Seed

Having attended the first Rock n Roll Resort in April of this year, I knew what to expect: a large, 1950s era Catskill hotel, with great rooms, a spa, Shakedown Street vendors in the lobby, music going for nearly the entire weekend in four different rooms and a festival feel to the entire event. A festival in a hotel. I went knowing what to expect and walked out amazed at how this second installment of Rock n Roll Resort went smoother, had a buzz about the entire weekend that I didn’t notice the first time around, and found more musicians sitting in with other bands and mingling with fans in a very casual manner. As Ryan Montbleau said during the Nephrok All-Stars Superjam featuring 15 musicians, around 2am on Sunday morning, “This is Jamcruise-esque.”

Friday’s music included Zach Deputy playing his brand of funky sitdown soul, although the crowd was far from sitting down. A theme of cowboys and aliens brought the creative crowd out of the woodwork and led to some interesting interactions around the hotel. Ryan Montbleau Band moved the crowd as always with his crooners voice and soulful funk of the band. Deep Banana Blackout headlined and packed the crowd in for a proud set; I saw them in the late 1990s at Hungry Charlie’s in Syracuse and its great to see their sound return to the scene for festivals. Meandering back upstairs for a refresher, I heard someone yell out “Rock n Roll Resort is Jamcruise meets The Shining!” I haven’t been on Jamcruise, but if the music is even 10% as amazing as it, then yes, this is definitely true. Sadly, Scatman Crothers was not on the festival lineup.


Late night went straight through till dawn and I spent a solid hour+ seeing Wyllys and Jha, featuring Original Wyllys and Jennifer Hartswick from the New York Hustler Ensemble. This was their first public performance as a duo, with Wyllys DJing and Jen on trumpet. It was a very unique and effective combo; together they breed unique dance beats with smooth airy funk that led to funky duets between them. Kung Fu rocked out till 330am while Brothers Past kept the Empire Lounge dancing till 5am.

Saturday started out slow, for me at least, so I hit the Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna, all key to refreshing me after a long Friday of work, traveling, dancing and partying. The spa at Rock n Roll Resort is the secret benefit to the festival, and likely to spoil you for the weekend, but it is oh so worth it. Walking up to get food I heard an unexpected rendition of Pink Floyd’s ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’ from the lobby stage, a pretty cool bonus to the nature of the festival.


Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds performed two strong sets, getting the early crowd moving. I caught up with Jen Hartswick to talk about her new album Ocean Floor, refueled before the nights music and caught a little more Zach Deputy while Montbleau sat in with Deep Banana Blackout on Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke. The headliners for the weekend, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk brought New Orleans to the Catskills, playing some of Papa Neville’s hits from The Meters, inviting the ladies in the audience up on stage with him for a memorable “You can make it if you try” while Jen Harstwick and the Deep Banana Blackout Horns for ‘Be Mine’.


When the music seemed it couldn’t get any better, the Nephrok Allstar Jam led by Nephtaliem brought out a little bit of everything from the weekend to create the greatest dance party the Catskills has seen since April, if not the 1970s. Ivan and Tony Hall from Dumpstaphunk, Dirty Bird Horns, members of Spiritual Rez, Deep Banana Blackout, and many other musicians took the stage in rotating fashion, never stopping the music. After stepping off the stage after a lengthy “Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again”, Ivan Neville remarked ‘This is the sickest collection of musicians I’ve seen in a LONG while’.


The energy from Nephrok Allstars carried over to the late-late night with a collection of bands that were perfect to bring the sun up. Seed was amazing again and really needs to start hitting Upstate New York; Brothers Past played a 4am set after Wyllys and Red Shift finished solo and dueling DJ sets, and Jeff Bujak included his electronica with the always amazing effect of Silent Disco to create Silent Bujak and carried the festival past dawn.


Shannon Plaquet and Wicked Cool Productions are onto a gem in the Hudson Valley with a now twice a year festival. Another installment of Rock n Roll Resort comes in early spring. Stay tuned to www.rocknrollresort.com for updates and lineup announcements in a few weeks.

by Phanart Pete Mason

-----Also available at: http://upstatelive.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/show-review-rock-n-roll-resort-v-1-5/ - Upstate Live

