FensePost.com Music Blog Review

6 JULY 2010 WRITTEN BY RON TREMBATH
http://www.fensepost.com/main/2010/07/06/son-of-the-sun-the-happy-loss-album-review/

Do you have an itch in your neck for some old-school-influenced, void filling, and harmony driven rock and roll? Are you looking to show your father some “new shit” that he might very well approve of? Well, look no further than Son of the Sun’s debut full length album The Happy Loss. Joseph Stocker and Zak Ward, masterminds behind the operation, have a strange sensibility to themselves when it comes to creating the constantly sought “wall of sound” that so many musicians strive to create.

The album’s highlight track, “The Other Side”, would fit amazingly well on your iTunes playlist between Jefferson Airplane and Rush (many fathers’ favorite for some strange reason). The track clocks in at an even 3 minutes, pulls out a touch of surf rock into the well-timed equation, and is an overall joy to endure. The equally catchy, and just as enjoyable quick cut, “Get Together”, might be a bit more updated for dear old Dad with it’s out-of-the-ordinary pop-punk feel. The overall playlist for The Happy Loss is solid. Son of the Sun have a keen understanding of the benefits of guitar-driven harmonies and tantalizing keyboard euphoria.

This New York based band of not so-contemporaries might just be what the mainstream world needs right now. These could very well be the guys that knock Kings of Leon back down off the pedestal the no longer deserve after their latest travesties (pretentious? maybe; whatever). But, when it comes to pure-hearted and perfectly obtuse rock and roll, The Happy Loss hits the proverbial rock dolphin right on the bottle nose of potential mass appeal.

SOTS music placed in Roadtrip Nation Season Six on PBS!! Check it out!

Dear Friends,

Son of the Sun's "How Can it Be?" was recently placed in Roadtrip Nation Season Six on PBS!

There are 2 timeframes in Episode 6 where How Can it Be? was placed.

The 1st is at: 4:11

The 2nd is at: 15:08

Here is the link: Episode 6 | Los Angeles–Santa Fe



How Can it Be? was also placed on the CD Sampler used to promote the television series on Roadtrip Nation's COLLEGE CAMPUS PROMO TOUR.

Music is Art Festival review by the Buffalo News

7th Music Is Art Festival Offers Unparalleled Sonic Stimulation

By Joe Sweeney
NEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER

“If there’s anything you haven’t tried, today’s the day to try it,” Robby Takac exclaimed Saturday afternoon on the front steps of the Albright-Knox—referring, of course, to art forms. The statement encapsulates the appeal of the Music Is Art Festival, a yearly smorgasbord of locally produced creativity that practically forces people to open their minds.

Saturday marked the seventh edition of the festival, and it was a testament to the success of Takac’s not-for-profit brainchild. The Goo Goo Dolls bassist founded Music Is Art in 2004 with the goal of stressing the importance of music in our community, building awareness in local schools and shining a spotlight on deserving local musicians, leaving no genre unturned.

Music Is Art has not only done that, it’s also given us the most sonically stimulating local event of the year — if you’ve ever used the Buffalo music scene as the butt of a joke, this year’s festival would make you lower your head in shame. We’re talking 12 straight hours of live performances, bouncing across three stages, organized by people who don’t give a rat’s patoot about pleasing demographics.

And our pool of local talent was more than large enough to fill every second. Son of the Sun delivered a set of shimmering melodies that did justice to its name. The opening song, “How Can It Be,” is so rich, dramatic and true, it could be a Roy Orbison ballad.

Family FUNKtion & the Sitar Jams immediately followed, a trio of brothers (sitar player, drummer and bassist) that mixes raga, funk and jazz to create some uniquely intoxicating grooves. This Medeski, Martin & Shankar style simultaneously spans continents and moves rears; the group’s entertaining genre mash-ups are a microcosm of the festival itself.

Things just got more eclectic from here — at one point, the hip-hop duo Crooked Letta was on the main stage, singing and spitting rhymes about poverty’s stranglehold on the lower class, while a children’s Irish dance troupe waited in the wings.

The precocious singer/songwriter Erin Sydney Welsh shared her brand of Tracy Chapman-ish folk, which featured some impressive lyrical twists for a 13-year-old. She was followed by Soul Bodega, whose utterly infectious, Spanish-language hip-hop jams were the highlight of the day for me. The trio’s energy was palpable, their joy plain on their faces, and their verses generous portions of syncopated bliss.

