27 years ago, webcam technology experts EarthCam unveiled their first live stream of the famous Times Square celebrations and ball drop. Fast forward to 2023, EarthCam has announced they are continuing their live streams, using cutting-edge networks of webcams to deliver real-time coverage of festivities and fireworks around the world.
Celebrations start in New Zealand at 6:00 a.m. EST on December 31st. Subsequently, viewers will have the opportunity to see dozens of locations ring in the New Year, including Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Corning, NY, Sicily, Wales, and Alaska. Back in Times Square, EarthCam will be providing multiple live camera perspectives, covering the entirety of the festivities in uncut and unfiltered 4K quality live streams.
EarthCam is the global leader in providing live camera technology, content, and services. Founded in 1996, EarthCam provides live-streaming video, time-lapse construction cameras, and reality capture solutions for corporate and government clients. They lead the industry with the highest resolution imagery available, including the world’s first outdoor gigapixel panorama camera system. EarthCam has documented over a trillion dollars of construction projects around the world.
The Webby Award-winning company hosts many highly trafficked tourism cams, with views of popular locations and landmarks such as Times Square, World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty, Miami Beach, Bourbon Street, Temple Bar in Dublin, Jerusalem’s Western Wall, CN Tower and Abbey Road Crossing in London.
EarthCam has experienced a remarkable expansion in 2023, documenting amazing construction projects globally, including the reconstruction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine. EarthCam was also chosen to document the crucial emergency repair and reopening of the I-95 bridge in Philadelphia and the I-10 in Los Angeles. Also in 2023, they premiered a new platform to better serve hundreds of news media professionals who feature its live-streaming content every day. Media Priority Access is an unprecedented success in its first year, increasing EarthCam’s media exposure by 260% and earning tens of thousands of media mentions.
For more information and to tune into the live stream, visit here.
Performance Space New York has announced they are presenting artist, composer, and choreographer Richard Kennedy’s Hybrid Peasant from Jan. 11 – 13 at 8:30 p.m.
Combining opera, dance theater, poetry, sketch, and slapstick comedy to create its speculative hyper-reality, Hybrid Peasant, a three-act performance, is another explosive disruption of opera’s formalism from the interdisciplinary artist with a long history of engaging and subverting the classical. It delves deep into the landscape of the “Nightmerican dream,” experienced through the lives of “the housed citizens of Hirth.”
The story unfolds in an exaggerated past-future version of Richard Kennedy’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio. With references and points of departure ranging from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring to SNL’sWeekend Update, the artist shapes a funhouse portrait of contemporary America’s polarized realities. A call to action, Hybrid Peasant urges us to ascend collectively by nourishing each other, forging a path toward liberation.
Richard Kennedy’s multidisciplinary practice is interested in relationships and navigating sexuality as it occurs at the intersection of class, race, and gender. Considering opera through a language of the African American experience, Kennedy disrupts the tradition of Western theatre to generate new participatory modes of viewership.
This piece is really about the hybrid; an access to high and low has produced a sense, in the opera world, of both access from my experiences and training and career, while also being treated as a peasant. I want to continue to explore opera through this hybrid balance to call more attention to the ways we troll ourselves as a society—to acknowledge the past in the present, and question if this is what we want our future to be.
Richard Kennedy
Over the last 40 years, Performance Space has been propelling cultural, theoretical, and political discourse forward. Founded in 1980, it became a haven for many queen and radical voices. Their focus has been not just on presenting boundary-breaking work but on restructuring their organization towards prioritizing equity and access. Qorks that have dissolved the borders of performance art, dance, theater, music, visual art, poetry and prose, ritual, nightlife, food, film, and technology are presented here.
Allison Russell will captivate audiences with an exclusive Saturday Night Takeover on Radio Woodstock, airing on Saturday, December 23 at 10:00 PM. Russell is a GRAMMY-nominated singer, songwriter, poet, activist, and multi-instrumentalist.
Allison Russell’s Saturday Night Takeover is not only a celebration of her own artistry but also a journey through the sounds that have shaped her as a musician. The playlist will feature a mix of her own tracks alongside carefully selected songs that have left an indelible mark on her musical identity.
