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Show Detective – Weekend Shows -8/2 – 8/4

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Show Detective – Weekend Shows -8/2 – 8/4

Show Detective.

Friday, August 2nd

Brandon Santini, The Linda, Albany, 8pm-10pm

The Egg Presents: OPEN House (ft. Ghost-Note & a screening of Black Panther) *FREE*

Music, The Egg, Albany, 6pm

Angélique Kidjo’s African Symphony with The Philadelphia Orchestra, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, 7:30pm

Following her 2023 Saratoga Jazz Festival debut, five-time GRAMMY® award winner and African music icon Angélique Kidjo joins The Philadelphia Orchestra in an all-new program featuring a mix of popular African songs and original works.

TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Proctors Theatre, Schenectady

Tuesday, July 30, 2024 to Sunday, August 04, 2024

An uplifting comeback story like no other, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.

King 810, Empire Underground, Albany, 6:30pm

The Emo Night Tour, Empire Live, Albany, 8pm

Happy Hour with Monkey & the Crowbar at the Eleven (FREE show), Lark Hall, Albany, 6pm-8pm

Monkey and the Crowbar have been playing for years in the Mohawk Valley and Capital Region. Their acoustic vibe of originals and Grateful Dead adjacent tunes makes for a hoot of a time. Fronted by Todd Herringshaw(guitar, vocals), band members Tree Casullo(percussion, vocals), Joe Sinchak(fiddle, mandolin, vocals) and Sharon Charles(bass) give an old-timey spin to tunes we all know and love.

Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, 8pm-10pm

Kane and Gellert first met, fittingly, at San Francisco’s celebrated Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which led to their co-writing songs for Kane’s solo album Unguarded Moments. They joined forces again for Gellert’s Workin’s Too Hard, which they also co-produced. Then in 2018, they released their first duo album, The Ledges, and followed up quickly with When the Sun Goes Down in 2019. Now, in 2022, this “unlikely musical couple” have released The Flowers That Bloom in Spring, which finds them digging deeper into their exploration of minimalist writing and recording.

Nailed Shut / Frozen Sun / Torpedo Lane / Greyfleshtethered, No Fun, Troy, 7pm-11pm

From “Bar People.”

8/2 8:00 PM Patrick Sharrow- Cooperstown Distillery

8/2 6:30 PM Insolent Willies- Artisanal Brew Works

8/2 9:00 PM DJ Intell Hayesfield & DJ TSwag- Night Owl

8/2 6:00 PM Christine Spero- Panza’s Saratoga

8/2 6:30 PM Rob Aronstein- Wishing Well

8/2 1:00 PM Neil Young Tribute… Tonights The Night- Saratoga Race Course

8/2 6:00 PM Jacksland- Trackside Grill

8/2 7:00 PM The Hey Nows- Horseshoe Tavern

8/2 6:00 PM Matt Cosgrove- Thirsty Owl

8/2 11:00 AM Pat Decker- Kings Tavern

8/2 5:45 PM TS Ensemble with Carmen Lookshire- Siro’s

8/2 6:00 PM Katy Dwyer & Danny Garcia- Olde Bryan Inn

8/2 6:00 PM Phil Drum- Inn at Saratoga

8/2 6:00 PM Pepper Shakers- Lago’s by Druthers

8/2 6:00 PM Don Hoffman- Spa City Tap & Barrel

8/2 7:00 PM Ragged Company- Quarters

8/2 7:00 PM Jukebox Rebellion- Dango’s

8/2 8:00 PM Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert- Caffe Lena

8/2 6:00 PM Warden & Company- Saratoga Winery

8/2 7:00 PM Jeff Walton- Principessa Elena

8/2 8:00 PM Sam Luke Trio- Druthers Saratoga

8/2 7:00 PM Ragged Company- Quarters

8/2 7:00 PM Liam Davis- Bourbon Room

8/2 8:00 PM Kelly & Sons- Saratoga City Tavern

8/2 9:00 PM Karoke- Towne Tavern

8/2 8:00 PM Whiskey Highway- Van Slycks at Rivers Casino

8/2 7:30 PM Big Sky Country- Wicked Eatery

8/2 7:00 PM Upstate Funk- Daley’s On Crooked Lake

8/2 7:00 PM The Wreckless Duo- Peddlers Bar & Bistro

8/2 7:00 PM Pat Decker- Druthers Clifton Park

8/2 7:00 PM Joe Archembeault- Signal 30 BBQ

8/2 7:00 PM Guys Our Age- Finnigans on The Lake

8/2 7:00 PM Chris Carey & Tim Wechgelaer- Cock & Bull

8/2 6:30 PM Jeff Stein- Other One Brewery

8/2 6:00 PM TBD- The Scarlet Knife

8/2 6:00 PM Steve Candlen- 30 Park @ Hilton Garden Inn

8/2 6:00 PM Roadhouse- Carsons Woodside Tavern

8/2 6:00 PM Michael Francis McCarthy- Crossroads America Grille

8/2 6:00 PM Jake Juron- Bootleggers

8/2 6:00 PM Harmonic Duo- Martel’s Grill at Town Of Colonie Golf Course

8/2 6:00 PM George Krakat- Powers Pub

8/2 6:00 PM DJ Tek- Sunset Sips at Rivers Casino

8/2 6:00 PM Dan Sherwin- Ravenswood

8/2 6:00 PM Bronte Roman & Sonny Daye Duo- Sofia’s of Clifton Park

8/2 6:00 PM Allegra Larson- Indian Ladder Farms

8/2 5:00 PM Powersiren- Alexis Diner

Saturday, August 3rd

Joe Finn Duo, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, 6pm

The Summer Square Concert Series is a free, outdoor event at 6 PM Saturday nights July and August in the Music Hall Courtyard

