NYS Music 202​0

Category: Western NY

  • Aqueous and Buffalo Iron Works announce two nights at Silver Lake Twin Drive-In

    On the heels of a successful Live at the Drive in Lockport this past June, Aqueous and Buffalo Iron Works have announced two evenings of live performances at Silver Lake Twin Drive In in Perry, NY. The shows on August 7 & 8 will feature a socially distanced set up for cars, providing respite for live music fans in Western New York.

    aqueous drive in

    Gates will open at 3:30 each day and Aqueous will be live, on stage, in front of screen one at 4:30. Tickets will go on sale Thursday, July 16th at 10am. Ticketing details are as follows: 

    General Admission Car Passes: 2 Car Pass: $80, 3 Car Pass: $120, 4 Car Pass: $160, 5 Car Pass: $200, 6 Car Pass: $240.

    VIP Admission Car Passes – Included Ticket to Show and Limited Edition Poster: 2 Car Pass: $160, 3 Car Pass: $240, 4 Car Pass: $320, 5 Car Pass: $400, 6 Car Pass: $480. 

    aqueous drive in
    From the successful Live at the Drive held in Lockport this past June

    Each “Car Pass” ticket is priced for a vehicle with the stated number occupants. All ticket purchases will be internet pre-sale only until the day of the event. If your vehicle has extra seats available, you are allowed to bring additional people to fill the vehicle and they can pay for their individual ticket at the gate on the day of the show. Extra people cannot exceed the car’s capacity and security will be ensuring this at the door. Please be respectful for the benefit of all parties. 

    All parking is designated by Drive-In Security. VIP parking will be in the first 2 rows of the Drive-In theatre. General Admission vehicle parking will be on a first-come-first-park basis behind the first 2 rows. To help with the obstruction of guests’ view, vans, trucks, and SUVs will be asked to park on one side of the snack bar or in the last three rows of the theater.

    To comply with social distancing guidelines, all vehicles must park at least 6 feet away from neighboring vehicles. Once parked, do not move your vehicle. If you choose to leave in your vehicle, you will not be permitted to re-enter the theatre. Management has final authority over where you may park. 

    Patrons are asked to remain in or near their vehicles except for trips to the bathroom, snack bar (limited to 10 people a time), Charcoal Corral restaurant, dog walks and smoking in designated areas. All guests must wear face masks whenever they are in a public area within 6 feet of other guests until further notice. 

    Perry, NY is located about 1 hour ESE of Buffalo and 1 hour SW of Rochester. Silver Lake Twin Drive-In is located at 7037 Chapman Ave in Perry, and produces weekend film features on two outdoor screens with a casual restaurant, mini-golf & more on-site. 

    Aqueous recently released a stream of Live at the Drive in its entirety on their Facebook page. Watch below for a taste of socially distanced live concerts at its best.

  • GrassRoots Festival Hosts “Your Roots at Home” Live-Stream

    Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance announces their “Your Roots at Home” free streaming event. The streaming event will host curated footage from former years of the festival and will run July 16-19, 2020 everyday roughly from 10AM-3AM. 

    The event will be following the same structure the GrassRoots Festival has followed for many years. The streaming event will host four days with four separate streams for each stage of the festival. The curated footage comes from all the way from 1992 up to 2019 with footage from last year. The footage will show each band performing at either the Infield, Dance Tent, Grandstand, or Cabaret stages. 

    The stream will host GrassRoots favorites like Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Big Mean Sound Machine, Donna the Buffalo, Old Crow Medicine Show, Preston Frank & His Zydeco Family Band, The Horse Flies, Driftwood, GrassRoots Festival Orchestra, Uma Galera, Lake Street Dive, John Brown’s Body, Jimkata, Ithaca Bottom Boys, Bubba George Stringband and many many many more. The full lineup can be seen here.

    The event will host the Band Contest and Instrument Contest still which will make it an interactive event. People interested in performing during the contests can perform their song specifically for the audience at the “Your Roots At Home” event. People interested can record videos of themselves and upload their media here.

    The streaming events can be viewed stage by stage on Twitch. The Infield stage can be viewed here. The Dance Tent stage can be viewed here. The grandstand Stage can be viewed here. The Cabaret stage can be viewed here. The viewer doesn’t need a Twitch account to listen but an account will give you access to the chat feature and other services.

    For more information visit “Your Roots at Home” website and Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance website. 

  • Jazz At Chandlerville Series Announces Summer Line-up

    Jazz at Chandlerville Series announced their July and August line-up. The series will take place at the Thin Man Brewery and Tappo Pizza in Buffalo, NY. The event will take place in the outdoor seating and happen every Thursday this summer from 6PM to 8:30PM.

