The NYC-based funk and rock collective Specialists are set to perform across New York as they kick off their summer tour on July 1. The band completed a Southeast US tour in January of 2022 and returns to the Northeast with 6 shows across NY and PA.
The summer performance schedule coincides with the band’s release of their upcoming full-length record. Other Specialists releases include Too Easy (2020), Specialists (2019), and No Need to Explode (2018). With irresistible groove, crafty arrangement, witty lyrics, and catchy hooks, the band’s sound will get any audience up on their feet.
Specialists initially consisted of duo Billy Harden (guitar) and Mikey Rotunno (bass) before adding Christian Hickey (drums) and Pete Harden (keys) to the mix. Their newest single, “I Got You,” released in March of 2022, gives listeners a taste of their newest sound.
After the band’s Brooklyn Made performance on July 1, they will head off to Syracuse’s Funk N Waffles on July 2. The Specialists will then take their sound to the Sterling Stage Ameribeat on July 3 before eventually finishing their tour in Peekskill. To listen before their upcoming tour dates, the band’s music is available on Apple Music or Spotify.
Specialists Summer Tour Dates
July 1 – Brooklyn Made – Brooklyn, NY
July 2 – Funk N Waffles – Syracuse, NY
July 3 – Sterling Stage Ameribeat (4pm – 5:10pm) – Sterling, NY
July 22 – Deutschtown Music Festival – Pittsburgh, PA
On Monday, June 20, The Park Theater in Glens Falls introduced their new podcast, The Park Presents, now available on Anchor and Spotify.
Photo Credit: Peter Herrick
The Park Presents, hosted by The Park Theater Foundation’s Executive Director, Chris Ristau, will introduce audiences to the artists in the theater’s upcoming free Summer Concert Series. The series held its first season in 2021 and returns this year in the Crandall Park Bandshell each Friday evening in July.
The podcast will let audiences get to know the artists coming to Crandall Park ahead of their anticipated performances. Listeners will get a chance to hear about music inspirations, future plans, and more. Over the course of June and July, the episodes will welcome 5 local acts: Let’s Be Dead, Dylan Perrillo Orchestra, Josh Morris Band, Hartley’s Encore, and Chestnut Grove.
The newest episode out on June 27 invites Let’s Be Dead (formerly Let’s Be Leonard) onto the show. The band is set to play a Grateful Dead set in the upcoming concert series. The podcast features also introduction music from Trevor Tunison & Nyna Nelson of Fort Vine. Audiences can catch their music at The Park Theater’s 2022-2023 Live and Local series.
Established in 2021, The Park Theater Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to enriching the community with quality and affordable entertainment and educational opportunities with their programming. With concerts, movies, comedy shows, and more, the new podcast is the latest in The Park Theater’s range of entertainment.
Located in downtown Glens Falls, The Park Theater hosts various events including their Sept. to May season that sees many local and international artists take the spotlight. The episode schedule for this new podcast can be found below:
6/20 – Introduction
6/27 – Let’s Be Dead
7/04 – Dylan Perrillo Orchestra
7/11 – Josh Morris Band
7/18 – Hartley’s Encore
7/25 – Chestnut Grove
For more information on events, membership or volunteer opportunities, visit www.parktheatergf.com.
Count the New York Yankees as one of the many entities lined up to celebrate the late Jerry Garcia’s upcoming birthday. August 1 will mark what would have been the legendary artist’s 80th birthday and to celebrate, the Yankees are breaking out the bobbleheads. The first 1,000 fans to purchase a special event ticket for that night’s game against the Seattle Mariners will receive the collectible Garcia bobblehead figurine, adorned in a Yankees jersey, pinstripes and all. Portions of the ticket sales will also benefit the Grateful Dead’s longtime non-profit, Rex Foundation.
