Posts Tagged ‘ Ryley Walker ’

Ryley Walker: August 19, 2023 Deep in the Valley

August 24, 2023
By

Welcome to our coverage of Deep in the Valley 2023! The second year of our favorite Hudson Valley fest was again held at beautiful From the Ground Brewery in Red Hook, NY and hosted by our friends at Raven Sings the Blues. Thanks to everyone involved for their hospitality. I can’t wait to see you there next year. In the meantime, relax and enjoy some tunes from the day…

First off here’s the day’s headliner Ryley Walker, playing in duo configuration with Ryan Jewell. While not quite full-band, seeing Ryley and Ryan together is always magical and this performance doesn’t disappoint in the least. Ryley-classics “The Halfwit in Me” and “The Roundabout” take center stage here with the jams and detours we love from these songs. I’m a massive fan of Course in Fable and consider it Ryley’s finest, so I was glad to hear “Rang Dizzy” from that one. The last song is an instrumental which I’m sure has a title that is escaping me. Listening back I almost feel like I’m in a field in Red Hook, New York with some apple trees off to the side. This one’s the highlight of a nearly perfect day.

I recorded this with the MBHO omnis at the stage lip, combined with a board feed courtesy of engineer Daniel Stout. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream and download at the Live Music Archive

Ryley Walker
2023-08-19
Deep in the Valley
From the Ground Brewery
Red Hook, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

Soundboard + MBHO KA100DK/603A (stage lip) > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 3.0.2 > FLAC

Tracks [43:52]
01. The Halfwit in Me
02. Rang Dizzy
03. The Roundabout
04. Instrumental

Ryley Walker/JR Bohannon/Ryan Jewell: November 12, 2022 Tubby’s (Kingston NY)

November 22, 2022
By

Ryley Walker offers plenty of reasons to see him any chance you can.  His guitar playing ranges from intricate to brain bending, his songwriting is constantly evolving in creative ways and his stage banter is always great. His willingness  to chase creativity and always try something new keeps me coming back.  As he said at the beginning of the night, “We play Avant Garde music!”

The set was billed as the Ryley Walker/JR Bohannon Duo but we were lucky enough to have Ryan Jewel (complete with “Jazz Machine” t-shirt) join for 2 of the 3 improvisational pieces.  The first piece is a beautiful excursion into blissed out guitar and pedal steel zones and Ryan adding drums and percussion to the remaining two.  A case point for seeing music that sits at the edges of rhythm and melody can be found around the ninth minute of the last piece.  From seemingly nowhere they find a groove so sharp Slint would be jealous.  They ride that just long enough to let you know they recognized it and then immediately push past; audience and band both in search of what’s next.

I’ve been reading and following the NYCTaper site as a fan for many years but my first actual contribution was a little over a year ago when AcidJack and I recorded Ryley with the “Course In Fable” band at Tubby’s.  It was a nice little anniversary for me to be able to record this set from my usual perch in the back of the room by the sound board.  To really tie the anniversary theme together, I used a set of MBHO 603A/KA200 mics and a clamp borrowed from AcidJack. Tubby’s excellent FOH engineer Will provided the board patch. Enjoy!

Stream and download the show from the live music archive!

Ryley Walker/JR Bohannon Duo
2022-11-12
Tubby’s
Kingston, NY

Source: MBHO603A/KA200 + SDB > SD MIxPre 3 > SD (24/48) > Adobe Audition/Izotope 9 > Audacity Flac (lvl8) > Mp3Tag

Thanks to Tubby’s FOH engineer Will for the board Patch

  1. Intro
  2. Zone 1
  3. Zone 2*
  4. Zone 3*

Ryley Walker – guitar
JR Bohannon – Peddle Steel

*w/ Ryan Jewel – Drums

Support this excellent artist!

Ryley Walker bandcamp

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Tubby’s Calendar

David Grubbs & Ryley Walker: December 12, 2021 Public Records

January 9, 2022
By

Way back in September, which is about a decade ago according to my experience of time, David Grubbs and Ryley Walker got together to release a fantastic collaborative album, A Tap on the Shoulder, via Ryley’s Husky Pants label. The album brings the two former Chicagoans together for the first time for seven loose, explorative guitar tracks with Grubbs also contributing some piano.

