Category: Interviews

Drummer Jay Lane, a Man of Many Talents, Adds to His Resume

San Francisco Bay Area drummer/musician Jay Lane gets antsy when he’s not on the road with one of the many bands of which he is a part. So it was not difficult to deduce that Lane, 57, had a tough time adapting to pandemic life, when the world shut down, venues closed their doors and bands put touring aside as we tried to get COVID-19 under control.

Jay Lane performing with Wolf Bros., Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ 3/16/19

And just like so many other musicians trying to adapt to a temporary but new way of life, Lane had to figure out how to keep himself from going insane while essentially being in lockdown. Enter the Blue Bear School of Music, the Bay Area’s “preeminent school rock, blues, jazz, folk and pop music,” as described on its website. Lane, who is a member of Primus, Bob Weir and Wolf Brothers and countless other Grateful Dead associated acts, decided to put his expertise to use by providing online drumming lessons.

“I haven’t been involved in too much outreach or giving lessons in a long time,” Lane said in a recent telephone interview with NYS Music. “I’ve been doing this now for a few months and I love it. I actually used to take lessons as a child at Blue Bear. I felt I wanted to give back to kids and people of all ages.”

Currently, Lane said he is only giving online live video lessons, but said he has no idea what the future holds once COVID is in the rearview. Blue Bear, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1971 by rock band Wolfgang & Strauss, two brothers who set up shop in San Francisco seeking to build lives. Currently, Blue Bear has about 850 enrollees each quarter, as it aims to help musicians of all skill levels find their calling.

Prior to his time at Blue Bear, Lane said he had never played in an ensemble before, and that experience gave him the desire to learn as many styles of drumming as he could. How else would he so easily transition to the hard psychedelic rock that Primus plays, to the experimental and free flowing sound that the Grateful Dead made famous?

“There’s nothing like the experience (of playing in an ensemble,” Lane said. “That’s what I did as a kid, oon Port Mason, the smell of the rehearsal room was palpable, especially with the other kids.”

Lane was ecstatic when discussing how the country has opened up recently, allowing for live music and other gatherings. Lane, who lives in a condo in the Bay Area, said he loved spending extended time with his family, but added that he was raised on the road, and at times he became very restless without the daily grind of getting ready to play a different show each night.

On March 30, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros bring their cowboy folk/americana act to the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse for an evening of new songs, and their unique take on the Grateful Dead’s repertoire. They follow up the Central New York show with a pair at Radio City Music Hall over April 2-3. These shows will feature several unannounced special guests, including The Wolfpack, which consists of a dedicated strings section.

Weir, who played rhythm guitar with the Dead for 50 years, formed Wolf Bros a few years back and added Lane rather quickly. Lane and Weir have extensive history together including stints together in RatDog and Furthur, just to name a few, and Lane said he looks up to Weir on many levels.

“Bob, he really likes to paint with a long brush,” Lane said with a chuckle. “He does so many things that are not considered the norm, like turning all the stage monitors down at his shows so that he can hear what the audience hears and adapt to it. He’s such a dear, sweet friend to me and he is incredibly generous. His big thing is to gain experience by playing with anyone he can. He’s toying with the idea of performing a concerto, or playing with a symphony, to understand that dynamic. The guy has done everything you can do in rock music, yet he’s still pushing forward toward new and exciting ideas and collaborations.”

Bob Weir and Jay Lane performing with Wolf Bros., Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ 3/16/19

Lane couldn’t speak more highly about Weir’s impact on him.

“He constantly challenged me to get better and change up my concepts,” Lane added.

As for returning to the road, Lane said he cannot wait to be doing what he does best, providing the backbeat for several bands.

“COVID felt like a real prison cell,” he said. “After a while I think I began learning to be OK with it, like everyone else, but it’s been hard to make music through all this. Now I just need to find my relevance, my purpose again.”

Lane said he has gotten much better providing lessons online, which was a struggle at first because he still prefers older technology in many ways.

If you’re interested in seeing Lane perform with Wolf Bros in Syracuse, tickets are still available.

Bob Weir & Wolf Bros Spring Tour
Mar. 9 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, Tenn.
Mar. 10 – Orpheum Theatre – Memphis, Tenn.
Mar. 14 – Orpheum Theatre – Wichita, Kan.
Mar. 15 – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland – Kansas City, Mo.
Mar. 17 – Riverside Theater – Milwaukee, Wis.
Mar. 18 – Chicago Theatre – Chicago, Ill.
Mar.19 – Brown County Music Center – Nashville, Ind.
Mar. 21– Palace Theatre – Columbus, Ohio
Mar. 24 – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium– Asheville, N.C.
Mar. 25 – Tivoli Theatre – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Mar. 26 – Durham Performing Arts Center – Durham, N.C.
Mar. 29 – Roxian Theatre – Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mar. 30 – Landmark Theatre – Syracuse, N.Y.
April 2-3 – Radio City Music Hall – NYC

March 24, 2022
Interview: Nick Reese discusses upcoming debut album from Joyous Wolf

“We hold a crazy standard. If every song doesn’t break a benchmark of something we’ve already done, then it’s not there yet. It’s not right.” This is how Nick Reese, lead singer for Joyous Wolf, describes the work ethic behind the writing and recording of the band’s debut full length album due out this year.

Signed to Roadrunner Records in 2018, the Southern California based band quickly put out an EP “Place in Time,” releasing it in early 2019. From the EP came the single “Mother Rebel.” The song made its way to rock stations across the U.S, including SIRIUSXM’s Octane. “That kind of lifted us to where we could be,” Nick shared. “If that didn’t even happen, I don’t know if we would have had this record the way it is.”

Joyous Wolf

Fueled by the momentum from “Mother Rebel,” Joyous Wolf hit the road performing at festivals and booking multiple dates/tours opening for Slash, Buckcherry, and Deep Purple. Then Covid hit. Like many bands, their progression stopped in its tracks.

“The pandemic happened, and a lot happened during the pandemic. It almost tore us to shreds. As it did to a lot of people.” Reese shares. The band reconvened in July of 2020 to assess the health of the foursome and determine their next steps. “We had a lot of time to think about what kind of band we wanted to be, what we wanted to do, what we wanted to say.”

