NYS Music 202​2

Category: Genres

  • ‘It’s A Little Bit Magic’: Indie Rock Band Big Thief At Kings Theatre

    Brooklyn-based indie rock band Big Thief played an intimate performance to a sold out Kings Theatre on Friday night. This was the first night of two-night residency for the band which has been touring in support of their new double album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, since late-January.

    Left to right: Buck Meek, James Krivchenia, Max Oleartchik, and Adrianne Lenker of indie rock band Big Thief performing at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown.
    Left to right: Buck Meek, James Krivchenia, Max Oleartchik, and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief performing at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown

    Canadian composer and musician, Kara-Lis Coverdale (K-LC), opened the night with a moody electronic set. K-LC will be on tour with Big Thief for the month of April while they make their way out west for a number of shows going through June.

    Big Thief started their set with title track “Change” off of Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, playing a mix of songs new and old throughout the evening including “Not” and “Certainty”. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is the indie rock band’s fifth studio album which was released February 11, 2022, featuring 20 tracks. In addition to celebrating the recent release of Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You on tour, guitarist and vocalist Adrianne Lenker announced that drummer and producer James Krivchenia dropped his second solo album Blood Karaoke this past week.

    Buck Meek and James Krivchenia during indie rock band Big Thief's set at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown.
    Buck Meek and James Krivchenia during Big Thief’s set at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown.

    The indie rock band took several opportunities to address the crowd during the show, thanking everyone for their support and singing along. One of the most notable moments was guitarist and backing vocalist, Buck Meek, reminiscing about his days spent busking in New York City parks with Lenker a number of years ago to a now sold out King Theatre which seats over 3,000 people.

    Another highlight of the evening was Lenker inviting her little brother, Noah, on stage for their last song, “Spud Infinity” where he lends his talents with a jaw harp to add a bit of twang to the track. Meek commented after the song, “I wish we could keep playing all night, but we’re actually out of time so goodnight!”

    Find Big Thief’s Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You anywhere you stream music and watch them perform”Spud Infinity” with the joy of Noah’s jaw harp for The Tonight Show here.

    Big Thief at Kings Theatre, Friday, April 15 – Setlist

    Change, Dried Roses, Certainty, Cattails, Shoulders, Black Diamonds, Forgotten Eyes, Not, Dragon New Warm Mountain I, Believe in You, Sparrow, Simulation, Swarm, Flower of Blood, Secret Side of You (Buck Meek song), Like a Rose (Lucinda Williams cover), Rock and Sing, Happy With You, Shark Smile, Real Love, Spud Infinity (with Noah Lenker)

    Thank you all for making it out here…and Kara-Lis Coverdale…take care of yourselves, take care of each other. Thanks for coming. Love you! Bye!”

    Adrianne Lenker closing out the night with genuine thank you to all.
    Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Max Oleartchik of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Max Oleartchik of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Buck Meek of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Buck Meek of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    James Krivchenia of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    James Krivchenia of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Buck Meek and James Krivchenia of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Buck Meek and James Krivchenia of Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Left to right: Buck Meek, James Krivchenia, Max Oleartchik, and Adrianne Lenker of indie rock band Big Thief at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown
    Left to right: Buck Meek, James Krivchenia, Max Oleartchik, and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief performing at Kings Theatre. Photo by Lindsay Brown

  • The Rock and Roll Playhouse Announces Earth Day Activities With Grateful Dead For Kids

    The Rock and Roll Playhouse has announced that a national Earth Day weekend celebration on April 23 and 24 is coming to Port Chester, NY. The Playhouse is a family concert series where kids rock out to the classics, and this concert series will feature music by the Grateful Dead for Kids.

    rock and roll playhouse poster
    The Rock and Roll Playhouse Grateful Dead Earth Day celebration.

    Stephen Grybowski, Senior Director of the Playhouse, said they are excited to bring families together for this event.

    We’re excited to bring families together across the country to celebrate Earth Day Weekend. The Grateful Dead were not only a phenomenal band with classic songs, but they were environmentally aware—that’s a connection that makes these shows an even more special celebration for families as we inspire the next generation of young rockers.

    It provides kids with early music exposure and promotes creativity. It is introducing the new generation to music by artists including The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Phish, David Bowie, Prince, Aretha Franklin, Dave Matthews Band, and more. It was founded in 2013 at the Brooklyn Bowl by Peter Shapiro, co-owner of the Bowl and owner of The Capitol Theatre, and Amy Striem, a certified Early Childhood, and Elementary teacher.

    Proceeds from the shows will go to the Grateful Dead’s official non-profit Rex Foundation, which supports charitable organizations working to protect the Earth. Tickets are on sale now.

