Boston’s own traditional ska group The Void Union has released their brand new album Higher Ground today! The album features a TON of guests, including King Django, Obi Fernandez (Westbound Train), Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Craig Akira Fujita (Pressure Cooker), Steve Borth (Link 80, Rx Bandits, Satori), Josh Cohen (Westbound Train), Johnny DeCarlo (Westbound Train), and Dave Hillyard (The Slackers). Along with an assortment of other engineering credits, its evident that this album was a collaborative effort amongst some of the most notable names in the modern American ska scene!
The Void Union are a group formed of several members of Westbound Train that play an assortment of Jamaican music styles. This album is a follow-up to their 2008 self-titled album.
The album is available digitally for only $5 via their Bandcamp site HERE
A documentary called Brooklyn Rocksteady: The Roots, The Scene & The Culture is being made by Samuel Gursky that is an exploration of NYC Ska and Rocksteady music since 1981 up until 2011, including interviews from members of The Toasters, The Slackers, The Pietasters, Westbound Train, Victor Rice, The Forthrights, Royal City Riot, The Hard Times, The Frighteners and more!
There is a Kickstarter project set up to fund the rental of equipment and help to cover travel expenses to document big events this year involving these bands outside of the NY area. You can support by donating as well as view a trailer for the documentary HERE
The documentary is set to be released in Fall 2011
Brooklyn early-reggae band The Forthrights played a show this past weekend at The Knitting Factory, sharing the bill with reunited Boston ska band Westbound Train. The Forthrights posted this video on Facebook of their song “Other People” which included guest vocalists King Django and Westbound Train frontman Obi Fernandez.
The Forthrights have just released their new 7″ Camp Birdman on Panic State Records. It is available HERE
Last month at B.B. King’s in NYC, The Toasters headlined a show that included The Pietasters, Hub City Stompers, and Royal City Riot. The Toasters lineup included Dave Barry on keyboards as well as many members of Westbound Train (Rich Graiko on Trumpet, Thaddeus Merritt on bass, Jesse Hayes on drums). For the song “Pirate Radio,” Westbound Train frontman Obi Fernandez hopped on stage to help Bucket sing.
Welcome to the first episode of the Flyover Ska Show! Join us as Courtney chats it up with Gideon Blumenthal of the soulful ska band Westbound Train. The two talk about Gideon’s musical background, the benefits of renting versus buying a touring van, the grueling pace of life on the road, as well as detailing the band’s current hiatus.
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You can download this episode HERE or subscribe to the show on iTunes.
A word from your host: Hey rude boys and rude girls! I’ve been sitting in my lair, regrouping, retooling and refining the Midwest Ska Moment podcast to make it bigger and better than before. I have decided to widen the scope of the podcast past the Midwest and feature bands and artists nationwide. What I’d like to do is feature bands that are both largely known and rare gems in the ska, reggae, rocksteady or otherwise Jamaican-influenced community. With this, the show will be renamed as well.
Along with the scope change, there will also be a format change. I will now be mainly doing interviews with bands and prominent figures in the ska world. I’ve already lined up some really great people, including interviews with bands like The Toasters, Westbound Train, The Slackers, Less Than Jake, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and much more. As of now, this podcast will be a weekly show and you will be able to subscribe to it via iTunes and I will still be partnering with the Fancy Pants Gangsters Network.
So there will be some changes in the show, but I hope all you listeners out there will enjoy the show more and see this as a change for the better. If you are in a ska, reggae or rocksteady band, please email me at MSM@fancypantsgangsters.com so we can book you on the show. No band too big or too small. Skank On!
Boston ska band Westbound Train has recently announced that they will be taking an extended break after their next couple of December shows.
The two remaining shows we have on the books — The Middle East (Downstairs) in Boston on Friday, December 4 and The Highline Ballroom in NYC on Saturday, December 5 — will be the last Westbound Train shows scheduled in the foreseeable future. Don’t worry – we’re not breaking up by any means – but we don’t have any shows booked after December 4 and 5 and, extraordinary circumstances aside, it looks like it might stay that way for a while.
Many members of the band are transitioning into different phases in their lives – personal, professional, etc – and some time off the road will help to ensure smooth transitions for each member and for the future of the band as a whole.
This year was a busy year for the band in general. They played all summer long on the Vans Warped Tour and released their album Come And Get It on Hellcat Records. The band also had their own troubles back in September when their gear trailer was stolen, forcing them to cancel a slew of shows in Florida. We at MNSKA wish the band well and hope that when they decide to tour again, they will stop by the Twin Cities!
UPDATE: According to keyboardist Gideon Blumenthal’s facebook page, the December 5th show in NYC has been canceled. The show will be rescheduled.
MNSka’s resident videographer Patrick Larson attended the Vans Warped Tour on Sunday, August 2nd at Canterbury Park and was able to take some videos for us. We’re certainly glad he did since this year was jam packed with ska bands. We posted earlier a video of MNSka band 2 Tone Runts, but Patrick also managed to captured footage from Less Than Jake, Westbound Train, and Big D and the Kids Table as well.
Our friend and host of St. Louis’ Ska’s The Limit radio show, JJ Loy, was lucky enough to have Boston’s Westbound Train in-studio. The band played several live songs from their latest album Come and Get It and sat down for a chat with JJ.
You can check out the live tracks and interview HERE.
Hey there MNSka! This weekend is loaded with shows. Tonight, of course, Boston’s Westbound Train comes to the Triple Rock Social Club. WBT just released a brand new album, entitled “Come and Get It,” and you can pick it up at tonight’s show. I’ve heard it’s pretty hot, so pick it up while you can! Local acts The Prizefighters and the revamped Small Kitchen Appliances open, as do MNSka’s favorite Reggae-Rock band, the Fear Nuttin’ Band (wink wink . . . ). The show is all ages, and the doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets are $12 at the door.
Saturday is absolutely packed with shows! The festivities get started at 6 p.m.–local favorites Hardcore Crayons share the stage with The Style Biters (and others) at The Beat Coffeehouse. The show is $5. At 9 p.m., then, Sans Pants takes the stage at The Rox in St. Cloud. The big show of the day, though, is at First Avenue–Mexican ska stars Panteon Rococo take the stage alongside Malafacha and Los Vicios de Papa. The show is all ages and the doors open at 6. Tickets are a little pricey–$45 at the door, $33 if you got/get them in advance–but according to a member of the MNSka forum, the price is worth it. Check it out and see!
Welcome to the first episode of the Flyover Ska Show! Join us as Courtney chats it up with Gideon Blumenthal of the soulful ska band 
MNSka’s resident videographer Patrick Larson attended the Vans Warped Tour on Sunday, August 2nd at Canterbury Park and was able to take some videos for us. We’re certainly glad he did since this year was jam packed with ska bands. We posted earlier a video of MNSka band 
Our friend and host of St. Louis’ 
