Syracuse Ska Forum

It looks like we may be inviting one or more of the bands from the NYC metro area up for shows in Syracuse. As always, we like feedback ahead of time. Here are some possibilities:

Bigger Thomas http://www.myspace.com/biggerthomas
Spider Nick & the Maddogs http://www.myspace.com/spidernick
The Rudie Crew http://www.myspace.com/therudiecrew
Hub City Stompers http://myspace.com/hubcitystompers
Bomb Town http://www.myspace.com/bombtown

Every one of these bands has different influences, so they don't sound alike. Feel free to comment away on them ...

heh, three of those arent nyc,and i wouldnt group any as trad, but good you pointed them out, because theyre awesome bands none the less

also some good bands to check up on: The Scofflaws are coming back with a new lineup and are starting to play out again, i may be hooking up something with them in june with my acoustic band.

and The Scorchers, featuring ex-Slackers members

I played with Hub City Stompers and King Django on Thursday. HCS were really sweet. Cool guys, too.

I absolutly love all those bands

and will. when we playin with them?

i met the trumpet player? at bamboozle wit hhis kids. he asked wehre was the ska, and me and cheech were like... right here man.


i forget his name.. but i htink thes in the bluebeats now too.

That's why I specifically said "NYC metro area", which in our minds at least includes NJ and Long Island. And "trad" is in the eye of the beholder, obviously. Tommi of Bomb Town spent awhile on Friday night in Knoxville trying to convince me how "trad" his group is. And then Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records kept referring to RazSum as "ska-punk", which made me wince. None of these definitions is very clear. Maybe "more-tradish"?


A new backing band for Sammy again? Well, as always, I'd be down for that. Heck, I tried to book Mephiskapheles at one time (too much money and everyone warned me they sucked at that point).

Bigger Thomas reminded me a lot of The Bluebeats - they're both bands who are clearly talented, but don't move me at all.

I was in a band that learned several covers because a friend of ours needed one more band to play a show. We were together for 10 days (and actually weren't anywhere near as bad as you'd think). The show we played was with Spider Nick. (This was 8 years ago) They were good musicians, but I didn't think they were terribly great songwriters, and again, nothing that really moved me.


How so? The Rudie Crew sounds straight up traditional (and fantastic), based on the 20 seconds of each of their MySpace songs that'd play. Schedule permitting, I'd definitely consider coming out to the 'Cuse to see them.

Hub City Stompers sound OK, but nothing I'd go out of my way to see or buy.

Same with Bomb Town. Skalkatraz? Bring me some Skalka-Seltzer. (They weren't actually that bad, but the name of that song is.)



In other news, there was a banner ad at the top of several of those MySpace ads showing Pres. Bush getting his ass whooped by Mike Tyson. It said "Help Bush Win & Get a Free Ringtone!" I laughed. For me to want to help Bush win anything but a boot to the head'd take an awful lot more than a ringtone.

you were totally dying to say skalka seltzer and i must say it was well-timed.

You're kind of right - it came to me as I was reading 'Skalkatraz'.

Tommi would never try to tell anyone that Bomb Town is a traditional styled band, trust me, I've heard it from Tommi many, many times.

They are a Ska/Punk band with Dancehall Influence.

The Scorchers are definitely one of the best things out of NYC (in my opinion of course), since the Slackers.

I wouldn't consider any of those bands Danny listed as "Traditional Ska" bands though.

way to say what i said already travis, im sure theyll believe it more now that you said it. haha.

oh and everyone should check out The Acoustic Ska Brigade(cheap plug). highly trad-influenced, with some third wave influences as well(inspecter 7, bosstones, others). we're located right outside nyc as well

You play trombone, nothing you say is Valid.

Tommi was bringing up their skinhead reggae and dancehall aspects. I think most people would argue they also have hiphop elements. I thought they were interesting at Ska Weekend.

Of course, half of Bomb Town is also part of Hub City Stompers and they're also an interesting band. I got a kick out of the songs about big booty girls and talking trash on messageboards.

The Hiphop elements you speak of = Dancehall.

We played with Rudie Crew last month...one of the more enjoyable Ska bands I've had the pleasure of sharing the stage with. Cool guys and the music speaks for itself.

BURNNNNNNNNNNN.