Our last show in NYC was a good two months ago and it is about time to hit the stage here! Come out to our next gig on Friday, October 17 at Rockwood Music Hall 1am. Rock with us because we’ve got some new songs to introduce!
Mandy will also debut some stellar new dance moves. Think Blue Steel meets Gangnam style with Beyonce like booty action and Este Haim bassface. Is the world ready for this? Be there to find out!
Hazlitt Winery on Seneca Lake hosts a happy hour every Friday from 5-8 where folks can sip on delicious wine while enjoying the beautiful view of vineyards, the lake, and live music by local bands. Even though we moved out of Ithaca, I still feel local to the finger lakes region, and I was so happy when we were invited to play the Hazlitt Happy Hour last weekend. We blended a mix of Rungs songs with Diwas’s Nepalese songs and a long list of our favorite covers. It was quite refreshing to play a nice long set. After playing so many of those ‘hurry up and get on stage you have 5 minutes to set up and 30 minutes to play and then you gotta breakdown fast!’ it felt really nice to be able to just keep playing. The happy hour takes place in a large covered outdoor deck called ‘The Oasis’ which houses a bar, seating area, restrooms, and a place for bands to set up. Having grown up in Florida, I couldn’t help but feel like I was on a beach deck that somehow landed in the middle of upstate NY. It was awesome.
Here is a pic our friends caught of us, thanks guys!
I don’t know what I like more about being in a band, playing shows, writing music, recording songs… I love it all! Recently we’ve been playing more shows than anything else. The show a few weeks ago at Rockwood was a lot of fun and we had the pleasure of meeting up with some of our out-of-town friends who happened to be in NYC that night.
Last weekend we returned to the lower east side to play a gig at Leftfield joined by our friends Beloved Binge on tour from North Carolina. They are another guy girl duo and like us, they are married! They had such a powerful energy in their performance of songs about their own personal life experiences, the aging of relatives, eating a vegan diet, and funny life lessons. Find their music here: http://belovedbinge.bandcamp.com/album/pockets-2
Every new venue we play here has its own charm. Getting to experience that is something I love about shows and I really like the crazy music filled lower east side. We’re trying to stick to one show a month right now, but finding it hard to resist playing more! I was not able to get video from the past two, but we do have pictures! ( thank you friends for taking these 🙂 )
‘It’s that time of year again!’ is what I say to myself around mid July every summer when the Trumansburg Fair Grounds transform into a festival.
For the past
..wow I think it’s been 10 years, the Grassroots Festival has been more than a time to party, listen to awesome music and dance for four days straight. For many who once lived in upstate New York, its the time of year they come back to visit, a chance to reunite and let loose with old friends. That’s why I was so happy when Diwas invited me to play guitar during his set. The crowd was filled with so many friends and it felt amazing to share that musical experience with everyone. I’m crossing my fingers that next year The Rungs will get accepted to play!! Even though we weren’t on the schedule this year, we managed to squeeze a few songs in during the Diwas Gurung set 🙂
Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of meeting the man behind the Azltron Music Blog at the Ithaca Festival. Today he shares an interview covering the formation of our band, how we write songs and what’s in store for us this summer. Check it out here!
Hailing from Oswego, Azltron is a major supporter of the upstate NY music scene. The blog covers photos and reviews of live shows in nearby cities, band interviews, and music reviews. June marked the beginning of a music series organized in partnership with ZINC Shirts, a screen printing shop and live music venue in Oswego. We will be heading up to Oswego to participate in the series this fall and we are super excited!
Now, since I’m a plant science nerd, let’s say that music blogs today are the soil and all of the unsigned indie bands are the plants. Without the support of blogs like Azltron, we would just be shriveled seeds!
That is why we are super thankful for this interview and the other bloggers that have supported us since the release of our EP in January. (aka nurtured our root growth, if you know what I mean – winky winks 😉 )
Now where you come in – you can be the water. Tweet this interview, or support Azltron music blog however which way you desire, and let’s keep this little music ecosystem alive!
We’re opening for our friends coming all the way from North Carolina, Schooner! We played with these guys last year in Ithaca and became instant fans. With combined influences of grunge, pop and indie, Schooner produces an inventive sound, yet still maintains a familiarity that instantly drew us in. And their live performance is rippling with energy. Bam. Instant fans! Come on out to Cameo Gallery 6/20 to catch the show!
Here is a link to the Facebook event, and line up below:
Schooner (10:30)
on Neighborhood Veins:
This gauzy, blown-out, beautiful pop record is the crowning achievement for Schooner and singer-songwriter Reid Johnson…an album that doesn’t ignore the past, doesn’t ignore the yesterdays good and bad that brought on today, but it also never falls into over-sentimentalizing loss and avoids the all-too-obvious trap of nostalgia. Pop Matters (8 out of 10)
http://schoonermusic.com/
Air Waves (9:30)
Critics have labeled Air Waves as everything from sparse pop to folky punk, 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.
http://airwaves.bandcamp.com/
The Rungs (8:30)
A duo you won’t want to miss, The Rungs bring you sparkling synth pop, unique guitar play and feel good vocals. Reminiscent of synth bands from the early 80’s, and with a discernible reference to Southeast Asian instrumentation, it is catchy, inventive, and bright!
