With calls for his resignation coming from over 150 state leaders, include New York’s Congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., Gov. Cuomo seems to be on the verge of impeachment, or forced into resigning in the coming months.
With scandals ranging from COVID-19 nursing home deaths being covered up in 2020, to inappropriate touching and sexual harassment accusations, the inevitable approaches. Thus, we have curated a playlist to send Governor Cuomo on his way back home to Queens sometime later this year.
Coming this summer to rest stops along Interstates 81, 84, 86, 87, 88 and 90, New Yorkers and other travelers can discover new bands and artists thanks to the State Division of Tourism sponsoring the “Rest Stop Pop Up NY” Thruway Concert Series.
At the state’s Welcome Centers, multiple bands will be featured throughout the day, offering a small but distanced festival feel. Service Areas along I-90 and I-87 will feature top rock and jam acts performing on stages set up in parking lots, starting at 10am and going until 10pm.
moe. will give a nod to their New York roots by make appearances at rest stops near Buffalo, Utica and Albany. And provided their drummer can catch a ride, The Assortment of Crayons will reunite at the Plattekill rest stop on I-87 North.
Heading along I-88 and I-81, a broad selection of bluegrass and metal bands will perform at the more rustic rest areas located on these comparatively lesser traveled highways. Meanwhile, I-84 will feature singer-songwriters from the Hudson Valley at each of the four rest stops. Don’t miss July 4 with Don McLean at the Brewster Rest Area.
I-86, the state’s newest highway, will feature Buffalo’s Organ Fairchild. Much like the band, I-86 was years in the making and brings together many great parts of the state in one solid collective.
The new ‘Text Break’ stops will feature acoustic performances only, with requests taken by texting your song request to 38262. There will be no shows along I-495 on Long Island.
When the State Division of Tourism was asked what could go wrong with these Pop Ups, a representative admitted there would be some issues.
For one, there’s only so much parking, and while we will allow you to park on the grass for that true festival feel, some folks may need to park on the side of the road and walk into the festival. This state has a great history of parking cars and walking miles to see music, whether it’s the original Woodstock festival, Summer Jam 1973, or The Clifford Ball. We want to give people the real music experience, including, but not limited to, fatigue and mild exhaustion upon arrival at your destination.
Judith McCarty, State Division of Tourism
McCarty also discussed safety measures, saying “Of course people will socially distance. And if they don’t we hope they’re spending money and we feel that trade off is worth the risk.”
Alcohol will not be sold at any Thruway Rest Stop, per usual, but CBD vendors will be on hand for to provide attendees with an energetic natural high. “We strongly encourage CBD use. Please don’t drink and drive. That would make us look really, really bad,” said McCarty.
The State Division of Tourism feels that the Rest Stop Pop Up concert series will encourage travel across the state, and also allow travelers to learn about the history that happened here.
Additionally, toll money will be used to help balance the state budget.
Thank you for reading. This was an April Fools article, published on April 1, 2021.
In a move sending shockwaves through the Empire State, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has annexed the entire state of Vermont. The move makes Vermont’s maple syrup industry, ski towns, and the entirety of Lake Champlain, all a part of New York.
A map showing the borders of New York with the addition of Vermont. Source: Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Despite the recent accusations and calls to step down, the Governor seems emboldened, ordering National Guard Troops to stand back and stand by, hinting that more than the Green Mountain State may become part of New York.
Cuomo said in a brief statement on the takeover of Vermont, “I just felt that we needed to get Allthe great music scenes together, and since New York has so many, we should add in Burlington. So Allthe great music scenes are here now. Then I thought we have great skiing, so let’s get All the great skiing in the Northeast here in New York. So now we have All the best ski areas here.
Vermonters can deal with it. Go enjoy your Twiddling or whatever it is you do there. Welcome to New York.”
Governor Cuomo, arriving to see Twiddle in their new homestate of New York
With this statement, the Governor continues to give no indication he will resign, despite numerous allegations of bullying, sexual harassment and unwanted touching. See the whole list of accusers here.
When you think of great funk soul bands that have come out of Buffalo, New York only two names come to mind, Rick James and Soulive. Alan Evans, drummer and founding member of Soulive took time to talk about his musical journey that started in Western New York to around the world with the best.
