After their debut album “Come Clean” in 2002, featuring singles like Control and Blurry, Puddle of Mudd swiftly gained ground on a number of other hard edged modern rock bands, flooding the airwaves and selling over 5 million copies.  Four albums later, the band is still touring to packed venues of sweaty, drunken fans writhing to dark lyrics and heavy, driving bass and beats.  The UMAF is excited to bring the band to Utica for their first visit.

Venue information to be announced.

Get your tickets as soon as they are available!  Stay tuned to the homepage for announcements.

Grateful welcome to everyone this Summer in Utica, NY and beyond!  Hopefully, everyone tuned into the announcement press conference today (May 23, 2013, 11:00 a.m.) or some of the interviews that followed on local media with our founder, Joe Sweet.  If so, you’ve heard the scoop about some of our headlining acts this year.  We hope you can tell, big, new and exciting things are happening.  Some acts you will know from years running.  They are our festival family.  Some acts are new to you; we love to bring you music you can experience for the first time.

With some help from our friends, old and new, this year’s festival is going to be expansive, inclusive, and it is going to draw you even deeper into Utica’s city life and culture by featuring a variety of new venues and partnering up with local and regional businesses.

The team is also looking forward to sharing many new, emerging artists out of an astonishing 3,700 plus submissions!

From the Official Press Release:

“The City of Utica is delighted to have the Utica Music and Arts Fest team up with Galaxy Communications to take this annual event to an even higher level” Mayor Robert Palmieri said. “The UMAF has brought thousands of musicians and fans alike to our city to enjoy a great variety of music and to experience the quality of life Utica for which Utica is famous.”

“Music is the soundtrack to our lives and I’m sure with Galaxy Communications’ influence in the music industry and the Utica Music and Arts Fest’s uncanny knack of attracting talent, this year’s UMAF will be the best ever.”

Puddle Of Mudd

No further delay!  Here are just some of the headliners of the 2013 UMAF!

Puddle of Mudd

Floodwood

Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad

Hank and Cupcakes

Kung Fu

And even more to be announced, so most definitely hang in there!  You’re going to like all of the ticket info this year, too.  So much bang for your bucks.

Enjoy the music- I know the music enjoys YOU!

Returning favorites- Hank and Cupcakes!

Welcome to the 2012 UMAF!

Flashback Photography

Childhood’s End @ Saranac Brewery

NVP Photography

Flashback Photography

NVP Photography

The Shakedown!

Photographer: Cynthia Law

J Schnitt!

NVP Photography

The End Men at O’Donnels!

NVP Photography

NVP Photography

Badfish @ Blu!

NVP Photography

 Scott Danger Stoneface MFing Bravo at The Green Onion Pub!  Don’t let anyone know he smiles!!!  What a reputation buster!  

Photo by Cynthia Law

The Blind Spots @ Nailcreek

NVP Photography

George Deveny and Brian Mulkerne at O’Donnels

NVP Photography

The Bomb on the Saranac Stage

NVP Photography

Utica Greens Festival!

Flashback Photography

Cynthia Law

Who took this!? Great shot of Mssrs Short and Sean and Jimi from Rawson at UGF

Photo by Rick Boehlert

Photo by Rick Boehlert

Photo by Rick Boehlert- some Rick Short Band PASSION for Utica fans!

Flashback Photography; Unspoken Booth

Flashback Photography, The Stanley Booth

Flashback Photography catches the UMAF Merch Booth crew!

Vending at the UGF, by Flashback Photography

The Moho Collective at Piers and Blake

NVP Photography

NVP Photography

NVP Photography

Mr. Randy Niles, live, by Flashback Photography

Mr. Randy Niles, static at The Cage

Waiils at Piers and Blake

NVP Photography

Clocktower at Blu 

Flashback Photography

Funktional Flow at SHOTS

NVP Photography

Brenda Swanger on the UGF Young Artists Stage

NVP Photography

Blazing up the stage at The Celtic Harp.  Big thanks to Jager for being a fine sponsor!