Another round of Ryan Montbleau Band, Zach Deputy and Deep Banana Blackout followed, but we took it easy on those sets as we were preparing for a late night with Dumpstaphunk, Nephrok Allstars, two sets of Jeff Bujak, SEED and whatever else that popped up. Dumpstaphunk, the festival’s main headliner, absolute CRUSHED it! One of my favorite bands from years on the scene, I was extremely excited to have a full two hours of the New Orleans natives to funk the shit out one of the funnest festivals in recent memory. The next two hours would see us all bouncing back between Dumpstaphunk and Jeff Bujak. We’d catch 3-4 funk tunes, head downstairs to rage out to some electronica for a bit, then back to Dumpstaphunk we went! This was a hard slot for me personally as Jeff is one of my dear friends, but Dumpstaphunk is some of the stinkiest stuff I’ve ever heard! It’s just so easy to soup it up to that stuff, not to mention droll over Nick Daniel’s bass playing and his incredibly ability to harmonize as well as Nikki Glaspie absolute dominating the kit. Good times!

Nick Daniels of Dumpstaphunk

Nephrok Allstars was one of the wildest times on stage all weekend as they brought funk, soul and musical collaboration to a whole new level. As much as I loved that set, I want to reserve the right to give SEED some more love. Armed with a late night slot of 3:00a – 4:00a, the band delivered HANDS DOWN one of the best sets of the weekend! With fans slowing trickling into the room, there hit a point where the set was just laughable. The first 20 or so minutes was full of some tunes that got the crowd loosened up with varying degrees of success, but after that, IT WAS ON! Every song for the remainder of the 60 minute set was some of the sickest stuff I’ve heard from these guys. While Travis Pihlman can play a percussive back layer or come to the front and shred like few in the scene, his guitar stylings were set on display during this late night set. Derek Joly on keys and saxophone provides the perfect foundational layer for a guitar solo, or ripping his own on saxophone while bassist Chris West held down the root front and center. Chris and Derek have a wonderful harmony together, while House on the kit pushes with his trap hi-hat, giving the audience the perfect beat to latch on to while the music sways from prog to funk throughout the set.

Silent Buj closed out our night that Sunday morning as we all grabbed headphones from the pile and prepared for a wiggle fest. We were all loosing stem by the time he took the stage at 5:00a, but the set was full of serious family (where was Adam Creguer?) as Buj laid out his form of Intelligent Dance Music to a decent sized crowd of headphone-clad festie-goers. I wish this set was a little earlier as the attendance was a little light, which made it a little harder for the Silent Buj set to get us going. Silent Buj sets are best when the room is packed and you feed off eachother’s energy as you can easily dance in silence with no headphones on if the crowd is amped up. The set was still a blast and after we helped the Buj Crew load out, we hit the sack around 7:30a.

----For full review, please visit: http://www.soundscapeimaging.com/2011/12/15/rock-n-roll-resort-review-112511-112711/ - Soundscape Imaging

The phenomenal combination of Disc Jam’s music, disc golf tournament, and the Hayland Orchard and Brewery was totally unexpected. Guests were welcome to lounge on the green grass and in the shade of the orchard while sipping on finely crafted brews. Top this that off with some great music and weather, and you have one great weekend.

All three days consisted of a steady stream of funk, reggae, jam, rock, and blues. Saturday night was, by far, the favorite. Seed, hailing from Eastern Connecticut, has shared the stage with Sam Kininger and resonated that same sense of classic well-envisioned funk grooves. Coming out of no were, near the end of their set, was a Beatles montage starting with “Eleanor Rigby” and ending with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Topping off the early evening that Saturday was Dub Apocalypse, featuring members of John Brown’s Body, Nate Wilson Group, G-love, Sam Kinninger Band, and Dopapod. The antithesis of a motley crew, Dub Apocalypse played an impressive array of original dub-reggae, not too clean but just the right amount of dirty dub breaks you would anticipate from this all-star cast. Wrapping up the evening was Dopapod, a band who’s sure to get your blood flowing while your booty does the talking. They were one of the headlining acts at the festival, alongside Zach Deputy and The Alchemystics. It was a first for them, and you could see the sense of celebration in their faces as they played. Their syncopated, super-cool funk format jams alongside dub-experimentalism and an undeviating sense of musicianship. Their distinctive personalities blend effortlessly onstage, an amalgamation of parts that make up an incredible energy, a dependable delivery, with a command of their instruments as unique as they are to each other.