Though the pair won’t be touring behind the record (for now, anyway), they did get together last month for a one-off record release show at Public Records in Brooklyn. For fifty minutes they alternate between ruminative wanderings and dizzying freakouts, neither soloing or overwhelming the other. It sounds like they’re listening to each other just as much as they’re playing their own guitars. You don’t see two performers of this caliber get together very often, and I’m glad we were there to capture it.

Ryley Walker isn’t touring with David Grubbs, but you can still catch him live this month and beyond. Check the dates over at his website!

I recorded this show with a pair of MBHO omnidirectional mics positioned at the stage lip. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream and download the show at the Live Music Archive.

David Grubbs & Ryley Walker
2021-12-12
Public Records
Brooklyn, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

MBHO KA100DK/603A (stage lip) > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Audacity 3.0.2 > FLAC

Tracks

  1. Live at Public Records 2021 (53:12)

Ryley Walker: September 12, 2021 Tubby’s (Kingston, NY)

November 1, 2021
By

Since my last post here (on March 9, 2020) New Yorkers have sought refuge in all kinds of places and a bewildering number of distractions. Vinyl record sales surged even more, Instagram overflowed with DIY baking, sedentary people discovered hiking, gym rats discovered the joys of being sedentary. New Yorkers moved to the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, Florida or farther-flung destinations.

Ryley Walker ended up in Vermont, running his nascent but growing label, Husky Pants and, as is his norm, recording and releasing a slew of new music. Course In Fable, the follow-up to 2018’s Deafman Glance, represents another stunning evolution in his sound. Prog-rock courses through its compositions, recorded with pristine sonics by Tortoise vet John McEntire. If anyone worried whether Ryley’s first post-sobriety album would lose the magic of his blurrier past, the answer is not only no, but the exact opposite. This is Walker’s most self-possessed work to date, bringing all of collaborators Ryan Jewell, Andrew Scott Young, and Bill McKay’s musical strengths firmly under one voice, with lyrics that can be evocative but obtuse as well as devastatingly direct. If Course In Fable is remembered as the finest album of Walker’s career, it will be worthy of the title.

It made sense to see these songs in the tiny but welcoming back room of Tubby’s, a venerable Kingston bar reinvented as a serious live music venue. The space itself feels like a refuge; its size compels an intimacy and familiarity that have been hard to come by for most of us in this part of the world recently. I’m not sure I’ve been to another venue of its size that has bookings at the level they do, and I hope Tubby’s keeps it up.

This show featured most of the Course In Fable lineup, with Walker joined by Jewell and Young, and the trio moved through this set of later-period (Course and Deafman Glance) tunes with aplomb. The Course tunes stayed fairly true to their original arrangements, with “The Halfwit In Me” serving as the 18-minute improvisational centerpiece of the set. While I’d love to hear some of those talents applied to the live new songs eventually, for this go, the thrill came in hearing the original arrangements live in a room, that special kind they were written for.

Ryley is on a west coast swing right now, and will be back east supporting Dinosaur Jr. to close out the year, followed by… well, his usual slew of tour dates in 2022. Just how it should be. See his tour dates here.

This recording was an extra-special collaboration between Kliked and I, using a combination of my Schoeps omnidirectional mics up front, his MBHO’s at the soundboard, and Zoots’ feed of the (mostly) vocals. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the recording at the Live Music Archive [MP3] | [FLAC]

Ryley Walker
2021-09-21
Tubby’s
Kingston, NY  USA

Recorded and produced by Kliked and acidjack

Source 1: Schoeps MK5o>KCY>Z-PFA (stage lip, PAS)>Sound Devices MixPre6Source 2: MBHO 440 (at SBD) + Soundboard (engineer: Zoots)>Sound Devices MixPre3
Source 1 24/48 WAV + Source 2 24/48 WAV>Audacity (time align, EQ, fades, tracking, limiter, compression)>24/48 WAV>FLAC ( level 8 )

