The Pursuit of Color is an up and coming psychedelic indie rock artist from Dave Cooper, a guitarist, songwriter, and producer from Brooklyn.
“I just released my first brand new single this week, “Biodiversity”, a tribute to my mother. “Biodiversity” is about trusting the people you love to help you face your fears.” It was released on June 11th, 2021.
Dave Cooper first got into music when he was a young kid. Growing up, his brother would play KROK and Q104.3 in their room, listening to artists such as The Strokes, and Linkin Park. Once he began playing guitar at 9, music was completely interwoven into his daily life.
I got the chance to interview the “Pursuit of Color” artist, answering questions about his music inspirations along with his asperations.
Cooper’s musical influences include Vampire Weekend, GratefulDead, Tame Impala and Anderson.Paak. When asked on how he would describe his music, Cooper says he wants his music to, “Reflect on a collection of everything I’ve ever loved and wanted to make combined together.” Using a funky, pop “Indie jam,” sound, he wanted to make unique music that, “Tugs on the Heartstrings, but also makes you want to dance and smile.”
He describes “Biodiversity” as a “bright and shiny song about a kid’s love for his mother, which is how the world looks when you’re young.” The song has an incredibly catchy beat, able to intersect the lyrics of the song with the vibe it gives off.
Through his music, Cooper tells stories of love, loss, and most importantly – trying to find the color to fill in between the lines of life.
The Pursuit of Color artist would one day love to collaborate with Anderson.Paak. Their styles of music are similar, with transcending beats propelled by a singing voice that blends perfectly with the beat. Take a listen to his brand new single, “Biodiversity,” below or on Spotify.
Alt-folk singer/songwriter EVVAN is marking this year’s International Non-Binary Day (July 14) with a personal essay about her journey to come out, as well as a live video for a previously unreleased song, “Falling Into You.”
The Long Island native is known for her distinctive voice, textured melodies and layered harmonies. She is inspired by the works of Fleetwood Mac, Foy Vance, and Brandi Carlile. She evokes a nostalgic spirit through her use of delicate guitars and ethereal vocal lines.
Released today, “Falling Into You” is the first song of her series written about the phases of a relationship.
This song is about falling completely into the person you’re pursuing and all that goes with that, the good, the bad, and everything in between. For me, part of what I perceived as ‘bad’ was my inability to understand who I was at that point.
EVVAN on “Falling Into You”
The second part of the series is “Falling Over You,” featured on EVVAN’s April 2021 EP, Home, which explores the experiences of dealing with unrequited love and the inability to let go of the feelings expressed in “Falling Into You.”
EVVAN’s Home EP reflects a period of personal awakening during which she used to revamp her writing style and artistic identity. The lyrics discuss themes of sexuality and gender, self-discovery and acceptance, and relationships both beginning and ending.
When I look at myself, I see someone lighter, someone who can act how she wants and dress how she wants, and not care about whatever pushback comes along with it. I finally found myself and instead of wearing countless masks, as I have in the past, I can just be simply me.
EVVAN
The heartfelt and airy sounds of “Falling Into You” is sure to strike an emotional chord, beautifully expressing the frustrations of finding oneself and moving forward. Although growing from misfortune is difficult, EVVAN’s signature folky-voice reassures listeners that good comes from change.
My journey coming out as non-binary was a long one and it was full of worry that I’d never live a life without judgment, mainly judgment of myself. Over a year after writing this song and coming out, we filmed a live performance and just watching it fills me with courage.
EVVAN on coming out
Read more about EVVAN’s journey through her self-reflective essay “Taking the Mask Off” here. A live performance of “Falling Into You” is available to watch on YouTube.
EVVAN has also announced her return to live performances with a show at the Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 3) on July 28. More information can be found here.
With the postponement of their annual summer festival Camp Bisco, The Disco Biscuits decided to pivot and still find a way to treat their fans to some great music last weekend. The solution came in the form of City Bisco – two nights of Biscuits at the Mann Music Center in their hometown of Philadelphia, with some of their friends along for the ride.
The DJ triumvirate that is Orchard Lounge kicked things off on Friday night with their infectious blend of hypnotech house and downtempo musical soundscapes. This set the table nicely for Lotus, who would play an opening set each night. Friday’s set saw a blend of their newer material like “Free Swim” along with classics like “Greet The Mind” and a massive “Flower Sermon.”
The Biscuits started the first of their two shows in theatrical fashion, with a first time cover of “Gonna Fly Now,” better known as the theme to Rocky. The inspired opening set even included a “Tractorbeam” segment, an electronica-heavy sequence that sees the band covering or playing along to the influence of another DJ which, until now, have normally been reserved for second sets.
