Spuyten Duyvil

Artist Information

Biography

"They're a mighty eight-piece powerhouse...Lead vocals are handled with guts and power by Beth Kaufman, who has a clear, gospel-tinged voice...Miller's songwriting is fantastic, too, channeling straight honky-tonk country one minute and drug-addled mystical blues the next...All the playing is hot." - Stephen D. Winick, Folklorist, Music Critic, Editor, The Huffington Post 4/5/2013

"Raucous Roots...a tantalizing taste of the changes afoot at Caramoor" - Phillip Lutz, The New York Times 3/29/2013

Hailing from the Hudson Valley, Spuyten Duyvil's (pronounced: "Spite + n Dive + l") soaring vocals, traditional jug band energy, slide guitar, incendiary fiddle and Chicago-style blues harp propel the listener on a barn-burning romp through the last 100 years of American Roots music.

Recent stops on the journey that began on a front porch with a Bouzouki and copy of Rise Up Singing include the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival, The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Mad. Sq. Park, The Turning Point, Caffe Lena, Rockwood Music Hall Stage II, and Musikfest.

Listening to this joyous seven piece band for the first time is like throwing a cherry bomb into a lake. It wakes you up. Their 2011 release, "New Amsterdam" was a DJ favorite receiving enthusiastic airplay on over 165 stations in 5 countries and a “Top American Roots Album 2011” nomination from The Alternate Root TV. The band highly anticipated follow up, "Temptation" is schedule for release in October of 2013.

According to legendary WXPN Folk DJ, Gene Shay, "they are the hottest new band in folk music ... and one of the best".

New Amsterdam (release date 6/10/2011):

- WMFT Rich Warren's Favorite CDs of 2011 - Chicago, IL

- WXPN Year in Review Gene Shay's Top Ten Host Picks 2011 - Philadelphia, PA

- WFDU Top Ten Folk CDs of 2011 - Ron Olesko, Host Traditions

- WFUV Best of 2011 Staff Picks - John Platt Honorable Mention - New York, NY

- Radio Crystal Blue Best New Artist for 2011

- CollegeNews.com Ear Candy music contest winner - May 2011

- WVPE Top 30 Albums of 2011 Al Kniola & Norm Mast, “The Back Porch “South Bend, IN

- WTUF Best of 2011 Donna Mavity, Host Donna's Americana Hour, Thomasville, GA

- WMSC Favorite Songs of 2011 (One Fine Day) - Joe Pszonek, Host Radio Nowhere

- WDCB #4 Fave Song of 2011 (Freight Train/Louis Collins) Lilli Kuzma, Folk Festival Glen Ellyn, Chicago, IL

- "The Year’s Best Mostly-Covers Album" runner up honors from “Cover Lay Down”

- #9 Top Album on the Folk DJ Chart

- #3 of the 'Top 5 Most Added' artist on the Americana Music Association's Americana Airplay Chart 5/9/2011

- #15 on the on the Cashbox Magazine / Roots Music Report's Roots Country Top 50

- #8 on the Roots Music Report's New York: Roots Radio Airplay Chart

- #9 on the Cashbox Magazine / Roots Music Report's Internet Airplay Folk Top 50 Chart

- #46 on the Alternate Root Top 66 International Airplay Chart

- Top Ten on KAXE, Minnesota

- #19 on KZMU Utah's Roots Chart

- Nominated for Best American Roots Album by The Alternate Root TV

- Airplay on Over 165 Stations Nationwide including Sirius XM's The Village

"I remember tossing a cherry bomb into a lake when I was a kid. That's how Spuyten Duyvil affected me when I first heard them and this CD conveys that shock and excitement. Great original writing by member Mark Miller ... and outstanding vocals from Beth Kaufman blast this group into the stratosphere ... They are so refreshingly original there's no way to describe them in a few words." - Rich Warren, Host, WFMT's "The Midnight Special" and "Folkstage"

"With "New Amsterdam", Spuyten Duyvil delivers a wonderfully boisterous collection of songs that define what "roots" music should sound like. Spuyten Duyvil roll like an old time tent show, but instead of selling worthless snake oil, they deliver a package of gems, well crafted tunes and stories that are pure fun to listen to." - Ron Olesko, WFDU “Traditions” Teaneck, NJ

"Wow...have I been missing the boat. One of the freshest, most exciting new bands I've heard in quite some time. A... band, that I ... have an overwhelming desire to see live." - Bob McWilliams, Kansas Public Radio, "Trail Mix" Host

"I LOVE this band!" - Lilli Kuzma, WDCB Public Radio, "Folk Festival" - Glen Ellyn, Chicago, IL

Instrumentation

Beth Kaufman-Miller - Vocals
Jim Meigs - harmonica.
Lou Geser - Drums.
John Neidhart - Bass.
Rik Mercaldi - Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar, electric mandolin
Mark Miller - tenor guitar, bouzouki
Efrat Shapira - Fiddle and Backing Vocals

Discography

Spuyten Duyvil - EP (c)2009
New Amsterdam - Release Date 6-10-2011
Spuyten Duyvil Music Ltd
www.spuytenduyvilmusic.com

Official Website

http://www.spuytenduyvilmusic.com

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

Audio

• Shady Grove
  Listen  
• Peace With The Damage
  Listen  
• Rain and Snow
  Listen  
• Freight Train
  Listen  
• Half Way Free
  Listen  
• One Fine Day
  Listen  
• I Hear You Calling
  Listen  
• Coal Train
  Listen  
• Being Celeste
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Peace With The Damage
• Through The Light
• Pride Packs Her Bags