    The outside seating at Thin Man Brewery and Tappo Pizza. Photo provided by Jazz At Chandlerville Series announcement.

    One of the main concerns for people with an event like this is how social distancing can happen while the coronavirus pandemic rages on? During the series’s opening performance they had tables spread out six feet apart with a good amount of seating available. There was a location for the band across the street – more than the twelve feet requirement. People must also wear a mask when not seated. With these measures implemented the hope is to keep a safe environment for everyone involved. 

    The opening performance was by the Ed Croft Trio featuring Ed Croft on bass, Nelson Rivera on saxophone, and Joe Goretti on drums. This season of performers include DeeAnn Dimeo, Alex McArthur, Paradigm Shift from Rochester, Phil DiRe and Speedy Parker, Will Holton, The TRUTH, and Carina and the Six String Preacher. DeeAnn Dimeo, will start off on July 16 and Carina and the Six String Preacher will wrap up the series on August 27.

    The series is being hosted by JazzBuffalo and is sponsored by Thin Man Brewery and Tappo Pizza. The event is located at 166 Chandler Street Buffalo, NY. The performances are free but JazzBuffalo is accepting donations for their Keep Local Jazz Alive Fund. The fund will help cover the costs of the free summer outdoor live jazz presented during the COVID-19 pandemic. JazzBuffalo asks that people please donate a suggested amount of $3-$5 per person, if they can, to help us make local live jazz possible. Donations can be made via  PayPal: paypal.me/jazzbuffalo or Venmo: @Jazz249.

    Form more information on the Jazz At Chandlerville Series and more information on their performers visit their website.

    Full Line-up listed bellow: 

    July 16 – DeeAnn Dimeo

    July 23 – Alex McArthur

    July 30 – Paradigm Shift from Rochester

    August 6 – Phil DiRe and Speedy Parker

    August 13 – Will Holton

    August 20 – The TRUTH

    August 27 – Carina and the Six String Preacher

  • Jimkata Returns From Hiatus With New Song “Wanna Go”

    Jimkata returned from their indefinite hiatus with the new song “Wanna Go.” The song dropped with a music video on their YouTube channel on July 9. 

    Jimkata is an electro rock trio that evolved from their original jamband roots, to a more electronic sound. The band started at Ithaca College back in 2005 with Evan Friedell (vocals, guitar), Aaron Gorsch (guitar/keys) and Packy Lunn (drums).

    The trio grew up together in the Upstate college town of Oneonta and are the founding members of the band. Dave Rossi served as bassist until 2015, having joined the band after meeting the other members during his freshman year at Ithaca College. Jimkata became a local favorite in Ithaca and across New York state before taking their indefinite hiatus in 2016.

    “Wanna Go” dropped shortly after the band teased of new music on their Facebook page starting back on June 16, 2020. They released a new clip of them working on new music every few days with all the titles together reading, “ DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD RELEASE SOME NEW MUSIC?”

    The new song comes on the coattails of the release of a Greatest Hits Album, Best, on June 12. Jimkata left a quote on the album’s release saying, “All the best things seem to surface after the worst times, all the worst things seem to come around after the best times…”

    To check out the teaser videos check out Jimkata’s Facebook.

    The video features the band setting up a living room and sitting on a couch in a picture frame. There is a theme of being surrounded by the color yellow in the video, and in the teases released and on their website. The song is boppy – a solid return to the music realm for Jimkata. 

    For more information on Jimkata visit their website or their Facebook Page.

  • CFCU Summer Concert Series Takes to the Virtual Stage

    CFCU Summer Concert Series is coming back in 2020 taking to the virtual stage. The concert series will start on July 9 and runs every week  until September 24. The concert series will include big names like Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People, Terrapin Station, and The Gunpoets.  

    This will be the CFCU Summer Concert Series’s 21st annual free concert series in Downtown Ithaca, NY. The concert series is organized by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and CFCU Community Credit Union is the keynote sponsor. The Ithaca Downtown Business Improvement District (IDBID) operates as The Downtown Ithaca Alliance. It is a 01c3 not-for-profit organization charged with the revitalization, development, promotion, and management of downtown Ithaca. 

    The concert series will kick off with Luke G & the Candyhearts on July 9. The series will than host: Empire Kings, Mr. McBean, Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People, Notorious String Busters : Mijail Martínez & The Cantina Ramblers, Fall Creek Brass Band, Terrapin Station, Alex Cano, Maddy Walsh and the Blind Spots, The Comb Down, Gunpoets, Swamp Kids, and then wrap things up with Kevin Kinsella on September 24.

