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 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.
For the next installment of Phish’s Dinner and a Movie archival stream series, the band goes back to the ‘2.0’ era, revisiting a Phish Summer Tour stop on July 25, 2003 in Charlotte, NC. The next installment airs on Tuesday, January 26 at 8pm
via GolgiProject.com
Previously released on Live Phish, the Charlotte show found the band in the middle of their 2003 Summer Tour that started in California and headed to the northernmost reaches of Maine for their IT Festival. Part of a three-night southern run that included Atlanta, GA and Raleigh, NC, the Charlotte show featured a wide ranging setlist, covering the band’s then-nearly 20 year career. A few monster jams are found in the show, including an 18-minute “Bathtub Gin” and a nearly half-hour long “Harry Hood.”
Fan Poster from Summer 2003
For the dinner portion of the night, the band intends to keep things easy and hearty with Betty Frost’s recipe for Chicken Pot Pies, including a veggie option. The full recipe can be found here.
Meals On Wheels will be beneficiary for the webcast, with all donations made via The WaterWheel Foundation will be given to support vulnerable seniors who are at the greatest risk amid COVID-19. Local Meals on Wheels programs are on the front lines every day, focused on keeping older Americans safe and nourished in communities across the country.
On January 22, 1972 Jerry Garcia performed at Setnor Auditorium on Syracuse University campus with his first live touring band outside of the Grateful Dead. He teamed up with American Beauty collaborator Howard Wales who wrote the composition to the album Hooteroll? The all instrumental LP which Garcia participated with a various cast on is reminiscent of Miles Davis record Bitches Brew. Abdul Mati Klarwein who did the cover album art for Bitches Brew also sketched Hooteroll?.
Jerry Garcia once stated that “Howard did more for my ears than anybody I ever played with because he was so extended and so different.” As for the brief January 1972 tour in which Garcia, Wales and co. performed a handful of Northeast dates, in support of Hooteroll?, Wales remembers, “Jerry played some of the best blues I ever heard him play on that tour. The Hooteroll? tour that was basically a blur, though. We had two hours of sleep a night and by the time we got finished we were ready to be delivered to the emergency room.”
The touring band that took the stage in Syracuse that night was made up of Jerry Garcia on guitar, Howard Wales on keyboards, Jerry Love on drums, Jimmy Vincent guitar, Roger Troy (aka Jellyroll) on bass and vocals. The 700 person capacity music hall on top of SU Hill houses a 3,823-pipe Holtkamp Organ below a 70-foot-high open timber roof and stained glass windows. The show consisted of a 22 song set list that was mostly heavy improvisational acid jazz-rock fusion and does not have any live vocals till almost 30 minutes into the performance. With original jam tracks like “Space Funk” it could be said that they helped coin the category.
The entire performance weaves throughout galaxies on a cold January night with the Hooteroll? track “A Trip to What Next” One can only imagine the steamy visual illusions this music created off the stained glass windows inside Setnor that night. Unlike Jerry’s live playing with the Grateful Dead in which he led the pack, in the beginning of 72 it was Wales who was calling the plays. Fifty minutes into the performance is Garcia’s only words to the crowd where he introduces the band and takes a seat to see what unfolds with everybody else. After his quick ten minute set break Garcia returns to play his Wales acclaimed “best blues” on “Sweet Cocaine.”
This Dinosaur BBQ blues ballad was One of Four songs that featured any vocals by Jellyroll, “when your downtown and left all alone, i need some rest woman, lord when i come home, i can’t get nobody, lord to sooth my soul, well i feel like a dog that’s lost his bone” After another 30 minute journey down the improvisational tunnel led by Wales on Hammond B3 organ the ensemble encores with “Gypsy Women.”
A week later the band made their way down the Thruway to the University of Buffalo for a performance on January 29, 1972. Very limited material exists of their work, Wales recently found the Buffalo tape and observed “It was a great tour because none of it was rehearsed. Some people are surprised when they hear that but we were capable of being out of the box. The way people get that way is because they’re jammers. Jammers have no fear.” Drummer Joe Russo had no panic over the years assembling musicians for their tribute to Hooteroll?
