 8. The final announced show will be in Chicago on April 23, with one festival date – Great South Bay Music Festival over July 7-10, 2022

Aqueous Spring Tour 2022 tickets are now on sale at AqueousBand.com

December 14, 2021