New York City-based comedian and actor Todd Barry is widely recognized for his roles as the bongo-playing "Third Conchord" on HBO's Flight of the Conchords and Mickey Rourke's deli boss in 2009 Oscar winner The Wrestler, and renowned throughout the entertainment industry for his nuanced, measured, and thoroughly original approach to stand-up. Drawing audience members in with his deadpan self-deprecation and ability to pile punchline upon punchline, his decidedly low-key stage persona belies a deeply intelligent, often biting, occasionally absurdist worldview, one lauded by discerning fans who seek a fresh yet honest update to traditional observation and social commentary.
Boasting multiple stand-up appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and two Comedy Central Presents specials, and his latest one hour Comedy Central special Super Crazy. Todd's resume also includes such hit TV shows as Louie, Delocated, Bored to Death, Tim and Eric, Chappelle's Show, Sex and the City, and even Sesame Street. Among his additional feature-film highlights are Todd Phillips's Road Trip, Louis CK's Pootie Tang, and Mitch Hedberg's Los Enchiladas. You can see him soon at Sigourney Weaver's right hand man in Amy Heckerling's Vamps, and as Paul Rudd's co-worker in David Wain's Wanderlust. Internationally he has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival, the Vancouver International Comedy Festival, and Kilkenny, Ireland's Cat Laughs Festival.
Todd has been heard on both The Howard Stern Show and The Bob & Tom Show, and his albums Medium Energy, Falling Off the Bone, and From Heaven are available from Comedy Central Records, Amazon and iTunes. He has earned the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival's Jury Award, praise from Ricky Gervais as one of the best comedians of 2009, and accolades from The Onion's A.V. Club, which declared Medium Energy one of the best comedy albums of the decade.
Todd was the subject of a recent New York Times Arts section cover story, which referred to him as a "master of standup" and noted "when it comes to live performance, few comics are more consistently funny."
In April 2013 the Todd Barry Podcast debuted. It reached #1 on the iT
"Comedy savants revere this Conan and Letterman veteran's hushed, singsong sarcasm." Entertainment Weekly
"Piercing, blinding, slaying, violating wit." NPR
"Infuses his observational comedy with a wonderfully individual disdain." The Times of London
"He doesn't suffer fools, and fortunately for his comedy his definition of fool' doesn't discriminate." Pitchfork.com
"Acerbic wit, deadpan delivery and wickedly smart punchlines." Time Out New York
"Barry is so beautifully arid he is positively parched." London Evening Standard
"The success lies with the delivery, and in his ability to seamlessly merge ad-libbed material with his prepared schtick." The Age, Melbourne
New York City-based comedian and actor Todd Barry is widely recognized for his roles as the bongo-playing "Third Conchord" on HBO's Flight of the Conchords and Mickey Rourke's deli boss in 2009 Oscar winner The Wrestler, and renowned throughout the entertainment industry for his nuanced, measured, and thoroughly original approach to stand-up. Drawing audience members in with his deadpan self-deprecation and ability to pile punchline upon punchline, his decidedly low-key stage persona belies a deeply intelligent, often biting, occasionally absurdist worldview, one lauded by discerning fans who seek a fresh yet honest update to traditional observation and social commentary.
Boasting multiple stand-up appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and two Comedy Central Presents specials, and his latest one hour Comedy Central special Super Crazy. Todd's resume also includes such hit TV shows as Louie, Delocated, Bored to Death, Tim and Eric, Chappelle's Show, Sex and the City, and even Sesame Street. Among his additional feature-film highlights are Todd Phillips's Road Trip, Louis CK's Pootie Tang, and Mitch Hedberg's Los Enchiladas. You can see him soon at Sigourney Weaver's right hand man in Amy Heckerling's Vamps, and as Paul Rudd's co-worker in David Wain's Wanderlust. Internationally he has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival, the Vancouver International Comedy Festival, and Kilkenny, Ireland's Cat Laughs Festival.