Local legend Dave Schulz gave a midday performance, backed by his crack L. A. backing band. The former Goo Goo Dolls keyboardist and leader of Buffalo funk stalwarts C. O. Jones shared material from his debut album, “Connect,” braving some technical difficulties and busting out a handful of big, soulful pop songs that aren’t so far removed from his most famous affiliation.

If Music Is Art was purely a live music experience, it would be impressive enough. But on top of all the beats, chords and harmonies, practically anything else that could be called art was represented.

A walk from one end of the event to the other could have included glimpses of the following— metal sculptors, groups of hula hoopers, painters, photographers, Darth Vader, ballroom dancers, film screenings, a marching band, live DJs, Clifford the Big Red Dog, potters, a Rock Band video game setup, graffiti artists, a food court and beer garden.

Lord Vader was there as a part of The North Ridge, a Star Wars re-enactment group that performed at different points throughout the day.

Concert Review
Music Is Art Festival
An all-day festival featuring music, dance and other entertainment, Saturday outside Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

Music Is Art Festival a good fit for Albright-Knox

Jeff Miers: Sound Check

Updated: September 11, 2009, 8:40 AM

You wouldn’t necessarily think of Robby Takac as a hippie. A punk rock kid grown up, maybe, or a metalhead who fell hard for Husker Du and the Replacements, perhaps. But a hippie? I’m sure the very thought would be anathema to him.

Still, something about Takac’s baby — the annual Music is Art Festival, which will celebrate its seventh birthday on the grounds of the Albright- Knox Art Gallery on Saturday — smacks of the idealistic, cross-genre, art-is-the-key-to-the- universe ethic behind the festivals of the latter 1960s.

MIA — if you’ve attended it in the past, you know this well — was born free and unfettered, and has spent the better part of the past decade trying to stay that way. If it seems at all chaotic, well, don’t be fooled — the chaos is of the controlled variety, and though happy accidents are welcome, Takac and Co. have had to work hard in order to maintain the sort of atmosphere where those happy accidents might take place.

“The Muse exists, but She has to find you working,” is a quote attributed to Pablo Picasso, and it’s a relevant one when it comes to Takac in general and the festival in particular. In other words, don’t sit on your butt expecting sweet inspiration to fall from the cosmos directly into your lap. Make hay while the sun shines, and the sun will likely shine brighter.

So, if Takac is, maybe unwittingly, following the 1960s model that gave us events like the Human Be-In and the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock, is Buffalo akin to San Francisco, circa ’67? Er, no. It is hard to find the thread of unity among the arts, the artists, and the community that patronizes the arts ’round here, and once found, it’s even harder to get a good, firm grasp on it.

To wit, Takac launched his festival seven years back in tandem with the yearly Allentown Art Festival on the grounds of his then-home base recording studio on Franklin Street. Though he put up a fight to be proud of, and the festivals that took place at that location are now the stuff of legend, Takac was essentially chased out of Allentown by folks who had the power to do so, yes, but just didn’t “get it.”

This is Takac’s second year running the event at the Albright- Knox, and he counts friend and gallery director Louis Grachos as “the reason we’re here, and the reason I think this is the place we should be, our home.” Grachos “gets it,” Takac says, and his enthusiasm for the cross-pollination of art forms mirrors Takac’s own feelings on that subject.

“Every year, at the end of the festival, I get home completely wiped out, and I sit down, and then it all hits me — we did it!,” Takac gushed, as we sat down to lunch on Hertel Avenue last week. “Sometimes it seems like we’ve taken on too much, you know? Like, how are we actually gonna pull this off? But we keep pulling it off. And at the end, there’s a great feeling of satisfaction.”

Takac’s response to the continuous demands of the growing event? To pack even more into the course of the 12-hour festival, naturally.

So this year, it will boast three music stages hosting more than 30 bands, 40 visual artists and photographers displaying their work, live performance art, live fine art, dancers, DJs, a “projection tent” with accompanying live music, a kids village and a vendor concourse. All of this will take place on the Delaware Park side of the Albright-Knox grounds, an area that, when empty, seems not too particularly vast. If you caught last year’s fest, though — which took place in unforgiving and unrelenting rain — you know that this area can be transformed into a mini-village. Call it the Buffalo Be-In, if you like. Or not. But be there, if you care about the arts in our town.

