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Music Editor Jason Bracelin Writes
One One Of The Biggest
This past Sunday, October 17 the Las Vegas Review Journal printed one of their largest story in the newspaper’s history, as front page news-including three additional pages inside the paper- was a piece by music editor Jason Bracelin about life on the road with admired groove rockers Moksha.
Bracelin writes about his experiences riding in Moksha’s tour van and gets cozy with the jam rockers from Sin City to Southern California and up the coast to Northern California as four-page story explains the nitty-gritty about the not so glamorous life style on the road.
“The road is often romanticized into a smorgasbord of willing groupies, adoring fans and stuff-of-legend parties where a TV eventually gets tossed out of a hotel window. In reality, it’s about as seductive as the come-ons scrawled on the toilet stall of a truck stop men’s room.”
The real reason why Bracelin choose to hit the open road with Moksha was all about capturing the essence of their unique live shows. Live footage of the band showcasing on the rooftop of Vegas’ hip spot Binion’s was posted on the publication’s online site at http://www.lvrj.com/multimedia/Meet-local-jam-band-Moksha-105061374.html. The video also incorporates an interview with the five-piece-Sam Lemos(vocals), Jeremy Parks (guitar), John Heishman (bass, vocals), Patrick Gray (drums), and Brian Triola (organ/keys, vocals)-letting the band narrate their own story of performing on stage and speak about how they never perform the same set list twice and really enjoy giving the crowd an unexpected and rare experience.
“In Vegas, Moksha has become one of the biggest local draws,” says Bracelin. Not surprising as the band recently received the Vegas Rocks! award for Best Alternative/Progressive Rock Band2010 and a 2010 Hollywood Music And Media Awards (HMMA) nomination for their track “Interface” for Best Funk/Groove Song of the year. The single is from the band’s rave reviewed album Mammal Or Machine, which is currently being featured as CD giveaway contest on The-Trades for one lucky winner.
Moksha continues to hit the road with two special Halloween performances at the Caspar Inn in Caspar, Calif. on October 28 and the Dr. “Funk”enstien’s Zombie “JAM”boree at The Hard Rock Cafe on October 30 in Las Vegas, presented by the Las Vegas Jam Band Society. The band is also performing in their home turf again onNovember 19 at the Winchester Cultural Center in Las Vegas with Cirque du Soleil’s saxophone player Marc Solis. For more information on Moksha’s upcoming shows visit www.mokshatime.com.
]]>Las Vegas jam band powerhouse Moksha follows their exciting win for “Best Alternative/Progressive Rock Band” at the Vegas Rocks! Awards with a multi-state fall tour that includes two nights at Denver’s Quixote’s True Blue (October 11-12) with special guests Peter Apfelbaum, Jennifer Hartswick and A.P.O.S.T.L.E performing atafterparties for the popular jam band Phish, who is headlining October 10, 11 and 12 in Broomfield, CO (outside of Denver).
The lowdown on Moksha’s guest artists at Quixote’s: Innovative tenor saxophonist/pianist/drummer/composer/bandleader Peter Apfelbaum is a veteran of both Phish (Giant Country Horns) and the Trey Anastasio band. He performs on Moksha’s recently released debut album Mammal or Machine.
Versatile jazz-based vocalist Jennifer Hartswick has recorded numerous albums with Anastasio and performed with him for seven years, touring internationally and sharing the stage and studio with such legends as Carlos Santana, Dave Matthews, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon and Herbie Hancock.
With an extensive tour history around the U.S. at festivals and clubs with his former band Heavyweight Dub Champion, A.P.O.S.T.L.E. has earned his stripes as a live show veteran. He has additionally cultivated undeniable name recognition in his hometown of Denver for his work as a grassroots community activist, performance poet, ghostwriter, and performer. Recently A.P.O.S.T.L.E. relocated to the Bay Area to combine all of these efforts into one project. Lyrical Activism is his definitive work and is destined to be an underground classic.
Moksha’s other tour dates this fall include North Country Fair in Arcata, CA (September 18); Wavy Gravy’s Hog Farm, Laytonville, CA (September 25); Binions Horseshoe, Las Vegas (October 8); Hard Rock Café, Las Vegas (October 23 and 30); Caspar Inn, Caspar, CA (October 18); and the Winchester Cultural Center, Las Vegas (November 19).
Moksha, whose name, appropriately, means “liberate” in Hindi—has been blistering audiences in their hometown of Las Vegas since 2007 with a hard-to-contain sound that guitarist Jeremy Parks calls, “An anything goes approach to music.”
While they’ve traditionally embraced the “jam band” tag that fans and raving critics have given them, the band—which includes John Heishman (bass, vocals), Patrick Gray(drums), and Brian Triola (organ/keys, vocals) —is crossing over with wider mainstream appeal, thus releasing their highly anticipated debut, Mammal Or Machine.
