This Week in the Hudson Valley: Oct. 28-Nov. 4
This Week in the Hudson Valley: Oct. 28-Nov. 4
Music for mushrooms, and for Halloween, plus bike rides and sails, and The Goddess Party, Sarah Hennies, Bobby Previte, and Spreaders perform
Thirty things to know about this week, and what direct actions you can take.
Event of the week
The Goddess Party’s theme this time out is “The Parting of the Veils.” After three sold-out shows (at Opus 40 in Saugerties, and at Kingston’s historic Old Dutch Church), the big show has moved to the Basilica Hudson space. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with a Soundbath by Cowgirls Meditate. There is also food from Local 111 at this only partially-seated event that will be performed in the round. The 40-women, Hudson-Valley-based art choir plays with a six-piece rock band including Cristina Martinez (Boss Hog) on drums and Betsy Wright (ExHex) on guitar.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here. Participants are saying the event is almost sold out, so there may not be any left by now.
MONDAY
New York voters have eight more chances to cast their ballots. Greene County times below, check your own board of elections.
Mon., Oct. 28, Noon to 8 p.m.
Tue., Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 30, Noon to 8 p.m.
Thu., Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 2, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tue., Nov. 5, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Vote as soon as possible.
This 82-minute film follows musician East Forest, a Ram Dass collaborator, and his experiments with mushrooms, with conversations with Xochitl Ashe, Hanifo Nayo Washington, Spring Washam, Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, directed by Krishna Trevor Oswalt and showing at Upstate Films.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Research efforts in New York to legalize psilocybin mushrooms. Last year, if Assembly Bill A10375 would have passed, it, “Allows the growth, cultivation, and adult use of psilocybin for the treatment of certain health conditions.” Call and write to your representatives in Albany so they represent your views on this issue. Or buy a ticket for the movie at the Orpheum in Saugerties here.
The Catskill Community Fridge says, “We are open 24/7, and accept all food items from our community except opened items, homemade food, and expired items.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Donate items to help others in need. There is a fridge for chilled items, and a pantry for others along Bridge St., just before the Uncle Sam Bridge, just west of Main St.
TUESDAY
The Columbia County 4 Palestine social media account promises that their representatives will be protesting, “in front of the Democrats' office at 7th and Warren Sts. in Hudson. Daily up to election day 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. (except Thurs.), and Sun. 10/27 5-7 p.m.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Come and protest with them. Or counterprotest. Or go volunteer inside at the Democrats office.
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater’s final sail of the season from Hudson is Pay-What-You-Can.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Reserve a spot at https://bit.ly/3UiopCK.
WEDNESDAY
Catskill Village holds a public hearing on whether or not to opt-in on the state’s new Good Cause Eviction law. Their website says, “The purpose of this public hearing will be to review the Good Cause Eviction Law. The Board will welcome public comment at that time and in writing prior to the public hearing. The NYS Law is available for review on the Village website, and at the Village Clerk’s office, 422 Main Street, Catskill, NY 12414.” At the village trustees regular meeting, Oct. 23, not enough trustees turned out for a quorum, and the meeting was called off. So perhaps instead of just a public hearing, more matters might be taken up this evening. Or not, what do I know.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Turn out to the 6:30 p.m. meeting at the Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill, and voice your opinion. Or send Village Trustees a message about your opinion. Send then messages here: Joe Kozloski: jkozloski@villageofcatskillny.gov; Natasha Law, nlaw@villageofcatskillny.gov; Jamie Mitchell, jmitchell@villageofcatskillny.gov; Dan Ward, dward@villageofcatskillny.gov; Jeff Workman, jworkman@villageofcatskillny.gov.
The Foster / Crawford / Sullivan Trio — Michael Foster on tenor, soprano, and baritone saxophones; Webb Crawford on guitar, banjo, and other homemade instruments; and Joey Sullivan on drums and percussion — perform at 8 p.m. at The Avalon Lounge in Catskill.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here. It is easier to organize experimental concerts if folks by advance tickets.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Turn out at the Half Moon in Hudson.
THURSDAY
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here.
FRIDAY
Prattsville Art Center with the Pinsapo Collective and Notice Recordings are bringing this night of experimental music and poetry to western Greene County. Sarah Hennies, a composer based at Bard and near Binghamton, whose work “is concerned with a variety of musical, sociopolitical, and psychological issues including including queer & trans identity, psychoacoustics, and the social and neurological conditions underlying creative thought,” is reason enough to make the drive.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Turn out to the show at 14562 NY-23.
