Up-and-coming artist Sarah Gargano released her new single “Self Diagnosis” on June 2. The song features a unique melody and thoughtful lyrics that highlight Gargano’s distinctive sound.
Sarah Gargano is a 25 year old singer-songwriter born and raised in New York City. She started writing when she was fifteen and in 2018 released her first EP, Paper Girl. Furthermore, American Songwriter described Gargano as having “highly melodic acoustic-based songs consistently feature insightful and introspective lyrics that often tackle unusual subjects.”
“Self Diagnosis” is an interesting song. The unique sound of the song draws even more focus to the lyrics which consist of self-reflective lines. The straightforward and literal lyrics allow the listener to see into Gargano’s headspace when writing the song. The song gets better with every listen as you register more of the lyrics.
Other releases from Gargano include songs like “Deadline,” “Dear Juliet,” “London,” and, most recently, “Eating Peaches Daily.”
Outside of music, Gargano has a degree in creative writing and sociology. She also enjoys frolicking in flower fields, crying over fictional characters, arts-n-crafting, taking pictures, antique hunting, journaling, and eating cookie dough. Additionally, Gargano runs her own small jewelry business on the side, known as The Crafty Songwriter.
Gargano also opened for Jeffrey Lewis in Huddersfield, England and continues to play gigs in many different cities. Her next show is in Nashville, TN on July 11.
Iconic pop rock band Boys Like Girls have announced their North America “Speaking Our Language Tour,” presented by Emo Nite. The tour kicks of September 17 in North Carolina and will stop in New York City at the Hammerstein Ballroom on October 27.
The 30-date run comes on heels of the release of “Blood and Sugar,” the band’s first new song since 2012. Direct support for the entire tour will be State Champs, while Four Year Strong, 3OH!3, LOLO, The Summer Set, The Ready Set, and Max Bemis will also offer support at different shows.
Boys Like Girls released their self-titled debut album in 2006. They then topped the charts with their sophomore album Love Drunk. What followed was a slew of successful singles including “The Great Escape” and “Love Drunk.” They also released the Platinum-certified, BMI award-winning Hot 100 duet with Taylor Swift, “Two Is Better Than One”. The band further played sold-out shows, international tours, and unforgettable moments from Madison Square Garden to Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. However, by 2012 lead singer and song-writer Martin Johnson was beginning to feel the universe pulling him into a new arena.
Collaboration was nothing new to Johnson, but for the first time he began writing and producing music not intended for his own band. What followed was another string of wild successes with hits from Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Blink-182, Avril Lavigne, and more. This, along with Johnson’s bandmates’ own successful musical endeavors, lead to a years-long hiatus for Boys Like Girls.
In 2016 the band returned to the road for the 10th Anniversary tour of their debut record. While fans across America were ecstatic for the reunion they’d been waiting for, internally it felt more like a farewell. “It was important to us to leave it all out there for the fans,” Johnson says. “To really give them the ‘thank you’ they deserved.”
Boys Like Girls Reunite
While Boys Like Girls played at the Las Vegas When We Were Young festival last year, they had not released new music in over 10 years prior to their recent single.
The Boys Like Girls comeback already sparked excitement among fans and the general public. Prior to the announcement of their comeback song, the band posted a nostalgic post on TikTok, garnering over 500k views in under 24-hours, showcasing the enduring popularity and anticipation surrounding the band’s return.
“Blood and Sugar” is just the beginning of what’s to come from Boys Like Girls. The band also confirmed that they have been working on new music and will be announcing more releases soon.
Long Island based band Bad Mary released their new EP Trash and Glamour on May 16. Much like Bad Mary’s other work, Trash and Glamour consists of impressive guitar riffs, beating drums, and powerful vocals.
Bad Mary released their first album, Better Days in 2013. They followed it up with three EPs: Killing Dinosaurs (2016), We Could Have Saved the World (2016), and Glitter Bomb (2017). In 2019 Bad Mary released their second full length album, The Return of Space Girl. It was a 33 minute punk rock space opera then followed by an award-winning animated movie of the album.
The band consists of lead vocalist Amanda Mac, Mike Staub on bass, Bill Mac on drums, and David Henderson on guitar. Based in New York, Bad Mary has played classic venues including The Highline Ballroom, The Knitting Factory, Arlene’s Grocery, and the Bowery Electric. On the road, they also played The Vans Warped Tour, The Dewey Beach Music Conference, Launch Music Conference, and Musikfest. In 2019, Bad Mary toured Japan and played to packed-out venues with a motley gang of local punk bands.
