11/22 at The Hangar on the Hudson, Troy, NY

“B3nson is less of a driving force than it was for over a decade in the local music scene, but the influence of the bands and musicians who were a part of that community can still be felt and seen in bands like Rover and Geoff Gordon. Hopefully, like everyone else, we are starting to recover from the pandemic and will continue to uphold old traditions and find new ways to contribute to local musicians and audiences.”

With the holiday season swiftly approaching, nothing says “tradition” more than Funsgiving by the B3nson Recording Group.

Traditionally, I’m not a storyteller but I was lucky enough to get the chance to speak with Alex Muro and Dan Maddalone, who taught me about the origin of B3 and how they plan on moving forward, one Funsgiving at a time.

*All pics of 6th Annual Funsgiving by Patrick Dodson*

Kiki Vassilakis: Tell me about how B3nson got started and where you are today.

Alex Muro: The B3nson Recording Collective started in 2006 when a few members of Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned lived at 3 Benson Street in Albany, partially out of admiration for what the Elephant 6 had done in Athens, GA. From there, it grew to include a lovely corner of the Capital Region music scene with dozens of members forming different bands and putting out over 60 records (https://b3nson.bandcamp.com/) mostly for fun.

B3nson is less of a driving force than it was for over a decade in the local music scene, but the influence of the bands and musicians who were a part of that community can still be felt and seen in bands like Rover and Geoff Gordon. Hopefully, like everyone else, we are starting to recover from the pandemic and will continue to uphold old traditions and find new ways to contribute to local musicians and audiences.

Dan Maddalone: B3 was started several years before my involvement but I joined as a wee lad in 2009. My memory of the early days was of people trying to help others and succeeding. Alex bought recording gear for his band to use but naturally it was implemented to help other artists. My first band recorded their first album for essentially free because community building was everything. Remember youth? Wild. People are still at it though. Lots of things like B3nson have popped up. Shout out to everyone working to make this area actually a better place instead of just hyping themselves up. B3 as an entity does far less than it did in the 2010's but we're happy to be reinstating the time-tested tradition of putting on a great show and poorly promoting it! Thanks to Metroland Now though for the support! I am a multi-instrumentalist, former-touring musician, show booker, and audio engineer, among other things. I honed a lot of these skills thanks to the kind folks at B3.

KV: What are some of the most noticeable changes - positive or negative - in the local music scene over the course of B3nson's existence?

DM: I could go on about this for far too long but to keep it brief, the internet made things slightly better for a while and then much worse. Social media has warped expectations of both consumers and artists. Also, anyone that considers themselves a part of "the creative economy" should go jump in a lake.

AM: I think one thing that has happened is that we have less venues in Albany that are easily accessible to local musicians. There isn't really anything in Albany like Valentines, CDFI, the Low Beat or Pauly's Hotel anymore.

In response, I think we have seen the rise of house shows, which has positive and negative aspects. There have been a stream of great house venues and I have seen a lot of awesome house shows in the last five years. These shows can be personal and magical in ways that venue shows can struggle to match. Still, I think overall this is a negative trend. You can't fully promote house shows (they are technically illegal) and so it’s hard for a scene built around house shows to grow past a certain point.

There are however a bunch of great venues in Troy, which is positive overall because there are more great shows in the region but negative for me personally because I have to drive to Troy all the time.

I think the institution of Albany's cabaret license and the vigorous enforcement of it by the city, while it may be enjoyed by some residents, has had an obviously negative impact on the music scene in Albany specifically. By making it harder for small venues to operate, its driven too many shows into basements, which you can't promote, and which are also closed to the general public. This fosters a bunch of separate ecosystems that don't need to interact as much as if they had shared common spaces.

B3nson wouldn't have been what it was if it wasn't for everyone going to check out random shows and meeting other musicians at Valentines or Tess' Lark Tavern or The Capital District Federation of Ideas.

KV: What is the most important thing about Funsgiving?

DM: Togetherness, friendship, music, and food.

AM: It’s hard to pick one thing. Funsgiving is the official end of Funmadon, and so the fun ban on shaving beards is lifted, and this is traditionally celebrated by the shaving of ridiculous beards, which in retrospect is a not a great tradition because then your face is very cold in December.

Pie is also a very important part of Funsgiving. It’s a great time of year for pie and it is, afterall, the best food. For a long time there was a tradition in which a pie was frozen at each Funsgiving and then served at next years Funsgiving. I am starting to think maybe we were not the best at picking traditions.

The spiritual / athletic contest known as pokey is another integral part of any Funsgiving celebration. This is when two people lock hands with one another, each sticking out one finger and engage in a mortal struggle to poke and avoid being poked.

But I think the most important thing about Funsgiving is community. It is a celebration of a community of people who have come together to celebrate local music and each other for almost 20 years and that still feels as special to me now as it did the first time we did a Funsgiving show in 2008.

KV: What can the audience expect from this year's lineup?

AM: I am excited about all the bands. Both Rover and Geoff Gordon have long time B3nson members and they are some of my favorite active bands, and also favorite people. Hoborchestra is an old school B3nson throwback; Tim is one of my favorite songwriters and I can't wait to see what he puts together for his set.

Demolition Derby New Old Car is my favorite local record of the last year. It’s just a great record and Dan Carr & the Cure For Asthma write really good music. I love all of the Tummy Rub Records bands and I think to the extent that it’s a lot of bands with overlapping members all celebrating and enhancing each other's songwriting, it all feels very in sync with what The B3nson Recording Company was all about and we are really glad to have them play Funsgiving.

DM: Excellence.

I like the band I play in (Geoff Gordon) a lot. I think we are quite good. But I of course am biased. Anyone that is in a band thinks their band is good, or else what is the point? I am excited to see Rover, and Tim Koch (Hoborchestra) who is coming out of a slight retirement. Tim has written some of my favorite songs and recorded the first ever album I played on. Rover has immaculate vibes. Just very fun. I am most excited for Dan Carr & the Cure for Asthma. I feel strongly that they are an amazing band. They move me in such a specific way. That whole crew does. So much talent. My heart swells at each gig.

KV: What are some of your favorite bands that have played throughout Funsgiving’s existence?

AM: I think it’s worth noting that Funsgiving has always been specifically a celebration of local music and community, and so while B3nson bands have put on amazing shows with national acts like Hop Along, Sharon VanEtten, Man Man, The Music Tapes, Mount Eerie and a whole bunch of others, the Funsgiving show has never really had touring bands.

Some of my favorite Funsgiving sets include Beware! the other Head of Science, Stacy Gets Drunk, We are Jeneric, The Scientific Maps, Another Micheal, Secret Release and Barons In the Attic.

I am hopeful that for next year's Funsgiving show, we will have some very fun reunions.

DM: If I have done my math correctly, 53 different bands have played Funsgiving over the years. Jouska, Another Michael, Noods, Oceanator, If Madrid, and Sgt. Dunbar are my personal stand outs. Some of these bands no longer exist; some have gone on to have legitimate music careers. All are very good.

Tickets to this year’s Funsgiving are available only at the door and with cash.