GW: When you first started playing the dobro what were the emotions that you felt? Was it love at first note?

AH: It truly was. The first time I heard lap style dobro was the record Skip, Hop, and Wobble featuring Jerry Douglas. I knew the sound of blues slide from the original blues masters and the more modern style of blues slide from Duane Allman but had never heard anything like what Jerry Douglas was doing. Some type of fusion jazz bluegrass craziness that sounded so pure and amazing. At that moment I knew anything was possible on the slide and I felt awe and relief that the sky was the limit! 

GW: You have been in a number of projects over the years. Are there any special sit-ins that you can remember over the years? 

AH: Playing with Jack Black at the Ryman as part of Charlie Hayden’s band was a real highlight. Playing in Dolly Parton’s band was magical. A number of sit ins at the Ryman. One time with The String Cheese and Sam Bush. Played with the Moody Blues there too. Most recently sitting in with Phil Lesh and the Family Band at Red Rocks and playing Eyes Of The World was amazing. Those are a few that stand out. 

GW: What are some of your favorite restaurants to hit when you are on tour with The Infamous Stringdusters? 

AH: Marufuku ramen in Japantown when we play the Fillmore in San Francisco is killer. Bolton’s Hot Chicken in Nashville was a classic, but it may have burned down. Fried oysters at Pike Place Market when we play the Show Box in Seattle. Big City Cafe in Boise has amazing breakfast. Lucille’s in Denver for some eggs ponchartrain and biscuits. 

GW: How does it feel running into your friends at festivals or on the road?

AH: It’s the best! I can be a homebody off the road so it’s great to see friends when we travel. There’s a camaraderie among other bands that do what we do. A knowing. About the lifestyle, the passion, the travel, the shows. They know what your road life is like in a lot of ways, and it creates a bond. I’ve made lifelong friends from hanging with other bands at festivals.

GW: Were there any other professions that you leaned towards before you decided to become a professional musician? Were your parent(s) 100% behind you?

JG: I was always a musician and meant to be that in my heart. I had other jobs along the way to being able to play full time, but none of them were going to be long term. I thought about selling real estate for a minute.

GW: Who was the first person to call you “GGrass”? How did it stick as being your nickname?

JG: I am actually not sure who first called me Ggrass. It is a shorter version of “Garrettgrass” which has been my brand forever. Probably one of the Dusters called me that first.

GW: So you’re a Dad. How special is the time off the road with your family?

JG: Of course I love spending time with my little family. They are so much a part of what I do that the two seem only separated by distance at times. Thank goodness for FaceTime!

GW: Do you have any mantras that you do before performing live?

JG: I focus like it’s a football game. I see myself doing the show before doing the show and envision that it will be fun and that I will challenge myself through the night. Then I just warm up by ripping some fast scales and warming up my bow arm and fingers.

Heart. That is what goes into music throughout the world. With a little heart, dedication, and time a song is born. Pappy, gave the nod to his longtime friend, John Morgan Kimock, to produce his tracks “Dig A Hole In The Meadow”. Usually found behind “the kit” with Mike Gordon, Oteil Burbridge or with his father, Steve Kimock, the veteran drummer, was eager to put on the producer hat for this track. Pappy was driving around Dunmore, PA when out of nowhere he saw the neck of what looked like a guitar sticking out of a garbage can. To his disbelief, it was a banjo! He named it “garbanjo”, as it was used as the rhythm for the song. “Dig A Hole In The Meadow“evolved from a traditional tune as the banjo travelled from festival to festival picking with a number of his friends. It was always in the back of his mind to put a spin on the song.

After a very experimental show with Gatos Blancos, Pappy and John Morgan Kimock called on their longtime friend, Ben Travers, at Astrology Days Studios, who is in his own right a monster behind the drums. Rounding out the group on “Dig A Hole In A Meadow” are:

Steve Kimock (Lapsteel)

Angelo Miraglia (Upright Piano)

Dylan Skursky (Bass)

Ben Travers (Percussion)

John Morgan Kimock plays the following (Drums/B3 Organ/Background Vocals)

This track dreamt up by Pappy and brought to light by John Morgan Kimock is a great representation of how musicians can come together as one.

It’s that time of year again! Musikfest! If you’re new to the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Music Festival, it’s the largest free music festival in the country. This festival is not just about the music, it’s also about community and of course the many food options.

On August 1st, Musikfest will kick off with a preview night at The Windcreek Steel Stage with the legendary group, Earth Wind & Fire. Adding to the fun on the first night are local favorites, The Groove Merchants and Post Junction.

Eleven days of music across Bethlehem is absolutely unreal! Music is not the only thing that ArtsQuest offers! Need a laugh? Be sure to swing by The Lehigh Valley With Love Comedyplatz. They will be running shows both weekends on Saturday & Sunday afternoons 4:30 PM. This platz will feature comics from right in The Lehigh Valley as well New York City and Philadelphia.

Hungry will you’re “Festin’”? Be sure to grab some Aw Shucks corn or a deep-fried Oreo!

ArtsQuest works year-round to make sure they bring in genres of all music.

Here are the main shows that will be featured at Wind Creek Stage at PNC Plaza:

8/1: Earth Wind & Fire (Preview Night)

8/2: The Chainsmokers

8/3: Steve Miller Band & Marty Stuart

8/4: Lady Antebellum

8/5: Weezer

8/6: Train & Goo Goo Dolls

8/7: Incubus

8/8: The Revivalists

8/9: Godsmack

8/10: Phillip Phillips

8/11: Brad Paisley

With over 400+ free shows around the city, Musikfest will bring people of all ages together! Some of the highlights of the free stages are: !!!, Guster, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, and RUBY DEAR.

Since 2013, Lockn', has brought people from all over the country (and other countries) for a four-day magical music journey. Infinity Downs, located in Arrington, Virginia will continue to bring joy to fans in 2019.

“Festival season” not only brings together family and friends but musicians who usually do not get to see each other throughout the year. Lockn' always brings about some great collaborations throughout the weekend.

One of the most talked-about sets of is the 8/23 headlining slot of Trey Anastasio Band that will feature guitar wizard Derek Trucks during the second set. The TAB and Phish leader, Anastasio, has high praise for The Tedeschi Trucks Band guitarist, as he is quoted: “Derek is without question my favorite guitar player, and I think the best guitar player on earth right now.” Anastasio will return the favor when he will sit in with the eleven-piece, Tedeschi Trucks Band, led by Derek and his wife, Susan Tedeschi.

The opening day, Thursday features a powerhouse lineup including Khruangbin, whose musical influences range from psychedelic to funk, soulful guitar virtuoso, Gary Clark Jr., and high octane Grateful Dead tribute, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.

Friday, if you’re looking for a little funky soul, Greg Humphreys Electric Trio in the early afternoon will get your body moving and toes tapping. Legendary singer/songwriter, Edie Brickell, will be joined by New Bohemians, a group formed in the 1980s, with a mix of rock, blues, and folk, to the Virginia, Infinity Downs. With twenty years under their belt, Old Crow Medicine Show is one of the most sought out Americana groups today.

Saturday afternoon at LOCKN showcases southern rock outfit, The Allman Betts Band, featuring Devon Allman & Duane Betts at the helm.

Later in the day, Blues Traveler frontman, John Popper, will be joining Vermont group, Twiddle. One of the biggest supergroups of the weekend, Oteil & Friends, will have a number of talented musicians on stage including, Trey Anastasio Band members, Natalie Cressman, and Jen Hartswick, Eric Krasno, Neal Casal, and featuring Grateful Dead guitarist, Bob Weir.

On Sunday be sure to wake up early to catch the barefooted Keller Williams lead LOCKN in some Grateful Dead tunes with his “Grateful Gospel” group. If you’re looking for some soul, then St. Paul & The Broken Bones are the ticket at the 5:30 PM slot on The Main Stage. Closing out the seventh annual LOCKN Festival will be Bob Weir & The Wolf Bros. (Jay Lane & Don Was) featuring Susan Tedeschi & Mikaela Davis.

Music may be the central part of the LOCKN experience, but there will also be many fresh Virginia food and beer options for patrons to enjoy throughout the weekend.

Be sure to grab your tickets today at www.locknfestival.com

Ah. Summer festival season is coming to a close very soon but not without one more trip to Infinity Downs & Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Virginia.

The skies opened up early in the day preventing some of the acts to either, unfortunately, be canceled or postponed, It takes a whole village to make sure a festival is run smoothly, and the staff at LOCKN' brought their “A-game” on Thursday when it came to everyone’s safety. Of course, people were bummed that they were not able to see acts such as Andy Frasco & The U.N. and Midnight North because of Mother Nature, but safety comes first at a festival.

The show must go on! At 8 PM LOCKN' was kicked into high gear with a rousing performance by Khruangbin. The Texas group wasted no time getting the crowd energized as they filtered in the entrances. The Houston, Texas trio typically do not have special guests but with a number of musicians that are around festival grounds they made an exception. The one and only, Trey Anastasio, joined the trio for the remainder of the evening. You could tell that the Phish legend was paying close attention to the other musicians on stage as they brought smiles across the field in the opening set.

Gary Clark Jr. who is known for his deep lyrics and rip-roaring guitar licks. Clark, also from the Lonestar state, gave thousands of Thursday night attendees exactly what they were looking for. A heartfelt, soulful performance. You could feel the emotions running from the stage and bouncing around the Arrington, Virginia field.

Closing out the first day of the festival was the one and only, Grateful Dead tribute supergroup, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Designed to be a “one time only” spin-off at The Brooklyn Bowl a few years back, the band has been paying homage to the legends for six-plus years. The same can be said for the Thursday night closing sets. Rounding out the band is guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, bassist Dave Drewitz, and long-time friend, Marco Benevento. From the opening (Bob) Dylan tune, “Hard Rain,” to the 1:30 AM finale of “Never Been To Spain” (Three Dog Night), the band and audience were vibing as one. Like any Grateful Dead show, it’s hard to pick a highlight, because the music hits everyone differently. The talent from the stage was unbelievable on “Peggy-O,” “The Other One” and “Greatest Story Ever Told.” In typical JRAD fashion, the teases were abounding all night, but the biggest surprise was paying homage to Led Zeppelin with an “A+” rendition of “Immigrant Song”.

After Day 1, the vibe was electric, and everyone was ready to spread the love all weekend.