Buffalo, NY native Alan Evans at “Bowlive”
“It just kind of happened, To be honest I’m surprised I’m actually doing this, some people can point to… “ Oh I saw this, I heard this” Then all of a sudden I wanted to play music , but man music for me is like breathing, like literally ya know?, “ Its always been ingrained”
He has been playing gigs in Buffalo since he was eleven years old.” “For Neal and I it started like one day we were playing music, the next day basketball, then football, maybe skateboarding, then some times all that in the same day” Alan first started out with a band called The Groove and then Moonboot Lover that prompted him to touchdown outside Buffalo in Brooklyn’s pre-developed 1992 Park Slope. “At 7th between 8th and Prospect right at the park “ “Park Slope was a completely different world then ”.
He went on to form Soulive with his brother Neal Evans and Eric Krasno in 1999 that has gone through the past two decades culminating in their own Seven time residency at the historic Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. Dubbed as “Bowlive”, it brings all of the best musicians on the scene today to collaborate with Alan and his Buddy Miles like vocals and drumming on “Them Changes” for each one over the years.
NYS Music had some time to talk with Alan Evans about his musical experiences over the career, Here is the Conversation:
Matthew Romano: Where was your first collaboration with Sam Kininger who became an instrumental part of Soulive?
Alan Evans: So… Soulive started in 1999 and Sam came and was part of the Lettuce crew at Berklee at the time, So literally all of our early gigs were with Sam, I remember the first time we played with Sam was at House of Blues in Cambridge, Mass in 99’ and Kraz was like “Oh my boy Sam is gonna come through and play” “and we were like all right cool whatever” Then we recorded on from there with two great records in Woodstock with him
Alan Evans, Sam Kininger
MR: Jumping from House of Blues on the East Coast with Sam K to the House of Blues in Los Angeles on the West Coast in 2005 where Stevie Wonder was in the crowd for your set and then joined for the encore on “Jesus Children of America” Did you know he was in attendance and was gonna close the show out with you?
AE: We had no idea he was there that night, we finished our last song and left the stage he was there and wanted to sit in with us, so um when we went to play as usual, the funny thing is at that point and time we played Jesus Children a lot. Especially for an encore ,we played it to get into a groove in the set list on tour so we were probably gonna do that any way. They said his driver had to get his harmonica out of the car, so basically we went on and were just stalling and started playing and I look over and saw him on the side stage and the people gave me the thumbs up and I introduced him, and he came out so yea it was pretty wild.
The funny thing it was the first time I ever saw Stevie Wonder live and they set him up right next to me. I thought he was gonna come on and play harmonica and leave , he’s not gonna sing and split, he comes out and the first thing he does is start to blow the harp, ok just as expected and then we got in to it and were grooving pretty hard, his solo came to and end and then started singing!
MR: In 1972 Stevie Wonder opened for the Rolling Stones, Soulive opened for the Stones on a couple different occasions, In Philadelphia you did for an intimate Tower Theater performance at a three thousand capacity venue . Any cool takeaways from that infamous backstage scene with them?
AE: A lot of funny stuff happened with the Philly show, like some Planes, Trains and Automobiles kind of stuff, So this is pre uber days and we landed at the airport and were cutting it close for soundcheck, a car pulls up that can finally brings us but we had gear and needed a van but couldn’t get one…the catch is that he has like a bag of trash that he ended up strapping to to the hood so we can all fit in and brings us to the venue where we tried to keep a low profile to get dropped off away from the Stones tailgate around the corner
So we got inside and did a soundcheck and hung out downstairs and was used to the typical go back to the hotel to chill before playing, that wasn’t the case the with Stones since it was such a mob scene they couldn’t leave either so we were all just hanging out
Backstage: Soulive and The Rolling Stones
We couldn’t leave, we were just there hanging out in our green room which had catering and a cavernous hallway leading to it. I remember Kraz and I were sitting by the door and ah Neal and I were on the couch too. But anyway Kraz is in this other chair by the door , all of a sudden someone kicks in the door , and the it flies open and BAM! I mean it was loud as hell , I mean what the fuck is going on? And in comes Keith Richards who just kicks the door down and walks in and goes I heard one of you is from Connecticut ?! So Kraz was from CT and Keith lives in Connecticut and they talked for a while and then Keith just splits
So we opened and were just up there doing our thing , some people in the crowd were checking it out, the other were just rolling their eyes and the thing is I looked to my right and all of them were hanging out like listening. All the Stones were posted up the whole set, they were digging the shit out of it, so um that was fine, we came off on time and they were like just like damn we got to work tonight, and i’m like OK cool
MR: After seven Brooklyn Bowl Residencies, is it even possible to pick a stand out moment with all those collaborations with every great artist over the years ?
