Brooklyn’s alternative rock band Superbloom has dropped Live at Studio G, a 3 song live EP made up of tracks off their upcoming studio LP ‘Pollen’ out June 1st. The EP includes the live version of a new single, in fact, the title track, off the upcoming LP Pollen.
Superbloom: Live at Studio G was recorded at Studio G in Brooklyn, engineered by Jack Counce, and mixed & mastered by Brian DiMeglio. The EP contains three songs off the new album Pollen including the title track itself, “Mary on a Chain,” and “Whatever.”
Superbloom’s recent singles “Muzzle,” “Whatever” and “Mary on a Chain,” needed a good follow-up considering those landed on Spotify’s All New Rock, Alternative Noise playlists and more. They definitely lived up to the hype with both Pollen the single and the album.
Recording at Studio G was a dream. We’re huge fans of live studio recordings like Audiotree, KEXP and Live at Studio 4 and we sort of threw ourselves at the idea with our own resources. The studio itself is unreal and Jack is a longtime friend of the band. We spent the day hanging out, messing with tones, playing through the songs and eating pizza. Can’t imagine a better day for a band.
Their debut album, Pollen is a 12-track love-letter to heavy alternative music. A mixture of old and new make up every song, if you’re looking for something fresh that somehow still sparks nostalgia Pollen has got it. Perfect for road trips or hangs by the water.
With all the vibes of Seattle moved to the east coast this Brooklyn based band brought grunge into 2021 in a great way. If you have any sort of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, or Pearl Jam shaped hole in your heart Superbloom is the sound to fix that. Most of the album is face paced but if you want to slow it down Muzzle or Twig are the songs for you.
The album was mastered by Will Yip (whose credits include projects with The Menzingers, Turnstile, Quicksand, Mannequin Pussy, Code Orange), mixed by Joe Reinhart (Beach Bunny, Remo Drive, Joyce Manor, Hop Along), artwork by Patrick Turk Collage Art, and produced by Superbloom.
While the album’s feedback-laced instrumentation is hard-hitting at every turn, the band’s sonic signature is embedded in the vocal performance that fills each track with complex layering, earworm melodies and lush harmonies that deliver discoveries of nuanced detail with each listen. The sounds span from infectiously bouncy hard rock, instantly nostalgic acoustic songs, sing-along choruses, and undeniable hooks.
Pollen released on all streaming services on June 1, and is available for digital and pre-orders for the 180 gram blue with white marble vinyl, on June 14.
NYC-based Colombian producer, singer-songwriter, and sound engineer Otto Botté unleashed his vibrant new single, “Dancing Company,” featuring Emma Claye. The song is accompanied by a Pablo Morelo-directed lyric video and news that the rising artist will release his debut EP, Dancing Company Vol. I, on July 16.
On the title offering of his forthcoming debut EP, Botté delivers a genre-defying track about passionate nights on the dancefloor while highlighting Claye’s dreamy vocals with an array of live instrumentation and house-leaning synths.
With “Dancing Company,” the self-taught, multi-faceted sound engineer and artist demonstrates his ability to infuse traditional Colombian roots music and Latin pop with elements of house music. The dance influences he’s absorbed from a decade of immersing himself in NYC’s nightlife and music scene by working with a spectrum of rising and prominent musicians shine on this single.
The lyric video, which premiered via Bands Do Brooklyn, starred Botte himself and Emma Claye and displays both the Spanish and English translations of the song. The colorful background interposed with the black and white filtered shots highlights how well the video was color-graded. The high-energy cuts and continuous dancing replicate the clubbable vibe of the track.
This song has freed me to express my unfiltered version through flirtiness and sensuality looking to portray the beauty in human connection, whether it’s instant and led by sounds or when it’s intimate and sensed through smells. I see God reflected in our ability to connect in community. There’s a line in the song that says, ‘I feel you watching me like if I got no clothes on’ and this takes place on the dance floor when I’m doing my thing, feeling watched by somebody else, desired, and vulnerable, yet comfortable in my skin.
