That Finger Lakes Sound – “Tuned in”

by Ben Haravitch – 

What is that Finger Lakes sound? 

Our region has boasted incredible music from so many different genres over the years: Joe Beard and the hot Rochester blues scene, Ithaca’s raucous string bands, the Eastman school’s history in jazz music.  This month I turned to our local radio DJs to help elucidate the cultural significance of our homegrown music.  Radio comes in many forms these days and we are lucky to have several dynamic platforms which present local music.

“My theory is that a city is built on the creativity of its citizens.  There’s something about music especially that gets inside people and instills a sense of their home.”               – Scott Regan, host of ‘Open Tunings’

If you’ve ever scanned the dial on your morning commute, chances are you’ve stumbled upon ‘Open Tunings’ on WRUR 88.5 FM or WITH 90.1 FM.  Local public radio stations (think PBS on the radio) are still my most trusted and accessible source for upcoming shows and new local music.  You may know them as the ‘NPR stations’.  This is true, but they’re also about the only FM stations that play local music.    

Scott Regan has been the host of ‘Open Tunings’ for thirteen years.  On his show he plays a huge variety of songs from local performers and touring acts passing through.  He interviews a handful of them each week making us aware of the exciting projects in the works by our hometown musicians, giving him a unique perspective on the trends and talents of our local scene.  “One thing I would say about the whole scene is that it’s really based in great songwriting – I don’t care what genre you’re in.  It goes back many years too, with Colorblind James, he was a Rochester guy and you can’t deny his influence on a lot of people in the Finger Lakes and Rochester.  He really set the bar for songwriting and for the quirkiness of some of the music that comes out of the area.  Bands like The Prickers from Naples really came out of that.”  He described the point of view and ‘extended’ songwriting of Colorblind James and pointed out local groups employing the style today like The Honey Smugglers and The Crooked North.  Scott noted that even acts that don’t fit the singer-songwriter genre, like Danielle Ponder and The Tomorrow People, “start with great songwriting.”

“And when I think of the Finger Lakes area and Rochester,” Regan continued, “You have the roots-reggae groove like Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad and Donna the Buffalo, and the grandaddy of them all – The Majestics.  Also the Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg, which is really a Finger Lakes tradition.”

Journalist, Dan Gross cited two genres which are represented by especially exciting and talented regional acts: folk and jazz.  As the host and creator of the Rochester Indie Musician Spotlight (dan-gross.com/spotlight), a YouTube series, he features a wide variety of local acts performing for small audiences and leads in-depth conversations with them about their work.  Dan shared an opinion which is common nowadays, that people are tired of hearing music that is inauthentic and electronic.  “People are re-finding this folk sound.  I’m seeing a lot more bands with folk influences, or folk groups in general.  If you look at who’s popular now, The Honey Smugglers draw a huge crowd, The Mighty High and Dry is a folk/Americana band, Tyler Westcott with Folkfaces is doing amazing things.  I think this is something that used to be pigeon-holed to a small group of people and is now becoming more ubiquitous.”

Dan described the current local jazz sound as “contemporary instrumental fusion jazz.”  He mentioned four groups; Juicy Connotation, The Elementals, The Mother Funkin’ Planets, and Lost Wax Collective, with sounds created by people who grew up playing jazz.  “There are more well trained musicians now than there have ever been, but few people will sit down and listen to jazz.  These new acts have this approach of how you play jazz, how you compose music, how you arrange it, and they’re taking that and presenting it in a way that people will really want to either dance to or sit down and listen to.”

Whether you’re a YouTuber, or an FM cruiser, Scott’s and Dan’s shows are two excellent ways to learn about local music that you might enjoy.  It can be hard to stay informed about what shows you can’t miss.  “It’s hard enough to be a musician on the scene and learn to navigate the venues to play which would suit your act.  It’s especially hard for non-musicians to learn about where to find music they might like.”  Dan described the mission for his show, “I want to be a great, centralized source for people to check out quality local music, and to learn about it.”

Wrapping up his thoughts about the importance of a local music culture, Scott Regan said, “My theory is that a city is built on the creativity of its citizens.  There’s something about music especially that gets inside people and instills a sense of their home.  You can build a network of people who care about their local community through a local music scene.  People write music about their home, and folks go to see that music performed.  It’s a thread that ties a community together.”

Ben currently lives in Warsaw, NY. 

He teaches banjo, records music made by his friends, and performs with a variety of roots-based bands throughout the Finger Lakes region.