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Blues, folk, gospel, country, bluegrass, R&B and rock ’n’ roll have been the bedrock on which American music has stood for generations, influencing musicians of all stripes, and defining a sound that is uniquely American—or “Americana.”
A blending of all of these genres will be the focus at the sixth annual Sag Harbor American Music Festival, taking place all over the village from Thursday, September 29, through Sunday, October 2.
The idea for the music festival was initiated in 2009 by Kelly Connaughton-Dodds, the festival’s president and co-artistic director. But creating the festival alone was challenging.
“It was my idea initially, and I talked it up with John Landes, who was running the Jazz Jam at Bay Burger at the time,” Ms. Connaughton-Dodds recalled. “He loved the idea, but we felt that it was important to get community input and support. So we put out invitations to educators, musicians and business owners in Sag Harbor. We all gathered at John’s house one day and had a big powwow. So the festival has been a community project from the get-go.”
Funding a community music festival—with all of its various moving parts and participants—can be cost-prohibitive. “We’re a nonprofit,” Ms. Connaughton-Dodds explained. “The festival is run by volunteers, and they do all of the fundraising and organizing for the event. We pay all the musicians and hire professional sound crews, so the success or failure of the festival hinges on how many sponsors we have.
“The first year, we thought that we could only afford five bands, but the outpouring of support from local businesses meant that we could have 20 bands—that was a really great surprise,” she said, with an enthusiastic laugh.
Two additional dates have been added this year to accommodate the number of bands, singer-songwriters and fundraising events. The opening night fundraiser at Bay Street Theater will feature the film “Legends of American Music.” By Joe Lauro, the president of Historic Films Archive, the film will supply a visual and oral presentation of artists who have influenced the genres that fall under the Americana banner.
“As a musician, music-lover and curator, I’ll be hosting a 90-minute retrospective that will give people a taste of the diversity and passion of American music.” Mr. Lauro said. “I’ve got all of this great archive film footage of Bill Monroe, Mississippi John Hurt, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, all the way up to Janis Joplin. These are the artists we have to celebrate, especially at a music festival like this, because they are a reminder of where we have come musically as a country.”
The next two fundraisers—taking place over the weekend—will be headlined by East End treasure Gene Casey & the Lone Sharks, and pop, blues and R&B icon Joan Osborne.
Taking center stage at the Old Whalers’ Church on Friday night, September 30, Ms. Osborne will perform an acoustic set with longtime music collaborators Jack Petruzzelli and Andrew Carrillo. The evening will include a wide assortment of songs from Ms. Osborne’s prolific career, including songs off her seminal 1995 album, “Relish.”
Ms. Osborne, who grew up in a small town in Kentucky, came to New York as a young student to study documentary filmmaking at New York University.
“One night, I went out to a blues bar downtown, with a friend, that had an open mic night: a place where anybody can get on stage and sing a tune. Well, on that night—with the promise of free drinks—I got up on stage and sang Billie Holiday’s ‘God Bless the Child,’” Ms. Osborne recalled. “After that I began going to other open mic nights on a regular basis, and got involved with the incredible music scene that was taking place in New York at the time. All of the money that I was supposed to be spending on classes and textbooks was soon being used to buy Etta James and Howlin’ Wolf records,” she said of her youthful rebellion, with a laugh.
On Saturday night, October 1, under a big tent, long-standing local sensations Gene Casey & the Lone Sharks—founded in 1988—will bring their special brand of what they call “Rhythm & Twang.” When asked for his own personal take on the Americana label, Mr. Casey said, “For me, Americana music doesn’t belong to the ’50s or late ’40s, or even to any particular region of the country. It isn’t ‘oldies’ music, or a nostalgia trip. That music is still vital to us now as musicians, and music lovers. The main thing is that people still respond to live music, dancing and singing out loud. For us, back in the day, rock ’n’ roll was like the sound of walls coming down, breaking barriers. It was the sound of freedom, and that hasn’t changed.”
On Saturday, Sag Harbor will come alive once again with 20 bands and artists performing free concerts at locations sprinkled around the village.
Starting at noon on Sunday, two bands will play at Marine Park: Local Sag Harbor band The HooDoo Loungers with Mr. Lauro on electric bass, and from New Orleans, Grammy-nominated The Lost Bayou Ramblers. The former offers up a mix of New Orleans-style jazz, brass, R&B and funk, while the latter will play traditional foot-stomping infectious Cajun music.
One of the main objectives for the festival has always been giving back to the community. In the past four years, the festival has donated a substantial amount of money to Pierson Middle-High School performing arts programs, Ms. Connaughton-Dodds said. “Keeping live music accessible to everyone has always been our mission, and we try to provide that to the community throughout the year as well.”
The Sag Harbor American Music Festival takes place at venues throughout Sag Harbor Village from September 29 to October 2. For a full schedule, and to purchase admission to ticketed events, visit sagharbormusic.org.
on Sep 20, 2016