Looking back at the recording of their EP, Nick identifies it as “primordial” with most of the songs written in two weeks. However, for the new album a different approach was taken. “When it came time to writing and recording it was about taking time. Everything now is about time. “

“I think we got the gears turning again. We started this kind of going through all the things we had been kicking around up until that point. We probably went through a hundred audio files on phones and whatever, checking things out saying ‘Oh that’s cool, that ten seconds of that thirty-minute thing was cool, stuff like that’, We got a couple of things from that.”

Nick Reese, Joyous Wolf

“We went out to Joshua Tree. We wrote out there. A couple of songs were yielded from that. We kept chipping away at things. Some songs we re-wrote the entire song except for this thirty seconds that we liked. Re-writing 5, 6, 10 or more times. We took that whole year for writing. We finished recording in around May (2021). It was pretty much about a year’s worth of work.”

“This is the first time we wrote things and trashed them even when we got to pre-production with them. It was like this is not it, but the rest of this is. Then ‘Fearless’ kind of came in the ninth inning, and the way it worked out, everyone seemed to like it, and they said, ‘That’s the first single.’”

We had a lot of time to think about what kind of band we wanted to be, what we wanted to do, what we wanted to say.

In addition to being lead vocalist, Reese is the primary lyricist for the band. “We all have our purpose. Mine is to write and to sing. That’s where it’s been for me. I just want to write the best stuff. Write honestly. Not try to take advantage of things. It’s me. It’s not me trying to pander or something. The key to myself if its edible then the song is good. I just want to write good music. I want to say what I feel.”

When it comes to the new album, “it’s a really naked record for me. It’s a very personal record to me as far as lyrics. I think you can do whatever the hell you want in music. For me it was what I needed to do. If you asked me, why did you do it, it’s because I had to. I really felt like I had to. I just want to make sure that whatever I’m going to put out there is an honest thing about myself so if you want to get to know me as a person, just listen to every song.”

“‘Fearless’ is about when I was a kid, I was just an idiot. I would be the first person to jump off the waterfall cliffs and if there were waves, giant waves on the beach I would sprint right down and right into them. I liked that. To this day, I am still that same way. I hung by my feet upside down at Las Rageous festival and got banned for life. They did not like that. But I did it. There is this thing in my head, ‘Nah, this is not the time you die yet.’ I’ve always been that kind of a dare devil. “

When Covid put the band on hiatus, Nick took the opportunity for some personal growth. “Over the pandemic I had all this free time and after the three months of depression were over, I was like, ‘You know what, I’m just going to relearn how to sing. Top to bottom.’” To achieve this Reese enlisted vocal coach, Melisa Cross. “She broke it down for me scientifically,” Nick notes. “She went and watched every live video of me singing and said, ‘OK here’s the things you are doing right and here’s what you can improve on,’ never using the word wrong. She (shared) your body is your body, and you know your body. There is a lot of gain to that, and it’s been great.”

Joyous Wolf

Having cut their tour teeth opening for some heavy hitters, what did the band take away from those experiences? “I didn’t really learn anything, but I learned about touring, and I watched performances and I obviously picked up some things. I learned a lot watching Myles Kennedy (lead vocalist in Slash’s backing band Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators) perform. Very inspiring especially in the new format of myself. If anything, my tour manager obviously taught me everything about touring. Like, ‘Don’t talk to this person just go straight to your corner.’ I learned how to live on the road, mainly by doing it. There wasn’t a band that said, ‘Hey we’re going to teach you how this goes.’ It was never like that. Usually, it was staying out of the way of the bands and if they welcome you into their circle (great). But we’re pretty good at staying quiet and out of the way.”

As the final touches are being put on the yet to be named album, Joyous Wolf is heading out on the road for a three-month run across the U.S. The band will be opening for Dorothy on her “Gifts from the Holy Ghost” tour. So, what is it like on the road with these up-and-coming rockers? “We never have any issues. People ask us is there problems or turmoil and there is nothing that would be entertaining. Nothing that would be an actual issue. Nothing that would be exciting like Mötley Crüe bullshit, you know what I mean, nothing like that. We are not that way. I think people see how underwhelming we are when they hang around us.”

“I remember our tour manager (Stripes) when he first signed on to be our tour manager in early 2019. He thought he would be carrying dudes passed out on his shoulder and whatever. Then he realized that after the first show when he was still in the venue after the show was over and he was like where the hell did they go and he walked out to the van and there the four us were playing Mario Kart. I think at that moment he realized this was going to be a boring tour. We are not that type.”

Joyous Wolf

While subdued behind the scenes, the band is anything but when performing live. Electricity flows from the first note. Greg Braccio on base, and Robert Sodaro on drums set a rock-solid foundation for the songs to live on. Blake Allard’s guitar paints the musical canvas with his piercing leads and power chords. And Nick completes the picture, sharing the depth and breath of every song with his vocals.

Catch Joyous Wolf on tour in the tri-state area at Brooklyn Bowl Philly, PA 4/10, The Wellmont Theater, Montclair NJ on 4/15, and The Lost Horizon, Syracuse NY 4/16. Check their website for additional tour dates.

March 18, 2022
Upstate NY Director and Singer/Songwriter collaborate on score for “Panama”

Nashville needed Upstate New York for the upcoming film Panama before it could arrive in theaters.

Panama is loosely based on a true story of a special operations guy (Cole Hauser, who plays Rip on Yellowstone) getting mixed up in the US invasion of Panama in 1989. Mel Gibson stars as his point man in the military. The film is directed by Mark Neveldine (Crank) with music composed by Central New York native now in Nashville, Mick Fury.

Neveldine, was born and raised in Watertown, and called upon Fury to compose the score in his studio. Stunt coordinator/actor Frank Blake, also from Watertown, organized his team from his home base in Nashville. Fury shares how we connected together with the film crew:

So initially they liked some of my old Rock band (from Syracuse) Silent Fury’s music and asked to license that. A month later when I got officially hired I first got to sit with the director and hear what emotion he was hoping to present in each particular scene. They call this a “spotting session.” After spent a few hours on that, I hopped into my studio with a rough cut of the film and got to work. Most of the score was scenes you would guess, gun fights, drama, chase scenes, military stuff…but there’s a few scenes with some pretty intense love making happening. Certainly never expected my career to take a turn for softcore porn music! Lol. It wasn’t really that graphic, but it is intense and it’s a unique inspiration to compose for.

