The Second Season

New York City's Premier Rhythm Section & Production Team.

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Summer In The City

Hey everyone!

We hope this post finds you all well and with that we hope you all are enjoying a great start to your summer! We’re enjoying the warm (albeit humid) weather here in New York. It’s a great time of year in the city even with the ever present smell of baking animal urine in the streets… In all seriousness though we couldn’t be happier to be in the greatest city on earth getting to work with some amazing talent!

Since we last posted we’ve continued to build momentum with some of our regular projects, and we’ve also picked up a few new projects in varying forms. We’d like to take this chance to give you a little update on what our Summer is looking like.

On Impulse continues to chug right along with work being finished up on our debut record. We’ve played some great shows at our home base The Bitter End as well as made an amazing debut at The Bowery Electric a few weeks back. On behalf of the whole band we can’t thank you all enough for the love you’ve shown us at shows and online time and time again. The band is currently on a bit of a hiatus from playing out so that we can finish up the record and to let the other members pursue some of their other projects.

Sun & Flesh continues to push towards rock stardom with plans currently being solidified to begin tracking our new EP in the upcoming few months. We’ve been hard at work writing, selecting songs and recording demos for the new EP which will be produced by Grammy Award winning producer Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God). A tour is slated for mid September with more details to come. In the mean time you can catch us at the new Amityville Music Hall in Amityville, NY on September 31st.

One of our more recent endeavors has been working with the super talented singer/songwriter Erich Collins Carey. We played to a packed house at The Bitter End this past June to celebrate the release of his new album “It Could Have Gone Either Way", which you can check out at ECCarey.com. We’ll be joining Erich for a weekend of shows out on Long Island next weekend. More info about the shows can be found on his website listed above.

We’re also pleased to announce that one of our longer running projects Stone Mountain Station successfully funded our Kickstarter campaign to help fund our first full-length album. Production is slated to begin in the fall at the beautiful Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT with our good friend (and Grammy Award winning engineer) Fernando Lodeiro engineering and producing the record. We’ve been hard at work getting the material together that will make up the album as well as gearing up for our first show at The Bowery Electric on July 25th at 7pm!

Some of the newer projects we’ve slid into recently are starting to take shape as well. We’ve recently begun working with singer/songwriter Casey Dinkin to get things in shape for her album release show at Rockwood Music Hall: Stage 2 on July 28th. Casey has been hard at work over the last year raising funds for her debut record with a highly successful Kickstarter campaign, not to mention actually recording and readying the album for release. It’s sure to be a great night and a wonderful way to kick off her release.

We’ve also recently begun working with alternative rockers Jackson James. These guys are the most recent addition to our resume with sights set on recording and playing out around New York in the coming months. Their project started as an acoustic endeavor, but they decided to turn it up when they added us. Their sound is reminiscent of legends such as The Who and Pearl Jam with a touch of modern rock a la Stone Sour.

Finally we are very excited to announce that we will be returning to The Flying Goose in New London, NH on October 30th to play their fall concert series with the one and only Tom Glynn! Tom’s been taking some time away from the stage to work on new material and visit the Nashville scene. We couldn’t be more excited to team up with him again for what will undoubtedly be another great success at the Goose!

As always we thank you guys so much for checking us out and supporting what we’re doing here in New York. We’re two very lucky country boys in the big city getting to live our dream because of all of your support so THANK YOU!

- Ryan & Matt (The Second Season)

[thesecondseasonmusic]

2013 so far...

Hey everyone!

We just wanted to take some time to update you on everything that has been up with us in 2013 so far. We've been very lucky to work with a ton of new artists and we've continued having a blast with some old friends here in New York. Here's a brief update of what this year's held for us so far:

Sun & Flesh: Sun & Flesh continues to conquer the world, one show at a time. This band is SO much fun to work with, because it's such a departure for us artistically and physically. Our job night after night is to ROCK, but to rock musically and extremely accurately, due to the technical and progressive nature of the group. These guys are a different breed altogether, and we're just happy to be able to keep up!  Visit www.SunAndFlesh.com and check out the BRAND NEW music video for "Tread Carefully" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWi4nW-dpLc

On Impulse: On Impulse is one of those groups of busy, professionals who seldom get the chance to be in the same room or even the same city together, so when that happens, we all don't take it for granted and we have such a blast. We're very excited to announce that the full reveal of our debut album with these guys is close on the horizon. For now, check out some sneak peeks on the official Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/OnImpulse). If you happen to be in the city, you can come check us out with these guys at our next show at one of our favorite hometown venues, The Bitter End on May 21st at 8:30pm. If you're not in town, you can stream the show here: www.BitterEnd.com.

