NYS Music 202​1

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  • theRep Adds Four Distinguished Figures to Associates Artist Program

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

    theRep

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

    theRep associate Gordon Greenberg

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

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

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

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

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

  • Gov. Cuomo Plans to Bring Back Live Music with Reopening Large Venues and “NY Pops Up”

    Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his plans for reopening large sized venues throughout the state on February 10, 2021. This will help bring live music back to the state in combination with the “NY Pops Up” program which is bringing 300 live performances for free. 

    NY Pops Up MSG
    Empty Madison Square Garden in NYC. Photo by Steve Malinski

    Cuomo plans to use a testing- based program, which was used by the Buffalo Bills, to bring live performances back to any large stadium or arena later this month. How the testing- based program would work is the people who provide a negative PCR test within 72 hours of the live event in question would be able to attend live entertainment like musical events. The program would also be able to be made into person for sport events like baseball, soccer, football and basketball games possible. Arenas can open to the public on February 23, 2021. 

    According to NBC New York though there will be certain rules and restrictions in place to make this possible. Some of the restrictions include a, “strict 10 percent capacity limit in arenas and stadiums with more than 10,000-person total capacity. Venues have to submit their plans to the State Department of Health for approval. Core mitigation efforts like mask-wearing, temperature checks and mandatory assigned seating to ensure social distancing will also be required.”

    cuomo regulations NY Pops Up
    NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo conducts press briefing and makes a presentation at the 3rd Avenue office in New York on July 23, 2020. Governor, announced that President Trump will not send federal agents into New York City. He again pleaded to young people to be responsible, keep social distances and wear masks. (Photo by Lev Radin/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

    On top of this excitement of the prospect of live music in person in venues there is also the announcement of  the “NY Pops Up” program starting on February 20 through Labor Day bringing over 300 live performances. Cuomo announced that the first performance will happen on February 20 in New York City with a free performance especially for healthcare workers featuring big names like  Jon Batiste, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Cecile McLorin Salvant and Ayodele Casel. The ‘pop up’ will be traveling across the city’s five boroughs to perform in different parks, on street corners, and outside hospitals. 

    With COVID-19 still raging on throughout the world the prospect of some sense of normalcy is extremely intriguing and exciting. People across NY can be attending live events again before the beginning of March with these new programs. 

  • Nitty Gritty Dirt Band And All-Star Cast Cover “The Times They Are A-Changin” To Raise Money for Feeding America

    In the fifty-seven years since Bob Dylan released his career-altering folksong, “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” the times he sang of did seem to change.

    But now, in another period of national unrest, a President refusing to concede defeat or peacefully transfer power, and a renewed fire for justice in the long-fought battle for civil rights, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has a new version of Dylan’s classic sounds more poignant and insistent than ever before.

    Amidst the compounding, pleading verses of Scottish ballad by way of Greenwich Village, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, with distinguished musical guests—Jason Isbell, Rosanne Cash, The War And Treaty, and Steve Earle—each step to the microphone to contribute a verse, with Isbell also adding slide guitar.

    They carry the same tone and energy in their voices as the song’s writer did almost six decades ago; an unfortunate but earnest reaction to the all too evident parallels between now and then.

    “It moved me deeply then and that hasn’t changed,” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founding member and lead singer Jeff Hanna notes. “The lyrics are as relevant today as they were when Dylan wrote it. Maybe even more so.” 

    The track features NGDB members Jeff Hanna (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Jimmie Fadden (drums), Bob Carpenter (accordion), Jim Photoglo (electric bass), Jaime Hanna (electric guitar), and Ross Holmes (fiddle and mandolin)—as well as Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, The Wallflowers) on additional drums, and Nashville songwriting legend Matraca Berg on harmonica and harmony vocals.

    “The Time’s They Are A-Changin’” was produced by Ray Kennedy and collectively recorded up and down the east coast.

    John Leventhal recorded his wife, Rosanne Cash’s vocals in their New York City home studio and Steve Earle contributed his verse via the world famous Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. In Nashville, NGDB and guests joined Kennedy in his Room & Board Studio.

    “The Times They Are A-Changin’” is available for “name your price” purchase on NGDB’s Bandcamp page with proceeds going to Feeding America.

