On Friday, August 28th and Saturday, August 29th, seven eclectic bands will take the stage to raise money for a great cause and satisfy your weekend music needs.
GET TICKETS: http://www.ticketfly.com/event/903923?utm_source=MEL&utm_medium=132201
All proceeds benefit Evergreen Associates, our local non-profit that has dedicated over thirty compassionate years to fostering healthy communities in WNY, offering a diverse range of medical, supportive and behavioral services.
Cory Henry is a multi-instrumentalist and producer with a catalog worthy of a man twice his age. His primary instrument is the organ, and he began playing at the age of two. At the age of six he competed at the Apollo Theater and made it to the finalist round. In 2010 he co-produced Jay White’s Larger than Life. Later that year he released his first album Christmas With You, which featured his lively renditions of Christmas classics and prominently showcased his skill as an improvisor. Kim Burrell’s Grammy nominated and Stellar Award winning Love album released in 2011 boasted several tracks that were written and produced by Henry. That year he wrote for and produced much of Krishnar Lewis’ One Lover’s Trilogy album and released his first, “Leave you alone”.
Musical boundaries are something that After Funk is simply not afraid to break. Since its beginnings as a four piece funk experiment, After Funk has steadily grown into an eight member collective that is now known for bringing groovy dance music wherever it goes. Even with its constant evolution, the group has stayed true to its mission of bringing back the good vibes of yesteryear. With roots in London, Hamilton, and Toronto, the group is no stranger to travelling and can be found performing wherever people want to have a good time.
Entering its third year as a group, After Funk has played shows across Ontario and Quebec including opening spots for Lettuce, Snarky Puppy, Dumpstaphunk, Walk off the Earth, The Souljazz Orchestra, Five Alarm Funk, and Boogie Wonder Band. Looking forward, the group’s debut self-titled release is set to drop in early 2014. It showcases the band’s versatility and their ability to stretch out what you might expect from a “funk band”. The listener is transported by Romantic piano cadenzas, King Crimson-esque polyrhythmic motifs and more.
A weekend pass is the way to go! You wont want to miss out on any music, any of our other guest performances, or the local artist vendors we will be displaying.
Root Shock
Central New York’s finest Roots Rock Soul Reggae Party! Root SHOCK was formed in winter of 2012 with veteran musicians whose love of Reggae music flows deep. Bringing Roots Reggae, Dancehall, Heavy Drum and Bass and Soulful Vocals into positive dance music that makes you want to move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p98cBmkOKHg
“There aren’t many soul men left in the world. John Nemeth is one of’ em.”
– Esquire
He is the 2014 Blues Music Award Winner for Soul Blues Artist of the Year. His trajectory from the Boise, Idaho bars of his youth (not THAT long ago) to SF/Oakland,and then recently to Memphis has only deepened his southern musical currency. From “Oakland Grease” to “Memphis Grease”!
“I learned a lot living in Oakland and San Francisco,” Németh says, “from recording and performing with Elvin Bishop to hearing Jimmy Hughes perform. Oakland is like a truly southern city, only it’s on the west coast. It wasn’t until after I arrived that I discovered that so many great songs I love actually originated there.”
The soul-blues scene he fell into in the Bay Area is historically referred to as “Oakland Grease,” and a pair of Oakland’s “greasiest” artists, guitarist Lowell Fulson and pianist Jimmy McCracklin, journeyed south to record two of their best, if often overlooked albums: For Németh, Memphis Grease is a natural concept.
In early 2013, Németh traded his life on the west coast to settle down in Memphis, Tennessee. He and Jaki, that girlfriend he followed to California, had married and started a family, and Memphis made sense for multiple reasons: It’s centrally located for touring, the cost of living is inexpensive, and the river town is the historical ground zero for American roots music.
“I moved to Memphis because it is the epicenter for soul and blues,” Németh confirms. “The wealth of knowledge runs deep in the instincts of its musicians and its studios.”
