Displaying items by tag: saratoga music

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Fronted by swatches of catchy, smooth, distort-o-chords with a snappy rhythm section and tuneful vocals to boot, Blockhouses are making their way through the northeast to stage a show in Saratoga Springs on Monday.

The band - Guy Lyons with guitar and vocals, Christopher Peifer with bass, keyboards and vocals, and Jim Balga on drums – is touring in support of their debut album, "Greatest Hit Songs of All Time."

The group says their plan was hatched in a bar in Washington Heights in late 2013. Their local connections to this region run deep. Lyons was an original member of the Spa City’s own Figgs, and Lyons’ former bandmate, Pete Donnelly, is tabbed with producer credits on Blockhouses debut album.

The band’s mission, they say, is to bring high-energy, catchy, punk rock and roll tunes to the masses of N.Y.C. and beyond, and they wear their sonic glories on their collective sleeve, mixing together a varied inspiration via The Ramones and The Who, and Husker Du to The Only Ones, not to mention healthy doses of everyone from the Beatles to the Stones. A sonic sample and bio may be viewed at : https://www.blockhouses.net/.

Blockhouses will perform Monday, Sept. 24 at Desperate Annie’s on Caroline Street as part of the Super Dark Monday series.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A new free monthly music series kicks off May 15 with a performance by The Dylan Perrillo Orchestra at Saratoga Senior Center. The series schedule showcases performances through October.

The concept behind the new series is to provide cultural offerings during midday and mid-week, says series organizer Jonathan Greene.

The series, largely funded by a grant from Saratoga Arts, is free and open to the public. Concerts will start at 12:30 p.m. and are scheduled on the third Tuesday of each month.

May 15 - Dylan Perrillo Orchestra. Ten-piece band that celebrates the beginnings of jazz performing arrangements of tunes from the 1920s to the 1940s. Saratoga Senior Center.

June 19 - Orchard Project. A preeminent engine of new work in the theater world, helping over 200 shows develop and go on to stages as big as Broadway and as small as a basement in Sweden. Orchard Project has made Saratoga Springs their summer home. Ben and Jerry’s (rain location: Saratoga Senior Center).

July 17 - Girl Blue. Girl Blue is the pseudonym of singer and songwriter Arielle O'Keefe. Her first single "Fire Under Water" placed 7th on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist, with over 1 million hits the first month. Ben and Jerry’s (rain location: Saratoga Senior Center).

August 21 - Tame Pacific. Featuring members of internationally-noted but locally-based Wild Adriatic. Ben and Jerry’s (rain location: Saratoga Senior Center).

September 18 - Rodeo Barons. Roots rock band with modern alternative influences. Saratoga Senior Center.

October 16 - Heard. Original world music with jazz roots, influences from West Africa, Brazil, places in between and points beyond. Saratoga Senior Center.

For more information on the series, see the Lunchtime Concerts Facebook page: fb.com/lunchtimeconcerts.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A scatter of workers amble through the vintage chambers of Universal Preservation Hall, exploring the possibilities. Design plans sprawl across tabletops beneath stained-glass windows and free-standing easels boast colorful images of what will be. Soon, the heavy lifting will begin.

When the $8.7 million restoration of UPH is complete, in late 2019, the 19th century building will provide Saratoga Springs with something it has sorely been missing: a mid-range capacity venue with state-of-the-art sound, open year-round and expected to stage more than 200 events.

“It’s going to be a huge performance venue,” says Teddy Foster, whose association with UPH goes back more than a decade - from board member to president to its current campaign director.

“We’re going to be a huge music room, that’s how it’s being designed. We anticipate doing some Broadway cabaret and some live theater; we will be a place of collaboration for SPAC, for Caffe Lena, for people from the community, you name it,” Foster says, standing in the middle of a vacant 20-foot by 24-foot space on the main floor where the staging area for the 700-seat theater-in-the round venue will be constructed.

