Rising star Lizzy McAlpine made an appearance this past Friday at The Great New York State Fair 2022. The 22-year-old McAlpine enjoyed a significant rise of attention once her music went viral on TikTok. Her debut album Give me a Minute was released in August 2020 and has since garnered her a following.
McAlpine was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and started getting into music in middle school. She began studying music and songwriting in college at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating from Berklee College she continued to pursue her music career, leading to her internet fame.
“I think [Berklee] did shape my music, but not because of the classes. The main thing I got out of Berklee was the people that I met, and the people I surrounded myself with who definitely influenced my music. I don’t think you need to necessarily understand music theory to be a good musician. If you have a good ear, you don’t need to know all the harmonies to write a good song.”
Syracuse was one of many stops for McAlpine, as part of her first official tour. Lizzy’s raw and stunning voice had her fans singing along to every song. The audience was visibly enthralled by the performance as they swayed and danced with friends. Some of her top hits such as “ceilings” and “hate to be lame” her latest album Five Seconds Flat drew the best reactions. McAlpine also performed songs from her breakthrough project, Give Me A Minute. Songs like “Pancakes for Dinner,” “Means Something” and “To the Mountains.” all made the setlist.
Overall Lizzy McAlpine has become a leading figure at a young age. Inspiring young girls and other young artists to pursue their dreams.
Lizzy’s next show takes place on September 11, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Fine Line Music Cafe. We look forward to seeing what’s next for McAlpine and what the future holds for her.
Method Man responded to his conspicuous absence from Wu Tang Clan, Nas and Busta Rhymes’, NY State of Mind Tour. The legendary acts announced back in April they’d be joining forces an end of summer tour. However, fans who attended the tour’s first few shows were disappointed to learn that Meth wouldn’t be joining the rest of the Clan on tour.
The Power Book II: Ghost actor gave reply to unhappy fans in a video, going on to say:
I’ma clear this shit up once and for all, I’ma say this one last time. One of the nicest muthafuckas in the world, but I am not a pushover. I have sacrificed so much over the years to satisfy the fans, and I’m pretty sure that’s vice versa and that’s why I love y’all, that’s why I don’t hesitate to go all-out for y’all.
The visibly frustrated Method Man specified that his issues were not with his real fans and “not the ones that’d jump in your DMs and curse you the fuck out all call you all kinds of bitches.” The Grammy-winner went on to explain his absence from the tour,
I fucking love Wu-Tang, wish I could have been on that tour with them. The booking came at a bad time, I was already booked to do a movie.
While still showing respect to his brothers, Meth emphasized his displeasure at the backlash he’s received from some fans. Noting that the show was billed irregardless of his presence.
And you know, these things happen and dudes do have to feed their families. Albums don’t sell the way they used to, I’m pretty sure you guys know that. So in order to preserve my lifestyle and to feed my family, I had to have alternative means of doing that. And I’m glad to say at 50 years old, I have options. Not everybody can say that. Everyone cannot say that they have options.
https://youtu.be/rnHDCO_SClk
Always the clan’s most marketable member, Method Man has branched out to a successful acting career. The How High actor will star in Paramount+’s feature, On the Come Up, from director Sanaa Lathan. He serves as the narrator for DC Comics’ Milestone Generations and will also lend his voice to Disney Channel’s upcoming animated series, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. He currently stars in Power Book II: Ghost, for which he won consecutive NAACP Image Awards in 2021 and 2022.
The NY State of Mind tour kicked off August 30 and includes a stop at the Prudential Center on September 13. The tour wraps up on Oct. 4 with a performance at Los Angeles’ historic Hollywood Bowl.
Some music is misunderstood. In the fifties and sixties, older generations didn’t understand rock ‘n’ roll. And in the thirties, preachers had a problem with blues. But metal has seldom been understood throughout the generations. And the cool thing is that metal actually enjoys it. Defiance to the norm is on the underside of every nickel-wound string and dropped D.
Faced is a metal band, and they’re one to watch. With an album out in 2020, they came through the other side of ‘crazyville’ to lay down brutality in the studio. I sat down with Faced’s Jordan (Jordo) Simpson to talk turkey.
