Local rock stars share tips on making it in the biz during the last CRUMBS Nite Out mixer... where a certain soul rocker kicked a solo-acoustic set as the featured performer.

Labels: 1369, hiddencity, live, music, video

Where the funk at?

Bryan Thomas, Ten 27 Push the Musical Envelope
"With 'One Three Six Nine Lights,' [Thomas] rocks harder than on any of his previous five albums, all of which are first-rate. With Prince as his primary musical touchstone, Thomas' uncompromising songs are specifically local, yet gloriously global. He writes smart, and he writes from the heart, balancing intellect, passion and politics." - Greg Haymes, Times Union

Bryan Thomas Knows Where the Funk Is
"We recently bounced a few questions Bryan's way (that would be toward Delmar). He emailed answers back about finding the funk at pre-school soccer games, why he name-checks local places in his songs so often, and what he thinks is the best-kept secret about the Capital Region." - AllOverAlbany.com

CRUMBS Nite Out at the Linda Rebooted into a Networking Radio Show
"The new format kicks off Thursday October 30th at 7pm with a performance by Bryan Thomas and a panel of the regions top music crtics David Malachowski (Times Union), Michael Eck (Times Union), Josh Potter (Metroland), John Brodeur (Metroland), Jeremy Goodwin (Berkshire Eagle), Seth Rogovoy (Berkshire Living)." - Mike Guzzo, CRUMBS.net

Local 518 Concert - date and artists announced!
"Support the music on WEXT and get a pair of tickets to a Local 518 concert. It's exclusive to members of the station who support the station now. (Click here to do so.) The date: January 30, 2009 The location: WMHT-TV studios (WEXT is inside the same building!), 4 Global View, Troy, NY. Who's announced? Sarah Pedinotti's band Railbird! And the one and only Bryan Thomas! We hope to announce more bands soon!"


P.S. The new album 1369 Lights drops TOMORROW...

Labels: 1369, hiddencity, live, music

Le funk est ici.

Le funk est partout.



Thanks to the All Over Albany crew.

Labels: 1369, hiddencity, live, music

The folks at TheHiddenCity.com have pix from the latest "Garage Bands in the Garage" show at the Albany Public Library, this time out featuring Swamp Baby and Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned.

• Flick: Set | Slideshow
• Learn: Swamp Baby | Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned | Albany Public Library

Photos by TheHiddenCity.com

Labels: hiddencity, live, music, photos

1. A TELE FOR MOTHER



I played guitar last night for MotherJudge in a band that included Bob Buckley (bass), Sten Isachsen (mandolin) and Mitch Elrod (vox, acoustic guitar). I don't think I've had a chance to play guitar with a band like that since - a Middlebury reunion? Mid-nineties? The three guitar licks I know worked out okay, and served as only an occassional distraction from the awesomeness of Caroline and the rest of the band.

• REVIEW: A frail Odetta is strong, sure, confident

2. ODETTA: ROARING AND SOARING



We were in Washington Park, opening for the great Odetta. Who killed it. Frail and wheelchair-bound but positively glowing when she smiled and still fierce when she opened her mouth to sing - growling, roaring, whispering, soaring.

Glory Hallelujah, indeed.

• REVIEW: A frail Odetta is strong, sure, confident

3. GREEN ROOM MEMORIES

The last time I hung out with Odetta we were alone with Tommy Makem, Pete Seeger and his wife Toshi, catching up, sharing songs and talking about old times together.

Okay - this is a horrible attempt at name-dropping.

THEY were hanging out.

I was but a lowly PR assistant at WMHT, assigned to pick Odetta up from the airport for a taping of this show:



But I WAS in the room.

Just me and them.

Surreal.

Upon our arrival:

"Odetta," said Toshi Seeger, "I see you're accompanied by a handsome young man, as usual!"

As usual.

4. MUSIC FOR MAYA



This was Maya's first concert. Not a bad way to start out: Odetta and MotherJudge. With daddy noodling on guitar.