    Earth Day Weekend Schedule: 

    4/23: Garcia’s—Port Chester, NY

    4/23: Terminal West—Atlanta, GA

    4/24: White Eagle Hall—Jersey City, NJ*

    4/24: Brooklyn Bowl—Brooklyn, NY

    4/24: Mission Theater—Portland, OR (AM show)

    4/24: Mission Theater—Portland, OR (PM show)

    4/24: Sweetwater Music Hall—Mill Valley, CA

    4/24: Funky Biscuit—Boca Raton, FL

    4/24: Grey Eagle—Asheville, NC

    4/24: High Noon Saloon—Madison, WI

    4/24: The Vogel—Red Bank NJ

    4/24: Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia—Philadelphia, PA

    4/24: First Avenue—Minneapolis, MN

    4/24: Brooklyn Bowl Nashville—Nashville, TN

    4/24: Thalia Hall—Chicago, IL

    *Program is David Bowie for Kids

  • State Champs Continues Pop-Punk Excellence On New EP

    State Champs has dropped a new five-song EP, titled Eventually. This release from the Albany band continues to showcase their incredible talents.

    The titular track on this project highlights all the staple pieces that make a pop-punk classic. The hook is insanely catchy and the drums are powerfully ambitious with just the right amount of trash. The guitar on this is bright. Closing your eyes while listening to this thing, one can picture themselves in a teenage skater movie, as exemplified by the cover art of this project.

    State Champs

    Notably, the second track on this project features Ben Barlow of Neck Deep. “Everybody but You” timelines the adolescent feelings of anger after love loss in the best ways possible. Teenagers are irrational, and seeking revenge in the form of the throwdown of the century may not seem like the most reasonable course of action, but State Champs convinces you otherwise on this track.

    This EP comes in anticipation of the fourth studio album from State Champs, Kings Of The New Age, where they hope to continue cementing themselves as pop-punk icons. So long as the tracks continue to sound like this, King Of The New Age will be excellent.

    Pre-order for the album is available at  https://lnk.to/StateChamps.

  • Lou Tides Announces EP “Infinite Loop,” Out May 20th

    NYC musician Lou Tides has announced her newest EP, Infinite Loop, out on May 20th. “Sense of Touching,” the first single on the album, was released earlier on April 1st. 

    Lou Tides Announces EP Infinite Loop Out May 20th
    photo credit: Charles Billot

    Bushwick local and formerly known as Nancy Feast, Lou Tides has made a name for herself throughout her musical career. As a former member of the bands Here We Go Magic and TEEN, Tides has chosen to go solo for her newest project. While she has collaborators, namely drummer Sarah Galdes, the laminated layers of synthesizers and vocals are all her own. Tides has developed multimedia performances incorporating movement, costume, film, and sound artistry by drummer Sarah Galdes.

    I think of these songs as a map. A sequence in time. And the sequence of the songs follows that map, that loop.

    Lou Tides

    “Movement is not an art form in which I have any official practice, so there’s a lot of freedom in the lack of knowledge,” she says of her somatic performance elements.

    Performing and producing by herself for the first time was only natural for an EP this personal and emotional. Tides made these songs while reckoning with the profound ways she’d been affected by her sexual trauma.  

    Emotionally this music would not fit into anything strictly shaped or precise, I wanted to embrace the moods of the emotions and how I felt they would naturally flow. Time then felt different, and lush arrangements with stretchy synthesizers felt appropriate. I wanted the music to emulate the natural peaks and valleys of our lives and relationships

    Lou Tides

    Tides talks to BrooklynVegan about the track and video, “Sense of Touching was shot pre-pandemic in January of 2020. I approached Suzi Murray Sadler (director and cinematographer) about capturing the live performance that Sarah Galdes and I had been developing for about a year. The song and video was almost lost in the noise of the pandemic – for me personally, it felt difficult to return to as it was written to process past sexual events.” 

    “But, about two years into the pandemic, I started feeling like I was ready to revisit the song, as it allowed for some time to reflect on the purpose of the music. Admitting to myself that shame was partially responsible for my fear to release the music, I didn’t wish to let the people who had harmed me hold that level of power. So this video, made with people I love and trust, feels both joyful and cathartic in its defiance.” 

    Infinite Loop will be available on Bandcamp, Tidal, and Apple Music on May 20th.

  • Northwell Health Announces Special Benefit Concert At UBS Arena

    Northwell Health’s “Side By Side: A Celebration of Service” is making its return to the UBS Arena with a special benefit concert from John Legend, along with a special appearance from Jason Derulo. This two-day festival starts on Sunday, May 29.

    Side By Side

    This event will begin with a block party in Flatiron Plaza on May 28, hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, with appearances from Questlove, Stars of Broadway, the Northwell Health Nurse Choir, and more.