Born in Hartford Connecticut, the son of an amateur pianist and composer, guitarist Joe Finn was surrounded by music from the very first. By age ten he was playing his first guitar and giving lessons to kids in the neighborhood. After high school he got a Bachelor’s Degree in Music at Plattsburgh State and had the good fortune to play and study with Roy Burns, James Spaulding, Jim Miller, Billy Hawkins and Kirk Nurock. After college he spent ten years traveling the United States and Canada playing the guitar in a wide variety of situations. Finn has now settled in upstate New York where he concentrates on local performances and teaching. He has been featured in various festival and concert settings for several years since the release of his initial CD as a leader in 1991. The album entitled Straight Ahead received critical acclaim as well as extensive national airplay. His quartet’s subsequent appearance on the BET network’s Jazz Discovery Showcase won their 1998 award in the jazz instrumental category. Six more independent CD releases Guitar Signatures and Duets, Blue Tomorrow, Destiny Blue, String Theory, Generational Dynamics and 2021’s As Luck Would Have It have helped to establish Joe’s reputation as a one of today’s top players.

TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Proctors Theatre, Schenectady

Tuesday, July 30, 2024 to Sunday, August 04, 2024

An uplifting comeback story like no other, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.

Sip, Savor and Swirl, Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga Springs

Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs is set to host an extraordinary event on August 3 at 7:30 PM that pairs the timeless art of dance with the refined tastes of international wines. This one-of-a-kind performance, organized by NACRE Dance Group, features choreographed pieces inspired by select wines from Austria, Portugal, Italy, Oregon, Chile and France.

The Eleven at Lark Hall presents TV Doctors (FREE SHOW), Lark Hall, Albany, 11:30pm

Saturday, August 3 · 8 – 11:30pm EDT

TV Doctors operates as a trio of experienced professional musicians from Upstate NY, who have come together with a shared desire to cure musical boredom wherever it exists, with surgical precision. They are, in essence, a psychedelic jazz trio, based in improvisation; fearlessly surfing across genres to create a heavy and unique blend of funk, reggae, progressive rock, and contemporary jazz. Beginning in 2021, during the height of the pandemic, the group was afforded the opportunity to hunker down weekly, in a two-car garage, and craft their signature sound. The rest is history, as what was once an experimental event has now blossomed into a powerful combo that has operated on stages spanning the Capital District and beyond, spreading its healing tones to all that come in contact with them. Patients say “Josh Witmer (guitar) rides a psychedelic wave atop the long-time paired and often brutish rhythm section that is Evan Conway (bass) and Bob Morris (drums).”

DJ King Bully. Putnam Place, Saratoga Springs, 11:30pm-2pm

Come get down on the biggest dancefloor in Saratoga. DJ King Bully will be spinning the hottest beats late in to the evening.

DJ King Bully blurs the lines between Dancehall, Afrobeat, Hip-Hop, and Latin into what is a refreshing departure from anything else you’ve heard. The Troy NY native not only dominates the Capital Region club circuit, he also boasts an impressive list of concerts, which includes acts like Dababy, Lil Baby, Cardi B, Fabolous, DMX, Ja Rule, Ashanti and more. Always sure to get the crowd hype and the club packed, DJ King Bully is the sound that keeps any party going strong.

Jamcrackers, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, 8pm-10pm

Seasoned solo performers Dan Berggren, Peggy Lynn and Dan Duggan have combined talents to create a dynamic trio named in honor of the river drivers who broke up log jams. They worked hard to find solutions, to get things rolling again, and it was a job that couldn’t be done alone. Berggren, Lynn and Duggan feel the same way about their music. These good friends and accomplished musicians bring a rare blend of humor, history and musical spirit to their performances. “Although the Jamcrackers … will win you over with their front porch style picking and charm, there’s much more to be appreciated from their music.” (Sing Out!)

Reboot/Bring Back the Beat/DJ Night, Lost and Found, Albany, 9pm

Planetarium Party – VIRGO SZN, No Fun, Troy, 8pm-11pm

From “Bar People.”

