NYS Music 202​1

Category: Albany

  • Girl Blue goes to “Heaven” with her Newest Single

    The latest single from the Capital Region songstress Girl Blue, “Heaven” was released today, the second single off her uupcoming full length album, slated for release in Fall 2021. The warm, uplifting single is well timed for spring, with a late 80’s indie-pop feel, and follows “Just a Dream,” the first single, released in February.

    girl blue heaven

    “Heaven” was written and produced by Girl Blue and recorded at White Lake Studios in Albany. Girl Blue is joined on the track by Albany’s Dark Honey – Jimi Woodul (electric guitar), Dan Dekalb (piano), Ben Woodul (bass) and Josh Morris (acoustic drums). 

    The light, grooving, harmony-drenched pop track is juxtaposed by lyrics that are dark, introspective and sometimes scathing about cellphone addiction. Making a statement about how our relationship with technology has come to replace our deep connection with spirituality, other people, the earth, and ourselves, the song will have you singing along and bobbing your head with ease.

    Arielle O’Keefe (Girl Blue) satirically celebrates the fact that “No one can stop me from hating myself, nothing can make me forget it,” and deems herself “the queen of my cellphone” in an angelic, serene tone of voice that only hints ever so slightly at the loneliness inherent in those statements. 

    Listen below or on various platforms, and visit Girl Blue’s Bandcamp for more music.

  • Ferriday, Eoin Noonan and more are Featured on this week’s EQXposure

    Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from Ferriday, Eion Noonan and many more.

    ferriday

    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 band is Albany’s Ferriday, where Pearson will be playing four in a row off of Everywhere You Go. Ferriday’s tunes are straight forward pure rock and roll indulgence with unique lyrical stories. They stand alone as individual singles yet also work cohesively flowing from one tune and vibe to the next. The playing from all the members is excellent, with note choices, song treatments, guitar tones, down to bass drum use, are very well put together for a well honed sound.

    Also featured is Irish-born Vermont resident, Eoin Noonan, and his beautiful tune, “Lovin’.” Eoin continues to create original and inspiring music that alternates between indie rock, country and folk music.

    Noonan has excellent song crafting and performance, with a great mood set forth in this piece of music. The march tempo and catchy lyrics, make “Lovin’” a creative single that inspires a desire to hear more from this Irish transplant now finding an artistic home in Vermont.

  • Albany Symphony Orchestra Showcases Rarely Performed Brahms

    On February 13, the Albany Symphony Orchestra performed three works: Sir William Walton’s Facade: An Entertainment, Tyson Davis’s Distances, and Serenade in D, op. 11, by Johannes Brahms. The concert was streamed virtually from Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs.

    Albany Symphony Orchestra Brahms

    William Walton was a British composer known for his instrumental writing, and was nominated for two Academy Awards in the 1940’s. He was inspired by a friend’s poem to write Facade. It started as a piece just for speaker and six instruments, but Walton later expanded it to an orchestra. The ASO did well on this piece. The speaker, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, navigated the tricky passages and was able to shine.

    The next piece performed by Albany Symphony Orchestra was Distances. It was composed by Tyson Davis. Davis, 21, a young but talented composer. He entered the UNC School of the Arts, studying with Lawrence Dillon. Later, he wrote for Eighth Blackbird, the Attacca String Quartet, and UNCSA Symphony Orchestra. He worked with the National Youth Orchestra to premiere a work that was commissioned by the American Embassy in Berlin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

    Albany Symphony Orchestra Brahms

    Written after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Davis wanted to explore themes of emotions and anxieties that the “New World Order” of a pandemic have caused. To do this, he left the piece with ambiguity and lingering passages.

    Brahms was a dominant composer of the nineteenth century; he was not revolutionary in terms of structural change, but he wrote beautiful, sweeping melodies. The Serenade was his first work for a “larger” group (originally eight people). The piece usually contains six movements, but the ASO opted instead for a rarity. Instead of those six, the ASO played four. Symphonies are traditionally four movements, not six, so the ASO played movements 1, 3, 4, and 6. With these four, it encapsulates what a traditional symphony is: a faster first movement, a slow second, a minuet or scherzo third, and a fast finale.

