Oregon State University has announced that Benjy Eisen will be the keynote speaker for the 2024 Phish Studies Conference in Corvallis on May 17-19, 2024. Eisen, a NYT Best-Selling author, artist manager, and co-host of the “Undermine” podcast, will deliver the address to the gathered attendees.
artwork by Ryan Kerrigan
The second Phish Studies conference will feature new contributions to the emerging field of Phish Studies, which encourages multi-disciplinary scholarly approaches to Phish’s music, fan culture, social impact, and enduring popularity.
“I first fell in love with Phish during my first semester of college, and for the following four years they were an inseparable part of my college experience,” said Mr. Eisen. “Heading to OSU for an academic conference on the band feels full circle or, perhaps, full donut.”
“We’re thrilled that Mr. Eisen will deliver the 2024 Phish Studies Conference keynote address,” said Dr. Stephanie Jenkins, associate professor of Philosophy at OSU and Conference Program Committee Chair. “As a live music journalist, writer, and chronicler, he brings unique experience and wisdom to Phish scholarship.”
2019 saw OSU host the inaugural Phish Studies Conference
Like the inaugural conference in 2019, when nearly 200 fans and scholars attended the event and more than 50 scholars presented research, the 2024 gathering will represent diverse disciplinary approaches and feature scholars from across the country who are exploring the boundaries of Phish research.
“With a second conference, I foresee us going much deeper and exploring new horizons of Phish scholarship,” said Dr. Christina L. Allaback, assistant professor of Theatre at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and Program Committee member.
OSU also announced that Phish Studies Conference committee members will be available for office hours at PhanArt on Dec. 30 from 1-6pm at Hill Country BBQ in NYC, during Phish’s MSG run.
Due to popular demand, the deadline for proposals for presentations, art, and performances has been extended to January 15, 2024. Fans are encouraged to attend PhanArt office hours to discuss their proposal ideas.
“PhanArt is an event with such great energy,” said Dr. Jake Cohen, musicologist and Program Committee member. “We’re so excited to share our enthusiasm for the conference and help phans turn their ideas into Phish Studies proposals.”
The Call for Presentations, Art, and Performances, as well as information about conference sponsorship opportunities, can be found on the conference website, phishstudies.net.
After months of rumors, Phish has announced four performances at Sphere in Las Vegas, NV, from April 18-21, 2024.
Considered the world’s most cutting-edge venue, Sphere will host the Vermont jam band as they perform four shows with completely unique setlists AND visuals, making each shows a truly once-in-a-lifetime audio-visual experience.
Sphere is powered by next-generation technologies, including a 160,000 sq. ft. LED display inside the main venue bowl that wraps up, over, and around the audience, creating a fully immersive visual environment. At 16K x 16K, it is the highest-resolution LED screen on earth. The venue also features Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT, the world’s most advanced concert-grade audio system, which delivers audio with unmatched clarity and precision to every guest.
From the moment we first heard about Sphere and its potential, we’ve been dreaming up ways to bring our show to this breathtaking canvas. We’re thrilled to present this completely unique experience to Phish fans.
Trey Anastasio
The ticket request period is now underway at tickets.phish.com and will continue through 9 AM PT/noon ET Monday, December 11. All remaining tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, December 15 at 10AM PT/1PM ET. In addition, travel packages will go on sale Friday, December 1 at 10AM PT/1PM ET, exclusively via phishatsphere.100xhospitality.com.
These shows mark the beginning of a new relationship between Phish and Sphere, but they will be the only shows Phish will perform at the venue in Las Vegas in 2024.
The music of the late, great Warren Zevon is celebrated on the new live album Shooter Jennings and the Werewolves of Los Angeles Do Zevon, released on Friday, November 3.
Recorded at Monterey, CA’s Revels and Renegades Music Festival, Jennings leads the Werewolves of Los Angeles and channels Zevon’s music with precision and enthusiasm behind each song.
