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Musicians in a tribute band take on a special challenge. Fans are going to want to hear the hit songs just like they've heard them on the record, and they've listened to their favorite songs enough to know every nuance.

You can't flub your lines or miss a chord change, and you better get the harmonies right.

"That is the curse of the tribute band -- everybody knows those songs, and if you're not doing them right, they know it," said Bob Brummitt, leader and bass player with The Eaglez, an Eagles tribute band. "In a bar band, you can get away with it. You're a cover band, and everybody knows it and accepts it, but being in a tribute band forces us to be at the top of our game."

The Eaglez will perform at the Genesee County Fair on Thursday, July 27. Show time is 7 p.m.

The Eagles are a tough act to mimic, Brummitt acknowledged.  Many of the songs are deceptively simple, suitable for a campfire sing-along, but the arrangements can be more complex, especially with studio overdubs, something players can't easily recreate live.

"To tell the truth, we play these songs all the time and have been listening to them our whole lives, but sometimes we'll be like, 'what is that chord change?' even though we've heard it a million times, and so we're like, 'now we know why it sounds the way it does.'"

For more on the 2023 fair, see also: Genesee County Fair keeps growing, expands to eight days July 22-29

The Eaglez formed about 2 1/2 years ago, a child of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're all veteran players," Brummitt said. "We've all been doing the bar scene for about 40 years. We decided that for some of us, before fading off into the sunset, this is always something we wanted to do but none of us had the time.  COVID did us a huge favor. During the lockdown, nobody was booking any bands, so all we could do was go to the practice facility and grind it out. Then when things opened up, we were ready to fly." (No pun intended)

The current lineup is:

• Randy Barnard, Lead Guitar/Keyboard
• Dennis Makowski,  Guitar/Vocals
• Bob Brummitt, Bass Guitar/Vocals
• John White, Rhythm Guitar/Vocals
• Mike Nierenberg,  Vocals/Percussion
• Micky Judware / Rich Keigley, Drums
• Paul Vanacore, Sax/Keyboard

"Most of us were straight ahead barroom rockers," Brummitt said. "There's where the business has been the past few years. We played Bad Company, the Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Skynyrd -- you name it, we've done it. We've just about played it all."

Not every musician Brummitt approached about joining an Eagles tribute band wanted to take on the challenge. He heard things like, "I can't take the time to learn it," "It takes too much commitment," and "It's too tough for me."

The players who did take on the challenge are attracted to the Eagles, Brummitt said, because "it's America's music."  

"Everybody loves the Eagles," Brummitt said. "Even bar bands play one or two Eagles songs."

Drawing on influences such as the Beach Boys (those high harmonies), Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Byrds, and Graham Parsons, the Eagles took that nascent country rock sound of California and infused it with hooks and themes listeners could grasp.

"We all grew up with it, but even at our shows, there are people in their late 20s, early 30s, who weren't even born yet (when the Eagles topped the charts), and we're surprised," Brummitt said. "But they say, 'That's what my parents played when I was a child.' It's almost timeless."

The Eaglez have caught on in WNY -- band members live throughout the region -- and they play 20 to 25 shows each summer, mostly in outdoor venues, which they prefer.  In winter, they mostly avoid bars, except as a favor to outdoor venue owners who also have an indoor venue, and to stay in practice.

The Eaglez is the only full-time Eagles tribute band in WNY, as far as Brummitt knows, which has helped fuel their popularity.

"(Tribute bands) seems to be where the market is," Brummitt said. "It's a narrower market. It's an upscale market. And you don't have to bring a crowd. When you try to book into a bar (as a cover band), bar owners want to know how many people can you bring? That's not the case with a tribute band." 

A typical set from the Eaglez is 25 songs, and they pretty much play all the fan favorites.

The Eagles Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is certified platinum 38 times. It is the biggest-selling album of all time.

"We kind of pride ourselves on playing every single song on that album," Brummitt said.

The set usually includes a couple of songs from the solo careers of Eagles members Don Henley, Joe Walsh and the late Glenn Frey.  Some of those songs sound so much like the Eagles, he said, that some fans don't even know they're not Eagles songs.

This will be the first appearance for The Eaglez in Genesee County, and Brummitt said he's hoping they're a smash so they get invited back.  The band is looking to get more exposure in rural Western New York because the Eagles music, country rock, seems a natural fit. 

"It's an inviting venue because we're all really familiar with county fairs," Brummitt said. "It's a real festival environment, there's usually some liquid refreshment flowing, and it's our kind of crowd."  

The Eaglez concert will include The Batavian announcing the winner of its guitar-giveaway contest.

There is a total of five nights of live music at the Genesee County Fair.  Here is the rest of the 2023 lineup:

Saturday, July 22
BB Dang, 7 to 10 p.m.
 