Festival info

The Music is Art Festival takes place 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. Saturday at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

Here’s a partial list of scheduled bands, artists and performers. Set times and additional information can be found at www.MusicIsArt.org . Oh, and admission is free, all day. Terrie George’s Dance Theatrics, Mone Dance Company, Rock Ed, Bella Dea Tribal Fusion, Drums Along the Waterfront/ Zucchini Heads, Gruvology, Music in Action/Leslie Stanwyck of Universal Honey, Steam Donkeys, Those Idiots, Nadia Ibrahim Dance, the Brass Monkeez, Son of the Sun, Family FUNKtion and the Sitar Jams, Ballroom & Beyond, Agent ME, Crooked Letta, Rince na Tiarna, Erin Sydney Welsh, Image Urban Arts, Soul Bodega, Dave Schulz, Euphraxia, Wenzday Atemz, the Incurables, A Hotel Nourishing, Free Henry!

Also: Inlite, Abominable Killer Snowmen, Ilya’s Bellydance, Fresh Guac, the Vores, Mother Re, Queen City Swing, Soul Bodega, Here Come the Comets, Innocent Bystanders, Floozie, the Rabies, Shaant (from Cute Is What We Aim For), Blood Thirsty Vegans, Rooftops, Fleuron Rouge & Zuut, Bearhunter.

Also: The North Ridge group will perform a “Star Wars” re-enactment and light saber show; DJ Soma; storytelling with Jeff Criden; Stacy Zawadski Dance; Cowboys of Scotland and more.

jmiers@buffnews.com

Flyer Design by 3estudios.com

SON of the SUN performing at Bernie's Distillery in Columbus, Ohio

Sunday, September 27th 2009 w/ Monolithic Cloud Parade and Old Worlds

September 27th 2009 Lineup:

Monolithic Cloud Parade - www.myspace.com/monolithiccloudparade
SON of the SUN - www.myspace.com/sonofthesunmusic
Old Worlds - www.myspace.com/oldworlds

Doors at 8PM

$5 Cover

Address:

Bernie's Distillery
1896 N. High St.
Columbus, Ohio 43201

Son of the Sun performing at this year's Music is Art Festival 2009

2009 Music Is Art Festival
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Albright Knox Art Gallery
1285 Elmwood Avenue,
Buffalo, New York 14222
10am-10pm
FREE - ALL AGES



Come join the thousands who make the MiA Festival the premier local music and art event in Western New York.

Music is Art brings its signature event once again to the grounds of the Albright Knox Art Gallery for a one-day, all-day, absolutely free festival on Saturday, September 12, 2009, 10 am-10pm.

The festival, now in its 7th year, will feature over 30 bands, 40 displaying artists and photographers, plus live art, dancers, DJs, a projection tent, not for profit displays, beer tent, food vendors and a kids village.

Local bands and artists were given the opportunity to apply online for consideration and we are pleased to announce the following lineup:

THREE MUSIC STAGES FEATURING:
A Hotel Nourishing 
Infinity Blues Project
Agent ME 
Inlite
Abominable Killer Snowmen 
Innocent Bystanders
Bearhunter 
Mother Red
Blood Thirsty Vegans 
Music in Action/Leslie Stanwyck
Crooked Letta 
Rock.Ed
Dave Shultz 
Rooftops
Declan Miers & the Scorched Earthlings 
Shaant (of Cute is What We Aim For)
Erin Sydney Welsh 
Son of the Sun
Family FUNKtion & the Sitar Jams 
Soul Bodega
Floozie 
Steam Donkeys
Free Henry! 
The Incurables
Fresh Guac 
The Vores
Here Come the Comets 
Those Idiots
Image Urban Arts Workshop 
Wenzday Atemz

PROJECTION TENT STAGE ACTS and KIDS VILLAGE ENTERTAINMENT
(6:30PM-CLOSE)
Angel Lopez/Jordan Lema 
African Drumming Circle-Autistic Services
Conn Keogh 
Debbie Bellow Singers
Cowboys of Scotland 
Glen Colton
DJ Soma 
Ilya’s Belly Dancing Studio-Children’s Troupe
Dotsun Moon 
My Grownup & Me-Community Music School
Jaxx Deluca 
Promo the Robot
Jeremy Slater 
The North Ridge
Paul Butler 
The Waz-drums & percussion
Shapes of States 
Storytelling by Jeff Criden
Type Relevant 
WNED-TV
The Stacy Zawatski Dancers

