CKS Band launches new album's "kickstarter" project.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/311784223/cks-debut-album

The CKS Band is a powerhouse Blues/Soul & Rock organ trio. The group features Randy Ciarlante (The Band, The Levon Helm Band) on Drums & Vocals, Bruce Katz (The Gregg Allman Band, John Hammond, Delbert McClinton) on B-3 Organ and Scott Sharrard (The Gregg Allman Band) on Guitar & Vocals. The CKS Band was formed in Sept. of 2011 and has since played the Bearsville Theater, The Black Potatoe Festival, Harvest Blues and Jazz Festival in Fredericton, Canada, The Brigg’s Farm Blues Festival, Helsinki Hudson, The Blue Note NYC, Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble and many other venues and festivals to spectacular reviews.
The band is planning to record their debut studio album in June using funding from their Kickstarter campaign. The album will be recorded in Woodstock, NY and NYC and will feature brand new original material, some exciting covers and some very special guests. Charlie Martinez (Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, the Rolling Stones, Toots and the Maytals) will engineer, record and mix the tracks. The album will be released in the late summer of 2013 and the band will be hitting the road in support of their new release.

Great Conner Kennedy Band (w/ guest musicians) Allman Bros. tribute gig @ Bearsville Theater on Halloween.

Chris Bergson's latest release "Imitate The Sun" definitely shines!

We love that each & every time NYC-city based Chris Bergson, w/ his all-star cast of musicians, including Bruce Katz (Gregg Allman Band), Jay Collins (Levon Helm's son-in-law, Gregg Allman Band), Tony Leone (Ollabelle) & Matt Clohesy, puts out a new album it is a believable product. While listening song after song, we find it so easy to develop scenes in our minds of after-hours urban alleyways, bars & street characters.

Chris' latest release, Imitate The Sun (2 Shirts Records), is no exception to the matter & is a wonderful follow-up album to his '07 Fall Changes album. Imitate The Sun contains six original songs & four songs paying tribute to some of his musical heroes, including Bob Dylan & Howlin' Wolf.

Chris & band mates have once again provided a polished product that is timeless, supported by honest vocals & instrumentation. This album is a must-have for the rock & blues enthusiast. Checkout MOJO's album comments:

The urban blues stories of a streetwise gumshoe.

The ambiance of Chris Bergson's music is an Edward Hopper world of suspicion and solitude, dusk-time avenues and dimly lit bars, its soundtrack a terse dialogue of guitar and saxophone. This is the terrain of Tom Waits and Lou Reed, and Bergson has something of each in his gruff, laconic delivery, but his sound is intransigently his own. Admirers of Fall Changes (it was MOJO Blues Album of the Year for 2008), hearing Goin' Home, Shattered Avenue, Mr. Jackson and the title track, will swiftly fall into step again. But while Bergson is arrestingly himself in his own songs, he can be handcuffed by other people's: Dust My Broom is just a competent genre performance, and Dylan's Standing in the Doorway, though ardently sung, is in thrall to its original arrangement. But about two thirds of the album is riveting.

Track List
Goin' Home
Imitate The Sun
Shattered Avenue
Hello Bertha
Down In The Bottom
Laying It Down In White
You've Been A Good Old Wagon
Mr. Jackson
Dust My Broom
Standing In The Doorway

http://www.chrisbergson.com/home/index.html

New Chris Bergson album (Imitate the Sun) releases today!

From his emailed newsletter:

I am thrilled to announce the release of Imitate the Sun - the new CD from the Chris Bergson Band!

The album has already received 4 stars in MOJO and has been enjoying national radio play (currently #6 on the NY Roots Radio Charts and #20 on the National Blues Radio Charts). Recorded at Brooklyn's Excello Recording, Imitate the Sun features Jay Collins, Bruce Katz, Matt Clohesy, Tony Leone and two tracks with a horn section arranged by Jay Collins featuring Kenny Rampton and Chris Karlic.