Bad Mary Goes Back to Their Roots
On Trash and Glamour, vocalist Amanda Mac said, “With this EP we really wanted to get back to thrashy/trashy rock and roll. In a way we’re back at our roots with simple and fun songs and hit the ground running right away. After a concept album and two cover EPs we felt the need to strip things down a little and get punchy again. We think we were able to achieve this and we’re really proud of these new songs.”
Additionally, assist Mike Staub called Trash and Glamour, “a small celebration of everything we’ve done. We’ve got some straight-up blistery, punky tunes like “Are You With The Band?” and “Light It Up” but also fun and weird songs that really embrace our personality like, “The Floor Is Lava”. We’re never afraid to be ourselves and T&G really shows that. It’s All Trash and we mean that with all the love.”
Bad Mary also hosts livestreams on Twitch every Tuesday at 8 pm EST, which can be found here.
Throughout the summer, the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center (CMAC) in Canandaigua offers various concerts and events. Beginning in June and lasting until September, the lineup includes something for everybody from country stars to rock festivals.
Located next to the campus of Finger Lakes Community College, the CMAC summer concert series always attracts big crowds enjoying the artists.
Santana- June 22 at 8 PM
Grammy Award winning artist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Santana kicks of the CMAC summer series on June 22. Santana will be traveling across North America this summer for his 1001 Rainbows Tour.
Darius Rucker- June 24 at 8 PM
Rucker first rose to fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Hootie & the Blowfish. In advance of the release of his forthcoming album Carolyn’s Boy, Rucker began the Starting Fires Tour. Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors are special guests who will also be joining him.
Weezer- July 3 at 7 PM
This summer, popular indie rock band Weezer is joined by special guests on their Indie Rock Roadtrip tour. For their CMAC date, Future Islands and Joyce Manor will also be taking the stage as the guests.
Roc The Lake Music Festival- July 7 at 5 PM
AJR will be headlining the Roc The Lake Music Festival. A band made up of three brothers (Adam, Jack, and Ryan), AJR is constantly re-envisioning pop music with their music. Also joining the group for the festival is Chelsea Cutler, Lawrence, Blake Rose, and Almost Monday.
The Doobie Brothers- July 14 at 8 PM
Four-time Grammy Award winners The Doobie Brothers added a tour stop at CMAC to their 50th Anniversary Tour. For over five decades, The Doobie Brothers have been known for delivering mind-blowing, roots-based, harmony-laden, guitar-driven rock and roll – all of which recently culminated in an induction into the 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Chicks- August 11 at 7:30 PM
Fresh off the heels of their massively successful U.S. tour last summer, The Chicks return to the stage with their 2023 world tour. They will also be joined by special guest singer-songwriter Ben Harper.
Dan + Shay- August 19 at 8 PM
Country duo Dan + Shay will stop at CMAC during their tour promoting their most recent album Good Things. They are best known for their global hits, including “Tequila,” “Speechless,” and “All To Myself.”
Duran Duran- September 3 at 7 PM
Continuing to perform to huge concert audiences around the world since the band first formed in 1980, Duran Duran has seen more than 100 million record sales worldwide. In the past year alone, they performed live at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, headlined London’s Hyde Park and, in a full circle moment, closed the iconic opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in their hometown of Birmingham.
Tickets and more information on these events can be found on CMAC’s website.
Rising artist Jehry Robinson released his new single “Razor” on May 12. Not conforming to one genre, “Razor,” like Robinson’s other music, blends rap, reggae, pop, and rap into one sound.
Jehry Robinson grew up on Long Island but was encouraged to move forward with his music dreams after forming a friendship with Grammy winning artist Macklemore. Then, in 2016, he co-founded FBA Management with Tara Ennis and launched his solo career.
After reading an article about Kansas City based Strange Music in Forbes, he urged Tara to reach out to C.E.O. Travis O’Guin. After months of persistence and diligence the label head surprisingly returned her direct message. The two got on a plane to Kansas City with hopes of joining the Strange Music family. After more months of planning, and many conversations with O’Guin, Jehry signed the label and got right to work.
So far, Robinson’s songs and videos have accumulated over ten million views and streams. On his genre mixing music, he said, “I’m taking all of those genres and emotions and fusing them into one sound. You’ll get the happy side. You’ll get the depressed side. If there’s a reggae vibe or rock energy, that’s just how I felt that day.”
