Ahh, the morning social media tune-in (sigh). It’s increasingly filled with the kind of news you really don’t want to hear and certainly can’t use. On Monday, December 21, it was teeming with word that the NYC music and arts scene had lost one of its boldest and most congenial promoters, Steven Paul Trimboli, on the night before Thanksgiving due to a massive stroke.
New York actually lost Steve Trimboli a few years back when he decamped from high rents NYC for Detroit with the 2014 closing of his beloved Goodbye Blue Monday. Opened in 2005, Goodbye Blue Monday was one of the first clubs established in Bushwick with the gentrification of the Lower East Side. The West Village was where Trimboli ran another popular institution, the metal music-centric Scrap Bar from 1986 – 1995. All totaled, Trimboli spent over 40+years in the scene, as club owner, booker, bartender and ceaseless creative pot stirrer.
According to an article by former Observer culture writer Drew Grant, Trimboli’s Scrap Bar was “the place where punk went to die and hair metal held the wake.” It was the metal sculpture-adorned venue, a dive bar as done by H.R. Giger of Alien film fame, where MTV held some of its most raucous Christmas parties during the hair band era. It was where Johnny Thunder would go on the nod and Slash would be “serviced” under the table by porn star Savannah.
To avoid noise issues, Trimboli created one of the weirdest sound systems I ever encountered in my life as a musician. Guitars, bass, keys, vocals, etc. would all essentially be plugged into a giant stereo, including the drummers, who had to bash away on electronic kits (not always happily). This was all feed into a seemingly endless array of tiny speakers placed throughout the Goth-like venue. Bands not only got to play, but to walk away with a video of their performance provided on VHS by Trimboli’s sound guy for a few bucks. It had a liberal booking policy, mostly metal in its early days. But it woud later evolve into nightly lineups showcasing emerging indie, folk, punk, poets and even no wave-ish and experimental jazzbos.
Trimboli himself departed Manhattan for Bushwick in 1999, and spent the next five years trying to get his newest venture off the ground.
Situated under the elevated J Subway line on a seriously darkened stretch of Broadway, Goodbye Blue Monday was another wholly unique institution. It matched the carnivalesque vibe of a junk shop with a dive bar/performance venue. There was never a cover and a booking policy that would grant pretty much anyone a bit of stage time – from musicians to comics, from poets to mimes. The stubbornly seedy joint seemed to cook 365 days a year and helped launch the careers of notables like Vampire Weekend and events like the quirky songwriting conclave, The Bushwick Book Club.
“Goodbye Blue Monday was an old-school Brooklyn radical art hole both epic and legendary,” remembers Radio Free Brooklyn host Robert Prichard. “GBM was something very rare and very precious; it was a real creative community. It was the kind of place that brought smiles to faces and inspiration into hearts. The world seems a lot smaller today without Steve (Trimboli) in it.”
“When you’re trying to find yourself creatively, there is nothing more helpful than having a space to do it,” writes Christopher Mastumoto, MC C.B on Facebook. “A space free of judgments where you can just go up on stage and see what sticks. Something that nowadays is very, very scarce.
“Steven helped me get to that stage when I needed it the most.” Adds Mastumoto. “He was upfront and honest and gave unlimited opportunities to any person looking to be creative. His venues never held you to a cover or any of that bullshit “you need to bring 15 people at $10 a pop” – a scam many promoters still do. It was something a young kid like me, and so many others, needed to begin to make their mark.”
For more on the life of Steve Trimboli, read Drew Grant’s Observer article.
Ever since übermanager Albert Grossman and his top client Bob Dylan moved up to Woodstock in the Sixties, the Hudson Valley has been a hot bed of popular music-making. It’s been the longtime residence of many of the best-known names in rock, folk and jazz and the site of a multitude of legendary recording studios where they waxed their classic albums. It’s also been home to an ever-changing array of clubs and tiny bars where the stars who call the area home can be found sharing their world class talent with intimate audiences.
Since 2015, Rita Ryan has been passionately profiling this ever-evolving scene on LocalMotion, a weekly two-hour, free-form broadcast on Vassar’s non-commercial radio station, WVKR, 91.3 FM.
Unlike some area shows that claim to be dedicated to “homegrown” talent (but are too often peppered with musicians from Austin, Nashville, Brooklyn and more in my listening!), Rita has kept her focus 100% local.
The second hour of her weekly Wednesday broadcast traditionally features interviews with many of extraordinary music-makers who call the Hudson Valley their home. Her guests have included Lovin’ Spoonful songsmith John Sebastian, jazz great Jack DeJohnette, dobro master Cindy Cashdollar, roots music maven Amy Helm, bass masters Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) and Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie) and Stevie Wonder producer/electronic music pioneer the late Malcolm Cecil, to name just a few. Rita also interviews stars who swing through so frequently for performances that they seem like locals, like the six-time interviewed Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen.
Ryan has also explored the local scene in interviews with club owners like Neil Howard of Colony Woodstock, Lizzie Vann of The Bearsville Theater and the late Tony Falco of Live at the Falcon. She’s also talked with music producers/recording engineers like Jerry Marotta of Dreamland Studios, David Baron (The Lumineers, Lenny Kravitz) and Scott Petito (The Band, The Fugs, Mercury Rev). And every week, she clues her audience in on the best live music coming to area venues, shows that she will often be frequenting herself.
The first hour of LocalMotion is dedicated to spinning a truly diverse selection of new sounds from local musicians. Her playlist spans rock, blues, folk, Americana, rockabilly, jazz and even the occasional electronic and experimental offering.
Earlier this month, Rita celebrated her 300th episode with a return interview with her first guests, Larry Campbell and his partner Teresa Williams. Here is a look at the past and what’s ahead for Rita and LocalMotion.
Sal Cataldi: To begin, what is your connection to the Hudson Valley?
Rita Ryan: I consider myself a native to the area. I moved to Tivoli in Dutchess County in 1972 while in elementary school. I was born in Long Island and then my family moved to Germany, where I went to school through 2nd grade. My mom was from Germany as are most of my entire family, and for the exception of one cousin, they all still live there.
My interest in music started with my mother. There was always music on in the house. She listened to classical and German music and I remember Engelbert Humperdinck, Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell and others being played on either albums or cassettes. As a young teenager, I would spend my weekly allowance by going to Caldor in Kingston on a Friday night to buy vinyl or a book. The first album I bought was Tapestry by Carole King.
SC: How did you connect with WVKR?