The Rose, Jules R Dot, and Stanford S Dot Sentor. School of Music, Syracuse University
His third time was last January 12 at Brooklyn Bowl for the 2020 NYC Winter Jazz Fest where Russo led an all-star cast tribute to the composition. Joe Russo Presents Hooteroll? + Plus! at Winter Jazz Fest; The Bogie Band Debut. After a long strange trip of 77 years, Howard Wales just passed away on December 7, 2020. His iconic keyboard sound can be heard on The Grateful Dead’s signature studio version of “Truckin‘.” “There was a point in which he was going to join the Dead, but Howard was to out there for them”
Listen to the Studio Recording of Hooteroll? below.
For their first live performances of 2021, the Disco Biscuits have announced a live, two-night run that will be livestreamed from Ardmore Music Hall.
Friday, February 5 and Saturday, February 6 will be the first live performances from the Philadelphia jam titans in 2021, and the first time the Disco Biscuits play the independent venue in Ardmore, PA.
Both live shows will be broadcast for free via Ardmore Music Hall’s YouTube channel & streaming partners nugs.tv. Tips for the band & venue staff are encouraged. Event merchandise and VIP ticketing are also available, which includes a signed custom foil poster, virtual soundcheck access, & both nights of audio recordings.
Ardmore Music Hall will welcome a very limited, socially-distanced & masked audience of 20 guests per night. Fans can enter the “Golden Ticket” Raffles & Silent Auctions for a chance to win tickets to each respective show. At the conclusion of each of the raffle drawings, a handful of winners will receive a pair of tickets per show, and an online silent auction for additional pairs of tickets will go live.
All guests will be required to produce negative COVID-19 test results before confirming their attendance. Additionally, the venue will uphold all safety guidelines and protocols mandated by local governance, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the CDC. More details can be found on the event page below.
January 15, 2021 marks the release of the single, “Seepin’,” from long-time Buffalo jam band veterans Organ Fairchild. While the members of the band have a history on the jam scene dating back 40 years, this is the first original music from the trio.
Organ Fairchild formed last winter and their debut performance came just before COVID-19 hit the world. Undeterred, the band performed outdoor shows, creating a buzz in Buffalo that was palpable. I caught wind of the band from Buffalo-area friends that saw them perform from a house while fans sat across the road in a socially distanced way. Whatever it takes to get the music out there.
Cited by The Buffalo News as “an incredibly hot new Buffalo band,” Organ Fairchild’s “Seepin’” precedes a full-length album tentatively scheduled for release in May of 2021. The single was mixed by Corey Kertzie (drums and percussion) and Dave Ruch (guitar) and mastered by Alan Evans of Soulive.
“Seepin’” features a groovy, funky feel that is right at home in the jam music genre. Joe Bellanti’s soaring organs and keyboard work are transportive. All three members of Organ Fairchild have such a great feel for each other, indicative of their many years experience that most new groups rarely find right away.
As the music industry recovers from the setbacks from Covid, keep your eyes out for Organ Fairchild. They’ll be jamming and you’ll be dancing and smiling.
In 1971, the Grateful Dead performed at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester over six nights – February 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, and 24. Billy Strings will present The Deja Vu Experience on FANS and The Relix Channel on those same nights, 50 years later, with a six-night livestream.
With a nod to those historic shows, Billy Strings will perform on these same dates as the Grateful Dead did, adding an aire of deja vu to the run of streams, in hopes of tapping into the musicianship and fearlessness that the Dead did 50 years ago.
Much like the Dead, Billy Strings has the potential to unlock the improvisational boundaries of music and psychedelia in a familiar yet unique way.
During the 1971 shows, the Grateful Dead conducted ESP Experiments, prompting Deadheads in the audience to focus on imagery shown by the band and telepathically send the imagery to a test subject.
The Deja Vu Experiment is aiming to similarly tap into a sense of clairvoyance and togetherness by asking the streaming audience to use their minds to collectively “see” and send imagery to special guest receivers.
Concerts in the age of streaming beg fans to transport their mind; to feel connected to a live performance when we cannot physically be together. This experiment is not scientifically backed, rather, a hypothesis that the collective mind has the power to tap into extrasensory perception and manifest connection.
