NYS Music 202​1

Category: Media

  • Upcoming Indie Band Yo Kinky Release new single “Resistance,” video for “Wire”

    Alternative duo Yo Kinky is in its nascent stage, with members Tom Unish and Laura Wight meeting in early 2020. The duo immediately felt a musical bond, and started crafting songs together.

    Yo Kinky
    Laura Wight and Tom Unish of Yo Kinky

    Queens-based band Yo Kinky follows their first single “Somebody That I Used to Know,” with the second single, “Resistance.” The song is delicately created, yet exudes a confidence created by Tom Unish’s spaced-out guitar licks. The sonic landscape undulates with hypnotic layers of sound; the song yearns for the intimacy long lost by social isolation.

    Laura Wight sings “Love is all we breathe,” and “Swing me off my feet,” transporting the listener to a beautiful place where love is all-surrounding. “Resistance” is an ode to the sanity one has during this time by finding delight in the small things in life. 

    “Resistance” follows their first single “Somebody That I Used to Know,” which, albeit its darker vocal passages, is playful, seductive and clever. It has received heavy play on WFMU’s radio station, as well as named as one of the best tracks of 2020 by Three Chord Monte. The band is beaming in their own path as they create and release more infectious music.

    Over 2020, Yo Kinky self-produced and are releasing their first, self-titled EP. This collection of songs addresses trust, communication, love, loneliness, freedom, identity, and expectation. The group combines drum machines and bright, buzzing synths and guitars that shimmer with reverb and delay.

    Yo Kinky’s music is reminiscent of Blondie, X, Mitksi, and Soccer Mommy, as they blend the pop and rock elements of indie into an incandescent artwork. When shows are possible again, Yo Kinky looks forward to playing locally, nationwide, and beyond.

    Yo Kinky’s debut EP is due out on February 26, 2021.

  • Bendt and Rhoseway are Featured on this week’s EQXposure

    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 Bendt, Rhoseway and many more!

    bendt

    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 artist on EQXPosure is Bendt. With gritty, dynamic, and atmospheric rip-roaring creative rock music, Bendt celebrate the release of their new single “January,” released on Friday January 29. On Sunday evening, we’ll also hear three from last year’s release, Brightness in The Barrnes.

    Benddt – made up of Matt Plummer (singer and guitar player), John Longo (bass), Carl Blackwood (lead guitar) and Cody Bingham (drummer) came together 2015 with a mutual love of hard rock, metal, and sounds in-between. Bendt has a sound that is evocative, personal, as well as searingly loud and at times perfectly aggressive. Riffs that rumble are balanced by unique chord stacking and brilliant melodies and solid perfroamces of each song.

    Also featured on EQXposure is new artist Rhoseway with a pre-release cut “Deep Valley,” which hits all streaming sites on February 5, 2021. Rhoseway is very creative and the music takes many interesting musical turns. This is a very exciting artist to keep an ear out for.

  • Introducing The Rochester Groovecast Podcast

    NYS Music today announces The Rochester Groovecast Podcast as a returning partner and will be publishing all the major episodes starting February 2021. Since releasing their first episode in 20016, Rochester Groovecast has published over 100 episodes and counting. 

    To get started, check out this playlist of their most popular episodes:

    At Rochester Groovecast, the mantra “We’re Fans First!” harnasses the belief that the best businesses are built by fans. Rochester Groovecast is deeply dedicated to playing an active role in the culture of its local scene.

    The brainchild of Rochester native Ben Albert, Ben created Rochester Groovecast in 2016 to serve as a portfolio of the city, and nowadays, the entire region.

    Rochester Groovecast believes in the artistic brilliance abundant in Rochester, NY, and the surrounding regions. Ben seeks to play a pivotal role in our community by helping give Rochester a well-earned voice. Having seen first hand the abundance of talent, character, creativity, innovation, and beauty the Flower City has continuously offered. Albert is confident that the Rochester scene could be the next great music scene in America, akin to Austin, Chicago, New Orleans, or Nashville.

