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/

LAKEWOOD – An annual fundraising event for WRFA will be taking place Sunday, June 1 at the Southern Tier Brewing Co. and everyone is invited!

The theme for this year’s WRFA Great American Picnic is THE BRITISH INVASION, and will feature several different musical acts from throughout the Chautauqua Region. Many of the performances will also be recorded and broadcast on WRFA.

2014 Great American Picnic to Support WRFA is June 1 at Southern Tier Brewing Co. (Image from 2013 WRFA Great American Picnic)

Featuring Music From:

• smackdab
• Erickson, Peterson, and Peters
• The Henways
• Alex Kates Band
• Cindy Love and her Funk Family
• Will and Sarah
• Gina Vecchio
• SYMBA

There is no cost to attend! Instead, a portion of all proceeds collected by Southern Tier Brewing Co. between 1 and 4 p.m. will go directly toward WRFA.

In addition to music and beverages, WRFA General Manager Dennis Drew and the WRFA Advisory Board will be grilling and selling hot dogs, with proceeds to benefit Jamestown’s only locally owned and operated community radio station.

Donations will also be accepted. All ages are welcome.

November 15, 2013 – SYMBA celebrates the release of its first full-length album “Eleanor Evermore” by performing it in its entirety with a full band at Infinity Arts Cafe in Jamestown. Tracks from the album featured in this video include: “Beautiful Soul,” “Star,” “Can’t You See?” “Surround Me,” and “Words of Lead.” Videography by Dusten Rader, features and entertainment reporter for The Post-Journal.

• VIEW THE POST-JOURNAL’S YOUTUBE PAGE

Cale Hawkins

JAMESTOWN – A Chautauqua County native and professional musician who just wrapped up a tour that included two shows at Radio City Music Hall is back in Jamestown this week. Musician Cale Hawkins is in town to visit with friends and family and also has a few gigs on his itinerary.

This Friday Night (Oct. 4), Hawkins will be part of a special performance at the Infinity Café. Not only will Hawkins be peforming, but the event will also feature Stephanie Rogers, SYMBA along with several others. This show is a free event and is open to the public. Thursday night, Hawkins also performed with several other local musicians at Mojo’s as part of the “Cale Hawkins Trio.”

Hawkins, who plays several instruments including the piano, is a studio and touring musician with Nikki Yanofsky, a jazz-pop singer from Montreal. Yanofsky and her band just finished a three-month North American Tour, which included two shows at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.

Hawkins is an area native who graduated from Maple Grove High School and also the Berkley School of Music in Boston. He also was a long-time student at Infinity Visual and Performing Arts.

The Soup and a Song fundraiser for both Infinity and St. Susan Center will take place in Bemus Point’s village park. The music will be provided by a handful of entertainers from Chautauqua County who have studied singing and musicianship, and honed their performing skills, as students at Infinity. The soup will be prepared and served by chefs representing about 20 of the region’s most popular restaurants.


Entertainers lined up for the event include Austin Anderson, Stephanie Benson, Lily Ellis and SYMBA (Hayley Restivo and Ryan Hawkins).

Soup will be served, and musical entertainment will begin at 5:30 p.m. and continue through 7:30 p.m. Tickets for three bowls of soup, a beverage and access to the performances will cost $10 for adults and $5 for children (two bowls of soup). Proceeds from ticket sales, the bake sale and raffles will be split between St. Susan Center and Infinity.

Restaurants donating and serving soup include:

• Hotel Lenhart
• Red Lobster
• Webb’s Captain’s Table
• Bemus Point Inn
• See-Zurh House
• Dinner Bell
• Sweet Spot
• Bob Evans
• Village Casino
• Babalu Café
• Hare N’ Hounds Inn
• Village Restaurant
• Guppy’s Restaurant
• Corner Coffeehouse & Bistro
• Springs Restaurant
• Scallion Bistro
• Bemus Point Golf Club
• Italian Fisherman

As part of the festivities, horse-drawn carriage rides through the village of Bemus Point will be provided by Magic Moments Carriage Rides – with proceeds going to both organizations. A bake sale and 50/50 raffle also will be conducted during the event, and a basket of products donated by the member merchants of Discover Bemus Point will be raffled.

In the event of rain, the event will be moved from the Bemus Point town park to the nearby Village Casino.

LAKEWOOD, NY – An annual fundraising event for the only locally owned, non-religious radio station in Chautauqua County will be taking place Sunday, June 2 and everyone is invited!

WRFA-LP and the Southern Tier Brewing Co. are teaming up to present the second annual Great American Picnic – an afternoon of friends, food and live music from a variety of local and regional performers. This year’s theme will be music from the original Woodstock.

Hosted by Ken Hardley from the Rolling Hills Radio show, the Great American Picnic will begin at 1 p.m. at the home of the Southern Tier Brewing Co. (2072 Stoneman Circle, Lakewood, NY) and will feature nearly a dozen different musical acts. Many of the performances will also be recorded and broadcast on WRFA.

Musical acts for this year include Smackdab, The Bogarts, The Modified Nouns, Ken Hardley & The Henways, Bill Ward & Amanda Barton, Cindy Haight, Dennis Drew and Jeff Erickson (both from 10,000 Manaics), John Merino, Steve Piper, Jamie Trusler and SYMBA.

Rolling Hills Radio Host Ken Hardley

All the music that will be played during the three-hour event will be songs from the original Woodstock Music Festival – which featured such famous acts as Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Ten Years After, Arlo Guthrie, Sly and the Family Stone, Joe Cocker and many others.

The entire show will be presented at the Southern Tier Brewing Company’s outdoor stage with plenty of seating and space for everyone in attendance. Sound and stage support will be provided by Steven Gustafson, Graham Riggle, Ed Tomassini and Jeff Erickson.

The WRFA Advisory Board will also be on hand, serving hot dogs and other foods from the grill.

Perhaps best of all, there is no cost to attend the fundraiser! Instead, a portion of all proceeds collected by Southern Tier Brewing Co. between 1 and 4 p.m. will go directly toward WRFA. Donations will also be accepted. All ages are welcome.