8/3 9:00 PM DJ Spider / DJ Trumastr / DJ Tomb- Night Owl

8/3 3:00 PM Jam Crackers … Little Folks Series- Caffe Lena

8/3 7:00 PM Lifeline- Kraverie

8/3 5:00 PM Little Saints- Artisanal Brew Works

8/3 8:00 PM Jam Crackers- Caffe Lena

8/3 6:00 PM Nick Rossi Band- Siro’s

8/3 6:00 PM Al & Kathy Bain- Olde Bryan Inn

8/3 7:00 PM Colleen Pratt & Peg Delaney- Panza’s Saratoga

8/3 6:30 PM Rob Aronstein- Wishing Well

8/3 6:00 PM Pat Decker- Prime at Saratoga National

8/3 1:00 PM Soul Session- Saratoga Race Course

8/3 2:00 PM Ragged Company- Saratoga Eagles

8/3 6:00 PM Mike Thomas- Spa City Tap & Barrel

8/3 9:00 PM Gobshites- Parting Glass

8/3 6:00 PM Andy Roth- Galley Bar & Grill

8/3 9:00 PM Tailspin- Saratoga City Tavern

8/3 7:00 PM Dazey- Quarters

8/3 6:00 PM Al & Kathy Bain- Olde Bryan Inn

8/3 6:00 PM Jukebox Rebellion- Fasig Tipton

8/3 8:00 PM Richard Clements Band- Druthers Saratoga

8/3 6:00 PM John Terleckey- Inn at Saratoga

8/3 7:00 PM Gravity- Horseshoe Tavern

8/3 9:00 PM The Schmooze- Ice House

8/3 9:00 PM Hit n Run- Caroline St. Pub

8/3 8:00 PM Dirt Road Ruckus- Van Slycks at Rivers Casino

8/3 7:00 PM The Session Brothers- Peddlers Bar & Bistro

8/3 7:00 PM Seth Tucker Band- Freedom Park Scotia

8/3 7:00 PM Radio Junkies- Druthers Clifton Park

8/3 7:00 PM John Cehowski & Nick Antoinette- Jo’s Joint

8/3 7:00 PM Jeff Brisbin- Druthers Schnectady

8/3 6:30 PM Kyle Hommel- Finnigans on The Lake

8/3 6:30 PM Amanda Case- Other One Brewery

8/3 6:00 PM Union Fire Co. Band- Old Iron Spring Ballston Spa

8/3 6:00 PM Triffid- Powers Park Concert Series

8/3 6:00 PM Samantha Talora & Ron Ramsey Duo- Sofia’s of Clifton Park

8/3 6:00 PM Rhythm Pilots- Carsons Woodside Tavern

8/3 6:00 PM Orphans Of Wally- Powers Pub

8/3 6:00 PM Nick Horance- 30 Park @ Hilton Garden Inn

8/3 6:00 PM Matt Cosgrove- The Scarlet Knife

8/3 6:00 PM Jenny Marie & Crew- Stellas Pasta Bar

8/3 6:00 PM DJ Tek- Sunset Sips at Rivers Casino

8/3 6:00 PM Colin McCarthy- O’Slattery’s

8/3 4:00 PM Larry Hooker- Basin Grill

8/3 12:00 PM Powersiren- Bloomin Art Festival

Sunday, August 4th

Capital Region Blues Network Northeast Blues Challenge 2024, The Linda, Albany, 2pm-4pm

TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Proctors Theatre, Schenectady

Tuesday, July 30, 2024 to Sunday, August 04, 2024

An uplifting comeback story like no other, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.

An Evening with Laurence Juber, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, 7pm-9pm

Sunday, August 4 · 7 – 9pm EDT. Doors at 6:30pm

“The melodies, textures and harmonies he coaxes out of an acoustic guitar are absolutely spellbinding.” – Guitar Player Magazine

Grammy-winning guitarist Laurence Juber is a solo performer, recording artist, composer and arranger. His playing fuses folk, jazz, blues, pop and classical styles, creating a multi-faceted performance that belies the use of only one instrument. A music graduate of London’s Goldsmith’s College, he was featured guitar soloist with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra before becoming established as a studio musician in the mid-1970s. First internationally recognized as lead guitarist in Beatle Paul McCartney’s Wings, with whom he won a Grammy, Juber has since established himself as world-renowned guitar virtuoso and entertainer.

Coquette / Trepidation / Vaexus / Beasteliaphiliac, No Fun, Troy, 6pm-11pm

From “Bar People.”

8/4 7:00 PM Lawrence Juber- Caffe Lena

8/4 3:00 PM Annie In The Water- Lago’s by Druthers

8/4 6:00 PM Sinatra & Friends- Panza’s Saratoga

8/4 1:00 PM North & South Dakota’s- Saratoga Race Course

8/4 3:00 PM Annie In The Water- Lago’s by Druthers

8/4 1:00 PM Reggie’s Red Hot Feetwarmers … StrollingSaratoga Race Course

8/4 1:00 PM Upstate Bluegrass Band- Saratoga Race Course

8/4 10:00 AM Don Hoffman- Spa City Farmers Market

8/4 6:00 PM Christine Spero- Wishing Well

8/4 3:00 PM Steve Candlen- Druthers Saratoga

8/2 8:00 PM Joe Adee & The Lug Nuts- Norte Azul Cantina

8/4 2:00 PM Kids Open Mic hosted by Erin Harkes- Emack & Bolio’s

8/4 2:00 PM Blues Challenge- The Linda

8/4 7:00 PM Mike Thomas- Peddlers Bar & Bistro

8/4 7:00 PM Bluz House Rockers- Freedom Park Scotia

8/4 7:00 PM Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra- Van Slycks at Rivers Casino

8/4 6:00 PM Karaoke hsted By Deb Zep- 518 Craft

8/4 6:00 PM Joes Boys- North Greenbush Town Park

8/4 5:00 PM Carmen Lookshire & Joseph Carrick- Sofia’s of Clifton Park

8/4 4:30 PM Dan Shewin- Yanni’s Too

8/4 4:00 PM Ten Most Wanted- Carsons Woodside Tavern

8/4 3:00 PM Jimi Justin- Basin Grill

8/4 3:00 PM Jeff Brisbin- Druthers Clifton Park

8/4 10:30 AM Steve Candlen- The Scarlet Knife

Ohzhe – An Xperience Interview

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Ohzhe – An Xperience Interview

Ohzhe – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.

