Basilica Hudson, the internationally-renowned nonprofit arts center co-founded by musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone, is spotlighting area musicians, DJs, spoken word, visual artists and more with Jupiter Nights, a new weekly series taking place in its recently-renovated Gallery Building.
“In astrology, Jupiter is the planet that rules Thursdays and also the planet of expansion,” says Auf der Maur. “Our Jupiter Nights are a gathering place and performance space where local creatives can showcase their talents, while also connecting with like-minded explorers in their own and other artistic disciplines. With the recent expansion of our Gallery Building, they present the first opportunity for year-round weekly programming here at Basilica Hudson. In their intimacy and frequency, they also offer a wonderful counterbalance to our large-scale seasonal events like 24-Hour Drone and Basilica SoundScape.”
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
Music, both live performances and DJ sets, are very much the anchor of Basilica Hudson’s Jupiter Nights, along with poetry and storytelling, visual art and even cuisine.
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
The novel series kicked off May 5 with lovers x Navaja El Filo Tropical, an evening of Salsa, Cumbia, Ranchera, Reggaeton, Guaracha and Danzón music featuring artists from NYC, Mexico and Hudson. The night also boasted DJ sets by Adrian Is Hungry, Laura Se Fue and Sonido Talacha of the Barrio Collective, along with lovers, the duo of Hudson’s own DJ Uncle Rudy and Davon. This was complemented by a poetry reading by O Zotique and food by Casa Latina Pupusas Y Mas, a family-owned Hudson restaurant featuring authentic cuisine from El Salvador and Mexico. Murals made by local youth during a spray paint workshop led by Super Stories were also on display.
Avant-garde jazz was featured during a June 9 event produced by Melodius Thunk, a partnership between local artists and musicians Reggie Madison and Tshidi Matale. This evening featured the Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere Trio and a DJ set from Fulathela, AKA Mike Mosby. Ambient soundscapes and edge-pushing audio hijinks were the focus of the July 21 event headlined by claire rousay and Matchless (Whitney Johnson). The first season of Jupiter Nights concludes tonight, July 28, with performances by a trio of singer-songwriters Emily Ritz, Jackie West and Shana Falana.
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
Basilica Hudson’s Jupiter Nights will be on hiatus in August but return September 15 according to Allison Young, who co-curates the series with Sam Hillmer.
“Jupiter Nights has brought a heightened localized focus to both our curatorial vision and community presence,” adds Young. “It has been met with a very positive response from folks all across the Hudson Valley. It is bringing in both first timers and returning visitors, ones who are delighted to have a unique performance space that they can patronize weekly for the best in music and other creative forms.”
Peter Galgani, Cozy Oaks Productions
Young continues: “Come September, we will continue our mission to showcase a different style of music each week, complemented with new gallery openings by local artists, spoken word and some of the finest food that the restaurant-rich Hudson Valley has to offer.”
Doors open at 7 PM and performances begins at 8 PM Thursdays at Basilica Hudson, 110 South Front Street, Hudson. Updates on events and the announcement of the coming Fall schedule can be found at the series’ webpage.
On Thursday, July 21, 2022, Albany’s 6th installment of Alive at 5 kicked off with The E-Block and Souly Had, opening up for headliners, Ballyhoo!. Facing an intense heat wave throughout the week in Albany, the show was moved to the Corning Boat Launch to shield guests from the sun.
Souly Had is an r&b and hip hop artist also from the Capital Region. He went from doing covers of Amy Winehouse songs to signing a deal with Island Records in 2019. Souly Had’s single “Crush” did well on streaming platforms and “Maybe Not” took off on Tiktok. Both The E-Block and Souly Had have a collaborative performance at the Lost & Found on July 23rd.
Left: Guitarist Sebastian Right: Bassist Nick Lucera
The pop reggae rock group Ballyhoo! from Aberdeen, MD seemingly brought the heat with them on stage. With their beach-rock style, they made the middle aged crowd feel like they were on the boardwalk. With temperatures in the mid 90s, it was reasonable to see the crowd spaced out and enjoying the vibe. The vocals were not that great for most of the set, so all the audience had to go off of was the beat. Towards the end of their performance, the vibe shifted from chill beach-rock to pop-punk. There was lots of head banging, standing on amps, and hand waving that really brought excitement for the audience. They left pretty abruptly leaving the crowd confused. There were weak screams for an encore coming from the back that Ballyhoo! did answer.
