July 2018 Newsletter

Save the Date

4th Annual Sportsmen’s Americana Foundation Music Festival

September 15, 2018

Learn More

McCarthyizm

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Welcome Members!

While we while away the hours reading our novels on a beach (ha – well maybe some of us are doing that), please, please, if you’re not an active member, consider renewing your membership. Our membership has continued to grow but we would like to see participation from those who have been members in the past. You’re our gold – referencing the jingle “make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold”.

Ok to get down to business. Our Silo City Alive 2 event went on without a hitch. Those that braved the heat had a blast although audience numbers were down due mainly to the heat. Below are some photo highlights.

We’d like to thank the members who spent their time volunteering for our Silo City Alive 2 event:

Dale Metzger, James Gaffney, John Brinkman, Jack Merrilees, Cindy Cummings, Dave Radka, Jonathan Mekjean, Janet Kniazuk, Ted Kniazuk, Mile O’Sullivan, Mario Nunez, Michele Speech, Bernadette Medige, Lucy Bell, Leslie Gordon, Jackie Brooks, Collette Schoellkopf, Thuy Murray, Norm Murray, Bill Hutchinson, Margie Hutchinson, Lynn O’Meara, Ron Wakefield, Dan Harrington, Midge Harrington, Jeff Carballada, Rose McLennan, Cailyn McLennan, Chrissie McLennan, Ian McLennan, Christine Westenfield, Tony Westenfield, Alan Hastings, Mark Merrin, John Crainer, Rick Kibler, Dick Donovan, Russ Barnum, Sue Kincaid, Colleen O’Meara. If I missed you, so sorry but thank you!!!

Please consider volunteering for our SAMF Festival on September 15th.

SAM FOUNDATION STORE:

Job Opportunity – We are in need of sales people in our SAMF store. Right now we are open on Tuesday and Friday evenings from 6:00 – 10:00 This person should be fluent in computers and Paypal – actually our system is very trainable. There is hourly compensation for the work. Please email rjmcl14@gmail.com.

Buffalo Bob Sez

The next couple months will continue to be a very busy time for the SAM Foundation!

On August 4th, we’re partnering with Flying Bison and the Buffalo Distilling Company to bring you some fine music and great food along with some wonderful adult beverages to wash all of that down with! $10 gets you a full day of music from this great line-up:

• The Trend: 12:30pm- Flying Bison Outdoor Stage
• A Band Named Sue: 2pm- Flying Bison Outdoor Stage
• The Steam Donkeys: 3:15pm- Flying Bison Outdoor Stage
• Black Rock Beatles: 4:30pm- Flying Bison Outdoor Stage
• The Twang Gang: 6pm- Flying Bison Outdoor Stage
• Lazlo Hollyfeld: 7:15pm- Flying Bison Outdoor Stage
• Michael DiSanto: 9pm- Buffalo Distilling Company
• Zak Ward: 10pm- Buffalo Distilling Company

Food and Drink Specials at both places all day that can only be had with your $10 admission is the bonus!

August 6th at Flying Bison, during a performance of the Buffalo Jazz Repertory Orchestra with Bobby Militello, the SAM Foundation will present our annual $1,000 scholarship to the Buffalo Jazz Collective. See article from Board member Patrick Gormley.

August 7th is the next SAM Foundation night at The Sportsmen’s Tavern. Free admission for members. You get updated information on Foundation activities, you can shop in our store, and especially you get to enjoy the fabulous Twang Gang and guests.

On August 13th, it’s our next Emerging Artists Night at The Sportsmen’s Tavern, featuring Black Canyon Lights, Greg Barresi, Darryl Tonemah and Marty Peters. Free for members, come out support NEW live music in Buffalo.

Greg Barresi

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On August 22nd, we’ll be at Dick and Jenny’s on Grand Island. See article from SAMF Board member Jeff Griffin in this issue of The JAM.

Foundation Night again on September 4th, right after Labor Day to help you keep the summer going strong.

And the biggest event of all on September 15th, our 4th Annual SAM Foundation Music Festival at beautiful River Fest Park. Brothers Blue, Tom Stahl and the Dangerfields, Copper & Gin, McCarthyizm, Critt’s Juke Joint and The Steam Donkeys will present an outstanding day of great music! If you were there last year, you know what a fantastic day it was, right there on the Buffalo River. $7 pre-sale, $10 at the gate, kids under 12 free.