In Panama, Fury paints a soundscape of 80’s influences from cumbia (the folk music of Panama) to synthesizers to straight up rock n’ roll.

Photo Credit Brett Berwager

I was working on the film as they were editing the video, which is not typically how its done. Usually they would finish the video and then send it to me, but the music is such an integral part of this film they wanted me in on the ground floor. As such, sometimes I’d score a scene, think it was great and send it…only to get an email back with the scene looking and feeling totally different, and a request of “Do you mind looking at this again?” When we’d finished the film, I felt great…until they asked the video team for a few major changes, including the “tone of the film.” That required me to re-score almost the whole thing a second time. Wild and not highly recommended, however I learned so much the first time through that the second time through my compositions were much much better and really helped to nail the mood.

Looking back, Fury says he has blocked the six months of struggle, sweat, blood and tears and only remembers a really fun experience that was artistically rewarding. And he can’t wait to do another.

I have some connections in the movie world, including to the director of this film. It’s Mark Neveldine who did Crank with Jason Statham. I asked if I could get a song in Panama, and he said send something along and they’d see. I did, he and the production company liked it and asked for more. I sent more, and then more again, and again. I was driving across the Golden Gate bridge a few weeks later with my wife on vacation when I got a call asking, “Well, do you think you could score the whole movie?” I had no idea if I could but of course I said yes and here we are lol.

Panama will release on Friday, March 18th on digital and in theaters.

March 17, 2022
Inverview: Rick Barton, Original Founding Member of Dropkick Murphys

Rick Barton, founding guitarist of the Dropkick Murphys, is still making music with his son Stephen in his current band Continental.

Leaving the Dropkick Murphy’s was no easy decision, with Barton once telling the Fort Wayne Reader why he quit the band in 2000, mid-recording the band’s third album. “Myself and Kenny (Casey, bass player and co-founder) ended up hating each other,” Barton said. “We’ve since made amends, but you know, touring in a band for four straight years… that same old story.

Photo by Jaroslava Barton This is Rick’s band Continental

Now touring with Continental, Barton spoke with Rob Smittix of RadioRadioX on a variety of topics, including his time with Dropkick Murphys.

RRX: Many people may or may not know that you were an original founding member of the Dropkick Murphys, we don’t have to focus on it but certainly we should touch on it.

RB: Especially because it’s the 25th anniversary of the legendary album Do or Die.

RRX: I know you have stories but to briefly sum it up. What would you say about your experience?

RB: It was an incredible time in my life but at the time I didn’t know it was incredible. One of the most interesting stories from that whole record was sitting outside of my garage in Quincy, that was our practice space. Lars Frederiksen from Rancid flew in, he was staying at my place because the practice space was right next to it. We congregated outside of the garage, we were sitting around talking and he recently produced Swingin’ Utters’ The Streets of San Francisco album. We were talking about sales, and he said you’d probably be lucky if you did what Swingin’ Utters did, they’ve sold 10,000 and I just looked at everybody and said we’re going to sell 50,000 easily. I broke all punk rock ethos and cred at that moment by blurting that out! Obviously, the album has gone on to surpass way more than 50,000. I’ll never forget saying that but at the same time I didn’t think that we were that great. I kind of knew, when we pulled into Buffalo and there’d be 500 kids lined up. We’re pulling in with the van and I’m like who are these kids? Are they actually there to see us?

My original band Outlets did very little touring. Bands back then didn’t tour, you only toured if you were on a major label. The band that bypassed that and jump started the rest of the bands was The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Around 88′, 89′ or whatever, they got in the van and they toured. They were one of the first ones from Boston. So anyway, we pull up to these places and I was like this is unbelievable. I knew the phenomena, The Outlets became huge in Boston, we would play for 1200 seat rooms within our first year as a band. I understood fans coming to see your band, but I just didn’t think it was possible in another city. You know what I mean?

RRX: Absolutely but I’ve never achieved that.

RB: Not many people have. Compared to the amount of people that start bands it’s astronomically low.

RB: But why are they coming? Are they coming because we have bagpipes? Are they coming because of our name? Did they like a certain song? Keeps you wondering about all of this stuff. We were fairly new at that point. Matt Kelly the drummer had some experience but besides from him and me, we weren’t really that seasoned. Mike and Kenny were both brand new at music.

I go to see the Dropkick Murphys all of the time and I love listening to Kenny talk from the stage. He cracks me up. The things that he says, it’s like the opposite of Paul Stanley at a Kiss concert. I often say that if the old legends came back from the grave and they dropped in on a Murphys show and heard Kenny talking from the stage they’d be like what the hell is this? What did the mayor of Boston form a punk rock band? It’s not typical banter but I love it!

One thing he says a lot from stage is “I don’t know how other people do it but this is the only band I’ve ever had.” That is so rare.

I helped, obviously Mike was instrumental, and Matt Kelly is an incredible drummer but it’s really Kenny’s brain child. It’s just an unbelievable story, it’s fascinating and at the time, sadly, I kind of resented Kenny, not kind of, I did. I was hanging onto the old guard, like all of my old music friends who were so talented and never got anywhere. Even though I was in his band, I was resentful, I was jealous. We’ve made amends with each other, but Kenny and I ended up hating each other after five years in the band. We both stepped it up and talked about the experience. He’s credited me with basically helping him develop his career because he says he couldn’t have done it without me. That’s probably true, not that he couldn’t have done it because I was Rick Barton, he just needed somebody that was just going to make up some chords and show him some songs. It just happened to be me. It wasn’t like Kenny and I were this magical duo, although we did write some pretty good songs together. It’s kind of mind blowing when I look back now 25 years later, it’s pretty incredible that we put that together.

