Thursday, August 17, 2017
Brooklyn Raga Massive to Visit Hudson
Posted By Peter Aaron on Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 9:00 AM
- Sachyn Mital
- Brooklyn Raga Massive
Rooted in Indian classical music but inspired by Western classical, jazz, and rock, Brooklyn Raga Massive pairs sitar, tabla, sarod, bansuri flute, and other traditional Indian music makers with guitar, banjo, violin, cello, and various Western instruments to create a sound that’s at once otherworldly and truly worldly.
As evidence, I submit this clip of the group performing a bit of “In C” here:
Brooklyn Raga Massive will perform “In C” at Hudson Hall in Hudson, New York, on September 1 at 7pm. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door. For more information, call (518) 828-1438 or visit http://hudsonhall.org/.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Vanishing Hudson Valley
Posted By Hillary Harvey on Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 9:00 AM
In 2005, writer Sari Botton and her husband, a musician, were casualties of hyper-gentrification. After a long, legal battle, they were evicted from their large, bohemian apartment on Avenue B in New York City, and moved to the Hudson Valley, eventually settling in Kingston. Their old place was renovated, designated a landmark building, and rented to a famous film director for four times what Botton paid. Upstate, Botton began to collect other women’s stories about leaving New York, including long-time Kingston resident Valerie Eagle and TMI Project Executive Editor Eva Tenuto, eventually editing (and contributing a piece to) the bestselling essay anthology Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving & Leaving NY.
Since 2007, “Jeremiah Moss” — the pseudonymous writer behind the popular Vanishing New York blog and author of Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul – began chronicling the shuttering of New York City’s beloved establishments due to quickly rising rents. Hyper-gentrification, a term he coined, is just what it sounds like: rapid, unsustainable growth that edges low-to-middle income communities out of cities through unaffordable living expense increases. Moss believes the culprit is a shift toward neo-liberalization in city government, where developers and corporations are prioritized to the detriment of citizens and small business owners. An activist, he’s even staged protests in support of businesses who were about to lose their leases.
Botton and Moss began corresponding in 2013. Botton says she’s a huge fan of Moss’s. When she received a press release for his book, which was just released in July, she knew she needed to bring him to Kingston. “Because this is where a lot of people who lost their places in New York City come,” Botton says. “I want to know how we can encourage growth in Kingston without running into the kind of hyper-gentrification that leads to people getting displaced.”
On Friday, August 18th, Botton and Moss will be in conversation at Kingston’s City Hall to do just that. Botton wants to discuss zoning which includes affordable housing, imposing a vacancy tax, and the role artists play in gentrification, and to hear Moss's ideas for Kingston and other cities like it. The conversation is well-timed, as many Hudson Valley towns are being squeezed by gentrification. “We need to play a different part if we want a different outcome,” Botton explains.
Vanishing New York Blogger/Author Jeremiah Moss Joins Local Writer Sari Botton for a Conversation About Hyper-Gentrification at City Hall’s Council Chambers, 420 Broadway in Kingston: Friday, August 18th; 6-8pm; free. Learn more on Facebook or email kingstonwritersstudio@gmail.com.
A conversation between Moss and Botton was recently published on Longreads.com, where Botton is Essays Editor. Read an excerpt of Moss’s book, which The Golden Notebook will have for sale at Friday's event in Kingston.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
WGXC Lodge Returns to Round Top
Posted By Peter Aaron on Tue, Aug 15, 2017 at 9:00 AM
Thanks to the internet it streams all over the world, but Columbia and Greene county residents are lucky to be able to tune in WGXC, their own community radio station, right on their car or home radios (90.7-FM). On the air since 2011, the station serves up a 24/7 schedule of highly diverse music, transmission art, locally oriented talk, varying opinion, and other content. But being a volunteer-operated, community-supported operation with no commercial advertising, WGXC relies on the donations of its listening audience for its sustenance. Thus, the station holds regular pledge drives and fund-raising events. One of the latter is Lodge, a two-day happening that makes its fourth return to the charming Reidlbauer’s Resort on August 26 and 27.
Lodge 2017 features two full nights of live music from Laraaji, Larkin Grimm, Pigeons, Kraus, Alexander Turnquist, Nick Millevoi, Lily and Horn Horse, Scratch Ticket, Devin Gary & Ross, and DJs Lunar Moss and Peter Brauch. Experimental sound artists Rory Solomon and Elia Vargas and others will present their works. Food, drink, and other on-site activities are available throughout the weekend, and the music will be broadcast live at wgxc.org.
