On Saturday, September 24 at 7:30pm, the Broome County Forum Theatre will once again host the kick off of the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2022-2023 Season with “American Journey,” a concert exploring classical music of the Americas.
Under the direction of Maestro Daniel Hege, the program will include: Seven O’Clock Shout, a 2020 tribute to healthcare workers by contemporary composer Valerie Coleman; George Gershwin’s renowned Piano Concerto in F performed with soloist Andrew Russo; Aaron Copland’s Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo; and Arturo Márquez’s playful Danzón No. 2.
Maestro Daniel Hege
Enjoy a pre-concert dinner at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Binghamton for $35 per person, with 5:00pm, 5:30pm and 6:00pm seating times. Call 607-722-7575 ext. 1610 (ask for Patty) to make a reservation. Enjoy dinner and park for free while you enjoy the show.
There will be a pre-concert chat at 6:30pm in the Recital Hall from Professor Sarah Gerk, PhD (Binghamton University) titled “I, Too, Sing America”: The Glorious, Messy, Difficult History of Composing American Music, and Why It Matters
All children 17 and under get free admission, courtesy of M&T Bank, the Classical Series Sponsor for the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra.
If you grew up in the early 1960s, or watched Nick at Nite in the late 1980s, you probably remember this theme song:
An ear worm if there ever was one, the theme song to Car 54, Where Are You? is one of the greatest in television history and one that traverses four of New York City’s boroughs in just 16 seconds of the 29 second theme song. Meanwhile, Officer Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) and Officer Francis Muldoon (the legendary Fred Gwynne) are playing checkers on the dashboard of the titular Car 54.
For a run of 60 episodes, starting on September 17, 1961, Car 54, Where Are You? was the start of a career for a few of the actors on the show, and served as one of the early examples of portraying police, fire and even the military in more comedic situations than had been the custom on TV and in cinema.
The cast also included Al Lewis as Officer Leo Schnauser; Charlotte Rae as Sylvia Schnauser; Nipsey Russell as Officer Dave Anderson and Paul Reed as Captain Paul Block. Guest stars were a staple of the show, and featured notable names including Tom Bosley, Hugh Downs, Hal Linden, Charles Nelson Reilly, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jean Stapleton and many more.
Car 54, Where Are You? aired on Sunday nights from 8:30–9:00 p.m. on NBC, following Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color and preceding Bonanza. The show wrapped up on April 14, 1963 after two seasons.
Created by Nat Hiken and with theme song and lyrics composed by John Strauss, Car 54, Where Are You? had multiple directors, including Hiken, Al De Caprio, and Stanley Prager. The show was filmed on location and in the Bronx at Biograph Studios, which burned down in 1980 and now is the home of the New York Department of Sanitation. The show was nominated for four Emmys, winning one for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for Nat Hiken in 1962.
In order to renew the show for a third season, NBC wanted to negotiate a part ownership deal for the show. Hiken would not agree to the deal and the show’s sponsor, Proctor and Gamble, could not convince CBS into taking the show over, where there was no room on the schedule. Hiken had become burnt out with writing, directing, and overseeing the show, and becoming exhausted with issues on the show, he ended the show after the second season and never worked on anothre series again. Not maintaining the success of the first two years – where the show placed in the top 20 of shows each week – led to cancellation in 1963. Hiken would pass away a few years later at age 54.
An early show that made light of the boys in blue, viewers did find enjoyment in the show, as seen in Nyack, NY where a patrol car was stolen from the police station parking lot was given the nickname “Car 54.” Not every police officer liked the show, leading one high-ranking New York police official, speaking anonymously, said he’d have liked to see the show cancelled as he believed it made all policemen look morons. “Being a policeman is a grim and humourless business, not at all funny,” he was quoted as saying.
Still, while being set in the fictional 53rd precinct in the Bronx, Car 54, Where Are You? was filmed at a studio in the Bronx’s real-life 48th Precinct, where the captain of the 48th made the show aware that he and his men found the show amusing and enjoyed it in their squad room.
Gwynne and Lewis would go on to greater fame in The Munsters, and Gwynne would write children’s books while extending his acting career into the early 1990s with his memorable role in My Cousin Vinny.
Joe E. Ross would provide vocals on a popular Milt Jackson jazz track, “The Oo-Oo Bossa Nova” on the album Jazz and Samba, a reference to Officer Toody’s trademark catch phrase “Oo-Oo.”
