NYS Music 202​1

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  • Bobby Páraknight Releases Disco-Infused Debut Single

    NYC-based artist Bobby Páraknight reveals his musical creativity with his upbeat debut single titled “The Prelude,” releasing today, March 30.

    Bobby Páraknight
    Bobby Páraknight

    Páraknight is 21-years-old and a jack of all trades with experience in many different art forms. His current endeavor is music but he has performed in other ways within his artistic journey. He is an actor who was trained in theatre and has been on television and film. He also is a dancer specializing in contemporary, jazz and ballet.

    Páraknight’s professional music career is influenced by The Beatles, who are his heroes. Since his early teens he has been performing, writing songs and composing music. He performed with other musicians and played live shows at some popular venues, pubs and theatres in New York.  

    I felt capable, more than ever really being able to express my artistic vision, be it fabled story-telling, a call to action or simply an excuse for a good time! I have abundant words to say, art to create & limits to test as a young person, music seems to abide beautifully. You become choice-less and the venturing is the only obvious path. It’s a controlled and crafted sonic force I believe, a rare visceral element that moves us so effortlessly.

    Bobby Páraknight

    Páraknight describes his creative process when producing and writing his music as experimental and expansive. The sound he creates is dependent on the moment and his feeling during that time and it reflects through the instrument he plays. It can also depend on the vision that he has and is going for and his creative and imaginative thinking lays out a thematic outline. After figuring out the outline of the song, Páraknight fills the rest of the song up with a melody and lyrics that are either sensible or playful. 

    “The Prelude” is one of the many songs that Páraknight curated and it is his debut single. It begins as an upbeat pop song and transitions into a ballad. Páraknight produced the song on his piano during a private jam session and received inspiration from the late 70s’ motown and disco sound while infusing it with a modern pop beat. 

    I have been writing songs for years now and it does become tricky, deciding on the debut track as you want to express your true self while not drifting. I have a lot of selected material lined up for production with early mixes in the studio, The Prelude comparatively is a recent song which I composed in a spur of the moment on a piano during a private jam session, I believe it’s an apt launching point, in displaying my roots in music while complimenting the zeitgeist, simply being a great, upbeat and unique song.

    Bobby Páraknight

    Páraknight is available today on all platforms. “The Prelude” is his first release with more to come later.

    https://youtu.be/6K9fDBFISzs

  • New York Series: Lou Reed “Coney Island Baby”

    Coney Island Baby is an album of love songs. In 1975, Lou Reed was recording it as a follow-up to the baffling Metal Machine Music. Coming from that formless and seemingly random experiment in noise exploration—which he did because he felt like it—this record was Reed’s response to some industry pressure, along with his reminder that he was talented as they come. It was borne from necessity as Reed found himself in a difficult position at the time. His career was in jeopardy for lack of new, accessible music, and his finances were suffering. 

    Coney Island Baby
    RCA/RCA • 1976/2021

    So, Coney Island Baby was the rock record he needed. The title track, also titled “Coney Island Baby,” is a breezy, stroll of a song. Thematically, the lyrics muse about the power of love to wash away insecurity and provide a sense of stability in life’s unpredictable moments. The “glory of love” is Reed’s religion. It’s been said that his muse for much of the album was his girlfriend at the time, a trans woman named Rachel Humphreys, whom he mentions by name along with his local childhood school. 

    “You know, man, when I was a young man in high school, you believe in or not—I wanted to play football for the coach.” Reed is right, his listeners would probably not believe it. But, he drives this memory home by mentioning it a few times. Football stars were supposedly strong, brave and popular. No one is immune to wanting to feel that way in high school, even Reed. He repeats this, giving listeners an insight into one of his main desires growing up: to be noticed. 

    Coney Island Baby
    Reed and Rachel Humphreys
    Mick Rock

    This entire monologue is backed by a steady 4/4 beat with only a few chord changes and a couple of members of Reed’s rotating band for the record. After each verse in which he describes feeling trapped or oppressed by his environment, the song opens into a chorus with Reed repeating “glory of love.” Whereas the verses describe different situations in which he’s felt uncomfortable emotions, even hate, during life—it’s love that saves him from falling. It’s also the promise of love from a “princess on the hill” that fills his desire for acceptance.

    Lou Reed may have wanted to be on his high school football team. Or maybe not. But what is true, and fascinating, is that from this song we can imagine that Reed has faced the struggle to be embraced at points in his life, and has consistently found answers in love—a deeply human experience that unites us all. 