Photo By: Jason Zuppardi

RRX: I appreciate you taking the time. I know everybody wants to talk to you today.

Ohzhe: Pretty much.

RRX: I figured. I can’t even understand how you felt being up on that stage with KRS One, doing a freestyle like that. That was just incredible, but we were all there with you, you know what I mean? We were all experiencing it with you and I thought that was really big for us as a whole. For the city in its entirety. So how did you feel when you were on stage with KRS One? I saw your face, man.

Ohzhe: It all happened by accident, I guess, but not really by accident. I was given a one-minute warning. My boy Dion came up to me, he was like, “Yo, bro, we gotta run this song, we gotta hurry up to get off stage because he’s ready to go.” So I’m like, alright, we’re about to run it, but I saw him – I didn’t think that he was outside; he was right at the back of the stage. So I’m like, “Oh sh**, yo, do you want me to get off the stage right now?” You can have it. Because I’m thirsty, I wanna sit down, I wanna see my family and friends. I know I did a great job, but he just came up on stage and gave me a hug. It was insane. It was real and I’m tripping over it.

RRX: That’s why I wanted to talk to you today when the emotions are still fresh, you know?

Ohzhe: Yeah.

RRX: You were performing with a live band. I like that, and then he got your band involved and just kicked a little something and you went back and forth. The rest is history. But all of the whole hip hop scene in Albany is talking about it right now.

Ohzhe: They should, they should.

RRX: Absolutely, they should. Well, you know what else is really cool about it? I left there feeling like Ohzhe is like Albany’s Kendrick tonight.

Ohzhe: I’m not gonna lie. You’re right.

RRX: Yeah, we’re feeling it, man. I’ve been into the hip-hop scene for many, many years. That was the first time I’ve seen you live. But I was thoroughly impressed before KRS even came up on stage. I’m like, damn, this guy … that’s what’s up! So, I’m definitely in your corner now.

Ohzhe: Yeah, I have so many photos. My little brother was taking a bunch of pictures while I was on stage. And I had another one of my brothers down at the bottom of the stage taking pictures with everybody else. which is surreal. Oh man, I’ve only seen this sh** in my head. I’ve only seen this in dreams, meditations, and daydreams and sh**.

RRX: It’s a dream turned reality!

Ohzhe: It only happened because of the work that I’ve been putting in. But not just for me, but for the community too. Supporting the youth, supporting the community, and supporting the artist. It’s the best way that I can do it without depleting myself of my resources and my sh**, because you know: first law of the land is self-preservation. Without it, I can’t be right, I can’t help nobody else.

RRX: That’s true. I was actually backstage talking to JB!! aka Dirty Moses …

Ohzhe: Shout out to JB, man!

RRX: Yeah, I love him. But we’re just talking, and right during our conversation, we heard you multiple times ask for a cease-fire. I looked at JB and said, “I didn’t hear the beginning of that.” So I don’t know if you were talking about the wars going on in the world, or the war going on here in our community. I was like, either way, I’m for both.

Ohzhe: Yeah, facts. It needs to come because we gotta come together. The war is not between us. I can talk forever about that, just based off my feeling. I can’t put together statistics or numbers and shit about it, but I see sh** for what it is. I know when someone’s trying to take advantage of you and pin you against other people, I know what manipulation feels like. You know what it looks like. It’s just on a grander scale, and they want us to be against each other and they want us to bicker, they want us to argue about color. They want us to argue because it’s about money at the end of the day.

I feel like my community is growing; I’m not gonna say that they’re not. My community is growing to learn more on how to communicate. Another thing that was astonishing is that I feel like the whole city, I mean the whole 518, I’m talking about Troy, Schenectady, and Albany all together, right? From my perspective, at least from what I feel, I know there was different hoods in different sections of that park (referring to Alive at 5). While we were there everybody left with no problem, no beef. We left with a clean slate. We all had a good time and we all left safe, everybody!

RRX: It was beautiful.

Ohzhe: But that was because there was camaraderie and it was an equal interest. It was an experience for us all to feel, which brings me to my next point about artistry and about artists. If artists focus more on creating experiences for their audiences, they will always be successful no matter what it is. I feel the way the industry has set up some of the artists that they put in front of us, they put them in chains, they put them in flashy cars. They completely stripped the artist from community and they make it individualized. Now it’s just about, “Look what I got. Look what I got. You don’t got this. You’re not f***ing her. I’m f***ing her. I got a million dollars. You don’t got a million dollars. I got a nice car. You don’t got a nice car. I’m better than you.”

RRX: 100%

Ohzhe: A lot of people forget who they are and assist the whole system, and that’s why you got a bunch of trash out in the industry too. Motherf***ers are getting in there and they lose their mind because they don’t know how to handle money and they don’t know how to handle themselves. They’ve experienced themselves through poverty but they never experienced themselves with money and they forget that money is a resource, it’s a tool. It’s not something that you’re supposed to be like … I don’t know. I could rant all day about that sh**, bro. I’m sorry.

