More Than Music

Sam Vecchio is hilarious and is such a fun time! You will definitely want him to be your best friend after listening to this episode.

Since before he could walk or talk or certainly sing, Sam Vecchio has been obsessed with music. With appreciation of all genres, Sam has studied music and artists since the first time he played a vinyl record. With influences ranging from The Beatles and Hall and Oates, to Billy Joel and Paul Carrack to recent acts like I Don’t Know How But They Found Me and Lord Huron.

Sam started his professional music career in college by replacing a local pub DJ that let him fill in one night and lost his spot when the patrons demanded Sam’s return.

In March of 2020, Sam had some extra time on his hands due to a worldwide Pandemic (COVID-19) and found himself in isolation for nearly a month without any contact with the outside world. He picked up his guitar, that hasn’t seen much action from Sam in years and he started to play “Rain King” by the Counting Crows, the next night Sam played a few songs and returned every night for nearly one hundred nights consecutively (he promised his Facebook friends that he would play every night until the pandemic was over (a little ambitious on THAT promise).

What he found, in turn, was not only did it help him try to get through a difficult time, but it was appointment viewing for a lot of his friends, family, and co-workers. Even though he always thought he’d be a Rockstar from age nine, he is getting to live a small part of that dream many years later. He doesn't take himself too seriously and finds it most difficult to talk about himself in the third person.

Because he wrote this bio! Sam is currently working on some original music, he performs a cover of "Drive" by The Cars.

Make sure you don't miss one of Sam's Facebook live's, like or follow him on Facebook.

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook, and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].

Kendal Conrad is an amazing woman, empowering, confident, a leader, fierce, a feminist and so much more.

Kendal is a singer-songwriter from Pottstown, PA. Her single Leader of the Pack garnered over 25 million views on Tiktok and over 1 million plays on Soundcloud. She sang a duet onstage with Keith Urban at Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA.

She also opened for 32 of the country’s hottest artists, including Blake Shelton at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open to a crowd of 18,000, Alabama at the Santander Arena, and Kane Brown. She has performed the National Anthem for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, NASCAR, etc.

We'll take a listen to her badass song, "Leader of the Pack".

Listen to more of Kendal's music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, Soundcloud, or anywhere you listen to your music!

Follow Kendal on her social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Kendal plays gigs every week. Check the Events tab on her Facebook page.

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook, and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].

Introducing you to the humble, kind, and incredibly talented, Steve Romer.

Steve is a Cortland-based musician and is inspired by the 90’s grunge and pop-rock scene.

He started in music because his friends talked him into trying out a local open mic night and the next week, he had his first show!

He’s been on tour with Ten Man Push as the opening act. He’s also opened for national acts such as Kevin Griffin of Better than Ezra, Ed Kowalczyk of Live, The Black Moods, Andrew Leahey, and the Homestead.

Make sure to listen to Steve's song, "Maybe" during the podcast.

Follow Steve Romer on Facebook and the duo, Steve Romer and Bradford Allen. You can also stay up to date when he will be playing live!

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook, and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].

Introducing the youngest guest of the podcast so far, but one of the oldest souls!

At 17, New York native, Sydney Irving is in the early years of her music career, but she has already been named the 2020 young adult artist of the year by the International Singer-Songwriters Association.

At only 14, her debut album, “Hello Stranger” was released. Irving has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to be direct support for Starship featuring Mickey Thomas at the 2019 Spiedie Fest in Binghamton, NY, and perform at the 2019 Dio Day event in Cortland, NY.

Later that year, Sydney attended a Barns Courtney concert. She had the chance to meet him before the show and then during the show, Courtney called her up on stage to sing his hit song “You & I” with him!

She has also had the privilege to open for artists like Matt Rogers and Mikele Buck as well as be the youngest artist to have a residency at the largest casino in New York State.

Sydney Irving, who has been nominated for best singer/songwriter at the Syracuse Area Music Awards three times, has been writing songs since she was twelve with her guitar. Sydney is a proud Breedlove Guitar endorsed artist. Along with being named the 2020 Female Artist of the Year by Music Mafia Radio, now at 17, Irving is gearing up to release her fifth studio album, "Relax With Fiends" which is set to be released in December 2020. With a fresh, indie rock sound, Sydney is following her dreams of pursuing music.

We feature Sydney's brand new single, What Have You Done. It’s available on a limited edition CD on Sydney’s website, sydneyirvingmusic.com and there’s only 100 available! They are hand-signed and numbered.

Listen to more of her music on her website, iTunes, Amazon Music, YouTube, and Spotify.

You can follow along with her music career on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Also see her live and in-person in the summer in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia!

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook, and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].

Introducing, Gary Carpentier!

Gary is a 29-year-old singer/songwriter from Oswego, NY. He has been performing since 2014 as a solo act, a member of the McConnell, Caruso, Carpentier trio, and as a member of the Silver Arrow Band out of Syracuse, NY.

Carpentier won a SAMMY Award this past year for Best RnB Album, was nominated as Best Lead Actor in a Musical for his role in the Baldwinsville Theater Guild’s production of Bright Star, and, most notably, was on the cast of the 13th season of NBC’s Emmy Award-Winning program, “The Voice,” as a member of Team Adam Levine.