    “Coney Island Baby” lyrics

    You know, man, when I was a young man in high school
    You believe in or not I wanted to play football for the coach
    And all those older guys
    They said he was mean and cruel, but you know
    Wanted to play football for the coach
    They said I was to little too light weight to play line-backer
    So I say I’m playing right-end
    Wanted to play football for the coach
    Cause, you know some day, man
    You gotta stand up straight unless you’re gonna fall
    Then you’re gone to die
    And the straightest dude
    I ever knew was standing right for me all the time
    So I had to play football for the coach
    And I wanted to play football for the coach

    When you’re all alone and lonely
    In your midnight hour
    And you find that your soul
    It’s been up for sale

    And you begin to think ’bout
    All the things that you’ve done
    And you begin to hate
    Just ’bout everything

    But remember the princess who lived on the hill
    Who loved you even though she knew you was wrong
    And right now she just might come shining through

    And the -Glory of love, glory of love
    Glory of love, just might come through

    And all your two-bit friends
    Have gone and ripped you off
    They’re talking behind your back saying, man
    You’re never going to be no human being
    And you start thinking again
    ’bout all those things that you’ve done
    And who it was and what it was
    And all the different things you made every different scene

    Ahhh, but remember that the city is a funny place
    Something like a circus or a sewer
    And just remember different people have peculiar tastes
    And the –

    Glory of love, the glory of love
    The glory of love, might see you through
    Yeah, but now, now
    Glory of love, the glory of love
    The glory of love, might see you through
    Glory of love, ah, huh, huh, the glory of love
    Glory of love, glory of love
    Glory of love, now, glory of love, now
    Glory of love, now, now, now, glory of love
    Glory of love, give it to me now, glory of love see you through
    Oh, my Coney Island baby, now
    (I’m a Coney Island baby, now)
    I’d like to send this one out for Lou and Rachel
    And all the kids at P.S. 192
    Coney Island baby
    Man, I’d swear, I’d give the whole thing up for you

  • ‘Jerry Garcia, Artist’ Documentary Announced

    Jerry Garcia, Artist, a new documentary project from Jerry Garcia Music Arts and Malcolm Leo Productions, has just been announced. The film centers around a 1987 interview with Garcia, and also includes “never-before-seen footage of the private thoughts and reflections of Jerry Garcia,” according to a statement.

    jerry garcia artist

    The documentary captures the Grateful Dead frontman at a peak moment, where he eloquently reflects on the life he lived and the music he loved to make. Garcia goes so far as to offer “nothing off limits” in the interview, providing a journey into Garcia’s private world. Included in the documentary are his personal musings, drawings and insights, as well as unpublished diary entries, rare family photos, home movies and newly discovered performances.

    The 1987 interview was directed by Leo and filmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter at Front Street Studios in San Rafael, CA

    Garcia’s family serves as co-producing for the documentary and contributed visual art and music to the project. The documentary includes a charitable component that will benefit the Jerry Garcia Foundation as well as a charity of the co-producer’s choice.

    We envision an uplifting, immersive experience focused on my father’s art and music. The story is authentic. My father narrates the film in his own words, directly to the audience.

    Keelin Garcia, Jerry Garcia’s daughter, coproducer, and president of Jerry Garcia Music Arts

    Malcolm Leo, a producer, director, and writer has overseen a wide range of projects from “This is Elvis,” “Heroes of Rock n Roll,” “Beach Boys: an American Band,” as well as the Emmy-nominated “LIFE Goes to the Movies.”

    This project is a labor of love for all involved and it is the fulfillment of a promise I made to Jerry long ago to do something special with the footage. The film will honor one of the country’s most beloved musical heroes and cultural icons.

    Malcolm Leo

    There is no date set for the release of Jerry Garcia, Artist. For more information on the film, click here.

  • Heading Aide: Deveria “Suicide Forest”

    You can ask many different people within the Albany area how the local music scene is, and no matter what style they’re into, they all say the same thing: Albany has a vibrant, collective, and interesting music scene and style.

    One scene in particular has always been prominent, the metal, hard rock, alternative and hard-core genres in the Capital District. Those scenes have fluctuated in size and popularity, but members of this community have gone on to form bands, re-form bands into new projects, and they all share the same love for the music and keep the good times rolling.

    Deveria sucide forest

    Today, the spotlight goes to the Capital District metal band Deveria. Turning on the first track on their latest album Suicide Forest, and magically brought back to a time in the early 90’s, when shows graced the stage on the regular at Saratoga Winners, the radio stations WVCR, ZROCK and PYX 106 were delighted to sponsor shows, bands could be found in every club with a stage. A time where show bills and glasses were always full.

