It’s an Acoustic Summer for Islip Arts Council

by Michael Kornfeld

There will be plenty of good, free acoustic music in Islip this summer thanks to the Islip Arts Council and its artistic director, Amy Tuttle.

This summer’s series of free Sunday afternoon concerts at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River will feature several LI-based acoustic artists and Red Molly, the rootsy female Americana trio that’s been drawing a lot of buzz here and elsewhere, while a series of Tuesday Brown Bag Concerts at the Bay Shore Bandshell on Main Street will include noted German guitarist Peter Finger, as well as several more local performers. 

Both series have taken on more of an acoustic bent since Tuttle (who also serves as an officer of both the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame) joined the Islip Arts Council’s staff in September 2005.  “Every single act has some acoustic element in it” this summer, she said, noting that both series are “geared primarily to acoustic musicians and to those who write original material and perform original stuff.” 

“We really wanted to expand our audience base and appeal to a wider group of people,” said Tuttle, who has sought “to instill more variety” into the summer musical programming.  According to Tuttle, the Sunday afternoon concerts consistently drew between  400-500 people last summer, while those in Bay Shore have been drawing 50-60 people (although some 200 people reportedly jammed the tight space along Main Street for one performance last year).

“A lot of these performers are playing for an audience that would not necessarily be seeking them out,” said Tuttle, noting that while the arboretum is a casual concert setting, it draws “a pretty sophisticated audience, many of whom go to our classical concerts in the winter, so the audience knows good musicianship regardless of genre.”   She mentioned that a number of seniors discovered Pat Wictor last summer.  He will be back this summer by popular demand, as will local artists Little Toby Walker and Glen Roethel. 

“Our audiences are getting exposed to really good musicians, while the musicians are bringing fans from elsewhere to discover these venues,” Tuttle continued.  The beautiful setting of the Bayard Cutting Arboretum, where concerts take place under a majestic 200-year old chestnut tree, has prompted a lot of performers to bring photographers with them, she said.  

The Sunday afternoon concerts at the arboretum are all slated for 2 p.m.  Although admission is free, there is a $6 per vehicle parking fee.  The schedule is as follows: 

June 10: Miller’s Crossing, LI-based bluegrass group that also will be playing the Podunk Bluegrass Festival in Connecticut later this summer.

June 17: Pat Wictor: a gifted, rootsy singer-songwriter and lap-style slide guitarist, who also is adept at performing traditional numbers in his own distinctive style.

June 24: Red Molly, a rootsy Americana trio, mixes traditional songs with old gospel, bluegrass, covers of old-timey style numbers by contemporary artists and a few originals penned by Abbie Gardner (who is also a dobro virtuoso).  Gardner, Laurie MacAllister and Carolann Solebello mesmerize audiences with their incredibly tight and beautiful three-part harmonies and solid musicianship.

August 12: Little Toby Walker, a 2002 International Blues Challenge Winner, makes his home on LI but has drawn fans and media buzz on both sides of the Atlantic with his finger-pickin’ good Delta blues and ragtime guitar stylings.

August 19: Gail Storm, a barrelhouse blues pianist and vocalist from Long Island.

August 26: The Daydreamers, a LI-based folkabilly outfit with an electro-acoustic sound.

 The Tuesday Brown Bag Concerts are slated for 12:30 p.m. at the octagonal-shaped, brick-floored bandshell that Tuttle describes as “a slice of Americana smack down in the middle of Main Street” in Bay Shore.  Acoustic artists are scheduled to perform on the following dates:

July 24: Glen Roethel, a New York singer-songwriter-guitarist and song stylist with a penchant for positive and intentional songwriting. He recently performed songs from his forthcoming release, Smaller Things, as a finalist in the Susquehanna Music & Arts Festival (SMAF) Songwriter Contest in Maryland and was among the most popular performers in this series last summer, according to Tuttle.

August 7: Rebecca Hall may hail from southern Vermont, but this singer-songwriter, who describes her music as “retro folk,” is inspired by traditional songs from Appalachia and the British Isles.

August 14: Peter Finger, an acclaimed German fingerstyle acoustic guitarist who has recorded some 20 albums and has penned compositions for film, television and orchestras.  Among the first to be signed to Stefan Grossman’s Kicking Mule label before launching his own label, Finger is “a very understated composer” whose live performances are “quietly magical… and fascinating to watch,” says Tuttle, who describe his music as ‘transcending boundaries” and appealing to those who like folk, jazz, ambient and classical guitar stylings

August 21: Homegrown String Band, LI’s Jackofsky family plays old-time country music and also incorporates some percussive flatfoot dancing.

August 28: Terry Winchell, an East End singer-songwriter whose music is a blend of folk/rock, country and Americana stylings.