RR: I began working at a commercial radio station in 2010 doing advertising sales. I had no intention or ever thought of being on air. At one point, the station where I was working was holding a contest. We planned on doing a one-hour live broadcast at a remote store location to announce the winner. No DJ was available to go do the broadcast, so the owner of the station suggested I go do this live remote! I laughed at him saying, other than voicing commercials, I have never been on air! He told me to go try it anyway, So I did. My client, the store where the live broadcast was to be at, also encouraged me. So, there I was (laughs). My first broadcast was a live one, for one hour. I immediately felt very comfortable being on air. It just felt natural. Of course, I was nervous at first, but not for more than a few minutes. It really was easy and fun!
Not long after, the station where I was working offered me a show, while I also held down my sales job. I took them up on the offer and was able to pre-record my shows. For a while, I was the weeknight evening show host. Soon, that became too much for me with my regular job so I hosted a show on Saturday afternoons. I did this for several years before I left that job.
When I left, I knew I was going to miss hosting a radio show. A few months into a new job, an acquaintance called me and said he missed hearing me on air. He asked if I ever heard of WVKR and that I should try contacting them. I thought about it for a few days and decided to make the call – I mean I had nothing to lose, right? I called WVKR in June 2015 and the General Manager called me back immediately. I had given him my background and my idea of starting a show focused on music in the area, the local scene. I wanted to start hosting interviews with musicians that live here and those coming to the area to perform in our venues. They said they were actually looking for someone to host such as show, so the rest is history (laughs).
SC: What is the format of LocalMotion and how has it changed over the years?
RR: The greatest aspect of WVKR is that it’s a college radio station, at Vassar College, so it’s completely free-form, like in the good old days. It’s run by a Student Executive Board that has help from Vassar’s staff. It’s a non-commercial station. No advertising. So, all DJ’s format their own shows to their liking.
At first, in 2015, it began as a one-hour show. It pretty quickly moved into a weekly two-hour block, Wednesdays, from 4 – 6 pm. The format really hasn’t changed since the show began.
I always spend one of the hours hosting an interview and the second hour promoting musicians who will be playing in the area and new releases from local musicians. I also host a segment called “Musical Happenings” where I give info from venues as to who will be playing there. I’m a huge supporter of the local live music scene. I typically go out at least once per week to enjoy live music, if not more.
SC: Unlike some radio shows in the Hudson Valley that claim to be local, yours truly is, 100% in my opinion. It seems to be all about musicians who live in their area or the big names who pass through regularly, like Jorma Kaukonen, who almost seem like locals. Is it a hard to promise to always deliver a full slate of local music?
RR: It’s not hard at all to keep my show truly local because we have such an incredible and diverse scene of music in the area. There’s always someone coming to perform at an area venue to interview and many of those live right in the area. I do interview national and internationally renowned musicians but only because/when they perform in our area. There’s never a shortage. I typically book my guests 6 to 8 weeks in advance!
SC: So, what are some of your favorite venues in the area, old and new?
RR: I don’t think it would be fair of me to say what my favorite area venues are as there are so many! I say to people, go support music at all local venues and see which you like best and keep going to support the music!
SC: How has the Hudson Valley music scene evolved over the years and where is it headed?
RR: Well, it’s definitely evolved over the decades and, I believe, we’re in a time now when it is truly exploding in the area. For example, look at Woodstock. The newly renovated and restored Bearsville Theatre is back in full swing, Levon Helm Studios (home of the legendary Midnight Ramble shows), The Colony (also renovated and restored), Station Bar, Pearl Moon and the Woodstock Playhouse are all top-notch live music spots. We’re also in an area where there are world class recording studios which brings many musicians here from all around the globe.
I believe the music and arts scene will continue to grow in this area. We are incredibly lucky to live not just in a visually beautiful area, but also an area filled with culture of every stripe.
SC: Now that you’ve celebrated your 300th show, can you let us know who some of your favorite guests has been?
RR: This is another question that’s difficult to answer about favorite guests because there are really too many to say. I typically respond to that question by saying it’s the last guest I had on the show (laughs)!
Since 2015, I’ve hosted over 290 interviews as most every episode has a guest. I was most nervous for my first ever interview. I remember it like it was yesterday. I began the show in July 2015. I remember when I first conceptualized the show and sharing my idea with Larry Campbell at shows when I’d see him perform. He would say to me: “Rita, when you get that show, let me know. I’ll be happy to be your first guest.” Well, I got the show and Larry held true to his word. My first guests on LocalMotion on 91.3 WVKR were Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams. I prepared for over 5 hours for my first interview. I was so nervous but it went so well.
Since LocalMotion airs live, so I don’t have the luxury of edits. The next time I saw Larry in person after our interview, he told me it was one of the best radio interviews he’s ever done in his career. That to me was the highest honor I could be given.
I haven’t been too nervous interviewing since my first show. I get excited with anticipation for each and every guest. I do lots of “homework” to prepare for my interviews and I absolutely have the time of my life doing them.
SC: As a listener, I know you give every genre of music a spin, from folk and Americana through to jazz and experimental. So, do you have any personal favorites on the new local talent front?
RR: I dislike giving out my favorites, just like I don’t do a “Top 10” end of year album release list any longer. I mean, after all, who am I to say! My favorites are just that, my favorites. Doesn’t mean anyone else would agree. I do play music I’m not particularly fond of, that isn’t really to my taste sometimes, because I only think it’s fair to promote all worthy musicians in the area.
SC: Anyone who follows you on social media knows, your daughter is quite a serious musician. Tell us a little about her?
RR: Well, here I could go on and on! My daughter Caroline recently turned 21. I began introducing her to the arts when she was maybe 4 years old. Her first live theatre event was The Nutcracker at Bardavon Theatre in Poughkeepsie. We would go annually while she was young. Shortly thereafter, I took her to NYC and we began seeing Broadway shows.
She began playing violin in 4th grade. We rented her a violin because we weren’t sure how long she’d stick with the instrument. She stayed with it for one year then began playing cello. But she didn’t like playing the cello as much as the violin, so she went back to her violin. We gave her private lessons immediately and she just loved her teacher. We also learned of an organization in Dutchess County called “Stringendo.” It was an orchestra school for students from 1st through 12th grade that met each Saturday during the school year. You had to audition to get in. There were numerous levels in the school and Caroline began in “Prelude.” She stayed in that school for 8 years throughout high school. This school was invaluable to her. She would not be the musician she is today without having those years in that school. Also, her private lesson violin teacher, Kate Rymph, who taught her first lesson until she graduated high school was instrumental in transforming Caroline into the musician she is today.
She will be graduating Ithaca College in December 2022 with a degree in Music Performance, a degree in Economics and a minor in Art History. She recently performed her Senior Recital and it was inspiring to see how far she’s come as a violinist. I could not possibly be prouder of my daughter. Not because of her talent as a musician, but because of the woman she’s become. I’m an incredibly lucky woman to be her mom. It’s the honor of my lifetime.
SC: Any local musicians you still want to interview but haven’t?