    From the start of the album, Suicide Forest has the chemistry and workings of a band of friends working metal magic. With a tight sound production, as the first song kicks in the energetic and powerful drumming from John Suski lets you know it’s time to take notice and get your head and shoulders grooving. Christian Bivona’s guitar work is up front, exciting you and reminding you of the golden age of metal when Metal Church and Exodus albums showed the world that guitarists made songs rise above everything.

    The rhythm section is rounded out with the impressive and tight bass work of Marvin Veeder, his full sound in conjunction with John Suski makes for a groove that makes you want to tap your foot wherever you may find yourself listening to this album.

    Now, let’s address the crown jewel of this local-metal ensemble. Leading the band in a harmonic journey reminiscent of the great days of old Queensryche, Charles Woodward. His range and placement speaks of a veteran of songwriting. It was exciting to hear an album with this style that is not heard too often anymore. If you are a fan of heavy metal and wish to revisit an era that ruled the Capital District in a time of the late 80’s and early 90’s, do not sleep on Deveria.

    Key Tracks: Miracles, Fate, Suicide Forest

  • Sarah King Dishes Out Five Wonderfully Uneasy Pieces with The Hour

    Singer-songwriter Sarah King has released her debut EP, The Hour, a splendid, soulful voyage to the darkest corners of Americana.  It’s the perfect showcase for her show-stopping vocals and gothic bluesy story songs, something made all the better by the smartly minimalist arrangements conjured by co-producers, Simone Felice and David Baron (The Lumineers, Bat for Lashes, Jade Bird, Felice Brothers).

    sarah king
    photo by Arielle Thomas

    The tune that will likely command the most attention is her reinvention of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”  This take is as slow and minimal and softly acoustic as its gets – a thumb strummed solo guitar riding an E minor drone (sorry, Spinal Tap, this and not the D minor, is the saddest of keys/chords).  Even though this guitar and voice spotlight is swaddled in a cathedral’s worth of cavernous reverb, it retains a crispness and clarity, like all the tracks on this impeccably engineered collection.  This cover is further distinguished by the ghostly alternative melodies King conjures, she’s like a bebopper of acid folk.  There’s shades of Nick Drake, Alexi Murdoch and Blue-era Joni Mitchell in the quietude and Dolly Parton, one of her inspirations along with Adele and White Stripes, in the controlled country crack in King’s voice.

    The track “Poison” has a churchy gospel vibe.  Here Sarah King responds justifiably likewise to a cruel lover who can’t take what he dishes out (“I’m not bent, I’m not broken by your crimes. I gave you a taste of your medicine and you say I poisoned you”). Like many tunes on the album, there’s great texture here – tiny sonic delights barely audible in the mix like the ghostly roto-speaker electric guitar in this tune. 

    My personal favorite, “Nightstand,” hammers home the spooky soulful vibe. It’s a murder ballad driven by a swirly Rhodes piano, guitar crunch, Hammond organ wail, rich background vocals and gut-punch lyrics.  Case in point, the chorus:

    I was born with the cord wrapped around my neck
    It’s not something I could ever forget
    The world’s been trying to take me out since the day I first arrived
    There’s a darkness a-reaching for my hand
    I keep a gun in my nightstand
    Waiting for music to bury a body by

    The funereal shuffle of “Cold Hard Ground” brings to mind the artsy country blues of Wrecking Ball-era Emma Lou Harris.  It’s a minor blues articulated with a slurry snare-brushed beat, honey toned organ and minimalist piano. Co-producer David Baron, proprietor of Sun Mountain Studios in the Hudson Valley where the EP was recorded, is an analog synth collector.  He adds some very outta-space keyboard swirl and ambience here, along with (possibly) a mellotron-treated vocal chorus.  He’s a master of the less is more approach.

    sarah king
    photo by Christian James

    “Not Worthy the Whiskey” is a swaggering stomp-and-holler about making peace with your dark past.  The tune is propelled by percussive handclaps and stomps and boasts a whistling-down-the-alley intro ala Billy Joel’s “The Stranger.” It’s another deep blue lament, ones that floats in and out like a dream.

    Like much great music, King’s debut EP was born of loss.  In the press notes she says: “My dog died, my ex-husband died and my mama died too.  Life is too fucking short,  I’d just spent almost a year traveling in a tent away from my instruments and facing so much loss, I realized I never wanted to be away from music again.”

    King’s partnership with Felice came about when she sent him a shot-in-the-dark email containing a performance video of “Nightstand,” which to an invitation to record that tune and four more.  We are lucky that King found the strength to put her loss into such fresh, emotionally revealing, brave music.  And she’s lucky to have found, in Felice and Baron, producers who could bring her art to life is such a beautifully restrained and achingly gorgeous way.