RRX: You released II Coming in September of 2020, which was a pretty crazy time. I won’t ask how hard it was to put it together during that time; old news. But it touches on a point. Metal is about insane shit, apocalypses, general doom and whatnot. Does it feel different singing about, well, dystopia, where we’re living in it?
JS: A lot of the material was written for a couple of years. On this record there is a range of topics from out of the mind and body experiences to straight up anger, loss of will and hope, smoking weed, the list goes on. So, the timing of it fit the period in all of our lives.
RRX: Faced has a really tight sound, not clean in the sense of like clean guitar, but clean as in maybe streamlined, well put together. And yet the sound is chaotic. And people who don’t listen to metal think it’s all chaos because their ears aren’t trained to it, but some metal is cleaner, tighter, than other metal. How do you control the chaos?
JS: That’s a good question. We have always been musicians that push the edge. Always trying to zero in on how to do things better. So, with drive and practice combined we just strive to be the best metal band we can be, and the result is that tight sound you hear. We just try to be ourselves and true to the art. We don’t follow trends or fads. We just pour ourselves out there.
RRX: I love that guitar sound. So maybe we talk shop for a second. Let’s talk pedals. First off, do you guys use them, or is it all in great amps? If you do use them, what do those pedal boards look like? And how do you manage pedal boards in a live show – punch them during the show, or set and forget? If no pedals, what stops you?
JS: Glad you like the tone!! I’ve worked many years to find my sound. Live and in the studio I use a Randall RM-100 head with a 4 x 12 loaded with Marshall Celestions speakers. In the studio I use a few pedals. For delay I use a DD-8 Delay pedal for leads. For wah, I use a Dunlop 525Q. I also use a stereo chorus from the 80’s made by Arion. Which is a diamond in the rough. But everyone loves the sound. For live I use a Headrush pedalboard thru my loop in my Randall. It sounds great and doesn’t kill my back.
RRX: I’ve listened to Faced from the studio and Faced live on one of the Booze Cruises. There’s a lot of similarities, and differences. I don’t think it’s even possible to recreate a live metal sound in the studio unless you record in a venue and let people mosh in the recording booth. Do you try things to bring the live sound into the studio?
JS: The studio is a different beast. We always try to capture the Faced sound. That’s what we aim for. We don’t want to sound like another band live or in the studio. So being true to ourselves is what comes through live and in the studio. Live we throw different things in there and take risks. We try to always outdo ourselves. If you came to a show to hear what’s exactly on the record what good is that. We always want it to be an experience. You never know what you will see or hear at a Faced show. Like to keep the fans on their toes.
RRX: Metal in the Capital Region is a tight group. Part of that is the music itself. Metal is a music that doesn’t mix well with other music. You wouldn’t see a metal band booked with a folk or a blues band. That said, metal does mix very well when it’s mashups with other genres, like rap, country, blues, folk…pretty much everything. Why is that?
JS: Well, I can only speak for our music. We have played with many genres under the sun. We love many types of music. We have shared the bill with many different acts playing many different genres. Hell, we even played a rave once! Our thing is as long as you have a dream and you’re doing everything possible to make that dream a reality we back you 100%. Musicians stick together.
RRX: Most music, or most musicians, have a theme. Just basic, there’s stuff we care about, so there’s stuff we sing about. If I think the CIA implants radios in peoples’ fillings, my albums might be me revealing that belief in 4/4 time. And that’s a stupid example but Faced probably has themes to its music. What is the Faced message?
JS: We have many messages through many songs. We tell stories about life through real experience. It’s real songs with twists and turns through the mind. We scream about things we have lived through and have seen. Pretty much it’s all left up to interpretation. We make the listeners think about what it all means to them in a lot of songs.
RRX: This is where you answer the question I didn’t ask. Comments? Shout-outs? Educate, enlighten, emote – the floor is yours.
JS: Come out to a show and party with us. We don’t bite…much! Check us out on every streaming platform there is. If you dig it, pass it to a friend.