RR: Funny you should ask that! It just recently happened that I did interview two musicians who I’ve been wanting to interview the past 6 years! I had the great honor of interviewing John Sebastian and Jack DeJohnette. They had both been on my list and what an honor for me to have had the opportunity to talk with both of them. Both American icons.
I’m looking forward to continuing LocalMotion. It’s a lot of work but when you’re passionate about something it’s worth it. It’s a true honor to be hosting this weekly show. I look forward to seeing the show grow further and keeping up with all the incredible new music that’s coming out. Please support live music – especially local live music!
SC: How can people listen to LocalMotion?
RR: Several ways! The old-fashioned way if you’re in the area on the radio dial at 91.3 FM, also online at wvkr.org or on the app TuneInRadio under WVKR. I also record and upload each interview on my YouTube channel. Please consider subscribing to the channel at “LocalMotion on 91.3 WVKR hosted by Rita Ryan.” All interviews are also uploaded as a podcast which you can listen to on several streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc. You can even keep track on my Facebook page which features links to interviews, videos I shoot at local concerts and more.
The Bearsville Theater put the spotlight on one of Woodstock’s most famous couples, legendary musician John Sebastian and his photographer wife Catherine, at a joint all-star concert/art opening on Friday, December 3.
The concert and the photo exhibit provided a look back at the many famous musicians, like Fred Neil, Tim Hardin and Sebastian himself, who cut their teeth in the folk and jug band scene of Greenwich Village in the ‘60s before migrating to Woodstock.
Fritz Richmond, Paul Rishell, James Wormworth, Annie Raines, John Sebastian & Jimmy Vivino. Group shot during rehearsal for an appearance at the “Late Nite with Conan O’Brian” show
The evening kicked-off with an introduction to the two dozen photos in the exhibit “Catherine Sebastian at Bearsville: The Jug Band Years.” A star in her own right, Catherine’s work has graced album, book and magazine covers featuring Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Mick Jagger, Kathy Valentine (of The Go-Go’s), Lady Gaga, Debbie Harry, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Edina Menzel, Levon Helm and the RCO All-Stars and many more.
The photos date from the ‘60s through today, with many featuring John and his musical cohorts from the J-Band, a jug band formed in the ‘90s which has included Fritz Richmond, Yank Rachell, Jimmy Vivino, Paul Rishell, Annie Raines and other notables. The collection boast many classic shots of Sebastian with Tim Hardin, Happy Traum, Fred Neil, Paul Butterfield and even his father John, who was an internationally renowned harmonica virtuoso in the classical idiom. Also featured are shots of Sebastian’s J-Band in performance, at the Bearsville Theater in 1994, on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and more. Not to be missed is a shot of John inside his famous tie-dyed tent in Laurel Canyon. This is where he learned to craft the colorful fashions for the jeans and jeans jacket he wore at Woodstock ‘69. Framed and unframed prints are available for purchase at the Bearsville Theater and their website,
Annie Raines
98-8 frame 25 John Sebastian and Annie raines
Immediately before the concert commenced, John, Catherine and the musicians headed outside where Bearsville impresario Lizzie Van dedicated the recently rebuilt back porch, “The John Sebastian & Fred Neil Deck.”
“When Lizzie said she wanted to name a part of the space after Fred and me, I was kind of puzzled as to where it would be,” laughed Sebastian. “When she said it was going to be the porch, I said ‘ that’s perfect.’ Because if me and Fred were going be anywhere it would be out on the porch… smoking something we probably shouldn’t be smoking!”
The concert that followed had the intimate and casual feeling of a living room session, with Sebastian greeting the hometown audience with a boisterous “Good evening, my town.” He began solo with a few selections from Fred Neil, with whom he recorded and toured for two years before forming the Lovin’ Spoonful. The highlight here was his ambling version of “Other Side of This Life” from Neil’s classic 1965 debut album, “Bleecker and McDougal.”
Sebastian then turned his tales and musical talents to another friend, Tim Hardin. Sebastian lovingly joked: “Timmy was really not the cuddly guy who wrote Misty Roses. But the coolest guy of all of us, someone best known by listening to his early nasty tunes!” Sebastian followed with a solo performance of one of these, the knotty blues You Got A Reputation. He then brought on longtime J-Band member, Paul Rishell, for a solo on one of Hardin’s most covered compositions, “Reason to Believe.”
Sebastian’s cohorts in the J-Band and another aggregation, The Black Italians, then came to the stage. Guitarist Jimmy Vivino and the always smiling drummer/washboard whiz James Wormworth, joined by Lovin’ Spoonful bass man Steve Boone, partook a spirited run through the Lovin’ Spoonful’s Lovin You. Next up came another Woodstock legend, Cindy Cashdollar, who added her slithering, bluesy dobro runs to another nugget from early in John’s career, The Even Dozen Jug Band’s All Worn Out.
The energy was upped when another harmonica virtuoso, Annie Raines, joined for Sebastian’s Jug Band Music and You’ve Been A Good Old Wagon But You’ve Done Broke Down. The latter is a blues composed in 1895 and popularized in the 1920s by Bessie Smith, to which Raines added wailing harp and throaty vocals.
After a trip through the traditional Fair Thee Well and Jimmie Rodgers’ Miss the Mississippi and You, blues great Joe Louis Walker came onstage for a high-energy romp through Viola Lee Blues, with Sebastian on harp. John’s playing proved his mastery of the blues’ most portable instrument, and why he has been called upon to play it on classic tunes by the likes of Crosby Stills and Nash, The Doors and many others. His still stellar chops were further evidenced on the following, a two-harp duet with the equally fierce Raines.
Sebastian saluted important friends and mentors, the blues greats Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell, with soulful covers of their Milk Cow Blues (Leaving Trunk) and Tap That Thing respectively, with the latter featuring contributions on the jug and stage banter from John’s son Ben. Sebastian also performed the wonderful jazzy ballad to a love lost, My Passing Fantasy, from his 2014 duet disc with David Grisman. He then donned a harmonica holder and banjo to round out the set taking the all-star band through a rollicking rendition of K.C. Moan, a 1929 classic from the Memphis Jug Band.
After a well-deserved standing ovation, Sebastian and crew returned to perform two of his best loved Lovin’ Spoonful hits, Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind and You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice. With Cashdollar’s swirling dobro, Vivino’s smooth guitar licks and Wormworth’s percolating washboard and ever-present smile, these tunes sent John’s audience off into the wintery Woodstock night winter with very warm feelings indeed.
