New York-based bluegrass group Nefresh Mountain is set to perform at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock on Dec. 23.
Nefresh Mountain arrived on the scene in 2015 and has been hailed as one of the formative boundary-pushing groups in roots music. Comprised of husband and wife duo Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff, the group’s latest album Songs for the Sparrows has been called “A master class in string music” by Rolling Stone, and “arguably some of the best bluegrass ever made” by American Songwriter.
They have recorded and shared the stage with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, John Doyle, Noam Pikelny (Punch Brothers), Mark Schatz (Nickel Creek), Mike Gordon (Phish), and Tony Trischka among others. They made their debut in 2021 at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN, and performed at various Festivals, PACs, and venues like Mountain Stage, MerleFest, Wintergrass, City Wineries around the USA, and more.
Nefresh Mountain will be heading to Levon Helm Studios, which brings the legendary life of Levon Helms and the group the Midnight Rambles alive in historic Woodstock. Rolling Stone called Helm “rock & roll’s greatest drummer,” and he won three Grammys during his life. He loved Woodstock, and gave back to the community while there, playing benefits to raise money for music in the local schools and other worthwhile causes.
Nefresh Moutain will be heading to the venue on Dec. 23, and tickets are on sale now.
The 21-date tour is in promotion of their upcoming album Live At Levon’s!, slated for February release. The 12-track record was recorded in entirety at the Woodstock venue with audience presence.
Teresa Williams and Larry Campbell.
Their tour announcement on the Second of December was coupled with the release of the album’s second single, a cover of “Darling Be Home Soon” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. The funky orchestra-laden 1967 track is subdued by Campbell & Williams, who slow down the tempo and turn the song into a simple piano and acoustic guitar tune, making for a more melancholic delivery.
Cover art for Live at Levons!
Live At Levon’s! features a selection of new, previously unreleased songs from the Woodstock duo and “old favorites” such as the album’s lead single “Angel of Darkness.” It’s a biting blues rock track, with fuzzy guitar licks and soulful keyboards complementing Williams’ shaking vocals. It’s highlighted by a slippery guitar solo around the three-minute mark.
Information on pre-orders for Live At Levon’s! can be found here, and details regarding tickets and more for Campbell & Williams’ Levon Helms Studio show can be found on TIXR.
Established country group Drive-By Truckers has newly announced their full set of tour dates for the Spring 2023. The tour makes its way to the Northeast in May, with Drive-By Truckers performing at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, two nights at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan, and a show at The Egg in Albany.
Drive-By Truckers
The band with its roots stemming from Athens, Georgia starts the tour with an appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 9 at The Vogue, followed by traveling from the end of March to the beginning of April for their annual four-day “Heathens Homecoming” celebration at their hometown’s own beloved 40 Watt Night Club.
Welcome 2 Club XIII
Following the four-day celebration, a four-part two-night stands series by the band opens at Saxapahaw, NC’s Haw River Ballroom from April 25-26, leading up to premiering at Washington DC’s 9:30 Club from April 29-30, then New York City’s Bowery Ballroom from May 4-5, and lastly The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC. The recently-made announcement of the schedule of the Drive-By Trucker’s full tour is after the the release of the band’s 14th studio album, Welcome 2 Club XIII, which includes new singles like “The Driver”, “Every Single Storied Flameout”, along with the debut’s anthem, “Welcome 2 Club XIII”.
Drive-By Truckers Spring 2023 Tour
MARCH
9 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue #
10 – Detroit, MI – Saint Andrew’s Hall #
11 – Milwaukee, WI – The Pabst Theater #
12 – Madison, WI – Barrymore Theatre #
14 – Iowa City, IA – Englert Theatre #
15 – Urbana, IL – The Canopy Club #
17 – Louisville, KY – Old Forester’s Paristown Hall #
18 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant #
19 – Fayetteville, AR – JJ’s Live #
21 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Jones Assembly #
23 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater #
24 – Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre #
25 – New Orleans, LA – Joy Theater #
26 – Birmingham, AL – Iron City #
29 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt †
30 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt %
31 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt ^
APRIL
1 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt @
20 – St. Petersburg, FL – Floridian Social Club $
21 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room $
22 –Orlando, FL – Ace Café (Outdoors) $
23 – Columbia, SC – The Senate $
25 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom $
26 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom $
28 – Richmond, VA – Brown’s Island $
29 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club $
30 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club $
MAY
2 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios $
4 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom $
5– New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom $
8 – Albany, NY – The Egg Performing Arts Center
9 – Munhall, PA – Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall $
The punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, created by Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione in 2001, held nothing back deep in the woods of Woodstock for a three night run at The Colony from November 10th to November 12th. The best way to experience this band is up close and personal, which made the Colony the perfect place for their first live performances since 2018 in the UK, as the venue held roughly 150 people from the floor to the balcony.