RRX: I love this conversation though, man. That means a lot to me. Was there anything else that you’d like to say to people?

Ohzhe: I’m working on an album called “Ghetto Savant” and it’s gonna be a special project. I can’t wait for you guys to hear it.

RRX: Absolutely. Well, when it comes out, let me know and we’ll give you some love! I appreciate your time.

Ohzhe: Thank you for reaching out and thank you for being you, man. Thank you for being in the communities and supporting the cause. We appreciate you too.

 

 

More from Rob Smittix…

Week Thirty-One: Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week “Song Salad: The Dead Ones”

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Week Thirty-One: Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week “Song Salad: The Dead Ones”
Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week airs EVERY WEDNESDAY at 8pm Eastern ONLY on RadioRadioX.com !
This is Jesse Sample. There is a time to express. This occasion calls for a suspension of judgement and a nap for your inner editor. There is a time to move ideas in fast succession and truly open yourself to sheer instinct. Instincts that you have been developing you whole your whole life.

This week, I took a little time to shoot from the hip as a writer and a guitarist. I move through 4 or 5 rooms and had short conversations with the ghosts that inhabit them. I express myself without a ton of thought. The goal is about a gut reaction.

My friend, Gloria, was kind enough to invite me to stay in her beautiful home for a couple days on the beach in Massachusetts. And I took a little time to get down and consider what’s going on with me, internally.

I love the part of my artistic life where I edit, retrack, rewrite, refine my work and create something cogent with character. But every once in a while, it’s nice to just go off.

Thanks to all of you loose canons listening to RadioRadioX. This is the Freak of the Week, “Song Salad: The Dead Ones”

Sharon Watts – An Xperience Interview

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Sharon Watts – An Xperience Interview

Sharon Watts – An Xperience Interview – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: You’ve written a book about Bert Sommer and Woodstock, which brings forth an almost “secret history” of both Sommer and the event. Now, far be it from me to ask you to summarize any of that, because we want people to read the book. So I’ll ask you if you found anything in your research that maybe had to be overcome?

SW: While I had no agenda when I started this project during the Covid-19 lockdown, the looming question was: “Why have I never heard of this guy? (Based on what I did finally hear, his Woodstock performance of “Jennifer” that surfaced on YouTube.) Something in his delivery just viscerally grabbed me. I am basically reticent and don’t like to intrude on people, yet here I was making cold calls about what I discovered: a guy who had a genuine gift, wanted to be heard, wanted his talent recognized, wanted to be loved; who had an artist’s mood swings of utter confidence and complete lack of, and who was almost completely unknown. Luckily my quest brought up vivid and often fond memories from everyone who did know him, and I fed off their enthusiasm. Earning their trust was important and that pretty much naturally happened, I am happy to say. I made some great new friends. And I hope that I am shining a light on someone who deserves to be heard, recognized, and loved.

And the other answer to your question, is that I had to dig really deep to untangle the “Woodstock Curse.” Why was he omitted from the film, the soundtrack, and all follow-up media for so many decades? I got some answers from terrific sources: people who were in the room. I had a full Woodstock immersion, 50 years after I had bypassed it.

RRX: We have a wide audience in terms of generations, ages. The events we have are always compared to Woodstock, but there really hasn’t been a true companion to that event. As far as you know or have learned, are any of today’s festivals close?

SW: The Woodstock experience is unrepeatable, at least as a planned concept, primarily because of the specific place and time it occurred. Then, on August 18, 1969: Ka-ching! The corporate suits realized that “there’s gold in them thar hills.” Every big concert, even (especially?) the subsequent Woodstock anniversary events, are all “necessarily” based on profit. I say this with a huge amount of chagrin more than naiveté. Anything comparable happening today would have to be borne of its own organic spontaneity from its own generation and with its own music—hopefully with something other than money driving it. Certainly, there are enough causes in today’s world worth coalescing for. Since I rarely go to festivals today, nor am I a music journalist, I am not a good person to say that some are close. I’d like to think that it could happen!

RRX: Bert Sommer could have been like Hendrix or Joplin. And that’s a bold assertion. Why could he have been? And considering what happened to both Hendrix and Joplin, aka the “27 Club,” do you think it was fortuitous that he didn’t?

SW: Bert had the talent, the charisma, and the connections to fly in that stratosphere. By the time of Woodstock, he already had a major label LP under his belt (produced by Artie Kornfeld who also co-created Woodstock), he was starring in “Hair” on Broadway, he had his Brill Building connections—including a mover-and-shaker manager who, had he concentrated on Bert and not been spinning so many plates, might have created a career track that worked in Bert’s favor not only contractually, but also to give Bert some much-needed firm emotional footing.