Bowlive Poster & Setlist
AE: Man that’s a really good question, so much of it is , it seems like every year there is a moment like wow I can’t believe this is happening
I remember the set with Bernie Worrell and we did a like whole P Funk thing, I wasn’t even playing drums on that, it was me Kraz and Shmeeans playing guitar, I remember soundcheck and were running through the tunes with him, and were like damn this is Bernie, and we knew him for years but this is the first time we’ve played him, but it the was also the ideal time to realize this dude is a living legend, that was one experience I remember being insane
I grew up listening to P Funk, our older brother was way in to to them , hes 65, so he literally experienced them in 1977 when they were touring and saw them live landing the Mother Ship
MR: I’ve seen you play at Madison Square Garden, that being every artist’s dream venue in the State to play, are there any other venues in New York you have fond memories of?
AE: Its tough to beat the Garden, but ya know SPAC right? Yea man i have a sweet spot in my heart for that place man, Peter Prince my band mate in Moon Boot Lover back in the day is from from Saratoga Springs, His father is a really great artist, so for Jazz Fest we’d always get his dad’s vendors pass there. I saw some great shows and actually Soulive got to play there one year for the festival. There’s definitely something special about that place and I’d love to perform there again actually
MR: It was last Valentines Day at the Tralf in Buffalo seeing you perform with Soulive, it’s been almost a year since you were able to play live in front of sold out crowds pre pandemic, what is the expectation on live music for yourself in 2021 during these new times?
AE: That was my last run. We did the The Tralf, Pittsburgh ,The Capitol Theater and Boston. We had the most Soulive shows lined up till August for the first time in years. People have hit me up since, but I’m in no rush. I have been doing a lot of recording at my studio in the meantime. But I reflected in the beginning of the pandemic while my wife and I were out for a walk. I thought this would be a thing possibly for a while. I remember saying I don’t know how long this would last but at the end of it when things open back up that I didn’t want to not do anything or wish I did more. During this time I’ve looked at my life if I never would do a live show again. I’m not gonna sit around and be bummed out’ about it
MR: My final question to Alan was drummer to drummer, relating to the same concept , that there is a silver lining to be had during these times, for me I was able to collaborate with musicians that would normally be on the road or with other projects who are now available to jam and Alan’s reply was much obliged.
AE: Exactly man, yea for me you’re so right, it’s just how you look at it. My Father said it the best, its simple there’s two ways to looking at things, you can be positive or be negative, and so of course we all know the negative of the pandemic so we don’t have to talk about it, but its like with in that though I think good. I’ve been really positive. I’ve been making music and can spend time with my family. For me its 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? Thats what been a positive for me and I hope it’s like that for a lot of people.
MR: I just scooped Rick James and Stone City Band “Bustin out of L Seven” on Vinyl, are there any recordings from your fellow Buffalo native that stick out?
AE: Man…that’s a really tough one. I mean this really does, you kinda cant go wrong. That’s a dope record
Check Out Soulive’s last home show on Valentines Day in Buffalo, New York on February 14, 2020.
In the early part of the decade Alan Evans had been playing with his band Soulive and every other big name in music. In 2004 he had the notion to collaborate with some of his closest friends to put out his first solo album. Let It Ride was only released on CD in Japan, but now 17 years later Alan Evans’ 2005 album has been released to all on February 26, 2021 by Vintage League Music. The record features bonus tracks and a snippet of Alan live in Upstate New York from 2005 with some of the cast.
He recruited some of the best names of the modern funk soul scene to help him record it. Neal Evans, Sam Kininger, Aaron Bellamy, Nikki Glaspie, Mike Feingold, Ruslan Sirota, Cochemea Gastelum, Atticus Cole, Amee Jana and Skip Jennings. The music was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Evans at his Iron Wax Studios.
The album features Alan locked in with bass player Aaron Bellamy for every track to hold down the bottom end. All the right personnel start the groove on “Do It Again” where Evans channels his inner James Brown shot calling “ Only Way to Do It, Is to Do it, So hit me Sam!!” that drops an iconic Kininger saxophone solo to get your head wrapped on the familiar funk these cats bring. “Can you feel this sound?” Evans vocals ask the same question “Auhhhh, are you with me?” for the appropriately named track “Are You With Me?” that also features Sam K on Saxophone. Answer most given, “Right on, Right on, Right On!”