Todd has been heard on both The Howard Stern Show and The Bob & Tom Show, and his albums Medium Energy, Falling Off the Bone, and From Heaven are available from Comedy Central Records, Amazon and iTunes. He has earned the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival's Jury Award, praise from Ricky Gervais as one of the best comedians of 2009, and accolades from The Onion's A.V. Club, which declared Medium Energy one of the best comedy albums of the decade.
Todd was the subject of a recent New York Times Arts section cover story, which referred to him as a "master of standup" and noted "when it comes to live performance, few comics are more consistently funny."
In April 2013 the Todd Barry Podcast debuted. It reached #1 on the iT
"Comedy savants revere this Conan and Letterman veteran's hushed, singsong sarcasm." Entertainment Weekly
"Piercing, blinding, slaying, violating wit." NPR
"Infuses his observational comedy with a wonderfully individual disdain." The Times of London
"He doesn't suffer fools, and fortunately for his comedy his definition of fool' doesn't discriminate." Pitchfork.com
"Acerbic wit, deadpan delivery and wickedly smart punchlines." Time Out New York
"Barry is so beautifully arid he is positively parched." London Evening Standard
"The success lies with the delivery, and in his ability to seamlessly merge ad-libbed material with his prepared schtick." The Age, Melbourne
The name Tony MacAlpine is synonymous with modern musical virtuosity. Whether performing as a solo artist, band member, session player, touring hired-gun, or as a producer, Tony MacAlpine continues to prove that he truly is one of rocks most amazing and versatile musicians. He incorporates classical, jazz and fusion influences into the hard rock/metal genre on both guitar and keyboards.
In his 28 year career he has produced, written and arranged eleven solo instrumental studio albums. Tony has also released four albums with his jazz-fusion band CAB, three albums with his progressive rock band Planet X, and a number of other band projects. In addition, MacAlpine has contributed both guitar and keyboards to a long list of records by other artists.
Tony was born and raised in Springfield Massachusetts, and in his early years was a classically trained pianist and violinist. He began his musical education at age 5 as a piano major at the Springfield Conservatory of Music, where he studied under the direction of Marion Jensen for twelve years. Tony furthered his studies at HARTT College under the tutelage of Professor Raymond Hanson at the University of Hartford, Connecticut.
At age 12, Tony picked up the guitar. He was later discovered in the pages of Guitar Player magazine by Mike Varney in 1984, and soon became a leading figure in the neoclassical guitar virtuoso movement of the mid to late 80s. MacAlpine was possibly the first new rock guitar instrumental artist of the 80s to break 100,000 units in the USA. His debut album Edge Of Insanity (1986) and sophomore release Maximum Security (1987) are cited by countless guitarists as major influences. Tony performed guitar and keyboards on Edge Of Insanity (with Billy Sheehan on bass and Steve Smith on drums), and all instruments (with the exception of drums by Deen Castronovo and Atma Anur) on Maximum Security, highlighting his musical dexterity.
MacAlpine continued his extraordinary output into the 90s, with critically acclaimed releases Freedom to Fly (1992), Madness (1993), Premonition (1994) and Evolution (1995), which all remain among his discographys best sellers.
In the late 90s, Tony joined forces with Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Billy Idol) and Virgil Donati (Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth) to form progressive rock band Planet X, regularly touring
Europe and South America. In 1999, bassist Bunny Brunel (Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock) tapped MacAlpine to join his jazz-fusion band CAB, along with drummer Dennis Chambers (John McLaughlin, Carlos Santana) and keyboardists Brian Auger (Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix) and Patrice Rushen (GRAMMY-Awards Musical Director). This lead to the release of their self-titled album in 2000, and their GRAMMY-nominated CAB2 album in 2001. Two further CAB albums followed and the band toured the world, particularly Europe, Asia and Russia.