Ballyhoo! is preparing to go on tour with alternative hip-hop artist, Shwayze, starting August 2nd in Indianapolis. Before that show, they are preforming at Reggae Rise Up festival in Maryland on July 31st.
Ballyhoo! Set List: Cerveza, Destroy Me, Girls, MD Summer, Middle Finger, This Chick is Wack, Social Drinker, Cali King, Front Porch, Message, I Don’t Wanna Go, Dark Sunglasses, The Fool, Cali Girl, Burrito, Struggle, Blaze This Weed, Scarlet Blue, Walk Away, Mind Over Matter, Jameson, Mixtape; Encore: Panama
On the Periodic Table of Music, if there were such a thing that is, Kuti (Ku) would most definitely be it’s own element. Fela Kuti pioneered Afrobeat, an infectious blend of West-African and American funk and jazz. It’s a sound that’s influence has found it’s way into a huge swath of music since, but is a bit more difficult to find in it’s purest form. Fela’s son Femi Kuti has helped carry the torch forward. And Kuti’s son Made has in turn continued the tradition. Femi and his band, The Positive Force, including son Made, turned a quaint lakeside winery into a Nigerian dance party on Sunday afternoon. An event as unlikely as it was enjoyable.
The beauty of the Finger Lakes was not lost on Kuti, “I woke up to one of the best views I’ve ever seen,” he remarked soon after walking on stage. And his afternoon view from the stage at Point of the Bluff Vineyards, of the sloping grapevine covered hill down to Keuka Lake’s shores was stunning. On stage though, the beauty was all Nigerian. Kuti led the 12-piece band through a rapid fire 90m African soundscape and political-sphere.
The music was a flurry of movement, as were the people playing it. Three female backup singers shook and gyrated in mesmerizing fashion while Femi Kuti bounced and bounded across the stage. The energy emanating from the band was infectious. Pure elemental Kuti pinged off the stage and into the crowd, zapping each and every person with pure Kuti energy until everyone was dancing in the best way they knew how.
Fun and funky, but not without function. Ingrained within were messages of love, peace, and freedom. “There’s a storm coming … they teach us the to be scared … we need to change the narrative, let the storm bring love!” “I’ve got too much on my mind / I believe with time everything will be fine.” “You can’t fight corruption with corruption.” The messages were a constant.
So too was the music. Just as soon as applause arrived, the next song quickly drowned it out. Kuti vowed to play with as much energy as every other night, even on this, their second-to-last show of a 30-date tour. At 60 years old, he did it and then some.
The show ended with a passing of the torch of sorts. First with a father and son sax jam. Then, father Femi left the stage and Made led the band for a song, a reggae-ish groove with rhythmic singing, highlighted by the band building behind a single note Made held on his soprano sax for a good two minutes, before releasing to a huge explosion of sound. The Kuti torch is in good hands for years to come.
Local singer Danielle Ponder opened the show with a stripped down trio of Avis Reese on keys and Rayelle on bass, in her first gig with Ponder. She continues to work, even wearing her working overalls for this gig, winning over fans everywhere she goes, previewing material off of her debut album arriving later this summer.
Ponder’s songs are written from her personal experiences. Speaking on her songwriting process, she said when she is raw and truthful, the freer she feels. The emotions of the subject matter carry over perfectly to her performances.
The songs seemed to ask more questions than they answered. On “Someone Like You,” accompanied by a slinky bass groove and bending echoey keyboard notes, “Why won’t the stars align? Someone tell me.” On “Fray”: “Anybody out there know this pain?” Even the powerful cover that closed out the set, Radiohead’s “Creep,” asked “Do I belong here?”
There is certainly no question however, Ponder’s career is set on a meteoric upward course. Stay tuned.
Kirsty Rock, a member of the internationally renowned reggae super group Easy Star All-Stars, has announced her debut solo album Slow Burn on Easy Star Records.
Bringing a distinctive, soulful, and earthy reggae sound, Slow Burn coincides with an official video release of the title track, which was a collaboration between acrobatic dancer Julia Baccellier, Rock, and Rock’s long standing collaborator D888.
The visuals and movements are an unveiling in which we accentuate the beauty of that journey – vulnerability, a shedding, and in finality, empowerment. It’s a personal journey with a universal message.
