It’s been a year without live music, but there are signs of life coming this spring. Looking to the South as the weather breaks, socially distanced shows and festivals are starting to pop up. Suwannee Rising will welcome Umphrey’s McGee, Lettuce, Goose, Eric Krasno’s Chapter 2, Andy Frasco and the U.N., Big Something and many more to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP) in Live Oak, FL – April 8 – 10, 2021.
Suwannee Live produced two drive-in podded events earlier this year – Larry Keel/Grass Is Dead and the Funky Mardi Gras Masquerade – serving as successful test runs for the return of Suwannee Rising, which is set to be one of the first multi-day music festivals in the US since the pandemic.
For this event, they will offer P.O.D.S. (Personal Outdoor Dance Space), providing a safe and socially distanced setting for fans to enjoy live performances, including Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Mark Lettieri Group, Magnolia Boulevard, Melody Trucks Band, and Anthill Cinema.
When we cancelled Suwannee Rising 2020, we never imagined the challenges it would present to society and especially the live music industry. We viewed the situation with a glass half-full attitude, realistic but hopeful. No one wanted to accept a world without the live music experience.
After producing two intimate post-Covid shows at the park and attending other drive-in events, we learned that while no one can eliminate 100% of risk from their lives, it is possible to produce a great show that fans, staff, and artists can attend and still dance and feel safe. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our musical community over the last year through the twists and turns of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Suwannee Live’s Paul Levine
Although the 800-acre park is home to multiple permanent stages including its famous amphitheater, Suwannee Rising will feature two stages side by side that are located in one of their vast fields, allowing plenty of space for socially distanced P.O.D.S. When one stage ends, the other will start. Large video screens allow every guest to easily view the performances from any of the spacious P.O.D.S., which offer a safely spaced area for family and friends to enjoy the live music, with each including four weekend tickets and primitive camping. P.O.D.S. owners can add up to two extra tickets for a maximum of six people per P.O.D.S. Guests are also allowed to bring their own food and drinks to the show.
And yes, there are still safety measures in place. Masks are required when festival goers aren’t in their P.O.D.S. and additional safety measures will be in place giving fans peace of mind to relax, let go, and soak in the healing power of live music. To learn more about these initiatives and the safety squad please visit the FAQ page.
Tickets and P.O.D.S. go on sale Wednesday, March 3 at 10am EST on Suwannee Live, with Suwannee Rising 2020/21 ticket holders having the first access to the P.O.D.S. starting March 2. For cabins, RV hook ups and golf cart rentals please visit MusicLivesHere.
Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from Architrave, AliT, Annie Scherer and many more.
WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.
Kicking off the night is Architrave with their cover of True Widow’s “O.O.T.P.V.” A dark and cool jam, the track is brooding with a huge, electrifying sound. After discussion with members of True Widow, Architrave agreed all proceeds from the sale of the track would be donated to Feed the People Dallas Mutual Aid.
WEQX will also be matching that donation with a donation to something more local to us, the Free Food Fridge of Albany, a cool project that sets up fridges stocked with food staples, to help tackle food insecurity in the area.
Next up is AliT with “Sitting Pretty,” featuring a bright pop sound, drum machines, a huge boundless voice, and an all-heart sensibility. AliT is a true singer-songwriter and instrumentalist making pop music with a touch of grit, soul, and emo harmony. Tune in for AliT’s weekly set live on her Facebook page every Friday at 7:30 pm.
In the vein of Lana Del Ray comes Annie Scherer, a modern pop cinematic journey with images of longing and desire. Open minded listeners will hear the voice of a songwriter opening up her soul, crawling up the walls to find a new plane of existence. “Take Me Places” is a cool tune that transcends the idiom and is treated delicately with plenty of space for the listener to attach their own images to and yet want to listen again to bring those feelings back.
Burlington’s Quiltro has shared the new live video for “Antilla,” filmed at Autochrome, a community studio space in the south end of Burlington. The old industrial building is where some of the world’s first “autochrome” color photographs were produced in the early 1900s.