    Key Tracks: Nightstand, War Pigs, Not Worth the Whiskey

  • David Byrne Premiers SOCIAL!, The Social Distance Dance Club

    Legendary Talking Heads front-man David Byrne has unveiled his lasted project, SOCIAL! This social distance dance club takes place in Park Avenue Armory as a part of the Social Distance Hall.

    SOCIAL david byrne dance club
    Park Avenue Armory

    SOCIAL! is part of the Armory’s Social Distance Hall commissioning initiative, which provides artists with the space and resources to create and present to in-person audiences new works designed specifically for the tumultuous times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Armory, with its immense, 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall and multiple airy rooms and entrances, featuring an air volume comparable to being outdoor. This hall is shaping up to be the shining example of how to re-open performing arts in New York and beyond.

    SOCIAL! invites 100 participants, 10% of the Drill Hall’s normal capacity, to the Armory’s Drill Hall for a socially distanced dance club, where each member will have a six-foot diameter circle in which to dance and move, spaced out from surrounding circles to provide proper social distancing at
    all times.

    The curated playlist will include a recoding of dance directions narrated by Byrne. All participants are welcome to move freely or choose to follow David Byrne’s magical suggestions. A video of Byrne teaching choreography for a song on the playlist will be sent in advance to all participants can prepare their dance moves. Ultimately, the goal of this program is to provide a powerful healing moment that can be experienced individually and communally.

    SOCIAL! will begin previews in the Drill Hall on April 9 and open April 13, running through April 22. Show times during the week will be at 7pm and at 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets can be purchased here.

  • Broadway Workers Eligible for Vaccination in Hopes of Broadway Fall Season

    Broadway workers will be able to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in hopes of opening Broadway by Fall for in-person performances, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. There will be mobile vaccination sights set up specifically for Broadway theater workers. 

    Broadway Workers
    Photo by Kate Glicksberg

    Broadway is a staple of New York City and has been unfortunately shut down since mid-March 2020. Mayor Bill de Blasio “We have to get the theater community ready for the fall,” de Blasio said. “By the time we get there, the world will be better.”

    Current guidelines allow theaters to be technically allowed to be open at 33% capacity, with a maximum of 150 people who’ve tested negative for COVID-19 before the performance. The mayor plans to set up testing sites near the theaters to help facilitate and promote the testing. They will also set more detailed guidelines for handling crowds before and after performances. 

    According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller back in 2019, “New York City’s arts, entertainment and recreation sector employed 93,500 people in 6,250 establishments. These jobs had an average salary of $79,300 and generated $7.4 billion in total wages.” This type of revenue hasn’t been present in the last year due to the closers of the entertainment industry in the wake of COVID. Broadway reopening would bring back part of this revenue.

    Broadway Workers
    Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Employment by Subsector graph.

    Mary McColl, executive director of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA),  spoke on this new development supporting theaters by vaccinating it’s workers in a press conference saying,  “Mayor de Blasio clearly understands that we cannot socially distance in our work, making the availability of vaccines and testing critical for maintaining a safe workplace.” 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybIzM_XKos4

    Reopening Broadway is still in the planning stages but the access to vaccines for Broadway works would start the ball rolling. The reopening process would involve rehearsals but also costume fittings, marketing campaigns, ticket promotions, and so on that in reality aren’t possible without vaccinations being available to Broadways workers. 

    For more articles on Broadway during COVID-19 by NYS Music click here.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGMt7H6e164

  • Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival shifts focus to 2022

    Trumansburg’s Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival has made the decision to postpone the planned 30th annual event until 2022.

    grassroots

    Noting that we are not yet at the end of the pandemic tunnel, and factoring in increasing vaccine distribution and decreasing COVID-19 rates, the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance will postponing the planned 30th Annual festival until July 21-24, 2022. The preceding fifth Annual Culture Camp will also be postponed, with new dates of July 17-20, 2022.

    Admission and camping tickets for 2021 will be honored and automatically transferred to 2022. If a ticket holder cannot attend the 2022 event, they may fill out a Ticket Transfer Request to transfer their tickets to any future GrassRoots Festival in either the Trumansburg, New York or Shakori Hills, North Carolina locations at GrassRootsFest.org.

    As a 501(c) not-for-profit organization, this first ever year of no GrassRoots festivals has been a challenge, but the organization is poised to make it through. Donations are always welcome and may be made at GrassRootsFest.org/donate.

    Tickets for the 30th Annual Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance are on-sale now at GrassRootsFest.org/tickets.