In the early 1980s, the show’s theme song is parodied as “Mario, Where Are You?” in an Atari commercial for Mario Bros. video game.
The lyrics to the theme song include five calls to respond to that lie in and outside the 53rd precinct: a hold up in the Bronx, fighting in Brooklyn, a traffic jam that spans from Harlem to Jackson Heights in Queens (a stretch of 7 miles), a missing child report and the head of state of the U.S.S.R. arriving at the future JFK Airport who presumably needs a police escort a mere 17 miles away. Can Muldoon and Toody really be expected to handle all these crises at the same time? Of course not, but the myriad of duties these two and their station are needed for expresses a positive view of the police in the early 1960s, keeping the role comical yet respectable. But was Car 54, Where Are You? an early form of copaganda, or just a light-hearted look at an integrated precinct in the melting pot of New York City?
The line “Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild” is the only part of the theme song that reference real events (although a cross-borough traffic jam is not out of the question), dating to September 1960, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev flew into Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Debuting in the 1960 when merchandising became a key part of any major network show, there were multiple comic books based on Car 54, Where Are You?, as well as a board game, a car model, and puppets of Toody and Muldoon.
The Car 54, Where Are You? board game
A reboot of the show took place on the big screen in 1994 when Orion Pictures released what would be a bomb in Car 54, Where Are You? Starring David Johansen (of New York Dolls and Buster Poindexter Fame) as Officer Toody and John C. McGinley as Officer Muldoon, they were joined by original-series cast members Al Lewis and Nipsey Russell, and accompanied by Fran Drescher, Rosie O’Donnell, Daniel Baldwin, Jeremy Piven, Tone Loc, The Ramones and Penn and Teller. Among the reasons the movie bombed – the movie was filmed as a musical, but most numbers were later cut, leaving the movie to the dustbin of Hollywood.
A Car 54, Where Are You? comic book
A classic television show set in the Bronx, Car 54, Where Are You? serves as an early TV show set in the Bronx with a legacy that goes beyond its memorable theme song.
“Car 54, Where Are You?” theme-song lyrics
There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights. There’s a traffic jam in Harlem That’s backed up to Jackson Heights. There’s a scout troop short a child, Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild Car 54, Where Are You?
On September 18, 1982, WAMC debuted “The Hudson River Sampler” on Saturday nights. Hosted by Wanda Fischer, the show featured folk and acoustic music from 8-10 PM. Now, after four decades, the show is still running, and with the same host.
To mark the occasion, on Saturday, October 8, The Linda – WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, will host a show to celebrate the occasion, featuring several prominent national and local folk music acts, including Anne Hills, Reggie Harris, Christine Lavin, Sawyer Fredericks, John Kirk and Trish Miller.
The Linda is pleased to welcome the artists who will be here on October 8. These performers present a cross section of the music Wanda plays every week. This will be a special night.
Peter Hughes, The Linda
With a background that goes back many years, Fischer has been involved in this type of music since her father introduced her to it as a child. She’s also been a singer herself, having appeared at coffeehouses in the Boston area in the 1960s and ‘70s and has recorded an album titled Singing Along with the Radio. She and her husband Bill relocated to the Capital District in 1979. She held full-time jobs in the region while doing “The Hudson River Sampler” on Saturdays until her retirement from full-time work in 2014. During lockdown from the pandemic, she did her show live from the WAMC studio.
Fischer has been a volunteer on several boards of directors in the region, including Old Songs, Caffe Lena and the Eighth Step. She’s also a volunteer reader for the Reading is Fun program in the Schenectady City Schools and has published a novel and several short stories. A competitive local tennis player, she’s served as the captain of a United States Tennis Association team since 1988.
Additionally, the show will be broadcast live during The “Hudson River Sampler’s” normal time slot of 8-10 PM on WAMC’s network and streaming on wamc.org.
Tickets for Wanda Fischer 40th Anniversary Live! Hudson River Sampler live at The Linda: WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio are $25 and on sale now through thelinda.org.
For the 11th year at Brooklyn Bowl, The Friday Night Jam & FANS have announced a series of spiritually and musically inclined High Holidays services. Four services in late September and early October will be broadcast live for free via Fans.live, led by Rabbi Daniel Brenner and musical director Jeremiah Lockwood, featuring Antibalas’ Jordan McLean, Yuli Beeri, Lenny Kaye, saxophonist Stuart Bogie and a full live band.
