Peter Broderick has accomplished so much in the past two years. Appearing on over twenty recordings ranging from Horse Feathers to She & Him to the Library Tapes along with various releases of his own, Peter has demonstrated his supreme musicianship in many different settings.

On September 23rd (in the US and various other release dates and labels throughout the world), HUSH Records released Home, Peter’s second full-length album to come out this year. The album differs drastically from his previous solo efforts with the noted absence of violin and piano, which drove everything up to this point. As per the liner notes, Peter wished to channel the folk and vocal music he’d grown up listening to with his parents for this album. He certainly achieved that goal while filtering these influences through his dynamic abilities as a composer and arranger. More »

Despite our trip to Rhythm & Roots Reunion falling victim to a last minute family emergency, I must admit there was plenty to enjoy at home this weekend.

Friday night saw the close of the Albany Public Library’s “Garage Band” series with Swamp Baby and Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned taking over the library garage for a spell. Swamp Baby took their set time to get their Zaireeka on with each of the four band members setting up in each corner of the garage. The harsh acoustics of the opposing concrete surfaces were rendered useful, finally with their amplified guitars, violins and affected Casio keyboards filling the room equally and beautifully. Our “hike guide” for the evening, Nick Matulis, lead us through some careening forests and scary stories (see Bryan Thomas’ excellent pics of the event over at The Hidden City) with some gorgeous free improv percolating below and above throughout. I won’t spoil the magic ending, but let’s just say it was quite magical indeed. Sgt. Dunbar impressed quite a few people with a few new/rarer songs including a Tim Koch original to kick off the night, and the “bluegrass version” of their song “The Weight” (the original version is available for free download here). More »

You’ve gotta love the spirit and heart of those wise-beyond-their-years Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned folks. Look what they did on one of their days off on tour: why of course, serenade the Merge Records folks across the street from their office. Check out Merge’s blog for their account of this drive-by Albany-ing!

1. Ride your bike / car / legs and listen to the first four songs of Beck’s Modern Guilt album over and over.
2. Attend as many free concerts as humanly possible, even if you do not like the music - the shows are free and you can always leave. If you live in the Capital Region, there are plenty to go around.
3. Ride your bike / car / legs around listening to “No Air” by Jordin Sparks over and over and over.
4. Play copious amounts of croquet with your family. Make sure the grass is trimmed for optimal ball rollage. It also helps to take one quick pre-match trip around the course to check out any hidden tree roots or surprise moguls.
5. Try to not shed a tear (or get choked up) driving around listening to “Murder in the City” by The Avett Brothers from their Second Gleam EP.
6. Save up your pennies and take your family out to Lanci’s who will be closing at the end of August. Get while the getting is good!
7. Make plans to be at Goodship’s official Troy Night Out Afterparty on August 29th to see BEWARE The Other Head of Science! (who KILLED at the Rock Pancake-a-thon!) and Charlie Everywhere (who are always killer, indeed).
8. Challenge yourself to a new creative project that you can complete quickly - example: write and record 8 one-minute songs for your friend whose birthday falls on 08/08/08. (True story - I did this over three days last week and hope to share the results with you soon… Mill Fest maybe?)
9. Spend a few minutes online to download the Yellow Bird Project’s theme song written and performed by The Tallest Man on Earth! The Yellow Bird Project is a non-profit from Montreal who solicits some of today’s greatest indie musicians to design one-of-a-kind t-shirts that are sold via their website. All profits from the shirts go to a charity of the band’s choice. Some pretty rad shirts on there from The Shins, The National, Au Revoir Simone and I even like that Devendra Banhart shirt! Check them out!
10. Follow the travels of SWOON’s Switchback Sea floatillas as they launch in Troy, NY this Friday and follow the Hudson River down to Long Island City where they will end up on September 7th. I am a fan of SWOON’s work and really look forward to the unique opportunity to witness something on this scale.