Shortly after, Tony was invited to join the band of fellow guitar virtuoso Steve Vai (along with Billy Sheehan on bass) where he played both guitar and keyboards, often doubling Vais formidable leads on both instruments. Tony performed and toured the world with Vai for seven years, playing to hundreds of thousands of people, and appearing on the certified double-platinum DVD Live At The Astoria, London, along with the G303 Live In Denver and G3 Live In Tokyo DVDs.
In 2006, Shrapnel Records celebrated Tonys 20 year career with Collection The Shrapnel Years an album containing some of his hottest musical moments comprised of aggressive rock and fusion compositions which highlight Tonys incredible technique and melodic flair. These tracks contain standout performances by some of the greatest musicians in progressive music, including drummers Steve Smith and Deen Castronovo as well as bassists Billy Sheehan and Tony Franklin and other world class players.
In 2007, Tony was the featured guitarist for French pop legend Michel Polnareffs highly successful comeback tour in France, playing to over half a million people during the tours three month run. A special performance of this event was televised across France. He also appeared in the 2008 award-winning motion picture Crazy: The Hank Garland Story making a cameo as Wes Montgomery.
In 2011, Tony made a highly anticipated return to solo work, with his self-titled album Tony MacAlpine released in the USA and Europe on June 21. It features 12 blistering tracks of MacAlpine on 7 and 8-stringed guitars, keyboards, bass and programming, along with appearances from drum legends Virgil Donati and Marco Minnemann. The album garnered widespread critical acclaim Premier Guitar magazine calling it one of the best instrumental records of 2011.
In 2012, Tony joined forces with Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Winery Dogs), Billy Sheehan (David Lee Roth, Mr. Big) and Derek Sherinian (Billy Idol, Joe Bonamassa) to form the super group PSMS. The band toured Europe and Asia and released the live CD, Blu-ray/DVD Live In Tokyo.
In 2015, Tony released Concrete Gardens, featuring Brazilian drum icon Aquiles Priester (Primal Fear, Hangar, Angra), bassist Pete Griffin (Zappa Plays Zappa, Dethklok, Shining) and a guest appearance by Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, Conquering Dystopia, Nevermore). The album included an accompanying DVD and EMGtv web series featuring Tony and band (Aquiles Priester, Pete Griffin, and guitarist Nili Brosh) performing the album live in the studio.
Unfortunately, shortly after the subsequent US tour, Tony was diagnosed with colon cancer, and was forced to cancel tours of Europe, Asia and Australia, and immediately undergo treatment. In a double blow, Tonys wife was diagnosed with breast cancer around the same time. In December 2015, his fellow musicians banded together for A Benefit for Tony MacAlpine at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, featuring performances from Steve Vai, Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Derek Sherinian, John 5, Zakk Wylde, Paul Gilbert, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Richie Kotzen, and hosted by Eddie Trunk. The show also combined with an auction featuring items donated from a whos who of rock royalty.
In the later stages of Tonys recovery in 2016, he supported Steve Vai on the west coast run of the Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Tour; and performed dates in France as the guitarist in Michel Polnareffs band.
On September 1, Tony released his 12th solo album Death of Roses. The 7-track album is the first of a 2-part release, and features Hungarian drum sensation Gergo Borlai, and Pete Griffin returns on bass. His North American tour in support of the album kicks off on September 1. Innovative Venezuelan 14 & 16-string guitarist Felix Martin will be supporting on all dates.
Tony endorses Ibanez guitars, Hughes & Kettner amplifiers, EMG pickups, Ernie Ball strings, Source Audio pedal, and Roland keyboards.
Tony likes motorcycles. He lives in Pasadena, CA.
Blue collar honky tonk heroes from Austin Texas. The working man's working band.
