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• Posted Thursday @ Canalside | BP Rocks Canalside 2013 to Buffalo Rising
  Once Thursday in the Park (1987)... now Thursday at Canalside.Once Buffalo Place rocks the Harbor... now Buffalo Place Rocks Canalside.New event names for a fresh 2013 Buffalo Place concert season. Thursday at Canalside kicks off on Thursday, June 6 with The Hold Steady and Hollerado. Eighteen consecutive Thursdays ending with Lotus August 29. Starting time 5:00PM, until 9:30PM. Free admission to all of these. Also there are six Buffalo Place Rocks Canalside shows in late June, July and August. Doors open at 6PM for these shows. They are all Friday-Saturday pairings. Tentatively Saturday August 31 concert is to be announced...
• Posted The Wrecking Crew @ the Market Arcade with filmmaker Denny Tedesco to Buffalo Rising
  Twilight Zone. Rocky Horror Picture Show. Batman TV show. Godfather. Wayne Newton' s Danke Schoen. Enter the Dragon. Cincinnati Kid. Recognize any of those tunes? Then you have heard the work of Niagara Falls, NY born Tommy Tedesco with the Wrecking Crew.When I first heard that the movie "Wrecking Crew" was coming to the Market Arcade in downtown Buffalo, I thought of quarterback Paul "Wrecking" Crewe of the Mean Machine football team, the inmates' team in the movie "The Longest Yard". Instead it was about the 50s and 60s LA-dominated music scene,  where the same 20 studio musicians "helped" fix...
• Posted LaunchNY: Buffalo as western anchor to Buffalo Rising
  Welcome to Launch NY. Notice how the green and blue logo is comprised of a series of boxes that form the telling "up" arrow? The blue stands for management, and the green for money. The boxes are the 27 counties in its geographical area, whose largest cities consist of Buffalo on the west, Rochester on the center, Syracuse on the east, and then south toward Binghamton and also Ithaca. Key here is that it is the area of central and western New York State.  John Seman is the CEO of Launch NY, which is a non-profit venture development corporation. He recently...
• Posted Caroline Jones shares music tips to kids at Community Music School to Buffalo Rising
  Singer-songwriter Caroline Jones, from New York City, has trained with Andy Anselmo, and has been managed by Tommy Mottola. Caroline returned to Buffalo and spoke recently at the Community Music School right here in midtown Buffalo. I'd like to tell you about some of her insights that she shared with a mostly under-21 Buffalo crowd. I love that she is already giving back to the community by encouraging young adults to take a musical path. I believe it is so important to encourage music and arts at as early an age as possible. Caroline started out by having everybody introduce themselves,...
• Posted 14,000 Turkey Trotters & some Awesome Costumes to boot! to Buffalo Rising
  It's sunny and 60 degrees at the start line at Delaware Avenue and Shoreham Parkway in North Buffalo. What a fabulous start to Thanksgiving where some 20,000 plus folks are out before nine in the morning for the 117th running of Buffalo's Turkey Trot, the oldest annual consecutive-year footrace in North America. Take that Boston Marathon! It does not seem like there are too many folks here from last night's Chippewa Street activities. I see lots of shorts and shirtless folks, a little unusual for late November. Also lots of folks waiting for all of their group to show up so that they...
• Posted 30th Buffalo Music Hall of Fame Part 2 to Buffalo Rising
  Above, Bernie Kugel, Buffalo's "Godfather of Punk", with his band The Good, performing Walk Around the World.  Boy, do they still bring it!  The night is about the inductee's stories, and their introducer's stories. But what makes this a special music night in Buffalo every year is having most every live inductee perform for us, many a time the rarest of performances as some folks just don't play out too much anymore. I love the trend of there being an effort to have them perform with their own original bands whenever possible. Bravo Bravissimo! I enjoyed Mary Louise Nanna, from the...
• Posted 30th Buffalo Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is a Smash to Buffalo Rising
  Boyd Lee Dunlop, performing beautiful soulful jazz on the grand piano, blew me away with the first performance of the night. Dunlop performed his own composition, a beautiful soulful blues variation, followed by Joe Primrose's Saint James Infirmary. Dunlop reminded me of some of the great pianists that have played at Buffalo's Colored Musician's Club over the years. There used to be a lot more great jazz in this town, I miss it dearly. As musicians are inducted into this, the 30th anniversary of the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, we first hear from a person that they selected introduce them,...