Tiered seating will be installed at the far end of the main hall – where the current stage sits – and at the opposite end, the balcony will be extended and fitted with seats that descend to the main floor. It will be handicap accessible with an elevator that navigates between floors, and a glass atrium will serve as the new entry way, off Washington Street, in “a super cool alleyway inviting people to come in,” Foster explains.

Event booking will be handled by Proctors, with whom UPH struck an alliance in 2012, and whose event management has included staging everything from major Broadway shows and cutting-edge film festivals to snagging pop music acts on national tours. Proctors’ stated mission: To be a catalyst - through arts and community leadership - for excellence in education, sustainable economic development and rich civic engagement to enhance the quality of life in the greater Capital Region.

Approximately 100 local jobs will be employed during the construction phase, which begins in earnest sometime between May and July. After the $8.7 million project is completed – expected to be in late 2019 - and the venue re-opens for business, it is anticipated UPH will bring approximately 65,000 visitors to the Spa City each year. “We will fill the hotel rooms and the restaurants during the off-the shoulder season,” Foster says. UPH also plans to hire six full-time employees and a number more on a part-time basis.

Earlier this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the venue will be awarded $750,000 to help redevelop the hall into a performing arts center. UPH represents Saratoga Springs’ sole recipient of the Restore New York Communities Initiative – which awards funding for projects that will reinvigorate downtowns and generate new economic opportunity in communities.  

The Washington Street venue, which is a non-profit community performing arts center, is also entering into an energized public fundraising phase. The goal is to raise $5.5 million. “We’ve raised most of it,” Foster says. There is just under $1 million to go to reach that goal.

“I’m a huge music lover and I would love to see music of all kinds in that room,” says Foster. “You know this was built as a place where people could come together for all different kinds of things. That’s how we’ve kept it alive all these years. And that’s really what I want to have here: a place that all Saratogians can experience.“  

ALBANY - Steven Van Zandt - aka Little Steven, aka Miami Steve - best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, will perform with the Disciples of Soul on May 4 at the Palace Theatre.

Renowned for both his own substantial body of work and for his ongoing role as a touring and recording member of Springsteen’s band, Van Zandt has also worked as an actor on “The Sopranos” as well as serving as host, historian and rock’n’roll advocate on Sirius XM’s Little Steven’s Underground Garage – where he showcases the work of everyone from the New York Dolls to the Raveonettes.

His latest album, “Soulfire,” Van Zandt’s first solo record in close to two decades, “hearkens back to Van Zandt’s classic first album of gritty, greasy, horn-accented ‘60s-style rock and soul,” notes Billboard magazine.

Tickets go on sale Friday and are $74.50, $59.50, $49.50, $39.50 & $29.50 and available at the Palace Theatre Box Office, 19 Clinton Ave., via Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 800-745-3000 or online at ticketmaster.com.

Return of the Dead

Dead & Company, featuring Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer and Bob Weir with Oteil Burbridge & Jeff Chimenti will stage a show at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on June 11. Tickets are $149.50, $99.50, $75.50, lawn - $45, and are available online at LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com or Charge By Phone at 1-800-745-3000.

SPAC to Host Quintet of Country Music Concerts

Promoter Live Nation has announced five country music concerts that will be staged at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center this summer, and sales of a “2018 Country Megaticket” that will allow fans to attend all five shows.

The concerts include: Keith Urban with Kelsea Ballerini on June 27; Rascal Flatts on July 7; Jason Aldean with Luke Combs and Lauren Alaina on July 15; Dierks Bentley with Brothers Osborne and Lanco on Aug. 5, and Luke Bryan with Jon Pardi and Morgan Wallen on Aug. 19.

The Megaticket sale begins Friday, Jan. 26 and goes through Feb. 24, and is as follows: Gold: $695 – Secure the same reserved seat to all five shows in sections 1-7 or 15-18 plus get one premier parking pass per show, per pair. Silver: $450 – secure the same reserved seat to all five shows in sections 8-14 or 19-30; Lawn:  $159 – spend an evening on the lawn with a ticket to all five shows. Tickets available at Megaticket.com. Shows will go on sale individually at later dates. Ticket subject to service charges.

