Hybrid/fusion act Pink Talking Fish have announced their 2023 spring tour, celebrating the 50 Year Anniversary of Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side Of The Moon.
Pink Talking Fish
A musical tribute fusion of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish, the band will celebrate by performing the album in its entirety for every show of the tour. The incredible two set show will be dedicated to first to Dark Side Of The Moon, while the second set will be classic Pink Talking Fish combinations of their namesakes.
New York City’s stop will be held March 24, 2023 at Manhattan’s Sony Hall, located in Times Square. Known as Midtown’s Premier event hall, Sony Hall is equipped with Sony’s latest technologies throughout to provide an enhanced experience.
Pink Talking Fish will also be making a stop in Buffalo on April 13. The show will take place at Buffalo Iron Works, a live music venue & bar built into an early 1900s factory space.
The tour begins with an epic concept show on March 11 in Beverly MA which is being called “The Anniversary Show”. This performance will not only include Dark Side Of The Moon, but also have a full rendition of the Talking Heads album Stop Making Sense.
David Crosby, a founding member of both The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, died today at age 81. A key player in the mid-60’s L.A. folk-rock scene, Crosby was known for his harmony more than songwriting, as he penned “Guinnevere,” “Wooden Ships,” “Long Time Gone,” “Almost Cut My Hair” and “Déjà Vu,” among others.
Just yesterday Crosby tweeted on his very active Twitter account about the afterlife, saying Heaven is “overrated….cloudy.”He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once for the Byrds and once for Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. In recent years, he also had an advice column on Rolling Stone, Ask Croz.
Crosby was born in Los Angeles as the child of famous Hollywood cinematographer Floyd Crosby, who won an Oscar for his work on F.W. Murnau’s 1931 feature Tabu. He gravitated to acting and music at an early age and dropped out of Santa Barbara City College to pursue music. He found himself in the commercial folk music scene via brief membership in Les Baxter’s Balladeers.
After working at L.A. folk clubs as a solo act, he attracted the attention of Jim Dickson, the house engineer at Richard Bock’s L.A. label World Pacific Records. He was a solo act for a while but eventually formed a band in 1964 when jamming with Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark. They went under different names for a duration, starting as the Beefeaters, then picking up Chris Hillman along the way to become the Byrds.
The group’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” leapt to No. 1 in the United States singles chart in early 1965. For the next two years, Crosby’s group would reign supreme as America’s version of The Beatles. All of their records under Columbia during this time reached the U.S. top 25.
In 1967, Crosby’s time with the Byrds came to a close after an argument at the historic Monterey Pop Festival. He began jamming with Stephen Stills, whose group Buffalo Springfield had recently ended, and Graham Nash, who met the others during a 1966 U.S. tour with the Hollies. David Geffen freed the three from their contracts, and Crosby, Stills & Nash was signed to Atlantic Records.
The group’s self-titled record was released in May 1969, went to No. 6 on the U.S. chart, and sold four million copies. CS&N won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1969. In August 1969, the group, along with new member Neil Young, performed at Woodstock in front of half a million people, only their second live performance together. After Young’s addition, the group’s 1970 record Déjà Vu went No. 1 and sold seven million copies.
Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young had continued success until personal problems in Crosby’s life escalated. He was addicted to cocaine and eventually heroin, after his girlfriend Christine Hinton was killed in a car accident in 1970. Young eventually left after that to focus on his solo career, but returned to tour with the others in 1974.
During his addiction, Crosby released a 1971 solo debut, If I Could Only Remember My Name, which peaked at No. 12 in 1971. He reunited with the original Byrds lineup in 1972, disbanding after their 1973 release Byrds was dismissed by critics. He reunited with CS&N to release CNS in 1977, and Daylight Again in 1982, before things unraveled very publicly.
In April 1982, Crosby was arrested in a Dallas nightclub and charged with possessing a .45 caliber handgun and a pipe for his cocaine use. He was convicted in 1983, and served five months of the five years he was sentenced to in 1986. He credited this conviction to ending his addiction to cocaine. He also suffered from ill health and underwent a liver transplant in 1994, and in 2014 was named “rock’s unlikeliest survivor” by Rolling Stone.
