Folding Sky

Leon Russell mixes it up at Riverfront Park

By GREG HAYMES, Staff writer
First published: Friday, July 29, 2005

review
ALBANY -- Leon Russell would never make it on "American Idol" or "Hey, I Wanna Be the Lead Singer of INXS" or any of the other contemporary TV talent shows. He doesn't jump around. He doesn't try to cram a thousand notes into a single syllable of lyric. And, let's face it, at 63 years old, Mr. Russell is a bit out of the desired teen demographic.

All he did on Thursday evening was sit almost stock still at his piano and belt out a 75-minute concert -- a righteous, rollicking head-on collision of gospel and rock 'n' roll.

Advertising Thursday's Alive at Five show as a "Southern rock party" was misleading. Oh, it was a party, alright, but Russell was born and raised in Oklahoma, and his sandpaper voice -- an eloquently soulful dust bowl howl -- is still deeply rooted in the Sooner soil.

Backed by a sturdy but unspectacular sextet (including his daughter on backing vocals and tambourine), Russell -- with his long white hair and beard, his dark sunglasses and white cowboy hat -- dished up one of the most dizzyingly eclectic shows that Albany's Riverfront Park has ever seen.

Like Dr. John and Al Kooper, Russell began his career as a session keyboardist, and his touch can be heard on hit records by Ike and Tina Turner, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, the Byrds and the Rolling Stones, to name just a few. Not to mention that he's recorded at least three albums of classic country songs under the pseudonym Hank Wilson.

So he comes by his eccentric repertoire honestly. He offered up bluegrass nuggets like "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms" alongside Tennessee Ernie Ford's working man's anthem, "16 Tons." He pounded out R&B gems like "Kansas City," nestled next to Chuck Berry's rock warhorse, "Roll Over, Beethoven." He sang a haunting solo rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" followed by a hot-wired honky tonk medley of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."

He nodded to the Stones again ("Wild Horses"), tackled Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and Johnny Cash's "Daddy Sang Bass," and drawled through a rendition of "Georgia" so sweet and thick that Ray Charles never entered my mind.

Of course, he peppered the show with his own '70s FM radio staples -- the opening "Delta Lady," the bouncy "Back to the Island," the stuttering funk of "Hummingbird," a solo, soulful reading of "A Song For You" and a rave-up of "The Prince of Peace" -- but they clearly weren't what he's all about these days. Russell, it seems, just wants to do whatever he wants to do. Fortunately, he's pretty darned good at all of it.

Local blues favorites Folding Sky opened with a crack set highlighted by guitarist Mark Emanatian's neo-hoodoo epic "Ghostyard" and Erin Harkes' torrential treatment of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind."

Greg Haymes can be reached at 454-5742 or by e-mail at ghaymes@timesunion.com.

LEON RUSSELL with Mark Emanatian and Folding Sky featuring Erin Harkes

Where: Riverfront Park, Corning Preserve, Albany

When: 5 p.m. Thursday

Length: Russell -- 75 minutes; Folding Sky -- 60 minutes

Highlights: Russell's "Wild Horses" into "Hard Rain"; Folding Sky's "Ghostyard"

The crowd: Not as big as last week's Little Feat crowd, but still in the 8-9,000 range.
- Times Union Albany

By: Michael Miller - 2006-11-12


But this is not the end of my story. In great spirits and enjoying the unseasonably warm night air outside the Music Hall, I found I was not yet ready to leave Troy. I decided a pint of one of Brown's excellent beers was in order, so I tentatively rolled through the maze of one-way streets to the brew pub by the Hudson, not far from the Church of St. Peter and Paul, where Mass is celebrated in Latin every Sunday (once a month with pretty decent music). With Sibelius still ringing in my ears, however, the last thing I wanted to hear was bad bar music, and I thought it just warm enough to slip out on Brown's terrace if things weren't musically right inside. As soon as a got through the door, I heard a raspy baritone over an interesting rock accompaniment, which grew more intriguing as I listened. "What drums!" I thought. As I filed through the crowd, rounded a corner and got close enough, I saw a burly singer with a shaven head, a guitar player who looked like Donatello's Baptist, and an gentle giant of a drummer, sporting a mane of white hair and a flowing beard on his massive jaw. It doesn't take long to recognize good music, and, fascinated, I made slow progress to the bar, where I ordered a porter. I stayed much longer than I planned, well into the second set, wrapped up in their particular biting and joyous take on blues/rock.