Sam Kininger, Alan Evans, Aaron Bellamy at Electric Company in Utica
To exit with the heavy funk, Evans gets his brushes out on ‘Welcome To The World’ where his vocals on this tune sound as soft as Hendrix on 1983… (a Merman I Should Turn to Be). Saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum helps set a worldly tone through the orbits on “Low Down Low.” To help come full circle on the recording Nikki Glaspie, Amee Jana and Skip Jennings lend their profound voices over the backing groove that kicks the record off on the “Do It Again Outro.”
In light of his Upstate New York roots, Alan chose to release along with Let it Ride, the second half of a live album from Saratoga Springs on February 5, 2005 at Skidmore College. Saratoga native and former band mate Peter Prince encouraged this particular set, which encapsulates the whole mood of this release – Alan leading the improvisational pack with Aaron Bellamy on bass, Mike Feingold and Jeffery Lockhart on guitar. They stretch out on the live bonus tracks in front of the crowd many Februaries ago that even features a Jimi Hendrix mash up of “Purple Haze” and “Third Stone from the Sun” on the final track. We should be glad Alan Evans and company decided to “Do It Again” this year for the release of this funked up record.
Key Tracks: Do It Again, Are You with Me?, Welcome to the World
Purchase the Album here and look for our interview with Alan later this week.
What is it about Upstate New York Winter’s that make great music artists bring their multi-colored California concepts here to heat things up? Forty-one years ago today, Jerry Garcia Band came to be an act for the Lake Ontario sound at Laker Hall on SUNY Oswego campus February 17, 1980.
A then 37-year old Garcia had his second touring band outside the Grateful Dead since collaborating with Howard Wales on hooteroll?. His four piece ensemble consisted of John Kahn on Bass, David Ozzie Ahlers on Keyboards, and Johnny De Fonseca on drums. The band set up atop the cold brick Route 104 venue on the hill, overlooking Lake Ontario, for three hours of music played to around 2,000 people.
They certainly let Jerry’s influences play out in the performance with covers of Allen Toussaint, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Cliff, J.J Cale, The Beatles, and his own material with the Grateful Dead. Like a typical New York Winter, Syracuse Deadhead Vinny Randazzo remembers the drive to the Oswego show as “covered in snow and sound.” The group immediately stretches out for fifteen minutes to start the show on Toussaint’s “I’ll Take A Melody” to let you know “I understand why the old fisherman, sails along, someday he’ll be gone.” Perhaps it was a quick nod to the windy docks of the Great Lake that sat next to all. There’s some devil out there that’s for sure, which launched them into “Friend of the Devil,” a friend Jerry normally plays with. Just three days after Valentine’s Day and three songs into the performance, love for the faithful is shown on “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” The band then casts a line out to the crowd at shore, for a muddy version of “Catfish John.”
Jerry Garcia, Laker Hall, SUNY Oswego
The Grateful Dead anthem “Deal” comes up next, with Jerry reminding you of tours past: “ If I told you all that went down, it would burn off both of your ears!” There is a 4th Street in Oswego, and Jerry covers the waterside corner during his take on Dylan’s “Positively 4th St” singing, ” You see me on the street, you always act surprised, you say “How are you?,” “Good Luck” But you don’t mean it.”
They close the set with a rockabilly tribute to Elvis for “That’s Alright Mama.” Yea, that first set was more than alright for all in attendance… “any way you do.”
Lake Ontario Winter Melody: “The Sky was Grey with a Spec of Blue, Peek through a Hole in the Clouds, The Sun was Screaming “Hey You!”
After the set break, Elvis had not left the building. The quartet kicked off with the King’s version of “Money Honey,” that got everyone in GA hound-dogging back on the floor. During the set break the crowd certainly felt like they had been “Sitting Here in Limbo,” which is what the band dropped next. David Ozzie Ahlers brings you to Jimmy Cliff’s islands with a two part keyboard solo. Jerry reflects on an American working day for the the next track “Later in the evening when the sun is sinking low, all day I’ve Been waiting for the Whistle to Blow” on “Let It Rock.” Garcia lights up his delta licks on this Chuck Berry classic.
Up next is one of the greatest live improvisational segue ways in rock and roll history. On the famous tape you might recognize the “After Midnight —> Eleanor Rigby Jam—>After Midnight” jam that was only played in the beginning of that decade. This is one of Senor Garcia’s sweetest unplanned moments to be captured.