Erich Carey: Erich Carey is one of the many new artists we've begun to work with on a regular basis in and around the city. The reason we're mentioning him here is simply because we're huge fans of his, and very happy to be working with such a talent. He's a folk/rock artist much like Bob Dylan or Ryan Adams and we have a blast every time we get to work together. If you're in the city or able to stream online on June 6th at 9pm, we'll be playing his album release show at The Bitter End (www.BitterEnd.com) and it's going to be a party! Many congrats to Erich and everyone involved with the creation of that album!

New Releases: There are a ton of new releases out now or on their way soon that We've been lucky enough to work on in the last year or so. We just wanted to take a minute to plug some of them here and we hope you take some time to check out some of these talented folks from NYC and abroad.  Here are the latest: Rabbit & The Hare (Brooklyn-based indie-folk band), Darra (Russian jazz-pop artist), Leah Harris (Canadian blues singer), Remy de Laroque (French folk singer/songwriter) and Stone Mountain Station (Brooklyn-based alt-country band).

As always, you can find out more at www.TheSecondSeasonMusic.com.  We hope to see you very soon and a very happy Spring to all!

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Sun & Flesh - "Tread Carefully"

We recently shot this music video at Irving Plaza with one of our main projects Sun & Flesh. Check out our heavier side. We hope you enjoy watching the video as much as we did playing in it!

- Ryan & Matt

[thesecondseasonmusic]

TheSecondSeasonMusic.com Launch

It brings us great pleasure to introduce www.TheSecondSeasonMusic.com! It's been a bit of an adventure getting this thing up and running but the site is finally here and we couldn't be happier. Continue to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, but use this as your one-stop site for all things Second Season. Thanks for stopping by and continue to check back for the latest happenings involving Ryan and Matt!

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Congratulations to our friend Rickstar on the release of his latest EP! Here's a video we did for him while he was spending time in New York. The video was shot underneath the Manhattan Bridge on the Brooklyn side. Enjoy!

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Hurricane Sandy Hits NYC

This Monday, a devastating storm named Hurricane Sandy hit our shores, leaving many people in New York, New Jersey, Long Island and the surrounding areas in complete disarray.  New Jersey's coastlines were destroyed, more than 100 homes in Queens were burned to the ground, half of Manhattan was left without electricity and water, and in several cases lives were lost.  In the aftermath of Sandy, we are left with a tired, weakened city, but we are happy and grateful to be safe and sound.  While shows, sessions, and rehearsals are being cancelled and rescheduled, we hope to be back at full strength very soon.  For the latest scheduling changes and updates, continue to check back here.  In the meantime, The Second Season would like to extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the storm and send our thoughts to a speedy recovery.  Here are the very latest details on shows affected by Hurricane Sandy:

November 1, 2012 - Tammany Hall (New York, NY) w/ Sun & Flesh: CANCELLED

November 3, 2012 - Heirloom Arts Theatre (Danbury, CT) w/ Sun & Flesh: CANCELLED

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Stone Mountain Station: Alt Country For The Big City

Stone Mountain Station is the brainchild of the mild mannered Mark Ciani.  His songs, his sound.  He was nice enough to feature us on his first release, Victory Avenue, and we recently hit the studio for a second time, spending the day at Mission Sound in Brooklyn.

This time around, Mark knew exactly what he wanted from each song and each player, and it took a good amount of pre-production to get there.  In fact, when he writes, he has a very good idea of what the song will be and doesn't want to leave much to chance.  It's a different style but it works well, especially in a studio situation.

Mission Sound has a great reputation around town for being accessible, professional, and an all-around great working atmosphere.  Our findings were just that.  We felt at home right away and the recordings went very smoothly.  Great staff, great sounds, great times as always with Mark Ciani and Stone Mountain Station.

For more on Mission Sound, visit www.MissionSoundRecording.com.

For more on Stone Mountain Station, visit www.StoneMountainStation.com.

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Canadian Blues Dynamo Leah Harris

We recently tracked Canadian blues machine Leah Harris' latest EP at the infamous Systems Two Studios in Brooklyn, NY.  Having never met her before, we didn't know what to expect going in but when she turned out to be an astonishingly knowledgable, easy-going professional, we were ecstatic.  The songwriting was there, the parts came easily, and the session went very smoothly.

Any musician or engineer will tell you that each studio is different.  Having never worked at Systems Two before, we were excited and ready to check out a new room.  It didn't disappoint.  Systems Two is a massive room with a luscious, warm sound and beautiful gear.  We ended up using none other than John Coltrane's microphone on the drums, the old Carnegie Hall grand piano, and the organ that was used for "In A Gadda Da Vida".

On the other side of the glass was our old friend, Producer Adam Rhodes.  Rhodes has been at the helm of many of our sessions, and it's always a blast working with him.  He has that Daniel Lanois style where he's in the room, vibing with you through the take, almost pulling it out of you.

Thanks to Leah Harris, Adam Rhodes, and all the fine folks at Systems Two.  We had a blast helping out with this project and cannot wait to hear the finished product!