Personnel:
Ryley Walker
Ryan Jewell – Percussion
Andrew Scott Young – Bass

Tracks [Total Time:59:28]
01 Striking Down Your Big Premiere
02 Rang Dizzy
03 [banter1]
04 Opposite Middle
05 [banter2]
06 Telluride Speed
07 [banter3]
08 The Halfwit In Me
09 [banter4]
10 Shiva With Dustpan
11 [banter5]
12 22 Days

Please support Ryley Walker: [bandcamp] | [website]

Ryley Walker: June 5, 2021 Private Backyard, Flushing, NY

June 7, 2021
By

“I don’t think Steve Gunn forgets his lyrics,” Ryley Walker wondered aloud midway though “The Roundabout” this past Saturday. He was performing in front of a small backyard audience in Flushing, Queens. We’re all a little rusty, performers and audiences alike, as live music returns to New York. But as we experienced this weekend, everyone’s quick to rediscover the well-worn grooves. In this hour and a half set, Ryley touches on his entire catalog, from Primrose Green to his outstanding new album, Course in Fable. A few covers complete the afternoon, including a lovely take on “There’s Hell in Hello, But More in Goodbye” from Jim O’Rourke’s Bad Timing record.

I recorded this show with a pair of MBHO omnidirectional mics positioned up front and overhead. Despite the windy day, the sound is superb. Enjoy!

Thanks to Ryley Walker for playing; and to Mark and Kim for hosting. You can purchase all of Ryley Walker’s albums, including Course in Fable, at Bandcamp. He’ll be on tour this fall with a full band opening for Dinosaur Jr. That tour wraps up November 20 at Brooklyn Steel. More immediately, Ryley will be joined by Stuart Bogie, Spencer Zahn, and Kevin Raczka for a sesh at Nublu 151 this coming Thursday, June 10. See you there!

Stream and download the show at the Live Music Archive.

Ryley Walker
2021-06-05
Private Backyard
Flushing, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

MBHO KA100DK/603A (on stage) > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 3.0.2 > FLAC

Tracks [1:34:05]
01. On the Banks of the Old Kishwaukee
02. The Roundabout
03. Rang Dizzy
04. Promise Me
05. Telluride Speed
06. Shaking Like the Others
07. The Halfwit in Me
08. If I Were a Carpenter [Tim Hardin]
09. Improvisation
10. Primrose Green
11. Summer Dress
12. Over the Hill [John Martyn]
13. There’s Hell in Hello, But More in Goodbye [Jim O’Rourke]
14. Fair Play [Van Morrison]
15. The Grand Old Trout [Bill MacKay]

Ryley Walker: September 6, 2019 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC)

November 1, 2019
By

What else to say about Ryley Walker? We first saw the champ at this festival, Hopscotch, way back in 2014. In that span of 5 years, he’s expanded his sound, produced definitive records (and the definitive Dave Matthews cover album), gotten wild, gotten sober, and hit stages all over the world. As much has changed, his essence hasn’t — a relentlessly searching, gifted musician who doesn’t pause his growth to keep his audience comfortable, but gives that audience his very best every night. If being the top card late at night at Nash Hall wouldn’t seem like the right opportunity for a wild 90-minute set, you need to know more about Ryley.

Beautifully recorded by our bud Randy Hoke, this set has all the elements — some inside-baseball music biz comedy, classic songs (“On the Banks of the Old Kishwaukee”), and of course, long-form improvisation, in particular, the closing “Primrose Green,” which Ryley seemed determined to push as far from its roots as possible. I think he agrees with us that among his many performances this year, this one was a particular winner. Have a listen and I think you’ll agree.

In a useful piece of Ryley news, he’s launched his own private press label, which includes a sold-out LP pressing of his Walker/Jewel/Gunn trio performance from Union Pool back in March. If you’re lucky, you might find a copy out on tour…

Randy recorded this set with a soundboard feed, AKG shotgun mics at the back of the room, and onstage AKG mics. Even though this room is a challenge, he made an outstanding recording. Enjoy!