The band recently released their debut album, an emotional journey that will set you at ease, wake you up, drive you into a groove and leave you looking to replay the debut immediately after. Peaks and valleys are found throughout the nine-track album, fitting perfectly into the ups and downs of the real world.
Quiltro brings together a range of sounds, influences, and emotions through band members Mark Taylor (guitar, keyboard), Mike McKinley (bass) and JD Hoffmann (drums), creating a psychedelic wall of sound that brings to mind Neal Casal’s Circles Around the Sun. Quiltro is quite simply excellent modern psych rock.
While Autochrome was gobbled up by someone looking to lease the entire building, after many years of calling the space home, Quiltro got the boot over the summer. In normal times, they would have had a huge blowout and celebration — live music, collaborative art, and more, but due to COVID-19, they played with no audience and recorded the video.
Eric Segalstad (Sabi Sound, who engineered and co-produced the album) did the recording, Tony Berry (Psychedelic Soup) did the liquid light show, and Matt Bushlow produced the video. Watch “Antilla” below and visit Quiltro on Bandcamp.
Each year, February 1st marks the beginning of Black History Month in the U.S., a time to celebrate African-American heritage and the legacy of extraordinary contributions that they have made to the fabric of our nation. On Wednesday, February 24 at 7pm, Albany’s Palace Theatre will host their annual Black History Month celebration.
Typically, the Palace would be gearing up to host events like the annual Step Show, and educational performances that highlight some of the remarkable African-Americans in our history. While COVID-19 won’t allow us the Albany venue to host these events in person this year, that doesn’t stop the Palace from shining a spotlight on some of the incredibly talented people in our own community.
Wednesday, February 24 will be feature a free virtual evening of art, music, dance and spoken word by some of the most talented Black artists in the Capital Region.
The event is hosted by Diana Perry & Rev William Lynn Hamilton and some of the performers joining The Palace include Move 2B Moved (Drum & Dance team), Poetyc Visionz (Spoken Word / Poetry), Restoration Voices, Tone Setters (Step Team), Barbara Howard, Hayes M. Fields II & Azzaam Hameed, Christian Mark Gibbs and others.
Tune in below on the Palace Theatre’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, February 24 at 7pm.
Thursday, February 22, 2001 was a frigid night in Syracuse, yet Armory Square was alive and well. With no Phish for the foreseeable future, and no New Year’s Eve performance that past December, the energy this evening was unmistakably palpable as Trey Anastasio Band made their debut performance at Syracuse’s Landmark Theatre.
Only their second show of 2001’s Winter Tour, Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) offered fans a glimpse of what was to come from this new yet familiar cast of supporting musicians joining Trey, and how the void left by Phish’s hiatus would be filled by the band leader.
Trey had originally played with drummer Russ Lawton and bassist Tony Markellis in 8 Foot Fluorescent Tubes in 1998, making the trio the core of a band that continues to perform today, even through the pandemic. Trey added in a three-piece horn section alongside Russ and Tony, bringing in Andy Moroz (trombone), Giant Country Horns member Dave “The Truth” Grippo (saxophone) and Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet/tuba). The sextet was an early version of the TAB lineup Trey has modified over the years, and did not yet include soon-to-join members Ray Paczkowski, Natalie Cressman and Cyro Baptista.
The night began with the Chuck Berry number “In the Wee Wee Hours,” a perfect way to start an evening where the setlist was anyone’s guess. The first original of the night, “Push On ‘Til the Day” would follow, and when the horns stepped out into the light, the crowd roared with approval. “Push On” segued neatly into “Tube Top Flop” (later Tube Top Wobble), and then the emotion-heavy “Sunday Morning” (later “Ether Sunday”).
“Mozambique” was raucous, a funky tune with a big band-meets-Salsa sound; the prize in the early versions of these new compositions was how they allowed for room to improvise both individually and collectively. Althought not played this night, “Last Tube” would serve the same purpose in 2001 for TAB’s cohesiveness.
