The Life and Times Of
New York City, New York, United States | SELF
Music
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2. The Life and Times Of…
Rooted in hard rock with a heavy dose of soul and R&B, The Life and Times Of multiply the energy level of a typical Brooklyn show by 800. With singer Cedric Lamar, who can wail like Motown and jam like classic rock, backed up by a stellar bass player, squealin’ guitarist and steady drummer, no one is sittin’ still. Especially not the band, whose members contagiously gyrate and jump for the entire set. Their songs weave in and out of melancholy blues, hoppin’ twang and hard rock breakdowns, all featuring poetic, thoughtful lyrics. Watch out for the insane slap bass solo and be sure to have some whiskey on hand; this band goes well with liquor.
- Knocks from the Underground
2. The Life and Times Of…
Rooted in hard rock with a heavy dose of soul and R&B, The Life and Times Of multiply the energy level of a typical Brooklyn show by 800. With singer Cedric Lamar, who can wail like Motown and jam like classic rock, backed up by a stellar bass player, squealin’ guitarist and steady drummer, no one is sittin’ still. Especially not the band, whose members contagiously gyrate and jump for the entire set. Their songs weave in and out of melancholy blues, hoppin’ twang and hard rock breakdowns, all featuring poetic, thoughtful lyrics. Watch out for the insane slap bass solo and be sure to have some whiskey on hand; this band goes well with liquor.
- Knocks from the Underground
When your fans help you raise over $4,000 to fund your first album, two things are true: 1) you have very dedicated fans, and 2) you better put out a high quality album.
Fortunately for The Life and Times Of, both things are correct, as the band’s debut album, Gallows and Glory, is not only here, it’s very good.
Gallows and Glory is a seven song, 38 minute romp through the worlds of rock, blues, jazz, and funk. From the moment you hear the first notes of the opening track, Sinner Saint, you know you’re in for a hell of a ride. By the end of that same song, you become abundantly clear of the fact that this is a band of incredibly talented musicians, and front man Cedric Lamar is clearly up to the task of leading them.
In an interview with TFA back in may, Lamar mentioned that he didn’t want to write just one type of song, and that really shines through on Gallows and Glory. The album rummages many themes, including love, identity and, of course, New York City, and it does it without ever really slowing down. With the exception of the very last song, Gallows and Glory is almost strictly an uptempo experience.
While all the members of the band are talented, pay attention to lead guitarist Joe Hundertmark, who absolutely shines on the album.
All things considered, Gallows and Glory is a fabulous debut from a band that we’re sure you’ll be more from before too long. Click the box below to listen to clips of each song and purchase the album.
Rating: A
Song Highlights: The City, My Song, Gotta Get Over You - The Funky Apple
When your fans help you raise over $4,000 to fund your first album, two things are true: 1) you have very dedicated fans, and 2) you better put out a high quality album.
Fortunately for The Life and Times Of, both things are correct, as the band’s debut album, Gallows and Glory, is not only here, it’s very good.
Gallows and Glory is a seven song, 38 minute romp through the worlds of rock, blues, jazz, and funk. From the moment you hear the first notes of the opening track, Sinner Saint, you know you’re in for a hell of a ride. By the end of that same song, you become abundantly clear of the fact that this is a band of incredibly talented musicians, and front man Cedric Lamar is clearly up to the task of leading them.
In an interview with TFA back in may, Lamar mentioned that he didn’t want to write just one type of song, and that really shines through on Gallows and Glory. The album rummages many themes, including love, identity and, of course, New York City, and it does it without ever really slowing down. With the exception of the very last song, Gallows and Glory is almost strictly an uptempo experience.
While all the members of the band are talented, pay attention to lead guitarist Joe Hundertmark, who absolutely shines on the album.
All things considered, Gallows and Glory is a fabulous debut from a band that we’re sure you’ll be more from before too long. Click the box below to listen to clips of each song and purchase the album.
Rating: A
Song Highlights: The City, My Song, Gotta Get Over You - The Funky Apple
Meet Cedric Lamar. He’s the lead singer of The Life and Times Of, a rock band that’s due to release their debut album: Gallows and Glory, and he’s an artist in just about every sense of the word.
…Cedric Lamar
Lamar is a native of Kansas City, and a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. He came out to New York City in 2003 to act (“Because that’s where my school kind of spits you out”). And for four years, that’s exactly what he did.
And then, something funny happened: Lamar started to like acting less and began to write songs more.
“My love of acting started to go away right as I was starting to write these songs.” Lamar said.
So Cedric continued writing, and he began to hit the open mic scene. He began to play with a drummer, or with a drummer and a guitarist.
Then he went to play in Europe, and when he came back, he determined it was time to really make something happen.
When I came back from Europe I decided I wanted to search out the musicians that would help me create what was in my mind.
So he began to reach out to other musicians: guitar player Joe Hundertmark (who he went to college with), bassist Lavando Thomas (who played with Hundertmark in another band), and drummer Brad Meehah (who he worked with in a children’s music program).
