Shannon Lay: June 28, 2024 Tubby’s

October 2, 2024
By

Shannon Lay’s new single “Mirrors” got a lot of play around my house this Spring.  It’s beautifully recorded and sounds like the sunlight that filters through the trees and lights up my kitchen while I cook. So it was a pretty sweet and timely surprise to see her coming to Tubby’s on a stacked triple bill with Anna St. Luis and Shana Fullana.

Shannon’s songs are so intricately crafted that it’s had to find a single point to dissect them.  Do you lead with the profoundly introspective lyrics or the mind-boggling finger-style guitar playing?  Or maybe you should focus on her tremendous vocal control? 

I will start with the guitar playing because I spent most of the night trying to understand it. Her technical command seemed effortless but was never overshadowed by the profoundly emotional resonance of her playing. Her playing came from a place of pure vulnerability, drawing listeners in with the raw intensity of her expression.

The set was drawn from her entire catalog and included the aforementioned “mirrors” and stellar covers by Elliott Smith and Karen Dalton. Every song felt like a highlight, but a particular moment felt most affirmative.  After a brief acknowledgment of Kingston’s parking woes (a local hot topic), she settled into “Come Together” off 2017’s “Living Water” and somehow, what started as a discussion of parking tickets turned into a moment where could collectively reflect on all of the outside pressures and ills. We could choose to ignore those stressors and move forward to positivity:

“We all have enough

Come on shake your broken shoulders

Come on move your broken shoes

Come together”

I’d like to give a special shout-out to the Tubby’s crowd on this particular evening. Generally speaking, recording solo acoustic singer-songwriters in a bar is an exercise in futility.  You can only do so much limiting, but everyone was incredibly respectful of the songs and performers, and you can hear that in the recording.  The quality is excellent, so please enjoy.

Download and stream from the live music archive!

Shannon Lay
2024-06-28
Tubby’s
Kingston, NY

Source: MBHO440 + SDB > SD MixPre 3 > SD (24/48) > Adobe Audition/Izotope 9 > Audacity Flac (lvl8) > Mp3Tag
Recorded and produced by kliked for nyctaper.com

Thanks to Tubby’s FOH engineer Wil for the board patch

  1. A Thread to Find
  2. Sure
  3. Angeles*
  4. The moons detriment
  5. Recording 15
  6. Come Together
  7. Mirrors
  8. Coast
  9. Simpsons Interlude
  10. All this life goin down
  11. Rare to wake
  12. Awaken and Allow
  13. Something On Your Mind^

*Elliott Smith

^Karen Dalton

    Support this excellent artist!
    https://www.shannonlay.com/
    https://shannonlay.bandcamp.com/

    Support the venues bringing you interesting music!
    https://www.tubbyskingston.com/music-calendar

    BASIC: September 14, 2024 Seuffert Bandshell

    September 30, 2024
    By

    Long before This is BASIC—the new album from Chris Forsyth, Nick Millevoi, and Mikel Patrick Avery—Forsyth and Millevoi had both separately been discussing the uniqueness of Robert Quine’s discography and playing. Forsyth gave an interview in Raven Sings the Blues back in 2019 where he praises the overlooked, even disliked, album from Quine and drummer Fred Maher, Basic. In 2021, Millevoi breaks down Quine’s “unpredictable” playing for Premier Guitar, complete with music notation. As an observer and non-player, it’s fascinating to hear musicians talk about their influences in ways so clearly project their excitement and awe. It’s worth mentioning also that Quine was a taper, having captured some of the key surviving Velvet Underground performances, including three renditions of “Sister Ray”!

    The current lineup of BASIC has Doug McCombs, who should need no introduction, sitting in with Forsyth and Avery. Catching up with them here in Forest Hills park, BASIC are anything but. Mikel Patrick Avery’s percussion, a mix of triggered sounds and analog drumming, is mesmerizing as it reverberates throughout the bandshell and park. McCombs plays a six-string bass which opens up its own unique possibilities as a foil for Forsyth’s guitar. They play the album through in order but with the new lineup it’s morphed into something unique. I expect as this trio continues playing together, they’ll further adapt into new forms.

