Southern Avenue, Memphis’ hottest blues group will be heading to New York this weekend for two can’t miss shows. They’ll perform at the Plattsburgh Mayor’s Cup on Friday, July 7 and Buffalo Niagara Blues Fest on Saturday, July 8. The Concord/Stax recording artists just released their self-titled debut album in February and bring together soul, funk and rock that when combined with blues moves your feet and stirs your soul.
Talking with Southern Avenue’s Ori Naftaly, an Israeli-born blues guitarist who came to Memphis in 2013 for the International Blues Challenge, his blues sound started with the electrified Chicago blues before he turned to earlier blues legends and connected with the soul side of Memphis. Southern Avenue brings in a Mavis Staples angle of blues, with more gospel-based tunes and greater arrangements for vocals from Tierinii Jackson and Tikyra Jackson. Two songs in particular, “Don’t Give Up” and “80 Miles From Memphis,” have the Staples Singers sound, but Naftaly admits, each has a different vibe to it. “We have so many different things to write and find inspiration in, so every song has a different vibe in it and a whole different world we can dive into.” Executive producer John Burke from Concord Music Group helped to trim down the album from 18 songs to those that showcased their broad sound.
One track in particular, “Peace will Come,” was written about his childhood growing up in Israel during the Gulf War. It beckons a question asked often in the Middle East, ‘When will peace come?,’ but this question refers to peace between people and the environment, not necessarily countries. The song has power to it with the weight of the goal of peace weighted down in the lyrics, alongside a Staples Singers vibe.
And while Naftaly is an Israeli burn blues guitarist, he is not the first. Guy King moved to Chicago a generation before Ori ventured to Memphis. While both are blues musicians and have found a comfortable place in the roots of their genre, Ori looks to bring the blues to the table with Southern Avenue. But soul, funk and jazz will surely find their way into the Southern Avenue performances this weekend in Plattsburgh and Buffalo.
TreadWater is an integral part of Rochester’s thriving underground music scene. As well as their own musical contribution, a member of the band is actively involved in fostering the growth of the DIY community by arranging shows for local and traveling up-and-coming indie artists.
NYS Music met up with TreadWater members Steve Haramis, Caleb Barefoot, and Adam Kramer at Vineyard Community Space. This foursquare house owned by Monroe Park Vineyard Church sits beside a former church converted into an arcade. Like the place where they practice and perform, TreadWater is a study in contrast – their music is hardcore at heart, but full of surprising elements such as classic rock beats, crisp guitar riffs, tempo changes, and melodic segments.
Photo by Corinne Cummings
Paula Cummings: Tell me about the formation of the band. You guys got together last year, right?
Steve Haramas: We were all in bands previously together. Adam and Caleb were in Rhema most recently, and before that Adam and I were in a band called Endangered Youth. I said “We should be in a hardcore band.” So that was it. It was that easy. I think when you’ve been friends for years, you don’t have to talk about it, you just do it. We practiced for a couple months, tried to find what kind of sound we wanted.
Adam Kramer: I feel like things came together pretty quickly because we have a chemistry because we’ve all played together.
Caleb Barefoot: My band before played with Endangered Youth quite a few times, so we knew each other from playing shows together since 2013.
PC: How did you decide on a band name?
AK: It was a long process.
SH: It’s never been that hard to name a band. Every other band I’ve been in was it was like “That’s the band name, there it is.” (snaps fingers)
CB: You usually have an idea of what the band’s going to sound like and you pick a name to fit the style. That’s easy. But with this, we talk about influences and what we’re good at playing. We went into it not knowing what to expect or what would come of it. We had been writing a lot. We had the EP written before we came up with a name. Once you have so much written it’s hard to come up with what the band means. It’s like working backwards, I guess. Trying to get the name to fit the band rather than the band fitting into the name.
SH: I think that’s good because when you try to follow the footsteps of the name or a certain sound you’re restricted to that thing. We just let it go where it went and named it based on that.