Since her first solo album, OutsideChild, two years ago, Russell has redefined what artistry means in the 21st century. Now comes the second chapter in her story, TheReturner, released this past September, currently nominated for four GRAMMYs, a body-shaking, mind-expanding, soulful expression of Black liberation, Black love, of Black self-respect.
Russell has consistently used her newfound platform to elevate, educate and inspire; curating the history making Once And Future Sounds: Roots and Revolution set for the Newport Folk Festival in 2021 and mobilizing this year’s triumphant Love Rising All-Star benefit concert in support of LGBTQIA+ causes in Nashville, are just two of the many examples where she’s raised her voice with power and purpose.
This takeover on Radio Woodstock provides fans and music enthusiasts with a rare opportunity to experience Russell’s musical world in an intimate setting.
We are thrilled to have Allison Russell host a Saturday Night Takeover on Radio Woodstock. Her talent, passion, and unique perspective promise to make this a memorable evening for our listeners.
Radio Woodstock Music Director Aja Whitney
The “Saturday Night Takeover” series represents Radio Woodstock’s independent music voice. For over 40 years, Radio Woodstock has championed new music and pioneered a unique music line-up with a mix of new artists, legendary musicians, and special music programming.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of an intimate musical experience with one of the most captivating voices in contemporary music.
Tune in for “Saturday Night Takeover” as Allison Russell takes over the airwaves on Saturday, December 23, from 10 pm to 11 pm on-air at 100.1, or listen online at RadioWoodstock.com or via the iHeartRADIO app.
The Los Angeles-based company SaveLive has announced it is opening a new concert venue in Buffalo titled Electric City, at the former site of the Tralf Music Hall. Many are pleased with the prospect of a new venue, but some are worrisome about an outsider corporation coming in and taking over this historic venue.
The Tralf Music Hall opened in 1982 at 622 Main St, next to Shea’s Performing Arts Center, closing for good in 2022. The new Electric City venue, opening February 23, has a capacity of 750, with a few bars to the right and left when you walk in, and a stage in the back. It will also include a mezzanine level for an added VIP experience. Completely reimagining the old venue, it will include state-of-the-art equipment and is a nod to Buffalo’s role in the early use of hydroelectricity.
“There is really a demand for more shows, more music,” Marketing Manager Michele Riggi told WIVB. “So, we’re really looking forward to that. In our opinion, a rising tide raises all ships. So, if we can bring more venues to the area, bring more opportunity for artists to play, more tours will stop here.”
On the other hand, Buffalo music journalist Jeff Miers feels that bringing new venues to the equation might not be a good thing.
The Buffalo music scene is already saturated with venues that each have their own unique offering, at an independent level. These venues include The Town Ballroom, just down the street from Electric City, offering a rich diet of EDM, indie and alternative, hip-hop, and more, Rec Room with indie-focused acts, Mohawk Place with metal and rock, Iron Works with jam bands and up-and-comers, and more. The question Miers asks in his article is “What vacant niche is SaveLive hoping to fill with its new venture?”
SaveLive was co-founded by Marc Geiger, former global leader of the William Morris Endeavor Music Division from 2003 until 2020, and co-founder of Lollapalooza. The company began by seeking to acquire 51% ownership of financially hard-pressed independent music venues after the pandemic began. This Buffalo venture is the first venue the company has redone from the ground up.
While much of the local press is overall speaking positively about the buyout, Miers’ article focuses on how the independent venues that did not compete with one another now have this layer of competition, having to go against a corporate venue. Some pros of this venue are that more acts that may not be seen at the other venues in Buffalo may be booked, bringing more visitors to the area.
Whichever box you fall into, this new venue will arrive in February with new music and a revamped venue. Hopefully, Electric City doesn’t push out other iconic venues in the area and brings in more exciting acts to the area.
Different opening concerts at Electric City have been announced, including DJ James Kennedy on Feb. 23, Meshell Ndegeocello on March 12, Hippie Sabotage on April 17, Living Colour on May 16, and Echo & the Bunnymen on May 22. Also announced were Sammy Rae and the Friends on March 10, Kitchen Dwellers on April 3, Yachtley Crew on April 11, Larry Fleet on April 13, Dying Fetus on May 5, the Chats on May 7, and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes on May 18.
