Brooklyn-based rock group Toshio Band has released their new single “The Devil Is Chatting In My Ear,” leading their second EP Lock Your Doors.
Photo Credit: Sivan Miller
Consisting of frontman Tim Lavigne on the vocals and bass, Daniel Imana on drums, Nick Valle on guitar, Ben Deixler on keyboards and Brandon Garcia on percussion, all members of Toshio Band contribute vocally with a style reminiscent of alt-rock from the 90s and early 2000s. Their central themes come from ominous and dream-like films and literature. The band is influenced by legendary rock artists David Bowie, Tom Waits, Charles Mingus and Roy Orbison.
The new track “The Devil Is Chatting In My Ear” is the lead single from their second and forthcoming EP, Lock Your Doors. The EP has a neo-noir concept exploring a hero’s journey through hysteria and gloom in an unforgiving world. It presents themes of an anti-hero, prevalent in cinematic works from Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch and William Blake and with musical influences coming from The Pixies and Tom Waits. Lock Your Doors was mostly written and recorded during the pandemic and is a continuation of their debut EP A Splash of Blood that was released in 2019.
Toshio Band dives into temptation and dwells in devilish places in “The Devil Is Chatting In My Ear.” The song starts with distorted guitar sounds, immediately creating a feeling of chaos and getting into trouble. The line “The devil is chatting in my ear” is anaphoric and straight-forward, every time you hear it, you can imagine reaching a point of giving into doing something you shouldn’t. The guitars settle and the beat becomes whimsical as Lavigne sings the line “What hath the night to do with sleep?” from the poem Comusby John Milton, which he added in to get a quote from the devil himself and to keep consistent the theme of mixing literature into the music. Then returning to chaos, the track leads you further into disturbance until it ironically ends back on the whimsical sound.
“The Devil Is Chatting In My Ear” will be self-released by the band on Friday, April 30. This is the first of many forthcoming releases for the band this year. Their second single “Cassandra” releases on June 4 by the label Spirit Charity. Lock Your Doors will be another self-release, coming out on June 25.
Buffalo based four-piece rock group, Grosh, is locked and loaded for their release of Not Down for Long. The group, consisting of Grace Lougen (guitar), Josh English (drums), Megan Brown (vocals), and Dylan Hund (bass) are some of the area’s most talented musicians.
Grosh is a high energy rock band that regularly sells out shows in Buffalo, showcasing their heavy-hitting style of hard rock. Recorded and mastered at GCR studio in Buffalo, Not Down for Long is Grosh’s second full-length album. The album offers tunes reminiscent of bands like Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam. But overall, it has a clear Grosh stamp on it.
The band never abandons their fast-paced energy throughout the album, with hard hitters like “The Fight” offering a great idea of what Grosh brings to the table. The band isn’t afraid to break out of the hard rock element, and sprinkle in some dirty funk in the second track, “Not Down for Long”. Lougen’s guitar riffage is absolutely spot on, chugging the song along and breaking into face-melting solos that soar over Hund’s thick bass line and the ever-climaxing drum beat.
Relentless, this album grabs the listener and holds them throughout the long jams, and even pop melodies in songs like “Mr. Rogers.” Brown’s vocals hold their place among a luscious instrumentation, with the lyrics featuring a trade-off between her vocals and male vocals. The conversation-like feeling of the song yields a nice story as well. The horn section shows an alternate side of the band’s heavier sound earlier in the album.
The band has a soft side too, as they show their ability to create a beautiful dynamic arc in “Don’t Forget Me.” The acoustic track feels like a musical number, with yearning vocals and a wonderful transition to the final song, “Tread the Wave.” Here, the band rounds out the release by offering another harder song with some prog-rock influence. English’s work on the hi-hat is stuff of gold, and a master-class in how drums, when played this well, can give a song rhythmic layering.
Lucky for listeners and supporters, Not Down for Long is set to be released on May 1. You can find the album streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. You can keep up with the band on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The group also has a YouTube page with official videos and quarantine recordings. Keep a look out for the group to be playing live as things continue to clear up and venues open at some capacity.