Photo by Cynthia Law

Cynthia Law

Down comes the poster!

Cynthia Law catches the natives pillaging at O'Donnels

Up until this point, the fee paid by all submitting performers has been essential to keep the festival running and every single one has been deeply appreciated.  While it is not unusual for fests and networking conferences of this magnitude to have a submission fee…it’s much better not to!  We’re extremely thrilled at this development and believe it will improve the festival experience for performers and fans alike!  We are dedicated to benefiting those of you without whom, we’d have a pretty boring weekend.  Thank you for sharing your talents with us!

Now, be nice and try to get your submissions in early this year?  I expect a deluge and an early and steady trickle will help keep our booking department (a/k/a Joe Sweet) from mild hearing loss and carpel tunnel as he makes his way through them.  It is always an esteemed pleasure and a blessing to experience each artists’ creation and we appreciate the time you take to forward them in.  Stay tuned to the official page and the Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus pages to hear when submissions are officially open.

Help us spread the word and let’s see an amazing line up for 2013!

Jeff Kuebler, Jason Staniszewski, Ben Whelan, and Jim Edgar are the bodies behind the motion in Funktional Flow.  Jason and I spoke a bit about their pending UMAF performance and his enthusiasm abounds.  Describing their progression as a ‘musical journey,’ Jason clicked right into the family atmosphere we try to maintain even with so many performers.  It all really is a process that requires both sides of the scale; the creators and the audience appreciating the creation.  In this case, it’s a nice and crunchy creation.  Won’t you come out for a sample?

Heavy on the reggae rhythms with a reoccuring feel of folk dance jams, Funktional Flow draws sometimes pointedly on the upbeat intensity of ska.  The band also has a song, The Road, I can honestly describe as Rockabilly.  Their reflection of an emerging version of American Roots music is energetic and diverse.  Really, how can you resist a band with songs named things like Gunther The Sabertooth?

The group recently played the Third Annual Upstate Boogie and after their stint at the UMAF, are continuing on to Oneonta and Albany.  Good connections to make if you are a performer of compatible style looking to do some gig sharing or touring across the state.  I hope some solid connections are forged this year with and through Funktional Flow!

I love the incredibly tight drum rolls in Ambush.   No small feat.

There’s plenty of great content out there for your pregame, please check it out:

Funktional Flow Official

Friend the Flow on Facebook

Then, Go with the Funktional Flow at Shots Sports Bar at 700 Varick Street on Friday, September 14th from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. 

~MLW

Clarence K. Photography

The echo of eternal truth, the soft staccato of a tamping foot, and the the rhythm of a passing train are palpable in the work of singer songwriter, Christopher Paul Stelling, a very special artist joining us from Brooklyn, NY this year for the 2012 UMAF.  The earnestness this performer presents with is so tangible it is fused with the work itself and the inherent truth of the messages are offered without grand trappings.  The embodiment of ‘the real deal,’ Stelling’s voice rings clear and crisp over his well warn instrument, poignantly reaching outward toward your core and pulling you into the orbit of his stories.  Anyone able to catch a glimpse of this vibration will be a lucky soul, indeed.

After I pressed play on Stelling’s track, Mourning Train to Memphis, I had a pretty visceral and intense reaction.  I love every single thing about this song and the video that represents it.  Halfway through it, I felt like I knew Christopher and what he was about.  I felt invested and connected.  I felt blessed to be a part of a network of artists so rich and varied and a great sense of anticipation to see this stunningly beautiful music happen live.  Stelling’s essence is available, present, and it is revolving toward you in perfect time.

His songs are easy to enjoy and absorb and you will have a grand time listening to him lilt, pick and strum even if you can’t make out a word.  But in a quiet, cozy nook, this artist works his real magic.  His voice is not raspy, but it holds infinite color.  It straddles the break effortlessly but does not lose its depth.  Sometimes, it seems, Stelling is wringing the words and melody out of himself, his delivery so ardent.  His guitar technique lies between old traditional blues and folk flavored finger picking, melodies ringing out and notes dancing playfully and beautifully.  What would the blues sound like if they were accepting rather than lamenting?   What happens when gentle kindness is also unapologetic?  Somewhere in these indefinable spaces, Stelling, with guitar and voice as paintbrush and canvas, tags shit up.  Perhaps this sound is genre-less; unable to be confined by the petty compartments humans endlessly stuff everything into.  But we’re going to call it folk because I want you to go see him and I have to call it something.