Video

Shady Grove at Rockwood Music Hall Stage II

Pride Packs Her Bags at Caffe Lena

Photo Gallery

Press

• Favorite Finds from Folk Allinace 2013: The Americans [+ Show ]
  

  I'm back with more reviews of material I picked up or heard about at the Folk Alliance Internati...I'm back with more reviews of material I picked up or heard about at the Folk Alliance International meeting. This time, I'm writing about Americans, so let's start with some real Americana, and one of the hottest bands in folk music, Spuyten Duyvil. Named after a creek dividing the Bronx from Manhattan, but based in Yonkers, they mix rural and urban vibes by combining blues, country, string-band, and jazz. They're a mighty eight-piece powerhouse of guitars, fiddles and harmonicas, with bouzouki and lap steel for variety, a rhythm section for punch, and high-energy vocals out front. The opener of their CD New Amsterdam, a high-powered version of "Shady Grove" is one of my favorites, but I'm most impressed with their mash-up of Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train" and Mississippi John Hurt's "Louis Collins." I wish I'd had this idea, since I've always loved both songs. Knowing that Cotten and Hurt became friends later in life, and hearing how well the tunes dovetail, I find the result inspired yet almost inevitable. Lead vocals are handled with guts and power by Beth Kaufman, who has a clear, gospel-tinged voice, and Mark Miller, who has the gravelly growl of Louis Armstrong or Leon Redbone. Miller's songwriting is fantastic, too, channeling straight honky-tonk country one minute and drug-addled mystical blues the next. All the playing is hot, but special mention should be made of fiddler Sarah Banks (whose harmony singing is great too), and James Meigs, whose harmonica wails up a storm.

• A Change of Tune in Caramoor’s Music Room [+ Show ]
  

  "Raucous Roots...a tantalizing taste of the changes afoot at Caramoor" - Phillip Lutz, Th..."Raucous Roots...a tantalizing taste of the changes afoot at Caramoor" - Phillip Lutz, The New York Times 3/29/2013

• "To me they are the hottest new band in folk music ... and one of the best + Top Host Pick of 2011" [+ Show ]
  

  "To me they are the hottest new band in folk music ... and one of the best" - Gene Shay, WXPN "The F..."To me they are the hottest new band in folk music ... and one of the best" - Gene Shay, WXPN "The Folk Show" 11/18/2011

• Best New Artist of 2011
  

  "Congrats go to Spuyten Duyvil, Radio Crystal Blue's Best New Artist of 2011"

• Radio - Top CD lists for 2011, Airplay, Special Mentions, Charts [+ Show ]
  

  New Amsterdam (release date 6/10/2011): Nominated for Best American Roots Album by The Alternate ...New Amsterdam (release date 6/10/2011):
  
  Nominated for Best American Roots Album by The Alternate Root TV
  
  Airplay on Over 165 Stations Nationwide including Sirius XM's The Village
  
  WMFT Rich Warren's Favorite CDs of 2011 - Chicago, IL
  
  WXPN Year in Review Gene Shay's Top Ten Host Picks 2011 - Philadelphia, PA
  
  WFDU Top Ten Folk CDs of 2011 - Ron Olesko, Host Traditions
  
  WFUV Best of 2011 Staff Picks - John Platt Honorable Mention - New York, NY
  
  Radio Crystal Blue Best New Artist for 2011
  
  WVPE Top 30 Albums of 2011 Al Kniola & Norm Mast, Hosts The Back Porch South Bend, IN
  
  WTUF Best of 2011 Donna Mavity, Host Donna's Americana Hour, Thomasville, GA
  
  WMSC Favorite Songs of 2011 (One Fine Day) - Joe Pszonek, Host Radio Nowhere
  
  WDCB #4 Fave Song of 2011 (Freight Train/Louis Collins) Lilli Kuzma, Folk Festival - Glen Ellyn, Chicago, IL
  
  "The Year’s Best Mostly-Covers Album" runner up honors from Cover Lay Down
  
  
  #9 Top Album on the Folk DJ Chart
  
  #3 of the 'Top 5 Most Added' artists on the Americana Music Association's Americana Airplay Chart 5/9/2011
  
  #15 on the on the Cashbox Magazine / Roots Music Report's Roots Country Top 50
  
  #66 on the Americana Music Association's Americana Airplay Chart
  
  #8 on the Roots Music Report's New York: Roots Radio
  Airplay Chart
  
  #9 on the Cashbox Magazine / Roots Music Report's Internet Airplay Folk Top 50 Chart
  
  #46 on the Alternate Root Top 66 International Airplay Chart
  
  CollegeNews.com Ear Candy music contest winner - May 2011
  
  The Midnight Special’s CD of the Week on WFMT Chicago for 4/30/2011
  
  Top Ten on KAXE, Minnesota
  
  #19 on KZMU Utah's Roots Chart
  
  Radio Special Mention:
  
  New Voices for the New Year
  --- John Platt WFUV’s Sunday Breakfast January 2011
  
  Featured Artist - Live Performance
  --- John Platt WFUV Sunday Breakfast March 2011
  
  New and Highly Recommended
  --- Ron Olesko WFDU’s Traditions August 2010
  
  New and Noteworthy
  --- Ron Olesko WFDU’s Traditions March 2011
  
  Rich’s Picks
  --- Rich Warren WFMT's The Midnight Special November 2010 + December 2010 + April 2011 + May 2011
  
  Hudson Valley Artists Spotlight
  --- Kathy Millar WHUD May 2011
  
  Spuyten Duyvil Live:
  
  Falcon Ridge Most Wanted Artist 2011
  
  Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist 2010
  
  Caramoor American Roots Music Festival Artist 2011
  
  Formal Showcase Artist
  ---North East Regional Folk Alliance Conference 2011
  ---Sponsored by The Philadelphia Music Coop of the PFS
  