    The Rochester Groovecast Podcast help bring this vision to life with interviews, reviews, previews, and audio journeys to good to ignore. 

    rochester groovecast

    Previous guest testimonials praise Rochester Groovecast: 

    Siena: “Ben Albert at Rochester Groovecast is ambitious, kind, and community-oriented. He truly cares about the Rochester community and actively lifts up voices that add value and strength to our culture. Most of all, he cares about music and the people that create it. He’s the guy to go to if you’re looking for someone who understands both music AND business, creating AND marketing. He knows the right questions to ask you to dig deeper into what your brand is and who you are as a musician. I’m grateful to know Ben as a human and grateful to have had the opportunity to be on his Rochester Groovecast podcast, which makes me proud to live and work in Rochester.” 

    Amanda Ashley of The Amanda Ashley Trio, Afternoon Cocktail: “Ben is an amazing host and a true asset to the Rochester Music Community. His love, dedication, and support of creativity is beyond apparent in his broadcast. He is a genuine soul, and that truly comes across in his interviews.” 

    Charlie Lindner of The Pickle Mafia: “Rochester Groovecast does an excellent job at building awareness for our brand! Using interactive multimedia we were able to obtain new customers and engage with them directly.” 

    Kevleb: “I have had the chance to work with the Rochester Groovecast for my album release. During the COVID confinement, it was a great relief to be able to share my music on this platform. Ben suggested a few strategies to widen my audience and make the content accessible on social media. It felt productive and well prepared and allowed me to share my vision in an ideal setting. It is great to have the Groovecast support the local scene.” 

    Once again, NYSMusic is excited to feature The Rochester Groovecast Podcast. Keep your eyes open for many more episodes to come. 

    Rochester Groovecast is made possible by Balbert Marketing LLC.

  • Frank Palangi looks to ‘Bring on the Fear’ in Latest Video

    Rocker Frank Palangi brings the fourth installment of his music video series with “Bring on the Fear.” Following “Break These Chains,” “Set Me Free” and “Gone Mad,” Palangi brings COVID-19 to light with a tale of caution, shedding light with the message that we are all in this together, to use faith to face your fear, without hate.

    The video and song is a statement for the times, saying we are in this together, to not to be afraid and face the fear.

    For this video, I reached out to fans from the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Turkey to send in their video clips to be edited into the video. I always like to include them and due to COVID-19, I thought it was perfect since in the song I ask them to sing “Bring on the Fear.”

    “Bring On The Fear” is the first self directed, produced, written and all in-house edited production from Palangi Films. Palangi notes that he always loved making films since a young age and figured now would be a great time to put that to work. The video is a one-man show in this regard, and due to COVID-19, he had to get creative. His friends and he would make small shorts with only two or three people, and that past experience was good prep.

    Frank Palangi an indie rock recording artist is freshly homegrown in Upstate New York who pours the fuel on the genre that refuses to die.

  • Singer-Songwriter Mackenzie Shivers Shares “Martha’s Vineyard” from Upcoming Album

    Indie-folk singer Mackenzie Shivers releases her first single “Martha’s Vineyard” for her upcoming 2021 full-length release, Rejection Letters

    Singer, songwriter and pianist, Mackenzie Shivers, premiered her new dreamy video for her song “Martha’s Vineyard.” Her song radiates the intimate, eerie qualities of indie-folk, akin to Phoebe Bridgers. At the end of the song, a spoken-word verse adds mystery and edge to Shivers’ unique sound. The music video features a vignette of Shivers alone on a beach save her acoustic guitar, immersed the world of her music. 

    Mackenzie Shivers

    I’m not sure I ever learned healthy ways to express anger. But I’m learning now. I’m much more comfortable with sadness than I am with anger. I think that’s because female anger is so often met with shame and dismissal. That’s certainly been my experience, and it really started to hit home as I wrote this song.

    Mackenzie Shivers – “Martha’s Vineyard.”

    Shivers’ third full length album was borne out of the strange circumstances which we have all endured in 2020. She sought refuge in Cape Cod from her home in New York City. With an old family guitar gifted by her father, Shivers experimented with alternate tunings, thanks to Instagram live tutorials from folk artist Laura Marling. Since touring was an adventure left in another world, Shivers inadvertently wrote a collection of songs that became Rejection Letter. 

    Her newfound time for introspection led to topics she seldom discussed on past records. Female anger – questioning the contemporary world, trying to have a child and struggling to conceive color. This record is in a poignantly personal way. She hopes that her lyrics help those with grand uncertainties can listen to someone that feels the same. Shivers revels in her rebellion, embracing her fiery nature. 

