Read Weston Blelock’s Blog: Roots of Woodstock
Weston Blelock is in touch with everything that is Woodstock—from his roots-of-Woodstock chronicles about the world-famous festival to what’s happening today.
Group 212 Inter-Media Project
Posted by Weston Blelock Bob Liikala's Group 212 Inter-Media Project exhibit at the Historical Society of Woodstock will close on September 6th. Liikala has been on hand since the August 8th opening to guide visitors and discuss the project's formation and history. He will not be present on the final weekend. The show may be viewed on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The 212 project...
Raven at 1968 Sound Festival
On August 21st Marty Angelo, the manager of Raven, a Buffalo-based group, e-mailed Weston Blelock to say that Raven played the Woodstock Sound Festival in 1968: "I am not sure exactly what the event was called when Raven played Woodstock. We always thought it was the Woodstock Folk Music Festival. As I started to refresh my memory on this event I was surprised to find on the...
Roots Take by New York Rocker
When we were invited to spend the Woodstock Festival’s 40th anniversary weekend at our friends’ home in Woodstock itself (actually Bearsville, a few miles west on Route 212), I checked the local gig schedule and saw that former Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin would be appearing at the Bearsville Theater on Saturday night. Hubert turns 78 this November, and it seemed an opportune moment to...
Our Thanks to All of You
We’d like to express our appreciation to the many individuals and organizations that so graciously gave their time, enthusiasm, and resources, helping to make the August 15 concert and Zero-Carbon fundraiser a resounding success. Heartfelt thanks go to the in-kind sponsors—Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Sun Mountain Solar (Larry Brown, on-site solar tech!), Naomi Graphics, and Hurley Ridge...
Perhaps the Biggest Book Bash
From the 8/13/09 issue of the Woodstock Times, "Woodstock Nation on the Shelves" by Paul Smart: “Perhaps the biggest book bash the town's seen in some time, the bringing to life, via an actual-to-heavens musical concert for the locally-produced Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival: The Backstory to Woodstock by Weston and Julia Blelock, with a foreword by Bob Fass, another legendary radio...
New York Times on Roots Concert
From the August 13, 2009 issue of The New York Times: “WOODSTOCK, N.Y. Before Woodstock, from 1967 to 1969 there were small-scale, noncommercial musical festivals in the woods called Sound Outs that helped the promoter Michael Lang come up with the idea of the Woodstock Festival. The main observances of the anniversary are in Bethel, but Woodstock's version of Woodstock at 40 is a concert on...
Sound-Outs: Then and Now
From the August 2009 issue of Hudson Valley Magazine: Then: “The Sound-Outs were a series of impromptu concerts held on a farm between Saugerties and Woodstock. The first one, on Labor Day weekend 1967, included performers Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Junior Wells, Billy Batson, and Major Wiley. ‘I can’t remember who told me about them,’ says [producer and publisher Weston] Blelock, who was a...
Clearwater Solar Trailer Coming to Woodstock
The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater solar trailer will be arriving at the Bearsville Theater on Friday, August 14 . . . just in time to power the soundstage and light show at Roots of Woodstock Live Concert on Saturday, August 15. Larry Brown of Sun Mountain Solar has graciously agreed to act as the on-site solar tech for the event. The Roots concert is a 40th anniversary Woodstock festival...
Sound-Out Era Celebrated on August 15
Contact: Weston Blelock, 845-679-8111 / wblelock@gmail.com Weston Blelock 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...
Blues Magoos Join Roots Lineup
Last summer, the Blues Magoos staged a comeback, opening for the Zombies at The Fillmore, Irving Plaza, New York City. Current band members include Mike Ciliberto, Jeff Daking, Ralph Scala, Peter Stuart, and Emil "Peppy" Theilhelm. The group is best known for its hit "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," which charted at #5 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1967. The Magoos appeared at a Woodstock Sound-Out in...