Bert would have fit right into a singer-songwriter niche that music was starting to favor post-Woodstock (think James Taylor, Todd Rundgren). His voice was astral, his songwriting was both tightly disciplined and far-ranging. He could morph. The heavy psychedelia of Janis and Jimi was already fading; certainly their talents were stupendously unique, yet so much is cemented into their legends precisely because they died just as the Age of Aquarius was ending. Who’s to say what would have happened to their careers if they’d made it past 27? Or—would Bert now be famous for playing Woodstock had the cards been dealt differently and he died at 27? It is tempting to speculate. I try to keep my opinions of “woulda coulda shoulda” out of the book and to understand the settings and situations through the stories shared with me, and my own lens of the times (different from Bert or any musician. I was in high school art classes drawing fashion designs with Twiggy and Cher as my models).

However, as a teaser: at age 27, Bert was enjoying a rebirth. He had a Saturday morning TV show, a new LP full of original songs (produced by Ron Dante, who started out as the lead singer for “The Archies” and later became a multi-platinum producing machine with Barry Manilow), a record release gig at LA’s Troubadour … and then his life got rollercoaster-wild again.

RRX: We know that Sommer performed at Woodstock, and as much as I want to explore that narrative, again, I want people to read the book. What made Sommer perfect for the concert? And what made him an”‘odd duck”?

SW: Just look at him. Listen to him. He was the perfect poster boy for the ‘60s. He also touched the audience, connected with them like they were sitting in his living room. And bear in mind, this was his FIRST LIVE GIG! He got the first standing ovation with his cover of Paul Simon’s “America.”

The “odd duck” in Bert might be that, essentially, he had one foot in the Brill Building/Great White Way milieu, and the other in the “flower power” milieu. One of the first people I spoke with was a cast member of “Hair,” R.I. Rubinsky, who identified Bert as being essentially not a true hippie, but a baby boomer “borough boy,” and pointed that out to me. This insight provided a scaffold for me to add the rest to.

RRX: There’s such a mystique about anyone and everyone who’d been a part of Woodstock, to the point that it’s still iconic 55 years later. For comparison, 55 years before that, World War One was just kicking off. Do you see any performers today that you watch and think that they should have been at Woodstock?

SW: I don’t follow much new music these days, I am too busy discovering a past that I lived through, skimmed over, or was flat out oblivious to and have curiosity about in hindsight. It’s so easy to find: music that I didn’t appreciate then, and revel in now. Books and documentaries that accompany my paths of curiosity. Maybe part of it is getting older and wanting to revisit the memories that formed you, along with a chance to explore little paths not taken. I know this doesn’t answer your question! There is one performer who is so unique and probably could shape-shift and still be authentic in any era, in front of any audience, and totally captivate. And that is ANOHNI.

RRX: This one might be my shortest question, but maybe the biggest: why is Woodstock still important today?

SW: So I’ll give you my short answer! It was peaceful and it was real. Against all odds.

RRX: This is where you answer the question I didn’t ask. Remarks? Comments? Educate, enlighten, emote – the floor is yours.

SW: I’d like to clarify that my book on Bert Sommer covers much more than Woodstock. That was just the grab, and continues to be for anyone who even gets my working title: “The Rather Magnificent” Bert Sommer — Woodstock’s Lost Treasure. Those quotation marks are there for a reason; that was his introduction before they mangled his name.

Practically to a person, everyone from every part of Bert’s life, from early teens through his very last gig at Billy’s Pub in Troy on June 11, 1990, reinforced the obvious. He was a Zen blend of musical artistry, full-tilt hedonism, and childlike wonder—a bundle of human contradiction open to interpretation. He doesn’t deserve to still be down under that Woodstock stage after falling through the cracks.

I have a Facebook Page for book updates:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560381430659

And this is my website:

https://sharonwattswrites.com

 

 

 

More from Liam Sweeny…

Matisyahu Returning to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

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Matisyahu Returning to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

TROY, NEW YORK:     The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is excited to announce Matisyahu is returning for a very special performance on Thursday, November 21st!  Pre-sale for the show starts Wednesday, July 31st at 10am and tickets will go on-sale to the public on Thursday, August 1st at 10am.  Learn more below about Matisyahu!

When Matisyahu first started touring to packed clubs a decade plus ago, it was prior to the release of Live at Stubbs, the now Gold record, and prior to that record’s single “King without a Crown” reaching #1 on the alternative rock radio charts. His performances were a raw expression of his spirituality at that time and were supported by musicians who played a foundation of roots reggae augmented by the energy of a rock trio. Fans latched on quickly for a variety of reasons, but in August of 2005, just months after the release of Live at Stubbs, Matisyahu found himself on stage at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival with the de facto leader of improvisational rock-n-roll; Phish’s front man Trey Anastasio. Many early fans of Matisyahu remember that moment clearly not because of the songs he played in front of the 80,000 person crowd, but because of his seemingly unfettered confidence (or perhaps naiveté) in helping lead Trey and his band through an improvisational display of beat boxing and lyrical gymnastics during the two songs performed. It may have been unrefined, but Matisyahu’s passion for full band improvisation was laid bare.

Fans within the improvisational-jam scene began flocking to Matisyahu’s shows shortly thereafter. “King without a Crown” climbed the charts and Matisyahu’s follow up record Youth was nominated for a Grammy, but the blessings and curses of mainstream success each took root. While Matisyahu’s bands have always been comprised of serious multidimensional players who have artfully molded the foundations of roots reggae into many genres, that early; if only a brief display of complete surrender to the music, seemed in some way to take a back seat. Through his lyrics however, Matisyahu developed a more personal, artistic, and sophisticated way to express the yearning for deep spiritual meaning, and as his own beliefs opened up to find more variety and depth, the desire for his performances to match the unpredictable flow of life developed as well.

