Power trio from the Hudson Valley, The Restless Age, has just released their inspiring song “Take It.” The band’s modern yet nostalgic feel pulls listeners in instantly, weaving between genres effortlessly while also mastering three-part harmony.
Composed of Will Bryant, Lee Falco, and Brandon Morrison, The Restless Age uses various instruments and have no limits on what they incorporate in their music. The constant change from developing an electric sound with keys to bass and drums to even three acoustic guitarists around one microphone. The Restless Age is always exploring new ways to tell stories and spread their enthusiastic spirits.
The “Take It” music video premiered on Saturday, March 20. The video gives tribute to camp and yacht rock. With Bryant on the keyboard, Falco on drums, and Morrison on bass, the musicians maintain a tight sound. The trios shared vocals also deliver a collective precision.
When it came to the songwriting, the performance and the retro wardrobe, we just didn’t hold back. We’ve never made a point of taking ourselves too seriously, and this video makes that abundantly clear.
Will Bryant
“Take It” is just the beginning of new releases of The Restless Age. The band has additional singles set to release in the coming weeks, as well as a new album. Until then, make sure to check out “Take It” available on major platforms.
Long Island guitar prodigy Brandon “Taz” Niederaurer will perform live to a limited audience with a live webcast at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock.
Almost at the age of 18, Taz has already come a long way in his career and musical journey. At eight years old he felt connected playing guitar after watching School of Rock and hearing his father’s music collection. At 10 years old he made his television debut and appeared on the Ellen Show. Fatefully in 2015, he played the role of Zack Mooneyham in Anthony Lloyd Webber’s Broadway Production of School of Rock.
Taz has shared the stage with many notorious artists such as Lady Gaga, Slash, some members of the Allman Brothers Band,The String Cheese Incident and many more. He performed in two more productions by Webber in 2018 and had a role on the Netflix series for Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. Recently he performed a guitar solo of the national anthem for the AFC title game this year.
Taz performing the National Anthem at the AFC Champion Title Game
Taz has performed on many stages already and now he is heading to the Levon Helm Studios, also known as The Barn. The Barn was the home and recording studio for famous drummer Levon Helm best known for his work in The Band and his other band Midnight Ramble. Even though he passed in 2012, the legacy of his studio is ongoing.
Tickets for Taz’s performance are sold in pairs and every pair will be socially distanced. The cost for reserved seating stands at $60, standing room is $40 and for the webcast tickets are $15 but for VIP it costs $40. Tickets for the webcast are already on sale and the tickets for the public are on sale on March 19. The show is on April 2 and begins at 8 p.m.
The Bardavon is excited to announce that they are holding the 48th Annual Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition virtually on March 14, 2021 at 3pm. The event will be lived streamed on the Bardavon Youtube channel.
The Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition is often credited for launching the careers of world-renowned orchestral and solo string musicians. Many previous winners have gone on to illustrious classical music careers. Previous notables include: violist Marcus Thompson ’67, Boston Chamber Players; violinist Ani Kavafian ’73, Lincoln Center Chamber Players soloist; violinist Adela Pena ’85, Eroica Trio; and violinist Judith Ingolfsson ’96, 1998 Indianapolis International Violin Competition winner.
The judges for this years competition are: Daniel Phillips, a violinist and resident at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Lucie Roberts, a violinist and a professor at the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes College of Music; and Susan Seligman, a cellist and a professor at SUNY New Paltz. The 2021 first-prize winner will receive $4000, a solo performance with the HVP during its 2021-22 Season, and a solo performance at the “Musical Landscapes of Italy” festival in August.
The Bardavon is the oldest continually operating theatre is the state of New York, dating all the way back to 1986. The Bardavon offers affordable, world-class arts education programs, music, dance, theater, Live in HD broadcasts, and classic films for the diverse audiences of the Hudson Valley. The company also partners with others local venues such as the Mid-Hudson Civic Center and Kingston’s Ulster Performing Arts Center.
More information can be found on the Bardavon website.