The name of the group is Folding Sky. The lead singer is Mark Emanatian, and the drummer is Al Kash, who began his career in Australia, with Garry Piambino guitar and Tom Dolan bass. They will be back at Brown's on Friday, December 15 at 8.00 pm. Mr. Cash also plays with the Rumdummies, another regular at Brown's, performing there on Friday November 17th at 9.00 pm.

- BerkshireFineArts.com

GREG HAYMES

The last album from award-winning blues-rockers Mark Emanatian and Folding Sky was a no-holds-barred live disc, "Four Days in the Garden," recorded in November '05 at Albany's Garden Grill. But guitarslinger Emanatian and his band mates are taking a 180-degree spin with their brand new album, "Acoustic Sky." The band's first all-acoustic outing features a dozen original songs ranging from the personal ("I Remember You" and "Edith") to the pointedly political ("Bring 'Em Home" and "Van Gogh").
Folding Sky drummer Al Kash will have the night off Sunday, as the acoustic edition of the band -- which features bassist Tom Dolan and guitarist Gary Piambino, in addition to Emanatian -- celebrates the release of the new disc at the venerable Spa City coffeehouse Caffe Lena on Sunday evening.
I caught the acoustic Sky trio at Bailey's in Saratoga last weekend, and I can certainly attest to the fact that these guys play with considerable power and passion -- even when they're unplugged.

- TIMES UNION

FOLDING SKY
Four Days In The Garden (Independent) Folding Sky is a virtually unknown indie blues band from Albany, New York. And that's a shame because their live LP Four Days In The Garden is not only one of the best blues albums I've reviewed, it's one of the best I've ever heard. Recorded in 2005 over four nights at the Garden Grill in Albany, this quartet channels early AC/DC and Led Zeppelin on "Australia Blues" and "I Don't Know What Love Is," gets cheeky with "10 Ibs. of Bologna" and then dives into a troop-loving lament with "Bring 'Em Home."
Lead singer/vocalist Mark Emanatian is deft at both evoking classic Springsteen vocally and Stevie Ray Vaughan musically. Emanatian made a name for himself as the lead and slide guitarist for the highly acclaimed blues band Ernie Williams and the Wildcats. He recorded six independent-label albums with the Wildcats, and has appeared on stage with blues notables Hubert Sumlin, Lonnie Brooks, and Buddy Guy, and luminaries like Patti Smith, Levon Helm and Bruce Willis. He now humbly shares the stage in Folding Sky with fellow guitarist and slide extraordinaire Garry Piambino, bassist Tom Dolan and drummer Al Kash. Shades of Duane Allman are evident on "Rain Keeps Fallin' Down" while the LP closer "2nd Ave." sounds eerily like live Hendrix in his prime.
Sadly, there are not enough adjectives in my vocabulary to describe this unknown band. But we are reminded that when it comes to judging music, commercial success has little or no relevance. The late Ahmet Ertegun once told an unknown Tori Amos, "Just because you've sold a million records doesn't mean you're good... McDonald's sells a lot of hamburgers." When Folding Sky recorded at the Garden Grill, they weren't serving anything from the 99c menu.
—Anthony Sica
- Elmore Magazine

Anthony Sica, Elmore Magazine May 2007
FOLDING SKY
Four Days In The Garden (Independent) Folding Sky is a virtually unknown indie blues band from Albany, New York. And that's a shame because their live LP Four Days In The Garden is not only one of the best blues albums I've reviewed, it's one of the best I've ever heard.



