On Saturday, November 12 at the Broome County Forum Theatre, Maestro Daniel Hege led the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra in “Green Places,” a program named for a featured concerto by American composer Gary Schocker. The concert began with an unscripted reading of the National Anthem, sung heartily by the audience, followed with the brief fourth Novelette by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a work for strings and percussion.
“Green Places,” a three movement concerto for flute, featured principal flutist Karen Bogardus, whose stunning green gown helped set the tone for the fanciful piece. Bogardus’ virtuoso playing was fluid and flexible as she led the orchestra in playful calls and responses. Concertmaster Uli Speth concluded the first half of the program with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending.” Speth, dressed in an open vest and bowtie suitable for the English moors, held the audience in rapt attention as his soloistic lines soared over the muted strings.
The Philharmonic rose to the many challenges of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, one of the least known but most technically difficult of the nine. Highlights were the tight string sections, spot-on winds, and remarkably fine timpani playing.
The next event for the Binghamton Philharmonic is Winter Wonderland on December 10, featuring performances of music from Home Alone 2 (John Williams), The Polar Express (Alan Silvestri), Nightmare Before Christmas (Danny Elfman), The Snowman (Howard Blake) and many more.
Akshatha Ganesh and Ashwyn MuthukumaraswamiAmanda Green and Mark GreenAmi Titus and Barbara ReardonKimburlee Stewart and Kevin OriolPokey Crocker and Ann Scala 2Reenie Wilson, Ann Machlin, and Kathie Winckler
On Thursday night, November 11th, Guthrie Bell Productions threw another fantastic party at The Hollow in downtown Albany and things got more than just a little bit strange. The lineup of Bella’s Bartok and The Dust Bowl Faeries was yet another great move as the entire night was a delicious ride from “creepy carnival music” to “foot-stomping freak folk.” And despite the fact that it was a Thursday night show, no one left early and no one really even sat down.
The Dust Bowl Faeries
The evening opened up with a local band called The Dust Bowl Faeries. It was my first time seeing this band, but it certainly won’t be my last — and everyone I spoke with had the exact same reaction. Self-described as “dark carnival music” this band was unlike anything I have ever seen or heard before. I knew it was going to be good when the lead singer hopped on stage with a taxidermy ram’s head on her back, and they exceeded my expectations.
If you are curious about The Dust Bowl Faeries, and you should be, you should check out their website immediately. They have a new album titled Carnival Dust coming out in January and on December 6th you can check out their brand new video by Thin Edge Films.
Bella’s Bartok
I have to admit that Bella’s Bartok has been a favorite of mine for many years now — they are one of the most energetic, unique, and entertaining bands in the scene. Their set on Thursday night was well over two hours long and despite that, it seemed like they could have kept right on going. I can’t get enough of this band’s on-stage chemistry and their lead singer’s antics, including hopping off the stage and walking around while singing in the crowd.
Other bands have to work really hard to get the crowd to participate. Bella’s fans — AKA “The Strange Ones” are the exact opposite because the energy is palpable and the band is electric. If you missed them last night, they have several dates coming up in the northeast so get your tickets fast.
Shenanigans
All in all, it was a perfect night with a perfect lineup of strange shenanigans and creepy delights. Check out our full gallery below.
Reaching the halfway point of their collaborative tour, TABoose took over the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls on Sunday, November 13, formerly the Civic Center and site of the legendary 1994 Phish Halloween show.
Leaning away from the Beatles cover that was highly speculated, both bands threw down hot 90-minute sets as their confidence both with each other and as individual musicians seems to grow with every concert.
photo by Derek Java
Goose opened up the night with “So Ready”, the Shenanigans Nite Club cut letting loose with standout guitar solos from Rick and Peter as Spuds pushed the tempo to breakneck speed. “California Magic” came next, breaking its longest gap since debuting in March.
“Thatch” a new song that Rick remarked was “only two days old”, continued the quintet’s set. Featuring a hard-charging groove and crunchy clav, lots of potential was immediately shown and I eagerly await future performances of the song as it grows into Goose’s ever-expanding catalogue.
A rare mid-set cover of The Band’s “Don’t Do It” whipped the crowd into a frenzy as Peter and then Rick took great solos.