Key Tracks: Mr. Rogers, The Fight, Don’t Forget Me
Central Park is not only the continent’s first public park, but arguably the most iconic. Artists have traveled from across the globe inspired to paint, play and write about the 843 acres of beauty.
The sacred space is surrounded by world-renowned music venues, museums, and galleries. Harlem’s home for R&B and soul, the Apollo Theater, sits just 15 blocks north of the park while Carnegie Hall attracts world-class orchestral talent just two blocks south of it (slightly northeast of Radio City Music Hall). Rock aficionados frequent the Beacon Theatre on West 72nd street to the west of the park while sophisticated symphony-enthusiasts admire the NY Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. Hugging Central Park on the east, art-lovers marvel at the rotating and static exhibits on Museum Mile and photographers snap photos of New York’s impressive architecture.
It would be hard to imagine one of the world’s most culturally blended cities without a gathering place for people to connect with nature and community. And some of the most memorable gatherings in the early to mid-twentieth century occurred at Sheep Meadow between West 66th and 69th streets. To bookmark the tumultuous 1970’s in the drug-infused, crime-filled, disco and punk era, James Taylor played the last big concert at Sheep Meadow in front of a quarter-million people. After Sheep Meadow closed its grass to tarps, blankets and bare feet, large concerts were given a new space on the Great Lawn located mid-park between 79th and 85th street.
They don’t call it the Great Lawn for nothing. Some of the largest crowds in recorded history packed the 55-acre plot of land to “be a part of it” as Frank Sinatra would say. Maybe it’s the park’s natural setting that makes it so appealing for concert goers or it could be the central hub, but many performances in the ‘80s created a sense of hope and peace during some of the roughest years. While the NY Times called 1980, “the worst year of crime in the city’s history,” music provided a momentary lapse of chaos. In June 1980, an estimated 200,000 spectators on the Great Lawn welcomed Pavarotti and then two months later, Elton John entertained 400,000 fans.
The following September, Simon & Garfunkel reunited for their first live performance in 11 years as a duo. The free benefit concert supporting the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy was expecting around 300,000 guests, but an estimated half a million people showed up for the legendary reunion. After opening with “Mrs. Robinson” and “Homeward Bound,” Simon commented, “Well, it’s great to do a neighborhood concert,” and thanked the police, the fire department, the park administration. The subsequent live album recorded that night went on to peak at number six on the Billboard 200 chart in 1982 and was positively received by music critics and worldwide fans of NYC-based folk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OegZZNPsKA
While the magic created that night in Central Park between the future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers sparked a world tour the following spring, the relationship between the two musicians was creatively impossible to maintain, so they decided to call it quits before ever releasing a reunion album. On the positive side, their benefit concert to support the park’s restoration and maintenance plans was reimagined by other artists on the Great Lawn for decades to come.
Another major Great Lawn milestone took place in June of 1982 as part of the “No Nukes” movement. Central Park’s Rally for Nuclear Disarmament was held on June 12, 1982, and invited chart-topping musical guests including Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Jackson Browne to play in front of an estimated crowd of 750,000. Four years later, in July 1986, a record-breaking 800,000 people were reported at the New York Philharmonic and U.S. Marine Band joint concert to celebrate the restoration and reopening of the Statue of Liberty.
In April 1990, another massive crowd of three-quarters of a million packed Central Park for Earth Day. The musical guests were the B-52’s, Hall & Oates and Eddie Brickell. That same year, the Central Park Conservancy’s SummerStage concert series was moved to Rumsey Playfield, located just off the East 69th and 5th Avenue entrance to Central Park. While not as big as the massive Great Lawn and Sheep Meadow gatherings, the SummerStage has brought world-class acts to the area for over three decades, promoting everything from Central Park preservation, Greenpeace, voter awareness and social justice.
Paul Simon returned in 1991 to a giant crowd on the lawn, but every attendance record for a single artist was destroyed by Garth Brooks in 1997 for a show better known as “Garthstock” due to the giant turnout in a city not known for country music. Dave Matthews Band would bring the free benefit show back to the Great Lawn in 2003 to support music and art education in the NYC public school system, drawing an estimated 85,000. Matthews greeted the crowd saying, “So nice to run into you in the park here, the greatest park in the world, and the greatest city in the world.”
