St. Joe's grad tops Billboard charts

A graduate of St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore finds himself on top of the world this week -- or at least at the top of the Billboard Classical Album chart.

Dynamic Catholic's new Advent and Christmas CD, "O Emmanuel," sold 2,600 copies in its first week. Dynamic Catholic partnered with GRAMMY Award-winning pianist, conductor, and composer, J.J. Wright to bring O Emmanuel to life. Wright says the Billboard recognition is an incredible honor.

"I can't remember the last time a newly composed piece of sacred music made it to the top of the Billboard charts," says Wright, the St. Joseph's grad.

The 10-track album by Wright features the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble and the Notre Dame Children's Choir. O Emmanuel takes listeners to the heart of the holiday season through the harmonious blend of angelic children's voices, a jazz piano trio, adult vocal soloists and talented instrumentalists.

Using ancient traditions paired with a modern twist, the CD moves listeners directly into the drama of salvation history and the birth of Jesus by fusing the ancient texts of the "O Antiphons" with chant ("Hodie Christus natus est"), hymnody ("Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming," "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"), and jazz improvisation.

Recorded at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, O Emmanuel was produced and edited by GRAMMY Award-winning producer Thomas Moore and engineered by GRAMMY Award-winning engineer Robert Friedrich of Five/Four Productions, Ltd.

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'Cute' lead singer causes social media, radio uproar

BUFFALO -- "ThinkSoJoe Show" hosts Joe Kent and Brian Muller spent a large portion of their All WNY Radio show tonight devoted to the topic of rape culture -- and particularly the statements of "Cute Is What We Aim For" front man Shaant Hacikyan, who said it doesn't exist.

The radio talk show hosts, responding to an Aux.tv story forwarded them from a listener, ended up on a 30-plus minute rant about American rape culture from their unique points of view, talking at length -- and with colorful language -- about the Brock Turner case in which the Stanford student received a six-month sentence for raping a girl behind a dumpster, which was later reduced to three months for "good behavior."

Hacikyan, the only member of the Buffalo-based group who has been with the outfit since its 2005 debut, had posted about the Turner case on Facebook, stating:

Rape culture isn't a thing. For real. Playing the victim seems to fit the narrative. In my 29 years I've yet to encounter a human who is looking to rape someone. Everyone loves sex but I have never met a dude who is going out into the world to commit rape. There may be horrible humans out there who are predators but to say there is a culture of rape is short sighted & aggressive. Look into the actual statistics & get back to me.

Hacikyan later recanted, stating -- again on Facebook:

I'm sorry, I was wrong. I regret my words. I am steadfast in my appreciation to have so many people who know more than I on this topic to take the time to educate me & broaden my perspective. Truly sorry & truly thankful.

Hacikyan and Cute Is What We Aim For will play at 8:15 p.m. Saturday as part of the Music Is Art festival at Delaware Park.

Photo courtesy of Shaant Hacikyan / Facebook.

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All WNY Radio grows with new music

Several Western New York artists submitted music to All WNY Radio in June, growing the size and depth of the 24/7 all-local music stream we air.

In all, 25 new tracks were submitted from 12 different artists ranging stylistically from blues to hip hop and geographically from Olean to Rochester.

New tracks included:

• "Ablaze" by Buffalo Hip Hop/Jam band Monkey Brothaz
• "A Day Behind" by Buffalo Jam band Electric Watermelon
• "Battleship" by Rochester Electronica artist Hania Yiska
• "Black Boy" by Buffalo Hip Hop artist Mark Lee
• "Come Tomorrow" by Buffalo Jam band Electric Watermelon
• "Don't Know" by Buffalo Rock artist Festina Lente
• "Fire in the Field" by Versailles American band Uncle Ben's Remedy
• "Frisky Shakedown" by Buffalo Progressive Rock band Irregardless
• "Gone Without Goodbye" by Olean Punk band the Hovelists
• "Heavens and Hell" by Buffalo Hip Hop artist Mark Lee
• "High Tide" by West Seneca Alt. Rock band Wacko Fest
• "Leave Me Down" by West Seneca Alt. Rock band Wacko Fest
• "Love Me Right" by Olean Blues band the Diggin' Roots Band
• "Mental" by West Seneca Alt. Rock band Wacko Fest
• "Memphis Town" by Olean Blues band the Diggin' Roots Band
• "Mess That's Made" by Olean Punk band the Hovelists
• "My Dear" by Olean Punk band the Hovelists
• "Peanut Butter Popsicle" by Rochester Electronica artist Hania Yiska
• "Paycheck" by Buffalo Jam band Electric Watermelon
• "Play it Again" by Rochester Electronica artist Hania Yiska
• "Rise Up" by Buffalo Hip Hop artist Mark Lee
• "Silent Warrior" by Rochester Hip Hop artist Mad Hugs
• "Suck" by Niagara Falls Rock band Exham Priory
• "These Beds" by Versailles American band Uncle Ben's Remedy
• "Warmonger" by Buffalo Rock artist Festina Lente