Even though the first day was a little disrupted by Mother Nature, the vibe going into Friday was as high as ever. Creators Peter Shapiro and David Frey are always thinking of the next best idea to bring to their fanbase. One of the coolest spots at LOCKN' is Garcia’s Forest.

As festival-goers were getting out of their tents, Oregon based, folk/Americana outfit, Fruition, were giving their diehard fans 110% in the forest. As far as the eye could see people were movin’ and groovin’ to the tunes.

The mid-afternoon sets featured several exceptional guests. Starting with Moonalice, led by venture capitalist and founding member of the Flying Other Brothers, Roger McNamee. Along with McNamee was his bandmates: Pete Sears/Barry Sless/John Molo/Jason Crosby. If these four musicians are a powerhouse, to begin with, but joining them for their set were the T Sisters (Chloe/Erika/Rachel) along with Lester & Dylan Chambers. The energy was through the roof as the San Francisco based sisters’ vocals resonated on classic Grateful Dead tunes, as the band was firing on all cylinders.

Keep the special guest theme, Melvin Seals & JGB were next on the docket. Studying Jerry Garcia’s style, John Kadlecik knows The Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia catalog like the back of his hand. With the veteran, Seals, tickling the ivories, the band was giving the LOCKN' crowd a lovely afternoon delight. Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians started over three decades ago, and are still going strong. With the sun peeking through the clouds after a short weather delay, fans made their way up front to see what the legend had in store. Edie’s band was on top of their game for their shortened Friday night set. Married to Paul Simon, it was natural that rumors were flying around that he may make an appearance. He did not (except from the side of the stage), but during “Deep Elem Blues,” the one and only, Mr. Bob Weir came out. Brickell and Weir sounded like magic during the early 1930’s Cofer Brothers tune.

Performing a few hours outside of their hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, have been getting major press in 2019 for their electric and energetic live performances. Throw in guitarist, Cory Wong, of Vulfpeck; you get a show that is sure to get your body moving. The crowd sure got funkified as the quartet let Wong let loose during a rendition of the Prince popular song, “1999”. The beauty of LOCKN is that it blends genres from all over the spectrum.

Old Crow Medicine Show, some would throw under the category of bluegrass/Americana, but the guys know how to go in every direction. Things heated up when Weir popped onstage for a trifecta of tunes that included a sing-along with fans and the band during “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” Pure rock ‘n roll enthusiasts enjoyed The Revivalists, led by David Shaw. Forming in New Orleans, knew how to engage the festival-goers with the upbeat, sing-a-long lyrics, that gave a chance fans of all ages to show their dance skills throughout the farm. One of the most anticipated acts going into LOCKN was the Trey Anastasio Band headlining sets on Friday. It may be the Trey Anastasio Band, but over the past two decades when the band started out as Eight Foot Fluorescent Tubes in Vermont, the guitarist has shaped an all-star cast behind. WIth one of the best brass sections in the business, Natalie Cressman, Jen Hartswick, and James Casey brought their energy and strong background vocals during the headlining set, along with some stellar percussion work by Cyro Batista and Russ Lawton. Founding member of TAB, Tony Markellis, sat in the foreground, giving some enjoyable bass notes that hit the soul throughout the set as Ray Paczkowski, as he made it extra funky on the keys stage left.

After a very brief intermission, the band entered with extraordinary guest, the masterful, Derek Trucks on the guitar. It was a guitar players dream come true on Friday: Trey and Derek together. The stars aligned. Mr. Anastasio said that Trucks is one of his favorite guitar players on the planet. You could tell as Trey looked at Derek with all smiles during the closing set. It was like a kid in the candy store. Anastasio was soaking in all the notes off of Trucks’ guitar. The real cherry on top was when Derek’ wife, Susan Tedeschi, led the supergroup in “A Life Beyond The Dream” and “Rise/Come Together.”

Adding to the extra special night was Trucks and Anastasio sitting with two acoustics as a hush came over the thousands in attendance as they serenaded the crowd with two tunes: “Brief Time” and “More.”

After almost two days on the farm, you could feel that fans of all ages were coming together and just enjoying the company of one another.

The weekend is here, and it’s time for everyone to let loose. A band that did just that was Cory Henry & The Apostles. If you were ready to get down ‘n funky in the mid-day, Henry, along with his top-notch group, brought the heat. Historically speaking, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, has been bringing their New Orleans vibes to audiences across the nation for over five decades. As the sun was beating down in Virginia, the audience was vibrating with the legendary musicians. If you closed your eyes, you could feel like you were right in The French Quarter.

Twiddle has been gaining steam and recognition in the jam community over the past few years thanks to making connections with some veterans in the scene. On Saturday they gave the nod to harmonica master, John Popper to join them onstage. If having the long-time Blues Traveler member on stage wasn’t enough, Bob Weir brought the energy up to “11” with a jam-filled version of “Eyes Of The World.”

Peter Shapiro always has a way of bringing the music to the fans. WIth the opening number “Run For The Roses,” Oteil (Burbridge) & Friends, were brought the Jerry Garcia vibes to Infinity Downs. With the number of guitar players around the scene during the weekend, it seemed fitting that Duane Betts sat in with the supergroup for a smoking Allman Brothers Band cover, “Jessica.”

Mixing it up and getting down to the nitty-gritty, Vulfpeck, showed exactly why they are one of the hottest live acts today. They just bring the funk hard, and on Saturday, a full-fledged dance party ensued on the farm. LOCKN' was at full force on Saturday; all the bands were bringing a level of superb musicianship.

The set that everyone was waiting for: Tedeschi Trucks Band with very special guest Trey Anastasio. Heading the act is husband and wife duo, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. During the first set, they brought the soul and blues to the forefront of their set. The legendary slide guitarist, Trucks and soulful vocalist, Tedeschi, may be the leaders, but their supporting cast on stage never miss a beat.

As Trey Anastasio joined Tedeschi Trucks Band for the second set, the opening number, “I Looked Away” written by Bobby Whitlock and Eric Clapton was an interesting choice. As the band dove into “Bell Bottom Blues” whispers went through the crowd: Could it be! “Are they covering “Layla” in its entirety?” The answer was: Yes. Jaw dropped. This was perfection (if you ever knew it). Trey and Derek together but playing a Clapton album was the cherry on top. Joining in on the fun was Doyle Bramhall II on the third guitar. Three epic guitarists on one stage, everyone was in their “live music glory” on Saturday evening. Highlighting the set was an electrifying version of Hendrix’s “Little Wing” along with the set-closing “Layla,” where everyone traded off solos.

Sunday. The last day. An emotional day for many as the music and the relationships they have made throughout the festival will just be etched in their memories soon. Starting the day at high noon was the barefoot acoustic guitar, Keller Williams, bringing his morning mass with his Grateful Gospel friends. There is nothing in this world like pulling out some old school Jerry Garcia tunes (and covers) like “Midnight Moonlight” and giving them a nice bluegrass flare. The beauty of LOCKN' is that it offers a wide variety of genres throughout the weekend. Friends get to see each other and sit in during each other’s sets. One of the unique pairings were reggae legends, Steel Pulse being joined by Bob Weir for the classic tune, “Don’t Let Go,” to open up the afternoon Sunday set. Joining in on the fun later in the set were brass band, The Soul Rebels, blended nicely with the reggae vibes that were being given off by Steel Pulse.

Led by soulful singer Paul Janeway (St. Paul), St. Paul & The Broken Bones filled LOCKN' with soul on the final. If you weren’t up and dancing already, the group changed that very quickly. One of the many highlights of the set was when the frontman, made his way to the soundboard area, to sing the final number with the crowd surrounding him. Veterans moe. Came out of the gate on fire, with oldie but goodie, “Plane Crash” that segued into “Spine Of The Dog.” Wielding his tan cowboy hat, young guitar wizard, Marcus King, showed why he was chosen to the very special guest on Sunday night during “Opium.” The Buffalo, NY band throw in a beautiful rendition of Pink Floyd’s, “Fearless.” Grammy award winner, Jason Isbell, who is known for his solo work as well as a past member of rockers, Drive-By Truckers, brought “400 Watt Unit” to the forefront as the sun was setting on the Virginia farm. Throughout the set Isbell showcased his skills as well, his backing band especially flatpicker, Browan Lollar.

Throughout the weekend, Mr. Weir guested with several bands and played a few VIP sets, so it was fitting for him along with Don Was and Jay Lane to close out the festival as, Bob Weir & The Wolf Brothers. It was a real treat to hear Weir penned tunes in a very relaxed setting. Highlighting the two-set venture was when Susan Tedeschi joined the group for second set on the Bob Dylan number, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” as well as John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” then segued into “Sugaree.” Joining the trio was harp virtuoso, Miakela Davis, made classics like “China Cat Sunflower ---> I Know You Rider” into a beautiful journey.

Overall, LOCKN' 2019 was a huge success, musically speaking and the vibe that encompassed the festival over the four days on the farm. Peter Shapiro and Dave Frey bring magic to LOCKN' every year. Packing up the car and heading out, is emotional, but the memories that were made will last a lifetime.

23 East Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore, PA has so many memories over the years. Ardmore Music Hall always brings the best talent from around the country. This coming weekend is no exception. On Saturday evening, Steve Kimock will be gracing the stage. Kimock known for his work over the decades with groups related to The Grateful Dead such as Phil Leah & Friends (1998-1999), The Other Ones (1998-2000) and performed with The Rhythm Devils (Mickey Hart & Bill Kreutzmann). One of the most prominent musical ventures that Mr. Kimock was involved with was KVHW with Bobby Vega, Alan Hertz and Ray White. You can tell Kimock’s guitar tone from a mile away. Joining in on the fun for “An Evening with Steve Kimock & Friends” will be Reed Mathis on bass (Tea Leaf Green/JFJO), Jeff Chimenti keyboards (Furthur/Dead & Company), and John Morgan Kimock (Mike Gordon Band). This is sure to be a night of beautiful improvisation.

Jimmy Herring, who has a list of projects a mile long, is well known for being a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead. Taking up the guitar as a teenager in North Carolina, Herring has been letting his guitar do the speaking in legendary rock/jamband southerners, Widespread Panic, since 2006.

On Sunday, Jimmy will be bringing some top-notch musicians with him as he performs with newly formed group “The 5 Of 7”. Bassist Kevin Scott (King Baby), Darren Scott (Delta Moon) holding the beat down on the drums, tickling the ivories will be, Matt Slocum (Oteil & The Peacemakers) and rounding out the five piece is Atlanta based guitarist, Rick Lollar.