Club Helsinki Hudson announces it’s virtual open mic best of EXTRAVAGANZA night highlighting a full evening of curated performances of favorite video submissions from this last “pandemic year” on March 16, 2021 at 7PM. This will be the one year anniversary ‘virtual-style’ for the open mic night.
Photo courtesy of Club Helsinki Hudson’s website.
Club Helsinki Hudson, located in Hudson, NY and closed back in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with The Restaurant at Helsinki Hudson and their event space. The open mic night has been a tradition since the creation of the venue more than 20 years ago.
Cameron Melville, co-owner of Helsinki has been the host for the open mic night for many years. He has found a way over the years to keep the well known and loved weekly event a good experience for both performers and online audiences. A whole year later and the Helsinki virtual open-mic has become a vital, well attended weekly offering, about to celebrate one year of virtual streaming— 52 shows hosting nearly 800 performances with an audience of thousands.
Filmmaker Randall Martin of Martin’s Digital Media, has leant his hand as producer on the project. Melville speaks on the project in the press release saying, “The authenticity of our submissions really blows my mind. As well as our wonderful regulars, we now get submissions from all over the country, all over the world.”
This best of EXTRAVAGANZA will host some of the best performances that have come in over the year. The open mic night will feature poetry, performance art, music, interview, pandemic journaling and On-the-Street videos, political marches and celebrations from an extraordinary year. People can stream the event live on Helsinki Open Mic Facebook page as well as the clubhelsinki.live website on Tuesday, March 16, at 7 pm EST.
For more information on the Open Mic, visit Club Helsinki Hudson’s website.
The Orchestra Now (TŌN) will continue its Spring 2021 season by live streaming two concerts March 7 and March 20, with conductors Andrés Rivas and Zachary Schwartzman.
The Orchestra Now from theorchestranow.org
Works on both concerts, ranging from rarely performed music for string orchestra to Vivaldi’s Concerto in G minor, Pärt’s memorial for composer Benjamin Britten and Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite after Bizet’s beloved opera, will be prefaced with brief remarks by TŌN musicians.
On March 7, assistant conductor Andrés Rivas will lead the orchestra in four works for strings. The english composer Bruce Montgomery will have his Concertino for String Orchestra performed. Montgomery’s work ranges over several genres, including soundtracking for the infamous British comedy series Carry On. There will also be works from composers Victor Herbert, Ingvar Lidholm, and Andrés Gaos.
On March 20, resident conductor Zachary Schwartzmen will lead an arrangement from Bizet‘s classic opera Carmen by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin in advance of his 90th birthday in December 2022. Shchedrin’s works are known for their avant-garde and neoclassist sensibilities as well as folk and jazz sounds. His Carmen suite was intended for his wife, who is a ballerina. Conductor and Grammy-nominated recording artist Zachary Schwartzman will offer musical insights on the concert in a Zoom seminaron Thursday, March 11 at 7 PM EST. You can RSVP HERE.
The Orchestra Now from theorchestranow.org
It is a free concert with a suggested donation of $15-35. If you cannot attend the concerts in real-time, they will be posted here after March 11.
The Orchestra Now is a group of 72 young, vivacious musicians from 14 different countries. All members share a love for orchestral music, keeping it relevant in the 21st century by sharing their personal insights and artistic capabilities in a welcoming environment. Conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein, whom The New York Times said “draws rich, expressive playing from the orchestra,” founded TŌN in 2015 as a graduate program at Bard College, where he is also president. The Orchestra Now offers both a three-year master’s degree program in Curatorial, Critical, and Performance Studies and a two-year advanced certificate in Orchestra Studies. You can find more about TŌN here.
Spaghetti Eastern Music returns with the maxi-single, “Blues for a Lost Cosmonaut.” The solo project of NYC and Hudson Valley-based musician Sal Cataldi, Spaghetti Eastern’s latest releases have ventured into ambient music. The sprawling new track occupies almost ten minutes of time and space, taking the listener on a peaceful star trek through the galaxy.