For more information about Electric City Buffalo and to purchase tickets to upcoming shows, visit here.
The oldest bar in Albany and a music venue for bands of all genres, Pauly’s Hotel, located at 337 Central Ave, has closed and is up for sale.
Established in 1862, Pauly’s Hotel has been a staple in Albany for multiple generations, located on the corner of Quail St. and Central Ave, where WAMC’s The Linda is located, and The Low Beat stood until 2020.
Hate to see this. Pauly’s has always been a big supporter of us, and were the first spot in Albany to ever take a chance on us. It’s safe to say without them, we may not have been able to break into the Capital Region as quickly as we did. Hopefully someone takes over this space and keeps it as a haven for independent, original music in the 518! Thanks so much to Shane and everyone else who made Pauly’s a great place to have an indie show.
According to the Times Union, owner Kip Finck noted that the 2020 shutdown was a major factor in closing the venue, as a lack of shows meant Pauly’s Hotel did not qualify for the federal Payroll Protection Program grants, which kept many venues afloat during this time.
Despite extensive renovations after purchasing Pauly’s in 2019, which included a state-of-the-art sound system, the bar sat largely dark for most of the next year and a half because of the pandemic. Adding in a capacity maxing out at 120, booking bands and keeping tickets reasonably priced posed a challenge for Finck.
Finck told the Times Union, “It was really hard financially, and I was handling everything to do with management and money myself.” Finck believes another, younger operator who is eager to reopen a storied music venue could make Pauly’s financially viable.
Finck also owned Northern Lights in Clifton Park for 18 years, and still owns the Village Tavern in Scotia, which itself is more than 80 years old.
The property listing notes that Pauly’s features a fully equipped bar area, an updated sound system, spacious seating areas, and a stage for live performances. The entire building is not for sale – only the business – with an asking price of $75,0000 to own Albany’s oldest bar.
“It would have to be the right person, the right fit,” Finck told the TU. “Once I find that, there would be a conversation about price.” He invites inquiries at kip.finck@gmail.com.
For the 50th edition of Dave’s Picks, a special show has been chosen from one of the best Grateful Dead tours, with Palladium NYC from May 3, 1977 taking the honors.
Spring Tour 1977 had many incredible shows, not including this Palladium show, but also later that week in New Haven, CT, the historic Barton Hall show, and the arguably stronger night that followed in Buffalo.
5/3/77 was the penultimate show of a five-night run at the Palladium, just a few nights before the Cornell show, and features a seemingly endless run of the Grateful Dead at their best, including monumental renditions of “Eyes Of The World,” “Wharf Rat,” “Not Fade Away,” and “Uncle John’s Band.”
Additionally, there are some tracks from the final night of the Palladium run, 5/4/77, with tracks including “Scarlet>Fire,” “Terrapin Station,” “Playing In The Band,” and what has come to be widely considered one of the best versions of “Comes A Time” the Grateful Dead ever played.
This show is only available with a subscription to the Dave’s Picks series.
Grateful Dead – Palladium, Manhattan – May 3, 1977
Set 1: Promised Land, Bertha, Me and My Uncle, Peggy-O, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, Lazy Lightnin’, Supplication, Deal, Good Lovin’, Ship of Fools, Music Never Stopped
Set 2: Might As Well, Estimated Prophet, Sugaree, Samson and Delilah, Friend of the Devil, Eyes of the World, Wharf Rat, Not Fade Away, Around and Around
Irish Arts Center (IAC) has announced it will be renamed to JL Greene Theatre at Irish Arts Center, to be dedicated in April 2024, following a $3 million gift from the Jerome L Greene Foundation.
Irish Arts Center. Photo by Albert Vecerka/ESTO.
IAC joins a roster of some of New York’s most prestigious cultural institutions supported by the Foundation, including BAM, The Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theatre, and The Whitney Museum.
