NYC based band Sorry Mom has just liberated the punk-rock single “Shaving My Legs” in preparation for the release of their debut album babyface on May 12th. Following the album release, Sorry Mom will be hitting the road for a short northeast run that concludes with a set at Boston Calling Music Festival.
Sorry Mom is an NYC-based femme punk band whose music chronicles queer experiences and suburban despair through a nostalgic punk sound. Their music boasts the lyrical playfulness of Green Day and blink-182, but sonically has a more hardcore edge.
What began as a group of college friends playing music together quickly evolved into something bigger upon the release of Sorry Mom’s debut EP “Juno Goes to the Big House” in April 2021. As of July 2022, the band has garnered 10M+ streams across platforms and 50k+ followers across socials. In Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, Sorry Mom embarked on tours of the Northeast, playing 30 unique venues across the region.
The first single “Hiccup” shows the side of Sorry Mom that is incredibly hardcore punk. By using their artform to their advantage, they show how unique they are with powerful lyrics and punk melodies. Overall, “Hiccup” makes you want to jump straight into a mosh pit.
The second single “Shaving My Legs,” released on April 14th, provides a fast-paced intro to the overall album. While tackling feelings of being trapped, promising again and again to start making changes tomorrow, the band shows us that tomorrow never comes.
Sorry Mom is also going on tour for the release of babyface, stopping in Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus Bar. For more information and to purchase tickets, click the link here.
To listen to “Shaving My Legs,” click the link here.
Urbano Street announced their U Street Music Festival, inviting people of all ages with an appreciation for street art, culture, and vinyl to celebrate record store day and the return of live music. The all-day festival will be on April 22 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY on Suydam St. between Irving Ave and Knickerbocker Ave.
The U Street Festival will feature two stages that serve as a discovery platform for multicultural and non-commercial musicians and street artists. Stars such as Rebelmatic, La Sazound, Dubcorps, Spite Fuxxx, Chico Raro, Tambor y Caña, Hecho en Brooklyn, Eclectic Charango Beats, Prince of Queens, Jah Point, Vee Vee, and Wild Roots will take the stage. The festival also emphasizes the long-standing record of street culture and urban art, focusing on BIPOC artists who enrich New York City. U Street is on a mission to support underground and alternative artists in the independent space.
U Street Music Fest is the first street event of its kind, no one has ever attempted to bring subcultural music communities together before. Think of it as a cumbia punky reggae party on the streets of Brooklyn.
– Diana Hernandez, Urbano Street Lead Organizer
The music festival will expose local talent while also celebrating the diversity of its vibrant community which is largely made up of immigrants from Latin America. Although the neighborhood has recently battled gentrification-related tensions, the U Street Music Festival strives to cultivate collaboration uniting its residents with Bushwick’s artistic roots. They also hope to help bridge the generational and socio-economic gap between old and new members of the community.
Urbano Street is a nonprofit organization that relies on volunteers, music lovers, and donors. Whilst focusing on BIPOC artists who enrich New York City. Urbano Street is on a mission to support underground and alternative artists in the independent space, opening doors for underrepresented musicians by bringing them to urban places and shooting music videos, a passport to more gigs, press, and opportunities.
More information about the non-profit organization can be accessed here.
The Rock and Roll Playhouse has announced a special run of shows over Earth Day Weekend benefiting international non-profit Oceanic Global on Saturday April 22 and Sunday, April 23. Featuring the music of Bob Marley and The Grateful Dead, The Rock and Roll Playhouse will bring family fun to 13 different venues across the country where kids and parents can rock out to the classics.
The Rock and Roll Playhouse introduces the next generation to timeless music while providing kids with early music exposure and encouraging creativity. The Playhouse was founded in 2013 at its flagship venue Brooklyn Bowl by Peter Shapiro, entrepreneur and co-owner of the Bowl and owner of The Capitol Theatre, and Amy Striem, a certified Early Childhood and Elementary teacher.