Let’s face it, Mike quit after the first record, Kenny was not easy to deal with, but I didn’t realize why. The reason he was so brutal was because that was the only way to succeed. We needed that person who was going to be worrying and stressing around the clock and that was Kenny’s job. Like I’ve said, I’ve apologized to him for not being a team player. I’m not lamenting the fact that I quit the band. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had a million dollars or if I became a rock-star if I stayed in the band. Maybe the band would’ve imploded eventually who knows? I also like to think that if we kept the original line-up, we probably could’ve been the next Clash. It would’ve ended up going in a different direction than they ended up going in. Needless to say, I feel somewhat embarrassed that I didn’t realize how much suffering Kenny was doing. I just thought he was a bastard the whole time. The typical thing workers feel about their boss. You know what I mean?

RRX: Oh, for sure.

RB: Of course, now I realize it was me. I should’ve adapted and helped Kenny. I should’ve been there every step of the way encouraging him. In my defense there were a few times I tried to make peace. I came up to him and I said Kenny I know we just can’t get along, but you know certain songs like “Wheel of Misfortune” we wrote together and it’s really inspirational and it feels like a magical moment. I would occasionally try to get sentimental and patch things up through the art. He’d just go yeah FU let’s go play. He didn’t want any part of that BS sentimentality thing, but it wasn’t really BS it was heartfelt on my part. But it was too little too late at that point. The good news is that even though I didn’t capitalize monetarily, no one knows who the F*** I am, a very few people which is fine with me in a way. I have those moments from like January of 96′ until I was still working on the third album March or April of 2000. It was a short amount of time a little over four years. It was an intense period of time; we made tons of music and did tons of touring. So, no matter how much I didn’t gain, I have that time period in my life that was magical. And as much as I thought Kenny was ruining my time on the planet at that time, I was wrong about that. It doesn’t matter now. I think about the music we made, the people I met and that incredible time in my life. It was a gift to me that was given.

Rick Barton is still making music with his son Stephen Barton in his current band Continental and has recently hit the studio so be on the lookout for new music soon!

Originally published in The Xperience Monthly

March 16, 2022
Dumpstaphunk rocks Brooklyn Bowl, Ivan Neville talks Winos, Beacon Theatre

If my ancestors could see me now. Ivan Neville’s February 1988 solo record vibe is alive in the island of Manhattan this year. He is on the 2022 bill at Love Rocks NYC to play with Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos.

Steve Farrone is playing drums with Pino Palladino on John Mayer’s Sob Rock tour which opened the door for Steve Jordan to regroup with the Winos. Keith Richards and Steve Jordan spent time on the road last year for The Rolling Stones 2021 North American Tour.

Ivan Neville at Brooklyn Bowl

Ivan Neville and his band Dumpstaphunk played to a sold out Madison Square Garden audience for two nights with the Dave Matthews Band in 2021. Friday February 18 Dumpstaphunk split the bill with the Nth power to a sold out Brooklyn Bowl.

Ivan took some time before soundcheck to talk about the past, present, and future of his music

Matthew Romano: Let’s talk about the 80s and the X-Pensive Winos.

Ivan Neville: That first Winos tour in general was like monumental for me. I got to double dip. My own band opened up the show. That was super cool to do our thing then go to a different dressing room which was the Winos. Then go play with Keith and the fellas.

Ivan Neville & Keith Richards Blue Note photo by DIno Perrucci

Matthew Romano: It’s exciting to see a New York musical seed like this so early in the year. Hope the vibe can grow into more cities.

Ivan Neville: Ya, doing a little one off thing is pretty cool. Hopefully some stuff can springboard from that. You never know. I’m sure Keith’s other band is not done yet. I’m sure they will be playing this year.

Matthew Romano: Dumpstaphunk and The Rolling Stones co-billed at The Superdome in New Orleans in 2019. The Beacon Theater’s smaller venue vibe will really hit this March.

Ivan Neville: Yea it’s cool.

Photo by Kaitlyn Owings

Matthew Romano: I was inside the Beacon Theater for Love Rocks NYC in March of 2020. You closed the evening as a special guest on piano with the Black Crowes. It was the actual first night of many events to limit capacity and go straight to a live stream. How does it feel being back on the road in 2022?

Ivan Neville: I think we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. My road chops are a little weak not being ready for the grind of the travel and the “the hurry up and wait” scenarios. But it’s actually been pretty fun. I have hope that this year is gonna be crushing.

Photo by Kaitlyn Owings

The Nth Power and Dumpstaphunk crushed their set at Brooklyn Bowl on February 18. Drummer Nikki Glaspie stepped out front solo like Jagger to sing on “Dancing to the Truth” during Dumpstaphunks set.

Ivan Neville gave the Brooklyn Bowl crowd a funk lesson on Miles Davis former wife Betty Davis. I’m going to do it till the cows come home. And when my goose gets loose. She gonna know. I still be getting it on.

Her records in the 70’s were some funky stuff. Original members of Sly and the Family Stone played on them. Larry Graham and Chad Kennedy station did too. What amazing ground breaking funk she did.
Ivan Neville

Nikki Glaspie stayed out front on vocals for “Dirty Work” Nikki had a Neville like vibe to the Winos as she used to be the drummer in Dumpstaphunk who serendipitously opened the show in Brooklyn on Friday with her own band the Nth Power. Backstage at the Brooklyn Bowl there was talk about saxophonists Maceo Parker and Sam Kininger.

Photo by Kaitlyn Owings

Nikki’s vocals blended nicely with all of the other great voices coming from the bands hearts and instruments. Dumpstaphunk played material from all of their records. Tony Hall told NYS Music after their latest release “Where Do we go from Here” 2021 Album.

We recorded a bunch of these songs and didn’t finish them lyric wise. Vocal wise we can always change. It goes kind of like vice versa. We’re all a band that can sing and play too ya know?
Tony Hall

Photo Gallery by Kaitlyn Owings:

February 21, 2022
John Mayer On The Old Air Waves; Tour Opener In Albany Set For Feb. 17

What is it about Upstate New York winters that makes musicians bring their multi-colored California concepts here to heat things up? 41 years ago, Jerry Garcia Band came to be an act for the Lake Ontario sound at Laker Hall on the SUNY Oswego campus February 17, 1980.  And next week, February 17, 2022, John Mayer opens his Sob Rock Tour at Albany’s MVP Arena.