We would love to give a few huge shout outs to our manager Bear without him some of the things we have done wouldn’t have been possible. We would also like to give a shout out to the social outcasts, the misunderstood and the bullied. We love you all and embrace every last one of you. A Faced show is where you are accepted for who you are. Come out and be part of it. Thanks for all the support!!
On Sept. 9, Albany-based rock band Doctor Baker will release their album, Trespassers, produced by Don Fury at Don Fury Studios in Troy.
Consisting of Ed Schwarzschild (guitar, vocals), Iggy Calabria (guitar, vocals), Chris Gockley (bass), and Danny Goodwin (drums, percussion), Doctor Baker originally started as an acoustic duo before expanding. The complete band brings a strong sound to audiences within the Capitol Region and beyond.
An award-winning short story writer and novelist, Schwarzchild’s lyricism on Trespassers is evocative and compelling. The band’s sound on the album spans various emotions with the first single and lyric video, “Exhausted,” released on Aug. 30.
The album is like a story collection, but they’re stories that fit in with what’s going on in the world at the moment … the songs on the album acknowledge that there are some real problems, but we’re trying to stay lit up, we’re still trying to love, still trying to figure out what love is, still trying to maintain relationships with the people we’re close to.
– Ed Schwarzschild
The title of the album, Trespassers, came to Gockley and Schwarzchild after a performance by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy. The duo got lost on the way back to Albany and found themselves in a remote spot with “NO TRESPASSING” signs and the name of the album came to them. Of the title, Schwarzchild shares, “‘Hey we’re all trespassers now, let’s try to do things together, see each other clearly, see ourselves clearly.’”
Legendary producer Don Fury propelled the band’s sound forward, with the 11 songs ranging in instrumentation and tone. Backing vocals from Zan Strumfeld (Zan and the Winter Folk) and Melissa Thorne (Fol Chen) also strengthen the songs on the record.
Doctor Baker’s Trespassers includes heavily distorted tracks such as the title track and slows to pieces such as “Holiday Lights” as a change of pace. The instrumentation of the album at times sounds light and cheerful but after closer inspection of the lyrics, the band adds depth to each of the tracks including vivid descriptions and reflections of politics, climate change, and the human condition. There is a relatable song for every listener on this album.
In celebration of Trespasser’s release, Doctor Baker will be performing at The Linda on Sept. 10, and Albany Distilling Company on Sept. 23. Fans of the band can keep up with them on Instagram, here.
Wren Cove released its debut EP entitled Trees by Basement Factory Music on Aug. 1. Wren Cove is an instrumental band consists of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Cloninger,a former member of Daniel Bennett Group, and cellist Melissa Davies of the band Cottage Street.
Wren Cove “Trees”
They met in a record studio when Cloninger was recording his first EP in 10 years while Davies came to record the cello parts. This session was the beginning of an interesting musical journey. They hope to bring one-of-a-kind instrumental performances to the Rochester and Finger Lakes region.
Melissa Davies lives in Rochester, NY, with her husband and two children. She is the cellist in the indie rock group Cottage Street Band and enjoys creating art installations and murals. Andrew Cloninger resides in Canandaigua, NY, with his wife and son. He was the primary singer/songwriter in various Americana roots bands as well as the founding guitarist in the Daniel Bennett Group. Over the years Andrew has shared the stage with such acts as Father John Misty, Unwed Sailor, Joy Electric, and jazz great Charlie Hunter.
Opening with cello solo, then transitioned to the combination of cello and drums through a series of electronic static, synth, and guitar melody, the first song of the EP “Wheeler” brought out a powerful energy.
The next song “Douglas” is more tender. Davies’s cello flew out like a continuous running river, and Cloninger’s guitar is adding drops on the river like rain.
Overall, the pieces in the EP conveys a sence of nature. Referring back to its name Trees, the cello is the steady main stream while the guitar and other instruments injected modern enegery into the songs. Their further performances on Sept. 10 at Pollot Gallery in NYC and Oct. 9 at Big aLICe Brewery in Geneva worth expectations.
The Dave Matthews Band has announced a Fall 2022 North American tour, with stops all over the country, wrapping up with two dates at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 18 and 19.
Photo Credit: Danny Clinch.