Like rock music itself, the rock concert has very humble, homegrown origins. It started way back in the later 40s/early 50s when radio DJs and record store owners saw them as a way to generate more bucks from the racy new musical style that was igniting the passions of a new, monied class of teenagers. Over time, rock concerts would explode in size, scope and cultural and revenue impact. They evolved from quaint “hops” at high school gyms to a circuit of psychedelicized theatres, then onto sports arenas, stadiums and, ultimately, multiday outdoor festivals. In 2019, before COVID-19 blew it to smithereens, the live music business was a $136 billion-a-year global juggernaut.
With his new book Rock Concert(Grove/Atlantic Press), veteran journalist Marc Myers has marshalled an army to tell the free-wheeling story of the growth of this entertainment staple. Like Legs McNeil’s punk history classic, Please Kill Me and Frank Mastropolo’s recent, Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock History, Myers’ book is a well ordered oral history weaving through decades of fascinating facts and anecdotes. It is told by some of rock’s most iconic stars including Alice Cooper, Ian Anderson, Steve Miller, Roger Walters, Angus Young, Hall & Oates and Bob Weir, as well as an A-list of promoters, managers, songwriters, producers, photographers, sound and lighting techs, filmmakers, fashion designers, roadies and fans. These are the people who witnessed many watershed concerts firsthand, from the days of L.A.’s proto-rock R&B scene through to 1985’s Live Aid, the final event before the era of corporate sponsorship and out of sight ticket prices took hold.
Myers goes back 3,400 years to set the stage for his story. In the book’s preamble, he introduces The Hurrian Songs. This is the world’s oldest known sheet music, tablets from ancient Syria containing tunings and tablature for lyre music meant to be performed before a live audience – the first historical evidence of what would become today’s concert spectaculars. Also noted in the deep history are two Big Band-era pop concert events – Paul Whiteman’s 1924 performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at NYC’s Aeolian Hall and 1938’s Carnival of Swing on Randall’s Island, the first outdoor jazz fest headlined by Benny “King of Swing” Goodman which drew over 20,000 white and black fans.
As stated earlier, the real genesis of the first era of rock concerts is credited to radio DJs. In late 1940s Los Angeles, musician/radio host Johnny Otis commenced his Barrelhouse Club shows in Watts featuring R&B stars of the day. This was followed by shows at additional sites on Central Avenue, many headlined by the original “honking” sax man, Big Jay McNeely, including Hunter Hancock’s popular Midnight Concerts.
The true “rock concert” commenced in Cleveland when Rendezvous Record Store owner Leo Mintz partnered with radio DJ Alan Freed, the man who coined the term rock ‘n’ roll, for events like his Moondog Coronation Ball. With Freed’s move to NYC and radio giant WINS in 1954, he introduced the big concert concept to the Big Apple, with huge shows that ultimately settled at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater. Myers also quotes the recollections of rockabilly great Wanda Jackson to bring to life the frenzy around Elvis Presley’s early barnstorming tours of the South.
The modern-day rock festival is traced back to George Wein, who inaugurated his annual Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, which included a performance by bluesman-turned-rocker Chuck Berry in its 1958 edition. Wein followed this with the inaugural Newport Folk Festival in 1959, whose headliners like John Baez and Peter Paul and Mary recall performing at what truly might have been the forerunner of Woodstock, the March of Washington. This event which attracted over 250,000 to D.C. in 1964 to hear the political folkies and, more importantly, civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein are given their due for pioneering the modern stadium tour, beginning with their August 1964 cross country swing to the Hollywood Bowl and their famed Shea Stadium concert in 1965. Of the latter, photographer Henry Diltz relates anecdote about him and Lovin’ Spoonful having to be whisked into the dressing room with the Beatles at the frenzied show. This was when the Spoonful’s lead singer, John Sebastian, was mistaken for Beatle John as they sat in the audience of 50,000 plus. With the help of folks like stage manager-turned-record producer Joe Boyd and folk star Peter Yarrow, Myers clarifies some of the erroneous beliefs around Dylan’s famed, audience inflaming “going electric” set at the Newport Folk Fest in 1965.
Myers then takes readers through the era of the rock theater. This section chronicles the rise of Fillmore’s West and East, the Boston Tea Party, The Avalon, Detroit’s Grande Ballroom, Philly’s Electric Factory and more, and the many innovations they brought in lighting and stage craft and the role emerging FM radio played in their success. There are more great details about how the Bay Area’s Beat poets and their “Happenings” helped usher in the hippies, leading to events like the Human Be-In and the first modern rock festival in 1967, Monterey Pop, another offshoot of a jazz fest inaugurated in 1958. This comes with some great insights from both Monterey Pop filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker and Steve Miller, who was inspired by Hendrix’s musicality but turned off by his and The Who’s guitar bashing antics.
Monterey Pop then led to 1968’s Miami Pop Festival, where we meet Michael Lang, a failed headshop entrepreneur who later play a key role in Woodstock. Myers also relates info about some fests you may have never heard of including Washington’s Skyriver Festival, one promoted by dropping a piano out of a helicopter, along with Atlantic City Pop, which featured 29 acts over three days and drew an audience of 120,000, with no advertising, two weeks before Woodstock ‘69. The author spends a good deal of time clarifying the history of the Woodstock Fest and some legends about how the crowd narrowly escaped mass electrocution during the torrential rain and the importance of the 1970 film to cementing it in history about all other rock fests. There are some great firsthand memories from Blondie-to-be Chris Stein about his experiences at Woodstock. There is also eye-opening details from Abbey Road cover photographer Ethan Russell about his time with the Rolling Stones’ at their disastrous attempt at a Woodstock knockoff, Altamont in December 1969.
After Woodstock, everything changed and escalated and somehow gets more formulaic – less fun but way more profitable. Myers then traces the move to sporting arenas and stadiums. There is a great discussion here on band branding with Nick Fasciano, the man who created the Coca-Cola inspired logo and album cover art for rock/jazzers Chicago and with the Rolling Stones’ famed “lips logo” creator John Pasche. Now technology and spectacle come to the fore, with stars like Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, Alice Cooper, Roger Waters and Bob Weir going into their need for dazzling props, lasers, confetti canons, wireless guitar packs and having to create and truck their own custom staging, lighting and sound systems – all to have an impact on audiences that could now be a football field away.
Fashionistas will enjoy the recollections of famed designer Norma Kamali. She is the woman who outfitted everyone from Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Sly Stone and The New York Dolls in their glam looks. Also notable is the discussion of the charity rock concert, with intriguing backstory on George Harrison’s 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, No Nukes in 1979, the various Farm Aid events and 1985’s Live Aid.
