Happy 10th Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds Anyways...

RtBE not only writes about music, but also creates some.  Angels & Vagabonds (mostly) acoustic EP titled Anyways... turns ten years old.

It is exciting to go from critic/reviewer of music, to creator of tunes. Special thanks goes out to friends and bandmates who helped with this one. While it has been quite a few years since a release from the group, more music is actually on the way...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wishing everyone a happy safe and fun St. Patrick's Day from RtBE and we might as well throw in a self plug.

Here is Angels & Vagabonds Irish inspired tune, "Queens Boulevard Serenade":



The story goes...in the lead up to our first St. Paddy's Day gig our band (Angels & Vagabonds) were working on some traditional Irish songs to play and our lead singer/keyboard player Don McNally realized they were basically all the same chords just re-arraigned.

So the Irish American from Woodside, Queens, NYC dug into his past and crafted QBS. He brought it to the group and after a few tweaks it was ready for prime time, we actually played it only about a week after it was written. 

A little inside baseball into our process, now go celebrate by hoisting a pint....Happy St. Paddy's!

Happy Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds Debut, The A&V EP

Hard to believe @angelsvagabonds released our debut effort, The A&V EP eleven years ago today.

It has been fun writing about music on various websites and publications over the last fifteen plus years, but nothing beats the act of creating music, playing it live and recording it. Our first EP was an excellent experience, a huge learning process for me personally, and the whole band are still very proud of the final result.

From the serendipitous cover photo that stayed exactly as Bruno_Pek_ shot it, to the great production from our good friend Glen, to the contributions of everyone involved, The A&V EP is a joy to remember. More importantly, we still like listening to it and you can do that now.

You can download from our bandcamp site, you can buy it from iTunes, stream it on Spotify or below. As always, thanks for reading, and on this day I can say thanks for listening to my music.

 

Bandcamp Fridays Returns Tomorrow September 6th

Bandcamp Fridays returns tomorrow, September 6th.

For those unaware, here is some history from the website:

Bandcamp Fridays began in March of 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the shuttering of venues led to a loss of vital tour revenue for artists. Bandcamp Fridays—on which we waive our revenue share and pass the funds directly to artists & labels—has resulted in millions of fans paying over $120 million directly to labels and musicians they love.

This is a great deal for artists, and for fans who are waiting to buy an album. Almost every artist RtBE reviews has a bandcamp page, intrigued by our Max Boogie Overdrive Stoned Again review? We found the band through bandcamp.  

Even my band, Angels & Vagabonds has one if you would like to buy my music and review me! Whoever you like, odds are they have music on bandcamp, so head on over and help out any of the artists. 

Here is one of our tunes just in case you would like to grab one of our two EP's. 

Happy 9th Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds Anyways...

RtBE not only writes about music, but also creates some.  Angels & Vagabonds (mostly) acoustic EP titled Anyways... turns nine today.

It is exciting to go from critic/reviewer of music, to creator of tunes. Special thanks goes out to friends and band mates. While it has been a few years since a release from the group, more music is actually on the way...

You can stream Anyways... below and you can also go here and download the album for free (or any donation you would like). The album is also available on Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, AMI Jukeboxes and elsewhere. Thanks for listening and reading.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wishing everyone a happy safe and fun St. Patrick's Day from RtBE and we might as well throw in a self plug.

Here is Angels & Vagabonds Irish inspired tune, "Queens Boulevard Serenade":



The story goes...in the lead up to our first St. Paddy's Day gig our band (Angels & Vagabonds) were working on some traditional Irish songs to play and our lead singer/keyboard player Don McNally realized they were basically all the same chords just re-arraigned.

So the Irish American from Woodside, Queens, NYC dug into his past and crafted QBS. He brought it to the group and after a few tweaks it was ready for prime time, we actually played it only about a week after it was written. 

A little inside baseball into our process, now go celebrate by hoisting a pint....Happy St. Paddy's!

Happy 8th Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds Anyways...

RtBE not only writes about music, but also creates some.  Angels & Vagabonds (mostly) acoustic EP titled Anyways... turns eight today.

It is exciting to go from critic/reviewer of music, to creator of tunes. Special thanks goes out to friends and band mates. While it has been a few years since a release from the group, more music is actually on the way...

You can stream Anyways... below and you can also go here and download the album for free (or any donation you would like). The album is also available on Spotify, Youtube, Itunes AMI Jukeboxes and elsewhere. Thanks for listening and reading.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wishing everyone a happy safe and fun St. Patrick's Day from RtBE and we might as well throw in a self plug.