NYS Music’s Best of 2020 series concludes with a look at the best Tours and Drive-In shows of a year we’d all like to forget. When the music industry shut down in mid-March, it was sudden and continues to last into 2021. Few bands got to go on a ‘real’ tour, given there were roughly 11 weeks in which to tour, and the coldest months of the year, at that. Still, a few bands went out on a Winter 2020 tour, making stops in New York State and surrounding areas. Be sure to check out the best Streams, Covers and Jams.
photo by JD Cohen
Goose announced shows in Williamsburg for late January, 2020, and immediately added a second, and smaller third show, due to demand. Their shows at The Music Hall of Williamsburg were two of the best of their tour.
One band, Twiddle, celebrated their 15th year as a band with a Roots Tour of their own, streaming the multi-week event that looked at the venues they got their start in across Vermont, wonderfully recalled by Ryan Dempsey. In addition to these shows, Twiddle performed at multiple Drive-In shows across the Northeast, including New Jersey and Essex Junction, VT.
All that after a cross-country tour running from January through early March. The band had an impressive 2020, performing shows in Colorado to start 2020 with “Somewhere on the Mountain” in Frisco, CO and connecting with platform LiveXLive for their July Roots Tour.
photo by Dave Decrescente
When it came to Drive-Ins, there were quite a few across the Northeast – Drive-in-Live in Swanzey, NH, Jericho Drive-In in Glenmont, NY, South Farms in Morris Farms, CT, Fingerlakes Drive-In in Auburn, NY, Silver Lake Drive-In in Perry, NY and Radial Park in Astoria, Queens.
Live at the Drive, featuring Buffalo’s Aqueous, was one of the first and the most successful series, with three weekends between Lockport’s Transit Drive-in and Perry Silver Lake Drive-In. Buffalo Iron Works produced the shows, with Josh Holtzman and Grace Vesneske’s new company Twenty6 Productions garnering credit for putting on shows that set a standard for socially distanced shows that were safe, well-run and comfortable for fans and staff alike.
photo by Paul Citone
Goose also hosted numerous Drive-Ins across the Northeast and even ventured safely to Ohio, North Carolina and Maryland, as well as Swanzey and South Farms. Located in Morris, CT, South Farms was centrally located to the Hudson Valley from Albany to NYC, Western Massachusetts and Connecticut itself. As such, Goose, moe., Warren Haynes, Grace Potter, Allman Betts Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Citizen Cope and even comedian Bill Burr. Due to a recent Zoning Board ruling, South Farms won’t have live music for the time being, but they made some memorable moment in the time they were able to, in a key location in the Northeast.
photo by Chad Anderson
moe. and Disco Biscuits each hit the new Drive-In circuit, streaming online and giving fans thirsty for live music the remedy they sought. Shows in Yarmouth, MA became regular stops, with both bands heading to Cape Cod in October. Lafayette Apple Festival Grounds, just south of Syracuse, brought in Dirty Heads and Disco Biscuits, the latter of which performed three nights, culminating their Drive-In shows with a Halloween show and an audience well-prepared for the cold and mud but still got down to dance.
What will come in 2021? Drive-In concerts will surely be a regular feature starting in the Spring, until the pandemic is under control, the population is inoculated with the vaccine, and venues are able to manage crowds of slowly increasing size. Will Drive-In concerts be here to stay? The collective effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 this year and into 2022 will determine the speed at which we can return to having live music back to where it was in early March of 2020.
NYS Music would like to wish a healthy and happy birthday to guitarist Al Schnier who turns 53 years old today. Al, a husband and father of two, first sat in with a band named moe. in 1991 and hasn’t looked back since.
A true New Yorker, Schnier was born in Utica, NY and attended New Hartford Central High School. One of his first musical endeavors was an eighth grade Rush/Neil Young tribute band called Cuttin’ Loose. High school and college at SUNY-Oneonta brought along with it various cover bands. In 1990, while playing in a band called Unclaimed Freight, Al came across a tape from some band from Buffalo called moe. and his life would be forever altered.
I heard that tape and I thought, ‘This is the kind of band I want to play in.’ … Of course, I never thought I’d be playing with moe., but six months later I ended up moving to Buffalo, and my next introduction to the band was actually sitting in with them.
Al Schnier
In 1991, Schnier first sat in with the band for a gig at Chicklets House in Buffalo, playing guitar and congas. The following year, after more sit ins and collaborations, Al became a fulltime member of moe. and has been a permanent fixture on his “side” of the stage ever since.