Donald Wilcock Live & Lively,
The Troy Record: 07/15/2004

“Folding Sky rocked the house with a set that easily matched the best of the 15 international acts that performed at the two-day festival”.



Greg Haymes Rollicking Festival Leaves No One Blue
Times Union: Sunday, July 11, 2004

“Folding Sky kicked off the fest at noon with a killer set featuring the dueling fretwork of Mark Emanatian and Gary Piambino and the gritty vocals of Erin Harkes, who managed to turn even James Taylor's generic ``Steamroller Blues'' into a polished gem”.




DAVE SINGER Folding Sky looks beyond the region
The Daily Gazette

“As for the band, call them synchronized. Well-matched. Typically, the guitarists Emanation or Garry Piambino lead, but sometimes someone else jumps out in front, and sometimes they travel leaderless”.



GREG HAYMES :
Times Union July 29, 2005

“Local blues favorites Folding Sky opened with a crack set highlighted by guitarist Mark Emanatian's neo-hoodoo epic "Ghostyard" and Erin Harkes' torrential treatment of Etta James' ‘I'd Rather Go Blind’.”


(Read Full Reviews Below)
- VARIOUS

CD: Folding Sky’s “Lost Roots”
(no label listed; 2010):

Guitarslinger Mark Emanatian has been spiking his unique brand of the blues with a decidedly psychedelic edge ever since he parted ways with Ernie Williams & the Wildcats and formed Folding Sky.

And if Williams is an old-school traditionalist when it comes to the blues, Emanatian is unquestionably a forward-thinker – even on this album which would seem to find Emanatian rummaging through his memory banks to pay tribute to his righteous, ramshackle collection of musical influences.

Folding Sky manages to conjure up both Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix with “St. Peter,” a dramatic barn-burned in the mold of “All Along the Watchtower.” And while “Ghosts” tends to lean toward the rockabilly end of the musical spectrum, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Shimmy” zeroes in on that 1969 Woodstock sound of Santana’s rendition of “Black Magic Woman.”

In addition to his stellar guitar work, Emanatian’s graveled growl of a voice vividly brings these nine original songs to life with a wink and a snarl. And the songs themselves stand quite capably on their own merit. As an overall collection of songs, the album may not be as quite as consistently strong as Folding Sky’s 2004 album, “Ghost Yard,” but gems like the opening volley of “Psycho Johnny” and the unexpected “Watervliet Waltz” stand with the band’s very best work.

And, make no mistake, Folding Sky is a band. While Emanatian deserves (but doesn’t take) name-above-the-title credits, he couldn’t have crafted such a searing, soaring work of the blues-and-beyond without the crucial contributions of the lock-step rhythm section of guitarist Grant Perry, bassist Tom Dolan and veteran drum guru Al Kash.

“Lost Roots” finds Mark Emanatian and Folding Sky simultaneously looking toward the past and the future of the blues. And that’s no mean feat. The fact that they manage to nod in both directions with 20/20 vision is simply astonishing.
- nippertown.com