The outlaw country legend, and son of original outlaw Waylon Jennings, Shooter brings together multi-instrumentalist Brian Whelan (Dwight Yoakam, Jim Lauderdale) and his longtime collaborators Jamie Douglass (drums), Ted Russell Kamp (bass) and John Schreffler (guitar) for an ideal mix of Warren Zevon for lifelong fans, casual fans and new fans.
The band performed earlier this year during GRAMMY week at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, and just this week, on November 1, performed the set to a sold-out Brooklyn Made.
Featuring popular songs (“Excitable Boy,” “Werewolves of London”), deep cuts (“Mohammad’s Radio,” “Mama Couldn’t be Persuaded”) and final album tracks (The Wind’s “Dirty Life and Times,” “Keep Me in Your Heart”), there is something for everyone in a well laid out flow, capped off with Zevon’s autobiographical “Desperados Under the Eaves.”
This last year we had a blast doing two separate shows paying tribute to one of my favorite artists of all time, Los Angeles legend Warren Zevon. When Zevon was picked to be potentially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year we, along with millions of Zevon fans, were hoping that he would finally get his due in the halls of Rock & Roll History.
Unfortunately, Zevon didn’t make it in this year and won’t be honored tomorrow night in New York City at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. Upon hearing this news, the Werewolves of Los Angeles gathered in our Wolfcave to discuss what we could do about it. We decided that even though Warren wasn’t going into the Hall of Fame, we could take a special trip up to New York City this week and do our own celebration of Warren’s bad-ass music.
Shooter Jennings
Shooter – a three-time GRAMMY Award winner, founder of Black Country Rock (a label and multimedia outlet), and host of “Shooter Jennings’ Electric Rodeo” on Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country channel – takes on a rock and roll legend still searching for a heart, and recognition for the indelible influence and mark Zevon left on rock n roll and Los Angeles. That recognition continues on through Shooter Jennings and the Werewolves of Los Angeles Do Zevon.
Harold Bronson is a true rock-n-roll Zelig. He’s an everywhere man who began his career as a teenage rock journalist before rising to become co-founder of Rhino Records, the revered label that has put decades of often overlooked and unappreciated music back into circulation to the delight of both lifelong fans and new generations of music lovers.
Before he co-founded America’s leading re-issue label, Bronson was just another Southern California kid who was mad about music. He channeled his passion and discerning ear into writing about music, first for the UCLA Daily Bruin then with Rolling Stone, Hit Parader, Melody Maker and many other magazines. After interviewing many of the greats, he helped co-found, with Richard Foos, Rhino Records from the back of Foos’ record store. The label was created to release novelty records like those of Dr. Demento and Wild Man Fischer. But, most importantly, it would go on to re-issue classic sounds and many unheard gems from the catalogs of artists who were critically undervalued at the time like Arthur Lee & Love and The Monkees.
Bronson’s book is very much a diary, one rendered with day-by-day entries. It begins in the Summer of Love with him journalizing his critical take on, and the price paid for, albums like Procol Harum’s Shine on Brightly and The Beatles’ White Album. There’s also his mini-reviews of the many concerts he attended by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Soft Machine and The Vanilla Fudge. Soon, Bronson is getting his first paid work – an interview for Entertainment World with the Bee Gees’ Maurice Gibb. Bronson hauls his massive reel-to-reel tape recorder to the interview, one where Gibb delights in telling him a stream of lies such as that he played and sang on The Beatles’ Abbey Road. In short order, Bronson is publishing features with artist like Cat Stevens (he looks like a “gypsy carnival worker”), Van Dyke Parks (who shows him “the future” from his office at Warner Brothers – the first fiber optic cable) and famed British session pianist Nicky Hopkins (who mistakes Jeff Beck for Mick Jagger at his first Rolling Stones’ meeting and who badmouths The Kinks for never paying him for his session work with them). There are also notables like comedian George Carlin and The Doors’ manager Danny Sugerman who he will interview repeatedly and forge lifelong friendships with.