As the group rehearsed, slowly it became clear that were destined to become a collaborative band.
Said Lamar: “Slowly they said ‘We want to be a part of this. We don’t want to just play for you, we want to play with you.’”
So in March 2009, The Life and Times Of was born.
…The Band
“Life And Times Of” LIVE!!! from Tom Sawyer on Vimeo.
You probably saw the band’s name, “The Life and Times Of”, and wondered what was up. Well, As Lamar explains it, the name was chosen as a way not to pigeon-hole the band into one type of music.
“The Life and Times Of” is the name I came up with because my songs and the subject matter of the songs and nature of the songs tends to be about everything. I didn’t want to censor myself and feel like I had to write one type of song. A lot of bands feel like they write one or two types of songs and the rest of their songs sound like those two songs. I have many different influences: I love jazz, I love blues, I love funk, I love indie, I love country. I wanted to be able to create a band that could do all of those things, of course, with my interpretation of them.
The band really brings it the stage (as you probably saw in the video above.) Lamar brings a lot of energy (“I feel like that’s my job as the lead singer”) and the band and audience feed off that to create a collective energy. That’s part of the reason why the band has had success drawing a following.
…Gallows and Glory
How do you fund an album? Well, if you’ve got a rabid fan base, you get them to help. And that’s exactly what The Life and Times Of did, teaming with Kickstarter to allow fans to donate money for the album.
Thanks to the generosity of fans, the band raised over $4,000 for their debut album, which they hope to have ready in August.
As a thank you, fans that donated will be getting all sorts of rewards: some will get signed CDs, other will get T-shirts, other will get photos with the band.
One person donated $1,000. That person will get a personally written song by Lamar about whatever they choose.
…New York
New York City and Cedric Lamar had a love/hate relationship. In the beginning, Lamar admitted feeling overwhelmed.
New York was a very tough city for me to live in for the first two-three years. I like the city, but it’s a different energy from what I have. The city just overwhelmed me at times. I thought about leaving every three months.
The change, Lamar said, came when he stopped trying to change the city.
“I used to tried to try to go against the grain,” he said. “I said ‘I’m not going to walk fast just because everyone else does. Now, of course you walk fast.”
With that in mind, Lamar said that the city has become a part of him and his songs. He even wrote a song, The City, about New York.
“I would have a hard time going and doing this in another city.”
…The Future
While The Life and Times Of is currently unsigned, they’re working with an artist relations company, Everything Independent.
Lamar admits he would love to hunt for a label, but for now is content to get his album out.
“We’re excited for it, our fans are excited for it,” he said.
And after learning about The Life and Times Of, we are, too.
Here’s a sneak peak of “The City” a track off The Life and Times Of’s debut album: Gallows and Glory. - The Funky Apple
"Cedric Lamar brought serious rock/soul to the stage. His powerful voice, energetic performance, and excellent song (breaking down into a second part towards the end featuring the standout lyrics “there’s a big red barn in the middle of Harlem”) won him a slot at the Finals."
-Jezebel Music- - JezebelMusic.com
Meet Cedric Lamar. He’s the lead singer of The Life and Times Of, a rock band that’s due to release their debut album: Gallows and Glory, and he’s an artist in just about every sense of the word.
…Cedric Lamar
Lamar is a native of Kansas City, and a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. He came out to New York City in 2003 to act (“Because that’s where my school kind of spits you out”). And for four years, that’s exactly what he did.
And then, something funny happened: Lamar started to like acting less and began to write songs more.
“My love of acting started to go away right as I was starting to write these songs.” Lamar said.
So Cedric continued writing, and he began to hit the open mic scene. He began to play with a drummer, or with a drummer and a guitarist.
Then he went to play in Europe, and when he came back, he determined it was time to really make something happen.
When I came back from Europe I decided I wanted to search out the musicians that would help me create what was in my mind.
So he began to reach out to other musicians: guitar player Joe Hundertmark (who he went to college with), bassist Lavando Thomas (who played with Hundertmark in another band), and drummer Brad Meehah (who he worked with in a children’s music program).
As the group rehearsed, slowly it became clear that were destined to become a collaborative band.
Said Lamar: “Slowly they said ‘We want to be a part of this. We don’t want to just play for you, we want to play with you.’”
So in March 2009, The Life and Times Of was born.
…The Band
“Life And Times Of” LIVE!!! from Tom Sawyer on Vimeo.
You probably saw the band’s name, “The Life and Times Of”, and wondered what was up. Well, As Lamar explains it, the name was chosen as a way not to pigeon-hole the band into one type of music.
“The Life and Times Of” is the name I came up with because my songs and the subject matter of the songs and nature of the songs tends to be about everything. I didn’t want to censor myself and feel like I had to write one type of song. A lot of bands feel like they write one or two types of songs and the rest of their songs sound like those two songs. I have many different influences: I love jazz, I love blues, I love funk, I love indie, I love country. I wanted to be able to create a band that could do all of those things, of course, with my interpretation of them.