    As a part of Memorial Day Weekend and New York’s Fleet Week, the first day of the festival includes active military members, veterans, and their families who will get the chance to mingle with the public for a day of games, food, music and more. Subsequently, day two will solely honor the nation’s active-duty military, veterans and their families with Legend’s hit songs.

    Memorial Day weekend is a dedicated time every year to reflect on the sacrifices so many Americans have made in our country’s history. We should never take for granted the freedoms we enjoy in this country or forget our heroes in the armed forces who will stop at nothing to protect those freedoms. We are honored to host ‘Side by Side: A Celebration of Service’ for those very reasons – to honor our service members.

    Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell

    Northwell Health’s “Side By Side: A Celebration of Service” first launched in 2019 and has had a great turnout ever since. In fact, this festival has raised more than $2 million for Northwell Health’s Military Liaison Services, an organization that focuses on benefiting those who have served and are struggling with post traumatic stress disorder, with medical and behavioral services, as well as better employment opportunities.

    Tickets for the concert event will be accessible on Friday, April 15 at 10 A.M. For more information visit Side By Side NYC.

  • Attack Attack! come to Montage Music Hall

    On March 30th, Attack Attack! brought the East Coast Scuttle to Montage Music Hall in Rochester and what a performance it was. It had everything from mosh pits, to crowd surfers and crab fingers. Although the venue wasn’t sold-out, it was hard to tell on this Wednesday evening as a sea of fans could be seen while entering the venue’s main entrance.

    The night began with local act, Armor Alive. While the lightest out of all the bands with their rock sound, they were still was able to pump-up the crowd. 

    Next up was Across The White Water Tower, who are another local but are part of the tour. They brought a mix of rap and metalcore on top of their high energy stage performance. 

    Until I Wake followed, who also hail from the state. The Buffalo natives performed with a heavy metalcore influence

    Conquer Divide were the penultimate performers. The group, which is made up of 5 very talented women” were the reason for many of the fans in attendance.

    With the first 4 performers, the crowd was delivered wild night of raging and uproar and that was before the headliners made their way to the stage. Attack Attack!, who are known for their crab stance as they perform and their unique song titles, rocked the stage. Bringing full-circle a night for the ages at Montage Music Hall.

    If you didn’t catch them on this tour, don’t worry, a little birdie said that they may be back in the fall with a new lineup.  

    Armor Alive

    Across The White Water Tower

    Across The White Water Tower

    Until I Wake

    Conquer Divde

    Attack Attack!

  • Music is Art Present The 716 Music Expo at Babeville on April 23

    Music is Art, based in Buffalo, will host it’s newest event, The 716 Music Expo, at Babeville on Saturday, April 23.

    716 Music Expo

    Music is Art is an organization dedicated to creating opportunities that fuel the unifying power of music in Western New York. The 501c3 organization was founded in 2003 by Goo Goo Dolls bassist and Buffalo resident Robby Takac.

    Taking over Babeville on Saturday, April 23, the 716 Music Expo is for WNY musicians and music lovers alike. The day-long event features a trade show with music industry vendors, eight workshops presented in conjunction with Buffalo Music Club, and an evening performance featuring some of Buffalo’s best soul, R&B, and hip hop artists.

    The trade show will run from 1pm-5pm and feature venues, recording studios, merchandise providers, college music programs, production companies and more. Workshops will run from 2pm-6pm with two amazing options at the top of each hour. The evening performance will feature Kenyada Nikile, Farrow, and Buffalo hip hop artists Rick Hyde, Heem, and LoveBoat Luciano – collectively known as Black Soprano Family (BSF).  

    For this, our inaugural event, we hope to mirror what goes on in the big music cities and offer something for every local musician, at every level. If you play music in WNY, you need to be here.

    Tracy Fletcher, Music is Art’s Executive Director

    Music is Art is proud to enrich our community with access to music and encourages people to find their musical voice, think about how music touches their lives, and most importantly think about the fact that music is art.

    Tickets are on sale now and range from $10 – $50. For a complete list of vendors, workshops and performers, or to purchase tickets please visit www.musicisart.org/expo.

  • Lizzo Makes Her Hosting Debut On Saturday Night Live

    Lizzo hosted her first Saturday Night Live and returned as a musical guest for the second time, the first time in 2019 when she performed her hit songs “Truth Hurts” and “Good As Hell.” She just released her new single “About Damn Time” and is also prepping to release her next album Special, out July 15.

    Lizzo, photo by Mary Ellen Matthews.

    During the cold open, the Easter Bunny (Bowen Yang) made an appearance and introduced various figures in today’s media talking about Easter and cracking jokes about recent events they are involved in. Dr. Anthony Fauci (Kate McKinnon), Marjorie Taylor-Greene (Cecil Strong), NYC Mayor Eric Adams (Chris Reed), Britney Spears (Chloe Finemen), Jared Leto (Mikey Day), and Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) all made an appearance.