Despite lacking lyrics and hooks, “Blues for a Lost Cosmonaut” still makes room for a narrative and recurring themes. While an overall peaceful auditory experience, suspense and uncertainty creep up on the listener between stretches of serenity. In its most tense moments, “Blues” evokes the eerie prog-pop bookends of Gary Wright’s 1975 “Dream Weaver,” but this time the dissonance is in the middle. If Walt Disney World’s Space Mountain had a secret chill detour, this would be the soundtrack.
The inspiration came from watching some old videos of the early Soviet space program, especially the first space walk by Alexei Leonov. It was about recreating the contrasting moods and feelings that the film of this moment imparts. There’s peace, wonder and weightlessness combined with the realization that this could spin out of control at any moment, as it did for some early Soviet space explorers.
Sal Cataldi
Another clear inspiration is Fripp & Eno, an ambient side project consisting of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. “Blues” is the third offering in a trilogy of similar pieces: in 2020, Cataldi released “Her Lemon Peel Raincoat” and “Peace Within.”
It’s just a fun exercise in soundscapes, in impulsive sound painting recorded in the wee small hours during the lonely moments of the COVID quarantine.
Sal Cataldi
Cataldi released his first album under Spaghetti Eastern Music in 2015, titled Sketches of Spam. He recorded “Blues for a Lost Cosmonaut” on his houseboat in Port Washington, Long Island, Houseboat Garlic Knot Studios, as well as at Sonic Garden in West Saugerties, New York. “Blues for a Lost Cosmonaut” is available for download and streaming on Bandcamp, CD Baby, iTunes, Spotify and elsewhere.
Mid-Hudson Valley Native Fiona Glenn worked with award-winning composer David Baron on the upcoming single “Don’t Give Up.” On February 26, this motivational piano ballad will release.
At just 16 years old, Fiona Glenn has sung with various artists such as Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant , and Simi Stone. She even appears throughout David Baron’s Whisperers album, including the title track where she sings the lead vocals.
Watch the “Whisperers” Music Video Here
As a composer, arranger, engineer, and producer, David Baron has worked with some of the most notable musicians. His influential Woodstock sound has merged with Lenny Kravitz, The Lumineers, Shania Twain, Vance Joy, and many more.
With previous experience collaborating, Fiona Glenn and David Baron delved into their new single head-on. “Don’t Give Up” blends Glenn’s rich voice with Baron’s piano performance. Also, the composer integrates a 40-piece orchestra and a throwback rhythm section throughout. The duo’s talent produces a retro-modern production with high fidelity and antique recording gear. As if the single didn’t already have enough expertise featured, the song was even mastered by Chris Athens, whose credits include Drake and The Beastie Boys.
“Don’t Give Up” was written for Baron’s wife, who stood by him during his health issue. Baron wrote these lyrics as a testament to an isolating and hopeless experience. These feelings are probably familiar to many in the circumstances of today. “Don’t Give Up” serves as a light in these times of darkness. Keep a lookout for the new single later this week.
Grammy Award winning pop artist, Rufus Wainwright, announced Zach Galifianakis and James Corden as audience members to his acclaimed virtual live stream tour through all nine of his albums, Rufus-Retro-Wainwright-Spective!
Galifianakis will be the guest for the two performances Out of The Game livestreaming on February 5 and 12 with Corden joining for Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets and a special Rufus at the Movies show. Past guests have included Jamie Lee Curtis and husband Christopher Guest, Joel McHale, Darren Criss, Marius de Vries, Rain Phoenix, and Scott Dunn. More guests will be announced for the remaining shows. The live streams proceeds go to help raise money for charities with the virtual audience donating to a cause chosen by the at-home guest during the shows.
I am so excited to be playing some of my songs for Zach and James, both of whom I have known and admired for a very long time. Normally when doing a show I have to do all the talking in between songs so it is nice to actually have a chat with someone you like and probably will make you crack up quite a bit.
Rufus Wainwright, Musician
Rufus Wainwright was on the forefront of live-streaming with his IGTV Quarantunes Robe Recital series where each day he performed a song a day while playing in his bathrobe at his home. Now with Rufus-Retro-Wainwright-Spective he takes a step further playing 45-minute concerts highlighting albums from his illustrious catalogue. Guitarist Brian Green and keyboardist/pianist Jacob Mann will accompany Wainwright in these concerts and fans will be treated to songs he has not played in many years with exciting new arrangements. On top of the songs from the albums, Wainwright will sprinkle in cover songs that fans can vote from over 100 that he has performed in the past, or has wanted to perform in concert.