The Dave Matthews Band has sold more than 25 million tickets since its creation and a collective 38 million CDs and DVDs combined. With the release of 2018’s Come Tomorrow, the band became the first group in history to have seven consecutive studio albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The band just wrapped up their annual Labor Day weekend celebration at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA, and are finishing off summer tour dates before heading into the Fall tour, starting Nov. 2 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. DMB will partner with The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees program and have funded the planting of three million trees through touring.
If you are a member of the DMB Warehouse Fan Association you can get tickets now, with public on-sale happening on Sept. 23 at 10 A.M. local time.
Dave Matthews Band Tour Dates
Summer 2022
9/9 Greenwood Village, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
9/10 Greenwood Village, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
9/14 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion
9/16 Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
City Girls headlined at The Great New York State Fair on Sept. 4. The bold rap duo and hip-hop stars debuted on the Chevy Park stage within the New York Experience Festival Grounds, sponsored by Chevrolet. Despite the light rain throughout the set, City Girls presented a remarkable show to a large-scale audience.
Miami-based rap duo, City Girls, consists of JT and Yung Miami. They made an abrupt entry into the music industry by making a guest appearance on Drake’s top charting single “In My Feelings,” in 2018. Currently, City Girls are touring with Jack Harlow for the Come Home The Kids Miss You Tour.
The City Girls DJ, Fat Boy Rhymer warmed up the crowd to popular rap songs including, “Mo Bamba,” by Sheck Wes, “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” by Hitkidd and GloRilla, and “Super Gremlin,” by Kodak Black. The crowd went absolutely wild when Rhymer asked, “are you ready for City Girls?!”
DJ Fat Boy Rhymer kept the beats rolling as City Girls ran out on stage to “Take Your Man.” Those in the crowd sitting, stood up recording on their cell phones with the flash on, and cheered for the duo. While rapping and dancing, Yung Miami and JT alternated working each side of the stage. The audience remained excited and danced throughout the act.
Near the end of the set, the duo brought a few fans on the stage to dance with them. Don’t miss City Girls when they stop at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on October 7. Check out their full tour dates below!
Manhattan-born pop/r&b singer, Austin Jay, brings the heat with his latest single, “Loving on You.” Released in anticipation of his debut EP, “Loving You” follows the release of “All I Wanna Do,” his debut single. In a short period of time the passionate wailer has amassed over 50 thousand streams on each of his singles.
After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Austin Jay embarked on his musical career. Classically trained in piano and voice, he earned his promising newcomer status in 2019 with covers of Khalid’s “Location” and Billie Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes” gaining a significant following on Instagram for his soulful and imaginative Gen- Z reinterpretations of popular songs.
Stylistically, Austin Jay can fill a void within the r&b realm. While the too-cool-for-school crooners have their place, they don’t fully encapsulate the love and vulnerability that r&b is rooted in. A proper love ballad requires a certain kind of indifference to public perception. A generational trend that Austin Jay is aware of, yet embraces.
Loving on You is about the infatuation of new love. It’s about finding someone that you really care about and telling them, and not being ashamed of love. A lot of people think dramatic declarations of love are corny/cheesy, but really it’s healthy and needed more in life.
– Austin Jay
On “Loving On You” Austin Jay reverts to the impassioned, romance-laden croons of r&b’s heyday. In fact, the music video itself is a nod to r&b hits of the past, as Jay shirtless-ly serenades his love interest on a secluded California beach.
Despite his r&b talents, Austin sees himself growing into the likes of Dominic Fike, Khalid, and Bruno Mars, an aggressive, all-genre artist with strong vocals. He performed as the lead singer of the nationally touring band ‘Earth to Mars’, growing his fanbase and earning his performance chops. Now a more complete artist, Austin Jay looks to cement himself as a player in the r&b world.
It may have been Philly, but the vibe was all “New York State of Mind” thanks to Jay-Z’s all-star lineup of the most influential acts for this year’s “Made in America” (MIA) festival. The festival took place on Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the 3rd and 4th of September. This year marked the 10th year of the festivals running and it was extraordinary. The Brooklyn rapper enlisted a hip-hop-heavy lineup, including Tyler, the Creator, Lil Uzi Vert, Don Toliver, and Bronx-born Pusha T. Although named “Made in America,” the festival featured acts from around the globe, including Nigeria, Sweden, Canada, Spain, Mexico, Colombia and The Dominican Republic.