Kirsty Rock
Kirsty Rock came up in the Brooklyn music scene of the 1990s. Her first lead vocal with Easy Star All-Stars was on their 2003 album Dub Side of the Moon, performing “The Great Gig In The Sky,” which earned praise from the original vocalist. In 2003, she joined the tour of Easy Star All-Stars in over 30 countries on 6 continents. She was featured on vocals on their studio albums Radiodread, Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band, and Easy Star’s Thrillah, as well as on First Light. Currently Rock is back with ESA after a COVID hiatus.
The first single “The Feeling” may appear to be the most lighthearted song on the album. It was the most difficult and cathartic to write for Rock since it’s a reminder of love and joy that when we release grief, sorrow, pain, and anger.
Her next single, “L.E.O.” is filled with a steady bass groove and slapping drums. Rock wrote and sings the lyrics: “The space between us pulls me in with thoughts darker than your skin. It’s incredible. Burn my solar wings and carry me towards L.E.O.”
Many of the songs on Slow Burn were started on the road with Easy Star All-Stars and with her own long-running band Trumystic. Without the stress and expectations of rushing out products, she just let the songs evolve. Observing diverse relationships and changes in political agendas, Slow Burn had been inspired. After the bones of the songs were recorded in her home in Vermont, Rock began reaching out to her friends to add more into the album.
The first few tracks completed were co-produced and mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Matt Stein while the rest of the album brought in collaborators in Easy Star All-Stars. These fantastic artists including guitarist/vocalist Shelton Garner Jr., keyboardist/vocalist Elenna Canlas, drummers Ivan Katz and Cliff Simpson, and the horn section of Jennifer Hill, Buford O’Sullivan, and Matt Bauder, and other musicians.
Slow Burn is a stunning “debut” for Kirsty Rock. She is already at work on new songs and looking forward to bringing this music on the road with both ESA and on her own in the coming year.
The 30th annual Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg is back with over 80 performers on five stages during July 21-24 at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds.
The festival is held at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds in Trumansburg which is located about 10 miles north of Ithaca on the west side of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of Central New York. Since the birth of the festival, the guiding quote has always been “to create joy in the midst of crisis is a powerful thing and brings magic to the table.”
Grassroots was founded by Donna the Buffalo, and is a mission-based organization that focuses on nurturing local artists and talent while reaching around the globe to bring world music and culture to new audiences to inspire creativity and foster community building. Four days before the festival there is a Culture Camp, which helps community building by having attendees going to four days of music and dance workshops led by regional and national artists.
Grandstand of Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance.
The 10th anniversary of Peach Music Festival took place at Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA over July 4th weekend. The festival began in 2012 by the Allman Brothers and Live Nation. Throughout the years, the music of the Allman Brothers has remained a focus with the evolving cast of musicians. The Montage Mountain Ski resort transforms into a water park in the summer months, and the Pavilion hosts concerts. The water park is a unique aspect to a music festival that makes this festival appealing to a wide range of guests.
Day 1: Billy Strings Closes Out the Opening Day
While some people began arriving on Wednesday, most guests arrived on Thursday, June 30. It was a beautiful day to set up camp and get ready for the music to begin in the late afternoon. Billy Strings, Keller Williams, Samantha Fish, Midnight North, Yam-Yam, Consider the Source were among the acts kicking off the festival.
There was a noticeable air of excitement for Billy Strings, with a consistently long line at his merch tent. Keller Williams delivered a late afternoon set full of classics with the aid of an array of pedals, but mostly just his trusty acoustic. Samantha Fish was a delightful surprise. Beginning the day unaware of her music, her set filled with powerful vocals, rocking guitars, and a striking stage presence. I became a fan. The evening headliner, Billy Strings, played to a packed pavilion and lawn. A full day of anticipation exploded into a sea of fans swaying and singing along to his blend of Bluegrass and Jam. Speaking with fans over the course of the weekend, Billy’s set was constantly a fan favorite. Consider the Source, the New York City trio, closed out the Grove Stage for Thursday with their unique blend of Sci-Fi Fusion. Steeped in Middle Eastern influences, their cosmic sound set the perfect tone to bookend a truly great day of music.
Day 2: Weather Doesn’t Dampen Spirits
Friday, day two of the festival, included another full day of music and enjoying the venue. Before the music began, the fans enjoyed the art displays in the lodge and utilized the water park. A sober group of music fans also held their morning meeting at the lodge, making the Peach Festival at Montage Mountain a welcome place for all fans.