“This thought immediately made me draw a parallel in my relationship with God and how comfortable I can be when I feel naked or mess-up, when I dance or sing, just being my true self before God, knowing that he looks over and meets me no matter how lonely or fulfilled I may feel. It’s refreshing to feel his presence in my daily life, in and outside of music, on and off the dance floor,” he added.
“Dancing Company” the third single released off of Botté’s debut EP after “Humbara,” which recently surpassed 100K global streams, received its first radio spin Wednesday on Los Angeles’s 88.5FM LatinAlt HD3. So far, this time around Botté has received support from Indie Criollo and EDM Nations. Previous support has come from NPR Music’s World Cafe, Acid Stag, Medium, Urban Latino, The Fox Magazine, and Kick Kick Snare, just to name a few.
Tracklist for Otto’s debut EP, including unreleased remixes by Jacuzzi Jefferson:
Since arriving in NYC as a teenager from Bogotá, Botté has acquired a Best Remixed Recording – Non-Classical Grammy nomination in 2015 for his co-mastering of “Waves” by Mr. Probz, a remix of Robin Schulz. Credits on multi-platinum projects of Enrique Iglesias, Joey Bada$$, Trey Songz, Fedez, and more. Botté is also a member of the NYC-based electronic trio Pool Cosby, which most recently released its Day Breaks album in 2020 and has been featured on Billboard, Earmilk, GRUNGECAKE, and more.
New York City-based indie alternative act D’Arcy shared her newest single “Bad Habit” on May 28 in preparation for the release of her debut EP album and tour.
D’Arcy’s debut single, “Crush,” was released in October 2020. “Crush” was followed by her single “Bad Girls” in December 2020 with a remix by producer Morgothbeatz, who has previously worked on tracks with rappers Lil Xan and Juice WRLD.
“Bad Habit” stands in contrast to D’Arcy’s other tracks, which focus on upbeat young love, lust and wild nights. “Bad Habit,” with its buzzing bassline and low-spirited lyrics seems to reflect the aftermath of the “cocaine, head spin, pills and gin,” that D’Arcy sings about in “Bad Girls.”
D’Arcy’s alternative style shines in “Bad Habit,” using original electronic tracks that add to the mysterious and grungy feel of the lyrics. The genre-bending singer sticks out in a similar way that Nine Inch Nails does, shifting from electronic, to art-pop, to more angsty alt-rock in each single. D’Arcy is one of those artists that simply can’t be kept within a genre label.
Bad Habit centers on a struggle with addiction and the road to recovery, the song involves self-awareness about the reality of addiction.
D’Arcy
“Bad Habit” also evokes a similar vibe to popular singer Lorde’s alternative style, both discussing themes like addiction, nightlife, and settling into adulthood. D’Arcy’s developing style through her first three singles is a promising introduction for her upcoming album.
D’Arcy’s “Hard to Kill” Summer Tour headlined by country singer Lee Dewyze will kick off on August 14 and make four stops in New York State in September. D’Arcy’s debut EP will be released in mid-August.
Some songs are written with such great embodiment of the human spirit that they become far bigger than a simple, melodic hook you whistle in the shower. They are the songs that represent a period in time for a group of oppressed people and epitomize the challenges they faced on a daily basis. Unlike other songs that come and go as life drifts on, these anthems leave such an impact that they are still read about in history books years later. For the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the protest song “We Shall Overcome” was sang far and wide in tribute to peaceful protest. While the song was influential to many groups in the 1960s, its significance in the LGBT movement came after the Stonewall riots of New York in 1969.
Most people know that Pride Month is in June, however, many don’t realize that’s because on June 28, 1969, the catalyst for the LGBT movement occurred in riot form at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The Stonewall Inn was a well-known, mafia-run gay night club which hosted an array of illegal activities from an absent liquor license and prostitution to dealing drugs. While the bar owners were normally tipped off about police raids, on the night of the 1969 riot, they weren’t told anything would be happening. The police barricaded the 200+ patrons and employees in the bar and began to arrest all the transvestites they could find.
