Buffalo Music: Brass Machine, Folkfaces and more set for festival

By Robert J. McLennan

There are a lot of music festivals all over the country and while I’m certainly not familiar with all of them, I think I can accurately say that not many of them make much of an effort to bring the local bands from their area into the mix of the festival. 

The Borderland Festival is not like all the others.  The festival (Sept. 12-14) will be their seventh fest in East Aurora, where it started in 2018, and every year they include quite a few local bands onto the bill; some have been there more than once, a few have been there almost every year, and Folkfaces has played at every Borderland festival.

This year, the band you’ll see more than any of the others is the great New Orleans-influenced brass band, The Brass Machine.  They will be circulating around the Borderland grounds all day, every day at the fest. 

“When you don’t expect something to happen, we’ll show up,” said Kyle Yagielski, the leader of this incredible WNY band. 

The Brass Machine second line will snake through and around the crowd both near the Homespun stage and the Mainstage and all over the festival.  I spoke to Yagielski about their role at the fest:

“I love it!  It’s awesome to be out there with the crowd; we’ll be dancing with you and moving with you,” he said.   Along with Yagielski, there will be Peter Heuer, Nate Kalnitz, Jake Schoelles, Matt Hawke, Naheem Shabazz, Jamie Sunshine, Ellen Pieroni, Jon Fohl, Matt White, David DePaul and more.  Yagielski said, “It’s a cool opportunity to rotate the cast over the three days.  They hire us to showcase local musicians, and we’ll be out there every day with a slightly different group of players.”

Folkfaces has played every Borderland and they play almost every kind of music: country blues, traditional jazz, rock and roll, honky-tonk, western swing, bluegrass and old-time, jug band music and more.   You’ll hear guitars, banjo, harmonica, kazoo, fiddle, upright bass, drums and washboard, with Tyler Westcott, Patrick Jackson, Brendan Gosson and Dan Schwach. 

They’re led by Westcott. He said, “This year we will be performing as Folkfaces & Friends. We’ll feature our former bandmate Ellen Pieroni on sax, along with frequent collaborators Tim Clarke on trumpet and Ray Skalski on trombone, and we’re hoping that our longtime friend and collaborator Sean McNamara will join us on guitar as well.”

This year Folkfaces will be opening the Homespun stage at 11:30 on Saturday, but you never know where some of the band will show up through the weekend.  Westcott added, “It’s always a pleasure to be included in the lineup for Borderland!  We’re the only band that has played every single one, which is a unique honor. Borderland consistently brings incredible performers to WNY every year and it’s a joy to be a small part of it.”

Westcott expressed his admiration for Borderland’s commitment to sustainability, and the impressive range of craft and food vendors, and that it is a family friendly festival.  He also pointed out, “Last year our John Prine Tribute set at the festival raised over $500 for the Hello in There Foundation,” a foundation started by John Prine based on one of his songs.

This will be Organ Fairchild’s third time at Borderland. They are Buffalo’s latest big-time success story, with albums landing near the top of the charts and touring all over the country.  But this is still a Buffalo band, and we’re mighty proud of their success.  Joe Bellanti, the keyboardist in the group, said, “We are always thrilled to be included and have a chance to play alongside, see, and meet national acts. This year we will be performing several songs from our fourth album that we just finished recording.”

Organ Fairchild will appear at 4:30 on Friday on the Homespun stage.  The festival will also serve as a warmup for their upcoming national tour that will run from late October and through most of November. 

Bellanti said that Borderland holds a special place on their calendar: ”The three of us have been fortunate to be able to play in the annual Grateful Dead tribute at the Borderland Festival as well — we grew up playing in a Grateful Dead cover band called Wild Knights and it’s always a great time to go back to those roots for a festival audience. This year the tribute will be specific to Phil Lesh (of the Dead) and Garth Hudson (of The Band) — both of whom passed away over the last year.”

Organ Fairchild is Bellanti, Dave Ruch and Corey Kertzie.

The Borderland Band Camp not only celebrates local musicians but also features young, up-and-coming performers from Western New York.  It’s the second year the Band Camp has been at Borderland.  The project is sponsored by the Sportsmen’s Americana Music (SAM) Foundation, the Buffalo Music Club and Borderland. 

This year, there are 18 students, between the ages of 14-18, that make up three different bands. They were selected based on a combination of applications and auditions, followed by three intense, full days of rehearsals at The Cave, part of the Sportsmen’s/Hall family complex of venues.  They were mentored by Jeff Miers, Damone Jackson, Eric Crittenden, Bellanti, Blaise Mercedes, Alex Overton and David Cloyd.

I discussed the project with Jeff Miers, former Buffalo News critic, now a music journalist through his Substack blog (which is shared in The Buffalo Hive), a podcaster, and a musician.  He is also the executive director of the SAM Foundation.  He said the group of young people play music that is varied, from rock to R&B, jazz fusion, to a little hip-hop. 

Miers explained, “We’re teaching them how to work together, democracy in music, to listen to each other, to get to an end result of a professional level show.  We’re giving them the opportunity, with our assistance, to see what it’s like to strive together to reach a common goal, to be ready with a pro set to deliver at the fest.” 