Fusing numerous genres, his songs reflect Robinson’s ear for melody and his ability to make seemingly conflicting sounds mesh together. His latest song “Razor” is the follow-up to the melodic rap and vocal harmonies of “No Happy Days” which features label-mate King Iso. Earlier in 2023 he delivered “Kill My Daydreams” and “Question Why.” Expect more songs and videos from Jehry Robinson leading up to the release of his upcoming LP this summer.
The American Classical Orchestra (ACO), New York City’s leading period instrument orchestra, announced its 2023-24 season of four orchestral concerts led by Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford. The season opens November 16, 2023 and will conclude May 8, 2024. Additionally, there will be an exclusive preseason performance for its subscribers only.
Three out of the four performances will take place at Alice Tully Hall and one will be held at the Corpus Christi Church.
Featured soloists include award-winning violinist Augusta McKay Lodge; soprano Nola Richardson; Grammy-nominated Reginald Mobley; active Bach interpreter tenor; First Prize winner in the Oratorio Society of New York’s Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition, bass Steven Eddy; oboist, noted historical instrument expert, ASCAP Award-winner, and Juilliard faculty member Gonzalo Ruiz; and early music artist Adam Cockerham, a specialist in theorbo, lute and Baroque guitar.
“This season, the ACO programs three pillars of classical repertoire: Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, Mozart’s Jupiter, and the Bach B Minor Mass featuring our acclaimed ACO Chorus,” said Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford. “Hearing 18th-century masterpieces played with passion, live in New York and on period instruments, is our greatest joy.”
Pre-season performance:La musica notturna di Madrid
Thursday, September 28, 2023, 7 pm at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue
Adam Cockerham, Baroque guitar
Luigi Boccherini: Guitar Quintet in C Major, Op. 30, No. 6, G. 324, “La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid”
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings in G Major, RV 151
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings in G Minor, RV 157
This special pre-season chamber music performance for subscribers only presents an ACO string ensemble at the Salmagundi Club, a historic arts center on the National Register of Historic Places. The musicians are joined by Baroque guitar virtuoso Adam Cockerham,Associate Music Director of the Academy of SacredDrama. The program opens with Boccherini’s Guitar Quintet, initially written for strings, a work quite popular in Spain during the composer’s lifetime.
Season Opening: Premier coup d’archet
Thursday, November 16, 2023, 7:30 pm at Alice Tully Hall
Thomas Crawford, conductor
Augusta McKay Lodge, violin
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 31 in D Major, K. 297/300a “Paris”
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastorale”
Ludwig van Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G Major, Op. 40
The title of this program, premier coup d’archet (first stroke of the bow), refers to a device whereby all the instruments play together at the start of a symphony—a practice popular at the time and one that Mozart used to great success in his Symphony No. 31. The work, written while the 22-year-old composer was looking for work in Paris, received hearty applause at its 1778 premiere. Beethoven’s elegant Romance in G Major for Violin and Orchestra features young virtuoso Augusta McKay Lodge. The evening concludes with Beethoven’sPastoral Symphony, loved for its portrayals of sounds of nature, including birds, a brook, and a thunderstorm. The ACO offers an authentic look at Beethoven’s vision by the use of natural hunting horns, leather timpani, and 18th century Austrian woodwind instruments.
Gesù Nato
Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7 pm at Corpus Christi Church, W. 121 St. between Broadway & Amsterdam
Thomas Crawford, conductor
Antonio Bencini: Gesù Nato
Antonio Gianettini: Magnificat
Antonio Bencini’s Gesù Nato marks what is likely the modern premiere of the full work ofthis lost 1742 Christmas oratorio manuscript by the little-known composer who premiered it in Bologna before it was shelved at the Vatican Library for three centuries. The work features vocal soloists, a choir, and an orchestra of trumpets, oboes, and strings. Antonio Gianettini’s version of the Magnificat, also known as the Canticle of Mary, is a prayer of praise to God found in the Gospel of Luke. It has been used in the daily prayers of the Catholic Church, and set to music by many composers. Gianettini—an Italian organist, concertmaster and composer—was considered to be one of the most talented composers of his era.
This performance is a co-production of the ACO and The Academy of Sacred Drama, founded in 2013 by ACO violinist and scholar Jeremy Rhizor. The Organization is dedicated to Baroque oratorio that draws its stories from biblical tales and the lives of saints.