In 2000, it was revealed by singer Melissa Etheridge that Crosby was the biological father of two children born to her then-partner Julie Cypher via artificial insemination. One of those children, Beckett Cypher, died at the age of 21 in 2020, with Crosby writing “I didn’t get to raise that kid… but he was here many times. I loved him and he loved me and he was family to me.”
He was convicted and fined for marijuana and firearms possession later in 2004. In 2015 he had another run in with the law, agreeing to pay a $3 million settlement following the filing of a suit that alleged he was intoxicated when he crashed into a jogger.
His six-decade career culminated in a final solo album, For Free, released in 2021, having kept busy in the last decade by releasing six studio albums. He also put out live albums, including one, David Crosby & The Lighthouse Band Live at the Capitol Theatre, live at the iconic Port Chester venue. The 16-track live offering includes an uncut gem with the song “1974,” a long lost demo that Crosby had sitting around on a hard drive for decades.
Crosby also dabbled in acting, with stints on Roseanne and in 1991’s Hook.
In 2017, Crosby embarked on his Sky Trails tour, playing at The Egg in Albany. In 2019, Cameron Crowe would direct the 2019 documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name.
Crosby retired from performing live in 2021, saying “It’s because I’m old. Being on a bus tour is a daunting task. It’s very hard. It takes it out of you. I’m too old to do it anymore. I don’t have the stamina; I don’t have the strength.” He also said he was “trying really hard to crank out as much music as I possibly can, as long as it’s really good.” He backtracked about that statement, saying he did want to play live again.
David Crosby is survived by his wife Jan Dance, their son Django, James Raymond, his son with Celia Crawford Ferguson and two daughters, Erika and Donovan, from previous relationships with Jackie Guthrie and Debbie Donovan.
The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) has recently opened, and this January, they bring in artists who continue the strong Long Island tradition of great music. On Sunday, January 22 from 3-4pm The Mary Lamont Band will perform at LIMEHOF, while on Sunday, January 29 from 3-4pm, A Band Called Sam will take the stage.
In the past two months has hosted a variety of live performances from music groups and local bands. Among the artists that have performed at LIMEHOF so far include Zebra’s Randy Jackson, Pete Mancini, Rorie Kelly, Stanton Anderson Acoustic Trio, the Smithtown High School East Chamber Choir, Quarter Horse, Jack’s Waterfall American Roots, Richie Cannata, Mark Newman and Kerry Kearney.
photo via Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame
Called the “Queen of Long Island Country” by Newsday, Mary Lamont was three times voted Band of the Year by the NY Metro CMA, twice voted Singer/Songwriter of the Year by the NJ CMA, and is the first American country act to tour Mainland China. Raised in rural Ontario, Mary has been featured in ASCAP’s prestigious Playback Magazine, is featured in ASCAP.com’s Audio Portraits, and has opened for Delbert McClinton and Marshall Tucker as well as Charlie Daniels Band at NYCB Theatre at Westbury. Mary also had the honor of singing with Les Paul’s Trio at the famous Iridium Club in New York City.
Mary’s latest CD “Not Far from Here” features original tunes as well as a country song given to Mary to record by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dennis Dunaway, original bassist of the Alice Cooper group and writer of such AC hits as “School’s Out”.
Mary is also a radio DJ at WUSB 90.1 Stony Brook University, where she hosts “Down Home Country” on alternate Sundays, 12:00-1:00pm.
The Spirit Of The Late Legendary Long Island Hall Of Fame inductee Sam “Bluzman” Taylor continues to live on courtesy of his long time backing band A Band Called Sam, featuring Mario Staino (drums), Gary Sellers (guitar), Gary Grob (bass), Danny Kean (keyboards) and carrying the last name tradition is Sam’s oldest daughter top tier vocalist Sandra Taylor and her son L*A*W (Lawrence Taylor Worrell) known for his prolific work with Parliament-Funkadelic & Amy Winehouse.
