Jamestown, NY only holds a population of just over 30,000. Yet, the small town, just a few miles from the Pennsylvania border, is most notably home to Lucille Ball and the 10, 000 Maniacs. The Jamestown music scene is on the rise, as Cold Lazarus, one of Western New York’s premier up and coming bands, has been catching eyes and ears with their unique brand of progressive/jam fusion. As the winter weather begins to warm up this weekend, Cold Lazarus is hitting the road to showcase their first full length release, the self-titled studio album Cold Lazarus.
Cold Lazarus will kick off the weekend on Friday in Westfield with a free show at the Tap Room. You can also catch the band as they open in support of Rochester-based Haewa in Jamestown on Saturday at Mojo’s. Buffalo music fans can catch the band on Sunday as they open in support of Mungion at Buffalo Iron Works.
The four- piece melds funk, psychedelic rock, reggae and soul with indie-style vocals and introspective lyrics. And it’s a formula that has quickly launched Cold Lazarus into the Western New York music scene.
Cold Lazarus bassist Gavin Paterniti told NYS Music that the band’s musical formula comes from a place of being a musician’s band. “Our influences are quite varied, but we never set out to sound like any one artist or band that we enjoy listening to,” Paterniti noted. “We sort of pull from all those influences and combine them into an amalgam of funk, reggae, rock and jam-centric songs.”
Cold Lazarus strikes a delicate balance between musicianship and entertainment. “We like to give our listeners and audience members something they can groove to while simultaneously challenging us as we play it, so we incorporate some progressive themes but try to keep it accessible, so we don’t lose our audience who are feeling the groove.”
Celebrating the release of their first studio release, Cold Lazarus is also expanding their reach as artists in 2018. The band will be debuting in Rochester this March with Buffalo’s Space Junk. And they also landed a Buffalo support date with Aqueous side project Boss Tweed and the Carpetbaggers. Paterniti explains that although headlining dates is important for building a reputation, the support dates allow Cold Lazarus to gain new fans.
“Right now, we’re still putting a big premium on exposure,” he said. “In comparison to many of these more established bands, we’re still kind of in our infancy stage, despite the fact that we’ve got about 2 albums’ worth of material and we’ve already managed to secure some very coveted festival spots in under a year and a half. We just want to get some recognition out there and for more people to hear us.”
And while the exposure to new fans is the goal, Paterniti also sees the value in playing with some of the scene’s favorite touring artists. “It’s always great to be able to make contacts with some of these other bands who are blowing up the scene,” he explained, “You never know when those kinds of connections might be able to benefit you again down the road.”
The band has already enjoyed an appearance at last summer’s Night Lights Music Festival and landed slots at this summer’s Gathering at Chaffee’s in Erie and The Great Blue Heron Music Festival. And while the band is staying tight-lipped about the rest of their summer plans, Paterniti noted that you’ll probably be seeing more of the Cold Lazarus name throughout the summer. “This summer is shaping up to be a great one for us, and I think it’s going to do wonders for us as a band moving forward,” he surmised. “We’ll also be making a couple of other area festival appearances, but those lineups have yet to be announced. We’re very excited about how things are progressing for our summer performance schedule.”
Cold Lazarus hits various venues around Western New York throughout the spring. Catch them at one of their upcoming Western New York shows. Also, check out the band’s album Cold Lazarus, available on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp and other major streaming services.
Cold Lazarus
2/23 – Westfield, NY – The Tap Room
2/24 – Jamestown, NY – Mojo’s#
2/25 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Iron Works*
3/9 – Erie, PA – Kings Rook Club $
3/10 – Buffalo, NY – Nietzsche’s %
5/19 – Rochester, NY – Funk n Waffles
7/28 – Gathering at Chaffee’s
#- support for Haewa
*- support for Mungion
% – support for Boss Tweed and the Carpetbaggers
$ – support for Space Junk
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This locally based band will be performing at the 