    Albany Symphony Orchestra Brahms

    Brahms originally cast the work in four movements. Like so many of Brahms’ early efforts, that original form suggests a young composer wrestling with specter of the greatest of all symphonists, Beethoven, and trying to create a first symphony. The other movements were added later to create the Serenade.

    Overall, the Walton was phenomenal, especially with the addition of Gibbon. If I had to describe Davis’s piece in one word, it would be, emotional. The piece evokes emotions that everyone is feeling. The symphonic arrangement gave better understanding of an earlier Brahms symphony.

  • theRep Adds Four Distinguished Figures to Associates Artist Program

    Albany’s Capital Repertory Theatre (theRep) welcomes four renowned theatre figures into their Associate Artist Program this month for their 2021 class.

    theRep

    Among the newest Associate Artists are Gordon Greenberg, Barbara Howard, Stephanie Klapper and Jean-Remy Monnay. Each of these members has made major accomplishments throughout their career and has contributed greatly to the theatre world. The recent members join the Associate Artists from 2019, Kevin McGuire, Yvonne Perry, Freddy Ramirez and Josh D. Smith.

    theRep associate Gordon Greenberg

    Gordon Greenberg is a writer and director who is currently based in New York. Some of his directing accolades include Broadway, Off-Broadway, London’s West End and 11 of theRep’s productions. Greenberg writes for television and stage productions and has developed and directed projects for art academies around the nation. He is currently co-writing and directing several works. He also has membership in Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, the Writers Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild and the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. 

    Albany native Barbara N. Howard has already been working with theRep as the storyteller for their virtual program for elementary students called Story Hour. Howard is also a teaching artist for theRep at Arbor Hill Elementary School and she’s performed on their stage in their production of The Trip to the Bountiful. She’s directed and acted in several plays and achieved several awards for her work. Her most notorious role as Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun gained her the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Theater Association of New York State. Howard also received the “Woman of Distinction” award from the Black Women’s Association of Albany.

    Stephanie Klapper is a casting-director from New York and was theRep’s casting director for almost 30 years. She worked on productions with Broadway, Off-Broadway, nationally, internationally and on small screens and big screens. Klapper has a casting team called Stephanie Klapper Casting and they have been involved with many projects. 

    Finally, Jean-Remy Monnay was born in Haiti and moved to New York in the ’80s. After living in New York for over a decade he moved Upstate and began performing in different theatres. He’s worked with theRep onstage and as a part of their Community Bridge Building Program Neighbors for Neighbors. Monnay founded and is the producing artistic director of the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY, Inc. Monnay produced the collaboration 8:46 which theRep contributed to as well.

    Their duties as Associate Artists consist of acting as ambassadors for theRep and participate in one production per season of their three-year term. They become a part of the artistic leadership team and serves as the spokespersons for theRep to the community and vice versa. Members give their input on playwrights, directors, actors and more to the projects and work with the Producing Artistic Director Maggie Mancinelli- Cahill and Associate Artistic Director Margaret E. Hall. The program is meant to help breed more art from the associates.

  • Albany’s Rock-Outlaws Son Of A Gun Turn To Dust Friday

    New York capital region Rock-trio, Son Of A Gun, is on the run with the release of their second EP, Turn To Dust, to be released Friday, Feb. 12.

    While the band probably isn’t smuggling shine in their petina post-war Buick Roadmaster down the Hudson Valley, their stone-cold rock jams will take you on a wild ride. The proof: Turn To Dust corrodes Son Of A Gun and their Rock and Roll sheen with a wild-side, proving more raw than their former effort.

    Son Of A Gun Turn to Dust

    The title track to this EP, “Turn To Dust,” kicks up a washy hi-hat drum intro, instantaneously energising the band. The pages turn, like a storyline from their lyrics to musical motifs. The textured drum beat tightens up for the band’s versus and solo, but remains the driving constant. Son Of A Gun, leaves us trailing behind, right on their coattails. They throw you into a groove immediately, fronting as that under-assuming opener you never saw coming.