You could say BB Dang is a group of graduates from ROC Star Academy in Rochester, where band members all first started playing together. They've successfully transitioned from a class project to a gigging band. Manager Tony Barbagallo described the band's sound as high-energy rock, including current hits and classic rock with a bit of country thrown into the mix. "I think that's been part of their success," Barbagallo said. "They span current pop music, current pop artists, all the way back to classic rock and classic country." The band members are Isabella Barbagallo, vocals, Reid Burton, vocals and guitar, Matt Edwards, bass, Alex Sherwood, guitar, Mike Valle, drums, and Abby Johnson, keyboards and vocals. For the fair, original member Cameron Carlson will be on bass in one of his last gigs with the band before starting college. Carlson is from Bergen.

Sunday, July 23
Knight Patrol, 7 to 10 p.m.

Knight Patrol plays 80s monster rock hits, said manager Angelo Affronti.  The band includes his son A.J. on lead guitar, lead singer Tim Burnett, Eddie Krysinski on keyboards, Zach Biern on bass and the drummer is Jon Bishop (with a sub on the GC Fair show).  "We play all of the biggest hits of the 80s -- Bon Jovi, Journey, Motley Crue, Electric Light Orchestra, Bryan Adams -- all the greatest hits.  All stuff that people know."  A.J. Affronti said the band loves 80s music because they can relate to it better than today's music. "I think it's a bit of a different character, and it's more into how we feel. When you hear an 80s song, you know it's an 80s song. It just has an energy to it."  He said his favorite guitarists include Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest, along with Neal Schon of Journey.

Friday, July 28
Audibull, 7:30 to 11 p.m.

Audibull is a Genesee County band through-and-through, based in Pavilion, playing local gigs for a dozen years, and rooted in the local music scene. Members are Tim Pitcher on guitar, Bill Christiano on bass, Chris Iannone on drums, and Todd Tracy on lead vocals.  It's a solid four-piece playing modern hard rock -- System of a Down, Korn, Drowning Pool, Disturbed, and Godsmack, for example. "We like the energy of the crowd," Tracy said. "I've always lived with the idea that there's a new crop of 21-year-olds every year who want to hear what they grew up with, but the older we get, the crowd gets younger."

Saturday, July 29
BarnStorm, 7 to 11 p.m.

The Genesee County Fair will close out its live music showcase with a night of current and classic country from BarnStorm. Their set highlights such acts as Reba McIntire, Maren Morris, LeAnn Rimes, Tanya Tucker, Randy Travis, Phil Vassar and Kenny Chesney.  The lineup is Rick Polinsky on keyboards, Rich Ulinski on lead vocals, Leslie Trippi, lead vocals, Dave Dunkowski, bass, and Pete Militello, drums. The band has been together about 15 years and the current lineup are all dyed-in-the-wool country fans. "We're all veteran musicians," Polinsky said. "We all like country. That's the toughest thing, trying to get five people on the same page as far as the kind of music you're doing.  We had people who did rock and roll and had no clue about country music these guys have been playing it for years and know it like the back of their hands."

By Alan Sculley

Martin Cash of We The Kingdom admits it might seem odd that the Christian group chose to make their second album a self-titled effort. That’s usually a title bands reserve for their debut albums.

“I think it’s ironic that it ended up being self-titled because to be honest, in the beginning that option was thrown out because we couldn’t agree on any other name. Someone at some point was like ‘Hey, why don’t we just call it ‘We The Kingdom’ and call it like a day,”

Cash said during a recent phone interview. “At first we were like ‘Ah that feels like a cop out. That feels like throwing in the towel.’ But the irony is that I really think this album highlights the individual members of We The Kingdom because throughout the album there were particular people that started certain songs and we all kind of jumped in to finish them.”

“(It says) Hey, we are a team. We are all in this together,” he said. “As you look down the list, it’s almost like Ah, I remember, that’s kind of Franni’s song that she started and we came around and finished it. That was a really cool and different, unique thing that happened with the album, where it was still collaborative, but there were just individuals who started songs and brought them to the rest of the band that we then all finished.”

It makes sense that the five members of We The Kingdom would grow more collaborative. After all, this is essentially a family band that’s very accustomed to being around each other. The band includes Ed Cash, his brother, Scott Cash, Ed’s son and daughter, Martin Cash and Franni Rae Cash-Cain, and long-time friend Andrew Bergthold, We The Kingdom became a group after writing several songs while the five musicians were serving as worship leaders during a stint at a Young Life camp in 2008.

The band got signed by Capitol Records’ Christian Music Group, and debuted in 2019 with a six-song concert EP, “Live at the Wheelhouse.” That release contained a version of the song “Holy Water,” which topped the Christian Airplay singles chart. The studio version of that song became the title track for the “Holy Water” studio album, and in April 2020 the song landed atop three different Christian music charts. Two more top-5 singles, “God So Loved” and “Child of Love,” followed, as We The Kingdom became one of the fastest-rising acts in Christian music.

So far, the self-titled album has generated a top 15 single in “Miracle Power,” a top 30 single in “Jesus Does” and more singles could still be released. In making the “We The Kingdom” album, the five band members grew more collaborative as songwriters, drew on some different influences (Martin mentioned Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and the Smash Mouth hit “All Star” as prime examples) and experimented with new tones and sonics. In the end, the band emerged with an album full of strong songs that are a bit more energetic overall than the “Holy Water” album.

