Thursday 7.21.11 - The JT Blues Band

We may be just over midway through the Conservancy's Summer Breeze by the Lake FREE concert series, but it's by no means slowing down! This Thursday (7/21/11), we present to you the JT Blues Band, a local band that also performed for us earlier this year. Don't miss your second chance to see them live, or, if you came last time, your opportunity to check out what they have in store for their summer appearance.

When & Where: Delaware Park Rose Garden Pergola (199 Lincoln Parkway), from 5:00-7:30PM


Link to our Facebook event


From the band's website:

We are a LIVE band that performs throughout WNY. We had a very limited budget for our album and we wanted a mix that you would hear when you heard us perform LIVE. Sorry, there is no dubbing, extra instruments, or studio magic. What you hear is what you get when we perform. Blues critics can think what they want, since this CD is selling very well including in 17 countries worldwide and our fans are very happy. Plus some of these songs have already had radio-air play!!!Thanks for listening. So here's our Bio;-A Western New York based Blues/Rock Band that prides their original Blues music, but also features the music of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Robin Trower, SRV, Gary Moore, ZZ Top, plus traditional Blues. Definately NOT your standard Blues band. Several of their original songs are featured on WBFO's 88.7FM compilation CD's. Their songs are sometimes heard on the weekend blues radio shows. They have currently released a NEW original album called "21st Century Blues" which is selling quite well and getting some radio play. Get your copy while they last at Record Theatre stores, Spiral Scatch Records, at their performances or at CD Baby.com, just click on the link on the left. The band members have many years of music experience & are members of the WNY Blues Society. Just attend one of their shows to experience their passion for this genre. Their original music is fresh, unique, and current. They have great chemistry and play music that is not always heard by other bands. The bands past accomplishments is they came in 2nd place at the 2010 Memphis Bound Blues Competition sponsered by the Blues Society of WNY. Another great accomplishment is that three of their original songs were selected to be on the 88.7 FM WBFO "Nickel City Blues" Volume 4 & the WBFO "Gives Me the Blues" Volume 6 & 7 CD's for local blues artists. Available online on the WBFO website www.wbfo.org, The band would like to thank all of their loyal fans and new fans and invite everyone to come out to see them sometime.

Be sure to check out their various online resources:

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thejtbluesband

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-JT-Blues-Band/60637004333

Reverb Nation: http://www.reverbnation.com/jtbluesband

Front Yard Garden Competition public voting begins this evening

Beginning at 5p.m. on Saturday night (July 16) and carrying on through Friday, July 22, the public can vote for their favorite garden makeover from the 2nd annual National Garden Festival’s Front Yard Garden Competition.  Ballots can be cast in person on Newman Place or online.

Landscapers have put the finishing touches on an inspiring transformation of 13 front yards along Newman Place, which borders Frederick Law Olmsted’s Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo. The landscapers, who donated their time and materials, began constructing the gardens on July 11. Festival organizers believe it is the only such civic-minded garden competition in the country.

Voting will take place both at physical ballot boxes along Newman Place and online at www.nationalgardenfestival.com. The Web site features “before and after” photos of the gardens, as well as a blog, which illustrates the progress of the transformation and features profiles of the landscapers and homeowners.

To kick off the voting, National Garden Festival Executive Director Sally Cunningham will give free guided tours of the Front Yard Garden Competition from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., at which point the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will give a free performance across the street in Cazenovia Park, followed by fireworks.
In addition to the public voting, a team of gardening experts will review the gardens and bestow awards in several technical categories to the landscapers.

The Front Yard Garden Competition is being coordinated by the Western New York State Nursery & Landscape Association, the New York State Certified Nursery and Landscape Professionals, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Visit Buffalo Niagara, and the National Garden Festival organizing committee.
The following landscapers are participating in the competition:

• Beaver Landscaping, Inc.
• Beyond the Basics Property Services, Inc.
• Chevalier Outdoor Living
• Dore Landscape Associates
• Elbers Landscape Service, Inc.
• The English Gardener, Ltd
• Murray Brothers Nurseries, Inc.
• T. O'Donnell Landscaping
• Restorff's Landscape Service

The competition receives additional support from a continually expanding list of local businesses and organizations, including, but not limited to: Akron Tree Farms, Belgarde Hardscapes, Bradley Tree & Landscaping, Cooper Ridge Gardens, Felber’s Building Supplies, Great Lakes Concrete Products, Lakeside Sod, Lilac Creek, Lockwood’s Greenhouses, Gilson Gardens, International Society of Arboriculture, Russell's Tree & Shrub Farm, Scranton's Thruway Builder's Supplies, Shrub Coat, Unilock and Waterman's Greenhouse.