This marks the fourth time he’s shedded on the Hudson River for a tour opener. Mayer played his first Dead and Company show on Pearl Street in 2015. Matthew Romano spoke with Mayer on an episode of Tales From The Golden Road (Easter 2016) about the journey.

John Mayer Archival Tales From The Golden Road Radio Transcript Sunday March 27th 2016 (8:35 minutes long from Easter 2016 before Dead and Company Summer Tour 2016). The original audio includes Bob Weir calling in to the show “as Biff from Cabo” that’s also featured on the broadcast.

MR: With your notorious blues background are you excited to tackle songs like “Wang Dang Doodle,” “New Speedway Boogie” and “Viola Lee Blues?” To bring your own texture and vibe to them?

John Mayer: Not completely. It’s a great question. So it’s the same blues shape on the guitar neck… but your intentionality is completely different. That was the R&D of it for me. It’s more meditative. It’s a little Hendrixy.

MR: Very fitting that the first notes you and Oteil Burbridge channeled with Dead and Company in Albany was “Playing In The Band.” What a composition you guys continue to improvise the moment with still.

John Mayer: Yea I wrote this very cinematic intro to playing in the band that night. One of the things I’ve realized is so instrumental, no pun intended, in people vibing with the music is the fact that it’s very sequential in the way it moves up and down. So it’s like a flow. You know? It’s very ascending and descending. That’s what allows people to get on it and ride it.

MR: Ride the wave.

John Mayer: Yea. The music got really tense and then just opened up, it was the only time we ever did it but I like how it was the birth of the band.

John Mayer: I was speaking with Eddie Kramer who was famous for engineering the Jimi Hendrix records and still oversees the live records and stuff. I told him that Garcia and Hendrix were similar. They were both able to divorce themselves from consciousness while playing. A song like “Viola Lee Blues” I can really pull the Hendrix thing into it. It’s not that different. It’s a mixolydian thing that’s a different cut of the saw. Straight blues kind of wilts.

Tales From The Golden Road: It’s the blues but it’s also a Grateful Dead song.

John Mayer: It’s blues that’s been put in a different shape by a blacksmith. It’s like a pounded chicken. What do they call that?

Tales From the Golden Road: Spatchcock!

John Mayer: It’s Blues that’s been tenderized.

MR: It still has that grease to it though.

John Mayer: Yea that’s right.

John Mayer: The good part of the first Albany show was kind of spent with arms kind of crossed. Then at some point they came down and it was like ok he’s got it. Now that we have that relationship with the crowd we can just go in from the down beat and get to know each other.

Tales from the Golden Road: It’s like that great line Bobby has about the Grateful Dead Music, “We state a theme and take it for a walk in the woods.” Then while you’re taking a walk in the woods, is this going somewhere?

John Mayer: The quotable Bob Weir. I’ll tell ya, I’ve learned so much from these songs and guitar playing from Jerry and this music.

Tales From The Golden Road: You’re going to school all the time while you’re playing this music.

John Mayer: “Here Comes Sunshine “off the first Dick’s Picks is maybe the greatest guitar playing I have ever heard in my life. There’s two solos and they are the most sustained, genius. They are just up on the wave. It never broke.

MR: Well if this first fall tour was school, then school’s out for the summer man.

John Mayer: Yea we’re gonna go for it.

The Record Magazine June 1982 issue

The Jerry Garcia Band once held class for Oswego State University on February 17, 1980. The two J’s sounds are a nice hybrid. Mayer’s “Dear Marie” is Garcia’s “Althea.” John Mayer, Pino Palladino, Steve Jordan, and Chick Corea once clocked in “After Midnight.”

Expect some funk with guitarist Isaiah Sharkey of D’Angelo at the Sob Rock tour debut as well. John Mayer and Bob Weir funked out Jerry Band’s music with Lettuce as well. Like Oteil Burbridge told NYS Music in Miami Beach.

Well I mean there’s so much funk in The Grateful Dead’s music. The Jerry Band’s music. It’s just like there for the picking so I just lean in to it
Oteil Burbridge

The Jerry Garcia Band visited Oswego, NY on February 17, 1980 before a Grateful Dead tour. A then 37-year old Garcia had his second touring band outside the Grateful Dead since collaborating with Howard Wales on Hooteroll? His tiger quartet set up on the bandstand was inside a toasty Laker Hall. The comfortable corridor of Route 104 runs alongside it overlooking Lake Ontario. Three hours of music played to around 1,420 heads in a general admission hockey rink. Wild Blue on a bed of grey.

The landscape helped paint the setlist with classics like “Catfish John” & “Positively 4th Street.” Outside the wooden room cast musical snow angels on the lake’s banks. This heater includes one of Senor Garcia’s sweetest improvisational moments when the “After Midnight” launches into Eleanor Rigby. Only one year of tape has that jam.

In a 1981 TV interview Garcia was asked, “What are the virtues playing with your own band compared to the Grateful Dead?” Jerry responded, “It’s a real resonant consonance experience, it’s harmonious, everybody’s musical taste is similar to my own, ya know? And our concept of what music should be. We have an accord, so my band is playing the kind of music that I think of the way music is constructed, in terms of the roles and the instruments. The Grateful Dead is interesting because everyone has a different concept of what music is about which creates a lot of friction and tension to it.”

Jerry Garcia interview with David Gans & Blair Jackson in A Record 1982 print publication:

Jerry Garcia: When we started working on “The Eleven” back in the late 60’s we’d spend hours playing groups of eleven, to get used to that phrase and musical patterns. Then play them over and over again.

Record Magazine: In an almost academic way?

Jerry Garcia: Oh yea, in a real academic way.

