Meet the Date and Save the Band

OK, this is the first (second actually) of many “Save the Date” messages that I’ll be sending out for our upcoming gig on Monday May 20 at the relatively new East Village club Baker Falls, risen from the ashes of the legendary Pyramid Club. We are still struggling to build an audience in the NYC area, so if you’re anywhere near please consider coming, and bring a friend who you think might like our music. I’m serious; please come if you at all like our music. OLDSCOOL is on at 8:30pm, and Storytown plays a deliciously full hour starting at 9:30pm.

A couple of months ago I wrote about our appearance at a showcase in January in the context of the APAP/NYC conference. We hadn’t played out in a year and a half, and in a “go for broke” move (kinda literally) I added backup singers to the band. (In general, vocal harmonies are mostly out of vogue these days – the excellent Bailen notwithstanding – but they make me happy and so I’m not giving them up.) I was so happy with and excited by our enrichified sound that I decided two things: Let’s play again, and let’s add horns! Now we’re really talking GO FOR BROKE.

So I’d like to introduce the new, badass members of Storytown:

Erica Smith - backup vocals

Erica Smith’s first release, folk/Americana-tinged Friend or Foe, prompted The Village Voice to declare “I think I love her” and earned her a spot on Charlie Gillett’s renowned BBC London show “The Sound of the World.” Now, with four records under her belt, and with songs ranging in style from country to bossa nova to Beatlepop to psychedelia, she has proven a versatile and powerful singer and songwriter. She also shines as the ‘secret weapon’ with NYC tribute-band geniuses Murderers' Row.

Rembert Block - backup vocals

Rembert Block is a native Texan, Brooklyn-based singer/accordionist/writer. She trained as a classical singer and experimental theater artist, as well as earning an MFA in Writing and Poetics at the Naropa Institute, before moving to New York. Block’s cabaret-pop band Rembert & the Basic Goodness has been performing and recording since 2017. In 2022 her original work Selfie! The Musical  was commissioned and produced by the Vortex Theatre in Austin, TX, followed by a reprise at Green Room 42 in NYC. Block sings and collaborates with multiple musical endeavors in the NYC area, including Bubble, Murderers’ Row, metafizz and most recently Storytown.

Pam Fleming - trumpet

Known as a “Musicians’ Musician,” Pam Fleming’s lyrical and soulful trumpet sound has enriched the vibe of many bands and recordings. You may have heard her with Hazmat Modine, Isle Of Klezbos, Metropolitan Klezmer, Gov’t Mule, Warren Haynes (of the Allman Brothers), Reggae star Burning Spear, Toots & The Maytals, Mighty Sparrow, Natalie Merchant, Meredith Monk, Rachelle Garniez, HONK NYC.

Here are her Original songs with her group Fearless Dreamer. Melodic, funky, and often deeply moving. Have a listen!

Jeff Hudgins - saxes

Jeff Hudgins, a transplanted Texan whose music has been described as "somewhat menacing” (New York Music Daily), is a founding member of local NYC group Bombay Rickey, who have just put out their 3rd record in November 2023. He also is a member of Rembert & The Basic Goodness (also working on a new record), David Dorfman Dance (in-house ensemble), and often appears with Murderers’ Row. Jeff can be found on records by Zeb Gould (Bowery Boy Blue), Lizdelise, Lizzie & The Makers, and upcoming recordings by Guy Klucevsek and Evan Rapport. In addition to Bombay Rickey, he writes for the NYC groups Anti-Social Music and Opera On Tap.

For you Storytown newbies, here’s the rest of the band:

Rick Wagner - bass

Rick started playing bass professionally at the age of 16, in “barns, bars, and brothels” (his words :-) throughout northeastern PA. Rick moved to New York City in 1981 and has played with, among others, The dB's, The Silos, Hearts & Minds, the Paul Collins Band, Ruby On The Vine, the Emily Duff Band, and Alan Paul's Big In China. An intuitive and musical bassist, Rick adds soul to the Storytown sound. And his alter ego, Luther Black, has released a number of haunting Americana-inflected albums.

Tony Cruz - drums

Tony is originally from “da Bronx” (his words), studied at Berklee College of Music, and has an MAT in Music Education from Lehman College.  He subbed on Broadway for 10 years, playing in, among other things, Hairspray and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tony has toured with the Boston Pops Orchestra and continues as a hired gun in multiple groups and styles, ranging from big band to fusion (to whatever genre you’d pigeonhole Storytown into). Tony plays with cesium clock accuracy, time-wise, and he does this crazy fast triplet hi-hat thing with a ghost note on the snare that makes us want to play fast shuffles all night long.

Charly Roth - keyboards

Charly grew up in Philadelphia, by way of Princeton, NJ.  Charly has inherited the “hardest working man in show business” title from James Brown by being the busiest and most versatile musician we have yet to meet.  Focusing just on highlights, Charly has played keyboards (Ozzy Osbourne, Rick Derringer & Edgar Winter, Suzanne Vega, Garland Jeffreys, Lenny Kaye, Storytown), bass (Blessid Union of Souls), and drums (Denis Leary’s Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll TV show, Liza Colby Sound).  He’s an experienced NYC session musician who is also Musical Director of Murderers’ Row, a NYC-based collective that regularly performs musical tributes to the world's best artists and albums.

Fun Fact: For our May 20 gig, guitarist Tony Salvatore’s OLDSCOOL “collective” opens for Storytown, “hitting” at 8:30pm – and yours truly (me) is a member of OLDSCOOL! So you will get a double dose of ME if you arrive at Baker Falls by 8:30. Too much? I think not. And you’ll want to see and hear OLDSCOOL’s bass player, the very excellent, up-and-coming Kat Arevalo. Do it all! Be a part of our audience!

Thanks for supporting us, and I hope to see you on May 20.