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Second Season Summer 2012 Tour Dates

Here's an updated list of where Ryan and Matt will be appearing this Summer and in the coming months of 2012.  See you there!

5/11 - The Vibe Lounge (Rockville Center, NY): Sun & Flesh

5/17 - The Charleston (Brooklyn, NY): Sun & Flesh 6/6 - The Grape Room (Philadelphia, PA): Sun & Flesh 6/10 - Saint Vitus (Brooklyn, NY): Sun & Flesh 6/12 - The Living Room (East Village, NY): On Impulse 6/14 - Heirloom Arts Theatre (Danbury, CT): Sun & Flesh 6/18 - The Bowery Electric (New York, NY): Sun & Flesh 6/29 - Ground Zero (Allenstown, NH): Sun & Flesh 7/1 - The Loft (Poughkeepsie, NY): Sun & Flesh 7/8 - CANCELLED - Exquisite Lizard Lounge (Staten Island, NY): Sun & Flesh 7/9 - Apotheke (New York, NY): Ben Natti Jazz Trio 7/19 - The Charleston (Brooklyn, NY): Sun & Flesh 7/20 - WYKR 101.3 FM Live Phone Appearance: The Second Season 7/25 - KIXX 100.5 FM Live In-Studio Appearance: The Second Season 7/25 - North Haverhill Fair (North Haverhill, NH): Tom Glynn feat. The Second Season 8/8 - Ars Nova (New York, NY): Adam Rhodes 8/13 - SOLD OUT - The Loft (Poughkeepsie, NY): Sun & Flesh w/ The Dangerous Summer 8/18 - Broadway Bar (Amityville, NY): Sun & Flesh 8/20 - Apotheke (New York, NY): Ben Natti Jazz Trio feat. The Second Season 8/23 - Arlene’s Grocery (New York, NY): On Impulse 8/31 - Connolly’s Pub (New York, NY): On Impulse 9/2 - Spike Hill (Brooklyn, NY): Project K-Paz 9/14 - The Living Room (New York, NY): Tom Glynn feat. The Second Season 9/22 - CANCELLED - The Backstage at The Champion Bar (Trenton, NJ): Sun & Flesh 9/23 - Spike Hill (Brooklyn, NY): On Impulse 9/24 - Pianos (New York, NY): Sun & Flesh 9/27 - The Intersection (Grand Rapids, MI): Sun & Flesh 9/28 - Emerald Avenue (Grand Rapids, MI): Sun & Flesh 9/29 - Louie’s (Kalamazoo, MI): Sun & Flesh 9/30 - CANCELLED - TBA (Cleveland, OH): Sun & Flesh 10/5 - Caffe Vivaldi (New York, NY): Tom Glynn 10/11 - Saint Vitus (Brooklyn, NY): Sun & Flesh 10/17 - Toshi's Living Room (New York, NY): Tom Glynn 10/19 - The Loft (Poughkeepsie, NY): Sun & Flesh 10/23 - The Bitter End (New York, NY): On Impulse 10/27 - The Iridium (New York, NY): Danica Dora 11/1 - CANCELLED - Tammany Hall (New York, NY): Sun & Flesh 11/3 - CANCELLED - Heirloom Arts Theatre (Danbury, CT): Sun & Flesh 11/10 - Toshi's Living Room (New York, NY): Tom Glynn 12/6 - The Flying Goose (New London, NH): Tom Glynn feat. The Second Season 12/19 - The Bitter End (New York, NY): On Impulse

[thesecondseasonmusic]

Introducing The Second Season

After years of working together on countless live shows, sessions, videos and much more, we've decided to make what we do official and call it "The Second Season".  This idea came to us one day on the road headed to a gig as we discussed our careers and how each of us mold and shape them.  Individually, our careers are different, but at the core are the same basic values, methods, and thought processes.  At the point when we came to this realization, we had been working together so long that it just made sense and came effortlessly.  Naturally, we'll have our disagreements and disputes but more times than not, we find ourselves on the same wavelength musically and otherwise, and with musicians, that's not something that happens every day.

Our line of thinking with The Second Season is that we can help artists, bands, students, hobbyists, engineers, and producers streamline the process of what they do, utilizing our experiences, network, and know-how.  We are happy to be as "hands on" or as "hands off" as the project requires, acting as basic rhythm section players to fill out the sound, or calling on our vast experience, knowledge, or network of professional players, studios, engineers, producers, and industry experts to help get the job done.  We're here to help!  In our experience, we've found that many talented artists can't find the right players or don't know a great engineer to capture their sound.  Maybe you're a music enthusiast who has finally decided to pick up and try an instrument for the first time, or an established touring artist who needs to put together that killer band for a record or a tour.  Contact Ryan and Matt, now officially "The Second Season" anytime, and we'll help you find exactly what you're looking for with your musical endeavors!