The 19 annual Hank-O-Rama festival, celebrating the musical life of Hank Williams, will be held at Bowery Electric on New Year’s Day.
Hank Williams will be celebrated 70 years after his death at the Hank-O-Rama show. Williams is regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. He recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 12 that reached No. 1.
Hank Williams was just 29 when he was found dead in the back seat of his Cadillac on the morning of Jan. 1, 1953, in Oak Hill, WV, en route to a New Year’s Day gig in Canton, Ohio. The Hank-O-Rama celebration is a symbolic rain date for the last show Williams would ever miss.
The show features more than 30 of Williams’s hits and rarities, including “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and many others, performed live by recording artists The Lonesome Prairie Dogs. The show features Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith) on pedal steel guitar, with an opening set by New York Country luminary Alex Battles, and host, country favorite Linda “Lindy Loo” Hill.
Other special guests are stars of the NYC & Brooklyn country scene, including Tammy Faye Starlite, Jack Grace, Sean Kershaw, Cliff Westfall, The Lonesome Horns featuring Jordan McLean & Billy Aukstik, and more. Everyone will be gathered together to celebrate the extraordinary life of Hank Williams, who died tragically young.
The 19 annual Hank-O-Rama celebration will be happening at Bowery Electric on Jan. 1, and tickets are on sale now.
The Paramount, a club located in Huntington, Long Island, has been named the number-one club venue worldwide by Pollstar Magazine.
The Paramount, photo by Amy Vivinetto.
Pollstar Magazine is one of the leading concert and live music industry magazines, and announced that The Paramount raked in the majority of ticket sales compared to other clubs worldwide in 2022, making over $10.5 million this year in tickets. The venue has been steadily climbing the charts at Pollstar, cracking the Top 15 in 2014, and the Top 5 in 2017.
The Paramount opened in late 2011, led by the vision of owners Dominick Catoggio, Jim Condron, Brian Doyle, and Stephen Ubertini. They designed the building from a restored 1927 vaudeville theater and transformed it into what it is today, a brick and steel space that fits comfortably in downtown NYC. In a joint statement, the owners said they were “humbled… and proud,” and that “our success is all in part to our amazing fans who continue to support our vision.”
There have been many iconic artists who have graced the stage at The Paramount, with its initial success coming from a performance by Billy Joel followed by a surprise show with Ed Sheeran, who said that The Paramount was his favorite venue. Over the decade since its opening, artists like Twenty One Pilots, Blondie, Camila Cabello, Halsey, BB King, Jane’s Addiction, Pitbull, Judas Priest, Limp Bizkit, and Mac Miller have performed there.
The Paramount hosts over 200 events each year, from comedy to music to even family shows. There is a little bit of something for everyone at the venue, which is why it fits with the title of the number one club in the world. To see what shows are coming up, and to keep up to date with new shows in 2023, go here.
New York-based bluegrass group Nefresh Mountain is set to perform at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock on Dec. 23.
Nefresh Mountain arrived on the scene in 2015 and has been hailed as one of the formative boundary-pushing groups in roots music. Comprised of husband and wife duo Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff, the group’s latest album Songs for the Sparrows has been called “A master class in string music” by Rolling Stone, and “arguably some of the best bluegrass ever made” by American Songwriter.
They have recorded and shared the stage with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, John Doyle, Noam Pikelny (Punch Brothers), Mark Schatz (Nickel Creek), Mike Gordon (Phish), and Tony Trischka among others. They made their debut in 2021 at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN, and performed at various Festivals, PACs, and venues like Mountain Stage, MerleFest, Wintergrass, City Wineries around the USA, and more.
Nefresh Mountain will be heading to Levon Helm Studios, which brings the legendary life of Levon Helms and the group the Midnight Rambles alive in historic Woodstock. Rolling Stone called Helm “rock & roll’s greatest drummer,” and he won three Grammys during his life. He loved Woodstock, and gave back to the community while there, playing benefits to raise money for music in the local schools and other worthwhile causes.
Nefresh Moutain will be heading to the venue on Dec. 23, and tickets are on sale now.
Today the lineup was announced for the Peach Music Festival, a four-day event coming to Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA from June 29 to July 2.
The Peach Music Festival was created in 2012 as the first-ever Allman Brothers Band-inspired festival in the Northeast and has quickly evolved into one of the most highly-anticipated summer musical events loved by music enthusiasts from across the nation. It is a one-of-a-kind festival, as it features food and craft vendors on the grounds and access to the scenic Montage Mountain Ski Resort’s large water park.
