Zachary Dinerstein

There is a Light That Never Goes Out

Tonight, I witnessed my first concert at the famous Joe’s Pub in downtown Manhattan.

Headlining the evening’s bill was a pseudo lounge-rock act called The Undisputed Heavyweights. Fronted by their boyishly energetic, effortlessly charming singer Casey Shea, the group’s stage persona was a mix of jazz professionalism and zen-like tolerance, continuously interrupted by Shey’s Tasmanian outbursts and stage theatrics.

If  Mick Jagger and Joe Cocker somehow birthed a child with mild-to-rampant ADD, that child would probably be best friends with Casey Shea.
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Follow the link to check out the site. This is one small dream come true..

Enjoy!

http://www.nme.com/video/id/mc_C-LF7nHw/search/mybrightestdiamond

HI Everyone

Last week, I had the chance to interview Shara Worden, the woman behind indie experimental outfit My Brightest Diamond. The resulting feature will be released in Beyond Race, one of the magazines for which I frequently freelance (now available at Barnes and Noble!) Our conversation was video taped by one of BR’s staff, and though I can’t stand to hear my voice on tape, I’ve attached some excepts below for your viewing pleasure.

Feature coming soon!

~ZD

Hi everyone –

So as as a kind of an experiment into the world of blogging — a tiptoeing into the shallow end if you will — I’ve decided to make this blog loosely about music. More specifically, about the musicians who often play at the club where I work, who are amazing and deserve the exposure. (For those who are reading this and don’t know me, I book shows for a moderately-sized club in Williamsburg called Spike Hill). After all, the name of this blog is a lyric from one of my favorite bands — and if you say Sherrly Crow, you’re off my top friends list.

First off, the musician I want to write about is Zach Hurd, possibly the first artist to ever e-mail me about booking anything. Zach sounds like a cross between John Mayer and Jason Maraz, if they were each pushed into a bubbling vat of whatever causes California dreaming. On songs like “Small Places” and “California,” his breathy croon sounds so laid back him and Jack Johnson could have a dude off.

On second listen though, his finger-picked hooks and inviting song writing have more in common with James Taylor than any of the musicians mentioned above. Instead of blatantly copping the sounds of artists in the mainstream there are reoccurring musical themes to his song writing that he uses to create his own style. In a few years, instead of the obvious John Mayer comparisons that are bound to litter his reviews (including this one), we could hear someone say, “hey, this new guy sounds like Zach Hurd”.

Here are some clips from his show at Spike Hill on July 26th, 2007 (check out the cover of Gnarles Barkley’s ‘Crazy’, it’s Cee-licious. You know, like Cee-lo? Anyway…:

[Songs coming soon!]

So I think that went pretty well. I think I could get the hang of this blog thing. Thanks for reading!