Late night music was brilliant, Disc JAM all-star JAM – featuring various disc jam 2011 artists was a perfect way to end the music. The camping scene was small, fun and friendly, with the only down side being the incredibly limited amount of porter-potties. - Performer Magazine

Local band SEED has laid the
roots down for making it just fine
with no help from record labels,
businessmen or industry moguls.
The band, self-described as progressive
funk, tours non-stop
throughout the state and East
Coast, books their own shows, and
self-maintains their own social
media outlets, all while playing on
some of today’s biggest festival
venues.
The band is all made up of four,
young Quiet Corner residents, who
all have a knack for not being so
quiet. Travis Pihlman, of
Plainfield, plays guitar, while Chris
West, of Plainfield, plays bass and
sings, while Derek Joly, of
Killingly, blows saxophone, plays
keyboards and sings, and Mike
Aubin, of Killingly, on drums.
Playing since 2009, the band has
already shared the stage with big
name acts, such as renowned
singer-songwriter G. Love, saxophone
player Sam Kininger, Kung
Fu, Dopapod, The Macpodz,
Consider The Source and Mark
Mercier.
“SEED has found a sound that
blends the modern day psychedelic
rock, with a funk-fusion of saxophone
effects and electronics,” said
Joly.
Just last year, the band played
three major festivals, including ripping
it up in front of thousands at
The Big Up Festival in Ghent, N.Y.,
The Wormtown and Strange-Creek
Music Festivals in Greenfield,
Mass., and The Strawberry Jam in
New York.
SEED has already joined the bill
for this year's Great Bay Festival in
Dover, N.H., Disc Jam Festival inMassachusetts, Camp Coldbrook in
Massachusetts, Heads and
Harmony Festival in Harmony,
Maine, and Jibberjazz’s
Midsummer Meltdown in
Pennsylvania.
The band also plays many benefit
shows around the
area, and just played
the Particle
Accelerator festival
in Rotary Park in
Putnam.
According to Joly,
this summer looks to be very
promising, with many upcoming
gigs already booked through the
end of August, with a show at the
Brooklyn Fairgrounds on Aug. 27.
Upcoming shows in July include
July 8-10 at the Midsummer
Meltdown, Schuylkill Haven, Pa.;
July 15 at Tammany Hall, in
Worcester, Mass.; July 16 at High
Noon Saloon, Norwich; July
17 at the Benefit Event,
Plainfield; July 27 at The
Wonderbar, Alston, Mass.;
and July 30 at Mill St. Brews,
in Southbridge, Mass.
In March 2011, SEED
released their first full length,
completely independent studio
album, “Taking Root,”
with no outside fiscal assistance
from record labels. The
new release is currently available
on the band’s webpage.
“Taking Root” has nine
cuts, each track individual
with its own particular
sound. Blended with cool
rhythms and hot jams, every
song on “Taking Root” was
written by the band.
“Taking Root” was recorded and
produced by Tim Walsh at Flying
Supercat Studios in Bridgeport
between April 2010 and February
2011.
The design work on the album
cover was even done by Quiet
Corner resident Wayland Leonard,
of Killingly.
“Huge thanks once again to Tim
Walsh, and also to Wayland
Leonard for the design and graphics
for SEED, and the ‘Taking Root’
album,” Jolly said. “This release is
SEED’s debut, full length studio
release.”
With non-stop funk that surrounds
the borders of reggae, jazz,
and electronica music, SEED plays
for hours on end, and most importantly
they love every second of it.
For more information, visit funkyseed.
squarespace.com, or visit their
wwww.facebook.com/seedct.
Jack Meltzer may be reached at
(860) 928-1818, ext. 110, or by e-mail
at jack@villagernewspapers.com. - Jack Meltzer of The Village Newspaper

To start the night off, they brought along Seed, a band from Connecticut who they met at the Big Up festival this past summer. I caught the middle of Seed’s set and was blown away by the brilliant mixture of sax, guitar and electronic keys coming from guys wearing Ghostbuster outfits. The members of Timbre Coup not only have an ear for creating their own sound, but are genuine music fans themselves, and Seed complimented the evening wonderfully. - Halloween 2010 - Red Sqaure, Albany NY

As it stands now, the lineup on the new dates of August 5-6-7 2010 is as follows:

RAQ, Telepath, Sub Swara, The Breakfast, Kung Fu, Higher Organix, Archnemesis, Roots of Creation, The Indobox, BuzzUniverse, The Macpodz, NY Funk Exchange, Twiddle, Dirty Paris, Timbre Coup, Lucid, Nadis Warriors, The Jack, Blue Boy Productions, A. Fugate, JamAntics, Moses & The Electric Company, Fever Train, Mos Opus, Seed, LeSpecial, PMT, Sugarproof, The Peoples Blues of Richmond, Deafened by Love, Asleep in a Box...and some very special acts TBA. - The Big Up 2010 Blog