The livestreamed shows will take place at Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Bowl (with a select number of tickets for sale) and Relix Studios.
The services will feature a mix of live music and remote video contributions from a mix of musicians. Confirmed remote guests include: Dave Harrington (Darkside), Alex Bleeker (Real Estate), Dan Lebowitz (ALO), Eric Krasno (Soulive and Lettuce), Karina Rykman, Ross James (Terrapin Family Band), Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits) and Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman), among others.
The house band consists of Jeremiah Lockwood, Antibalas’ Jordan McLean, Antibalas’ Timothy Allen, drummer John Bollinger, saxophonist Stuart Bogie and Yula Berri on vocals and bass. The services arrive at the end of a busy summer for Bogie and McLean, including appearances at the lauded Newport Jazz Festival. Internationally based teacher Aliza Rivka will also lead a guided meditation at each event. On the morning of September 26, Leslie Mendelson, Eric Slick (Dr. Dog), and Armo will also make special appearances at Brooklyn Bowl as part of the High Holidays festivities.
We have said for years that Brooklyn Bowl is our sanctuary, clubhouse, church and synagogue, so it only makes sense that it has grown into the spiritual home for our musically inclined Rosh Hashanah services over the years. Especially at a time when so many of us have been apart from our friends and family due to the pandemic, we hope that our suite of traditional-but-open-minded-and-inclusive services will allow us to connect with each other as we ‘begin again’ at the start of this new year.
Relix’s Editor-in-Chief Mike Greenhaus.
As part of the event’s anniversary celebration, as part of the Sunday, Sept 25 service, Lockwood’s The Sway Machinery will present Hidden Melodies Revealed 15 at Brooklyn Bowl. This new iteration of the concert-ritual will celebrate the widening circles of cantorial revival, and Yiddish experimental expressive culture that have emerged in the last decade.
Offering a counterpoint to The Sway Machinery’s futurist sound, a second stage will be set up in the middle of the venue that will host a “radical traditionalist” band performing new arrangements of Jewish ritual music on strings, led by virtuoso violinist Jake Shulman-Ment, and featuring vocal soloists Yoel Kohn, a leading voice in khazones emerging from the Brooklyn Chassidic community, and Shahanna McKinney-Baldon, Midwest Ska pioneer and thought leader on Jews of Color in the United States. For this performance, McKinney-Baldon will premiere a piece from her upcoming performance project inspired by the life and work of Goldye Steiner, a pioneering Black woman cantor of the 1920s. The resulting worlds of sound will cross boundaries of time, calling upon ritual, and invoking the power of ancestors to imagine radical futures.
In addition to musical guests, the event will also feature revered actor Debra Winger, in the role of the narrator of the animated films The Akeidah, by Shawn Atkins, and Scenes From the Life of Ben Zion Kapov Kagan, by Andrea Dezsö. The narration and score for these animated films will be performed live.
Schedule of High Holidays Events
Sunday September 25 – 7:30PM EST at Brooklyn Bowl. Tickets available here, stream live via Fans.live
Monday September 26 – 10AM EST at Brooklyn Bowl. Tickets available here, stream live via Fans.live
Tuesday, October 4 – 7PM from The Relix Studio, stream live via Fans.live
Wednesday, October 5 – 10AM from The Relix Studio, stream live via Fans.live
On this day in 2007, the first ever Farm Aid was held in New York State, with the annual benefit concert for farmers held on Randalls Island.
The official announcement came on June 11 with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp making the official announcement in New York City alongside then-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and farmers and food buyers at Union Square’s Greenmarket.
Mayor Bloomberg welcomed the Farm Aid co-founders, saying “The City strongly supports sustainable family farming through our Greenmarket program — which has nearly doubled its locations over the past five years — and it’s an honor to be hosting Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Farm Aid for their 2007 concert.”
Willie Nelson shared “Farm Aid is coming to New York because your enthusiasm for family farm food is keeping family farmers on the land. We are thankful to Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and the many activists here who are leading efforts so that every New Yorker has access to more food from family farms” while John Mellencamp said of the importance of the event, “Things change when we all take personal responsibility for our food and where it comes from. Farm Aid is a force for change that works hard to keep farmers on the land so that we’ll have good food on our tables.