Tickets are on sale at 10 am, July 31st to Music Hall Members.  Anyone can become a member and gain access to the pre-sale.  Single tickets go on sale the general public Thursday, August 1st at 10am via phone, (518) 273-0038, in person, or online at  TroyMusicHall.org.  More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is also available on the website at www.troymusichall.org.

Big Sandy & his Fly-Rite Boys @ The Hangar on the Hudson 7/25/2024

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Big Sandy & his Fly-Rite Boys @ The Hangar on the Hudson 7/25/2024

Photos By: Ed Conway

“Troy Night Out” (Part 2), 7/26/2024

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“Troy Night Out” (Part 2), 7/26/2024
Last Friday of the month means Troy Night Out, and it was a busy one.
Bands encountered included the E-Block, Maurizio, Oobleck, the NoLaNauts, and Great Mutations. Twisted Fiddler’s “Funk Night” featured Tim Palmieri, Zdeneck Gubb, and Adrian Tramontano.

 

Photography by Timothy Reidy.

 

 

More from Timothy Reidy …

Art for Humans – Know-It-Alls

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Art for Humans – Know-It-Alls

Art for Humans – Know-It-Alls – by Alexander Cardinale.

Know it all’s, people who seem to think they know just about everything there is to know about art are a pretty common bunch of people you’ll find out about but what’s always seemed to bug me about these people is that they’re seemingly never artists themselves. Art seems to be the one profession that people outside of it are allowed to pretend they know better than the people within said profession. Well, it’s right up there next to the fields of medicine and the culinary arts, These know-it-alls seem to permeate throughout the landscape of art in all forms of it. The biggest music critics are those who can’t play a single note, the people who claim to be the most “well-read” who couldn’t write dialogue if their life depended on it, and the people who claim to truly have an insight into the creative process of painting, or drawing, or animating; cannot draw a stick figure accurately.

Now I’m not trying to gatekeep or anything like that, the people I’m talking about are more likely to be gatekeeping than me. Art is for everyone but in that same breath, everyone includes aggravating people who think they know better than you for some reason. I remember a video that was recommended to me a few years back. The video was posed as a discussion on the differences between traditional cel animation vs modern digital animation. The video looked interesting and so I wanted to watch it, I enjoy learning about almost every form of art that’s out there. Little did I know I was stumbling into just the weirdest argument about animation that I’ve ever heard, the video wasn’t about the differences between the two types of 2D animation rather it was a weird hit piece on digital animation as a whole. The YouTuber proclaimed something along the lines of “weighty animation was only possible with traditional cel animation” and other weird and just wrong things about animation and how it worked. The craziest part though was that this wasn’t the ramblings of a madman with 2 subscribers but instead a fairly good-sized channel with a fairly cleanly edited video. That someone with all their faculties could just be so proudly wrong. Why they vilified modern animation the way they did I do not know but I do know I’ve seen this attitude time and time again.

The most blatantly wrong ideas about art come from these no nothing know it all’s. This isn’t a commonplace argument anymore. Just a while back there would be people who would devalue art that was done digitally, some even decrying it as “not real” because it wasn’t done digitally or at the very least much of it was cheating for things like a mirror and straight-line tools. Thankfully this sentiment is dead if not practically dead by now but the people making these claims weren’t artists, they weren’t traditional artists mad at digital art because it had helpful tools they didn’t have. It was these people who claimed to know “know art” to be some sorta artistic aficionado, it was these people who’d so confidently say such weird and dismissive things about art and the creative process without ever really being an artist themselves.

At the end of the day these kinds of people have always existed, as long as art exists there will always be the non-artist who thinks they are a better judge of an art’s worth than the person who made it just because according to them they’re well-read enough or something of the like.

 

 

 

More from Alexander Cardinale…

“Troy Night Out” (Part 1), 7/26/2024

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“Troy Night Out” (Part 1), 7/26/2024
Last Friday of the month means Troy Night Out, and it was a busy one.
Bands encountered included the E-Block, Maurizio, Oobleck, the NoLaNauts, and Great Mutations. Twisted Fiddler’s “Funk Night” featured Tim Palmieri, Zdeneck Gubb, and Adrian Tramontano.

 

Photography by Timothy Reidy.

 

 

More from Timothy Reidy …

Blackcat Elliot – An Xperience Interview

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Blackcat Elliot – An Xperience Interview

Blackcat Elliot – An Xperience Interview- by Rob Smittix.

This interview took place on the airwaves of RadioRadioX.com.

RRX: RadioRadioX: it’s Rob Smittix Worldwide, broadcasting to every single continent on the globe, except for Antarctica. We have some very special guests in the studio right now, the band Blackcat Elliot. If you guys can go around and introduce yourselves, so I don’t have to.

MB: Hi, I’m Marky Balboa and I kind of play drums.

FE: I’m Fast Eddie, I play bass.

Gus: Hey guys and gals, I’m Gus. I’m the singer and guitar player of Blackcat Elliot.

MB: Gus has the most mental problems.

RRX: Clearly, I think one of Gus’s biggest mental problems is that he’s too nice.

