Upstate New York is a special place. If you simply pass it by on your way to the city, you are severally missing out on excellent music and most importantly amazing people. Who can attest? Yes, I say this because I was born in the gorgeously sunny Binghamton, but I also say this because I have travelled all over the United States, which by the way has some amazing unique and breathtaking landscapes (both natural and manufactured). I have rarely ever found a group of mid-sized cities that openly unit and host such a plentiful amount of rad tunes. For some time I carried a slight resentment toward the area because of the "state of the scene", but things have changed (in me and in the area). Upstate NY has more potential than most large cities that often receive overblown recognition for a plethora of identical stamps (shame on me for generalizing).
Throughout the next several weeks/months I plan to post a series of entries that focus solely on upstate NY music, city by city.
Today I pick Albany because I found a link to an exclusive track off of Aficianado's new self-titled record that will be available on July 26th. Check out Aficianado "Stir Like Hell".
Also from Albany check out Barons in the Attic who have a pledge currently going on through Kickstarter.com to fund their next release, and The Red Lions. Do some more research... there's three Albany bands for you to start out with. I expect you to share other artist you enjoy from Albany. We all need to hear about them!