Hidden Track Staff

In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think of these four under the radar musical groups…

BuzzUniverse

MySpace / Facebook

If you caught BuzzUniverse’s eye opening set at Mountain Jam last year you probably aren’t surprised that the eclectic group from New Jersey has been invited back to perform at this year’s festival. BuzzU gets people dancing with their high energy originals and diverse cover selections, a quality that acts as an aural shot of espresso for festival attendees.

READ ON for more about BuzzU and Nashville’s The Sways…

Steve Klise has contributed these amazing shots of Mastodon live in action at the House of Blues in Boston on May 7. The prog-metallers are currently on the road for

Words: Luke Boyar and Jason Woodside
Images: Jason Woodside

2009 has been a pretty good year for the Disco Biscuits, and the Louisville, Covington, Asheville stretch to close out the tour would hopefully be no different. Three All-American cities, each with their own unique charm, amazing spring weather and dirty untz jams. What could go wrong?

Something did go wrong back in January, when Mother Nature decided an ice storm would be nice for everybody, causing unsafe travel conditions, and Headliners in Louisville, Kentucky to lose power. The Disco Biscuits did more than make up for the cancellation by announcing two Kentucky dates before the tour closer in Asheville. 2009 has seen some incredible Biscuits shows, and these three would end up right on par with the rest of this stellar year.

After simply laying eyes on Headliners in Louisville, Kentucky it was immediately clear that everyone was in for a special night. This is the kind of place that the Biscuits really seem to thrive on. It is a small intimate venue in the middle of nowhere. The fast moving lines and friendly security really helped move the large crowd along smoothly, a crowd that almost looked too large for the tiny venue. Despite the size of the crowd there was still tons of room for the kids to get down, and Biscuits fans know how to get down. READ ON for more from the Biscuits’ recently completed tour…

We’d like to welcome Alan Silver to tell a most cautionary tale…

This is a real experience I had with New York City local precinct officers. The names and the exact details have been changed to protect those involved.

[A Hidden Track re-enactment via Google Images]

Blocks away from meeting my brother at Madison Square Garden to see The Dead, I made a decision that changed the course of that evening. I decided to light up a joint on the streets of New York City. Minutes later a check out my new haircut type of guy approached me shouting, “HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT IS THAT? IN YOUR HAND, LET ME SEE THAT!” I threw my roach to the ground and showed him empty hands. Within sight of the MSG billboard flashing “The Dead Reunion” I am being restrained by handcuffs.

In the back of the paddy wagon – a dark maroon van with tinted windows – I had nothing to do but look at the undercover cops work. It was like watching a lion stalk its prey. I knew that everyone I saw was headed to a legendary show, everyone except us in the van.

Being handcuffed from behind, I sacrificed my left arm to reach my right pocket. I covertly texted my brother “ARRESTED, IN A VAN ON 37TH AND 8TH. NO JOKE.” The cuffs became as tight as possible, but I got the message out. READ ON to see how the rest of Alan’s night went…

We’d like to welcome back Ryan Holiday to share a “not so enchanted fairytale of an unknown band” he was a part of a few years ago…

Being a musician my whole life, I know the struggles one faces when striving for success. And as much as talent plays a big role in writing great music or playing an instrument well, it doesn’t mean one will enjoy success. Much of my success has been artistic, not monetary. In the last 10 years I’ve played in three bands, each of them enjoying different levels of success.

In Between Blue (IBB) version one: Just out of high school, IBB had high hopes for a long career in the music business. Like any young band, we started out rehearsing in a basement. We used our contacts to get a deal with a powerful management company that dealt primarily with sports stars and dead actors’ estates. Since the owner was our guitarist’s uncle, the agency was willing to set aside time for us. However, the relationship didn’t last long due to the fact that they wanted us to change our style of music and we, being young and naïve, were too stubborn to compromise. Soon after, our phone calls were ignored. We then decided to take matters into our hands and release our first CD on our own. Thousands of dollars and a release party later, the band broke up unceremoniously. It was the first time I realized how fragile relationships between band members can be.