    For more information, please visit Nittygritty.com and Feedingamerica.org.

    The Times They Are A-Changin’ by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle, Jason Isbell, The War and Treaty

  • Quintocracy Begins Residence At Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

    Capital Region based quintet Quintocracy has begun their new residency at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Their first project with the Hall is a series of four concerts featuring women composers. All performances will be broadcast live from the Music Hall stage.

    Quintocracy

    Coming together in 2019, Quintocracy was created with the goal of showing the beauty of chamber music to the masses. The group prides themselves on there unique live shows in which they instill a sense of community through their funny audience interactions. Members of Quintocracy have preformed at a wide array of New York based concert halls from the likes of Carnegie Hall to Lincoln Center. Quintocracy consists of Melanie Chirignan (Flute), Kelly Lockwood (Oboe), Michael Dee (Clarinet), Kathryn Svatek (Horn), and William Safford (Basoon).

    The Troy Saving Bank Music Hall is a historic classic music hall located in the heart of Downtown Troy. The Hall of built out of what used to be a banking office, hence The Hall’s name, and has since been host to hundreds of music acts from around the world. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic The Hall has pivoted to offering several online concert performances, postposing all live shows until further notice.

    Schedule for Future Quintocracy Shows

    Part 2: Music for Flute and Guitar Sunday, February 14, 2021, at 3 PM, click here for the sign-up link
    Part 3: Music for Flute, Cello, and Piano Sunday, March 14, 2021, at 3 PM, click here for the sign-up link

    Part 4: Music by Katherine Hoover for woodwinds Sunday, April 18, 2021, 3 PM, click here for the sign-up link

  • Club Helsinki Hudson to Bloody Valentines Show on Saturday, February 13th

    Tommy Stinson & Chip Roberts will take the stage of Helsinki Hudson on Saturday February 13th with their intimate music act Cowboys in the Campfire for a Bloody Valentines show.

    Bloody Valentines helsinki
    Club Helsinki Hudson

    The show, hosted by Dark carnival band Dust Bowl Faeries and produced by Experiential Design Artist Corey Aldrich, will broadcasts LIVE from the club’s stage in Hudson, New York.

    Tickets for the show are available on a donation basis to support the musicians throughout this difficult time for the arts. The show begins at 8:00pm EST and will stream from a private YouTube link.

    Dust Bowl Faeries will be hosting a Bloody Valentines themed show, with some tragic tales of love gone wrong, revenge songs about bloody tattoos and lusty vampiric shenanigans.

    Rock legend Tommy Stinson, original member of The Replacements and former bassist for Guns n Roses, will perform intimate blues-based songs on acoustic guitar, accompanied by Chip Roberts on lap-steel guitar. The duo call themselves Cowboys in the Campfire. Expect new songs at the show along with their beloved collection of songs. “A few laughs are guaranteed,” says Stinson.

    For the past thirteen years, Cowboys in the Campfire have written and performed their witty, unique brand of music that blends lap-steel with regular guitar.

    Accompanied by Cowboys in the Campfire for Club Helsinki Bloody Valentines show are the Dust Bowl Faeries whose music will bemuse and mystify the listener. The founders of the band, Ryder Cooley and Hazel, hail from Hudson, New York. Their musical influence draws from circus, post-punk and Eastern European folk music. The Faeries recently released a new album, The Plague Garden, along with a new video, Candy Store, produced and directed by Lisa M. Thomas of Thin Edge Films.

  • Genre Bending Body Language Share “Start It Up” Video

    Sensual pop experimentalists Body Language have been developing their genre-blend tone for some years now. Beginning in 2008, the band (Angelica Bess, Grant Wheeler, Matt Young, and Ian Chang) has added a future-shocked mixture of soul and R&B to their sound. These Brooklyn-based musicians have even received praise from NPR, The New York Times, and The Guardian. As a matter of fact, Body Language and their new music video for “Start It Up” doesn’t stray away from this amount of appraisal. 

    Body Language Start it Up
    Photo Credit: Nat Magliore

    With an introduction of glamorous dancers and a pulsating beat, “Start It Up” gives viewers nostalgia of packed dancefloors. The combination of the smooth vocals from the front-woman Bess, the glitzy outfits, and an electric flow makes anyone want to get up off their seat. The video travels through a fisheye lens creating a greater sense of funk to the already bouncy instrumental and harmonic hook.  