Kuinka Performs at Caffe Lena Saturday          

Pacific Northwest band Kuinka performs at Caffe Lena 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27 in advance of a 17-city tour through the western states. The dynamic string band’s new EP, “Stay Up Late,” will be released June 2. Tickets to the local show are $18 general admission, $16 members and $9 students and kids.

Funkadelic George Clinton Coming to the Mountaintop for 3-Day Fest

George Clinton, Sturgill Simpson, Alt-J, and Jack Johnson lead a musical cast of dozens slated to perform at this year’s three-day Mountain Jam concert, June 15-17, on Hunter Mountain.  

Mountain Jam will also feature yoga events, an Awareness Village with exhibits from not-for-profit organizations and a children's activity tent (those under 10 are admitted for free with a paid adult). Other activities include a Sky Ride offering scenic views of the Catskill Mouintains and North America's longest, highest zipline.

A three-day general admission pass is $184; a three-day pass with campground access is $219. For more information, go to: http://mountainjam.com/.  

Avant Folk Duo Bringing Sound and Verse to Saratoga and Schenectady

Billed as an “avantgarde folk duo,” and sporting impeccable influences that run the gamut from Laurie Anderson and Meredith Monk to Patti Smith, Anna & Elizabeth will be stage a show at Taylor Music Center at Union College on Feb. 23 and at Caffe Lena on April 20. The duo will performs new music from their upcoming Smithsonian Folkways debut, “The Invisible Comes to Us,” which is out March 30. Tickets for the Caffe Lena show are $22 general admission/ $ 20 members, and $11 students and kids.  

The Championship Tour at SPAC

Kendrick Lamar with special guests: Schoolboy Q, Sza, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Isaiah Rashad, Sir, Lance Skiiwalker and Zacari, will perform at SPAC June 9. Tickets are $125, $89.50, $49.50, $39.50, lawn $35 and available online at LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com or Charge By Phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Sawyer Fredericks to Perform Sunday on Live TV Fundraiser

ALBANY - Singer-songwriter Sawyer Fredericks will perform live during the #518Gives televised fundraiser to benefit the Center for Disability Services on Sunday, Jan. 28.

Fredericks is scheduled to appear at 5:40 p.m. and 6 p.m. and the broadcast airs from noon to 7 p.m. from the Radisson Hotel Albany, 205 Wolf Road, in Colonie. The all live, all local show airs on WXXA/FOX23 (cable channel 8, or check listings). All proceeds support the Center and its divisions, Down Syndrome Aim High Resource Center, Life Quality Solutions Incubator, Prospect Center in Queensbury and St. Margaret’s Center in Albany.

The Center is celebrating 76 years of service to the community in 2018 and offers opportunities for achievement, hope and innovation to people with disabilities and their families. Text 518Gives to 41444 to donate or give online at www.cfdsny.org. Call 518-459-7070 to make a pledge that day to benefit the Center. For more information, search #518Gives, or go to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @cfdsny.

Who: Bill Cole.

Where: Phila Street.

How long have you had a woodwind shop? 

Forty years. I started out in Watervliet and about 15 years I moved up to Saratoga Springs.

How did you get into the business?

A teacher encouraged me to go to school for music. I was drawn to one program specifically that taught band instrument repair. Music instrument technology trained you how to fix instruments: woodwinds, brass and strings. When I got out I started my own shop, temporarily. Forty years later, here I am.  

It's a niche market, isn’t it?

Even within my field I have a niche. Most music stores go after the big school accounts, and although I’m very happy to work on school instruments, I’m really targeting the pro horns. So, I get customers from across the country. It’s a special market and one I enjoy.

Have you ever had a brush with fame?