The band really brings it the stage (as you probably saw in the video above.) Lamar brings a lot of energy (“I feel like that’s my job as the lead singer”) and the band and audience feed off that to create a collective energy. That’s part of the reason why the band has had success drawing a following.
…Gallows and Glory
How do you fund an album? Well, if you’ve got a rabid fan base, you get them to help. And that’s exactly what The Life and Times Of did, teaming with Kickstarter to allow fans to donate money for the album.
Thanks to the generosity of fans, the band raised over $4,000 for their debut album, which they hope to have ready in August.
As a thank you, fans that donated will be getting all sorts of rewards: some will get signed CDs, other will get T-shirts, other will get photos with the band.
One person donated $1,000. That person will get a personally written song by Lamar about whatever they choose.
…New York
New York City and Cedric Lamar had a love/hate relationship. In the beginning, Lamar admitted feeling overwhelmed.
New York was a very tough city for me to live in for the first two-three years. I like the city, but it’s a different energy from what I have. The city just overwhelmed me at times. I thought about leaving every three months.
The change, Lamar said, came when he stopped trying to change the city.
“I used to tried to try to go against the grain,” he said. “I said ‘I’m not going to walk fast just because everyone else does. Now, of course you walk fast.”
With that in mind, Lamar said that the city has become a part of him and his songs. He even wrote a song, The City, about New York.
“I would have a hard time going and doing this in another city.”
…The Future
While The Life and Times Of is currently unsigned, they’re working with an artist relations company, Everything Independent.
Lamar admits he would love to hunt for a label, but for now is content to get his album out.
“We’re excited for it, our fans are excited for it,” he said.
And after learning about The Life and Times Of, we are, too.
Here’s a sneak peak of “The City” a track off The Life and Times Of’s debut album: Gallows and Glory. - The Funky Apple
Discography
Album: Gallows and Glory
Songs: Sinner Saint, The City, These Sad Eyes, Gotta Get Over You, Inside Wants Out, My Song, If I'm So Smart
Photos
Bio
For true lover’s of music, the power of the whole thing hits us all at different times in our lives. For singer/songwriter Cedric Lamar it was while touring around the country as an actor that he discovered his deep passion an unknown talent for songwriting, and decided to plant his roots down in NYC and see how far this new path could take him. As a self-taught singer and guitarist, he would often sit in his room trying to capture the sound that was in his head. Although reminiscent of many different styles, the songs don’t seem to fit into the box of any one genre. The sound is big and intimate, dirty and sweet, and possibly best described as “Soul on the Rocks, with a Bluesy aftertaste”. The lyrics were born from love and lust, hope and pain, and curiosity of the thoughts and feelings we have in common that at times make us remember that we’re not alone.
After earning a spot as a Finalist in the 2008 Williamsburg Live Singer Songwriter Competition, Cedric decided it was finally time to start a band. He needed to find musicians that not only had that talent to bring these beasts to life, but could also embody the passion and soul that the songs were written with. They needed to pull off the feat of playing songs that could exist in both your living room and an arena at the same time. While working at Little Maestro’s, a mommy-and-me children’s music place in the city, Cedric met drummer Brad Meehan. Even in the environment of toddlers, there was an immediate mutual appreciation for each other personally and professionally. Brad had a undeniable feel for Cedric’s rhythmic approach to songs which only got deeper and more in sync once they started rehearsing original material. After watching bassist Lavondo Thomas play a set with a mutual friend’s band, Cedric knew that he must have him to round out the sound and energy he was trying to create. Lavondo’s ability to lay down the deepest groove you can imagine and wear a sly smile while doing it is a large part of the band’s charm. They find a way to be great storytellers, talented musicians, and natural entertainers all at the same time.
The band’s first album, “Gallows and Glory”, was mostly funded by their amazing fan base who turn out in droves to every show and sing along from the bottom of their hearts. “My Song” in particular is one that will turn every head in the building and suddenly fill up the dance floor with people that need to move to this soulfully crafted anthem. “The City” is an ode to the Big Apple that as Cedric says, “we love to hate, and love to love”. “These Sad Eyes” is a beautiful reminder that even in our hardest times, we still possess the love and courage to turn it all around.
The band is planning on going back into the studio this year to record their 2nd album, “Kingdoms and Tall Grass”. The songs, the spirit, and the band just keep getting better, so make sure you put The Life & Times Of on your list of bands to watch. This is just the beginning...
Here's what the online music magazine 'Knocks From the Underground' had to say about 'The Life and Times Of': "Rooted in hard rock with a heavy dose of soul and R&B, The Life and Times Of multiply the energy level of a typical Brooklyn show by 800. With singer Cedric Lamar, who can wail like Motown and jam like classic rock, backed up by a stellar bass player, squealin’ guitarist and steady drummer, no one is sittin’ still. Especially not the band, whose members contagiously gyrate and jump for the entire set. Their songs weave in and out of melancholy blues, hoppin’ twang and hard rock breakdowns, all featuring poetic, thoughtful lyrics. Be sure to have some whiskey on hand; this band goes well with liquor.
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