Friday, May 26th, the Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival present Corner House at The Coffee Bar in Bennington, Vermont.

This special performance of Billy Wylder will also feature Avi Salloway of Bombino and Hey Mama. They make their way to The Coffee Bar in Bennington, Vermont on Thursday, May 11th for an evening of music.

Spafford are known for their astonishing improvisational ability and off-the-cuff extended jams, Spafford paints a picture in real-time each night with a musical palette known only to each other. It’s a private language comprised of both their talent as musicians as well as their formidable catalog of influences, spanning 90’s alt-rock radio hits to Steely Dan and The Crystal Method. Each Spafford show is a sonic pilgrimage, the journey of a team of musicians so in tune with each other that a single note communicates intent and purpose. Spafford is amongst the most creative and hard-traveling bands on the contemporary jam scene, performing countless sold-out headline dates along with high profile festival sets at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Firefly Music Festival, and many others.

Perpetual Groove
Based in Athens, GA, Perpetual Groove is a long-time well established touring act with an enthusiastic fan base and international critical acclaim. Dubbed PGroove by their fans, their music has been best described as anthemic trance arena rock. Their large catalog of original music offers something for everyone. The addition of an intense, retina-burning, intelligent light show creates an atmosphere unlike any other, assuring fans they’ll get a highly polished, yet different show each night. With the recent addition of drummer Darren Stanley (Col.Bruce Hampton, Jimmy Herring The 5 of 7, Larkin Poe, Oz Noy, Peter Rowan) Perpetual Groove has positioned themselves to enter an entirely new era with a fresh perspective and sound. Almost 20 years into their career, Perpetual Groove continues to showcase the evolution of their cultivated music and performances. This is a band that is fully realized and ready to bring their sound, storytelling, and live experience to the masses.

Social Assassins
Guitarist Gabriel Akhmad Marin, known for his work with genre-hopping fusion stalwarts Consider The Source, assembled a new group of psychedelic all-stars to push the boundaries of instrumental music yet again.

Social Assassins features scene luminaries drummer Marco Cirigliano (The Pickle Mafia, Aku), bassist/multi-instrumentalist Nick Joz (Peter Evans, Stefa), and electronic guitarist Sage Xavier (Aku), and takes an organic, groove-oriented approach to Gabriel’s signature blend of traditional sounds and futuristic fury. Sailing over a roiling ocean of Marco’s hypnotic, electronic-inspired beats, his fretless guitar is the lead vocalist, accompanying choir, and wall of analog synthesizers all-in-one.

The songs are a blend of original compositions, improvised moments, and traditional music from Eastern Europe, all filtered through trance-inducing textures ranging from rock, to dub reggae, to ethereal folk and wrapped neatly in catchy song forms. Social Assassins offer a massive, exciting live experience full of virtuosic instrumentalism and raw, fun energy.

X make their way to Empire Live for a rescheduled show from last summer. 

Catch an evening of X music on September 25th.

Set against the foothills of the beautiful Berkshire mountains, it’s FreshGrass! North Adams is a family-friendly festival with the best in bluegrass and roots music filling the fields, courtyards, and galleries of MASS MoCA—the largest contemporary art museum in the country (gallery admission included with all tickets!). Along with world premieres, emerging artist competitions, farm-fresh food, local brews, and pop-up jam sessions, this is three days of festival magic produced in partnership by MASS MoCA, the FreshGrass Foundation, and No Depression.

The FreshGrass North Adams 2023 lineup is here featuring Dropkick Murphys Acoustic—playing songs from their two albums with the lyrics of Woody Guthrie – plus acoustic arrangements of all your DKM favorites—Lukas Nelson + POTR, Sierra Ferrell, Rhiannon Giddens, The Devil Makes Three, Aoife O’Donovan premiering a FreshGrass Composition Commission, Allison Russell, Mighty Poplar featuring Noam Pikelny, Andrew Marlin, Chris Eldridge, & Greg Garrison, and so many more!