Cash said doing a second album presented We The Kingdom with plenty of questions about the next musical step the band should make. “With our first album, you’re starting from zero. You have no reference for what people like from you, the sound,” he explained. 

“If say, they gravitate toward ‘Holy Water,’ you struggle with should we write more records like ‘Holy Water,’ that same sound? But then the creative in you is going ‘No, we’ve already done that. How do we continue reinventing ourselves and pushing the envelope, but still offering the same sound people fell in love with?’ So that was a struggle with the self-titled album. I’m personally super pleased with how it turned out.”

We The Kingdom is back out playing headlining shows after starting the year co-headlining the multi-band Winter Jam, one of the year’s biggest Christian music tours. That outing initially caused the band some concerns, because when We The Kingdom took the stage, it was later in the evening and they were seeing a significant number of people who were either leaving during their set or before We The Kingdom took the stage. 

After a number of discussions, Cash said, they came to feel people were leaving for logistical reasons – such as needing to get home to meet up with babysitters or the younger fans had curfews. Cash feels that experience will only help the band, even with headlining shows.

“There was talk of like are we playing the right songs? Should we play more songs that are hooky, kind of cheap tricks you can get into to get people to stay?” Cash revealed. “But at the end of the day, the point is not to force them to stay. It’s to play to the ones that are there. It’s a lesson, but it’s a good one.”

We the Kingdom will be playing at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Tuesday.

By Dave Gil de Rubio

If synthesizers are the engine for Howard Jones’ creative drive, then positivity is the fuel. It’s been that way since Jones broke onto the international music scene with his 1983 hit single “New Song” and has continued to be the case with the current four-album concept that started with 2015’s “Engage,” followed in 2019 by “Transform” and last year by “Dialogue.” The fourth album, “Global Citizen,” is set to wrap up this overarching concept album project, and could arrive as soon as this year.

The English musician described the story arc that has been his focus for the past seven years. “‘Engage’ was about not just being a bystander—be involved in what’s going on around you and don’t think that you don’t have any effect on the world and your environment because you do,” Jones explained in a recent phone interview. “‘Transform’” was about if we want to change the world and change things for the better, we have to start with ourselves. We have to work on ourselves and our behavior towards other people and ourselves as well. And ‘Dialogue’ is what I just described—the importance of communicating towards each other. The next one...is ‘Global Citizen,’ and that’s putting all those three concepts into action and believing that you can have an effect on the world as a global citizen.”

Like the rest of the world, Jones found himself isolated by the pandemic lockdown as he embarked on recording “Dialogue.” The dark mood of uncertainty that came with this global situation meant lyrics came later, but in the end, Jones was able to surmount the challenges presented with being a one-man band, particularly after contracting a post-vaccination case of COVID-19.

“I couldn’t really work with other people on this, so it was me, my growing synthesizer collection, software and studio,” he recalled. “In a way that makes it quite focused, I think. I had plenty of time to experiment, try some new things and get some really great sounds together. I got to spend days on just one sound to make it really special. And having that amount of time was a blessing to really experiment. I suddenly remembered that I used to do a lot of harmony vocals—layered vocals and big multi-harmonized vocals and I got back into that idea. And I wanted my voice to sound different every time I used one of those harmonized vocals and I was experimenting. 

“There was one point that I got COVID-19—I was completely vaccinated and everything but when I got it, I sort of lost my full voice,” Jones said. “I thought I was going to have to try and do something different, so I sang in a different way more quietly. I got a really different sound and I was really quite excited about that. If you’re doing all your own backing vocals yourself, you need to make yourself sound different to differentiate between the lead and backing vocal. It worked for me.” 

And while Jones did all the creative-lifting, he got a compositional assist from BT (aka Brian Transeau), the American musician/DJ/electronic music pioneer who became a close friend of Jones after the latter came out to see him head up an ambitious orchestral project in Miami in 2015. It’s a connection Jones has come to treasure.

“On the new album, we did two or three tracks and BT was great,” Jones said. “For those two tracks—‘Celebrated Together’ and ‘Be the Hero’—he’d sent me some seed ideas for tracks quite a long time ago. I used a bit of that in the writing of them and I’m really hoping that we may get a remix from him based on one of those songs. I know he was particularly excited about ‘Be the Hero.’ We probably will continue to work together maybe throughout the rest of my career because we get on very well. For him, it’s about trying to find time because he’s the busiest man in the universe.”

While this string of albums is heavily electronically driven, Jones will mix things up during his live shows as he opens this summer for Culture Club. 

“It’s an electronic show and we’re going to be debuting a few tracks from the ‘Dialogue’ album along with a couple of tracks from ‘Transform’ and one from ‘Engage’ as well,” he said. “The fans really follow everything I do and I really must look after that as well as playing the hits.”