Great music begins with great songs, and great songs are what the Honey Island Swamp Band is all about. The band came together after Aaron Wilkinson (acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Chris Mule’ (electric guitar, vocals) were marooned in San Francisco after the levee breaches following Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and had a chance encounter with fellow New Orleans evacuees Sam Price (bass, vocals) and Garland Paul (drums, vocals) at John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room on Fillmore Street. They knew each other from having all played together in some form or another in various New Orleans bands, and with the great unknown regarding their return to their underwater hometown looming in the distance, they decided to put together a band and get some gigs going. Fortunately, the Boom Boom Room’s owner Alex Andreas offered the band a weekly gig on the spot.
Sunday nights at the Boom Boom Room soon became a favorite of Bay Area roots music lovers, who have a long-standing affinity for New Orleans music and musicians. Two months into the residency, sound engineer Robert Gatley approached the band with a rare opportunity — he wanted to record a Honey Island Swamp Band album at the legendary Record Plant studios in Sausalito, where he worked. The 7-song eponymous debut “Honey Island Swamp Band” came together beautifully, with Wilkinson and Mulé both contributing favorite originals, and was received so well that they all decided to continue the band upon moving back to New Orleans in 2007.
Honey Island Swamp Band’s music has been described as “Bayou Americana” with timeless songs from Wilkinson & Mulé, highlighted by Mulé’s searing guitar, Wilkinson’s sure-handed mandolin, and 4-part vocal harmonies, all anchored by the powerful groove of Price & Paul’s Louisiana stomp rhythm section. The addition of Trevor Brooks on Hammond B-3 organ to the HISB family in 2010 has rounded out the band’s sound, which draws from a variety of influences in the world of roots music, including artists such as Lowell George & Little Feat, The Band, Taj Mahal, Gram Parsons, Jerry Garcia, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Reed, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and New Orleans’ own Earl King and Dr. John.
In April 2009, the band released its first full-length album entitled Wishing Well. The album was well-received and based on the strength of such songs as “Natural Born Fool”, “Till the Money’s Gone”, and the title track, Wishing Well was awarded 2009′s “Best Blues Album” by OffBeat Magazine, which also named HISB as 2009’s “Best Emerging Artist” and 2010’s “Best Roots Rock Artist”. Most recently HISB won the award for “Best Roots Rock Artist” of 2011 at the Big Easy Awards, New Orleans’ most prestigious arts and entertainment honors.
2010’s Good To You was named to several “Top Ten CDs of 2010″ lists, and has quickly become a staple on the Crescent City’s legendary radio station WWOZ as well as on Sirius/XM Bluesville. It features the southern strut of songs such as “Be Good”, “300 Pounds” and the album’s first single “Chocolate Cake.”
In 2013 came Cane Sugar on Louisiana Red Hot Records. Produced by Grammy-winning producer John Porter, the 12 new songs illuminate the mix of country-inflected rock, New Orleans funky blues and infectious songwriting that makes Honey Island Swamp Band’s music so familiar yet unique at the same time. Cane Sugar is by far their most fully-realized recording to date and reflects the finely tuned unit the band has become after incessant touring.
Vanessa Collier
Vanessa Collier is a captivating and multitalented blues vocalist, saxophonist, and songwriter, hailing from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music where she earned dual degrees in Performance and Music Production & Engineering. Prior to releasing her debut album in August 2014, Vanessa spent a year and a half touring in the U.S. and internationally with Grammy Award-winning, Blues Hall of Fame Artist Joe Louis Walker. Vanessa has also played alongside Annie Lennox, Kathy Mattea, Willie Nelson, and other notable artists.
Most recently, Vanessa was honored on Dan Aykroyd’s House of Blues Radio Show (Elwood’s BluesMobile) as a Best of 2014 Blues Breaker Featured Artist. She was also selected as a top three finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and, in March 2015, earned a coveted spot to compete in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee in 2016 by winning the Billtown Blues Challenge.
GET TICKETS: http://www.ticketfly.com/event/903923?utm_source=MEL&utm_medium=132201
