THIS VIDEO WON GRAND PRIZE AT OURSTAGE - THANK YOU ALL FOR VOTING!!!
Influences
In no particular order: Radiohead, U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam, John Lennon, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Prince, The Doors, Harry Chapin (what an amazing human being!), G&R, REM, Brittney Spears (just kidding!), Iz (another great soul), Bob Marley (and another!)...
Sounds Like
Give a listen and let me know what you think - people say I'm a cross between Sublime and Crash Test Dummies.
BREAKING NEWS: Rav's "Protocols" video won grand prize on OurStage by receiving AN OVERWHELMING of votes from supporters accross the USA who voted by texting - thank you all!!!
Rav Shmuel is a rabbi who hangs out in Greenwich Village and plays original compositions on his guitar. He has a beard and sidelocks and he loves The Dead. He does not see an inconsistency between these two identities. Rather, he thinks of Judaism and music as complementary and often coalescing tools and methods for communication (blah blah blah).
Rav, who has taught Jewish Philosophy and Talmud at various Universities, has also toured the country with Gefiltefish, his first stateside band, playing sold-out parking lots before and after Phish shows. He does not play klezmer, although he does make the odd Maimonidean joke. He thinks of himself as a Rock Star.
Born in Brooklyn, Rav spent seven years in Jerusalem teaching by day and playing in the clubs at night before moving back to New York in 2001. Typing "Open Mike Night New York" into Google pointed Rav to the notorious Antihoot held in the East Village's landmark venue The Sidewalk Cafe. He quickly became a house favorite on a scene that has produced such stars as Beck, Hamell On Trial and, most recently, The Moldy Peaches. Within months he has moved up to being a headlining weekend act.
Rav recently released his first album "Protocols". As Billboard wrote, "Rav Shmuel's solo debut is an immediately likable bit of good-humored anti-folk that doesn't require the visuals or even the knowledge that, yes, Rav Shmuel really is a Hasidic rabbi ... like the old slogan for Levy's Rye Bread used to say, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Rav Shmuel".
So what we're talking about here people is a forty-something Orthodox Hasidic rabbi with six kids who is rocking the pants off of the East Village's freshest scene!
"Protocols" CD Available As Of Today 10-31-06!!
You can purchase my CD using the link below or get it from iTunes at your convenience - Thanks! JMG Records
Check out this kind review on Billboard Magazines Website!
Billboard Review
Howdy Rav Shmuel! Thanks for adding me on here! It was awesome meeting you at the rainbow, i'll always remember sitting atop that big rock with you getting a Jewish lesson and sharing ukulele songs on that 4th of July! Yeah, we're real rock stars! I'll drop you a note if i end up in New York someday! I'm really digging the songs you have up here, it's nice to hear you with a whole band! :)
Hey man thank you for the add and thanks for the message. I added you to my top friends you have taken Matisyahu's place which says a lot. Hope to find you playing somewhere when I visit New York.