FOLDING SKY
TORRE'S TAVERN
BEST CLUB SHOW OF THE YEAR - KALIEDESCOPE RADIO

By GREG HAYMES, Staff writer
First published: Sunday, July 11, 2004 review

ALBANY -- "This is the music that gets you through," sang Teeny Tucker. "That's why I love the message of the blues."
And that message came through loud and clear on Saturday, as the Empire State Plaza hosted the Fleet BluesFest, a 10-hour musical marathon featuring a dozen acts on four stages.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds headlined with a rip-roaring set, as singer-harmonica virtuoso Kim Wilson led the hot-wired Austin combo through their biggest hits (``Tuff Enuff,'' ``Wrap It Up'' and ``She's Tuff''), as well as such nuggets as Larry Williams' ``Slow Down'' and Willie Dixon's ``Mannish Boy.''
Wilson tore through a mind- boggling unaccompanied solo, playing both rhythm and melody on his harmonica. But pianist Gene Taylor is the ace up the T-Birds' sleeve, and he was especially rollicking on the boogie woogie ``My Babe.''
Also key to the T-Birds' firepower was guitar slinger Nick Curran, who sat in as special guest for the entire set. ``If you didn't see him with his own band this afternoon, you really missed something,'' Wilson told the crowd. And indeed, Curran was brilliant with his lean trio, tearing through the string-strangling ``One More Time,'' the jump blues of ``Don't Be Angry'' and dips into the songbags of Otis Rush, Gatemouth Brown and even Iggy Pop and the Stooges. Wilson also hopped onstage unannounced for a duet with Curran.

Big Time Sarah was another afternoon highlight, chugging through ``The Train I Ride,'' ``Evil Gal Blues'' and a sweltering version of Gershwin's ``Summertime.'' Although she was seated most of the show, she had no shortage of energy. Her set was doubly astounding considering that she was playing with Michael Burks and his band -- and she'd never even met them before she stepped onstage. ``They pump me up and make me want to wiggle something,'' Sarah admitted.

Burks' own set was incendiary, although he slipped perhaps a bit too far into the Jimi Hendrix zone. When he re-emerged from the blues-rock bag, he dished up a neat juke joint jam on ``Matchbox Blues.''

Tail Dragger growled through a Howlin' Wolf-inspired set, featuring Sonny Boy Williamson's ``Don't Start Me Talking'' and Muddy Waters' ``Long Distance Call,'' abetted by an all-star group that included guitarist Lurie Bell and Albany harmonicat Ted Hennessy.

Folding Sky kicked off the fest at noon with a killer set featuring the dueling fretwork of Mark Emanatian and Gary Piambino and the gritty vocals of Erin Harkes, who managed to turn even James Taylor's generic ``Steamroller Blues'' into a polished gem.


- Greg Haymes, Times Union

Live & Lively
By Don Wilcock, The Record
07/15/2004


Troy's own premiere roadhouse band, Folding Sky, has won the 2004 Colossal Contenders contest and will travel to Memphis in February to compete against more than 100 acts from around the world in The Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge.

Founded by Mark Emanatian, former lead guitarist and band leader for Ernie Williams & The Wildcats, Folding Sky easily beat out the two other "Colossal Contender" bands in the most contentious contest in the eight years the sponsoring Northeast Blues Society has run the competition.

Possibly the largest crowd ever assembled for a local band contest, more than 5,000 people at opening night of the Fleet Blues Fest last Friday, cheered loudly as the results were announced, just after headliner Rhett Tyler swept the crowd with a soaring pyrotechnic display of guitar work dripping with vibrato and sustain.

Each of the three competing bands played their wild cards, hoping to garner the maximum number of votes from the audience to win the contest.

Blues-O-Saurus, led by the charismatic ball of adrenaline Ken Briggs, blew up an 8-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus balloon. Briggs, who plays bass and is lead singer, had competed two years ago with a band called Blues Inc. This time, he paraded his first-born daughter on stage to sing, along with his wife, Marla.

Fred Shapiro, the St. Peter's Hospital oncologist who treated the late Steve Katz, The Northeast Blues Society's "Jam Man," had a tattoo of his band Mojo Lightning needled into his arm weeks before the contest. He also had several comely young women with temporary Mojo Lightning tattoos work the crowd.

All three bands had spent months promoting the event and encouraging their constituency to come out. Shapiro even hired a bus to bring people up from the Hudson Valley.

In the end, experience won out. Folding Sky rocked the house with a set that easily matched the best of the 15 international acts that performed at the two-day festival. Drawing mostly from originals off the group's brand new self-titled second album, Mark's hoarse voice growled out lyrics that hammered home an edgy portrait of life of the common man. A resident of Watervliet and holder of several jobs, including history teacher, Emanatian sees the world as a sometimes hostile confrontation between everyman and The Man. It is music and the release of roadhouse baptisms that make the grind worth it.