• Posted WBNY's Tom Calderone inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame to Buffalo Rising
  WBNY-FM, broadcasting from Buffalo State College, is Buffalo's only large college radio survivor, now that WBFO-FM has sadly been merged out of existence. WBNY is 91.3 on your FM radio dial. Back in the early 1980s, while studying at Buffalo State, Tom Calderone became program director, and Tom and the WBNY management team changed the format to new and alternative music. That was cutting edge back then, but a format change that has continued on to this day. After graduation, Tom kept on changing the entertainment world, continually reinventing it and with great success at that.  Some backstory: In the mid...
• Posted Buffalo Niagara 360 Spotlight Professionals to Buffalo Rising
  A new year has dawned for the Buffalo Niagara 360, Buffalo's largest young professionals program. This group is part of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, or what your daddy used to call the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce. These types of gatherings allow incredible networking opportunities, so important to a city's growth, as a lot of these folks are going to run things here someday... and hopefully start small businesses that turn into large businesses, all while helping to create Buffalo's future. These events also help leaders to emerge, and encourage their members to engage in projects that help the community. The fall...
• Posted Mike A's Lounge gets Roq'd @ Meet and Greet to Buffalo Rising
  Buffalo Fashion Week just wrapped up. As the culmination of an action packed week-long event, a VIP Meet and Greet was held at the Mike A's Lounge @ Hotel Lafayette. I sort of came in at the tail end of this event, but as you can see, the fashion community was still out in force. As for the lounge, one of the latest hip hotspots to open in Buffalo, I absolutely loved the Art Deco touches - Buffalo's own little South Beach.   Mike Andrzejewski, creator of the lounge as well as the fine dining restaurant Mike A's @ Hotel Lafayette...
• Posted South Buffalonian Mary Lynn Ryan inducted into Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame to Buffalo Rising
  Hurricane Katrina. The Oklahoma City Bombing. The Gulf Oil Spill. All tragic stories. I could not imagine how difficult it must have been to cover all of those heartbreaking stories. But South Buffalonian Mary Lynn Ryan did it, and then some. Currently she is the Southeast Bureau Chief for the Cable News Network, CNN, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Mary Lynn attributed a lot of her success to her South Buffalo upbringing. Her mother is still doing amazing things in South Buffalo - she heads up South Buffalo Alive. What I also like about Mary Lynn is that she has helped so...
• Posted Buffalo Broadcasters 16th Annual Hall of Fame to Buffalo Rising
  Meet Charley Bailey from Buffalo's Golden Age of Radio. In the 1930's and 1940's he was considered Buffalo's "Man About Town". And he graces the cover of last week's 16th annual Buffalo Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame Awards Celebration. Please note Charles Bailey's microphone has the initials BBC. The initials don't mean the British Broadcasting Corporation. In this picture from the 1930's they stand for the Buffalo Broadcasting Corporation! The Buffalo Broadcasters are always looking for pictures like this for their archives.  Posthumously Traffic Reporter Mike Rozman won the Golden Age Award, Mike died in a tragic helicopter crash into the...
• Posted Karl Rove speaks at Canisius College to Buffalo Rising
  The Political Science Lecture Series that is hosted by the Canisius College has had quite a lineup of speakers that have come to Buffalo over the years. President Harry S. Truman in 1962 started it all. Activist Alexander Ginzburg in 1979. President Jimmy Carter in 1993. Activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2009. Plus many others. On Monday, former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush, Mr. Karl Rove, spoke at Canisius College's Montante Cultural Center about the topic "Understanding America's Challenges". I have attended this series in the past, and am amazed at how lucky...
• Posted Music is Art Year 10 is the Best Yet to Buffalo Rising
  Robby Takac and his army of volunteers have done it again, and better than ever. On Saturday, at the Main Stage and secondary stages Two and Three, in North Buffalo between Delaware Park's Marcy Casino and the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Robby all day long energetically-introduced bands every 15 minutes for their three song sets on the three alternating stages. Robby, of the Goo Goo Dolls, displayed the same incredible enthusiasm at 11am in the morning as he did at 5pm that night. How rare is his inspiration, I must say Buffalo is truly blessed by not only a superstar...