Download the complete show at the Live Music Archive

Ryley Walker
2019-09-06
Hopscotch Music Festival
Nash Hall
Raleigh, NC USA

Recorded and produced by Randy Hoke
Tracking by acidjack

AKG 568EB (slightly LOC, PAS) + AKG 480/CK61 (onstage, approx DIN) + Soundboard>>Tascam DR-680>3×24/48 WAV>editing>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:24:06]
01 [intro banter]
02 Telluride Speed
03 [banter/tuning]
04 The Halfwit In Me
05 [banter2]
06 Spoil With the Rest
07 [banter3]
08 22 Days
09 [banter4]
10 On the Banks of the Old Kishwaukee
11 [banter5]
12 Opposite Middle
13 [banter6]
14 Primrose Green

PLEASE SUPPORT RYLEY WALKER: Bandcamp | Dead Oceans

Chris Forsyth: September 27, 2019 Nublu

October 8, 2019
By

May 2020 Update: Chris Forsyth has released a multitracked recording of “Techno Top” from this show on Bandcamp. Please do head over there to purchase!

For the final night of his Nublu residency, Chris Forsyth held nothing back. The Solar Motel Band (Peter Kerlin and Ryan Jewell) are joined by Daniel Carter, Brent Cordero, Tom Malach (set one), and Ryley Walker (set two) in what is most assuredly one of the greatest Forsyth shows I’ve ever seen. For the first set Forsyth and Malach share guitar lines over tracks from All Time Present and Dreaming in the Non-Dream while Carter trades off between saxophone and horns throughout and Cordero’s keyboard pulses. Kerlin and Jewell are ever-sturdy as the rhythm section. For the second set Walker joins in on second guitar for a forty-five minute jam that begins as “The First Ten Minutes of Cocksucker Blues” and ends in outer space.

I recorded this from our usual location at Nublu. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Downloads and Stream of the audience recording available at the Live Music Archive

Chris Forsyth
2019-09-27
Nublu
New York, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Set 1:
01. Techno Top
02. Tomorrow Might as Well Be Today
03. Mystic Mountain
04. Dreaming in the Non-Dream

Set 2:
05. The First Ten Minutes of Cocksucker Blues > Jam

Chris Forsyth: Guitar, Vocals
Peter Kerlin: Bass
Ryan Jewell: Drums

Daniel Carter: Saxophone and Horns on 1-2, 4-5
Brent Cordero: Keys on 1-2, 4-5
Tom Malach: Guitar on 1-4
Ryley Walker: Guitar on 5

Ryley Walker: August 7, 2019 Brooklyn Bowl

September 2, 2019
By
Photos by Christopher Bruno

Not much left to be said here at NYCTaper about our bud Ryley Walker, except that he’s a good reason to keep going out and recording shows. Always different, always the same? Anyway this one’s got a beautiful “Spoil With the Rest” (personal fav) and an epic take on “The Roundabout.” Never one to take a break, Ryley’s got a ton of upcoming shows including a tour with Black Mountain and more. For locals, there’s a can’t-miss duo set with David Grubbs coming up on September 12 at Trans-Pecos. See you there!

I recorded this with a pair of MBHO hypercardioid mics positioned at our usual spot at Brooklyn Bowl. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Downloads available at the Live Music Archive

Ryley Walker
2019-08-07
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com
Photos by Christopher Bruno

MBHO KA500/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (compression, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, imaging, compression) > Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, tagging) > FLAC (24/48, level 8)

Tracks [56:24]
01. [Intro]
02. Telluride Speed
03. [Traumatized by bowling]
04. The Halfwit in Me
05. [Zoot suit revival]
06. Spoil With the Rest
07. [Oh yeah by the way]
08. Opposite Middle
09. [Ryley on shuffle]
10. The Roundabout

Buy Ryley Walker music on Bandcamp

Ryley Walker feat. Garcia Peoples: June 20, 2019 Rocks Off Concert Cruise

June 21, 2019
By

When you’re already committed to playing a show on a low-ceilinged boat with stripper(?) poles and questionable stabilizers, you might as well take some risks musically, too. Last Saturday’s Rocks Off Concert Cruise with Garcia Peoples (recorded live by yours truly, natch) was a choppy-watered success, but I didn’t expect to be back on that boat quite so soon.