We had to do it. You can’t play confidently and fluidly in those times with really knowing what you’re doing.
Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia Band Set List, Laker Hall, Oswego, NY February 17 1980

Set 1: I’ll Take A Melody, Friend Of The Devil, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) Catfish John, Deal, Positively 4th Street, That’s All Right, Mama

Set 2: Money Honey, Sitting Here In Limbo, Let It Rock, After Midnight > Eleanor Rigby Jam > After Midnight, It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, The Harder They Come

Full Band lineup for John Mayer’s Sob Rock Tour

February 13, 2022
William “Tragedy” Yager – Businessman Preserving an Iconic Scene for the Next Generation

So many have already interviewed William “Tragedy” Yager about his purchase of Albany’s legendary night club Fuze Box (formerly the QE2) but I waited for all the other formal interviews to be over with so I could just have a nice conversation with the man. Rob Smittix from RadioRadioX met Yager in his office area at his Howard Street location of Patsy’s Barber Shop and had a nice chat.

RRX: The day we received the call that you bought the Fuze Box, I was speaking with a friend and I said, “man I wish someone would buy it”. It honestly hurt my heart to see the building just sitting there with a for sale sign on it. What was it that made you go ahead and make it official?

WTY: I thought I was saving it from the wrecking ball or a Starbucks or something of that nature. I know the developers that were looking at it, were actually looking at maybe even having to move it because it’s on the National Historic Registry as one of the last five White Tower Hamburger buildings in the country. My formative years were there. I’d like to say I grew up in there but I didn’t grow up anywhere, I haven’t grown up yet. I feel like as soon as you grow up God’s like, ‘good, you’ve grown up, get the f**k up here and play a harp or something’. I wanted other kids to have what I was able to have from (previous owners) Charlene and David Shortsleeve and from what they have built. They orchestrated such an amazing vibe and this is way before the Internet. Char had given us her blessing, which is amazing!

I built the Fuze Box in the back of The Power Company (across the way from the current location), that was mine, so I felt like it came full circle. And I don’t know if being back at the beginning of the circle you started at is a good thing or not but I positioned myself (I guess) to probably be the only person that could do it.

This is the building part. This is supposed to be the fun part getting the calendar together and what the nights are going to be. Wednesday night we want to do industry night, kind of like the old Alibi’s. Thursdays I want it to be emo night, because emo is huge right now. Friday is going to be the normal QE2ian/Fuze Box Goth night. Hex is the first Friday of the month and the third Friday of the month is Resist The Club. Now we’re structuring where other DJ nights might fall in. So, my vision now is kind of like the original QE2, where it’s live music until 10 P.M. and club night from 10 P.M. on. A smooth transition of music, so people can stay as late as they want as new people come through the door. That’s the vision. Saturdays will be house, EDM and all those different genres of an electronic DJ style. These things are for the young folks, so they can be the new us!

It’s not just about us remembering when this was the QE2. We can’t do that, we’re old. (Laughs) We’re going to make a cool viable space for the new generation.

RRX: I had so many great memories there as a young adult. Of course, we’d love to relive those days but making it a place for the next generation, I think that’s a great way to put it.

WTY: That’s what the goal is. The Fuze Box/QE2, the Q Z Box 2 or whatever the f*** it is, has to remain a safe place for everybody in our community. When I say community, I’m talking about punk, gay, trans and everybody down the line. A comfortable place for them to be them and us to be us.

RRX: I respect that, safety is key. Now, I’m sure you saw as soon as the news broke that you purchased the club how happy the community was.

WTY: That’s great to have all of that support but getting them out of their houses is another thing. We own barber shops, tattoo shops, laundromats and The Bull and Bee Meadery. The nature of business and how business is conducted has changed. It used to be consistency is everything and location, location, location, it’s not like that anymore. Now it really depends on social media, marketing and branding. As long as your cyber presence is there, that’s what the new location is.

RRX: In the heyday of the club there wasn’t social media at all back then. Times sure have changed.

WTY: We own fuzeboxalbany.com but it’s as much the QE2 as it is the Fuze Box to me. Although the Fuze Box is my thing, the QE2 is what I see when I walk in there. It’s even hard for me to call it the Fuze Box, I’m still that old guy. I bought the Q, I mean the Fuze Box, I mean… what do I own?

(Both laugh)

RRX: Yeah, I think we, “the older generation” all call it the Q.

WTY: Generation Q.

So, we’re trying to book local acts mostly, we want to support the local scene but also want the local scene to support itself.

Things are different. Lucky for me, I’m very open-minded and very malleable. This is how it is now, fine let’s make it work the best we can. It’s a build, so now we’re building the business that was already there. We have a good foundation and a good reputation and a lot of support from the community. Now to get them to turn that support into showing up. I’ve got a lot of great press; it hasn’t always been that way for me in my life. You’re only one step away from being a sh**heel again so… I keep that in mind. Everybody’s like you’re a hometown hero. I’m like, ‘uhhh, no don’t do that to me, you’re setting me up to fall’. So, we’ll support the people that support us and everybody else whether they like it or not. We’re hoping on having a nice symbiotic relationship with Lark Hall, Empire Live and all the venues. Kip from Pauly’s reached out, that was nice of him. It has to be an all for one, one for all situation, otherwise you won’t get that scene back.

Originally published in The Xperience Monthly, written by Rob Smittix

February 8, 2022
False Pockets Are Ready to Experiment With Their Future

Rochester trio False Pockets have returned with their new single ‘Quarter Life Crisis Diapers’, off their upcoming album, Selfish Prophecies. The album, out February 18th, features more of the math rock sound their fans love, along with some new elements.

After celebrating the release, Ben Chesnes and Erik Happ are here to share some behind the scenes of how it all came together.

Kamra Wint : So, the new single just came out, congrats! How do you guys feel about it?

Ben Chesnes : We’ve been listening to these for a while, so it’s nice that others can hear it, for sure.

Erik Happ : It’s nice that it’s finally out, we don’t have to be in the processing stage anymore.

KW: When did the band start writing and coming up with the idea for ‘Quarter Life Crisis Diapers’?

EH : Almost two years ago. During quarantine, we all got together and started making music.

BC : I think one of the riffs in this song was one of the first things [Erik] sent me for the new album.

KW : What made you guys want to release ‘Quarter Life Crisis Diapers’ as your first single?

EH : I think, as a band, we all mutually agreed that it was the best one.