CB: We had a couple stand-in names, but then one practice Steve said, “I have a name, how about Treading Water.” And I said, “What about TreadWater, because Zao, a band we like, has an album called Treadwater. It fits our style.
PC: You guys have a really interesting sound. Who are some of the bands who have influenced you?
CB: Other than Rhianna?
SH: Some are unconscious. You start playing, then you go back and you hear things. But nothing is consciously in my head like, “I want this to sound like that.” The influence is unconscious.
CB: We listen to a lot of the same bands: Solid State, Tooth and Nail Records, mid-2000’s.
AK: Early metalcore.
CB: Early hardcore crossover into metalcore.
SH: Zao, obviously.
CB: Norma Jean, Chariot.
AK: Early Underoath.
SH: I listen to a lot of 90’s screamo, too.
PC: So how do you get your sound? What gear are you using?
CB: You push it as loud as it can go.
SH: You can make something sound clean and distort it at the same time. I want something that still has some character to it. It’s dirty and has some grunge to it, but it’s not indiscernible. You can still pick apart the different tones in there. It’s the reason why I use a Stratacaster to play is because I feel it’s a guitar not used for metal, so it’s interesting to try to use it to make that sound. It still has a lot of character to it.
CB: I guess Nirvana and The Melvins are a couple more influences, my big influences as far as drums. My mindset in recording was more classic rock. I use a vintage 1970’s drum set.
AK: I’ve been playing though a Thunderbird bass. I’m not much of a gear-head, but the Thunderbird sounds great.
CB: Just loud and open is what our band tries to achieve.
SH: It’s loud and you can feel it when you listen to it. You let it break apart and lose it’s intricacy when you play live, but it’s more about the feel of the set. You push the volume and feeling.
Photo by Corinne Cummings
PC: You recently put out your first release, Arrows In The Sun. Tell me about the songs on it.
AK: As far as the lyrics for the songs, the lyrics were put together at the last minute. We didn’t intend on Steve and I being the main vocalists. We had other people who had come to practice, but it didn’t work out.
SH: A few weeks before our first show, we still didn’t have anyone, so we sat here in this room and wrote the lyrics and rehearsed it quick.
AK: That’s why this first stuff is minimalist as far as lyrics. It’s more about the music. We were going for catchiness.
SH: It’s not about how much you say. You can say a couple lines and you can make it punchy and have an impact.
CB: I think the band in general is continuing that with the new songs to be more minimalist with vocals and lyrics, and focusing more on making decent songs musically.
SH: I wrote three songs and Caleb wrote two. “Burning Bark” is about family, distance from family, and the process of going through that. “Backwards” is about frustrations with your own limitations and behavior. Hence, “Backwards,” not wanting to regress and wanting to move forward. “Speak” is about life and death and what’s important, which is love.
CB: I wrote “Shattered” and “Pretender.” Well, “Pretender” Steve and I co-wrote the lyrics. They’re more about frustration with hypocrisy and the judgmental.
SH: It’s funny because when we were in Endangered Youth, generally we were angsty about something all the time. And now it was like, “I don’t know what to write about.” I had to actually think about what I wanted to write about that means something. We’re not as angsty as we used to be.
CB: I think that’s a good thing. It’s about love and death.
SH: And “Signals” is just a transition track. It was one of the original names of the band that we threw out. So we threw it on there as a recognition of that name.
Photo by Corinne Cummings
PC: We’re here at Vineyard Community Space, where you rehearse and play sometimes. Who are some of the bands you’ve met through being here?
AK: Mostly it’s people we’ve known since before being in this band. This next weekend we’re going to do two shows with this band called Condition Oakland from Pennsylvania. And Tyler, the main songwriter in that band, he and I have been friends since we were 17. And we’ve always played different music genre-wise. When he plays solo it’s folk punk, and sometimes he plays with a full band and it’s hot water music, that style of punk rock. And we are what we are. But they’re some of our best friends.
SH: And California Cousins.