The Black Eye Peas filled the Great Lawn in 2011 for yet another benefit concert raising over $4 million for the Robin Hood Foundation. In 2019, nearly $1 billion was raised during the Global Citizens Festival supported by headliners: Queen + Adam Lambert, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, OneRepublic, H.E.R., and Carole King. The city’s incredible fundraising ability is only as powerful as the people that support the events — artists, promoters, attendees. Concerts on the Great Lawn are not only legendary due to the phenomenal performances in the epic “green lung” of the country’s largest city, but many of the concerts have transcended music and focused on the greater impact of people helping people.
What’s so special about Central Park is that you don’t have to be one of the hundreds of thousands to enjoy a memorable live music experience in Central Park. The grounds are full of talented performers from all over the world, and the magic of New York’s most iconic park is that you never know who you’ll run into playing in the paths and park entrances.
If you happened to be in the park during 2013’s installment of Jazz and Colors (a Peter Shapiro sponsored event), you might have run into an impromptu jazzy set with a touch of psychedelia. Bassist Phil Lesh, guitarist Eric Krasno, and drummer Joe Russo dropped their equipment on a random path and started playing to a crowd of zero, then a few dozen, then a few hundred. It’s moments like these that accentuate the excitement of being in the park on a fall afternoon.
Just this past September, as the leaves began to turn during a global pandemic, you might have run into Phish’s Trey Anastasio playing solo acoustic in support of the Parks Foundation’s SummerStage Jubilee. When asked the energy of a quarantined city, Anastasio remarked, “Yes, it’s weird walking through Times Square right now, but Times Square was tourists. But if you go into residential neighborhoods, I mean listen, it’s the greatest city in the world…always has been.”
It is rare to see an arena rock show where the headliner gets completely overshadowed by the opening band. It is even rarer when that headliner is a legendarily mighty live performer like ex-Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, with Metallica opening the show. But on April 27, 1986, 35 years ago tonight, the exalted Ozz was utterly outshined by a youthful, ‘Master of Puppets’-era Metallica at Glens Falls Civic Center.
James Hetfield – photo by Dino Petrocelli
Master of Puppets – hailed by many as the best thrash metal album of all time, along with Slayer’s Reign in Blood, released the same year – had come out around 2 months before this gig. Metallica was the best heavy band in the world in 1986. Period. It is inarguable. I know you might think they suck now, and that there were a ton of great other metal and punk bands then, but I don’t care – in April 1986, Metallica were better.
Cliff Burton – photo by Dino Petrocelli
During Metallica’s “Ecstasy of Gold” intro tape there was a curtain in front of the stage, and this writer remembers a good crush down the front, as about half the crowd – Metallica were relatively new then, and many of those present that night did not know them – surged down towards the front. Legendary Metallica bassist Cliff Burton came out from behind the stage-left curtain to check out the crowd, smoking a cigarette and nodding at the people down front. Then the curtain dropped to reveal a stage-set modeled after the Master album cover, and the band opened with a blasting “Battery,” sounding as ferocious and tight as you’d want. The band utterly crushed for 55 minutes, with James, Cliff and Kirk headbanging madly the whole time – and a good 2/3 of the crowd were right there with them.
James Hetfield – photo by Dino Petrocelli
There was a great song selection for the near-hour they played – a few new songs (“Master of Puppets”, “Sanitarium”), plenty of ‘Ride The Lightning’ stuff (the title track, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, set-closer “Creeping Death”), “Seek & Destroy” from Kill ‘Em All, and a crushing encore medley of Diamond Head’s classic “Am I Evil?” and the now-immortal thrash god-song “Damage, Inc.” Still one of my favorite shows ever. Sadly, this was the last time I saw Cliff Burton play – I had tix to see them in August in Montreal before Cliff’s untimely death, but James had that skateboard accident and it was cancelled. By the next time I saw them, Thanksgiving ’86 in Poughkeepsie, it was Jason on bass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qcn2wVG9aI
And Ozzy played too. He went down well, naturally, bringing the house down as he descended from the ceiling on a “monster Ozzy” throne. But, as pro and energetic a live performer as Ozzy and his always-professional band is (in those days led by guitarist Jake E. Lee), it was anticlimactic. Of course I mean no disrespect to Ozzy, who after all sang for the greatest band of all time and has always rocked live – I’d seen him before and many times since and this was easily the least awesome, contributed to, no doubt, by having to follow a hungry, young Metallica at their utter peak. To be sure, he didn’t suck – it’s hard to truly fall flat with songs like “Suicide Solution”, “I Don’t Know”, “Flying High Again” or his old band’s “Iron Man” – but it seemed like standard arena-rock after what had come before.