There’s a strong sense of the depth of simplicity in Stelling, which might be mildly amusing against the scenery of my verbosity.  How did the project come together, I asked.  “I just didn’t quit.”  He responds.

Think about that for a few minutes.  Just, slow down, and think about it.

Steven J Gray Photography

Influenced by “Long days, longer nights [and] the need to have it.” Stelling rambles around the country making his music simply because it is him.  He does it because he did it once and kept doing it.  Part of “it” is a few festivals similar to the UMAF in structure and layout, and he’s appreciative of a few things about festivals in cities.  “I like the idea of a ton of little shows going on at once more than a sea of people trying to see/hear.”  Julia Christgau, Stelling’s “lady” and fellow musician and creative soul, often accompanies him on stage and they have a cache of content online featuring them together.  I’m hopeful we get to see Julia also at this year’s UMAF but only time will tell.

Chris has some connections to the UMAF through friends in The End Men and the Disappointment and a close friend who is a Utica native.  I had the pleasure of meeting Chris and said friend, John Alberico, at one of the early Saranac Thursday events in town.  The pair had come to visit to take in a little of the local atmosphere and also to catch some shots and video footage (John is an established photographer and film maker).  You may well see a familiar background or two involved in merch and other content in the future.

Keeping things nice and simple, all of the lovely things you may want to learn more about are available through Chris’ official website, including information on picking up a copy of his album, Songs of Praise and Scorn, released in February 2012.  You can cop that on either vinyl or CD and that tickles me pink.

At fest time, please come out to resonate with Christopher Paul Stelling in person at The Nail Creek Pub and Brewery on Varick Street, Friday, September 14th from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m.

~MLW

Some things are the real deal, run deep like roots down into the ground.  Some musicians have end game vision in 360 degrees.  They seem able to naturally appreciate all of the many textures that layer to create music, to create a particular type of sound, and to create a scene for that sound.  The musicians in The Rick Short Band, quite simply, get it.  And lucky for you, they’re going to serve up a huge, smoking portion of it to you at this year’s UMAF!

Rick Short is one of what I like to refer to as Utica’s ‘movers and shakers.’  He has great instincts musically and a sound understanding of how to grow a brand and positively impact an image.  He’s used that insight for years now to help cultivate a new view of Utica, NY as a place to be.  H reminds us a lot how much #UticaROCKS.  His constant enthusiasm and awareness of innovative things happening around town are part of the fibers in the braid of what we are all trying to do here, which is to see clearly what we sometimes take for granted.  To understand that our energy ripples out into the pool one way or another and that we are either positively affecting our surroundings, or we’re negatively affecting them.  It boils right down to that, and from that point of understanding, so much can grow.  Rick definitely keeps the garden watered and tended.  He just gets it!

Rick’s musical projects always stand out for mel, for these reasons and more.  I hold his former project, GR6, in high esteem.  Their open mic night performance two years ago on the Sunday following the UMAF was a perfect cap on the weekend for me and it has a special nook in my memory bank.  I teared up a little listening to their rendition of Running on Empty. So last year, I was really looking forward to what Rick had to offer to the festival.  I remember him taking us along for the ride as he conceptualized the project that would become The Rick Short Band (round 1).  Always communicative, Rick keeps fans and friends fully posted by tossing out tid bits of information, a song here or there, and updates about rehearsals.  He reached out and involved people, and with these people, he built an arsenal of original, true blue, rock n’ roll songs harkening back to a time when things were a lot less slick and a lot more about a well timed and executed guitar solo and the ability to end the song like you’ve stopped on a dime.  He also built a fan base before the band was even fully together.  You see what I mean about getting it?