Tickets for individual shows are $20.00 in advance and $25.00 day of show, and 4 show bundles are also available. Bundles come with the opportunity for fans to participate in intimate Q&A’s with Wainwright and other surprises. Go here to purchase tickets.
While the COVID-19 quarantine has pretty much killed the live music business, it has only served to radically stimulate every idle musician’s appetite to record. One of the more interesting ventures to come out of this deluge, in concept and sound, is a Hudson Valley-birthed one, The Seed Project.
The Seed Project was initiated by Kingston drummer/songwriter, Sammi Niss, as a way to stay musically and socially engaged through the COVID-19 lockdown. Last winter, Niss landed a coveted gig as the new touring drummer for indie darlings Real Estate. But by early spring, their entire year of booked shows had been cancelled and, like musicians everywhere, she had lost her livelihood, purpose and primary mode of human contact.
With too much time on her hands and a multitude of beats and melodies dancing in her head, Niss recruited five bandmates and friends—all veteran songwriters, multi-instrumentalists and home-recordists— for a new D.I.Y. project. Her musical partners came from area bands including Frankie and His Fingers, Battle Ave., The Sweet Clementines and Hiding Behind Sound, most of which are associated with SubFamily Records. This label is a tiny but critically-mighty Hudson Valley collective founded by Niss, Frank McGinnis and John Burdick, one that has issued 10 long players since 2017.
The idea was to generate new songs and audio works collaboratively and serially, in the vein of the drawing game Exquisite Corpse. One person would begin a “seed,” which could be anything from a drum beat or guitar riff to a complete song demo. The seed would then advance, by random selection, through all six home studios, before returning to the seeder for mixing and finalization.
Sometimes the projects progressed predictably. A song lacking bass would get a bass part and a conventional rock arrangement would fall into place. At other times, incongruous elements derail the expected path, with choirs, full-on electro-meltdowns and audio manipulations performed by one member upon the contribution of the another.
“The whole thing turned out super interesting, more so than I might’ve expected,” said Niss. “There are some real classic good songs here, of no one genre really. There’s also some experimental art-splats and some really weird shit!”
To me, it sounds a little like each of us, but not a lot like any of us,” added John Burdick, guitarist with The Sweet Clementines and Old 97’s frontman and fellow New Paltzer Rhett Miller. “The process took on a life of its own, a new songwriting voice in which we were all kind of equally powerless.”
“The year 2021 will probably go down as a kind of baby boom for new music and records,” continued Burdick. “Our SubFamily Records family is kicking it off with this huge pile of curiosities, soon to be followed by great new records from Frankie and His Fingers and Battle Ave.”
The Seed Project is a sprawling audio adventure serving up 24 tracks, spanning a host of moods and styles. It was written, performed, and recorded by Sammi Niss, Frank McGinnis, Adam Stoutenburgh, Jesse Alexander, Pete Naddeo and John Burdick.
The album kicks off with the Elliot Smith-like “Needle in the Hen’s Teeth.” This is a Naddeo-seeded track that typifies the pure pop sensibility that runs through most of the tunes here, even when they dress them in a little Apples, in Stereo-like low-fi weirdness.
Things get more experimental on the following number, by Burdick, “That’s A Very Fine Example of a Metaphor, Child.” It begins with ghostly vocal humming, leading into a whirl of reverb-free distorted guitars, analog synth swirls and a burbling bass sequence. This is all before getting to the actual meat of the song, its delightfully detuned vocals that enter about two-thirds of the way in.
Most of the grooves provided here by drummer Niss, on tunes like “Backhand Slice” and “Double Swish,” are reminiscent of her new band, Real Estate. They are light, sleepy and strangely peaceful for something born during these crazy quarantine times. All the songs here are complemented with smart arrangements and instrumentation, especially the wonderful guitar textures provided by Naddeo, Alexander, Stoutenburgh, Burdick and Niss herself.