Kimock and Herring May be in the spotlight during the weekend with their wizardy guitar licks, but each band member on both nights are sure to bring you a smile across your face.

Tickets for both shows this weekend can be purchased at: https://www.ardmoremusic.com

Things are getting a little chilly around the country but two groups that are sure to heat up every room they play are Cris Jacobs Band and Midnight North. Ten dates throughout the Northeast and Midwest, there are sure to be collaborations along the way between the groups.

Straight out of Baltimore, Jacobs has been at it for years, touring back in the day with The Bridge before forming Cris Jacobs Band. Alongside Cris are Jonathan Slone (guitar), Todd Herrington (bass) and Dusty Simmons (drums).

Midnight North is headed by Grahame Lesh, son of bass player, Phil Lesh along with Elliott Peck on guitar & vocals. Midnight North is becoming one of the top “hot acts” around the country. With Alex Jordan tickling the ivories and lending harmony vocals, and Connor O'Sullivan, throwing in some deep bass grooves, this band is a well-oiled machine. Keeping the beats going is the one and only Nathan Graham. 

Be sure to check out this special tour when it comes to a town near you. It kicks off on Wednesday at Brooklyn Bowl.

Dates:

11/6 - Brooklyn Bowl (Brooklyn)

11/7 - Ardmore Music Hall (Ardmore)

11/8 - The Hamilton (Washington, DC)

11/9 - Levon Helm Studios (Hudson, NY)

11/10 - Garcia’s (Port Chester, NY)

11/13 - Zanzabar (Louisville, KY)

11/14 - Bluebird (Bloomington, IN)

11/15 - Space (Evanston, IL)

11/16 - The Bent Keg (Appleton, WI)

11/17 - 7th Street Entry (Minneapolis, MN)

With all the New Year’s Eve announcements happening as of late, some may forget that their still two months of music until we ring in the New Year. Joining forces for ten dates throughout the Northeast and Midwest, Midnight North and Cris Jacobs Band, is time a co-bill dreams are made of. Last Thursday evening the group landed in Ardmore Music Hall, right outside the city limits (Philadelphia).

Midnight North, hit the stage first, led by Grahame Lesh and Elliott Peck on vocals and guitar, started the evening with “Playing a Poor Hand Well, off their 2017 release, “Under The Lights”. As the crowd started to filter into the music hall, the band kicked it into high gear. With Lesh and Peck at the helm, Jason Crosby laid down the groove side stage on a number of selections, showcasing why he is one of the most highly acclaimed keyboardists in the “jam scene” today. As the five piece livened the Thursday night crowd, bassist Connor O’Sullivan and drummer, Nathan Graham kept the groove going during The Rolling Stones, “Tumbling Dice”. Special guest guitarist, Justin Mazer, really brought the Gram Parsons number, “Luxury Liner”, alive with his stellar guitar work. You would have thought that the band rehearsed the number for hours, but this was not the case, just true musicianship.

Cris Jacobs, one of the most soulful, singer/songwriters on the scene today, brought his all-star backing band onstage. Right out of the gate, the audience was engaged with Jacobs as he opened with “Jack The Whistle & The Hammer”off their release “Dust To Gold”.

Jacobs' soul shined during the deep cut “Devil or Jesse James”. Jonathan Sloane, standing side stage, showcased his ripping guitar skills throughout the evening as. Sloane and Jacobs, perfectly accompany each other on guitar and you can feel the energy between the two musicians onstage. As Cris sung the well-known tune, “Buffalo Girl”, Sloane and Dusty Ray Simmons blended perfectly with harmonies. Cris’ emotional tune led into the gritty song, “Rooster Coop”, that let Jonathan (Sloane) feature his slide guitar work.

Jacobs invited Grahame Lesh for a few numbers, adding some smooth guitar work.

Guests Crosby (keys) and Mazer (guitar) roused the crowd for a rendition of Willis Alan Ramsey’s, “Northeast Texas Women”. The band was firing on all cylinders during 1972 tune.

Everyone who was able to witness these groups in person on Thursday were amazed at how much talent could fit on one stage for one night. Midnight North and Cris Jacobs Band brought their A game to the suburbs of Philadelphia on Thursday.

Have you ever had those pinch-me moments at a concert? The music is just so dang good that you can’t believe your eyes (or ears).  This is what happened to me on Friday night.

Let’s rewind to November 25, 1976, on Thanksgiving Eve. The iconic group, The Band, were joined by Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Dr. John, to name a few. This was going to be the official “Farewell Show” in San Francisco (Winterland Ballroom) for the Canadian/American quintet: Helm/Danko/Robertson/Hudson/Manuel. 

Led by veteran guitarist, Warren Haynes, along with Willie’s Nelson’s guitar-slinging son, Lukas, of The Promise Real, The Last Waltz Tour made a stop to the legendary, Tower Theater in Upper Darby, located on 69th & Ludlow Street. Joining Haynes and Nelson was organ wizard John Medeski, country guitarist Jamey Johnson, New Orleans drummer Terence Higgins, and producer/bassist, Don Was and The Levee Horns.

Just like the 1976 show, which turned into a movie produced by Martin Scorsese, the opening notes of “Up On Cripple Creek”, brought the audience to their feet to belt out every lyric. You could feel the electrifying energy throughout the Tower Theater early on. Stepping up to the microphone early on, wielding a cowboy hat was Lukas Nelson on “The Shape I’m In”. After just two brief songs you could tell that Mr. Haynes was very pleased with the cast of musicians, he gave the nod to for this project. Bringing a New Orleans flavor to the bunch, was percussionist, Cyril Neville, who is known for his work with The Meters and the Neville Brothers, along with having ties to Robbie Robertson. Joining him on stage was Mark Mullins & The Levee Horns, and The Radiators guitarist, Dave Malone. You couldn’t help but feel like you were down on the bayou when the horn section came into play. Medeski tickled the ivories in the background as Malone, throw in a nice gritty guitar solo during “Who Do You Love?”, as bassist Don Was, throw in his well-known bass lines. Closing the first set was one of The Band’s most popular tunes, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, gave way for Jamey Johnson to showcase his vocals. As the house lights came on at intermission, the crowd was buzzing with excitement for the second set.

John Medeski helped begin the second set with a flawless organ solo to start off “Chest Fever”. Two of the special guests on Thanksgiving Eve ‘76 was Van Morrison and Neil Young. The Last Waltz Tour paid homage to the legendary songwriters with spot on renditions of “Caravan” and “Helpless”.

During “Mystery Train”, penned by His Blue Flames & Junior Parker, you could hear a tribute to the late great leader of Little Feat, Paul Barrere, when The Levee Horns teased “Skin It Back”.

The list of top-notch musicians kept going when, Bob Margolin, guitarist for Muddy Waters, and was also at The Last Waltz joined the supergroup. Highlighting the appearance Margolin was a bluesy nitty-gritty “Mannish Boy”.

You could hear the echoes throughout the Tower Theater as the band closed the second set with “The Weight” and a beautiful, “I Shall Be Released”.

Warren Haynes gave a nod to the late New Orleans legend, Dr. John, with a touching rendition of “Such A Night” and ending the historic evening with “Don’t Do It”.

It’s hard to recreate, a legendary performance, but on Friday evening it showed that all the musicians channeled The Band perfectly and brought their A-game to Upper Darby. 

It’s amazing what two people onstage can produce when it comes to music. Borahm Perry and Adam Deitch, together known as Break Science, will bring their high energy dance party to Ardmore Music Hall, on The Main Line, on Friday evening.

Friday will be one of three East Coast dates (five dates total) that is scheduled for the duo.

Lee, known for his work Pretty Lights Live Band, brings his unique style of analog synths, Borahm can cross genres with a drop of a hat. Working with legends like Kayne West and Wu-Tang Clan, he learned to blend genres and keep “your bodies moving”.

Adam (Deitch), known for his earth shattering drumming with funkmasters, Lettuce, can blend in hip hop and jazz into his routine. Working with legendary jazz guitarist, John Scofield and members of The Wu-Tang Clan, Deitch is considered one of the most versatile drummers in the scene today.

Before Perry and Deitch hit the stage on Friday, Cocktail Party Phenomenon & Hprizm will be warming things up.

2019/2020 Dates:

11/29: Ardmore Music Hall

11/30: Port City Music Hall

12/1: Buffalo Iron Works

12/13: Fox Theatre

2/6: Sheridan Opera House

Some people attend church on Sunday. My church on Sunday was Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The pastor: Phish. Sixteen years Uniondale, New York, has been waiting for the boys from Vermont to make a triumphant return to the arena. “Phans” braved the elements outside to see what the guys had in store for this Sunday evening in Long Island.

With a slight drum roll, in the backdrop from, Jon Fishman, that may have not been over the deafening sound of the crowd, Trey Anastasio, then took the helm center stage with the opening riffs of “Ghost”, that appeared in the opening slot of a show in more than three years. This was just the tip of the iceberg for what was in store for Nassau. Three minutes and fifty-one seconds of pure bliss filled the air when Anastasio blissfully guided the band into his 1987 instrumental composition, “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday.” A beautiful piano accompanied the distinguished guitar players (Anastasio) notes as Fishman lightly tapped his cymbals. Accompanying “TMWSIY”, was a well-known prayer of the Jewish faith, “Avenu Malkanu”, with some tasteful psychedelic bass lines from Mike Gordon. With the opening lines of “You have been selected as the first astronaut to explore the planet Mars…” this was definitely a “blast off” point for the veterans as the capacity audience gave the energy right back, dancing the night away. “Cool It Down”, was a nice ode to the weather outside in Uniondale, and an infrequent performance of the Lou Reed (Velvet Underground) penned track off of the group's 1970 album, “Loaded”. Bringing the first half of the show to a triumphant close was fab favorite, “Character Zero”, which had the thousands singing along “I ought to see the man Mulcahy”, as the lights were illuminated with precision from one of the best in the business, Chris Kuroda, known as “CK5”. The house lights go up and there you have it folks, Set I in the books.

“Everything's Right,” was, in my opinion, a perfect way to begin the second stanza. The lyrics, “Everything’s right so just hold tight”, penned by Anastasio and his longtime friend and lyricist, Tom Marshall, rang out through the arena. The words are so true. At the moment, you are surrounded by some of your closest friends for the evening for one main reason: The love of Phish. Light and fluffy or super dark, Phish can do it all. “Carini” in Nassau turned dark and heavy, the phans, and Kuroda were having an absolute blast with this number, which has been performed in different fashions over twenty-two years.