As the cops were arresting patrons, to their surprise, bystanders began to push back against the heavy police presence in the form of verbal taunts and thrown bottles. At that point, raids on gay bars were becoming routine and, for the LGBT community, the raid on the Stonewall Inn was the last straw. As police were dragging people into their paddy wagon, the crowd began to boil and violence soon erupted. Bricks and bottles were being thrown at the cops as more people from around the neighborhood began to join in on the protest, forcing the police into a rare retreat. While some of the crowd turned violent, many others committed to nonviolence in the form of jokes, kick-lines and songs.
As an unstable riot occurred all around, the protest hymn “We Shall Overcome” echoed through the streets long into the night. For days following the Stonewall riot, more protests, mostly nonviolent, began to pop up all around the city. A gay community began to form and within six months two gay activist organizations were established in New York. The movement was given legs, and by June 28 of the following year, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco to commemorate the anniversary of the riots. “We Shall Overcome” was a vital tool used to demonstrate nonviolence throughout each protest.
Originally written as a hymn titled “I’ll Overcome Someday” by Charles Albert Tindley in 1900, the song was warped multiple times throughout history before it became the protest anthem we know today. It was sang by tobacco workers, vagabond travelers, and eventually political activists. It became associated with the Civil Rights Movement in 1959 when Guy Carawan sang his and Pete Seeger’s version of the song at a nonviolent civil rights protest. From there, other artists began using it as a protest tool, playing it at rallies, folk festivals and other demonstrations to make it clear to the world that oppression will not be tolerated.
‘We Shall Overcome’ Lyrics:
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS
We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day
CHORUS
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
CHORUS
We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day
CHORUS
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS
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.
The anticipated posthumous album — Exodus — from recently deceased rap legend, DMX, has arrived. Executive produced by longtime collaborator and friend — Swizz Beats — the 13-track project features a myriad of prominent entertainers past and present.
The likes of Jay – Z, Alicia Keys, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Usher, the Lox and Swizz Beats himself all grace the album, giving it a nostalgic feel as DMX’s former contemporaries share the stage with him one last time. And while the rumored Pop Smoke record didn’t make the final cut, there is still fresh energy from the likes of Memphis-bred, Moneybagg Yo and Griselda trio, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher.
While DMX confirmed an upcoming album several months before his death, the record’s prominence grew after the rapper’s untimely passing at age 50, after suffering from a heart attack on April 2. With his death not being confirmed until a week later, it gave fans a chance to appreciate DMX’s unique contributions to the genre of hip hop. From his raw and grizzly delivery, to his brutally honest dissertations on his battles with addiction and his troubled upbringing.
Alas, his fans can rejoice in the fact that DMX gave his all on his final effort.
It’s not an album that was pieced together after he passed, revealed Swizz Beats. We had plans to do a two-month cleansing and workout [program] before we came with the album. He was going to rebrand himself with new photos of him looking the best that he could look … But unfortunately we didn’t get to that part.
Exodus may also serve as closure for supporters of the oft-embattled rap legend. DMX lived a troubled life, and after superstardom, he began to make headlines for his legal troubles and his addictions as often as he did for his music.
I can at least listen to a song now without breaking down. I’m making it look strong, but I’m crushed, I’m destroyed, I’m hurt. But I had to pull this through for him and his family and for his legacy, shared Swizz Beats.
With a near decade-long hiatus in between albums, ‘X took time to get clean and refocused and after his Verzuz battle with Snoop Dogg, he was humbled and excited to know that he still held a place in the fans heart. On Exodus, we hear — for maybe the last time — what a focused and motivated DMX sounds like.
Brooklyn-based Wild Yaks have announced Live at Rippers, their fifth LP and first live album, due July 16, 2021. Alongside its digital release, Live At Rippers will be available in a run of 500 LPs with jackets hand-screened in Rockaway Beach, NY. Wild Yaks are proud to be the first band back at the venue in 2021, setting a performance there for July 17.