We are always on the lookout for new tracks from local artists -- from Jamestown to Rochester and everywhere in between. Each artist is allotted three track spaces in the ever-evolving rotation of music, which currently has 211 tracks from 77 different artists, playing in a 12 hour, 40 minute random repeat. 

If you'd like your music on All WNY Radio, please submit tracks to us via our submission form.

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Destination EU: DoDriver looks to tour Europe

BUFFALO -- The popular Western New York four-piece rock band DoDriver is looking to spread their music to the world -- or at least Europe.

The band recently came across an opportunity to play a series of shows throughout Europe in October, 2017. But with the opportunity comes a challenge: Raising the more than $20,000 to make it happen.

Hello Internet.

The band turned to GoFundMe in hopes of having friends, family and fans help raise the necessary $20,500 for the trip to Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.

The band says it needs to secure the funding by the end of July in order to get the arrangements finalized. They've still got a ways to go. Seventeen days in, they've raised $325 of the necessary $20,500. But four weeks is a long time on the Internet and the goal is hardly unreachable.

The plan is 10 -- maybe 12 -- shows in 15 days beginning Oct. 1, 2017, in support of Lord Bishop Rocks. Each show will be filmed and some will be broadcast live. There is also plans to record a track in a studio in Budapest.

The band has experience playing outside the U.S., having played gigs in Puerto Rico and Canada, as well as six American states. They've opened for dozens of national headliners, including their childhood idols, KISS.

And now, they intend to make it big.

We hope to make 2017 our best year ever as a band and we want you to help us do just that! For years our fans, friends and family have been telling us that we "should be famous by now" or "should be playing big arenas" or "are WAY better than X band" so this is our chance to go prove to another part of the World what you already know. Thank you so much for making our dreams come true!
Jody, Mike, Mark and Chris

For more information, visit their GoFundMe page or Facebook.

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Local music wanted for airplay

All WNY Radio is always on the lookout for music tracks from musicians in the Western New York area. Whether you're a Cheektowaga country band, a Rochester Reggae group, a Jamestown jazz trio, or a Buffalo blues band, we'll play your tracks.

All WNY Radio has been all-local for 24 hours a day, seven days a week for over 10 years now, airing thousands and thousands of musicians, live concerts, talk shows, the news and more.

The advent of All WNY News has lead to significant growth in listenership for All WNY Radio, but we're always looking for more -- listeners and artists alike. The current All WNY Radio playlist is comprised of 199 tracks from 72 different artists of all genres.

So bands (and solo artists), submit your latest MP3s and we'll get them on air -- not one hour a week on Sunday, but all day every day. It's what we do. And we're going to keep doing it for another 10 years.

If you have any questions, contact All WNY Radio program director Scott Leffler at scott.leffler@allwnyradio.com.

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We want your tracks

All WNY Radio is planning to re-launch on Sunday, Nov. 1 -- the longest day of the year -- and we want new music when we do it.

We're changing the way we do some things around here, but not our 100 percent support of local music.

So please, WNY artists, take a minute to send us some new tunes. If you've recorded anything in 2015 and we don't have it, DROP EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING and get us those tracks!

Please submit them via the contact page here on AllWNYRadio.com.

We have more announcements coming soon. But first ... get us those tracks.

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