The Jerome L Greene Foundation gift, which supports the larger scale of programming and operations in the new 11th Avenue facility, builds on recent support from the City of New York ($10 million) and the Irish government ($4.1 million), to support the Center’s future redevelopment of its historic 51st Street home. This donation will help lay the groundwork for the IAC’s upcoming Phase Two campaign to complete the vision for a new Irish Arts Center and secure the organization’s future for generations to come.
Irish Arts Center also revealed the Spring 2024 programming, filling its new facility at 726 11th Avenue that opened in December 2021. The opening of this new 21,700-square-foot building culminated a more than a decade-long transformation of IAC into one of New York’s most beloved multidisciplinary cultural institutions on an intimate scale. With a flexible performance space and acoustic design, it provides a new canvas for the presentation and development of performing arts in the city.
We are thrilled to join the outstanding portfolio of New York cultural institutions supported by the JL Greene Foundation and to announce this gift in conjunction with one of our most exciting seasons yet. We look forward to many moments of artistry and inspiration to come in the JL Greene Theatre. As we begin our third full year of operation in our new home, we also look ahead to the next phase of our important work: completing our 51st Street redevelopment, and building reserves and an endowment, to complete our vision of a new Irish Arts Center that will be successful and sustainable for future generations.
Irish Arts Center Executive Director Aidan Connolly.
“We are proud to play a role in the presentation of world-class Irish arts in New York City,” said Chris McInerney, President and CEO of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation. “Irish Arts Center has proven itself to be an important cultural destination, and the JL Greene Theatre will be host to an amazing array of performing arts for New York audiences.”
IAC’s Spring 2024 programming features a wide variety of voices and forms, including the timely new work of political theater Agreement, a beautiful new dance work from choreographer, director, and performer Jean Butler, a residency of internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan, a large-scale exhibition of works by Irish women visual artists, and more. The new season expands on IAC’s mission to present the evolving arts and culture of Ireland and Irish America in an environment of warm Irish hospitality.
Throughout Spring 2024, beloved recurring programs continue to bring accomplished artists into IAC traditions. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon’s variety show Muldoon’s Picnic continues on March 11, April 1, and June 3. In IAC’s Devlin Café, the Café Concert Series brings spirited music out into a social and intimate environment, with Big City Folk Song Club, curated by Niall Connolly returning February 9, March 8, April 4, and May 23, and Traditional Irish Sessions, curated by Tony DeMarco, February 2, March 15, April 5, and May 17. Book Day, for which the Irish Arts Center distributes thousands of free books in New York’s five boroughs in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, returns for its 12th year on March 15.
For the season, IAC’s latest exhibition will showcase women artists whose work reclaims traditional physical and cultural spaces using abstract art. Reclaiming a Space, featuring Diana Copperwhite, Erin Lawlor, Helen O’Leary, and Dannielle Tegeder, will be on view throughout the building from January 29 to June 23.
For more information on the Irish Arts Center, and to see a detailed view of the Spring 2024 programming, visit here.
The sixth class of inductees for the Capital Region Thomas Edison (Eddies) Music Hall of Fame has been announced. Inductees include artists from a variety of genres like classical, folk, jazz, and electronic music, a pioneering hip-hop songwriter, and two individuals who chronicled the local music scene as journalists.
The late Jackie Alper, the late Nick Brignola, George Guarino, David Alan Miller, the late Pauline Oliveros, Margie Rosenkranz, Billy Waring, and Don Wilcock will be inducted into the Eddies Music Hall of Fame on Monday, March 25, 2024 at Universal Preservation Hall.
The Eddies ceremony is open to the public and includes musical performances, a social hour, videos on the musical career of each inductee, and acceptance speeches. This class brings the total number of inductees to 40 since 2019. An aluminum engraved plaque honoring each recipient is permanently hung at UPH. The 2024 slate was chosen by an advisory council made up of professionals in the local music field.
The induction ceremony precedes the annual Eddies Music Awards, which will be held on Sunday, April 21 at Proctors in Schenectady.
