By: Josh Noll
August is here and the return of live music has been snuffed out by the evil Covid-19 once again. Just when we thought we were back on track to start printing again the wind was quickly taken out of the sails. After the new restrictions I was pretty bummed out and almost decided to take the month off and wander around the state on my bicycle. However the diehard music fans and performers just wouldn’t let that happen so we decided on another online only issue. Its amazing the support we get from all of you and without your help we just wouldn’t be doing what we do.
July buzzed past like a whirlwind and it turned out to be a reset for me with lots of family and friend time. For the big July 4th weekend Rachel Rocks and Andrea Greene decided they would take on a large stretch of the Susquehanna river in their Kayaks. Being the voice of reason I decided to tag along on day one and enjoy some river time with them. We floated down towards Ferryboat Campsites for some fireworks and live music to end the day. We picked up Mom (Aka: Angel of design aka co-founder of the paper) about halfway down and continued our lazy way to the campground. Upon arrival the campsite was buzzing with people enjoying the day and the sounds of Friends of Bob echoing in the distance. We unloaded the boats and headed up the stage area grabbing some grub along the way. We found a table and enjoyed the tunes while we ate. Friends of Bob had the place rocking and everyone was enjoying the show while also maintaining social distance. Although Millersburg cancelled the annual firework show the locals decided it was up to them to entertain the crowd and celebrate our freedom. Dr. Tom showed up with a trailer full of works and setup out by the pond at the campsite. He put on a great show accompanied by other local campers who filled in the gaps with there own works. After the fireworks and despite the attack of bugs, Friends of Bob got back to work and played another great set of music. It was an awesome way to celebrate the 4th. Thank you to The Ferryboat Campsite for supporting local music and making sure everyone had a great 4th of July.
The next live music event for me was our annual family camping trip to Lake Heron. Located in Liverpool PA it offers cabins, tent and RV camping, and a pavilion all around a beautiful lake stocked with plenty of fish. It’s always a blast when we go camping and Lake Heron is our new favorite place to get the family together. As always Whitey brings the entertainment with his Uke playing. This year he had some help from The Juice’s drummer Dave Greene who is also an awesome singer songwriter and can play a mean 12 string. The best part was that the younger generations are now picking up the guitars and are playing along with Whitey who is teaching them how to “jam”. Its awesome watching them learn and takes me back to when Dad taught me how to play the 8 bar blues. Great job Zack and Robert, can’t wait to see how they progress over the years. While I didn’t get out to see a lot of live music the family and friends time over the last month is just what I needed to escape the Covid blues.
So what’s happening in August and how do you beat the Covid blues. Well to start about one of the only county fairs happening in PA this month is the Union County West End Fair. While they usually have some huge national acts they decided to go a more local route this year and picked some the areas best talent. They have a full schedule of events from tractor pulls to beauty pageants to live music for the week of Aug 2nd to the 8th. On the 3rd its Rust with JR Keister, the 4th has Rapid Run, the 5th is Williamsports One80, the 6th has Harvest Worship, 7th is Mark Alexander & Mayhem with Trainwreck Survivors, and to finish off the week it’s Nashville Recording artist Bob Randall. Bob will be playing with a full band which is a treat as he brings his outlaw country style music to the West End Fair. If you are looking for some good old fashion county fair fun this is the event to do it at.
Where else can you beat the Covid blues? The Eagle Hotel is coping with the new regulations and have found ways to still have live acoustic music. Go check out the full schedule in this issue and stop out and support them in these tough times. The Racehorse Tavern is another place that is not giving up and are having acoustic music on the patio every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Stop out, eat some food, and enjoy some music. Bar owner Jim Delisio is not only a supporter of live music but he is also out there fighting for restaurants and bar owners rights. As a board member of the PLBTA and also President of the York County Tavern Association, Jim has been very vocal about helping the industry and also testified on behalf of PA’s small business taverns and licensed restaurants at the House Majority Policy Committee hearing in July. We all owe Jim a big thank you for standing up for our local watering holes and if you can make time please stop down to The Racehorse Tavern and thank him by supporting his small business.
On some sad notes for the month the organizers of The Dam Party have decided to cancel this years event. At first they postponed it until September but now have decided to cancel the event until next year. Also, along with the closing of Noteworthy Guitars at the end of June, Drums etc has announced it will be closing its shop at the New Holland Ave. and will be eventually opening a new scaled down store at a another location. To prepare for the move they are having a HUGE!!!! liquidation sale for the month of August. Everything must go! Drums, guitars, PA’s, Lights, parts, displays, chairs, and just about everything in the store must GO! So stop down and check ou the deals before they are gone.
That’s it for this month and the good Lord willing we will be back to printing soon and enjoying live music. Hang in there PA and we will see you soon back out on the road.