Music began mid-day with Eggy, The Jauntee, Marco Benevento, Eric Krasno, The Kitchen Dwellers, The Motet, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, Andy Frasco & The U.N., Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. The late afternoon sets were affected by a severe weather event that had fans sheltering under the spacious pavilion. The house speakers kept fans happy while heavy rains descended on the grounds. The event staff were extremely helpful and efficient about keeping people safe.
Once the all clear was given, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening brought fans to their feet transporting the crowd to another time and place. The blend of voices and instruments was eerily close to the CDs on which I grew up.
Andy Frasco & The U.N. put on one of the most kinetic performances I’ve ever witnessed. Frasco’s shows are legendary for the band’s energy and crowd interaction. Entering the stage with a baby carriage that was home to an opossum, and raising it to the crowd like Raffiki did with Simba set the wheels in motion for his memorable set. Performing a mix of songs from his new album, Wash, Rinse, Repeat, the crowd was singing along with their favorites. One of several highlights from this set was when Andy had the entire crowd doing the Horah dance with the crew quickly adding extensions to his microphone wire as he waded to the center of the whirling crowd.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong closed out the night with a late night set to a packed pavilion. The rollicking set was cut short with another severe weather event that caused the festival to cancel the rest of their set, out of an abundance of caution for everyone’s safety.
Day 3: Trey Anastasio and Goose
Day three of the festival began with some residual rain, which quickly gave way to a perfectly sunny sky. Karina Rykman, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Jaimoe & Friends, Pixie & The Partygrass Boys, Neighbor, Rayland Baxter, Celisse, The Revivalists, Cordovas, Trey Anastasio Band, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer & Friends, and Goose filled the day with music.
A new artist known to those that attended the festival last year was Celisse. She played the festival on the Grove Stage in 2021 and had Trey Anastasio sit in with her. This year she owned the Peach Stage, belting out songs filled with power and emotion.
The Revivalists were up next on the main stage. David Shaw, the lead singer, brought his voice even closer to the crowd venturing off the stage to stand atop the large speakers. Singing directly to those lucky fans at the rail, Shaw sang crowd favorites with those in the pavilion singing along. As darkness descended on the festival grounds, light-up outfits, hula-hoops, and totems could be seen under the pavilion. The Trey Anastasio Band delivered a packed set which included several Phish covers including “Blaze On,” “Everything’s Right,” and “Gotta Jibboo.” One of the many highlights came towards the end when, in a twist of fortunes, Celisse sat in with Trey. Together they performed three songs: “The Moma Dance, “A Life Beyond The Dream,” and “Rise/Come Together.”
Brandon “Taz” Niederauer closed out the Mushroom Stage, while Cycles closed out the Grove Stage. Goose was the final act of the night with a special late night set. Anticipated all day by fans, Goose did not disappoint. With their ever upward trajectory, the band has amassed a following that is staggering when you consider their brief time together.
Day 4: Black Crowes Close Out Peach
Like all good things, even the Peach Music Festival must come to an end. The fourth day represented the last day of the 10th Anniversary of Peach Music Festival at Montage Mountain. The day began with a sense of melancholy, until the music started. Then fans rejoiced in the waning hours together.
Duane Betts, Daniel Donato & Friends, Maggie Rose, Dogs in a Pile, The Wailers, G. Love & The Juice, TAUK, and The Black Crowes were among the acts rounding out the weekend. Daniel Donato Brought a little county to the festival with Allman roots. At the Mushroom Stage, Dogs in a Pile are with fans enjoying their energetic set of psychedelic fusion. G. Love & The Juice, a band put together by Philly-based G. Love, and, as he describes them, the most exceptional musicians he’s played with. The hip-hop and blues influenced music was perfect companion to the jam-centric sets, which got fans to their feet.
Long Island-based TAUK brought their instrumental, EDM influenced beats to the Mushroom Stage. Their unique sound filled in a void of electronic funk music. The wordless instrumental music gave fans an opportunity to shake the cobwebs off of the weekend and become lost in the beats. To fill in your own emotions and experiences to a song is a special trait of instrumental music.
The final act of the Peach Festival was The Black Crowes. The Rock band fronted by Chris Robinson has been at it for over 30 years. They have continued to be a true rock band that fans flock to. They were a fitting bookend to a truly great weekend of music.