Designed to create opportunities for families to experience live music together in historic venues, The Rock and Roll Playhouse continues to unite families through music with hundreds of unforgettable shows nationwide as the largest national concert series for families where kids can “move, play and sing while listening to works from the classic-rock canon”.
Supporting Oceanic Global on Earth Day Weekend is not just about bringing families together through the power of music, but also about teaching the next generation the importance of preserving our planet. By creating unforgettable experiences for families while supporting a worthy cause, we can inspire a love for music and a passion for environmental activism in our children that will last a lifetime.
Stephen Grybowski, Senior Director of The Rock and Roll Playhouse
Founded in 2016, Oceanic Global reconnects humanity to the ocean as the beating heart of the earth, and provides tangible solutions and blueprints for coexisting in harmony with the natural world. The 501c3 non-profit builds tools, mobilizes communities, and develops educational resources and standards that inspire global action and catalyze cross-sector change.
Tickets are available now, and admission is free for children one years old and under. For more information please visit The Playhouse’s website.
Alternative country band Divining Rod just released a new single, “GOAT” in support of their latest studio album, Santa Monica & Other Golden Classics, due for release on May 19.
The sound of “GOAT” is reminiscent of Southern Rock’s golden age, due in large part to the song’s exhilarating vocals by founding member Miyuki Furtado. Santa Monica & Other Golden Classics marks Divining Rod’s first major release since the pandemic first hit the United States.
The cover of Driving Rod’s new album, Santa Monica & Other Golden Classics. Credit: Sean Joyce.
Divining Rod started out as a solo project for Hawaiian native Miyuki Furtado, originally of the rock band the Rogers Sisters. After the Rogers Sisters broke up, Furtado left his beloved Brooklyn neighborhood with his family for greener (and less crowded) pastures. “My wife and I bought a small, beat-up house north of the city and settled down.” With the help of guitarist/vocalist Patrick Harmon, Furtado began playing shows handling guitar, vocals, and drums, utilizing his homemade drumset while Harmon added his unique guitar playing and harmonies to the mix. Second drummer John Malone and bassistMatt Svigalsround out the band.
“GOAT” may be one of the ‘greatest’ songs by Divining Rod of all time. If the rest of Santa Monica & Other Golden Classics is anything like its latest single, Divining Rod is sure to have a long career ahead of themselves, and future releases by the band will be music you certainly won’t want to miss. Before Santa Monica & Other Golden Classics is released, stream Divining Rod’s latest hits.
When discussing their latest single “GOAT“, band frontpersonMiyuki Furtadowrites:
I’m sometimes asked if my songs are fiction or based on something that actually happened to me in real life. My songs are often based on experiences I’ve had or on stories I’ve heard from friends and acquaintances. It is not uncommon for the subject matter to be a combination of several people. There are times, however, when I’ll write about a specific person; like this one. A pretty terrible person is being portrayed in this story: selfish, dishonest, and cruel at times. GOAT is an appropriate title for the song. Despite this, I wonder if I am subconsciously writing about my negative qualities, given that I was raised Buddhist. In Buddhism, people are a reflection of the individual, so it could be my own embarrassment about my own negativity. The question is still fresh in my mind, I guess – Yeesh!
Divining Rod’s new single, “GOAT” is now streaming, and their new album Santa Monica & Other Golden Classics is out May 19.