The second set featured songs like “Astronaut” and “Running Into The Night” both broken up into two sections which helped sandwich “The Great Abyss.” The Biscuits also brought out their comrade Tom Hamilton, from Ghost Light and JRAD, to assist on the encore.
City Bisco Night One TD Pavillion at the Mann – Philadelphia, PA 7/9/21
Set 1: Gonna Fly Now > Spaga, Run Like Hell, > Spacebirdmatingcall > Tractorbeam Jam (Terje) > Spacebirdmatingcall
Set 2: Astronaut > Running Into The Night > The Great Abyss > Clocks > Tractorbeam Jam (Eden) > Astronaut > Running Into The Night
Encore: Humuhumunukunukuapu’a > Run Like Hell
Luke the Knife handled opening DJ duties for Saturday’s night two of City Bisco. He was followed by another scintillating set of music from Lotus, setting the tone for the evening nicely again.
What came next was nothing short of a classic Disco Biscuits show, with a perfect blend of classic and new material and, yes, another Tractorbeam sequence each set. The first set alone had a little bit of everything: an old school opener in “Mulberry’s Dream,” an exhilarating “Champions,” the middle section only of “Crickets,” and the first “Trucker’s Choice” in nearly four years.
The second set opened with another vintage Biscuits song in “Mindless Dribble” which set the table for a ferocious take on the newer “Anthem.” And the “Tractorbeam” sequence in this set was based off of original material instead of covering someone else. After two nights of fantastic music, surrounded by fans and friends alike, there was only one logical musical selection to wrap up the weekend and City Bisco, “We Like To Party.”
City Bisco Night Two TD Pavillion at the Mann – Philadelphia, PA 7/10/21
Set 1: Mulberry’s Dream, Reactor > The Champions > Tractorbeam Jam (Revive) > Crickets > Trucker’s Choice
Set 2: Mindless Dribble > Anthem > Gamma Goblins > Tractorbeam Jam (Original) > Abraxas > Story Of The World
Folk singer Judy Collins has released her newest project, a podcast series called Since You’ve Asked, named after her 1977 single of the same title. The podcast’s first episode aired on July 8 with guest Julia Cameron.
Collins began her musical career in the early 1960s playing folk music in clubs around Colorado and Connecticut. She is known for covering crucial protest songs of ’60s, like Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” and being an multi-faced public activist. She made her way to Greenwich Village and released her first album A Maid of Constant Sorrow in 1961. Collins worked with iconic musicians throughout her career, including Stephen Stills, Randy Newman, and Joni Mitchell.
Collins was nominated for one Academy Award for co-directing the film Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman as well as six Grammy Awards for “Best Folk Performance.” She won one Grammy with “Both Sides Now” and has multiple Gold and Platinum Record certifications.
Collins is just as active in her career today, releasing over 15 live albums and EPs since 2000. With her podcast, Collins aims to use her honest and upfront personality alongside her personal experiences to host riveting conversations with public figures and fellow musical artists. She has most recently shared a discussion with best-selling author Julia Cameron, best known for her self-help book, The Artist’s Way.
In the episode, Collins and Cameron discuss the struggles and joys of sobriety, communicating with those that have passed on, Cameron’s relationship with director/actor Martin Scorcese, and “starter husbands.”
The podcast series is expected to continue into this fall. New episodes debut every two weeks and past episodes are available to stream on Simplecast.
Lettuce finished two nights in the Adirondacks as part of their “bring back the love” Summer 2021 and converted Charles R Wood Park to “Lake George Duke,” in honor of funk keyboardist George Duke. Lettuce founding member Sam Kininger special guested on Saturday night.
“Sam’s The Godfather of Lettuce, he believed in us before we did,” said Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch. The current Lettuce hybrid batch has guitarist Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff on guitar, Nigel Hall keyboards/vocals, Adam Deitch on drums, Erick “Jesus” Coomes On Bass, Ryan Zoidis on saxophone and trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom. The groups second to last New York show was at the Capitol Theater on 4/20 with special guest John Scofield.
Friday night included a two set performance and encore. The evenings highlight was an original off Lettuce 2008 album Rage! “By Any Shmeeans Necessary” mixed with a New York instrumental tribute to Notorious B.I.G. The band laid down the original funk track “Juicy Fruit” that the Brooklyn artist sampled.
Rolling off this great energy the band put on an epic Saturday night show with special guest Sam Kininger. Sam’s on stage presence was the ultimate “Break Out” for live sets this year. The second set culminated in another New York nod for “Madison Square.” It got everyone on the bandstand lifted with the grooving audience.
This was Uticat’s Kininger second live performance this year. He played his sons wedding at the Stanley Theatre in Utica where he last performed with Lettuce on November 20 2019. “The Sam Fam” were all in attendance for a funked up reunion on the newly crowned “Lake George Duke” Guitarist Micheal Wooten said of the performance “You can tell they are having fun again up there” The band encored with a kickin cover of the James Brown classic “Funky Drummer.”