Bronson’s life kicks into high gear in 1974, when he takes a job managing the Rhino Records store in L.A. Soon, Bronson and Foos will launch their label with novelty records by artists like Wild Man Fischer (the certifiably insane street singer discovered by Frank Zappa), The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra (with whom he makes appearances on national TV shows) and a reissue of tracks by comedian Alan Sherman of Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda fame. But Bronson and Rhino’s true worth would come with their lovingly crafted re-issues like the 1995 box set, Love Story (1966 – 1972). Bronson would have a long history with Arthur Lee, the band’s mercurial leader, a man he calls “an arrogant Muhammad Ali.”
https://youtu.be/ML1OS_1zuHY?si=ZJSH-4a4HB2Mjyya
Bronson’s book is chockful of humorous meetings with the likes of Iggy Pop (who asks for money to get wine and 10 aspirin at tackle a hangover), ELO’s Jeff Lynne (who confesses he can only write melodies between 10 am and noon) and Howard Kaylan (who recalls snorting coke off Abe Lincoln’s desk during a visit to the Nixon White House with his band, The Turtles). Also revealed is how Richard Delvy, a former surf musician/music entrepreneur, won the rights to “Wipeout” in a poker game.
Rhino Records would get much bigger until Bronson left the company in October 2001. Before that, there would be many acquisitions and partnerships that would find Bronson in the midst of many bigger things, such as bringing The Monkees TV show to a new generation via MTV and ultimately managing their careers, going into business with one his idols, Frank Zappa, on the Beat the Boots project and more. There’s even a cameo by the odious MAGA architect, Steve Bannon, during his days as a venture capitalist.
Credit should go to longtime music journalist Ira Robbins who is the driving force behind Trouser Press Books, the publisher of this and other fine releases reviewed here at NYSMusic. If you like Bronson’s LA-centric rock time trip, be sure to check out another Trouser Press book, Rock’s In My Head. This is the memoir of Art Fein chronicling his six decades in the California music scene, drawn from over 10,000 page of diaries he kept. For 20 years, he was the host of Art Fein’s Poker Party, a decidedly offbeat, ultra-low budget public affairs spectacular where the cream of music – from Phil Spector and Tom Waits to Joe Strummer and the Stray Cats – let down their guard over sometimes friendly, sometimes fierce games of cards.
On Friday, September 29, U2 lit up the stage of the Sphere in Las Vegas with the opening night of their highly-anticipated U2:UV Achtung Baby Live series at the world’s most cutting-edge venue.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: (Exclusive Coverage) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg of U2 perform during opening night of U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg performed two sets of Achtung Baby tunes plus a lengthy encore of hits standing on a Brian Eno-inspired turntable stage. U2 utilized every part of Sphere’s LED screen, offering the world’s largest and highest-resolution, with an awe-inspiring gallery of visual art showcasing bespoke art from artists including Es Devlin, John Gerrard, Marco Brambilla, and Industrial Light & Magic.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 30: (Exclusive Coverage) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg of U2 perform during U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere on September 30, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
U2 provided fans a fully immersive experience featuring top of the line technology offered at Sphere, which is reinventing the live music experience with the world’s highest-resolution LED screen on the interior of the Sphere, spanning four acres and surrounding the stage and audience, creating a completely immersive visual environment.
The four-football field long interior screen hovers 240 feet above the stage, with a steel framework supporting the 160,000-square-foot screen and the 160,000-speaker Holoplot multilayered audio system weighs about 730 tons.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: (Exclusive Coverage) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg of U2 perform during opening night of U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Outside of Sphere, the Exosphere is the largest LED screen on Earth consists of approximately 1.2 million LED pucks across 580,000 square feet of surface, with each puck containing 48 individual LED diodes, and each diode capable of displaying 256 million different colors, all combining to create an unmistakably vivid landmark on the Las Vegas skyline.
The Exosphere displays a wide range of custom artistic and branded content, attracting worldwide interest as a result of the venue being photographed and shared widely on social media daily.