Here are the magical Pigeons, who I profiled for the October 2015 issue of Chronogram:
WGXC’s Lodge 2017 will take place at Reidlbauer’s Resort in Round Top, New York, on August 26 and 27. Tickets are $15 in advance, or $20 on each day of the event. For tickets, an event schedule, and more information, visit wgxc.org.
Monday, August 14, 2017
The Kingston Artist Soapbox Derby Reboots
Posted By Hillary Harvey on Mon, Aug 14, 2017 at 10:00 AM
For twenty years, the Kingston Artist Soapbox Derby has been a staple of the Kingston arts scene. Every August, the parade of gravity-run, kinetic sculptures roll, scootch, and waddle down Broadway, from Spring Street towards the waterfront, one at a time, as spectators cheer, laugh, and, in recent years, vote online, from their perches behind a protective barrier of tires that line the curb. The homemade entries may fall apart or run askew during the “race” but, prized for ingenuity and creativity, whatever happens as the cars make their way down Broadway, it’s all part of the fun. The contest culminates in a rally-style lineup and a wacky awards ceremony with one-of-kind artist-designed trophies. Now, with a fresh pair of organizers who affectionately call themselves the Derby Directors of Chaos, the family-friendly arts happening takes place this year on Sunday, August 20th, on the Rondout.
After the one-two-punch of urban renewal and IBM’s departure left the once bustling community of the Rondout desolated, the arts community moved in to do what it does best: revitalize. Attracted by the remaining historic structures, with their Kingston-made brick, grand entryways, and life-size windows, a couple of forward-thinking artists, who had a particular eye for beauty and history, began to attract a current of other artists, museum-builders, small business developers, and restauranteurs. One night in 1995, over margaritas and blue corn tortillas, they devised a way to really jump-start the re-discovered waterfront neighborhood: with an arts festival designed to attract a fun-loving community to enjoy the Rondout’s renewal.
Through 22 years of ups and downs, the Kingston Artist Soapbox Derby has recently come under new management, in consultation with the original organizers. Sarah Bissonnette-Adler and Sarah Olivieri (the latter is owner of the co-working and event space and cafe, PivotGround, on lower Broadway) are breathing new energy into the Derby with larger prizes and rebooted categories. There’s a 13 and under Youth Category, a themed category, and the Rondout Reject, where entrants compete for last place. The grand prize People’s Choice Award was recently increased to $1000. It all serves to achieve the Derby’s mission of “giving money to artists for making art.”
Beyond the day of the event, the Derby sponsors workshops for entrants who need some extra help, and encourages local community organizations to join in the fun and build a soapbox car as a team. Two nearby early childhood programs, Hillside Nursery and Livingston Street Early Childhood Community, have been joining little forces to build a Derby car every year since 2015. “As two early childhood programs located on the Rondout, it's vital to take part in the fabric of our community by engaging with the multitude of wonderful resources and people in our neighborhood,” says the programs’ owner and director, respectively, Cheryl Demuth. “The soapbox derby is a great way to do just that!”
Since last winter, Bissonnette-Adler and Olivieri have worked within the local community to foster relationships and excitement for the Derby with several fundraiser dinners that have been hosted at volunteers’ homes. With very little overhead needed to facilitate the event, 95% of the money raised goes back into the community in the form of prize money. Co-Chair Bissonnette-Adler says it’s more about creating community, supporting community, and making connections, admitting, "There wouldn’t be a Derby without the community.”
The Kingston Artist Soapbox Derby on lower Broadway between Spring Street and Gallo Park in Kingston: Sunday, August 20th, check in and assembly at 10a in front of the Arts Society of Kingston (ASK), cars roll at noon; entries are $45, or $35 for kids category, and free to watch! Local restaurants and shops will be open. For more info see the Derby website and check their Facebook page for updates.
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Rene Bailey Celebrates New Album in Rosendale
Posted By Peter Aaron on Thu, Aug 10, 2017 at 9:00 AM
Yes, the Hudson Valley has a wealth of musical greats. But Miss Rene Bailey is one of the most indispensable. The vocalist, who leads the six-piece traditional Dixieland/swing ensemble the Saints of Swing, has lately been finishing up making her first solo gospel album, which she’ll celebrate with a performance at the Rosendale Theater on August 20.
Across her decades-long career, Bailey, who will be the long-overdue subject or my Music column in the September 2017 issue of Chronogram, has performed with some of music’s greatest legends and was a mainstay and the late Peg Leg Bates’s famed local country club. She began by singing gospel in her native Georgia before moving to New York to pursue a career in jazz and blues clubs. This month’s date at the Rosendale Theater celebrates her new record and benefits the theater as well.