Drummer Adam Deitch and Bass player Erick “Jesus” Coombs kept the Saturday night groove going at KRIS & Co featuring Ryan Dempsey after show party in town. The duo jammed on the spot to samples of the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street” and J.J. Cale’s “Cocaine.”
Lettuce kept burning in the Empire State on Wednesday July 14 for their third New York date, this time at Lewiston’s Artpark. The historic park stage sits next to the running Niagara River across from Canada. The band and audience played off the great landscape for a three hour set and encore. The sunset over the border brought out a third stone from the sun tease by guitarist Adam Smirnoff. The crowd responded to Lettuce outbursts of groove by throwing heads of actual fresh produce lettuce in the air during the performance.
The band resonated by debuting a brand new song not on the setlist named “The Lock,” off an upcoming record. Lettuce is bringing back the love this summer and knocking out crowds along the way. Nigel Hall’s vocals over the grooves, “Think I’d better let it go, looks like another love T.K.O. (Oh, Oh)” during a Teddy Pendergrass Cover.
The band encored with “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears to keep this ’80s-style New York summer resurgence of live music. Lettuce returns to New York at Brooklyn Steel on November 6 2021.
Lettuce 7/9/21 Lake George, NY: Blaze, MR Shminklehuffer, Kron Dutch, Shmink Dabby, By Any Shmeans Necessary( Don’t stop the music/Juicy Fruit) Ready to Live, Larimar, Trilogy->Trap->Makin my way->Checker Wrecker, Suppit, Do it like You do Encore: RVA Dance
Lettuce 7/10/21 Lake George,NY: Luck of Lucien->Krewe, Pocket Change, Gratitude, Mr Yancey, Sam Huffs Flying Machine->Squadlive Royal highness, Supit, Don’t Change, Breakout–>Relax, Nyack–>Madison Square Encore: Do it like you do (funky drummer)
Lettuce 7/14/21 Lewiston, NY: New Reel, Royal Highness, In the Middle -> Silence is Golden, SquadLive, Fly, Phyllis, Love TKO, RVA Dance Encore: Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Lettuce guitarist Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff and drummer Adam Dietch spoke with NYS music about past, present and future music experiences in the state.
Matthew Romano: Tell me about some music you have seen live in New York State that helped put the groove in you
Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff: I remember my Uncle bringing me to see Stanley Jordan at the Blue Note in NYC. That blew my mind as a kid. I have all these different ages of seeing things that changed me. One of my first concerts was Robert Cray “Forecast Calls for Pain Tour.” At 17 years old I saw Phish at Jones Beach for the first time and it helped me understand you could build a grass roots audience. You didn’t need to be on the radio. You could follow your own path. That’s how Lettuce has aimed itself.
AS: Does seeing the Grateful Dead In 1990 at the old Giants stadium count? Sting opened and Branford Marsalis sat in on “Eyes of the World.”
Seeing Prince at Madison Square Garden has to be the big one. He was such a genre breaking musician. He went up there and played what he felt and didn’t have to categorize everything. I feel like for New York that’s a big part of it. It’s the melting pot. We’re all different, a little bit of everything and try and make it a little bit like you too. It also represents modern humanity. That New York attitude. “Just got to pull up your britches, do the best you can do and be yourself.”
MR: Any current musicians that are on the scene that you have been digging?
AS: Well You have Taz, other younger cats like Justin Lee Schultz. DOmi and JD Beck that’s been playing with Thundercat. You got MONONEON. I just got to jam with Cory Henry, TaRon Lockett and Isiah Sharkey.
MR: What about the future of your own musical journey? What’s on the horizon?
AS: Well we have been lucky enough to play with some of our heroes. Our new recording that we just finished I feel we have made some beautiful music and history with Bootsy Collins. I can’t wait for y’all to hear this.
Adam Deitch: Our friend Alissa Bennevente whose an amazing bass player runs Bootsy’s Instagram. She sent us an uplifting video of him speaking during our time off that gave us hope. It’s Bootsy giving a positive message to everyone out there . At the end of the video he just kept saying (finger snaps) “Keep The Funk Alive” (finger snap). I immediately downloaded the sample of it and sent it to the guys
MR: Wow. So you just took the end of him speaking on the video and sampled it? That sounds like an organic way of creating a groove.
AD: Yea exactly. I added drums and quickly sent it to everyone in the band. They all kept adding their parts to it.
AD: We sent it to him and he loved it. He played bass and added his vocals to it. Showed interest in wanting to make a video of it. He even eluded that he’s glad a band like ours is still playing real funk music.