BC : There’s a bunch of catchy parts in it, and some of the other songs on the album are a little more long winded.

KW : How did you guys get together? How did you all find each other?

BC : Erik and I originally met at FLCC because we were both studying audio technology, but we didn’t start playing music until years after.

EH : I think it was Fall 2018, I was wearing a Caddywhompus shirt and Ben was like “yo, nice shirt!”. I was like “we should really play some music together sometime.” I had just moved out here, and had nobody to play with so I was down.

KW : Zach is your third member right? How did you guys meet him?

EH : We were looking for a bassist, so I asked my friend, who was an Eastman Kid [Eastman School of Music], if he knew anyone and he suggested Zach. I just got lucky finding the right people.

KW : So what do you guys have in mind for the future? What are you thinking of?

BC : Well, I feel like our writing process is generally more like Erik coming up with the starting points and then we get together and kind of work it out. We honestly don’t have much written for our next leap, I feel like we wanted to sit with this one for a little bit.

EH : We have a bunch of stuff actually. We have like three songs in form and then a bunch of little ideas. I’m hoping to stray away from writing every single thing, and have us just like get into a room and just come up with ideas collectively.

BC : I think this album definitely has a lot more of that though. Our first EP that we came out with in 2019 was more older stuff that Erik had written and this album that we’re coming out with soon is more collective.

The math rock group has even more in store for their fans, with an upcoming New Paltz show in March and another show in Brooklyn. The future is very bright for False Pockets.

‘Quarter Life Crisis Diapers’ is available on all streaming platforms and more information can be found on the band’s website.

February 3, 2022
Interview: Snake Anthony and the Wood Brothers Shed Across New York State

The Wood Brothers started 2022 in the Empire State with dates in Rochester’s Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater, Albany’s Palace Theater and Plattsburgh’s Strand Center for the Arts. It marks the Wood Brothers first time at Kodak since Feb 2020, and bassist Chris Wood took some time after the gig for a quick chat with NYS Music.

Matthew Romano: Good to have the Wood Brothers back at Kodak Theater for the first time since Feb 2020. Eastman School of Music Steve Gadd’s quote comes to mind from your performance. “When you get it musically to a level where everyone on the bandstand is having fun and can hear each other and you can trust the audience is hearing it the way you are it gets to a spiritual level. In Japan or wherever you are. That’s the goal.” How did last night’s energy feel at Kodak?

Chris Wood: Yea last night was the first show we had since the holiday break. Combination of excitement to be back and playing with band mates and touring with our crew we love. But also the feeling of being a little bit rusty. Got to get my sound right. Ya know?

MR: Well the vibe you guys gave off on the bandstand looked like a lot of fun. The dynamics alone. You jumping from the Hofner to the stand up. Jano jumping from the kit to shitar. Handheld keyboards. Oliver switched acoustic and electric with rip snorting slide guitar.

CW: We want sonic variety. As well as musical variety and of course dynamics. Some songs are like a rock band and then some stripped down. For us that’s what makes the show interesting. It’s not just one thing all night. There’s a real shape to the set. Different moments that have a completely different vibe. The tone pallet ya know?

MR: Well your going back to The Palace Theater in Albany where MMW in December 2000 had Trey Anastasio come sit in for an improvisational Partido Alto. Then a “We are rolling” second set jam. Any memories of that pallet?

CW: Trey has sat in with us a bunch. I didn’t realize that it was in Albany too. Before we knew Phish was when we were in our downtown New York City music scene. We had no concept of the jam band scene. We lived in a different musical universe. Phish started playing us during their set breaks and then their fans showed up almost overnight in our crowd . But as far as musical memories that go back to 2000…I had no idea that tape was out there (laughter)

MR: MMW’s “Your Name is Snake Anthony” has helped coin the term for the Capital Region for cats on the road, “Shedding up and down the Hudson River”

CW: Well you can thank Col. Bruce Hampton for that.

MR: That was the Colonel?

CW: That’s Bruce. Yea we just sent that track to him and we’re like do something over this and he just improvised that over it. Right. Like “we lived in a shed.” That’s all Bruce.

MR: Seeing “Atlas” get played differently again last night keeps that song with a fun on the road vibe, stopping on a dime. What’s behind the scenes on “Atlas” that keeps it fresh?

CW: It was on our first wood bros record. It was a song that existed before the wood bros in Oliver’s band King Johnson. He wrote it for them in the 90s. The live arrangement is always morphing. It’s gotten really fast and sometimes it’s stripped down with the Rix on shitar and then electric loud and rocking. That’s what’s fun. A song like that can arrange it in completely different ways. Real, versatile and playful.

MR: Hopefully “Snake Anthony” will help you realize that you’re the best on the road in 2022.

Photo Gallery by Brian Ferguson: The Wood Brothers, Richie Stearns and Aaron Lipp from Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

January 30, 2022
“We’re about to turn it all up”: Welcome To The Hippie Tribe

To many, the term “hippie” is often associated with counterculture, drug-induced dreamers. Sure, they may have the right societal ideals, but they are often followed by eccentric and unconventional behavior with abstract resolutions instead of anything concrete. Others turn the hippie persona into an identity, becoming a caricature that further discredits a way of life that has many valid ideologies.

As the Hippie persona loses credibility within contemporary culture, up-and-coming duo, dp.thuH and blond.bomber, are looking to revive what it means to be against the grain. Collectively, the Pittsburgh (blond) and Toledo (dp) bred artists are recognized as Hippie Tribe. A fitting name as their blend of rock & roll, hip hop, alternative music along with their live instrumentation and overall mix of musical elements create a magnetic sound that sways further away from popular contemporaries with each listen.

Now, different does not always mean better. Yet, their organic approach to their sound is a direct result of the duo’s realization that some spaces aren’t meant for them and that their niche isn’t any particular sound, but rather an encapsulation of their influences. They don’t occupy a sub-genre of hip hop, or Rock or R&B, they are those genres and whatever else they choose to become.

Operating out of Brooklyn, the duo feel as though they have the world at their fingertips, Assured about what they bring to the table. The duo answered some questions for NYS Music.