5. NAME-DROPPING

And speaking of "Maya" and name-dropping - about that car ride from the airport to the WMHT studios:

It was one of the most intense conversations of my life, which started with a discussion of classical music, as my radio was tuned to WMHT's FM station when Odetta sat down in the passenger seat.

At one point, she referenced a recent conversation with a friend of hers by saying, "I was talking to Maya the other day and..."

I assumed that she was talking about Maya Angelou, even though she hadn't used a last name, but she stopped herself mid-sentence and immediately apologized - unnecessarily, of course, but with sweetness, grace and humility.

"Oh my, that sounds pretentious doesn't it? It sounds like I'm name-dropping!"

Remember: This is the woman who literally inspired Bob Dylan to pick up the guitar.

And she's genuinely worried about coming off as a name-dropper.

While sitting in my car.

Surreal.

6. IN A HOLE IN THE GROUND SOMEWHERE IN DELMAR...

I have next week off and plan on heading into a certain basement bomb shelter/studio to do some recording. You've heard some of the demos but I'm fleshing 'em out, in some cases re-recording altogether.

From the dozen or so I've been working on I'm hearing 6 or 7 songs that make enough sense together sonically and thematically to... maybe... even... call... an... album.

Wish me luck.

7. LIVE ON WEXT FRIDAY at 7 p.m.



More on this quasi-album thing - and some live performance, too - will be revealed at 7 p.m. this Friday on WEXT 97.7's "Local 518" hour, hosted by the great Chris Wienk.

I'm splitting the hour with the bad-ass Ramblin Jug Stompers - so there's an actual reason to tune-in.

Show repeats Sunday at 11 am.

I'm out.

B.

UPDATE:

8. A LITTLE GIRL TAKES MANHATTAN

While Maya was enjoying Caroline and Odetta, her older sister Zoe escaped to Times Square with her uncle, her aunt, her grandma - and a favorite baby doll. She'll be hanging in NYC with them all week.

We miss her.

Labels: 1369, family, hiddencity, live, music, photos

Presenting Matthew Loiacono and the Upstate Kentucky Choir, live from Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs. Because it's been, like, 3 minutes since I've posted photos of Mr. Loiacono.

Another amazing night of music in the Five-One-Eight.



FLICKR: Photo Set | Slideshow

MORE: Matthew Loiacono

Labels: hiddencity, music, photos

"We saw them sing at the gallery. No microphones. No lights. An explosion underground." - Ben

Flick: Set | Slideshow

Learn: CollarCityRecords.com

Labels: hiddencity, music, photos

At the Colony Cafe in Woodstock last night with Brian Dewan, Jed Davis and Michael Bassett.

Eschatonalicious.

• FLICKR: Pix | Slideshow
• WIKILICIOUS: Dewan | Davis

Labels: hiddencity, music, photos

Round up the usual suspects: Here's pix from the 10th Annual Dylan Celebration, which went down at Union College's Old Chapel Thursday night:

• FLICKR: Slideshow | Set

Admittedly pix were an afterthought for me that night: I spent most of the evening listening and hanging with friends. Fancy that. Wish I'd swapped out the zoom for the wide angle, gotten a nice overhead shot of the room, included more of the performers on the bill, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, life goes on.

While I'm sharing: I dug up this rehearsal of the song I performed, captured with the little MP3 recorder about a month ago.

Mozambique (rehearsal) | Download MP3 - 6MB


Props again to Dale, Mr. Eck, Mr. Haymes, and everyone else who kicked my butt that night.

(NOTE: This entire post was created by typing with only one hand while holding a certain sleepy 7-week-old in the other. God bless keyboard shortcuts.)

Labels: hiddencity, music, photos

Good stuff in today's Times Union, via Mr. Eck:

This musician rarely misses a beat
By MICHAEL ECK, Special to the Times Union
First published: Sunday, April 13, 2008

He's certainly best known as the hairy guy holding the mandolin (and occasionally the banjo) in the popular upstate porch-rock group the Kamikaze Hearts. But local music insiders also know Matthew Loiacono as the former drummer in saxophonist Brian Patneaude's jazz combo and singer/songwriter Bryan Thomas' lean, tight band; or they've seen him hitting skins or strumming strings with a host of others....