A Grateful Finale
At a special place, like the Peach Festival on Montage Mountain, you can look around at the sea of gyrating bodies, moving together and appreciate the collective experience you’ve just gone through. Smile at the friends that ventured to the festival with you, or the new ones made over the weekend. Having the space to be grateful for the music, the comradery, for all that awaits once we pack up and head home is an incredibly precious gift. As life becomes more entangled and busy, a music festival is truly just what the doctor ordered.
Two veteran Hudson Valley-based music promoters have teamed up to create Hudson Valley Live, a venture designed to bring critically-acclaimed world music, edgy jazz, experimental sounds and much more to the region beginning with seven events this summer at Colony Woodstock and White Feather Farm.
Hudson Valley Live is the brainchild of Danny Melnick and Isabel Soffer. The Saugerties-based Melnick has produced hundreds of festivals, tours, concerts and special events in more than 30 countries since 1989, efforts accelerated with the 2007 formation of his company, Absolutely Live Entertainment (ALE). A sample of these currently include: The Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival; tours by the all-star ensemble Artemis and The Joyce and George T. Wein Shape of Jazz Series at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Danny also is curating concerts for a criminal justice fundraising organization called JusticeAid and will produce the “Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour” in 2023, among many other projects.
A Brooklyn native who has lived and worked in Malden for five years, Isabel Soffer has been at the forefront of globally-centric cultural programming for nearly three decades. She was instrumental in the development of the American global music and dance scene as Director of the World Music Institute in the ’80s. But Isabel may be better known as Co-founder and Director of the globalFEST, a non-profit that produces this much-anticipated and acclaimed annual music festival and conference in New York City now marking its 20th year. Soffer is also the founder of Live Sounds, a company that curates and produces multi-genre initiatives that connect artists with cultural opportunities. Live Sounds has been responsible for producing scores of historic concerts and tours by the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and The Masked Dancers of Kerela, as well as the founding of The New York Flamenco Festival, The New York Fado Festival, a Sufi poetry fest and much more. All totaled, she has orchestrated well over 1,500 concerts, with artists from more than 100 countries.
“Our goal is to produce an eclectic music series for curious and serious music listeners, with the kind of global sounds that have not been readily available in the region,” says Soffer. “While the Hudson Valley has a wonderfully rich and lively music scene, the greatest and latest in global music has been kind of hard to come by.”
“This series at the Colony and White Feather Far will fill that gap,” adds Melnick. “We’re bringing our decades of experience and contacts with world music’s best to bring more of the best to the Hudson Valley. We’re delighted to partner with these two forward-thinking venues to do events will be truly unique and ear-opening for the Hudson Valley’s discerning music-lovers.”
The artists featured at the seven forthcoming events span from cutting edge jazz to Afropop, Gypsy, Flamenco and Brazil, Latinx sounds plus regional American traditions. Following are the events scheduled at Saugerties’ White Feather Farm, curated in partnership with Barbes, and The Colony in Woodstock. More info can be found at http://hudsonvalleylive.co/:
Friday, July 15 – Fela Kuti Tribute with Nikhil P. Yerawadekar Living Language
On Friday, June 24 at 4:00 pm and 7:15 pm, Grammy-nominated Latin singer Sonia De Los Santos will perform her bilingual songs at Flushing Town Hall, as part of the Hall’s month-long Queens Rising celebration which highlights the borough’s cultural and creative diversity.
Photo Courtesy of Hyphen Photography
The performance will feature Sonia De Los Santos (vocals, guitar, jarana), Sinuhé Padilla-Isunza (leona, jarana), Elena Moon Park (violin, trumpet), Erica Kika Parra (drums), Berta Moreno (sax, clarinet), Fernando Brindis (bass), and Argelia Arreola (zapateado, jarana).
Both performances are family-friendly, and the group shares uplifting messages with Latin rhythms, body percussion, and traditional, Mexican folk dance demonstrations. The concert will offer parents and children a chance to celebrate the end of a long school year, and all that they have accomplished.
Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Sonia De Los Sonto’s music career took off when she began touring with Grammy-winning kids’ music troubadour Dan Zanes in 2007. In 2015, she released her first solo family music album, Mi Viaje: De Nuevo León to the New York Island to rave reviews. The album received the Parents’ Choice Foundation Gold Award and reflects on her experiences growing up and preserving her own heritage in a different country.
In 2019, Sonia De Los Santos was nominated for a Latin Grammy with her second family music album, ¡Alegría!. She and her band have since performed throughout the country, including at the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, The Getty Museum, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and many more.
