Sydney Irving has announced summer shows sprawling across upstate New York. Between solo shows and upcoming shows with her band the Mojo, Irving will be busy bringing music back to upstate New York after the lull of live music caused by COVID-19.
The Syracuse native is only 17 but already making big splashes early in her career debuting her first album titled “Hello Stranger” at the age of 14 and opening for big names like Matt Rogers, Drew Baldridge, and Mikele Buck. She has been nominated for best singer/songwriter at the Syracuse Area Music Awards four times, has been writing songs since she was twelve years old with her guitar.
In 2020 she was named Young Adult Artist of the Year by the International Singer Songwriters Association. Back in 2019 she received the direct support for Starship feat. Mickey Thomas at the 2019 Spiedie Fest. And in 2020 she was named Music Mafia Radio Female Artist Of The Year. She is currently a Breedlove Guitar endorsed artist. Her music is branded as being ideal for people who are fans of Taylor Swift, HAIM and Phoebe Bridgers.
Irving has 21 dates booked both for her solo performances and an incredible 26 shows booked with her band, The Mojo which started back in May. The shows will run through August 25 for the solo shows and through September 5 for the entire band. Some of the big stops include the New York State Fair, Copper City Brewing, Shine on Westcott, The Wildcat, and many many more.
For more information on Sydney Irving visit her website.
Wondering where and how you can get your 2021 Pride on throughout New York this summer? With COVID-19 ever looming in the background, NYS Music has you covered. Between in person events and virtual celebrations, celebrating Pride with live music in 2021 will be a highlight of the summer across the State of New York.
New York City and Long Island
New York City Pride will be kicking off with 50 events across the 30 days of June, known as Pride month throughout the LGBTQ+ community. Between the NYC Pride march, Pridefest, and Pride Island. The NYC Pride March broadcast special will return for its fifth consecutive year.
Featuring live performances, on-air interviews, and exciting street-side marching activity, the broadcast will air on ABC-7 from 12PM to 3PM EST on Sunday, June 27 as well on ABC7NY.com and ABC7 New York’s Connected TV Apps on streaming platforms Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. All in-person elements will be produced in accordance with the most current guidelines for public events in the city. DJ Lina Bradford will be performing at the online virtual Pride Island party. Details on the event can be found on their website. Musical performances across NYC Pride are waiting to be announced.
Long Island Pride is taking place on June 13, 2021 at Eisenhower Park’s landmark Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre from 12PM-4PM. The festivities will take place in person and will follow New York State Department of Health and CDC guidance, all attendees will be required to present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination, or 72-hour negative PCR test. This year’s Long Island Pride is a pre-ticketed event only and there will be no same day entry. The event may sell out quickly with sponsorships, VIP tickets and a limited number of general admission tickets now on sale due to COVID-19. Almost Queen, The Lesbian and Gay Big Apple Corps, and DJ Disco 2 House will all be performing. Details on the event can be found on their website.
Capital District
In Albany the Pride activities will span out across the month with plenty of events. People can catch local artists performing on the Virtual Alive at 5 event. It can be found on Albany Events on YouTube and the Pride Center of the Capital region YouTube. Join the online party for the Virtual Pride Alive at 5 on Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 11AM to 12PM. Details on the event can be found on their website.
Schenectady Pride will be hosting a ‘Day of Visibility’ event at the Gateway Plaza. The event will host DJ RVMBA at 3PM, Community Stage (special guests including SLOC Musical group, Planned Parenthood at 4PM, and Drag Spectacular starring the Legends of Drag at 5pm on Saturday, June 5, 2021. Details on the event can be found on their website.
Buffalo
Buffalo won’t be having an official live pride event this year due to COVID-19 but is promoting different events throughout Buffalo in celebration of Pride. The R&B and Hip-Hop Pride Event is taking place on June 5 from 9PM to 1AM at 522 Elmwood Ave Buffalo. The event is $7 and focuses on Recording Artists of the LGBTIAQ+ Community that dwell in the genres of R&B and Hip-Hop music. Hosted by an Actress/R&B and Hip-Hop Artist named Aqueira Oshun. Loncé thee Starr, Disprettymofo, Incense, Paris Glenn, Charlie Bae, C4W2, and Jay Aquarious will all be performing. The music for the show will be spun by a DJ named Trav1sTw1n. The maximum capacity is 40 people and please be asked to wear a mask at the event. Details on the event can be found on their website.
Rochester
Rochester Pride isn’t taking place until September 25, 2021 at Mayo Park from 12-5 PM and hasn’t released information yet.
