Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood comes to Homer, Chris Trapper plays Cortland, the Cadillac 3 hits Horseheads, and Indigo Girls return to Ithaca! Plus, Karina Rykman makes her Ithaca solo debut, and lots of area bands are playing around the region in the coming days!
Note: the events are listed below in chronological order, in two separate sections. And see the list of regional concerts at the end of the post!
The Rev meets the Doc
“Dr. D of Syracuse and Rev Ezra of Pittsburgh meet in the middle of their hometowns to bring their music to Ithaca. The two met in Pittsburgh half a decade ago, and have played shows in support of each other ever since. However, recently they've been combining forces and writing together.” Dr. D plays in a band called Stone Throwers, and Rev Ezra just released his debut solo album, “These Days.”
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
Where: The Downstairs
Cost: $5
Read an interview with Rev Ezra here!
Going Big
The Deep Dive House Big Band continues its every-other-Wednesday residency under the direction of local jazz professor Greg Evans, who teaches at Ithaca College and Cornell University and plays drums with Rose and the Bros and other area bands. The DDBB will feature players from Cornell University, Ithaca College and the greater Ithaca Community every other Wednesday for the coming month.
When: 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30
Where: Deep Dive
Cost: free; ages 18 and up
Bass Ace
Karina Rykman, who’s been playing bass with Marco Benevento since 2016, will bring her own band to Ithaca. She has released several singles since 2019, blending pop, psychedelic, and jam-rock influences into an energetic sound. She’ll be joined by Adam November (guitar/looper/effects) and Chris Corsico (drums) in her power trio. Find out more here! Grub, a “multi-genre trio capable of delivering funk-driven madness, improvisational bliss, and shoe-gazing glitch-o-matic electronic soundscapes,” will open the show.
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30
Where: The Upstairs
Cost: $15 in advance, available online here
Songs to Share
Dan Forsyth of Driftwood hosts Songwriter’s Night at Hopshire, a series taking place every first Thursday of the month at Hopshire Farm and Brewery: “This is an opportunity for songwriters to share their craft with each other. Bring a song you are working on, it doesn’t have to be complete, to get input from your peers. All are welcome to come listen respectfully.”
When: 6-8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Hopshire Farms and Brewery, Dryden
Cost: free
Event Info
Hillbillies Deluxe
The Cadillac 3 brings its “Hillbilly Hypnotized” tour to Horseheads. The American Southern rock group includes Jaren Johnston, Kelby Ray, and Neil Mason; their latest release is “Tabasco & Sweet Tea,” which stretches “into some new musical spaces with elements of a DJ set that flows from track to track, but mixed with 80’s Funk vibes and jam-band flow over hardcore Country lyrics,” according to Johnston. Find out more about them here!
JD Clayton will open the show.
Where: The L, 116 Breesport Road, Horseheads
When: 6 p.m. Thursday
Cost: $25, available online here
On The Road
Described as “a brilliantly gifted songwriter” (The Huffington Post) and "...pure pop perfection” (New York Times), Chris Trapper will come to downtown Cortland. Known as a storyteller with a soulful voice and knack for melody, Trapper has toured around the world to an ever-expanding fan base. After fronting alt-rock band The Push Stars in the 1990s, Trapper has gone on to a successful solo career in which he has shared the stage with the likes of Rob Thomas, Pat Benatar, and John Prine. Find out more about him here!
Local favorite Rachel Beverly will open the show.
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Rose Hall, 19 Church St., Cortland
Cost: $15, available online here and at the door
Sofa, So Good!
Boston-based Couch will come to Ithaca, ready to showcase its blend of pop, funk, jazz, rock, and R&B. “Until Spring 2021, Couch members were scattered across the country at various universities; they tackled the challenges of being a ‘long-distance’ band, writing and even recording virtually for three years. Despite these challenges, they celebrated the release of their debut EP, ‘COUCH,’ in February 2021. The band injected each track with their signature flavor: expressive horns, warm vocals, and bubbling synths—crafting an oasis of joy for musicians and non-musicians alike.” Find out more here!
After Six will open the show; the pop, R&B, funk, and neo-soul group plays originals and covers from a wide variety of artists, including Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Jose James, and Ariana Grande. “Originally founded in 2009 as a smooth jazz group, After Six has evolved through several genres with a focus on staying at the forefront of modern music while consistently drawing influence from jazz. Recently, After Six opened Cornell’s Slope Day mainstage, opening for artists Aminé, Loud Luxury, and Luna Li. Featuring three powerful singers, a lively trumpet-saxophone duo, and a groovin' rhythm section, After Six always brings the energy to the party.”