Photo By Greg Allen/Shutterstock
Why did Farm Aid take so long to get to New York? Nearly the first two decades of Farm Aid (1985-2003) brought the festival to states whose economies are strongly based in agriculture – Texas, Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia, and South Carolina. In 2004 the festival moved to Washington State and headed east for New Jersey in 2006. Given the quintessential urban setting of New York City, bringing a festival promoting support for local farms and farmers doesn’t seem like the right fit at first, but five boroughs of 8 million people need to eat.
It took being invited to The Big Apple, per executive director Carolyn Mugar, by environmentalists, politicians, Mayor Bloomberg’s office as well as chefs, that finally brought Farm Aid to the Empire State. “Farmers are never going to survive if they don’t have as allies the people who want this good food,” Ms. Mugar told the New York Times. “New York has a huge density of eaters and a density of people who are doing excellent things. There are restaurants, farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture programs, even people who are growing food in the city and teaching people how to grow it.”
photo via @ceefar74
The lineup for the day included Farm Aid staples in New York, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews, the latter of whom was joined by Merle Haggard. Also on the day long festival-style lineup were the Allman Brothers Band (along with Derek Trucks Band and Gregg Allman performing solo), Counting Crows, Matisyahu, Ray Price, Guster, Billy Joe Shaver, Tim Reynolds, Montgomery Gentry, Supersuckers, Pauline Reese, Danielle Evin, The Ditty Bops, Jimmy Sturr, Paula Nelson, 40 Points, and Jesse Lenat.
The day was hot and quite dusty, part of the unkept nature of Randalls Island (which was prone to flooding at the time) prior to more events being held on the grounds. Thus, there was straw/hay laid down to keep the dust to a minimum. Much has changed over the past 15 years, as Randalls Island has become a destination for concerts and music festivals, among them Governors Ball, Panorama and Electric Zoo.
photo via @ceefar74
Farm Aid 2007 was “A Homegrown Festival,” was the first major music event that served local, organic and family farm food at concessions stands around the venue. The Homegrown Village featured interactive exhibits to educate concert-goers on soil, water, energy, food and farmers. On the heels of the 2007 Farm Aid, the next year Homegrown.org was launched, creating an online community for those interested in growing, cooking, crafting, brewing, preserving, or making anything Homegrown.
The announcement for Farm Aid was momentus, being the first time the traveling single-day multi-band event would make its way to the Empire State.
Can you believe it?!?! Farm Aid in NYC! I have been working on a pun that references the movie “Babe: Pig in the City” but I haven’t quite figured it out yet. We are so pumped about Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival at Randal’s Island. 100% delicious family farm food, good tunes and a summer of events in a huge urban food and farm hub. On the DL, this show has been in the works for a few years and we are just thrilled that the time has come to bring Farm Aid into the lives of New Yorkers, to work with upstate farmers and urban growers and to show all of our concert growers that even after 22 years we have a few surprises up our sleeves!
The idea for Farm Aid originally grew out of a remark that Bob Dylan made at Live Aid in 1985. The Bard said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?” This inspired Willie Nelson to contact Neil Young and John Mellencamp, who was about to release Scarecrow, which includes a song about a farmer losing his land to a foreclosure.
Six weeks after those calls, the trio put together what became the first Farm Aid, on September 22, 1985 in Champaign, Ill. While they expected the event to be a one-off, the inspiration that came from raising money for family farmers to preserve their land and push for laws that support family farms over Big Ag.
Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid Board of Directors in 2001, and Margo Price joined in 2021. To date, Farm Aid has raised more than $64 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. A nonprofit organization, Farm Aid holds dear their mission to keep family farmers on their lands.
While the Randalls Island Farm Aid was the first held in New York State, it was only six years later that the event headed Upstate to Saratoga Springs with a performance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). The day was highlighted with the unexpected arrival of Pete Seeger, who sang “This Land is Your Land” with the audience, in addition to some new lyrics referencing fracking. The 2022 edition of Farm Aid will take place on September 24 in Raleigh, NC at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek.