    During her opening monologue, Lizzo joked about how she would break the record for the amount of times “bitch” is said on TV, and made a shoutout to her mother. She talked about how far she has come, from living in her car to hosting SNL.

    Lizzo appeared in the next sketch as “Guess That” contestant Nicole, who was sassy and fiery about not getting the questions right and kept hitting the answer button to be annoying to the host. She also crowned herself the Mayor of “Gametown” in the sketch.

    In another sketch, she is featured as a label executive, listening to The Black Eyed Peas and giving her ideas, with success. She is seen in another sketch as a girl bringing a date over, whose friends and family are all “Six Flags Guys.” She was also seen as an Egyptian princess, and then a flutist in an orchestra.

    On the SNL Youtube page in the Cut For Time sketch, she starred in a music video with cast members Chris Reed and Bowen Yang about eating food while watching Youtube. She had a rap at the end of the song and was starring as the Youtube Algorithm, and sang about how the algorithm knows what videos to recommend to you based on your watching habits.

    “Ladies and gentlemen me!” Lizzo exclaimed as she performed her new song “About Damn Time,” in a yellow neon sequined jumpsuit with neon lights shining in the back as she sings “Turn up the music, turn down the lights/I got a feelin’ I’m gon’ be alright/Okay (Okay), alright/It’s about damn time.” She even brought out her amazing flute playing skills.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agXlTImG6mQ

    SNL included an homage to the late Gilbert Gottfried, with a photo of the comedian/actor when he was a cast member on SNL in Season six. Gottfried died on April 12

    In her second performance, Lizzo’s mom introduced her. She performed her new song “Special” wearing a huge pink coat and sparkly dress. She sang with a lot of emotion as she sang “in case nobody told you today, you’re special/in case nobody made you believe you’re special/ I will always love you the same, you’re special.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR_xR0x35R4

  • Underground System Releases Genre-Bending Single “Desnuda”; EP To Release May 6th

    Brooklyn collective Underground System has recently released “Desnuda.” The single comes in anticipation of their forthcoming EP, Into The Fire, which is set to release on May 6th.

    Underground System is a compelling collective that blends reggaeton, funk, and house music. The deep bass lines on this cut mixed with the ethereal Spanish vocals create an atmosphere that only a few other artists can replicate. Underground System may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if any of the former genres interest you then it is definitely worth checking out.

    Underground System
    Photo Credit: Maurizio Mascetti

    The collective will be touring this summer and they will pass through New Jersey and New York. Tour dates are available down below.

    5.12 – Rockaway Music Live//co-curated by Found Sound Nation & Majel Connery: Rockaway Hotel & Spa
    5.26 – Strasbourg (FR): Pelpass Festival
    5.27 – Ajaccio (FR): Aghja
    5.28 – Le Bieymard (FR): Festival D’Olt
    6.01 – Paris (FR): Le Hassard Ludique
    6.02 – Lille (FR): La Gara Saint Sauveur
    6.03 – Angouleme (FR) Festival Musiques Métisses
    6.04 – Rouen (FR): Rush Festival
    6.17 – Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Made (Homecoming Record Release Show)
    6.18 – Coeymans Hallows, NY: Circus of Life Festival
    8.12 – New York, NY: Hudson River Park

    A new single will be available for streaming on April 22nd. For more information, visit www.undergroundsystembk.com.

  • Blue Note Jazz Festival Announces Miami Pop Up

    Blue Note Jazz Festival has announced their Miami Beach pop-up this June. During the first two weekends of June, three great acts will take the stage at the North Beach Bandshell. 

    Blue Note Jazz Festival miami

    In collaboration with the Rhythm Foundation, Blue Note will host performances from George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Buika and Robert Glasper with surprise special guests. These artists were picked based on their contributions and influence within the music industry.

    George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic will kick off the first weekend to remind fans of how he helped to revolutionize R&B in the 70’s. Award-winning vocalist Buika will follow with her custom fusion of jazz and flamenco and Robert Glasper will end the second weekend with a two night run. 

    2019 Blue Note Jazz Festival

    Blue Note Jazz Festival was founded in 1981, with the desire to preserve the rich history of jazz, while also welcoming new audiences. As one of NYC’s cultural institutions, Blue Note has hosted a number of jazz artists including Robert Glasper, Pat Metheny and Ron Carter, along with many rising jazz, soul and hip hop artists.  

    Tickets are available here.

    Blue Note Miami Schedule : 

    June 3 – George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic (8PM) 

    June 4 – Buika (8PM) 

    June 10-11 – Robert Glasper with Special Guests  (8PM)

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