The most prolific and exciting band in the jam scene, this side of Phish, is Pigeons Playing Ping Pong (PPPP), and they brought their rabid flock of fans and patented bevy of groovy tunes to the famous Brooklyn Bowl for the opening night of a 3 night run on April 13th. The 3 hour show showcased the band’s vast talents and was buoyed by a fervent fan base happy to see their favorite band return to New York City. The show was brought to us by Dog Fish Head and Record Store Day.
photo courtesy of Lee Melnikoff
Baltimore-based, Pigeons has been around longer than one might suspect. The members have been performing as a unit for over 15 years. The band formed at University of Maryland when Greg and Jeremy were in the dorms together in 2007 – the boys inform me that Wikipedia has this wrong. Drummer Gator was hired in 2015 to complete the current lineup of Scrambled Greg Ormont (Vocals, rhythm guitar), Jeremy Schon (lead guitar) and Ben Carrey (bass.) Some acts PPPP has opened for include Umphrey’s Mcgee, Moe., Disco Biscuits, String Cheese Incident, and Lotus. Some acts that have opened for PPPP include Goose, Kitchen Dwellers, Tauk, Karina Rykman and Magic Beans. PPPP present their own festival, Domefest, which is highly respected and regarded in the scene.. The band serves up a lively chat of all things PPPP in their FB group appropriately titled, “The Flock.” There is another FB group for merchandise and tickets. The band has released an initial EP and then 5 full length albums that all start with the letter P.
photo courtesy of Lee Melnikoff
Over a tasty dinner, I was able to ask Jeremy and Greg some questions. Greg ordered the salmon – a dish he orders almost every night for dinner on the road because it packs on protein and energy while being easy to digest before the show.
Chadbyrne: What’s the most challenging song you play live and why?
Greg: I find our newest songs are most challenging, especially when they have vocals. I’ve been focusing more on lyrics these days, sometimes finalizing them right before showtime, which makes them tricky to memorize. Instrumentally, our new song “Miyagi” is a doozy.
Jeremy: You’ll know when you hear it!
Chadbyrne: PPPP has blown up in recent years, is there a specific moment when you felt like you “made it”?
Greg: That’s really nice of you to say. I don’t know if I’ll ever truly feel like we “made it” per se, but it was so exciting when we decided to quit our day jobs to pursue music full-time about 12 years ago. I held a few jobs after college, but we were simultaneously touring almost every weekend of the year. We would go on these epic weekend runs and then I’d show up for work just so beat. Eventually we decided it was time to give this thing a real shot and tour full-time, and the fun hasn’t stopped.
Jeremy: Every time I look into the crowd and see people smiling and/or losing themselves to our music, I get that amazing feeling that “we made it”. We’ve had so many awe-inspiring moments at shows and festivals that it’s hard to just pick one, but a few big ones that come to mind are some of our Peach Festival sets, our first headlining shows at the 9:30 Club, and All Good Festival in 2015.
Chadbyrne: As a songwriter, what song are you most proud of and why?
Greg: All of them! Writing music is so fun because you always remember each song’s origin and development. Some ideas develop quickly, others take years, but in both cases it’s so exciting when they’re finally played live because you remember the journey.
Jeremy: I try not to pick favorites, but it’s always a proud moment when I hear people singing along with our songs!
Chadbyrne: If music hadn’t worked out, what profession do you think you would have undertaken?
Greg: I was in sales after college. I had a knack for it, but I wasn’t passionate at all. I don’t know if I could go back to a 9 to 5, but I could see myself getting into real estate as a means to an end to spend more time with my family.
Jeremy: If I didn’t find myself somewhere in the music industry, I’d probably be working some sort of IT job. I have degrees in Marketing and Business Information Systems, in case anyone is wondering the secret behind my playing.
Chadbyrne: Who is your favorite guitarist and why?
Greg: I always keep my ears open for inspiration and don’t play into the favorites game much. That said, I love Nile Rodgers, but I also love Shmeeans from Lettuce, Ryan from The Motet, Dan from Kyle Hollingsworth Band and countless others. They’re all great listeners, unique players, always melodic and in the pocket. Also since we don’t have a keyboardist, I often listen to those elements live. Huge fan of Joey Porter from The Motet and his funky approach on the clavinet, and everything Page from Phish plays.