1980 Eleanor Rigby Jam in to After Midnight at Oswego
Jerry takes another stab at Dylan’s seasonal lyrics “Now the wintertime is coming, the windows are filled with frost, I went to tell everybody but I could not get across, well, I wanna be your lover baby, I don’t want to be your Boss” for “It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” Jerry’s Tiger guitar Quartet immediately melt the ice with the last song for “The Harder They Come.” “The Harder they Fall, One and All” to bring back the island vibe beats to close out the evening.
Jerry Garcia Band 1980 winter tour rolled through New York State from Oswego to The Palace Theater in Albany, The Landmark Theater in Syracuse, The Calderone Theater in Hempstead and SUNY Stonybrook. They came back to Laker Hall under new personnel one last time on December 11, 1983 with Melvin Seals. Jerry Garcia kept a solo band outside of The Grateful Dead for the next 15 years with Melvin Seals How Sweet It Is: Melvin Seals at The Westcott Theater who carries the JGB touring torch to this day.
In a 1981 interview someone asked Jerry Garcia “What are the virtues playing with your own band compared to the Grateful Dead?” Garcia responded “Its a real resonate consonance experience, its like harmonious, every bodies musical taste is similar to my own, ya know?, and our concept of what music should be, were an accord, so my band is playing the kind of music that I think of the way music is constructed , in terms of the roles and the instruments, The Grateful Dead is interesting because everyone has a different concept of what music is about, which creates a lot of friction and tension to it”
Jerry Garcia Band, February 17 1980, Laker Hall, Oswego, NY
Set 1: I’ll Take A Melody, Friend Of The Devil, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) Catfish John, Deal, Positively 4th Street That’s All Right, Mama
Set 2: Money Honey, Sitting Here In Limbo, Let It Rock, After Midnight > Eleanor Rigby Jam > After Midnight, It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, The Harder They Come
On January 22, 1977 Johnny Cash brought his band to Upstate New York to the Onondaga County War Memorial to promote his 56th album The Rambler. A concept album about traveling, the songs interspersed with dialogue between Cash and hitchhikers he picked up or other people he met during the album’s cross-country trip. It truly is an American roots album where Cash shares various county road tales about the lost love of women and family anecdotes about his grandfather’s preaching days in North Carolina.
Outlaw country outfit Mr.Days from Albany have adopted a similar alt-country/jam/Americana sound concept for their first album, Infinitus. Released on January 1, 2021 is influenced by the same America as Cash was. Mr. Days is a trio consisting of James Matlock on guitar and vocals, his father Rick Matlock on guitar and vocals and Jacob Karker on drums and vocals. The father-son duo have been writing these songs and performing them in Capital Region saloons for a couple years now.
The Matlocks wrote a song called “Bill and Ed,” a story about their great-great-great grandfather who made a living in part by traveling the country selling Christmas trees by train in the winter. There was a family legend that he had died when looking out the window of a moving train during one of these endeavors, being decapitated by a light pole. Genealogical research indicated that it was actually just a train crash that resulted in his passing, but it still holds roots for a great ballad, with drums echoing the train rolling down the tracks. The Matlocks sing, “Riding out toward Toledo, got four cars of spruce, that Christmas pine, the train keeps rolling and a winter storm is blowing.”
Rick Matlock’s travels in America are also reflected in the tune “Carolina Bound,” a musical memoir of his trips down south to visit family, singing, “Pack my bag and leave the valley, say goodbye to Mohawk cold … I’m moving on to the southern plains where I belong.” Another great track that reflects America’s history is “Appalachian Bloodstone.” This song travels to the hillsides of West Virginia where the Buffalo Creek Flood occurred in February 1972. The Pittston Coal Company impoundment dam in Logan County had burst four days after having been declared “ satisfactory” by a federal mine inspector. The accident that was referred to as “an act of god” and displaced the 5,000 people who lived along Buffalo Creek Hollow. The Matlocks praise, “we all sink the same … that’s the price they pay for taking all that blood stone”
Rick Matlock, Jacob Karker, James Matlock
Mr. Days started their own history in 2021 with the release of their debut record. Hopefully it will bring them across the vast American landscape that they sing heartily about. Much like Johnny Cash on The Rambler, the journey of Mr. Days takes place on the open road. Cash preaches “Life out on the interstate is very much alive, there’s magic in the mountains and music in the valley down below, and my song ain’t through playing yet so I believe I’ll hit the road and go”.
