NYC Scene Report – The Bones of J.R. Jones, Rare Futures, & more


This week’s NYC Scene Report features the folk/blues of The Bones of J.R. Jones, an outer space adventure with rockers Rare Futures, a “Restless” slow jam from Rene Lopez, and a plea to live in the moment from folk duo The Bergamot.

* The Bones of J.R. Jones is the performance name of Brooklyn's Jonathon Linaberry, and what's in his bones is some fantastic folk/blues music.

With his second full length album, Spirit's Furnace, due out April 15th, Linaberry will be hitting the road this spring opening for G. Love & Special Sauce, wrapping everything up with a hometown show at Mercury Lounge on the date of Spirit Furnace's release.

Check out "Hammers and Nails," which is the lead single from the album, and hear what The Bones of J.R. Jones is building.


* With the music video being an art form that's been around for over 30 years, we all enjoy the rare times when a band creates one that's so original it blows our minds, and gets us talking. Rare Futures has done this with the video for their latest single, "The Pressure."

According to the band, the stop-motion clip, which features space travel, monsters, and a host of other awesome visuals, "This labor of love took over a year and a half to complete using mostly recycled and found materials, and filming in Director Justin Burgos' garage in Portland, OR."

"The Pressure" is off of Rare Futures' recently released sophomore album, This Is Your Brain On Love, which is a project that builds on founder Matt Fazzi's (formerly of Taking Back Sunday, and Atlas Genius) dedication to combining heavy rock grooves, Motown soul, and '80s synthesizers. Click play on the video, and travel through space with him.


* Rene Lopez has a long history in music, having been in bands since the '90s. When he was in The Authority he played with the boundaries of hip-hop, Latin, and funk. With the legendary Jon Popper he started a band named Wasabi. Now, however, he's decided to make a go of it as a solo artist, giving away a new song every month as part of what he's deemed his Jam Of The Month Club.

His latest offering is "Restless," and with it, Lopez is at his soulful best. “I went back to the studio, locked the door, and got back to what I loved,” the NYC-based artist says of his new music. “I still feel like a kid, new ideas keep pouring out and I feel like I have an open palette to work with.”

With "Restless" Lopez has used his palette to paint a slow jam we can all groove to. Check it out.


* Brooklyn based husband and wife duo The Bergamot want you to "Forget About Tomorrow." More than just the title of the latest single off of their recently released album Tones, as they sing, "Forget about tomorrow if you want to live today," it's an ethos, or mantra, for anyone who lives in the moment.

If you want to live in the moment with The Bergamot, you can catch them on their current Unity Tour, which hits 48 states, and was made possible thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $15k. One very cool note about the tour is that fans are invited to sign The Bergamot's 2002 Volvo, as it will be the band's final tour with the car, which has over 275k miles on it. When the tour hits South Bend, IN, which is where The Bergamot are originally from, the car will be auctioned off with all the proceeds going towards the Memorial Children's Hospital.

That auction, however, happens later, and since we're supposed to "Forget About Tomorrow," click play on The Bergamot's latest, and enjoy them today.
 

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.

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