Loiacono spent February writing and recording new music as part of the nationwide February Album Writing Month project. He'll release the results, a collection called Kentucky, online later this spring...

TU Article | Kentucky Record & Contest | Matthew's Blog

Labels: hiddencity, music

With Simple Theory (Maurizio and Brittany Robichaud).

Oh yeah: I think I played a set, too.

• FLICKR: Photo Set | Slideshow


• MYSPACE: Mario Sevayega | Simple Theory

Labels: hiddencity, photos

What it is: Flickr | MySpace | Times Union

Labels: hiddencity, photos

Note to Bernie Frogmouth: No need to click "refresh" again. Here are the pix of the good good stuff going down at the Foundry last night with good good music and good good vibes from Swamp Baby and Swamp Burre.

• FLICKR: Slideshow | Set

Cheers, y'all.

B.

Labels: hiddencity, photos

Here's to kickin' off the holiday weekend at Revolution Hall in Troy with Super 400, Kamikaze Hearts and the Sense Offenders. Cuz it's been, like, almost a whole week since I've taken a picture of Mr. Pohl.



FLICKR: Photo Set | Slideshow

With apologies to Mr. Rowe for my tardiness.

More jingle bell rock family and fun pix to come.

Labels: hiddencity, photos

Last night at the Lark Tavern. I'm still finding my way around the new camera. Look ma - no flash.







Here's the direct link.

Cheers,

B.

Labels: hiddencity, photos

Open mic peeps talk Springsteen shop in anticipation of tonight's show.

Labels: hiddencity

Pix from Saturday's show with Amy and MotherJudge are online at The Hidden City.

Labels: hiddencity, photos

UPDATE 1: 2 demos + 2 demos = 4 rough demos to hold you over.

UPDATE 2: Pix from the show are online at The Hidden City.



Mark your calendar for a HiddenCity reunion of sorts Saturday night with Amy Abdou (visiting from the Netherlands) and MotherJudge at Franklin's Tower on Broadway in Albany. My set kicks thing off around... 8ish?

And yes, you may be at the Knick that night to see some other famous rock 'n rollers. We'll probably still be hanging out afterwards late night if ya wanna stop by.

Sarge says:

Amsterdam Amy returns

Amy Abdou was a mover and shaker on the Capital Region music scene, almost from the time that she began singing with Hand Held Moon back in 1991. She released several sparkling albums before she relocated across the Atlantic to Amsterdam.

Well, she's back to visit and the Amy Abdou Band will step into the spotlight at Franklin's Tower in Albany for a homecoming performance at 8 p.m. Saturday. Opening the show will be Mitch Elrod and MotherJudge, as well as Bryan Thomas.

Labels: hiddencity

[Photo by Luanne Ferris appears courtesy of the Times Union.]

See all of the musicial celebrations of the Capital Region tonight at 9 on WMHT.

Including yours truly.

Preview it all here.

Follow along with the lyrics here.

Labels: hiddencity, music

[Photo by Luanne Ferris appears courtesy of the Times Union.]

There's a party going on at Tess'
Every Wednesday night
Of the "Best of" hers is The Bestest
Mother Judge's Open Mic

That's right: we're celebrating all things MotherJudge for the Times Union's "Best of the Capital Region" 2007 edition.

• Videos here. In good company. (Why do I always have to follow that bad ass Raneri?) Also: the backstory.


• Lyrics here. With links o' fun.

Big ups, thanks and all that to Casey, Greg, Luanne and all the folks at the TU, to my peeps from a past life at WMHT - and especially to Sweet Caroline.



And now I'm getting on a plane. Have a good party y'all. Cheers,

B.

Labels: hiddencity, music

...about the party going on every Wednesday.



