[JAM] Despite (or perhaps because of) the flood of music provided by the internet, it can be a struggle to find substance. TAUK is an instrumental band from Oyster Bay whose sound often gets lumped into the jam scene, but if it’s substance you’re looking for, this band provides it with their mentally stimulating jams. While that may imply endless noodling, these guys actually have a tight focus.
[ART] Months ago, the Albright-Knox started conversations with the community about possibilities for expansion: What could the museum look like if it fixed its structural problems, including a new loading dock, and be able to host traveling exhibitions, while exhibiting more than five percent of its collection? If you have any interest in how this vital compo
[COMEDY] Josh Wolf has a penchant for potty humor, “medibles” – medical marijuana edibles – baseball caps, and fatherhood. A regular round table guest on Chelsea Lately, he’s had a hand in several ventures in Chelsea Handler’s empire: contributing to Handler’s bestselling books and frequenting her reality show, After Lately. He also hosts a podcast, Off the Rails, with Sara Colonna.
[ROCK] When life closes a door it opens a window, and SomeKindaWonderful happens. After a failed record deal with Interscope, Jordy Towers wound up at a townie bar in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, where he met Matt Gibson (guitarist) and Ben Schigel (drummer). In drunken, rock-and-roll fashion, they jammed out to “Reverse”—the tune that would soon become their first single. Behind a noir, St.
[AMERICANA] Davey O doesn’t need much more than his honey-sweet tenor and Gibson guitar to produce hauntingly beautiful Americana, bending time to his will. Multi-instrumentalist Sara Elizabeth harmonizes aspects of folk, blues, classical, and modern indie to offer up traditional compositions in her own nuanced image. They’re both local songwriters by profession, but at heart they’re storytellers.
[ROCK] Toronto’s the Sadies have spent their career straddling the line between punky garage rock and country/western twang. Between their own releases, they’ve worked with higher-profile artists like Neko Case (as the backing band on her live album, The Tigers Have Spoken), X’s John Doe, Mekons, Jon Spencer, and Blue Rodeo. They’ve even backed Neil Young.
[FUN] Electronica and performance art collide in the quirky world of Shawn E. Lewis’s Lesionread, turning convention on its head. Lewis takes the Girl Talk approach, facing the crowd with a table of doodads in front of her, boogieing to her own groove—but the comparison ends there.
[ROCK] Fusing the high-octane energy of classic rock with the twang of outlaw country, the Barry Brothers have been stirring crowds since their 2011 inception in Hume, New York. They’ve gone on to earn national accolades by way of combining witty storytelling with rabble-rousing instrumentals.
[ROCK] Wolf does, indeed, howl… and it’s one of the biggest assets of this solo-act-turned-fem-led trio. Chelsea O’Donnell’s voice is thick, muscular, and pitchy in the best ways: there’s nothing waif-ish happening here, and it injects a welcome, no bullshit punk honesty to the band’s lo-fi melodies.
[EMO] Among other musical genres, the 1960s gave us folk, psychedelia, and soul. The 1970s—glam, heavy metal, funk, and punk. In the 1980s rap, synth pop, and house were born, followed by rave, grunge, and alt-rock in the 1990s. The 2000s gave us only a few new genres (discounting sub-genres): freak folk, dubstep, grime, and emo. Whether we like it or not, these will be the legacies of this generation. A forefather of one of these genres, emo, is coming to Buffalo this week in the form of The Get Up Kids.
[FOLK] Melissa Ferrick is a music industry survivor. After a pair of discs for Atlantic followed by a trio for the indie imprint What Are Records?, Ferrick went rogue in 2000, founding her own label and taking full charge of her career. The aughts digital transition caught her by surprise, however, and she ended up making some costly miscalculations. Despite rigorous touring and a devout fan base, Ferrick refinanced her house twice to stay afloat.
[JAM] People active in Buffalo’s music scene have heard of Aqueous.The kings of the Queen City jam scene seem to always be on the road, and this year is no different. The band just wrapped up their first trip to Colorado and is already lining up the festival dates. Before they pick back up in Ithaca, guitarist David Loss and drummer Ryan Nogle will be making some music at Buffalo Iron Works this Thursday, March 19, as Bass–Guitar.
[POP] Michael Bolton has been making women swoon for decades with a voice and lyrics that melt hearts. Singing classics like “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You,” his place in the music of love has been solidified. The singer comes to the Seneca Niagara Casino this Saturday, March 21.
[R&B] Dru Hill—yes that Dru Hill—is coming to Buffalo. The soulful, hip hop group from the late 1990s is making a comeback of sorts. Most known for their songs “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Never Make a Promise,” the group is currently in the process of recording their fifth album, set to be titled The Second Coming. If your memory is foggy, the most successful member, Mark Andrews, also goes by his stage name Sisqó and released the popular hit song “Thong Song” in 1999.