What’s transpired since is a remarkable recording and touring career that’s still going strong and has seen the band travel the world and play some of the biggest stages and festivals out there. Like any musician, Schnier has also had his fair share of side projects over the years. In 1999, he formed the folk rock band Al and the Transamericans that featured the late Gordon Stone on pedal steel guitar and Strangefolk’s Erik Glockler on bass.
Al has also self-produced and engineered a solo electronica album titled al.one that came out in 2001. A self-avowed Dead head, he’s also spent some time as one of bassist Phil Lesh’s “friends” for an incarnation of Phil & Friends in 2005. There’s been plenty of other collaborations since as well.
Schnier was also an original member of the “newgrass” band Floodwood, but has since departed. And he’s also a founding member of the voter registration group Headcount.
So let’s all raise a glass and cheers to Al Schnier, the birthday boy. Here’s to another trip around the sun and much more music to come.
The latest release in the Grateful Dead video series ‘All The Years Live’ features a performance from Orchard Park, home of the Buffalo Bills. From their July 16, 1990 show, the Dead share a rollicking first set cover of Bobby Womack’s “It’s All Over Now.”
Grateful Dead historian David Lemieux speaks on the performance:
When It’s All Over Now first appeared in Grateful Dead sets in 1976, it was the perfect addition to the Bob-sung part of first sets. It was quite a bit different than any other Bob song: not an original, not a blues song, not a cowboy song. When The Last Time arrived in 1990, it was the same feeling, another Bob rocker, although The Last Time bounced around the setlist quite a bit, whereas It’s All Over Now was a first set song.
The video is directed by Len Dell’Amico and co-produced by Len Dell’Amico and GDP. Click here to read a detailed take on the Grateful Dead opening for Bob Dylan in Orchard Park on July 4, 1986 and here for The Who and The Clash at Rich Stadium in 1982.
Grateful Dead July 16, 1990 – Orchard Park, NY
Set 1: Hell in a Bucket, Mississippi Half-Step, Blow Away, Mama Tried, Mexicali Blues, Loose Lucy, It’s All Over Now, High Time, Let it Grow, Don’t Ease Me In
Set 2: Sugar Magnolia, Scarlet Begonias, Man Smart/Woman Smarter Ship of Fools, Truckin’, drums -> The Wheel, Gimme Some Lovin’ Wharf Rat, Around and Around, Sunshine Daydream
Goose has announced the release of their latest live album, 2019.11.16 Buffalo, NY, from the Connecticut group’s show at Nietzsche’s, Buffalo’s longest-serving music venue. The release is a newly remastered soundboard recording that is now available on all streaming platforms.
Buffalo was a sure highlight for us in 2019. Like a lot of our Fall 2019 shows, it was our first time headlining in town and the show sold out way in advance, so the energy was through the roof. One of my favorite things to do on that tour was survey the crowd, and that night we had people from all over the place, it was really humbling to see that people had traveled just to see us at this small bar in Buffalo, and it turned out to be an absolutely magical night.
Peter Anspach
In addition to the streaming release, the band plans to press select tracks to vinyl, with a 2-LP, eight-track package available for sale through Bandcamp. Collectors will have an opportunity to purchase regular (vinyl only), deluxe (signed postcard + poster), or test pressings at varying price points.
A portion of proceeds will be donated to Nietzsche’s, as the independent venue continues to weather the multitude of challenges presented by the current pandemic.
Without spots like Nietzsche’s, we wouldn’t have gotten our feet off the ground. You need small venues and local scenes to get started as a band. Even if you’re not making much money per gig (which you aren’t), playing shows keeps the momentum up, the enthusiasm high, and allows you to grow musically as a band so you’ll know what you’re doing when and if you make it to larger venues. Let’s go Buffalo!
Peter Anspach
The heavy improv of Set 1 features a 14-minute cover of The Wood Brothers‘ “Atlas,” followed by a 20-minute “Arcadia” anbd closed with a 30-minute “Drive.” Set 2 kicks off with “Creatures” and includes covers of Otis Day and the Knights’ “ShamaLamma Ding Dong” and a-ha’s “Take On Me.”
Vinyl is now on sale as of Noon ET, Friday, January 8. For more information, visit goose.es/buffalo-vinyl.