    The concerts are usually held at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Commons; however, this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the shows will appear virtually on Downtown Ithaca’s Facebook page until further notice. The series will feature a variety of musical styles, with local, regional, national, and international performing artists and will start at 6:00 pm every Thursday.

    For more information about the CFCU Summer Concert Series and other Downtown Ithaca summer events, visit www.downtownithaca.com or check out Downtown Ithaca’s Facebook Event Page. To listen to a selection of music from this year’s performers, check out our 2020 Summer Concert Series Playlist on Spotify.

    The 2020 CFCU Summer Concert Series Schedule and lineup: 

    July 9    Luke G & the Candyhearts

    July 16  Empire Kings: Mr. McBean

    July 23  Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People

    July 30  Notorious String Busters : Mijail Martínez & The Cantina Ramblers 

    Aug. 6  Fall Creek Brass Band

    Aug. 13 Terrapin Station

    Aug. 20 Alex Cano

    Aug. 27 Maddy Walsh and the Blind Spots

    Sept. 3  The Comb Down

    Sept. 10 Gunpoets

    Sept. 17 Swamp Kids

    Sept. 24 Kevin Kinsella

    Check out this stream and more through our series NY Stream and Support, where you’ll discover artists around the Empire State streaming nightly, and ways to support musicians and charitable groups close to home!

  • Beau Fleuve Music & Arts Festival Announces ‘Save The Date’ for “Ultimate Sunday Funday”

    Beau Fleuve Music & Arts Festival will be continuing its celebration of local art and culture with a 4th annual festival. Titled “Ultimate Sunday Funday,” it will take place on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020 at Silo City.

    The Beau Fleuve Music & Arts Festival will have art installations, culture exhibitions, a silent disco, vendors, food trucks, and a diverse musical lineup for all ages. Additionally, there will be an indoor and outdoor event space provided for festival guests. A virtual experience curated by “The Fleuve,” Beau Fleuve’s multi-media brand, sets this even up for all.

    More event details about the festival will be announced in the coming weeks, you can follow these updates on Beau Fleuve’s Instagram @beaufleuvemusicarts and website.

    In the meantime, be sure to look at some of the other events that Beau Fleuve has hosted both pre and post COVID-19. Notably the “ARTSxBeats: Women’s Worth Art Exhibit” and “Thank You Murals: COVID-19”:

  • Truckin’ off to Buffalo: The Grateful Dead open for Bob Dylan and Tom Petty at Rich Stadium on July 4, 1986

    It’s not too often you see the Grateful Dead opening for another band, especially not in the 1980s. But on July 4, 1986, the Grateful Dead linked up with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for one of only four shows together that summer, performing at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, NY, home of the Buffalo Bills.

    The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette characterized the show on the 4th of July perfect for “The Dead’s vagabond odes and Dylan’s outspoken songs of freedom.” Sweltering heat during the day led to a first set that was cut short, but rain during “Cold Rain and Snow” to start the second set provided respite for the crowd. Perhaps out of exhaustion, fans were reported to have left after the Dead encored with “U.S Blues.”

    While the Dead opened, a trio of songs were featured in a satellite broadcast live to Farm Aid 3. Prior to “The Wheel,” Bob Weir said to the crowd “America is an example of an agrarian nation, let’s keep it turning.”

    Six days and two shows later, Jerry Garcia slipped into a diabetic coma and was unconscious for a week, but would recover and be back on stage later that year. This show at Rich Stadium would be one of the last times the Dead would perform in New York for nearly a year, before returning to Rochester on July 2, 1987.

    Setlist, Grateful Dead, July 4, 1986, Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY

    Set 1: Jack Straw, Dupree’s Diamond Blues, CC Rider, Tennessee Jed, My Brother Esau, Touch Of Gray

    Set 2: Cold Rain & Snow-> Fire On The Mountain-> Samson & Delilah*-> The Wheel*-> I Need A Miracle*-> Uncle John’s Band-> Drums-> Gimme Some Lovin’-> Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad-> Turn On Your Love Light

    Encore: U.S. Blues

    *broadcast as part of Farm Aid 3

    Dylan and fellow Traveling Wilbury Petty joined up for a tour featuring the Heartbreakers backing Dylan. Dylan played a few solo acoustic songs, while the Heartbreakers played their hits that are still classics today, and all joined together for “Rainy Day Woman # 12 & 35.”