True to Sam’s blueprint unorothodox vision, A Band Called Sam combines the best of progressive high energy Blues, Funk-Soul & Rock but can easily lead way to elements of Jazz, Country & even Hip-Hop thanks to Sam’s profound guitar work being sampled by rap artists like EPMD, Jay-Z, Public Enemy & many others. You can always expect A Band Called Sam to make the crowd wanna dance, jump, scream and yell through the pulse of their tight knit musicianship and wave which is one of many reasons why their album “Legacy” was #1 on various Blues & Soul charts around the world.
The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is open Wednesdays-Sundays from 12 noon through 5pm. Admission prices are: Adult $19.50, Seniors (65+) and Veterans $17.00, Students (w/ID) $15.00. Children under 12 are free. Tickets and now gift cards can be purchased online at the LIMEHOF.org website and at the door.
The Wallflowers 2023 tour has been announced and the 90s MTV darlings will wind through New York with stops in Albany at The Egg on Wednesday, May 3 and in Poughkeepsie at Bardavon on Friday, May 12.
For the past 30 years, the Jakob Dylan-led Wallflowers has stood as one of rock’s most dynamic and purposeful bands, a unit dedicated to and continually honing a sound that meshes timeless songwriting and storytelling with a hard-hitting and decidedly modern musical attack. That signature style has been present through the decades, baked into the grooves of smash hits like 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse as well as more recent and exploratory fare like 2012’s Glad All Over.
Even so, in recent years, Dylan – the Wallflowers’ founding singer, songwriter and guitarist – has repeatedly stepped outside of his band, first with a pair of more acoustic and rootsy records, 2008’s Seeing Things and 2010’s Women + Country, and then with the 2018 film Echo in the Canyon and the accompanying soundtrack, which saw him collaborate with a host of artists classic and contemporary, from Neil Young and Eric Clapton to Beck and Fiona Apple.
Dylan’s vision has always been the core of the Wallflower’s music. How he chooses to express that vision, however, is what makes a song a Wallflowers song. “I usually just let the songs tell me what kind of arrangements they need,” he says. “And if they’re asking for full-band electric arrangements, then that’s what the Wallflowers provide. And I knew I wanted to make a full-band electric record this time out.”
So that’s always been my vision with the Wallflowers – to be a great rock ‘n’ roll band. And I’ve worked on it for 30 years now and I still have a lot to say. It’s something I started a long time ago, and it’s far from finished.
Jakob Dylan
And made one he has, with one special guest on board – Shelby Lynne, who lends her voice to three of the album’s tracks. “I hadn’t met Shelby before, but like most people, I’ve been a fan of hers for quite some time,” Dylan says. “She has one of those voices that’s very uncommon, very unique, very rare.”
But there was more to their duet than just a mutual appreciation. “You can have your favorite singer come in, but it doesn’t mean you’ll have any connection – there has to be more than that,” Dylan continues. “And as soon as I heard Shelby sing, I knew we had something.”
Dylan acknowledges that the tracks on the new Exit Wounds reflect the tumultuous times in which they were written. “The climate affects how you feel, which affects how you’re writing songs, even if you’re not writing specifically about current events.” He turns to the late John Prine to illustrate his point. “If we still had John Prine, I don’t think he’d be writing songs specifically about current affairs, but he’d probably be writing songs about characters affected by current affairs. I think that’s mostly what I do.”
When it came to realizing these new songs on record, Dylan assembled a backing band of musical associates – “people that I’ve wanted to play with or that I have played with through the years” – and headed into the studio under the watchful eye of producer Butch Walker.
That joyful experience extended to Dylan’s interplay with his fellow musicians. “This was not the type of thing where it’s a rotating cast and you call a different drummer for each song, or you pull out the Rolodex and ring the local sessions guys,” Dylan says. “The record was made as a band – the five Wallflowers.”
And to Dylan, a band, even one with a constantly shifting lineup, is a sacred thing. “I’ve always been a believer in collaboration,” he says, “and no matter who I’m playing with I’ve always tried to include them very heavily. Otherwise, why would they be around? Because I do think bands, whether it’s a long standing group or just five people who are working together for that one stretch of time, make better rock ‘n’ roll records than solo artists.”