    Their concise burst of talent, in the forum of yearly releases keeps us intrigued. Their familiar tones reminisce of The Black Keys “Tighten Up” on tracks like “Watch and Wait,” yet keep you dancing with the song’s moving bass-lines. The solos scream, each and every time.

    Turn To Dust will feature their hip lick “Find the Seam,” as featured live at Albany’s Low Beat in Dec. 2019. These guys have claimed their spot in New York’s Rock arena. They are fuelled to roll through energising live performances as their fanbase multiplies, and venues re-open. As the band burst at the seams, hang on for the ride.

    “Find the Seam,” live at Albany’s Low Beat in Dec. 2019.

    Son Of A Gun formed late 2018 “bringing a jam sensibility to straight-ahead Rock & Roll.” Their 2020 self-titled debut aids to classic rock fans with a stout major chord mentality. Gritty guitars and loose-mix drums keep a humble garage-rock edge and live feel. The trio has a hearty sound that could fit the bill on any headline stage. Their tracks soar like a hand in the wind as you cruise down the HRE – a floating momentum that kicks off with momentum solos on “Down The Highway.”

    “…the band’s musicality and their compositions were tight and developed. They were songs that you could certainly rock out to. What was interesting was that their sound didn’t specifically fit into any musical genre. Sometimes it would sound more like Pearl Jam (heard through the vocals of “Winds of Change”), or you could hear the country-rock vibe of “Hope & Heartache.” Listening to both “Down the Highway” and “Call of Days Past,” you can tell that it centered around blues-rock, even including little hints of “Call Me the Breeze” in the guitar & bass riffs and hearing the vocals one could listen from Sly Fox and The Hustlers.”

    – Amy Modesti on Radioradiox

    Check out Son Of A Gun on their Website and Facebook.

  • Celebrate Valentine’s Day Weekend with Albany Symphony and Composer Tyson Davis

    Composer Tyson Davis’ commissioned orchestral work, Distances, will be Performed by the Albany Symphony on its Valentine’s Weekend “Romantic Brahms” Concert on February 13, 7:30 pm EST.

    Tyson Davis
    20-year-old Composer, Tyson Davis.

    The Albany Symphony will be performing the orchestral work titled Distances by Tyson Davis. This 20-year-old composer has been writing music since age eight and currently attends the Juilliard School of Music. Tyson Davis has composed many pieces for small ensembles and solo instruments. As a child, Davis created works as he learned the piano. The instrument awoke the creativity within him, and he knew that music would be his one and only passionate path. His love for he process of seeing things grow propelled him into the world of composition. 

    In addition to Distances, music by composers Sir William Walton and Johannes Brahms will be performed by the Albany Symphony. The event will be streamed live from Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:00 pm and a post-concert question and answer session with the artists for season subscribers.

    “I am so excited to share this program with our community, featuring three extraordinary composers just starting out on their glorious careers. We are very proud to introduce Tyson Davis and his wonderful new work. He is an immensely gifted composer. In addition, we are thrilled to present a virtually unknown major early work by Johannes Brahms, the original version of his First Serenade, in a version that simply may never have been played or heard before!  And Walton’s wildly charming, witty, surreal narrated work, “Facade,” is one of my very favorite works from the early 20th Century,“ said Music Director David Alan Miller. 

    Tyson Davis
    Composer Tyson Davis

    The Albany Symphony was founded in 1930 and is now highly acclaimed with many ASCAP and Grammy awards. David Miller, the director for 27 seasons, fostered a community of diverse musical compositions. With numerous education programs, the Albany Symphony empowers youth to tackle issues of diversity and self-expression through songwriting, improvisation, and teamwork.

    The 2020-2021 season continues through the American Music Festival in June. Concerts will be live and virtual, with the ability to purchase access online or by calling the Albany Symphony Box Office at 518-694-3300. Subscribers are also invited to attend a pre-concert chat and a post-concert, real-time “talk-back” session with guest composers, soloists, and Maestro Miller.

