MAY 7, 2019 - Desertland

With Desertland completed and out to the world in the format of CD, Digital and "Sky Blue" Vinyl, we have never been more proud, excited and optimistic for the future and what it holds.  This album was huge for us.  We finally had a complete and fully contributing band making this album.  This allowed us to try new things and experiment with sounds because of how comfortable we all were with each other.  There are tracks on Desertland that sound familiar and there are also tracks that sound completely new.  That's what we're so excited about.  We maintained our roots while exploring new sounds.  We're already writing a new album.  Thanks to everyone who has already listened.  Here is a write up from Buffalo Rising on Desertland.  Thanks for the love and support!  We can't wait to play these tunes out live.  -JHATM

APRIL 14, 2017 - Studio

That's a wrap folks! We are absolutely speechless. These past four days have been nothing short of a fantasy. California Road Studios is an incredible facility and we would highly recommend anyone interested in recording to take a tour. Alan was a very gracious host our entire stay. Fred Betschen, we have no words. You are a master and best in class at what you do. Your patience, your ability to connect with a player and your overall kindness is remarkable. You gave us our freedom and creativity but you pushed us to dig deeper. You really brought us to a place where we were able to bring out our best performances. It was truly an honor and privilege to share this process with you. We will never forget these four days. To everyone who came in and helped us along the way including Tori, Courtney, Matt, Joey and Justin, you helped bring all of these songs to a new place. You're all incredible people and thank you for gracing us with your time and talent. More to come in the near future. Cheers!

JANUARY 24, 2017 - Shows & Studio

Hey everyone, it's been awhile since we updated you all. We have been making our rounds all over Western New York lately doing lots of shows and loving every minute of it!  We've met some great people along the way and heard some great music.  We have some shows posted already and we have a couple more to announce later this week!  We are also very excited to announce we're going to into the studio in April to make a new album!  Check back soon for updates on the album, shows and much more that are in the works.  Thanks for your continued support, we are extremely grateful and humbled.  Cheers!

JUNE 24, 2016 - THE MESS

Hey everyone, Happy Friday!  Amidst all the chaos and negativity that seems to be flooding the interwebs lately, I just wanted to share a bit of exciting news.  Well it’s exciting to me, and perhaps a few others, but maybe it will excite you as well.  How the hell would I know what excites you?  I’ve been working on a project for a long time now, a music project, shocking I know.  At the start it was very exciting, I made a record all by myself a few years back, had some fun and ran into frustrations while going through that process.  It was great but it was also lonely.  Relying on computers to provide a “band” sound, in some instances was really neat because it opened my eyes to things I had never seen before, but in other aspects I just felt the sound was so far from genuine it made me worried about sharing the music.  Ultimately, I shared the music and released a record.  I was happy with that, but after growing up for 10+ years in a band, that just wasn’t going to cut it for me.  Today, a “concept” of mine has become a reality.  Computers are out the door and The Mess is real.  For the past 8 months or so, I’ve been working with a group of extremely talented musicians taking new song ideas to them and developing other new songs with them.  It’s been a very exciting 8 months and the group of guys I’m working with are so dedicated and talented, it’s been hard for me to hide this project for this long.  That being said, Johnny Hart and the Mess, is no longer a guy sitting behind his computer recording his ideas.  It’s a tangible, loud, rock n roll BAND.  It’s no longer me or I, but a collective “We”.  I’m so grateful that I found these guys to take this journey together.  Each week we are constantly pushing each other to be better and I think that’s a truly special thing to have in a group.  We hope to start kicking shows off in the fall, but before then, we are going to be making our debut out in the boonies!  We will be performing at the Eden Corn Festival on Friday, August 5th.  Time is TBD still.  We figured we’ll work out the kinks there while taking some ears of corn off the chin through the chicken wire we’re DEMANDING be in front of our stage.  If the crowd likes us Friday, they’re going to invite us back on Saturday to play again.

 

Back in 2013 when I released my album, Ray McGurn gave me a shot (as he has my entire life) to play at the South Buffalo Irish Festival even though my sound in this project was not so Irish.  Due to some scheduling conflicts that day, my backing band was double booked and could not make my set.  I had to go on with backing tracks and perform.  To this day, 3 years later, every time I see Ray he says, “Johnny Hart!  Where’s the Mess?!”  Well Kinger, have I got news for you…….

 

If you’d like to hear more about upcoming shows, stop over to our page and give us a click for updates.  Thanks in advance for listening to me rambling.  Can’t wait to perform this music.  It’s a long ways away from computer sounds and back tracks.  It’s raw, it’s energetic, I’m really proud and I’m very excited for the next step.  Cheers!

 

​

NOVEMBER 7 THE STARVE

Johnny stopped by The Starve this week to sit down with the guys to discuss his music and to do a little in studio performance.  Click on the link below to listen to the whole interview along with performances. Check back next week for videos of the performances of "All I Need" & "Back and Forth" on The Starve site.  Many thanks to The Starve for the invite, it was a great time!

 

www.thestarve.com

 

SEPTEMBER 12 WNY MUSIC AWARDS

Johnny is humbled and honored to announce that he was awarded a "Best Instrumentalist" in the WNY Music Awards.  Congrats to all the winners!  A full list of winners can be found here

 

A special Welcome Back to the Mohawk Place!  Rock on!

​JULY 10 WNY MUSIC AWARDS

Johnny has been nominated for an All WNY Music Award "Best Instrumentalist" for his work with Jack Mahone.  Feel free to click here to vote (you don't have to enter an email at the end to vote).  Lots going on behind the scenes with the Mess.  Stay cool.

FEBRUARY 25 HOP INN & BUFFALO IRON WORKS

The Hop Inn was a blast Saturday! Many thanks to everyone who stayed out/came out for the show. We'll be back there this Saturday after the Shamrock Run, starting up around 4:00. This party is always epic, so get there early! We're also very excited to announce we'll be playing at Buffalo Iron Works again on Saturday May 10th!! More details TBA as well as other show dates.  Cheers!

​AUGUST 16 BUFFALO RISING ARTICLE

Check out this article that came out today on Buffalo Rising.  Many Many thanks to Newell Nussbaumer for setting this up.  Cheers!

 

http://buffalorising.com/2013/08/sounds-of-buffalo-johnny-hart-and-the-mess/