CNY
Central New York Pride will be taking place on June 26, 2021 for CNY Pride’s “Virtual Edition” Pride Festival, presented by Equitable. The festival will be featuring performances by Deviant Dance Tribe, Jason Ngo, Felipe Panama, Kitschy Scoflow, Koy Adams, Frita Lay, Sparkle Royale, Rea Listic, Tayler Mayde, and Natalie Taylor, and hosted live by the fabulous Samantha Vega, this digital festival will be streaming online June 26 and will be free and open to the public. Details on the event can be found on their Facebook page.
Keep checking back for more updates on when and where to get your Pride and dance moves on in 2021 throughout New York State.
Independent Venue Week returns July 12 – 18, 2021, bringing together venues from all across the country for a series of shows and programming in celebration of the spirit of independence.
The venue-curated programming will be combined with the return of #IVWTalks, a virtual conference series that discusses current live music industry issues and includes Get Schooled, a full day dedicated to student participants interested in a career in live music to take place on Thursday, July 15.
Among the more than 450 shows to take place as part of Independent Venue Week are performances by hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg at Phoenix’s Celebrity Theatre,roots music icons Steve Earle & The Dukes at Ram’s Head On Stage in Annapolis, midwest indie-pop sensation Beach Bunny at Milwaukee’s The Cooperage, world-class Afro-Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez at NYC’s DROM, New Jersey DIY favorites Long Neck, Whiner and PYNKIE at WhiteEagle Hallin Jersey City, legendary rock’n’rollers The Marshall Tucker Band at Missoula’s KettleHouse Amphitheater,and bass virtuoso George Porter Jr. for his reopening run at Garcia’sin Port Chester.
Getting ready for this year’s event feels particularly meaningful. For the past 14 months, independent venues and promoters have collectively fought for their very survival and this feels like the turning point that we’ve all been working for. We were happy and proud to grow Independent Venue Week last year—to even have it, under the circumstances. This year, we hope and believe that fans will return with a renewed appreciation for these uniquely important spaces.
Cecilie Nielsen, Director of Special Projects at Marauder, the firm that runs Independent Venue Week in the US.
The team behind Independent Venue Week has released the first episode of its new podcast series, Independent Venue Speak. Like its namesake, Independent Venue Speak will celebrate the spirit of independence, through the vehicle of deep-diving conversations. The series will be hosted by a different guest artist each episode and focus on how a specific independent venue has shaped the narrative in their music community.
For its inaugural episode, Independent Venue Speak invited the Grammy-nominated, Brooklyn-based artist and songwriter J. Hoard to tell the tale of the iconic Lower East Side room Arlene’s Grocery and its ties to The Lesson, a world-renowned hip-hop jam ensemble that forged an entire music culture.
To truly make Independent Venue Speak as incredible in execution as it was in concept, we enlisted the artists and venue operators to tell these stories themselves. These stories are about extraordinary people who helped inspire prolific music movements and about the venues that offered these movements not just a stage, but a home.
Cecilie Nielsen, Director of Special Projects at Marauder
#IVW21 PARTICIPATING VENUES (So Far!)
Princess Theatre Center for the Performing Arts (Decatur, Alabama)
Theatrikos (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Jeremy’s Juke Joint (Lake Havasu City, Arizona)
The Neighborhood Comedy Theatre (Mesa, Arizona)
The Nile Theater (Mesa, Arizona)
Last Exit Live (Phoenix, Arizona)
The Rebel Lounge (Phoenix, Arizona)
Club Congress (Tucson, Arizona)
Groundworks Tucson (Tucson, Arizona)
The Wayfarer (Costa Mesa, California)
T-Bar Social Club (June Lake, California)
Marvyn’s Magic Theater (La Quinta, California)
1720 (Los Angeles, California)
Globe Theatre (Los Angeles, California)
The Paramount LA (Los Angeles, California)
The Sardine (Los Angeles, California)
The Glass House Concert Hall (Pomona, California)
Crest Theatre Sacramento (Sacramento, California)
Harlow’s (Sacramento, California)
Sacramento Comedy Spot (Sacramento, California)
Belly Up (San Diego, California)
The Casbah (San Diego, California)
Soda Bar (San Diego, California)