MR: Sounds as if you’ve been added to Bootsy’s shot calling like on the 1980s Dave Sanborn TV special… “Lettuce”… get ready to roll!
Wu-Tang Clan members Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck and Cappadonna, as well as Redman, Ashanti and Ja Rule played the first ever Peace and Unity Festival. The event took place at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden on Saturday July 10th. Dj performances included Funkmaster Flex, Dj Smoove and Dj Outkast.
The purpose of the Peace and Unity Festival was to bring people from all over the city together after the year and a half long pandemic. Community organizers The Waterteam, Uncle Chase Entertainment, Wakeem Entertainment, and 3J’s Creation Entertainment sponsored the event. It was originally scheduled to be a two-day event, but the organizers decided to cancel Sunday’s show.
On a steamy Friday night, Lark Hall played host to two of the fastest rising jam bands in New York, Long Island’s Baked Shrimp, and Albany’s own Glass Pony, as a warm up to the former’s LonCon Fest.
For the opening set of the night, Glass Pony tore in with “Maximus” that segued incredibly into Oasis’ “Morning Glory,” but so smooth you wondered ‘is this a new song inspired by the 90s, or are they deep in a 90s cover?’ Sure enough, as guitarist/singer Eddie Hotaling belted out the lyrics, you knew the story. After the high energy and upbeat lyrics of “Something Good,” bassist Jeff Picarazzi sang lead on Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.” With a new album coming down the road, and a crowd that was getting down from start to finish, Glass Pony has a lot more music in store.
Setlist: Maximus > Morning Glory, North Bound (unfinished) -> Something Good, Check it Again, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing -> Daydream (unfinished) > House on the Hill, Doppler, Bottom of the Ocean
Baked Shrimp, a jam power trio from Long Island put on a prog/funk clinic. For their entire 90 minute set the band moved seamlessly through complicated chord progressions and never lost a beat or the attention of the crowd. The young trio has great potential in their three members, bassist Scott Reill, guitarist/singer Jared Cowen, and drummer Jager Soss, a doppelganger for Andy Frasco. Their festival LonCon will be held in Parksville, NY over August 27-28. Find out more details on the festival here.
Setlist: The Manatee, Numpty, Synth, The Method -> Now’s Your Moment -> The Method, Four Corners to Every Side, Orpheus, Down the Drain
American rapper, songwriter, actress, model, and reality TV personality Lil’ Kim (Kimberly Denise Jones) celebrates her 47th birthday today. Happy birthday to an icon who changed the female rap game!
Lil’ Kim went through many hardships in her early life. She grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and during high school, she was kicked out of her father’s home and had to live on the streets. When she bet Biggie Smalls as a teenager, her life changed forever. He quickly became her mentor as well as her lover, and he got her into the Brooklyn-based rap group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. which jumpstarted her musical career. Lil’ Kim’s popularity heightened as a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A., and after their first album was released, she began working on her solo material.
A year before Biggie Small’s tragic death, she released her debut studio album, Hard Core, in 1996. Hard Core was certified double platinum and sold more than six million copies worldwide. The album’s debut was the most successful for a female rapper at that time. “No Time” was the leading single on the album, reaching the number one spot on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Her second and third albums, The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) and La Bella Mafia (2003) were also certified platinum. Soon after The Notorious K.I.M. was released, she worked with Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Mya to create the hit single, “Lady Marmalade” for the Moulin Rouge! film soundtrack. The track was number one on the Billboard charts for five weeks straight. This song was out of Lil’ Kim’s comfort zone, and it led her to gain admiration from other fanbases, excelling her rap/R&B career even further. “Lady Marmalade” also won Lil’ Kim her first Grammy award.
La Bella Mafia included collaborations with Missy Elliott and 50 Cent, and was produced with help from Timbaland and Kanye West. At the time of its release, Missy Elliott was the only other female rapper with three platinum albums.
In 2005, Lil’ Kim was sentenced to a year and a day in jail, along with a $50,000 fine for perjury and conspiracy for lying to a federal grand jury after getting herself into a sticky situation involving her rival, Foxy Brown. Her time in jail was spent writing new music, and her fourth studio album, The Naked Truth, was released when she was still behind bars. Since she had no way of promoting her album, it did not sell quite as well as her first three albums, however critics know this vulnerable and hard-hitting album as the best female rap album to exist. It was also the first female rap album to receive a 5 mic rating from The Source.
After serving her time, Lil’ Kim decided to break off from Atlantic Records to release her music independently. She made appearances on Dancing With the Stars and produced two mixtapes, Ms. G.O.A.T. (2008) and Black Friday (2011). More recently, in 2019, Lil’ Kim released 9, a full-length studio album. During the first week of its release, it charted on the hip hop/R&B and rap album sales. It features artists such as City Girls, Rick Ross, O.T. Genesis, and Rich the Kid.