Key Tracks: Bill and Ed, Carolina Bound, Appalachian Bloodstone
Mikaela Davis has put the Flower City in Upstate New York on the map as a region where the harp and its sound has spread from Rochester to across the world. The last time we spoke to Mikaela was back in 2012 and was anticipating on what the future would bring for her. She took some time with us in the beginning of 2021 to talk about her past, present, and future music experiences in New York State.
The harp has been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3000 BCE. The oldest description of a harp can be seen in the wall paintings of ancient Egyptian tombs in the Nile Valley. In the Americas, harps are widely but sparsely distributed, except in certain regions where harp traditions are very strong.
Matthew Romano: Who was involved in your musical education for the harp in New York State?
Mikaela Davis: Cynthia Andrews, who just retired this past year, she started me on the harp at Penfield School District in Rochester. I think Penfield is the only public school in Rochester that offers harp, then private lessons with Grace Wong who was the principal harpist in The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. I joined the Rochester Philharmonic Youth orchestra, that toured Canada and Europe. Then I went on to college at SUNY Potsdam to learn under Jessica Suchy-Pilalis at Crane School of Music.
MR: Are there any live music experiences in New York State during that time that stood out, that influenced you?
MD: Well, I remember in High School I used to ask for a Jazz pass for Christmas every year. Me and my high school buddies would go to every show at Rochester Jazz Festival we could, from 2007 to 2011. I’ve gone to so many concerts at this point they all blur together. At Mountain Jam 2016 where I sat in with Marco Benevento, Wilco played, after seeing them for the first time it confirmed that this is my favorite live band, it was the best live show I have ever seen.”
MR: Tell me about your history of the collaborations with Marco Benevento over the years?
MD: A friend of mine, who has a recording studio in the Catskills, where Marco lives, had passed my info along. Then he had me go open for him solo on the West Coast for some dates. That was where we met. My first time playing at Levon Helm Studios was with Marco. We’re really good friends, my band and his band and his family. We always play a couple shows together every year, I love hearing from Marco to play a show and it’s great, always a fun time. We joke about going to his studio to record a country record. It was his choice to cover David Bowie’s “Heroes” and to hang out at Mountain Jam to have me sing on it.
MR: How did your first collaborations with Bob Weir and Wolf Brothers come to fruition in Syracuse at The Landmark Theater and in Buffalo at Shea’s Performing Arts Center?
MD: Someone sent a live video of my band covering “Down by the River” by Neil Young in London to them and said, hey this harpist is cool she should guest with Bob. The Wolf Bros usually have friends sit in with them from around the world and they didn’t have anyone scheduled for Syracuse. That’s how it happened, being at the right place in the right time I suppose.
Mikaela Davis and Southern Star covering “Down By the River” in London
MR: How did you land on the song selections for the set?
MD: Bobby wanted me to play on “Birdsong,” I suggested “China Cat” into “I Know Your Rider,” and “Wharf Rat,” maybe. Yea, then last minute I suggested “Down by the River,” three days prior they said Bobby hasn’t done that before, let’s do it. So that was really magical, really fun. That was probably my favorite sit in, even though I was so nervous to play with these legends, Don Was, he’s incredible and Jay Lane
Jay Lane, Bob Weir, Mikaela Davis, Don Was
MR: Was the second encore at Landmark where you all did “Ripple” planned?
MD: No, he threw that one at me, “lets go do ‘Ripple,’ come on”, he does that every time I sit in with him. “Hey I want you to play on this too,” so I have to be ready. Cian McCarthy, my band mate, who’s a massive Dead fan, helped me learn all these songs inside out and assisted me in the back with the chord changes
MR: Hearing your harp on the song “Peggy O,” a cover of an old Scottish ballad from 1644 that the Dead made popular inside the Shea Theater in Buffalo,. really made that venue come alive with art and history
MD: That’s great, that was magical too, I forgot about singing “Peggy O” with them.
Mikaela Davis with Bob Weir & Wolf Bros at Shea Theater in Buffalo, NY
MR: Did these collaborations help influence you and Southern Star to cover the Live/Dead 69′ Album in October of 2019?
MD: Oh yea definitely, that’s why we chose to do it , learning Live Dead was really fun and difficult, we rehearsed like twice a week for a month because we really wanted to play through like the record with no stops. It gives me so much respect for that band, they were really innovative and incredible in what they were doing. I think “Feedback” was possibly my favorite.
