Location: Kingston NY

Provocative, irreverent, controversial and wildly creative, Amanda Palmer is a fearless singer, songwriter, playwright, blogger and an audaciously expressive pianist who simultaneously embraces – and explodes – traditional frameworks of music, theater and art.

Amanda first came to prominence as one half of the internationally acclaimed punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. In May of 2012 she made international news when she broke all previous crowd-funding records on Kickstarter pre-selling her new album, Theatre is Evil, along with related merchandise and “experiences” via Kickstarter. Theatre is Evil went on to debut in the “Billboard Top 10” when it was released on Sept. 11, 2012, and has been released in over 20 countries on her own label, 8ft records.

Amanda was invited to present a “TED Talk” at TED’s 2013 Conference. To date her Talk, “The Art of Asking”, has been viewed more than 7.7 million times worldwide. 2013 also saw the release of “An Evening with Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer”- a 3 CD collection of tracks culled from a live tour with her husband and best-selling author Neil Gaiman.

2014 found Amanda expanding her philosophy into a book after the success of her TED Talk. The Art of Asking was released world-wide on Nov. 11^th and made the New York Time’s Best Seller List. She is now making songs and art with the financial backing of over 9,000 committed patrons on the new crowdfunding/subscription website Patreon.Com.

http://amandapalmer.net

Spirit Family Reunion began singing together on the street corners of New York City in 2009. Since that time they have travelled the highways of America delivering raw, high energy, honest music. They have shared the stage with musical heroes such as Pete Seeger and Levon Helm, and have given notable performances at festivals including Stage Coach, Austin City Limits, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and the legendary Newport Folk Festival three times.

The band has self-produced and self-released two full-length studio albums – “No Separation” (2012) and “Hands Together” (2015) – along with multiple songbooks and other collections of recordings. They are currently working on a new record.

http://spiritfamilyreunion.com

For over 30 years Amadou Diallo studied the rythms of Senegal, Mali and Guinea. People thought he was crazy, everyday singing and playing the Sufi drum (Hrim) on the streets of Dakar, Senegal.

But that was where he wrote so many of M’Bollo’s songs, and he knew one day he would bring his music to a wider audience.

Then in 2001 a miracle happened, and he got a contract to come to the U.S. playing djembe with the African Ballet Bugerabou.

Amadou settled in Rosendale, NY and in 2010 formed M’Bollo with local musicians The Schikowitz brothers.

Mbollo means “be together” and the music brings together the rich tapestry of African rhythms with western instruments and styles.

Together they reunite the western instruments with their African roots. The bass singing the “dun dun” (African bass drum ) and the banjo singing like “Ekonting”( ancient African banjo)

Yard Sale consists of seasoned and talented professional musicians Taylor Davis (banjo/vocals), Charlie Schikowitz (multi-instruments/vocals), and Theo Schikowitz (bass/vocals)and Rick Birmingham(guitar/vocals).

INFLUENCE & INSPIRATION
The outfit, formed in 2010, woke up in the midst of the Great Recession and decided that
American audiences longed to hear authentic tales of classic crisis. Yard Sale tunes are
sung from the heart in 4-part harmony with a sense of pride, purpose, and dark humor.
They deal with topics of country-fried angst like drinkin’ and cheatin’ and going for
broke while going broke. But they also invoke the soulful beauty of R&B, the uplifting
anthems of gospel, the lonesome melancholy of bluegrass, and the steamrolling
syncopation of early 20th century riverboat minstrels and hobo jug bands.

STAGE PERFORMANCE
Yard Sale’s stage presence invokes genuine high-energy Vaudevillian carnival barker
theatrics. Shows typically include amateur auctioneering, for example, and the hawking
of actual garage sale items like used auto parts, secondhand VHS tapes, and dog-eared
romance novels. The cumulative impact is that the band generates the contagiously
explosive spontaneity of a moonshine-fueled barroom brawl. So everyone in the audience
gets swept up in a boot-stomping hoedown of hip-shaking proportions.

“Well, I woke up this Evening feeling purple, pink and green, dressed in black. Looked at my Fears and they told me that they’re never coming back. It Don’t Get Much Better Than That.”

Soundcloud.com/brotherschoice

The Brooklyn based songwriter first found solace in her guitar, composing escapist songs with fantastical stories and catchy choruses. A four piece Air Waves serves up fantastic imagery with unforgettable melodies with named influences such as Neil Young, The Clean, and the Velvet Underground. Passive towards trends, image, genre and all things on the periphery of being in a rock band, there is a genuineness in Nicole’s voice that echoes throughout every aspect of Air Waves, cutting straight to the essentials of communicating something larger than words.

Critics have labeled Air Waves as everything from sparse pop to surf rock, a sign that Air Waves does what every great band in their time has managed to do – find a way to be both comfortable and compelling in being themselves while creating a body of work beyond genre classification. Already in a short time span Air Waves have not only made a name for themselves in Brooklyn, but elsewhere by touring extensively down both the East and West coast sharing the stage with such notable acts like Cat Power, Songs: Ohio, Beach House, Dan Deacon and The Rapture to name a few.

In 2010 Air Waves released their debut LP, Dungeon Dots, on Underwater Peoples Records. The newest album to be titled Warrior, coming out in February includes Kevin Morby and Mary Timony. The album further proves Nicole and her bands ability to craft perfect pop tunes.

Albany’s Jouska has been called many things since emerging from up- state New York’s underground DIY scene last year, most of which have little commonality other than clashing definitions: authentic, angsty, dreamlike, discordant, experimental, somber and uplifting to name a few. One blog even categorized the quartet’s debut full-length as “ghost-rock.” It’s a curious term, but apropos as the nine tracks on the gorgeous, captivating Topiary transmit as both otherworldly and achingly mysterious. Nevertheless, for all its ethereal qualities, the album is not unclassifiable … providing you can embrace Topiary’s impressive depth and ambition. As evidence, Jouska expertly navigates post-rock’s ebbs-and-flows and the dreamy, atmospheric soundscapes of shoegaze while exploring emo’s earnestness and simultaneously traversing lo-fi bedroom pop that’s awash in reverb and a lackadaisical-yet-consoling vocal delivery.

Most notably though, Jouska never loses sight of accessibility. The band’s range is terrific and its mastery over dynamics, restraint and momentum is unmatched. Still, it’s the knack for lush melodies and the ability to continually build upon instrumental passages before hitting critical mass which make for a truly special listen. Simply put, Topiary is spectral and weighty, yet completely satisfying and rewarding. It’s a record that begs to be revisited and gives back with every absorbing spin.

http://Jouska.bandcamp.com