Lil’ Kim has earned her title of the Queen of Rap. Her aggressive lyrics have been transformative for the rap world as well as for inspiring all females to empower themselves and one another. Although she is now 47 years old, her career is far from over. She has said recently that she is continuing collaboration with artists such as Missy Elliott, City Girls, and Paris Hilton. The public can only imagine what epic content will come from her as she ages and gains knowledge and wisdom. Happy birthday to an incredibly important musician, Lil’ Kim!
Timbre Coup has long been an Albany band with a heavy following and an energetic fanbase. Ahead of their long awaited fourth studio album, Sudden Urge, the first in almost 10 years, Timbre Coup put on a release party at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs on Friday, June 25.
With a full night ahead of them, the band started strong weaving heavy guitar riffs with blasting bass lines. The first set was comprised mostly of their new album, playing it almost in its entirety.
The second set brought back a lot of fan favorites, bringing back a slew of tunes from their album, Knuckles and Valleys. An incredible cover of “Give It To Me Baby” ended an incredible night. Not known for playing covers, this was a real treat.
Set 1: Verbal Kint, Running Always, Mustache, Sudden Urge, Z#, Loaftones, Chupacabra, Snoop Tiger, Watching You
Set 2: Mother Nature, July, HTRAB, January, May, February, March, Give It To Me Baby
This is the second article in the series “Made in New York,” a historical examination of the music history of each of New York’s 62 counties, this time looking at Cortland County.
Welcome to Cortland County! This area is located in Central New York, southeast of the Finger Lakes region, and has a rich history since the end of the Revolutionary War. The land that makes up this county was originally set aside by the Province of New York to compensate local soldiers for their participation in the War. Consisting of two million acres, the Military Tract of Central New York was approved by Congress in 1789 and made final in 1799. 600 acres were given to each solider and, by 1908, the boundaries of current-day Cortland County were finalized.
This particular county got its name from the president of the Kingston Convention that drew up the first state constitution of New York back in 1777. Pierre Van Cortlandt was a General in the Revolutionary War, was considered by George Washington to be his most trusted friend, and was also the first lieutenant governor of this fine state. His name lives on in this county, the city of Cortland, and also the similarly named Cortlandt, which is located in Westchester County.
While the county is known commercially as a hub for the production of milling machines, electronic parts, and components for NASA, the Cortland name, most well-known for for the variety of apples, is named after the county. This cross between the Macintosh apple and the Ben Davis apple was first produced at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, but was named after the county that this article is about. This particular variety is very slow to brown, making it perfect for recipes that call for fresh apples. Since it was first bred in 1898 by S.A. Beach, it has become one of the most commonly produced varieties in New York State and is one of the fifteen most popular apples in North America.
Apples aren’t the only food from this county that have nationwide recognition. Scott, NY is the birthplace of James Henry Salisbury, who famously invented a dish which took on his name. During the Civil War, he was a doctor and noticed that certain foods would get soldiers sick. After incorrectly assuming the culprit was baked beans, his experiments gave him the belief that ground beef was healthier on the intestines. In 1888, he debuted the first recipe for Salisbury Steak and its popularity increased as the years went by. Much of this is attributed to the years around World War 1, when German-sounding recipe names like “hamburger” fell out of favor.
The city of Cortland is the county seat of this area and is also known as the Crown City, a name it earned due to its location on a plain formed by the convergence of seven surrounding valleys. Cortland also has the honor of being the city closest to New York’s geographic center and has a prestigious university whose famous alumni include actor Kevin James and wrestler Mick Foley.
Cortland County boasts some unique buildings and architecture that have remained through its history, but the Center for the Arts of Homer is one of the most unique in the area. In 1801, early settlers of the area made their dream a reality and created a Baptist Church for the up-and-coming community. The building opened up in 1827 and quickly outgrew its space. The community came together to fund, design, and build the new facility and, by 1894, the new church was opened to the public.
Fast forward to 2001, and a number of people in the community came together to determine what would become of the centuries-old church. After renovations, fundraising, and non-profit status being secured, the inaugural season of entertainment began in 2014. Since then, countless artists have graced the 400-seobinson Brotherhood and Hot Tuna. In addition to the fantastic acts that the venue brings in, they also feature artwork from local and regional artists and host film screenings and a community theater program. Next time you’re passing through Homer, NY, be sure to check out this awe-inspiring venue. Even if there isn’t a show that night, the building itself is a thing of beauty and absolutely worth the visit.
