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Susanna Rose Releases Genesee Live Session

Rochester native Susanna Rose is unwavering in her consistency — her recent video session with Genesee Live is a clear testament to this. Between the pristine voice and the honest, humble delivery, it’s easy to trust her as a listener from the get-go. I have absolutely no qualms in saying that she already embraces the demeanor and stylings of a seasoned singer-songwriter who knows her own sound incredibly well. This session features tracks off of her release Snowbound, which was our album of the week back in December. Despite being laden with stark, wintry imagery, the overall vibe of these tracks still translates well in a displaced season. Watch and listen for yourself below.

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Session feat. Pleistocene

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve posted about our buddies over at Genesee Live. The live session series is one of our favorites in the WNY area, specializing in acts from the Rochester-area. For their 31st installment, they’ve  teamed up with everyone’s favorite epoch, Pleistocene. A few years ago we saw front-woman Katie Preston rip a stripped-down solo set for the folks at Genesee Live. This time around the entire quartet is present and their quirky indie rock is operating at maximum jangle. A particular highlight is session opener “Joni,” which boasts a creative song structure, tight transitions, and unique surf-inspired riffs. We’ve posted the entire clip below for your enjoyment, but be sure to scroll through Genesee’s impressive back catalog of sessions here.

Genesee Live Releases Latest Installment feat. Drippers

We haven’t checked in with Rochester’s Genesee Live for a minute, so we were happy to see the live session series released its latest installment this morning, this time featuring the psych-rock trio, Drippers. The act may be new to some of our blog readers because as to my best recollection, we have yet to cover them, but I am kicking myself for sleeping the group up until now.  Fans of janky Queens of the Stone Age, retro psych rockers like the Black Angels, or a heavier Ariel Pink may have a new favorite local in Drippers, and Gl’s video is a great introduction. Check out Drippers’ clip below, and for past installments of Genesee Live, visit their Youtube here to catch up.

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Session feat. Secret Pizza

After teasing a full fall of new session clips, Rochester’s Genesee Live made good on its promise yesterday with the release of its 26th installment, this time featuring the grungy post-rock quartet, Secret Pizza. After a summer that saw the group take a short tour of the North East and finish up its soon-to-be-released debut LP with Pleistocene’s Stephen Roessner, the busy band managed to fit in a recording session at Rettner Hall on the campus of the University of Rochester. Check out the full clip below and for past sessions, you can catch up at Genesee Live’s Youtube page.

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Session feat. Hannah Weidner & the Doorway Talkers

If you didn’t make it to the first installment of our Rochester Invasion shows (yes there will be more), then you missed not one but two sets from the Doorway Talkers, the full band project from singer/songwriter Hannah Weidner, on Nietzsche’s front room stage. Backed by members of Secret Pizza and Passive Aggressives Anonymous, the Doorway Talkers gives Weidner to nice vehicle to flesh out the Joanna Newsom-esque folk numbers taken from her debut LP, Comfortable Existence, which we selected as our Album of the Week last fall. This morning, Hannah and crew were the latest act to be featured in Genesee Live‘s video sessions series. After a quiet summer, the series is back with a clip that captures the four piece delivering a pleasant, living room (and just a little kitchen) performance. Check out the full session below.

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Installment feat. Amateur Radio Club

Keeping with its recently steady pace, Rochester’s live session series, Genesee Live, released its latest installment yesterday, this time starring Amateur Radio Club, the solo project from former SPORTS keyboardist, Ian Egling. Featuring track’s from Egling’s debut LP, and our recent Album of the Week, The Laughing Vulcan and Her Dog, the bouncy session was filmed at Rochester’s WITR Radio studio. Watch the full session below and catch up on all of Genesee Live’s past installments here.

Genesee Live Releases Latest Installment feat. the Absolutes

A couple weeks ago, Genesee Live, Rochester’s premiere live session video series, debuted its latest installment featuring the retro-rock trio, the Absolutes. We first caught the Absolutes at our Bug Jar invasion showcase back in November, and most recently played Buffalo at Nietzsche’s alongside of the Soft Love a couple months ago. The bluesy threesome recall British Invasion acts like the Rolling Stones, Cream, and the Beatles, and feature members of Talking Under Water and Mikeala Davis’ band Watch the full clip below, and if you want to catch up on Genesee Live’s 20+ plus sessions, you can view all of them here.