Looking ahead, Jones and his fan base have plenty of projects to anticipate between “Global Citizen” completing his four-album musical concept, a concert album (“Live at Union Chapel”) and a collection of non-synthesizer-based material Jones has been working on for a number of years (“Piano Composed”). And while he’s understandably excited about this burst of creativity that’s going to take him into the next year, Jones has always clung to the philosophy of gratitude driving him forward while refusing to get caught up in the highs and lows of the music industry and life in general.

“I think it’s very important to be happy with your work and one of the best ways to be happy is to really appreciate the situation you find yourself in, even if it’s difficult or you’re having problems or whether you’re soaring because it’s going well,” Jones said. “Just really appreciate things because if it’s not going well, then you can learn a ton of stuff from that to make it better. If things are going really well, don’t get carried away, because that may stop you from doing great work in the future.”

Howard Jones will be playing at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Saturday.

It was Wrestling Mayhem at the David M. McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena on Sunday, with 375 people attending. 

The event drew wrestling fans from as far away as Denver as well as Erie, PA.

Empire State Wrestling participants competed in single, tag-team and title belt matches.

Kati Murray, rink manager said it was well received by many in the community, with positive comments on social media, and the promoter said it was a great venue for the event.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Foreigner has announced that the band is now embarking on its  final tour -- an outing that could extend well into 2024 when the buses and semi-trucks will get parked and the band members will move on to new chapters in their lives. 

This development doesn’t come as much of a surprise. It’s been widely reported that health issues have prevented guitarist and founding member Mick Jones from playing multiple shows and sometimes only performing a few songs with the rest of the band when he has been able to participate in recent tours.

But what also becomes clear in interviewing singer Kelly Hansen is that he had a good deal to do with deciding it is time for Foreigner to step away from being a touring band. The fact is, Hansen said in a recent phone interview, he recognizes that as a high tenor vocalist, the day is coming when he won’t be able to deliver Foreigner’s songs the way he wants. Certain songs have notes that already are difficult for him to hit and he wants the band to call it a day with touring while they can still play and perform at their current high level.

“It gets harder and harder every year to perform this catalog in the way that it deserves, not only for the songs, but for the fans,” Hansen said. “I want to have us go out strong and have the live presence be remembered as still super strong and energetic,” he added. “That’s how I want the legacy of this band to be remembered.” 

As for Jones, he’ll be along for the final tour as often as possible. “He wants to be out. He’s scheduled to be with us. It all depends on what is allowable for him health-wise,” Hansen said. “I think the show itself is better with him there, but I think the show is really, really good even when he’s not there because it’s really about the songs. It’s about this catalog. It’s about the legacy of what this band has put out over these past 45 years.”

That 45-year history has seen Foreigner become firmly established as one of rock’s most enduring and successful bands, overcoming ups and downs and a major departure along the way. Jones, who previously had been in the band Spooky Tooth, formed Foreigner in 1976. 

Over the course of six albums, from the 1977 self-titled album through 1987’s “Inside Information,” Foreigner notched 15 top 20 singles, the high point coming with the multi-chart-topping epic ballad, “I Want To Know What Love Is” in 1984. Earlier rocking hits like “Feels Like The First Time,” “Hot Blooded,” “Double Vision” and “Urgent” established Foreigner’s credentials as a band with talent for writing catchy mainstream rock.

But then Jones and singer Lou Gramm had a falling out and Gramm left the band in 1990. And while Gramm rejoined Foreigner for the 1994 album, “Mr. Moonlight,” any return to former glories was sidetracked when Gramm needed surgery to remove a brain tumor in 1997.

He was able to resume touring in 1998, but tensions gradually returned and the Jones/Gramm partnership ended in 2003. After a couple of years, Jones decided to bring back Foreigner. Hansen, who had fronted the band Hurricane from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, got wind in 2004 that Jones might be forming a new edition of Foreigner and pursued the singer’s slot. He got an audition, which he obviously passed.

But Foreigner was not going to return at anywhere near the same level of popularity the band had achieved in the 1980s, and Hansen said the band had to get an entire organization, from management on down, in place, and more to the point, rebuild relationships, not only with fans, but with promoters, booking agents and other industry professionals.

“Of course, the band had the catalog and a great history, but there had been some damage done over the previous years,” Hansen said. “So it took time for us to develop trust with people. But as soon as we started doing shows, I think people recognized that this was something again formidable and were willing to take a chance on us again and do that and gave the band that new breath of life.”

As the years ensued, Foreigner played bigger and bigger venues while earning respect for the way the band delivered the song catalog. Another key step in solidifying the credibility of the “new” Foreigner, Hansen said, was making an album of new songs, “Can’t Slow Down,” which was released in 2009.

The lineup that made “Can’t Slow Down” is largely intact today, with guitarist Bruce Watson, drummer Chris Frazier (who joined in 2011 and 2012 respectively), and guitarist/bassist Luis Maldonado (a 2021 recruit), stepping in alongside Jones, Hansen, bassist/keyboardist Jeff Pilson and keyboardist Michael Bluestein. This stability has helped the band’s credibility as well, and Hansen is proud of what his edition of Foreigner has accomplished.

