Archive: Opinions

With a new summer season nearly upon us, I am asking that the Lansing Community Council and the Lansing Harbor Festival take a more responsible approach when choosing the live entertainment for the 2010 Lansing Harbor Festival.  Last year’s live music venues were an insult to all local Lansing musicians and I feel that the Lansing musical community was locked out of its own festival.

I would think that the purpose of the Lansing Harbor Festival would be to support all things good and great about Lansing.  And I would think that some serious thought went into naming the event.  After all, you didn’t choose the name “Cayuga Lake Harbor Festival” or the “Tompkins County Harbor Festival.”  The musical venues from the 2009 Harbor Festival might have well been called the “Ithaca Harbor Festival” because there was no musical representation of Lansing.

There are several notable musicians living and performing in our community.  If the person or persons who decided on last year’s musical entertainment were not aware of these musicians, there here is a list of names of qualified musicians who live and reside
in Lansing:

Joe Bruno (Pete Panek and the Blue Cats)
Kip Opperman
Steve Grimm, our own Superintendent of Lansing Central Schools (the Band Reporter)
Dave Halton (Iron Horse)
David Monacelli, Paul Kempkes (Do It Again)
Mike Theusen
Steve Halton
Bob Keefe (The Backtalk Band)

Additionally, there are a few excellent high school bands fronted by Luke Kutler, Thomas Arleo, or Matt Tucci.  If you are including classically trained musicians from the Lansing School District, then look towards Ben Hummel and Jonathan Son.

Why weren’t any of the above groups chosen as headliners for the 2009 Harbor Festival or even included in event, instead of the having the Burns Sisters (with no ties to Lansing, by the way) headline the event for three years running?

When local groups expressed an interest in performing at the 2009 Harbor Festival, they were either shunned entirely, or told by the music coordinator “we’re going to do something different this year.”  Joe Bruno, of Pete Panek and the Blue Cats, tried to contact the music coordinator for the 2009 Harbor Festival several times.  Four emails over the course of a few months went unanswered.

I suggested a sock hop as a closing musical venue and making it a family event, but that’s when the musical coordinator said to me “we’re going to do something different this year.”  By different, I guess that meant not including any musicians from Lansing.

I have had conversations with several Lansing musicians about the poor choice of music for the 2009 Harbor Festival and those I spoke to felt they were left out as well.  If the Lansing Community Council wanted to duplicate the musical venues of the Ithaca Festival, then they have succeeded.  But if the Council wanted a true musical slice of what is good and great about Lansing, then they have failed.

Let’s have a better representation of Lansing musicians at our own Lansing Harbor Festival.  Better yet, why not include all of the great musicians I have listed above at the 2010 Lansing Harbor Festival and make it a true Lansing event?

Sincerely,

Bob Keefe
Guitar, The Backtalk Band