At this point in the set, the foursome was flowing from song to song. McConnell and Fishman, on keys and drums, respectively, shined brightly on the lighthearted, “Backwards Down The Number Line”. The energy kept rising and rising at the second set came to a triumphant close with, “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S,” with Trey leading the charge with “This is what space smells like…”

Before the band sent the “phans” into the brisk Uniondale air, they treated the faithful to a standard rendition of Ween’s, “Roses Are Free”, along with a stellar “Slave To The Traffic Light”.

Thirty-six years under their belt, Phish, is still bringing energy to the stage. Yes, they may not hit every “perfect note”, but that is the beauty of Phish and the love of the music. 

All four band members: Marc Brownstein & Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits), Tom Hamilton (Joe Russo's Almost Dead), and Mike Greenfield (Lotus), all have busy schedules, but when they come together as one force, “Electron”, they are on point. With many years under their belt in the “jam world”, they feed off of their energy and their little non-verbal to create a sound of their own. Whether it be Magner tickling the ivories, or Hamilton shredding it on guitar, the foursome is always firing on all cylinders. All members also have something in common: Their residence or primary musical group are from Philadelphia.

Be sure to get their early to check out the bass/drum duo, paris_monster opening the show. DJ Wyllys will be spinning tunes in between sets to keep your body moving and grooving.

Ardmore Music Hall

23 East Lancaster Avenue

Ardmore, PA

www.ardmoremusic.com

Electron:

soundcloud.com/thisiselectron

paris_monster:

www.parismonster.com

Thanksgiving weekend is a time for family and friends to get together. One of the experiences people can be thankful for is live music. The power of live music to bring out the best in people is well known. On Saturday evening, in The City Of Brotherly Love, hometown heroes, Lotus, brought their progressive jammed filled tunes to The Fillmore.

Muscle Tough, who also hails from Philadelphia, opened the evening, with an energetic and fun set of music. The trio of seasoned musicians led by Ross Bellenoit on guitar, Joe Baldacci on drums, and Jonathan Colman on bass got the crowd psyched up. Right out of the gate with the opening number, “Down To Clown”, off of their latest release, “Modern Romance”, the electricity was at full throttle.

With an eight-song set, including the ABBA classic, “Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight” featuring Jesse Miller (Lotus), and Sheryl Crow’s, “Everyday Is A Winding Road” (Which is still stuck in my head.), Muscle Tough, gained a number of fans on Saturday.

The main course, Lotus, has been turning heads in the jam band world for over two decades. With the opening “Eat The Lights”, the Saturday audience came to get down and the band brought the fire to the hometown crowd. “Livingston Storm” gave a chance for the band to really plant their roots and improvise, with The Millers, Luke, and Jesse, on bass and guitar respectively, this was a shining spot early on in the first stanza. The dynamic duo took the instrumental number to new highlights with their virtuosity at their craft. The five veterans eased The Fillmore audience in for the ride of their lives with an oldie but goodie, “Sunrain”. As (Mike) Greenfield locked it in in the foreground with Chuck Morris (not to be confused with Chuck Norris), on percussion, Mike Rempel closed his eyes and took the jam to “the next level”, weaving in “Nematode”, and then closing with “Sunrain”. 

With Set I in the books on Saturday evening, Philadelphia strapped in and geared up for more from the hometown heroes. It’s amazing what the five musicians can accomplish when they are firing on all cylinders. The second set was sure to be a heater when the energy level rose to an “11”, with the electronic-based, “Slow Cookin” that drifted seamlessly into a relaxing state of mind with “Soma”. Taking the near-capacity bro outer space and back, Luke Miller’s keyboard effects really brought the house down during, “Juggernaut”. 

With a triumphant return to the stage, after a short break, the five band members sent the audience into a frenzy when the brought the evening to a close with, “Spiritualize”.

Overall, both groups really brought some of their best live numbers to the stage in Philadelphia, and it became an all-out dance party throughout the auditorium. The energy and precision of Lotus is why for twenty plus years they have remained relevant in the electronic and jamband scene.

Mental health in the music industry is vitally important. When we think of our favorite musicians in the limelight, we feel that their life is “perfect.” Sometimes these musicians are going through some of the same struggles that “normal people” go through daily. Being a touring musician is difficult. One of the resources that are available to help alleviate some pressure is Backline.

Mission:

“To connect music industry professional and their families with a trusted network of mental health and wellness care providers.”

Many people in the industry are under stress every day, whether you’re a lighting designer, tour manager, roadie, or the many other facets that go into the “live music scene”, stress will come up. Their website is a wealth of knowledge for mental health resources. Whether you would like to get help or give help, Backline is there for you. We are all in this together. When the lights go up on, the crowd and the fans head the exits; a musician should not feel alone. Mental health is just as important as your physical health.

Head over to Backline’s website to hear the musician’s testimonies on how mental health has played a role in their careers.

Start Making Sense create an atmosphere so similar to the legendary group, Talking Heads, if you close your eyes you may feel like you are hearing the voice of David Byrne belting out “Once In A Lifetime” or “Take Me To The River”.

With Jon Braun, playing the part of Byrne, Start Making Sense has toured throughout the country, selling out shows coast to coast for over a decade.

To close out 2019 the band has put together a nice “Holiday Mini Tour”. Starting off in Beantown (Boston) at the esteemed Paradise Rock Club with special guest, rock duo, Muddy Ruckus, from Portland, Maine. They will ring in 2020 at Mr. Smalls Theatre in The City Of Bridges (Pittsburgh).

Here is a full list where you can catch Start Making Sense:

12/26: Paradise Rock Club: Boston ^

12/27: Cohoes Music Hall: Cohoes (NY)

12/28: Ardmore Music Hall: Ardmore (PA) %

12/29: The Hamilton: Washington (DC)

12/31: Mr. Smalls Theatre: Pittsburgh (PA)

Guests:

^ - Muddy Ruckus

% - Black Market Clash

As thousands scurry away from Madison Square Garden around 11 PM on Sunday, there are so many options in New York City. The city that “never sleeps” will be extra electric over the final four days of 2019. After Phish, many after-parties go on until the wee hours of the morning.

On Sunday night, head on down to Bleeker Street to (Le) Poisson Rouge for a trio that will keep your body moving all night long, Marco Benevento. The piano/keyboard wizard, known for his many projects over the years, such as Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Benevento/Russo Duo and many more will bring along one of the versatile bass players in the scene, Karina Rykman, along with drummer David Butler, who is known for his work with alternative rock outfit, Guster.

With his seventh studio release, “Let It Slide,” Benevento nicely says that it is full of “hot dance piano rock.” The trio will be sure to bring the dance party until the sun rises over New York City on Sunday. Be sure to snag your tickets while they still last.

The City Of Brotherly Love has brought a number of musicians together over the years. Three musicians that have ties to Philadelphia and are jazz masters are: Aron Magner/Jason Fraticelli/Matt Scarano.

Magner, known for his wizards piano/keyboard work with The Disco Biscuits, has a new project, SPAGA. 

Lending his upright bass skills to the trio is Jason Fraticelli, which may be a familiar name to listeners, as he has been part of groups such as Matisyahu and Cyro Batista’s Banquet. Rounding out the jazz trifecta is Matt Scarano, who has performed with The Boston Pops and at Carnegie Hall, to name just a few.

All three members resumes speak for themselves. Be sure to check out this project in NYC on Sunday afternoon at 3 PM at DROM (85 Avenue A).

Sixty-seven years ago, on New Year’s Day, Hank Williams Sr., passed away. What he did for music in just a short amount of time (29 years) on this Earth is legendary. Talking about legends, every year on Third Street in Bethlehem, PA, at Godfrey Daniels, a group of local legend musicians gets together to pay homage to Williams Sr. 

Wednesday was the perfect way to start off the new decade. New Year’s Day is a celebration of Managing Director Ramona LaBarre’s birthday.

With an almost capacity crowd at the legendary listening room in the heart of The Christmas City, the all-star lineup of Jack Murray & The Blue Tarp Wranglers, started out the evening with one of Williams Sr.’s most famous numbers, “Hey Good Lookin”. This got the room electrified with energy as Murray took the helm on the lead vocals. The traditional show on New Year’s is a favorite to local music lovers around The Christmas City. It’s a way where everyone can come together for one purpose: the music. Throughout the night in the snug room, music veterans, Alan Landes and Wayne Johnston, filled the air with their pristine electric guitar and harmonica sounds.

If you’re looking for a smooth bass sound, Nick Franclik, is your go to guy. Franclik, on many numbers throughout the evening including, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart”. Taking over on the pedal steel was, Dave Van Allen. His beautiful and insightful playing complemented the “supergroup” as he played well off, the leader of the band, Murray. Sitting in the middle of the stage, drummer, Josh Kanusky, known for his work with Mr. David Bromberg, knows how to watch his fellow musicians, it worked perfectly with his light brush taps and spot on drumming technique.

Throughout the night there two very special guests that really gave the room an extra spark with their extraordinary vocal range, Dina Hall and Bonnie Wren.

A Tribute to Hank Williams Sr. was perfectly done as New Year’s Day celebration at the Southside Bethlehem venue, concluded with “I Saw The Light.” It’s fantastic what Williams Sr. was able to write in such a short period on this earth. Jack Murray & The Blue Tarp Wranglers will continue to keep his music alive for a very long time to come. 

Music is in the ear of the beholder. The beauty of music is that everyone hears it differently. This coming weekend three stellar musicians will be coming together for what will be a very special evening of music. It’s not about popularity for these musicians but 110% about THE MUSIC.

Erik Santana (Hexting)

Justin Mazer (Gatos Blancos)

Alex Luquet (Hezakiah Jones Band/William Travis)

With his long flowing hair, Santana, one of the most sought out guitar players around The Lehigh Valley. Mazer, known for his work with super group Gatos Blancos and many other projects in Scranton (Pennsylvania) and Vermont regions, has a tone like no one else around. Rounding out the trio is Alex Luquet, with his spot-on bass grooves, the virtuosic player, really knows how to listen to his fellow musicians. 

