Buffalo Rising Online

Aug 16th, 11:16am By Allie Friedman

Buffalo is rounding out the 2008 summer season with some rocking musicians on August 20th at the Town Ballroom, 681 Main Street. Popular pop-rock band Jack's Mannequin will be headlining, accompanied by Phantom Planet, the group known for their hit single, "California," appointed as the theme song for the fox television series, The OC.

Other bands on the bill include Treaty of Paris and Paper Route. Doors are open to all ages, and the show begins at 6 PM. Tickets are $22 in advance and can be purchased at all Tickets.com locations; otherwise they are $25 on the day of the show.

This summer, Buffalo is getting a treat of phenomonal talent and inspiration, with singer and songwriter Stacy Clark, formerly of Grand Island, opening for Jack's Mannequin. Clark recently allowed Jack's Mannequin to use her voice in two of their hit tracks, "Crashing" and "Spinning," which will debut on the new album due for release on September 30th.

Clark and Jack's front man, Andrew McMahon, have worked together through "Music Saves Lives," a program that encourages young adults to donate blood.

This program benefits cancer patients and people in need of bone marrow matches through DKMS and the American Red Cross. Clark, in particular, worked to establish MSL and serves as its official spokeswoman.

In return for donating blood, MSL participants receive backstage concert tickets at events such as The Warped Tour, and are also entered to win other music-related prizes.

In this case, Clark and McMahon's passion stems from true life experience. Both artists have overcome significant ailments while writing and recording music. After Clark's senior year of high school, she was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic, a rare blood platelet/bruising disorder. McMahon, after recently leaving the well-known band Something Corporate, discovered he had leukemia.

Due to successful blood transfusions for Clark and a bone marrow transplant for McMahon, Clark recovered and McMahon went into remission. McMahon went on to produce "Everything in Transit" in 2004 on Madonna's Maverick Records Label. The album debuted on No. 37 on the Billboard 200, while McMahon appeared on the program, Last Call with Carson Daily.

The music video for the Jack's Mannequin song, "The Mixed Tape" even earned a spot in rotation on MTV and VH1.

Clark has had three songs off her 2007 album Apples and Oranges featured on the popular MTV reality series, The Hills in the past three years. A fourth song, "Unusual," was used multiple times on the CW series, Girlfriends.

Earlier this summer, Clark filmed an episode of CMT's, Mobile Home Disaster, and was featured on KDOC's morning series, Daybreak News, in Southern California. She even headlined a sold-out show in Buffalo last month at Ani DiFranco's, "The 9th Ward at Babeville."

For more information on Stacy Clark, visit www.stacyclark.net and musicsaveslives.org.

These stories give a new meaning to the phrase, "Music Saves Lives." Come support their initiative on August 20th and jam out with some of today's upcoming artists.