Spin Nightclub (San Diego, California)
Amado’s (San Francisco, California)
Bimbo’s 365 Club (San Francisco, California)
Great American Music Hall (San Francisco, California)
The Riptide (San Francisco, California)
Center Stage Theater (Santa Barbara, California)
Kuumbwa Jazz (Santa Cruz, California)
Boulder Theater (Boulder, Colorado)
Fox Theatre (Boulder, Colorado)
The Black Sheep (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Monkey Barrel (Denver, Colorado)
Roxy on Broadway (Denver, Colorado)
Aggie Theatre (Fort Collins, Colorado)
Ridgway Chautauqua Society / The Sherbino & The Courtyard at 610 (Ridgway, Colorado)
Bijou Theatre (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
The Midpoint (Hartford, Connecticut)
Arden Concert Gild (Arden, Delaware)
9:30 Club (Washington DC, District of Columbia)
The Anthem (Washington DC, District of Columbia)
DC9 Nightclub (Washington DC, District of Columbia)
Lincoln Theatre (Washington DC, District of Columbia)
Pearl Street Warehouse (Washington DC, District of Columbia)
Pie Shop (Washington DC, District of Columbia)
Songbyrd Music House (Washington DC, District of Columbia)
High Dive (Gainesville, Florida)
Murray Hill Theatre (Jacksonville, Florida)
North Beach Bandshell (Miami Beach, Florida)
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall (Sarasota, Florida)
The Village Theatre (Atlanta, Georgia)
The Blue Door (Brunswick, Georgia)
Grant’s Lounge (Macon, Georgia)
Hargray Capitol Theatre (Macon, Georgia)
Hilo Palace Theater (Hilo, Hawaii)
Hawaii Theatre Center (Honolulu, Hawaii)
ProArts Playhouse Maui (Kihei, Hawaii)
Hey Nonny (Arlington Heights, Illinois)
Annoyance Theatre & Bar (Chicago, Illinois)
Beat Kitchen (Chicago, Illinois)
The Lincoln Lodge Theater (Chicago, Illinois)
The Promontory (Chicago, Illinois)
Reggies (Chicago, Illinois)
Subterranean (Chicago, Illinois)
The Wild Hare & Singing Armadillo Frog Sanctuary (Chicago, Illinois)
Winter’s Jazz Club (Chicago, Illinois)
Egyptian Theatre (DeKalb, Illinois)
Skooter’s Roadhouse (Shorewood, Illinois)
Buskirk-Chumley Theater/BCT Management, Inc. (Bloomington, Indiana)
Mojo’s BoneYard (Evansville, Indiana)
Hi-Fi (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Hoyt Sherman Place (Des Moines, Iowa)
Wooly’s (Des Moines, Iowa)
xBk (Des Moines, Iowa)
East Of Omaha (Griswold, Iowa)
The Englert Theatre (Iowa City, Iowa)
Hutchinson’s HIstoric Fox Theatre (Hutchinson, Kansas)
Liberty Hall (Lawrence, Kansas)
Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts (Salina, Kansas)
The Warehouse at Mt Victor (Bowling Green, Kentucky)
Alhambra Theatre (Hopkinsville, Kentucky)
Headliners Music Hall (Louisville, Kentucky)
Old Forester’s Paristown Hall (Louisville, Kentucky)
Renfro Valley Entertainment Center (Mount Vernon, Kentucky)
The Southgate House Revival (Newport, Kentucky)
Texas Club (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Carnaval Lounge (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Howlin Wolf (New Orleans, Louisiana)
The Grand (Ellsworth, Maine)
Regent Theatre (Arlington, Massachusetts)
Narrows Center for the Arts (Fall River, Massachusetts)
Atac: Downtown Arts + Music (Framingham, Massachusetts)
Soundcheck Studios (Pembroke, Massachusetts)
Electric Haze (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Pyramid Scheme (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Kalamazoo State Theatre (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
7th St Entry (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Fine Line (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
First Avenue (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
The Parkway Theater (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
TAK Music Venue Inc (Moorhead, Minnesota)
The Fitzgerald Theatre (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Palace Theatre (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Turf Club (St. Paul, Minnesota)
RecordBar (Kansas City, Missouri)
Uptown Theater (Kansas City, Missouri)
Kettlehouse Amphitheater (Bonner, Montana)
The Music Hall (Portsmouth, New Hampshire)
Crossroads (Garwood, New Jersey)
Hopewell Theater (Hopewell, New Jersey)
White Eagle Hall (Jersey City, New Jersey)
The Newton Theatre (Newton, New Jersey)
Township Theatre (Township of Washington, New Jersey)
The 2021 Caroga Lake Music Festival announces its season schedule. The season will start on July 3, 2021 and will consist of 26 outdoor performances that will wrap up on August 22, 2021.