Note the vintage jacket Peter is wearing – Glens Falls Red Birds, a minor league baseball team from mid-1990s. photo by Derek Java
The improvisational centerpiece of the show came in the ensuing “Madhuvan”, giving us the dose of darkness and extended jamming we had been hungering for since Portland. Featuring an aggressive synth tone from Peter on Nord Lead rather than the Prophet, dissonance reigned as the first song to cross the 20-minute mark since Portland displayed Goose’s improvisational capabilities.
After the always-fiery end to “Madhuvan”, the quintet brought Trey up on stage to contribute to “Red Bird”. Perfectly singing one verse of Peter’s emotional song written about his mother, Trey proceeded to lead the jam away from the fiery guitar duels we have seen in the past few shows and into more of a rhythm-based motif for a while before exploding back into a great peak. “Hot Tea”, also featuring Trey, closed out the set with incredible guitar interplay once again.
TAB’s set opened up with a laid-back “Drifting” ahead of “Set Your Soul Free”, “Ocelot”, and “Magilla” – all showcasing TAB’s growing confidence on stage as this tour progresses. Pure energy kicked off “A Wave of Hope”, one of the most prominent tracks from 2020’s Lonely Trip that has become a live staple of the Phish catalogue and has led to some of the best jams this year. While last night’s version didn’t hit 20 minutes or go outside the main song structure, Trey instigated the “second jam” and drove to many blistering peaks before concluding.
Trey then took a moment to talk about his connection to the city of Glens Falls and his time spent in nearby Saratoga Springs during his time in drug court after his arrest in late 2006 before a beautiful rendition of “Shade”.
Last night’s MVP took centre stage on the next song, an absolutely BLISTERING “Burlap Sack and Pumps” – saxophonist James Casey ripped up the baritone sax for an amazing solo that saw him going back and forth with Trey as the tension built.
“Spin” offered a similar placement and vibe to “About to Run” at Mohegan – a late-set opportunity for Trey to rip over a foundational groove. The song’s outro jam was its usual slinky self, bassist Dezron Douglas seeming to get lost in the vibe as they dug deeper and deeper into the amazing song.
photo by Derek Java
The pounding “Last Tube” gave way to “hey stranger”, the latter getting its second play of the tour – lots of potential in this song that I hope makes its way to Phish in the future!
“Valentine” brought the TAB portion of the set to a close, and Rick and Peter were welcomed on stage for an absolutely BLISTERING “Mr. Completely”. Taking some time at first to have a musical conversation, Rick and Trey harmonized as they have been doing so well on this tour before ceding a solo to the keyboardists. Egged on by Ray’s organ blasts, Peter ripped up an awesome piano solo before the jam transitioned into TAB’s usual solo-modulation sections. Once the horns had taken a spin with the tune for a little while, Trey cued everyone to drop out as he and Rick faced each other with huge smiles on their faces and continued to shred – it is impossible to tell at this point in the tour which guitarist is having more fun playing with the other!
A set-closing “Rise/Come Together” and an encore of “Possum” brought the incredible night in Glens Falls to a close on an extremely high note.
Four shows in, four shows left. TABoose tour has already exceeded expectations thus far and I cannot wait to see the collaborations that are on the horizon!!
TABoose tour continues on Tuesday in Carnot-Moon, PA. Webcasts are available via Nugs.net and LivePhish.
Tune in to Day After Show live with Always Almost There, HFPod, and The Great Beyond the day after every show at 3pm ET as we recap the tour in real time!
On Saturday, November 12, TABoose (Trey Anastasio Band and Goose) took over Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut for an incredibly fiery sold-out show as the third night of Goose and Trey Anastasio Band‘s co-headlining tour.
Goose’s performance on Saturday marked their second appearance at Mohegan this year – the home-state arena hosted the eighth annual Goosemas celebration this past February. Unlike that show, where there was extra space on the floor and no seats open behind the stage, the room was absolutely packed with people, a full 10,000-person sell out.
The quintet took the stage to thunderous applause and jumped into “Animal.” The perfect opener choice for the energetic crowd, guitarist Rick Mitarotonda took his time on the middle jam section and brought it to a rolling boil before closing out the catchy tune.
“Flodown” was tapped next and saw Mitarotonda once again lead the jamming, this time not with punchy guitar playing but with a bevy of delay effects. As the extended intros to this song are wont to do, the propulsive beat of drummer Ben Atkind and percussionist Jeff Arevalo was peppered with squiggly guitar freak-outs until exploding into the song proper.