    Bob Dylan with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, July 4, 1986, Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY

    Set: So Long, Good Luck And Goodbye, Positively 4th Street, Clean Cut Kid, Emotionally Yours, Trust Yourself, We Had It All, Masters Of War, Straight Into Darkness (Petty & The Heartbreakers), Think About Me (Petty & The Heartbreakers), The Waiting (Petty & The Heartbreakers), Breakdown (Petty & The Heartbreakers), To Ramona (Solo acoustic), One Too Many Mornings, (Solo acoustic), A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Solo acoustic), I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know, Band Of The Hand, When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky, Lonesome Town, Ballad Of A Thin Man, Bye Bye Johnny (Petty & The Heartbreakers), Make It Better (Forget About Me) (Petty & The Heartbreakers), Spike (Petty & The Heartbreakers), Refugee (Petty & The Heartbreakers), Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35, Seeing The Real You At Last, Across The Borderline

  • Acoustic punk duo Rust Belt Brigade share “Roll Call” and “Love Is A House” off upcoming album

    The Rust Belt Brigade began as an acoustic punk duo from Buffalo that has since become a 4 piece Alt-Country/Americana outfit carving out their own niche in and around the Buffalo area. Coming Sept. 18th, the album, Howdy Hallelujah, Here’s the Thing, is a timestamp from the last two years as a 4-piece band composed of songwriters Victor Castilo, Jeremiah Franco, and Brandon Mueckle with Trevor Jennings on cajon/percussion. The album also differs from the normative live experience through full band-electric recordings composing roughly half the record and guest Sally Schaefer on Violin for the more traditional high energy bluegrass tracks. 

    The first single off of Howdy Hallelujah, Here’s the Thing, “Roll Call” is a fast-paced piece that instills a feeling of paranoia and urgency. From the get-go, the instrumental portion builds into an attention-grabbing and heart-pounding pace. The story told within “Roll Call” is one that encourages you to try anyway, even if you’ve hit rock bottom. This lesson is communicated after the ballad describes a life of someone who is truly desperate, with the final few lyrics informing the listener to “Roll the dice man, see if your lucks ran, lucks ran dry.”

    “Love Is A House” slows the pace down from “Roll Call” and describes love through a series of touching metaphors. The lyrics “tell me what’s wrong, so I can fix it, fore winter comes, won’t let the cold get the best of us” exemplifies the importance of communication in relationships and serves as just one of the wholesome lessons that can be drawn from the track.

    These two tracks serve as just a taste of Howdy Hallelujah, Here’s the Thing. Two more tracks from the album will be released on The Rust Belt Brigade’s Bandcamp titled “Kentucky Rain Dance” and “Buried in the Ground.” on July 24 with the full album releasing Sept. 18.

    Unfortunately, this will be the last album produced by the band with songwriter Victor Castillo for the foreseeable future, as the band revealed through a Facebook post that Victor would be pursuing his career in Colorado without the group.

    While the group will be decreasing their level of actively greatly the brigade isn’t disbanding, stating that “We still plan to release new music down the road and play shows in Buffalo when we can all get together but this is indeed an end to era.”

  • This Darkness has got to give: Music Venues in July across New York State

    It is now July 2020, the fifth month with minimal, if any, live music performances throughout New York State, let alone the country. Our venues are not yet open, but as the threat of COVID-19 decreases, parts of New York will enter Phase 4 and beyond, with the hope that live music will return, even if gradually.

    While we may be stream weary, the prospect of live music is a motivator for many, and staying safe is the key given that New York and much of the Northeast are faring better than other areas of the country.

    Photo by Buscar Photo

    From viewing these photos taken during mid-late June, we can see the presence of the Black Lives Matter protests that spanned all 50 states. In all corners of New York there were protests, particularly in New York, protests that continue to push for defunding of the NYPD.

    Working with 13 photographers to document more than 60 venues in 20 cities across New York State, NYS Music presents the second edition of our monthly series that looks at the current state of our beloved venues. When the venues reopen, we will share photo documentation recording the changes over time in all corners of the state.

    Immense thanks goes out to all photographers and venues who are taking part in this monthly series. We’ll start this month in the Capital District, with a drone montage from Zach Culver, covering the venues we long to return to, sooner, rather than later.