With original music and covers ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Lorde, Gary has been traveling and entertaining crowds across New York and the country. His voice is a mix of soul, pop, and crooner style. Gary writes in the contemporary, singer/songwriter style, but with a twist of modern pop.

We'll take a listen to a song called "9 to 5" off of Gary's EP, "Lucid". Listen to more of Gary's music on Spotify, Apple Music, and anywhere you find or listen to music!

Follow Gary on all social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all @garycarpentiermusic. You can also email Gary at [email protected]

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook, and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].

Chris Merkley is so inspiring with all that he’s accomplished in his career so far. He's definitely a great person to get advice from and someone who has done a lot in the music business. He sings, plays harmonica and guitar, and a stompbox. His style is blues, Americana, and rock. Chris has performed over a thousand shows from the streets of Paris to venues throughout Europe and across the United States. He has released nine albums with a variety of groups which include songwriting duo Merkley & Morgan, acoustic American roots rock band The Crooners, and the swampy blues-rock trio of Digger Jones. In addition to an extensive career of recording and touring, Merkley has composed and produced an extensive catalog of original music for TV and has songs featured in several independent films. In 2008, he created a number of original compositions for HBO's critically acclaimed series, 'Generation Kill', and has since collaborated with Free Man Music and fellow Old Boy artists to compose custom original music for Cinemax, HBO Latino, and Max Latino. Merkley is currently performing solo, as well as with Merkley & Morgan, The Crooners, and Digger Jones in the New York area. He is also in the process of converting a school bus into an eco-minded tour bus for touring and recording. Visit the bus page at Old Boy Records or connect on Twitter to follow the progress.  At the start of 2020, Merkley started American Vintage Productions. It went from being a live event production company to a virtual event production company. Eventually planning to move to a hybrid format of live and virtual audiences and incorporate it into the programming to establish Rose Hall and The Orchard as regional music venues. Rose Hall is a former church space at 19 Church Street Cortland that Merkley organized programming with the Dan and Rose McNeil Foundation. The Orchard is 28 Main Street Cortland, the former Mullen’s Office Outfitter building, which Merkley is in the process of developing into a mixed-use bar/restaurant/music venue as part of Cortland’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (NYS Grant Program). Follow Chris on Facebook and Instagram.  You'll hear Chris's song, The Great Unknown in the episode. Hear more of his music on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and ChrisMerkley.com.

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook, and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].

A unique, new take on female pop country with a Northeastern twist. Tezza was born and raised in upstate New York where she grew up with a love of horses, performing, and country. She attended Berklee College of Music and then made her way to NYC to work on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Now residing in Nashville, Tezza has had the opportunity to tour across the U.S. and open for acts such as Hunter Hayes, Granger Smith, Chris Young, and Charles Esten, just to name a few, and play world-renowned venues such as The Bluebird, Bitter End, and Nashville’s annual CMA Fest. Her single "Mercury Rising" took the world by storm, hitting 2 million streams, racking up features on CMT, All Access, iHeart Radio, Fox News, and earning a spot on Spotify's hottest Editorial playlists such as Hot Country, New Boots, Wild Country, Breakout Country, and Pop-Co.

“Mercury Rising” is available on all streaming platforms!

Tezza talks about her childhood in upstate New York and how it has influenced her music. She also talks about her experience as a student at the Berklee College of Music and her job after at NBC's Saturday Night Live. All of which, have helped shaped her into a better and well-rounded independent artist.

You'll hear her new song, "Mercury Rising" during the podcast. The song has reached over 2.4 MILLION streams in just under 3 months, been featured by CMT, and earned a spot on some of Spotify's hottest country playlists such as: Hot Country, New Boots, Wild Country, Next From Nashville, PopCo, and Fresh Finds Country. Official Music Video is available now on YouTube.

You can listen to Tezza's music on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

Make sure to follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every other Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].

We're taking it back to season one and listening to all the episodes! This one is with Rob McCall of All Poets and Heroes.

Rob McCall is a singer/songwriter and front man for All Poets and Heroes. The band recently released their first full-length album Occhiolism, which has drawn comparisons to Jeff Buckley, RadioHead, and Death Cab for Cutie. Michelle Bruton from The Alternative wrote, All Poets and Heroes breathes new life into ambient rock with a folk twist.

He talks about the stories behind some of the songs he's written, the process of creating and the band's first full-length album, and the two-year process it took to make. We also talk about the name of the band and how the name "All Poets and Heroes" came to be.

You'll hear the song, "Wine Song", off their most recent album, Occhiolism.

Listen to All Poets & Heroes music on all streaming services, including Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Pandora, and more. See the band's lyric videos on YouTube.

Make sure to follow All Poets and Heroes on Instagram and Facebook. You can also visit the band's website at allpoetsandheroes.com.

Be sure to like, subscribe and give the More Than Music Podcast a review wherever you listen to the podcast and share us with a friend! We release shows every Wednesday and look out for a bonus episode every now and then. Find me, Kara Conrad on Facebook, and the podcast on Instagram at More Than Music Pod. If you want to talk to me or suggest a guest just send me a message on Instagram or email me at [email protected].