Over and over again. I have a book, about 300 pages, I hope to write it someday of all the things that have happened over 40 years. You’re standing right here next to Garth Hudson’s saxophone; he’s a friend of mine and we’ve had a lot of correspondence with Garth and The Band. Dave Matthews Band – we work on Jeff Coffin’s instrument when he comes to town. Chicago. Jethro Tull. Those are the big guys, but the real honor is working for the professional musician who’s playing (locally at jazz clubs) – because you know their passion for playing is so important. To be a part of that is great.

Do you play?

I don’t play professionally. Both my son and I play when we fix the instruments, but our job is to fix them; their job is to play them.   

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

An engineer or an architect. To this day I look at the buildings that are going up and I just marvel at them. I’ve always had a passion for that. 

What are some of the best things Saratoga Springs has to offer?

When I have customers who come into town for the first time and looking for some direction about what to do, I tell them go to SPAC, have a picnic, and on the way back go to Congress Park and visit the museum; they’re going to get some nature, they’re going to get some history and then all you have to do is walk down the street and see the beautiful buildings that have been built, the beautiful buildings that have been restored. Saratoga just has something for everybody.

Who would portray you in a movie about your life?

I would say Johnny Depp, ha. He would have to shave his head and gain some weight – but I think he could nail it. Plus, he’s one of my favorite actors.   

In 2018, U2 will kick off their two-month North American tour in Oklahoma on May 2 and conclude with shows in New York City - at Madison Square Garden June 25, and New Jersey – at the Prudential Center on June 29. Other major artists slated to stage shows in the U.S. this year – although to date none have been scheduled to take place in the immediate Capital Region – include: Jeff Lynne’s ELO; Maroon 5; Foo Fighters; a Pixies and Weezer co-headlining tour; Taylor Swift; Kenny Chesney; Zac Brown Band; Shakira, Alice Cooper, Jethro Tull, and Jackson Browne – to name a few. Whether any of these shows will land locally remains to be seen.  

Concerts currently scheduled to take place in the region in 2018:

Mt. Joy, Jan. 15 @ Hart Theater, Empire State Plaza

Walk The Moon, Jan. 17 @ Upstate Concert Hall

Henry Rollins, Jan. 20 @ The Egg

James Taylor, Jan. 26 @ Times Union Center

Get The Led Out – American Led Zeppelin (tribute), Feb. 3 @Palace Theatre

G3: John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, Phil Collen, Feb. 10 @ Palace Theatre

Three Dog Night, Feb. 11 @ Hart Theatre

Celebrating David Bowie w/ Bernard Fowler, Adrian Belew, Carmine Rojas, Earl Slick and others, Feb. 12 @ The Egg

Next Women of Country w/Sara Evans, RaeLynn, Kalie Shorr, Feb. 15 @ Palace Theatre

Dropkick Murphys, Agnostic Front, Bim Skala Bim, Feb. 25 @ Capital Repertory Theatre

Montgomery Gentry, March 2, @Upstate Concert Hall

Wyclef Jean, March 2 @ Putnam Den.

Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles, March 2 @ Proctors

Shawn Colvin, Lyle Lovett, March 8 @Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

Five for Fighting, March 18, Swyer Theatre

Dixie Dregs, March 21 @ The Egg

Monster Energy Outbreak Tour w/ Jstjr, Kayzo, DJ Gammer, Dubloadz, March 28 @ Upstate Concert Hall

Robin Trower, March 28 @ Hart Theatre

Daughtry, April 7 @ Palace Theatre

They Might Be Giants, April 22 @ The Egg

Dweezil Zappa, April 24 @ The Egg

Alan Jackson, April 28, Times Union Center

Aztec Two-Step, April 28 @ Caffe Lena

Leo Kottke, April 29 @ Swyer Theatre

Yanni, May 13 @ Proctors

Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, Foreigner, Whitesnake, June 16 @ SPAC

Saratoga Jazz Festival, June 23-24 @ SPAC

Charlie Puth, Hailee Steinfeld, July 22 @ SPAC

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Bolstered by now-classic performances of the songs “Maggie May,” “Mandolin Wind,” the album’s title track, and a moving rendition of Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe,” Rod Stewart’s 1971 solo album “Every Picture Tells a Story” will receive the Rochmon treatment at Caffe Lena on Tuesday, Nov. 21. 