The Yankees’ Garcia Bobblehead Night is just one of the events that are slated to celebrate his birthday that day. The Jerry Garcia Foundation, in partnership with Starchive, will also host a benefit concert on August 1 at Blue Note Napa in Sonoma County, CA with music performed by Garcia’s fellow New Rider of the Purple Sage in David Nelson and his band. The event will benefit the Jerry Garcia Foundation who, along with its technology partner in Starchive, have announced an upcoming archival project to help preserve the historical and artistic contributions of Jerry Garcia.
Like the Garcia bobblehead, tickets for this show are limited and can be purchased here. Yankees tickets can be purchased directly though mlb.com.
The Festival celebrates the music of legendary gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, who teamed up with jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli to create the Quintet of the Hot club de France which went on to become one of the most important jazz partnerships in history. Jimi Hendrix named his “big band of gypsies” in tribute, and Willie Nelson adopted his influence in “country-swing.”
Django Reinhardt.
Described by Downbeat Magazine as “sensational… standout performance… hardest swinging band at the Newport Jazz Festival,” the All Star Band, with top players from Europe combined with America’s great jazz stars, will play swing music as a tribute to Reinhardt.
On Friday, June 24th, a rock themed night kicked off with Battleaxxx and closed out with cover band Black Sabbitch at Empire Live.
Battleaxxx is an all female rock band originally from the Capital Region. They are a fairly new band emerging from the Capital Region. They have played a few shows in and around Albany, including at The Lost & Found on August 28th, 20221. This show, however, was their first time performing at Empire Live. They released their debut album Adequate in March of 2021. Battleaxxx has upcoming show at Rare Form Brewing Company in Troy on July 5th.
Keeping on theme with women-lead rock, Black Sabbitch is an all female cover band from Los Angeles. They have been doing covers of Black Sabbith songs since 2011. To validate this band position as the Black Sabbith cover band, they were hand picked by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne to open Ozzfest. Black Sabbitch was originally supposed to perform at Empire Live back in January 2022. Due to COVID surge, that show was postponed; and their next show in May was postponed due to a band member getting COVID ironically. The road to get to Albany was long, but they made it. Their summer tour ends in NYC on June 25th at the Iridium.
Battleaxxx kicked off the show with a growing crowd of about 30-40 people. Their opening song did not grab the attention of the audience, but their song “Slut,” did bring smiles and laughter. If the song was meant to be funny, it was, as people of varying ages applauded the band for calling their mom a slut. The lights did go out during their last song, but it did not stop the music. Battleaxxx’s set lasted for about 30 minutes and they received a warm applause as they left the stage.
The crowd did fill up to maybe about 100 or so people by the time Black Sabbitch took the stage. The audience was filled with a lot of seemingly empty nesters who were probably trying to relive the songs of their youth. A mosh pit of about 3 people did break out at a point, but did not last very long. During the guitar solos, you could see many people in the crowd reach up and out; banging their fist to the beat, resignating which each cord that was struck. A fire alarm did interrupt the set for about 20 mins, as well as a flood both in the dressing room and in the pit to stage left. They came back on stage, brought the crowd down low with Changes, and left on high with the Black Sabbith hit, “Sabbra Cadabra.”
Black Sabbitch did come back out for a one song encore after pump faking an exit with the dressing room door. If you are not able to catch Black Sabbitch in NYC, you can see them at the Psycho Las Vegas Festival on August 20th before they leave the states for their UK tour.
Battleaxxx Set List: Aqua, Eyes, Sex Boys, Biz, Slut, Holy, Oh Yeah, SWTB, Head, Discharge, Top Shelf
Black Sabbitch Set List: War, The Wizard, N.I.B., Sweet Leaf, Tomorrow’s Dream, Lord of the World, Solitude, Supernaut, Into the Void, Cornucopia, Wheels of Confusion, Changes, Snowblind, Sabbra Cadabra; Encore Song: Children of the Grave
“Rock the Bronx” summer music series kicks off on Saturday, June 25th, with additional concerts on July 23rd and August 21st on the plaza outside the Bronx Music Hall, presented in partnership with The Fox and King inc. and the Underground FLC.
