• LISTEN TO ARTS FIRE BLUE HERON INTERVIEW

Gates for the Heron open Friday morning, July 1 at 9 a.m. at the Blue Heron grounds at 2361 Waits Corners Road in Sherman.

This year’s lineup includes dozens of local, regional and national acts including headliners Donna the Buffalo – who’ve performed at every single Heron since the first one took place in 1992.

Other acts include New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jim Lauderdale, The Horse Flies, The Town Pants; Big Mean Sound Machine, Smackdab, Mosaic Foundation, The Bogarts, Ken Hardley and the Moose Club and many others.

In addition, Rolling Hills Radio – which is heard every Friday on WRFA – will record a special show at the Heron’s Dance Tent featuring the band Stewed Mulligan. The show, hosted by Ken Hardley, will be recorded Saturday morning and will be broadcast here on WRFA next Friday, July 8 at 6 p.m.

To learn more about the 25^th annual Heron, visit GreatBlueHeron.com.

Image courtesy of Great Blue Heron Music Festival website, http://greatblueheron.com/wp/.

SHERMAN, NY – The Great Blue Heron Music Festival in Sherman will get underway on Friday with thousands of music fans expected to be on hand.

In recent years the Heron has featured more local acts from Chautauqua County and that continues this year.

Local performers scheduled to be on hand include Big Leg Emma, Smackdab, Sean Patrick McGraw, Bill Ward and Amanda Barton, Ken Hardley, The Bogarts, Uncle Claude’s Band, SYMBA, Qwister, the Elektra Kings and more.

Other featured acts include Donna the Buffalo, the Town Pants, Driftwood, Los Straitjackets, Jimkata, and Big Mean Sound Machine – which is making its Great Blue Heron Debut.

A complete lineup of musical acts can be found online at the Blue Heron website.

The great blue heron begins Friday and wraps up on Sunday.

Weekend passes are $80 through Thursday, and $90 at the gate. Daily tickets are available at the gate only: $40 for Friday or Saturday and $30 for Sunday.

For online tickets and more info: http://greatblueheron.com/wp/

The filmmaker and festival organizers will also be there to answer questions.

“Hidden in the Hills” was directed and edited by Emmy award winner and SUNY Fredonia professor Mark Kiyak. Mark is currently an assistant professor of communications for SUNY Fredonia, who worked at NBC for many years and won two Emmys for his efforts on the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. The film was produced by Jane Jackson, SUNY Fredonia professor, who formerly managed Francis Ford Coppola’s studio.

The film includes archival footage, interviews with the creators and highlights of the 20th anniversary of the festival, which is held in Sherman, NY. The documentary has played at several film festivals including the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival and the Spirit Quest Film Festival in Edinboro, PA.

This year’s Blue Heron Music Festival is July 5,6,7. For festival information see: www.greatblueheron.com.

On Thursday night, the band will be doing a free show in Jamestown at the Wintergarden Plaza (N. Main St., next to the Wine Cellar) as part of the Active Artist Alliance’s Third Thursday event. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a community drum circle led by Pulse Community Drumming. Then at about 7:o0 p.m., SmackDab will take the stage for a free show until 9 p.m. Throughout the event, Local AAAlliance members will be bringing their easels and paints out to the plaza and working on their paintings and other creations. Any interested local artists or crafty folks should feel free to bring their materials down to the plaza, to work and network with the other artists, or just to show off what you have been doing lately. Third Thursday is a free monthly community event presented by the Active Artists Alliance with support from the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation.

On Friday night, Smackdab will also travel north to Buffalo to perform at Nietzsche’s (248 Allen St., Buffalo NY – 10 p.m. /$5/21+) with the B-Side Dubs and BWT.

Smackdab has had a busy summer already, serving has the house band for the annual Gray Brothers Party in June and also doing two sets at the Great Blue Heron music festival earlier this month. In addition, the band will be performing at the Blind Baby’s Holiday Festival (Barker, NY) the weekend of Aug. 24.

Here is footage of Smackdab performing “Casio Love” from their set at the 2012 Great Blue Heron main stage:

Published on Jul 10, 2012 by retticusmaximus

As Big Leg Emma played their four hour set that ended at sunrise, they were joined by some familiar faces…Driftwood, Alex Kates, and a man with light-up bunny ears. If you weren’t there, well, we just feel bad for you. Otherwise, just watch this.

Published on Jul 12, 2012 by biglegemmaofficalvid

WRFA also featured Big Leg Emma last spring. Listen to the interview and in-studio performances from the April 6, 2012 edition of Arts on Fire (recorded April 2, 2012 at the Infinity Visual and Performing Arts in Jamestown).