AK: We play with them at The Bug Jar. I appreciate those guys so much. They are the backbone of the DIY scene in Rochester. Almost every show that happens in this space, there’s a member of California Cousins here. So it’s been cool to get to know those guys and work together with them. And the guys from Druse, they’ve been really cool as well.
SH: Tim Avery is always part of the shows, too.
CB: We played with a band called Mother Moon from Baltimore. It was one of the only bands we’ve played with so far that we’ve sounded similar to. We didn’t feel like the odd band out on the show.
PC: Does having such an eclectic sound make you more versatile and able to jump onto shows with different sounds?
SH: The bands we’re playing with tonight, I imagine it would be hard for them to jump on certain shows because it’s straight death metal. It wouldn’t work. But if you’re more punk rock you can slip onto other shows. Our set has a lot of diversity, too. We have different songs – new and the EP. Tonight, we’ll play more of the heavy stuff but next week, we’ll play more of the melodic stuff. We tailor to the show we’re playing and morph a bit.
AK: Steve and I come from a scene that’s really small in central Pennsylvania. The first shows I played, I was in this really crappy emo band. We were playing shows with death metal bands. That’s what I grew up around, this diverse scene, because there’s not enough people in each individual subgenre. It’s part of where I come from, so I like to continue that in the booking and the shows we play.
SH: And those people who come will stay throughout the shows from across genres. They don’t just see one thing and leave. They participate in anything.
CB: We haven’t played with any hip hop bands yet. I wish we would. That would be awesome.
PC: So Adam, you book some of the shows here.
AK: Myself and Tim Avery book the shows here.
PC: Do you have a philosophy behind who you look for?
AK: If a band asks me for help – I get a lot of messages just because of the network of DIY booking and touring – I try to help them out. If it’s a young band, even if I don’t think they’re that good, but they’re touring and putting themselves out there, I want this to be a place where we’re supportive of young artists.
SH: It’s not about the musicality, it’s about the attitude. You have to be supportive, open-minded and laid back.
AK: Generally, good attitudes. Most people play in bad bands before they play in bands that are less bad. So hopefully this can be that for locals and for bands coming through on their first tours. That’s it – just foster a community, more than just a spot to put on shows.
The City of Rome’s annual summer concert series at Griffo Green at Rome City Hall kicks off its season of free Monday concerts July 10. All shows are held from 6-8 p.m. each Monday night throughout July and August. Beverages will be available for purchase and food trucks will be on hand on selected nights. There will also be a food truck rally July 24.
Kicking off this year’s series on July 10 is SAMMYS Hall of Fame inductee Fritz’s Polka Band. Fritz’s Polka Band was formed in 1978 and has been active ever since. While the word “polka” is in the band’s name, it is not solely a polka band. Fritz’s Polka Band performs everything from classic rock to blues to country. Check out FPB’s version of “All Along the Watchtower” below.
Vinyl 45, a five piece performing hits from the ’60s and ’70s, takes the stage July 17 followed by acoustic duo, the Boxed Set on July 24. The latter is also the date of the Food Truck Rally. Local food trucks will be lined up along North Washington Street for concert goers’ culinary concerns.
The Pine Ridge Mountain Band visits Griffo Green on July 31. This four piece specializes in southern rock. You’ll hear classics from the Allman Brothers Band and Lynryd Skynyrd as well as contemporary hits from Blackberry Smoke and Tom Petty.
Their version of the James Gang’s “Funk 49” can be seen below.
Caut!on makes an appearance Aug. 7. This local favorite dips into the catalogs of the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, the Band and other Americana and jamband staples along with its own original compositions.
Red Hush has been performing around Central New York for upward of 20 years. Their hard rock style has earned them a loyal following throughout the area. Griffo Green will be rocking when these guys take the stage Aug. 14.
The series wraps Aug. 21 with a performance of classics and contemporary rock and country by Dubonnet. Dubonnet is another veteran Central New York act with a strong following.
