NewFolkNow: Syracuse's Blues and Brews Weekend

photos above, from top: (click on image to enlarge)

--Jeb Puryear of Donna the Buffalo;

--Donna the Buffalo onstage at the Empire State Brewing & Music Festival, Syracuse;

--barefoot dancer at Brewfest;

--Brewfest crowd at Clinton Square;

--Colin Aberdeen of Los Blancos at Syracuse's Inner Harbor

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It long has been my opinion that the music scene in Syracuse is the proverbial glass that is both half-full and half-empty.

Aside from the years I lived in New York City, Los Angeles, and Nashville, I have been actively involved in the Syracuse music scene for, let's say, about 38 years or so.

Venues have opened here , and then venues closed. And then other venues opened.

Bands formed and then disbanded, and then those band members formed new bands.

It seems like it has been a never-ending cycle. The more things have changed, the more they stayed the same.

As far back as I can remember, there have always been a good number of high-quality live music events going on in Syracuse, but often there were not enough of these events to satisfy everybody (especially those area musicians seeking paying gigs).

But lately, I get the feeling that more and more high-quality music events are happening in this area, and part of the purpose of this blog is to let Central New Yorkers and the rest of the world know that the Syracuse music scene is alive and well and growing.

This weekend, July 10 thru July 13, Syracuse's proverbial half-empty musical glass is over-flowing with excellent high-and-low-profile live music.

Blues and Brews are being served this weekend in Syracuse.

This good-time music party began Thursday evening with an Inner Harbor Block Party that featured live music by the J Project, the Ripcords, and Los Blancos.

The Ripcords and Los Blancos play a mix of electric blues and American roots music that I find energizing and entertaining. Both of these Central New York-based bands are also playing at the New York State Blues Festival, which gets underway at Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse, today, Saturday, July 12 and continues through the day and night tomorrow.

much more information on this can be had at

http://www.nysbluesfest.com/

I also had the great pleasure of attending the last part of the Empire State Brewing and Music Festival on Friday night in Clinton Square that featured a rockin' lively set of music by Donna the Buffalo, from the Ithaca area.

Simply put, Donna the Buffalo is a great band with a great, identifiable, roots-oriented sound that invites one and all into the hippie dance tent. The songs of Donna the Buffalo are filled with catchy little riffs, sweet melodies, country harmonies, and chugging rhythms that are puntuated with crowd-pleasing dynamics.

Often, they play songs at an even keel for a while, then bring things down, and then rev things back up, making a fun time for those folks dancing, and also for those other folks who like to watch other folks dance.

As I write this blog on Saturday morning, I plan to post a whole bunch more of the photos I shot both Thursday and Friday nights on my Flickr site:

www.flickr.com/newfolkfotos

Please do check out these and other photos on my Flickr site. You will not have to pay

anything if you enjoy them... there'll be more, later.... Larry