“I think over the course of these 20 years, what we’ve done, my goal has been to maintain the legacy of this band and the integrity of the catalog and give it the sincerity and the dignity that it deserves,” Hansen said. “I think that we have done that.”

Foreigner will be playing at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Friday

By Aaron Irons

Gov’t Mule’s latest album “Peace… Like A River” shreds laurels and hews fresh sounds from a batch of deeply personal and dynamic songs that deliver fuel for new and longtime admirers alike without giving into convention or complacency. A dozen studio albums in, the gang that originally hammered out its vanguard album at the Allman Brothers' old house in Macon, Georgia three decades ago is possibly even more compelling today than it was then.

Recorded in the same stretch of quarantined sessions that also begat the Mule’s 2021 juke- fest, “Heavy Load Blues,” “Peace… Like A River” is the story told clear-eyed in the sunshine, wary of encroaching shadows, and informed by lead guitarist/songwriter/frontman Warren Hayne’s pandemic experience.

“We decided to go with the blues record first because we'd been talking about doing a blues record for a long time and we thought, ‘Well if there was ever a time when everybody's got the blues, this is it!’” laughed Haynes, the Asheville, North Carolina native who started Gov’t Mule with drummer Matt Abts, and the late bassist Allen Woody in 1994. “‘Peace... Like A River,’ in some ways, deals with coming out of COVID and the whole lockdown, which we're all thankful to be out of -- assuming we are -- but it deals with it in more of a celebratory ‘other side of hell’ way.”

Recording the album’s more introspective material during daylight hours in the main room at the Power Station studio in Waterford, Connecticut, today’s lineup of Gov’t Mule, Haynes, Abts, bassist Jorgen Carlsson and keyboardist/guitarist Danny Louis would end the evening in one of the studio’s adjacent spaces, cranking out oily, fire-belching blues.

“We would switch our brains off, take a dinner break, and after dinner, hole up in the little small room next door and play blues the rest of the night! It was kind of a way of cleansing our brains and it turned out to be the right recipe,” said Haynes, who called in for this interview in late April.

Songs like “Made My Peace” offer up epic swells of stadium rock and psychedelia while plumbing emotions of loss and resignation, spiritually evoking the prodigal and notions of forgiveness. “It's also a metaphor for just coming back,” Haynes said. “It's written through the eyes of the prodigal son, which I don't think of myself that way, but metaphorically speaking, there's a lot of references to being gone for a long time and finding your way back. I also lost my dad during this process, which was really tough for me. And still is.”

On “Gone Too Long,” Haynes pays tribute to a fallen hero. “‘Gone Too Long’ is more of a one-on-one relationship with your soulmate, but the same thing of acknowledging how much of your life you've spent being away and what damage it did, and what major losses were suffered along the way,” Haynes revealed. “[It's] is a song that I wound up dedicating to David Crosby, who I only knew slightly. We played together once, but he was definitely an influence. I felt like that song had some of his influence from the very beginning, and then when he passed, it just made perfect sense for me.”

A wealth of special guests are seasoned throughout “Peace… Like A River,” including stellar shots from Ivan Neville and Ruthie Foster on the buoyant but lamenting “Dreaming Out Loud,” soul/blues belter Celisse Henderson, who appears on the hope-and-keys-laden “Just Across The River,” and icon Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top, who drops in on the “Heavy Load Blues”-ish “Shake Our Way Out”.

“That song, when we started working it up in the studio, it took on a ZZ-influenced vibe from the beginning and that's what urged me to call Billy and ask him if he would get involved,” said Haynes. “It was great. You know, he had played on a song called "Broke Down On The Brazos" that we did on (the 2009 album) “By A Thread” but he didn't sing. And on this one, he just sang and didn't play, so next time I guess we gotta get him to do both!”

With the revelation that he’s writing new material, Haynes is careful not to commit to the next chapter while Gov’t Mule prepares to embark on a tour that will crisscross North America through year’s end. “You know, I’ve been writing a lot of stuff that is more similar to “Man In Motion,” Haynes said, referencing his 2011 solo effort. 

“It’s somewhere between [that] and “Ashes & Dust,” and I wonder if maybe the next thing I do might wind up being a solo record. I’m sure after two records and two back-to-back tours, Gov’t Mule might want a break. I’m not there yet, but I have started to write a lot. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the studio, but for now, we’ve got a lot of stage playing to do,” he said.

Great White, stepping in for Skid Row after that band canceled, headlined another rockin' night at Batavia Downs on Friday.

Photos by Nick Serrata.

By L. Kent Wolgamott

The Marshall Tucker Band had its hits in the ‘70s. But when singer Doug Gray looks out at the audiences at the band’s shows, he doesn’t see a room full of those who grew up on the songs. 