FreshGround camping is on sale now. Learn more & book a campsite here.

Learn more about FreshGrass | North Adams at freshgrass.com

Set against the foothills of the beautiful Berkshire mountains, it’s FreshGrass! North Adams is a family-friendly festival with the best in bluegrass and roots music filling the fields, courtyards, and galleries of MASS MoCA—the largest contemporary art museum in the country (gallery admission included with all tickets!). Along with world premieres, emerging artist competitions, farm-fresh food, local brews, and pop-up jam sessions, this is three days of festival magic produced in partnership by MASS MoCA, the FreshGrass Foundation, and No Depression.

The FreshGrass North Adams 2023 lineup is here featuring Dropkick Murphys Acoustic—playing songs from their two albums with the lyrics of Woody Guthrie – plus acoustic arrangements of all your DKM favorites—Lukas Nelson + POTR, Sierra Ferrell, Rhiannon Giddens, The Devil Makes Three, Aoife O’Donovan premiering a FreshGrass Composition Commission, Allison Russell, Mighty Poplar featuring Noam Pikelny, Andrew Marlin, Chris Eldridge, & Greg Garrison, and so many more!

FreshGround camping is on sale now. Learn more & book a campsite here.

Learn more about FreshGrass | North Adams at freshgrass.com

Set against the foothills of the beautiful Berkshire mountains, it’s FreshGrass! North Adams is a family-friendly festival with the best in bluegrass and roots music filling the fields, courtyards, and galleries of MASS MoCA—the largest contemporary art museum in the country (gallery admission included with all tickets!). Along with world premieres, emerging artist competitions, farm-fresh food, local brews, and pop-up jam sessions, this is three days of festival magic produced in partnership by MASS MoCA, the FreshGrass Foundation, and No Depression.

The FreshGrass North Adams 2023 lineup is here featuring Dropkick Murphys Acoustic—playing songs from their two albums with the lyrics of Woody Guthrie – plus acoustic arrangements of all your DKM favorites—Lukas Nelson + POTR, Sierra Ferrell, Rhiannon Giddens, The Devil Makes Three, Aoife O’Donovan premiering a FreshGrass Composition Commission, Allison Russell, Mighty Poplar featuring Noam Pikelny, Andrew Marlin, Chris Eldridge, & Greg Garrison, and so many more!

FreshGround camping is on sale now. Learn more & book a campsite here.

Learn more about FreshGrass | North Adams at freshgrass.com

On Saturday, August 19th, the The Dark Horizon Tour brings both In This Moment and Motionless In White to the MVP Arena in downtown Albany.

Join Old Saratoga Mercantile as they shut down their parking lot and celebrate the return to live events. Parking will be available at the Corn Maze (corner of Route 29 & Burgoyne) and shuttle buses with provide transportation over to A Day of Fun for Everyone. Members of Annie in the Water will be on hand for music and sharing their Balloons IPA collab with Northway Brewing Co. You can also plan on enjoying the incredible creations of The LAN Chef!

Head down to The Coffee Bar in Bennington, Vermont to catch an intimate show with Jordan Tice on Wednesday, April 19th.