"Steak Night at the Prairie Rose" was recently listed at #17 on Rolling Stones Best Country/Americana Albums of 2018
Time as a band breeds experience, yielding commitment to a cause and cementing a career path. This is something Plague Vendor has learned. The foursome, who emerged from a practice space in Whittier, CA in 2009, started by playing endless live shows around Southern California, filling everywhere from backyard parties to clubs to festivals with their raucous, formidable music. At the heart of every show, no matter the venue, was sincere energy and spirit, always resulting in a snarling, frenetic performance. The shows stacked up, accumulating every year, and eventually birthed Plague Vendors 2014 debut album Free To Eat, a dark, thrashing collection that clocked in at less than twenty minutes.
But the album, brash and aptly terse, was just an appetizer to the main course. The bands sophomore effort, Bloodsweat, vastly expands on the sonic territory explored in their debut. Recorded over the course of two weeks in April of 2015 with producer and engineer Stuart Sikes (The Walkmen, Cat Power, Modest Mouse), the album takes a natural approach to Plague Vendors music. The musicians aimed to capture each track in as few takes as possible, avoiding many overdubs and embracing the same minimal production they bring to their live performances. Nearly all of the eleven songs on Bloodsweat were heavily road-tested, imagined and re-imagined live before ever making it into the studio.
From opening number Anchor To Ankles to closer Got It Bad, Bloodsweat reveals a purposeful narrative arc, taking the listener through songs that veer rapidly from aggressive thrash to melodic introspection. Together, the songs recount the last few years of the musicians lives, revealing the sacrifices theyve made and the dedication theyve embraced to become the band theyve become. Jezebel, the discs flagship single, exemplifies the style Plague Vendor has dubbed voodoo punk a dance-fueled rock aesthetic tinged with shadowy darkness. The bands influences, which range from At the Drive-In to Liars to The Cramps, are apparent but not overly obvious throughout.
Plague Vendors live show has shifted as theyve developed these new songs, too. Theyve swapped out shock value for raw vulnerability onstage and the four musicians aim to create the most sound and the most intensity with the least possible utility and equipment. Palpable tension comes from the sense that anything could happen, but mostly Plague Vendor is interested in simplicity and the sort of expressive nakedness that can come from stripping everything away. Its clear the band has sacrificed their formative dont-give-a-fuck punk attitude for sincerity and gratitude, acknowledging the fans whove helped them arrive here now.
Bloodsweat invokes its own name as it unfurls, its songs edged with a sense of danger and vulnerability. Its the product of a band who have traveled far and whose travels have committed them even further to themselves. As you hear it, as its songs surge outward, it announces: This is who Plague Vendor is now.
Plague Vendor is:
Brandon Blaine Vocals
Luke Perine Drums
Michael Perez Bass
Jay Rogers Guitar
Instrumentalists bear the burden of communicating musical ideas without the aid of lyrics or storytelling proper. For many years, thats how 2018 Americana Award nominee Daniel Donato operated as the guitarist for Nashville acts like The Wild Feathers, Paul Cauthen and The Don Kelley Band.
From age 14, Donato has developed his brand of crisp, soulful, on-the-edge telecaster picking under bar lights, honing his skills and proving his mettle within the citys prominent live music scene. All the while, a growing love of songwriting mirrored the pace of his ever-improving guitar chops.
Now, a short three years after his departure from Kelleys classic country outfit, the 23-year-old is signed to WME as an artist with a docket of jam-ready country and bluegrass songs. Backed by his three-piece Cosmic Country Band ¬¬ cosmic country is a catch-all term for experimental roots music, often assisted by electronic sounds Donato stands at the frontier of his career with characteristic intrepidity, no longer bounded by the expressive limitations of his instrument.
His strident voice and explorative songwriting carry his music into new territory, offering bold ideas to his fan base while staying true to what drew them to him in the first place: a palpable love of music delivered through excelled craft. With one eye on the nights gig and another on the ages, Donato is continuing his journey down country musics long and winding road, leaving no stone unturned.