  Formal Showcase Artist
  ---Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM) Gathering 2011
  
  Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase Artist 2011
  ----North East Regional Folk Alliance Conference
  ----Selected by WFUV's John Platt

• WFMT - The Midnight Special Rich Warren's Favortie CD's of 2011 [+ Show ]
  

  I remember tossing a cherry bomb into a lake when I was a kid. That's how Spuyten Duyvil affected me...I remember tossing a cherry bomb into a lake when I was a kid. That's how Spuyten Duyvil affected me when I first heard them and this CD conveys that shock and excitement. Great original writing by member Mark Miller along with a traditional tune and one by Libba Cotton, and outstanding vocals from Beth Kaufman blast this group into the stratosphere. The basically acoustic octet rocks without running up the electric bill. They are so refreshingly original there's no way to describe them in a few words.

• The Philly Music Co-op and PFS sponsor Spuyten Duyvil! [+ Show ]
  

  Spuyten Duyvil is no secret to the folk community. They are critically acclaimed, have been feature...Spuyten Duyvil is no secret to the folk community. They are critically acclaimed, have been featured at some of the most notable festivals around, and tour extensively around the Northeast.
  
  PFS is ecstatic to announce that The Philly Music Co-op is sponsoring Spuyten Duyvil and presenting them at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference. The sponsorship will supply a $500 grant for the Spuyten Duyvil on their travels and will partner PFS and the band for their highly anticipated Formal Showcase at NERFA (Nov. 10-13).

• Kansas Public Radio - Best of 2011 - Bob McWilliams, Host Trail Mix [+ Show ]
  

  "I totally love Spuyten Duyvill ... I heard a track on satellite radio, dug it out and auditioned an..."I totally love Spuyten Duyvill ... I heard a track on satellite radio, dug it out and auditioned and was very impressed." Bob McWilliams, Host Trail Mix

• Spuyten Duyvil A Place. A Band. A Journey [+ Show ]
  

  Spuyten Duyvil A Place. A Band. A Journey. By Richard Cuccaro The beginning of the 2010 F...Spuyten Duyvil
  
  A Place. A Band. A Journey.
  
  By Richard Cuccaro
  
  The beginning of the 2010 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival was a disaster. The annual Friday afternoon Emerging Artists Showcase, always eagerly anticipated, ran into rough weather. Torrential downpours almost completely washed the audience off the hill. Later that evening, the Friday night “Most Wanted Song Swap” was canceled due to wind-driven sheets of rain. Not a good start to a “festive” festival weekend.
  
  Hosted by assigned participant players, the Acoustic Live Friday afternoon booth showcases slogged through a constant downpour. The author, having gotten drenched twice while dealing with canopy leaks, disgustedly waited it out inside his car, trying to dry off.
  
  The next day didn’t look much better. At two o’clock the next afternoon, menacing thunderheads still loomed overhead. Spuyten Duyvil, our first Acoustic Live showcase act of the day, had been one of those acts in Friday’s Emerging Artists Showcase. A band known for its boisterous spirit, they’d played before the remaining dozen or so diehards standing in the rain. I was fearful that the clouds signaled a trend, but Spuyten Duyvil had some magic up its sleeve. Six of the seven players took shelter in the front end of the 20-foot space created by our two adjoining canopies. The drummer, just outside, braved the elements. Several bars into the song, “Halfway Free,” it became apparent that the skies were benign, under the spell of a benevolent spirit. A stubborn sun emerged, drenching the midway audience in sunshine. The bandleader, Mark, and the lead singer, Beth, cautiously walked out into the sunshine, joining their drummer, Lou, who tastefully played a marching band snare with brushes. Mark played a small tenor guitar in a crisply strummed attack and sang and led the group through a sharp uptempo rhythm with tightly executed starts and stops. Beth did what she always does, belting out each stanza with the ferocity and abandon of a gospel rave-up.
  
  
  The band at our booth showcase at the 2010 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, with the sun finally triumphant.
  
  I followed them part way, staying inside, next to Jim, the harp player, and Sarah, the fiddler, soaking in their swooping melody lines that helped the song fly. Tom, the guitarist, and John, the bassist, remained behind me, helping to drive the song on its merry way. As the last strains of the blues harp finished the song, Mark swung back into the canopy to change his instrument for the next song. The audience joyfully whooped its approval. We’ve uploaded a video of the song to YouTube, that shows the band playing for Alternate Root TV. It includes eighth member, Rik Mercaldi, on lap steel. Rik was not at Falcon Ridge in 2010.
  
  This was my first close-up taste of this phenomenon; an organically formed band whose disparate pieces meshed as if grown together out of the same soil. Many months later, I would sit down to dinner with the group and learn how they formed and grew together.
  
  
  The Roots
  
  The story, however, begins with husband and wife Mark Miller and Beth Jamie Kaufman, who form the main stem from which the band’s other tendrils sprouted.
  
  Mark was born in Boston and attended Brookline High School. He played trumpet, then baritone horn in the orchestra. After seeing Devo on “Saturday Night Live,” he picked up the electric bass. He told me, “mostly I just carried it around to look cool (hard to do with a baritone horn).” [A brainy, talented player is never JUST looking cool.] After high school, he went to Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He studied ethno-musicology and comparative religions but spent most of his time in the electronic music studio recording songs with his band, music for films and music for modern dance. He met Beth in his first semester. She saw a “sexy, tortured musician guy who was anything BUT boyfriend material,” but was drawn to him nevertheless. [Fate… never argue with it.] Mark invited her to join him on backup with his college band for one gig at a packed fraternity house. Beth remembers, “That one time was crazy but so fun!!” That would be the last time they’d play together for many years.
  
