Amanda Fintak

The Vermont-based Barika is a powerful six-piece band with a soulful West African-inspired sound — and that hardly describes it. Previously an all instrumental band with booming horns and groovy guitar and keys, the group’s leader, Craig Myers, decided Barika’s new album needed a voice. “When The Time Comes” includes trance-y, rhythmic guest vocals by […]

For those that love John Brown’s Body, this is the band’s send-off; it’s taking an indefinite hiatus. The Ithaca-based “future roots reggae” band is saying its goodbyes to fans and to 2017 with a one of a kind show featuring three bands that have never shared a stage, and likely never will again. JBB will […]

Florida-raised rapper and DJ Khaled protégé Ace Hood hit the road in November for his first official 22-city tour as an independent artist. Even with his busy schedule, he dropped his latest bass-heavy single, “Testify,” last week — there’s word that he’s releasing new music while on the road. Ace Hood was first widely known […]

Low-slung, polyrhythmic group Broca’s Area is a sincere epitome of how the younger generation will come to appreciate the fathers of contemporary jazz and R&B. Singer Mary Corso’s vocals are deeply soulful and intimate, which accentuates the hip-hop instrumentation and jazz cuts. J Dilla, Hiatus Kaiyote, and the Blue Note Records catalog are just a […]

Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band has taken a new, bolder form in the last two years. “New Yonder” is now a five-piece jam-grass band after Jeff Austin departed the group in 2014 — the band has since added Allie Kral (fiddle) and Jacob Joliff (mandolin). The band has eased its hesitant, long-time fans into the […]

The Saranac Lake-based Blind Owl Band is a “freight train Adirondack string” band of four long-haired, bearded mountain men. The instrumentation is wildly aggressive and lively, while the vocals tend to have an old-timey rasp. With three albums under its belt — “Rabble Rousing,” “This Train We Ride is Made of Wood & Steel,” and the […]

Big Mean Sound Machine is back for its yearly Halloween costume bash, this time themed as “Cirque Du Big Mean.” The larger-than-life, instrumental band is artfully designed with multi-genre facets to keep the moving body going. In one measure, you’re dancing to Afrobeat; at the next, you’re swinging to Funk or Latin groove. This year, […]

Hip-hop legends The LOX have been in the game for more than 20 years now, bursting on the East Coast rapper scene around the same time Notorious B.I.G. blew up. The New York City-based trio — Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Styles P — came out of a 12-year hiatus in 2013 with an epic surprise […]

Rapper and record producer Maxo Kream carries the torch for hip-hop artists out of southeast Texas. The 27-year-old originally gained recognition by releasing a remix of Kendrick Lamar’s “Rigamortis,” and since 2012, has dropped four mixtapes of his own. In his solo work — he’s become the most recognized member of his rap group, Kream […]