The Rome Summer Concert Series is sponsored by Davidson Auto Group and the City of Rome Department of Parks & Recreation. Admission to all events is free.
Dead and Company’s third tour made its way to Citi Field on June 24 while the Mets were away in San Fransisco, defeating the Giants by a score of 5 – 2. The summer evening weather made for a spectacular night of music with a packed stadium.
The long-standing game of guessing the show opener was on the tongues of many before the 7:30 downbeat and, regardless of incorrect guesses, “Dancing In The Streets” (which debuted earlier this tour) got the Queens crowd moving to the pace of the night. The relaxed but fun set continued on with the likes of “Jack Straw,” Tennesse Jed” and “Cold Rain and Snow” among others. Dead and Company jumped the gun by capping off the set with the party-rousing “One More Saturday Night,” more often seen in the second set of a Dead show.
As the second set rolled onward from the beautiful “Scarlet Begonias” opener, they let Oteil sing, as some t-shirts have said. Burbridge has been making more of a vocal appearance on this tour and took the lead on singing “Comes a Time,” making for a spectacular performance of the song coupled with Mayer’s atmospheric noodling on Dead and Company’s debut of that song. Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman put on a unique rhythmic soundscape for the drums/space break which was integrative of acoustic and electronic sounds and instruments including Hart’s multi-string, one-note Beam.
The encore was truly something special for the New York crowd. The familiar opening riff of “Touch of Grey” rang through the crowd noise as the projection faded to the b-roll live footage of the synchronized light show atop the Empire State Building across the East River in Manhattan. Without much of a skip the happy feels were capped off in a rock-and-roll fashion with “Johnny B. Goode.”
Dead and Company’s two night run at Citi Field last June was a good showcase of the chops of a Grateful Dead family lineup who had only been on tour for about one and a half years at that point. In this year’s single show at Citi Field, Dead and Company showed an ever-flourishing presence of musicianship on stage miles ahead of the band’s debut shows in Albany and NYC in the fall of 2015, which even then were noteworthy.
Setlist:
Set 1: Dancing In The Streets > Jack Straw, Here Comes Sunshine, Tennessee Jed, Cold Rain and Snow, Bird Song > One More Saturday Night
Set 2: Scarlet Begonias > Viola Lee Blues, Estimated Prophet > Comes A Time > Eyes Of The World > Drums/Space > The Other One > Morning Dew
Rochester’s Concerts By the Shore series returns this season with free shows on Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. at Ontario Beach Park. The park features access to the beach and pier, a playground, and a vintage carousel. Performances take place at the gazebo, and include the return of local favorites: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Skycoasters, Brass Taxi, Ruby Shooz, and more.
Concerts By the Shore Schedule
July 5 – Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (Classical)
July 12 – The Invictas (Rock & Roll)
July 19 – The Skycoasters (Party Band)
July 26 – Krazy Firemen (German & Big Band)
Aug. 2 – Brass Taxi (Pop & Dance)
Aug. 9 – Atlas (Party Band)
Aug. 16 – Greece Jazz Band
Aug. 23 – Allegro (Jazz, 60’s to 90’s)
Aug. 30 – Ruby Shooz (50’s & 60’s Rock & Roll)
Refreshments are available for purchase. For more information, call the Ontario Beach Park Information Line (585) 865-3320 or visit the Ontario Beach website here.
Growing up in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, Richard Young was surrounded by music. Known best as the frontman for the Grammy-award winning country rock band, Richard and his brother, Fred, still tends to the same 700 acres of farmland that has been in their family since the Revolutionary War. “We pretend to be farmers,” said Richard. Between the two, they raise about 80 heads of beef cattle. The friends they grew up with are still home, too. Professional farmers, some of whom sharecrop on those 700 acres. Everyone doing something to help out the other.