Keeping the energy up in this no-breathers set was the first track from Dripfield to appear on this tour, the jamming staple “Arrow.” Taking the dance-y groove out for a shorter-than-normal spin, Mitarotonda pushed through a broken string to lead the rest of the band through a smooth segue into a cover of Bob Seger’s “Hollywood Nights,” not played by Goose since May 4, 2018 or 311 shows. Arevalo sported an ear-to-ear grin throughout the cover as the band kept the energy at a screaming level as they finished off “Arrow.”
Wasting no time, multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach used his wireless guitar set-up to join Rick center-stage on the ensuing “Dripfield.” Debuted alongside “Hungersite” during the third set of the Goosemas show in the same room back in February, last night’s “Drip” had a similar effect in an arena setting — pounding drums and churning guitar echoing around every corner of the space as massive smiles were sported by all band members.
Anspach then called up the TAB horn section to help on a cover of “Fish in the Sea” by Fat Freddy’s Drop – a staple of the live Goose catalogue. Bassist Trevor Weekz driving groove laid the perfect foundation for the horns to solo over as saxophonist James Casey and Mitarotonda traded licks phenomenally.
Trey was brought out for the set closer, and the crowd went absolutely nuts for the opening notes of “Factory Fiction.” For those of you who may not know the history of the song, “Factory” was penned by Mitarotonda and songwriting partner Matt Campbell over a decade ago as part of Goose precursor band Vasudo’s catalogue. Rarely played in the earlier days of Goose, it was busted out at crew member “Coach” Jon Lombardi’s wedding in October 2019 and was a standout part of their 2020 livestreamed Bingo Tour. Since then, the song has been played numerous times at “special occasion” shows, or times when the vibe just calls for a little extra.
Excitement swept the crowd as the song progressed, and we were treated to another dose of Allman Brothers-like guitar playing from Anastasio and Mitarotonda as the jam built to multiple screaming peaks to close out Goose’s incredible set.
TAB’s set began with the first repeat of tour, catalogue classic “Sand.” Moving from there into “Shine” and “Twist,” Anastasio’s normally bouncy energy seemed multiplied last night as he ripped his fretboard to shreds during the opening songs.
A quick bounce through “Mozambique” gave way to the tour’s first “Night Speaks to a Woman,” a song filled with impressive vocal contributions from Natalie Cressman, Jennifer Hartswick and James Casey while Trey continued to shred.
“Mercy,” a beautiful song crafted from the composed piano intro to the Ghosts of the Forest live shows, offered a breather ahead of a bubbly take on “Undermind.” Trey led the band through relative rarity “…And Flew Away” from his Lonely Trip quarantine album before the brightness of “Pigtail” kept smiles on faces.
Taking a late-set spot that is perfect for the song, “About to Run” featured what may have been Anastasio’s strongest guitar playing of the night. Bassist Dezron Douglas dug into the groove as the roof was blown off the arena. “Push On ‘Til The Day” closed out the main portion of TAB’s set with another blistering peak that had the crowd even more dialed in and crazy than they had been before.
Bringing Mitarotonda and Anspach on stage, the band jumped into a peppy “No Men in No Man’s Land” that once again showcased Douglas and drummer Russ Lawton‘s rhythm section connection, with the former turning to face the latter throughout the deep groove. Focusing once again on guitar showcases rather than deep improv, Anastasio and Mitarotonda brought forth peak after peak in “NMINML” and the set-closing “46 Days” that left ear-to-ear grins on those in attendance.
For the encore, the rest of Goose was brought up on stage as Trey remarked that “sometimes you just need two bassists” before ripping directly into “Carini.” More smiles on the faces of every band member, more fretboard fireworks and one final venue-destroying peak closed out the third show of TABoose tour.
With five shows remaining, both bands continue to be growing in energy and confidence as the tour goes on and we all eagerly await the collaborations to come.
NY’s Bad Mary have just released their newest music video for their upcoming song “It’s All Trash,” which was released on November 8th. Bad Mary is made up of lead vocalist Amanda Mac, with her husband Mike Staub on bass, her dad Bill Mac on drums, and her Hofstra University professor David Henderson on guitar. This four multi-generational equal parts which continue to inspire each other with their musical prowess and distinct skill sets.
When asked about the song bassist Staubexplains, “This song is a sort of realization that despite a fancy label or how we dress up a lot of what we consume, much of it is still just… trash. I wanted to still convey this message in our own, cheeky, and bratty way, hence the 80s glam metal “oh yeahs” in the chorus. In the end, even Trash can be a lot of fun. This is also, to me, one of our heaviest songs, which I like as it encapsulates a fun-yet-aggressive vibe” shares bassist Mike Staub.