Now that we’ve explored a tiny bit of Cortland’s rich history, let’s take a look at the residents of this county who have had an impact on the music industry
Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Padavona moved back to Cortland before the age of five, after spending his first few years in New Hampshire. Both of his parents were from Cortland and while they gave birth to their son in Portsmouth, they moved him back to NY, where he spent the rest of his formative years. Dio’s love for music started at an early age, as he learned to play the trumpet at age five and spent most of his childhood listening to opera, specifically the music of Mario Lanza.
High School is when Ronnie’s musical talent began to develop and take off. He played in the Cortland High School band program and, during that time, he formed his first rock and roll group, The Vegas Kings. With Ronnie on bass guitar, the band would play dances every weekend and soon changed their name to Ronnie and the Rumblers. Despite being named after the Duane Eddy song, a promoter who wanted to book the band felt that their name encouraged violence and soon the band became Ronnie and the Red Caps. Check out one of their songs below
It was around this time that our hero changed his named from Ronnie James Padavona to the name we all know him by now. While there is no concrete explanation on how he landed on Dio, there are two common stories. The first is that he chose it as a reference to Mafia member Johnny Dio and the other is that his grandmother said he had a gift from God and should be called the Italian word for God, which is Dio. After taking the name, the band changed their name once more to Ronnie Dio and the Prophets and they were able to put out a single and an album under Atlantic Records.
In 1967, the band took on a keyboard player and changed their name once again to The Electric Elves. The following year, the band was involved in a terrible car crash which took the life of one of their guitarists. The band shorted their name to The Elves after recovering from the accident and used that name until 1972 when it released their debut album. This album solidified their final name change and the band Elf released the album Elf in August of 1972. Throughout this album, Dio used his family name on songwriting credits because he wanted his parents to see their family name on an album at least once.
Elf’s first two albums were produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover who took note of Dio’s voice and asked Dio to perform on Glover’s solo album titled The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast. His work on this album gained the attention of Ritchie Blackmore, the lead guitarist for Deep Purple. Blackmore had been looking to start a new band and used the members of Elf to form his new project, Rainbow.
The combination of Blackmore and Dio was a perfect match. Blackmore was very much into incorporating classical music into the sound and Dio was excellent at writing lyrics about medieval times. Blackmore, however, wasn’t impressed with the other member of Elf and fired them shortly after releasing their first album, leaving Dio to sing. With additional musicians, the two released Rising in 1976 and Long Live Rock n Roll in 1978. The group went on a massive world tour throughout 1977 and 1978, but afterwards Blackmore felt that the band should have shed their sword-and-sorcery theme, which Dio did not agree with.
Ronnie left Rainbow in 1979, but did not have to wait long to join another significant group. That same year, Ozzy Osbourne’s behavior and drug issues got him fired from Black Sabbath and it was suggested by the manager’s daughter Sharon, (future wife of Ozzy), that Dio replace him on lead vocals. For the next three years, Dio would front the band, changing the sound and attitude of the group while releasing Heaven and Hell in 1980 and Mob Rules in 1981. It was during the engineering phase of their 1982 live album, Live Evil, that trouble bubbled over for the band members.
Miscommunication and incorrect allegations of Dio mixing his own vocals higher during the middle of the night led to band mates falling into conflict, with Dio and drummer Vinny Appice quitting the band in late 1982. Dio would rejoin members of Black Sabbath in 2006 and they would tour under the name Heaven and Hell, which was the name of the first Sabbath album recorded with Dio singing.
When he left Black Sabbath, Ronnie wanted to form a new band with Appice on drums once again. In October 1982, they formed the band Dio with guitarist Jackie E. Lee and bassist Jimmy Bain. By May of 1983, they had released their debut album, Holy Diver, featuring such hits as “Rainbow in the Dark” and “Holy Diver.” The album was received with great praise, went Platinum in the U.S., and has been ranked 16th in Rolling Stone’s list of ‘100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.’ Over the next 28 years, the band Dio would release ten studio albums and seven live albums. Throughout the band’s tenure, Ronnie himself would remain the only constant member.
On top of his vocal prowess and lyricism, Dio is known for making the ‘sign of the horns’ hand gesture a staple of heavy metal. When Dio joined Black Sabbath, he wanted to bring with him a hand gesture similar to the peace sign that Ozzy would frequently flash on stage. Growing up, Dio’s grandmother would always make the ‘now-famous’ devil horns hand gesture to ward off evil spirits. Dio took this gesture and incorporated it into his stage presence with Sabbath. He never claimed to have invented the sign, as artists before him had made it on stage, but he was certainly the one to popularize it in mainstream culture.
In Dio’s later years, he had no issue being praised and parodied by the current culture. 1997 saw him singing backup vocals on a big band version of “Holy Diver,” which can be heard on Pat Boone’s album In A Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy. Two years later, he was spoofed on the South Park episode Hooked on Monkey Fonics. Dio was originally hesitant to let Matt and Trey parody him, as he had seen what they previously did to Elton John and Ozzy Osbourne. After being assured that the show’s staff were actually fans of his, he allowed it and when asked what he thought of the end result, he said, “I thought it was wonderful.”