A little bit about the record, courtesy of Dave Rubin, 2005 winner of KBA in Journalism:

Imitate the Sun contains six strikingly original songs and four thoughtful covers that allow his fertile creativity free reign... Bergson makes every track a complete and rewarding musical statement... Chris Bergson is a man on a mission with his blues-breaking guitar, passionate vocals and literate lyrics. He is out to leave an indelible mark on the world of music and succeeding spectacularly with his life-affirming art that both consoles and excites. The sum total is an impressive and growing body of work that reaches across the ages and boundaries.

We hope you enjoy the new record! You can listen at www.chrisbergson.com and the album is available for purchase at Amazon, iTunes, CD Baby, eMusic, Rhapsody and Napster.

Upcoming Shows

Wednesday, May 11 - The Iridium, NYC
Saturday, May 14 - The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
Sunday, May 15 - Hubert Sumlin with the Chris Bergson Band, Whippany, NJ
Saturday, May 21 - The Turning Point, Piermont, NY
Friday, June 3 - The Bowery Electric, NYC
Thursday, June 23 - Johnny D's, Somerville, MA

Radio Appearances

Tuesday, May 10 - Tonight!
WVKR - Vassar College Radio, Poughkeepsie, NY
91.3 FM and steaming at www.wvkr.org
D.B. Brown's Hudson Valley Rag Shop
Solo acoustic performance and interview
6:30 - 8 PM

Wednesday, May 11
WFDU - 89.1 FM, Farleigh Dickinson University, NJ
Streaming at www.wfdu.edu
Blues in the Groove with Nikki Armstrong
Interview at 2:30 PM

Thanks, everybody! I hope you can make it out!

Kate


Album Cover Photo by Ahron R. Foster






Chris Bergson is a New York guitarist, singer and songwriter.
For complete show schedule, MP3s, bio, and photos, please visit:
chrisbergson.com and myspace.com/chrisbergsonband


Facebook: Chris Bergson Band
Twitter: twitter.com/chrisbergson
iLike: ilike.com/artist/Chris+Bergson+Band

Chris Bergson, Bruce Katz, Byron Isaacs & Randy Ciarlante join the legendary Hubert Sumlin in NJ tomorrow night.

This Friday, January 23rd at 7:30 PM: the great Hubert Sumlin (guitar player for Howlin' Wolf) is backed by these stars: Randy Ciarlante (The Band, Jim Weider Band) on drums/vocals; Chris Bergson, great blues guitar player/vocals; Bruce Katz, organ wizard; and Byron Isaacs (Ollabelle) on bass. They're appearing at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center, 60 North Jefferson Road, Whippany, NJ 07981; 973-585-7175. Doors open 6:30 PM. $28.50 at the door (kids under 12 are free).

Thanks to our consistent reader & contributor Rick S. of NY.

Upcoming Chris Bergson Band live dates.

From Chris' online newsletter:

I am very happy to announce that the Chris Bergson Band will be playing at the 55 Bar this Friday, November 6th. A prohibition era bar in the heart of Greenwich Village, the 55 Bar has long been one of the best listening rooms in the city. This is one of the band’s favorite spots in the city to play - bass legend Jaco Pastorius was a 55 Bar regular back in the day and the club continues to feature an outstanding lineup of diverse music today. There’s no better place to be on a cold Friday night - I hope you can make it!

Later this month, the Chris Bergson Band returns to the Turning Point on Saturday, November 14th. Advance reservations are strongly recommended. All show details are below.

Chris Bergson Band
55 Bar
Friday, November 6
10 PM - 2 AM (3 Sets) $10 cover55 Christopher Street (just east of 7th Avenue)(212) 929-9883www.55Bar.com
w/ Jay Collins – tenor sax, backing vocals / Matt Clohesy – bass / Tony Leone - drums
Chris Bergson Band
The Turning Point
Saturday, November 14
9:30 PM ShowTickets are $20For reservations, please call: (845) 359-1089468 Piermont Ave. Piermont, NY 10968www.turningpointcafe.com
w/ Brian Charette - organ, piano / Matt Clohesy - bass / Diego Voglino - drums

John Hammond Bearsville Theater upcoming performance.

Great upcoming live performance July 18th @ the Bearsville Theater w/ John Hammond & Bruce Katz:

www.bearsvilletheater.com/events-calendar/john-hammond-with-special-guest-bruce-katz