As a kid, Richard remembers walking down the road and hearing black sharecroppers belting out gospel music, while younger white workers sung Johnny Cash. At home, his father was apt to play big band records, while mom tuned the radio to the local blues station. His father, John, was a well-respected teacher within the county, where he taught for 39 years. He never traveled more than 400 miles from home, but told stories of Ancient Greece and Rome. When he died, a statue of Aristotle was one of a handful of sculptures he left behind in the backyard — a spectacle to see in rural Kentucky, said Richard.
On that land is an old farmhouse Richard and the band affectionately call the shack. It was Richard’s grandmother’s. While Richard and Fred were young teenagers, that farmhouse was in little use. Their grandmother kept receiving inquiries on the house. Instead of feeling bad over turning people down, she opened it up to the brothers. There, the Young brothers and their friends could play their music as loud as they wanted in the seclusion of their “psychedelic shack.”
The boys formed a band and called it Itchy Brother. They headed out with a Southern Rock sound that was growing in popularity with the emergence of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers and The Outlaws in the early 70s. Earning enough popularity around home, Itchy Brother signed to a label and recorded the single “Shotgun Effie,” with King Fargo Records. But, the window of opportunity for the boys out of Metcalfe wasn’t open for long. The natural progression for all bands began. Members split off, others came on board. The coming of a new decade showed promise. Itchy Brother sign with Swan Records, an independent label started by Led Zeppelin. When John Bonham died that same year, Swan closed operations. Itchy Brother broke up two years later.
The music never really died for the Young brothers. The two were in Nashville during the Reagan years. Having spent their lives avoiding country and bluegrass, it was the last place they expected to rekindle their careers. To them, Nashville was the heart of country music. Home of the Grand Ol’ Opry. But, they soon learned, there was more to Nashville than Minnie Pearl and her hat.
“Nashville was only 85 miles from Edmonton (in Metcalfe County),” said Richard, “but it seemed a million miles from where we started. Greg, then Fred, later took jobs as sidemen where their Southern rock skills proved to be handy and exciting to those acts who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Charlie Daniels and Hank Williams, Jr.”
Richard took a different route by hanging around writing houses. In 1981, with the help of their longtime friend and manager, Mitchell Fox, the boys were signed as writers to Acuff/Rose Publishing Company.
“Nashville didn’t know it, but there was a roots movement starting to happen, and the ‘No Depression Era’ was just over the hill,” said Richard.
By the mid-80s, the music scene was shifting. Stadium rock gave way to the Second English Invasion a few years before. Now, that wave was dying down. Audiences were coming back to homegrown talent, and they searched for it in all kinds of genres: R&B, country and rock. That opened another window for the HeadHunter, said bandmember Greg Martin.
“If you go back and look at the musical diversity going on,” said Martin. “especially the roots and college music scene, even country music was allowing things to happen. Their guards were down. This spilled over into the local scene around here. Bowling Green, Louisville, and Nashville were all hopping, as well as the rest of the country. This had a huge impact on us and helped fuel the formation of the HeadHunters.”
The Itchy Brothers’ style was back in 1986, but under a new name — Kentucky HeadHunters. In four years, its album “Pickin’ on Nashville” earned the band a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Best New Vocal Group award from the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and Album of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association (CMA). In addition, it earned a double-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping two million copies in the United States.
In 2005, The Kentucky HeadHunters made the first of two albums with Hall of Fame pianist Johnnie Johnson — who also holds the distinction of discovering Chuck Berry, when Johnson introduced the legendary guitarist to his band. Ultimately, as outgoing as Berry was, people assumed the band was his. As Berry’s legend grew through the 1950s, his showmanship took centerstage. But, as Young said, “A lot of people don’t realize, Johnnie had a whole lot to do with those songs in the writing process.” This summer will mark the band’s 49th year since it was formed. Today, Richard describes the band’s timeline in two parts, there’s the band “before Johnnie” and then there’s the band “after Johnnie.”