Bronx Music Hall
The BMHC is run by the nonprofit Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco). The 14,000 sq. ft. music hall will be the first newly constructed music performance venue to open in the Bronx in more than a half century. It will offer a variety of flexible indoor and outdoor spaces for concerts, film, dance, live theater, and spoken word events, as well as music and dance classes, serving 20,000 in-person audience members and students annually at full capacity post-pandemic.
The series features emerging artists from the borough and the surrounding area that span various genres bringing a variety of new sounds to the South Bronx throughout the summer. The series will be emceed by Marco Soccoli, a New York City music mainstay who played drums for the band the Roxx, and managed the drum departments at Sam Ash Music and Manny’s Music on 48th street’s legendary music row. Show lineup is showed below.
Blackfort & Black Lotus Band – June 25th, 3:00pm
Blackfort
Leading off the series is Blackfort, a duo of artists hailing from the Bronx influenced by soul, rock, hip-hop, blues and Afro-Punk.
Black Lotus Band
Following up is the R&B and soul music band Black Lotus Band. The band is comprised of vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Duo Greene from Manhattan, keyboardist Sean from the Bronx, bassist and guitarist K$tuss from Brooklyn and drummer V from Long Island.
Francesca Lamantia Savoy & Left in the Attic – July 23rd, 3:00pm
A Multitude Of Drops
Francesca Lamantia Savoy from A Multitude of Drops will start the show. Francesca and her band play both electric and acoustic music and formed in the Bronx in 2019.
Left In The Attic
Then, Left in the Attic, another Bronx-based trio will perform their style of garage band rock. They feature Jacks on guitar, Crissy on bass and Murphy on the drums. The band members met in high school and have been performing together since 2008.
Duriex – August 21st, 3:00pm
Duriex
Singer-songwriter and performer Duriex will close the series. They will be joined by other performers to be announced later in the summer.
The Bronx has a history of being the nexus of important music scenes—from being the cradle of hip hop to the center of salsa music. The young musicians in this series are carrying that banner into the 21st century playing rock and R&B on their own terms, revitalizing the music scene of the Bronx.
– Elena Martinez (co-artistic director of the BMHC)
Seating in the plaza is limited, so attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs. In the event of inclement weather, the performances will move inside the Bronx Music Heritage Center, located at 1303 Louis Nine Blvd, at 4:30pm.
Events on the Bronx Music Hall plaza are free. BMHC also provides a livestream on their Facebook page.
Alternative rock pioneers, the Pixies, have announced an intimate 4-date U.S. tour set to kick-off on October, 1. After being benched for nearly two years due to COVID, this set of performances will come on the heels of a massive global tour that begins in June. During that time, the Pixies will perform at a number of festivals throughout Europe, Asia and South America. Their return will be quickly followed by the September 30 release of their 8th studio album, Doggerel (BMG).
Their October run will see them perform at four intimate venues between California and New York. Beginning on October, 1 at SOMA and concluding on October, 5 at New York City’s Terminal 5 venue. As is the Pixies’ “standard,” the band will draw from their extensive catalogue to perform a different set every night. Attendees can expect the band to perform not only some of the most beloved Pixies songs, but also, new tracks from Doggerel.
Doggerel album cover
Pixies have been acclaimed as the most influential, pioneering band of the late 80s alternative rock movement, having served as a major influence for bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, the Strokes, Weezer, and many more. The group has released seven studio albums including the Gold- certified Surfer Rosa, and the iconic Platinum, Doolittle.
Dates for the Pixies October slate can be found below, while tickets are on sale here.
Pixies October Tour dates
Sat. October, 1 – San Diego, CA – SOMA Sun. October, 2 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
Buffalo-based indie singer-songwriter Marina Laurendi has released her second single “Neighborhood Kids” of her Stay Mine EP releasing this August.
