The first of these is happening at Higher Ground on March 13, 2010 when we share the bill with the Toubab Krewe.   We are big fans of the Toubab Krewe and their brand of West African Americana, it is bound to be a show to be remembered.  Doors open at 8PM, we take the stage at 8:30.  This is an ALL AGES show, tickets are $12 in advance and $14 day of the show available here.

Just 3 weeks after that we are returning to Nectar’s to share an evening with our friends (and fellow Ropeadope artists) Otis Grove on April 9.  We are looking at the possibility of releasing our live album at this show, more info on that as soon as we have it.

We will also be playing a few other local gigs in the Vermont area.  Including Wednesday February 10 at Red Square in Burlington.  We have a habit of picking up last minute gigs at a few of our favorite venues in Burlington.  Watch us on facebook for info on those when they occur.

First, the gigs:
Friday 5/29/09 we return to one of our favorite places to play, Jimmy Mac’s in Rochester NY.  We’ll have our friends Jae Mood with us, should be a good time.

Saturday 5/30/09 we are pleased to be a part of Nelson Ledges Quarry Park’s Summer Kickoff festival out in Ohio.

Wednesday 6/10/09 we will be performing as part of Burlington’s Discover Jazz Festival.  This free show takes place outdoors on upper Church St. on the ‘Fountain Stage’ at 7PM.

Friday 6/12/09 we will be supporting the Marco Benevento Trio at Club Metronome in Burlington.  This show is open to everyone over 18 years of age and tickets are $15 in advance, $18 day of show (with applicable service fees)

Friday 6/26/09 we are teaming up with fellow Ropeadope artist Leo Genovese’s band in Boston at the Lizard Lounge.  Tickets for this show are $10 at the door, and it is 21+.  We are working on adding a few dates around this one, we’ll announce as soon as we can.

After these two gigs with Ropeadope, we are taking a brief break from the world of Japhy Ryder while each of us explores different aspects of our lives over the months of July and August.  While we may add a few gigs to our schedules we primarily plan to take it easy – except for Pat and Joshua.

Why are they any different?  Joshua is not only the best damn percussinoist (shaker/triangle-ist) we’ve ever worked with, but he’s a badass drummer as well.  While holding down the beats in the Pulse Prophets, he has successfully drawn Pat into that group to fill the hole left while bassist Alex Budney goes on a leave of absence.  More info on the Pulse Prophets can be found on their website, and we’ll keep you updated on what Pat and Josh are up with them as well.

For those of you not in the Burlington area, you can listen via webcast

After that we leave for the ‘Hometown Throwdown Tour’ which stops in Philly and Boston before returning home for the gig at Higher Ground on Saturday.

And then we’ll be headed in to start work on what looks to be the next album.  More info on that later.

For now, have another sneak peak at the new Japhy Ryder. Here is another track from our set opening for the New Deal back in February.  And yeah, we made this one up.
(head on over to japhyryder.com and check out the audio)

So there it is, Japhy Ryder version 2.0 shall make our official debut on April 2 to start the Ropeadope sponsored ‘Homedown Throwdown Tour’ in Philadelphia.  The tour then heads to Boston and ends with our hometown debut at Higher Ground on 4/4.

Here’s a little taste of what this new version of Japhy Ryder has to offer.

(head on over to japhyryder.com and check out the audio)

(if you are using Firefox and this sounds like a broken cassette player,
you can download the file – Tightrope)

Well, big changes are afoot in the Japhy Ryder camp.  Founding member and longtime guitarist for Japhy Ryder, Jeremy Kizina, has decided it is time for him to move on and pursue the next phase in his life.  While we are saddened by Jeremy’s departure, we fully understand and support him in his decision.  Furthermore, we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Naturally, this has raised many important questions about the future of the band.  Although we are all still very excited about making music together, there will definitely be a shift in focus as we make room in our lives for everything that has taken a back seat for the past several years.  As of this time, we have put booking on hold while we figure things out, although we are keeping the following gigs which were previously booked with our friends from Ropeadope:

Thursday, 4/2/09, World Café Live, Philadelphia PA
Friday, 4/3/09, Lizard Lounge, Boston MA
Saturday, 4/4/09, Higher Ground, S. Burlington VT

Other than these dates, you can catch us performing around the Burlington area with Will’s side project, W.E.S.T., most notably in support of The New Deal at Higher Ground on Thursday, February 19.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has come out to shows and supported us throughout the years and apologize to those who looked forward to the shows we were forced to cancel.  Most of all we would like to thank Jeremy for his dedication, inspiration, and comradeship as well as Jeremy’s family for the support, generosity, and hospitality they have shown us time and again in our travels.

We will be sure to keep everyone updated as we continue to figure out how we will proceed.  YES we will proceed, it may just take a little bit of time to arrange how.  Thanks again, and we hope to see you all in the near future,

Jay, Pat, and Will

For the rest of our schedule click here

More information about what this really means coming soon.

Rydin’ High

By Dan Bolles [10.22.08]

You know who is really good? The Tampa Bay Rays . . . sigh. You know who else? Burlington’s heroes of hyphenated hi-fi high jinks, Japhy Ryder. Late last week, the instrumental prog-jazz-rock-whatever quartet — just don’t call them “jam,” thank you very much — announced that their excellent sophomore effort, No Consequence, has been picked up by online tune-slingers Ropeadope Digital, an interweb offshoot of Ropeadope Records. The label is home to a veritable smorgasbord of progressive music types, including DJ Logic, Charlie Hunter and Marco Benevento — of “The Duo,” bro. So, yeah, that’s kind of a big deal.

Ropeadope plans to rerelease the album on November 18. Or, exactly two weeks to the day after Sarah Palin sheds her human skin and reveals herself as the hell-spawn, puppy-eating succubus she surely is, following John McCain’s concession speech. (Quick note to God: I’ll accept my beloved Red Sox losing to the Rays, obnoxious little cowbells and all. But give me this one, Big Guy. OK?)

Conveniently enough, the release follows Japhy Ryder’s four-week-long, Thursday-night recording residency at Nectar’s, which begins this week. For those with short-term-memory issues, I mentioned this newly minted series a few weeks ago. But here’s the gist: Each month, Nectar’s hosts a different local band for four weeks, records the shows, and releases the choicest cuts as a live album shortly thereafter. Nif-ty, eh? Jam-rock outfit Greyspoke was the first guinea pig, and just wrapped up its stint. No word yet on when the resulting album will hit the streets, but I’ll keep you posted.

So catch Japhy Ryder while you can. And please, keep your puppies away from Sarah Palin.