You will have four opportunities to catch the trifecta this coming weekend in Pennsylvania:

Thursday: (1/16)

Lost Tavern Brewery (Hellertown)

Friday: (1/17)

Kimballs (Williamsport)

Saturday: (1/18)

Backyard Ale House (Scranton)

Sunday: (1/19)

Turkey Hill Brewing (Bloomsburg) 

It’s a new year (and decade as some people think) and the live music is flowing like wine at a vineyard.

For several years, Jim Weider's ProJECT PERCoLAToR, has been a staple after the New Year at Godfrey Daniels in The Christmas City (Bethlehem, PA). Joining Weider, for an intimate evening of pure rock ‘n roll, was an all-star cast of musicians, Rodney Holmes on the drums (Santana/Steve Kimock Band), Jesse Gress on Guitar (Todd Rundgren), and bassist Adam Minkoff (Dweezil Zappa/Doyle Bramhall II).

A few days after the calendar changed to 2020 and everyone in the quaint listening room was full of positivity and all ears for these brilliant musicians to unfold their craft on the audience's eyes and ears. On Saturday evening, the talent from the stage was overflowing into the crowd with the opening numbers of “Flight” and “Percolator”. With decades of music experience under their belt, the four-piece was sounding better than ever.

Throughout the night Weider gave the audience some witty banter, “It used to be LSD and blow but now it’s defibrillators.”, The Band guitarist jokes. The 68-year-old, Woodstock, NY native let the band loose like a wild pack of wolves as Jesse Gress, who has close ties with Bethlehem, nestled to Weider's would chime in with some out of this world guitar riffs during the two-hour stanza. Adam Minkoff, with his long curly brown hair, stepped up to the microphone, to belt out “Adam’s Blues”. How can you forget about one of the most prolific drummers in the jam scene, Rodney Holmes? The drummer effortlessly, made his way throughout his kit and cymbals, during his time to shine. One of the many highlights of the evening came when the all-star cast performed a jaw-dropping rendition of “Change Is Gonna Come”, penned by the legendary Sam Cooke.

Sending the capacity crowd into the brisk Bethlehem streets, “Prayer “was a perfect ending to a perfect night. As Weider note:

“I don’t think there’s any goodbye when people leave. Get off the train. We’re still passengers.” - Jim Weider

On this Saturday, Jim Weider’s ProJECT PERCoLAToR, brought joy to one of the most historic rooms on the Eastern seaboard, Godfrey Daniels. Music lovers are excited for the legends return to Bethlehem, PA.

Starting in 2010 on New York City subway platforms, a decade later, Moon Hooch is wowing audiences throughout the world. Horn players Mike Wilbur & Wenzl McGowen along with drummer James Muschler, the trifecta is a group that is best experienced in the live setting. On Friday, January 24th, Moon Hooch will bring what they like to call “cave music” to The Main Line, Ardmore Music Hall. This night is going to be an all-night dance party. On the heels of their latest release ‘Life On Other Planets’, going into the New Year, Moon Hooch is evolving into one of the hottest acts around.

Joining them at Ardmore Music Hall will be two NYC based duos, sungazer (Adam Neely & Shawn Crowder), and Horizon Wireless (Harrison Waxenberg & Daniel Scott Lyons).

Be sure to bring your dancing shoes to 23 East Lancaster Avenue.

Friday, January 24th

Ardmore Music Hall

23 East Lancaster Avenue

Ardmore, PA 19003

Musikfest Cafe in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has one of the most unique backdrops in the country: Bethlehem Steel. Forming in 1904 (having roots all the way back to 1857), Bethlehem Steel or “The Steel”, as many of the city’s natives call it, was home to some of the hardest working employees for decades. On Thursday evening, a collaboration of top-notch musicians, Everyone Orchestra, came to town conducted by Matt Butler. Opening the night's festivities, Nik Greeley, along with his Philadelphia based members, “The Operators”. The opening slot gave the powerhouse a chance to do a number of energetic covers, including a spot-on rendition of the 1972 classic by The Edgar Winter Group, “Frankenstein."

Nineteen years ago, conductor Matt Butler was traveling in India and on his travels, he ran into many musicians, and through his interactions, he came up with the concept of “Everyone Orchestra”. The list of musicians that have graced the stage with maestro (Butler) over this period, is a mile long.

The members that represented the group last Thursday were:

Steve Kimock: Guitar 

(SKB/Zero/KVHW)

Vinnie Amico: Drums 

(moe.)

Rob Mercurio: Bass

(Galactic)

Mike “Maz” Maher: Trumpet/Vocals

(Snarky Puppy)

Chris Bullock: Saxophone/Vocals

(Snarky Puppy)

Alric “AC” Carter: Keyboards

(TAUK)

Jon Braun: Percussion/Vocals 

(Start Making Sense/RUBY DEAR)

Jenny Founds: Vocals

(Start Making Sense/RUBY DEAR)

If this was your first venture with Everyone Orchestra or have seen the supergroup before there is one thing to expect: The unexpected. With many of the musicians never meeting before, the musical exploration is limitless. Standing front and center, with his white top hat and long jacket, Butler used his whiteboard to guide the musicians on a “jam”. With Everyone Orchestra, all of the musicians are some fashion but one musician will start at a given tune and with the conductor's cue someone will step into solo. The beauty of this type of setting is that each artist on the stage gets a rare chance to see their colleagues perform their craft.

Bethlehem native, Steve Kimock, with his very distinct tone guided the octet in a number of songs, as drummer, Amico, blowing bubbles with his gum, in the foreground, kept the beat going. Alric Carter, would look for cues from Matt, and he would shine on his keyboard like the high noon sun. The Snarky Puppy horns of Bullock and Maher, gave The Everyone Orchestra, the nice jazz/funky undertones for the evening that fit in perfectly. Talking about funk, Galactic, Mercurio, gave a clinic for all the bass players in the Bethlehem audience on Thursday, as his throw in some down-home, New Orleans funkadelic bass notes. Hometown heroes, Start Making Sense, were represented by percussionist, Jon Braun and vocalist, Jenny Founds.

Kimock stepped upstage center as he gave us a brief history lesson (and some things to think about): 

“All this crap is going to go away and we’ll still have family and music.” - Steve Kimock

Two of the highlights, during the nearly two-hour performance, was when Founds took to the microphone for an original song, “Built To Last”. Trumpeter brought some goofiness as he looked glared into the crowd with a huge grin as he belted out the lyrics to “I Want To Have Your Baby”.

It’s great that Everyone Orchestra gives musicians the time to come together for an unforgettable musical experience. The community that Matt Butler has built around the scene for nineteen plus years is something special and unique. Bethlehem has the opportunity to experience that is Everyone Orchestra on Thursday.

Chris Harford has been writing and performing music for a number of decades. Upon hearing a musician play immediately he senses if they’ll fit with his Band of Changes.  Whether the legend is playing solo or with a group of top-notch performers, one thing is for sure: The listener is in for a special evening of music with this season’s “Tres De Changes”.

For his February shows Mr. Harford will bring along two seasoned veterans: Robbie “Seahag” Mangano and Jon Braun.  Mangano and Braun, together, and separately, also have many years in the music scene and have performed with musicians which could list a mile long. You may have seen the multi-instrumentalist and composer, (sometimes affectionately known as “Seahag”) on tour this year with Grammy Award winning songwriter Rickie Lee Jones.  For the past decade Braun, is known as his uncannily convincing role as “David Bryne” in the Talking Heads Tribute Band Start Making Sense: 

This talented trio will come together for three shows in The Keystone State, dubbing the jaunt their “Winter Tour 2020”:

2/20/2020

John & Peter’s

New Hope, PA

9:00 PM

$5

2/21/2020

The Funhouse 

Bethlehem, PA

10:00 PM

$5

2/22/2020

The Narrows

Upper Black Eddy, PA

9 PM

Free

Karina Rykman is one of those bass players that can fit into any musical scenario. With her infectious smile and general upbeat way about her, she brings life into every project she is a part of. Whether it be the trio of Marco Benevento or her own, Karina Rykman Experiment, you know the energy will be flowing with every bass note from Ms. Rykman. 

GW: How did you originally connect with the Canadian based company “ToneConcepts”? What were the most memorable interviews you conducted?

Karina: I met those guys way back in 2012 through guitarist Alex Skolnick. Loved every interview I did! It was fun being an on-camera personality at such a young age. Perhaps the two that stand out the most are Nels Cline, + a super memorable time in LA with Dweezil Zappa. Lovely people and, obviously, both brilliant minds.

GW: You have a huge role as General Manager of the Rocks Off series? How did you originally meet Jake Szufnarowski?

Karina: I met Jake in the summer of 2012, right before my first semester at NYU. I was playing in a band at the time called Sound Of Urchin, and we played a Rocks Off Concert Cruise. I knew of Jake but had never met him. We hung out after the show, and I said that if he ever needed an intern, I loved the Rocks Off ethos and vibe and would love to join the team. He said he hadn’t had an intern in five years, but I seemed just right. I started the next day. It’s been almost eight years and I haven’t looked back!

GW: You studied Music Invention and Distribution from NYU. What professors had a significant impact on you during your education?

Karina: I wouldn’t have been able to go on the road or work at Rocks Off or do any of the “extracurricular” things that I’ve since turned into my career if it weren’t for the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU. Truly an incredible program that allows students to craft their own majors and individualized plans of study. My advisor, Bill Rayner, stands out - he teaches guitar and songwriting and is a gem of a human. Amanda Petrusich -- a wildly prolific and spectacular writer -- was a fantastic professor as well. Greg Erickson, too! Fantastic people and incredibly supportive of my “vision,” if you will.

GW: You got to soundcheck with those guys from Vermont at Madison Square Garden. We know you’re a huge “phan.” Was it truly a dream come true? 

Karina: It’s still completely surreal. I can’t believe how much I get asked about the experience -- and I never get bored telling the story! It was truly dream-like, something I’ll never forget. I was walking into walls afterward. I put on the video at my apartment after for about ten friends, just said, “watch this,” and everyone was shocked! (laughs). Some things are beyond explanation. My appearance on the “Long May They Run” podcast, where I tell the full story, has garnered way more attention than I thought. I have so many people saying they heard about me through that. I’m like, “Really? Wow!”

GW: Joining Mr. Marco Benevento in 2016. Are there any experiences that stand out in your mind during the past three years?

