Mark Geary Returns to NYC for a Show at The Cutting Room on Friday, October 10th

Before heading back to Ireland, Mark Geary is playing one more show in town. Mark is playing The Cutting Room next Friday, October 10th. The show is at 8PM; advance tickets are $12 and $15 at the door.

Mark's touring behind his new CD Opium which was released two weeks ago on sonaBLAST! / Thirty Tigers.

The first single from Opium is "Tuesday":



There are a few tracks from the disc streaming on Mark's MySpace page (link below) along with a few free downloads. One of my favorite tracks from the new disc is "Facin' the Fall".

Links:
Mark Geary's MySpace Page

Indie Rocker Nikki Shannon Announces Show at The Cutting Room on July 16th

Indie rocker Nikki Shannon has recently been playing around town in support of her debut disc Too Few which was released last month. Her next local show is at The Cutting Room on July 16th.

Nikki is a talented pianist/keyboardist who is has a raw bluesy voice that is somewhat comparable to early Melissa Etheridge. She also has a fascinating bio as her MySpace profile talks about how the financial challenges of being a NYC artist left her homeless for a period and sleeping on friend's couches and in the basement of piano bars.

I caught Nikki's set at the Canal Room a few weeks ago (video below) and was really impressed with her and her band's set and stage presence. The video below captures Nikki's set-closer "Suffocate". This was the only song that she performed without her band and it showcases the strength of her songwriting.



Nikki's new disc "Too Few" is available on Amazon, eMusic and iTunes.

Amplify - Cutting Room, NYC, March 14, 2008

Wow...I got behind in posting pictures from some recent shows

Amplify held their CD release party a few weeks ago at the Cutting Room. Amplify's debut CD is entitled "Beneath the Beauty...Lies Heaven to Burn" and the disc is available through CD Baby.

Amplify plays melodic hard-rock comparable to The Cult or mid-90's era Guns N' Roses. The musicians in the band have been around the music scene for years and their raw talent and energy really come across to make a great live show.

Here are some photos from the show:


Before going to the show, I was looking at some of Roberta Bayley's photos from CBGBs so I wanted to try a few B&W shots.

Bobbie Rae/Amplify
















Joe, Bobbie and Freeze/Amplify


Amplify's next show is at Luna Lounge on April 17th and tickets are only $8.00.

Links:
Amplify's MySpace page

Amplify - Rehearsal Studio Interview, Brooklyn, NY 1-18-08

Amplify is a NYC-based alt-metal band made up of longtime music-scene vets. Members have worked with a range of musicians from Peter Gabriel to Fahrenheit 451 and are able to leverage these diverse influences to create Amplify's sound. The band's sound falls somewhere between prog-rock and the hard rock sounds of some of the 80's/90's metal bands (Soundgarden and 'Use Your Illusion'-era Guns N' Roses are the immediate comparisons).

The band released its debut CD, Beneath the Beauty Lies...Heaven to Burn, earlier this year and are starting play some shows around town in support of this disc.

Last month, I had the opportunity to sit in on one of the band's practice session and film some live video and an interview with Bobbie Rae (vocals) and Joe Rodriguez (guitars).

Here is the interview and the live footage will follow in the next few days.



Amplify has a couple upcoming shows:

March 6, 2008 9:00PM @ Fat Baby, NYC
March 14, 2008 10:30PM CD RELEASE SHOW @ The Cutting Room NYC
April 17, 2008 8:00PM @ Luna Lounge Brooklyn

Links:
Amplify's MySpace Page
Amplify's Website