Free Admission Every Day
|
Open Tue - Sat 10 AM - 5 PM
Annual Fund

Pylon Reenactment Society To Perform at AMA Heart of Albany Festival

Pylon Reenactment Society Will Be the Headline Performer at the Albany Museum of Art’s Fall Arts Festival

PRS Will Take the Stage at 2 PM at the 8th Annual The Heart of Albany Festival 

Pylon Reenactment Society boasts a direct lineage to the magical musical era of the 1970s and ’80s when Athens, Ga., was the stellar nursery for innovative alternative rock and new wave sounds. PRS will take the stage in Albany for the first time on Saturday, Nov 15, at The Heart of Albany Festival at the Albany Museum of Art.

“Pylon was a post-punk band that was a contemporary of groups like R.E.M. and the B-52s,” Albany Museum of Art Executive Director Andrew J. Wulf, Ph.D., said. “Vanessa Briscoe Hay was a member of Pylon, and she formed Pylon Reenactment Society about 10 years ago. PRS has mixed its original work with the spirit of Pylon to earn acclaim from publications such as Rolling Stone and Uncut Magazine for its performances and albums. They have cultivated a devoted following, and we are delighted to bring them to Albany to headline the entertainment lineup at The Heart of Albany Festival.”

Songwriter Hay, the band’s vocalist, said she and her Pylon Reenactment Society bandmates—guitarist Jason NeSmith, bassist Kay Stanton, and drummer Gregory Sanders—are looking forward to their first performance in Albany. They are slated to take the James M. Barnett, Jr. Foundation Stage at 2 pm.

“I am excited about performing in Albany for this festival, visiting the museum, and possibly Radium Springs,” Hay said.

While Pylon gave birth to Pylon Reenactment Society, the latter is not a continuation or a reunion of the original group. Neither is it a cover band nor a tribute act, though Pylon songs are included in the band’s sets, along with PRS originals.

“We definitely perform to the audience and love having a chance to speak with audience members before or after a set,” Stanton, who began working with Hay in 2007, said. “My experience is that while there has been some skepticism from OG (old guard) Pylon fans, once they see us perform and hear how solid Vanessa’s vocals are, most appreciate what we’re doing. We try to bring the energy and sound of Pylon, but with our own twist.

“The newer members of Pylon Reenactment Society are all big Pylon fans, so we always want to play the original songs with respect, but without trying to directly copy how the members of Pylon played those songs. We all have our own unique take, which I hope is interesting to the listener.”

The band has been successful with that approach. Since 2015, PRS has released a 12-inch extended play album, a 7-inch single, a Bandcamp single, the digital single Christmas Daze, and five music videos. Last year, the quartet released their debut full-length album, Magnet Factory, to laudatory reviews from Uncut Magazine (“… a terrific debut from American post-punk veterans”) and The Associated Press (“… the band is an irresistible blend of simplicity and synchronicity, the music both edgy and therapeutic). Regarding their performance at SXSW last year, Rolling Stone magazine said, “…Pylon Reenactment Society dodges nostalgia partially because Pylon was hardwired for the future …”

Pylon Reenactment Society was formed in 2014 for a one-off performance at an event called Art Rocks Athens. Hay coined the name from what Pylon had jokingly called themselves as they relearned their songs during rehearsals for one of their early reunions.

Between 1979 and 2009, Pylon performed in three runs. It disbanded the first time in 1983. “We quit while we were still having fun,” Hay said. “We reformed in 1988 at the urging of fans like R.E.M. and the B-52s, and having a segment in (the documentary film) Athens, GA: Inside/Out.”

In 1991, Pylon disbanded again, then reformed in 2004. “This time just for fun,” Hay said. During that last five-year iteration, Pylon did not perform regularly, leading Hay to start a second group with musicians who later would join her in PRS.

“I had songs coming into my head that had no outlet,” she said. “I formed Supercluster in 2007 as a recording project, and that is where I first began to write with Kay Stanton and Jason NeSmith. Randy Bewley, guitarist for Pylon, was also a member. He passed away in 2009, which was when Pylon formally disbanded.”

