This week I want to highlight a couple of venues dedicated to bringing us live music. It’s not always easy to book music, pay musicians, provide a great atmosphere and stay in business. These two locations are local hotspots for music lovers AND have great menus. Make your plans to go out and support them regularly.
443 Social Club & Lounge at 443 Burnet Av, Syracuse is run by Julie & Jimmy Leone. They have created a cozy atmsophere to truly relax and listen to live music. They curate a unique mix of local musicians and national acts. The outdoor patio is one of my favorite spots to enjoy music. Reservations are encouraged. Check out this week’s shows and keep an eye on the event calendar for presale tickets.
Thursday- Trapper Schoepp 7 pm. “What’s most important to me is to be a link in the chain of folks singers before and after my time,” Trapper Schoepp says in light of his forthcoming album, Siren Songs. Recorded at Johnny Cash’s Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, TN, Trapper continues down the trail trod by his musical heroes. In 2019, the Milwaukee singer-songwriter published a long lost song with Bob Dylan called “On, Wisconsin” – making him the youngest musician to share a co-writing credit with the Nobel Prize laureate. The song led to a #1 trending article in Rolling Stone and over a hundred tour dates worldwide.
Friday- Joshua Hyslop 7 pm. “Holding a guitar, it’s my comfort blanket,” says Joshua Hyslop, the Vancouver-based folk-pop artist. Over the past two years, he’s grappled with bouts of anxiety and depression triggered by the convergence of first-time parenthood, the deaths of two friends, and of course a never-ending pandemic. All these emotional tributaries led him back to one constant: the need to make music. The result is Westward, his fifth album (Nettwerk Records, out April 22, 2022), which works through all of the above. And in the end, we all benefit from Hyslop’s liberating catharsis.
Saturday- The Moxie Strings 7 pm. Hailed by The Grand Rapids Press as “top-notch, instrumental wizardry,” The Moxie Strings offer listeners the unique opportunity to experience some of the world’s best- known instruments through an electric, innovative lens. Diana Ladio and Alison Lynn hold Bachelor of Music degrees in music performance and music education, which have given each the technical foundation to explore the limits of her instrument and helped the group build a reputation for musical excellence. Alison performs on a newly-invented, electric cello, and Diana on a contemporary 5-string violin. Both use a variety of audio effects pedals. The Moxie Strings compose the majority of their pieces and arrange melodies from many countries, resulting in a genre-blurring blend of ear-catching, mainstream melodies, and foot-stomping, rock-influenced rhythms. The band’s polished, high-energy show continues to redefine strings’ role in contemporary music and offers audience members a diverse, fun, musical experience.
Chef Frank Bell is working hard at Maplewood Music & Events. They are located at 400 7th North Street in Liverpool. Improvements have been made to the lounge to cater to live music. Mondays are for acoustic open mic. Tuesdays boast an electric pro jam/ open mic. Join DJ Joe Driscoll on Wednesdays for rock n roll BINGO. Bands play Thursday-Saturday.