    Bess characterizes the video as a “Dreamlike mirage of glamour and shimmering movement. It’s a tribute to our favorite videos of the 90’s and early 00’s. An ode to the New Roaring 20’s: a little old and a lot new. ‘Start It Up’ represents the new age of loving yourself, expressing yourself, and having a good f*cking time.”

    “Start It Up” is featured on Body Language’s latest LP Travel Guide. As described as their most collaborative effort yet, Travel Guide consists of ten tracks of genre-bent psychedelic. Check out the LP below for an escapism of the realities of day to day life. Also, look out for Body Language’s remixes for “Start It Up,” coming soon.  

  • Janani Shankar Releases Deeply Personal And Emotional New Single “I Wanna Know”

    Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Janani Shankar is set to release her new single, “I Wanna Know.”

    In this track, Shankar speaks about deeply emotional issues such as abandonment, and pays tribute to her late grandmother Viji Shankar who she never met, and her late great grandmother Lakshmi Shankar.

    Janani’s “I Wanna Know” touches on personal issues she has faced in her life. Shankar attributes these issues, such as loss and estrangement from close family members, to greed, jealousy, and death.

    “I Wanna Know” is written from the perspective of a little girl longing for her family, asking why they left. By the end, the track speaks to a less empathic, more emotional feeling, driven by the accelerated drumbeat.

    A singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Shankar started learning classical Indian vocals and violin at the age of three. Later on she picked up guitar, bass, and keys.

    She began gigging in New York at the age of sixteen and went on to play in London, Los Angeles, and other cities around the world. Her style combines the nineties with folk, jazz, and indie influences.

    Janani’s songs “Wanderer,” “Forgettable,” and “Get Up” have been played on BBC Radio: The Asian Network. Her most recent single, “The World is on Fire,” has been featured on radio stations and music blogs worldwide.

    The track features Gingger Shankar on the double violin, Patrick Adams on trumpet, Mike Frazier (Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Escarioka) on drums, Nataliya Zaytseva on keys, Trevor Brown on bass, and Michael “Bull” LoBue on electric guitar.

    Janani Shankar released “I Wanna Know” on February 9th, the day her grandmother Viji passed away, in her honor. Visit her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • LonCon to be held at Arrowhead Ranch, feat. Mihali, Aqueous, Baked Shrimp and more

    The music is starting to return… LonCon, a two-day music event to be held in the Southern Tier of New York’s scenic Catskills will feature national touring acts at the legendary Arrowhead Ranch over August 27-28, 2021.

    loncon

    Arrowhead Ranch and ElmThree Productions, in association with hosts, Baked Shrimp, will bring artists including Mihali and Aqueous, as well as two Baked Shrimp sets and other rising regional acts to LonCon.

    In 1991, music producer Bill Graham brought a vision to Arrowhead Ranch, making the summer of 199 legendary, with acts including Phish, The Band, Richie Havens, Billy Preston, Hot Tuna, Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic, and many more. 30 years later, LonCon will hold its inaugural weekend at the historic venue over Friday August 27 and Saturday August 28, 2021.

    “The event is going to be so humbling to all three of us in Baked Shrimp. Being younger and going to outdoor music concerts in the mountains has been something we’ve all been doing for much of our lives, and we’ve always dreamed that one day Baked Shrimp would do something similar and keep it going for years to come. Now that we can finally announce that we’re helping put together what will be a beautiful two-day event at such a historic venue, it’s really a dream come true. The lineup is also filled with artists who we have looked up to over the years, so we are unbelievably excited to share the stage with them.”

    Jared Cowen, Baked Shrimp

    Cowen also shared his thoughts on putting the event together in honor of Lon Conscious.