He sees a lot of people who weren’t born when “Can’t You See,” “Fire on the Mountain,” and “Heard It in a Love Song.” were all over the radio.

“We didn’t start out knowing these songs would be a hit, that these songs would be played 8 million times on the radio or somewhere,” Gray said in a phone interview from his Carolina home. “‘Heard It in a Love Song’ is catching up to ‘Can’t You See,’ and ‘Fire on the Mountain’ is in there, and they keep going up.

“It’s because of the young people and all the stuff that’s out there, in movies, on Netflix,” he said. “They hear a song, look up Marshall Tucker Band, they hit click, and they download that song. It’s made life simple for them, and it’s not hurting our pocketbook at all.”

It’s also because the MTB classics have become staples on the TV singing contest shows.

“I’m guilty of watching ‘The Voice.’ I’m guilty of watching ‘American Idol’,” Gray said. “I’m 75, but my girlfriend is 20 years younger. She’ll see me after watching and say, ‘You’ve got tears coming out of your eyes.’ It’s because I just heard about a 16-year-old girl who’s going to be a star. I can feel it right now, just like Elvis did. And she did one of our songs.

“When they do ‘Can’t You See’ in front of 8, 9 million people, I always reach out to them. I wish them good luck and all of that,” he said. “Not all of them win.”

Gray was one of six young guys who got together in Spartanburg, S.C., in 1972 and borrowed the name of a blind piano tuner for a band moniker.

Unintentionally, the band came up with a distinctive brand of music that got played on rock and progressive country stations.

“We did it without knowing there was any difference between country, rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues or jazz,” said Gray. “We put all of those together without knowing what the heck we were doing. We even got invited to jazz festivals. 

“Toy and Tommy (Caldwell) were the country influences in the group, Doug, that would be myself, and George (McCorkle) were the R&B players,” Gray said. “Jerry (Eubanks) was the flautist. He played sax in the high school band, too. You bring all that together, and it’s like the soup your mama made on Sundays when she cleaned out the refrigerator. You drop everything into the pot, and out comes the Marshall Tucker Band.”

Toy Caldwell was the band’s primary songwriter and lead guitarist. His brother played bass, McCorkle played rhythm guitar, Paul Riddle was the drummer, and Eubanks played everything else -- keyboards, saxophone and flute.

Signed to Capricorn Records in 1973, the band released its self-titled debut album, toured with labelmates The Allman Brothers Band, and put out the first of their three signature songs, “Can’t You See.” Two years later came “Fire on the Mountain,” and in 1977, “Heard It in a Love Song.”

The Marshall Tucker Band has, for four decades, continued to tour, with the new audience helping to keep them on the road for about 100 nights in a normal year. And the group isn’t too far off of reaching that level of activity this year, the 50th anniversary of the band’s debut album. Gray is happy to have shows to play.

“Here’s a band that hasn’t really done anything but play,” Gray said. “That’s what the Marshall Tucker Band is about. If you want to know what the band’s about in actuality, that’s it. Even from the beginning, we just wanted to go out and play. First, to buy beer, to be honest.”

Gray is the only remaining original member of The Marshall Tucker Band. Tommy Caldwell died in an auto accident in 1980. Four years later, Toy Caldwell, McCorkle and Riddle retired, leaving Eubanks and Gray running the band. Eubanks retired in 1996

“Tommy died in 1980 in a car wreck, but before that, in 1971, we had an attorney draw up an agreement; we all had first right of refusal about everything with the band. Everything was split equally by six,” Gray said. “Two or three shares I bought up when guys got tired of it and wanted to get off the road. That’s how I ended up with The Marshall Tucker Band.

“Luckily, I can still sing, and I have some other great players in the band. People will ask me how the new band is working out. They’ve been in the band for 25 years. The same band has been together for 25 years. The old band was together for eight years.”

The Marshall Tucker Band, of late, has regularly played the Grand Ole Opry, CMA Fan Fest and the Stagecoach Festival, the country version of the Coachella festival -- it only took 40 years for the country music industry to figure out that the band had country songs, all the way back to the first album.

The group these days typically plays clubs, theaters, and casinos -- venues that Gray said are perfect for his band, small enough that he’ll know just what the MTB is in for before he walks in the door.

“When the bus pulls up, I see how many pickups are in the parking lot. That way, I know we’re going to have a good time,” Gray said. “I don’t want to see too many vans. Those are the moms bringing the kids to see us for the first time. Our biggest, largest drawing audience is 18-37 now. We love playing for them. There’s nothing better for me than putting that microphone out in the audience and having them sing “Can’t You See” and “Fire on the Mountain’ or some of the more obscure songs.”

The Marshall Tucker Band plays at Batavia Downs on Friday.

Vette opened the Thursday Night concert series in Jackson Square yesterday.

The band consists of Kole Moore, lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Alex Fitzak, lead guitar, and on Thursday, the substitute rhythm section was Mike "Thunder" Warren on bass and Alex DeSmit on drums.