MR: You and Southern Star stayed at Stone House Cottage on Oneida Lake in Summer of 2020 for a recording of “Cumberland Blues” How was that experience?
MD: There was five of us in this tiny house, we rented it and hung out on the lake, played music and did psychedelics. We just played that live with two microphones and recorded it for an Australian Radio Show for the 50th anniversary of Workingman’s Dead.
“I don’t know now, I just don’t know if coming back again” Oneida Lake 2020
MR: In Summer of 2019 you were in attendance for The Particle Kid, Lennon-Claypool Delirium, Flaming Lips Concert at Saranac Brewery in Utica, NY between Southern Star shows that also had Krist Novoselic from Nirvana in the crowd, any cool takeaways from that night on the town?
MD: That was honestly one of the most magical shows I’ve been to in a while, My friend Jake Engalls is in the Flaming Lips so we got to hang out, I’ve often collaborated with him for his solo band “Spaceface” A quick Hey thank you for being you was said to Krist Novoselic. Sean Lennon and I exchanged information and I was going to play with him for a residency he was planning at The Stone in New York City that unfortunately got postponed due to the pandemic
MR: You started 2021 with a show at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs where Bob Dylan played in 1960, isn’t your harp named Luna?
MD: Yea , I named her Luna when I was a teenager, I guess I named her that because she comes alive at night
MR: You debuted new material that night that came from a Seven day songwriting session with the band Rubblebucket, I think “The Pearl” was a standout as a musical analogy on what’s going on with the world inspired from a story by your Aunt Julia who referenced the dirty muck that we are all kind of stuck inside America right now
MD: Oh thank you, Yea that’s what I thought when my Aunt was talking to me about it , and she’s been wearing her pearl earrings a lot so, I truly believe ya know something great can come out of terribleness, I suppose if an oyster can make a pearl, so can we.
Caffe Luna January 9 2021
MR: At the end of the Caffe Lena Show you said “ I feel alive again, well see ya again soon, cheers” What’s on the horizon for 2021?
MD: I am hoping to make a record with my band, actually not hoping we’re going to do it. we’re going to make a record this year, we have enough songs and basically just trying to figure it out to do it remotely or safely gather and find a spot to record
MR: Marco Benevento or Sean Lennon’s studios in the Hudson Valley could be a great spot or maybe even with the virtual options you can gather a group of friends remotely for a cover of Talking Heads “This Must Be the Place”
MD: Yea great tune, well have to keep that in mind, yea well anything is possible that’s for sure, it’s a new age
On January 22, 1972 Jerry Garcia performed at Setnor Auditorium on Syracuse University campus with his first live touring band outside of the Grateful Dead. He teamed up with American Beauty collaborator Howard Wales who wrote the composition to the album Hooteroll? The all instrumental LP which Garcia participated with a various cast on is reminiscent of Miles Davis record Bitches Brew. Abdul Mati Klarwein who did the cover album art for Bitches Brew also sketched Hooteroll?.
Jerry Garcia once stated that “Howard did more for my ears than anybody I ever played with because he was so extended and so different.” As for the brief January 1972 tour in which Garcia, Wales and co. performed a handful of Northeast dates, in support of Hooteroll?, Wales remembers, “Jerry played some of the best blues I ever heard him play on that tour. The Hooteroll? tour that was basically a blur, though. We had two hours of sleep a night and by the time we got finished we were ready to be delivered to the emergency room.”
The touring band that took the stage in Syracuse that night was made up of Jerry Garcia on guitar, Howard Wales on keyboards, Jerry Love on drums, Jimmy Vincent guitar, Roger Troy (aka Jellyroll) on bass and vocals. The 700 person capacity music hall on top of SU Hill houses a 3,823-pipe Holtkamp Organ below a 70-foot-high open timber roof and stained glass windows. The show consisted of a 22 song set list that was mostly heavy improvisational acid jazz-rock fusion and does not have any live vocals till almost 30 minutes into the performance. With original jam tracks like “Space Funk” it could be said that they helped coin the category.