DANCE COMPANIES and MONSTER MASHUP DJ AREA
Ballroom and Beyond 
Amungus
E.DA.CO 
Basha
Euphraxia 
Communist Party
Excell Modeling Agency 
Crouching Tiger
Expression in Dance Arts 
DJ Andre
Fleuron Rouge 
DJ Brandon Chase
Folkloric Productions 
DJ Flip
Hamburg Performing Arts 
Excell Modeling Agency
Ilya Bellydancers 
Jarvis
Moving Miracles 
N3WT
Nadia Ibrahim 
Soul Station
Queen City Rollergirls 
Stacy Zawadski Dancers
Queen City Swing 
Tweak Nasty
Rince Na Tiarna
Terrie George
Zuut

DISPLAYING ARTISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, and LIVE ARTISTS:
Alex Brunner 
Chris Fanelli
Carla Levorchick 
David Butler
Chez Ann Salon 
Heath Hettig
Chris Fanelli 
Iron Ed Hogle
Chris McGee 
Jennifer Set-Cimini
Chrissy Nowak 
Rudy Cobe
Dan Norton
D’Anna Rose
Dario Mohr
David Walter 
Amy Luraschi
Dennis Bertram 
Andrea Mancuso
Don Keller 
Brian Milbrand
Don Mayer 
Jennifer Link
Edollia Monroe 
Jill St Ledger-Roty
Frank Sander 
Joe Cascio
Iris Kirkwood 
Kenn Morgan
Janet Black 
Marcus Wise
Jason Klinger 
Marshall Scheuttle
Jax Deluca 
Natalie Hofert
Jeffery Vincent 
Ray Ordinario
Jordan Lema 
Robert Schultz
Kara Kumar 
Tammy Wetzel
Kath Schifano 
Tanis Winslow
Markenzy Cesar
Valerie Dunne
Mary Bartlett
Paul Kalinowski
Steve Reynolds
Steven Andressen
Windwalker

IN THE ALBRIGHT KNOX COLLECTORS GALLERY:
Mark Freeland

NOT FOR PROFIT ACTIVITIES:
Albright Knox Art Gallery
Arts in Education Institute
Buffalo Music Hall of Fame
Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Buffalo ReUse
Central Terminal Restoration Corporation
Mental Health Association of Erie County/HEART Coalition
Rock the Vote
Starlight Studio & Art Gallery

ALSO FEATURING:
A giant robot, beer and wine garden, food vendors, the Music is Art Raffle and information tent, Buskers, Magicians, aliens, full of FREAKS, and your favorite TV, Radio and Cyber Geeks.

The Music is Art Festival Committee has put a lot of time and energy into choosing artists and performers from many different genres, there is something for everyone at this year’s festival. Many student acts will be performing, including the 2009 winners of the Music is Art, Student Battle of the Band winners; Abominable Killer Snowmen, from Niagara Wheatfield High School.

Music is Art would also like to thank the valued sponsors for making this event happen year after year:

Niagara University
Time Warner Cable
The Buffalo News/My Buffalo
Try-It Distributing
New Era Cap
Bot Beverages
Senator Antoine Thompson
Fan Awards Network
Erie-Niagara Tobacco Coalition

The festival will run from 10am to 10pm, rain or shine. There will be free parking at Buffalo State College. Come help us celebrate Western New York’s creativity!

Son of the Sun @ Midpoint Music Festival Sept. 26th 2009

"SON OF THE SUN (Buffalo, NY): Like a gift from the sky, Son of the Sun is coming to serve up a plate of their southern tinged New York retro R&B rock. Equal parts Velvet Underground and Kings of Leon, their harmony layered cuts of sonic satisfaction will leave you begging for seconds." --- mpmf.com

Son of the Sun are confirmed to perform at MPMF09.

SON of the SUN performing at this year's Midpoint Music Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio...(Sept. 24th - 26th 2009)

MPMF Website: http://www.mpmf.com




WHERE:
Below Zero Lounge
1122 Walnut Street
Cincinnati, Ohio
45202
(513) 421-9376
http://www.belowzerolounge.com

WHEN:
Saturday, September 26th 2009
10:30PM

LINEUP:
12:30am- Tellin on Trixie
11:30pm- Chico Fellini
10:30pm- Son of the Sun
9:30pm- Persona Grata
8:30pm- Section 4