Ronnie James Dio’s legacy cannot be understated, but one of his biggest fans has been the band Tenacious D. On their debut album, they got the approval from Ronnie himself to include their song titled “Dio,” in which they ask the singer to pass the torch on to Tenacious D. He was so impressed with the song they wrote in his honor that he appeared in their film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny as himself. As the movie opens with the song “Kickapoo,” a poster of Dio comes alive and the artist himself sings to a young Jack Black, inspiring him to travel to Hollywood and form “the world’s most awesome band.”
Unfortunately, Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer in November of 2009. The illness spread very fast and he passed away on May 16, 2010. The following year, the city of Cortland celebrated Dio’s birthday on July 10 with a day-long benefit to raise money for cancer and to fund a memorial music scholarship at the high school he previously attended. Cortland has also memorialized their most famous musician by naming one of the city’s street Dio Way. To learn more about the life and career of Dio, his autobiography titled Rainbow in the Dark will be posthumously released on July 27. Those that pre-order the upcoming book here will have the opportunity to receive a copy autographed by Dio’s widow, Wendy Dio, who helped finish the book after her husband’s passing.
Arthur C. Sidman
The late 1800s and early 1900s were prime years for American Vaudevillian performers and some very notable acts had their origins in Cortland County. One of these noteworthy performers was Arthur C. Sidman from Homer, NY. Early in his life, he worked a number of jobs, including being a reporter for a small local newspaper. While working at the paper, he dabbled in amateur theater and found success in this endeavor, leading him to quit his reporting career and focus on theater. In his late 20s, Arthur began his Vaudeville career and earned fame with his portrayals of stereotypical Yankee farmers. He would write a number of plays and skits throughout his life, with his most famous being York State Folks. This play about pastoral life would go on to become a Broadway play and a film, but he had unfortunately passed away suddenly in 1901 before seeing the ultimate success of this piece.
The Dillon Family
Another famous Vaudevillian family from this county was the Dillon family. Harry and John Dillon were famously known as The Dillon Brothers and performed comedy songs as well as sketch comedy together for over 20 years. Their hits included “Put Me Off at Buffalo,” “Do, Do, My Huckleberry Do,” and “Why Do They Sell Killarney.” They each retired from Vaudeville in the 1910s, but their brother William started a separate but similar career in the industry that same decade.
William Dillon did perform with his brothers before their retirement and while William himself would retire from Vaudeville around the same time as them, he would continue his songwriter career for decades to come. In 1907, he released the song “Every Little Bit Added to What You’ve Got Makes Just a Little Bit More” with his brother Lawrence, but most famously he recorded a song in 1911 with American songwriter Harry Von Tilzer that wound up becoming one of the most popular songs of that year. “I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)” has become a barbershop standard since its release and sold over five million recordings and score sheets by the year Williams passed away in 1966. Dillon billed his own act as “the man of a thousand songs”.
Joel Eric Suben
Joel Eric Suben was raised in Cortland, NY and would grow up to be prolific conductor and composer. At 8 years old, he would begin studying violin and trumpet and soon after that, would start transcribing music that he listened to on his record player. Throughout his teenage years, he would spend his summers learning percussion, string bass and clarinet. His innate musical talent allowed him to audition for Karl Kritz, the leader of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, who invited him to play violin in the symphony’s youth orchestra.
During his senior year of high school, he auditioned to be in the music school at Syracuse University and was offered a scholarship. He declined this to instead study trumpet at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. At the age of 21, he won first prize in a nationwide composers contest and graduated from the Eastman School two years later. He would continue his studies as a doctoral student at Brandeis University.
In 1973, Suben would move to New York City and begin an intensive private conducting study with renowned French musician, Jacques-Louis Monod. During this four year period, he would learn standard orchestral and opera repertoire. Towards the end of that decade, Suben would be invited to study in Poland and upon his arrival back to New York City in 1979, would resume teaching at Baruch College and Fordham University. Following these part-time teaching gigs, he took a professorship at the University of Richmond and famously honored the American hostages in Iran by organizing an orchestral concert that caught the eye of news outlets.
Suben finished the final nine years of his teaching career at William & Mary as Director of Orchestras before retiring from academics to live in New York again. Throughout his distinguished career, he has led over performances of over 500 pieces of orchestrated work by more than 150 composers from Europe and America. Since leaving the academic field, he founded the non-profit called Save The Music, Inc and is still on the board of directors for that organization.