In the wake of the UMAF last year, things got a little quiet in Rick Short Musicville, but have no fear!  I am sure you know he is back with a new crew of incredibly talented local musicians and I honestly believe this year is better than ever for the Rick Short Band!  Rick is joined by  Kassandra Freetage, Rick DeJohn, Eddie Reilly, Joe Rizzuto, a few new numbers, and one of the prettiest vintage style telecasters I’ve ever seen (five string set up, people.  Nod to the great Mr. Richards from back in Sticky Finger days and the sound is right on!), The Rick Short Band is a total gem!

From Elvis to The Nelsons to the Yardbirds and the Stones branching out into the folk rock movement brought by Peter Paul and Mary and The Mamas and the Papas, Rock and Roll does hold a few similarities at its core.  Even the hi-fi is just a bit low-fi.  It all should sound like it’s coming out of a positively ancient tube amp, and unless it’s screaming out the blues, it should lilt and ramble down a path in the sunshine, fallin’ its face cross somebody’s new mowed lawn.  Rick and the crew, not so shockingly, get it.  This music lives inside Rick, and you can tell because it’s coming out of him so naturally.

I’d peg this project as a fusion of The Stones and The Monkeys circa their slightly darker Stepping Stone days.  The way the songs are structured give plenty of room for Rizzuto’s positively relentless lead guitar, flanked on all sides by Rick’s signature style of rhythm guitar which masters that quality of slack and easy and tight and on point that always intrigues me.  Rick’s word was “jangly” and I’m stealing it.  In fact it bears mention that Rick is able to describe the band’s sound quite well because they crafted it specifically and their vision is coming across crystal clear.  The chords are vintage, by which I mean the structures and inversions Rick chooses to express the tones he needs are ones easily found in the bag of tricks of any of the masters of good old RNR.  The chords hold a lot of color and more expression than ‘power chords’ and this helps support the harmonies in the vocal.   Rick pointed out specifically to me that his intention is to let the root tone ring out and occasionally ‘drone’  through the song like a theme.

Speaking of tones, I’m of the opinion that guitar tone is a lost art and that part of what makes, say, Cream sound so different from much of the music made today is that guitarists in that period played sometimes endlessly with their amps rigs to get a unique and precise sound for themselves that set them apart.  This is the movement that cranked out the Guitar God ideal, after all.  Arguably, after grunge and alternative rock took hold, we not only lost our ‘front person’ but we also lost the guitar god.  Music commodified and fans began driving the market of what was considered acceptable to them and their subcultures.  Things changed.  But deep in the days of analog and fuzz, exactly how the knobs got tweaked was hugely important to the process.  This is a big part of why the RSB sounds like it just came out of the back of your basement with a few old records tucked under its arm.  Both Short and Rizzuto have a signature sound of their own that is shaped by their guitar god influences.

Photo by Evolution Adv.

Then there’s the song writing and the talents of the rest of the band!  Rick has written a catalog of songs over the years that he wanted to see expressed by a full band.  But writing songs without a full band behind him left plenty of room for working in the instincts and talents of his companions on the stage and they have all worked in a dedicated way to bring these songs to life.  Lyrically, Rick is covering a wide span of subject matters from war to love to lust to the ways we treat each other as we make our way through life.