Robyn Hitchcock, the psychedelic pop wonder who began as a Soft Boy, is in Woodstock with Imogen Clark playing Levon Helm Studios.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here.
Celebrate ten years of Phantom Sleeze with their other loud friends the 351s, Worldsucks, RBNX, and Cryptids.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here.
SATURDAY
Author Melissa Petro talks with Lynn Slater and Sari Botton at 7 p.m. Sat., Nov. 2 at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson. Petro will be reading from and signing her new book, “Shame On You: How to be a Woman in the Age of Mortification.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Show up at Spotty Dog Books & Ale, the show is free.
Bobby Previte (above) and Jamie Saft at perform what they are calling Saugerties Doom Jazz with special guest Knox Chandler at The Local in Saugerties. Chandler has played guitar with the Psychedelic Furs, Lou Reed, Cyndi Lauper, Depeche Mode and others. “In between Halloween and Election Day, it is the perfect time to mark the end of the known world, and in so doing, perhaps forestall it. Reverse psychology is a real thing. Come to the show and do your part,” Previte writes.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here, go to the show and do your part.
“Vexations” at Flow Chart Foundation, 348 Warren St. in Hudson, with musician Zach Layton performing with poet Annelyse Gelman in, “An immersive performance of Annelyse Gelman's award-winning, book-length poem combining text, music, images, and field recordings.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here.
SUNDAY
Town Hall Tapes is putting on the best local noise show of the week with Flesh Shuddering, Amplitude Death, Hypertrophy, Green Tea, Robert Fuchs, and Kingston’s Spreaders.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Buy tickets here.
MONDAY
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Turn out to this pay-what-you-can bicycle maintenance class.
ONGOING
Joseph Bertolozzi's “Bridge Music” is a sound-art installation featuring the Mid- Hudson Bridge as the instrument itself. Bertolozzi sampled the sounds of bridge’s surfaces, including guard rails and girders, as he beat on them with various mallets. His compositions using those sounds reached the Billboard Top Twenty Classical and Classical Crossover album charts in 2009. Now there are Listening Stations on the pedestrian sidewalk of the bridge and a 24/7 microcast on 95.3-FM in Johnson-Iorio Park in Highland and Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie. Chronogram reports it will be active through Halloween.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Turn out to this free installation through Halloween.
ART at Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Woodstock. Maeve McCool (above) is one of 44 artists in “The Doll Show” that is up through Nov. 24 in Ulster County. Click here to listen to or read my recent interview with McCool (or below), who is a visual artist based in Catskill.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Turn out to this show through Nov. 24.
Cultural and political news below
News from around the Hudson Valley.
Data dump
James Earl Owens reports that White panelists appeared seven times more often than non-Whites over the past year on Hudson Valley radio station WAMC’s “The Roundtable” show. Owens writes, “The study finds recent shifts in Roundtable sourcing practices added non-White panelists but did not alter overall pattern of White dominance.” Read the full story below.
Somebody has your data
Greene County, New York-based transmission artist Julia Weist writes a stunning opinion article in the Times Union (photo above). Weist writes, “In 2022 I became a licensed private investigator, and my neighbors’ data is returned when I search for myself in the powerful databases I gained access to once I became a PI…. I applied for this license after taking a state-issued exam at the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building in Albany and completing an FBI background check. My application was unusual because my investigative experience has come entirely from working as an artist: I create research-intensive projects for exhibitions in galleries and museums, often about the use and misuse of data. Typical applicants for PI licenses are retired police officers or fire marshals who’ve been on a force for at least 20 years. I received a government contract to do research in 2019 — part of a public art commission — but it wasn’t clear if this and similar projects would be considered relevant to the application. So I was surprised when I received an approval letter from the Division of Licensing Services.” READ WEIST’S FULL STORY HERE IN THE TIMES UNION. Stay tuned here next week for an interview with Weist.
Interview: Cathedral Ceilings
Cathedral Ceilings members, Ralphie, Nicky, and Tommy (above), also play in several other bands. Nick is based in Palenville and also plays with the thrash-metal band World Sucks, the anti-racist punk band Phantom Sleeze (playing at The Avalon Lounge on Nov. 1) and with his partner Lysa in Silence on the Other End. Tommy and Nick previously played together in Mr. Payday Ralph also plays in the band Stuyvesant. All those bands make a propulsive, thick-rock sound. Nick describes them as “high energy rock ‘n’ roll.” The bio for Cathedral Ceilings new record, “La, la, la… Whatever,” (Dromedary) reads, in part, “It’s clear that they’ve had ‘Pleased To Meet Me’ and ‘Grave Dancers Union’ and ‘On The Mouth’ in their cassette decks for ages.” Click above to hear the full interview, or click here to read the transcript.