  Beth, a Brooklyn girl, had grown up listening to straight-up folk music, mostly around the campfire at summer camp where, as she stated, “the counselors were all a bunch of politically charged, guitar-slinging late-era hippies.” She developed an appreciation for “pure acoustic, communal music — music that’s meant to be sung together.” She was singing socialist anthems — Ochs, Seeger, Guthrie, Prine — at age 8. She also got involved in musical theater which led to studying and teaching theater, and later, a career in creative education.
  
  
  A Digital Wizard
  
  After graduation, Mark went back to Boston, where his degree did not prove to be a job magnet. One exchange captures the disconnect between where he was and what the world was offering: “I got one call back from a high school teaching position in religion that did not require a master’s. The first question in the phone interview was ‘Are you Catholic?’ I answered the question with a question... ‘Catholic with a big C or a little c?’ and the line went dead…” [My hero!]
  
  He answered an ad for applicants for radio station sales. Although he says it was a “horrible job,” it gave him access to the very first personal computer-based digital audio editing system. He became a “bit of a local expert” in digital audio editing.
  
  In spite of an obvious talent in the digital realm, Mark decided to move to San Francisco to become a chiropractor. When he got there, he got hired by Digidesign, the developer of Protools, to support their sales team. As soon as he saw Digidesign’s 24-track recording studio sitting empty all night, he quit his pre-med classes and ended up running their tech support department through the launch of Protools.
  
  At that point, as he said, “deep in the purgatory of the transition from the mature and peaceful art of analog tape editing to the nuclear fallout caused by the insertion of the first generation of PCs into the recording studio, I got a random phone call asking if I could write music for a video game. Needing the change, I said “… sure … I can do that.”
  
  Mark spent the next 10 years building the largest independent studio for video game music and produced soundtracks for more than 100 titles. Beth joined him in California and they worked together for a while.
  
  Early in this period, Mark and Beth played together in a “dismal blues band.” She said, “It was us and a bunch of musician guys that all worked with Mark in the video game scene out in San Francisco. Mark’s boss insisted, so a band was born. Needless to say it was very short-lived. Nevertheless, it was a joy making music with my soon-to-be husband.” While still living in California, Mark and Beth got married, with the ceremony taking place back in Brooklyn.
  
  Their daughter, Dena, now 14, was born in San Francisco. Mark needed something steadier with benefits, so he worked in house first at Sega of America and then at Crystal Dynamics. He became chairman of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group and helped in the development of standards for a whole lot of digital stuff that, described in “Markspeak,” is not easily translatable in this publication. However, the industry needed no translation and he received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Game Audio Guild.
  
  
  Back East, a Musical Hiatus
  
  A job offer from Harmonix brought Mark and Beth back to the East Coast and Mark worked for them leading “up to but not including the development and launch of Guitar Hero.” Needing out of the game business, he went back for his MBA at Northeastern University. Then, Mark and Beth moved to New York, making their home in a big, rambling house in Yonkers. Mark had gotten burned out on music during his time in the digital game business and didn’t go near it for a long time. As Beth explains it: “It wasn’t until years later that we began to circle back to music again. In between had been years of parenting and making house. Mark was just wrapping up grad school and seemed to miss music so much. Also, he’d expressed a desire for there to be music in the house while our daughter was growing up.”
  
  The Rebirth
  
  One night in Boston, the trip to Spuyten Duyvil began. At a concert at The House of Blues, Mark and Beth saw David Lindley playing “lap slide reggae on something… it had eight strings.” It sounded amazing and they were both mesmerized.
  
  Beth, being very resourceful, managed to find out what the instrument was (a bouzouki — leave it to David Lindley), and got Mark one for his next birthday. When Mark got home from work and saw it, he thought, “God that’s wonderful!… Now I have to learn how to play this thing.” He picked up a copy of Rise Up Singing. “It had a lot of songs with three chords that I knew. I learned how to play it and Beth and I did a lot of singing together.” Additionally, Mark found that playing the old traditional music in the book unlocked something in him and he started to write his own music. He recalled that, “I had written hundreds of pieces of incidental music and two or three lame attempts at pop music while I was in college. Some part of playing all that old-timey stuff flipped a switch and caused me to start writing stuff that had some meaning.” Beth was surprised because she was the one who had gotten into folk music at a young age and never expected Mark to get into the folky stuff. As Beth described it, “The more inspired he became to play and write, the more inspired I became to sing again.” Mark drew upon the history of the area for the band’s name and for inspiration in his writing.
  
  
  Branching Out
  
  Their house in Yonkers, in the Park Hill section, has a big stone porch out front. That’s where Mark and Beth began to sing and play on a regular basis. The word went out through their circle of friends. The band began to form.
  
  In conversation with three of the other band members during our dinner together, I got to see firsthand why these intelligent, articulate, funny people have so much fun making music together and enjoy each other’s company off stage as well.
  
  Tom Socol is a good guitarist who had played in a lot of bands but hadn’t played out for a long time. He practiced guitar at home a lot by himself. His wife, Ellen, just happened to be Beth’s best friend. Ellen told Beth about Tom. She wanted him to start playing out again and suggested that he join Mark and Beth. Although both couples were great friends, Tom was apprehensive at first because he’d been through some really bad musical matchups and knew there was a potential for a vast difference in their musical tastes and styles. (“It’s like saying. ‘Oh you both like baseball,’ and then one guy is a Yankees fan and the other likes the Boston Red Sox.”) He described what, in his experience, was the usual process of starting a band this way: “Most of the time, starting a band is like starting an extended family through the Want Ads. ‘We need one husband, one wife, 2.5 children and one pet.’ And whatever walks in the door you try to build on. That would be me [the pet].” He was joyfully surprised to discover that he enjoyed what Mark was playing. He said, “Mark and Beth had been playing on the porch a lot and I started showing up and we started playing more.”
  