The entire performance weaves throughout galaxies on a cold January night with the Hooteroll? track “A Trip to What Next” One can only imagine the steamy visual illusions this music created off the stained glass windows inside Setnor that night. Unlike Jerry’s live playing with the Grateful Dead in which he led the pack, in the beginning of 72 it was Wales who was calling the plays. Fifty minutes into the performance is Garcia’s only words to the crowd where he introduces the band and takes a seat to see what unfolds with everybody else. After his quick ten minute set break Garcia returns to play his Wales acclaimed “best blues” on “Sweet Cocaine.”
This Dinosaur BBQ blues ballad was One of Four songs that featured any vocals by Jellyroll, “when your downtown and left all alone, i need some rest woman, lord when i come home, i can’t get nobody, lord to sooth my soul, well i feel like a dog that’s lost his bone” After another 30 minute journey down the improvisational tunnel led by Wales on Hammond B3 organ the ensemble encores with “Gypsy Women.”
A week later the band made their way down the Thruway to the University of Buffalo for a performance on January 29, 1972. Very limited material exists of their work, Wales recently found the Buffalo tape and observed “It was a great tour because none of it was rehearsed. Some people are surprised when they hear that but we were capable of being out of the box. The way people get that way is because they’re jammers. Jammers have no fear.” Drummer Joe Russo had no panic over the years assembling musicians for their tribute to Hooteroll?
The Rose, Jules R Dot, and Stanford S Dot Sentor. School of Music, Syracuse University
His third time was last January 12 at Brooklyn Bowl for the 2020 NYC Winter Jazz Fest where Russo led an all-star cast tribute to the composition. Joe Russo Presents Hooteroll? + Plus! at Winter Jazz Fest; The Bogie Band Debut. After a long strange trip of 77 years, Howard Wales just passed away on December 7, 2020. His iconic keyboard sound can be heard on The Grateful Dead’s signature studio version of “Truckin‘.” “There was a point in which he was going to join the Dead, but Howard was to out there for them”
Listen to the Studio Recording of Hooteroll? below.
The infamous year 2020, although there have been a lot of restrictions preventing live music there is a silver lining to be had for those still responsible to spawn it. William Lawrence is an example of those who refuse to let these new set rules restrict his creativity. He started the year like many others in the studio with a suitcase full of new material ready to devise and debut on the road.
“We decided to continue working on the songs together from our own home studios, bedrooms, living rooms, attic spaces…we all recorded where we could” Ten months later, Lawrence’s third full-length studio album, Fool For You was released on Christmas Eve of this year. The eight song collection oscillates gracefully between dreamy folk rock and twangy country waltzes.
In a state like New York where Neil Young’s Canadian northern words blow across Lake Ontario and The Band’s grooves move you out of the Hudson Valley in Woodstock it can be helpful to use these influences to create your own voice. “Everybody seems to wonder what it’s like down here, i gotta get away from this day to day running around, everybody knows this is nowhere”.
The album mixed by Ian McGuire features a terrific cast of mixolydian musicians with James Felice, Keven Lareau, Rachel Meirs, Brian Kantor, Donny Amidon, Phil Nicolazzo, Allison Olender, Jonathan Talbott and Greg Marino. William Lawrence is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has been the drummer and vocalist for the folk rock band “The Felice Brothers” A song by the brothers “Whiskey in My Whiskey” is playing on the jukebox in “Merlotte’s Bar” in the first season of the HBO show “True Blood”. His collaborations have even taken him internationally with artists like “Conor Oberst”, “Mail the Horse”, and “Gun Outfit”.
The music is that matter of a fact over your in-home speakers. His lyrics reflect all of the love had by an outlaw in this life each day spinning around the sun. If you listen to the wind outside your back porch it will softly carry the words and music with it. Until the moonlight dawn you can let this album shine on you. When there’s just one more before you go needed at a roadside diner like Merlottes click the track “Jukebox” that has saxophone player Greg Marino bring it home for you. Is the recognizable penny whistle on Paul McCartney’s “Fool on the Hill” the same as “Fool for You”? No wonder it is “the most collaborative record i’ve ever made” says Lawrence.
What does silver lining mean? A silver lining is a sign of hope or positive aspect in an otherwise negative situation. The phrase is often seen as part of the proverb “ Every Cloud has a Silver Lining” meaning that there’s hope or something good to be found in every bad situation. Let’s be glad William Lawrence and company embraced this concept early this year to help bring this eminent music to all of us on the way to Christmas Eve. Let the title tracks lyrics help you celebrate this New Years Eve, “Got the champagne open in my hotel room, spent my last good dollar on a dream come true” Hopefully we’ll see them on the road in 2021.
