Home of: The Statue of Liberty, Lucille Ball, Beastie Boys, The Velvet Underground, Niagra Falls, Cyndi Lauper, George Gershwin, Gogol Bordello, The Fiery Furnaces, The Slackers, The Baseball Hall of Fame, Le Tigre, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Ramones, Sonic Youth, TV on the Radio, Cannibal Corpse
Fun Facts: State flower; rose, state song; “I Love New York,” state animal; beaver
The Venues:
New York isn’t called “The City that Never Sleeps” for nothing. Sleeping would mean missing some of the best talent in the city (maybe even the world) at New York City’s seemingly endless list of live music venues. With a capacity of 20,000, Madison Square Garden has hosted performance from a slew of musical heavyweights over the past 50 years, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Madonna, Phish, U2 and Jay-Z. Sly Stone even got married on stage at Madison Square Garden during a Sly & The Family Stone performance. It just might be the most most famous venue in the US.
New York City was home to legendary punk clubs CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, where acts like The Ramones, Blondie, Television, Patti Smith, The New York Dolls and The Velvet Underground got their start. Unfortunately, Max’s closed in 1981 and CBGB was forced to close in 2006 due to a dispute over rent. For fans of the singer-songwriter sound, The Bitter End in New York City’s West Village is the place to hear new talent. For the past 19 years, The Bitter End played host to the New York Songwriters Circle, which has helped launch the careers of Norah Jones, Vanessa Carlton and Gavin DeGraw.
Having traded in their three-floor location between The Bowery and Broadway for digs in Brooklyn, The Knitting Factory opened its new location earlier this month with a performance from Les Savy Fav. The club boasts a 250-capacity performance space and a smaller sound proof bar. OurStage Marketplace venues The Delancey and Ace of Clubs both offer diverse live music calenders filled with rock, folk, hip hop and more.
The CMJ Music Marathon will be taking over New York City from October 20th through the 24th. Days will be filled with seminars, panels, Q&As, mentoring sessions and networking events while nights will hold more live music than you could shake a stick at. Venues all over New York City will be hosting shows featuring the biggest names and the next big things. The lineup is still being finalized for this year, but as of now showcasing artists include Pitbull, Altas Sound, Japandroids and OurStage Artists April Smith and the Great Picture Show, Metermaids, Amy Kuney, Crystal Antlers, The Mieka Canon (Mieka Pauley’s new project), Modern Science and Shayna Zaid & The Catch.
The Music:
Metermaids – You might recognize hip hop upstarts Metermaids from Breakin’: An OurStage Breakdancing Playlist where Sam C. featured their song “A Breakdown In Chicago, Or How To Sabotage Your Own Happiness In Two Easy Steps” from their Sufjan Stevens mashup album Nightlife In Illinois. Their new song, the party starter “Turn The Lights Out” continues the Metermaids tradition of combining rock and hip hop. The “Turn The Lights Out” video, directed by Jon Yi (Mates of State, Twisted Sister) features the band along with their friends and fans breaking out their best dance moves. They might look goofy, but once the music starts it’s impossible not to join in the fun. Catch Metermaids live at The Suffolk in NYC for their CMJ showcase October 24th.
Big Bang TV – Only in Brooklyn would a singer-songwriter, a DJ, a metal drummer and an accordionist decide to form a band. Big Bang TV’s sound is experimental while still being accessible: Boy/girl vocals float on top of post-punk guitars, synth, turntable breaks and laptop blips. “Marzipan” from Big Bang TV’s self-titled debut full length will have you singing along by the song’s end. Catch Big Bang TV live as they tour through the month of October in support of their new album. Click here for dates.
April Smith and The Great Picture Show – While Perez Hilton is known for his no-holds-barred attitude towards celebrities, he has nothing but praise for New York City songstress April Smith and her band The Great Picture Show. Hilton featured Smith’s song “Colors” in the “Listen To This” section of his Web site last summer, describing the song as “…The kind of tune you’d hear on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy or in the next iPod commercial…sweet…quirky…and hooky.” Their retro pop sound earned April and the band a spot at this years Lollapalooza festival and song placement on MTV’s hit show The Hills. Love “Colors”? Want more? Check out “Terrible Things” in the playlist below! Catch April Smith and The Great Picture Show live at their CMJ showcases October 20th at The Canal Room and October 23rd at Arlene’s Grocery.
Dujeous – Not many bands can garner praise from The Source, Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan and Nah Right, but New York City’s Dujeous (pronounced doo-jee-us) has done just that. Friends since elementary school, Dujeous is a live hip hop band, a la The Roots. Songs from their debut album, 2004’s City Limits have been featured in movies and television, and producer Mark Ronson called Dujeous “New York’s only hip hop band worth talking about.” After two successful mixtapes, Dujeous is getting ready to release their second full length record Day In Day Out. This album has the band exploring new lyrical topics, adding instruments like mellotron, koto and accordion to the mix and work with collaborators like John Legend and Sharon Jones. “Break Bread,” the album’s first single has the MCs talking about family troubles over backing vocals from John Legend.
Check out these acts and other great New York artists in the playlist below!
Who are your favorite OurStage New Yorkers? Where do you like to see live music in New York? Let us know in the comments!