September 22nd and 23rd is the Borderland Festival at Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora. This will be a really cool two-day fest with a lot of national and local bands, including SAM Foundation favorites Leroy Townes, Ten Cent Howl and Folkfaces. Tickets will be on sale starting July 24th at the SAM Foundation store for the active SAMF members’ price of $99 cash or $103 credit for weekend tickets. Weekend tickets for non-members will be $110 cash and $115 credit. The single day price is $65. See elsewhere in this issue for more details.
“Like” our page on Facebook and get updated information on all these events as it gets closer to the dates.

FREE TICKETS

We’re giving away pairs of tickets this month to eight shows. Thank you to all the venues for their support. To enter the drawings, send me an email to rjmcl14@gmail.com by Saturday night, July 28th at 9 PM. Tell me which drawings you’d like to enter.

THE SPORTSMEN’S TAVERN:

• Woody Pines – August 5th
• Tommy Z – August 10th
• Kristen Kelly – August 19th

BORDERLAND FESTIVAL:

• A pair of tickets for the entire Fest weekend on September 22nd and 23rd. See Borderland article in this issue of The JAM.

BABEVILLE:

• Melanie Brulee with Grace Stumberg – August 23rd

BUFFALO IRONWORKS:

• Roomful of Blues – August 12th
• Big Sam’s Funky Nation – August 28th

ARTPARK:

• Voodoo Threauxdown featuring Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue – August 14th

AcQua: 2192 Niagara Street

• Melanie – August 5th

Bob McLennan

President

SAM Foundation

Woody Pines

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Thanks to the band Chicago Authority for funding our SAM Foundation cause!

They donated $500 from their show on June 23rd at the Sportsmen’s Tavern.

Education

“One of the key goals of the Foundation is to promote and expand awareness, appreciation and even passion for Americana music. Getting instruments into the hands and great music into the ears of kids throughout Western New York will help insure that the flame continues to glow.”

The Sportsmen’s Americana Music Foundation is proud to announce the 2nd annual awarding of the Floyd Fried Memorial Scholarship taking place at Flying Bison Brewery on Monday, August 6th. The event will be part of a performance by the Buffalo Jazz Collective Repertory Orchestra featuring saxophone legend Bobby Militello.

In collaboration with the Buffalo Jazz Collective, SAMF will award a $1000 scholarship to an outstanding student in Buffalo’s All City Jazz Ensemble. The All City Jazz Ensemble is a big band comprised of the top instrumental music students from Buffalo Public Schools and have enjoyed featured performances with jazz greats such as George Caldwell and Joe Ford.

The Floyd Fried Memorial Scholarship is dedicated to beloved music educator Floyd Fried who devoted over 30 years to teaching in Buffalo schools. Scholarship funds are awarded to assist students with music-related expenses such as tuition, private lessons, and the purchasing of instruments. 2017 awardee, Ariana Jones, was able to purchase her own string bass before starting at Buffalo State College.

August 6th performance and award ceremony will begin at 6pm. Tickets will be sold at the door for $10 to the general public and $5 for SAMF members.

Patrick Gormley – Education Coordinator

Events

Sportsmens AMF Booster Night at Dick & Jenny’s

Gather your friends and family and head out to Grand Island on Wednesday, August 22nd for the Sportsmens Americana Music Foundation booster night. 20% of all food and beverage sales will be donated to the foundation, which benefits various music education programs and performance events.

Dick & Jenny’s is a jewel in the middle of the Niagara River on Grand Island. New Orleans style fare made of fresh, quality ingredients served in a homey atmosphere is not easy to find in these parts, but Dick and Jenny’s brings the best of Cajun cuisine right into our backyard.

Walk inside and Jenny will welcome you near the door; while Dick is in the background working his culinary magic and Dan is likely tending bar. The décor is friendly and inviting and reminiscent of a country store, with plates designed by loyal customers and friends adorning the wood-paneled walls. The servers there are friendly, informative, and attentive. During an evening rush the charming bar and restaurant hums with the chatter of happy customers and servers darting about. There’s a hearth area where antique benches provide a place for people to talk and enjoy a drink while waiting for their tables.

This is a place that feels like a joint where you can relax, then feeds you like a white-tablecloth culinary emporium. If you’ve never been to Dick & Jenny’s before, you may find yourself considering that even a hurricane can have its upside.

Dick and Jenny Benz met in New Orleans and decided to open a little dinner restaurant. They called it Dick & Jenny’s, of course. After years of success as a locals’ favorite, Dick & Jenny’s home fell victim to hurricane Katrina. After evacuating to Grand Island, they decided to stay in the land of aunts, uncles and cousins. The restaurant in New Orleans was sold to employees and is still as busy as ever. If you ever find yourself in the Big Easy, get yourself on down to the original Dick and Jenny’s on Tchoupitoulas street and you will not be disappointed.