  Sarah Banks, the violinist, came along next. She lives on the other side of “their little enclave” in Park Hill. For a while it was just the four of them, on the porch, playing traditional songs and Mark’s originals. Sarah pressed Mark to do gigs, saying, “These songs are really good and we sound really good and we should get some gigs.”
  
  Five members of the band who were present the night of our interview, at practice in Mark and Beth’s living room,
  
  Mark liked the arrangement the way it was, playing once or twice a week on the porch. He acquiesced but not before telling her, “This is a really cool thing just the way it is, and as soon as we make it more than that, you know, things will get a lot more complicated.”
  
  A good friend of theirs, Steve, a professional bassist, a much more serious musician, joined the group for gigs. He wasn’t into rehearsing but, “he did like the gigs.” He later moved to California.
  
  One of the places that the band began to play on a steady basis was the Hastings Farmer’s Market. One frequent visitor to the market was Jim Meigs, editor for Popular Mechanics and a blues harpist. He’d be there every week, watching Spuyten Duyvil play. He mentioned to his wife, “Wow! These guys are really good!” Then, “Hey, they could really use harp on that song!” Then, “Wow! They could really use harp on ALL their songs!” Mark remembered that “this guy would show up with his tweed case of harmonicas.” Jim would strike up conversations with Mark and casually drop hints about his musical involvement. Mark got the hints and finally asked, “Do you have a harp?” Did he ever! And his own microphone. He was invited on stage for the Little Feat staple “Willin.” Mark liked what he heard and asked Jim to sit in on “Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor.” After that, Jim was invited to a rehearsal and then a festival gig. He said to his wife, “I think I’m in the band!”
  
  Another piece fell into place when, similar to what happened with Tom and Ellen, Lou Geser’s wife mentioned to Mark that Lou, needing an outlet, played drums. Mark was looking for a drummer who would “get” the band’s sound. Mark had gotten to know Lou, and knew that he wouldn’t join unless he could “cut it.” Lou’s ability to soften the sound to fit the band’s concept added the perfect touch.
  
  John Neidhart, the bassist, had started off in folk and blues and had gone through a long rock ’n’ roll period. He was playing in a cover band and, as a change of pace, was looking for a country band to play with. He entered his credentials to the BandMix.com website. After Steve left for California, Mark wanted to find another bassist, happened to be perusing the site and saw John’s information and extended an invitation. John made contact and came to a rehearsal. While it wasn’t country, he liked the music and thought it was a good fit. However, when he heard gospel-tinged songs and saw no beer being consumed during rehearsal, he became afraid that the band was comprised of Bible-thumping fundamentalists. It wasn’t until the band lugged a big batch of “craft” microbrewed beer (a band staple) to a campsite at Falcon Ridge that he relaxed and told them of his misperception. He also introduced them to the next member, Rik Mercaldi, who he thought would be a good fit with the band.
  
  When Tom couldn’t attend all of the 2010 NERFA Conference, John suggested that Rik fill in at the remaining showcases and jams. That went well, and when the band’s second CD New Amsterdam was almost done (the first was an EP called In Spite of the Devil), and something was missing, John suggested that Rik come and add some lap steel. Doing overdubs, without previous accompaniment on that instrument, Mark recalled, “he tore up this material.” Mark recalled saying, with a Cheshire cat grin, “This CD just got a whole lot better!” Along with Jim’s Chicago blues harp, it helped to define what the band is about.
  The band at our Acoustic Live late-night guerrilla showcase at the 2011 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference
  
  All the band members live no more than 10 minutes apart and spend a lot of time together. Beth sums up the band’s spirit in her own terms: “Filling our home with music and singing alongside my husband has been a beautiful gift, enriching our relationship tenfold. Finding my voice again has been truly amazing.”
  Establishing a relationship with this band has been enriching for this author as well. Their press copy states: “…foot stompin’, barn burning, rabble rousing live shows blending traditional jug band energy with amped-up lap steel guitar and Chicago-style harp blues.” Amen to that.
  
  To any reader who has not made the trip to Spuyten Duyvil yet… what are you waiting for? There’s an adventure waiting for you.
  
  Website: spuytenduyvilmusic.com
  
  
  Upcoming Gigs Include:
  
  Jan 7 8pm Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club, Fair Lawn, NJ
  
  28 8pm Jalopy Theater. 315 Columbia St., Brooklyn, NY
  
  Feb 6 8pm The Bitter End, New York, NY
  
  16 8pm Turning Point, Piermont, NY
  
  Mar 10 7pm Sounding Board Coffeehouse, West Hartford, CT
  
  
  
  

• Spuyten Duyvil - Vintage is the New Modern [+ Show ]
  

  Spuyten Duyvil’s sophomore release, ‘New Amsterdam’, is a museum of traditional American roots music...Spuyten Duyvil’s sophomore release, ‘New Amsterdam’, is a museum of traditional American roots music. Not so much as a collection of rooms filled with antiquated relics but more as being a collection of rooms filled with historical archives wrapped in a brand new modern building. Each of the 10 “paintings” that grace the walls of 'New Amsterdam' is inventive and contemporary while paying homage to the techniques of past masters.
  
