Gunpoets close out the Downtown Ithaca Summer Concert Series, Chamber Music at New Park returns for its fifth year, and an international reggae performer makes her Ithaca debut! Plus, a plethora of other shows around Central New York in the coming days!
Please be sure to check with each show’s event page for various venue protocols, as well as potential postponement or cancellations due to the weather. Stay safe, and enjoy as much live music as you can in the coming days!
Revved-up Return
Ithaca’s own hiphop-rock-pop heroes, Gunpoets return to the Bernie Milton to close out the CFCU Downtown Ithaca Summer Concert Series. The septet is known for spreading a positive, universal message of peace, love, and justice through their several studio albums and high-energy, uplifting live shows.
When: 6-8 p.m.
Where: Bernie Milton Pavilion, The Commons
Cost: free
Farm-Grrrl Folk-Punk
Motherwort, an Interlaken and Ithaca- based band that started playing music together in a beautiful old barn at Interbrook Farm in 2018, visits downtown Ithaca. “Our musical remedy sessions for life, love and loss spawned more cathartic songs than we can sing in one afternoon,” they say. Find out more here.
When: 6-8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Lucky Hare Brewing stage, Press Bay Alley
Cost: free
Just Jazz
The Canaan Jazz Trio – Ted Caldwell (bass), Wayne Gottlieb (guitar, vocals) and Michael Ludgate (mandolin) – will showcase its brand of “jazz and swing from the 1920's-30's with a dash of Hank Williams thrown in to keep you awake.”
When: 5-8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Brookton’s Market
Cost: small cover
Busy Bee
Vee Da Bee will perform on Ithaca’s South Hill, showcasing her energetic blend of alt-pop and folk rock as captured on her recent EP, “Cost of Me.” Go here to learn more. Amber Martin, who recently released her debut album, “Honey Eyes,” will open the show; find out more here.
When: 5-8 p.m. Thursday
Where: South Hill Cider
Cost: free
Going Underground
Ithaca Underground will present a show featuring TYGKO ("tee-why-jee-kay-oh"), a fast-rising Cleveland-born, Chicago-based rapper, writer, and performer. TYG is recently fresh off of a debut, self-released full-length album "Long Ass Breakup" packed with genre-bending movement stitched together by familiar flow track-to-track. Rounding out the bill are Buffalo’s Tynova Jones and Ithaca’s own Knight.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Sacred Root Kava Bar and Tea Lounge
Cost: $8
Soul Power
Cornell Cinema will screen “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised),” Questlove’s music doc about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which featured performers such as Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Nina Simone, B.B. King and others. Learn more here. Cornell music professor Steve Pond will introduce Thursday’s screening.
Note: per University guidelines, this event is only open to the Cornell community and their affiliates; masks are required.
When: 9:15 p.m. Thursday and 9:15 p.m. Saturday
Where: Willard Straight Theatre, Cornell University
Tickets: $5.50-$9.50, available online here: Thursday or Saturday
Banding Together
Stage Fright: A Tribute to The Band comes to Ithaca tonight. Stage Fright faithfully recreates songs from the entire Band catalog, from well-known hits to deep album cuts. Hailing from the Southern Tier, Stage Fright includes Joe Callahan (vocals, guitar), Sean Monroe (bass, vocals), Joe Narde (percussion), Mike Nickerson (drums, vocals), Mike Watkins (keyboards, vocals). Go here to learn more.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: The Dock
Cost: free
It’s Happy Hour Again
Friday, catch some happy hour shows around the area:
Chris Baerman is at Press Bay Alley at 5-8 p.m.
The Tarps are at Hopshire Farm and Brewery at 6-8 p.m.
The Tribal Revival Duo is at Bright Leaf Vineyard at 6-8:30 p.m. ($5)
Virgil Cain is at BRU 64 in Cortland at 6-9 p.m.
Adam Parker is at Summerhill Brewing at 5:30 p.m.
Roger Decker is at Homer Hops at 6 p.m.
The 86ers are at Grist Iron Brewery at 6-9 p.m.
The Pelotones are at Two Goats Brewing at 6-8 p.m.
The Custom Taylor Band is at Treleaven Winery at 6-9 p.m. ($5)
Exit 11 is at Cortland Beer Company at 8 p.m.
When: Friday
Where: Various locations
Cost: free, except where noted; donations always welcome
Ready for Release
Samuel B. Lupowitz – keyboardist for Thru Spectrums, Noon Fifteen, and many other Ithaca bands – will host a release party to celebrate his new solo album, “No Man Is An Island,” which he describes as a “deeply personal, intensely political song cycle” recorded in his home during lockdown, “reflecting on the darkness of our times and rejoicing in the hope provided by our interpersonal connections.” To learn more, go here. Will Shish will open the show; the New York City-based songwriter is an Ithaca College alumnus.
When: 6-9 p.m. Friday
Where: South Hill Cider
Cost: $10
Read our exclusive Q&A with Samuel B. Lupowitz here.