Sherman’s Concert Caroga Lake Music
The 2021 season will mark the 10th Anniversary of the Caroga Lake Music Festival and the 100th birthday of the former Sherman’s Amusement Park which is located in Caroga Lake where the festivities will be taking place. The Caroga Lake Music Festival is presented by the Caroga Arts Collective and they try to host a diverse mix of musical programming exploring genres of classical, rock, jazz, bluegrass, ragtime, world music and everything in between.
The Barge Shermans Concert Caroga Lake Music
The festival is showcasing acclaimed local talent including Jocelyn and Chris, Girl Blue, Wild Adriatic, and North and South Dakotas, all of which are making their CLMF debuts at Sherman’s. Other highlights include Grammy-award winning bassist Geoff Saunders from Canada Lake (Caroga) and singer-songwriter Bill Ackerbauer from Green Lake (Caroga) with his 8 year old son will also perform at Sherman’s this season.
Kids Concert at Shermans Concert Caroga Lake Music
Caroga Arts is following CDC and New York State guidelines to develop health protocols for artists, patrons, staff and volunteers. Concerts presented by Caroga Arts at Sherman’s will have reduced capacity and seating will be in physically distanced pods of 2, 4, and 6 people, which are assigned upon entry into the park. Concertgoers can reserve tickets, for free and charged seating, for Sherman’s concerts starting on June 17, 2021 here.
Full list of performances bellow:
Sherman’s Centennial Celebrations on Saturdays
Saturday, July 3 – Caroga Arts will kick off the Independence weekend with Red, White, BLUE and BLUEGRASS featuring Capital District’s well-known singer-songwriter Girl Blue and The North & South Dakotas. This event is free but ticket reservations are required.
Saturday, July 31 – Praised by Alison Krauss, bluegrass virtuoso Sierra Hull performs at Caroga Lake Music Festival with saxophonist Eddie Barbash and bassist Geoff Saunders, with the Saunders Family Band opening the night.
Saturday, August 7 – Hailing from Fort Plain, NY, the Blues-rock powerhouse sibling duo Jocelyn and Chris make their Caroga Lake Music Festival debut at Sherman’s.
Saturday, August 14 – Celebrate the Sherman’s Centennial with Ragtime pianist Ethan Uslan, a three-time World Championship winner of the Old-Time Piano Playing Contest, who will take you back a hundred years with popular tunes like Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag”
Saturday, August 21 – Rooted in the rowdy spirit of rock & roll, Wild Adriatic has built an international audience on a combination of groove, grit, and guitar-heavy swagger.
Encore Sessions at Sherman’s
Wednesday, July 28 – Bluegrass supergroup Hawktail consists of Crooked Still’s fiddler Brittany Haas, Punch Brothers’ bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Jordan Tice, and mandolinist Dominick Leslie.
Wednesday, August 4 – Saxophonist Eddie Barbash, featured jazz musician in Disney’s Oscar-winning Pixar movie “Soul”, is a founding member of John Batiste’s Stay Human and can be heard in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s theme song.
Wednesday, August 11 – Experience Latin American culture with Tango Rendezvous: Celebrating Astor Piazzolla’s 100th Birthday showcasing Argentinian violinist Alejandro Drago with CLMF Resident Artists.
Wednesday, August 18 – Praised by the Chicago Tribune as "Some of the most luxuriant, sumptuously phrased jazz vocals you could hope to hear classically-trained jazz vocalist Laurin Talese most recently performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center.
Lakeside Classics: CLMF 10th Anniversary Series at Sherman’s
Friday, July 30 – In the first Lakeside Classics program “Roaring Back”, CLMF Resident Artists will perform George Walker’s Lyric for Strings and Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Strings with Seattle Symphony violinist Andy Liang – plus an appearance by saxophonist Eddie Barbash.
Friday, August 6 – The “Stars and Strums” program showcases composer Jessie Montgomery’s two works Starburst and Strum, among other works. Jazz pianist David Cook, also known as Taylor Swift’s Music Director, will make an appearance with the Caroga Arts Ensemble.
Friday, August 13 – A brainchild of Artistic Director Kyle Price, the featured piece “Classic Case of Double Trouble” is a composite multi-genre arrangement of famous classical double concertos by Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi. The program also features guests Glenn Zaleski on piano and his wife Tomoko Omura on violin.
Friday, August 20 – As the program title “Darth Vader meets Debussy” suggests, this concert features a medley of John Williams’ Star Wars and the well-known Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (“Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune”) arranged by CLMF Artist and clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson, as well as Piazzolla’s Primavera Porteña and more.
World Music on The Barge at Canada Lake
Sunday, August 22 – To conclude the 2021 Season, CLMF presents a new collaboration with world music duo of Indian Tabla and Cello featuring Sandeep Das and Mike Block from the Grammy Award-winning Silk Road Ensemble.