American Classical Orchestra 2023-24 season
B Minor Mass
Thursday, March 7, 2024, 7:30 pm at Alice Tully Hall
Thomas Crawford, conductor
Nola Richardson, soprano
Reginald Mobley, countertenor
Steven Soph, tenor
Steven Eddy, bass
ACO Chorus
Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Bach’s Mass in B Minor was one of the composer’s last achievements, completed a year before his death in 1749. A musical setting of the complete Latin Mass, this monumental work presents nine arias and duets, 14 ensemble sections for vocal groups of various sizes, and a range of instrumental solos in numerous styles. Based largely on Bach’s earlier pieces, this mass is one of his best-loved vocal works. The orchestra is joined by the renowned ACO Chorus, comprised of professional vocalists from the New York metro area. Featured soloists will be soprano Nola Richardson, countertenor Reginald Mobley, tenor Steven Soph, and bass Steven Eddy.
Astronomical
Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 7:30 pm at Alice Tully Hall
Thomas Crawford, conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 “Jupiter”
William Herschel: Oboe Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major
Johan Daniel Berlin: Concerto á 5 in A Major
C.P.E. Bach: Symphony in B Minor, H661 Wq182/5
Gonzalo Ruiz, oboe
The “astronomical” theme of this program is inspired by Mozart’s ”Jupiter” Symphony, Herschel’s telescopes, and Berlin’s meteorological observations/alias composer roles. The concert begins with Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony, his longest and final symphony. Widely considered to be his strongest work and perhaps his most popular symphony, it is notable for its deft weaving of Classical and Baroque musical forms. Before the 18th century composer William Herschel played oboe and violin, he was an accomplished astronomer who built his own telescope and discovered the planet Uranus in 1781.
His 1780 three-movement Oboe Concerto No. 1, written in the style of Corelli or Handel concerti grossi, features soloist Gonzalo Ruiz, a Juilliard faculty member and expert in historical reedmaking techniques, of which more than two dozen are on permanent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Carl Philipp Emanuel (C.P.E.) Bach’s Symphony in B Minor follows next. Johann Sebastian Bach’s 5th child and one of the foremost clavier players in Europe, C.P.E. wrote the work during the German literature period of Sturm und Drang, when he created short pieces inspired by individualism.
Finally, the evening closes with German-born Rococo composer Johan Daniel Berlin’s Concerto á 5 in A Major. In 1737 Berlin became the town musician of Trondheim, Norway. In addition, he was a fire brigade captain, land surveyor, founding member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, and made a series of meteorological and astronomical observations. Today he is regarded as one of Norway’s first known composers, although few of his works remain.
For details and tickets for American Classical Orchestra 2023-24 season, click here.
Isaiah J. Thompson is making waves in the jazz scene with his unique sound and virtuosic playing. Thompson recently won the prestigious 2023 American Pianist Awards and his album The Power of the Spirit is out now.
The top contender of five finalists, Thompson took home the accolades of the award and prizes valued at $200,000. He showed a deep respect for the jazz tradition and a forward-thinking approach to improvisation. Thus, Thompson established himself as one of the most exciting young musicians of his generation.
NPR hailed Thompson as “a young musician and composer with a mature touch and rare combination of talent, creativity, humility and honesty.” He also previously performed with jazz such as including Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Steve Turre, John Pizzarelli, and Buster Williams.
Additionally, Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing and Artistic Director said, “I first encountered Isaiah when he was a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra nearly a decade ago. Since then, I’ve had the privilege to watch his artistry develop, both at the Juilliard School and on the stages of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Isaiah is a versatile, soulful musician with such a singular voice and strong intention in his playing that I know he is destined to do great things.”
Thompson’s new album, The Power of the Spirit was recorded live in front of a rapturous audience at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club. The Power of the Spirit finds Thompson’s seasoned quartet delivering a locked-in performance of their repertoire. On full display are the pianist’s stunning dexterity and soulful original material. Combining crisp technicality with a gospel-inflected sound, Thompson nods to forebears like Bobby Timmons, Phineas Newborn Jr., and Cedar Walton.
Thompson already released two singles from the album to critical acclaim. The first single “The IT Department” is both a play on Thompson’s initials and a tribute to his father. About the song, Thompson stated, “I don’t come from a particularly musical family, but they have always supported me.” The song landed Thompson on the cover of Tidal’s “Rising Jazz” playlist. The second single from album was “Tales of the Elephant and the Butterfly.”
Other performance’s by Thompson can by found in his NPR Tiny Desk concert, his Jazz Night in America Youngblood series episode, and his special guest appearance on the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s Handful of Keys. With the release of The Power of the Spirit, Isaiah showcases hisundeniable talent and passion for jazz.