Deadheads will enjoy the chapter titled “Concert Maximus.” In this, Myers chronicles the true rock concert superfans, those of the Grateful Dead. These all-in devotees would follow the band to all sites on their tours, including July 1973’s Watkins Glen, which attracted over 600,000 to hear the Dead, The Allman Brothers and The Band. Also included is a discussion of Wattstax, the August 1972 concert/movie/album created by the Memphis-based soul label which drew an audience of 90,000 to the Los Angeles Colosseum. Former label chief Al Bell describes the many obstacles overcome and how this massive event came off peacefully, without a police presence, with a security crew headed by none other than actor Melvin Van Peebles. The author also touches on the mega-sized ABC-TV broadcast event California Jam, with Deep Purple, ELP and Black Sabbath.
The death knell to this era of rock came with a few final factors. First is the rise of solitary listening with the introduction of the Sony Walkman in 1979. This was followed by the rise of MTV and the accent on visuals. Lastly is computerized ticketing which only served to rapidly increase the price of entry for music fans. As mentioned earlier, Myers wraps it all up with Live Aid, the August 1985 event spanning stages in London and Philadelphia, with a TV audience of 1.5 billion. It was the final event where ticket prices were within the reach of everyone ($35.00), before everything was scaled up with the help (or harm?) of massive corporate sponsorship. It’s an event famed artist manager and Live Aid eyewitness Shep Gordon called “the end of innocence.”
As you can see from this review, Myers is a music journalist who digs deep and tells a tale clearly. If you enjoy this book, check out his regular contributions on music and culture at The Wall Street Journal and his award-winning site, JazzWax.com.
Given the massive interest in The Beatles’ forthcoming Get Back film, an army of notable downtown artists are heading uptown to the Cutting Room for GET BACK NYC, a local remake/remodel of tunes from the Fab’s classic 1970 swan song Let It Be – all to benefit Teen Cancer America’sPlay It Back Music Program, a charity founded by The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend.
Produced and presented by David C. Gross and Tom Semioli, the hosts of the radio show/podcast NOTES FROM AN ARTIST, the reinventions are designed to showcase the many musical genres that New York City is renowned for – rock, jazz, experimental, funk, punk, folktronica and urban country. In keeping with the format of Gross and Semioli’s show, the event will be a “PodFormance” – a hybrid of live concert and podcast (with interviews). The event will take place Monday, December 6 at 7 pm at the Cutting Room, at 44 East 32nd Street, New York City.
Artists confirmed for the event include Emily Duff, Joey Kelly Allstars, Arno Hecht (Uptown Horns, Rolling Stones, J. Geils Band), Chris Parker (Bob Dylan, Stuff, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Jon Secada), Peter Baron, Spaghetti Eastern Music, Ben Neill, Lorraine Leckie, Anne Husick (Joey Ramone, Ronnie Spector), Puma Perl, Mark Bosch (Ian Hunter, Mott The Hoople ’74, Garland Jeffreys), Kathena Bryant, Chris Berardo and The DesBerados, along with bassists David C. Gross, Tom Semioli, and a few surprise guests.
Publisher Nicholas Callaway will kick-off the evening of GET BACK NYC with a discussion of The Beatles: Get Back book (Callaway Arts & Entertainment). This is the official account of the creation of their final album, Let It Be, told in The Beatles’ own words, illustrated with hundreds of previously unpublished images, including photos by Ethan A. Russell and Linda McCartney.
Founded by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, Teen Cancer America (TCA) partners with hospitals throughout the United States to develop specialized facilities and services for teens and young adults with cancer. TCA builds teen friendly environments, enhancing the hospital experience. TCA develops standards for age-targeted care, improve collaboration between pediatric and adult specialists and enable dedicated research to improve outcomes and survival for our young people. The Play It Back Music program gives adolescent and young adult cancer survivors the opportunity to express themselves and heal through the power of making music. Play It Back connects cancer survivors with industry professionals to create songs, meet artists, and explore music.
David C. Gross and Tom Semioli’s NOTES FROM AN ARTIST is an insightful, intriguing and informative talk/music program airing Monday evenings on www.CygnusRadio.com. It is a unique program that brings you behind the scenes with individuals whose artistry had resonated with generations. The program has presented some of the biggest names in music of many genres, including jazz bass legend Ron Carter, Michael League (Snarky Puppy), Richard Thompson, photographer The Cutting Room is located at 44 East 32nd Street, New York City. Admission for GET BACK NYC is $20.00 with all proceeds going to TEEN CANCER AMERICA. For tickets and info contact The Cutting Room.
If you dig the lush cinematic pop of Lana Del Ray but wish it came with more heartbreaking lyricism and some heavy R&B vocal chops to deliver it all, you should check out the music of 22-year-old Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Cate Hamilton.
Photo by Justin Truglio
The St. Louis native has two soulful EPs to under her belt, Angel Baby (2017) and Five Shots in the Chamber (2019), as well as a new single – the dreamy, throaty, trip hop-flavored ballad, “Traces.” Cate also has a new all-girl backing band which she unveiled in a tight, six-song set November 11th at East Berlin on Avenue A, her first live foray since the COVID-19 quarantine commenced.
Cate’s sound is dense, sensual, soulful, jazzy and even little electronically experimental. It is inspired by a host of classic R&B icons and their modern descendants like Iranian/Swedish singer-songwriter Snoh Aalegra, a Hamilton favorite. In her studio offerings, Cate’s rich lead vocals are front and center, often complemented by her stacked, spiraling and sophisticated harmonies.
Photo by Justin Truglio
Hamilton’s new three-girl band did a wonderful job recreating the symphonic grooves and vocal harmonies Cate marshals in the studio. The band included Mia Madden on keys and vocals, Chloe Seltzer on drum pads and vocals and Bettinacakes on bass. Hamilton handled the lead vocals, on-stage cheerleading/banter and rhythm guitar.
Cate Hamilton and band kicked off the evening with two strong singles from her discography, “Traces” and “Universe.” The latter is a bouncy offering from her debut EP, with a killer chorus and a cool acapella outro. The highlight of the evening was “12 Bar Blues.” This is a new and as of yet unrecorded bluesy lyrical bitchfest propelled by a walking bass and gorgeous three-part harmony. Cate and crew ended their set with two smart covers: Snoh Aalegra’s “Fool for You” and Canadian electronic/jazz hip-hoppers’ BADBADNOTGOOD’s “In Your Eyes.”
Two standout studio tracks not performed that evening but deserving of some serious airplay and acclaim are the James Bond theme like “Sick and Tired” and “Exist.” The former can stand up nexty to Adele and Billie Eilish’s recent cinematic spy offerings, while the latter is a slow groove with minimalist accompaniment, one that really demonstrates this young singer’s superior vocal chops and range.
Gianluca Tramontana, music journalist and host of the Radio Free Brooklyn showSitting with Gianluca, spent 2017–2019 in the mountains around Guantánamo City, Cuba, immersed in—and recording— joyous, all-inclusive and mostly improvised, riff-based acoustic roots music of the island. The music was born in the sugar and coffee plantations in the mountains around the city, less than thirty miles from Guantanamo Bay, and serves as the soundtrack for joyous three-day parties called Changuisis.