The state-of-the-art Sphere Immersive Sound, developed by Holoplot and considered to be the world’s most advanced audio system, provides the world’s largest, fully integrated concert-grade audio system and will revolutionize immersive audio experiences. A system of 1,600 permanently installed and 300 mobile Holoplot X1 Matrix Array loudspeaker modules includes a total of 167,000 individually amplified loudspeaker drivers. Using Holoplot’s next-generation 3D Audio-Beamforming and Wave Field Synthesis technology, the audio is transformed for delivery in large-scale venues such as Sphere.
The result is a controlled, consistent and crystal-clear concert-grade audio for audiences of up to 20,000 people, providing individual audience members with a personalized listening experience, whether sitting in the front or back rows. At Sphere, you may not see the sound system as the entire apparatus is completely hidden behind the 160,000-square-foot interior LED display plane.
So with this ground-breaking audio-visual venue at their disposal, U2 celebrated an historic live music milestone with fans from all over the world and VIP attendees including Dr. Dre, Jimmy Kimmel, John Starks, Paul McCartney, Sheryl Sandberg, Snoop Dogg and many more.
The show was the first in a 25-date run of shows that celebrates the band’s acclaimed album Achtung Baby, as well as its accompanying and industry-defining ZOO TV Tour in 1991. U2 also performed a new song, “Atomic City,” an homage to the magnetic spirit of 70’s post-punk with a nod to Blondie, whose pioneering work with Giorgio Moroder inspired and influenced the band.
The name “Atomic City” is also a 1950s nickname for Las Vegas from a time when nuclear fascination swept the nation and the city promoted itself as a center of atomic tourism due to its proximity to the Nevada Test Site.
U2 – Sphere, Las Vegas, NC – September 29, 2023
Achtung Baby Part 1: Zoo Station, The Fly, Even Better Than the Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, One, Until the End of the World, Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World Turntable Set: All I Want Is You, Desire, Angel of Harlem, Love Rescue Me Achtung Baby Part 2: So Cruel, Acrobat, Ultraviolet (Light My Way), Love Is Blindness Encore: Elevation, My Way, Atomic City, Vertigo, Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You, Beautiful Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2f5NzAALCA
Sphere has also announced the first movie studio collaboration with Dreamworks Animation for the upcoming Trolls Band Together. A brand campaign specifically designed for the Exosphere – the fully programmable LED exterior of Sphere in Las Vegas – Trolls Band Together, which hits theaters nationwide on November 17.
We’re thrilled to have the innovative and imaginative DreamWorks Animation be the first movie studio to collaborate on a bespoke marketing campaign for the Exosphere. The Exosphere’s larger-than-life canvas has become the premier platform for brands looking to tell their stories on an unparalleled scale, reaching audiences across the globe from the heart of Las Vegas.
David Hopkinson, President and Chief Operating Officer of MSG Sports
DreamWorks collaborated with Sphere Studios, Sphere’s in-house creative studio, to develop custom animated content featuring beloved characters from the movie alongside kaleidoscopic art from the film. The week-long campaign began September 25, and will include a special takeover of the venue on the night of September 28 to countdown to the release of *NSYNC’s new single “Better Place” on September 29, which will be featured in Trolls Band Together.
interior of SpheredefaultLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: (Exclusive Coverage) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg of U2 perform during opening night of U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: (Exclusive Coverage) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg of U2 perform during opening night of U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: (Exclusive Coverage) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg of U2 perform during opening night of U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: (Exclusive Coverage) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bram van den Berg of U2 perform during opening night of U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Get your school of fish/phish together – Oregon State University will host the second ever Phish Studies Conference on May 17-19, 2024, in Corvallis, Oregon.
artwork by Ryan Kerrigan
First held in 2019, the #PhishStudies Conference is an in-depth look at the band, fans, culture, community, publications, and of course music, of Phish. The event was a huge success, with 100s attending daily to take part in panels, discussions, observe gallery displays and presentations of Ph.D dissertations and theses.