Pre War (7:30)
Pre War formed at the height of the financial crisis, and the bottom of the housing market in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Fuzz rockers fresh from the exhilarating break up of their former outfit, Conversion Party, reconvened and decided to keep going, start over, write new songs.
http://prewar.bandcamp.com/
So many artists came together to rock Motown songs Thursday night at The Bitter End! The Leave a Lasting Mark event raised over $1900 for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America and was sponsored by Noble Steed Music and Funkadelic Studios.
The ladies of the night really made this event special for me. With so many beautiful and talented female musicians there was definitely some strong girl power in the air! Performing covers of Motown’s girl groups, like the Marvelettes and the Supremes, you gotta bring the GP!
Here are some shots from the practice the night before the show. I want to introduce you to some of these lovely ladies and their music!
From left to right
– Amy Rivard Singer/Songwriter, she has performed on Broadway and in over 30 countries with shows like Celtic Woman, Riverdance and The Roy Orbison Story.
– Ebonee Reigne New York based singer and model with a voice that dazzled everyone at the show!
– Jenn Summers Singer-songwriter with the indie record label Noble Steed Music, she brings a feel good beach vibe with her upbeat songs and has a cd release show coming up 6/18 at Rockwood Music Hall.
– Jenni Alpert Pop songstress with haunting, powerful, and sultry voice. She has independently performed in over 14 countries and her music has been featured on many major Network Television shows.
– Kate Steinberg She is a composer, performer, songwriter, session singer, music supervisor, vocal and piano instructor, musical theater enthusiast, and multi-instrumentalist based out of New York.
– and who is that last weirdo all the way on the right?? hehe 🙂
Now above we have Jonatha Brooke here on the right. She has been writing songs, making records and touring since her early days in Boston with her band The Story on Elektra Records. She currently has three musicals in development: Quadroon, with legendary jazz pianist Joe Sample; Hopper, and Death and Venice, both with playwright Anton Dudley.
And on the left is Michele Zayla, an amazing vocalist who has performed with Pink Floyd cover band The Machine. Her vocals will mesmerize you, whatever ‘it’ is, she’s got it!
I didn’t get photos of them, but Wendy LaManque is another talented vocalist who nailed her Supremes cover. And Annie Halo rocked the bass! She is also a sound engineer based in New York.
(PS: to all the guys, you rocked too!)
Now how could I not have an awesome night in the presence of all this talent?! I’m looking forward to the upcoming Leave a Lasting Mark events. There will be a Motown encore in Central Park on July 10th and back to The Bitter End on August 11th!
Oh and last but not least, there is video of each song on Leave a Lasting Mark you tube channel!
Here we (the rungs) are with our ‘Please Mr Postman’ cover!
When we first pulled up to the Greenpoint Gallery, we thought we might have made a wrong turn. Sitting across the street from a large overpass and sandwiched in between big warehouses, the address we were looking for did not exactly seem like a venue. It turned out to be super cool! Large rooms with artwork that covered the walls from the floor to the ceiling, people everywhere dancing and having fun, the high stage with motion sensitive lights, and the pet wolves that the property owner called his pets made for a pretty eventful evening.
When we started our set, we realized that we left a piece of our equipment back in Ithaca, but we were able to make do without it. At first it was a real bummer, but the next day I received a text from a friend who found it on the stage right where we left it! How awesome is that?! Major thanks to that dude 🙂
And the host of the event at the Gallery, Carlos, was the nicest guy! I am so glad we were able to be part of the launch party fundraiser for his film, ‘Last Day.’ You can still donate to help fund the making of this film, find more information here: http://www.runningfilmmaker.org/
Here we are getting eaten by some of the awesome art:
A clear sky, warm sun and cool breeze combined to form the perfect weather for this year’s Ithaca Festival. The annual summer celebration is notoriously hit with downpours, but that never stops the town from enjoying the festivities. With our set scheduled for 2 PM on Saturday, I was thrilled to see such a positive forecast! No rain boots needed?? Yay!!
What do the residents of Ithaca NY do after the Cornell students leave? Celebrate!! With an annual weekend festival featuring a lively parade, lots of live music, dance, delicious food, craft vendors, and summer craziness. Our set is Saturday May 31st 2:10pm at the Cayuga St Stage. Lots of other great musicians on the schedule this year! Check it out:
Diwas will also be playing with Gabe Tavares and Sisu Powder The Moon at 4pm on the MLK Junior St Stage. Then, it is straight back down to Brooklyn for the Launch Party 🙂 (see previous post)
Two gigs in one day? OH YES!
therungsband.com 