Free Kids Carousel Concerts at Sherman’s followed by Carousel Rides
Saturday, August 7 – Bill and Finnegan Ackerbauer
Friday, August 13 – Cara Samantha from American Idol
CLMF on Tour coming to your Neighborhood
Saturday, July 24 – KASA Quartet at The Glove’s Marquee (Gloversville)
Thursday, July 29 – CLMF at Pine Lake Lodge (Caroga)
Sunday, August 1 – CLMF at Sacandaga Valley Arts Network (Northville, NY)
Thursday, August 5 – CLMF at Johnstown Midsummer Concert Series
Sunday, August 8 – CLMF at Caroga Museum
Tuesday, August 10 – CLMF at Cooperstown Summer Music Festival
Sunday, August 15 – CLMF at Johnson Hall (Johnstown)
Thursday, August 19 – CLMF at Nick Stoner Inn (Caroga)
Saturday, August 21 – CLMF at The Glove’s Marquee (Gloversville)
Modest Mouse announced their return earlier this month with two new singles off their forthcoming album and an extensive US tour. The tour includes an August 7 show at Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, and two stops at Brooklyn Steel on August 11 and 12. Tickets for the tour go on sale Wednesday, May 26 at 10 am local time.
Newly released is “Leave a Light On,” the second single off their anxiously awaited seventh full-length, The Golden Casket, out June 25 via Epic Records. The song finds Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock navigating the existential threat of losing our humanity – and the interconnectedness that comes with it – amidst a constant societal barrage of physical and digital materialism. “Leave A Light On” can be listened to here.
Earlier this month, the band shared the first single “We Are Between.” The song explores the faults that make up each person’s character as it pertains to the wider world. With a hook that will get stuck in your head all day, the band made a great first single choice. “We Are Between” can be listened to here.
Over the past 25 years, Brock has served as indie rock’s resident backwoods philosopher, pondering his infinitesimal place in the world at large and seeking balance in a universe governed by polar opposites. On Modest Mouse’s earliest records, he was surveying the changes in the world’s physical landscape from the windows of the tour van, lamenting the displacement of natural beauty with big-box blights.
The band’s seventh studio album, The Golden Casket, heralds another new chapter in the band’s unpredictable evolution. The albumexplores the degradation of America’s psychic landscape through the glass of the smartphone screen and invisible technology. Brock also touches on a new theme in his life, fatherhood.
Produced with Dave Sardy and Jacknife Lee in Los Angeles and in Modest Mouse’s studio in Portland, the album hovers in the liminal space between raw punk power and experimental studio science. Pre-order/Pre-save The Golden Casket here.
Brewery Ommegang is located on a 136-acre farmstead in Cooperstown, New York and offers tours, tastings, a 100-seat café, a well-stocked brewery store, and a calendar of public events including a summer concert series and a legendary beer festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. For more information visitwww.ommegang.com. To stay up to date follow Brewery Ommehang’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
DSP Shows Presents: Modest Mouse Saturday, August 7, 2021 7:00pm (5:00pm doors). Tickets and a limited number of camping passes go on sale Wednesday, May 26 at 10am and will be available at dspshows.com. To stay up to date follow DSP’sFacebook, Instagram, and Twitter
The Northeast’s largest free blues festival, NYS Blues Fest, has announced its comeback with a new location and a lineup that will bring Central New York to its feet. This year’s New York State Blues Festival will be held at Chevy Court inside the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, and will run from June 24 through June 26.
The free three-day event kicks off on Thursday, June 24 at 5 p.m. on the ProAct Main Stage with the Gabe Stillman Band. Capping off the first night will be Robert Randolph & the Family Band, who is celebrating their Grammy nominated 2019 release, Brighter Days.
Larkin Poe closes out the 2021 NYS Blues Festival on Saturday, June 26. This talented sister act was the Thursday night headliner for the fest in 2018.
Larkin Poe performing “Black Echo” at the 2018 NYS Blues Fest
Moving the festival from Clinton Square to the NYS Fairgrounds allows for greater capacity with vaccinated and unvaccinated sections. A COVID-19 vaccination will not be required to attend this event, but proof of a vaccination must be shown upon entry to the festival grounds.
Non-vaccinated attendees are required to register for a free ticket, available on EventBrite. Alongside the ticket, non-vaccinated attendees will be required to wear a mask and practice social distancing as per New York State reopening guidelines.