Santos’ recently released third album, Esperanza,is a bilingual collection of songs about hope, cherishing home, being grateful, dreaming of a better future, marveling at nature, and finding the light within ourselves. The musician and band are sure to make audiences smile with their encouraging messages and community pride.
Flushing Town Hall is excited to welcome families to celebrate our city’s school children with this fun concert. We are all so proud of their resilience and accomplishments this past school year! It’s time to kick off summer with these amazing and engaging performers.
Flushing Town Hall Executive & Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek
Flushing Town Hall has advocated for arts equity since 1979 and supports local, immigrant, national, and international artists with their programming. The Hall is also a proud member of the Cultural Institutions Group which is a collective of 34 non-profits committed to serving all New Yorkers.
Flushing Town Hall is accessible by car, bus, train, and foot. Access for wheelchair users and individuals with limited mobility is also available.
Reggae icon Burning Spear will play at Capital One City Parks Foundation Summerstage in Central Park on August 25, their first NYC show in more than 10 years and final announced show of the summer.
A music-maker, community icon, educator and spiritual uplifter, Burning Spear has carried the torch of the political activist Marcus Garvey’s gospel, promoting self-determination and self-reliance for African descendants for over four decades, throughout 25 albums. Promoting messages of peace and love to all, through his complex lyricism and rhythms, Burning Spear is a lifelong touring musician and his return to the stage will be nothing short of monumental.
The reggae icon will perform in New York for his Fan Appreciation tour which sees the Grammy Award-winning artist return to the stage for the first time in more than five years, playing cities like San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, DC, and more.
Burning Spear’s latest single “Mommy,” pays homage to the bold, powerful, minor-key reggae style that the icon helped pioneer in the 1970s and is the first standalone single from his upcoming album No Destroyer (TBD release date).
The show is presented by Sony Hall and DayGlo and tickets are on sale now. The full list of this year’s SummerStage lineup can be found here.
BURNING SPEAR – 2022 TOUR DATES Jul 22 San Francisco, CA, US The Masonic Jul 23 San Diego, CA, US Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU Jul 24 Inglewood, CA, US YouTube Theater Jul 26 Portland, OR, US Roseland Theater Jul 27 Seattle, WA, US Moore Theatre Jul 29 Silver Spring, MD, US The Fillmore Silver Spring Jul 30 Denver, CO, US Levitt Pavilion Aug 5 Boston, MA, US House of Blues – Boston Aug 6 Philadelphia, PA, US TD Pavilion at the Mann Aug 10 Vertheuil, France Domaine De Nodris Aug 13 Birmingham, UK Forum Birmingham Aug 14 London, UK O2 Academy Brixton Aug 25 NYC, SummerStage in Central Park
The Batavia Ramble Explore Art and Music Festival has been announced for July 2nd, including 25 bands, an Explore Art tent for kids, street performances, and much more.
For the past two years, the Ramble has been put on hold due to the pandemic. However, it is coming back this year, bigger and better than ever. The event will take place in Jackson Square and on Jackson Street in Batavia on July 2nd from 10am – 9pm.
We are so excited that the Ramble will be happening again this year! We wanted to make it the best one yet, so we partnered with our friends at GO ART! to help us not only grow the entire event but also bring more of a presence to the ‘arts’ side of the festival. It really is shaping up to be an incredible event. And I think everyone is going to love it!
-Paul Draper III
Batavia Ramble is an annual reunion of musicians, who have a connection to Batavia and the surrounding areas, which features a variety of musical genres. This year’s Ramble will consist of two stages; The Main Stage sponsored by Eli Fish in Jackson Square, and the Jackson Street Stage sponsored by Center Street Smoke House.
The tentative lineup is as follows:
Eli Fish Stage:
The Ghost Riders Groove Warren Skye and Friends Kissin’ Whiskey DriVen The Trolls 2.0 Lonesome Road Marnie Kay and the Nonblondes Beethoven’s Dream Group Sierra Noah Gokey Jostepa Trio The Bluesway Band Zackstreet Boys
Jackson Street Stage
Steve Krupper Tom Ryan and Friends PD3 Knaudt and Chua Vette Midnight Cruisers Brick Spare Parts High Pines The Remediators Bad Sign
In addition to all the music and activities, there will be vendors including artists, food, and beer. Guests are reminded to bring a chair or a blanket.