The Wallflowers 2023 Tour Dates
APR 13 THU CLUB LA – Destin, FL APR 14 FRI Ponte Vedra Concert Hall – Ponte Vedra, FL APR 15 SAT Tortuga Music Festival 2023 – Fort Lauderdale, FL APR 17 MON Charleston Music Hall – Charleston, SC APR 18 TUE Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC APR 19 WED The Ramkat – Winston-salem, NC APR 21 FRI Robert Kirk Walker Theatre – Chattanooga, TN APR 23 SUN Clyde Theatre – Fort Wayne, IN APR 25 TUE The Fillmore Detroit – Detroit, MI APR 26 WED The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts – Carmel, IN APR 29 SAT Appell Center for the Performing Arts – York, PA APR 30 SUN Paramount Theater – Charlottesville, VA MAY 1 MON Birchmere – Alexandria, VA MAY 3 WED Hart Theatre at the Egg – Albany, NY MAY 6 SAT The Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center – Plymouth, NH MAY 7 SUN Greenwich Odeum – East Greenwich, RI MAY 9 TUE The Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT MAY 11 THU Stone Pony = Asbury Park, NJ MAY 12 FRI BARDAVON – Poughkeepsie, NY
Tickets go on sale Friday, January 20 at 10am. Tickets will be available online at theegg.org and bardavon.org
Phil Lesh & Friends have announced that they will be performing at The Capitol Theatre to ring in Lesh’s 83rd birthday and celebrate his 100th show at the theatre, since reopening in 2012.
Phil Lesh announced on his Instagram account the set of dates at the theatre, from March 15, 17, 18, and 19. He will be celebrating his 83 birthday on March 15, and also on one of the dates he will be celebrating his 100th show at the venue.
At the shows there will be special guests, composed of industry heavy-hitters and former colleagues of the bandleader. Topping the lineup is Goose’s Rick Mitarontonda, followed by Medeski Martin & Wood mainstay John Medeski. Violinist Katy Jacoby will perform alongside them, as well as Lesh’s son and Midnight North guitarist/vocalist Grahame Lesh.
Other guests include songstress Nicki Bluhm, as well as the beloved members of the Trey Anastasio Band’s horn section: James Casey, Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick. Percussionist John Molo will also be performing each night.
Lesh announced on his 82nd birthday his Phil-O-Ween run, which occurred last October at The Capitol Theatre. He continues the tradition of having birthday shows at his favored venue. Tickets will go on sale to the general public starting on Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. to learn more, go here.
After a light 2022, Aqueous announced this past week that they would be going on hiatus, with only 7 performances remaining for the time being.
Earlier last summer, guitarist David Loss took time off the road from Aqueous, as he had just become a father and wanted to dedicate time to his family. At the time, Loss said: “When my son is born it’s going to be such a life changing experience that I want to fully be there for all of it. I don’t want to miss a thing! A lot of first time things and time you just can’t get back later.”
On Friday, January 13th, Aqueous shared the following message with fans:
An important message from Dave concerning the band’s future tickets to the remaining shows before we go on hiatus are on-sale now
‘These past 16 years with the band have been nothing short of incredible. It has been a journey that has shaped my life in more ways than I even know. I’ve traveled to so many amazing places and met so many incredible people along the way. Making friends that will last a lifetime and meeting musical heroes that I can now call peers. The 18 year old me wouldn’t believe some of things Aqueous was able to do. And not to mention, doing all this with your best friends?! Pretty damn cool if you ask me.
Music and this band have been the priority in my life for a very long time, but with the birth of my son that started to change. My wife and I love our son more than anything in this world and want nothing but to be the best parents possible. I want to be there for as much as I can and I don’t want to miss a thing. That being said, touring and being away from my family is just not something I can do right now.
I have decided that it is time for me to step away from the band to be home with my family. Although it was a very difficult decision, I know it is the right one for me. There will still be some music for me to play going forward, but the full-time touring musician gig is just not one that fits my life at the moment.
I would also just like to say that Aqueous has always had the most amazing and passionate fans. It seems like every other day I’m learning about someone else being a huge AQ fan. It fills my heart with such joy to know that our music has meant (and continues to mean) so much to so many people. That has been the greatest part of this experience hands down. So thank you, thank you to all of you for being here supporting us, and sending us friendly messages letting us know what our music means to you.
