Lark Hall Announces a Variety of Upcoming Shows

ALBANY – With a continuously burgeoning live-music calendar, Lark Hall in Albany is continuing to host and produce various acts, with a seemingly wide variety of genres. Some of the shows recently announced, as well as where to acquire tickets for said shows are as follows:

Gratefully Yours
Thursday, January 27th // Ticket pricing: $15

Gratefully Yours is a Grateful Dead inspired band, based out of New Paltz, NY. The band was conceived and founded in 2012 by keyboardist Alex Mazur, who is also the founder of The Deadbeats; one of the longest running Grateful Dead cover bands in existence. However, “cover band” is an extremely misleading term when it comes to the music of Gratefully Yours.

Their willingness and ability to improvise, and openness to spontaneity and the energy of the moment lie at the core of their performances and truly sets them apart. In the very best tradition of The Grateful Dead, it is this openness that allows the crowd to become a part of the creative process and results in a synergy between the band and the crowd that is unique and truly special. It is that magic that Gratefully Yours truly aims to “cover” and pay tribute to.

They also allow their audience to participate further by giving them the opportunity to submit their dream set lists, which Gratefully Yours just may happen to choose and perform. But of course, you just never know what might happen…

The band members are all long time highly regarded players in the scene: Alex Mazur (Keys), Jude Defalco (Drums), Garrin Benfield (Guitar), Mark Beaumont (Bass), Robert Schiff (Guitar), and Jessica Barlow (Vocals). And they have some very special guests and friends who have and do play with and sit in with them: Zach Nugent (Melvin Seals & JGB), Vinnie Amico (moe.), Tony Markelis (Trey Anastasio Band), Bill Carbone (Max Creek), Rob Eaton (Dark Star Orchestra), and Russ Lawton (Trey Anastasio Band).

Get your tickets here.

Organ Fairchild, With Special Guest, Glass Pony
Saturday, February 19th // Ticket pricing: $15-20

Organ Fairchild:

A musical party that won’t quit. Take your old-school organ trio, add dance-heavy grooves and adventurous jamming, and shake vigorously. Enjoy all night long.

Just voted #1 out of 64 up-and-coming bands in the NYS Music statewide 2021 March Madness competition, this group is on fire.

”An incredibly hot new Buffalo band” – The Buffalo News

Joe Bellanti – organ, keyboards

Corey Kertzie – drums, percussion

Dave Ruch – guitar

Playing together in legendary Western NY cover band Wild Knights since the early 1980’s, these three lifelong friends took their first stab at writing original music together just a few short years ago! 

With the September 2021 release of the trio’s debut album, Brewed in Buffalo, the party’s just beginning.

Glass Pony:

Encapsulating influences stretching across decades from psychedelic and jam-focused rock, to funk, post-punk, and even modern indie and post-rock, the Albany, New York collective Glass Pony offer a sound that truly translates through generations, with a stylistic blend built to engage a broad listenership. With a focus squarely set on delivering the most captivating live performance possible, the band utilizes infectiously danceable grooves colored with virtuosic individual performances that deftly blend into a cohesive whole. To accentuate their creative songwriting, they place a great value on improvisation and fluid set lists that change from show to show. The band is comprised of Chanda Dewey (drums), Eddie Hotaling (guitar, lead vocals), Jeff Picarazzi (bass), and Greg Pittz (lead guitar). If you’re seeking an experience that dives much deeper than the usual rigidly-arranged performance, hop on and enjoy the ride.

Doors are at 7pm and the show is at 8pm.

Get your tickets here.

The Happy Fits, With Special Guest, Sarah and the Sundays
Wednesday, February 23rd // Ticket pricing: $18-28

The Happy Fits:

In a time where positivity is hard to come by, the Happy Fits are here with their transportive, sunny second album, What Could Be Better. 

Turning a love for the Killers and Violent Femmes into their own compact pop songwriting, the New Jersey-based trio started as a casual summer project for high school friends Calvin Langman, Ross Monteith, and Luke Davis before going off to college. After their debut EP, 2016’s Awfully Apeelin’, took off on Spotify during their first semester, school stopped looking like the natural next step.