Palmer, now 46, still performs like she is 25 at the start of The Dresden Dolls’ birth. Her raw energy and flawed flawlessness that she puts into any one of her performances is something that cannot be explained through words, it’s something that needs to be experienced. Her vocals are unmatched with a mix of melodic sounds and scream-singing and her skills on the piano complement that so well. She is one of the most passionate artists out there and is a sight to behold. Her passion is so strong that it spills out from her voice into her piano and every single move she makes. She breathes a new breath into every single performance.
Viglione on the drums, back-up vocals, bass, electric and acoustic guitar complements that beautifully. He matches her energy and that brings every performance from a 10 to a 20. The things he can create, on the drums especially, is an artform all by itself. The two clad in cabaret styled clothes and mime-like face paint created an experience for the audience that is part rage, part beautiful storytelling, with a little bit of everything mixed in. Everything includes a cover of “Fight For Your Right” by The Beastie Boys where Amanda got up from her piano and took over the drums while Brian played guitar and guest bass player Manta joined in.
The performance overall was a mash up of high-energy rage-filled songs like “Girl Anachronism” and some lower-energy ballads. This included their song “Delilah” which was accompanied by a newer artist named Veronica Swift who’s vocals were out of this world. It was truly show-stopping.
The performance and the reaction of the audience breathed new air into The Dresden Dolls and if you’re lucky enough to score a ticket to any one of there other performances, GO. Long live the Punk Cabaret.
Setlist: Good Day, Sex Changes, Gravity, Bad Habit, Backstabber, Modern Moonlight, My Alcoholic Friends, Missed Me, Mrs. O, Astronaut, Delilah (with Veronica Swift), Gardener, Ultima, Fight For Your Right, Amsterdam, Mandy Goes To Med School, Coin Operated Boy, War Pigs, Half Jack, Girl Anachronism
Encore: Truce, Sing
Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione rocking out Colony. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
While many found the sudden lockdown spurred by 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic depressing, isolating and fruitless, Marco Benevento found the time trapped in his Hudson Valley dilapidated home studio to be inspiring and invigorating. In that room, surrounded by outdated technology, malfunctioning drum kits and eclectic instruments, the Woodstock keyboardist found his latest album: Benevento. Benevento will be celebrating the album’s release with a tour across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest in March 2023.
The production of Benevento took place over many solo jam sessions, rife with experimentation and improvisation, things Benevento is no stranger to. Within the keyboard, Benevento finds and exploding breadth of sound and texture, and he wanders into the realm of psychedelic funk in his latest album, taking with him notes of rock, jazz and especially dance.
Benevento is pulling a two night stand in his home town of Woodstock at Levon Helm Studios in January, 2023. Tickets go on sale November 18 at 10 a.m. for the March leg of Marco Benevento’s tour. He’ll have a couple shows in the New York area, including on March 10 at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City. See the complete list of tour dates below; tickets here.
MARCO BENEVENTO Complete Tour Schedule
November 17 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
November 18 – New Haven, CT – Space Ballroom ^
November 19 – Holyoke, MA – Race Street Live ^
December 29 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre *
January 13 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
January 14 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
March 10 – Jersey City, NJ – White Eagle Hall
March 11 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
March 12 – Baltimore, MD – 8×10
March 13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe
March 14 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
March 15 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
March 16 – Milwaukee, WI – The Back Room at Colectivo
Radio Woodstock 100.1 WDST has announced the next installment of the “Saturday Night Takeover” series on Saturday, Nov. 19, with Melissa Auf der Maur, who was the famed bassist of American bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins.
Radio Woodstock, tagged as the New York Times’ “favorite thing about driving around the Hudson Valley,” has been the recipient of numerous national, regional, and local awards for its innovative programming. Radio Woodstock is one of the most influential rock music stations in the world and is unique for being both listener and advertiser-supported. It has been locally run and operated for over 40 years.
The DJs and programmers present the best emerging artists alongside the largest rock n’ roll library in the world. Radio Woodstock’s live events division has put on experimental live events and is most known for creating Mountain Jam and Taste of Country, which grew to become the largest music and camping festivals in the Northeast, together drawing over 100,000 attendees each year. Recently, the department has produced CannaStock, the first cannabis festival in the Hudson Valley.
Featured on the “Saturday Night Takeover” segment is Melissa Auf der Maur. She is a musician, photographer, curator, multidisciplinary event producer, and film producer. In 2010 she co-founded the multidisciplinary art venue Basilica Hudson in the Hudson Valley Region. She released two solo albums between 2004-2010.