    Manhattan and Brooklyn – photos by Joseph Buscarello

    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)
    • Photo by: Buscar Photo (www.buscarphoto.com)

    Hudson Valley – photos by Mickey Deneher

    Saranac Lake – photos by Pete Mason

    Long Island – photos by Andrew Camera

    Rochester – photos by Brian Ferguson

    Plattsburgh – photos by Jerry Cadieux

    Manhattan – photos by Jamie Huenefeld

    Utica – photos courtesy of The Stanley Theatre

    Port Chester – photos by Chad Anderson

    Ithaca – photo by Casey Martin

    Lake Placid – photos by Pete Mason

    • Paul White Memorial Band Shell
    • Palace Theatre

    Long Island – photos by Rob Tellerman

    Tarrytown and Peekskill – photos by Steve Malinski

    Buffalo – photos by Zachary Todtenhagen

  • OFC Creations announces ROC Summer Theatre Experience

    OFC Creations have announced the 2020 line up for ROC Summer Theatre Experience will continue this summer with added precautions and safety measures for July and August.

    From July 6 through August 22, 2020, campers ages 4 to 18 will participate in a variation of 15 musical theater productions  across three venues  with 25 directors. Most camps run two weeks from 9 AM to 3 PM with options for before-care and after-care hours. Each camp concludes with performances open to family, friends, and the public. Camps will take place at various locations throughout Rochester including the Kodak Center, the Lyric Theatre, Seton School, and OFC’s brand-new theatre, The OFC Creations Theatre Center in Winton Place Plaza.

    Summer 2020 camps include the following productions:

    Ages 4-7

    Chicken Little, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella

    Ages 7-11

    Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aladdin Jr, Matilda Jr, Willy Wonka Jr, Peter Pan Jr, The Sound of Music, Law and Order: Fairy Tale Unit

    Ages 11-17

    Footloose the Musical, Sweeney Todd: School Edition, Chicago: School Edition, Rock of Ages: School Edition

    New safety precautions will be added to all summer camps including spaced drop off and pick up times, keeping campers in groups of no more than 10, wearing masks especially while singing, as well as hand sanitizing stations and frequent hand washing. OFC’s health advisor, Erika Kozlowski, will be on hand at camp with a focus on health and safety and answering any parent questions. A full breakdown of safety precautions are now on OFC’s website.

    OFC Creations Executive Director, Eric Vaughn Johnson, is no stranger to summer camp programming. From 2013 to 2018, Johnson had designed and spearheaded the Summer Stock program at RAPA, leading an upwards of 400 campers throughout the summer. Johnson also served as the artistic director of SNAP Musical Theater for four summers with casts of 80 kids performing shows including Hairspray and The Little Mermaid. 

    Johnson says why he wanted to continue the ROC Summer Theatre Experience:

    We wanted to bring a one-of-a-kind theater opportunity for youth in Rochester during the summer months. Kids have been stuck inside without any social interactions for months, they need this summer now more than ever.

    Here are some of the teaching artists and staff members at OFC Creations:

    Emily Beseau is a frequent teaching artist for OFC Creations. Beseau graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Ithaca College. Currently, Beseau is teaching OFC’s Experiencing Broadway class.

    ROC Summer Theatre Experience

    Hunter Ekberg,  originally from Minneapolis Minnesota, Ekberg frequents the Rochester stage as a performer in children’s theater productions. Ekberg is currently vocal directing OFC’s Frozen Jr and Mamma Mia productions.

    Rebecca Kemp is the general music teacher for Park Road Elementary School and will be vocal directing several of the youth shows for summer. Kemp recently vocal directed Barker Road Middle School’s production of Spamalot.

    ROC Summer Theatre Experience

    Jason Rugg, Irondequoit NY, is a theater teacher for Irondequoit High School and will be directing several summer camps. Rugg serves on the board of Pittsford Musicals, performs in community productions, and directed The Frog Prince at the Kodak Center in summer 2018.

    ROC Summer Theatre Experience

    Additional directors and staff members include:Lizzi Adams (Monroe Community College), Tammi Colombo (Rochester, NY) Andrea Gregoire (Rochester, NY) Mandi Gurell (Penfield, NY), Kendra Hacker (University of Kansas School of the Arts), Jane Huffer (University of Rochester), Misty Irwin (Spencerport, NY), Gregory Maddock (Rochester, NY), Jillian Oddo (Rochester, NY), Brianna Ross (SUNY Fredonia), Eric Schutt (Greece, NY), Courtney Weather (Brighton, NY), and Jamie Wisset (Brighton, NY).

    ROC Summer Theatre Experience

    Registration is now open for 2020 summer programs. Discounts are available for campers signing up for more than one camp. Registration information and details are available at www.ROCSummerTheatre.com and at www.OFCCreations.com.