The 2023 edition of the festival sees Goose, Tedeschi Trucks Band, My Morning Jacket, and Ween headlining. For the past few years, Goose and the Tedeschi Trucks Band have been performing, as they are popular acts people love to go see. My Morning Jacket released their self-titled album last year, and have been touring all year. Ween has yet to play at the Peach Music Festival, and their alternative rock style will be a great addition to the diverse range of artists on the bill.
Other great artists will be performing at the unique festival, including Duane Betts, Andy Frasco & The U.N., TAUK ft. Kanika Moore, Magic City Hippies, Dogs In A Pile, and more. There will also be features, like founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, Jaimoe, performing as Jaimoe and Friends, duo Brother and Sister, and a special appearance by Trouble No More, featuring Brandon “Taz” Niederaurer (Guitar, Vocals), Daniel Donato (Guitar, Vocals), Dylan Niederaurer (Bass Guitar), Jack Ryan (Drums), Lamar Williams Jr. (Vocals), Nikki Glaspie (Drums), Peter Levin (Keys) and Roosevelt Collier (Pedal Steel Guitar), performing the Allman Brothers Band album Brothers & Sisters.
Also appearing at The Peach Music Festival 2023 are Lawrence, Thumpasaurus, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Karina Rykman, Ghost Light, Tapers Choice, Son Little, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Mihali, Raq, TAZ Plays Hendrix, Circles Around The Sun, Melt, Mo Lowda & The Humble, Oh He Dead, Cris Jacobs Band, Friends of the Brothers, Couch, Psycodelics, Yam Yam, Hans Williams, Ally Venable, Parrotfish, Will Evans, Wax Owls, Brown Eyed Woman, Veronica Lewis, Baked Shrimp, Quinn Sullivan, Kanika Moore Presents The Broadband, The Sweet Lillies, JB Strauss, Kendall Street Company, One Time Weekend, Proper Tea, RoastJohn, and more.
Tickets for the 2023 Peach Music Festival are on sale now, and new this year will be a GA+ ticket allowing fans with a General Admission ticket access under the pavilion for headliner sets (in the 200-level seating area) for $149.
Carnegie Hall will present the 18th annual Music Of fundraising performance, produced by Michael Dorf Presents, spotlighting the work of Paul McCartney, on March 15, 2023.
Paul McCartney has been bringing people together for decades with his influential music, spanning from one of the most popular groups ever, The Beatles, to his group Wings, and of course his extensive catalog of solo music. McCartney is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and he has written or co-written a record of 32 songs that have topped the Billboard Hot 100.
The Music Of Paul McCartney will feature Lake Street Dive, Allison Russell, Bettye LaVette, Peter Asher, Ingrid Michaelson, Glen Hansard, Lyle Lovett, The Cactus Blossoms, and Shovels & Rope among others, each performing a song from McCartney’s vast collection of songs. Joining the lineup are Grahm Nash, Bruce Hornsby, Natalie Merchant, Sammy Rae, and The Head and the Heart’s Jonathan Russell. Michael Dorf Presents, established by Michael Dorf in 2003, founder of the Knitting Factory and City Winery, has been putting on the Music Of series at Carnegie Hall for 18 years.
What an honor to work with one of the greatest singer/songwriters in history and have him interested in our annual show at Carnegie Hall. We have missed doing this during the pandemic and looking forward to this special night. Of course, we will miss Rita Houston of WFUV, our longtime MC who passed from a battle with cancer and to whom we will also be paying tribute this year. Christine Stone of SiriusXM will be joining us this year.
Michael Dorf
Previous Music Of tributes has spotlighted the work of Carly Simon, Prince, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, and more. Every year, the tributes have sold out and contributed 100% of the net proceeds, about $100,000 from the evening to different music education programs for underserved youth.
Tickets to The Music Of Paul McCartney at Carnegie Hall on March 15, 2023, are on sale now.
Bono announced added dates to his “Stories of Surrender” show at New York’s iconic Beacon Theatre, starting April 16.
Nov 1 saw the release of Bono’s memoir titled “SURRENDER: 40 Songs, One Story,” the story of the remarkable life he’s lived, his challenges, and his friends and family. The subtitle, “40 Songs, One Story,” refers to the book’s 40 chapters, each named after a U2 song. Bono has also created 40 original drawings which will be featured throughout the book.