  It’s the ability of Spuyten Duyvil (spite-en dive-el) to take traditional country, bluegrass, folk, string band and whatever else is in the rack, pull out the needed elements, in the right amounts and turn it into a completely modern sound that makes this band and the album so incredibly good. That and the fact that the octet from Yonkers, NY is comprised of highly skilled players and singers that understand the music and know the mission make 'New Amsterdam' and Spuyten Duyvil completely believable; placing them alongside folks like The Carolina Chocolate Drops and Geoff Muldaur and the Texas Shieks. Yeah, they’re that good…and that authentic.
  
  Of particular note, on an album full of particularly notable music, is ‘Shady Grove,’ the albums opener, a mix between a Memphis soul stirrer and a Kentucky square dance with a little 60’s girl group for charm and a ripping guitar solo from Nashville axe master Brian Ashley Jones. The golden harmonies of Beth Jamie Kaufman and Sarah Banks are going to grace this entire album so be prepared.
  
  Track 3, the beautiful ‘Coal Train,’ harkens back to the early mountain music of Virginia or Tennessee mid 19th century. The story of a poor boy boarding a train for Antietam during the Civil War, ‘Coal Train’ is Mark Miller at his most lyrically striking and politically subtle. Sarah Banks’ fiddle provides the authenticity while dobro courtesy of Tom Socol and the mandolin fills from Rik Mercaldi give the song a modern feel without sacrificing tradition. There were probably anti-war ballads during the Civil War talking about the uselessness of war but after all is said and done anti-war songs can really be speaking about any of them.
  
  Miller takes the vocal reigns on ‘One Fine Day’ sounding a bit like Louis Armstrong as the band lays down a cool New Orleans funk-jazz melody over the swampy harp tones of James Meigs. Meigs is masterful on this entire disc with both tasty, sparse fills and blistering solos. Miller also shows off his chops on bouzouki and tenor guitar throughout the 10 song tapestry. The rhythm section is locked tight with bassist John Neidhart and percussionist Louis Geser keeping time like a conductor’s pocket watch. Miller’s gravelly “Armstrong-esque” vocal style provides an interesting contrast to the angelic vocal duet from Kaufman and Banks on Elizabeth Cotton’s ‘Freight Train.’ This track captures the sound of 1940’s era country music like nothing I’ve heard in recent memory. 'New Amsterdam' has more hooks and lures than a Bass Pro Shop!
  
  There’s swampy blues, hints of gospel, harmonies that hearken back to the golden era of country western, thumping bass over slide and steel guitars, intelligent lyrics and tight arrangements that highlight skillful performances both vocally and instrumentally. ‘New Amsterdam’ is what one would expect as an album made well into a band’s career and it leaves you wondering what Spuyten Duyvil will do from here. For now, enjoy it as one of the true gems of 2011.
  
  Alternate Root TV hooked up with Spuyten Duyvil in early June at their album release party in Beczak Center in Yonkers, NY for a strong five song set prior to their sold out gig that evening. We’re saving a couple of the tasty morsels they laid out but the video was so cool we’ve decided to add a preview here of ‘Shady Grove’ which featured Brian Ashley Jones and ‘I Hear You Calling.’ The rest we’ll save for Alternate Root TV down the road. Enjoy!

• Spuyten Duyvil on WFMT's Folkstage [+ Show ]
  

  "I'd like to thank John Platt for our "Folkstage" artists tonight, the seven-piece band Spuyten Du...
  "I'd like to thank John Platt for our "Folkstage" artists tonight, the seven-piece band Spuyten Duyvil that blew the roof off the studio and more than thrilled the audience. They were high energy folk at its best and we had a rollicking good time of music that's indescribably fun. ...This is one very special band."
  
  Rich Warren, Host, WFMT's "The Midnight Special" and "Folkstage"

• Spuyten Duyvil's New Amsterdam gets runner's up honors in "The Year’s Best Mostly-Covers Album" [+ Show ]
  

  Spuyten Duyvil's New Amsterdam gets runner's up honors in "The Year’s Best Mostly-Covers Album" cate...Spuyten Duyvil's New Amsterdam gets runner's up honors in "The Year’s Best Mostly-Covers Album" category in our year's end round-up!

• College News music contest winners - May 2011 [+ Show ]
  

  Pure Americana at its best, Spuyten Duyvil takes the traditional sounds of the American south and ma...Pure Americana at its best, Spuyten Duyvil takes the traditional sounds of the American south and makes them fresh and new. To listen to the new album “New Amsterdam” is to be nostalgic for another time and place. The band boasts eight members in all (Beth Kaufman-Miller, Tom Socol, Sarah Banks, Jim Meigs, Lou Geser, John Neidhart, Rik Mercaldi and Mark Miller) and a host of instruments from fiddle to harmonica to the electric mandolin. The band’s musicianship is outstanding and Beth Kaufman-Miller’s soaring vocals tie them all together.

• WFUV's John Platt - Advance Praise for New Amsterdam - March 2011 [+ Show ]
  

  "Spuyten Duyvil's songs draw on the roots of American music and history, but in the hands of eight s..."Spuyten Duyvil's songs draw on the roots of American music and history, but in the hands of eight superb performers they crackle with energy that's both contemporary and downright irresistible."

• WFDU's Ron Olesko Advance Praise for New Amsterdam [+ Show ]
  

  "With "New Amsterdam", Spuyten Duyvil delivers a wonderfully boisterous collection of songs that def..."With "New Amsterdam", Spuyten Duyvil delivers a wonderfully boisterous collection of songs that define what "roots" music should sound like. Spuyten Duyvil roll like an old time tent show, but instead of selling worthless snake oil, they deliver a package of gems, well crafted tunes and stories that are pure fun to listen to."