Spiegle Willcox
Newell “Spiegle” Willcox was a renowned jazz trombonist who grew up in Cortland, NY. His father was a amateur musician and bandleader and taught him how to play valve trombone before Spiegle decided to switch to slide trombone as a teenager. After making the switch, he joined a group from Syracuse known as The Big Four, which soon caught the attention of bandleader Paul Whiteman. After Whiteman joined the group, he brought the members to New York City to play to a larger audience and renamed the band Paul Whiteman Collegians.
While playing with the Collegians, Willcox made his first recordings and built a reputable as a melody player, rather than an improvising soloist. He left that band and returned to Cortland in 1925, but soon continued him music career with a group called the California Ramblers. Soon after joining, he replaced Tommy Dorsey’s spot in the Jean Goldkette Orchestra and continued to play with them when Bix Beiderbecke joined in cornet and Frankie Trumbauer joined in saxophone. This band and lineup would be extremely popular at the time.
Two years after joining the group, Willcox left the industry as a whole and joined his fathers coal business as he now had a family to care after. He would still lead small groups around Syracuse, but by now his job in the coal industry was his main focus. This would be the case for 48 years, when a now-retired Willcox was asked to take party in a reunion show for the Goldkette band at Carnegie Hall. During these shows, he worked closely with a violinist named Joe Venuti. The two would play a number of clubs over the next three years until Venuti passed away in 1978.
Now firmly re-established in the music industry, Willcox would play around the country and even parts of Europe. At age 91, he traveled to Amsterdam to record with a number of Dutch musicians and that session would be released under the name Jazz Keeps You Young. Spiegle Willcox passed away in Cortland in 1999 but his legacy lives on through his music and through Ken Burns documentary, Jazz, where he can be heard discussing his life and the music he had the honor to play.
Patrick “Patsy” Conway
Patrick “Patsy” Conway moved to Homer, NY at a very young age after being born in Troy, NY. As a young man, he took a job at a local carriage factory and during his time there he learned to play the cornet, which is very similar to a trumpet. Years later he joined the Homer Cornet Band and eventually became the leader of the Cortland Band.
In 1894, Conway and his band were playing the Central New York Volunteer Fireman’s Association convention and the event was a total success. The judges of the event recruited Conway to move to Ithaca where he served as director of the Cornell University Cadet Band, the predecessor to the Cornell Big Red Marching Band. The following year, he formed the Ithaca Band and over the next decade and a half, the group would gain national acclaim. Around 1910, his group would become known as Patrick Conway and His Famous Band and he toured extensively around the country, including the Cincinnati Zoo, the Pan-American Exposition and the St Louis World’s Fair.
As time moved on, Conway began to sense that popular bands weren’t as popular as they once were and founded the Conway Military Band School in 1922, which was one of the first schools like it in the county. Five years later, his famous band played on the premiere of the General Motors Family Hour radio show. During this time, Conway led his newly-founded school in Ithaca until his untimely death in 1929. His name lives on through his work, but also in the famous movie and musical, The Music Man. During the introduction of the hit song, “Seventy-Six Trombones”, Conway is mentioned by the main character, Harold Hill.
Adelaide Hawley Cumming
Adelaide Hawley Cumming has a claim to fame that very few that others have experienced. She grew up in Willet, NY and studied under a scholarship at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. While there, she studied piano and voice and graduated with a music degree in 1926. Shortly after this, she formed a vaudevillian trio with two of her friends, taking their name from their colored hair which was part of the act. “Red, Black & Gold” helped pave the way for her future radio show, titled the Adelaide Hawley Program.
She hosted the radio show for 13 years, first appearing on NBC radio and then moving to CBS radio. The daily show was broadcast nationwide and had a following of 3 million listeners. In the last few years as a radio host, she also hosted the Fashions On Parade television program, first on the DuMont network and then on ABC. Although she was known across the country for her entertainment programs, her fame would grow exponentially with her next opportunity.
In 1921, the General Mills company debuted the name “Betty Crocker” and hired Adelaide to portray her from 1949 to 1963. During this time, she appeared in the “Betty Crocker Show”, “Betty Crocker Star Matinee”, “Bride and Groom” and also commercials during the Gracie Allen and George Burns comedy series. She has been billed as “America’s First Lady of Food” and during the time of her portrayal, she was the second most recognizable woman in America, behind Eleanor Roosevelt.
After being dropped by General Mills in 1964, she returned to school and earned her doctorate in speed education 3 years later. She spent the next three decades teaching and even gave her final class three days before she passed away in 1998 at age 93.
Cortland County’s history and residents have made an incredible impact on the shape of New York State and the entertainment industry as a whole. Next time you see a show at the Center for the Arts in Homer, eat a Cortland apple or throw the “sign of the horns” at a concert, be sure to remember this particular area of our home state and its residents who helped make our culture and our music what it is today.