The band will be playing a handful of shows in 2023 that are listed here, but after that we will go on hiatus. It makes me sad to say it, but I do find comfort in knowing we are certainly not closing the door on Aqueous, but rather just taking some time away. We’re not entirely sure were the future will take us, but wherever that is we know there will be music.
Love you all more than you know. Let’s make these last few shows ones to remember!
Bandmate Mike Gantzer offered support for Loss, saying “Life can be unpredictable and beautiful, challenging and rewarding, and so many other wonderfully contrasting things, but I’m genuinely happy and excited for all of us on our current/respective paths in life. Embracing change has been one of the great lessons of my life (that i’m still learning) and I look forward to everything to come as I reflect on everything that has been with gratitude and love ♥️ ♥️♥️ thank you to everyone who has contributed to making our literal dreams come true, and know that every step I take in music moving forward seeks to honor that “
Aqueous got their start in 2009 in Buffalo and quickly rose to prominence in Western New York, gaining a fanbase well into the Midwest. As this era of Aqueous comes to a close, be sure to catch one of the final seven shows, with the first weekend of March the last chance to catch Aqueous in Albany and Syracuse, before hiatus.
2/03/23 Tuscon, AZ Gem & Jam Festival 3/03/23 Albany, NY The Hollow (with Litz) 3/04/23 Syracuse, NY Westcott Theater (with Litz) 3/11/23 Erie, PA King’s Rook Club 4/07/23 Baltimore, MD 8×10 4/08/23 Philadelphia, PA Ardmore Music Hall 5/27/23 Chillicothe, IL Summer Camp Music Festival
Infamous rock singer/songwriter Rod Stewart is bringing his North American tour to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, an iconic site in the history of New York, the 1969 Woodstock festival. As if this news wasn’t exciting enough, rock band Cheap Trick will be joining Stewart on stage for this unforgettable night.
Following the incredible success and rave reviews for his 2022 US tour, Rod Stewart has added a concert at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel on Friday, September 1st to his 2023 North American tour list. The legendary two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted singer-songwriter will also be playing with special guest Cheap Trick.
Critics say that this unforgettable tour is “a magical moment that only rock and roll can provide.” As well, Rod Stewart’s tour promises an unprecedented night of iconic hit songs from one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Rod Stewart is one of the best-selling artists in the history of recorded music with more than 250 million records and singles sold worldwide. With his signature voice, style, and songwriting abilities, he has transcended all genres of popular music, including rock, folk, soul, R&B. With the Great American Songbook, Rod Stewart is one of the few stars to enjoy chart-topping albums throughout every decade of his career.
Rod Stewart 2023 Tour Dates
Feb 10 8:30 PM – Coliseo de Puerto Rico – San Juan, PR
Feb 13 8:00 PM – Hard Rock Live – Hollywood – Hollywood, FL
Feb 14 8:00 PM – Hard Rock Live – Hollywood – Hollywood, FL
Feb 16 8:00 PM – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino – Tampa – Tampa, FL
May 3 7:30 PM – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
May 5 7:30 PM – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
May 6 7:30 PM – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
May 10 7:30 PM – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
May 12 – 7:30 PM – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
May 13 7:30 PM – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
May 15 7:30 PM – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
Jul 29 8:00 PM – Nugget Event Center – Sparks, NV
Aug 1 7:30 PM (Rescheduled from 6/26/2022) – Ball Arena – Denver, CO
Aug 4 7:30 PM (Rescheduled from 6/24/2022) – Footprint Center – Phoenix, AZ
Aug 5 7:30 PM (Rescheduled from 6/21/2022) – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – Chula Vista, CA
Aug 8 7:30 PM (Rescheduled from 6/17/2022) – Shoreline Amphitheatre – CA – Mountain View, CA
Aug 11 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 6/11/2022) – Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, WA
Aug 12 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 6/10/2022) – Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC
Aug 15 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 9/17/2022) – Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
Aug 17 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 9/16/2022) – Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB
Aug 19 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 9/14/2022) – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Aug 23 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 9/10/2022) – Canadian Tire Centre – Ottawa, ON
Aug 24 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 9/9/2022) – Bell Centre – Montreal, QC
Aug 26 7:30 PM – (Rescheduled from 9/7/2022) – PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 28 7:30 PM – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion – Gilford, NH
Not many musicians have the chops to replace Eric Clapton, nor the “stones” to turn down Mick Jagger, but legendary guitarist Jeff Beck was anything but ordinary. Across the world, musicians and music fans alike are mourning the passing of Beck who died Tuesday at age 78. His untimely death has been attributed to the sudden contraction of bacterial meningitis, according to his family and representatives.