Guitarist David Henderson explains the video was shot in an abandoned psychiatric center creating the perfect aesthetic for the song. “We shot the video in an abandoned psychiatric center. We had to get a guide, Krispy DeRato, who knew their way around to help us find a good place to shoot. We had to walk through partly flooded dark tunnels full of white mud and dripping water to get there, it was pretty gross honestly, and if Krispy had not been guiding us, we definitely would have got lost down there. Once situated, I just played the song on my phone and said, “OK, just do the Amanda dance around the building.” Amanda took off and owned the space, I pretty much just followed her around making sure I got everything. It had rained the night before, so all of the dripping water and mud were just part of the natural atmosphere of the place.”
Around the middle of December, the band plans to bring some holiday cheer with the release of their holiday EP “A Very Bad Christmas.” You won’t want to miss their edgy rock n’ punk versions of Silent Night, Angels We Have Heard High, and Little Drummer Boy. Bad Mary’s songs have been a staple in rotation on SiriusXM’s Underground Garage, but “It’s All Trash” really perked up their ears.
“Bad Mary just seems to constantly provide an endless stream of entertaining content. They’re an incredible band, and it looks like they just have so much fun with everything they do”
Folk N Rock
Bad Mary is originally from Long Island, but they rehearse in Kings Park. Band members Amanda and Bill are originally from Massapequa, Mike is from Hicksville. Currently, David lives in Kings Park, Mike and Amanda are local to Huntington.
Their newest EP Trash And Glamour will be out in early 2023. You can catch their weekly live stream on Twitch on Tuesday nights at 8 pm EST. To watch, click the link here.
To check out Bad Mary’s newest video for “It’s All Trash,” below.
Thursday, November 10th saw the Disco Biscuits play the first of two nights in Hartford at Infinity Music Hall. The first set was bookended with long time favorite Digital Buddha with the meat of the set consisting of newer songs from the bands catalog. The second set was full of high energy jams just like the first, but was cut short by a fire alarm going off and the show ending early.
After the two night Hartford run the band heads to Boston and Stroudsburg, PA to finish out the weekend run. The following week, November 18 & 19, finds the Disco Biscuits in Atlanta and the band will close out the year in Chicago for a three night New Years run.
Disco Biscuits – Infinity Music Hall, Hartford, CT – Thursday, November 10, 2022
Set 1: Digital Buddha-> 4th of July-> Another Plan of Attack-> Evolve-> Digital Buddha
Set 2: Mindless Dribble-> Who’s in Charge-> Orch Theme-> Freeze
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.
This week there will be two songs from each artist played, instead of the usual one.
Jade Relics: “Leave us Alone” and “Mandarine”
Jade Relics is a collective of Vermont Musicians featuring, Elder Orange, Rico James, IamE. Their music is danceable and infectious, with excellent production and instrumentation. Their songs “Leave us Alone” and “Mandarine” will be played on EQXposure.
Blur Beside You: “Stumble more than anything” and “Nothing Feels Real”
Blur Beside You is a shoegaze indie rock trio from New York and Florida. It features 3 founding members of the South Florida band, Mindlikewater, Jim Wells, Joseph Butera & Joseph Beaty. Their songs “Stumble more than anything” and “Nothing Feels Real” will be played on EQXposure.
Fine Grain: “Missing Adult” and “Calculate”
Fine Grain floats in between shoegaze haze and punk posturing. They are from Albany and stitch old punk with new to create their unique sound. Their songs “Missing Adult” and “Calculate” will be played on EQXposure.
Dave Chappelle hosted his third post-election Saturday Night Live show on November 12, with musical guest Black Star, who has worked with and performed alongside Chappelle over the years.
Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC
The cold open started with a spoof on Fox News with Fox & Friends, featuring news anchors played by Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, and Bowen Yang. They interviewed Republican candidate Kari Lake (Cecily Strong) about the election fraud, and how when Lake was winning, she was happy, and when she was losing, she was saying it was fraudulent, much like a lot of Republican candidates. The cold open also had an interview with Trump (James Austin Johnson) about his endorsements of candidates that lost.