In their time “after Johnnie,” the band has gone through a renaissance period. Richard’s son, John Fred Young, is the drummer for Mascot Records’ Black Stone Cherry. The son has done one thing no one else has been able to do in four decades, and that is to get Richard on a plane. As Black Stone Cherry played to huge crowds at three-day music festivals in Europe, he coaxed his father to get the band overseas to join him. Last year, Kentucky HeadHunters played in Sweden, and they all plan to return to Europe this year. This weekend, the HeadHunters play at the three-day Harley Rendezvous Classic festival in Pattersonville, From Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25.
“We’ve lived a charmed life,” said Richard. “We’d go on the road, come back home, hop on a tractor and tend to the farm. Have that release from the music business, and vise versa. We’ve been lucky boys.”
The shack is now a two-band farmhouse. The HeadHunters share it with John Fred’s Black Stone Cherry. As Richard describes the house, it still has the look of a modest Kentucky farmhouse, but the writing house continues to be a buzz as it did when he and his brother were younger. Someone is playing music, and girls keep coming over to hang out.
“It all started over again,” said Richard. “The styles are as they were in the early 70s. (Hip-hugging shorts and tube tops.) All these little girls are coming over, and they love me because I’m the old man hanging out.” Richard said it’s as if time has come back in a circle, and he’s able to relive what it was like back when his band was Itchy Brother in 1968. Play music, hang out with the girls, go back home to eat dinner, and right back at it again. But, it’s not quite the same anymore. “What’s funny about it is I’ll get ready to go back down,” said Richard, but his wife said, “You keep your ass here!”
This article was originally published by The Spot 518. is property of Spotlight Newspapers in Albany, N.Y., and appears as a special to NYS Music. TheSpot518 and NYS Music work in partnership to provide readers with in-depth coverage on the local music scene in the Capital District and New York state, respectively. For more, visit TheSpot518.com.
The Rock the Block Summer Concert Series makes a comeback this year and will have, “without question…. the greatest lineup,” Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse said in The Record. The series started June 8 but runs until August 10, and will feature ten unique bands every Thursday between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Some guests include a country group appropriately named Big Sky Country, “know-‘em by heart classic song” cover band the Audiostars, and Celtic rock band Hair of the Dog. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase food and drinks at the venue but are asked to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets as well as the whole family.
For the 8th summer in a row, Albany’s Dana Park will be filled with the sound of live music on Monday nights. The series kicks off on July 10 with The 7th Squeeze and Jessica Jenks, and continues weekly through the end of August with a variety of music by musicians from the Capital Region. Shows start at 5:30pm.
Dana Park is located at the intersection of Madison and Deleware Avenues. In the event of inclement weather, shows will be moved indoors. For updates and more information, visit the Dana Park Concert Series Facebook page.
Thursday June 29 was a busy night across Buffalo, musically speaking. The real celebration went down that night at Buffalo Iron Works. Intrepid Travelers released their latest EP Everyday Is Your Birthday to a packed crowd. Witty Tarbox opened up the festivities. They describe themselves as indie riffs over a rhythmic funk foundation fond of improvisation. Being relatively new to the scene as a band they lit up the stage setting the tone for the evening. They ended their set with Vulfpeck cover “Cory Wong” with help from Donny Frauenhofer from Intrepid Travelers. Almost hard to believe they have been playing together for under six months. Be sure to check these guys out during their set at Cobblestone Live on Saturday July 15.
With their tour speeding up, Intrepid Travelers had enough time to release their latest EP to a delighted hometown crowd in the 716. They hit the stage close to 10:30 and it was ON from there. The first four songs of their set were off of their latest EP Everyday Is Your Birthday. From there they traveled to a funky but unfinished “Electric Avenue.” A few more covers as well as a few more off their latest release were sprinkled in throughout the rest of the set. Ellen Pieroni was featured on alto sax for the Lettuce cover of “Madison Square.”
There aint no rest for the wicked. Intrepid Travelers are already back on the road with five shows in the first week of July spread across the Midwest. Halfway through July they will be traveling home with shows on July 15 at Three Heads Brewing in Rochester and July 16 in Buffalo at Cobblestone Live.