Fans climbing light post at Made in America, Photo by: Lucas Kurzweil
Named after Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean’s hit record “Made in America,” this festival “sums up the superstars’ feelings about black history, America, Jesus, and revisiting their respective rises to fame.” With their dedication to social action, MIA featured a “Cause Village” giving various charitable organizations a platform for their various causes. With free swag, fun games, and music, Cause Village was a lively part of the festival.
Day-one headliner Tyler The Creator, fresh off his 2021 Grammy-winning album, Call Me If You Get Lost, performed songs new and old. Including fan favorites “WUSYANAME,” “Boredom,” and “Yonkers.” The West coast rapper felt at home on the East, as he exchanged his usual witty, dry humor with the crowd. Before departing, he made sure to state that this was the “last show for this era.” Marking the conclusion of his extravagant Call Me If You Get Lost run.
Tyler, The Creator at Made in America, Photo by: Lucas Kurzweil
Day-two headliner Bad Bunny stopped at MIA amid his World’s Hottest Tour. Bad Bunny’s tour has already visited Yankee Stadium on August 27, where the demand for tickets was so high that they added a second show the next day. During the second Yankee Stadium performance Bad Bunny was presented with the MTV Video Music Award for Artist of the Year.
Bronx-born rapper Pusha T made an appearance this weekend. He recently released an album titled It’s Almost Dry, which featured production almost exclusively from Pharrell and Kanye West. The album also included a feature from festival curator, Jay-Z. Pusha performed many songs from the album, including the scratchy “Diet Coke”, which includes production from West and New York’s own 88-keys. Pusha played hits records throughout his discography, crowd favorites included his verses on “Runaway” and “I Don’t Like.”
Jay-Z called upon Lil Uzi Vert, Jazmine Sullivan, Zah Sosaa, and many others to represent Philadelphia at MIA. Uzi himself has been on a festival run as of late, having performed at Something in the Water, Rolling Loud Miami, and Outside Lands within the past few months. Uzi is also slated to appear in New York later this month at Rolling Loud NY.
Lil Uzi Vert at Made in America, Photo by: Lucas Kurzweil
Full Festival Lineup: Bad Bunny, Tyler, the Creator, Lil Uzi Vert, Jazmine Sullivan, Burna Boy, Snoh Aalegra, Pusha T, Don Toliver, Tate McRae, Fuerza Regida, Toro Y Moi, Larry June, Babyface Ray, Rels B, Victoria Monét, Chimbala, Ryan Castro, Young Nudy, Kenny Mason, Coast Contra, GloRilla, Jeleel!, Jenevieve, Zah Sosaa, Ambré, Armani White, Kur, Kalan Fr.Fr.,Dixson, and Becca Hannah.
This past week the Ed Sullivan Show channel launched on Pluto TV, bringing an array of content which includes over 75 hours worth of on-air performances.
These can be found all in one collection, which includes Ed Sullivan’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Classics (Rock `N’ Roll Hall Of Fame, Rock Legends, The British Invasion, Psychedelic Sixties, Top Hits Of 1965, Top Hits Of 1970, West Coast Rock, Lennon & McCartney Songbook, Sounds Of The Cities, Gone Too Soon, Motortown Review and First Women Of Rock).
Ed Sullivan.
Having run nearly every Sunday from 1948 to 1971, The Ed Sullivan Show featured celebrity musicians such as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, The Temptations, and the Jackson 5 along with comedians such as Joan Rivers, Flip Wilson, and Rodney Dangerfield over the course of the program’s run.
As well as showcasing those listed above, the 24/7 channel will also include the appearances of variety figures such as children’s puppeteer Topo Gigio, plate spinner Erich Brenn, and the Muppets.
In addition, the channel run TV specials and documentaries such as The Best Of The Ed Sullivan Show which comprises 80 edited episodes of original episodes featuring highlight moments of performances on air.