Gus: A lot of people say that. That’s cool, I’ll take it, that’s in front of the curtain. Behind the curtain, you know? You don’t want to know that guy.

MB: It all depends on who you ask.

(All Laugh)

RRX: Honest to God, you’re like one of the nicest guys I ever met.

Gus: I kind of get along with everybody, I try to. I don’t care what religion you follow, what political party you are, or what music you like. If you’re a genuinely a good person, I will like you and you will like me. That’s the way I am. Especially at gigs; if things go a little sour, I’m not a fighter by any means. I always get my drummer Marky, who’s an MMA specialist, so to speak, to handle all of my battles. But … thank you for the kind words.

MB: I’m too old for that sh** now! Can we swear?

RRX: No, actually! We’re penalized now, you owe us $300. We’ll let that one slide. So, there’s a reason that you guys are here today. That’s this wonderful vinyl that I have here. The first Blackcat Elliot vinyl in existence. The brand-new album called “When the Smoke Clears.” I love this album, I’ve heard quite a bit of it already!

Gus: Thank you very much, man. It was fun to make but Marky, go ahead, tell the people.

MB: A lot of it got written around the Covid era, when we were locked up and going crazy. Gus and I would go back and forth. He’d send me something and I’d send it back. A lot of it came that way, about half of the songs. The other half just came from us being in a band and jamming out.

RRX: These mics have really good compression, but if it does bleed through over the radio, the Lawn Sausages are literally in the next room over, rehearsing for their last show ever.

Gus: It’s kind of a sad thing, but at the same time, it’s kind of a cool thing. I’ll definitely be there for that show. Actually, one of our first gigs as Blackcat Elliot back in 2001 or 2002 … we were asked to play with the Lawn Sausages. At the time, the Fleshtones were part of another band called the Master Plan. It was one of our first gigs in Troy; we warmed up for the Sausages and Master Plan.

RRX: That’s a great start!

Gus: That’s when we hooked up with Artie, and the rest is history. It’s like it came 360; we started with the Lawn Sausages and now we’re here doing the interview while they’re making noise.

RRX: We’re going to talk more, but we are debuting the album in its entirety tonight. The first song is “Let’s Get Infected,” which really sets the mood for the album. Let’s get into it right now!

(Off air, Gus tells me that I can play the songs in whatever order I choose, or to play the ones I like. I’m just playing them in the order from the album. He’s such a sweet man.)

RRX: Gus is in here trying to tell me how to do my job. It’s wonderful.

Gus: I thought you said I was nice!

(All Laugh)

Gus: Not when it comes to my art!

FE: See … get to know him a little bit.

RRX: Gus comes in the studio, knocks over my beer. It’s 0.0 non-alcoholic Stella.

MB: Took your headphones, called you bad names. He’s really not that nice.

RRX: I’m starting to see it now. I was trying to figure out earlier how long you guys have been around.

Gus: About 23 years now, this is our fourth album. The journey has been crazy. We’ve been through a couple bass players, and Fast Eddie has been in the band since …

FE: 2008. It’ll be 16 years for me coming up in October.

MB: Eddie’s our 3rd bassist and has been around the longest.

Gus: The new album that’s being released on August 10 is just dynamite. It feels like we’ve matured. Previous albums were a lot of personal stuff that we were going through. This is too, but it’s more outside of that.

MB: A lot of what’s going on in the world is on this album in different ways. Secret messages, really. You’ve got to play it backwards.

Gus: One of the songs on the album, “Take it or Leave it,” I wrote a couple of days after my dad passed away. We had Doug Reynolds play piano on it. That came out pretty cool, and I hope that you guys enjoy it. But that’s one of the personal songs on there.

RRX: I’m excited about this album because this kind of music is still relevant and you’re still doing it.

FE: We’re all good friends. It’s always been family first, that’s part of why we’re still doing it.

Gus: We’ve made it through so many hurdles. It’s a total family, I don’t even consider it a band anymore. It looks like we’re just going to keep going. You get so tight with each other, jamming every week and working on songs. It’s pretty much like our children … those 10 songs for the past three or four years are like kids that we’ve raised.

RRX: You heard it here first! Blackcat Elliot, “When the Smoke Clears,” official release date August 10.

MB: Saturday, August 10, at SingleCut North, 6 Fairchild Square in Clifton Park, it’s our album release party and it’s free! Who else does that? Who gives you free? We do!

Gus: It’s super early at 5 p.m., for all of the people that are worried about time. You guys can go out after, actually.

MB: For all of you 35 to 55-year-olds, that’s perfect for you. For you 23 to 30-year-olds, you can go out and drink more afterwards. It’s a win-win for both age groups. Two hours of our nonsense.

Gus: We’ve got a good friend of ours that we’ve been friends with for years, Dave Graham. He’ll be performing a set to help us out and celebrate our new album. We’ll have our new album there for sale.

MB: We’ve got a whole bunch of sizes of new shirts. People have been asking and we ran out for a while.

Gus: Definitely come by! Everybody is busy with life and stuff. But our show, as soon as we put the guitars on and Marky gets behind the drum set, our main goal at every show since we started is for everybody to forget about their worries and reality, forget about what’s going on in the world. I know it’s hard to do, but rock n roll!

 

 

 

More from Rob Smittix…

 

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