About the Eddies Inductees
Jackie Alper sang with the Almanac Singers, which included Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Burl Ives. After, she helped found the Weavers, introducing a 16-year-old Ronnie Gilbert to Pete, Lee, and Freddie Hellerman, taking part in the “Great Folk Music Scare of the 1950s and 60s.” Alper hosted WRPI’s “Mostly Folk for Mostly Folks” radio show for at least 25 years starting in 1971. She also turned her husband Joe Alper’s 30,000 music photographs into one of the folk revival’s most meticulously documented archives. Together, they played a key role in supporting Caffè Lena in its early years, often housing musicians including Bob Dylan at their Schenectady home. She passed away in 2007.
Troy native Nick Brignola was a well-respected baritone sax player in jazz, as well as a band leader. During his career, he shared the stage with jazz greats including Phil Woods, Woody Herman, Chet Baker, and Pepper Adams, and recorded 20 albums of his own. His 1981 album L.A. Bound was nominated for a GRAMMY, and has topped many annual DownBeat and JazzTimes critic and reader polls as “Best Baritone Saxophonist.” He taught jazz theory and history at several local colleges and helped start a jazz education program at the College of Saint Rose. He passed away in 2002.
George Guarino created Albany’s music television show Real George’s Backroom (1981-91) and Buzz magazine (1985-95). He was passionate about spotlighting original music bands of that era while introducing the dance floor to 80’s new wave, punk, industrial, and indie music as a featured DJ at Albany’s infamous 288 Lark (1981-87) and QE2 (1987-90) clubs. He was also a DJ at WRPI. Guarino has developed a reputation since 2005 as one of the area’s prominent clinical hypnosis practitioners.
Seven-time GRAMMY nominee David Alan Miller has been music director and conductor of the Albany Symphony Orchestra since 1992. During his tenure, the ASO has released more than 30 albums, with two winning GRAMMYs. In 1994, he founded Dogs of Desire, an 18-member ensemble that has commissioned over 150 new works from emerging American composers. He has guest conducted with most major U.S orchestras, as well as many in Europe, Australia, and the Far East, and serves as artistic advisor to the Little Orchestra Society (NYC) and the Sarasota Orchestra (Fl.).
Pauline Oliveros was an American composer, accordionist and central figure in the development of post-World War II experimental and electronic music. A Houston native, she relocated to Upstate NY in 1981 after many years teaching and performing in California. She developed a ground-breaking music theory called “Sonic Meditations” and founded the term Deep Listening, a practice of profound sonic awareness that came from her childhood fascination with sounds. Known for her works in composition, improvisation, and electro-acoustics, she was a Distinguished Professor of Music at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she founded the Center for Deep Listening. She passed away in 2016.
Margie Rosenkranz has been the executive artistic director of the Eighth Step Coffee Housesince 1987. Founded in 1967 in the basement of the historic First Presbyterian Church in Albany, the organization is renowned nationally for its presentation of top contemporary singer-songwriters, as well as social justice work, now seen at Proctors. The Schenectady native, born into a musical family, is an accomplished vocalist and has also served as artistic director of the Great Hudson River Revival, a long-standing music and environmental summer festival.
An unsung hero of hip-hop,Harlem native William “Billy Bill” Waring began his musical career as a b-boy with longtime friends Kurtis Walker and producer Danny Harris. He got his first taste of hip-hop music at DJ Kool Herc parties and from 1980-84 he penned the classic songs “Hard Times,” “Basketball,” “You Gotta Believe” and “Games People Play,” and co-wrote much of the Fat Boys’ first album. His music has been used in films and television shows such as Krush Groove, Empire, Black Monday, Hip Hop Uncovered, and more.
Finally, Don Wilcock has spent a career elevating the New York Capital Region arts scene into international recognition. Founder and president of the Northeast Blues Society, he helped boost the careers of local artists Albert Cummings and Tas Cru to worldwide touring success and produced the Fleet Blues Festival, a three-stage event featuring the world’s hottest blues stars. He founded “Kite,” the area’s first arts weekly, in 1970. His biography of Buddy Guy, Damn Right I’ve Got The Blues, helped propel Guy from a club act to the biggest living star in the genre.
Tickets for the Eddies Music Awards are on sale now through the Box Office at Proctors in-person, via phone at (518) 346-6204 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., or online.
Vermont native and dynamic musician Sarah King has released several singles, cementing herself in the Americana scene. She has announced the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to help her fully release her debut record.