Ben Harper
Ben was raised in a hub of activists, poets, artists and of course great musicians.
They included frequent patrons such as Chris Darrow, Leonard Cohen, Jackson
Browne and Taj Mahal – the latter of whom gave Ben his first major tour and
asked him to record Follow the Drinking Gourd with him (1990), all of which
culminated in playing with Taj on Austin City Limits (which would become the
first of five times Ben would be on the show).
Born October 28, 1969 as the sixties came to a howling end, and having been
raised in such a potent community, Ben’s music and career embodies that
musical brilliance, open mindedness, lyrical honesty and abiding social activism
of that pivotal time. With over 15 million records sold worldwide, the career of
this multi-GRAMMY® award-winning musician, producer, activist and now,
record label founder, spans decades, during which he has been established as a
singularly powerful songwriter and performer with range across multiple genres
with a rare ability to blend the personal and political.
After his successful tour and record release with Taj Mahal, Ben returned to
California and in 1992 teamed up with childhood friend Tom Freund to record
Pleasure and Pain. In 1993 Virgin Records offered Harper a worldwide
recording contract and he released his debut, Welcome to the Cruel World in
1994. The album was created with musicians who would eventually become
known as the Innocent Criminals (percussionist Leon Mobley, bassist Juan
Nelson and drummer Oliver Charles). What makes the band so unique is that
they come from different places musically and complement each other because
of the different styles that they play. This led to a string of successful and
critically acclaimed albums and the accolades poured in. Rolling Stone hailed
his “jewels of unique and exquisitely tender rock & roll,” while Entertainment
Weekly praised his “casual profundity,” and Billboard said his music “reminds
us of the power and beauty of simplicity.”
Many albums with various iterations of the Innocent Criminals followed
including: Fight for Your Mind (1995); The Will to Live (1997); Burn to Shine
(1999); Live from Mars (2001); Diamonds on the Inside (2003); Both Sides of
the Gun (2006); Lifeline (2007) – for which he was nominated for Best Pop
Instrumental GRAMMY® and Call It What It Is (2016).
Harper’s need to continually explore every aspect of creating music has led him
to some brilliant and highly acclaimed collaborations, both as a performer and
as a producer. In 2004 Ben and the Innocent Criminals backed The Blind Boys
of Alabama resulting in the collaborative album There Will Be a Light. They
were awarded the GRAMMY® for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album and
Ben won the Best Pop Instrumental Performance GRAMMY®. In 2007 Ben
assembled a new band which he called Relentless7 and went on to release White
Lies for Dark Times (2009) and Give till it’s Gone (2011). 2010 saw Harper
team up with Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur and they released a self-titled
album as Fistful of Mercy. In 2013 Ben teamed up with Charlie Musselwhite
and the duo created two records, the first, Get Up! (2013) which won the Best
Blues Album GRAMMY® award, followed by GRAMMY® nominated No
Mercy in This Land (2018) which won the Blues Foundation Best Blues Song of
the Year.
His credits as a producer illustrate Harper’s musical curiosity and include an
impressive diversity: Tom Freud, Collapsible Plans (2008); Grace Woodroofe,
Always Want (2010); Rickie Lee Jones, The Devil You Know (2012); Natalie
Maines, Mother (2012); Mavis Staples, We Get By (2019) that Harper also
wrote and sang on, garnering them the prestigious Folk Alliance Album of the
Year Award; Birdthrower, Birdthrower (2019); Christopher Paul Stelling, Best
of Luck (2020) and Hey, King!, Hey, King! (2020).
For many of these artists Harper not only produced the music but also helped to
find a label to release it, using his vast network, insight and knowledge of the
music industry to find these gems the right home.
2020 also saw Harper break more new ground with the October release of his
first ever instrumental record – Winter Is for Lovers – which unfolds entirely
without words. It is a profoundly emotional story told exclusively through the
nuance of sound. The narration is provided by a single lap steel guitar and the
music references blues and folk as well as flamenco, Indian and classical, but it
transcends any specific style. In that, the album philosophically evokes the
American Primitive movement pioneered by John Fahey and Leo Kottke,
utilizing masterful playing to create an impressionistic and affecting work.
Harper’s social activism has continued throughout his career and has seen him
support a broad array of organizations and events including LIFT, Living Lands
and Waters, Moveon.org, Newlight, Pat Tillman Foundation, Plastic Pollution
Coalition, Surfrider Foundation and Tony Hawk Foundation.