Jeremy: I’m a huge Phish fan, so I can’t deny that Trey Anastasio has been a huge inspiration – he’s a master of tension/release.
photo courtesy of Lee Melnikoff
“Let Your Cup Overrun”
Yam Yam opened the night. Pigeons took the stage just after 9pm. This was the only night of the run anticipated not to sell out but that was just as well for the hard core members of The Flock in attendance as they were afforded more dancing room. “Distant Times” was the perfect up-tempo opener and the crowd knew all the lyrics. But it was “Live it Up” that was the highlight of the first set. The popular Pigeons staple builds and builds until Jeremy and Greg get locked into a tight call and response ultimately paying off with an exquisite crescendo.
After a Chili Peppers cover, as usual, Fun in Funk provided a spark near the end of the set. PPPP are masters of no matter the genre or the song – they can always find a groove and it is usually danceable. Manny Newman again demonstrated why he is one of the best LDs in music.
photo courtesy of Lee Melnikoff
PPPP is like going to the Circus. Greg is the affable and enthusiastic carnival barker who lures in patrons, Jeremy is the lion tamer guiding and patient who leads the posse to the next level and Ben is the charismatic clown always entertaining the masses with zest.
A highlight of the 2nd set was Gator on the drums – he is a heavy hitter adept at keeping impeccable time behind the kit as best exemplified by his bombastic extended drum solo at the end of “Water.” PPPP should do the soundtrack to a sci-fi film as the music is not of this world. Jeremy continues to demonstrate that he is the most underrated guitarist around – with the fastest fingers in the scene. The show was complete, with even Ben singing a tune. The encore was special with arguably the band’s best tune, “Dawn a New Day.” Upbeat and packed with lyrics ala “Strawberry Letter 23,” it is a lengthy joyous romp and a proper way to end the epic night on a positive note.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg – Thursday, April 13
Set 1: Distant Times, Henrietta, Live it Up, Hit the Ground Runnin, Around the World, Overrun, Fun in Funk>Skinner
Set 2: Fall in Place, Water, Beneath the Surface, Bad for You, Melting Lights, Ha ha ha yeah, su casa, schwanthem
Twiddle frontman and reggae singer/songwriter Mihali has announced three shows in the New York metro area this May, presented by Relix.
Over May 12-14, Mihali will perform solo looping sets at Garcia’s at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, then at Brooklyn Bowl the next night. On Sunday, May 14, he’ll return to Port Chester for a full live band performance at Garcia’s.
The appearances follow Twiddle announcing they will go on hiatus following their touring plans this year.
Conway The Machine will release his second studio album, Won’t He Do It, this spring. The prolific Buffalo MC’s road to his major label debut was undeniably impactful and redemptive. God Don’t Make Mistakes served as his commercial breakthrough, as it rose to the top of DSP charts and was also his highest-charting Billboard project to date. Moreover, the project was hailed by critics and fans alike.
While God Don’t Make Mistakes was Conway’s de-facto origin story to the mainstream market, it will also serve as the bridge to the next phase of his already decorated, mixtape-laden career, which begins with his next album Won’t He Do It.
After sharing the album’s first single, “Super Bowl,” featuring Sauce Walka and Juicy J, Conway The Machine has released the album’s second single and first visual in “Quarters/Brucifix.” Featuring Westside Gunn, the music video is shot on location in Paris. The two-sided single features production from Khrysis on “Quarters,” (which also includes vocals from late podcaster, Combat Jack) along with the Daringer produced “Brucifix.”
The record sees Conway The Machine maintain his musical trajectory. While his content remains forever rooted to the streets, Conway continues to challenge himself with the production he raps over. Moreover, the former Griselda signee has long cultivated a rags-to-riches image and continues to abide by his street ethics in his music. However, his growing success makes his subject matter that much more idiosyncratic. All in all, his presentation adds to his allure, while he continues to serve as motivation to those with similar backgrounds.