  • Dust Bowl Faeries join The Linda’s ‘Open for Take-Out’ Virtual Concert Series

    The Dust Bowl Faeries will be performing at The Linda WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio in their ‘Open for Take-Out’ virtual concert series. Originally scheduled for February 1, 2021 at 8PM EST, the performance will now air on February 22, due to the early-February snowstorm. 

    Dust Bowl Faeries
    Album cover from The Plague Garden.

    The Dust Bowl Faeries are a dark carnival-inspired indie-rock band that draws inspiration from circus, post-punk and Eastern European folk music. They are based in New York and formed back in 2015 and their original line up was an all women trio of but now is a five piece multi-gendered power house. They released their newest album, The Plague Garden on November 20, 2020. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Michael Schoonmaker and was partially written during the pandemic. The band’s current line up is Ryder Cooley (Faerie Queen) on accordion, singing saw, ukulele, and lead vocals, Jon B. Woodin (Rocket Faerie) on guitar, castanets, and vocals, Rubi LaRue (Feisty Faerie) on lap steel and vocals, Liz LoGiudice (River Faerie) on bass and vocals, and Andrew Stein (Time Faerie) on percussion.

    Band leader Ryder Cooley spoke on the inspiration behind the band teaming up with The Linda which is based in Albany, saying that she had actually reached out to The Linda at the very beginning of March 2020 before the world knew the pandemic would crush the live entertainment industry. As time passed she had forgotten that she had reached out to them in the midst of pandemic life until one day in December when they invited the group to play a virtual concert. 

    This will be the first time the Dust Bowl Faeries first live-stream show and will be the first time they have all played together in almost a year.  Ryder Cooley shares that although they are feeling a little bit rusty they will be “pouring our[their] hearts out at this concert since it is our[their] first show all together in such a long time.” 

    There is a lot to look forward to when it comes to the Dust Bowl Faeries performance at The Linda. They will be playing several songs off their new album including “Pandemic Tango” which was written during the pandemic, and will also be performing fan favorites like “Candy Store.” The video of which was shot during the pandemic by Lisa M. Thomas of Thin Edge Films and released it in November 2020 in advance of their album. They will also be performing a brand new song titled “Cuckoo,” which is a polka-jazz song about feeling cooped-up and a little bit ‘cuckoo.’

    Tickets for the performance on February 1 at 8PM EST at The Linda are $10 and can be purchased here and will be streamed live on YouTube. The concert will also air on the ‘Live at the Linda’ radio show but people are encouraged to buy tickets because in the visual ensemble people will get a much fuller experience of the band watching the show rather than just listening. 

    The Dust Bowl Faeries are also in the midst of the Winter Series of their virtual vaudeville show Wish You Were Hear. They have upcoming performances on February 13 with Tommy Stinson of The Replacements and on March 20 with Lorkin O’Reilly.

    For more information visit the Dust Bowl Faeries website, Facebook or Instagram.

  • Annie in the Water Announced As Newest Edition to The Palace Sessions

    Genre fusing band Annie in the Water is set to be the next group taking part on The Palace Sessions. The Palace Sessions are a set of live music events that focus on acts regional to the Albany area. All concerts in this series are livestreamed on The Palace Theatre’s YouTube page.

    Annie in the Water
    Photograph by Frankie Cavone

    Annie in the Water’s music exists at the intersection of Rock, Reggae, Funk, Blues and Jam written with a conscious dose of positive vibes, unique melodies and down to earth lyrics. The band has an innate ability to fill an entire night with original music and also cover well known songs in their signature style, fans share extraordinary experiences that can’t be seen anywhere else.

    After over 12 years of touring and shows, founding members of Annie in the Water, Bradley Hester (lead vocals/rhythm) and Michael Lashomb (lead guitar/vocals) lead a full band composed of core members Ryan Trumbull (drums/vocals), Chris Meier (bass/vocals), Matt Richards (keys/vocals) and Brock Kuca (percussion/auxiliary/vocals). 