NYS Music: What part of Brooklyn are you guys from?

dp.thuH: We stay out in Bedstuy. We aren’t originally from BK. I’m from Toledo, Ohio and Niko’s [blond.bomber] from Pittsburgh.

NYS Music: How did you guys come together?

blond.bomber: We’ve been making music together for about five years now. We met playing ball in college. We spent a lot of time before we decided to make music just talking about it. Freestyling at parties, chatting on why certain albums were better than others. It all happened real organic like.

NYS Music: Your music is very diverse and does not confine itself to any genre. How much do you feel if (any) did your environment play a part in that?

dp.thuH: It played a huge role. And it still does. Growing up in gospel choirs naturally shaped our eclectic ears. You can hear hella genres in gospel music – blues, jazz, funk, rock. Once I got my own headphones and smart phones came around, it was over. So our music is a reflection of the sounds we’ve been hearing our whole lives.

blond.bomber: And playing instruments and producing all of our music gives us an advantage too, we can really manipulate and shape our music so that it’s super palatable to the average listener. But still unique too.

NYS Music: Your LP on Apple Music is labeled as “Alternative Rap” but what would you guys label your style as?

dp.thuH: Honestly, I don’t really know. It fluctuates so much. Hip-Pop&B? Alternative Punk Rap? It’s just different for real. In the best ways, like it’s uniquely refreshing.

NYS Music: You call yourselves “Hippie Tribe,” is that because you guys see yourselves as musical outcasts? Or different from the norm? Even your individual names (dp.thuH & blond.bomber)

dp.thuH: I guess so, we definitely go against the grain with our shit. But I think I felt like an outcast my whole life. And it took me some time to accept it too but I realized I was moving further from my purpose the more I tried to integrate myself into places that were never meant for me. Truthfully, it’s not on purpose. I think we’re different because unfortunately, a lot of this world is made up of bullshitters and people looking for photo ops. People who like to hear themselves talk and say things just to say they said them later. We’re not just being different because it’s the cool thing to do. We got chosen for this shit – that’s why we’re different. And that’s why we take it dead ass serious. It’s our job to push the art further, really push boundaries.

blond.bomber: This is just how our brains work. And it’s beyond the music like Dee said, we’re mad unorthodox without trying. We speak in cursive and dream abstract. I don’t claim to be cool or none of that shit and I don’t try to be. I just know God loves me and my shorties love me and I try to treat every breath like it’s my last. We’re here to leave a legacy and you can’t do that tryna fit in. our homies say it all the time, we’ve just always been different.

blond.bomber

NYS Music: Describe your songwriting process.

dp.thuH: I think I’m like 70/30 when it comes to freestyling versus writing so it doesn’t take us long to make records once we have production, or vice-versa. It isn’t hard to produce once we have lyrics or a melody. We feel like we’re vessels so producing records top to bottom comes naturally. And there’s no ego in this so if one of us is like, ‘yo, I feel like you should change the flow here’ or ‘I think we should find a stronger way to say this bar,’ the other is all ears. It’s all about putting the best product together possible.

NYS Music: Why only 2 songs for Gullah Punk: mod 1?

blond.bomber: Gullah Punk: mod 1, is the first of several capsules we’ll be dropping. We’ve always been pretty eclectic with our sound but over the past couple of years, we’ve been really focused on creating dynamics within minimalistic production. We love to rap and we love to rage so rock and hip-hop tethered naturally. This two-pack is littered with those little moments of perfectly balanced raw emotion, vulnerability and disorderliness. These capsules will be both auditory and visual too, we’re releasing a series of film shorts leading up to a short film. We pitched our film to a few directors and now we’re blessed to have a whole ass incredible production company behind us believing in our vision and mission. Along with the drops, we also put together a few community events in Bed-stuy. So this music project has sort of turned into a living, breathing movement.

dp.thuH: The goal for this particular project rollout and accompanying events is two-fold; We love music and the arts so if our presence and efforts allow kids to discover a new passion or encourage others in the community to pursue theirs, perfect. The second piece is probably most important for us… we want to ignite a new mindset in our people that together, we have the tools necessary to rewrite our fate. The philosophy is simple – “Kill your demons”. But in order for us to get that done, we got to shine a light into the dark.”

dp.thuH

NYS Music: Do you guys consider yourselves abstract artists?

dp.thuH: To us, we’re just doing our thing. I kinda feel like we’re Queen when they first wanted to drop “Bohemian Rhapsody.” They’re banging coffee mugs against chandeliers and shit, singing until their voices can’t crack any more. And all that “abstract” stuff was just their process. It’s exactly the only way they knew how to get out whatever it was they were hearing in their heads. So I don’t know if we’re abstract artists. I don’t know if that’s something we can even say because it looks like 1+1 to us.

NYS Music: Is there any particular artist that influenced you guys’ sound?

blond.bomber: Particularly, no. And that’s not to say that we don’t have influences – it’s actually the opposite. We get influenced everyday by everything. You could be sitting at the park and words come to you or, with your homies or, having sex or, dreaming. We just let things flow as organically as possible. So, sometimes Dee will have a beat that inspires me or someone will come in with some bars they came up with on the random. We really just let the universe decide.

dp.thuH: Yea it’s hard to name particular artists because it’s such a fusion of hella sounds. But lately we’ve been listening to a lot of N.E.R.D, Nirvana, Yves Tumor, and Willow…

blond.bomber: Haley Williams.

dp.thuH: Yup. We’ve been getting some gnarly sounds out of it.

NYS Music: What are your goals in the music industry?

dp.thuH: Because we’re super-producers, we’ll be a powerhouse label soon, with some of the dopest artists under our wing, all while producing and writing songs for the biggest acts in the world. We’re going to have a full-blown production and multimedia company soon too. We’re already writing, directing and scoring our own visual projects so, we feel confident that with the right infrastructure, we’re going to make some serious noise before people can even blink. And we’re going to debunk the whole notion of celebrity. Because, we’re giving it all back to the streets. We’re about to revamp Bedstuy to be the hub for the best art, regardless of medium, in New York. Studios on every block, random installations on the sidewalks and in parks, immersive programs. We’re about to turn it all up.

January 10, 2022

Built in Breakdance