For Wild Yaks, music is the ability to take the horrible parts of life, and elevate them into a sacred, firey riot.
I think my chief interest is to transform despair into moments for celebration. What I’m trying to do is rejoice in what’s fragile, and rejoice in what’s already broken. The only thing that I will accept is being fully abandoned. It’s about moving and singing with no concern for the consequences.
Wild Yaks’ frontman and songwriter Rob Bryn.
Live at Rippers presents this vision and the band’s “sense-clobbering” performance better than any album to date. It was recorded at the Rockaway Beach punk-rock-beach-burger-joint Rippers in October of 2019. Bryn again:
Almost all of the songs grew out of moments that happened in Rockaway. And to perform them at Rippers on the altar of blood from which so many of these things sprang is strange and amazing.
Wild Yaks play an ecstatic fusion of punk rock and big-city folk reinforced with passionate vocals (often delivered in unison by the full membership). The band was formed in the fall of 2007 in Brooklyn, New York by singer/guitarist Rob Bryn and drummer/vocalist Martin Cartagena.
While many players have made their way through the Yaks’ over the years, today’s lineup is Jose Aybar (bass), Patsy Carroll (guitar), Giovanni Kincade (Farfisa), Matt Walsh (guitar), plus Cartagena and Bryn. The Yaks’ discography also includes the EP 10 Ships (Don’t die yet, 2009), and full-length albums Million Years(2012), Rejoice! God Loves Wild Yaks (2015), and Great Admirer (2019). The band’s music has been featured in numerous television shows and films, most notably their live performance in an episode of Law and Order SVU.
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 Museum of the City of New York has announced plans for a brand new exhibit that will feature an extensive look at the city’s music scene in the ’80s. New York, New Music: 1980-1986 will open on June 11 at the museum and promises to examine this transformative era through the lens of emerging pivotal music genres and the influence they played on New York’s broader cultural landscape.
The exhibit will be previewed at the museum’s upcoming Spring Gala on Wednesday, June 9 where LL Cool J, Cyndi Lauper and Kevin Liles will be honored with Gotham Icon Awards.
The reimagined version of the 2021 Spring Gala promises to safely create an intimate outdoor event with dinner and performances along with a preview of New York, New Music: 1980-1986. The exhibition highlights diverse musical artists—from Run DMC to the Talking Heads, from Madonna to John Zorn— to explore the broader music and cultural scene, including the innovative media outlets, venues, fashion, and visual arts centered in the city during that time.
The early 1980s were a time of significant transition in New York, with the city facing crime, urban decay, and homelessness. And yet, despite those challenges, it was also a particularly fertile time for music and other creativity in New York City. The musical innovations of this time period are a great example of the resilience of the city and the importance of art and creativity as forces of transformation.
Whitney Donhauser, Ronay Menschel Director and President, Museum of the City of New York.
This new exhibit will focus on certain performances and moments that occurred during this extremely fertile era of music in the city. “During the ’80s, there was a community-driven musical renaissance in New York City. It was an era of creativity and genre-defying performance that, in my mind, stands as one of the most influential in musical and cultural history,” says Sean Corcoran, curator of prints and photography, Museum of the City of New York.
The 14 featured moments that the exhibit will showcase are:
KID CREOLE and the COCONUTS @ DANCETERIA (1980)
In 1980, Kid Creole and the Coconuts led a revue of nearly a dozen musicians to perform their danceable genre-bending music at Danceteria, appealing to the still-dancing disco denizens, die-hard New Wavers, and everyone in between.
DNA and GRAY @ CBGB (MARCH 22, 1980)
The pairing of these two influential groups was emblematic of that pivotal moment in the downtown No Wave scene.
TALKING HEADS @ CENTRAL PARK (AUGUST 27, 1980)
Five years after first taking the stage at CBGB (opening for the pioneering punk rock group the Ramones), the Talking Heads played a sold-out concert at Wollman Rink in Central Park. For the first time, the band expanded beyond the classic quartet of David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, and Tina Weymouth, bringing in an array of musicians.