    A GrassRoots Call to Action:

    In the year 1990, as we headed into the last decade of the 20th century, the world faced a new crisis: AIDS. Mysterious, unheard of and deadly; people were scared and dying! Donna the Buffalo and friends, The Horse Flies and Neon Baptist, responded with a sold out benefit show at the State Theatre raising over $10,000 for AIDS Work of Tompkins County. I remember so clearly the feeling of peeking out from the door of the dressing rooms beneath the stage and seeing the packed house of heroic Ithacans, also responding to the call to be there and support a community that a Government was appearing blind to, a joyful mob!

    To create joy in the midst of crisis is a powerful thing and brings magic to the table. The wonderful event and its success led to the creation of GrassRoots and 25 years of raising consciousness and funds for organizations that support Arts, Education and the fight against AIDs, both locally and globally.    

    -Jordan Puryear

  • Live Performances Return to SPAC with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

    The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is bringing back the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s residency making it the first series of live performances since 2020 for SPAC.

    Saratoga Performing Arts Center Logo Chamber Music Society SPAC

    The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is located in Saratoga Springs and has been around for over 50 years. Their first summer season hosted 21 shows over the span of four weeks. The center had performances from non-classical musicians over time including Harry Belafonte in 1967 and a record breaking performance from Grateful Dead in 1983. In 2014 the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center became SPAC’s third resident company.

    The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center developed when the president of the Lincoln Center at the time, William Schuman, wanted an organization dedicated to chamber music. It officially began in 1969 in the Alice Tully Hall. CMS started educational and developmental programs for young musicians. There are about 70 performances that take place outside of New York City and the country per season. They are a part of several residencies and even have their own record label.

    The Chamber Music Society residency at SPAC comes back this year after the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19. This season is from June 13 until August 29 featuring compositions from Beethoven’s string quartets and Schumann’s Piano quartet in E-flat major. The U.S premiere of Twelve Blocks by pianist Michael Brown is also a part of the agenda. The co-Artistic directors David Finckel and Wu Han return along with the Calidore String Quartet’s SPAC debut.

    The series takes place at Pitney Meadows Community Farm which has large outdoor space for events. It will have a maximum capacity of 200 per performance and each performance is 75 minutes without an intermission. Socially distanced pods for two are provided for ticket buyers from the price of $100-120. Tickets for subscriptions to all six shows will be available on April 1 for SPAC members and April 6 for the general public. Single performance tickets are available on April 12 for SPAC members and April 16 for the general public and won’t be available at the door. Tickets can be purchased on SPAC’s website along with additional information regarding COVID-19 protocols.

    On your way to SPAC, don’t forget that Stewart’s Shops is your ice cream shop! With over 345 shops in 31 counties across New York and southern Vermont, the convenience store chain is known for their fresh &local dairy products. With dozens of choices at the cone counter, you’re bound to find something you love! Try a shake, sundae, or cone today,  What’s Your Flavor?  

  • Watch Jack Harlow Perform on Saturday Night Live

    The first Saturday Night Live of Spring featured the return of longtime cast member Maya Rudolph as host. She was joined by Kentucky rapper and songwriter Jack Harlow, who earned a GRAMMY nomination for “WHATS POPPIN’ in 2020 and recently released That’s What They All Say.

    jack harlow

    Harlow first appeared in the Digital Short “NFTs,” a take on Eminem’s “Without Me,” complete with Pete Davidson in a Robin costume similar to that of Eminem in the original video.

    Midway through the show, cast member Bowen Yang stopped by the Weekend Update desk to talk about the recent spike in violence towards Asian-Americans and how you can help.

    Harlow’s first performance featured a medley of “Tyler Herro” and “WHATS POPPIN.” Herro, a friend of Harlow’s and Miami Heat guard is mentioned in the first verse of the song: “My homeboy Tyler he play in South Beach / He told me this summer he gon’ fix my jumper.”

    Giving a nod to the early influence of Saturday Night Live, Harlow said on Twitter, “I grew up watching SNL with my family every weekend. I vividly remember seeing Kanye perform Love Lockdown and Heartless in 2008. Thank you for making this happen. Another dream come true.”

    https://youtu.be/tkSvFzC7GGo

    For his second performance, Jack Harlow welcomed surprise guest, Maroon 5‘s Adam Levine, to duet on “Same Guy.” Levine is featured on the studio version of the track, an album that also features appearances by Lil Wayne, Lil Baby, and Static Major.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doi4H-BNkxQ

    Harlow also recently donated $500,000 to two HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) – Kentucky State University in Frankfort and Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville – after winning Bleacher Report’s Open Run 2-on-2 basketball competition earlier this month.

    SNL returns next week with host Daniel Kaluuya and musical guest St. Vincent.