The next show is the band Free Beer on Thursday, followed by Qwister on Aug. 10 and Radio Relapse on Aug. 17.

The concerts are hosted by the Business Improvement District.

St. Ann's Community at the Greens in Le Roy hosted a free outdoor concert on Thursday.

A stage was set up in on the back lawn of The Greens and Inside Out, playing mostly a set of The Beatles, performed for 90 minutes. 

Food trucks were available for food and beverages.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Press Release:

Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel announced today that due to circumstances beyond their control, the concert on July 14 will no longer feature Skid Row. Great White will perform at Pepsi’s Rockin’ The Downs Summer Concert Series.

Great White has an arsenal of songs that include the Grammy nominated Best Hard Rock Performance hit, “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” Great White has sold over 10 million albums worldwide, has six Top 100 Billboard hits, nine Top 200 Billboard albums, two platinum albums, and clocked the top of MTV four times.

Please note that tickets purchased for the Skid Row concert will still be honored on that date.  Those wishing for a refund may do so through their point of purchase.  Info can be found inside of your ticket confirmation email.  Tickets purchased at the Lucky Treasures gift shop may be refunded during normal gift shop hours.

Tickets are available for Great White right now on BataviaConcerts.com

Singer Melzie Case, accompanying herself on piano, and drummer Bob Chaplin, performed a free concert at Richmond Memorial Library on Tuesday.

Photos by Howard Owens.

When Brett Young began work on his latest album, “Weekends Look A Little Different These Days,” he faced a whole new challenge as a songwriter. He had strived to be authentic in his writing, delving into subject matter that allowed him to draw from his personal experiences.

But that approach wasn’t going to work on the “Weekends” album, especially if he was trying to write about where his life is now.

Married to his long-time girlfriend, which he literally says is the love of his life, and a father of two little girls, Young knew his happy life wouldn’t make for a compelling album.

“It would have been really tempting to just write basically a lullabies record, love songs about my wife and songs about my children,” Young said in a late-April phone interview. “So the challenge was that you can’t write just about what you’re going through in your life right now. That’s going to be boring.”

Fortunately for Young, he was working with some co-writers who have been around the block and knew how to put an authentic personal touch on a lyric and honestly convey a variety of emotions over the course of an album.

“It’s hard when you’re in the happiest place in your life, and you’ve got to still write a sad song, and we did,” Young said. “We did that, but we did it through a lot of conversations. I’d get in with a songwriter or a couple of songwriters, and I’d be like, ‘Tell me about your worst heartbreak. Explain that to me.’ We started having to go down that path, and that was a new stage of songwriting for me. Don’t just do what you’re feeling right now; here’s a topic, go back to a place where you did feel this way and write it. And we did that. I think it stretched me in a really good way as a songwriter.”

This new approach to songwriting is very evident on “Weekends Look A Little Different These Days,” and Young has essentially crafted an album that touches on the long and winding road he has traveled with his wife, Taylor.

Young, though, didn’t want to tell a linear story about his history with Taylor. Instead, the songs on “Weekends” feel like snapshots from various moments of their journey, which included three breakups before they decided they truly should be together.

“For us, our story wasn’t linear anyway,” Young said. “I met Taylor, this Thanksgiving, it will be 16 years ago. So we have a long, storied history.”

The album culminates with the song “This,” which describes how the life Young and Taylor have now has made the heartaches and good times from their dating years completely worth it.

“That one really fell out quick,” Young said of “This.” “It got me talking about my family (with Taylor), and it immediately made me realize it doesn’t matter, three breakups, 20 breakups, whatever, it was all part of our journey to get here, to this.”

Like his history with Taylor, Young’s musical life has been a journey that had its share of frustrations before things fell into place for the 42-year-old singer/songwriter.

He began by playing covers of other peoples’ songs, first at restaurants and other venues around his Orange County, California, home base and later in the big city of Los Angeles, while he independently released a pair of EPs and three albums, hoping to get a record deal.

But Young’s career remained stuck in neutral until he realized his songs actually were well suited to country music, and he moved to Nashville. There, Young quickly made contacts and, within nine months, signed with Big Machine Records.

In short order, he was in a studio making his self-titled debut album with noted producer Dann Huff. The album’s advance single, “Sleep Without You,” reached No. 2 on “Billboard” magazine’s Country Airplay chart. Then another single, “In Case You Didn’t Know,” topped the Country Airplay chart and went top 20 on “Billboard’s” all genre Hot 100 chart. The hits have kept coming since, with his second album, “Ticket To L.A.,” adding “Here Tonight” and “Catch” and “Weekends Look A Little Different These Days” adding “Lady” to his list of chart-topping singles.

For a while, Young worried that he might have to leave even some of his popular ballads out of his concerts to keep his shows from getting too sleepy for audiences. But as his current shows demonstrate, he’s found that his fans aren’t worried about the pace of his concerts.