• Posted Frankie Scinta returns to Buffalo for the Italian Heritage Festival to Buffalo Rising
  Frankie Scinta and his family act originally broke out in Buffalo, rose to fame internationally, and these days continue to headline in Las Vegas. But Frankie has been coming back every year for the Buffalo Italian Heritage Festival. Frankie told me that he thinks he may have raised the most funds ever for the festival this year, and wanted to make this the best festival ever. Scinta, the musical director of the festival, thinks that this year we had a better main stage (now called the Frankie Scinta stage at its new location Hertel and Tennyson), a better band lineup,...
• Posted Music Industry Mentoring Event at GCR Audio Part 2 to Buffalo Rising
  What a great session this is turning out to be! What a rare opportunity for rising Buffalo musicians who got to hear how to succeed in the ever-changing music business by the best in town. Also, if you listen carefully to what these industry people say, and you follow their advice, how can they not help you to succeed? This is the real secret to networking and how it works. And for so many young musicians that think it is about the "music" in the music business, it is really about the "business" in the music business that can springboard...
• Posted Buffalo's Taste by the Forkful! to Buffalo Rising
  New this year to the Taste of Buffalo was the invasion of the food trucks. Four of them were parked in a "food truck alley", and they seemed to be doing well. Outside of this past weekend, the food trucks are very innovative in a "new-school" restaurant kind of way. These days they are leveraging going where the people are, as opposed to the "old-school" restaurant routine where people have to the food... now the food finds them! Food trucks certainly get "ease of use". Buffalo's world continues to change very quickly. The food trucks are also being quite innovative in...
• Posted Music Industry Mentoring Event at GCR Audio to Buffalo Rising
  If you are a Buffalo high school or college student and want to succeed in the Buffalo music business, then GCR Audio, the house that Robby Takac (the Goo Goo Dolls) built, was the place to be last week. Top superstars from Buffalo's music industry shared their insights and secrets on making it. Some 30 students took advantage of the RSVP invites that were available to attend for anyone that had an interest, and boy did they take lots of notes. For details on that as well as the event itself please view Queenseyes' preview  Music Industry Mentoring Event. Although the focus of the...
• Posted The Great Race 2012: What a sight! to Buffalo Rising
  The Great Race made it into Buffalo yesterday along with yet another gorgeous summer day. Seneca Street was back in its heyday as it served as the finish line at Michigan Ave right in front of the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum. The area surrounding this museum has so much untapped potential, especially when we see what recently transpired with The Larkin District (Larkinville). There are plenty of empty parking lots that need to become productive other than for Sabres games, concerts and events. While many of the buildings are gone, there are still a few that would be great anchors...
• Posted Delaware Park multi-purpose water fountain open for business to Buffalo Rising
  While walking on a beautiful summer day around Ring Road here in Delaware Park I noticed something new. Right by the basketball courts and the Jewett Parkway/Meadow Drive Buffalo Zoo parking entrance, the water fountain had disappeared! In its place I saw a what looked like a triple water fountain... Upon a closer inspection I saw that there were two waist high water fountains - the second tier fountain must be designed for kids and wheelchair accessibility - hip hip hooray! What was most unusual however, was a third water fountain just a little bit off the ground. This must be for...
• Posted Buffalo Music Hall of Fame announces Class of 2012 to Buffalo Rising
  The Buffalo Music Hall of Fame will have its 30th Induction this October 4 at the Tralf Music Hall in downtown Buffalo. Sixteen inductees were announced at "The House that Robby Takac Built" - the world-class GCR Audio Studios, right here in the architecturally significant Allentown area of Buffalo. Rick Mathews, president of the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, told me that he was proud that this year's class was so exceptional, not only in the talent of the new inductees but also in the tremendous diversity in music genres it represents. Here are the inductees, along with some of their accomplishments:            Performers Category: Bob Falk - guitar with the...
• Posted Steve Wozniak comes to Buffalo, shares Steve Jobs' insights to Buffalo Rising
  His first invention was a device that could make three free phone calls to anywhere in the world. His first killer app was the spreadsheet program. Steve Wozniak created the Apple I computer, which led to the microcomputer revolution. The Woz came to downtown Buffalo last week for the Be Motivated event to share about a variety of topics, including insights about the late Steve Jobs. To view summaries about other Be Motivated speakers that came to Buffalo please see Marv Levy and Bill Cosby.                       When you develop solutions in...
• Posted Marv Levy tells us how he motivated the Buffalo Bills to Buffalo Rising
  Marv Levy, former head coach of the Buffalo Bills, led the team to four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s - the only coach to do so. Coach Levy was back last week to share his secrets of success at the Get Motivated event at the First Niagara Center. I would like to share highlights of some of his insights with you. Please click here for highlights of Bill Cosby reminisces about Buffalo at the same event.                     Where else would you rather be than right here, right now? How did we select...
