Stories & Events for Social Connection

By Seamus Gallivan

• Rallying for The Riverline and Ralph Wilson Park
• Musings on Music: Larkin Square live music lineups announced
• Featured Events: 20 is the new norm, encouraging submissions!
• Listening Links: BTPM Sound Barriers

Welcome to the Buffalodown, thank you for your attention!

Always welcoming submissions.

Thanks to everyone who reached out in light of an unplanned break here – to all who’ve missed this weekly Buffalodown over the previous two weeks, please let me know what you come here for or what you’d like to see more of, help me help you!

A couple updates on community developments – on The Riverline, as I’ve said here before, refuting an otherwise outstanding reporter for The Buffalo News who declared it to be dead, The Riverline is in fact alive!

I’m honored to be a volunteer ambassador for The Riverline, which has been envisioned and partly funded to be “a vibrant and innovative nature trail and greenway that links downtown Buffalo to the Buffalo River.” After the project was abandoned by the Western New York Land Conservancy, a consistently committed crew including its two staff members kept it going – with those two now as volunteers with a new board of directors and its own nonprofit status submitted, we had a nice turnout for a Friendraiser last month; a turnaround op-ed in The Buffalo News declaring “Good news that the innovative Riverline linear park will move forward”; and more events in the works – encouraging folks to follow along and get involved, with upcoming events including free walking tours and an invasive species cleanup. I’ll continue to claim this to be a gamechanger for our community as long as enough folks step up and support.

Meanwhile on the Niagara River, another gamechanger whose funds are already secured and construction is humming along – I’ve also been brought in as an ambassador for Ralph Wilson Park, formerly Lasalle Park, which I’ve enjoyed since childhood and stayed a steward since.

Thanks to a $100+ million gift from the Ralph Wilson Foundation, including the creation and staffing of a Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy, Ralph Wilson Park is undergoing a radical transformation guided by considerate planning and community input, which will continue with the third annual community update on Tuesday, May 20th. RSVP here and please join us!

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Musings on Music

Larkin Square live music lineups announced

One of the sure signs that summer is coming – the lineups for our abundance of free outdoor concerts are being announced!

I’m happy to still be handling live music in Larkin Square, albeit in a much smaller role than when we established the space 13(!) years ago – for the past five years I’ve just booked the bands, with more direction and fewer slots to fill than the early years, while promotion and event day duties are now handled by others. I love that place and having a small hand in it, grateful that they called me back in after a few years away.

Below are the lineups for Food Truck Tuesdays and Live at Larkin Wednesdays, the majority of letter being tributes by request cuz they bring big crowds. I’m especially excited for the bookends – always seek a big vibe tone-setter on opening night and an exclamation point for the finale, love to see these Buffalo artists learning each other’s songs along with banger covers for the masses.

As for those crowd-pleasers, these tribute acts are all aces, summoning the spirits of icons to serve the nostalgia so many folks crave – “The Bends” is the big one for me this year, I grew up on that album and wanted to try a tribute to a relatively younger band than the average Live at Larkin regular. Hopefully my fellow Gen Xers will flock to it…

…as for Food Truck Tuesdays, I have more creative freedom than Live at Larkin Wednesdays and therefore there’s more variety, cuz almost anything goes when the food trucks are the stars of the show.

Thousands of food-seekers are gonna stumble into some wonderful music this summer – thanks to the Larkin team for making it happen and trusting me to book it, hope to see a lotta y’all there!

Photo by John Raczynski

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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.

Visit and subscribe to The Buffalo Hive for the comprehensive community events calendar we’ve been calling for!

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Listening Links

Shout out to Buffalo Niagara Public Media (BTPM) – the new brand name for WBFO radio – for this albeit buried series called Sound Barriers, with interviews on the state of our music scene as it relates to our status as a gateway to the USA for countless Canadian artists

Donny Kutzbach – Episode One of Sound Barriers features a conversation with Donny Kutzbach, co-owner of Town Ballroom and Funtime Presents.

Steven Dean – Episode Two features Steven Dean, a leading expert on taxation, philanthropy, and social enterprise, whose scholarship and advocacy have influenced global tax policy and U.S. legislation. Bentley and Steven take a deeper dive into the finer details of tariffs.

Kasador – Touring the U.S. as a Canadian band comes at a steep price—costly visas, hidden fees, and digital barriers that make breaking through even harder. In this episode, Kasador unpacks the financial and social media challenges of reaching audiences across the border.

Anna Kapechuk – Anna Kapechuk joins us to discuss how border policies and touring costs could discourage Canadian artists from performing in the U.S.—and what that means for cities like Buffalo. From concert routing to restaurant revenue, she unpacks how these decisions ripple through local economies and cultural life.

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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!