• Joe Crookston - Advance Praise For New Amsterdam [+ Show ]
  

  “ ….Wow… from the opening notes on New Amsterdam, the energy, the excitement, and the pure joy of p...“ ….Wow… from the opening notes on New Amsterdam, the energy, the excitement, and the
  pure joy of playing and singing together is palpable. Spuyten Duyvil is more than a band, it’ s a community. Like builders of community. Infectious and fun- inviting us in to sing, dance, and celebrate. I’ m basking in their musical glow.”

• Maggi Landau - Advance Praise For New Amsterdam [+ Show ]
  

  “From the first note Spuyten Duyvil grabs your attention, drawing you in with their joyful, upliftin...“From the first note Spuyten Duyvil grabs your attention, drawing you in with their joyful, uplifting and spirited music. This is contemporary old time music at its best played with heart, soul and sass.”

• Tina Shafer Artistic Director of SongCircleMusic [+ Show ]
  

  "I can't remember when I enjoyed an evening of music more than at the WFUV Living Room show watching..."I can't remember when I enjoyed an evening of music more than at the WFUV Living Room show watching Spuyten Duyvil. The group possesses an incredible musical energy that was immediately infectious to everyone. It was like getting your favorite friends together to play and they all happened to be really great musicians!"

• WAMC's Wanda Adams Fischer says... [+ Show ]
  

  "This group is terrific! High energy and original approaches to their own songs and traditional tune..."This group is terrific! High energy and original approaches to their own songs and traditional tunes." Wanda Adams Fischer, The Hudson River Sampler, WAMC, Albany NY

• On Spuyten Duyvil at the Long Island Fall Festival [+ Show ]
  

  "On behalf of the Huntington Arts Council and the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, I want ...
  "On behalf of the Huntington Arts Council and the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, I want to thank you and Spuyten Duyvil for
  participating at the 2010 L.I. Fall Festival. Your performance on the Chapin Rainbow Stage was one of the weekend highlights and helped make
  a glorious weekend even more memorable. I have had nothing but glowing reviews and comments from those who attended. It was a
  pleasure working with you..."
  
  John Chicherio, Performing Arts Director, Huntington Arts Council 10/2010

• The Devil, You Say! [+ Show ]
  

  http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2009/december2009/spuyten-duyvil-devil.php The Devil, Yo...http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2009/december2009/spuyten-duyvil-devil.php
  
  
  The Devil, You Say!
  By Billy Altman
  
  IN SPITE OF THE DEVIL
  Spuyten Duyvil
  Imix Records
  
  If you're reading TheBluegrassSpecial.com, then I don't have to tell you that some of the best music being made and shared these days comes from an Americana/roots movement that continues to gain momentum even as (or perhaps in large part directly because) the commercial mainstream continues to flail about in its celebrity-obsessed, washed-out pop waters. Thanks to the Internet and social networking sites, it is on some level easier than ever for those committed to real, honest music to get their voices heard far and wide. And as a result, there are great opportunities these days for curious and adventurous listeners to hear all sorts of worthwhile performers who, in older days, without a national record company or high-powered agency behind them, were usually confined to only local or at best regional exposure.
  
  Case in point: Spuyten Duyvil, a band from just outside the environs of New York City (Yonkers to be exact) that has just self-released a debut CD that's among the finer roots-based collections I've heard all year--on any label. Led by the talented duo of songwriter/guitarist Mark Miller and lead vocalist Beth Kaufman, Spuyten Duyvil is named for the creek that runs from the Hudson to the Harlem River, marking the northernmost tip of Manhattan. (It's also the name of the suburban commuter railroad station located at that very spot.) Translated from the Dutch, the term means either "Devil's Whirlpool" or "In Spite of the Devil," the latter phrase popularized by �Legend of Sleepy Hollow� author Washington Irving's story in which a Dutch trumpeter who tried to swim across the turbulent waters during the British attack on New Amsterdam "en spijt den Duyvil (in spite of the Devil)." And, yes, the CD's title track tells that very tale--and in fittingly rousing sea shanty fashion to boot.
  
  It is, however, just one part of this quintet's distinctive, multi-faceted style. Miller is an eclectic composer equally at home with alt.country (the heart-in-cheek "I Know You'll Leave Me"), jug band-leaning blues (the frisky, footloose "Let the Rain Come Down"), even mystic folk (the surprisingly elegant "In Sympathy")--and in Kaufman he has a skilled, strong-voiced singer malleable enough to make it all sound of one piece. Meanwhile, fiddler Sarah Banks, guitarist Tom Socol and bassist Steve Horowitz nimbly weave across these various genre lines with both subtlety and taste, evidenced nicely on the set's lone cover, a taut, dark reading of the trad evergreen "Rain and Snow."
  
  Spuyten Duyvil describes itself as a group whose sound "wanders the last 100 years of American music conjuring embittered civil war veterans, recalcitrant small town bawds, suicidal bureaucrats, star crossed lovers and bravehearted fools navigating the mysteries of daily life." In other words, they've got something to say, not merely something to sell. Take that, Satan.
  
  Buy it at www.cdbaby.com/cd/SpuytenDuyvil
  
  For band info: www.spuytenduyvilmusic.com

• Holly Hutchinson (Capitol Records, Atlantic Records) reviews "I know you'll leave me" [+ Show ]
  

  “I found this song and artist entertaining... It sounds like a fun song for a whole crowd to sing at...“I found this song and artist entertaining... It sounds like a fun song for a whole crowd to sing at a local pub.”