• Posted Bill Cosby reminisces about Buffalo to Buffalo Rising
  After almost three years, the Get Motivated! Business Seminar motivational speakers were back at the First Niagara Center this past Tuesday from 8AM to 5PM BST (Buffalo Standard Time). To read about the last time they were here please click on Get Motivated. Some estimated there were only 6,000 people attending this time around. I would like to share with you highlights from an outstanding presentation by show-business superstar Bill Cosby, whom you might know from television's Fat Albert, I Spy and the Cosby Show.                      Wealthy Buffalo people have Buffalo statues...
• Posted Buffalo's Biggest Networking Party of the Year to Buffalo Rising
  It came to pass at 6:45PM Buffalo Standard Time (B.S.T.) Thursday night that over 12,600 participants from over 400 companies walked and ran 3 1/2 miles at the 32nd annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge at Delaware Park here in North Buffalo. But after the cardio, in the summer-like day comes, the real challenge... getting to visit and network with your friends and people you want to connect with in the more than 300 hospitality tents set up right behind the Buffalo Zoo bordering Ring Rd.                                ...
• Posted International Classical Guitar Concerto Competition comes to Buffalo to Buffalo Rising
  The eight best classical guitarists on the planet came to Buffalo yesterday (and today) to compete in the semifinals of the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition at WNED-TV studios here in downtown Buffalo, the only one of its kind in the world. If you weren't in the audience of around 150 yesterday at 7:30PM Buffalo Standard Time (or in the audience today), you could view it on Channel 17 locally or listen to it on 94.5FM on the radio (today as well). Admission was only $12 for each day.                                                           Where did the guitarists come from? Yesterday's contestants were from Hungary, Thailand, Canada/Jordan and the USA. Today's contestants were...
• Posted Thursday at the Harbor is the best Buffalo free concert choice to Buffalo Rising
  Now that Thursday at the Square has permanently become Thursday at the Harbor (or Thursday at the Skyway!), I shed one last tear for future generations of downtown Buffalo concertgoers who will never have a chance to have the Lafayette Square experience. I still remember the very 1st square, on the South West corner of Main and Chippewa, before twin skyscrapers were built on barren flatlands. Before "In the Park" was renamed "In the Square".                                     But now we have the best... But through all...
• Posted The Corporate Challenge T-Shirt Quiz to Buffalo Rising
  It was a spectacular summer day at Ring Road in Delaware Park in North Buffalo. Mr Weatherman predicted all sorts of havoc with 60% rain and possible hail. The funny thing is, I'm sure that the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge runners would have welcomed the rain rather than a balmy 80 degree day, but my fellow race volunteers would not! The clouds eventually rolled in, but the precipitation ended up hitting Rochester and Syracuse east of Buffalo instead. I recall that Alan Tieuli, from Upton Massachusetts, came in to oversee the race - he must have really great connections...
• Posted Thursday at the Square 2011 Schedule (and RTH) to Buffalo Rising
  16 nights of music, 26 national acts, 18 Grammy Awards, and 27 Junos! In its 25th year we see a lot of Canadian acts coming to Thursday at the Square (Lafayette Square and Main St). I hope our wonderful friends up North will bring a lot of loonies to Buffalo with them when they come visit.   At the Buffalo Place news conference in North American Breweries Labatt USA world headquarters Michael Schmand, Vice President and Executive Director of Buffalo Place, mentioned that these are exciting times in downtown Buffalo.  Tony Colucci III, President and Vice Chairman of Buffalo Place, was...
• Posted A few final thoughts on Spyro Gyra's Jim Kurzdorfer to Buffalo Rising
  One of Buffalo's most celebrated musicians, Jim Kurzdorfer, recently passed away, leaving behind a legacy that included playing with Thelonius Monk and Herbie Hancock, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and all of Eric Clapton's bands. His Villa Maria College students called him Mister K. This weekend he will be posthumously granted Professor Emeritus. If you were in Buffalo in the late 1970s you would have seen the Buffalo jazz fusion group Spyro Gyra rocket to international superstardom, thanks in part to original member Jim Kurzdorfer, who has now lost his battle with cancer. Upon entering Villa Maria auditorium for his...