Karina: Oh, man, so many! Japan! Christmas Jam! Outside Lands! Opening for Vulfpeck in London! 17 shows in 17 days in 2017! Tour bus breaking down on that run, and then flying to the gig, made it in time, and used all of Jackie Greene’s gear - then the tour bus got fixed and arrived at the venue just as we finished our gig. Singing “Could You Be Loved” on stage with Dispatch and Guster at the Mann Center in Philly. Jumping in the pool with all our clothes on after our gig at Merriweather Post Pavilion. My first hometown NYC show with Marco at Music Hall of Williamsburg surrounded by my friends and family. Opening for the Claypool Lennon Delirium and setting up right next to Les’s rig. Just laughing our way across the country, eating incredible meals together, and having the best time on and off stage. It’s really crazy to think four years have gone by - I can’t believe I found myself in this group of people where I feel so at home. I know it’s rare. I’m lucky and beyond grateful.

GW: When you’re not touring, what do you like to do on your “off-time”?

Karina: I like to spin records and play/write music at home, eat, cook, see lots of live music, do pilates (*laughs*), record my weekly podcast 3 From The 7 at Relix, watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, and catch up with all my pals and my folks that I certainly miss when I’m on the road.

GW: Let’s chat about your band: This gives you a chance to direct. How did you connect with Adam & Chris?

Karina: I met Adam & Chris at NYU! They are phenomenal musicians and phenomenal people. I love them, dearly. I had an all-improv gig with John Medeski, Billy Martin, Nels Cline, and Marco at a festival in the summer of 2017, and I was like, “oh, shit, Karina, you need to practice improvising like every day. A lot”. So, I called Adam and Chris. And we jammed all the time that summer, and then I was like, “Oh, shit, this is good,” and it all spiraled out from there. We put out two singles last year. We opened for Khruangbin at the Capitol Theatre, we played moe.down and Hulaween, we opened for Guster at Higher Ground, we headlined Rough Trade in the Spring and then moved up to the Brooklyn Bowl in the Fall. We played Portsmouth, NH, and Nectar’s in Burlington...and all with no manager and no agent and no PR or anything. I’m very grateful for all the opportunities to play, and the fact that people keep coming out to see us! More music and more shows are coming this year! Let’s just see where it all goes. It’s a thrill to get to play with Adam and Chris, to put music out and tour under my own name, and I can’t wait for more.

With 2020 being a leap year we get an extra day (of live music). Three bands will come together for two special nights in Pennsylvania: Bethlehem & New Hope. All three rock ‘n roll groups have a rich history of musicianship.

SICMAN Of Virginia:

Influenced by bands like Mike Dillon Band and The Dead Kenny G’s, the power trio of Matt Holloman (Guitar), Joe Welch (Drums), and John Litz (Bass), SICMAN of Virginia bring the heat every performance. Litz, a late addition to the Southeastern Virginia, band was the missing puzzle piece they needed.

RUBY DEAR:

Three members of Start Making Sense (A Tribute To The Talking Heads), have banded together to form an original venture. Named after a tune by the David Byrne fronted band, off of the Talking Heads 1988 album “Naked”, they take their crowds on a musical venture during their live performances. The time that these three virtuosos have spent behind the wheel on the road over the years is astounding. Guitar/Vocalist, Jenny Founds, with a rock ‘n roll vibe that could be comparable to Joan Jett, has a perfect role of fronting RUBY DEAR. Holding down the bass & vocals, one half of the Brauns band is, Jesse. Rounding the powerhouse, is Jon Braun, banging away on the drum kit. With their debut eight song debut album, RUBY DEAR will be kicking it into high gear in 2020.

Crescent Moon:

If you want some pure hard hitting edgy rock, look no further than the duo, Crescent Moon. Hailing from “The City The Never Sleeps”, bass phenomenon, Dave Driewitz (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead/Ween/Old Rugged Sauce) along with Sound Of Urchin’s, Chris “Tomato” Harfeneist, create a power duo of the ages. The beauty of the group, that Dreweitz brings to the table the music he created with the late, Scott Byrne, in Instant Death. This is a true testament that music truly lives on forever.

These two February dates are sure to be extra special performances in two Pennsylvania legendary music venues.

2/28:

The Funhouse 

5 East 4th Street

Bethlehem, PA

2/29:

John & Peter’s

96 South Main Street

New Hope, PA 

Celia Woodsmith has been creating music as a solo artist, a duo and with her bluegrass band, Della Mae. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter has a knack for adventure and bringing a song to life for audiences to enjoy across the globe. Grateful Web had the opportunity to catch up with Celia and hear some of her experiences over the years. 

Celia Woodsmith:  It’s great to talk to some in the music business and who loves music. I miss it a lot. It’s comfort.

GW: Musicians that were gearing up for the spring and summer festivals it's a bummer, to say the least. It’s the uncertainty of what's going to happen and when things will go back to normal so to speak.

CW: That's like a whole nother thing. We have rebooked all of our stuff for the fall but is that even going to happen. There was a time when we just had all come home. We flew out to Asheville, North Carolina for a weekend of shows on March 12. I’m still surprised that we flew out to do it. We realized that evening that everything was going down. Our anchor date pulled on us that weekend and we decided to fly home the next day. I still thought we were able to do festivals in April. How wrong I was. Everything has just collapsed and I’m not even sure if I’ll be working in the Fall. It’s been a lot of anguish seeing all of those shows dry up. Even if the government says “Yeah sure! You can go out!” Are people even want to go to shows? Are they going to want to stand next to other people in masks? We could be in it for the long haul.

GW: It’s an interesting time. It could be a few months or it could be a year or two where everybody is feeling back to normal and enjoy something like music together and not feel uneasy. Which is very strange to me but it’s a sense of community. Before diving into music were there any careers that you wanted to venture into.

CW: I had no idea what I wanted to do actually. I came from Norwich, Vermont, and Hanover, New Hampshire. I went to The University Of Vermont. I was undecided when I first got into college and then I chose the easiest major, which is anthropology. I really only chose that because it sounded interesting to me and I didn’t give much of a thought to what I would do after college. So it was really my musical partner in college who convinced me to move to Boston and become a musician. If he hadn’t done that I’d probably gone into the Peace Corps. I would have done something along those lines. I thought for a long time I wanted to be a farmer. I also thought I’d work for a small non-profit, NGO, something with women’s rights. It turns out it was not an easy path to becoming a musician full time. There were definitely a lot of bumps along the way. I almost quit several times, actually did quit one time, and fate intervened. Now I can’t imagine taking the path that I did, there was a time that I would live in Vermont, and live close to the Earth, live a simpler life.

GW: Your Mom was a poet. Did her knowledge and skill enhance your writing ability?

CW: She gave me the courage to say that I was going to become a musician. Fortunately, she didn’t do the stereotypical parent thing when I said I was going to move to Boston to pursue music. She didn’t tell me that was a crazy idea. I’m sure she thought about it. She never told me “no”. I really appreciated that because her Dad did tell her “no”. Her Dad told her “What are you crazy? You want me to become a writer! You need to make money.” She became a nurse, obviously, she kept writing and she’s published pretty widely. She took his advice and persuaded a different type of career sort of full time. I’m very grateful that my mother never told me to smarten up and become a teacher or a nurse or something different.

GW: Parents want you to have stability and sometimes the music world isn’t stable like we are experiencing right now.

CW: I would say most of the time it isn’t stable unless you’re a violinist in the BSO and you get a salary. My whole life I’ve struggled to make just a small amount of money but at the time, I think musicians are uniquely prepared for a catastrophe like this. We have to hustle our whole lives and we’ve had to sort of becoming different things, all of sudden you couldn’t sell CDs anymore, you find a different way to make a living and push forward in the music industry. Even though this pandemic has taken all of our options away, I feel musicians will be fine and we’ll find a way to flourish. It’s kind of difficult to figure out how to hustle when you can’t interact with people, you can’t even busk now. That was kind of a fun thing to figure out.

GW: I feel like musicians right now have been staying at home and doing streams just to get a few dollars in their wallet. Going from playing a few nights a week to staying at home and trying to figure out what the next step is.

CW: That’s been a weird one. I feel like all the musicians have had to figure out some technologies that they may not have been familiar with before. I appreciate that I am growing my knowledge, but I would really like to be doing what I do best, and that is performing in front of live audiences. You really have to go to a special place in your brain to give a performance, at least a good performance on a live stream because you end the song, but then there is nothing. You know people are applauding on the other end of the stream but it’s a lot different than seeing them enjoying it in person.

GW: What have you reflected on during the times that we are living in?

CW: “I feel like all of us are reflecting right now. You have more time than you’ve ever had before because I’m not an essential worker. My husband is essential so he’s been working this whole time. You have a lot of time to sit and reflect, think about your place in the world. I’ve been thinking a lot about the places that I’ve traveled and the shows that I’ve played that have meant the most to me. We’ve done a lot of work with the US State Department doing cultural diplomacy trips. Those have been the most important trips of my lifetime and in my career. Being able to connect with people of all different cultures and parts of the world. I never would have met these people had we just stuck to touring Europe and The United States. You get this unique perspective on what parts of touring and musician life you miss the most. I certainly don’t miss traveling. There are moments that I love being in the car zipping across the United States, looking out the window but the plane travels, the buses, the vans, I don’t miss that part at all. I miss my tour friends. There are all of these bands that you end up being at the same festivals with, and it’s like a mini-reunion every time you see them. I miss those people quite a bit. I miss that connection, there are moments that really move you when you’re performing. I’ve cried on stage, I’ve seen people crying in the audience. When you really feel moved. When you really feel a connection, I doubt I could ever get to that place in front of a computer. This crisis has boiled down my job to what I miss and what I connect with the most. It’s the special moments during where you feel like everything is ok. For a brief moment.

GW: Four years ago you decided to take a quick break from Della Mae. You did a bike ride with your husband from Switzerland to Albania. How did it help you creatively write your first solo album and in your life?

