Greetings Hypstas!
The Greater Hartford Region is home to many gifted young professionals and artists who make it a great place to explore our collective passions and develop skills while having new experiences amongst like-minded folk. The sole purpose of this blog is to inspire the HYPE Generation to empower the local art scene by carving a meaningful legacy in this community centered on PRIDE.
P-Promotion
R- Reporting
I- Inspiration
D- Development
E- Entrepreneurship
In short, I talk about what’s been going on in town and color it up with some of my own bright yellow journalism and if you read something that sounds interesting or get inspired to try something new I encourage you to do it and share your experience by sending it to my email and I will make it a part of this blog or help you to start your own. Get it? Good then let's get to it!
Concert season is here and over the past month I have seen a
number of outdoor concerts played in unique venues ranging from the parking lot
of Real Art Ways to the picnic area at New Britain Stadium at a Rock Cats game.
James MacPherson
of Bonsai Trees gave attendees of Young Professionals Night at the Rock Cats game
on May 14th the kind of performance that has made his band one of the most
sought-after new alt-rock acts in New England.
The talented trio from South Windsor features MacPherson on vocals/guitar
along with Nick Sokol on drums and James Cryan on bass. The band is fresh off recent performances at
iconic venues like Toad’s Place in New Haven and House of Blues in Boston and
even with two members missing from their stripped-down performance at New Britain
Stadium it is clear that the core foundation of this botany-themed outfit is
positively bursting with talent. Their first release Minimalist has a nice mixture of lo-fi punk and synth pop that I liken to an early Surfer Blood or a less-English and more South-Windsorian-version of The Cribs. For a less wordy idea of what their music sounds like I recommend checking out the official video for my favorite track off of their album “Who knows, Who knows” or you can always throw me some more of your SEO by watching this time-lapsed sample from their performance at New Britain Stadium.
Last week Real Art Ways held their monthly Creative Cocktail Hour outdoors and set-up a stage
for one of the best groups to come out of Hartford’s music scene since I have
been paying attention: West End Blend. If you have never attended one of RAW’s
monthly Creative Cocktail Hours then you are sorely missing out as they are the
de-facto centerpiece of Hartford’s burgeoning social scene for the arts. In addition to a great spread of local food
and spirits these events feature medium-spanning activities ranging from live
music and art galleries to international film festivals and cultural dance
exhibitions.
The early word is that next month’s edition of Creative Cocktail Hour will once again feature an outdoor performance, however, whoever has the task of following last week’s performance by West End Blend will have one helluva tough act to follow…you know what why don’t you let me set the scene: as the setting sun fell over the distant Hartford skyline beyond Real Art Ways this hip-hop/funk/soul unit of genre-mystifying artists slayed conventions and expectations with a rousing performance before a massive crowd of all ages and demos. While I could sing the praises of everyone in this group for the sake of your attention span I will just say that the lyrical prowess of Tangsauce mixes perfectly with the unbelievable pipes of Erica Bryan amidst the beautiful cacophony that is West End Blend. Check out the video from their RAW performance for a taste of what you missed and check out their website for tour dates cause...nuff said!
After all those months of being stuck indoors over this long
Winter it is pretty sweet to finally hear music being played outdoors in the
Hartford area again. That being said, we
are fortunate to also have some great indoor venues like The Half Door to showcase local talent like Hartford’s own Wise Old Moon. This classic venue is a well-known hot bed for local talent
with a great staff, delicious late-night menu and a very well endowed tap
list. Check out this video for a taste
of what you missed from Wise Old Moon’s recent performance
featuring excellent vocals by Guitarist Connor
Millican along with Dan Liparini,
Greg Perault and Alex Heaton. Keep an eye out for when this band returns to
CT later this summer but first check out their crispy and mellow debut album The Patterns.
Peace Out Hypstas!
