Dust Bowl Faeries (photo Noah Fowler)
RASPUTINA and DUST BOWL FAERIES HEADLINE ‘QUEENS BALL’
(TROY, N.Y.) – The alternative cello ensemble Rasputina and gothic-folk group Dust Bowl Faeries, both based in Hudson, will play the Takk House on Saturday, October 3, at 6:30pm, during The Enchanted City “Queens Ball,” an afterparty for Troy’s second annual steampunk festival. Rasputina is fronted by cellist/vocalist Melora Creager, who played cello for Nirvana on the European leg of the “In Utero” world tour. Rasputina has been a great=n influence on the steampunk movement. Dust Bowl Faeries is the brainchild of multimedia artist, singer, composer, and musician Ryder Cooley. The Enchanted City is a steampunk fair with faerie flare featuring cosplayers, a fashion show, culinary competition, live theater, storytellers and music. Its mission is to celebrate the industrial heritage and creative spirit of Troy New York’s past present and future.
Jonah Bokaer
SITE-SPECIFIC STAGING of MORTON FELDMAN’S ‘NEITHER’ by JONAH BOKAER at HUDSON OPERA HOUSE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Internationally acclaimed choreographer Jonah Bokaer unveils his staging of Morton Feldman’s rarely performed opera “Neither” with two performances specifically designed for the architecture of the Hudson Opera House on Friday and Saturday, October 2-3, at 7pm. Bokaer’s staging begins with a silent prologue, performed without accompaniment, to introduce the movement and integrate the stark, visual staging with the music. By employing a “leveling” strategy for the choreography, the music, dance, and visuals, the performers inhabit a shared physical space in a non-hierarchical “field.” A 16-line poem by Samuel Beckett serves as the libretto.
The Wiyos
THE WIYOS BRING OLD-TIMEY MUSIC to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Old-timey trio the Wiyos bring their original blend of music inspired by the early American musical idioms of the 1920s and ’30s, including blues, country, ragtime, gospel, and swing, to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, October 2, at 9pm. The Wiyos are Michael Farkas, Teddy Weber, and “Sauerkraut” Seth Travins. Gleefully subverting genre distinctions, their music comes from a time before commercial formatting separated blues from country, ragtime from gospel, and swing from hillbilly. Their sound is reminiscent of days gone by, when live bands could be heard both on the radio and at community dances, juke joints, and house parties.
Detail from illustration by Esme Shapiro
THREE RISING ARTISTS SHOWCASED at HUDSON OPERA HOUSE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Adelaide Ruff, Esme Shapiro, and Logan Visscher will have their work on display at the Hudson Opera House starting on Saturday, October 3, with an artists’ reception at 5-7pm. The exhibition, New Talent, will remain on view through Sunday, November 20, 2015. All three artists have Hudson and Columbia County connections. Adelaide Ruff works predominantly in sculpture, often conflating elements of painting and installation. Esme Shapiro’s paintings are “meditations on the translucency of reality.” Logan Visscher’s regimented drawings “command attention with their obsessive discipline and occasional errant ways.”
Music hall performers Judy Staber and Ted Pugh
BRITISH MUSIC HALL TRADITION REVIVED at SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY
(SPENCERTOWN, N.Y.) – A fun-filled “Evening of British Music Hall,” featuring an evening of British vaudeville with music, jokes, and skits, takes place at the Spencertown Academy Arts Center on Saturday, October 3 at 7pm and Sunday, October 4, at 2pm, in an event presented by PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century. The program, featuring a half-dozen of the region’s top talents, including Lincoln Mayorga, Sheri Bauer-Mayorga, Amanda Boyd-Grout, Ted Pugh, John Roberts and Judy Staber, will include a tribute to Noel Coward.
Howard Fishman (photo Carole Cohen)
INNOVATIVE FOLKSINGER HOWARD FISHMAN EXPLORES DYLAN’S ‘BASEMENT TAPES’ at CAFFE LENA
(SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.) – The Howard Fishman Quintet brings its critically acclaimed “Basement Tapes Project,” exploring music made by Bob Dylan and the Band at their homes in Woodstock, N.Y., in 1967-68, in a two-night residency that concludes the 2015 LIVE! Music Series at Caffe Lena on October 2-3 at 8pm. The project has been programmed to wide acclaim at major national venues, including Lincoln Center’s “American Songbook” series, the Steppenwolf Theatre’s “Traffic Jam,” and at the Flynn Center in Burlington, Vt.