Neighborhood Kids – Mariana Laurendi
“Neighborhood Kids” is a sweet and summertime hometown ballad. It starts with simple acoustic guitar, piano and light synth until it culminates with the bluesy electric guitar solo ending. The folksy Americana vibe reminiscent of Brandi Carlile, melancholic indie pop evoking Lana Del Rey, and an edgier blues sound with notes of Gary Clark Jr. could be sensed from this song. The lyric video of “Neighborhood Kids” will be released on Monday, June 27th.
Marina Laurendi is a unique singer-songwriter who fuses elements of cinematic pop, alternative rock, and singer-songwriter lyricism. She was also a theatre performer and moved to NYC shortly after college to perform Off-Broadway and around the East Coast. However, as she returned to her hometown of Buffalo during the pandemic, she explored her roots with the “everything happens for a reason” attitude. Her music is heavily influenced by the pulse of the city along with the quiet nostalgia of her roots
I wrote “Neighborhood Kids” after coming back home after years of living away. Seeing and re-experiencing my hometown in the summertime as an adult hit me with a wave of nostalgia-driving down the neighborhood streets at sunset, reconnecting with people I hung out with in high school- all of it brought back this youthful sense of rebellion, curiosity, and a sense of suburban restlessness that summed up my entire youth pretty well.
Marina Laurendi
She sums it up perfectly at the end of the song when she croons, “Bittersweet baby, I got nothing to chase it. The music’s been here but we don’t wanna face it. Nothing feels different when I’m hanging with the neighborhood kids.”
Marina will be performing this summer at Griffon Gastropub in Lewiston on July 9, and at Gallo Coal Fire Kitchin in Lewiston on August 7. For more info visit her webpage.
DJ Mickey D recently spoke with Liam Sweeny of RadioRadioX.
When you think of a DJ, you might think of turntables and scratching, record skipping and beat tracks and all kinds of bending of time and space. But DJing, in its simple reality, is providing a soundtrack for an experience. We might think that DJs play music tracks, and the good ones are talented, but maybe it’s more to the point that DJs play the crowd itself.
DJ Mickey D has a wealth of experience playing different crowds, from “Rocking New Year’s Eve” with Ryan Seacrest to DJing for Mary J. Blige. And with a show called “The Spice of Life”, he shares with his crowd a special little mix of his own.
RRX: On your website, you talk about DJing never being a job, but a passion. And you’ve DJ’d for such people as Mary J. Blige and Jay Z. So, most people would see your resume as a dream come true. When you talk about it being your passion, there is also a job in there. How do you keep it a passion when there is so much work involved?
MD: I started DJing when I was 13. It gave me such self-confidence which I needed because I had low self-esteem due to being born with a cleft-lip and palette. I found that I was able to connect to people through music and make them smile. Over the years I have always volunteered to DJ for all sorts of worthy causes like Operation Smile fundraisers, Boys & Girls Club, the list goes on. I always make sure to give back and my gift to give is music. I think that’s how I stay passionate about music. It always gives me confidence like nothing else in my life, and I always make sure to play gigs that are changing the lives of others.
RRX: When you open for a superstar, when you open for a Jay Z, it’s probably not the same as when you open up for your cousin Mark. There are, I imagine, requirements, conditions you have to navigate through that you wouldn’t on a smaller gig. And I’m not talking state secrets; just a different level. What might be some differences?
MD: I created the opportunity to open for Jay Z as well becoming Mary J Blige’s tour DJ. That’s the first and most significant difference. Jay Z was on his “American Gangster” tour and when we hit the Hammerstein in NYC the dream gig presented itself. Funk Master Flex was opening the show and had to leave early while Jay Z has been delayed and was coming in late. I approached the tour manager and told him that I was an awesome DJ and wanted to play. It turned into an unbelievable 40-minute set of old school NYC hip hop in front of a sold-out crowd. It was a similar situation with MJB. The front of house engineer was playing boring music at the top of the show so I approached the tour manager and asked if I could DJ. I had researched Mary’s influences and put together a sample playlist of what I would play. The next day I auditioned in front of the tour manager as well as Mary’s manager and the gig was mine. It’s important to note I didn’t get paid extra to DJ and I still had to perform my stage-managing duties. But I knew the experiences would be amazing and pay off in the long run.
