Filed under: Features, Issue 19 | Tags: Bo Diddley, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Buddy Guy, Castaways, Caution Children, Charlie Musselwhite, Cornell University, Dandy Little Lions, Dark Star Orchestra, Donna the Buffalo, Dread Zeppelin, Fanclub Collective, Felicia's Atmoic Lounge, GrassRoots Festival, Haunt Bar and Grille, Ithaca College, Ithaca Underground, J-san & the Analogue Sons, jeff buckley, John Brown's Body, Johnny Dowd, Junior Wells, Kites in Space, Koko Taylor, Lyle Lovett, New York Philharmonic, Pete Panek and the Blue Cats, Popcorn Youth, Radio the Ape, Robert Cray, Sim Redmond Band, Sixteen Sixteen, Soul Asylum, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Texas Flood, The Allman Brothers Band, The Burns Sisters, The Nines, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Shop, Tundra Toes, WICB
Caution Children are one of the many bands that characterize Ithaca sound
Nestled in the foothills of the Finger Lakes, right in the heart of wine country, Ithaca is a community secluded from the rest of the world. There are no major interstates that cut an unsightly swath through its downtown; no passenger trains rumbling across the Cayuga Valley. One could easily assume that if it wasn’t for Cornell University and Ithaca College, Ithaca would have just been another Podunk upstate burg at the edges of the Rust Belt.
Yet this small college city, just over a one-hour drive from Syracuse and a little under five from New York City, is home to one of the country’s most eclectic, powerful, and thriving music scenes.
After all, the ever-elusive “Ithaca Sound” was created here, a fusion of familiar and ethnic music styles, fundamental to the popularity and acceptance of Roots. Acclaimed reggae group John Brown’s Body considers Ithaca home, as do country singer Johnny Dowd and folk singers The Burns Sisters. College-town venue The Nines has been hosting the Blue Monday jam session for over 29 years. And the local award-winning college radio station WICB carries such programming as “Home Brew,” a weekly show dedicated to local music, while graduates at the School of Music at nearby Ithaca College go on to play with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Continue reading
Filed under: Features, Issue 19 | Tags: Conan the Barbarian, Dave Matthews, Downtown Ithaca Alliance, Ithaca State Theatre, Jim DeGraff, Jimi Hendrix, JImi Hendrix: Live at Monterey, Long John and the Tights, Moosewood, positive jam, Rhiner Festival, Technicolor Trailer Park, The Nines
Jim DeGraff sketches at a Technicolor Trailer Park show
The sound of squeaky wheels and rusted metal screeches gratingly as Jim DeGraff pulls his wagon along the edge of the Chemung Canal Trust Company parking lot. Once red, the wagon has worn to a faded brown from years of abuse. Tattered boxes stacked to capacity with tubes of paint, a jug of Poland Spring water and a canvas roll-up of paintbrushes barely fit into the cart.
Pausing briefly, he lights up a hand-rolled cigarette. Today is the first annual Rhiner Festival, a day of music and historical reenactments in Ithaca’s Waterfront District, and DeGraff is anticipating a lively day of painting and honing his craft.
The self-taught painter and former bouncer has been sketching and painting live concerts for nearly five years, and his hulking, paint-splattered form — with accompanying easel and rusted wagon — has become a common sight at Central New York concerts, especially in the Finger Lake region.
“For me, going to a concert, it’s hard unless I have something to do,” DeGraff said. “If I have a sketchbook with me, it enhances the whole experience. Artwork is like catching a moment.”
20 Watts 