Jnan A. Blau said of the 2019 conference: “I’ve just come back from one of the coolest, most stimulating and invigorating, and definitely one of the most “far out” (to quote Mr. Bill Kreutzman, via Mr. Benjy Eisen) experiences of my life. Late last Monday night, I got back home to San Luis Obispo, California from Corvallis, Oregon. I had to rise and shine the next day, no time at all to transition from Phishiness to so-called real life—a direct, rather abrupt segue (a rip cord if there ever was one!) into a full day of teaching in university classrooms. I was, and still am, kind of exhausted. But, I’ve had a secret smile the size of Mt. Icculus plastered across my face and tattooed on my heart ever since. This because I am back from Phish Studies, the first-ever academic conference dedicated to our favorite topic/subject/phenomenon.”
Also featured at the conference was an exhibit from the Phishsonian Institute, “Beyond The Moss Forgotten exhibit at the Phish Studies conference” which celebrated the art and history of Phish’s performances in the Pacific Northwest since the 1990s.
Check out more photos from the 2019 Phish Studies Conference by Derek Finholt and visit Phish.net for an in depth recap of the conference by Jnan A. Blau.
The #PhishStudies Conference is also looking for sponsors to support the mission and event. For more information, contact Professor Stephanie Jenkins.
The only rule is it begins! More info, including sponsorship opportunities, at phishstudies.net.
Just in time for Pride month, LA’s Andy Frasco & The U.N. have announced the release of their eagerly awaited new album, L’Optimist, on Friday, August 11th. Today, they have premiered the release of the ebullient first single, “You Do You,” with a hilarious music video to accompany it.
As a much-beloved live outfit renowned for unbridled improvisation, audience interaction, surprising covers, special guests, and animated antics unlike any other, Andy Frasco & The U.N. is unlike no other. Frasco’s sixth studio album L’Optimist is the most hopeful and enthusiastic collection thus far in his career.
The upcoming release now sees Frasco continuing to develop as a songwriter, band leader, and human being, his exploratory spirit giving way to something more firmly grounded yet no less adventurous. Having built a still-expanding career on forward motion, Andy Frasco remains positive in his determination to keep on keeping on, pushing himself and his music to grow and improve with every passing day.
“‘You Do You’ is basically a call to arms to myself,” Frasco says about the single. “Like, what is success? We built success through being outlaws and being ourselves. I did it my own way and it worked out for the best, I think. Could we have been way more successful if I just conformed? Maybe, but that’s boring. It sounds like cheating in a race and I’m not trying to cheat. I want to do it my way. Hopefully I’ll look back when I’m 80 and realize that, like Frank Sinatra, I did it my way.”
A testament to Frasco’s wide-ranging influences and boundless energy, L’Optimist sees the magnetic frontman continuing to chart his path of self-exploration and personal discovery through increasingly introspective lyricism and musical adventure. The album sees Frasco fully in command of his craft, more comfortable and confident than ever before, his notorious party-animal persona giving way to a wiser, but no less enthusiastic, artist and band leader.
Frasco once again challenged himself to explore difficult lyrical terrain, spanning relationships and chronic depression, empathy and alienation, inspired in part by his first real girlfriend. Songs like the deeply moving “Iowa Moon” touch on matters of the heart and mental health, emotional struggle and the sheer vulnerability of the human experience, all relayed through a wildly eclectic approach navigating funk, jazz, surf rock, blues, swing, gospel, reggae, exotica, and more with horn-blasted positivity and soulful power.
“With so much bad news in the world, why not try to figure out a way to get out of the darkness,” Frasco says. “We’re not going to be able to change the world, but at least we can change the mind state we have moving forward. We can at least help the process along by being optimistic that the future will turn itself around. And if everyone changes their mind state about the future, then maybe we can change the world.”