CW: I always think that pauses are good for creativity. I’m not the type of person who writes every day. I don’t even write in a journal every day. I know that does help people. I’m not a strict writer because every moment I’m living and breathing is informing my writing. I take these moments and these conversations and experiences into my brain. I feel like it’s like polishing rocks. You put these things in your brain and they bounce around for a while and then you come out with something new. I did have a guitar at that time, and my husband brought his mandolin and we strapped them to the back of his bike. Which turns out is a really good way to meet people. Most people don’t think musical tourists are going to have their instruments on the back of their bikes. It was fun we could play for the people that we stayed with or we would put on little concerts here or there. We did a lot of wild camping, so we would be camping in the woods and we’d take out the instruments, pick when we weren’t too tired. They were long days, you were biking fifty miles, there’s a lot of monotony in that but there is a lot of creative potentials. I’m kind of looking at this moment in the same way, where you have all this time at home where you’re bored. Boredom can really spark these weird moments of creative energy. All of sudden you’re like, ah I can’t take this any more, maybe you do something that you haven’t done in a long time. You’re pedaling all day, you have little phrases and little melodies and you trust that they’ll come back to you in your subconscious. I did have some of the songs written before the bike trip but a lot of them did come afterward. I was just trying to figure out who I was artistically and who I was as a person. We are ever-changing. The bike trip gave me a moment of pause that I could collect memories and experiences again to have them come out a month later. It was nice to travel to my power. You spend all this time on buses and airplanes, you’re going so fast. On a bicycle, you’re going pretty slow. You get to know the smells on the side of the road and see people’s backyards. You get to see smaller towns instead of big cities. It kind of gives you a different perspective on movement and travel. That was one big thing I got out of it as well.

GW: You’ve been a driving force in music for seventeen years. Are there any “is this really happening moments” that you have had?

CW: Actually I’ve had a bunch of those the past year. Recently in Boston, at the place that we started out about ten years ago. I had one of those moments on stage where you’re singing the song and you can hear the audience singing the song along with you. So I stopped singing and let them sing the chorus. To me, that was like “This many people know this song, how to sing it and what’s coming next. More those little moments than the big moment, when you realize you are moving people. They’re kind of reflecting all of this work back at you. I also have had a bunch of moments this past year, I wrote a song about sexual abuse, I have had more people than I can count actually crying in my arms. It’s a surreal thing, I don’t know if I really asked to be sort of this sponge, almost like a therapist for people but I feel honored to bear witness to some of these very emotional moments that people have. Grateful that they chose me to let some of these emotions out with. I have held crying people, and I don’t know what makes them so available to cry to a stranger but I am humbled that a song I wrote could get this emotion out of people. That has been really moving to me in this past year. I don’t know what “making it” is in this business anymore. Maybe when I was younger I may have thought I knew what making it was. That makes me feel like I made it.

GW: Any advice for budding musicians that want to make a career out of music?

CW: Yes! I have a lot of advice! I told myself when I moved to Boston when I was younger if I didn’t quote on quote “made it” in five years I’d do a different direction and career. First of all, making it in five years is total fantasy. When you become a musician, this is a lifelong thing that you are striving towards. You’re striving to get better every day, making new connections, changing managers, making a new album. This is constant growth and the people who quote on quote make it musically quick like, they had money and connections, they had things that 98% never had or never will have. You need to work your ass off. There is no getting around it. You need to always be getting better and growing. More than anything I’ve always said the audience has a real good “bull$hit meter”. What I mean when I say that is they can tell when you’re faking it and tell when you’re “phoning it in” and trying to be someone else. Say you have an artist and you want to be like them. Then you’re not being you. That’s the most important part of being an artist, you bring what YOU bring to the table that no else can bring, that’s your uniqueness and you need to cultivate that. If you don’t then you’re just another artist that’s trying to be like Bob Dylan. We don’t need more of those people. We already have Bob Dylan. Thank god. We need someone to try to write like they write and not try to copy the way somebody else does it. So finding what makes you unique, special, and interesting, really believing in that and not trying to sound like the last great artist. The next great artist is out there and they are totally unique. You need to just be yourself, the audience will vibe and resonate with that. They will believe when you’re performing your songs. If an audience doesn’t believe you, they’re not going to come back again and again. At least that’s my opinion.

Deren Ney was inspired to pick up his first ax at a young age thanks to the 1985 classic movie, Back To The Future starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Over the years Ney has taken his lead guitar skills throughout the country touring with Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers. Grateful Web’s Christopher Snyder was able to catch up with Deren.

GW: How are you doing overall? Times are strange.

DN: Times are strange. I feel pretty good. All things considered. I have some sort of natural inclination of being alone and entertaining myself. I was one of those kids where the reason I play music is that I didn’t have anything better to do. I wasn’t a good athlete. I wanted to be a good artist and remember really being into drawing, it never really clicked. There are all these things that I would have loved to do but I couldn’t really do. Music was something I could do just sitting around in my room, alone without anybody else, and could progress at whatever rate I felt like. In a lot of ways, this time reminds me of that. You don’t have anything better to do. You don’t have anywhere to go. When you’re a little kid, you don’t have a car, you can’t go anywhere or do anything. It’s kind of similar. I’ve actually been approaching it in kind of the same way. 'Well, if you’re gonna be stuck inside and you’re going to be a dork you should get something done with that time.' I’ve been treating it as a time to be creative. We’re always saying we don’t have time for things. I’m always saying I would do that if I just had time. Now the time has been forced upon us. I’m trying to look at it as sort of a blessing as 'here’s all that time you were looking for.' I would have enjoyed it in increments but you get what you can.

GW: You were inspired by the movie “Back To The Future” (Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd) to start playing guitar. What other inspirations were there for you to pick up the ax?

DN: You know what’s so funny? You probably got that from the Jay Blakesberg book.

GW: I did.

DN: It was so funny because I didn’t actually know what that book was when Jay sent me this little questionnaire and I filled it out. I felt so silly when I opened this book and it's got all these other guitar players I admire, like Derek Trucks, players in there who are talking about how they got inspired by a Willie Dixon Kerosene record and I’m in there going 'Man! I was really inspired by Back To The Future Part 1.' Once I saw it in writing it seemed pretty stupid. [But] that was it, a big red semi-hollow bodied guitar. The way it was shot from the low angle. The whole thing was completely intoxicating to me. In that movie, you have a badass time machine car, which you can never have, but you can get a guitar. So when I left the movie I was really amped up. I’m like 'Man! I got to get a guitar, whatever that is.' I remember leaving with my parents and saying 'Guitars are cool as shit, I want one of those.' That was all it was as far as the coolness of what a guitar is. Then when I really got activated to play it, it sort of intersected with hearing AC/DC for the first time. When you’re nine years old or so, that was the age I actually started playing, AC/DC is the most incredible thing in the world. All they’re singing about is rock ‘n roll itself, chicks, and cars. The guitars are all loud, there are never any ballads, it’s all blues-rock. That was probably the thing that really hit me the hardest. I heard the AC/DC song, Riff Raff, that was a big 'I have to do this on my guitar!' I was looking at my shitty little guitar and listening to the tune and was like I got to figure out how to do this. So that’s what I did. I would sit there and listen to stuff and just pluck it out. A tuner is a great thing. Early guitar players one thing you can give them is a tuner, sometimes it’s overlooked. If you’re in tune, and you’re playing your favorite records and you hit the wrong note, you can just scoot it up a fret or down a fret until it’s right. That’s really what I did. That’s how I learned.

GW: A few months ago you came out with a solo record, West Coast Mama. You got a bunch of your friends together to play on this record. How did this all come about? Did you envision this for a while now?

DN: Yes and No. I always flittered with that, I sang in bands in high school and I’ve always kind of done my own stuff. I’ve always been really lucky to work with people who are much better singers than me. Playing in a band with Nicki Bluhm, Dave Mulligan, Steve Adams, and even our drummer, Mike Curry is a better singer than me. I generally would let them have it because I was a better guitar player than our bassist or drummer. Actually, Mike is a pretty damn good guitar player. This is the only thing I could do [right now], so I really focused on it, and I had a few projects I’d been working on for a couple of years. The Gramblers thing had been very undefined, as far as we didn’t really know if we were ending or not ending, it was sort of unclear so there was a little period there where I was loosely committing to things but not really sure what was going to fall through and what was going to happen. I hit a point last summer where I had a few things kind of come and go. A few things that didn’t work out or I was wanting to do that somebody else couldn’t do, and I had a couple of hits in a row where I was like, it’s been a year since scuttling these different projects and working on what couldn’t be released. I decided to try to finish something really just for the process of it. I wrote a song in August, and I said I’m going to put this out in September. I’m just going to do this right now. It came out in October, a couple of weeks later, but it was pretty close. It came out about 6 to 8 weeks after I wrote it. I just called Tim Lefebvre from Tedeschi Trucks Band, when we were touring with those guys. Love him and he is cool, he is a genius as far as his chops, a jazz guy and really knowledgeable, but the reason I was interested in him is he also knows how to be a big dumb rock bass player. I knew my songs had three chords. It needed someone with a lot of movement to make a simple three-chord song work. Mike (Curry) from The Gramblers, played drums and helped me put it together, Tim (Lefebvre), and Peter Levin, I met his wife Robin, who hosted a show on Sirius. I’ve seen Pete over the years and I just loved his organ playing so I just hit him up and said 'I don’t suppose you would want to do this' and luckily he did. So it came together fast, it sort of pulled the Band-Aid off the situation, just wanting to get something done and out there.  In the process of it, I really found what I wanted to do this whole time. I accepted the fact that I didn’t sing like Nicki or some of the other great singers I’ve worked with. I just do my own thing and I started to be more comfortable with the idea of doing that. Not being worried about what I wasn’t living up to, or hearing a critical voice, like I couldn’t sing a certain song as Mulligan could. I decided to focus on what worked for my voice and vibe. In the process, I realized it became something that I really wanted to do more of. I have been recording ever since. I have a whole album just about done that I’m going to be continuing to release stuff from slowly as it goes. Just trying to have fun with it.

GW: It's funny you compare yourself to all your former band members.

DN: Anything I’ve ever done has had really great singers in it. I’m very lucky. It’s probably the only reason I’ve had any success at all is that I had really great singers around. Honestly, Nicki is a skilled singer but she’s not an American Idol type, ringer, State Champion-type. Her greatest skill is singing the truth. No matter what songs we gave to Nicki she made it sound true. I think she tried to make them true to her. Even if it was something she had no idea about and was just thinking about it for a minute, she sang from an honest place. That made me feel a little better about doing it this way where. It’s not always about being the biggest badass, it’s about communicating your feelings to try to communicate the truth. Something genuine that people can experience if you can do that you’re doing your job as a singer. You shouldn’t stress about anything else.

GW: Is there anything besides music that you have been able to reflect on in your life at this point?”