The first Phish cover of the night, “Gotta Jibboo” included Trey’s signature ‘whale call‘ making an appearance early in the song and continuing on a loop as the band found a groove to tuck into for nearly 12 minutes. In the final two minutes of “Jibboo,” listen closely and you can hear the band hinting at the song to follow, “Burlap Sack and Pumps,” soon to be a funky fan favorite.
To close the set, Trey dispatched the band and brought out his acoustic guitar for “Guyute.” With the audience whistling along, the attention focused on the Bad Lieutenant sitting center stage.
After a 43-minute set break, Set 2 began with a snare beat that perked ears up, signaling the start of Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Woman #12 & #35,” which the audience ate up and sang along to. An 18-minute “Sand” followed, with horns chiming in and Trey on keys, both soon to be staples of TAB shows.
The Band’s “It Makes No Difference” felt especially touching, as did Bob Marley’s “Mellow Mood,” a cover debuted by Phish just a few months prior in Albany, and which Trey admitted the band had only practiced once prior to the show. Dedicated to sound engineer Paul Languedoc, “Happy Coffee Song,” off Trey’s initial solo album One Man’s Trash, stayed true to the original recording and worked nicely for the larger band format.
Listen below, and if “Nothing But an E Thing” sounds familiar, that’s because it eventually came to be known as “Pebbles and Marbles,” debuted here as a fully instrumental piece, with horns taking turns on what amounts to the current “Pebbles and Marbles” intro section.
Rounding out Set 2 was another One Man’s Trash track, “At the Gazebo,” later outfitted for performance with orchestras and string quartets, and “Drifting,” which included band intros, notably for Tony “the Meaning of Life” Markellis. An encore of Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Round in Circles” would close the night, one that saw the start of Trey’s next musical venture, one that continues to evolve and grow, 20 years later.
Trey Anastasio Band, Landmark Theatre, Syracuse, NY – February 22, 2001
Set 1: In the Wee Wee Hours [1], Push On ‘Til the Day > Tube Top Flop, Ether Sunday, Mozambique, Gotta Jibboo, Burlap Sack and Pumps, Guyute [2]
Set 2: Rainy Day Women #12 & 35[1], Sand, It Makes No Difference, Mellow Mood[1], Happy Coffee Song [3], Nothing But an ‘E’ Thing[3], At the Gazebo [4], Drifting
Encore: Will It Go Round in Circles
[1] TAB debut. [2] Trey solo acoustic. [3] Debut. [4] Trey acoustic. This show at the Landmark Theatre features the debuts of Happy Coffee Song and Nothing But an ‘E’ Thing, and the Trey Anastasio Band debuts of In the Wee Wee Hours, Rainy Day Women #12 and 35, and Mellow Mood. Gotta Jibboo contained Burlap Sack and Pumps teases. Trey performed Guyute solo acoustic. The Happy Coffee Song was dedicated to sound engineer Paul Languedoc. At the Gazebo also featured Trey acoustic.
After the show, fans headed out into the cold night around Downtown Syracuse, with plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from. Over at Armory High (also known as Styleen’s Rhythm Palace) Strangefolk was playing a post-show to a packed crowd. Trey stopped by around 12:15-12:30am, and joined the band for a jam in the song “Neighbor” before taking off. Give a listen hereand read below for Strangefolk guitarist Jon Trafton as he recalls the night.
That was such a fun night. The story behind Trey’s sit in is that a good friend of ours was Trey’s daughters’ nanny for several years around that time, and she put the bug in his ear leading up to that night. TAB was playing in Syracuse and the timing worked out perfectly because he was in a theater, so his show ended around 11 pm. We were in a bar with a 1 or 2 am curfew so it just lined up. We knew he might come by, but it was one of those things where we weren’t expecting it to happen. It was cool to look up mid-song and see him standing by the side door. I think we were already into our song “Neighbor,” which has a nice open jam section, so I waved him on. (Guitarist Luke) Patchen graciously switched to acoustic so Trey could play his Fender Strat, and off we went. My recall of it was that we stayed in kind of a mellow groove. I was sort of hoping we would launch into the stratosphere but we had a nice little floaty thing going for a little while. Then, just like he appeared, he was off again into the night.