After the competition is complete, the Newman Place residents can take free training on how to maintain their new landscaping.

The National Garden Festival began on June 24 and runs through July 31. With 14 garden walks (including Garden Walk Buffalo – the largest event of its kind in the country), workshops, nationally-recognized speakers, open gardens, and a series of bus tours, this five-week-long festival has something for anyone with (or without) a green thumb. A full calendar of events and additional information is available at www.nationalgardenfestival.com

The National Garden Festival is a collaboration between the garden and landscape organizations of the Buffalo Niagara region. The festival is presented by Visit Buffalo Niagara, District 8 Federated Garden Clubs of New York State, the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Garden Walk Buffalo, the Western New York State Nursery & Landscape Association, the New York State Certified Nursery and Landscape Professionals, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and Forest Lawn Cemetery. Funding is provided by the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, the Western New York Foundation, the Buffalo Green Fund, Catholic Health Systems, and Mercy Hospital. Additional support has been provided by the Western New York Hosta Society, the Buffalo Area Daylily Society, the Peace Garden Project, Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension, Buffalo in Bloom, the Iris Society of Western New York and Elizabeth Licata. The Buffalo News and LocalEdge are media sponsors.

For more information contact:

Peter Burakowski

Communications Manager

Visit Buffalo Niagara

Office: 716-218-2922

Cell: 716-480-3054

burakowski@visitbuffaloniagara.com

Thursday 7.14.11 Megan Callahan & Friends and the Albrights

As part of the Conservancy's Summer Breeze by the Lake FREE concert series, artists Megan Callahan, and The Albrights will be performing on Thursday, July 14, at Delaware Park Rose Garden Pergola (199 Lincoln Parkway), from 5:00-9:00PM. You won't want to miss out on this eclectic experience!

Megan Callahan, originally from New Jersey, has a very broad background that contributes strongly to her unique musical style.  She formerly perfomed in the duo Voxangelica, but has since worked as a solo performer, putting out her first full length album "Since the Fire" in Buffalo, NY.  She lists Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Led Zeppelin, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ani DiFranco, Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, and Pete Seeger as her influences, also commenting that the other music she enjoys would form an endlessly long list.

You can learn more about Megan, as well as view photos and more, at her website: http://www.megancallahan.com, or on her Twitter page. She's also made several videos available for your enjoyment on her YouTube Channel.


From her website:
“Arts education and access to music and the arts early in life literally helped me through some of the roughest times of adolescence. This is a vital outlet for young and old people alike.” Megan says. She is committed to people not only having access to their inner artist, but the means to voice it as well. For this reason, she strives to raise awareness about the importance of living wages for artists, creating safe space for artistic expression on a community level, and the philanthropic opportunity that exists in combining live performance with raising funds for charities and socially conscious organizations."

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The Albrights, composed of Joseph Donohue III, Brandon Barry, Matthew Crane, Aaron Odden, are a Buffalo based rock band with an ecclectic blend of early American Rock, Blues and Motown packaged together through stellar musicianship and a genuine approach to music.  They are presently on the indie label Buzz Records, producing music not unlike that of The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queen, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Killers, and Moby Grape.

To learn more about the Albrights, check out their Myspace Page or Facebook Page.


Summer Breeze by the Lake is a 9-week all-ages concert series that features a variety of musical acts performing at the top of Shakespeare Hill in Delaware Park every Thursday from June 16th, 2011 through August 11th, 2011.  Proceeds from the series benefit the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

For more info call 716-838-1249 ext 23

Augustina Droze presents at Burchfield Penney Art Center

Augustina Droze, a visiting mural artist from Los Angeles, will give a presentation of her work and discuss the wall mural underway next to McKinley High School, 1500 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo.  This event will be hosted by Philip Ogle, professor and chair of the Fine Arts Department at Buffalo State College, and Kathy Shiroki, Curator of Museum Learning and Community Engagement at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.  Ogle is currently teaching a public art/mural painting class whose students are assisting Droze with the mural.

Droze's presentation will be held on Wednesday, July 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the conference room at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.  All are welcome to attend.  For further information, please contact the Fine Arts Department at 878-6014.