Credit: Grow Explore Photography.
Sarah King has had a busy year, touring the country in her SUV and recording her debut full-length album. Known for her powerhouse voice and “fiery, vulnerable songs,” Sarah King creates thought-provoking, versatile Americana music, touching on real-life emotions and situations, while drawing on classic folk-blues themes, balancing songs about the devil and booze with hard-won moments of reflection and acceptance.
Her album’s recording and production are complete, thanks in large to the Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, an anonymous donor, and her personal savings. The challenging part that comes next is the funds necessary for a team to promote the album, including a publicist, a radio promoter, a graphic designer, merch printers, vinyl pressers, and more.
This is why she has launched her Kickstarter campaign. She must reach her initial goal of $15,000 by January 10, 2024, or all pledges are canceled and the project will not be funded. However, if the project surpasses the initial goal, she can pursue additional promotional opportunities – including more touring and merch – and more rewards for backers.
Funding is a major hurdle for many independent musicians. King has been vocal about the economic realities of being a full-time touring musician this year, sharing her personal experience as a solo touring artist on social media. She travels so much each year, logging 20,000 miles just this summer, because she only gets paid when she’s on stage and therefore it is important to spend as much time on stage as possible. Her posts transformed into her series Math vs the Indie Musician, where she breaks down how much it takes to make minimum wage as a performer, and alternative options artists have to seek funding offstage, including crowdfunding.
Sarah King recorded this album with GRAMMY-winning producer David Baron in Woodstock, who’s also worked with fellow Vermont musician and superstar Noah Kahan, over the last two years. Featuring a roundup of talented musicians from both Vermont and Nashville, the 12-song album titled When It All Goes Down has “a little bit of something for everyone,” says King.
None of us are one-dimensional. We all have an angel and a devil on our shoulder. We’ve all had our hearts broken, and been the one doing the breaking. We know how it feels to go hard on the weekend and have to put our head down for work again on Monday morning. This dynamic range within all of us is worth celebrating, exploring, and yes – feeling. Life isn’t either/or – it’s all the in-betweens, and this record explores everything from hope and grief to anger and strength. In 12 songs, I’ve got soul-influenced piano pop ballads, southern-rock-tinged bangers, toe-tapping blues, and folk heartbreakers.
Sarah King
King added, “When it all goes down, these songs will be right here for you, whatever you’re going through today, and whatever may come your way. Will you help me share them with the world, so they’ll be there when it all goes down for someone else?” Releasing March 8, 2024, the long-awaited album is King’s followup to her 2021 5-song EP The Hour, which reached #60 on the Americana Radio Charts and landed her the distinction of Songwriter of the Year at the 2021 New England Music Awards.
Sarah King is releasing her newest single, relating to the solstice, titled “The Longest Night” on December 20. For more information about her, and to support her Kickstarter, visit here.
Lap steel band Velocihamster have released a tribute to 80s band Mr. Mister with a cover of their #1 hit, “Broken Wings.”
Cover artwork by Steven Bossler
Velocihamster has been dubbed the worlds only lap steel metal band showcasing the external limits of steel guitar landscape and inspires the limits of the instrument. This single marks the first entirely solo effort in instrumentation with the exception of fretless bass played by longtime collaborator and friend Matt Turner (Static Chicken, Greg Koch). The tribute track honors Mr. Mister’s biggest hit “Broken Wings” released in 1985.
Mr. Mister was an American pop rock band from Phoenix, consisting of Richard Page on lead vocals and bass guitar, Steve George on keyboards/backing vocals, Pat Mastelotto on acoustic and electronic drums/percussion and Steve Farris on guitars/backing vocals.
“I’m hell-bent on extending steel guitar to musical eras, styles and genres you probably wouldn’t expect to hear the instrument, I’m proud to add this ’80s classic to an already diverse catalog of metal inspired lap steel mania. With this track, I’ve also earned my first credit as a drummer.”
– Sean Williamson
“Broken Wings” was the leading single on Mr. Mister’s second album release Welcome to The Real World, the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is a mix of synth, digitally delayed guitar, bass and drums. Velocihamster took a lap steel spin creating a unique version and an electric adaptation.