Intrepid Travelers Setlist:
Soundcheck: Get IT to you
Set 1: On Inside > Destinesia, Dark Disease > Funnel > Jam > Electric Avenue(1) > Jam > Maddy & Anna, Captain Jon > Final Voyage, Madison Square(2)$, 1999(3), Stand The Heat > Get IT To You
(1)Eddy Grant cover
(2)Lettuce Cover
(3)Prince Cover
$ Featured Ellen Pieroni (Folkfaces) on alto saxophone
Witty Tarbox SetList:
Pyramid, Pabst Blue Rhythm, Surfslut, Trevor, Bitch Has Got An Attitude, Scmitty n Bags, Prepare To Launch ^, Moving Pictures, Cory Wong*#
*Vulfpeck Cover
# w/ Donny Frauenhofer (Intrepid Travelers) on Keys
The Riverboat Bar in Alexandria Bay has announced a stellar lineup for its Summer 2017 Live Music Series. Both regional and national touring acts will be featured at Alex Bay’s Riverboat Bar.
The primarily free series brings live music to the Bay Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer. It began June 3 with Broken Arrow Hearts and followed with Earphorik, Mick Fury and Mister F. Friday’s featured artist is the Tyler Pearce Project, a soulful pop-rock act from Rochester.
Saturday features local Bay act Adapter., an original improv band influenced by moe., the Tragically Hip, Pearl Jam and the Black Keys.
The Riverboat is the only Thousand Islands area venue that spotlights such a prominent array of national and regional acts. Most shows are free to the public and cover a variety of genres. The main focus is to feature bands from the New York State music scene from cities such as Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Syracuse that have made names for themselves performing at festivals and venues throughout the Northeast and beyond.
Bands returning to the Riverboat this summer include New York acts Mister F, Black Mountain Symphony, Chris James and Mama G, Subsoil, Folkfaces, Annie in the Water, Tiny Music, Haewa, Boogiehood, Adapter, Balkun Brothers from Connecticut, Tweed from Philadelphia, After Funk from Toronto and Jiggawaltz from Vermont.
In addition to these returning acts, the venue welcomes newcomers Earphorik from Fort Wayne, IN, Formula 5 from Albany, the Old Main from Utica, the Medicinals from Rochester, Funktional Flow from Buffalo and the Tyler Pearce Project from Rochester.
Join NYS Music and the Riverboat Bar for a summer full of great live local, regional and national music.
Alex Bay’s Riverboat Bar Summer 2017 Live Music Series:
June 30 – Tyler Pearce Project
July 1 – Adapter.
July 7 – Boogiehood
July 8 – Formula 5
July 14 – Balkun Brothers
July 15 – Black Mountain Symphony
July 21 – the Old Main
July 22 – Chris James & Mama G w/s/g Johnny Richards
July 28 – Funktional Flow
July 29 – Tweed
Aug. 4 – Subsoil
Aug. 5 – Folkfaces
Aug. 11 – Annie in the Water
Aug. 12 – Tiny Music
Aug. 18 – After Funk
Aug. 19 – Jiggawaltz
Aug. 25 – the Medicinals
Aug. 26 – Haewa
Check out footage of upcoming Riverboat artist Formula 5 below:
“Nashville was only 85 miles from Edmonton (in Metcalfe County),” said Richard, “but it seemed a million miles from where we started. Greg, then Fred, later took jobs as sidemen where their Southern rock skills proved to be handy and exciting to those acts who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Charlie Daniels and Hank Williams, Jr.”
The Itchy Brothers’ style was back in 1986, but under a new name — 
The primarily free series brings live music to the Bay Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer. It began June 3 with Broken Arrow Hearts and followed with Earphorik, Mick Fury and Mister F. Friday’s featured artist is the Tyler Pearce Project, a soulful pop-rock act from Rochester.
Join NYS Music and the Riverboat Bar for a summer full of great live local, regional and national music.