The NYS Blues Fest is offering a VIP package for vaccinated attendees. The package will include a boxed meal from one of the festival vendors, access to the VIP tent and preferred seating in front of the stage. VIP ticket prices can be found on the NYS Blues ticket portal.
Parking will be available in the fairgrounds’ Brown Lot for $10 per vehicle and motorcycles can park in a designated area of the lot at $5 per bike. ADA parking will be available in the Emerald Lot for $10 as well.
Visit the New York State Blues Fest website for full artist bios and ticket information.
After a year of isolation and stress, Make Music Day is returning to in-person and outdoor events in hopes to reconnect communities. Musicians of all ages and skill levels from around the world will unite for a day of fun, collaboration and mentorship by participating in free music-making events on June 21.
Make Music is a celebration of music around the world on the Summer Solstice. First held in France as the Fête de la Musique in 1982, it is now held annually in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.
Fête de la Musique made its North American debut with Make Music NY. Starting as a grassroots initiative by a team of volunteers, the event quickly became a success. Today, over 5,000 New York musicians perform at free, outdoor concerts on June 21.
Within the New York area, Ithaca, Ossining-Briarcliff and New York City are hosting celebrations this year. They plan to hold in-person interactive events, like ukulele circles, live concerts, and even jam sessions on house porches. They will be continuing some virtual activities from last year, including a “sing together” over Zoom. Safety precautions, such as masks and social distancing, are still in place based on location guidelines.
A record 90+ U.S. cities have announced they are celebrating Make Music Day in person this year. New chapters have launched recently in Alabama, California, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, bringing the holiday to even more of the country.
Make Music Day Introduction Video
To memorialize the loss of the past year, Make Music Day will include a project called This Moment In Time, a series of gong performances in public places around the world. Anyone with a large gong is invited to bring it out at noon on June 21 and play for one uninterrupted hour.
For the second year, the Make Music Alliance is offering a composition contest for composers aged 13-21 in commemoration of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The Tulsa Race Massacre took place on May 31 – June 1, when a mob of White residents attacked Black residents and businesses in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Young composers are invited to write a song for an overdubbed, a cappella baritone singer, using text from a first-hand account of the massacre by B.C. Franklin, a lawyer at the time. A panel of judges, including composers Hiroya Miura, Trevor Weston, composer/conductor Francisco Núñez, and soprano Talise Trevigne, will provide feedback and select three winning pieces.
The winning pieces will be professionally recorded by baritone Christopher Herbert and released online for Make Music Day. Winning composers will also receive a free copy of Finale music notation software.
The submission deadline for the composition contest is May 31, full details can be found on the contest webpage.
If competitions aren’t for you, the United Kingdom and Lagos are collaborating to create an international and interactive song project called “MixMash Studios.”
MixMash Studios invites people around the world to contribute audio samples between now and June 20. Anything from bass guitar lines, barking dogs, vocals, the grind of a coffee maker, or any other creative sound bites are accepted.
Then, music producers assembled by the Make Music Alliance, Make Music Day UK, and Make Music Lagos, will have 24 hours to create an original piece of music using only the samples, which will be presented on Make Music Day. Submit your sound files here.
The celebrations will continue with a second percussion project, the premiere of Flowerpot Music, written by Elliot Cole and directed by Peter Ferry. This piece uses various flowerpots as drums to make chime-like sounds. An interactive lesson will be held to teach participants how to play the unlikely instrument alongside the premiere. Flowerpot Music No. 1 was premiered virtually last year, but composer Elliot Cole has specially created a new version for this year’s Make Music Day.
Anyone can attend this event regardless of prior percussion experience. Mallets will be provided.
Last Year’s Premiere of Flowerpot Music No 1
For a full list of Make Music Day locations and how to register, check out the Make Music Dayofficial website.
Along with their in-person tour dates The Allman Betts Band has announced three virtual shows. NoCap will be hosting the three livestream shows for The Allman Betts Band during the month of June.
The Allman Betts Band’s debut album Down to the River saw them selling out a US tour and topping charts until late July of 2019 when their European leg got cut short after Devon Allman’s hospital stay. After Allman’s healthy return and a run of fall tour dates, he and co-founder, guitarist, and singer Duane Betts, wrote their second album, Bless Your Heart.
Over a week’s time, they recorded 13 songs, at Alabama’s Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, the historic recording facility where they’d cut their debut album with additional tracking in Memphis and St. Louis. Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang reprised his role helming the recording.
Bassist and singer Berry Duane Oakley’s ABB vocal debut on his original song (“The Doctor’s Daughter”). With guest contributions for Jimmy Hall, Shannon McNally, Art Edmaiston, Susan Marshall, and Reba Russell. Singer-songwriter Stoll Vaughan, who collaborated on five of Down to the River’s nine tracks, advised on the developing material.