Bono takes readers from his early days growing up in Dublin, including the sudden loss of his mother when he was fourteen, to U2’s unlikely journey to becoming one of the world’s most influential rock bands. The band has released 14 studio albums and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys and the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience award. In 2005, U2 was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Bono is embarking on a Beacon Theatre run starting in April for his show “Stories of Surrender.” The Beacon is a perfect place for this as Bono’s life is alive and very present on the stage. He will be joined by musicians Gemma Doherty (Harp, Keyboard, Vocals) and Kate Ellis (Cello, Keyboard, Vocals), as well as Musical Director Jacknife Lee for an evening of “words, music, and some mischief…”
Tickets go on sale starting Dec. 15, at 10 a.m. local time, and will be available here. His memoir is also available for purchase here. Due to overwhelming demand, more shows have been added to Bono’s “Stories of Surrender” stop at the Beacon Theatre.
‘Stories of Surrender’ – Bono at the Beacon Theatre, New York, 2023 Sunday April 16, 2023 Monday April 17, 2023 Friday April 21, 2023 Saturday April 22, 2023 Wednesday April 26, 2023 Friday April 28, 2023 Saturday April 29, 2023 Wednesday May 3, 2023
This week’s episode of Saturday Night Livefeatures SNL veterans Steve Martin and Martin Short co-hosting, with musical guest, singer-songwriter, Brandi Carlile.
The cold open features Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, and Sarah Sherman sharing how they keep their cool during the holiday season. They sing a jingle about current events happening in the world, including Elon Musk buying Twitter, Kanye West’s antisemitic comments, and the unexpected album drop from convicted pedophile R. Kelly.
The monologue sawMartin Short and Steve Martin talking about how many times they have hosted in a montage video, with Martin hosting an incredible 16 times, and Short comically having hosted only three times, including this evening. They joked about how nostalgic it felt to be back and meet the new cast. Martin and Short are celebrating the third season of their Hulu show Only Murders in the Building as well. The two also jokingly read about what each other’s eulogies would be. Selena Gomez made a guest appearance at the end of the monologue.
The first sketch features Short and Martin premiering on a spin-off of a scientific PBS Kids TV show. The two use cast members Cecily Strong and Mikey Day as kids helping out in demonstrating different scientific scenarios, but they are comically unhelpful and make obscene jokes. Both Martin and Short become increasingly frustrated at the kids, and the segment cuts out.
The next sketch features the SNL writing room. They are making fun of a cast member’s ex and saying she smelled bad, and more. The funny joke is that they got back together, and she was in the room, with the family members seeing them talking badly about the ex. Martin and Short show up, and as the two cast members try to get themselves out of it, it keeps progressing.
Another holiday-themed sketch follows, taking place on a train ride. Martin Short and Steve Martin, along with Cecily Strong and Kenan Thompson are sitting in a booth together. They break out into a song and dance about snow, wanting to see it and be in it, having not experienced it before. The sketch takes a turn, where Strong, Martin, and Short turn into bears, hibernating through the snow.
The next sketch features Martin as Santa and Short as an elf named Sprinkles. He is short-tempered and yells at each child as they try to tell Santa what they want. Following is a sketch about A Christmas Carol, with Short being The Scrooge. He comically blinds an orphan trying to give him money. Martin, being the Spirit or Christmas Present, also blinds people when throwing coins, even accidentally stabbing someone.
Brandi Carlile recently released a deluxe record titled In The Canyon Haze. This isn’t Carlile’s first time performing on SNL, having been featured as a guest earlier in the year. She will be opening for P!nk at Citi Field on Aug. 3, and tickets are on sale here. She carried a lot of energy in her performance of her song “The Story” dressed in a festive suit. Her unique and powerful vocals shine as she smiles at the audience several times.
https://youtu.be/CpNqR-ff_TQ
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che talked about the political race, including Herschel Walker losing the election, with the audience clapping. They made a lot of jokes about Brittney Griner being released from prison as well as talking about the World Cup finals.
The next sketch features Short as Minky Carmichael on a show, teaching women how to treat their men. It gets funny as Cecily Strong makes fun of him, and humiliates him on the show. Brandi Carlile came back out, in a different black and blue outfit. She is singing a much chiller song, “You and Me on the Rock ft. Lucius” with the same powerful and beautiful vocals.
https://youtu.be/-sEbBaXMImY
The final sketch is a Father of the Bride spinoff, featuring Martin and Heidi Gardner as his daughter, celebrating her eighth wedding, with Short being a wedding planner. Kieran Culkin makes a guest appearance, as he was in the original movie along with Martin and Short. Selena Gomez also makes an appearance as the wedding singer.