This incredible collection of recordings, which includes over 50 brand new remote recordings and 100 intimate photographs of the culture and its people, was released this past July 30 by Petaluma Records as a three-disc deluxe box set with a hardbound full-color book and extensive liner notes titled Changüí – The Sound of Guantánamo. This release, the most extensive exploration of the Changüí style to date, has garnered four- and five-star reviews (MOJO, Songlines, No Depression, and Afropop) and been featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition, BBC6, PRI’S The World, and the CBC.
On November 17, Radio Free Brooklyn is partnering with the Pine Box Rock Shop for a free event that will be part belated record release party, part panel discussion and slideshow dedicated to this vibrant brand of Cuban music. Hosted by Tramontana, the event will include a conversation with four-time Grammy-winning producer Steve Rosenthal (co-producer) and Ned Sublette, Cuban music expert and author of the definitive tome Cuba and its Music. This will also serve as a “better late than never” album release party where a copy of the box (and some other special gifts) will be raffled off to a lucky audience member.
The Pine Box Rock Shop is located at 12 Grattan Street, Brooklyn. The 90-minute event kickoff at 8 pm. RSVP here.
Radio Free Brooklyn is a non-commercial freeform Internet radio station, streaming original content by the artists and residents of Brooklyn 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Listen live here.
Prog rockers are not a group known for their sense of humor. But there is one towering prog godhead who is top of the heap as an instrumental virtuoso and teller of ridiculously entertaining tales, ones featured in his surprisingly stupendous memoir, Grumpy Old Rock Star. It’s Rick Wakeman, the keyboard wizard whose riffs can be heard on some of the most memorable works of Yes, The Strawbs, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, T. Rex, Al Stewart and a boatload of his symphonic solo albums.
Wakeman brought his massive chops and incredibly funny tales to Woodstock’s beautifully outfitted Bearsville Theater on November 1. It was the last stop on the first swing of his “Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour.” The evening was equal parts baroque instrumental brilliance and Borsch Belt humor. And it was all the more enjoyable for it.
Dressed in a knee-length black morning jacket, Wakeman manned a duo of Korg Nautilus synths and a Yamaha grand piano to take the audience on a 14-song retrospective of his career as session man, bandmate and solo artist. There was a similar cache of stories, as well as a Q&A session, where the keyboardist reeled off hilarious anecdotes with punchlines as well-oiled as his arpeggios.
After the gorgeous symphonic double synth-driven opener “Seahorses,” Wakeman moved over to the piano. Here he told the story of one of his most memorable dates as a session man on Cat Stevens’ classic “Morning Has Broken.” According to the piano man, it wasn’t really all that much of a song, just 40 seconds or so, when they first ran through it. Stevens’ producer Paul Samuel-Smith asked his to lengthen it with a piano intro, a gorgeous one that is as memorable as Matthew Fisher’s Bachesque organ on “Whiter Shade of Pale.” The producer and Cat liked it so much that they asked him to return to it several times, in the middle of the tune and for a coda, to bring the tune to single length. Wakeman also recalls Stevens sitting in a corner chain smoking, all to muster the proper grit to commit his vocal to tape. He also remembers not getting paid, until 37 years later, the 12 British Pound session fee (about $120 is today’s dollars)!
Wakeman then set up a medley of two tunes from his classic The Six Wives of Henry the VIII album by observing that “the King’s life was prophetic of my own.” Like Henry, Rick had multiple marriages, one reason being “that I really liked cake.” But where Henry “chopped off his wives’ heads,” Wakeman observes he “gave my wives houses.” After the laughs died down, Wakeman gave sharp, articulated performances of “Catherine of Aragon” and “Catherine Howard.”
Rick Wakeman – photo by Neil Segal
Before heading into a medley of Yes, a mashup of “The Meeting,” “And You and I” and “Wonderous Stories,” Rick told an anecdote about a clever putdown he launched at a know-nothing TV interviewer in Los Angeles. When asked where his bandmate Trevor Rabin was when he wrote Yes’ biggest hit “Owner of A Lonely Heart,” Wakeman said he was “did it on the toilet.” And that it “was the first time someone wrote a #1 while doing a #2!” Naturally, the interview ended right there.
In the Q&A that followed, Rick answered 25 fan queries. He shared a host of trivia about his career, his love for his fellow prog keyboard titan, the late Keith Emerson, and that, yes, his long blonde hair was all his. He then returned to the synths for “The Dance of a Thousand Lights” from his 1999 disc, Return to the Centre of the Earth.
The creative and emotional high point of the evening came with Wakeman’s memories and medley of David Bowie, a giant whose last residence was a stone’s throw from Bearsville.
Rick Wakeman – photo by Neil Segal
Rick was the pianist featured on two of Bowie’s greatest works, his career-making “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars.” Before launching into the tunes, Rick recalled their days of neighbors in the U.K and various chance meetings while on tour. He also credited Bowie and his producer Tony Visconti as sources of knowledge in the area of record production that proved so vital in his career.
Rick Wakeman then told another humorous tale about Emerson and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord, before dedicating the next medley to them, wildly original covers of The Beatles “Help!” and “Eleanor Rigby.” Repeating an exercise he learned during his days at the Royal College of Music, he covered these in the styles of classical composers. The standout was his reinvention of “Eleanor Rigby” in the hyper style of Sergei Prokofiev. It was blur of rapid arpeggios and pianistic filagree which could’ve been complemented by a horde of dancing Cossacks… if Rick could still afford the overkill of his infamous stage productions of the 1970s.
After a standing ovation and thunderous applause from the near sell-out crowd, Wakeman returned for a crowd-pleasing encore of story and sound. First came another scatological tale about a “dodgy vindaloo” and being asked to autograph an album while on the toilet! This was followed by yet another instrumental dazzler, the super syncopated “Merlin the Magician” from 1975 album, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Wakeman’s concert is a model for what classic-era artists can bring to their audiences. It had musicianship that showed he hadn’t lost a step to time and his formerly wild rocker lifestyle. It also had all the tall tales and trivia that die-hard fans have an inexhaustible hunger for.