DN: I've been trying to get in touch with the muse. The thing that when you’re bored makes you want to build a big crazy fort or make a crazy art project. It gives you that nagging feeling in the back of your brain that you want to create. We toured with the Gramblers so hard and for so long and we were in that weird zone, that a lot of bands get in, you’re getting somewhere and technically kind of going upwards, playing to more people. You’re on the right track but the higher that you go, the more expensive it is, more difficult to maintain everything. If you don’t go high enough, you really have to keep at a rate that you can sustain all that stuff. We were more at the rate that you just grind it out every night. You play six nights a week, one hundred and sixty shows a year. It becomes a totally different job. It becomes about recitation instead of creation. You’re just up there to create the feeling you had when you created that song, put the audience in that mind space, and hopefully, take them back to a song they ready like or maybe they’re hearing for the first time, and you’re giving them that memory. You are trying to get people to connect with something you created a long time ago. Now I’m really enjoying the present moment and creating things for just right now for my own satisfaction, not to play this song for a year in front of an audience a thousand times. Maybe you say Hey! I’ll record a new song every day. Since the pandemic, I’ve probably written thirty songs. Believe me, some are better than others. There are some real clunkers in there. It’s creative, and that’s the thing I’ve really been enjoying about this. It’s been triggered if you have an afternoon to play in the garden and all you have is two Star Wars stickers and a block of wood. That’s plenty. You’ve got all you need to create a whole world for the day and have a lot of fun. That’s kind of the mindset that I’ve been trying to get back into.

GW: That’s really cool. You really get back to the basics. The way you described it with The Gramblers you were touring so much, that’s great, but it’s time off the road you cherish. That downtime and alone time.

DN: It’s really important. As a band, you really try to build in [down time] as much as you can. We used to do writing retreats. We rented out a house in Pescadero. I spent a week just writing and we had our friend, Gonz, come in and cook for us, so we didn’t even have to think about it. So we just sort of hung out and wrote. It was great to do that and spend a week doing that but we needed more time than that to live and have experiences, regrets, try different things and live in different places. Instead, you’re just in a cycle doing the same old S-H-I-T. The whole cliche is you have your whole life to write your first album and you have six months to write your second. It’s true. That’s why you get a lot of second records that are about hotel rooms, tour buses, the road and being away. That’s always good too, you want to be honest with your experience, but there’s something about it that feels by the numbers. It’s better to live a normal life and have normal experiences and have things that you feel like writing about. The best songs are always the ones about experiences that you want to capture some way, even if it's a bad experience or a break-up. You want to capture a certain feeling just to get your head around it. You end up purging yourself from whatever it was by confronting it directly. I’ve been enjoying returning to that process a little bit. Like you said, going back to basics is a good way to describe it. Filling up the original cup a little bit. I just think I wouldn’t have stopped and slowed down if it wasn’t for all this. In a way, I’m grateful this happened.

GW: The one thing that came out of this pandemic was you did a cover of You Ain’t Going Nowhere (Bob Dylan). How did you get the ball rolling on this? Was there any other songs that you brought to the table that you wanted to do?

DN: No. I realized early on, it started sort of at the beginning of this pandemic. One good thing about being a musician, and trying to organize something like that, the more complex or specific it was, the less I was going to want to do it. I pretty much said to everybody 'Here’s a song.' I sent a guy a track where I recorded myself singing the whole song, to get them something to sing to. A version without any vocals to record to. I just said to them, 'I want you to go and record a track. If you have questions on how to do that let me know.' As far as who I was reaching out to, they are all just people I know. I put a thing on Instagram saying if you want to be a part of this song hit me up. Let me know what you play and I’ll see if I can find a spot for you. That filled up pretty fast! That’s why there are twenty people on the song. Most of it was people I knew that I thought would return my call. I asked (Tim) Lefebvre first, and told him that everyone would be more excited to do this if you’re playing bass. It’s the same chords throughout the whole song, so it wasn’t the worst thing I ever threw at him. He’s such a sweetheart and he banged it out in a day. I told everyone I’m doing the thing with Mike (Curry) from The Gramblers, Lefebvre, and here it is if you want to do it, just do a track of your vocals and guitar, send a video of it to me and I’ll sort it out. I knew not asking anyone to do anything else would produce good results. I sent it out to a bunch of people, there were some people who didn’t have the home recording equipment ready to go. It was just everyone who was sweet enough to participate. I didn’t really do much in that part of the process because everyone was doing their own recording. The engineer is actually listed as the band because everyone did their own. I started taking submissions four or five weeks ago and I was getting requests up until the Friday before it was released on Sunday. It was right down to the wire which is really tricky for the video editing and we mixed/mastered it. Curry mixed and mastered it, and he does a really great job, he’s really good at it. Usually, the thing that is standing in the way of doing something like this is people are on the move so much, they got another show, do their own recording, got an interview. Now is the one time when you’re like well, you got nothing to do man! If there’s one time for people to participate is right now. Normally I wouldn’t put people out like that. Right now I thought it would actually be fun for people, and it was for a good cause. It wasn’t just me saying hey, be on my next single. It was a group effort and something to raise money for Backline. So everybody was really cool about it.

GW: You have directing experience as well. What advice do you have for young aspiring musicians and directors to forge ahead and make a career out of it?

DN: The number one thing for both. I have been learning it with the directing stuff, just dive in and do it. Don’t let your limitations get in your way. I had Greg Loiacono come to me about doing a video. It was more as just buddies, and he didn’t really know if I could do it. I did something for The Mother Hips earlier and it was really simple. I think his wife actually suggested, maybe Deren can figure something out. He came to me with the song and idea, and I could see a way of doing this, but I have no idea if I can actually do it. It was the perfect excuse to try because it was low pressure. I did it, I did another one. I’ve always been into film making and film but I never saw myself that way. Once I tried it though, I could see myself that way. That’s why I hope that people just dive in and say I’m going to do this. I’ve made music videos with nothing more than my phone. I recently got a single camera but I’ve barely used it besides a few videos that I did since the shutdown. I just plow through it and do it. That truly is the biggest thing. I remember reading about Troma Movies (horror movies). Trey Parker from South Park was interviewed and he said, 'The main thing is quantity over quality.' I think there’s a lot of truth to that. The ‘quality over quantity’ is wrong. Don’t sit there getting one thing right for five years. A lot of times that thing is a bust. Believe in yourself and your own creativity, and the weird things that only your brain would come up with, you have access to that you can’t even imagine. Give credence to that, because no one else has it, and you’ll see other people digging it too.

GW: You have involvement with Backline. If I could use one word to describe it is amazing. Can you tell people that aren’t familiar with Backline what exactly it is?

DN: Backline is very simple. It’s a resource hub for people in the music industry to be able to access mental health and other wellness services from a simple easy to navigate platform including the most important thing, caseworkers. Where someone in the music industry needs help normally would hear about this kind of thing. If anyone is checking out this interview right now and needs help, the first thing they’re thinking is “It’s hard to qualify, there’s probably a million forms, and I have to know my 1099…”. A lot of times when you’re in a crisis that’s the last thing you want to deal with and you don’t want to be reminded of how difficult it is and the whole thing can be overwhelming. One of the main things that Backline does is, a caseworker program, where you call and write a note, you basically have a friend there to walk you through it. We work with all the music charities and support services you can think of such as MusiCares and Sweet Relief, and all those different places. As musicians, we sometimes don’t know how to find the right thing and can be so stubborn, that we’re not going to take the time to find out. If you just take the time to say you need help and say what you need, Backline will essentially walk you through the rest of the process, find the right help for you and set it up in a way that is easy.

It started with a bulletin board.

The year is 2009, and brothers Dusty and Brando Rich are tired of purchasing tickets to see their favorite bands (mainly Phish) for triple the value due to scalping. The pair decided to pack a bulletin board on summer tour, popping up in parking lots for fans to post their requests, and others to offer trades with their extras. Fellow concert goers took to the idea so well, the Rich brothers came home and launched CashorTrade.org, the world’s first social network where fans can buy, sell, or trade tickets at face value.

Touted as the “Airbnb of concert tickets”, the Burlington-based tech company has grown into an online fan community of over half a million devout members. Cash or Trade hosts members in every state in the nation and more than 20 countries around the globe. In 2017, Cash or Trade caught the attention of the ticketing industry during Phish’s “Bakers Dozen” at Madison Square Garden. The site handled more than 50,000 transactions, accounting for 25% of the stadium’s seats during the 13-night run.

And then the pandemic hit, grounding all live music events indefinitely.  

They say when one door closes, another door opens… and for CashorTrade, that door blew off the hinges. Rich and the CashorTrade team, a group of nearly twenty rabid music fans, spent the touring hiatus nurturing relationships with artists, agencies, and managers. As they weathered the storm together, Cash or Trade realized their true potential within the music industry. Their goal had always been to keep tickets in the hands of real fans, and to do that, they needed to start with the source: the bands.  Artists were also seeking a solution to release tickets in a way that leveraged an anti-scalper type technology and would put the tickets in the hands of fans over brokers.

“It is an amazing and exciting time for live music and CashorTrade,” says Brando Rich. “Working directly with artists to help protect their fans and avoid scalping has been a dream of ours since the very beginning."

While the jam music space has been successful Cash or Trade, the ticketing platform is currently scaling into other genres with upcoming ticket drops for Americana artists like Grammy award-winning artist, Billy Strings. Strings has been a vocal supporter of CashorTrade for some time, but their latest partnership to sell a portion of tickets directly from Cash or Trade takes his commitment to his fans to a new level.

Beginning on Wednesday, September 28th, CashorTrade will be releasing a number of For Sale ticket posts for String’s sold out “Away From The Shire” Lord of The Rings themed Halloween run in Asheville, NC. Tickets will be available here beginning at 12 pm est.

“With any lottery or on-sale, there is always an influx of scalpers,” says Brando Rich, CEO and co-founder. “At CashorTrade we involve a more manual curation– members create a profile and gain reviews, which creates a set of data points that determine if someone is a real fan more than any other ticket platform.”

With this latest announcement, CashorTrade continues to solidify their position as a formidable opponent to scalpers and a “ticket karma” alternative to the current primary market. Strings joins the ranks of Phish, Tyler Childers, Little Feat and Goose on CashorTrade, all of which previously hosted ticket drops on the site for sold out events. The site is also currently partnered with music festivals like FloydFest, Summer Meltdown, Northwest String Summit, Northlands Music & Arts Festival, and Domefest.

For more information on CashorTrade, face value tickets, and upcoming drops, please visit www.cashortrade.org.