Jon Trafton, Strangefolk
Strangefolk guitarist Luke Patchen Montgomery performing at Armory High, February 22, 2001. Photo/clipping via The Daily Orange
Although Trey was only on stage with Strangefolk for a few minutes, the memory and record of that night is one fans and band members alike have not forgotten. After the jam in “Neighbor,” Strangefolk worked into a “Norwegian Wood” jam, as Trafton puts it, “a way of saying, ‘Wow, that happened, and now he’s gone, this bird has flown.’” That tip of the hat from Strangefolk saw Trey take off into the night and head downstate for the next night’s show at Roseland Ballroom in New York City.
Where else can you get a steak and jazz performances all in one spot? Step back nearly 90 years and visit Hickory House.
A New York jazz club located on West 52nd Street, Hickory House was opened in 1933 by John Popkin and was a swinging venue and a great spot to grab cocktails and dinner before a show.
Located in a stretch of midtown that was crowded with jazz clubs in the 1940s and 1950s, Hickory House stood out because they also had a branch in Miami Beach, as seen on the menu cover.
With the 18th Amendment repealed in 1933, post-prohibition New York City hit the bars and drank without abandon, and the cheap prices for the time show it.
In 2014, NPR profiled Hickory House Trio, a 1950s group of Marian McPartland, Bill Crow and Joe Morello, the latter of whom was part of a reunion session in 1990. Morello fielded offers from both Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, but ultimately went on to work with a small group taking a new direction in jazz led by Dave Brubeck, notably on his “Take Five.”
NPR notes that during the 1950s when McPartland and company were playing the Hickory House, jazz musicians including Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Oscar Pettiford and Thelonious Monk, would stop by the club for a meal and to watch the band. Some would even sit in with the trio, and after coaxing, Ellington might join them on the bandstand (it didn’t hurt that he shared a publicist with the club.)
Although all trace of Hickory House is gone, it continued to be in operation at least until 1964. See more images of the venue, and what 52nd Street looks like now, at JAZZ LIVES.
A similarly named venue, The Hickory Log, located on 47th St., and known simply as Lou Terrassi’s. also hosted jazz performances. While the two venues share a name, they do not seem to be related, and a connection between the two venues is unable to be discerned.
One recording from The Hickory Log, made available by JAZZ LIVES, provides a glance at a half-hour broadcast recorded at the lost venue. With host Aime Gauvin, a.k.a. “Dr. Jazz,” featuring musicians from the Jimmy McPartland Sextet: McPartland (cornet), Dicky Wells (trombone), Cecil Scott (clarinet), Joe Sullivan (piano), Walter Page (string bass), George Wettling (drums) and Marian McPartland (piano).
Hickory House, 1937
The band is introduced by Leonard Feather, who chats with both McPartlands, amid serene ambiance that is comparable to Central Plaza or Stuyvesant Casino at the time. Listen closely and you’ll hear the crash of dishes, as the stage and kitchen were located near each other.
Performances on Jazz Club U.S.A. from 1952 include “Love Is Just Around The Corner,” “Tin Roof Blues,” “Embraceable You,” “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home,” and “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny took to the stage at Studio 8H for this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live. This marked Bad Bunny’s first time as SNL’s musical guest, although he did appear in a sketch last season when the show was shooting remotely. Hosting this evening was Regé-Jean Page, from Netflix’s Bridgerton.
Bad Bunny is nominated for multiple Grammy Awards this year, including Best Latin Pop Album for YHLQMDLG, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Un Dia (One Day)” with J Balvin, Dua Lipa, and Tainy. At the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards, Bad Bunny took home the award for Best Reggaeton performance and in 2019 won for Best Urban Music Album.
For the first performance of the night, Bad Bunny sang “La Noche de Anoche,” joined by nuevo flamenco singer Rosalía. The music video for the song off 2020’s El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo dropped last week, an album which made history for Bad Bunny as the first all-Spanish-language album to hit #1 on Billboard’s Top 200.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yb4HX5gwqI
Bad Bunny also made an appearance in the musical sketch “Loco,” serving as a hallucination for stir crazy cast member Ego Nwodim as she revisits how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her life.
