Roots Releases

Gerry Michael and The Bummers

March 28th, 2013
Performance flyer for The Bummers circa 1968.

Performance flyer for The Bummers circa 1968.

Gerry Michael, a drummer and an alum of Group 212, arrived back in town in 2004. He still drums, but during the day, he paints houses—and he is a damn fine painter at that.

Back in 1968, Gerry was the drummer for The Bummers, a circa 1880 Commedia dell’Arte-style group of cowboys and Indians. The performers numbered 14 and included a five-piece rock band who, in addition to Gerry, featured his brother Kevin on lead guitar, Tom Sankey on tenor guitar, his wife, Janet, on autoharp, and Frank Thumbheart on bass. The previous year Tom Sankey had enjoyed success with “The Golden Screw,” an off-off-Broadway folk-rock musical at the Provincetown Playhouse in Greenwich Village. The show’s cast album was recorded by ATCO and was the first rock theatrical recording of its kind.

To promote their area debut in July 1968, some of The Bummers went to Saugerties dressed in western gear, and the following took place: “A tall young man strode along the street. He wore a wide-brim Stetson hat, cowboy boots, blue jeans, and a gaudy western shirt. A six-shooter was at his side. One of the local lawmen moved in for the showdown, “What’s that you got strapped around your waist?” A smile pulled at the stranger’s lips. His clear blue eyes bored into those of the concerned official. “Why, it’s just a cap pistol, officer,” the young cowboy replied. “I’m a bummer.” This was account was written up in the Woodstock Week. Continue reading

Sound-Out Era Celebrated on August 15

August 6th, 2009

Contact: Weston Blelock, 845-679-8111 / wblelock@woodstockarts.com

Roots of Woodstock Live Concert  

Sound-Out Era Celebrated on August 15

 

Woodstock, NY—August 6, 2009—Roots of Woodstock Live Concert, a fortieth-anniversary celebration in Woodstock, represents a return to WOODSTOCK’s Sound-Out roots. The Sound-Out mini-festivals of 1967 through 1969 drew musicians such as John Herald, Tim Hardin, Kenny Rankin, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield, and Van Morrison. They came together to jam in an open field on the outskirts of Woodstock. As Michael Lang acknowledged in the newly published Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, “The Sound-Outs were kind of the spark for the Woodstock Festival.”

On Saturday, August 15, at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, the Blues Magoos, Hubert Sumlin and band, Ellen McIlwaine, Marc Black, the Robbie Turner Band, and Jerry Moore, with The Children of God, will play straight sets and jam sets in the old Sound-Out tradition. Doors will open at 7 p.m.; the music will begin at 8 p.m. and go all night. For the Blues Magoos, Ellen McIlwaine, and Jerry Moore, the concert will be something of a reunion, as all are Sound-Out veterans. Blues hall of famer Hubert Sumlin and band will perform in a nod to Sound-Out alumni Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. Woodstock troubadour Marc Black was strongly influenced by the music of Sound-Out performer Tim Hardin. Robbie Turner, who attended the original Sound-Outs, will participate this time from the stage. Continue reading

Roots Concert Release

June 16th, 2009

davidsalidorFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: David Salidor

Phone: 212-245-5909

Email: DSalidorCompany@aol.com

 

 

Woodstock at Woodstock Live Concert

 

Concert Team Books Initial Acts

Woodstock, NY—June 16, 2009—Weston and Julia Blelock, producers of the August 15, 2009, Roots of Woodstock Live Concert at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, today announced a preliminary lineup for the 40th-anniversary tie-in event. Music acts booked so far include the Dave Mason Band, Hubert Sumlin, and Ellen McIlwaine. Continue reading

Roots Concert Release

May 29th, 2009

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: David Salidor

Phone: 212-245-5909

Email: DSalidorCompany@aol.com

 

 

Roots of Woodstock Live Concert 

 

40th Anniversary Concert Brings Festival Home to Woodstock 

 

Woodstock, NY—May 19, 2009—Weston Blelock, author and editor of WoodstockArts’ forthcoming Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival: The Backstory to “Woodstock, has confirmed a rumored 40th-anniversary concert to be held on August 15 at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. Blelock will co-produce the show with his sister, Julia, in association with Steve Walter, formerly of The Cutting Room in New York City. Continue reading

Roots Book Release

May 29th, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: David Salidor

Phone: 212-245-5909

Email: DSalidorCompany@aol.com

Why Woodstock?

 

Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival 

 

Woodstock, NY-April 13, 2009-The town of Woodstock is poised to launch a series of fortieth-anniversary celebrations of the 1969 Woodstock mega-concert. Prime among these is the July 15, 2009, launch of a new book from publisher WoodstockArts, Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival: The Backstory to “Woodstock.” It explains definitively and for the first time why the festival was named Woodstock and why it continues to be so closely associated with the town, even though the concert actually took place in Bethel, NY. Continue reading