What a great month of music with friends July turned out to be. From celebrating an old coworker’s new path in life and in our music scene, to helping support a friend that’d recently been through a fire that was scarily similar to ours, to seeing old friends and making new ones…music brings us together: it builds bonds, it heals wounds, and it helps show us that life is worth living.
At the beginning of the month, I got to swing by and attend the Grand Opening of Doug’s Boutique: offering a full service guitar shop featuring new, used and consignment sales. There was a good crowd of folks checking out the store, picking up items they needed (or didn’t even know they needed til they stopped in LOL), and listening to Nate Myers & The Aces play out front. It’d been a minute since I’d seen Nate & the guys so that made a nice bonus: playing songs like All That She’s Not, What I’ve Got, Ain’t No Sunshine, and more, they had a nice crowd of folks listening and dancing out front of the store. If you’re looking for a new guitar, or anything related to your current line of guitars, it’s definitely worth the trip to Middletown to visit Doug and check out his inventory!
The following week I headed up to The Doyle Hotel in Duncannon for a fundraising event for Carrie, a Waynestocker and local music supporter who recently had a horrific house fire and lost two dogs as s result of the fire. Definitely a cause that hit close to my heart of course. Carrie’s doing well and has an amazing energy about her and it was awesome to see the Doyle packed with folks that showed up to help support her through this difficult time. Hank The Buffalo started the evening’s music off with a number of songs being accompanied by Dr Nyce as well. Derek Avalon cranked out a few tunes next, followed by a collaboration consisting of Dave Gates, Colin Alvarez and a few guys from the Dr Nyce band playing tunes like Gin & Juice, Summer Time, Shaky Ground and more. It really made for a great evening and hopefully helped Carrie a little bit through her ordeal.
Next up, I headed up to my favorite lil hole in the woods, Shermans Creek Inn in Shermansdale. I’d heard there was a band playing (that I wasn’t familiar with) that plays some good tunes with a lot of skill…turned out to be a great choice. The Forbidden Fruit hail from Tower City & Millersburg, a three piece rock cover band cranking out tunes like Rock & Roll Fantasy, Learn To Fly, War Pigs, Man In The Box and a bunch more. They were very tight and polished, showed a lot of work in their craft and were an absolute joy to listen to while they ripped through a setlist that had each of the three providing vocals at different points through the evening. Definitely a two thumbs up band to check out!
A few days later, I’d been invited out for an EP Release party for a band that I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about and was excited to work with at Phantom Power in Millersville. Opening up the evening was a band that I got to see for my first time at this year’s Rock On The Hill: Project 9. They started the night off with a ton of energy, flying around the stage and just having a blast while cranking out their original tunes like Dead Walkin, Pring Eyes, Rock You Right as well as their newer song Money for the first time live. I might have said it back in June, but if not…mark this one down as a Must See band from the Lehigh Valley area. Next up was a band that’s graced our pages here more times than I can count…partly because they play a lot, and partly because they’re just some really cool guys with a great following: Defiant. The guys hit the stage, floored the gas and didn’t let up til they were done blowing the stage up with songs like Crusades, Better Off Dead, and my personal favorite of theirs “Wendy.” Headlining the evening and celebrating the release of their new EP titled Voyage, New Damage. They started out their set playing all four songs from the new EP, then followed with some of their other songs. I was really excited to see them play as I’d heard a lot about their stage performance and energy, and they certainly did not disappoint. They bill themselves as the world’s No. 1 Proto Pennsylvania Slapcore Band…I’m honestly not real sure what that means exactly, but I CAN tell you that you need to see them play. The tunes are well written, they’re played with an infectious energy, and you simply cannot watch these guys on stage and not have a great time. Seriously…just go see em, you can thank me later.
Our last trip out for the month was one that we’ve been looking forward to for a few months now since it was announced. Adam Ezra was bringing his full band through for a stop at my buddy Franks’ Farm in Boiling Springs. Wendy, Preston and I headed over to enjoy an afternoon of great music with great people. Adam takes a lot of pride in building “something that feels increasingly rare in modern music: a career rooted not in industry trends, but in human connection.” Seeing them play isn’t just seeing a concert, it’s a complete experience as they draw you in on a level that I think is indeed rare nowadays. Their music is incredibly well written and played with heart and emotion with songs like High Desert Woman, Switchin To Whiskey (a personal fav of mine LOL), Sweet Beautiful Thing, Let Your Hair Down, and more. I’ve been following them now for a few years, and every time I see them, it’s always a great time. And no Corinna, you can’t have Preston…but feel free to visit and give him ear scratches any time LOL.
So there it is, my month of music through my eyes and ears. I want to once again thank all the bands, venues, and everyone else involved in our incredible local music scene for everything they do. Just a reminder: if you’ve got a show coming up that I should see; make sure to send me an invite, shoot me an email or a message, let me know about it. Venues: please don’t hesitate to reach out to me as well. The majority of the shows that I go and shoot I find out about through invites from all of you or your friends. Hit me up on facebook: @chrisriderphotography or email: chrisriderphotography@gmail.com, stop me if you see me out & around and say hi. Until next month…go find some live music and give them and the venue your support, they truly need it more now than they ever did.
