Margo Guryan, Belle and Sebastian, Richard Rodgers, Of Montreal, The Beach Boys, Cole Porter, The Rutles, The Kinks, They Might Be Giants, Harry Nilsson, Donovan, Nina Simone, The Beatles, etc, etc,
Sounds Like
Charming pop with a guitar, keyboard and/or ukulele.
The Bicycats are lead by singer/songwriter Zach The Shark Bernstein, a Long Islander by birth, but a Western New Yorker at heart. On stage, he is joined by his guitar, ukulele and maybe a piano as he sings about nepotism, socks, melting ferris wheels and sometimes, love. He tries to keep the audience happy and only uses curse words when he really needs to. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Bicycats debut album "I Love You For Your Mind" was released in September, shortly before embarking on a series of tours. Touring has been consistent, and The Bicycats have since played shows in the following states (ordered chronologically): New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, California, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia, Tennessee and Delaware. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the album, "I Love You For You Mind" (2006), Zach plays guitar, ukulele, keyboards, bass, banjo, marimba, drums and sings. He is also joined by the following guest players: Jon Samson, Amos Rosenstein, Celine George, Sarah Charpentier, Sarah Rosenstein and Jon Dashkoff.
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On the new album, "How Could You?" (2008), featured guest players include Chris Coon, Geoff Saunders, Celine George, Amos Rosenstein, Chris Potter, Ben Thomas, John Elliott, Jonny Cigar, Dave Goebel, Stephen Lecik, Sam Reich, Lisa Rubin, Rachel Odhner, Trish Ritchie, Sarah Rosenstein, Gina Sherwood and Amanda Danskin.
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PS: Shark Family Orchestra is pure genius. Lyrically, it reminds me of something David Byrne would write in the early Talking Heads, but with the narrative poignancy of Ray Davies. A jaw-dropper, for sure.
Your music is quite wonderful, and I find myself coming back to your page time and time again to listen to it. The more I do that, the more I regret not having been able to make the show at Matchless that you played with Kelli a little over a month ago ( I found your page through hers -- both Kelli and Please Dept. are some of my favorite people).
Do you know of any record/CD stores in NY that carry your album? Otherwise, I'll make sure to buy it personally from you next time you play in town (if there are any copies left by then...)
I hope Portland is treating you well and people came out. I did my best to internet yell. Bailey will be in Seattle to see you play tomorrow night. Yay!
So right... he never really got the credit he deserved. I heard through the grapevine that you're headed to Seattle and that you have a fantastic song about Robots--two marvelous things. HOpe the west coast treats you well.
I was introduced to you guys from my good friend. She saw you at the BugJar. I thought you guys had some really awesome music. I can't wait to see. I hope your coming back to Rochester. Smiles, Meg