READ ON for more on the rise and fall of In Between Blue…

We’ve got another God Street Wednesday submission this week. This one comes from longtime GSW fan Jamie Aresty. Take it away, Jamie…

“A long and weird song,” according to Lo Faber, Mantoloking Town is the tune that I think best sums up the music of God Street Wine. Lo Faber’s extended opus to a scenic beachfront town, which, according to Wikipedia, is the “wealthiest community in New Jersey,” would often produce some of the most interesting jams that GSW would ever create.

It’s also fitting that the best version of this tune, written about the wealthiest community in New Jersey, took place in one of the wealthiest towns in America – Greenwich, CT [insert your favorite sarcastic comment about rich CT people here]. This column often seems to revisit the year 1994, which has me wondering – is it because ’94 was truly GSW’s best year or is it simply because so many good recordings from that year on the Live Music Archive? Regardless, I want to take you all back to that year, to that wonderful Saturday evening of July 30^th, 1994 at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park on the shores of the Long Island Sound, in Greenwich, CT.

::fires up the Hidden Track time machine::

GSW was scheduled to play the night before at Pearl St. in Northampton, MA, up the road from where I lived at the time. I’m not exactly sure what happened up in Northampton, but there was a rift between the band, the opening band (Soup), and the management at Pearl St. And as a result, GSW never took the stage. Lo announced at the beginning of the Greenwich show that to make up for the mishap in Northampton, they would play “one long set” for everyone who showed up the night before.

READ ON for more about the best Mantoloking Town ever played…

HT staff photog Adam Kaufman took these shots of Umphrey’s McGee last Saturday night at the Nokia Theatre in New York City… [All photos by Adam Kaufman] Umphrey’s McGee continues

We’d like to welcome journalist John Coleman to Hidden Track for a report on a very special night for Umphrey’s McGee and two of their fans…

It wasn’t Fan Appreciation Night when Umphrey’s McGee played the Calvin Theatre in the quaint college town of Northampton, Massachusetts on April 8; but given that two of Umphrey’s biggest fans had their wishes granted and with fan favorites abound, one might get that impression.

[All photos by Sean Culligan]

As for the aforementioned fans: The first was Make-A-Wish recipient Derrick Meade. Meade, 18, was diagnosed with level-four lymphoma at age 17 but has been in remission for four months, according to a video interview with Meade posted on the band’s blog The Floor (which was posted here on Hidden Track earlier this week).

Meade said he rushed to get his Make-A-Wish paperwork in before his 18th birthday so the powers that be would allow him a day with his favorite band. His wish was granted.

READ ON for more from John on Umphrey’s at the Calvin…

Written By: Big Papi

They sure don’t make videos like Jefferson Starship’s No Way Out anymore. A “wtf” weird fest for the ages… perhaps you remember this one sandwiched between Martha Quinn, The Cars’ You Might Think and Wang Chung’s Dance Hall Days on MTV back in ’84. Sometimes you can’t even say, “well it was the ’80s,” to let this video mishap slide by. I guess we’ll just blame it on the coke.

This Jefferson Starship video – No Way Out was launched somewhere between the surnames Airplane and the plain “Starship” proper, back in the Huey Lewis leading man era, when the musicians themselves played insignificant yet comedic acting roles. Shortly after, Starship would hit the charts with such gems as We Built This City, Nothing’s Going To Stop Us Now and Sara.

The video starts off with Mickey Thomas, (Fooled Around and Fell In Love singer previous day job singer of the Elvin Bishop Band) with his pubic natty haired mustache leading him into the house of no return by a medieval Grace Slick. Now this is the same, “Don’t you want somebody to love?” psychedelic scream queen from the ’60s. She’s no longer middle ages anymore, google a recent picture of her and she’s more like a blue haired granny.

READ ON for more of this special Pullin’ ‘Tubes…