When creating these amazing opportunities, it’s important to stay humble and true to the task at hand. Just because you have a massive sound system to play on and thousands of people to play for doesn’t mean that’s your opportunity to become DJ number one and create an energy that is not conducive to the opening acts or headliner taking the stage. My name was not on the marquee or the flyer. My job was to play music that set the crowd up for the show to take them on their journey.
If I could offer someone one piece of advice to a DJ that finds themselves in the position of opening for an act of any caliber, don’t play their tracks during your set!
RRX: You have a show, called the “The Spice”. I saw that you had Whoopi Goldberg on the show for the season two finale. And also, climatologist Ginger Zee. It’s a diversity that speaks to a show called the “The Spice”. Can you tell me a little bit about the show, how it started? Who was an interesting person you’ve had on that surprised you?
MD: When the pandemic began, and we went into lockdown I quickly became bored with livestreams. There was no connection between the performer and the audience. And we needed to connect to one another. I started throwing Zoom dance parties and that evolved into the virtual events company Uru Connects with my partners Chris and Kerstin. My role is director of events so I began experimenting with different ideas for music centric virtual events. This is when The Spice was born. A show where friends gather each month to tell stories and share memories that remind us how essential music is to our lives. The first season was completely virtual. The second season was streamed live from a private social club in Brooklyn called Club Curious. This club is a creative space created by my friend and the owner of the craft nonalcoholic beverage Curious Elixirs. Having the guest in person with a small feast of friends gave the show such amazing energy that I decided to take The Spice on the road this summer. First stop is Arlington, VA on 6/12 with Meghan McCain and Kyra Phillips.
MD: During my NYC DJ Series I had Catori from Bespoke Musik as guest. Catori is an accomplished actress and musician who fell in love with DJing while working at The Boom Boom Room in NYC. Under the tutelage of my friend DJ ObAH (Oldskool Beats and Harmonies) who was also a part of the DJ series (at the time of booking I didn’t know about this connection). I learned that Catori has only been DJing for four years and she was already playing massive events such as Burning Man as well as headlining consistently in NYC, LA, and Miami. If I remember correctly, I told her she was a rocket ship.
RRX: There’s something about variety shows, like what I feel Spice of Life is, and correct me if I’m wrong. It’s all in the pattern. Like if you look at something up close, it’s yellow and blue dots; step back, it’s green. So, if you step back from all different types of guests you’ve had on Spice of Life, what do you see?
MD: When I step back and look at the guests that I’ve had on The Spice the first thing I see is friends and family. For the first season this is literal the only people I could convince to come on my show were friends and family. Now that I’m booking more well-known guests and the list grows longer (23 total so far!), I still see friends, but more so I see an entire spectrum of life perspectives that can all be related to music. And that’s the beauty of my show. No matter social or economic status, everyone has the song that reminds them of their mother. Everyone who loves music can relate to every question of every show because we all have soundtracks to our lives. I can ask you what song makes you smile the same way I can ask everyone from a movie star to the guitarist from a heavy metal band (shout out Joey Z LOA!). I mention smile because I am starting an initiative through The Spice to raise funds for Operation Smile, an organization that is near and dear to my heart.
RRX: “Rocking New Year’s Eve”, with Ryan Seacrest, I have to ask about that. Something like that is an intersection between an entertainment event and a historical event. And as a DJ, you have a huge responsibility for stoking the crowd in between segments. It’s high pressure, I imagine, but also high fun. Any neat facts about RNYE?