    Annie in the Water
    Photograph by Frankie Cavone

    The Palace has been one of Albany’s iconic downtown landmark for the past eight decades, bringing the biggest names in entertainment to the Capital Region. The Palace Theatre, built in 1931, originally presented vaudeville acts, feature films and became a civic auditorium before closing its doors in 1969. The theatre’s original design and beauty has remained largely untouched and is a historical landmark in the City of Albany.

    The Palace Performing Arts Center was established in 1984 and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1989, created to operate the Palace Theatre. The mission of the Palace is to bring world-class arts and entertainment to New York’s Capital Region, greatly enhancing the area’s cultural and economic development. Our mission is carried out through core programming and community initiatives that include performing arts entertainment, free arts education, family-friendly performances, free summer movies and a classic movie program series.

  • Moriah Formica steps out with All-Girl Rock Band PLUSH, Drops First Single “Hate”

    PLUSH is an all-girl rock band comprised of four members, all under the age of 21, with a mission to embody the heart of rock and make a name for themselves in the music industry. With powerful vocals and a sound that holds true to the genre, the four girls set out to break the boring, repetitive mainstream culture and bring back classic rock.

    plush

    If you’re a fan of The Voice, you might recognize the lead singer, Moriah Formica, a contestant back in 2017 who was affectionately referred to as “The Rock Goddess” by Miley Cyrus. Drummer Brooke Colucci, otherwise known as Rock Angel, is a well-established artist on social media, with acknowledgment from John Lennon, solidifying her talent and standing in the rock community.

    Guitarist Bella Perron is a freshman at Berklee College of Music with an artsy presence on YouTube, regularly uploading impressive, drool-worthy guitar covers. Bassist Ashley Suppa ties the group together with beautiful bass backing, even being noticed by Ace Frehley of KISS.

    The mission of PLUSH is to bring the heart of rock back to the mainstream with a new fresh spin on the sounds you already love. PLUSH hopes to inspire young women everywhere to follow their dreams, regardless of whatever challenges may lie in the way.

    Moriah Formica

    On January 18, 2021, PLUSH dropped a promo for their upcoming single, “Hate,” available to be pre-saved and expected to drop on Apple Music and Spotify. The excerpt shows how well the band flows together, as well as the emotion and passion each member brings to the table, leaving nothing to be desired. The song focuses on a topic relatable to many, wanting to hate someone who broke her heart. But being unable to forget the love she had for them, she hates that she still loves them.

  • New Music from Luminous Crush featured on EQXposure

    Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from Luminous Crush, Allyson Smith and many more!

    Luminous Crush

    WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.

    This week EQXPosure puts a spotlight on a variety of local artists from across the 518 and Western New England.

    The latest from Luminous Crush, “Radio Kills Zombies” has a haunting refrain with a smooth underlying groove, with imagery of the Cuba Gooding, Jr. film Radio attached. The Vermont band is fronted by Laura Molinelli and Ben Campbell. With Christian Heins (bass), Brad Waugaman (keyboard) and Paul Carroccio (drums), they form a quintet that focuses on original dreamlike pop and rock vignettes. Their music has been hailed as “fearless and original” by Dan Bolles, music editor at Seven Days.

    https://soundcloud.com/luminous-crush/radio-kills-zombies

    Allyson Smith a singer-songwriter from Albany has recently released “The Waves.” Her songs weave together inner and outer worlds by juxtaposing emotional and spiritual experiences with keen environmental observations. The Collaborative Magazine boasts of Smith having “powerful songwriting, full of goose-bump raising lines and beautifully dark imagery.”

    You’ll also catch brand new songs from Jade Relics’ freshly released collaboration between Elder Orange, Iame, and Rico James “With You,” United Crates/The Vinylcologist, Older Zealous AKA OJ, “Vodka and Polar,” and a new release from the Bathrobe Robots, “Alt-War.”

    EQXposure will start the evening with two songs in a row for an hour from Ferriday, Dryer, Postage, Fine Grain, Laveda, Bear Grass , Victory Soul Orchestra and TIP the Band.

Built in Breakdance