Interview: John Colpitts
Evan A at Fiction Friction talks with percussionist/noise rocker John Colpitts (from Oneida, and other bands) on DIY in NYC, rejecting the chaos of formalised venues and the music industry machine, and his spontaneous creative process. Colpitts and/or Oneida have performed recently at No Fun in Troy, The Avalon Lounge in Catskill, and Tubby’s in Kingston. Click below for the full interview.
Tax increase coming?
The Windham Path (below) has the story about how the Town of Windham wants to override the tax levy limit there. Click below for more information.
New Kingston venue
Kingston is getting a new concert facility soon, when Assembly in Kingston opens at 236 Wall St. with New Year’s Eve concerts, and then starts full booking in the spring. I got a tour last week of the new stage from Drew Frankel of Impact Concerts, who also book shows at Hutton Brickyards, UPAC, Arrowood Farms, Old Dutch Church, and Tubby’s (that’s, in order, from 2,500 capacity to 100). Assembly will be smaller than the nearby UPAC or the Old Dutch Church with 450 capacity for standing shows, and 400 for seated performances. But Frankel says they won’t all be live concerts, as the venue will try to keep busy with art exhibitions, DJ club nights, markets, community gatherings, indoor pickleball perhaps, and private events too. The building is an historic religious elementary school, with the first two floors full of very large classrooms that will be turned into local stores and businesses. The entire third floor is the performance space, with a giant, ballroom-like space with a school stage at the front. There is an elevator too, and ticket booths will be made out of ground-floor windows. The raw space needs some sound treatments that are planned, and should be a lovely addition to the local scene starting this December. Every year, the Catskills-based Felice Brothers hold a New Year’s Eve celebration Dec. 30 and 31, and this December it moves to Assembly, with Merce Lemon opening both nights, and a late-night after DJ party on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day. Photos from Impact Concerts.
Meanwhile, at Tubby’s…
There is food again! Dorjee Momo from refugee chef and former Buddist monk Dorjee Tsering is serving Beef Momo, Laphing, Sunflower Bao, and other treats inspired by his travels to Tibet, China, Nepal, and India on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at Tubby’s from 5-10 p.m. Click above for a preview.
Not enough elected officials show up in Catskill for Village meeting
Many members of the public wasted their time attending the Oct. 23 Village of Catskill meeting that never was because of a lack of a quorum. Hear the audio! Watch the video! Read my story here.
Weather this week
A boat in Catskill Creek near the Hudson River last week. Photo by Tom Roe.
There has been very little rain locally lately. There is currently an elevated risk for fire spread in the Hudson Valley, according to the National Weather Service in Albany, which says, “Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged. Be sure to properly extinguish or dispose of any potential ignition sources, including smoking materials such as cigarette butts.” Over the weekend, Western Massachusetts was under a “Red Flag Warning.” The general weather prediction this week for the Hudson Valley:
Cool at first.
We could have a record high temperature on Halloween.
But then it cools again.
Upside Down
This week on the radio show “Turn On The News”: "Upside Down." The former president wants any political opposition silenced, and he promises to employ the military on that job. Opening theme includes clips from The Conet Project; "Saturday Night Live;" "The Simpsons;" Paul Harvey; "Citizen Kane;" 1010 WINS; Tim Walz; Bill Cosby; Jon Stewart; Larys Strong from "House of the Dragon;" and Andrew Weissmann. Thanks for the songs from Husker Du ("Turn On The News"), Diana Ross (“Upside Down”), and John Williams (“Imperial March”). Clips and excerpts from Stephen Colbert; Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair from “Stranger Things;” Michael Kosta; John King; Donald Drumpf; Seth Meyers; Jake Tapper; Mike Johnson; Andrea Mitchell; Michael Steele; and . Episode 188. "Turn On The News" is often a mash-up of the week's news, and sometimes a radio news fantasy with song parodies and covers similar to Spike Jones, Dickie Goodman, Dr. Demento, or Richard Foreman with comedy skits, sketches, radio waves, and more. Produced by Tom Roe (who writes this publication).
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