“I wanted to tap back in with my bro, Khrysis, and give em that feel that my fans know me for providing,” Conway shared with Complex. “I also wanted to set the tone for my new album.”
Conway The Machine Tour
In addition to the release of “Quarters/Brucifix,” Conway also announced the Won’t He Do It Spring Tour featuring Sauce Walka and his fellow Drumwork artist Jae Skeese. The month-long, 18-city expedition begins on My 26 in Chicago, IL and wraps up on June 28 in Detroit with a stop in Brooklyn set for June 24.
Pioneering Australian/British composer, pianist and flautist Keyna Wilkins will mark her first American “mini-tour” tour with a Big Apple debut at Brooklyn’s Williamsburg Music Center on April 20 at 9 p.m.
A two-time finalist for the Australian Art Music Awards, Wilkins is the writer of over 60 compositions that have been performed internationally – in solos, with small ensembles and orchestras. Her eclectic music is informed by her passion for human rights, astronomy, Indigenous culture, jazz, intuitive improvisation and existential quests. As an innovative soloist on piano and flute and leader of cutting-edge ensembles, she has been heralded by UK’s Jazz Journal as a“powerhouse player”, and “fine and nuanced playing”by Limelight Magazine and is described by Australian Jazz as being “unconstrained by labels and is constantly exploring new ways to express herself musically.” She has composed 4 major orchestral works including “Celestial Emu”, a didgeridoo concerto in collaboration with indigenous didgeridoo player Gumaroy Newman for The Metropolitan Orchestra, and a triple flute concerto “Solar Triumvirate” which was described by Sydney Arts Guide as “sensational,.. with incredible freshness of gesture”.
Wilkins’ tour was made possible via a collective effort of artists who are involved with Music for Musicians, MFM. MFM is an advocacy group for musicians’ rights founded by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, whose board, supporters and membership includes leading names like Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman and Dr. Cornell West.
When the organization’s members found out that Wilkins, one of its first international members, was seeking to tour the U.S., they combined forces to help her find and promote gigs.
For the April 20 show at Williamsburg Music Center, Wilkins will be joined on the bill by two active MFM members, Dawoud the Sufi Renegade and NYSMusic.com book reviewer/feature writer Sal Cataldi (aka Spaghetti Eastern Music). The trio will perform solo sets and also collaborate. For info, visit the Eventbrite page here.
Hudson Valley music-lovers will be able to catch Keyna on April 22 at an intimate concert in the home of another MFM member, pianist/composer Peter Wetzler, at his studio in Kingston, N.Y. Wetzler will also perform at the event, along with poet-artist Julie Hedrick. For info, visit here.
Wilkins will conclude here New York performances on April 25 at 9 pm with a solo performance at the Downtown Music Gallery. Info here.
Wilkins has released 9 albums of original music on all streaming platforms including 4 solo albums. Her latest album in 2021, “Set Me Free”, a collaboration with a 9-year innocent detained refugee poet-artist, Jalal Mahamede.
To mark the 50th Anniversary milestone of The World is a Ghetto, American Funk band WAR have announced a brand new collection called WAR: The Remixes featuring Mix Master Mike.
Out May 12th, the EP expands the influence of WAR’s music on the worlds of contemporary hip-hop, as esteemed DJs, producers and musicians including Beastie Boys turntablist Mix Master Mike, and DJ Logic, reimagine eternal hits that spans several of the band’s years.
Named as “the world’s greatest DJ” by USA Today, Mix Master Mike’s status as a premier, award-winning DJ and producer has allowed him to maintain his rank as an influential musician, and become a household name. After being inducted into the Rock ’n Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 with the Beastie Boys, His skillful, hard-hitting scratch work has rightfully earned him the status of a pioneer in the hip-hop and DJ communities.
Recently, Mike has been found opening for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, joining the official Emmy’s orchestra with the legendary Michael Bearden , creating music that has been featured on major television networks, producing the theme music for the FIFA World Cup, and more. In 2016, he was invited to the White House by former President Barack Obama to perform at the Kennedy Center Honors 36th Gala honoring Herbie Hancock.