Also, Ozzy in 1986 was promoting the flaccid ‘Ultimate Sin’ record and flirting with a glittery, frosted-hair-and-makeup, almost glam image, which didn’t work for him – after 3 songs he was his usual sweaty self and the glittery outfit and frosted hair made him look like some bloated, middle-aged, hysterical, sweaty housewife who’d had too many glasses of wine. He opened with “Bark at the Moon”, closed with “Paranoid”, played lots of first album classics and crappy then-new songs from ‘The Ultimate Din’ and not enough Sabbath. Ozzy Osbourne lost, Metallica won.
All hail METALLICA, 1986-edition.
Metallicasetlist: Battery, Master of Puppets, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Ride The Lightning, Sanitarium, Seek & Destroy, Creeping Death, Am I Evil?, Damage, Inc.
Ozzy Osbournesetlist: Bark at the Moon, Suicide Solution, Never Know Why, Mr. Crowley, Shot in the Dark, I Don’t Know, Killer of Giants, Guitar Solo, Thank God for the Bomb, Flying High Again, Secret Loser, Drum Solo, Iron Man, Crazy Train, Paranoid
Multi-disciplinary artist and musician Serge Bulat recently released his new single with Japanese artist Dai Sekiguchi. The new song “Possible Plausible Reversible” is off of his upcoming LP, released on April 30.
In 2009, Bulat immigrated to the USA from a town under the Soviet Union. He was determined to pursue his musical career and expand on numerous frameworks within media. Bulat’s work varies from audiovisual installations to sound design to experimental video and more.
“Possible Plausible Reversible” is the artist’s most recent release off of his full-length album Similarities Between Fish And A Chair. Bulat experiments in this work to fuse genres, cultures, and media. He seeks to challenge traditional formats to develop this non-conforming project.
The new album is a direct continuation of his 2020 release Wurmenai which also delivered an immersive video game. The project features notable collaborators from ten different countries. Some of these artists include Katie Buckley, OYME, and Pavel Vit.
The new work deals with identity, normality, and personality; it questions reality and perception as well as imagines future.
Serge Bulat
Similarities Between Fish And A Chair will release alongside an audiovisual installation, “Inkblot,” as well as an experiential video game “Isolomus.” Bulat’s take on the standard psychological test, “Inkblot,” seeks to expand on the senses and connect his albums.
Five years in the making, Similarities Between Fish And A Chair, will finally be released later this month. Make sure to pre-order/pre-save the album here and stream “Possible Plausible Reversible” on major platforms until then.
By 1971, The Grateful Dead had firmly established the Fillmore East as their New York City base of operations. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The Fillmore East would be shuttered by the end of the summer, but not before one last run of Dead shows, which began 50 years ago today. The five-night run would serve as the band’s last hurrah at Bill Graham’s legendary East Village venue. It’s also the source of material for one of their essential live albums, Ladies and Gentlemen….The Grateful Dead. Tonight’s show features some iconic Dead tunes that were still in the early roll out stages combined with some short-lived classics.
The band wastes no time and dives right into a roaring “Truckin’” to open the show. It’s a crisp, early version of this Dead classic to-be that was barely a year old at the time. It would also serve as the opener for three other shows during this Fillmore run. After requesting some “cranking up” of the monitors, Jerry Garcia then leads the group through “Loser,” carrying over the alt-country psychedelic vibes established earlier by the New Riders. A short, but hauntingly beautiful guitar solo from Garcia highlights this one. The collective mood then gets lifted in a major way with “Hard To Handle.” The charismatic Pigpen, who has several shining moments this evening, takes the lead on vocals in his signature, blues-riddled style. Garcia and drummer Bill Kreutzmann seem to take turn raising the fervor and intensity which yields a hearty early jam.