    BASIC is about to kick off their West Coast tour and then return to Brooklyn in December with 75 Dollar Bill at The Sultan Room or at Tubby’s in Kingston with Chris Brokaw. If you’re local, don’t miss those. If not, check out the BASIC tour dates and catch them near you:

    Sat 10/5 Portland @ Star Theater w Marisa Anderson
    Sun 10/6 Seattle @ Sunset Tavern w Diminished Men
    Tues 10/8 Arcata CA @ Richards Goat w Eta Corina (Chasny/Aolani)
    Thurs 10/10 San Francisco @ Thee Stork Club w Bill Orcutt
    Sat 10/12 Los Angeles @ Zebulon w Sessa
    Sun 10/13 Joshua Tree Music Festival

    Wed 12/4 Brooklyn @ The Sultan Room w 75 Dollar Bill
    Thurs 12/5 Kingston NY @ Tubby’s w Chris Brokaw Rock Band
    Fri 12/6 Boston @ Middle East Upstairs w Chris Brokaw Rock Band
    Sat 12/7 Philadelphia @ Johnny Brenda’s w The Early & Totally Automatic
    Sun 12/8 Washington DC @ DC9
    Mon 12/9 Pittsburgh @ Bottlerocket Social Hall
    Wed 12/11 Detroit @ Outer Limits Lounge
    Thurs 12/12 Chicago @ Judson & Moore w Yr Knives
    Fri 12/13 Milwaukee @ Cactus Club w Yr Knives
    Sat 12/14 Minneapolis @ 7th Street Entry w Yr Knives

    Stream and Download at the Live Music Archive

    BASIC
    2024-09-14
    Seuffert Bandshell
    Queens, NY

    Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

    MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 3.0.2 > FLAC

    Tracks [46:15]
    01. For Stars of the Air
    02. Nerve Time
    03. Positive Halfway
    04. Last Resort of the Gambling Man
    05. Versatile Switch
    06. New Auspicious

    75 Dollar Bill: September 30, 2023 Tubby’s Fifth Anniversary

    September 11, 2024
    By

    The NYCTaper coverage of the Tubby’s Fifth Anniversary continues with 75 Dollar Bill!

    On March 7, 2020 I went to Tubby’s to see 75 Dollar Bill.  I had contacted Che beforehand via email to ask permission to record, and he was gracious enough to approve. So for the duration of their two sets, I stood as still as possible (so as not to create phasing issues with the tiny mics clipped to my hat) and recorded what eventually became the “Live at Tubby’s” album.  I knew during the performance I was witnessing something special.  The feeling in the room was electric with everyone completely lost in the polyrhythms and endless white-hot solos being fired off from the band. It was easy, in the moment, to be oblivious to what was on the horizon.  

    In the coming days and months, that recording became something else completely. 75 Dollar Bill’s record “I Was Real” got good press, but the band couldn’t play to support it. Tubby’s, a new venue at the time, had just had its highest-profile show to date and now had to shut its doors. No one knew when things would return to normal.  The band released the recording as a “pay what you want” on one of the first “band camp Fridays.” Then, a label chose to press it to vinyl. Then Rolling Stone put it on its year-end list.  Suddenly, during a time when no one could go anywhere, a tiny venue in the Hudson Valley had a worldwide reputation. That recording became a reminder of what was and what could, hopefully, be again someday. Since that release, word has gotten out, and tons of excellent bands have come through, but it is safe to say that 75 Dollar Bill was the first “big” name associated with Tubby’s.  

    When Cory first mentioned that he was planning a large-scale celebration for Tubby’s fifth anniversary, 75 Dollar Bill’s inclusion seemed obvious.  The last set of the weekend to take place in the actual venue had to be them, and that’s precisely what happened.  The same lineup from that night in 2020, supplemented with three additional members, set up on the floor in the front room by the bar and took us on a journey.  

    The set opened with “Water in the Lock,” which should have been the first track on “Live at Tubby’s,” had I not missed the intro and started the recording halfway through. A run of “Tetuzi Akiyama” off the aforementioned “I Was Real” was next before the band jumped head-first into the meat of the set. First was a new composition titled “21,” in which the band stretched out to over 26 minutes of dense rhythms and solos. The night closed, just as it did in 2020, with a 20+ minute version of WZN#3 with Tim Barnes leading the charge on Maraca. 

    I recorded this set with the same little AT-853’s and Roland R-07 I used in 2020 blended with a soundboard feed from Tubby’s FOH team of Wil and Kyle.  The quality is excellent and full of life so enjoy it loud and be happy we can all celebrate music together in person again. 