TIPPING POINT TOUR PART II
TEARS FOR FEARS
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
COLD WAR KIDS
JULY 2ND
7:30 PM
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, APRIL 7TH AT 10 AM
www.LiveNation.com
Ticketmaster
*Tickets subject to applicable service charges. Price subject to change without notice.

THE 75th ANNUAL ALBANY TULIP FESTIVAL

EQX Main Stage Saturday set times:
Precious Metals 1:30
Karina Rykman 3:00
Guster 4:30

Presented by Keybank May 13 & 14, Washington Park 11am – 6pm
FREE www.albanyevents.org / 518-434-2032 for more information
or albanyNYevents on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram
The Tulip Festival is a showcase for all things Albany; from the
beautiful Washington Park setting to the focus on local traditions,
businesses, vendors, and artists, the Festival is true cross-section
of the Albany area’s culture.
We are thrilled to back! We will present local music on EVERY stage
again this year.
Kicking off the WEQX Tulip Festival Saturday Main Stage at 1:30pm,
its Capital Region new favorites PRECIOUS METALS. • The band’s
high energy alt-rock sound pulls from the early 2000s emo explosion
and 2010’s indie rock revival.
• Established Capital Region musicians Mateo Vosganian,
Jesse Bolduc and Chase Keener.
• They have performed PearlPalooza, Wisconsin’s
Mile of Music and played the inaugural Bacchanalia festival
At 3:00pm, we welcome KARINA RYKMAN.
Karina Rykman plays bass, sings, jumps around,
and laughs a lot. In doing so, she has garnered a rare attention
and avid listenership.
• You may have seen her rocking out on the bass with
Macro Benevento a few years ago at Alive at Five!
• Karina has performed major festivals such as Bonnaroo,
Peach Music Festival and Sweetwater 420.
• Karina has made television appearances on The Today’s Show,
America’s Got Talent and in the 8G Band on
Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Headlining the WEQX Tulip Festival Main Stage at 4:30pm is GUSTER!
• American alternative rock band from Boston, known for their
unique live shows and large dedicated fan base.
• Guster has always maintained a close relationship with its
fans and extensively tours, at time splaying up to 250 shows a year.
More on Tulip Fest 2023: – City Gardener Jena Commerford and
her small crew planted approximately 248,000 tulips bulbs in
175 different varieties throughout Albany and you can find nearly
155,000 bulbs in Washington Park.
– Tulip Fest kicks off with the Street Scrubbing on Friday, May 12th
at noon at State & Lodge Streets – a tradition dating back to the
first Tulip Fest and the heritage of Holland, where the streets
were always scrubbed clean before a big celebration.
In Washington Park May 13 & 14: – 75th Anniversary of Tulip Festival
– 100’s of vendors including food, craft and fine art.
– The Price Chopper/ Market 32 Tulip Festival KidZone,
featuring fun for the whole family! Continuous live entertainment
all day, including live performances, rock climbing wall, pony rides
for the kids, face painting and more!
– Crowning of the 2023 Tulip Queen: Saturday at noon on the
Lakehouse Stage The Tulip Queen & Court work together on
community service and educational projects year-round.
Nominations open now at AlbanyEvents.org
– Crowning of the 2023 Capital Region’s Best Mom: Sunday at noon
on the Lakehouse Stage Nominations open now! Visit www.timesunion.com/capitalregionbestmom
– Even more local music from the T-MOBILE 518 Stage on
Saturday from SPACE TRASH, FRANK PALANGI, OHZHE & T.V. DOCTORS
FREE parking and CDTA shuttle service to and from the park from
Eagle Street Garage and Elk Street Parking Lot.

Catch a show with Bully as they make their way to Lark Hall Albany on Wednesday, September 20th.

Make your way to Joe’s Field in North Adams, Massachusetts on the campus of Mass MoCA to catch an evening of music from Pixies, Modest Mouse, and special guest Cat Power.

Get out to Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York for a co-headlining show with Pixies and Modest Mouse along with special guest Cat Power on Friday, August 25th.