After a vintage extended tuning session, the show resumes with “Me And Bobby McGee,” this time with Bob Weir leading the way on vocals for a cover song. Afterwards, Weir shouts out some more friendly advice to the monitor guy before “Cold Rain And Snow” lifts off. Garcia’s aggressive guitar tone and thunderous bass notes from Phil Lesh give this always emotional number a little something extra tonight. This sets the stage for Pigpen to take charge once more, this time with harmonica in tow for “The Rub.” This Lightnin’ Hopkins cover, also known as “Ain’t It Crazy,” would only be played 13 times by the Dead, properly shelved for good after Pigpen’s passing.
Weir then gets back on the mic for “Playin’ In The Band,” another soon-to-be Dead classic that was debuted only months earlier at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY. It’s essentially just a run through of the composed portion, with no jam to speak of with the song still in its nascent stage. Garcia then notes that “we used to do this song acoustically” before an uptempo rendition of “Friend Of The Devil” takes place.
The first set then wraps up with a few already established staples of the Grateful Dead’s live catalog. The instrumental segue between “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” is near-seamless, with Garcia delivering a flurry of emotional guitar fills on the latter. “Casey Jones” then drives the Fillmore crowd off to intermission, capping off a whirlwind first set. Garcia and Weir both take it upon themselves to advise everyone they’ll return shortly.
The Dead kick off the second set at the Fillmore in grand fashion with a supercharged “Morning Dew.” Steadily progressive rhythms supplied by Lesh and Kreutzmann secure the framework for another Garcia guitar solo that drips with emotion, much to the crowd’s delight. After a quick run through “Beat It On Down The Line,” it’s Pigpen’s turn again as he and his harp rip through a cover of the bluesy “Next Time You See Me.”
Pig then gets back behind the organ for “Bertha,” another fresh tune at the time, debuted only months ago. Afterwards Garcia seems to make note of Mickey Hart, who had recently begun his hiatus from the band, “not being with us tonight” but that his grandmother was in attendance. This clears the deck for “Sugar Magnolia.” Garcia has the wah effect on full blast for this one, almost overpowering everything else. After some more griping about the in-house monitors, the Dead’s cover of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles’ “Second That Emotion” smooths everything over. It would the fourth performance of this song that the band only ever played five times – all in April of 1971.
But this would not be the cover selection that blows the doors off the second set. That honor belongs to the “Good Lovin’” that follows, sung in Pigpen’s signature style and immediately supplemented with a majestic drum solo from Kreutzmann. As the wave of “Drums” begins to recede, a loose form of “Good Lovin’” reemerges, spurred on by Pigpen and his improvisational crooning. With the rest of the band fully locked in behind him, this sequence sees the Dead at their full powers and steals the show.
Things would slow down considerably after this, with “Sing Me Back Home,” another Dead tune with a short shelf life. Although it would be played the following two nights as well. One of the last inter-song tuning sessions is memorable as this one has a distinct “Spanish Jam” element to it. Finally, the opening shuffle beat of “Not Fade Away” takes shape, initiating the final sequence of the evening. In following tradition, another silky smooth transition follows into “Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad” before turning back into NFA. The Grateful Dead then treat the ravenous crowd to an “Uncle John’s Band” encore, wrapping up the first night of this last ever run at the Fillmore East.
Grateful Dead – Fillmore East – New York, NY 4/25/71
Set 1: Truckin’, Loser, Hard To Handle, Me And Bobby McGee, Cold Rain & Snow, The Rub, Playin’ In The Band, Friend Of The Devil, China Cat Sunflower-> I Know You Rider, Casey Jones
Set 2: Morning Dew, Beat It On Down The Line, Next Time You See Me, Bertha, Sugar Magnolia, Second That Emotion, Good Lovin’-> Drums-> Good Lovin’, Sing Me Back Home, Not Fade Away-> Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad-> Not Fade Away
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 The Bitter Stars, Modern Fools and many more!
WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.
This week’s featured artist on EQXposure is The Bitter Stars, from Charlton in Saratoga County. Their release Winters is a side project of the band doOojj, featuring Clarke Hingeford and Kyle Pemrick. The music is very clever, a unique take on what pop rock music can and perhaps should be. Excellent guitar tones, with powerful sonic treatments that rip across the aural spectrum providing a very cool repetitious base for the songs to be built on.
Greg Farley is a modern day renaissance man who also happens to write beautiful songs. While the phrase Alt-Country might be a little inappropriate to describe the music, these roots based songs are personal, suggestive, and enriching. The first cut off the record, “Hoosick Falls” has a hopeful sense while being deliberately truthful. The back up band on the session provides a subtle power to the tune that further leaves an impression on the listener, beckoning another spin or two.
Modern Fools from New Hampshire have some very cool music coming out of lockdown recording sessions. The forthcoming release of their work, Seer, is harmonically rich and steeped with heavy emotional content, aided by truly excellent performance of the songs by the band. While the lyrics and melody are haunting they soar right into the ear and stay awhile.
On Saturday April 20, 1991, when 4/20 was not the national holiday it has since morphed into, Phish performed at the University of Rochester, at Douglass Dining Hall. Presented by the UR Student Union, tickets were $6 for students and $10 for the public.
Show poster, via Amy Baerenklau
Phishâs third ever show on 4/20, the unique venue was named for abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and went through a complete makeover in 2015. UR alumnus Justin Miller described the show as “stale Froot Loops in the morning, then fresh Phish that night,” an apt take on an era when Phish was certainly nascent and making their footprint on college campuses, and would move on to playing sheds with Santana a year later.
The all ages show hosted a reported two hundred people, who would be treated to Jesus Jones right there the following year on 4/20.
photo by J. Adam Fenster
The first set provides standard early 90s Phish fare, ending with the lost acapella song, “Setting Sail,” formally debuted at this show, borne from a “You Enjoy Myself” vocal jam.
Trey welcomed Jon Fishman‘s parents and sister to the show prior to the start of Set 2, noting their recent show at Ithaca State Theater on February 14, 1991, where Dr. Fishman’s car was given away to a fan with fun pre-“Sloth” banter. The wide-ranging second set is chock full of songs, with a short and heavy “Tweezer” moving seamlessly into “The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony.”
With graduation a few weeks away, Phish feted the seniors in the crowd with an encore of “Alumni Blues,” including “Letter to Jimmy Page” sandwiched inside, closing out one of their final dining hall performances.
Phish – 4/20/91 – Douglass Dining Hall, University of Rochester
Set 1: Runaway Jim, Reba, Llama, Fluffhead > My Sweet One, The Landlady, Esther > Chalk Dust Torture, Bouncing Around the Room, You Enjoy Myself -> Setting Sail[1]
Set 2: The Sloth, Ya Mar, Split Open and Melt, The Squirming Coil > Paul and Silas, Cavern > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Tweezer > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg, Sweet Adeline
Encore: Horn > Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues
[1] Debut.
Trey teased Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas in Reba. Fish led the band in the debut of Setting Sail, which arose out of the vocal jam of YEM. Tweezer contained In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida teases from Page.
Episode 116 of the Rochester Groovecast Podcast is a re-stream of Rochester Groovecast founder, Ben Albert, featured on the Afternoon Cocktail Talk show, hosted by Amanda Ashley.
Afternoon Cocktail Talk Show is a wellness-based show featuring live performances and candid interviews with National and International Singer-songwriters, entrepreneurs, and various noteworthy causes. Through a collection of perspectives, Afternoon Cocktail delivers inspirational, educational, and thought-provoking entertainment that encourages awareness, self-care, kindness, and mental wellness.
In episode 56 of Afternoon Cocktail, “Facing The Music,” Afternoon Cocktail host, Amanda Ashley interviews Courtney Whitehead of Bison Bone, and Ben Albert of Rochester Groovecast.