    Download and stream from the live music archive.

    75 Dollar Bill
    2023-09-30
    Tubby’s
    Kingston, NY

    Source 1: SP-CMC-4U (AT853 cards, low sens mod) > SPSb-11 > R-07
    Source 2: SDB > MixPre 3
    Source 1 + Source 2 > Adobe CC (time align, EQ, compression) > Audacity (tracking, fades) > FLAC (lvl 8)
    Recorded and produced by kliked for nyctaper.com

    1. Intro
    2. Water in the Lock
    3. Tetuzi Akiyama
    4. 21
    5. WZN#3

    Thanks to Tubbys FOH engineers Wil for the patch and Kyle for the mix!
    This was part of Tubby’s 5 Year anniversary celebration.

    75 Dollar Bill Little Big Band:
    Rick Brown – Plywood crate, percussion
    Che Chen -Guitar
    Karen Waltuch – Viola
    Cheryl Kingan – Baritone Sax
    Steve Maing – Guitar
    Sue Garner – Bass
    Tim Barnes – Maraca
    Talice Lee – violin
    Barry Weisblat – cowbell, maraca
    Jim Pugliese – congas

    Support this excellent band:
    https://75dollarbill.bandcamp.com/

    Support the venues bringing you interesting music:
    https://www.tubbyskingston.com/music-calendar

    Seawind of Battery: August 10, 2024 Deep In The Valley

    August 27, 2024
    By

    Photo by Christopher Bruno

    The NYCTaper coverage of the 2024 Deep in the Valley festival continues with Seawind of Battery! 

    Mike Horn brought his Seawind of Battery project to open this beautiful day on the farm. Mike is no stranger to this blog, but it’s the first time we have featured him since the release of his gorgeous new album, “East Coast Cosmic Dreamscaper” on Warhen Records.  Mike was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of the album and I was instantly impressed with the direction he has taken this project.  He could have released “clockwatching pt 2” and made many people happy but chose to continue to explore ambinet landscapes finding a zone that’s more cosmic and less country. I don’t think Mike is close to running out of space to move this project. 

    On this afternoon the Battery powered us with its duo configuration of Mike on signature telecaster and effects and Jarrod Annis on lap steel. The set opened with “Maze of Roses” the first of three songs from the excellent new album.  It was followed with a personal favorite, “New Moon” which I first heard last summer when they come up to play Tubby’s. Structurally the tune remains the same but there is an obvious confidence that the duo, with a year more experience together, can now project. The cosmic dance feels more like cosmic swagger now. 

    Beginning  9/11, Mike will host a bi-monthly show with CAMP Radio (3pm EST / 9pm CEST) called “Battery Operated.” This show will be a sonic journey through experimental, psychedelic, ambient, cosmic Americana, and spiritual Jazz.  Tune in and get recharged!

    This was recorded from stage lip with my MBHOs and wonderful soundboard feed from FOH engineer Daniel Stout. The quality is fantastic! Enjoy!

    Download and stream from the live music archive!

    Seawind of Battery
    2024-08-10
    Deep in The Valley Festival
    From The Ground Brewery
    Red Hook, NY

    Source: MBHO 440 + SDB > MixPre 3 > SD (24/48) > Adobe Audition/Izotope 9 > Audacity Flac (lvl8) > Mp3Tag

    Recorded and produced by kliked for nyctaper.com

    Thanks to FOH engineer Daniel Stout for the board patch!

    1. Maze of Roses
    2. New Moon
    3. Supernatural
    4. Clockwatching

    Please support this excellent artist!
    https://seawindofbattery.bandcamp.com/

    Please support Raven Sings The Blues!
    https://www.ravensingstheblues.com/

    Photo by Christopher Bruno:
    https://christopherbrunophotography.pixieset.com

    Vague Plot: August 9, 2024 Tubby’s

    August 23, 2024
    By

    As if the 2024 Deep In The Valley festival wasn’t enough, the good folks at Raven Sing the Blues organized an incredible preshow kick-off the night before at Tubby’s.  This Friday night bill included Jeffery Alexander & The Heavy Lidders, Oneida, and appearing for the first time at Tubby’s, Vague Plot. 