• WFUV's John Platt on Spuyten Duyvil at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and NERFA [+ Show ]
  

  "Spuyten Duyvil were standouts at the Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists Showcase this year. They draw...
  "Spuyten Duyvil were standouts at the Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists
  Showcase this year. They draw on traditional roots, but with a
  contemporary point of view and a truly spirited presentation." July 2010
  
  "When you see an artist who successfully finds a bridge between different genres, it can be thrilling. Some who did that at NERFA included ...Spuyten Duyvil (old-time string band instrumentation)..." November 2010
  

• Ron Olesko - Producer/Host WFDU-FM's Traditions on 'In Spite Of The Devil' [+ Show ]
  

  "Your album (In Spite of The Devil) is one of the freshest I've heard this year and I feel you deser..."Your album (In Spite of The Devil) is one of the freshest I've heard this year and I feel you deserve to be heard by audiences across the country"
  
  Ron Olesko - Producer/Host WFDU-FM's Traditions 9/9/2010
  www.ronolesko.blogspot.com

• Oliver di Place - Spuyten Duyvil - In Spite Of The Devil review 7-30-2010 [+ Show ]
  

  Thursday, July 29, 2010 Spuyten Duyvil - In Spite of the Devil I’m breaking my own rule here, and ...Thursday, July 29, 2010
  Spuyten Duyvil - In Spite of the Devil
  I’m breaking my own rule here, and reviewing an album from last year. That’s because I only just discovered Spuyten Duyvil this past weekend at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. In the last year, there have been some changes in the band too. They have added a drummer and a harmonica player, and replaced their bass player. Nevertheless, In Spite of the Devil offers a fair survey of what makes this band so good.
  
  First of all, there are the lead vocals, credited here to Beth Kaufman. Since this album came out, she married songwriter Mark Steven Miller, and she now goes by Beth Kaufman-Miller. This makes perfect sense, because her voice is an ideal vessel for Miller’s words. Kaufman-Miller isn’t going to coo or whisper. She has a strong voice, and expresses emotions naturally. But Kaufman-Miller is powerful, yes, but in control. She can modulate her tone to convey different kinds of emotions. Her voice has both a bluesy and a country quality to it, and she knows how to make it work on a variety of material.
  
  The band here includes Mark Steven Miller on bouzouki and tenor guitar, Tom Socol on guitar and dobro, and bass and fiddle complete the band. Sarah Banks gets a beautiful clean tone on the fiddle, and can add wonderful countermelodies or extra rhythmic punch to the songs. Guest musicians add drums, keyboards, mandolin, and cello. So this is the sound of a large mostly acoustic ensemble, and the band is tight. Some songs have hints of old-time jazz, while the traditional song Rain and Snow has a Middle Eastern flavor to it, but mostly, I would call this music folk.
  
  There are seven songs in all, and six are originals. But the song Spuyten Duyvil sounds like a traditional song, perhaps from Ireland. I’d love to know if this one is based on a historical event, because it tells the story of how the town of Spuyten Duyvil got its name. Let the Rain Come Down is the repentant blues of a sinner, and here Mark Steven Miller takes his only turn on lead vocals, singing in a Tom Waits-like growl. It suits the song well, but his wife is the better singer. I Know You’ll Leave Me is a country tinged song about the expectation of heartbreak. Miller does not limit himself to any single genre, but he knows well the ones he works with, and yet he also avoids clichés in his writing. And the album works very well as a whole.
  
  So Spuyten Duyvil is a band that can perform songs in a variety of styles without sounding like just a visitor to any of them. They have a writer who can deliver those songs, and a lead singer who can put them across beautifully. The current lineup is at least as good as the one heard here, and I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

• Spuyten Duyvil's music celebrates the band's roots in Riverdale By Kevin Deutsch [+ Show ]
  

  "The band members of Spuyten Duyvil (a phrase taken to mean “In spite of the Devil”) are considere...
  "The band members of Spuyten Duyvil (a phrase taken to mean “In spite of the Devil”) are considered some of the finest musicians in their slice of New York." ...
  "With lyrically driven songs involving characters as varied as embittered civil war veterans and recalcitrant small-town hookers, Spuyten Duyvil has carved out a unique niche for itself amid lovers of folk and old-time cowboy music." ...
  "Fans of Spuyten Duyvil sometimes have trouble pronouncing the band’s name name, but are still drawn to their riveting storytelling and melodic harmonies.
  “I butcher the band name, but their music is incredible,” said Marissa McLaughlin, who heard the group perform at An Beal Bocht last week. “No one’s making music like this around here. It’s so complex and interesting.”
  

Setlist

Shady Grove (traditional): A traditional having a wild night in New Orleans with some beautiful fretwork by Nashville ace Brian Ashley Jones

I Hear You Calling: An irreverent, swingin’ spiritual adapted from the extended absence greeting of a non-denominational, non-gender-specific higher
power’s cell phone

Coal Train: A poor boy’s lament as he boards the train to Antietam, forced into the war by a lack of opportunity

One Fine Day: An Olde Timey shout and holla’ with a ripping harp solo

Freight Train (traditional): A ‘mash up’ of Freight Train and Louis Collins with sweet female vocal harmonies and some hot picking

Halfway Free: A groovin’ mix of bitter and sweet reflections on the partial emancipation of the first Africans to arrive in New Amsterdam

Through the Light: Cinematic, mid-century swing floating between the realities of a drug-induced coma

No More: A rough-and-ready blues about a boozed-up Christmas dinner, followed by unwilling abstinence, with some friendly sparring betwen lap steel and harp

Judge Not: An amped-up modern spiritual promoting religious tolerance with lyrics lifted from the Flushing Remonstrance, New Amsterdam’s precursor to
the Bill of Rights

Peace with the Damage: A mystical folk ballad explains away the transgressions of an unreliable narrator

Basic Requirements

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