Dirty Face Reunion with Powhida & Hot Cousin
About this Event
Friday, September 25th at Lark Hall in Albany, NY . . .
Late 80’s Albany, NY rock band DIRTY FACE to reunite for one last show!!
7pm doors - come early and listen to Dominick’s awesome pre-show music
8pm kickoff w/ The Powhida Infirmary, John Powhida's new Boston band performing hisoriginal songs with fellow members Mike Gent (The Figgs, Graham Parker), Rick Cohen
(Brian Wilson Band) and John Sheeran (Nat Freedberg).
9pm DIRTY FACE, the final reunion
10pm after-party w/ Hot Cousin, Albany based retro-rock playing the coolest 80’s covers
tickets are only $5.00
In 1985, founding members Dominick Campana and Matthew Hayes began playing songs together in their
apartment on the corner of State and Lark in Albany. After being joined by drummer Ross Rubenstein, DIRTY
FACE arrived on the local music scene later that year with a cassette demo of the song Identity which gained
significant attention from UAlbany’s WCDB and was immediately transferred to cart for heavy rotation.
In 1986 DIRTY FACE released their debut single Carousel (side A) b/w Understand (side 1) on MCE Records. To
help pay for the pressing of the 45, George Guarino and Buzz Magazine pre-ordered hundreds of the records to
give away with subscriptions. In addition to enormous support from SUNY Albany’s WCDB, a new DJ (Howard
“The Beast Of The Northeast” Glassman) at a new radio station (WEQX 102.7FM) also began pushing the record
and the band. Charlene Shortsleeve (288 Lark, Duck Soup, QE2) was the strongest supporter (and later
manager) of the band and actually painted and displayed a six foot tall poster of the Carousel lyrics on the newly
opened QE2 night club in Albany. The premier music journalist (for both Metroland and the Times Union) Greg
Haymes (aka Sarge Blotto) also listed Carousel among his very favorite songs.
DIRTY FACE then released the cut Dog on Son Of Hudson Rock [MCE Records), the 1987 follow-up to the ground
breaking Hudson Rock compilation of emerging musical artists from Albany.
There was a change in drummers in 1988 from Ross Rubenstein to Joey Pucci along with the release of the debut
album I Can Hurt Myself (If I Want To) [Overwellum Records]. I Can Hurt Myself held the number one album
spot on WCDB for until eclipsed by Husker Du’s Candy Apple Grey. In order to pay for the recording and release,
DIRTY FACE sold ads on the back of the album cover to Buzz Magazine, The Music Shack, QE2 and WCDB. This,
of course, was way before the Internet and the likes of Kickstarter or GoFundMe.
DIRTY FACE were also the house band of sorts at Club 288 and QE2 (for the first couple years), thanks in no small
part to their manager Charlene Shortsleeve. Between two national tours and their residency at QE2, DIRTY FACE
shared the stage with the likes of Soul Asylum, Goo Goo Dolls, 10,000 Maniacs, and dozens of other bands that
went on to considerable success.
1989 produced the cassette-only release of Mad Again [Paint Chip Records] and dozens of showcase
performances for most of the major labels and several independents. This included several shows at NYC’s
legendary CBGB’s. Although critically acclaimed for their melodic and prolific songwriting along with their
energetic and spontaneous live shows, DIRTY FACE was not able to sell Mad Again. Even though the band
brought in some vocal help from Jim Caringi (Private Plain, WCDB GM), DIRTY FACE did not break out as
expected.
In 1991, DIRTY FACE broke up. Only to resurrect itself with their original drummer to record the CD album Big
Lollipop Head [Paint Chip Records]. The less-than-stellar audio production on the record would prove to be the
final straw as DIRTY FACE called it quits for good in 1992. Dominick decided to produce records himself and
focused on his new record company Paint Chip Records (Bloom, Dugans, North Again, Dryer, Hundred Acre
Wood, Lughead, Queer For AstroBoy, The Wait and several others, plus a slew of benchmark compilations) and
working to promote local shows in close cooperation with Metroland Magazine. See
www.PaintChipRecords.com for more info.
Fast-forward to 2026. Matthew Tillison-Hayes is a retired federal law enforcement officer living north of Detroit
who occasionally performs solo and volunteers for multiple social justice organizations. Ross Rubenstein is a
Professor and Chair at Georgia State University with a hidden electronic drum kit at home. Joey Pucci is a
professional drummer, touring and playing casino residencies with multiple bands of top musicians when not at
home in Voorheesville, NY. Dominick Campana (also in Voorheesville) runs his own audio systems design firm
and has been releasing his own recordings for a while now. He is also wary of stepping on stage for the first
time in thirteen years (and then seventeen years before that) without dropping from a heart attack (seriously).
Where is it happening?
USD 7.14