In his opening monologue, Dave Chappelle spoke against Kanye West’s antisemitic tweets and West’s hatred of Jewish people. He joked about Jewish culture as well but did it in a tasteful and non-offensive matter. Chappelle also spoke about the midterm elections, and how “ominous” they were and called Herschel Walker “observably stupid.” He also spoke about the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict.
https://youtu.be/_m-gO0HSCYk
The next sketch featured the show “P.M. in the Afternoon” with Dave Chapelle as Willy T. Hawkins, talking about his new album My Potato Hole. The rest of the anchors made cringy jokes about the potato hole, and the meaning of the word was revealed as a food hole slaves had, making it very awkward.
Chappelle came back out to talk about House of the Dragon and the black characters on the show, and also showed a parody video of the show, with Chappelle featured in the sketch as characters from Chappelle Show. The next sketch featured Chappelle in a barber shop, with Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Punkie Johnson, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker, poking fun at Kanye West, and the election, featuring the awkwardness of a white barber (Longfellow) trying to comment on race issues.
New York-based hip-hop duo Black Star (Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey) were the musical guest tonight, making their SNL debut. They just released their highly-anticipated album No Fear of Time – their first in nearly 24 years. Chappelle introduced them as “Brooklyn’s finest.” The group was confident, rapping about the issues facing the black community today in the song “So be it.” Behind the group was a photo with lyrics so people can understand what they are rapping about. Madlib, who produced all the beats on the new record, was DJing behind the group.
https://youtu.be/rCIJrpcpWdg
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che focused on the midterm elections. Jost joked about how polling places are run by old people. Che joked about Biden running for President in the 2024 election despite his old age and also joked about the new female governors. Candidate Jose Suarez (Marcello Hernández) spoke about his campaign and that “everything is basically fine.” He also joked about how people complain about too much today despite the hard issues in other countries. Cast member Sarah Sherman was featured on the show as well, joking about herself in a sketch called “Sarah News.”
Dave Chappelle came back out to introduce the next sketch, saying he was too old to do it and needed to rest. The sketch was called “Black Heaven” and the God figure, who was supposed to be Chappelle, is comedically played by a white actor. Chappelle was off-screen smoking, and laughing with other people. The sketch focused on stereotypes in the black community.
The second performance by Black Star was much chiller, with a different photo in the background and no lyrics. The song, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” speaks about white supremacy and guns. The group will be playing a special show at Sony Hall in NYC on Nov. 15, with tickets on sale here.
https://youtu.be/UKY8J8z0mlo
There was another sketch about Election Night, with newcomer Molly Kearney becoming Ohio’s Attorney General after a drunk tweet. Chappelle ended the show by mentioning Migos rapper Takeoff (Kirshnik Khari Ball), who had performed on SNL in 2018 and was tragically shot and killed on Nov. 1.
During the episode, it was announced that Keke Palmer will be hosting the Dec. 3 show, with musical guest SZA.
The recipe for success in the music business starts with honing your craft. Add the right ingredients rooted in passion and persistence, rightaway top it off with a consistent social media presence and you’ve got a winning combination. To put it mildly, the Como Brothers Band is cook’n.
It’s Kismet
It was Kismet that I discovered the Como Brothers when they performed in Bay Shore. While at Fire Island Vines, a relatively new wine and craft beer bar that profiles original music, I was approached by the owner. This particular evening I came to hear Gene Casey, another one of the fantastic guests on The Long Island Sound podcast. I was greeted by Antonio, who said if you like Gene Casey, you’re gonna love the Como Brothers!
Harken the Harmonies
What caught my ear were brothers Andrew and Matt’s vocal harmonies. The music had a familiar rock/pop sound. When they were four to five songs into the set, I realized these guys were pumping out some great original music. As fate would have it, I “checked in” on Facebook, and soon, my daughter Fatih recognized the brothers as the sons of her math teacher, Mr. Como in High School. Como the senior would play his son’s music on occasion in class a decade earlier.
Curiosity Clinches
Curious about the artists behind the music and this kismet connection with my daughter, this had to be some sort of sign to investigate. A quick Google search of the Como Brothers, increased my curiosity as a plethora of songs and collaborative music videos appeared.
After a short conversation the Brothers Como agreed to be on The Long Island Sound podcast. The famous broadcaster Paul Harvey would opine, “And now the rest of the story” can be found in the latest episode of the podcast.
Content is King Backed up by a Queen
Fascinated by the wellspring of music that comes from Long Island, I am intrigued by the exposure artists receive or lack in the marketplace. The Como Brothers seem to have the success recipe nailed down. Maybe it is the Social Media generational divide that is the disadvantage for many artists. For the Como Brothers Band, Social Media is their superpower.