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Deep Dive
Cost: $20 in advance, available online here; $25 at the door.
Bringing Brahms
The Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards Salon will host pianist Ryan McCullough and soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon as they perform “Murmelt fort, ihr Melodien: Musical, Temporal, and Cultural Cross-Currents in Brahms’ Epic Song Cycle.”
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Where: A.D. White House, Cornell
Cost: free and open to all
‘An English Evening’
NYS Baroque continues its 34th season with “An English Evening,” which “explores the rich repertoire of the late renaissance in England, when a group of viola da gamba (or viol) players would play together in luxurious counterpoint, often accompanying a singer. This music is both sacred and secular, ranging from William Byrd’s tale of a fine dog, perhaps in reality a cautionary allegorical tale of politics, to Robert Parsons' exquisite sacred piece “Ave Maria.” The program will also feature songs by John Dowland, another well-known composer and lutenist of the period, for lute and voice and in splendid arrangements for viols. Dance music was also a part of the fabric of renaissance musical life, and our audience will hear galliards and songs that evoke lighter emotions.” The performers are Laura Heimes, soprano, Rosamund Morley, viola da gamba, Arnie Tanimoto, viola da gamba, Lisa Terry, viola da gamba, Christel Thielmann, viola da gamba, and Deborah Fox, lute.
When & Where: 7:30 p.m. Friday, First Unitarian Universalist, 109 Waring Road, Syracuse; and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the First Unitarian Society, 306 North Aurora St, Ithaca. There will be an informative pre-concert talk, free to the audience, at 6:45 p.m. each night
Cost: $30; $10 for students and low-income people, available online here
Sonic Troubadours
The Downstairs hosts a cool show with percussionist Brian “Willie B” Wilson (TZAR, BRIAN!, Johnny Dowd) teaming with saxophonist Keir Neuringer (Irreversible Entanglements) for a night of experimental music. They’ll be joined by special guest Josh Oxford for additional explorations.
When: 7 p.m. Friday Cancelled!
Where: The Downstairs
Cost: $10 suggested/PWYC
Going Underground
Ithaca Underground returns with another cutting-edge show featuring Alan Courtis, Duo Denum, María Bulla, and Josh Biggs.
“Alan Courtis (also known as Anla Courtis) is an Argentine musician, sound artist, composer, and music professor for the disabled. He is perhaps best known as co-founder and guitarist of legendary experimental music group Reynols, which integrated a former student of his with Down’s Syndrome as drummer and vocalist. As an educator and as an artist, Alan is interested in breaking down the aesthetic and social boundaries that undergird and restrain even otherwise adventurous music.”
“Duo Denum includes Al Margolis and Tom Law; Margolis is an internationally recognized noise artist best known for his work as If, Bwana (an acronym for "It's Funny, But We Are Not Amused”), a project which has endured since the early days of DIY tape music in the 80s, fusing ambient, industrial, and musique concrete into distinctive eerie sound worlds. Law is a composer/improviser from Saugerties NY who performs laptop-based electroacoustic music. He also plays viola da gamba, and curates a series of concerts at Opus 40 sculpture park that range from early music to avant pop.”
“María Bulla is a music maker who creates small handmade objects and oversized scores, she makes sounds with a synthesizer and combines them with texts and field recordings; all this with the hope of creating situations that become part of everyday life, that allow people to experience the extraordinary things of life in a personal way.
“Josh Biggs is a composer and improviser from Cape Town, South Africa, currently living in Ithaca. With an extensive and evolving library of comprehensively sampled solo improvisations played by other musicians, Josh’s live electronic music explores how instinct, enculturation, and self-rehearsal surface through listening and performing practices.”
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Sacred Kava Bar and Tea Lounge
Cost: $8-$10, available online here
Ready to Rock
Ithaca jam-rock band Metasequoia returns to the Range, promising “Hot New music to keep you warm from the cold outside! Come out and boogie!” The band released an excellent new album, “In The Redwoods,” earlier this year.
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: The Range
Cost: cover charge
Women’s Works
The Cornell Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Guillaume Pirard, will perform three works by female composers: Lili Boulanger’s D'un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Something for the Dark, and Margaret Bonds’ “The Montgomery Variations.”