Among the setlist for the tour is “Magnolia Road,” “Pale Horse Rider,” “Ashes of My Lovers,” and “Airboats & Cocaine.”
NoCap Allman Betts Band Livestream Shows
Monday, June 14 – From the famous Village Studios in Los Angeles, The Allman Betts Band will play a special seated, intimate acoustic show. Featuring songs from Down to the River, Bless Your Heart and some other gems.
Monday, June 21 – The Allman Betts Band will play their latest album Bless Your Heart in its entirety for the first time ever. Live from the famous Roxy Theatre on The Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California.
Monday, June 28 – By very popular fan demand, The Allman Betts Band for the first time ever, will play an entire set of Allman Brothers Band songs. Live from the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California.
Allman Betts Band on Tour
May 27 | Florence, SC @ Francis Marion University PAC
The FMs have released two new singles highlighting the stigmas and ignorance in society’s gender experience. The double feature of “Song X” and “Bad Girl” dropped on April 30, 2021.
The FMs are an up and coming duo hailing originally from Brooklyn and are now Ithaca based. The duo is made up of Matte Namer (they/them) and Frankie Rex (they/them, he/him) and started officially making music together back in 2017. The two have been friends since high school and their music tackles topics such as sexuality, gender, and politics.
The FMs are not making music just for entertainment’s sake, but to call on society to change its historical ignorance. Music can be used as a foghorn for their unwavering support of anyone who remains steadfast in their truth and identity. They embrace androgyny and amplify the voices of “the other” through their music and their very existence is a statement and they are not backing down.
The single “Song X” dropped with an accompanying video that featured both Namer and Rex. The song speaks to the confines of gender in society between it’s lyrics and visuals the release pulls the stereotypes and expectations of gender apart. The song stresses that gender should not be a box, but an act of self-expression.
“Bad Girl” was also released at the same time as “Song X” as a double-feature project. The track is funk-inspired with a sample beat from “It’s Raining Men” accompanied by the FMS signature brand of rock flare and covers similar topics about gender and gender expression that “Song X” does.
The duo also released merchandise that is available in conjunction with the release with all profits being donated to the Black Trans Travel Fund. For more information on The FMs visit their website.
When terms like the Grateful Dead and Barton Hall come up in conversation, there’s a good chance the show being discussed is the band’s venerable May 9, 1977 performance. But there were two other shows played at this field house on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The final one occurred 40 years ago today. Pound for pound, it can certainly hold its own with the legendary ’77 show. And it’s certainly one of finer shows from 1981. So much so that the band recently included it on their massive 30 Trips Around The Sun box set that was released in 2015, 80 CDs worth of previously archived Dead shows celebrating the band’s lifespan. One listen shows why this was an easy choice for inclusion.
This year, the Dead take off from the starting blocks with “Feel Like A Stranger,” and Brent Mydland making his presence felt early with his electronic keyboards that are turned up way high in the mix. As the opener progresses, Jerry Garcia and the effects his guitar bring to the table rise to the top, giving it an injection of funk. For a song that had only been debuted weeks earlier at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ, the groove is easy and seamless already, serving as the perfect opening salvo for this powerhouse show. Almost surprisingly, they decide to ease up immediately afterwards with a slowed down and soulful take of “Friend Of The Devil.” Mydland’s keyboard tone takes a turn for the heavens, lacing the Dead classic with an ethereal tone throughout. His efforts are rewarded with a spot for a solo and he produces a phenomenal one before handing the reigns back to Garcia.
The “Me And My Uncle” that follows finally gives Bob Weir a chance to take center stage and he navigates through the longtime Dead staple effortlessly. Mydland, still turned up plenty high in the mix, and Garcia go back and forth supplying the instrumental harmony for a band that sounds completely locked in. As was now Grateful Dead custom, once “Uncle” wraps up the drumbeat doesn’t stop and carries right over into a smoking “Big River,” highlighted by a jaw dropping run on the fretboard from Garcia. For gigs going as far back as 1978 and until 1982, these two songs would be joined at the hip just like this.
One of the real high points of the first set is the “Althea” that follows. It’s Garcia at his peak, delivering both soulful lyrics and another poignant guitar solo. Bassist Phil Lesh adds some nice extra layering on a somewhat slower but certainly potent version.
Weir then takes over again for “C.C. Rider.” But the Dead’s take on this blues standard is really fueled by another Garcia solo and the wailing rhythms emanating from Mydland’s Hammond organ. The two go back and forth once again, building the onstage chemistry that would be a mainstay of the ’80s.