Make no mistake. Don LaSala is not Conrad Hilton and he’s not in it for the money. Since 1998, LaSala and his wife Sue have been the owners and loving caretakers of one of the holy sites of rock history, the humble salmon-colored house in West Saugerties, N.Y. known as Big Pink. From early 1967 – 1968, Big Pink and its makeshift basement recording facility served as the woodshed where Bob Dylan and The Band created a cache of classic songs that would forever redirect the course of popular music.
photo by William A. Loeb
Since 2014, the LaSalas have been enabling fans to enjoy weekend and longer retreats at this fabled house and its many peaceful, woodsy acres. It’s one that remains virtually unchanged since the days when The Band lived and worked there. This includes the rosy sided exterior immortalized on the cover of The Band’s 1968 debut, Music from Big Pink, along with its Atomic-era kitchen and appliances, its living, dining, bedrooms and, of course, its famous subterranean music space. The LaSalas have added to the authentic retro vibe by curating many period artifacts throughout. These include a 1966 local phone book, a Bakelite rotary telephone in basic black and a vintage typewriter, just like the one Dylan used to fire off lyrics. The mood is also set with classic photos of Dylan and The Band taken here and around Woodstock by its most famous local lensman Elliot Landy.
The story of Big Pink commences in February 1967, when The Band’s bassist Rick Danko rented the house where he would cohabitate with bandmates Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel. Danko. The trio were working with their guitarist Robbie Robertson, who secured a home close by with his soon-to-be wife Dominique, on Dylan’s film of their 1966 tour together, “Eat The Document.” Dylan had been sidelined from touring by a July 1966 motorcycle accident leaving his manager Albert Goldman’s house in adjacent Bearsville. Now, he was playing the seemingly retired family man/country squire/filmmaker, while quietly forging ahead with what would be his most productive year ever as a songwriter.
According to a conversation LaSala had with Danko, Dylan would arrive at Big Pink around 9 am each morning, right after dropping his daughter Maria off at school. He would then make a pot of coffee, roll a joint, smoke a few cigarettes and write lyrics, on yellow legal pads and/or his trusty typewriter, all while sitting at the living room table gazing out a picture window at the mountains in the distance. When Danko, Hudson and Manuel arose at around 11 am, he would make another pot of coffee for the boys and the arriving Robertson. They would then head down to the basement and try out the new songs just written by Dylan or fool with covers of old traditional chestnuts like “Kickin’ My Dog Around.” Keyboardist Hudson engineered the recordings using two stereo mixers and a tape recorder borrowed from Dylan’s manager and microphones on loan from folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. The magic was committed to reel upon reel of 1/4” Scotch or Shamrock tape.
In the late afternoon, the two coupled guys, Dylan and Robertson, would head home. The remaining trio would then either head into the town of Woodstock to party or bring the party home. The routine with Dylan reportedly went on from May – October 1967. Eventually drummer Levon Helm would return from the South and move in and the band would continue to work at Big Pink through January 1968, crafting and polishing the songs that would appear on the debut album named in honor of their home/studio.
Some of the 30 new Dylan originals recorded would first see light of day on a 14-song demo tape. It was circulated in October 1967 by his publishing company, Dwarf Music, to hopefully generate income from covers by other artists. They included some of the most celebrated songs of his career including “I Shall Be Released,” “This Wheel’s on Fire” co-written by Danko, “Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn),” “Tears of Rage” co-written with Manuel and “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.” Seven of these unreleased versions were included on the double-disc The Great White Wonder, the first rock bootleg album illegally issued in July 1969. Some of these would ultimately end up on the first official release, 1975’s oft maligned The Basement Tapes on Columbia Records. Note that the cramped basement in the album’s cover photo is not Big Pink at all; it’s from a YMCA in Los Angeles. And some of the tracks featured are not from Big Pink or are The Band recordings sans Dylan.
photo by William A. Loeb
The story of how the LaSalas came to own Big Pink is rather traditional, one reflected in the great migration to the Hudson Valley we see taking place today in Covid-19 times.
“After almost a decade working in the music business in San Francisco, we moved back East and rented a placed in Westchester to help with my family’s real estate management business,” says Don LaSala. “Suburbia was a real culture shock. My wife grew up in the Northern Adirondacks and I had been coming up here a lot in the 1980s, when I was working as a live production manager for NRBQ, most of whom lived right in Saugerties. We always loved their area and hoped to one day, maybe, get a place here, but that was still a distant dream.”
One day, a friend in Woodstock, Mike Densmore, called me up and said there’s a tiny ad in the local classifieds saying — ‘Famous Rock-n-Roll House for Sale by Owner’. We thought, ‘What the hell? Why don’t we just take a look at it to see what it’s like inside?’ We were just curious like fans are today. But we weren’t really looking at the time and, in our wildest fantasies, we didn’t think we’d ever come to own it.
Don LaSala
LaSala, who is also a guitarist/songwriter, hit it off with the bass playing owner, Mike Amitan, who urged him to consider buying it, even though he didn’t think he could muster the $149,000 asking price. Two weeks later, the New York Times ran a huge story saying that the house had been sold to a consortium of investors. But this deal and several others would fall through before LaSala raised the funds and closed on the house in April 1998.
photo by William A. Loeb
From 1998 – 2014, Big Pink was the LaSala’s primary residence thought they spent part of each week at their downstate rental working for the family business. Its fabled basement became the clubhouse where band Don plays in, The Hooligan Band, would write, rehearse and record, just like Dylan and The Band. Playing together since 1978, The Hooligan Band have released two albums recorded in the famous basement, including Basement Hooligan – Live Recordings ’08 & ’10 and Hooligan in the Pink. LaSala has also released a handful of solo offerings recorded at Big Pink including 2011’s Home Brew. It has also continued to be the site of Big Pink Socials, where LaSala and other local musicians like Robin the Hammer, Julia Nichols, Avalon Peacock, Justin Love, Denise Parent and The Hooligans would party, play and record.
“At the time we bought Big Pink, Dylan was pretty much out of the public eye,” continues LaSala. “He was coming off his religious period, Dylan and the Dead, his acoustic albums and he hadn’t quite hit his renaissance with Time Out of Mind.”
With the critical mass of Internet connectivity in the early 2000s, more and more people started finding their way up the ¼ mile dirt road from Stoll Road in West Saugerties to Big Pink. Fans themselves, the LaSalas were always gracious when encountering visitors, sharing trivia and letting them take a few exterior photos.
photo by William A. Loeb
But the real explosion of interest came with the 2014 release of The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete, a lush box set containing 138 tracks, 117 previously unissued, from Dylan and The Band’s 1967 home recordings, the vast majority from Big Pink. This was followed by The New Basement Tapes, a British-American supergroup including My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and Rhiannon Giddens put together by producer T Bone Burnett. Also in 2014, the group recorded Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, an album of tunes based on newly uncovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during his period at Big Pink. The collaboration was chronicled in the documentary Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued. This included reenactments with young actors of Dylan and The Band’s at work filmed right in Big Pink’s basement.
These events drew more fans and many reporters to the site. This included a Rolling Stone Magazine video crew who documented The Band’s keyboard wizard Garth Hudson’s emotional return to the house after 47 years.