Supercluster continued until 2013. The next year, NeSmith invited Hay to perform at Art Rocks Athens, a series of shows and art exhibits illustrating the connection between art and music from 1975 to 1985 in Athens.

“I decided to perform Pylon material, and he (NeSmith) backed me up with his, Kay’s, and Gregory’s band, Casper & the Cookies,” she said. “It went really well. We performed again in 2015 at the second Art Rocks Athens event, and we started to receive offers to perform.”

Since then, she said, PRS has “performed across the U.S., and even at Primavera in Barcelona.” The closest to Albany that Pylon Reenactment Society has performed is Columbus and Buena Vista.

While Pylon’s peers were Gang of Four, Mission of Burna, Wire, The B-52s, R.E.M., Talking Heads, Love Tractor, Method Actors, and others of that era, PRS’s contemporaries are Dry Cleaning, Ganser, Fontaines D.C., Parquet Courts, Sleater-Kinney, Geese, FACS, and The Chameleons.

“I feel extremely lucky to have been involved with both Pylon and now PRS — they are all extremely open and creative people,” Hay said. “Pylon began as an art project, and PRS utilize Pylon as our guiding star. I can close my eyes onstage during the performance of Pylon material and feel the same energy.

“The thing about time is that no one truly understands it. Some say it’s circular, or linear, or in layers. Just let go of all that and be in the moment. Enjoy the music and dance if you want to.”

Hay has been writing songs for decades, but her process hasn’t changed in that time, she said. “The music usually suggests to me what to do,” she said. “Some songs come easily, and others require much more work. Creativity takes time, and you have to make space for it in your life. Nobody knows where ideas come from. That said, we are discussing ways to alter our process.”

The results of those processes will be evident when PRS takes the stage at The Heart of Albany Festival. Those in the audience can expect to hear from both the Pylon and Pylon Reenactment Society catalogs.

“We play quite a few Pylon songs in addition to the new things PRS has written. Some do shout out for their favorites,” Stanton said.

The only difficult decision in selecting songs is the limitation of the set length, Stanton said. “There are so many great Pylon songs, plus the PRS material we like to include,” she said. “It can be hard to decide. Often, we practice more than we could possibly play in a set and see which ones are gelling the most for that week.”

As for the future, could there be plans in the making for a follow-up album to 2024’s Magnet Factory? “We have just begun brainstorming ideas for a possible next album,” Stanton said. “We’ll see what happens!”

The 8th annual Heart of Albany Festival will be from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, Nov 15, at the Albany Museum of Art, 311 Meadowlark Drive. Admission to the festival is free for everyone. The fall arts festival features professional chalk artists, art demonstrations, entertainment, kids’ activities, a Vendor Village, food trucks, and more.

In addition to presenting sponsor The James M. Barnett, Jr. Foundation, community-minded businesses and organizations supporting the festival are AMAzing Activities sponsor Vine Vision; Student Chalk Blocks sponsor Georgia’s Own Credit Union; Volunteers sponsors Flint Community Bank, Adams Exterminators, and Phoebe; Professional Chalk Artist Block sponsors Albany Internal Medicine, F&W Forestry, Love’s Travel Stops, Wawa. Underwood Law, LLC, and U-Save-It Pharmacy; Helper supporter, Southland Pediatric Dentistry, and in-kind partners City of Albany, Eddie’s Signs, and Blick Art Supplies.

The Heart of Albany Festival website is HERE.

Pylon Reenactment Society’s website is HERE.

Pylon Reenactment Society’s YouTube playlist is HERE.

AMA EXHIBITIONS

 

ABOUT THE ALBANY MUSEUM OF ART

The Albany Museum of Art is located at 311 Meadowlark Drive in Albany, Ga., adjacent to Albany State University West Campus just off Gillionville Road. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Albany Museum of Art is open to the public 10 am-5 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is free.

For more information about the AMA please visit our website, www.albanymuseum.com, or call 229.439.8400. Be sure to follow AlbanyMuseumOfArt on Facebook and AlbanyMuseum on Instagram.

  • Director of Marketing and Communications

    Jim Hendricks joined the Albany Museum of Art in 2018 as Director of Marketing & Communications after more than 34 years at The Albany Herald, a daily newspaper where he was the Editor and an award-winning writer and columnist.