One of my faves is “Michigan.” It unfolds with some backwards acoustic guitar, which jump-cuts to some furious strumming and offbeat drum accents for the main body of the song. The track’s highlight is Naddeo’s Robert Fripp toned lead guitar, which dances a bit like Fripp’s own on Brian Eno’s “St. Elmo’s Fire.”
There are some straight-ahead radio-friendly tunes like “CompliKate” and “Rough Quotation,” which owe a bit to the Velvets and Luna. Also radio-friendly, in a decidedly alternative rock way, is “Seedling 1,” a reverb-laden, glacial-paced entry that sounds like a Mazzy Star outtake. On the McGinnis- inspired “State Seltzer,” we get a disco beat and electro percussion, all dressed with some sweet noise guitar, as Niss recites Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs & Ham. And, far more bizarre, the main riff/refrain is strangely reminiscent of the theme song to The Cosby Show!
The Alexander-led “Richard, Lost in a Long Song” is a bit of waltz time weirdness, a spoken word fable of some otherworldly sort, with dulcimer, toy piano and “synthy stuff.” It’s something that kind of brings to mind the playful weirdness of “Mount Vernon and Fairway,” the Brian Wilson fable from the Beach Boy’s classic Holland album. Another standout is “Mary Heart in a Martha World,” one of the more fully realized and arranged tracks here, a stately ballad with some lovely harmony guitars and vocals from Burdick.
The collective even dips into pure instrumental textures with the somnambulant, Stoutenburgh-seeded “Nadir,” the driving “Pop Discreet” and the electronica noise and rhythmic breakdowns of the album closer, “Oby Award.”
The Seed Project is a strangely unified creation for one crafted by six different minds and musical sensibilities, working in six different locations. What’s most delightful is its looseness, the pure sense of play in it, the alchemy when musicians are closely listening to and complementing each other. It’s an album chockful of memorable melodies, killer hooks and textured detours, where the experimentations always complements and never overtakes the song.
“Albums Revisited” streaming series hosted by Bardavon Presents has announced their upcoming tribute to Carole King, featuring her album Tapestry on February 10, 2021 at 8PM EST. The headliners of the performance are Annie Lennox and Carly Simon with an all-female lineup joining them.
Bardavon is a venue in Poughkeepsie, NY and was founded in 1869. It’s owned by the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, Inc. (the Bardavon) which was incorporated in 1976. It’s a New York State nonprofit corporation that owns and operates a 944-seat historic theater in Poughkeepsie and the region’s premiere orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic (the HVP). The Bardavon presents arts education programs, music, dance, theater, Live in HD broadcasts, classic films, and as of late, live stream performances. “Albums Revisited” streaming series is being curated by Bardavon Production Manager Stephen LaMarca with commentary by Bardavon Executive Director Chris Silva and others. These live stream shows are free and are being presented on Bardavon Presents YouTube channel.
Carole King is an american singer songwriter who has been an active member of the music community since the 1950’s. She is famous not only as a performer but as a writer having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Her most well known songs include “It’s Too Late” “You’ve Got a Friend” and “I Feel the Earth Move” all of which are off of her album Tapestry which was released in 1971.
https://youtu.be/sIMJBDj_JkE
Annie Lennox was named as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine. She is known for her work in the Eurythmics and The Tourists. In the early 90’s she went on to establish an acclaimed solo career and is known for songs like “I Put a Spell on You” “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and “Walking on Broken Glass.”
Carly Simon rose to fame back in the 1970’s with back-to-back hit records. She started a band with her sister initially called The Simon Sisters’ but went solo in 1971 with her self-titled album ‘Carly Simon.’ She had 13 Top 40 U.S. hits. Her most well known songs include “You’re So Vain” “Coming Around Again” and “Nobody Does it Better.”
Although the live- stream performance is free, any donations made will have a portion of them benefit People’s Place in Kingston & Dutchess Outreach in Poughkeepsie. For more information visit Bardavon’s website.
Bardavon Presents these original performances of Carole King classics created especially for the Bardavon set list and performers are listed below:
