Features Archives | MendoWerks

Twiddle Returns for Frendsgiving 2026 and Releases New Single ‘Good Time’

21Jul

By mendowerksNo Comments

Features, Music

Twiddle Returns for Frendsgiving 2026 and Releases New Single ‘Good Time’

Twiddle has given fans two reasons to celebrate. The band has announced the return of its annual Frendsgiving celebration while releasing a brand-new single, "Good Time." Frendsgiving returns to The Capitol Theatre from November 27-29, 2026, bringing one of the jam scene's favorite Thanksgiving weekend traditions back to Port Chester, New York. The three-night run has become a yearly gathering for the Twiddle community and is expected to draw fans from across the country. Alongside the announcement, Twiddle released "Good Time," a feel-good new track accompanied by an official music video. Watch the official "Good Time" music video below. Ticket Information Fans hoping to attend Frendsgiving won't have to wait long for tickets. Artist Pre-Sale: Wednesday, July 22 at 10:00 a...

Grateful Dead Tribute: Dead Meat Serving Up Tasty, Juicy, Tender Music at Newburgh Brewing Company

15Jul

By John BarryNo Comments

Features, Interviews

Grateful Dead Tribute: Dead Meat Serving Up Tasty, Juicy, Tender Music at Newburgh Brewing Company

If you’re a Dead Head, you’ve surely seen Grateful Dead tribute band upon Grateful Dead cover band, ad nauseum. Some are good. Some phone it in. And some possess an ability to change your life. Dead Meat - Premiere Grateful Dead Tribute The latter rarely comes through an ability to mimic or replicate the Grateful Dead’s triumphant highs and desperate, lonely, distressed, artistic and authentic lows. That, in my opinion, will never happen, no matter how hard any band, with any lineup, well-known or otherwise, tries. But some Dead tribute bands CAN harness the energy and the power and the thrust of a good Grateful Dead concert. This is an unspeakable and indescribable transfer of inspiration, imagination and vision that far transcends rhythm, melody and lyrics. These bands offer ...

Cage The Elephant Open Bold New Chapter With “Beaches In Tennessee”

10Jul

By mendowerksNo Comments

Features, Music

Cage The Elephant Open Bold New Chapter With “Beaches In Tennessee”

After a two-year break from releasing new music, Cage The Elephant are back with "Beaches In Tennessee," a reflective new single that marks the beginning of the band's partnership with Big Loud Rock and signals a fresh creative era. Cage The Elephant - Photo Credit: Lewis Evans The Kentucky rock veterans have built a reputation for constantly evolving, and "Beaches In Tennessee" continues that tradition. Rather than relying on dense production, the band opted for a stripped-down approach that lets the song's emotional core take center stage. Inspired by Real-Life Experience Frontman Matt Shultz says the song was inspired by his recovery following a mental health crisis that led to a lengthy hospitalization. While the lyrics present a fictionalized account, the emotions behind t...

Frolic at the Farm Returns to Red Hook with Bayou SuperJam

1Jul

By mendowerksNo Comments

Events, Features

Frolic at the Farm Returns to Red Hook with Bayou SuperJam

WKZE has announced the return of Frolic at the Farm, its annual summer music festival, which will take place at Hardeman Orchards in Red Hook, New York. Following the success of last year's inaugural event, the festival moves to a new venue while continuing its focus on live music, community, and a family-friendly atmosphere. The historic barn and working orchard at Hardeman Orchards will serve as the backdrop for a full day of live performances featuring nationally recognized musicians alongside regional artists. Bayou SuperJam Leads the 2026 Lineup Headlining this year's festival is the Bayou SuperJam, featuring an all-star lineup of acclaimed musicians, including: Joel Cummins (Umphrey's McGee) Dennis Chambers (Parliament-Funkadelic) Joe Marcinek Big Sam (Big Sam's...

1Jun

By mendowerksNo Comments

Features, Music

MendoWerks Presents JamCast In Partnership With WKZE

Turn It Up: WKZE and DJ Simon Dunn Launches New Look at Jambands with “JamCast” Improvisational rock music and the bands that deliver it with relentless abandon are the focus of a new weekly radio show launched by a new media start-up and hosted by a longtime New York DJ with a rich history and loyal following in New York’s Hudson Valley. With a focus on jambands and the legacy rock bands that launched the genre, “JamCast” is poised to debut at 9 p.m. est, Monday, March 30, on WKZE (98.1 FM) and wkze.com. “JamCast” is produced by WKZE in the Hudson Valley; and MendoWerks Media, a new, cutting-edge, digital music news outlet. Jambands on the FM dial The two-hour listening experience that is “JamCast” is hosted by Simon Dunn, who is known from having served as Program ...

Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music to Open June 7

10Mar

By John BarryNo Comments

Features, Music

Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music to Open June 7

Bruce Springsteen. Courtesy Photo/Shore Fire Media By John W. Barry The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, a colossal project dedicated to the legacy of The Boss, the legacy of modern American music and the inspiration both have provided for generations of music lovers around the world, will open June 7 at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ. “The Springsteen Center provides a home for Bruce Springsteen’s archives and places him in the greater story of American music,” Robert Santelli, the Center’s founding executive director, said in a press release announcing the opening date. “Popular music is one of America’s most enduring and respected cultural resources and Bruce Springsteen is one of its most important artists.” Springsteen has sold hundreds of million...

Kathleen Parks, Her Fiddle, Charm and Chops: The Right Notes in the Right Places

10Feb

By John BarryNo Comments

Features, Music

Kathleen Parks, Her Fiddle, Charm and Chops: The Right Notes in the Right Places

Kathleen Parks, with fiddle, performs Jan. 29, 2026, at White Lake Studios in Albany, NY. From left, guitarist Arthur Terembula; bassist Dan Bui; Parks; and guitar and pedal steel player Alex Formento. Photo by Will Hahn. By John W. Barry Her charm, her chops and the way fiddle player, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Parks commands a room is mesmerizing. But even more compelling is the relationship that binds her creative spirit to her instruments—which can be summed up in one line. Kathleen Parks plays the right note at the right time—over and over and over and over. Parks and her band recently dazzled an invite-only audience at White Lake Studios in Albany, NY, for a performance that maintained the thrust of a locomotive, the nuance of devotio...

26Jan

By SimonNo Comments

Features, Music

MendoWerks Goes Live on WKZE 98.1 for Bob Weir Tribute Broadcast

The MendoWerks team joined WKZE 98.1 for a live on-air tribute honoring the life and musical legacy of Bob Weir, airing over multiple segments as part of the station’s memorial programming. The broadcast featured John Barry and Andrew Eisner of MendoWerks, hosted by WKZE co-owner Andy Gladding. Together, the group explored Weir’s influence on American music, live performance culture, and generations of listeners, blending conversation with curated selections spanning the Grateful Dead catalog and related artists. Exploring Bob Weir’s Influence During the broadcast, Barry discussed MendoWerks’ recent deep dive into cover songs, specifically reinterpretations that radically depart from their originals, highlighting how the Grateful Dead’s open-ended approach to music continues to in...

Grateful Dead, Garcia and ‘Big Steve:’ Parish Honors History with Iconic Merch Launch

8Jan

By John BarryNo Comments

Features, Music

Grateful Dead, Garcia and ‘Big Steve:’ Parish Honors History with Iconic Merch Launch

"Big" Steve Parish. Courtesy Photo. By John W. Barry Scarlet>Fire. China>Rider. Estimated>Eyes. These are some of the most iconic phrases—song segues, actually— introduced across generations, by the Grateful Dead, into the modern Dead Head lexicon. Well, now you can add another two-word phrase into that lexicon, courtesy of “Big” Steve Parish, an anchor of the Grateful Dead family whose contributions to mankind could never be quantified. Chonga Bonga. Decades ago, Parish and Grateful Dead lead guitarist and vocalist Jerry Garcia were outside the Hotel Navarro in New York City, later to be the Ritz-Carlton, about to get into a limousine. A car materialized out of nowhere and someone handed out the window a white shoebox. Inside was a white ch...

24Dec

By John BarryNo Comments

Features, Music, Uncategorized

Woodstock, NY: Jeffrey Gaines Returns

Jeffrey Gaines By John W. Barry Musician Jeffrey Gaines isn’t much for the holidays. “I don’t do any holidays,” he said. “I don’t celebrate my birthday. I don’t just blindly carry on traditions because they were already going. I don’t join a lot of parties. Valentine's doesn't mean extra love. I love ya all the time. “My birthday, I had nothing to do with it. It’s just a happenstance. I’m lucky, I’m happy that I get to have another one. But I’ll keep it to myself. It’s nobody else’s news.” This honest, authentic and transparent approach to zigging while others zag is reflected in the music that Gaines performs. The creativity he generates is raw, real and ready. His solo, acoustic version of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” sizzles and crackles like a roa...