Joining Rick on the vocals is  Kassandra Freetage, whose voice weaves between the smoky and sensual and clear crisp tones of multi part harmonies and reminds the listener of many of the great supporting female voices in rock history.  She has a strong ear for melody and seems comfortable trying new things and stretching out of her comfort zone.  I expect a lot of great things to come for Kassandra!  On the drums, Reilly is a strong foundation for the group, keeping the time tightly and making sure the transitions and endings are precise and in sync.  At the rehearsal I attended, it was  apparent that everyone is truly listening to everyone else while they are playing which not only shows a pretty good ability to do the left brain/right brain split, but it’s how the songs get so polished in such a relatively short time period.  Focus.  Presence.  These words are synonymous with this year’s TRSB crew.  The lead guitar is brough to you live and direct by Joe Rizzuto. Rick describes Joe’s style quite well,  ”His playing is raw, organic, well-informed, and emotionally interpreted. He plays low and quiet, loud and raucous, and everything in between. He channels the ghosts of classic leads while making it all seem fresh and original.”  I couldn’t agree more and was pleasantly stunned by not only Joe’s classic tone but also his serious talent and board full of pedals.  Lastly, the bass.  Oh my, yes please!  I like a good, strong, driving bass in the forefront.  I don’t want to strain my ears to hear it or figure out if the guy’s got chops or not.  I want to hear the root note fairly often, and I want to hear some color around it, not dancing all high up on the neck like the lead, but active and articulate just the same.  I really like bass.  Really.  And I found myself sitting up and peering over to watch DeJohn on his instrument (5 strings abound in TRSB) running away with the show almost as often as Joe made me mutter a few curse words from shock and awe.  I had a great damn time at that practice and there were even cookies!  Thanks again, Wendy Short!

I know that was the long way around the barn, but some artists deserve recognition for all of the intense thought they are putting in their sound and the Rick Short Band deserves it.  I have a lot to say because they put a lot into the music.  And I haven’t even mentioned how hysterical I find Rick.  Anytime we interact I leave with a few favorite lines tucked away in my brain that I find myself laughing over later.  It’s kind of a global impact with this group, a full performance experience.

I want you to show some love for this band and to know how much this band shows some love for you!  They want to entertain you, get your rears shaking and your feet moving!  Get your jitterbug on, have your American Bandstand moment, and come out to catch the Rick Short Band this year!

Find them at:

Friday, September 14th at 6:00 p.m. at SHOTS, 700 Varick Street;

Saturday, September 15th at 1:00 p.m. on the Greens Festival Stage right on Varick Street.

Saturday September 15th at 8:00 p.m. at Dick Smith’s Tavern.

Why not whet your whistle with a little beforehand?

~MLW

Thank you to Doug Boehlert (top/bottom at The Boilermaker Road Race) and Evolution Advertising (middle, at The Tramontane Cafe)  for the photographs used herein.

By now, I know that Randy has a fan base here that he’s been working hard on and staying personally connected with.  I know because you’ve all been so warm and friendly when you’ve come out to the several shows Randy has played here since last UMAF.  Anytime an out of town performer can draw people to an open mic set of 3 songs, we know we are making some progress, and I’m pleased to relate that we had that very experience the last time Randy came through the city’s best open mic night at The Tramontane Cafe on Lincoln Avenue.  It’s also safe to say he’s now an area staple since he’s he’s an honorary member of The Rainbow Young Experience.

Sure, the guy is a dishonest and abusive roommate (please see footage here and prepare to be my witness for the upcoming libel suit), but he’s otherwise a genuine person with a great sense of humor who just wants you to take a listen to his tunes.  And those tunes are not only pretty damn amazing, but they just keep getting richer and growing more every time I turn around.  When we first met him, Randy was a singer songwriter in the usual vein, he and a guitar and some well written songs and a strong vocal presence.  Since then he’s caught the looping bug and has been stretching his musicality out into a Joe Driscoll type direction, holding fast all the while to his signature R&B flavor.  His background as a drummer (and bassist) marks his understanding of rhythm allows him to create such a depth of texture in his songs.  Randy is now experimenting with instruments other than his guitar and has added a keyboard into the mix to layer into that mad, wonderful loop machine of his.  Niles has been toying around with folkier songs also and lists artists from all over the musical spectrum in his influences.

I can’t wait to see what he has to show us this year and it’d better include his under-performed hip hop track, Make Your Voices Last.  I think he’s been spending too much time with other UMAF alumni, Nova Cez Everything, and I like it!