Mammal Or Machine features Santana’s horn section, guest vocalists Angela Kerfoot and Sam Lemos, DJ Logic and New Orleans guitar legend Brian Stoltz (Funky Meters, Neville Brothers, Bob Dylan).
]]>Groove band Moksha wins the award for Best Alternative Progressive Band at the Vegas Rocks! Awards show at the Las Vegas Hilton this past Sunday. The Vegas Rocks! Award show was hosted by the publicity queen Sally Steele and featured appearances and performances from the legendary Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, lead guitarist Lita Ford of The Runaways, and hip-hop legend Flavor Flav.
Moksha is touring to promote their rave reviewed album Mammal or Machine, which is currently #6 on Jam Bands’ Radio Charts. The band will be showcasing their latest tracks from the album at the North County Fair at the Arcata Plaza in Arcata, Calif. on September 18. In addition, Moksha will rock out in their home turf of Las Vegas at theWinchester Cultural Center for a special performance on November 19. For more information on these upcoming dates visit, www.mokshatime.com.
EVENT RECAP:
September 18
North County Fair at the Arcata Plaza
Corner of 8th and H St.
Arcata, CA
(707) 822-5320
www.sameoldpeople.org
Free Show
All Ages
November 19
Winchester Cultural Center
3130 S. McLeod
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 455-7340
www.accessclarkcounty.com/depts/parks/locations/pages/winchester-home.aspx
$10 at the door
All Ages
The powerhouse Moksha—whose name, appropriately, means “liberate” in Hindi—has been blistering audiences in their hometown of Las Vegas with a similar hard to contain sound that guitarist Jeremy Parks calls, “An anything goes approach to music.” While they’ve traditionally embraced the “jam band” tag that fans and raving critics have given them, the band—which also includes John Heishman (bass, vocals), Patrick Gray (drums), and Brian Triola (organ/keys, vocals) —is crossing over with wider main stream appeal, thus releasing their highly anticipated debut, Mammal Or Machine.
Mammal Or Machine features Santana’s horn section, saxman Peter Apfelbaum, guest vocalists Angela Kerfoot and Sam Lemos, DJ Logic and New Orleans guitar legend Brian Stoltz (Funky Meters, Neville Brothers, Bob Dylan). Moksha succeeds in capturing a multi-faceted sound that, as they like to say, is “swirling in subtlety, painting a sonic landscape that unfolds in the moment and feeds on the dynamic ebb and flow of audience and band interconnection.” To achieve this, the group recorded about half of the eleven tracks live in the studio.
Aside from their whirlwind sound, the two most fascinating elements of Moksha’s live performances are the unique set lists-never playing the same set list twice-and a powerful audio visual element incorporating the talents of numerous local Las Vegas artists. In a town where full scale entertainment a la Cirque Du Soleil is the norm, having body painters, art installation wall projections and performers such as magician Jeff McBride accompanying the band helps them stand out.
Since forming the group in 2007, they’ve held court regularly at the Hard Rock Cafe, the House of Blues in Mandalay and will take stage on the rooftop venue at Binion’s Horseshoe on Fremont Street for two back-to-back shows on Friday, July 23 and Saturday, July 24 in Vegas. Moksha is rapidly expanding their shows throughout the west coast and will also be performing at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, CA (July 28), Winston’s in San Diego (July 29), and The Blue Café in Huntington Beach, CA (August 1) Plus, the band will showcase three days at Blake’s On Telegraph in Berkeley, CA, Thursday, August 5 through Saturday, August 7 and perform on August 14 at The Key Club in Los Angeles.
EVENT RECAP:
July 23
Binion’s Horseshoe
128 Fremont St.
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 382-1600
www.binions.com
10 p.m.
$15 at door
All ages
July 24
Binion’s Horseshoe
128 Fremont St.
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 382-1600
www.binions.com
10 p.m.
$15 at door
All ages
July 28
Alex’s Bar
2913 E. Anaheim St.
Long Beach, CA
(562) 434-8292
www.alexsbar.com
9 p.m.
$7 at door
21+
July 29
Winston’s
1921 Bacon St.
San Diego, CA
(619) 222-6822
www.winstonsob.com
9 p.m.
Free
21+
July 31
Kat Club
8911 West Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA
(310) 657-0888
http://www.myspace.com/thecatclub
Time TBA
Ticket pricing TBA
21+
August 1
The Blue Café
17208 Pacific Coast Hwy
Huntington Beach, CA
(562) 592-1302
www.bluecafelive.com
9 p.m.
$5 at door
21+
August 5
Blake’s On Telegraph
2367 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 848-0886
www.blakesontelegraph.com
11 p.m.
$15 at door
18+
August 6
Blake’s On Telegraph
2367 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 848-0886
www.blakesontelegraph.com
11 p.m.
$20 at door
18+
August 7
Blake’s On Telegraph
2367 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 848-0886
www.blakesontelegraph.com
11 p.m.
$20 at door
18+