Folk on the Farm
The Friday Night Farm Jams series continues with Joe Crookston, the longtime local folk favorite known for his incisive lyrics and deft musicianship. A self-described “songwriter, guitarist, painter, fiddler, slide player, eco-village member and believer in all things possible,” Crookston has toured around the country and abroad for much of the past decade, winning fans with his inspiring stage show.
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Finger Lakes Cider House, Interlaken
Cost: $5
Music in the Air
Returning for its fifth season, Chamber Music at New Park will offer three days of “superb artist in the unique setting of New Park on Route 89.” World-class musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, and more unite to present dynamic programs of chamber music in a relaxed and natural venue. Go here for more information, and see the full program here.
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: New Park Event Center, 1500 Taughannock Blvd. (Route 89), Ithaca
Cost: free to $60
One More Shot
Buffalo-based southern-soul band Miller and the Other Sinners return to Ithaca for a special evening co-sponsored by 42 North Brewery and Three Chord Bourbon. Led by guitarist-singer David Michael Miller, the band can be described as “imagining Chris Stapleton blended with ZZ Top and Tower of Power, the structure of solid songs and freedom for moving jams.” Their latest release is the EP, “Rise.” Learn more here.
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: The Dock
Cost: free
Vocal Fire
Former Queensryche singer Geoff Tate performs two of the band’s classic albums – “Rage for Order” and “Empire” – in their entirety. The latter album, released in 1990, reached triple-platinum status and included the hit “Silent Lucidity,” which was also nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1992 in the Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group categories.
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Center for the Arts, Homer
Cost: General admission tickets are $33-$40, available online here.
Fair Fun
The Smoking Loons play the 68th annual Ellis Hollow Fair, which runs 2-7 p.m. and features fun for all age groups with food, a White Elephant Sale, quilt raffle, game booths, silent auction, cake walk, music, used book sale and more. Led by guitarist Frank Raponi and Jeff McCaffery, with the rhythm section of drummer Josh Drotar and bassist Josh Taylor, the Loons play a variety of cool cover tunes.
When: 5-7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Ellis Hollow Community Center
Cost: free
Organ Duo
Cornell University’s Annette Richards and David Yearsley will present an organ recital titled “The Hanseatic League,” which includes Music of Buxtehude, Bruhns, and Bach.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Anabel Taylor Chapel, Cornell University
Cost: free and open to the public – the event will follow current Cornell COVID regulations, including the indoor mask requirement
Ready to Rock
Tailor-Made comes to the mountainside deck outside Trax at Greek Peak. Fronted by singer-guitarist Tink Bennett, the long-running CNY favorite plays a mix of classic and country rock alongside several excellent originals. The band recently released its latest album, “Hate The Game.”
When: 7-10 Saturday
Where: Greek Peak Ski Resort, Cortland
Cost: free
Rize Above
Nattali Rize, an Australian-born, Jamaican-based musician, record producer and social activist, will make her Ithaca debut. Known for her epic, high energy, thought provoking and uplifting live performances, with a heavy global tour schedule, Rize and her international band deliver a raw energy and vibe, channeling a deep reggae influence in a new-era style. And as Natalie Pa'apa'a, in 2003 she cofounded Blue King Brown, an urban roots ensemble, in Byron Bay, Australia. Learn more here.
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Upstairs
Cost: $10
Hack Attack
Corporate Death Productions will present “Mind-Hack 2021,” a “musical and visual event like no other” in downtown Ithaca. “It will be the first in a series of ‘pop up’ style events that focus on ‘alt-art’ and music in venues outside the "bar stage" venues,” says organizer Andy St0ma, who will lead the band Young People’s DeathKamp in a live performance. Food Pill also will present an “interactive set of sound and noise immersion,” with a guest collaboration from St0ma.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sacred Root Kava Bar and Tea Lounge
Cost: $10
Living for the Weekend
Catch some more music this weekend!
Saturday:
The Sons of the Beach are at Buttonwood Grove Winery at 12:30-3:30 p.m.
Freight and Loveday team up at Stone Bend Farm at 5-8 p.m.
Hannah Martin and Bob Keefe are at the Heights Restaurant at 6-8 p.m.
The Tenzin Chopak Trio is at Press Bay Alley at 6-8 p.m.
Sam Swanson is at Homer Hops at 6 p.m.
Chickenwire Parachute is at the Westy at 6-8 p.m.
The East-West Blues Band is at Nickel’s Pit BBQ in Watkins Glen at 8 p.m.
City Limits is at the Range at 9 p.m.
Rickety Fence is at Summerhill Brewing at 5-7 p.m.,
J Floyd and the Grave Sitters are at Two Goats at 5-7 p.m.,
Aiken is at Cortland Beer Company at 8 p.m.
Sunday:
Amber Martin is at Trevleaven Winery at 1-4 p.m.
Common Railers are at Two Goats Brewing at 4-6 p.m.