While there was no live broadcast of Farm Aid, video from the concert was available on-demand on September 19, 2007, via Farmaid.org. A good deal of video from the day exists, as seen below. Setlists via ConcertArchives.org
Montgomery Gentry setlist: Hillbilly Shoes, Daddy Won’t Sell the Farm, What Do Ya Think About That
photo via @ceefar74
Supersuckers setlist: Paid, Breaking Honey’s Heart, Roadworn and Weary
Warren Haynes setlist: Indian Sunset, Fallen Down, One, Soulshine
The Derek Trucks Band setlist: Soul Serenade, Sailing On, Key to the Highway
Guster setlist: The Captain, Manifest Destiny, Satellite, Amsterdam, Airport Song
Counting Crows setlist: Rain King, Thunder Road, Recovering the Satellites, Washington Square, A Murder of One, A Long December
Gregg Allman setlist: Midnight Rider, Melissa
Allman Brothers Band setlist: Trouble No More, Revival, Who’s Been Talking, Black Hearted Woman, Statesboro Blues, One Way Out
Billy Joe Shaver setlist: I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train, Live Forever, Try and Try Again
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds setlist: Lie in Our Graves, Gravedigger, Crush, The Maker, The Dreaming Tree, Ants Marching
Neil Young setlist: Human Highway, Silver and Gold, Beautiful Bluebird, Too Far Gone, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Heart of Gold, Homegrown, Four Strong Winds
John Mellencamp setlist: Troubled Land, Rain on the Scarecrow, If I Die Sudden, Paper in Fire, Our Country, To Washington, Small Town, Pink Houses
Willie Nelson setlist: One Day at a Time, Jackson, A Peaceful Solution, Whiskey River, Stormy Weather, I Saw the Light, Superman, You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore, I’ll Fly Away, On the Road Again
Andy Falco has deep New York roots. Stretching across the South Shore of Long Island and into the Hudson Valley, these roots gave him his introduction to bluegrass music, leading him to Nashville, The Infamous Stringdusters, and soon, Borderland Festival in East Aurora.
Andy Falco – photo by Trent Grogan
Born in Greenwich Village, growing up in Garden City and now residing in Sayville, Falco first played music at bars on Long Island. His brother Tom brought him to Fadeley’s, a small deli and bar in Patchogue, and one of the few places on Long Island in the late 1990s to find craft beer, on multiple taps no less. While it may seem unassuming from outside, Falco recalls the room fondly, saying “There’s something about that room, the wood or something, it really sounded good in there. Like playing inside an old Martin guitar.”
Exterior of Fadeley’s – photo by Rob Tellerman
Interior of Fadeley’s – photo by Rob Tellerman
As he and his brother got into bluegrass viaOld and in the Way, they were then introduced to The Seldom Scene, a bluegrass band from Bethesda, MD. For Falco, this was the way. “Getting into Bill Monroe at first felt a little harsh to hear, like a single malt scotch. At first maybe you’re like ‘Whoa what is that?’ and then you start to get used to it.” While tuning into David Bromberg for his more bluegrassy tunes, he met Buddy Merriam, a Long Island guitar teacher and member of Back Roads, and who has played traditional bluegrass music for more than 40 years. Merriam, who was friends with and played music alongside Bill Monroe, made mix tapes of various Monroe and Jimmy Martin tunes, a taste of more traditional, first generation bluegrass.
Andy Falco – photo by Trent Grogan
Falco would bridge the gap to Monroe in playing with Buddy for a number of years before Falco headed to Nashville. By 2021 The Infamous Stringdusters had released their GRAMMY nominated A Tribute to Bill Monroe, playing traditional bluegrass for a change, picking some of their favorites to record, mixing them at home during 2020’s shutdown, and finally mastered by Fred Guarino on Long Island.
Finding his way to Winterhawk Bluegrass Fest (now Grey Fox), Falco discovered his love for acoustic guitar during a workshop with Jack Lawrence, Doc Watson’s playing partner for more than three decades.
Andy Falco – photo by Trent Grogan
Reflecting on Winterhawk/Grey Fox, Falco recalls the time spent there fondly, noting that he and fellow Stringduster Chris Pandolfi “cut their teeth on that hill.” Hanging an Italian flag above their campsite, the pair would spend days in workshops, watching bluegrass, and jamming at night time pickin parties. This would be one of the first places Falco would run into Andy Hall, setting the stage for their eventual connection in Nashville where Falco joined the Stringdusters in 2007.
“I decided I wanted to play bluegrass guitar on that hill. I checked out a guitar workshop led by Jack Lawrence, went down there in the morning and it turned out he was Doc Watson’s playing partner, and he brought Doc with him. I sat so close to him I could string his guitar. I went and bought a Martin guitar not too long after that and just really got into bluegrass.
Andy Falco
Given this was the 1990s, there weren’t as many festivals in New York State as there would be a decade later, so Winterhawk and a charity-focused Labor Day festival on Long Island – Bradstock – would be the extent of Falco’s festival experiences. At Bradstock 2 in 1995, Falco would play his first real gig with Water Street Blues Band, and was the only other festival he would perform at until moving to Nashville.