MD: Every New Year’s Eve for the past nine years I’ve worked as Ryan Seacrest’s audio handler. I run through Times Square with Team Ryan all night making sure he sounds good, can hear what he needs to hear, as well as managing communications for the others in our group. I’ve always said you could never get me to go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve unless you paid me. Be careful what you wish for. It can be a grueling gig with the endless rehearsals and terrible weather (a few years ago it was the coldest New Year’s Eve in 100 years, that sucked). But no matter the challenges, the energy of the show is always amazing and Ryan is awesome to work with. He really sets the bar for energy and professionalism and when it’s cold and wet, he is suffering the same as his crew. But he always pushes through with a smile and so do we because like they say, the show must go on.
RRX: You do a lot of events and play in a lot of places. You’re constantly being put into new situations and having to adapt. So, if you have a choice between a big, huge show or festival, or a small, intimate gathering, is it an easy choice on its face, or does it depend on who’s there? Do you have a ‘sweet spot’ for places to perform?
MD: For me at this time in my life it’s not about the size of the crowd or the venue. It’s all about whether or not I can play the music I want to play. My father passed last year from cancer and this was a very difficult and transformative period in my life. My dad was a DJ also and even though he moved to South Carolina when I was 12 and we didn’t have the closest relationship, we always had music and DJing. So many times he would be at a wedding and hit me up for music to play. We couldn’t talk sports, but we certainly could talk music. When he died, I thought about the amount of anxiety I go through when preparing for gigs such as weddings and corporate events, the panic attacks on the way to the show, and I realized I was having these problems because I wasn’t staying true to myself. I was continuing to endure pain because the money was great. Not to say I didn’t enjoy these gigs; I always rocked the party and have only five star reviews. But when I decided to get real with myself and stop taking gigs because of the money, so many amazing opportunities opened up for me. Now I’m a Love Prophet with Dr. Jah & The Love Prophets as well as the DJ and color commentator for an MMA promotion in Rockland County. I don’t make nearly what I did before but I don’t care. I have so much fun and only play music that I love.
Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from Precious Metals, Gordon St., and Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill Band, and many more.
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.
Precious Metals – “Jacqueline”
Precious Metals is a solo endeavor led by Troy singer-songwriter J Lee White, features a rolling cast of contributors. The band’s high energy alt-rock sound pulls from the early 2000s emo explosion and 2010s indie rock revival.
Schenectady based rock combo Gordon St. is made up of veteran Local 518 musicians Dan Noonan (lead vocals, bass), Ritch Harrigan (vocals, guitar), and Jason Nowak (drums, vocals) and have been recording and performing in New York’s Capital Region for over a decade. On this week’s EQXposure, Gordon St. will preview “Hey Dan,” their next single, due out July 1.
Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkilll Band – “Family Owned”
Born in Florida to a Danish immigrant and a blue blooded American girl, Kristain’s family moved to New England where his father worked as a fisherman. He lived with his grandparents and began singing in the church choir where his voice was recognized by his Reverend, a former professional tenor. Kristian realized the impact his voice had upon people once he opened his eyes after singing the Lord’s Prayer and seeing the silent tears fall from faces he had never met.
Outside of church Kristian sang shanties,Celtic and Scandanavian songs at local bars and told stories of fisherman coming home from sea. Over time he progressed as a songwriter and ultimately developed a following, He joined several rock bands through the years where he won awards for his voice. While a member of a metal band, Kristian was nominated for the Boston Music Awards for best male vocalist. He however, did not feel like this genre was a good fit for him. He wanted adventure, so he traveled to Nicaragua to perform on television in Managua. While there, he was photographed sitting around a table relaxing in the capital with an AK-47 in his arms; as if this was war torn country was just another place to find stories for his songs.
This experience awoke something in Kristian, he found a freedom that only his ancestors had known. He began taking his music back to his father’s homeland, where it was received like a son coming home to his family. Although his intentions were to bring music to the world; after starting a family in the US, it was at the dinner table where he truly found home. A divorce inevitably threw Kristian back into performing. He was jailed after fighting for equal rights for fathers in Massachusetts. Having lost everything, he began to rebuild his life. Upon release from prison he began work on The Gravel Church. He wrote about his experiences in prison, starting over and how he found hope.