The first extend inter-song break gives the Barton Hall crowd a chance to catch their breath and then it’s back to business with “Brown Eyed Women.” Garcia’s mid-song solo seems to go on a little longer than usual, only serving to ramp up the emotions even more. The band then shifts gears from old school to new with “Passenger,” with Mydland filling in the vocal part vacated by Donna Jean Godchaux. His raspy overtones don’t quite carry the same effect and, sadly, this song would be shelved for good at the end of the year. Though certainly not due to lack of effort.
A slow shuffle beat then signifies the start of “High Time,” and it never lets up. Garcia and company nail the harmonized vocals and delightfully toy around with this crowd favorite. The Dead then shift gears in the blink of an eye, with Weir quickly strumming and Garcia moving in rapid fire up and down the fretboard as they launch into “Let It Grow.” This one means business from the get-go as the rest band follows in pursuit, led in earnest by Lesh on bass. There’s a four-minute span before the song’s breakdown that’s a pure whirlwind, with each band member almost chasing one another, creating a rich texture of sound. It’s another one of the true first set highlights. A quick run through “Don’t Ease Me In” then caps off another stellar first set of Dead at Barton Hall.
The second set starts off with a “Shakedown Street” that seems to live up to its title early with some shaky lyrics from Garcia. As it progresses though, the kinks get ironed out and the funk increases, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Weir’s rhythm guitar and Mydland’s keyboard fills mesh perfectly, and before long, a bluesy three-part vocal harmony is in full gear. But the real action takes place once this breaks down, with Garcia and Mydland soon engaging in a call and response-type jam. In keeping with tradition, “Shakedown” is immediately answered with “Bertha,” just like the Dead opened last year’s second set at Barton Hall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IDpVffVSY4
Afterwards it’s another vintage Dead 1-2 tandem with “Lost Sailor” once again spearheaded by Weir. It proves as a more than worthy respite until the familiar chimes of “Saint Of Circumstance” kicks in. Weir navigates seamlessly between the two, with emotions respectively aligned with the respective moods of each. Almost abruptly, “Saint” comes to a halt and another immersive jam begins to develop. This one manages to work itself into a full fledged “Spanish Jam,” with influences from Miles Davis and his Sketches Of Spain album in full bloom.
As the “Spanish” element of the jam recedes, “Drums” begin to kick in and takes its usual assignment in the latter portion of the second set. The last Dead show at Barton Hall show has a lot to offer still , and the drumming tandem of Kreutzmann and Hart plays a major part. A particularly rowdy last movement of percussion soon finds its way into the familiar overtones of the beginning of “Truckin’.” As to be expected, the State that’s got the “ways and means” gets an appropriate response in Ithaca,
The ensuing jam soon sparks another one of the show’s highlights, as it devolves into a bluesy, funky ” Nobody’s Fault But Mine” jam that would make Led Zeppelin proud. Although no lyrics are sung, the sentiment is made clear and creates one of the better, off-the-cuff moments that make this last show at Barton Hall a special one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrGmm6fEsXc
“Stella Blue” then emerges from this, winding things down and allowing one last chance to get sentimental. Garcia delivers the lyrics, and another staggering guitar solo, with raw emotion and just a bit of flare. The music slows a near crawl at one point, with the Cornell crowd so rapt and quiet one can hear a pin drop. Before long, the energy skyrockets back, with “Blue” turning into more of a rocker, a true testament to the Dead’s versatility.
This gives “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” an opportunity to make an appearance and the Dead run with it. Afterwards, Bob Weir gets the last laugh, closing out the second set by leading the band through a peppy and near raucous “One More Saturday Night.” Barton Hall rings out in a roar of applause at its completion, leaving no doubt about their feelings on this one. The Dead then grace the crowd with a bit of an atypical encore selection. Instead of a cover or a quick song, it’s an “Uncle John’s Band” that produces one last patient and inspired jam – more than a fitting choice for the final song they would ever play at Barton Hall.
Grateful Dead Barton Hall – Ithaca, NY 5/16/81
Set 1: Feel Like A Stranger-> Friend Of The Devil-> Me & My Uncle-> Big River, Althea-> CC Rider, Brown Eyed Women, Passenger, High Time-> Let It Grow-> Don’t Ease Me In
Set 2: Shakedown Street-> Bertha-> Lost Sailor-> Saint Of Circumstance-> Spanish Jam-> Drums-> Truckin’-> Nobody’s Fault But Mine-> Stella Blue-> Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad-> One More Saturday Night