Here is Angels & Vagabonds Irish inspired tune, "Queens Boulevard Serenade":


The story goes...in the lead up to our first St. Paddy's Day gig we were working on some traditional Irish songs to play and our lead singer/keyboard player Don McNally realized they were basically all the same chords just re-arraigned.

So the Irish American from Woodside, NY dug into his past and crafted QBS. He brought it to the group and after a few tweaks it was ready for prime time, we actually played it only about a week after it was written. 

A little inside baseball into our process, now go celebrate by hoisting a pint....Happy St. Paddy's!

Happy 9th Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds Debut, The A&V EP

Hard to believe @angelsvagabonds released our debut effort, The A&V EP nine years ago today.

It has been fun writing about music on various websites and publications over the last fifteen plus years, but nothing beats the act of creating music, playing it live and recording it. Our first EP was an excellent experience, a huge learning process for me personally, and the whole band are still very proud of the final result.

From the serendipitous cover photo that stayed exactly as Bruno_Pek_ shot it, to the great production from our good friend Glen, to the contributions of everyone involved, The A&V EP is a joy to remember. More importantly, we still like listening to it and you can do that now.

You can download from our bandcamp site, you can buy it from iTunes, stream it on Spotify or below. As always, thanks for reading, and on this day I can say thanks for listening to my music.

 

Karine Hannah Covers Def Leppard's "Hysteria" in New Video

The New York based artist Karine Hannah has released a new video for her cover of Def Leppard's "Hysteria"

The surprisingly moving, stripped down cover, is excellent and Hannah looks to have filmed the video in Smash Studios NYC, check it out below:

On a side/personal note, Smash Studios is a place RtBE knows well as my band Angels and Vagabonds used it often. It is our practice spot and we have recorded part or all of our past EP's as well as our upcoming full length there. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wishing everyone a happy safe and fun St. Patrick's Day from RtBE and we might as well throw in a self plug.

Here is Angels & Vagabonds Irish inspired tune, "Queens Boulevard Serenade":


The story goes...in the lead up to our first St. Paddy's Day gig we were working on some traditional Irish songs to play and our lead singer/keyboard player Don McNally realized they were basically all the same chords just re-arraigned.

So the Irish American from Woodside, NY dug into his past and crafted QBS. He brought it to the group and after a few tweaks it was ready for prime time, we actually played it only about a week after it was written. A little inside baseball into our process, now go celebrate by hoisting a pint....Happy St. Paddy's!

Happy 8th Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds Debut EP

Hard to believe @angelsvagabonds released our debut effort, The A&V EP eight years ago today.

It has been fun writing about music on various websites and publications over the last fifteen plus years, but nothing beats the act of creating music, playing it live and recording it. Our first EP was an excellent experience, a huge learning process for me personally, and the whole band are still very proud of the final result.

From the cover photo that stayed exactly as Bruno_Pek_ shot it, to the great production from our good friend Glen, to the contributions of everyone involved The A&V EP is a joy to remember. More importantly, we still like listening to it and you can do that now.

You can download from our bandcamp site, you can buy it from iTunes, stream it on Spotify or below. As always, thanks for reading, and on this day I can say thanks for listening to my music.

 

Happy Tenth Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds

10 years ago today, Angels & Vagabonds made our public debut, playing a show at the Village Lantern on Bleecker in Greenwich Village in NYC. 

The trivia question is, what was the bands original name for this show?  

We changed it to Angels & Vagabonds before our next live show a few months later, but we started out as Comic Book Bad Guys and our friend Mark crafted a kick ass flyer for our first gig:

 

We may have to go back to that name at some point, but in the near future (hopefully early 2022) we will have new music coming out. Until then check out our two EP's on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, Youtube, Pandora, etc.

Today however we are reliving the past, thanks to everyone who has listened to our music, come out to that first show or any other one after that. 

Here are a few videos from our first show on 10/15/11 from The Village Lantern on Bleecker St. somehow they still exist on youtube, thanks David. 

The first song we ever played:

The first song we ever wrote:

And a song we have re-worked and will hopefully be coming out in 2022:

RIP Lloyd Price

One of the legends of R&B passed away recently, Lloyd Price was 88.

"Mr. Personality" was a hell of a shouter and a major influence on the New Orleans R&B sound having recorded in the early days for Specialty Records which laid the groundwork for modern day rock and roll. 

Price is a personal favorite of RtBE a man who blended a NYC tough style with the NOLA r&b roll and crafted such killer songs as "Stagger Lee", "Ooh Ooh Ooh" and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" which my band Angels & Vagabonds have covered many times. There have been quite a few drunken nights at Billymarks West as well singing Price, "Stagger Lee" in particular, as his tunes are still rollicking and joyful. 