Following their 2018 full-length Concentrate, the Happy Fits have further honed their ambition for What Could Be Better’s collection of crowd-pleasers. “Growing up, I was either in school, at home practicing, or at music school, and there was always this pressure to be really productive,” says primary songwriter Langman, who dropped out of conservatory to pursue the band. “When I decided that I wanted to do this for a living, being productive meant a totally different thing, because now I have to create things that are just in my head and make them real. Measuring how productive that is in my life, it’s hard to do that. There’s a lot of dissatisfaction I feel. I write that into the songs, all of the guilt that I feel for not sticking with a normal plan.”

From the stomping “No Instructions” to the album-closing title track, What Could Be Better channels youthful malaise into songs that demand to be sung along to. “Moving” deploys Beach Boys-inspired harmonies for a classically feel-good sound, and the integration of Langman’s classical cello training will appeal to fans of early Vampire Weekend. Far from cloying, the band’s upbeat nature is rooted in a real desire to connect with a world that sometimes seems distant.

On “What Could Be Better” Langman sings, “There’s a hole in my consciousness where I feel I belong,” a line inspired by his isolation as one of the few Asian-Americans in his hometown. “I don’t have crippling social anxiety, but I have always felt like I’m a bit different,” Langman says. “I grew up in rural New Jersey and was one of three Asian kids in my high school…Also, growing up, with Hollywood and TV shows, I didn’t see many people like me, especially half-Filipinos.”

As the band’s stages get bigger, Langman knows he gets to be the role model he didn’t have, saying, “It feels really good to be someone that Filipino kids growing up in America could look up to. The Happy Fits have brought their uplifting live show across the country on multiple headlining tours, as well as supporting acts like This Wild Life.

“We bring together a large age group,” Davis, a former metalhead who started learning how to play drums from Rock Band, says of young fans who take their parents to shows. “I think one of the big connections is just when everyone’s there, it becomes this community where everyone can support each other and are all enjoying the same things.”

Known for their joyous, engaging performances, the band’s sense of camaraderie is also reflected in the songs. All three members split vocal duties on “Floating,” an urgent tribute to their long-distance relationships that emphasizes the collective nature of their journey.

In the nine months since the albums release the band saw it debut #4 on Billboard’s Alternative New Artist Chart, and “Hold Me Down” reach #30 in the National Alternative Radio Charts as well as #4 on the Sirius Alt Nation’s Alt 18. NPRs Ken Tucker ranked it #3 on his year end list and ended his glowing review live on “Fresh Air” with “What Could Be Better? I honestly don’t know.”

Sarah and the Sundays:

A 5-piece band of 21-year-olds out of Austin, TX. Their first album as a full band organically amassed over 12.5M streams across 3 songs and no editorial support, so they took a leap of faith: leaving college after one year to pursue their dream. SATS debut studio album The Living End was released through AWAL Records in October 2021. Their single “I’m So Bored” has been featured on Sirius XM’s Alt Nation and was on Spotify’s coveted New Music Friday, Feel Good Indie Rock, Fresh Finds and more, along with several Apple Music playlists.

Get your tickets here.

Joe Purdy, With Special Guest, Earl Buck
Thursday, February 24th // Ticket pricing: $20-30

Joe Purdy:

Joe Purdy is an internationally acclaimed folk artist who has released 14 albums and a soundtrack to a movie in the last 15 years. Along the way, his songs have turned up on numerous TV shows, film soundtracks and he has co-starred in an acclaimed film.  American Folk marked Joe’s first foray into acting. He also contributed to much of the soundtrack. It earned several awards including Best New Film at the Cleveland International Film Festival. 

Joe’s last album, Who Will Be Next, is deeply rooted in the tradition of artists such as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan. It is a searing commentary of our turbulent times. Joe’s determination to honor the giants of American folk music while applying his formidable skills as a writer and vocalist reveal him as a compassionate observer and participant in our times. Joe has just finished a new album which will be released soon and supported by a Worldwide Tour in 2022.

Earl Buck:

Earl Buck was born in Baton Rouge. He was raised in Louisiana and East Texas until his family settled in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. He has called it home ever since. A screenwriter, a poet, and a classically trained actor, his songwriting is rooted in deeply human characters in all their levity and tragedy. His debut LP, Breakfast of Losers, is currently in the works.

Get your tickets here.