Folding Sky's guest vocalist Erin Harkes may well have been the element that put the band comfortably into the winner's circle. Her version of "Steamroller Blues" made one forget that Sweet Baby James Taylor wrote it, and instead made it sound like it might be the second Etta James cover she did in one set. Standing firmly on two feet, this dirty blonde banshee belted out her music with no vibrato, no soft feminine wiles, just a blast-furnace breath of fire that singed the hair of everyone in the last aisle at the top of the museum steps watching her performance.

The ebullient Folding Sky held court later Friday night at the Lark Tavern, where Chicago diva Big Time Sarah sat in with the band. Sarah surprised the crowd with the kind of late-night revelry usually reserved for West Side Chicago blues bars like Lee's Unleaded, snuggled uncomfortably under the tracks of the el. At one point, the big-legged veteran performed a lap dance on top of a willing good sport. She grabbed his hands and placed them securely on her ample womanhood while delivering the goods on the classic "Fannie Mae" with all the panache of a veteran whose credits include stints with Sunnyland Slim, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy. Through it all, Mark Emanatian just grinned and accompanied her as if he and Folding Sky were her regular band.

Between sets, Emanatian came over to a table that included Chicago blues veteran Tail Dragger (given his name by no less than Howlin' Wolf), King Biscuit Time magazine senior writer Sandra Pointer Jones, Rhett Tyler, Blues Storm CEO Arnie Goodman and Big Time Sarah herself. Mark expressed total disbelief that his band had won the contest and vowed over a bottle of LaBatt's Blue that he would put this win to work in representing Troy and the Capital Distrcit in general as the people's band. There's no one more deserving of the task. Congratulations, old friend!
- Donald Wilcock, The Troy Record

Folding Sky looks beyond the region
Band hoping to impress at national blues contest
By DAVE SINGER
For The Daily Gazette
On a warm autumn night in an empty Artie’s bar in Troy, Mark Emanation is singing a blues song to a crowd of 14 people - counting the bartender. Emanation’s eyes are shut. He’s all ears while he sings deep inside the protective pocket of his band, Folding Sky.
The music is earnest and intense. Clearly the group has logged countless sessions together, in both empty and packed clubs. But the band’s kind of depth, its blatant disregard for flash and tricks, is not the kind that creates top 40 hits or wins contests.
After two songs, Erin Harkes climbs on stage and starts singing the Chicago blues standard "Everyday." It’s hard to say what happens to the band when she comes on stage, other than that they’re transformed. Certainly they’re brighter, more vibrant. And the music seems more straightforward, more user-friendly. But that doesn’t fully explain what Harkes does to the band. Maybe it’s no more than this: women change men.
Whatever the reason, it becomes more apparent why a crowd of 5,000 people at the Empire State Plaza this summer voted Mark
Emanation and Folding Sky with Erin Harkes the winner of the Northeast Blues Festival. And while history is against them as they head to Memphis in February to compete in the nationals - no northeastern New York band has made it past the first round - they have reason to be optimistic.
The right band won this year, according to Donald Wilcock, president of the Northeast Blues Society and editor of the blues publication King Biscuit Magazine. "Right, because they have the most experience and show the greatest understanding of the blues."
Understanding the blues is important. Wilcock calls the Memphis judges "blues snobs." While he can’t pinpoint the elements they favor, he knows that they’re partial to traditional blues. The official criteria for the contest lists stage presence, group chemistry, a clear understanding of the blues and originality.
Folding Sky’s broad brand of funk, rock and blues will need a narrow focus for the Memphis event, because they can sound more like the Allman Brothers when they jam, or Tom Waits when Emanation falls into his swampy, hypnotic story-telling mode. And while Harkes can wow any audience with her sultry blues, she will need to securely hide her affinity for catchy rock/folk melodies.
On any given night, "depending on our mood, we can go in any direction," said Emanation. "For this contest, we’re going to play much closer to the bone. But we have to be true to ourselves as best we can."
Easier said than done, as they’ll have less than 30 minutes to show their stuff and that the essence of Folding Sky - where their magic lies - requires time. It’s a process, not a formula. They’re not a band that can go from 0 to 60 in 10 seconds flat nor do they want to be. Harkes may save the day on this front, given her high energy and ability to connect with an audience quickly.
"My advice," said Wilcock, who has witnessed several competitions, "stay traditional."
The competition is considered the nation’s biggest search for unsigned blues talent, and Wilcock says: "It’s frustrating to me that none of our bands have made it to the finals, and I’m not sure why. It’s not for lack of talent," he added.