This renewed spotlight coincided with the emergence of vacation rental sites like AirBnB and VRBO. By that time, the LaSala’s lived at another home in Woodstock, but Don continued to use Big Pink as his musical space and hang.
“Over the years, I learned I couldn’t stop the fans, so I decided I might as well just let them have it,” laughs LaSala. “Owning this place, I always wanted to do justice to the history – to the fans who love this place and have a deep emotional connection to the creativity that unfolded here.”
Practicality was also an issue. “It cost a good deal to maintain this old house,” continues LaSala. “Even though we endeavored to keep it unchanged, there were still many costs like putting in a new heating and cooling system, roof and, of course, yearly property taxes. But we wanted to stay true to the legacy and not do something tacky for the almighty dollar.”
The LaSalas started slowly opening up Big Pink to guests in 2015. “It’s sort of an unofficial artists’ residency in my mind,” adds LaSala. “People come here from all over the world. The majority seem to be creatives – musicians, painters, photographers and writers who want to have the kind of creative meditation, the productive retreat it provided for The Band and Dylan. Many are older folks who grew up on the music. But increasingly it’s drawing younger people, ones for whom the music created here is a requisite listening experience.”
“With three bedrooms and two baths, the place can comfortably accommodate 5 – 6 people,” observes LaSala. “So, groups are using it for reunions, to bring together friends, family and creative collaborators from faraway places. It’s not only about the house itself, but the nature surrounding it – the peace and creativity that springs forth from the solitude and raw natural beauty. Many come here to write, paint, and like Dylan and The Band, make music.”
photo by William A. Loeb
The LaSalas recommend a minimum three-night stay though some visitors stay longer. The wicked Woodstock winters mean that Big Pink is only available from mid-April to early November, on dates when LaSala and company are not making music. Full details, including videos and photos, can be found at their rental site on VRBO.
Visitors have free rein of Big Pink’s upper levels and outer patio but not, strictly speaking, the famous basement.
“It’s my private rehearsal space with own gear, so guests just can’t come and go as they please and everyone seems to understand this,” adds LaSala. “What I will do is schedule a time to give an informal tour, where I tell them the full story of Big Pink and all the creative magic that happened here. To keep people focused on the present, I discourage them taking too many photos. It’s something I even do with my friends at my Big Pink Socials. I want them to stay in the present moment, and to have this Big Pink experience live in their memories and imaginations.”
photo by William A. Loeb
The fans who have found their way to Big Pink have shared some amazing new info with LaSala; some verified, some not.
“It’s known that George Harrison visited here when he came to Woodstock and stayed with Dylan at his place in Byrdcliffe, Woodstock’s famous art colony,” recalls LaSala. “It’s also believed that he brought Eric Clapton here too. According to one British expert who visited, it’s believed George played The Band and Bob some songs he wanted to run by the Beatles like ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and ‘All Things Must Pass.’ And that, that another time, he and Eric rehearsed in the basement and played an early version of ‘Badge.’ In both cases, they were running them by Dylan and The Band to see if they were any good! Like Big Pink itself, these are misty legends that really spark your imagination.”
With the emergence of Covid-19 in March 2020, the LaSalas suspended their rentals until Spring 2021. Since then, they have taken all the necessary precautions, even installing a pricey air filtration system.
With winter coming in, Big Pink will just have to live in your imagination at least until next Spring, when the LaSalas plan on opening its doors once again to discerning and respectful visitors.
“Until that time,” concludes LaSala with a Dylanesque quip and smile, “I’ll be in the basement mixing up the medicine, medicine of the musical kind, of course!
Hudson Valley lost one of its most tireless champions of music with the passing of Tony Falco, the face behind one of its most vital and varied performance venues, The Falcon. Falco passed away after a six-month battle with complications from Covid-19, he was 65 years old.
A loving husband, father and an engaged community leader with many passions and skills, Tony founded The Falcon in the early 2000s in Marlboro, N.Y.
The venue became a mecca for jazz, blues, world, folk, and Americana musicians, while becoming one of Hudson Valley’s most prominent and diverse music clubs and well as its most beautiful. Called “The Village Vanguard of the Hudson Valley,” Tony imagined the Falcon as a community-focused, multi-art and musician-centric institution. At its pre-pandemic peak, the Falcon featured music on two stages nightly, rotating art exhibits — the Avalon Archives Museum — two restaurants and a network of trails and decks overlooking Marlboro Falls.
Born on September 12, 1956, Ferdinand and Margaret Falco in Staten Island, NY, where he was raised along with his six siblings. His journey began in 1979, while attending SUNY New Paltz, he met the love of his life — his wife of 37 years — Julie Farrell. They were married in 1984 and had four children; Adrianne, Svetlana, Lee, and Julian. In 1983, Tony graduated from New Paltz with a degree in Environmental Science. Over his scientific career, he operated and designed several wastewater treatment facilities throughout the Hudson Valley and owned Environmental Labworks, a water testing laboratory located in the same building as The Falcon.
Rita Ryan, host of WVRK’s weekly radio show, Local Motion, featured Tony as a frequent guest.
Every time we did the show together I would tell him I thought he was the ‘richest man in town’ like Jimmy Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Live. For this particular interview he met me in the parking lot of the radio station and brought me pastries from a local bakery. Said he just couldn’t show up empty handed. He loved and was loved by everyone he touched. There will never be another like him.
Ed Palermo, who played the club frequently with his Zappa and prog rock tribute big band, said:
Tony Falco changed my life over ten years ago when he convinced me and my band to make the trek up north to his beautiful club, The Falcon. Tony never once asked me to “dial it down a tad” or keep my mouth shut about politics or anything that ruffled so many feathers the past few years. The club continues to be the best venue for my band to play and be weird. God bless you and your family, Tony. Rest in Peace, my eternal friend.
A versatile renaissance man, Falco worked as an artist, entrepreneur, scientist, engineer, architect, builder, pilot, teacher and environmental conservationist. He was known for his generosity and adventurous mindset, as he loved to travel the world. During the pandemic, he designed and built the Marlboro Nature Trail and had recently took up horseback riding, serving as the proud owner of two horses, Houdini and Cinch.
Tony is survived by his wife and kids; his mother; his six siblings (Gennaro, Julia Ruffo, Eddie, Tommy, Freddy, and Christopher); his lifelong best friend Cliff ‘Sonny’ Benson; his adopted children Suong Huynh and Javier Osorio; his children’s partners, Conor Shea, Alex Neckles, Jessica Brush, and Kaitlyn VanOrman; and his extended family of Falcon friends.
Public celebrations of his life will be held the weekend of November 6. More details will be determined and posted at www.liveatthefalcon.com. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Amnesty International.