    Vague Plot began as a jam session and coalesced into a full-time band with their first release on Island House. Their origins in jam sessions blur into their sense of composition. What’s spontaneous? What’s orchestrated? Does it matter when the when the results are thrilling? To me, it certainly doesn’t. Each of these tunes is filled with dynamic and interesting playing, from the dual guitar work of Zachary Cale and Uriah Theriault to the sax and keyboard excursions from Phil Jacob to the pulsing rhythm section of Ben Copperhead and John Studer.  A personal favorite of the night, “Time Blind” sees the band’s ability to weave ideas together into a patchwork of repetitive and hypnotic playing. Is it written? Is it a jam? Who cares, it sounds great! 

    Vague Plot has some September dates lined up including two (9/28 & 29) with Sunburned Hand of the Man and Jeffery Alexander & The Heavy Lidders. There is also a 9/12 show with long time favorites The Ladybug Transistor.  Get out and see a show! 

    I recorded this from my usual spot by the soundboard with the MBHOs and a board feed from Tubby’s FOH engineer Wil.  Enjoy! 

    Download and stream from the Live Music Archive!

    Vague Plot
    2024-08-09
    Tubby’s
    Kingston, NY

    Source: MBHO 440 + SDB > MixPre 3 > SD (24/48) > Adobe Audition/Izotope 9 > Audacity Flac (lvl8) > Mp3Tag

    Recorded and produced by kliked for nyctaper.com

    Thanks to Tubby’s FOH engineer, Wil, for the board patch!

    1. Moto2. Cyclic
    3. Bats from the Sky
    4. Time Blind
    5. F13 > Depot

    Vague Plot is:
    Phil Jacob: Sax, Electric Keyboard, Vocals
    Zach Cale: Electric Guitar, Vocals
    Uriah Theriault: Electric Guitar
    Ben Copperhead: Bass, Vocals
    John Studer: Drums

    Please support this excellent artist!
    https://vagueplot.bandcamp.com/album/crying-in-9

    Please support the venues bringing you interesting music
    https://www.tubbyskingston.com/music-calendar

    https://www.nyctaper.com

    Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders: August 10, 2024 Deep In The Valley

    August 19, 2024
    By

    Photo by Christopher Bruno

    The NYCTaper coverage of the 2024 Deep in the Valley festival continues with Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders! 

    Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders became the first group to play at the festival twice, having appeared in year one.  For this set, the core four were joined by Wednesday Knudsen (sax) and Ron Schneiderman (guitar), and John Moloney (percussion) fresh off their set with Sunburned Hand of The Man.  The septet configuration of the Lidders gave us a one-song set. One 45-minute version of the classic psychedelic mind fuck, “Dark Star.” 

    Phil Lesh once said, “Dark Star is always playing somewhere.  All we do is tap into it.”  On this day, Dark Star was being played in a field near an apple Orchard in Red Hook NY and the Lidders absolutely tapped into it. Rumor has it, upon playback, one member of the band had a full psychedelic experience complete with walls moving.  Live, it hit me so hard I was forced back to my camping chair to recalibrate for about ten minutes.  Your mileage may vary. 

    This was recorded from stage lip with my MBHOs and wonderful soundboard feed from FOH engineer Daniel Stout.  The quality is excellent.  Get your mind right and blast off! 

    Stream and download from the Live Music Archive!

    
    Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders
    2024-08-10
    Deep in The Valley Festival
    From The Ground Brewery
    Red Hook, NY

    Source: MBHO 440 + SDB > MixPre 3 > SD (24/48) > Adobe Audition/Izotope 9 > Audacity Flac (lvl8) > Mp3Tag

    Recorded and produced by kliked for nyctaper.com

    Thanks to FOH engineer Daniel Stout for the board patch!

    1. Dark Star*

    The Heavy Lidders are:
    Jeffrey Alexander – guitar, vocal
    Drew Gardner – guitar,
    Jesse Sheppard – bass
    Scott Verrastro – drums

    with:

    John Moloney – Percussion
    Wednesday Knudsen – Sax
    Ron Schneiderman – Guitar

    Please support this excellent artist!
    https://jerkfree.wixsite.com/website

    Please support Raven Sings The Blues!
    https://www.ravensingstheblues.com/

    Photo by Christopher Bruno:
    https://christopherbrunophotography.pixieset.com

    https://www.nyctaper.com

    SUPPORT NYCTaper




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