    “I’m proud that I found a way to make this record during a very scary, chaotic, uncertain time. I wanted to make something that would give my listeners permission to get angry, to commiserate. My goal is always and ultimately to remind people they’re not alone,” says Shivers.

    I feel like this is me at my best and most complex to date. You get to see new sides of me through this music – a darker, moodier, sometimes angrier side. But it’s still whimsical. It still balances that dark with the light. 

    Mackenzie Shivers

    Prior to her upcoming third release, Mackenzie Shivers has released two full-length albums: 2014’s Neverland and 2019’s The Unkindness and three EPs titled Living in My Head (2016), Ravens (2017), and Midwinter (2019). She currently lives in New York City with her husband. 

    For more info visit Mackenzie Shivers’ website.

  • Watch Brandon ‘Taz’ Niederauer play the Star Spangled Banner at the AFC Championship Game

    Dix Hills, Long Island native, Brandon ‘Taz’ Niederauer, took to the national stage on Sunday, January 24, performing the “Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of the AFC Championship game in Kansas City, Missouri.

    The 17-year old guitar phenom was invited to play before the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs duked it out on the field, for the chance to go to the Super Bowl.

    taz star spangled banner

    Taz took the moment to do what he does best – shred guitar. Jaws dropped as Taz took all of 102 seconds to perform the Francis Scott Key tune. Taz set the bar high for Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan, who will perform the “Star-Spangled Banner” together at Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay, FL on Sunday, February 7.

    Brandon still walks the halls of his Long Island high school, East Half Hollow Hills, which congratulated Taz on Facebook for his trip to the national stage. In 2015, Brandon notably starred on Broadway in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical “School of Rock.”

    taz star spangled banner
    photo by Brian Cole

    Acquiring the nickname “Taz” from a music teacher who said that Brandon’s fast guitar playing reminded him of the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes cartoons, Brandon has also appeared many times on television, include “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Good Morning America,” and “The View.”

    Brandon cites his father’s record collection as a major influence on his playing, particularly albums by Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, the Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton, and many more.

    Taz has also performed the National Anthem at Cubs games at Wrigley Field as recently as 2019.

  • Dopapod “Four Years Ended” Commemorates 1/20/21

    Palindromic jam scene veterans Dopapod noted the dual significance of January 20, 2021 with a video for a ‘new’ song, “Four Years Ended.” The video was timed for 1/20/21 to honor the palindrome date, as well as the Inauguration of President Biden.

    dopapod emit time four years ended

    Dopapod has used palindromes (words spelled the same backward and forwards) as titles of albums – Emit Time, Redivider, Radar, Megagem, among others, as well as the date for album releases, not to mention the band’s name.

    “Four Years Ended” is a reworking of the 2008 Dopapod track “Eight Years Ended,” the latter of which was inspired by the end of the Bush administration. This shorter, faster version of “Eight Years Ended” was crafted for the end of the Trump administration, which only lasted four years and ended on January 20, 2021.

    Watch “Four Years Ended” below.

  • Angélique Kidjo Records Song for Imprisoned Human Rights Activist Nasrin Sotoudeh

    Singer and activist Angélique Kidjo has contributed a song to the documentary NASRIN, titled “How Can I Tell You?” The documentary is directed and produced by Jeff Kaufman and serves as a portrait of human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, currently imprisoned in Iran.

    Nasrin Sotoudeh
    Singer and activist Angélique Kidjo with a photo of human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh.

    When music and activism intersect, true poetry and force arise. Four-time Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo has often advocated for human rights as she has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2002. Her music is imbued with compassion, and throughout the years she has contributed songs for important causes, such as her contribution song “Leila” for the Enough Project which raised awareness for women’s rights in Raise Hope for Congo. 

    In 2020, Angélique recorded the song “How Can I Tell You?” by composers Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty who wrote “Ragtime,” “Once on This Island,” “Anastasia,” and many more notable works. This song was included in a documentary directed and produced by Jeff Kaufman titled Nasrin. Often referred to as the “Nelson Mandela of Iran,” Nasrin Sotoudeh fought for human rights in Iran, eventually leading to her arrest in June 2018 for defending women who publicly protested Iran’s mandatory hijab law. The government sentenced her to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. Nasrin now has COVID-19 and a heart condition, but even from the confines of prison she has continued to challenge the authorities. 

    Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens in the recording studio

    By recording “How Can I Tell You?,” Kidjo is bringing awareness and protection to Nasrin in a powerful way, as well as other at-risk human rights activists. As of January 19th, Nasrin’s medical leave was canceled which leads to her return to Qarchak Prison, known as the most dangerous and unsanitary place for women in Iran. 

    Nasrin Sotoudeh
    Poster for NASRIN documentary.

    The music video for Angélique Kidjo’s song includes imagery of life in Iran, beautiful architecture and women in hijab, Angélique’s honeyed, compassionate voice, and Nasrin’s office sign which reads “Attorney at Law.” We follow Nasrin as she travels into her office, juxtaposed with older footage of her activism in courtrooms. The imagery is evocative, bringing the viewer close into women’s lives in Iran and the continued challenges they face together. Crowds with protest signs, rain, and peace signs overlay the lyrics “I could tell you to forget me / but the words would not be true / and I love you always even if you do.” From the point of Nasrin, she is a selfless, ever-present force of activism, and she knows her message is crucial to be spread for the women of Iran. 

    Listen and watch Angélique Kinjo’s tribute to Nasrin’s cause here. 

    The film NASRIN will be released on January 26th, 2021 with more details available at NASRINfilm.com.

  • Allyson Smith and Monica Uhm Featured on this week’s EQXposure

    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, Allyson Smith, Monica Uhm and many more!

    allyson smith

    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, EQXposure features the music of Allyson Smith, spanning her releases. Featured tracks include “Wane” and “Bound2Be” off her release All Good Things, “Vacancy” off the release Carter Creek Choir, and her latest, “The Waves (demo).”

    Also featured is the new release from Monica Uhm titled “Prelude.” Monica is a singer-songwriter based in New York known for her catchy tunes, intelligent lyrics and quirky live banter. Her lyrical style is self-dubbed “philoso-folk” given the push-pull in her writing of the big questions in life found in small everyday snapshots. Her musical style is self-dubbed “kitchen-sink twist on Americana” from the eclectic range of influences in her musical tastes and working with a wide spectrum of accomplished and creative musicians and artists.  

  • Fyütch Celebrates Historical Black Women in His New Single

    Bronx rapper, Fyütch, released a new song, “Black Women in History,” highlighting the strengths of powerful Black women on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

    Fyütch
    photo from Fyütch.com

    Fyütch is a social justice musician who uses hip-hop and visual storytelling to educate upcoming generations. He directs music and poetry workshops for K-12 students, college students and corporations. He makes music with the intent of spreading positivity through messages about fatherhood, spirituality and love.

    His distant relative, Fannie Lou Hamer, and other overlooked Black women inspired the song. The lack of representation for Black women in history was apparent when he was growing up. He only recalled learning about Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks. Fyütch felt compelled to tell their stories and in order to honor their accomplishments; he made “Black Women in History”.

    It acknowledges Black women who have made history in the past and who are currently making history in the present. It began with Civil Rights Leader, Fannie Lou Hamer, who helped Black people register to vote despite voter suppression. He mentions more Black women who have fought against voter suppression such as J Frankie Pierce who also made a school for Black girls in the 1920s; and currently, Stacey Abrams and Felicia Davis. Shirley Chisolm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, and Kamala Harris, the first woman to be elected Vice President of the United States were noted for making history as political figures. 

    The song reveals Claudette Colvin, who was 15-years-old when she refused to give up her seat on the bus, and Ida B Wells who refused to give up her seat years before Rosa Parks. Fyütch also commemorates Black women who have made history in the medical field such as Rebecca Crumpler, who is the first Black woman to get a medical degree along with Jane Hinton and Alfreda Webb, who were the first Black veterinarians. The last impactful Black woman named in the song is Dr. Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett who recently helped create the COVID-19 vaccine. 

    The song doesn’t only recognize Black women in history, it features two Black women musicians. Rissi Palmer and Cheri Moon, from the children’s music band Snooknuk, collaborated with Fyütch to bring the song to life. Palmer made history as the first Black woman in 20 years to reach the Billboard country charts. Her radio show on Apple Music called Color Me Country, honors the contributions of BIPOC country singers. Cheri Moon focuses on raising social awareness for children through family music and has collaborated with Missy Elliot and Timbaland.

    “Black Women in History” gives thanks and gratitude to Black women that have made an impact, by standing up for what they believe in and for being the firsts, despite the struggles they have gone through.