To celebrate the man's life let's listen to some of his songs:

 

Angels & Vagabonds EP Anyways... Sixth Anniversary

RtBE not only writes about music, but also creates some. We are proud that Angels & Vagabonds acoustic EP titled Anyways... Turned six years old last week.

It is exciting to go from critic/reviewer of music, to creator of tunes. Special thanks goes out to our friends and band mates. While it has been a few years since a release from the group, more music is on the way...

You can stream Anyways... below and you can also go here and download the album for free (or any donation you would like). The album is also available on Spotify, Youtube, Itunes AMI Jukeboxes and elsewhere. Thanks for listening and reading.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Wishing everyone a happy, safe and fun St. Patrick's Day from RtBE and we might as well throw in a self plug.

Here is Angels & Vagabonds Irish inspired tune, "Queens Boulevard Serenade":

You can grab all of our music on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon. For "QBS", the story goes like this...

In the lead up to our first St. Paddy's Day gig we were working on some traditional Irish songs to play and our lead singer/keyboard player Don McNally realized they were basically all the same chords just re-arraigned.

So the Irish American from Woodside, NY dug into his past and crafted "Queens Boulevard Serenade". He brought it to the group and after a few tweaks it was ready for prime time, we actually played it only about a week after it was written. There is a little inside baseball into our process, now go celebrate by hoisting a pint. and singing along...Happy St. Paddy's!

Live Streams: Arlene's Grocery Live Stream Series

With live music on lock down (like everything else currently in New York City) live streams and old concerts have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. While this current state of pandemic separation is in order we will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and you can always check out or weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past. Please support the artists any which way you can. 

Today we highlight: Arlene's Grocery Live Stream Series

One of NYC's best small venues Arlene's Grocery is hosting 25 live streams starting tonight:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Arlene's Grocery (@arlenesgrocery)

RtBE has a special love for Arlene's having seen many great shows there and also played there ourselves with our band Angels & Vagabonds. 

Please support one of the last great small venues in Manhattan. To get in the mood here is Dan Miraldi who plays tomorrow. 

Happy 7th Anniversary to Angels & Vagabonds Debut

Hard to believe @angelsvagabonds released our debut effort, The A&V EP seven years ago today.

It has been fun writing about music on various websites and publications over the last fifteen plus years, but nothing beats the act of creating music, playing it live and recording it. Our first EP was an excellent experience, a huge learning process for me personally, and the whole band are still very proud of the final result.

From the cover photo that stayed exactly as Bruno_Pek_ shot it, to the great production from our good friend Glen, to the contributions of everyone involved The A&V EP is a joy to remember. More importantly, we still like listening to it and you can do that now.

You can download from our bandcamp site, you can buy it from iTunes, stream it on Spotify or below. As always, thanks for reading, and on this day I can say thanks for listening to my music.

 

Bandcamp Donating Sales To NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Bandcamp is one of RtBE's favorite sites on the internet. Our Bandcamp Tag aggregates all of our posts we use on the site over the years and as of today there are over 295.

There are days we will just jump on Bandcamp, follow some suggestions or tags and make amazing or not-so stellar discoveries.The site has been a treasure trove of glorious music, and we even put out our own musical releases primarily on the site.

Over the last few months with the Covid-19 Pandemic, Bandcamp have been doing even more for the artists who use their site. Today they are donating all of their shares of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

View this post on Instagram

This Friday we are donating our share of sales to @naacp_ldf to support racial justice, equality and change.

A post shared by Bandcamp (@bandcamp) on Jun 15, 2020 at 10:01am PDT

It is a great site, go on it and find some music, support the artists and help contribute to a worthy cause as RtBE fully supports Black Lives Matter and all the work that the NAACP Legal Defense Fund is doing.

If you are looking for a place to start, here is one of RtBE's all-time favorite Bandcamp finds, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. RtBE first found out about CSaTA while we were just bumming around Bandcamp back in 2016 getting set for our Jazzy January monthly series. He is amazing and his wide ranging 2017 release The Centennial Trilogy rated as one of our favorite from the last decade.



And on completely different note you can support RtBE's band Angels & Vagabonds as well:
 

Angels & Vagabonds Anyways... Released Five Years Ago Today

RtBE not only writes about music, but also creates some. We are proud that Angels & Vagabonds acoustic EP titled Anyways... Turns five years old today.

It is exciting to go from critic/reviewer of music, to creator of tunes. Special thanks also goes out to our friends who helped out and while it has been a few years since a release from the band, more music is on the way...

You can stream Anyways... below and you can also go here and download the album for free (or any donation you would like). The album is also available on Spotify, Youtube, Itunes AMI Jukeboxes and elsewhere. Thanks for listening and reading.