NYS Music 202​2

Tag: catskills

  • Summer Hoot Festival Returns for its 10th Year

    The 10th annual Summer Hoot Festival will return to Olivebridge, NY, from Aug. 26-28 for three days of music, food, nature, and community. The festival will feature nearly two dozen musical performances in a family-friendly environment.

    Folk-roots musicians Mike Merenda and Ruth Ungar Merenda of The Mammals together produce and host the event. The duo started the Hoot Festival back in 2013 with friends and hold the event twice a year in the winter and summer to celebrate music and nature. 

    This year’s lineup features the talents of NY-based Naiika Sings, Catalan instrumentalist Lau Noah, Hudson Valley’s What?, dancers City Stompers, The Mammals, and many more. The Hoot has long attracted some amazing acts, including previous performances from Pete Seeger, David Bromberg, Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and Amy Helm, among others. 

    The Summer Hoot Festival promotes environmental sustainability alongside its intention to spread a love of music. The festival is completely powered by solar energy and uses reusable pint cups to reduce waste. Additionally, festival proceeds will benefit the year-round cultural and environmental education programs at the Ashokan Center.

    It’s not every day that people of all ages can safely explore nature and enjoy new music together, but here at the Hoot that’s just the beginning. This festival lets us share the joy and freedom I was privileged to experience in my own childhood at Ashokan, and keep the party going for generations to come.

    – Ruth Ungar Merenda, Hoot Event Producer and Director of Community Outreach for the Ashokan Center

    The Summer Hoot Festival musical acts will take place across two stages with speakers in between sets offering talks on nature, nutrition, fitness, and more. Guided hikes to the Ashokan Center’s Cathedral Gorge and historic Covered Bridge will also be made available. 

    Information about ticket prices, additional programming, camping, and more, can be found on the festival’s website. The Summer Hoot Festival will take place at the Ashokan Center, located at 477 Beaverkill Road in Olivebridge, New York.

  • The Whistles Drop EP “I Come From The Future” and Open New Recording Studio

    Singer and songwriter Terrence Brennan of Cousin Earth and BELT and his wife, Wendy LaManque, make up the folk duo The Whistles and recently released their EP I Come from the Future. The project was fully recorded in their newly opened studio space, The Party Farm, in Roscoe.

    The Party Farm in Roscoe, NY.

    The duo began making music together under the name The Whistles a few years ago and started recording their newest EP in the winter of 2021. Both Brennan and LaManque are equally responsible for the songwriting on the album, and Brennan engineered, mixed, and mastered the record right in their brand-new recording studio.

    The time-travel-themed EP I Come from the Future is some of the couple’s best work with a surprise release on Tuesday, June 21. With elements of alt-rock, country, metal, dance music, and more, the album takes listeners on a journey through genres. The music video for The Whistle’s country ballad, “Hay,” features a beautiful violin solo from Michael Hunter and can be seen below.

    The Party Farm, nestled in the Catskills, offers a peaceful mountain environment for any recording artist to take advantage of. The space includes many amenities, including a bowling alley, bar, and walking trails not far off.

    Brennan acts as the studio’s mixing engineer, with 20 years of experience as a recording artist and producer. The recording studio also offers photography and video editing for those who wish to share the work they may do in the studio with the outside world.