In the meantime, Frasco will spend the summer traveling America on a wide-ranging itinerary that features headline dates, top-billed festival appearances, and an eagerly awaited double bill supporting Slightly Stoopid set for August 13th at Morrison, CO’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Additional dates will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N. TOUR 2023
MAY
19 – Beaufort, NC – Beaufort Music Festival *
20-21 – Garrettsville, OH – Tropidelic’s Sunny Days *
28 – Chillicothe, IL – Summer Camp Music Festival *
JUNE
1-3 – New River Gorge, WV – Mountain Music Festival *
16 – Swanzey, NH – Northlands Music & Arts Festival *
17 – Wellfleet, MA – Beachcomber
18 – Nantucket, MA – The Chicken Box
21 – Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre
22 – Isle of Palms, SC – The Windjammer
23 – Black Mountain, SC – Pisgah Brewing Company
24 – Kill Devil Hills, NC – Outer Banks Brewing Station
25 – Kill Devil Hills, NC – Outer Banks Brewing Station
27 – Roanoke, VA – 5 Points Music Sanctuary
28 – Dewey Beach, DE – Bottle & Cork
29 – Virginia Beach, VA – New Realm Brewing Co.
30 – Baltimore, MD – Union Craft Brewing
JULY
1 – Scranton, PA – Peach Music Festival *
2 – Amagansett, NY – The Stephen Talkhouse
14 – Buffalo, NY – Cobblestone Live! *
26 – Victor, ID – Knotty Pine
27 – Salmon, ID – Sweet Water Hollow
28 – Livingston, MT – Pine Creek Lodge
29 – Ketchum, ID – Argyros Performing Arts Center
AUGUST
1 – Durango, CO – Animas City Theatre
2 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater
4 – Steamboat Springs, CO – Snow Bowl Steamboat
5 – Telluride, CO – Sheridan Opera House
6 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen
10–12 – Yuba, WI – People Fest *
13 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre +
SEPTEMBER
9 – Indianapolis, IN – All In Music & Arts Festival *
10 – St. Louis, MO – Music At The Intersection *
28 – E. Lansing, MI – Hall 224 ^
OCTOBER
1 – Washington, DC – Atlantis ^
4 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground Ballroom ^
8 – Portland, ME – Bayside Bowl ^
11 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry ^
NOVEMBER
2 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl †
4 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse †
5 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre †
DECEMBER
5 – Little Rock, AR – Revolution Music Hall –
6 – Tulsa, OK – The Vanguard –
7 – Austin, TX – Mohawk –
8 – Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co. –
9 – Houston, TX – Last Concert Cafe –
10 – Baton Rouge, LA – Chelsea’s Live –
16 – Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge #
The final Dead & Company tour, stopping in Saratoga Springs on June 17-18 and Citi Field June 21-22. will include a traveling charity auction featuring ten one-of-a-kind D’Angelico guitars designed by contemporary rock music artist AJ Masthay.
Each guitar features designs using images from Masthay’s Dead & Company poster art, creating an anthology of his work with the band, dating back to 2016.
The auction is part of the “Participation Row” activism village organized by HeadCount, a non-profit organization that promotes voter registration and civic participation, along with REVERB, which promotes environmental responsibility. Since 2015, Participation Row has raised more than $2.8 million dollars for nearly two dozen “Dead Family” charities through auctions and activity at over 180 concerts. Participation Row’s impact also includes over 25,000 fans registering to vote or signing up for election alerts, and over 100,000 single use water bottles being eliminated.
Masthay has this to say about his collaboration with HeadCount:
I’m a firm believer that if our democracy is going to function as intended, we all as citizens have an obligation to be informed and participate in said democracy, that’s why I am and will continue to be a supporter of HeadCount and their mission. My relationship with HeadCount started over a decade ago and out of our partnership has come some of the most cherished pieces in my portfolio.
Masthay is most well known for his unique style of reduction block printing in the concert art arena. His blend of traditional techniques and love of live music has made him one of the most prominent figures in the rock art industry. Masthay established his own letterpress studio in 2001 and is currently based out of Hartford, CT. He has also done work for Black Sabbath, Foo Fighters, South Park, Queens of the Stone Age, Umphrey’s McGee, Widespread Panic, and many more.
