In the wake of their partnership with Outlaw Roadshow, PledgeMusic’s Mike Fordham offers a rundown on some of the show’s best 2016 acts, and describes what it is that makes this Roadshow a special and unique event every year.
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Guest post from PledgeMusic News
This year, PledgeMusic has signed on a partner for the annual Outlaw Roadshow, and we’ve been thrilled to link arms to help support so much great new music. As the Roadshow swung into New York City last weekend, we asked our own Mike Fordham to give us a report on his favorite acts from this year and what makes the Roadshow such a special weekend year after year.
On October 20 – 22, the annual Outlaw Roadshow swung into New York City. The concert series is put together by blogger Ryan Spaulding (who runs the Ryan’s Smashing Life blog) and Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz. Throughout the event’s history, the duo has curated an impeccable lineup of up-and-coming acts from across the globe, and the 2016 edition at the Bowery Electric was no different.
Twenty eight artists (and one special secret collaboration) comprised the NYC series this year. Normally, the shows run alongside the CMJ Music Marathon (bringing in tons of music fans to Gotham), but this year’s CMJ did not take place. No matter for the Roadshow, though – each night was still jammed with music fans eager to check out cool new music.
A tireless champion of these acts, Spaulding introduced each artist with equal parts information and deep passion. Among the standout performances were opener Brick Briscoe (displaying some fantastic guitar work), the Southern rock of Andrew Leahey & The Homestead, the stunning psych-blues of Kim Logan and two PledgeMusic alumni — Brothers In Yarn (sporting all white stage attire) and the gritty Brandy Zdan. Also worth noting were country rocker K Phillips, Alan Wuorinen of The Longwalls (who played a very humorous song about zombies), Kathleen Sieck and the soul-funk of Love & The Zealous.
That secret collaboration mentioned before? That would be the once-in-a-lifetime set featuring the Counting Crows and Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas. Adam Duritz of the Crows dutifully checks out every set at the Roadshow and frequently selects artists from the series to open for the Crows’ tours. Its also fairly well known that the Crows do a secret performance at the NYC Roadshow. Thomas was hanging out on Friday night and jumped on stage with the Crows, collaborating on his own songs (“If You’re Gone,” “3am”) as well as material from the Crows catalog (“Omaha,” “A Long December,” “Rain King”) plus two Big Star covers – “The Ballad of El Goodo” and “Thirteen.”
Even outside of that unforgettable set, the Outlaw Roadshow is still a great time and a wonderful outlet to discover amazing new music. See you there next year!