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bailey Hall, Cornell
Cost: free and open to all Event Info
For the Rest of Us
Ithaca-based Phish tribute band Nectar returns with its second annual Phestivus event. The band includes drummer Jeff Goodmark, guitarist Steve Bassi, and keyboardist Cameron Fitch. Foggy Maloon, an NYC-based band “rooted in organic, guitar based grooves and psychedelic exploration,” will open the phestivities.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Hamblin Hall, Community School of Music and Arts, Ithaca
Cost: $10 in advance, available online here; $15 at the door
Feel the Noise
Water Bears, Ithaca’s favorite purveyors of heavy psychedelia, will be joined by Binghamton’s Floodlands for “a night of doom, heavy psych, and noise.” Formed in 2017, Floodlands draws on elements of sludge, post-metal, and doom to create its unique style. After releasing a demo in 2018 and the 2019 EP “Sea of Sarin,” the band will release a new album, “Universe 25,” on Dec. 1. Local noise artists Flose and Prayer Rope will round out the bill.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sacred Root Kava Bar and Tea Lounge
Cost: $10, open to all ages
Going Solo
Patterson Hood returns to Central New York on his solo tour. Best known as front-man, singer, songwriter and guitar player for the critically acclaimed rock and roll band Drive-By Truckers, Hood also has released three solo albums, most recently 2012’s “Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance.” Find out more about him here!
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Center for the Arts, Homer
Cost: $25, available online here
Songs, Satire, and More
Obie award-winning virtuoso musician, playwright, composer, and lyricist Rick Burkhardt and musical storyteller and political satirist extraordinaire Charlie King team up for this concert at the historic Cobblestone UU Church. Colleen Kattau and guitarist/bassist Rich DePaolo will open the show, which will take place both in-person and online.
When: 4 p.m. Sunday Where: Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland, 3 Church St., Cortland
Cost: $10-$20, available online here (livestream tickets are available here) and at the door.
‘Radiant Dawn’
Conducted by artistic music director Sean Linfors, the Cayuga Vocal Ensemble will present a concert titled “Radiant Dawn,” which will include the premiere of Christine Donkin’s piece, “Sorrow into Song.” Find out more about the CVE here!
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: St. Luke Lutheran, 109 Oak St., Ithaca
Cost: donations are welcome at the door
Seasonal Songs
The Cornell Department of Music announces the return of the annual Lessons and Carols services. The program is sung by the Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club, with conductor Joe Lerangis and organist Anna Steppler, and interspersed with traditional readings by members of the Cornell community. Co-sponsored by the Department of Music and the Office of Spirituality and Meaning-Making and Cornell United Religious Work. Please note the following important information: doors will open at 6:30 p.m. There is no indoor waiting area at Sage Chapel. Seating is first-come, first-served. The service will include congregational singing, and masks are encouraged but not required.
When: 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday
Where: Sage Chapel, Cornell
Cost: free and open to all
Note: The Monday, Dec. 5 performance will also be livestreamed online here!
Something in the Water
Deep Dive’s free Sunday concert series continues with Public Water Supply, Rochester’s “premier psychedelic outlaw country act.” Blending the “cosmic sound of psychedelic music with classic outlaw country twang,” the band includes Iggy Marino, frontman; Adrianna Noone, lead singer; Karis Gregory, lead guitar; Alex Brophy, team captain, and bass; and Spencer Kornrich, bus driver and drums. They plan to release their debut album in 2023. Find out more here.
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: Deep Dive
Cost: free!
Seeking Haydn
For its fall concert, the Cornell Chorale, conducted by Michael Poll, in collaboration with student orchestral musicians, performs Haydn’s Nelson Mass, the Mass for Troubled Times, with soloists Rachel Schutz, Ivy Walz, Brian Thorsett, and Christian Purcell. The program also features short works by Bach and Gabrieli.
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Sage Chapel, Cornell
Cost: free and open to all
Paying Tribute
Pianist Thomas Feng will present “Quo Vadis?: The Life and Music of Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru,” a lecture-recital honoring the extraordinary life and music of Ethiopian composer and nun, Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru. Biography, cultural history, original archival research, and performances of Emahoy's compositions interweave into the presentation, in commemoration of the composer's upcoming 99th birthday.
When: 5 p.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 7
Where: A.D. White House, Cornell
Cost: free and open to all
Closer to Fine
Indigo Girls make a welcome return to Ithaca, with Amy Ray and Emily Saliers playing songs from their deep discography dating back to 1989.
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7
Where: State Theatre
Cost: $37-$68, available online here
Triple Threat
Practice Presents returns with another cool show, this one featuring local favorites Secret Service Men, New Motor Club, and Viva Mayhem playing punk, garage rock, ska, and more!