And that's all that Yours Truly - a crazy hair, four-eyes, brace-face, big black behind havin', semi-retired from the music so-called business, thirty-somethin' somethin' pushing forty, union webmaster by day, husband and daddy by night who's chilling cold chilling free to be put in a cage livin' in the acoustic soul rock 'n roll capital of the world a.k.a Delmar - is sayin'.

UPDATE: Okay, okay. One. More. Little. Hint.

See ya Thursday.

Labels: hiddencity, music

...and promises not to bore you.



It could be political, it could be just a band.

Labels: hiddencity

TheHiddenCity has new photos of recent shows by the Last Conspirators and the Orange. View 'em at your own risk.

Labels: hiddencity

Now you can buy it.

And something I may not have made clear in the previous post: none of the songwriters involved altered the beats Dan gave us.

That means no cutting and pasting his drum tracks to make them fit to the music and lyrics we were writing and recording. The challenge was to write and record the song based on the structure he had already laid down - highs and lows and stops and starts and fills and breakdowns and all.

Yet none of the songs sound like they were forced to fit the beat.

So what are you waiting for? Go check it out at the official site, or stream the audio tracks at the MySpace thing that all the kids are doing these days.

Ironically, I think Troy has the coolest track on the record.

And yes, I'm pretty damn "Jealous."

Big ups to Big Dan and everyone else involved.

Peace,

B.

Labels: hiddencity

Proving that all is becoming right in the world, first President Bush loses his rubber stamp Congress - and now this news in from the heartbreakers in the Kamikaze Hearts:

We'd like to announce that we recently signed a three album record deal with One Little Indian Records for the UK and the rest of the world (excluding the U.S. and Canada)! One Little Indian has been the home to The Sugarcubes, Bjork, Rocket From the Crypt (UK only), Pernice Brothers (UK only) and The Twilight Singers and whose lineup boasts a huge variety of musicians. We are looking forward to working with this amazing label who has wholly supported their artists' endeavors for over 21 years. One Little Indian will release "Oneida Road" in the UK sometime in March 2007, with a bonus song or two. If sales go well, there will be opportunities for touring, promotions, TV appearances, etc. Sounds fun, yes?

This week, we (dis)grace the cover of Metroland magazine -> visit here to read a great article written by John Rodat, revealing plenty of juicy inside stories, and bringing a thoughtful, patient eye to our little Kamikaze Hearts world.

Which reminds me: I meant to post my butchering of Mr. Pohl's 'Tornadoes' on the podcast page.

Let me get on that.

Until then... congrats y'all.

B.

UPDATE: Here it is, from the recent Why Can't I Be You show: Tornadoes.mp3. Enjoy.

Labels: hiddencity

Pics from the Soul Kitchen 10th Anniversary Show at WAMC's arts center are apparently now online at TheHiddenCity.com. Just saying.

Labels: hiddencity

Pics are up from this week's Unity Stage show at the BTCam.

By the way: the beat box came out of the closet that night.

UPDATE: The audio documentation of live Liquefy is at the Bootleg Blog.

Labels: hiddencity, music

Speaking of celebrities and their babies (Bebes?):

Yes, that's our man John Powhida in the pages of People Magazine.



The copy reads:

FEMALE BONDING

Liv Tyler cozies up to mom Bebe Buell (dad is rocker Stephen Tyler) at a birthday bash Wednesday for the elder former model at New York City club the Cutting Room. Buell topped the night with a midnight performance with her band.

Meanwhile, rock sensation John Powhida was chatting up some bird.

Okay, I made up the last part.

For your convenience, here are some pix of Pow Pow with lesser celebrities.

Oh: why haven't you bought his album yet?

Rudds!

Labels: hiddencity

I spent the better part of yesterday morning entranced by this award winning photo essay by Brenda Ann Kenneally. In bed. On my handheld. Via the obligatory a.m. stop at Albany Eye. And the whole time I'm asking myself: What would Uncle Sam think of the Troy of today? I feel a song coming on.

UPDATE: The song is called Sam. Cuz Uncle Sam wants you. To explain yourself.