Looking ahead to Borderland Festival, where The Infamous Stringdusters have played three times previously, Falco looks eagerly towards the Western New York festival. “The people are always so awesome to play for and the community they’ve put together is lovely to be a part of.” Borderland Festival founder Jennfier Brazill leads this community, having known the band for over a decade, having first worked with the band as a partner at WinterWonderGrass Festival in Colorado. Said Brazill, “I am their biggest fan and always want them as a part of my events.”
The Infamous Stringdusters have been on the lineup four times, but a hurricane prevented their arrival one year, in 2018. Held in 2022 over the weekend of September 17 and 18, The Infamous Stringdusters will perform on Sunday the 18th ahead of The Flaming Lips, who headline the night. The festival also features Portugal. The Man, Keller Williams, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Spafford, Dogs in a Pile, NYS Dead Coalition, Folkfaces and many more.
Having been on the road with Greensky Bluegrass earlier this year, the shift from buses to flights – given a shortage of drivers and parts for buses – has led to more hotels, less sleep and heading right to venues to soundcheck and prepare for a gig. Add in the crew who are working harder, arriving earlier and staying late, the collective effort is not lost on Falco. “When you’re on stage and playing music in front of everyone, it’s worth it. More people are coming to festivals, despite all the travel woes. It feels like it’s over, the music is still coming back in this transitional time that is by no means normal. You have to appreciate every moment.”
Darien Center will host Folkfaces Fest 6 from September 29th through October 2nd at Cherry Hill Campground, a perfect fall music festival in Western New York.
Folkfaces Fest is an emerging grassroots-style music festival hosted by Tyler Westcott & his band Folkfaces. Situated 40 minutes from Buffalo and less than an hour from Rochester, Folkfaces Fest welcomes a variety of bands and vendors with activities for kids of all ages.
The festival has three areas for performances – The Greystone Stage (main stage), The Gage Stage (side woods stage), and the Slyboots Tent (a large circus tent for performance, workshops, activities and more).
Folkfaces Fest curates unique national and regional acts mostly of the roots music or world music variety. Over the last half a decade the festival has hosted many notable performers including Grammy award winning co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops Dom Flemons “the American Songster,” champion fiddler & ragtime banjoist Aaron Jonah Lewis, Viral YouTube sensation Abby the Spoon Lady, folk hero Bruce Molsky, ragtime blues guitarist Andy Cohen, Kentucky Colonel and front man of the Legendary Shack Shakers – JD Wilkes, Texas one man band, Scott H. Biram, Innovative folk duo Richie Stearns & Rosie Newton, freak folk legend Baby Gramps, and many many others…
Food vendors will be on hand with healthy options as well as standard fair fare. Don’t miss art and craft vendors in the artist village, where there will be held the yearly film fest, square dance, art installations, a paint wall, mycology foray, & workshops with artists. This years theme has been announced as “Denim & Dogs” so dress up in your best Canadian Tuxedo and bring your pup to the fest.
The festival will be accepting donations of lightly worn winter coats, unopened packages of socks and underwear, canned good and non-perishables at the gate to benefit Friends of Night People!
In a slight change from years past, camping is now a separate fee. Once you purchase your festival pass, visit cherryhillcamp.com to book your campsite. While RVs sites and Cabins are sold out, plenty of tent sites remain.
Cherry Hill Camp is a well manicured campground with 50 campsites scattered through out its 63 acres. Each with their own picnic table and fire ring. A few unfurnished barebones cabins. A bathhouse with 6 flush toilets and two showers, laundry and vending machines. There are numerous spigots with potable water spread throughout the festival grounds. A camp store with all your camping supply needs, snacks, drinks and more. Cherry Hill Campground is located at 1516 Sumner Road, Darien Center NY 14040
Folkfaces Fest 6 is sponsored by Sportsmens Americana Music Foundation, Jack Rabbit, Rigidized Metals, The Big Easy In Buffalo, The Fretted Buffalo, Bernunzio’s Uptown Music, The Hotel Crittenden, Allentown Music, 42 North Brewing Company, ANIAH, Slyboots School of Music, Art & Dance, Lavender Haze Collective and Meier’s Creek Brewing.
Michael Eck will celebrate his 40th Anniversary in live music with a special performance his “spiritual home” Caffe Lena, on Sunday, September 25th.
