Category: Upcoming Shows

THE SILKS

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The Silks are a true grit rock and roll band out of Providence, Rhode Island. You could say The Silks are the rock and roll band from Providence. With two consecutive Boston Music Awards for “Blues Artist of the Year” 2016 and 2017  The Silks are well on their way to achieving a rightful place in rock n roll history, or at least folklore. Wait ’til you read the book. can’t make this sh*t up!

The Silks deliver honest sounds of the blues-based rock n roll variety. You’ve got guitar pyrotechnics galore from frontman Tyler-James Kelly. Chicken-pickin’ or taking a soaring lead break, it’s quickly apparent Kelly is on a whole’nother level. It makes you wonder just when did he get his first real six-string? Then there’s the voice. Bluesy, however you want to describe it, it just sounds like ripping a telephone book in half and feels like scratching a really good itch.

“I never wanted to be a solo artist, with a backing band,” says Kelly. “You can always get pros who can play behind you. But it doesn’t have the organic feel of a band. I don’t know what it is about playing with these cats. But we all totally lock in when we play. At the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of animals who want to rock. It’s not a careerist thing. We got together so we could f*ckin’ play music together.”  – Tyler-James Kelly

The Silks nail down the groove with its rhythm section of Uncle Sam Jodrey on drums, Jonas Parmelee on bass and Johnny Trama on rhythm and lead guitar. Fast songs, slow songs, it doesn’t matter. For this humble group of seasoned players, it’s all about the dance floor, and with the right chemistry, the dance floor reciprocates.

The Silks have successfully supported a wide variety of national touring artists such as The Replacements  in 2015, Rocky Erickson, Wanda Jackson, Dirty Heads, The Drive-By Truckers, Black Joe Lewis, Deer Tick, The Sadies, The Sheepdogs, Marcus King Band 2016, Patrick Sweany, Kenny Wayne Shepherd 2017,  G Love & Special Sauce and Marshall Tucker Band in 2018.

Lowlight*Underground Passages*The Adventuring Party*Alpha Rabbit

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Lowlight, the New Jersey-based, female-fronted synth-pop collective described as the state’s “hardest working and most fiercely loyal” outfit, has announced an exclusive, East Coast tour in support of Rock and Roll Hall Of Famers The Pretenders – just as the five-piece, self-described “roadhouse chic” band preps Born To Run, its second major release since 2016.

Lowlight’s Pretenders tour run kicks off in Miami on March 25, traveling up the East coast through South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, including a hometown gig March 30th at Red Bank, NJ’s Count Basie Theatre. The band also has a number of solo gigs in the mix, with stops in Baltimore, MD, New Hope, PA and elsewhere.

A full list of dates and ticketing links can be found at www.lowlightnj.com.

THE BAND

Although Renee Maskin (vocals) and Derril Sellers (guitar) were acquaintances and college classmates, their musical paths didn’t cross until years later when a mutual friend (rock photographer Mike Petzinger) brought Renee to Derril’s studio to record a solo album. Those sessions, which included Colin Ryan on percussion and Dana Sellers (Derril’s wife) on keyboards, formed the basis of the musical collaboration that became Lowlight.

After the departure of original guitarist Tony Aichele, Derril took over string duties, and with the addition of Rey Rivera on bass, Lowlight’s stability was born. It’s also what’s borne the band’s distinctively modern, yet uniquely Americana aestheti

TEMPEST

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Tempest celebrates their thirty years as a band with an exciting new album, “Thirty Little Turns”. Thirty years is a milestone for any band to reach. Yet, Tempest continues to bring their brand of electric folk and Celtic music to enthusiastic audiences. Tempest music is a vibrant, living and breathing demonstration of tales old and new.

Two songs bring us stories from the Jacobite Rebellion — the long, bloody attempt to return the British throne to the House Of Stuart. “Johnny Cope” is a based on a traditional Scottish song from the 1745 Rebellion, that tells of the British commander’s defeat at the hands of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army near the end of the conflict. “Battle Of Aughrim” goes back to one of the bloodiest battles of the rebellion which brought about the end of Jacobitism in Ireland.

“Thirty Little Birds” celebrates the many fans and fortunes of Tempest throughout their thirty years together, name-checking many they have met and count as friends to this day.

