When did Whiskey Reverb form?  
We formed in September of 2009.  We write and perform original music of many genres.
Where are you from originally? 
We are all originally born and raised in Buffalo
How did you start playing together?  
We all came from different musical backgrounds and had met one another in the local music scene.  Through a sort of serendipity, we all met up while between projects.  We

When I write about the preservation of our irreplaceable architectural heritage, my focus has understandably been concentrated on the City of Buffalo.  The City is where most of the older buildings are and where most of the destructive disinvestment has occurred.  But that does not mean Buffalo is the only place in the region where preservation is an issue.  
Metro Buffalo spent most of the 20th century as one of the largest 15 urban areas in the country resulting in construction of dense historic urban neighborhoods throughout WNY. Niagara Falls,

The 7th Annual Buffalo Enviro-Fair in Niagara Square will be held this Friday from 11 am until 2 pm.  This year it falls on Arbor Day.   Many local organizations will interact with the public about ways to steward their planet.

Exhibits will include: Reinstein Woods, Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Re-Tree WNY, Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, The Great Green Store, Hazman, Inc., Rubberform Recycled Products, Viridian Energy, CIR Electrical, Dig Safely NY, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Buffalo Central Terminal

Members of the Hellenic Orthodox Church (corner of Utica and Delaware) aka the Greek Festival Church, are organizing a first ever community backgammon tournament. The effort behind the tournament was a culmination of zeal from a select number of backgammon fans, and a way to roll out the welcome mat for the church. "This year at the Hellenic Festival (May 30 - June 2), we are going to be holding our 1st ever community backgammon Tournament," said church member Dean Mellas.  "We are really hoping to get people outside of our own parish to play. It will be an NCAA Bracket style, best

Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) is exploring a cooperative agreement with the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) regarding the Trico Plant #1 Building. The objective of this agreement will be to identify an economically feasible, historic preservation appropriate, adaptive reuse proposal for the property. This cooperative agreement marks a milestone in the pursuit to rehabilitate the historic Trico Plant #1 Building. For over a year, Preservation Buffalo Niagara has been working in a limited advisory capacity with the BNMC to find a historic preservation reuse alternative for the property.

Last week we heard about an inspirational Earth Day project that saw the community come together to clean up Allentown. This week there is news that another Allentown cleanup initiative has been founded, and this time it's an ongoing grassroots meet-up that is being called Allentown Litter Mob. Members of the mob meet at 6:30pm at Fat Bob's Smokehouse, 41 Virginia Place, and this will be repeated every 3rd Thursday. Hopefully this guerrilla mob will have some longevity,

Artfarms and its partner, Polish Community Center of Buffalo, have been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works grant. They are one of 817 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive funding through the NEA grants. A grant of $35,000 has been recommended for the construction of artistic sculptures that will supplement agricultural activity on vacant east side lots.

The focus of Artfarms is

The Buffalo Architecture Foundation is inviting everyone to attend an event on Thursday at 6:00pm called "6 Minute Building Stories". Guests will be treated to a series of six minute stories about planning, architecture and landscape, as seen through the eyes of co-presenters who, through use of photos, will paint a picture of our built environment and the effect that it has on different people. 
Building Stories will

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) will hold the second of three public information meetings regarding the reconstruction of Ohio Street. The meeting, scheduled from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 9th at the First Ward Community Center, will describe the key elements of the proposed roadway and provide updates on the design and construction schedules. There will also be a break-out session at the end of the presentation to gather additional input from residents, commuters and area businesses.
The reconstruction of Ohio Street as a landscaped

Buffalo Suzuki Strings (BSS), one of only a handful of Suzuki-only music schools in the U.S., will feature Suzuki Master Teachers Bill Preucil, Doris Preucil, Kimberly Meier-Sims, Christie Felsing, Pam Devenport, Dave Madsen, and Mary Craig Powell, on April 26th, 27th and 28th, during its 45th Anniversary Workshop.