2019 BMA Award Nominee The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band are the greatest country-blues band in the world. Led by Reverend Peyton, who most consider to be the premier finger picker playing today. He has earned a reputation as both a singularly compelling performer and a persuasive evangelist for the rootsy, country blues styles that captured his imagination early in life and inspired him and his band to make pilgrimages to Clarksdale, Mississippi to study under such blues masters as T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour and David Honeyboy Edwards. Now The Big Damn Band is back with an explosive new record and world tour. Reverend Peyton's guitar work on the new record Poor Until Payday is phenomenal and howls the blues. Poor Until Payday is a bluesy ode to the blue collar - working class and it delvers in spades!
Lowland Hum is wife and husband team Lauren and Daniel Goans. Together they invite their listeners to share in the space of vulnerable intimacy they have formed over years of steady collaboration. In the live setting, the duo offers an immersive experience of thoughtful songcraft interspersed with audience interaction and extemporaneous songs about the day's happenings. Their recordings take listeners on a journey through relatable, imagistic poetry exploring themes of memory, longing, confession and identity, and drawing attention to often unnoticed resonances of the everyday.
Daniel and Lauren are a prolific, two-person creative factory basing their operation in Charlottesville, Virginia. They write, arrange and produce all of their own music, and have honed a cohesive design aesthetic to match the hushed simplicity of their sound.
The duo's beginning starts with Daniel, a songwriter, performer and producer from North Carolina. Daniel and Laurens creative worlds first collided one hot, Greensboro summer in 2010 when Daniel asked Lauren to design the album art for a solo record he was working on. Having once heard Lauren singing to herself at a party, he eventually coaxed her into singing some harmonies on that same album. This was Lauren's first experience with recording. Previously, her performance experience consisted of her middle and high school chorus classes, which, in her own words, provided her with a strong connection to melody and harmony in a context that was well-suited to her shy disposition.
Initially, Lauren performed with Daniel, singing harmonies on songs he had written, but within a year or so, the two began cowriting and arranging virtually all of the material together. Lowland Hum formed officially in 2012, a few months after the two were married and their collaboration deepened. In the years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut Native Air (2013), the duo has tirelessly toured the country, spending more time on the road than at home. In 2014 they followed up their debut with Four Sisters, a conceptual EP and video series, and then, in 2015, they released their eponymous sophomore full-length album, garnering a slew of praise, including an NPR First Listen. Lowland Hum has performed in diverse settings all over the country ranging from folk festivals, art museums and theaters to living rooms and gardens. During their time off the road, Daniel produces albums for other bands.
Lauren's background in visual art asserts itself in the duo's collaboration significantly. She has created all of the band's artwork and design as well as several transportable installation pieces that served as additions to the bands live performances. She is also responsible for an impressive collection of music videos often using found footage from public domain archives. Over the years, Lauren has designed five editions of handmade lyric books that the duo passes out to audiences so they can read along and interact more deeply with the lyrical content of their songs if they so choose.
Lowland Hum's songs have been described as poetic and evocative, and their arrangements minimal, hushed and dynamic. They continue to attract a growing body of listeners around the world. Daniel and Lauren spent the summer of 2016 creating their third full-length album in a friend's attic. The album, Thin, came out on February 10, 2017, and is their "deepest collaboration to date" according to the band. They completed a nationwide headline tour, sharing the stage with the likes of Josh Ritter, Jesca Hoop and Penny and Sparrow along the way. After playing a handful of festivals last summer, the band embarked on a nationwide tour supporting Penny and Sparrow followed directly by a five week European tour.
In the first months of 2018, Lowland Hum toured the US supporting The Oh Hellos and released a compilation EP of recordings from the first two years of the bands existence. Between tours in the summer and fall, the band will complete the recording of their fifth full length LP, to be released in early 2019.
Garage Space is a group of musicians from McKeesport Pennsylvania. The sound is a mixture of rockabilly, surf, folk, with punk and hardcore undertones.