At The Uptown Theater for Mardi Gras Utica 2012

He has been relentlessly making his way up and down the east coast this year and fans from Rochester to Binghamton have enjoyed his music and made the personal connection.  In Utica alone he has given of his time and talents at several of our UMAF Showcase fundraising events at Piers and Blake.  This summer, he gave a great performance at the event for Veterans that was held at Sickenberger Lane alongside Autumn Fire and Nine Ball.  Randy was also a featured performer at the grand opening of Red Letter Events a few months ago, and this is just to name a few isolated visits.  He is steadily winning over the UpstateLIVE crowd and I think it’s a real honorable mention that Mr. Niles put in an appearance in Marion, NY with us at the First Annual Fiddler’s Picnic even though he didn’t have time to stay long enough to play.  Drive a few hours to sleep on the ground in a tent in the middle of nowhere with some of your new fans?  Why not!?  And he found his way in the pitch country darkness even though yours truly was fast asleep after a bit too much fun and was, therefore, of no help whatsoever.  But that’s just part of the initiation.  Not long ago we did a substantive interview for UpstateLive and you are welcome to peruse all of what Randy had to say at the publication’s website.

New York State is steadily getting to know Randy Niles and I think he’s a perfect example of what this festival can help performers do.  Between a little networking from the UMAF and Randy’s own unique and honest talent, he stays astonishingly busy and that makes us a little proud even if we’ve got very little to do with it.  This year, Randy is playing at the New York State Fair, in fact!  See him on Sept 2nd 3:30pm in Syracuse.

More on Randy?  He’s my go-to guy for any sort of image manipulation or work I need done to keep bringing you this blog and big thanks for his help especially on our UMAF/UGF vendor banner.  Cause, yes, he does web design also.  I’d say at this point he’s our unofficial mascot.  We know how much he enjoys being a poster boy.

You definitely want to become Randy’s friend on Facebook and check out his other social networking and web presences because he’s hysterical.  Here is your comprehensive list as of press time:

Randy’s Music Page on Facebook
Randy Niles Official
Randy Niles at Gig Maven
Randy at Sonic Bids

This year Randy is scheduled to play on all three nights of the festival.

Thursday, September 13th find him at The Radisson between 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm and then The Nail Creek Pub from 6:45 pm to 7:30 pm.  

Friday, September 14th Randy performs at The Cage from 10:45 pm—11:45 pm and then we might let him sleep.  

Saturday September 15th finds Randy at Pier’s & Blake in the Lounge from 9:00 pm to 9:30 pm and up at The Green Onion Pub from 10:30 pm to 11:30 pm.

There is a good chance he might surprise you by showing up somewhere else unannounced.  He’s good at being a creeper like that.
Just kidding, Randy!  We love U!

~MLW

Puff N Stuff is an alternative smoke shop that carries a variety of your favorite items you use to express yourself or to kick back and relax.  A plethora of smoking accessories are flanked by some of the finest quality incense, funky and eclectic jewelry and home items such as tapestries, perfumes and body oils for your hippified self to smell a little better during this wicked heat wave we’re having.  We thank you for purchasing and using them.  T-shirts and other accessories for your body are also in house for one stop awesome shopping needs.  Music, detox materials, E-cigarettes, Hookahs and accessories, Shisha, cigars, and clove cigarettes are more of the things you can find while you’re there.

Puff N Stuff’s support and donation will help the UMAF cover some costs that we, therefore, do not have to pass along to you our festival patron.  It’s a daunting task to fund a festival of this magnitude and we could not offer affordable admission or the number of free shows, artist grab bags, and awesome promotional materials without a little help from our friends around town.

Located near Utica’s lovely new traffic circle, at 333 Genesee St # 2 Utica, NY 13501‎, you can find Puff N Stuff tucked into a historic block in the heart of the city.  If you’ve frequented the place for years, grab your UMAF tickets next time you go!  If you’ve never been inside, the staff is friendly, laid back and helpful so why not pop in to get the tickets you know you want.  I highly recommend the organic Nag Champa.  Some of the best my nose has ever run across.

Thanks again to Puff N Stuff for their support and please help us thank them by making a purchase or two!

~MLW