We’re only a few weeks away from our third presentation of The Last Waltz. It’s been sold out since shortly after Labor Day, so I hope everyone who really wanted one was able to get a ticket. This year, we’re adding several songs that were in the original concert and made it to the album, but didn’t make it to the movie. It will be really exciting to see what our incredible cast of musicians is able to pull off with the new songs.
As the Buffalo News stated last year, this has become a new Thanksgiving tradition in Buffalo. It’s one of the events the SAM Foundation is most proud of, and it highlights the great talent we have right here in our city.
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Congratulations to all the winners at the SAM Foundation’s Award Show. And thank you to all who attended and helped make it a very special night for the WNY music community.
Thank you to all the nominees, listed below, for participating in some great collaborations with the Skiffle Minstrels and the Kensingtons. We have incredible talent in Buffalo and all the nominees are very worthy of recognition.
Thanks to Tony Coniglio for sound and Paul Panzarella for photos. Thanks to Board members Bernadette Walsh, Jason Hall, Patrick Gormley, Elmer Ploetz and Dan DeLano for helping run the show, along with Susan Jaworski and Cookie Ling.
And thank you to Tim Franczyk, Jack Freedenberg, Paul Todaro and all the “Skiffingtons” for serving as the house band for the evening.
And thanks to Board member and JAM Editor Elmer Ploetz for taking videos at the Awards Show. You can see what he posted on the Sportsmen’s Americana Music Foundation facebook page.
And, as always, thank you to Dwane Hall and Denise Massett Hall and the Hall Family for hosting us at The Sportsmen’s Tavern.
(For a more in-depth account of the night’s events, check out Buck Quigley’s Buckwords column)
Winners:
Band of the Year: Freightrain
Female Performer: Grace Lougen
Male Performer: David M Miller
Bill Kirchen Pioneer: Doug Yeomans
Jim Lauderdale Songwriter: Buck Quigley
Educator: Mark Panfil
Members of the Year: Norm and Thuy Murray
Nominees:
Leroy Townes
Uncle Ben’s Remedy
Steam Donkeys
Folkfaces
Cathy Carfagna
Grace Lynn Stumberg
Ben Westlund
Elton Lammie
Robert J. McLennan
President
SAM Foundation