“Trolldans” is ‘a zippy little Norwegian folk song celebrating the Summer Solstice’, sung in Lief’s native Norwegian tongue. While clips of “Norwegian Wood” have long been a live-humor staple during band introductions, at fifty years of age, it’s one of the newest of the old English standards written by a couple of school chums from Liverpool.

“Lahard Chase” is lively medley of three contemporary reels highlighting the haunting fiddle of Kathy Buys.
“A Toast” is inspired by Viking lore with haunting lyrics about the longing for adventure and the bitter-sweet memory of leaving loved ones behind to keep the home fires burning.
“High Germany” refers to the ‘The Thirty Years War’,’ a deadly collection of wars fought in Central Europe for reasons including religious, dynastic, territorial, and commercial rivalries. (1618-1648) The lovely tune at the end is the Brambleberry Reel written by Kathy.
“Madeline Jones” Fond memories of childhood summer visits with Patricia’s mother’s kith and kin. A contemporary lyrical tale set in the faraway and fabled land of Mississippi. “Dedicated to Granny Gert and dear Maddy, who told us stories and put vanilla behind her ears.”
“Swarb” is a medley of tunes dedicated to the memory of the late, great fiddler Dave Swarbrick (1941-2016). A wonderfully happy tribute by the entire band to this master musician whose work with Martin Carthy and Fairport Convention continues to influence fiddle players and folk musicians to this day. Two of the favorite fiddle tunes of Dave himself join neatly with a tune written by Lief in honor of Dave.
Hailing from Oslo, Norway, founding member and lead singer/electric mandolinist, Lief Sorbye, is recognized as a driving force in the modern folk-rock movement. He started Tempest after years of touring and recording on the folk circuit. San Francisco fiddler Kathy Buys brings her international award winning playing to the Tempest stage. Her experience performing world-fusion music with high energy dance bands combined with many years of playing Irish traditional music in America and Ireland makes her a perfect fit for Tempest. Driving in from the North Bay area is Josh Fossgreen, an exceptional musical talent whose innovative bass textures add a rich dimension to the Tempest soundscape. And Northern California’s own young Indian-American progressive guitarist, Ab Menon, skids to a flaming stop on the Tempest stage, replete with flying dreadlocks, dazzling string stylings and a sense of ticklish fun. Cuban-born drummer Adolfo Lazo, an original Tempest member, colors the band’s sound with inventive rhythms, and rock-steady drumming.

THE ADVENTURE SOUNDTRACK

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The Adventure Soundtrack is 4-piece original rock band based out of northern New Jersey.  This quartet captivates any audience with their unique songwriting style, extended improvisation sections, and progressive rock tendencies.  Picking from an endless archive of original material written by guitarist Josh (Bird In Flight, Chill Bill) and songwriter Dan (Jared Styles).  In 2007, bassist Robert Fulton (Maurice Selkirk) joined the ensemble along with drummer Jeanne (Tammy Fay Wray).  The final addition to complete this force of sonic pleasure is keyboardist Sean Faust.

SONIC BLENDERS

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Sonic Blenders is an innovative power trio playing an array of beloved rock covers and hook-laden original songs. With Fran Heidkamp on Guitar, Pete Dunphy on Drums and Gary Karlsrud on bass, this combination of seasoned players delivers a tight, grounded, and energetic sound. This unassuming group of regular guys gets up on stage and quickly takes over with their sound that fits like a glove.

The band plays its own style of what has been deemed Free Range Rock, with covers and re-makes of favorites from bands like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Stone Temple Pilots, The Allman Brothers, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie. The trio’s approach is to pay tribute to the artist and the song, yet inject their own improvisation to make each performance something completely new. Their strong musical bearing guides their original songs, having a combination poetry, power and melody.

RAM

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RAM is a drum-roots-driven powerhouse band from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After 25 years of consistently producing quality music, we’re releasing our 6th album – the first in over a decade.

Ancient folkloric polyrhythms intertwine harmoniously with Punk Rock guitar riffs and swinging Caribbean keyboard melodies, led by the entrancing singer, Lunise, all combine for a truly magical experience on Thursdays at Hotel Oloffson – where RAM has consistently gigged for the last 25 years, as well as international concerts and festivals which include: the US, France, The UK, Mexico, and Brazil