Across WAR’s six decades and counting, the band spread its messages of harmony and inclusion through songs that have soundtracked the anti-Vietnam movement, Watergate, and multiple Barack Obama summer playlists. Bolstered by the gold-selling success of the title track and the boundary-breaking power of “The Cisco Kid,” The World is a Ghetto topped Billboard’s pop and R&B charts, launching WAR’s legacy not only of creative and commercial triumph, but of timely and timeless relevance.
Led by Lonnie Jordan, WAR remains one of the busiest bands on the road today, and throughout 2023 they will headline dozens of shows, in addition to appearing at festivals like BottleRock Napa Valley and more to be announced soon.
Bill Orcutt, one of the most distinctive voices in experimental and alternative guitardom, brought his latest disc, Music for Four Guitars, to life before a sell-out crowd at downtown Brooklyn’s home to all things sonically avant-garde, Roulette, on March 27.
Orcutt is the former guitarist and founder of the notorious ‘90s group Harry Pussy. His sound is a stuttered reimagining of blues guitar, one weaving looping melodic lines and angular attack into a dense, fissured landscape of American primitivism, outsider jazz, and a stripped-down re-envisioning of the possibilities of the guitar.
Bill Orcutt’s Music for Four Guitars is comprised of 14 brief pieces built upon tiny minimalist phrases which evolve into dense tapestries of sound, texture and mood. On the disc, Orcutt plays all the parts. For the performance at Roulette, he was abetted by three of the most noteworthy players who are bending and mutating the borders of guitaring – Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza and Shane Parish.
The 12-tune set began with “A different view,” the album opener. This is a knotty Gamelan guitaring affair, one that brings to mind some of the work of ‘80s era King Crimson with the dirty guitar tones reminiscent of Trout Mask Replica Captain Beefheart. For this and many of the compositions, the players stayed close to the tight arrangements on the record.
On “Or from being,” Mendoza was a standout riding the higher melody guitar parts and taking a lengthy solo spot followed by Parish. For many of the compositions, Orcutt and Parish held down the bottom while Mendoza and Eisenberg took to the melodic rafters. Eisenberg takes the prize for the most melodically out soloing, for an extended run across the pulse-y tune, “Only at dusk.”
In the dense jungle of weaving guitars and harmonies, a listener gets many musical cross-currents – a bit of fractal boogie, Irish reels, the dense orchestral guitar minimalism of Glenn Branca and, as mentioned earlier, elements of Beefheart, Crimson and Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists and Gamelan.
About six songs in Orcutt spoke to audience in an entertaining and self-effacing manner. No naming of the tunes played, just an introduction of his collaborators then a jump into one of the most pleasant chapters of the evening – a traditionally melodic, very spacious unaccompanied solo reminiscent of his “Odds Against Tomorrow” from his 2019 disc of the same name. All the players would get their solo moments and demonstrate differences in approach – unique melodic and textural languages that are adding a fresh face to this very been-around-the-block instrument.
A guy who does with words what Orcutt does with the guitar, the edge-pushing alt.poet and writer William A. Lessard, accompanied me to the show. A lover of pretty much every boundary pushing genre of music, he had his own observations:
“The surprise for me was the moments when the music would drift into Stained Class-era Judas Priest, then give way to microtonal playing by Wendy Eisenberg. Eisenberg, for me, was the big surprise of the night, bringing that Pete Cosey groove into a new context. Anyone who has the chance should see this band; watching them weave together all these influences is a delight.”
The set will soon be available for a limited time at Roulette’s Live Stream Channel on YouTube.
Setlist: A different view, Seen from above, At a distance, In the rain, Out of the corner of the eye, Or from behind, Only at dusk, On the horizon, Barely driving, In profile, From below, Or head On