    “The Live for Lon stream was so humbling in it’s own way. Where we’re at in the world is something no one could really prepare for. When Lon left us, we had to think of a way despite these hectic times to honor his incredible legacy and spirit. The stream was the best way we could have thought to do this. The night had a true sense of community, like we were all together, Baked Shrimp, our fans, family, friends, and so many of Lon’s hundreds of friends who he meant so much to. The performers were incredible, and we were able to raise over $2,700 for a really great cause, the White Light Foundation. The stream was our way to honor Lon, to reminisce, to laugh, to cry, and everything in-between. LonCon is our way to continue the Lon Gellman legacy. LonCon is how we will make sure Lon is always remembered, and we’re brainstorming things to include over the course of the two days and hopefully make traditions.”

    Jared Cowen, Baked Shrimp

    Health and safety are the number one priority for attendees at LonCon. Promoters are dedicated to ensuring all proper COVID-19 restrictions in New York State that are in place at the time of the event are followed.

  • Westcott Community Center and Joe Driscoll Announce their Vantastic Fundraiser

    Westcott Community Center announced a fundraiser for a new van that they call the Vantastic Fundraiser. The fundraiser is being put on by Joe Driscoll and will host a variety of performances via Facebook live on February 11, 2021 from 7 pm to 9 pm EST. 

    Vantastic Fundraiser

    The Westcott Community Center is a non-profit organization based in Syracuse, New York. Their mission statement is “Investing in their community by offering essential services and engaging programming to embrace the diverse needs of all.” The center is open 9am-4:30pm Monday through Friday for various programs and activities seven days a week.

    Westcott Community Center provides over 5,000 rides every year to older adults on Syracuse’s East Side and access to services necessary to lead full and healthy lives. People are dependent on “Westcott Community Center’s United We Ride Transportation Program” which makes it so they have access to  medical appointments, pharmacies, grocery stores, banks, and the Westcott Community Center congregate meals and Basic Needs Pantry services. All this would not all be possible without reliable transportation.

    Unfortunately, it has come time for the Westcott Community Center’s 14-passenger van, which was purchased in 2003, to be replaced. The new van will cost $45,000 in total. The online music event is an attempt to help the organization raise funds to purchase a new van. The fundraiser throughout their #WestcottCCRides initiative first kicked off August 15, 2020.

    Vantastic Fundraiser

    The Vantastic Fundraiser will host performances from Joe Driscoll, William Nicholson, Billy Harrison, Jess Novak, Steve Scuteri, Riley Mahan, Larry Hoyt, Major Player, Benjamin Ellis, Colin Aberdeen, and Chris Chiesa. It can be viewed on Facebook live on both Joe Driscoll’s and Westcott Community Center’s pages on February 11, 2021 from 7 pm to 9 pm EST. Although the event is technically free, any donations to support the van would be greatly appreciated. 

    For more information on the Westcott Community Center visit their website.

  • Long Island’s Card Reader Takes First Place at Interstate Music Awards

    Long Island pop-punk band Card Reader won first place at the Interstate Music Awards, an underground artist competition created by the CEO of Interstate Music, Jeff Peterson.

    card reader
    Long Island Pop-Punk Band Card Reader

    Card Reader, won the Interstate Music Awards out of hundreds of submissions. Their first place prized earned them $5000 in gift cards, as well as the opportunity to perform live on the Interstate Music stage in Wisconsin later this year. 

    In a year of uncertainty and lockdown, Card Reader continued to put out music, their bright sound illuminating days spent inside. This spring they will be releasing an acoustic EP set to release on Friday, March 26th. It will contain new versions of previously released tracks, stripped down and engineered by their very own Matt Sullivan. They will also be recording their sophomore EP this April with veteran producer, Nik Bruzzese, at Gradwell House in Haddon Heights, New Jersey. 

    Guitarist and vocalist, Tom Petito, spoke about Card Reader’s big win and the road ahead. “We’re fired up right now. Starting 2021 off on the right foot is crucial for any band. I think we did just that. We received a big wave of support in this competition and winning it all has been an unreal experience. Our family, friends, & fans had our back in a big way.

    We’ll use this momentum to help fuel the fire as we prepare to record our new EP in the spring. Nik reached out to us after the contest win and expressed his desire to take our sound to the next level. We couldn’t agree more. It’s our move now and our opportunity to show the music world that Card Reader is for real.

    Stream their music on Spotify, Apple Music, or Bandcamp and find Card Reader on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

    Watch their studio documentary for their 2020 EP Mental Scars here.