The Buffalodown, Vol. 2, Issue 1
Stories & Events for Social Connection
By Seamus Gallivan
- Beginning year two here!
- Calendar collab with The Buffalo Hive
- Musings on Music: Oh no, Mohawk; RIP Tim Pitcher
- Featured Events: 20 is the new norm, welcoming submissions!
- Listening Links: what’s your favorite local podcast?
- Reading Rundown: “look for the helpers”
Welcome to the Buffalodown! Always welcoming submissions.
Happy New Year, y’all! After launching last January on Martin Luther King Day, we finished our first year here of stories and events for social connection with 44 issues sent to 573 subscribers, 62 of whom became paying members. Loving our average weekly open rate of 63%, which is three times higher than the industry average – thank you all for reading and supporting!
While I needed some time to recharge near the end of the year, I promised weekly announcements upon return, and here’s a two-week look ahead:
- starting this week, a calendar collab with The Buffalo Hive – hit The Hive for an ever-growing community events calendar and much more, look for 20 events featured here each week, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram for a video spotlight including the list below!
- coming next week, a comprehensive list of events dedicated to the legacy of Martin Luther King. Reconnecter is inspired in great part by his radical commitment to social connection – see his Letter from Birmingham Jail, in which he wrote, “In a real sense all life is inter-related…Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Our newest paying member is helping launch year two here, writing along with their subscription last week, “I would love to see a round-up of potential volunteer sites for Dr. King Day of Service.” And so y’all shall, that and much more!
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Musings on Music
“Enjoy every sandwich”
The late Warren Zevon said that, before his epic swan song as he battled cancer. The power ballad by Cinderella “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)” also comes to mind as we face – for the third time – the apparently imminent closure of beloved Buffalo music club Mohawk Place.
“Say It Ain’t So, Mohawk,” headlines the reaction from The Buffalo Hive editor Elmer Ploetz. “Why Does the Mohawk Place Matter?” he asked soon after; here’s a hot take I hope to be right about, long shot as it may be – it ain’t over for the ‘Hawk, and I mean beyond the few shows still scheduled by the tireless Marty Boratin, one of the unsung heroes of Buffalo music who’s been the backbone of Mohawk throughout its three rounds of owners. If only a hunch, I’m saying there’s a chance – unlike beloved Brick Bar which sadly burned down over the weekend, the building is still standing, seems like it just needs a new owner…
…in other and more definitive news, bidding farewell to the soft-spoken string-maestro Tim Pitcher, another unsung hero as a mainstay for many bands including Shaky Stage, Ten Cent Howl, and the Healing Committee, whose own battle with cancer ended this week.
Such a stable sideman – I had the pleasure of singing alongside his slinging more than a few times him over the years, always smiling and encouraging – his sense of joy, serenity and craftsmanship made him an ace to many singers and songwriters, and he had a few of his own in the hole. “Tim didn’t write a lot of songs, but when he did, he sure did,” wrote longtime bandmate Kathryn Koch on Facebook in sharing the song below by The Healing Committee.
Once in the many times I’ve sung the Neil Young song “One of These Days” with various bands often including Tim, onstage at Nietzsche’s (which is getting a lotta love right now, under new ownership and in the wake of losing the nearby Old Pink and Brick Bar and maybe now Mohawk, see below for a bunch of shows) I started the second verse, “And I’m gonna thank that ol’ country fiddler,” by replacing those last two words with “Timmy Pitcher,” to his delight beside me. So the song goes, guess I gotta get to writing while these friends can still receive it…
One of these days
I’m gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I’ve known
And I’m gonna try
And thank them all for the good times together
Though so apart we’ve grown
One of these days, one of these days, one of these days
And it won’t be long
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Events in the Week Ahead
Thanks to all who’ve submitted their events! Welcoming submissions with a flyer and link to seamus@reconnecter.org.
Follow us on Facebook & Instagram for a new video feature along with this list!
Become a paying member to help us present and promote more music!
Listening Links
Recommendations welcome!
Jeff Miers Interviews Buffalo Iron Works owners Josh Holtzman & Grace Vesneske – Why Music Matters – A beloved Buffalo music club younger than those mentioned above, also scrapping to stay alive. “Their fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude helped them guide their businesses through the pandemic with their integrity intact. That same spirit has the pair excited about what the future holds, and what form their continuing contributions to Buffalo music and culture might take.”
When Carter called out America – Today, Explained by Vox – RIP Jimmy Carter, whose legacy is rich in beloved community. “In 1979, Jimmy Carter delivered his ‘Crisis of Confidence’ speech, a tirade against American individualism and consumerism. Historian Kevin Mattson says the speech helps make sense of Carter the president, Carter the American, and even the state of the US today.”
Reconnecting to Prevent Social Unrest – WBFO What’s Next – Leaving this link up for a while, as I’m honored to have been invited onto this profound program – this went real deep from the jump, please listen! Here’s how they described it: “Seamus Gallivan’s latest endeavor is Reconnecter, a ‘social connection space’ that aims to bring people together in person and online ‘by illuminating the ties that bind us.’ That means music showcases, variety shows, and media elements — all to help provide a need that he believes can help prevent social unrest. Gallivan sits down with Thomas O’Neil-White to speak about the power of reconnection and his plans for the new project.”
Reading Rundown
With intent to connect, inform, and inspire action, every edition of the Buffalodown closes with links to other sources and stories that deserve more attention. Always welcoming links to read and share at seamus@reconnecter.org.
Facebook groups saved lives during ’22 blizzard. UB studying how they kept communities connected – The Buffalo News – “…a group of researchers at the University at Buffalo is studying, in part, the role two Facebook groups – Buffalo STORM and Buffalo Blizzard Response – played in keeping communities connected throughout the deadly storm.”
You asked for ‘action steps’ for this troubling moment – American Crisis by Margaret Sullivan – “ways that regular citizens can go forward at a time when democratic norms are being threatened daily and the dangers of a second Trump administration haven’t even begun in earnest.”
Thank YOU for reading this far and being part of it all – extra thanks to everyone supporting this work with a membership at www.reconnecter.org!
Please share with friends to sign up for next Tuesday’s Buffalodown, and reach out with any feedback, all ideas welcome!
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