Rochmon Record Club gathers once a month under the guidance of music savant Chuck Vosganian, who selects one ground-breaking rock or pop album to dig deep and wide in creating an entertaining, illuminating program of anecdotes, biographical, technical information and photos.

Stewart, accompanied by Ronnie Wood, was ascending to the height of his powers with “Every Picture Tells a Story”- an album cranky rock scribe Robert Christgau graded with an A-plus with extra credit for Rod the Mod’s ability of being “tawdry enough to revel in stellar pop-and-flash” while able to “refine the rock sensibility without processing the life out of it.”      

Doors at 6:30 p.m., presentation begins at 7, and a $5 donation is suggested.  Donations go to the restoration funds of Caffe’ Lena and Universal Preservation Hall.  

ALBANY – Saratoga Springs native Ashley Bathgate – whose cello stylings have garnered acclaim by everyone from the New York Times (an “eloquent new music interpreter,”) to the Washington Post (“a glorious cellist’), returns to the region for a performance at The Egg, at the Empire State Plaza on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Last seen in these parts coaxing ethereal tones from the strings of her cello and slicing the air with resonating vibrations in a 2016 performance at the Tang Museum, Bathgate – a 2002 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School - will perform an entirely new series of reflections inspired by the Unaccompanied Cello Suites of J.S. Bach. The work incorporates extended performance techniques, live electronics, and external media resulting in a radical deconstruction and re-imagination of the original music.

Concert showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $28.  Students are $14 at the door – and special group rates are also available.  For more information on the concert, group sales and a special lecture/demonstration call:  THE EGG BOX OFFICE: 518-473-1845 www.theegg.org

In addition to the concert, Bathgate will be conducting a cello technique demonstration and master class at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 at The Egg, where she will provide insight into her approach to playing the cello – both in the traditional manner as well as how she utilizes electronics that comprise “Bach Unwound.”  This event is free and open to the public.

Friday, Aug. 25 – matchbox twenty, Counting Crows at SPAC.

Saturday, Aug. 26 – Luke Bryan at SPAC.

Aug. 27 - Caffè Lena at SPAC: Let's Be Leonard (1 p.m.); Sweet Megg & The Wayfarers (2:30 p.m.); Soul Inscribed (4 p.m.) – Gazebo Stage at SPAC, free.  

Aug. 30 – Sting at SPAC.

Sept. 2 – Zac Brown Band at SPAC.

Sept. 12 – Boz Scaggs at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Sept. 15 to 17 – Fresh Grass at Mass Moca featuring Bill Frisell, the Suitcase Junket, The Mammals and others.

Sept. 16 – Irish 2000 Festival at Saratoga County Fairgrounds featuring Hair of the Dog, The McKrells, and others.

Sept. 19 - The Rochmon Record Club presents the classic 1976 album “Hotel California” by the Eagles at Caffe’ Lena.  

Sept. 23 – Roger Waters at the Times Union Center, Albany.

Oct. 8 – Psychedelic Furs at Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park.

Oct. 8 – Stephen Stills, Judy Collins at The Egg, Albany.

Oct. 13 – Lisa Fischer at The Egg, Albany.

Oct. 28 – Loudon Wainwright III at the Swyer Theatre, Albany.

Oct. 29 – Renaissance at The Egg, Albany.

Nov. 4 – Cowboy Junkies at the Swyer Theatre, Albany.

Nov. 8-9 – King Crimson at the Swyer Theatre, Albany.

Nov. 14 – The Beach Boys at Proctors, Schenectady.

Nov. 17 – David Crosby at The Egg, Albany.

Nov. 18 – Ashley Bathgate at the Swyer Theatre, Albany.

Dec. 1 – Richard Thompson at the Swyer Theatre, Albany.

Dec. 27 – Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Times Union Center, Albany.

*Note: not all shows listed have officially been confirmed.