It was on Friday, October 1, 1982, that Michael Eck made his live musical debut, playing electric guitar with the hardcore punk band Deaf Zone in a Battle of the Bands at Bethlehem Central High School. The first they played was The Clash hit “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”
For four decades since, Eck, a self-described “Roots scholar and multi-instrumentalist,” has played in every band you never heard of in Albany and some you actually may have, like The Plague, Chefs of the Future, Stomplistics, Ramblin Jug Stompers, Lost Radio Rounders and Good Things. Additionally, as a singer/songwriter, player and producer, Eck has appeared on dozens of albums.
At his anniversary show on September 25, the veteran of “maximum solo acoustic gigs” in New York, New Orleans and Austin will offer self-written selections from across his career, including tunes culled from four albums (a number of which have been covered by regional artists) as well as a brace of new material (much of it never heard by a live audience), written “during the pandemic and following a stroke.”
Eck will be joined, on a select number of show-closing songs by his adult children, Lakota Ruby-Eck (guitar) and Lillierose Ruby-Eck (violin).
Importantly, the show will also be a release party for Eck’s fifth solo album, “Your Turn to Shine—New Songs, Live at WEXT.” Physical copies will be available at the event, with digital distribution to follow. The title bears witness to the fact that most of the dozen selections were played live for the first time, in any context, at public radio station WEXT.
Thursday, August 25 marked the debut performance of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), a remarkable step for the all-star Grateful Dead tribute act featuring drummer Joe Russo, guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Marco Benevento and bassist Dave Dreiwitz.
photo by Zak Radick
An enthusiastic Saratoga Springs crowd – one that has seen JRAD perform from Brooklyn Bowl to The Palace Theatre and stops across the country – was treated to a fitting opener of George Jones’ “The Race Is On,” followed by an extensive “Shakedown Street” that followed. After “Row Jimmy” (which had a “They Love Each Other” tease at the start), the band shifted into “Dancing In The Street” and then seamlessly into “The Music Never Stopped,” which featured teases of “Dancing” and “Shakedown Street” intertwined throughout, then provided a sharp return to the end before closing the set with “Touch of Grey.”
photo by Zak Radick
After a setbreak full of Tom Petty songs, Russo, wearing a Late Night with Seth Meyers shirt, led the band through a rousing jam that worked its way into “Playing in the Band.” Hinted at by pre-show MoTown songs (and The Chordettes “Lollipop” post show music), JRAD then debuted Smokey Robinson’s “Second That Emotion” after the 20 minute “Playing.” The highlight of the night would arise in “Brown Eyed Women” that found Hamilton, Metzger and Benevento alternating in taking the lead in the jam, each of them finding higher peaks to reach with each passing of the baton. “Let It Grow” and Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” followed the scorching “BEW,” and the set was brought to a close with an upbeat “Franklin’s Tower.”
During the encore of “I Know You Rider,” Hamilton found every peak to take the envigorating jam up another step, as JRAD gave the SPAC crowd an uplifting number on which to end their historic night.
Set 1: The Race Is On, Shakedown Street > Row Jimmy > Dancing In The Street > The Music Never Stopped > Touch Of Grey
Set 2: Playing In The Band, Second That Emotion > Brown-Eyed Women > Let It Grow > Masterpiece > Franklin’s Tower
On August 20 at River Fest Park in Buffalo, Buffalo Music Coalition will bring the Summer of Love from 1967 all the way to 2022 with “Summer of Love ’22 – A Buffalo Salute to the Monterey Pop Festival.”
Comprised of a group of music lovers and musicians, The Buffalo Music Coalition was organized in 2018 to produce unique shows they thought the public would like to see. Starting with East Aurora Music Festival, the following year they organized a Woodstock Celebration in 2019 at River Fest Park with local musicians from across the Buffalo area, with more than 1500 fans in attendance. Then in February 2022, the Coalition held “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” at Sportsmen’s Tavern, highlighting some of Buffalo’s best female performers.
For 2022, a celebration of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival is on the table, once again held at River Fest Park with performances from local musicians, including some who took part in the Woodstock celebration, and plenty of new faces.
At River Fest park, there will be food trucks and vendors contributing to the fun, which kicks off at 4pm on Saturday, August 20 and runs until 11pm. This is a rain or shine event. Bring a lawn chair but no outside food or drink are allowed in the venue. Pick up your tickets here.