Harkes ’ dream
Six years ago, while waitressing during an open-mike night at Savannah’s in Albany, Harkes, 20 years old at the time, had her blues epiphany. "When I heard this woman get on stage and sing the blues, I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to sing the blues.’ "
Fast forward to 2004: Harkes sang the national anthem at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., to open a D.C. United soccer game. She has recorded and released two solo CDs, and one CD with her band. This fall, she recorded "Live at Artie’s."
Harkes has been singing intermittently with Emanation’s group for the past two years, which led to their joint efforts for the blues contest.
"If I’m singing with Folding Sky, I have more freedom to focus on singing," Harkes said. "When I play with my band, everything is my responsibility. I worry about everything," which includes playing guitar, leading the group, dealing with the venue, etc.
"I thought the band was amazing," Harkes said of their show at the BluesFest. "But I did ’ t think I sang that well. . . . We’re focused on Memphis right now. If we make it through the first round, I’ll be thrilled. I’m just happy to be part of such a huge event."
No stranger to the South, Harkes attended St. Andrews College in North Carolina on a musical scholarship - she played bass drum in a bagpipe band. When not on the drum, she honed her songwriting, guitar and singing skills.
As for the band, call them synchronized. Well-matched. Typically, the guitarists Emanation or Garry Piambino lead, but sometimes someone else jumps out in front, and sometimes they travel leaderless.
"We have nothing to prove to each other," said Emanation. "We just play together." He recalled past bands he’s played in that took considerable time for the members to feel safe with each other, safe enough to take risks. With Folding Sky, "We felt comfortable immediately."
"There’s no egos here," said Piambino. "I mean, Mark called me up to tell me I have to join his band. He invited me. So you know we’re not competing for any top guitar spot."
The members, which include Kash on drums, Tom Dolan on bass guitar and Bob Resnick playing percussion, are all veterans of the Capital Region scene. None of them are young boys anymore. The youngest is 41, the two seniors are 52 and 54. Some have day jobs and family. But for the most part, their children are grown and gone, and members are prepared to hit the road again, if opportunity knocks in Memphis.
"I’m just looking to meet people, play our best and enjoy the opportunity," said Emanation. "Hopefully, new avenues present themselves."
Wilcock, who writes internationally about the blues, and travels around the world to see bands, has a warm spot for the local blues music scene. "I love coming back home [to the Capital Region], because we have great musicians here."
Many of the musicians can be heard every Sunday night at Bourbon Street Bar and Grille in Colonie, which has developed into a venue for nurturing new and old blues musicians. The Northeast Society is one of some 130 local societies around the world that feed into the Blues Foundation’s Memphis competition.
Considered an endangered art form, even here in its home country, musicians have no commercial incentive today to learn the blues. "No radio stations play this indigenous music besides a few hours a week at a college station. This contest creates incentive for local bands to learn and play the blues."
"There will be more than 100 bands from all over the world in the heart of Memphis for two consecutive nights. It’s a thrill to be there, to walk up and down the street," said Wilcock.

- By DAVE SINGER For The Daily Gazette