Bison Bone is an Americana Rock and Roll band from Denver, CO. The band is a little bit country, a little bit rock & roll, and fully led by the boisterous singer/songwriter Courtney Whitehead. The veneer of their “Americana Rock & Roll band” description doesn’t seem to phase the group, as is apparent in their newest album, Find Your Way Out. Whitehead has unabashedly embraced the spirit of the aforementioned term, almost to the point of mockery.
The Denver-based band seems fully aware of the connotations surrounding surface level labels and uses it to their advantage by tricking listeners into thinking they are listening to something they are not. It would be easy to think Bison Bone is just another simplistic Americana band, but this is not the case. – Bandwagon Mag 2020
Timestamp:
00:00: Rochester Groovecast Episode Intro
02:32: Afternoon Cocktail Episode Intro
04:00: Amanda’s conversation with Bison Bone and Bison Bone Live Performance
29:09: Amanda’s conversation with Ben Albert of Rochester Groovecast
48:09: One more live track by Bison Bone
51:41: Episode Conclusion
At Rochester Groovecast, the mantra “We’re Fans First!” harnesses the belief that the best businesses are built by fans. The podcast is deeply dedicated to playing an active role in the culture of its local scene.
The brainchild of Rochester native, Ben Albert, was created in 2016 to serve as a portfolio of the city, and nowadays, the entire region.
The podcast believes in the artistic brilliance abundant in Rochester and the surrounding regions. Ben seeks to play a pivotal role in our community by helping give Rochester a well-earned voice. He has seen first hand the abundance of talent, character, creativity, innovation, and beauty the Flower City has continuously offered.
On March 26th, Long Island funk trio Baked Shrimp released their second studio album, Conscious. Known to many as Long Island’s best kept secret, Baked Shrimp has been expanding their audience and have had sit-ins from Brandon “Taz” Niederauer and Ryan Dempsey of Twiddle.
Cover art by Scott Reill
The band, who were among the finalists on NYS Music’s March Madness bracket, intended to release Conscious in time for their 2020 summer tour, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within this time gap, Lon “Conscious” Gellman—a close friend and loyal fan of Baked Shrimp—passed away. To honor Lon’s memory, the band named their album after his nickname.
Conscious has been in production since February of 2020, and was recorded in Patchogue, NY with help from Nick and Mike Rufolo of The Brothers Nylon who assisted in recording, mixing, and performing on all 10 tracks. The album’s final mix was done by Anthony Cimino at Mojo Music Studio in Franconia, New Hampshire.
Throughout Conscious, layers of horns, strings, keyboards, and synthesizers create musical textures that come together to create the defining ‘Baked Shrimp sound.’
The first track of the album, “NO2-4U,” is a fitting start, beginning with a classical acoustic guitar introduction that captures the listener and builds into a lively jam full of funky horn lines that drive the energy of the song.
Across the album, one thing you will always notice is the proficiency of each musician. The rhythm is always locked, the bass is grooving and locked in with the drums kick.
Each of the many instrumental, jam sections found in songs throughout the album fit the moment well and create bridges that effectively link to later sections. These moments help keep the energy of the track, but also allows the band to breath a little bit and show their chops.
Baked Shrimp performing in April 2021
“Rosa” is a good example of the dynamic instrumentals mentioned in the last paragraph. The track begins with a mellow but upbeat instrumental section that is carried by the spacey sound of the guitar and keyboard.
This instrumental section returns later in the track, except this time with more layers of keyboard and synthesizer parts that lift the energy, which is carried through the rest of the song until its end.
“Down the Drain” is riff heavy and has a very progressive-rock influenced sound. It definitely has a harder sound than most of the tracks on the album, but it shows the versatility of Baked Shrimp’s sound.
Now we can only look forwards to the days when more venues reopen and tours start rolling again, so Baked Shrimp can showcase the work they put into Conscious to a larger audience.
While opportunities for gigs are sparse now, Baked Shrimp was lucky enough to play at Lambrou’s Hall in Island Park, NY on April 3rd. In this show, the band was able to play through all of Conscious, as well as debut three other original songs. Baked Shrimp will soon be releasing full video and audio of the event.
There are big things in store for fans of Baked Shrimp. The band is eager to show their hard work to audiences around New York state and the country.
