Intrepid Travelers are starting the New Year off strong with new music. The Buffalo 6-piece have released a double single, pairing “You Gotta Work” and “Up To You” as they look towards a brighter 2021.
Cover art designed Adam Bronstein
A Buffalo-based improvisational rock band that has been around since 2013, Intrepid Travelers were revitalized in 2020 with some significant lineup changes.
Bassist Zak Beutel was the first new addition, joining founding members Donny Frauenhofer (keys), Brian Calisto (guitar), and Jon Fohl (drums). Shortly after, two more travelers joined the group: Ellen Pieroni, formerly of Folkfaces (saxophone), and former Universe Shark frontman Adam Bronstein (guitar).
This new incarnation of Intrepid Travelers has been hitting the pavement hard since the summer, as hard as they can mid-pandemic. The band has been live-streaming the first three Tuesdays of each month as well as select holidays, while working on plenty of new material. The band was able to play a few live shows in the late summer/early fall – including a sold out double header on Halloween at Sportsmens Tavern and a socially-distanced IT Fest – but with the recent shutdown, IT decided to shift their focus to recording.
The newly released double single features two tracks, “You Gotta Work” (Pieroni/Frauenhofer) and “Up To You” (Calisto/Beutel/Fohl). Both tracks were recorded entirely at home, with mixing and mastering by Donny Frauenhofer.
These two tracks are a great representation of where the band is heading, and the amount of fun we’ve been having together.
Jon Fohl
The first track, “You Gotta Work,” a driving, Motown-inspired Lettuce-esque funk tune, will make you dance and leave you feeling empowered, and features dazzling guitar licks by Adam, tasty organ playing by Donny, a percussive bassline by Zak, and Ellen on lead vocals.
“Up To You” is more introspective, but just as catchy as the first track. You’ll be reeled in by Brian’s acoustic guitar playing, but be sure to stick around for him to shred later in the tune, and Jon displays his vocal abilities singing lead. The production value is especially great on “Up To You,” with congas from special guest Ryan Campbell, fun added background vocals over Brian’s guitar solo, catchy horn lines, and various sound and vocal effects.
This recording session was among the most rewarding and creatively fulfilling projects I’ve ever been a part of – self producing these tracks has the band energized and excited for more!
As we continue to warm up to the new year, there are a few more musical moments from 2020 that merit special recognition. Here’s the best of what last year had to offer for cover songs and jams and what we missed the most.
Best Cover Song
There were a lot of interesting nominations for this category. With bands and artists quarantined at home like the rest of us, that left plenty of time to learn new material and maybe take a stab at some unique covers. The winner this year goes to moe. and their take on “West LA Fadeaway,” from the 1987 Grateful Dead album In The Dark.
This one went down at Big Blue North Recording Studio in Utica, NY. After scheduled shows at Vernon Downs were cancelled, the band scrambled and Plan B was to play the shows where they had been rehearsing. The extra-bouncey effect on Rob Derhak’s bass and Jim Loughlin on percussion give this Dead classic a fun, uplifting vibe that does justice to the original.
Other nominees for Best Cover Song included Silversun Pickups and their cover of Martika’a 1988 hit “Toy Soldiers,” Vaporeyes and their take on the Gorillaz classic “Clint Eastwood,” and a breathtaking rendition of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes” from Lianne La Havas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdbHO_KhCig
Best Jam
The nominations for Best Jam of 2020 were once again varied and spread across far across the musical spectrum. But, once again, the winner has roots deeply established in New York State. Like many other bands last year, Buffalo’s Aqueous had to resort to Drive-In movie theaters as venues to play for any mass gathering. And their second set on June 21 at the Transit Drive-In Theatre in nearby Lockport goes down as the jam of the year.
It was comprised of only one song, an extremely stretched out and versatile “Half In, Half Out.” This particular version reached new heights as it goes on for nearly 68 minutes and showcases the band’s full repertoire. This musical assault seems to have about a dozen different sections that mesh together to form something special. One of the earlier ones is an exact replica of the ending sequence of Phish’s “Sample In A Jar.” The rest of jam features notes of funk, reggae, trance and blissful rock, all while never growing stale. Teases from Rush, Pink Floyd and Red Hot Chili Peppers also abound. Throw in a freshly mohawked Mike Gantzer on guitar and that’s more than enough to bestow “Best of” honors for this one.
Other finalists in this esteemed category were the “Stash” from Trey Anastasio’s Beacon Jams, Vaporeyes’ “Quarantine Jams,” and Yo La Tengo’s annual Hanukkah show.
What We Missed The Most
This contest, predictably, yielded a bit more of a clear consensus. It’s evident from the responses that thing people missed the most in 2020 is the personal and social interaction that go hand in hand with live music. Of course the music is nice (it finished a distant second), but it doesn’t seem to matter as much without the friends and the environment that comes with a show.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that human interactions certainly goes a long way. And one response mentions one of these that undoubtedly anyone who has ever been to show can relate to in saying, “I miss being in a large room with strangers who instantly become your best friends just because you share the connection of loving a particular musician or band.” Whether it’s reuniting with old friends or making new ones, let’s hope 2021 gives us a chance to do both. And the live music can come along too.