FUNKY 4 + 1 @ SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (FEBRUARY 14, 1981)
Marking the very first time a hip-hop group performed live on national TV, Funky 4 + 1– including hip hop’s first female MC, Sha Rock–was invited to perform on SNL by that evening’s host and musical guest, Debbie Harry of Blondie.
BEYOND WORDS @ MUDD CLUB (APRIL 9, 1981)
This graffiti art exhibition and performance by DJ Afrika Bambaataa, the Cold Crush Brothers, and the Fantastic Five helped propel a new era in New York’s new music. Fred Brathwaite (aka Fab 5 Freddy) curated the show along with the artist Futura 2000.
NOISE FEST @ WHITE COLUMNS (JUNE 16–24, 1981)
In the early 1980s, an expansive cohort of musicians was still exploring the possibilities of “noise.” Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore curated a lineup around the theme, and what was envisioned as a one-day program quickly snowballed into a nine-day watershed event.
KONK vs LIQUID LIQUID @ TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK (AUGUST 9, 1981)
Liquid Liquid and Konk both formed in New York City in 1980, and they quickly developed reputations for their slightly off-kilter music, driven by groove-based, danceable funk rhythms. The friendly rivalry between the groups and the marketing genius around it turned this concert into a sensation.
MADONNA @ DANCETERIA (DECEMBER 16, 1982)
An ambitious 24-year-old using just her first name took to the second-floor stage at Danceteria on December 16th, 1982 to publicly perform her own music for the first time. Madonna’s debut appearance, and the single for Sire Records, served as a springboard to fame; the release of her self-titled album quickly followed in 1983.
NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL @ BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC (1982–83)
An important springboard for new music in the 1980s came from the venerable Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) second edition of its Next Wave series. The season-long festival featured an unprecedented number of artists, including Steve Reich, Glenn Branca; Laurie Anderson; Max Roach and the dance team of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, a milestone of innovation and interdisciplinary performance.
KEITH HARING’S PARTY OF LIFE @ PARADISE GARAGE (MAY 16, 1984)
Artist Keith Haring’s (with DJ Larry Levan) first Party of Life, a birthday celebration that was a rapturous convergence of art, music, and performance, featured a star-studded guest list with performances by Madonna and John Sex.
RUN-DMC and THE TREACHEROUS THREE @ GRAFFITI ROCK (JUNE 29, 1984)
History was made in June of 1984 when the first syndicated hip-hop TV show was recorded on a soundstage in Midtown Manhattan. The show featured groundbreaking acts, including Run-DMC’s performance of their hit single, “Sucker MCs,” as well as Kool Moe Dee and Special K, two MCs from the veteran trio The Treacherous Three. The MCs provided the show’s introduction, breaking down the elements of hip hop, including breakin’, DJing, and the verbal stylings of MCs, all on a graffiti-laden set.
JOHN ZORN @ ROULETTE (OCTOBER 13, 1984)
One of avant-garde composer John Zorn’s most influential “game pieces” –genre-defying musical compositions designed for controlled improvisation– Cobra was presented at Roulette, the TriBeCa alternative art space.
FORT APACHE BAND @ MICKELL’S (DECEMBER 31, 1985)
On New Year’s Eve 1985, the Bronx-based Fort Apache Band played multiple sets at Mikell’s, a jazz club on the corner of 97th Street and Columbus Avenue. The music that evening embodied the group’s animating project: to explore the creative intersection of Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican musical traditions with jazz.
ARTHUR RUSSELL @ EXPERIMENTAL INTERMEDIA FOUNDATION (SEPTEMBER 22, 1985)
A groundbreaking moment in the New York experimental music scene came in the fall of 1985, when Arthur Russell staged several performances at the Experimental Intermedia Foundation in SoHo.