Hip Hop’s underground scene will be getting a jolt as Queens rapper — and television star — Meyhem Lauren is teaming up with legendary DJ, Cypress Hill’s own DJ Muggs and one of the best producers of his generation in Madlib. The trio have announced an album titled Champagne for Breakfast set for release on April 7 through Soul Assassins Records.
In anticipation for the project they’ve released the brooding album cut “Szechuan Capital.” Featuring fellow Queens-bred rapper/actor Action Bronson, “Szechuan Capital” is the name of a restaurant in Flushing Queens. “It closed down around 20 years ago,” Meyhem remarked. “It was a special spot in Flushing and Action is a special human from Flushing so it all made sense; at least to me.”
Meyhem and Action Bronson share a personal relationship as part of the hip hop/art collective Smart Crew. Additionally, Meyhem stars in Bronson’s food documentary series F*ck, That’s Delicious. However, their true ties are as cultural vanguards for the borough of Queens. Whether it be through their graffiti, music or being food aficionados, they pay ode the historic borough. “Szechuan Capital” is no different, as it is an ode to the lesser-known cultural landmarks that have bred some of hip hop’s best. With DJ Muggs and Madlib on production the essence of the culture pushing the artist will always be conveyed.
Madlib and DJ Muggs
After all, the fabled producers have spent the last few years fortifying their legacies. A founding member of Cypress Hill and the Producer of House Of Pain’s “Jump Around,” the Grammy-nominated producer has collaborated with a whose-who in hip hop’s underground scene. In the last few years alone he has released projects with Mach-Hommy, Roc Marciano, Yelawolf, Rome Streetz and Jay Worthy; and he’s currently putting the finishing touches on the forthcoming Soul Assassins 4 album. Meanwhile, Champagne for Breakfast will be Madlib’s third project of the year. The legendary producer has already released Liberation 2 with Talib Kweli and In The Beginning, Vol 3 with Declaime this calendar year.
In like manner,this latest album will add to the extensive collaborative history between Meyhem, Muggs and Madlib. Meyhem has previous projects with DJ Muggs 2017’s Gems From The Equinox, 2018’s Frozen Angels and 2019’s Members Only.
Robert Walter interprets infamous soul and jazz artists on his third session for the music journal, Aquarium Drunkard. The EP’s opening track, a reimagination of Melle Mel’s “White Lines,” which itself was a reinvention of Liquid Liquid’s track “Cavern,” has just released on February 17th.
A founding member of The Greyboy Allstars, Walter splits his time between The Greyboy Allstars, his own 20th Congress, playing organ and keys in Mike Gordon Band and on tour with Roger Waters, in addition to a robust film soundtrack career in Los Angeles.
“These tracks were all recorded for Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe series. This was my 3rd installment,” explains Walter. “I always try to find some interesting tunes that have inspired me in some way over the years. It’s also a fun challenge to record the music all by myself. I played all the instruments here and arranged, recorded and mixed at home.”
Robert Walter said of the session, “I have always loved ‘White Lines (Don’t Do It).’ I remember hearing this when I was first discovering rap music as a kid. I learned later that the music is based on Liquid Liquid’s ‘Cavern.’ I love how the interactions between the NYC art scene, punk rock, and emerging hip-hop were happening so naturally and quickly during the late ’70s,” continued Walter. “This tune manages to be a message song, embrace some avant-garde musical ideas and still work as dance music even to this day. I have been playing it off and on in bands my entire life. I started doing it a lot as an organ vehicle during late night Jazzfest gigs as a comment on the wild party atmosphere. This version references both the original Liquid Liquid track and the brilliant Melle Mel interpolation.”
The keyboardist, who co-founded The Greyboy Allstars and is currently on tour as a member of Roger Waters’ band, plays all of the instruments. Some of the artists being featured on Aquarium Drunkard are Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel, Liquid Liquid, Jackie Mittoo, Eddie Harris, Rammellzee & K-Rob and Les Baxter & Martin Denny.
Pre-order/save Aquarium Drunkard sessions featuring Robert Walter’s cover of “White Lines” by clicking the link here. For more on Robert Walter, click the link here.