But the return of Ryley Walker to a New York stage (even if a floating one), coupled with the fact that his backing band would in fact be Garcia Peoples, was more than enough justification. If the weather outdoors was a bit more inconsistent this go round, the water presented fewer challenges and the vibes onstage were good as ever.

What we got here were two extended solo versions of “Summer Dress” (firmly back in the rotation, it seems) and “The Roundabout,” including an expanded take on Ryley’s hilarious Nick Drake imitation (practically daring him to turn this thing into an actual song). Walker looked strong and in command up there after a little time off, and in excellent spirits even when some rough water stumbled him away from the mic once or twice. After that set, the boat-tested crew from GP came and joined Walker for a thirty-five minute collab of psychedelia, drone, and other genres that Ryley’s Twitter will surely make jokes about this morning. The jam made an already-unusual show completely one of a kind, and yet another example of how with Ryley on center stage, you really don’t ever know quite what you’re gonna get.

Given the challenging acoustics of the boat, I recorded this set up close with Schoeps MK4V microphones in a mobile setup. That turned out to be a good decision — the sound quality is excellent. Hope you dig it!

Download the complete show from its page on the Live Music Archive

Ryley Walker feat. Garcia Peoples
2019-06-20
Rocks Off Concert Cruise
The Lucille
New York, NY USA

Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Schoeps MK4V (FOB, DFC, DIN)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices MixPre6>24/48 WAV>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 57:40]
01 [intro]
02 Summer Dress
03 [banter-pirate band]
04 The Roundabout
05 Rocks Off Jam

PLEASE SUPPORT RYLEY WALKER: Bandcamp | Dead Oceans

Ryley Walker / David Grubbs / Ryan Jewell / C. Spencer Yeh: March 26, 2019 Union Pool

April 15, 2019
By

Ryley Walker’s March residency at Union Pool covered all the bases of Walker’s sound, from relatively “straight-ahead” song-based performances to instrumental blowouts with friends and colleagues like Ryan Jewell and Steve Gunn. Count this final night’s performance firmly in the latter camp, as Walker and residency mainstay Jewell were joined by David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol, others) and C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core) for a full set of avant-garde experimentation that found Walker stepping away from the mic but fully present as guitarist and spiritual force.

Ryley Walker’s March residency at Union Pool covered all the bases of Walker’s sound, from relatively “straight-ahead” song-based performances to instrumental blowouts with friends and colleagues like Ryan Jewell and Steve Gunn. Count this final night’s performance firmly in the latter camp, as Walker and residency mainstay Jewell were joined by David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol, others) and C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core) for a full set of avant-garde experimentation that found Walker stepping away from the mic but fully present as guitarist and spiritual force.

Over the course of these residency shows (plus bonus Queens show), I’ve said my piece about Ryley Walker and “who” he is musically, so I won’t belabor the point. Suffice it to say that even if you follow all things Walker, this unique collaboration is a standout, something not likely to be repeated. Walker made it known what an honor it was for him to play with these musicians. It was equally our honor to have heard it.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other Union Pool shows, with Doug Graham’s outstanding house mix leading the way. Enjoy!

Thanks to Union Pool and Will S for continuing to book and host interesting and experimental music in north Brooklyn.

Download the complete show from its Live Music Archive page.

Ryley Walker/David Grubbs/Ryan Jewell/C. Spencer Yeh
2019-03-26 (Residency Night 4)
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY  USA

Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Doug Graham) + Schoeps MK5c (XY, at SBD)>KC5>CMC6>>Sound Devices MixPre 6>24/48 polyWAV>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity 2.3.0>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 UP Quartet Jam Pt 1
02 UP Quartet Jam Pt 2
03 UP Quartet Jam Pt 3
04 UP Quartet Jam Pt 4
05 UP Quartet Jam Pt 5

PLEASE SUPPORT RYLEY WALKER: Bandcamp | Dead Oceans

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