A new chapter for Dick and Jenny found them back in the restaurant business at the building at Baseline and Love road on Grand Island. All the plates on the walls are people from New Orleans that supported them in bringing back dinner and drinks to their hometown. The people of Grand Island also were incredibly generous and supportive when they evacuated from New Orleans.

So tell all your favorite people to bring their hearty appetites to Dick and Jenny’s on Wednesday August 22nd and support a good cause by helping Sportsmens Americana Music Foundation continue to do the good work being done in our community by keeping roots music alive and well and supporting music educational initiatives.

Le Bon Temps Roule and Bon Appetite’!

Jeff Griffin, SAMF Board Member

Dick & Jenny’s

1270 Baseline Road

Grand Island, NY 14072

JAZZ BEHIND BARS

Barbara Levy Daniels via BLD Productions, Inc. seeks to bring Jazz Behind Bars concerts to the incarcerated in Western New York and beyond. In years’ past, Barbara and her musicians have shared the beauty of jazz with men and women who are serving sentences in the correctional facilities of Western New York. Research has shown that exposure to music reduces stress and provides opportunities for those incarcerated for healing and nurturing through the power of music. Music can awaken shades of emotion that are often blunted in a prison setting, and through this experience music can increase dreams of hope and change. Playing to audiences of 100 or more inmates, Jazz Behind Bars brings the best of jazz to those who have no other opportunity to experience the restorative power of a live performance.

Also, the correctional facility administrators have told Barbara of their gratitude for the program. Repeated requests to perform are a good measure of interest among those involved in the correctional system pertaining to the value of music behind the walls.

Looking to decrease recidivism, Barbara, educated as a social worker as well as a singer, knows that encouraging the incarcerated to experience beauty through music can leave a calming effect.

The goal of this project is to continue to bring the joy of live music to the incarcerated populations of Western New York.

Daniels was inspired to start Jazz Behind Bars as a dedication to her idol, Johnny Cash.

Barbara discussed this project with us and we thought this is something that could help people in difficult straits turn around their lives. If anyone would like to contribute to Barbara’s efforts on this project, you can reach her at barbara@barbaralevydaniels.com

Bob McLennan

The BORDERLAND MUSIC + ARTS FESTIVAL

The Borderland Music + Arts Festival celebrates the rich history and renaissance of the region with a two-day music and cultural festival set in one of the most scenic and storied grounds in all of New York State, Knox Farm State Park.

Get your tickets today for 10+ Bands, local craft beer and live artisan exhibitions all weekend long. Tickets on sale at the SAM Foundation store, Buffalo Ironworks, 42 North and at borderlandfestival.com

The Buffalo Niagara region has an identity all its own – surrounded and influenced by the Great White North, the Great Lakes, and a great industrious spirit. These influences combine to create a unique culture that has built the foundation for our music, our food, our drink and our art.

Learn more at https://borderlandfestival.com/

Jennifer Brazill, Borderland Festival

Music

Member News

If you are an Active member and do not have a SAMF membership card, please email me at samusicfoundation@gmail.com. If you are unsure if you’re an Active member, please don’t hesitate to ask.

NOTE: To receive discounts, you must show your membership card. To enter to win tickets, you must be an Active member. And as always, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the email address above.

DISCOUNTS FOR MEMBERS

The discounts we’ve arranged at this time are:

• Sportsmen’s Tavern – The first Tuesday of every month, all members who show their card at the door will get free admission to The Twang Gang.
• Buffalo Ironworks – 10% off all food items
• Allentown Music – 10% off all regular items
• Smolen/Bonghi CPA – 10% off all tax preparation and accounting services
• Korona Jewelry – 2 discounts
  • Watch batteries installed for $5 instead of $7.
  • 25% off the regular price of anything in stock.
• Ellicott Small Animal Hospital – 30% off regular exam
• Flying Bison Brewery – 10% off
• Buffalo History Museum – buy one regular admission and get one free.
• American Reperatory Theater – $10 tickets (1/2 price)
• Red Thread Theater – $15 ticket (regularly $25)
• MusicalFare Theater – $5 off General Admiss. online. Enter SPORTSMEN in coupon code. Limit 4
• Byrd House Restaurant – 10% off food
• Arts at the Bakery – 10% off admission
• Buffalo Distilling – 10% off food and drinks
• Kissing Bridge Discount Pass – look for emails from SAMF for discounts throughout the year.