You can tune into Radio Woodstock on Nov. 19 at 10 p.m. to hear Melissa Auf der Maur on the air here or via the iHeartRADIO app.
On Saturday, December 10, Family of Woodstock (FOW), an upstate community service non-profit, will showcase “A Soul Train Christmas” at the Colony in Woodstock.
With doors opening at 7 and music beginning at 8, the event includes a holiday dance party and a winter clothing drive. It’s the non-profit’s third annual holiday collaboration with Eric Redd, a musical performer with over 40 years of international experience and a longtime Woodstock resident.
Eric Redd
Also on the bill are Hudson Valley rockabilly and roots band Lara Hope and the Ark-Tonesand the gospel-influenced dance artist and DJ Disciple collaborator Dawn Tallman.
This is far from the first community concert for FOW, with other annual events including the Bob Dylan Birthday Bash and the John Herald Fund concerts, both of which have featured Redd in the past.
Eric Redd has enjoyed an enduring and diverse career. The Inglewood, CA native got his start at 16 years old as a dancer on “Soul Train,” a TV musical variety program curated by host Don Cornelius, which ran from 1971 to 2006.
His ensuing career has included appearances as a dancer in musical productions such as “Starlight Express” and “Cats,” a stint as lead vocalist for California Transit Authority, a band stemming from Danny Seraphine, the drummer of Chicago, and his 2014 full-length solo album, Give It Away.
Information regarding tickets for “A Soul Train Christmas” can be found here.
He’s the man you probably know best from his starring role alongside Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. But these days, Alex Winter is not only a talented actor but an impressive filmmaker, one entrusted by the family of Frank Zappa to create the ultimate documentary charting his iconoclastic life and career, 2020’s ZAPPA.
On Saturday, November 19 at 8 pm, Winter will be coming to Woodstock’s legendary Tinker Street Cinema to host a special screening of this watershed music documentary.
Winter began work on the film in 2015 by creating a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $1.1 million to restore much of the unseen archival footage in Zappa’s legendary “vault.” He was the first and only filmmaker to be granted unfettered access to this material as well as some of Zappa’s never-before-heard sound recordings. With it, Winter crafted a portrait that showed the artistic triumphs and challenges faced by this one-of-a-kind creative force, an icon whose influence on culture and politics was truly global. Winter’s documentary delves into Zappa’s upbringing, the many stages of his long career, his campaigns as an advocate for free speech and the newly freed Czech Republic, all the way to his final battle with cancer, which ended his insanely productive life at 52. Also featured are interviews with Frank’s widow, the late Gail Zappa, and many of his musical collaborators through the years including Ruth and Ian Underwood, Bunk Gardner, Steve Vai, Scott Thunes and Ray White.
Portrait of Alex Winter. CREDIT: Philip Cheung
Winter’s film received high praise from critics worldwide, including outlets like The Guardian UK, The New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Wall Street Journal, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. You can find NYSMusic.com’s own extensive rave review here.
“Our cinema is a celebration of the bold, experimental and surreal, so Alex’s fantastic film on Zappa makes perfect sense for us and our audience,” says Andy Braunstein. “The fact that Alex lived here for a time, right next to the cinema in fact, will make this event a true homecoming.”
The Zappa event is just one example of the Tinker Street Cinema’s dedication to the fusion of film and music.
Like its neighbor, Upstate Films’ Orpheum Theater in Saugerties, the Tinker Street Cinema has produced several notable events where live soundtracks are created to accompany screenings of classic films. In June 2021, genre-leaping Australian composer JG Thirlwell, best known for his work as Foetus, presented “Silver Mantis,” a live performance set to film by Sten Backman. In August 2021, the theater presented Fritz Lang’s silent era classic, Metropolis, with music by Reel Orchestrette. And on Halloween weekend, the Tinker Street Cinema screened the horror classic, Night of the Living Dead, with a live score by Morricone Youth.
In acknowledgment of Woodstock’s history as home to some of the greats of contemporary music, the theater serves up a hefty platter of music-centric films, ones often hosted by local music luminaries. Earlier this month, the cinema featured a screening of Amadeus (The Director’s Cut) hosted by The Dresden Dolls, the duo of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione. Other films featured recently included AC/DC: Let There Be Rock, Woodstock and Poly Styrene: I am A Cliché. The theater will soon be screening Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road hosted by its producer and writer, Woodstock’s own Jason Fine.