Viewed together, these examples provide a sense of the innovation, energy, and cross-pollination of musical ideas that was happening across the city at the moment of openness and creativity. Visitors will also have the opportunity enjoy some of the quintessential moments in a retro-feeling suburban rec room-inspired space. The lounge installation features a mix of found footage, video art, and their own archival film of downtown musicians like the Dead Boys, Heartbreakers, and Bush Tetras; along with rare early MTV interviews with New York-based artists such as David Johansen, Madonna, and RUN DMC, and footage from “The Scott and Gary Show,” a Brooklyn-based public access program, including early performances by Beastie Boys, Butthole Surfers, and R Stevie Moore.
The Spring Gala, which will offer a sneak peak of all this, is one of the largest annual fundraisers for the museum’s exhibitions, public programs, and education programs which serve over 50,000 students and teachers throughout the city’s five boroughs. After a challenging year for the entire arts and culture sector, the Spring Gala is also crucial for the Museum’s recovery, ensuring that New York’s stories can be told for generations to come.
This year’s gala will fete GRAMMY award-winning rapper, actor, CEO & founder of Rock The Bells LL COOL J; mother, activist, award-winning songwriter and artist Cyndi Lauper; and Kevin Liles, CEO and co-founder of 300 Entertainment (and former president of Def Jam Records).
The Museum of the City of New York fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world’s most influential metropolis. It engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city’s past, present, and future.
Samuel E Wright, found of the Hudson Valley Conservatory, voice of Sebastian the crab in 1989’s The Little Mermaid, and Tony Award nominated actor has died at age 72. A longtime resident of Walden, NY, Wright passed away peacefully after a three-year battle with prostate cancer.
Born on November 20, 1948 in Camden, SC, Wright moved to New York City in 1968 to begin his acting career. After a few years in London, Wright returned to perform in 18 Broadway productions, beginning with Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971. He later landed the role of Pippin in 1972, replacing Ben Vereen as the lead.
In 1983, Samuel Wright received his first Tony Award nomination for The Tap Dance Kid, which found Wright as the unsympathetic father of a young boy (Alfonso Riberio). More recently, he originated the role of Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King, which garnered him his second Tony nomination, and a Drama Desk Award.
“Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars.” Rest In Peace, Samuel E. Wright | 1946 – 2021 Original Broadway Cast, Mufasa. pic.twitter.com/MDuQAZJalZ
— The Lion King – Musical (@TheLionKing) May 25, 2021
Wright acted in several films, including Clint Eastwood’s 1988 Bird, playing the role of Dizzy Gillespie to Forest Whitaker’s Charlie “Bird” Parker. In the 1995 Apollo Theater revival of The Wiz, he played the Scarecrow in alongside Whitney Houston, Keith David and Cedric the Entertainer.
In 1989, he earned Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song for “Under the Sea,” from The Little Mermaid. The song would achieve RIAA certification and double platinum status, leading to parodies from Saturday Night Liveto The Simpsons. With his new success, he moved north from New York City to Walden in Orange County. Here, he would continue to commute for the role of Mufasa, while creating a legacy in support of the arts.
Founded in 1994, the Hudson Valley Conservatory (HVC) is the first performing arts school in the Hudson Valley offering classes in acting, music and dance, to ages 3 and up. Started by Samuel E. Wright, Amanda A. Wright and Pamela A. Murphy in 1994, HVC is a place for children to learn and grow in the arts.
Per their mission statement, HVC pride themselves on offering a well-rounded arts education and helping children develop not just as artists, but confident, competent young adults. Students at HVC have the opportunity to take part in productions throughout the year in HVC’s black box theatre, The New Rose Theatre.
Notable fans of Samuel Wright include Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who named his oldest son after Sebastian.
Wright is survived by his wife, Amanda, and their three children, Keely, Dee and Sam.
To honor the life of Samuel E. Wright and continue their mission, the New Rose Theatre Group will be starting The Samuel E Wright Scholarship Fund. This fund will be used to support the children, school and community of young artists he created at the Hudson Valley Conservatory. If you would like to make a contribution to the fund, checks can be mailed to:
Samuel E Wright Scholarship Fund Via New Rose Theatre Group PO Box 702 Walden NY 12586 or donate directly to New Rose Theatre Group by Venmo @Rose-Group