Check out this promotional video for the new release:
Rene Bailey will perform at the Rosendale Theater in Rosendale, New York, on August 20 at 3pm. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. For more information, call (845) 658-8989 or visit www.Rosendaletheatre.org.
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Hope Rocks Festival Happens in Saugerties
Posted By Peter Aaron on Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 9:00 AM
A week ago, I let you know about Saugerties’s recent FH Festival, which was held to raise awareness about the opioid crisis that has impacted our area. Today we’ll talk about another cause-oriented event coming to the town for two days this month: the Hope Rocks Festival, which happens on August 19 and 20.
Organized by local singer-songwriter Ian Flanigan in partnership with A&R company Nightcap Entertainment, LLC, the Hope Rocks Festival (formerly the Morse Rocks festival) features local talent as inspiration for those who suffer from addiction, depression, and social isolation. Slated to appear are over the two-day fest are the John Schrader Band, For No One, Human Extinction, the David Kolker Band, Frank Palangi, Porcelain Helmet, and 20 other bands and solo artists.
A special component of the festival is a collaborative record release party featuring three local acts on August 19 that will celebrate the release of three separate albums by three area acts: the Paul Luke Band, Hobo Jungle (featuring guitarist Jimmy Eppard), and Flanigan himself.
Here, Ian Flanigan performs earlier this year:
The Hope Rocks Festival will take place at the Keirsted Dutch Barn in Saugerties, New York, on August 19 and 20. For a performance schedule and more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/hoperocksfestival/.
Monday, August 7, 2017
Peachtopia
Posted By Hillary Harvey on Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 10:03 AM
It’s the height of the summer harvest, and Fishkill Farms, an apple orchard and diversified fruit and vegetable farm in the town of East Fishkill, is celebrating with their annual peach harvest festival, Peachtopia, on Saturday, August 12th. With a bounty of pick-your-own juicy peaches and nectarines, a full menu of farm-fresh food and beverages, and live music, Peachtopia is the perfect way to experience the sweetness of peach season.
Fishkill Farms is a historic apple orchard that has been in the Morgenthau family for nearly a hundred years. Forty acres of apples, peaches, nectarines, black currants, cherries, and pumpkins are available in season for pick-your-own. Committed to supporting the land so it will nurture people for generations to come, their vegetables are grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and they use "IPM" or Integrated Pest Management to help minimize chemical inputs in their orchard. At Fiskkill Farms, there are berry patches, greenhouses, pasture-raised hens, and a farm store, which is open 9a-6p, seven days a week.
For Fishkill Farms’ Peachtopia this year, they’re channeling New Orleans vibes. The Tin Pan band will play a mix of rough and tumble jazz and blues from 12p-4p, and fiddler, Ian Moore, will be skipping through the orchard to entertain the little ones from 10a-2p. They’ll be putting on an old-fashioned crawdad boil served with andouille sausage, lemon, and butter, with peachy summer desserts like cobbler and melba. Pair it with local beer, wine, and cider at the Treasury Cider Garden, open 12p-6p, where they’ll be crafting a Sparkling White Peach & Cider Bellini, and pouring Treasury Hard Ciders and Millbrook wines, with Newburgh Brewing Company’s Cream Ale on tap.
Don’t miss the wagon rides, running all day to and from the peach trees, and outdoor kids' activities on the hillside!
Fishkill Farms’ annual summer harvest festival, Peachtopia, at 9 Fishkill Farm Road in Hopewell Junction: Saturday, August 12th, 10a-4p; $5 per person, kids ages 12 and under, CSA Members, and Farm Members are free. Learn more at their Facebook event. Raindate is Sunday, August 13th.
Also on August 12th at Fiskkill Farms is a farm-to-table dinner, where they’re partnering with John Lekic of Le Express and his Farmers and Chefs food truck for a four-course meal, crafted to showcase the finest produce the Hudson Valley has to offer, including Fishkill Farms’ own organic vegetables and sustainably grown fruit. It’s after Peachtopia, running from 5:30-9p. Purchase tickets here and get admission to Peachtopia included.
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Evolfo Headlines ToeJam 421 Festival in Milton
Posted By Peter Aaron on Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 9:00 AM
The summer’s still flowing and so are the Hudson Valley music festivals. Got a couple more that didn’t make my June rundown to lay on you, starting with the third annual ToeJam 421 Festival, which kicks off August 19.