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Session feat. Northern Spies

These past couple weeks have been really busy for us at the blog with our many various projects coming up (Herd Fest, our fifth birthday, plus many others that still are developing in our board room). Due to this, it took us a little bit to share with our loyal readers Rochester’s Genesee Live’s 21st session, with Northern Spies. You may remember Northern Spies from our brief track write-up we did in January. In early March, Northern Spies debuted its full-set recording at WITR Studios (a la the stellar session with Attic Abasement). Some faces may look familiar in Northern Spies, as they’ve been around the scene for a bit having participated in Joywave, the Demos, Cottage Jefferson, and Kopps. The half hour session is a healthy mix of 60’s power-pop, and even branches out to The Unicorns-esque Americana. Check it out below.

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Session feat. Sea Planes

We have been following Rochester’s Genesee Live for about a year now, catching up with some of our favorite sister city acts like Ben Morey, Skirts, and Buffalo Sex Change. It’s been a great way to see some of those musicians in a live setting without having to make the hour drive east. One band that we have yet to see in person yet is Sea Planes, a synth pop trio who we have been writing about on a frequent basis since late 2013. The band sounds huge, polished, and frankly fantastic on recordings, but could easily be one of those studio acts whose sound doesn’t quite translate live. So when we found out that the duo would be showcased in the latest Genesee Live session, we were happy to finally see them in a live setting of sorts. The trio channels bits of latter day M83 in its session[...]

Genesee Live Releases Latest Installment feat. Jon Lewis

Catch up week continues here at the blog with the first session from Genesee Live of this young year. For the Rochester based video series’ latest installment, GL caught up with charming and introspective singer/songwriter, Jon Lewis. We introduced you to Lewis back in October with his music video “Tomorrow.” In addition, Lewis has been involved in the OTHER Rochester related video session series, 1809 Sessions, filmed at 1809 Studios in Macedon, NY. Fans of Jens Lekman and stripped down Belle and Sebastian may find Lewis right up their alley. Check out his Genesee Live installment below, which was recorded in the attic of Maybird/OHS member Sam Snyder, and to catch up on past clips, visit the site’s tumblr here.

Guest Post: Mark Czelusniak

For our Best of 2014 coverage, we once again decided to reach out to some friends of the blog to get an idea of what made the year in music so great for them. For the next installment in the guest series, Mark Czelusniak, founder of Rochester live sessions series, Genesee Live, submitted his year end list.  2014 was a a big year in my life. No, it was not impacted by any of the major world or current events. Nor were there any major, life changing events in my personal life for that matter. 2014 is the first year that I can not say for certain that, in all my years of music fandom, I don’t have a favorite record. It was much easier when I was younger and much of the music I listened to in high school had a bigger impact on me as a person. However, with the music industry shifting everyday[...]

Genesee Live Releases Latest Session feat. Attic Abasement

Thank goodness for area live video session series on slow blog days like this. Our favorite series out of Rochester, Genesee Live, continues its blistering pace with the release of its latest installment, #18 overall, featuring Attic Abasement. The elusive basement rockers originally caught our attention with a split release with Nod this past spring. For its GL session, the band was filmed at Rochester’s WITR studio at the Rochester Institute of Technology Watch the full session with Attic Abasement below and as always, visit Genesee Live’s tumblr page to catch up on any missed installments.

Genesee Live Releases Latest Session feat. Rountine Involvements

Late last week, Rochester’s premiere live music session series, Genesee Live, debuted latest installment, this time around, featuring college rock duo, Routine Involvements. The two-piece’s sound ranges from grunge to garage, with shades of shoegaze and 90s alt-rock mixed in for good measure. If Lithium is your satellite radio channel of choice, then Routine Involvements may be up your alley. Watch the full session below, and if you want to catch up on past Genesee Live sessions, visit its tumblr page here.

Genesee Live Debuts New Session feat. Buffalo Sex Change

We have been really enjoying Rochester duo Buffalo Sex Change lately in the blog offices. The pair’s brooding, self-titled debut, released via Roch label Dadstache Records, is a great blend of shoegaze, punk, and surf, and we liked it so much, it was named our Album of the Week last month. Late last week, Genesee Live, Rochester’s premiere live session series, debuted it’s latest video installment with BSC, much to our delight. You can watch the full Buffalo Sex Change session below, and for past installments, visit Genesee Live’s tumblr page.

Genesee Live Debuts New Session feat. Mike Brown

After a short breather, Genesee Live, Rochester’s live session series, returned late yesterday afternoon with a new installment featuring folk musician, producer, and Grammy nominee, Mike Brown. Shot at Brown’s Temperamental Recording Studio, a renovated country church in Geneseo, NY, the lastest session features a beautiful, stripped down performance from the long time musician that fans of Calexico, Iron & Wine, and Americana music would be wise to take a few minutes and check out. Watch the full session with Mike Brown below and for past installments, visit Genesee Live’s tumblr page.