“What we’ve found out is that people aren’t thinking about that at my shows. They bought a Brett Young ticket. They know the music,” Young said. “They came to hear the music that they know. So every time we try to kind of inauthentically ramp it up for the sake of ramping it up, they’ve felt like they missed out on a song or two they wanted to hear. So it’s been less about the setlist and more about paying attention to my fan base and what they’re actually coming to the show for.”

Brett Young performs at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Saturday.

The Friday evening concert series in Jackson Square, sponsored by the Business Improvement District, kicked off the 2023 season with the Skycats.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Country music recording artist Craig Morgan, with hits such as "That's What I Love About Sunday," "Almost Home," "Redneck Yacht Club," "Little Bit of Life," and "International Harvester," brought his tour into Batavia on Friday with a stop at Batavia Downs.

Opening for Morgan was Drake White as part of the summer's Rockin' the Downs concert series.

This Friday, the show will get a little more rockus with Skid Row taking the stage.

Photos by Nick Serrata.

Bass guitar and kick drums replaced the thud of thunder the rest of the day on Saturday, allowing the rock to keep on rolling the rest of the day and into the evening for the 2023 Ramble Music and Arts Fest.

Previously: After thunder roars, Ramble rolls on with bands schedule to hit two stages into evening

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

An unexpected thunderstorm at about 1 p.m. on Saturday couldn't keep the Batavia Ramble and Arts Fest from rolling on, though it did put the music on pause for about an hour.

Paul Draper, one of the festival's organizers, said the music will continue throughout the day, pausing only for more thunder if it comes back.

Bands will continue to take the stage as scheduled, Draper said, just before his band, Shotgun Pauly, started its 2:20 p.m. scheduled set about 10 minutes late, giving him and his guys only 10 minutes to perform.

"We just keep an eye on it," Draper said. "We'll pause and pick up as the weather dictates.  We can only plan so much, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to the weather."

He said plenty of people were sticking around, and the sun had come back out, so, he said, "I still think it's going to be a good day."

Photos by Howard Owens.

Led Zeppelin tribute band Get the Led Out returned to Batavia Downs on Friday night as part of the Rockin' the Downs concert series.

Photos by Nick Serrata.

Centennial Park came alive again Wednesday with the sounds of Batavia Concert Band's music in its 99th season, and the evening included a recognition of GO ART!'s support, and a tribute to former music teachers Neil and Nancy Hartwick, who left indelible notes on the hearts of many former music students from the city school district.

Batavia Concert Band presented GO ART! with the Friend of the Band Award for giving a grant of $5,000 that will be used for equipment, licensing music, chairs, sound, and percussion instruments, band leader Jason Smith said. 

Neil Hartwick was a prominent presence at the Batavia City School District, and Nancy taught mostly at Attica and at times in Batavia, while both were adored and respected for their talent roles as musical leaders in the community, band member and tuba player Peter Mark said.

“They were both wonderful people. She was a flutist, and Neil was clarinet and saxophone. Back in high school, I had him during my years in 1970 and ’71. I was out by then, but he had an excellent jazz band and he and the Sertoma Club, along about the early 70s, somewhere in there, were the ones that formed the Batavia Pageant of Bands.

"So if you're familiar with that era, you may remember the Memorial Day weekend with all of these bands from all over the area coming down and marching through the streets and having a great time,” Mark said. “Neil and Nancy were both really close to their students. And most of us that came through a program with Neil or Nancy just remember they were wonderful friends. They were more than just teachers, more than just the average teacher. They were friends with all of their students. We had a great time with them.”

When Neil died in 2017, Nancy asked that a Memorial Fund be established to benefit Batavia Concert Band, and memorials have gone to the fund ever since. Earlier this year, Nancy died in January, and the fund was renamed the Neil and Nancy Hartwick Memorial Fund, and their wish was to support the concert band via memorial contributions, Mark said.

“We've named the fund the Neil and Nancy Hartwick fund in honor of both of them," Mark said. "And former students contribute to that fund that we pay, we have other people as well, of course, and to keeping their legacy going.”

The concert band will play a  seven-week free series at Centennial Park at 7 p.m. every Wednesday through the summer.  

To donate, please make your check payable to: The Batavia Concert Band, and Mail to: Batavia Concert Band, PO Box 1705, Batavia, NY, 14021-1705. On the bottom of your check, please indicate the name Nancy Hartwick. Or those with a Venmo account, send to @bataviaconcertband.

To view or purchase prints, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

The skies may have been overcast, but the local talent shone through in Jackson Square on Friday night with the first of two Homegrown Concerts, hosted by Bill and Kay McDonald.

A second featuring young local talent, and some mature folks, is scheduled for Friday, June 30. The showtime is 6 p.m.

On the bill for the next show: William Franz (bagpipes), Leah Ford (guitar), Nolen Wright (guitar), Ayralynn Thompson (ukelele), and Quinn Karcher (accordion), along with Deanna Spiotta and Don Thomas and Steve Kruppner.

The evening's entertainment is rounded out with the Ghostriders and the Old Hippies.

Previously: Homegrown talent starting young in concerts hosted by The Old Hippies