Profits from ToeJam 421 will go toward the Vinny Pezzella Scholarship in Trumbull, Connecticut, to help provide college tuition for a student pursuing a future in the musical arts. Acts set to appear include Evolfo, Band of Young Saints, Dakota Jones, Dante Felice and the Marlboro Daisies, the Mellowells, Mr. Amen Yearns, Wanderer Skies, and Whaler.
Check out Evolfo performing “Last of the Acid Cowboys”:
ToeJam 421 will take place at Toenail Orchards in Milton, New York, on August 19 from noon to 3pm. Tickets are $25-$40. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/549428041930647.
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Eat Drink 28 | Gourmet Row Grand Opening
Posted By Leah Habib on Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 6:00 AM
Those who have ventured up 28 on their way to Woodstock know that a selection of six artisanal locally-owned food and beverage shops exist.
At these independent stores, hungry patrons are delighted by everything from fine wines to specialty groceries.
Now, the six business have come together to form Eat Drink 28 a one-stop culinary collective. Eat Drink 28 is made up of Blue Mountain Bistro-to-Go, Cheese Louise, The Wine Hutch, La Bella Pasta, Hookline Fish Co. and KBBK Kombucha.
Since its opening in 2007, many have enjoyed the high-quality house-made takeout offered at Blue Mountain Bistro-to-Go. Specializing in eclectic comfort food, and delicious baked goods, this shop boasts a great selection of gourmet groceries and doubles as a catering company.
More than 250 international and national cheeses are available at neighboring Cheese Louise in addition to breads, cured meats, crackers, caviar, oils, and freshly made foods and soups.
While nothing goes better with cheese than wine, for a choice of over 500 wines visit the Wine Hutch. This 1,800-square-foot store offers liquor as well.
Newbies on the block KBBK Kombucha migrated from Brooklyn in 2015. Specializing in fermented products like house-made tempeh and kombucha, they sell kombucha brewing kits as well.
Hookline Fish Co. sells different cuts of Northwest-style hot-smoked salmon, plus dishes salmon chowder, quiches, and pate. All of the salmon is smoked and the dishes are made in-house.
The oldest business in the stretch, La Bella Pasta, family-owned and operated since 1985, creates fresh-made raviolis, sauces, and pastas.
"We are looking for a way to make more people realize that a rare and wonderful collection of gourmet shops have found a home in this lonely stretch of Route 28. Most folks speeding past at 50mph don't realize what they're missing. Now, we hope they will slow down, pull in and give their stomachs a treat,” said Skip Card, owner of Hookline Fish Co.
On Friday, August 4 Eat Drink 28 will celebrate its grand opening from 4 to 7pm. All six businesses will hold open houses, providing samples of their products to the public. Eat Drink 28 is between Kingston and Woodstock in the 900 block of Route 28 near West Hurley, next to the Onteora Lake trailhead and across the highway from Woodstock Harley-Davidson.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Saugerties Music Festival Combats Opioid Crisis
Posted By Peter Aaron on Tue, Aug 1, 2017 at 9:00 AM
It’s common knowledge that opioid addiction is the leading epidemic facing the U.S. today. It’s also no secret that it’s had a devastating impact on upstate New York, particularly in our region, the Hudson Valley. Having had many friends in the music community over the years who’ve struggled with the condition—most of whom have not survived it—I welcome any opportunity that comes my way to combat this sickening scourge. Today’s post, which is to get the word out about the FH Festival, a music event in Saugerties on August 5 designed to raise awareness of the issue and commemorate the loss of 33-year-old Normand Ducas, is one such opportunity. I’ll leave it up to you to determine what the “FH” stands for. (Right on.)
From the festival’s Facebook page: “The goal of this event is to bring awareness to [the growing local heroin/opiate epidemic], and raise the remaining burial funds for the Ducas family after losing their beloved Normand. Food will be served all day, raffles and bake sales will be held, vendors will be present with a primary focus on addiction and recovery, and live music from 17 different artists and bands all day! Please come out and support this event and let’s begin putting our community back together.”
Among the acts performing are Whiteout, Mattrix, Upgrade, Dom Gotti, and Painmask. Here’s video for Whiteout’s latest single:
The FH Festival will take place at the Saugerties Elks Lodge on August 5 from noon to 8pm. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/109337513058391/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22page%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22page_upcoming_events_card%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A[]%7D]%22%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D.
Hudson Valley Events
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Sun., Aug. 20, 12 p.m. — Parade of non-motorized kinetic sculptures....