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7
Where: The Upstairs
Cost: $10
More Shows
The Argos Grove Trio plays jazz at the Argos Inn at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays
The Jesse Collins Trio hosts “Jazz at the Market” at Brookton’s Market at 6-9 p.m. Wednesday
Horns and Ivory are at Salt Point Brewing at 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday
Sacred Root Kava Bar and Tea Lounge hosts its weekly Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. Wednesday
The Range hosts its weekly Salsa Night Latin Dance Party, featuring DJs and dance lessons, from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday
Richie Stearns and Friends return to South Hill Cider at 5-8 p.m. Thursday
Joe Lule is at Atwater Winery at 6-8 p.m. Thursday
Aiken is at Cortland Beer Company at 6 p.m. Thursday
Benny T brings his Open Mic Posse to the Ridge in Lansing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Gerard Burke is at Two Goats Brewing at 5 p.m. Friday
Steve MacLean is at Homer Hops at 6 p.m. Friday
John West and Ted Romer are at McGraw Box Brewing at 6-8 p.m. Friday
The Tarps play Hopshire Farm and Brewery at 6-8 p.m. Friday
Michael Francis McCarthy is at Grist Iron Brewing at 6 p.m. Friday
Greg McQuade is at the Dryden Hotel at 7-9 p.m. Friday
Exit 11 is at Cortland Beer Company at 8 p.m. Friday
The Bones East trombone ensemble will perform a free concert at the Morgan Opera House as part of the annual Christmas in Aurora celebration at 1 p.m. Saturday
Blue Eyed Soul is at Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards at 1-4 p.m. Saturday
Patrick Young plays Treleaven Winery’s 2nd annual Holiday Festival at 1-4 p.m. Saturday
Joel Kane returns to Chateau Dusseau in Lock at 3-5 p.m., followed by Josh Ross and Joe Massa (aka Kitestring Duo) at 5-7 p.m.
JP Payton and Rev Ezra join forces at Stone Bend Farm at 5-7 p.m. Saturday
The Vectors are at McGraw Box Brewing at 5-8 p.m. Saturday
Rocco Rich is at Homer Hops at 6 p.m. Saturday
Dana Twigg is at Summerhill Brewing at 6-8 p.m. Saturday
Jimi Marley is at ONCO Fermentations in Tully at 6 p.m. Saturday
Bob Holz & A Vision Forward are at Cortland Beer Company at 8 p.m. Saturday
The Dutchess of Spirit Posse hosts a Winter Social at the Range at 9 p.m. Saturday ($5)
Benny T brings his Open Mic Posse to Homer Hops at 1 p.m. Sunday
Bradshaw Blues is at ONCO Fermentations at 1-4 p.m. Sunday
Chad Taggart is at Solera Tap House at 2-5 p.m. Sunday
The Center for the Arts in Homer hosts its weekly Open Mic Night at 7-9 p.m. Tuesday
The Argos Grove Trio plays jazz at the Argos Inn at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays
The Cornell Jazz program will give its Combo Showcase concert in the Klarman Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium at 7 p.m. Wednesday
Sacred Root Kava Bar and Tea Lounge hosts its weekly Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. Wednesday
The Range hosts its weekly Salsa Night Latin Dance Party, featuring DJs and dance lessons, from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday
Regional shows
Dec. 1, The Platters: Very Merry Christmas Show, Turning Stone Showroom, Verona
Dec. 1, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Blue Cross Arena, Rochester
Dec. 1, Janet Batch and the Four-Bangers, Abilene Bar & Lounge, Rochester Cancelled!
Dec. 1, Colt Ford, Del Lago Resort, Waterloo
Dec. 2, Mile Twelve, May Memorial Society, Syracuse
Dec. 2, Adam Ezra Group, 443 Social Club, Syracuse
Dec. 2, Steel Panther: Claws and Paws Holiday Party, Del Lago Resort, Waterloo
Dec. 2, LeAnn Rimes “Joy: The Holiday Tour”, Turning Stone Showroom, Verona CANCELLED!
Dec. 2, Mile Twelve, May Memorial Society, Syracuse
Dec. 2, Kidd G, The L, Horseheads
Dec. 3, Low Lily, Oswego Music Hall, Oswego
Dec. 3, King Squiddy and Sethlapods, Lost Horizon, Syracuse
Dec. 3, Saving Abel, Turning Stone Showroom, Verona
Dec. 3-4, Vanessa Collier, 443 Social Club, Syracuse (SOLD OUT!)
Dec. 5, Bill Kirchen, Lovin' Cup, Rochester
Dec. 7, The Beach Boys with John Stamos and the Holiday Vibrations Orchestra, OnCenter Crouse Hinds Theater, Syracuse
Dec. 7, Chris Duarte, 443 Social Club, Syracuse
For more regional shows, see this curated list!
