Heth and Jed

Indie duo Heth & Jed pump The Living Room with their signature blend of sonic, soulful rock. Layering live looping with guitars and synthesizers, the pair play songs from their CDs "Between the In and Out" and "Clean," as well as their new DVD produced by City Sessions/YMC TV. 9 p.m.; free admission, with one-drink minimum. 154 Ludlow St. (212) 533-7235.

- New York Daily News

As part of MTA’s Music Under New York program, the Weinstein brothers, Heth (guitar)and Jed (bass), are continually bringing live, innovative performances to various public spaces. Whether it’s performing at an intimate venue, braving cold street corners or filling subway halls with their uniquely layered tunes, the California and New Jersey raised siblings have proven to be in this for the love of the music since bailing on full-band efforts in 2003. “We had some guitarist issues in other bands so we decided to just do it ourselves,” says Heth, a former drummer, with a smile. The duo’s live performance is an ongoing experiment of live looping, layering and singing that delivers a sound somewhere between Keller Williams, Jack Johnson and Pink Floyd (while some songs border on pop-rock, others are much less structured, offering more of a trance-like canvas of sound). Check out Between the In and the Out, produced by Jamie Candiloro (Ryan Adams, R.E.M.), for a one-stop introduction to the group’s self-described “jambient rock.” www.hethandjed.com - Relix Magazine

MAY 15, 2007
GRAND CENTRAL. Lorenzo LaRoc recalls when the police wouldn’t let him play the violin in public.
Between 1936 and ’70, buskers couldn’t perform legally here without a license, but many flouted the law. When Mayor John Lindsay lifted the ban, LaRoc said, police found other ways to stop the music.
“They weren’t happy about it,” he said. “I’d get summonses for soliciting funds, for whatever they could hit you with.”
In 1985 NYC Transit started a pilot program for approved subway buskers called Music Under New York. Two years later it made the program official. LaRoc, who was in that first legit class and went on to play with Sheila E. and Tito Puente, will be a judge today at the 20th anniversary auditions.
Each year about 70 of 200 applicants make the tryouts, explained Lydia Bradshaw, who runs the program for the MTA. While anyone can play in the subway, the program gives about 100 musicians dibs on the system’s best spots.
Yesterday afternoon brothers Heth and Jed Weinstein set up their amps and assorted wah-wah pedals in the Grand Central subway station. An open guitar case contained their two CDs and two crumpled bills.
When Heth became part of Music Under New York two years ago, he was already playing in the subway.
“It’s enabled me to be a musician,” he said, describing the pair’s sound as “jambient.”
“It’s ambient music with a jam side, a little rock ’n’ roll and Hendrix,” he explained.
The station’s mezzanine is their favorite spot.
“The platforms are very lucrative, but I wanted to have more of a show,” Heth said. “That comes from being able to do your full set without a train whizzing by.”
The pair grew up in Los Angeles, until their parents, both artists, moved the family to West Orange in the mid-90s. Occasionally they’ll see someone from their New Jersey high school walking past. These days they live on the Lower East Side.
“My dad got strict in his old age, so he doesn’t really dig what we’re doing,” Heth said. “‘Physician, not musician,’ he always says.
“It was rough going at first. We didn’t have Music Under New York behind us, so we’d just come out here. It was dicey. I was broke, out of work. I was lucky New York took me in: People here support their local artists.”
If you go
• The 20th annual auditions for Music Under New York take place today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Vanderbilt Hall of Grand Central Terminal. Veteran musicians will take the stage from noon to 1.
• Heth and Jed play at 5 p.m. today in the Herald Square-34th Street station.
- Metro New York

SOUL BROTHERS A different duo of Weinstein brothers — Heth and Jed Weinstein — performs rock, combined with synthesizers and beat-boxes, for an electronic-folk sound. The duo performs material from its past two albums, "Clean" and "Between the In and Out." Tomorrow, 9:15 p.m., Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction, 34 Avenue A, between 2nd and 3rd streets, 212-777-5660, $8.
Arts Calendar - New York Sun (Jul 17, 2007)
- New York Sun

With speak-to-your-soul vocals, Heth and Jed’s “Between the In & the Out” is an album those who hear it won’t soon forget. The opening song is the title track and has a chilling and spacey tone to it making listeners possibly question the remainder of the album. “Ballad of Kate” does a total reversal of rhythm with its slow guitar strands and storytelling lyrics like, “Kate, she calls my name, she whispers its time to get up….she never lets me down she never leaves me all alone.” “Desert Sun” is a track one can picture hearing at the conclusion of a movie, where the main character is driving toward the unknown, with lines like, “Oceans worlds apart carry me off to you, it’s a decision knowing your heart, marry me off with you.” The vocalist’s husky voice is hypnotizing and can take listeners to a laid-back place of pure relaxation. “Ladder” is an instrumental song that continues to calm the record down and is quite soothing to the ear. Heth and Jed’s “Between the In & the Out” is an appeasing set of songs that can help listeners sit back and forget about their problems.
Sari N. Kent - PLATTERPICKS (Nov 2, 2006)
- Platterpicks