Next week’s Saturday Night Live show features Austin Butler hosting, with musical guest Lizzo.
WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.
Sydney Worthley –“How Soon Is Now”
Sydney Worthley is an alternative artist from Albany. In 2017, she released her debut 14-track album titled Strong, followed by performances at Mountain Jam Music Festival, First Night Saratoga, and all over the Capital Region. In 2019, she became an independent artist at the age of 17. Her newest track “How Soon Is Now” is a glittery pop single that will be played on EQXposure.
ShortWave RadioBand – “So long the Hopeful”
ShortWave RadioBand resides in Schuylerville. Starting out as a semi-acoustic duo in late 2019, Lonny Eaton and Andy Scullin performed cover songs for a little more than a year before meeting drummer John Woods. They started writing their own songs at the end of Summer 2021 and then added Abby Stone on trumpet and Ryan Shaw on guitar.
Rhoseway – “Country Sunrise”
Rhoseway is the solo project of Albany-based songwriter Rob Fleming. All writing, arrangements, performances, and production are done by himself in a DIY fashion.
Buffalo-based indie singer-songwriter Marina Laurendi has released a stunning music video for the track “Stay Mine,” off of her EP of the same name that came out in August.
Marina Laurendi is a singer/songwriter and musician, originally from the Western New York area. She started performing as an actress, singer, and dancer at a young age. Her career in musical theater led her to NYC, where she performed around the East Coast and Off-Broadway. Her music takes influence from the pulse of the NYC scene and the calmness of her Western NY upbringing.
Since the release of her EP, she has garnered over 10,000 streams on Spotify, and she was recently a quarter-finalist in this year’s competition to open at the Hollywood Bowl. When talking about the track and accompanying video, Laurendi said it is about the longing to have beautiful shared experiences with someone that matches your personality.
I had this sense of restlessness when I was writing it like I was just dying to start filling my life with these crazy adventures that make you feel like you can be forever young and I think that translated into the song. When we’re performing it, I always visualize it like a scrapbook of amazing memories so with the video, Luke Haag, our director/videographer, really helped me hone in on the best way to convey that. The whole thing is snapshots of this relationship where we really see the good, bad, and the ugly. It’s a healthy mix of reality and this pipe dream of what could be.
Marina Laurendi
The music video shows an intimate portrait of the highs and lows of a relationship. It matches the song’s build-up, as the passion between the couple is met with growing tension and a darker side of the love is revealed. The song focuses on these perfect imperfections as Laurendi sings the opening line, “you’re my favorite headache.” An interesting part of the video is that some of the scenes were shot at multiple locations around Buffalo and the Niagara Falls area. Laurendi also channels old Hollywood and the sounds of Lana Del Rey and Phoebe Bridgers throughout.
Marina Laurendi showcases that she is here to make a splash in the industry and become the next star. She recently has performed at places like The Bitter End in NYC, Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls, Nietzsche’s and Ironworks Buffalo, just to name a few. To stay up to date on new show announcements, go to her website.
The Binghamton Philharmonic is Broome County’s only professional symphony orchestra. It was founded by Fritz and Marianne Wallenberg in 1955 at the Binghamton Symphony and Choral Society and later merged with the B.C. Pops, an orchestra founded by David Agard and Russell Hawkes. The Philharmonic Orchestra presents an annual series of classical, pops, and chamber music concerts in Downtown Binghamton and throughout the county.
The Binghamton Philharmonic will kick off its “Winter Wonderland” celebration, including music from The Polar Express, Home Alone II, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. The program will feature a visit from Santa, a holiday sing-along with a quartet from the Tri-Cities Opera, and the viewing of the classic British animated film, The Snowman, with music performed by a live orchestra and treble soloist Luca Thomas.
Thomas is an 11-year-old from NYC, who started singing before he could even speak. At the age of 4, he was a featured singer on two Laurie Berkner tracks and is now a member of a professional children’s choir. He recently toured Ireland over the summer and is excited to have a solo at the “Winter Wonderland” show.
Luca Thomas
All children 17 and under get in for free to the “Winter Wonderland” show on Dec. 10, held at the Broome County Forum Theatre. To purchase tickets for the event, go here.