Jeff Beck again UPAC in Kingston, October 2022. Photo by Mickey Deneher
Jeff Beck was a true pioneer in the guitar field, highly experimental, combining jazz and rock in a unique fusion of genres and sounds. Widely hailed as one of the greatest guitar players of all time, Beck paved the way for both instrumental music and guitarists, experimenting with sound through volume control knobs, pickup selectors and whammy bars while simultaneously inspiring countless subgenres of fusion and psych rock.
While Beck never quite reached the level of commercial success of peers like Jimmy Page or Rod Stewart, he was greatly admired both by star-studded musicians all the same.
As Slash told Rolling Stone all the way back in 1999, “It’s a lot easier to appreciate Beck’s guitar playing if you’re a guitar player. He just has such a natural control over the instrument. It’s the ability to make it do something that you’ve never heard anybody else do. Blow by Blow is the album I had when I was a kid. He would go from love songs to a really blistering, hard-rock, heavy-sounding guitar without ever going over the top.”
But it was with that 1975 release, Blow by Blow, Beck’s second solo album, that many music listeners began to take note as well. The album sent waves through the music industry reaching fourth on the charts and eventually becoming a platinum record. From there, Beck went on to collect seven Grammys for instrumental performances, and an eighth for his 2009 work on Herbie Hancock’s The Imagine Project, over the course of his decades-long career.
Beck was also perhaps his own biggest critic. Upon his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Yardbirds in 1992 he famously said, “Someone told me I should be proud tonight. But I’m not, because they kicked me out. They did. Fuck them.” This in reference to the fact that the Yardbirds booted him from the band from a series of no-shows on a U.S. tour in 1966.
But Beck quickly recovered from his departure with the band, forming his own groups and solo projects and collaborating with countless musicians from Buddy Guy to Ozzy Osbourne. He also made it back to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stage on the merits of his solo work in 2009.
Beck continued playing and creating music up until his death. November marked the end of his most recent tour supporting his newest collaborative album with Johnny Depp, “Loud Hailer.” Along the way he performed alongside Depp at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, the Paramount in Huntington, and the Ulster Performing Arts Center, in Kingston, NY. His final live performance took place Nov. 12 in Reno, Nevada.
Fellow guitarists took to the internet to remember Beck and his lasting legacy. On Twitter, Jimmy Page wrote, “The six stringed Warrior is no longer here for us to admire the spell he could weave around our mortal emotions. Jeff could channel music from the ethereal. His technique unique. His imaginations apparently limitless. Jeff I will miss you along with your millions of fans.”
Joe Bonamassa similarly tweeted praise to the guitarist for his innovation of the electric guitar: “You’d just give him a guitar and he’d figure out a way to get these sounds out of it, and that’s complete raw talent, it’s not the equipment, it’s just him. RIP to the legendary Jeff Beck.”
From his time with the Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Group, to his own solo career, Beck touched the lives of countless musicians and listeners and forever changed the possibilities of the electric guitar. Ever the rule-breaker, Beck is gone but not forgotten, solidified in the echelons of rock gods for time immemorial.
Dark Star Orchestra’s Winter Tour East 2023 will be find the Grateful Dead tribute group playing eight shows in 6 cities, among them a pair of shows on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11 at the Palace Theatre in Albany.
Performing to critical acclaim for over 20 years and over 3000 shows, Dark Star Orchestra carries on the Grateful Dead live concert experience, building shows off the Dead’s extensive catalog and the talent of these seven fine musicians. On any given night, the band will perform a show based on a set list from the Grateful Dead’s 30 years of extensive touring or use their catalog to program a unique set list for the show. This allows fans both young and old to share in the experience.