Best of 2020 finds The Beacon Jams on the headline for threefold: It took the podium for ‘Best Streaming Series’, ‘Best Charitable Effort,’ and outstanding audience interaction. While we didn’t expect much from such a painstaking year, one thing remains true: music always prevails. The Beacon Jams and Trey also came up countless times in other Best Of categories.
Best of 2020: Overall Streaming Series
The Beacon Jams earns the Best of 2020 Streaming series, an eight-week residency featuring acoustic and electric performances from Trey Anastasio, with bonus content and audience interaction. New York City’s historic Beacon Theatre took this on as its first ever virtual residency. Anastasio performed every Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET from October 9, and concluded November 27. The effort streamed exclusively on Twitch.
With Trey’s name attached, it is hard to believe anything would fall short of ‘Best of.’ Trey is an all-in type of musician, despite being reluctant to create anything virtual. His leap of faith: The Beacon Jams.
Trey calls The Beacon home. With countless performances at the theatre it was a natural choice. After a crazy two years of touring Anastasio didn’t think live-streaming was necessary. Times changed and he was still creating, with the July release of Lonely Trip, as well as prerecorded SummerStage Jubilee performance and a Jimmy Fallon appearance. While the mass of energy (people) in a live performance is hard to match, Trey was not disappointed with the reaction from The Beacon Jams. In fact, it was overwhelming and inspiring. “I don’t know if I want to play without our community with me,” but we we’re right Trey. We’re right here.
So much of my work is about getting out of my own way, rather than fighting toward something. The work is to not mess up what already exists. There’s a tsunami of energy happening, and my mind is the impediment.”
Best of 2020: Charitable Effort From a Streaming Series
In true Anastasio fashion, there is always a charity or greater good in mind. With The Beacon Jams, there were two: The WaterWheel Foundation and Divided Sky Fund (DSF). Since 1997 Phish and WaterWheel have been raising money for those in need via touring, while The Divided Sky Fund focuses more on delivering quality care and compassionate treatment for those suffering form alcoholism and addiction. Likewise, all net profit from The Beacon Jams merchandise sales went directly to DSF.
The Divided Sky Fund crushed their initial goal of $150,000. As the organization inched towards its benchmark with mass fan-donations under $100, large sums (upwards of $15,000) and merchandise sales currently raised over $422,000 dollars. This is again feat in itself, especially during times where fans may have had little money to spend. Anastiaso set the bar high, gave back, and instigated this generous giving-tree lifecycle.
You can still donate to DSF and aide The Beacon Jams’ efforts via Paypal HERE. Not only is your donation visible, but you can feature a public note or inspiration. A $20.00 donation is auto-populated, but amounts of any kind are more than generous, and can be marked anonymous. They are very close to their new $450,000 goal.
My hope is that this fund can touch many lives with positive support for addiction recovery. Thank you so much for music each Friday. It became something my girlfriend and I looked forward to every week.
Twenty-twenty was an odd-egg, but Anastasio opened a Beacon Jam set with “Corona,” interjecting a bit of comic-relief. Music lovers found happiness in all live stream series. It made light of a crude reality around us and social detachment. Livestreams sucked us back into how music should be: a constant, ever-changing dialogue between musicians, instruments and the fans.
Other Streaming Series in 2020
Other streaming series were hot on NYS Music’s Best of list from Umphrey’s Mcgee, Aqueous, Goose’s Bingo Tour, Dinner and a Movie, Lotus, Noon Chorus, The Talking Dead and multiple mentions of moe. Share your favorite streams of 2020 with NYS Music.
Syracuse beat-driven psychedelic jam band, Vaporeyes, took their own flair to a livestream series via Facebook. With over a dozen episodes and a November album release, Cantrips, the band took advantage of live streams to the fullest.
Heavy hitters moe. rolled with the punches after their drive-in series was shut down due to COVID-19 concerns. The band fired back with a live studio stream from Big Blue, and a saucy full length album stream from The Palace Theatre lobby. If you missed it, you missed out. Click play and get taken away with soaring vocals and unmistaken live-concert energy.
Red Rocks is magical in its own regard. Add a trippy light-show and cosmic jam band, and well, you see where this is going. Lotus dominated a livestream in two sets and you didn’t have to leave your couch. The 4K livestream sucked us into production. Lotus released Free Swim, a 10-track album on 2xLP Vinyl in August, paired with this event at the Ampitheater as we closed out September.
Make sure you check out all of your favorite bands and support them during these, still, turbulent times. Stay updated with NYS Music as your #1 source for all things music across New York State and beyond. The Best of 2020 is just beginning. And we promise, once we recap we’ll leave it where it belongs – dead in the past. Thank you to live stream series for keeping us alive.
Check out photos from The Beacon Jams by Jake Silco