The Borderland Band Camp set will perform at the Homespun stage on Sunday at 1 p.m. Stop by and see what these kids have come up with.

The Strictly Hip is one of WNY’s most successful tribute bands.  They put on an amazing Tragically Hip show, covering the entire career of the Canadian band that have become heroes in Buffalo and some other border cities.  Strictly Hip have played countless venues in WNY and beyond, including gigs with the Buffalo Philharmonic (with whom another one is scheduled for May of 2026).

Jeremy Hoyle, who plays the Gord Downie role, said, “We’re excited to perform for the first time at this year’s Borderland. Large festivals are an important piece of the tapestry of our community culture. We’re very happy to have been invited to participate.”  Strictly Hip will start things off on the Mainstage on Sunday at 12:30.

Roy G Biv won the Battle of the Borderland Bands contest.  Forty-five bands entered the competition, and the third round of voting was at Buffalo Iron Works.  My first question was, “what’s with the name?”  And I love the answer; Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet because, “Like the color spectrum, we don’t shy away from any genre,” Tyler “Smidge” Midgley said.  

Smidge is the drummer, and they all do vocals.  The rest are Evan Waterstrat – bass, John Cimino – keyboards and Sean Thurman – guitar.  Asked what kind of music they play, Smidge said, “We’re rooted in funk and rock ‘n’ roll,” but — as their name indicates — they’re open to almost anything.

Roy G Biv starts off the Mainstage on Friday at 3 p.m.  Smidge said, “We were really happy to be selected to play and then when we found out about the Mainstage … super excited! 

Smidge elaborated, “We’re surrounded by awesome players and friends of ours and we’re completely grateful for the support we’ve gotten from the music community, and we’re excited to be supporters of other musicians.”

They’re excited; come and see them.  

I love the music of Steely Dan.  The first time I heard Dirty Work doing that incredible catalogue of songs was at Larkinville and it really blew me away.  It sounded almost perfect, but they add some of their own spin to the arrangements to give it that something extra.  Dirty Work is a side project of Aqueous, a very successful band in Buffalo and beyond.  They will play the Mainstage at 4 p.m. on Friday after Roy G Biv.

There is one more “local” act to write about, that I just became aware of.  I’ve already been looking forward to seeing Ulithian Vibes at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday at the Homespun stage.  They’re coming from the Ulithian Atoll in the Micronesian islands.  Look it up, it’s closer to the Philippines than Hawaii. 

They blend traditional chants with reggae, soul, and island beats.  The message they want to share with us is one of cultural pride, climate resilience and ocean love. Their debut album is supported by the National Geographic Society and they’re bringing it live to us in WNY.

A little bit of explanation: One People One Reef is a collaboration between Micronesian coastal communities and scientists who develop inclusive, adaptive and sustainable conservation solutions to protect the health and resilience of critical coral reefs marine habitat and the people who rely on them for food security. 

One People One Reef received a grant through National Geographic, and through Jennifer Brazill, the founder and director of Borderland, Jeff Miers was hired to produce the first album of Ulithian Vibes, “One People, One Reef, One Love” … hence the first local connection.

That’s a cool story, but it gets better.  Apparently only the three singers in Ulithian Vibes are able to come to Borderland (Jerry Salap, Kiralani Soholmar and Konner Yithweyang) so the band supporting them will be Miers, Damone A-Miracle Jackson, Eric Crittenden, Harry Graser, Rodney Chamberlain and Michael Ruopoli.  You do not want to miss this set!

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Late additions: Newly added to the schedule is the Leroy Townes band at 3 p.m. on the Homespun Stage on Friday;
Earlier, the Borderland Kickoff Jam at 1:30 p.m. on Friday is now featuring the Brass Machine.

Also newly listed is the Split Rail Stage; on Friday evening is Songbirds, a tribute to Fleetwood Mac (6:30 p.m.) and the Pastmasters (8:30 p.m.) doing the music of the Beatles.

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That’s the group of Buffalo based performers.  I did not expand this article to musicians from Rochester, Syracuse or Ithaca.  You should try to get out there at this fest and support our musicians from Buffalo and Western New York, but I know it’s a very full schedule for three full days of popular national and international acts. 

I discussed Borderland’s commitment to including local music in the festival every year with the founder of Borderland, Brazill.  She said, “The local music scene in Buffalo is what keeps us all going throughout the year and is what creates community. We are so lucky to have so much incredible talent right in our own city, and being able to have a bigger platform to showcase these bands at Borderland is so important. It not only gives these musicians an opportunity to perform to larger audiences and have their name on national lineups, it also supports what we build our foundation at Borderland, which is community.”

So do the best you can and be thankful we have such a great music festival happening right here in our hometown, and appreciate the fact that Borderland cares enough about our hometown to include our music heroes in the big lineup of this music festival.

And finally, The Buffalo Hive will be on site for the entire three days.  Stop by our tent/table and visit with us to find out more about what the Hive does.  You may want to become a member, and we’ll have some games and prizes.  Rest up, it will be a busy weekend!

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