Bad Bunny’s second song of the night was “Te Deseo lo Mejor,” also off 2020’s El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo. Translated as “I Wish You the Best,” Bad Bunny performed the track on The Late Show with James Cordon this past December.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPEwYnAQQOg
Saturday Night Live returns on February 27 with host and musical guest, Nick Jonas.
Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from Ferriday, Eion Noonan and many more.
WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.
This week’s featured band is Albany’s Ferriday, where Pearson will be playing four in a row off of Everywhere You Go. Ferriday’s tunes are straight forward pure rock and roll indulgence with unique lyrical stories. They stand alone as individual singles yet also work cohesively flowing from one tune and vibe to the next. The playing from all the members is excellent, with note choices, song treatments, guitar tones, down to bass drum use, are very well put together for a well honed sound.
Also featured is Irish-born Vermont resident, Eoin Noonan, and his beautiful tune, “Lovin’.” Eoin continues to create original and inspiring music that alternates between indie rock, country and folk music.
Noonan has excellent song crafting and performance, with a great mood set forth in this piece of music. The march tempo and catchy lyrics, make “Lovin’” a creative single that inspires a desire to hear more from this Irish transplant now finding an artistic home in Vermont.
Phish revisits their February 22, 2019 show from Barceló Maya Beach, Riviera Maya, Mexico for the February installment of Dinner and a Movie stream series. Tune in on Tuesday, February 22, 2021, at webcast.livephish.com at 8:30pm ET.
The all-inclusive event was a must-attend for die-hard fans, especially those looking to combine a tropical getaway with six sets of the Vermont quartet. Mexico also serves special distinction as the location of the most recent Phish shows, held over February 20-23, 2020, just prior to the music industry shutdown.
On the dinner menu this evening are Classic Chile and Cheese Tamales and Black Bean Soup. Full recipes can be found here. Don’t forget to tag your dinner photos #phishdinnerandamovie.
Established in 1979, the NILC is the leading national legal advocacy org in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of the most vulnerable immigrants and their loved ones. Believing that everyone living in the U.S. should have equal access to justice, resources, and economic opportunities that allow them to achieve their full human potential, NILC advances its mission through a racial, economic, and gender justice and equity lens, and works to challenge laws and policies that contribute to systemic inequities.
Tune in Tuesday, February 22 at 8:30PM ET at webcast.livephish.com for the latest Dinner and a Movie with fingers crossed for Phish returning to Mexico in 2022.
Setlist via Phish.net
Phish, February 22, 2019, Barceló Maya Beach, Riviera Maya, Mexico
Set 1: You Enjoy Myself, Turtle in the Clouds, 46 Days, No Men In No Man’s Land > Emotional Rescue, Tube > Shade, Saw It Again
Set 2: Set Your Soul Free > Mercury > Slave to the Traffic Light > Possum > Sanity > Walk Away
Encore: More
Emotional Rescue was played for the first time since August 31, 2012 (233 shows). Page teased I’m a Man (Spencer Davis Group) in Set Your Soul Free and She Said She Said in Mercury.
This week’s Saturday Night Live featured Oscar winning Actress Regina King, now nominated for Best Director for One Night in Miami, and musical guest Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.
Nathaniel Rateliff performed “Redemption” for his first song of the night, which was recorded for the upcoming Justin Timberlake movie Palmer. Timberlake, along with director Fisher Stevens, asked Rateliff to record the song for the film. Rateliff started the song solo, then was joined by a trio of backup singers and a full band who joined in.
For the second song of the night, Rateliff sang the solo track “A Little Honey” from his band’s 2018 album Tearing at the Seams. With the line “I need you, baby / More than you’ll ever, ever know,” Rateliff gave a nod to Valentine’s Day.
Rateliff earned an Album of the Year nomination at the 2020 Americana Honors & Awards for And It’s Still Alright.