"We are honored to have these Suzuki Master Teachers at our school, and are so pleased to be able to offer this extraordinary experience to our students.  From our beginners to our Advanced Ensemble students, they will have

Anyone who has met Elizabeth Triggs, founder of None Like You, We Care Outreach, will likely tell you the woman is a force to be reckoned with. Triggs has dedicated the last twenty years to improving life for members of the East Side community. And when she told me that she's been "slowing down" lately, I had a hard time believing her.
Triggs started her organization back in 1992 to help members of her community get the resources they needed. "We got the idea from working with a lot of agencies and they had so much red tape--you had to wait for this person and that

It wasn't long after Fiamma co-owner Noel Morreale opened Bambino (one of our favorite places to go these days) that his North Buffalo establishment closed its doors. According to Noel, the decision to reopen Fiamma came when he stepped back to reexamine the restaurant concept. With a change of partners, Noel has taken what he says was a solid concept when the establishment first opened, well-suited for the local restaurant climate, and he's updated the formula to keep current with local and national trends. 
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We are all aware of the vast number of clubs that adults get to participate in, but how 'bout a club for the kids? While checking out myriad activities that The Central Library conducts on a weekly basis, I came across one ongoing meet-up that parents might want to consider. It's the Lego Club! 
"The Lego Club is very cool," said Joy Testa Cinquino, Assistant Deputy Director, Development and Communications at The Central Library. "Legos have been around for ages and are still very, very popular.  Lego Club takes place on the fourth Saturday of the month,

Larkinville is not just about live music, beer and food, although those are three great reasons to pay a visit to one of Buffalo's newest hotspot destinations. What some people might not be aware of is that Larkinville also hosts a Larkin Square Author Series, which has featured notable authors such as Kathleen McCleary, Molly Stevens, Timothy Bohen and Cathy Buchanan. 
Next up in the series is Buffalo native Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance (see

Update: Due to some scheduling issues we have rescheduled Sunday Soup to Sunday June 9th. Please update calendar listings appropriately. The new proposal deadline is June 3rd at 10PM! Sorry for the mix up but we hope you can continue to participate in this great project! - Sunday Soup
Come join the grassroots fun with Sugar City and Buffalo Barn Raisers as they gather for good food and great ideas on Sunday May 12, 2013 from 4pm-7pm. Sunday Soup is based on a micro-grant program, where people can come to present their

Where are you from originally?
Derek Bassett: Voorheesville, New York.
Thom Davis: Hornell, NY.  
Joelle Labert: I've lived around Buffalo my whole life-Grand Island, then Kenmore and now the city.
Nathan Montague: I grew up in Lansing, N.Y., just northeast of Ithaca.  My family lived in the rural-est part of town, beyond the reach of cable TV, sidewalks, and ice cream trucks.  
Michael Tinsmon: Greece, NY -- Suburb of Rochester
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Do you want to hear what community and business leaders think about the future of Buffalo? As a final Year of the City event, Burchfield-Penney Art Center is hosting a roundtable discussion with six people who have been instrumental in affecting positive change in some manner, in the fields of media, politics, development, energy and the environment.
Emcee: Mark Severson, dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences and chair of the Year of the City committee
Facilitator: Susan McCartney, director of the Small

The Erie County Industrial Development Agency today approved $591,000 in sales and mortgage recording tax abatements for Schneider Design Architects, PC for its $13.6 million adaptive reuse project at 145 and 149 Swan Street downtown.

Schneider, which has completed two conversions of vacant historic buildings into residential and commercial space, plans to renovate the mostly empty five-story, 50,000-square-foot structure at 149 Swan St., as well as the neighboring 30,000-square-foot,

What is the name of your group?  
Nikki Hicks and Momma's Biscuits 
How did the name of the band come about? 
I created that name 3 years ago because nothing brings more comfort that momma's biscuits.
Who are the musicians in the band?
Richie Valentino (bass vocal), Deshawn D Ray Jackson (drummer), Rufus Cole (keyboards) AKA Brezzy
Where are you from originally?
Buffalo
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Last month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put out the first official release of annual job data for metropolitan areas, so I wanted to take a brief look at this for large metro areas (more than one million in population, based on old metro area definitions that the BLS still uses). Here are the top 10 cities for percentage job growth. Nashville takes the crown.