Well, it’s May (or will be by the time you read this LOL) and it’s sorta warming up…some days anyhow. April’s been a great and somewhat busy month music-wise. I hit up a few great shows, had a few promo shoots as well as the cover shoot for this month’s magazine…sometimes I even have some time to breath 🙂 As I look forward to May, I see the Vertical For Life Music Festival in Mechanicsburg which has a great list of bands with all procedes going to Cover Six Canines, a group that trains service dogs for veterans. The following week I have the 3rd annual Rock On The Hill music festival in Hanover which promises to be an incredible day. Seriously, you should probably just go to both of these…just saying. And with that, here’s my recap for the month of April!
First up was the long trip (a whopping 7.6 miles LOL) to Asylum Sound Studios to get some pics of Scott Frange and Charlie Middleton. Now…I’ve had a few images on the cover of the magazine and it’s always an honor, but this one was a step above for me personally. Here I was, hanging out with and taking pics of two icons of the Central PA music scene. Laughs were had and some great pictures captured. Check out both the cover and the cover article for more about this afternoon.
A few days later, I stopped by the Doyle Hotel for the Waynestock Tap Takeover featuring Matt Jameson. Wayne and the crew from Waynestock took over the Doyle for the evening and highlighted their special brew created by HiJinx Brewing (very tasty by the way!) while Matt belted out tunes on the corner stage for the packed room with songs like Starting Over, Ants Marching, Mr Brightside. Speaking of Mr Brightside, HOW does someone make that a solo acoustic song and make it good? It’s sorcery or something, but I’ll be damned if Matt didn’t do exactly that! There was even a special guest appearance by Frances from The Roof for a song or three. Just a reminder, Waynestock is coming up in June and there’s still tickets available. I can’t speak highly enough about this incredible experience, it’s one I look forward to every year.
Next was a trip back to Shermans Creek Inn. The evening started off with a band I’ve seen a lot about over the last few years but hadn’t the chance to see until now – Alice In Sane. Rocking the crowd with classic Alice In Chains tunes like Die Young, Would, No Excuses, and a slew of others, these guys put on a great show. Headlining the evening was my buddies in Stricken, THE Disturbed tribute band. Every time I see these guys it makes for a great night but something about this one was a little different. The guys were just in a different place…a good place, relaxed and comfortable and letting the show just sort of grow organically with their crowd. This was seriously the best I’ve seen them yet and I was happy to get to witness it.
The following day I walked down the street to The Facktory for the Little Buffalo Festival Fundraiser. There were various vendors, a silent auction with a ton of cool prizes, as well as an open mic on stage with performers like Wes Hoke, Buffalo Bob and more. The Festival itself is always the first Saturday in October at the beautiful Little Buffalo State Park outside of Newport. It’s a free event with a ton of vendors, huge variety of food vendors and tons of great music. It’s already on my calendar and you should probably put it on yours too if you enjoy any or all of those things.
The following week I headed down to Columbia to the Susquehanna River Creative Conspiracy for The Story Award Ceremony and Showcase. This was the second year for this even celebrating The Story’s third anniversary, and it was my first time both for the event and visiting the SRCC. Featuring performances from Ruddy Turnstone, All Groove, Brenden Starr with Tyler McClane, Tommy B, Sarah Fiore, Amber Nadine, Matt Wheeler, Shane Fregm and Cody Tyler; this was a great evening of music from our local area and I was honored to have been invited as a guest. The SRCC is a really cool space for music, podcasting, art, photography and more and I was happy to finally get a chance to check it out as well!
Next up was a trip to the gorgeous West Shore Theater for a night of music by two bands that I’m proud to call my friends (as I type this out…I stopped for a minute to realize how often I can say this and how fortunate I am to be able to do so). Starting off the night was Lucid Ruby, lead by Bailey Appleby. Now, I’ve seen these guys play before, but I was promised a different show this evening. Bailey switched places with guitarist James to lead the evening, performing all original tunes written by James, some of which were their first time being played for an audience. This set had a totally different sound and vibe to it from the last times I’d seen them. It was hard to pin down a specific genre but I’d throw out terms like blues, country, rockabilly and straight up rock at the very least to describe this set, ending it with a great cover of Tyler Childers’ “Whitehouse Road.” It was a great set and I can’t wait to see more. Headlining the evening was RJ Conrad with his band Rascal Revival. If you read my article often over the last few years, you know that I really dig these guys’ sound. This six piece alternative jam band gets on stage and if my eyes didn’t work, I’d swear there was double the number of band members up there. They just have a full and completely authentic sound to them that I have a little trouble explaining it in a way that truly does it justice. Take a dash of Dave Matthews, a few shakes of Dispatch, throw in a ton of originality and you’ll sort of have an idea of what Rascal Revival brings to the stage. All of their originals are well written and beautifully performed including one of my favorites “Paint Me A Picture. Each time I see them, it’s just a total experience for me.
My final night out for the month, last night actually, was down to The Englewood in Hershey for a show put on by Sarah with Greenbelt Events. Opening up the evening were father and son duo, Rhyne & Tabyn McCormick. Rhyne & Tabyn put on a great show playing a number of originals as well as a few covers including a great one of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night”. I got to meet them briefly afterwards and had a nice chat with them and just want to mention that Tabyn’s got excellent taste in shoes! Headlining the evening was a band that’s been around since 1984, starting out as a college band at IUP: The Clarks. These guys had an awesome, well-polished set with songs like Crush, On Saturday, Sugercane and more. They played it all to a packed house of fans that came to dance and sing along to every song from beginning to end, and their interactions with the crowd were very heartwarming. It was clear that the crowd knew them, and they knew their crowd very well. Their 30+ years of experience playing together truly showed.
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.