On November 26, the Tinker Street Cinema will present a Jimi Hendrix Birthday tribute. This event will boast various films about the guitarist and live performances by artists including Chogyi Lama, a young Hendrix acolyte who just happens to be the grandson of Woodstock legend Richie Havens. On December 10, The Tinker Street Cinema will also have an evening dedicated to experimental music with a psychedelic lightshow. Brock Monroe of the Joshua Lightshow will create a backdrop for performances by edge-pushing musicians including Nepenthae and the trio of Lea Bertucci, Ric Royer and Ben Vida. The Tinker Street team is also finalizing plans that will bring The Black Lips to the theater, along with a screening of The Roar of Snowmobiles, a documentary dedicated to the racers and collectors of vintage ‘60s models.
Founded in 1961 in a pre-Civil War church, the Tinker Street Cinema has also been the site of a variety of musical performances through the years, public and private. The venue was reopened in the summer of 2021 by Ben Rollins and Lily Korolkoff, owners of the nearby Station Bar & Curio, and Andy “Animal” Braunstein, a film aficionado and Woodstock native known for his Meltasia music festivals.
Notably, the theater was also the site where Jimi Hendrix rehearsed and jammed in the days before his history-making performance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969. The below video captures some of the sounds and pictures, including a proto version of his iconic take on “The Star Spangler Banner.”
“We’re a very musical town with a long and rich history, so it’s only natural that the marriage of film and music is a centerpiece of our creative mission,” concludes Braunstein. “We’re passionate, maybe obsessed is a better word, to do everything we can to keep the flame of rock-n-roll burning bright.”
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams announced their long-awaited album Live At Levon’s! will be released on Feb. 3. They have also announced a tour with stops in Tarrytown, Poughkeepsie, and Woodstock.
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams returned to their Woodstock home in 2019 to create the record, after a long year of touring. They recorded it at Levon Helm Studios, a historic and dual-purposed recording studio and live music venue founded by the legendary Levon Helm. The duo played multiple shows there with the Midnight Ramble Band, fronted by Helm with whom Campbell served as a bandleader for over a decade.
The album was supposed to be released in 2020 after a live performance was recorded at the studio with their musician friends. Of course, the pandemic stopped that from happening, and Campbell ended up catching COVID in March 2020. With all that aside, they are ready to perform and get back into touring.
I’ll never forget the first time I experienced performing as a child and knew my lot in life was set. The only reason I am a singer is because of the indefinable spark that happens with the giving and receiving of your most intimate selves, back and forth, between the artist on stage and the audience there in the room. If I can’t see the audience because of lighting, it almost becomes even more spiritual, because it’s all just feeling them—us together in the moment. And each performance/audience has its own personality. If you can drop the thinking and just ‘be’ with them and this sharing of your most intimate selves, there’s no describing the transcendence.
Teresa Williams
The record Live At Levon’s! puts Campbell’s world-class guitar skills on display, and shows his songwriting capabilities. William’s vocals provide raw honesty and her trademark fragility and ferocity. Their new single “Angel of Darkness” is out today.
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams are also going on tour, and are hitting Tarrytown on Nov. 18, Poughkeepsie on Nov. 19, and a special performance at the Levon Helm Studios where they recorded the album in Woodstock on April 22. Their brand-new album is available for preorder here and to purchase tickets to their tour go here.
Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams Tour Dates
2/2 – Easton, MD – Avalon Theatre – Stoltz Listening Room 2/3 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall 2/4 – Johnson City, TN – Down Home 2/5 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic 2/7 – Jacksonville Beach, FL – Blue Jay Listening Room 2/8 – Tampa, FL – The Attic 2/10-17 – Miami, FL – Cayamo Cruise on Norwegian “Pearl” 2/24 – Washington, DC – Mountain Stage @ The Kennedy Center 3/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe * 3/16 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark * 3/18 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School * 3/19 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall * 3/21 – Madison, WI – Stoughton Opera House * 3/22 – Minneapolis, MN – The Parkway * 3/24 – Kansas City, MO – Knuckleheads * 3/25 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway * 3/26 – Nashville, TN – City Winery * 3/28 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle * 3/29 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle * 3/31 – Washington, DC – Miracle Theatre * 4/1 – Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall * 4/14 – Great Barrington, MA – The Mahaiwe PAC ^ 4/22 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
The CannaStock 2022 festival in Woodstock has been announced for Oct. 22 at the Colony Beer Garden from 1-6 p.m.
CannaStock is a 21+ consumer-friendly festival and an immersive cannabis experience with local and national cannabis brands. At the festival, there will be like-minded consumers and large amounts of exhibitors, also educational panels on topics such as how legalization will change our society. People can also learn about jobs within the cannabis industry too.
The festival is also featuring live music acts, including reggae music from Royal Khaoz and Live DJ sets with Max Glazer from Federation Sound. The CannaStock festival will also have free samples, so people can dance and have fun.
GA and VIP tickets are available here, and VIP tickets include early entry, access to the VIP Lounge, goodie bags, and complimentary snacks and beverages.