By recreating set lists from the past, and by developing their own sets of Dead songs, Dark Star Orchestra offers a continually evolving artistic outlet within this musical canon. Honoring both the band and the fans, Dark Star Orchestra’s members seek out the unique style and sound of each era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations.
Dark Star Orchestra offers much more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, they truly encapsulate the energy and the experience. It’s about a sense of familiarity. It’s about a feeling that grabs listeners and takes over. It’s about that contagious energy…in short, it’s about the complete experience and consistent quality show that the fan receives when attending a Dark Star Orchestra show.
For us it’s a chance to recreate some of the magic that was created for us over the years. We offer a sort of a historical perspective at what it might have been like to go to a show in 1985, 1978 or whenever. Even for Deadheads who can say they’ve been to a hundred shows in the 90s, we offer something they never got to see live.
keyboardist and vocalist Rob Barraco
Fans and critics haven’t been the only people caught up in the spirit of a Dark Star show. The band has featured guest performances from six original Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten and even toured with longtime Dead soundman, Dan Healy. Other notable guests have included Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman of Phish, Keller Williams, Warren Haynes, Steve Kimock, Peter Rowan, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and many more.
Tickets to all shows go on sale Friday, January 13 at 10 AM ET via ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available for purchase at the Palace Theatre Box Office, located at 19 Clinton Ave. Box Office hours are Monday – Friday Noon to 5PM as well as select days and hours for events and on sales.
Dark Star Orchestra Winter Tour East 2023
March 9 – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts
The Specialists, a New York City-based funk collective, will hold an album release party at Brooklyn Made on Friday, Janaury 13 featuring Will Leet and Bentley Robles.
Founded by guitarist Will Harden and bassist Mikey Rotunno, Specialists have a sound that is cultivated by Harden’s powerful vocal and compositional style and Rotunno’s masterful production laced with frequent harmonies and hip-hop verses. The duo began with a tradition deemed Funky Friday, releasing new music on consecutive Fridays, leading to a polished, funk-rock listener experience.
Specialists’ most recent EP, Glass, is the precedent to their upcoming album, Hole in the Wall. Music fans will appreciate the subtle, jazz-influenced intricacies of their playing and listeners will be taken away into the sonic spectrum, with ease, thanks to their devotion to listener accessibility and pop influence.
Hole ln The Wall has come to define the sound that the funk-rock band has always been seeking. With changes to their recording process from the help of legendary recording studio Sabella Studios their sound has taken on a new edge and polish while retaining their signature mix.
After Specialists’ winter tour in January 2022, the band began writing with influences from the cities they performed in and the artists they met. For example, “Why Do You?” offers a country-rock swing track influenced by the classic sound and culture of Nashville, TN. Touring more frequently, Specialists have catered their songwriting to the reception of their newly gained fans. Having such a dance-oriented crowd on tour, the band wrote “Birdseye” and “Hole in the Wall” just for the occasion. Their latest single, “Glass,” covers more ground as well, pleasing the ears of R&B and pop music fans, creating a well-rounded, attention grabbing and energetic album the band have put their hearts and souls into.
Joining Specialists will be Will Leet, a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, known as the lead guitarist of international touring act, Sammy Rae & The Friends. Will’s music is an eclectic mix of rock, folk, country and baroque pop, with influences ranging from Kacey Musgraves to the Grateful Dead. In September 2022, Leet released his debut full length record, Come Back Roses, a community-sourced, crowdfunded project that was the product of 7 years of songwriting with his co-writer, Chris Burns. When life was put on hold in 2020, Will had nothing left to do but pour every ounce of himself into these songs.
Also joining Specialists will be an artist hailed as “the future of pop” by Monster Children, Bentley Robles. One of the defining voices of the New York underground, Robles is boisterous, impassioned and unapologetically queer, a Chicano synthpop artist born and raised in Los Angeles and now thriving in Brooklyn. His singles “kim kardashian” and “don’t listen to this song” (a collaboration with Gregory Dillon) also debuted with acclaim by METAL, Pride.com and more.
Tickets for Specialists with Will Leet and Bentley Robles are available here.
tickets to the remaining shows before we go on hiatus are on-sale now 