Labels: hiddencity

Here's a little something from the Boston Phoenix to help prime you for The Rudds CD release show at the Abbey Lounge in Somerville Friday, June 10.

Ultimate prom-parking-lot-make-out kings the Rudds are putting the finishing touches on the follow-up to their homonymous 2003 power-pop gem, and are aiming for a late-March release, most likely again on Boston-based Sodapop Records. "So far, we have over 20 songs recorded for what could be a double album," says singer-guitarist John Powhida, the Rudds’ resident Prince-aholic. Powhida reports via e-mail that the CD, whose working title is Get the Femuline Hang On, "leans heavier on the soul and R&B tendencies of the group and will feature new bassist Tony Goddess (ex-Papas Fritas). So far, the Figgs’ Mike Gent, Bleu, and Paul Kolderie have all donated their time, mixing abilities, studios, and talents and have asked for nothing in return but the wacky good time of working with the Rudds." The lone cover among the plethora of originals, Powhida says, will be the Gap Band’s "Early in the Morning."

Preview at myspace.com/therudds.

Labels: hiddencity

See this photo?

This is where Rosanne transported me while she was singing Katie's song "15 Minutes" at Why Can't I Be You last Friday night.

Back through time, exactly one year ago. The Larkin. April Fools Day. Songwriters in the round, with Katie, Earl and Karen.

Katie's singing "15 Minutes" and I'm hypnotized. Haunted. I'm thinking, God, why can't I write a song like that? Complex, deeply layered, yet completely accessible.

And the lyrics. I hear her sing "15 minutes" and in my mind take it to it's Warholian conclusion... "fame." Because she's next to me, her voice is soaring, and I'm looking out at the room - and what, are there, ten, twelve, fifteen people here tonight? I'm selfishly ecstatic to be experiencing this artist and her song in such an intimate setting, here in this little room in Albany, but part of me - a lot of me - is angry that it's only me and a dozen others, that this isn't being shared with many, many, many more.

Oh it's a fever I can't deny
Swimming deep in a mystery
Lined with melody and poetry
Consequences undefined
And how a soul learns to bend
Learn to break, to blend into its surroundings
Accept the one thing, for what it really is...
I've got 15 minutes to show you what I can be

And suddenly "every passer-by watching my creaky bike fly by" on her way home is the dozen souls in the room tonight taking it all in, and that creaky bike is her guitar, her piano. That creaky bike is the what's-it-all-for of it. The art. The music. The albums. The MP3s. The press kits. The press releases. The phone calls. The e-mails. The gigs. The studios. The late nights. The early mornings. The planes, trains and automobiles. The big slog of it all.

Sigh.

And I've felt this way in this room before. Three years earlier. Opening night at the Larkin. Sharing the bill with Rosanne herself. I finish my set, Rosanne takes the stage, and there I am in the front, taking it all in, feeling this strange mix of joy and anger.



Sent back, and back again, by these two haunting voices, and back again to now. A Friday night in 2005, April Fools Day, and it's Rosanne's voice singing Katie's words, rising and soaring above the room. And there's joy. And there's anger.

She finishes Katie's song, and I'm numb.

And then she announces she's going to sing "Babylon."

This, only moments after I'd sung the song that had inspired "Babylon" - the great MotherJudge's Revelation 17-inspired "Woman of Mystery."

And it's all happening in the room where we filmed the video for the song last year. The video whose narrative is a metaphor of this music thing I do. Playing my heart out to another sleepy, indifferent room.

But Rosanne is singing "Glory, glory, hallelujah" with such joy. Only joy.

And the anger melts away.

Thanks to Rosanne, Katie, MotherJudge, and every one who made Why Can't I Be You what it was this year.

Labels: hiddencity

Tributes to Albany activist and wordsmith Tom Nattell are online at AlbanyPoets.com and TheHiddenCity.com. He died Jan. 31 after a bout with cancer. An amazing guy, and a vital part of the Albany arts community. The Tom Nattell Memorial Circus will be held March 5, 2005 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 262 State St., Albany, from 4 to 9 p.m.

Labels: hiddencity