If you take a look at their website, you’d be amazed at the exposure they’ve gained in the marketplace surprisingly in a relatively short period of time. Whether it was being featured in a Canon trade show commercial, or having their music featured on Keeping up with the Kardashian’s, and MTV”s Real World, these guys seem unstoppable.
Secret Ingredient
When I asked about their social media presence, both Matt and Andrew heaped praise on Matt’s fiance Tatiana.
Tatiana is super, she’s actually super involved in what we do not from a songwriting perspective, but she films all of our music videos, helped set up on our website, our online shop. So she has type A, and she’s a band member’s dream. She’s like the Anti Yoko Ono!
Andrew Como
In promoting any artist or creative on the web, I’m intrigued at what seems to be successful. Whether it is deciphering the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or understanding what a particular platform’s algorithm likes to see, I’m happy to integrate and learn something new.
Collaboration is Key
The common denominator with the video on the band’s site seems to be like-minded collaboration. Sam Woolf, one of the contestants on American Idol, joins the Como Brothers in several videos. Sam’s pop sound blends well with the band, accentuated by Andrew’s creative guitar licks. The humility of the brothers is by their willingness to explore and share their talent with other artists. The collaborators behind the scenes read as a Who’s Who of industry professionals backing up the production of the band’s endeavors. Industry legends grace various tracks. There’s drummer Steve Jordan (John Mayer, Saturday Night Live band, Late Night with David Letterman), keyboardist Andy Burton (Little Stephen & the Disciples of Soul), Aaron Sterling (Taylor Swift), and many others.
How can two young brothers make the industry connections that lead to collaborative projects? I asked them how do you do it? How were you able to connect with Sam Woolf or Kayla Stokert or the many other notables on your tracks? The simple answer I surmise, is that they’ve worked hard traveling and gigging around and they just seem to be nice guys. Artists willing to take the collaborative leap and say, “let’s give it a go”.
The two words that came to my mind when I encountered the Como’s was passion and persistence. As full time musicians with a creative need, they pump out content with Tatiana’s helping hand. Together they package it up into video and social media posts, ever increasing their growing list of fans. I can see their consistent creative content calling me back to discover what they’ve been up to each week.
You can find more on their YouTube Channel, Instagram site and Spotify playlist. Call it Kismet, by looking into my crystal ball, I can see the day when I’ll recount, “you know I knew them way back when.”
Bursting onto the scene in 2017, Billy Strings has been selling out arenas big and small, bringing his bluegrass vibes to Rochester on November 9. Playing to a full house of denim, flannel, and tye-dye wearing fans, Strings and his ensemble gave the Blue Cross Arena a solid set of progressive roots-rock that went on for nearly three hours.
Billy Strings
Son of Terry Barber, a bluegrass musician himself, Strings was introduced to the genre at a young age and has been influenced along the way by some of the world’s greatest artists including Jimi Hendrix, Phish, and Black Sabbath.
Since bursting onto the music scene in 2019, Strings has collected some accolades and awards along the way including a Grammy in 2021 for Best Bluegrass Album (Home), 2022 Artist of Year from Americans Music Awards (also nominated previous two years), and 2019 International Bluegrass Music Awards for Best New Artist and Guitar Player of the Year. Assuming things keep going the way they are going, Billy will need a hall to house all his awards!
With the classic bluegrass sounds of the Dave and Deke Combo, Allison Krauss, Doc Watson, and Old Crow Medicine Show all still influential in their own rights, Billy Strings seems to have upped the ante for bluegrass/roots music. Although the classic dualling banjos will never get old, time have changed, and Billy Strings has set the tone.
Billy Strings – Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, NY – Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Set 1: Old Train; Turmoil & Tinfoil; Running the Route; Stone Walls and Steel Bars; Fire Line; Running; Ashland Breakdown; The Train That Carried My Girl From Town; Black Mountain Rag; Love and Regret; Bronzeback; Must be Seven; In The Morning Light; Everything’s the Same
Set 2: Heartbeat of America; Red Rocking Chair; Hollow Heart; While I’m Waiting Here; Pyramid Country; And Your Bird Can Sing; Been All Around This World; The Fire on My Tounge; Air Mail Special; Hellbender; John Deere Tractor; Tipper; Dust in a Baggie; Cold, Cold World
