• Part 2 of supporting the First Amendment – the nonprofit journalism of I-Post

• Musings on Music: An idea to settle the original-tribute debate

• Featured Events: 22 this week, always encouraging submissions!

• Listening Links: Favorite subjects here – music, politics and media

Welcome to the Buffalodown, thank you for your attention!

Thanks to all who read and responded to my call here last week to support the nonprofit Buffalo-Niagara Public Media (BTPM) in the wake of massive funding cuts by the Trump cult.

These cuts amount to an existential threat to our First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press – freedoms despised by wannabe dictators, and all the more reason to support those speaking truth to power such as investigative journalists as employed by BTPM as well as the nonprofit Investigative Post, whose articles are linked here frequently including their coverage of these cuts.

I-Post also covers local and regional government along with the power players who often prop up our supposed public servants – as “the only news organization in Western New York dedicated exclusively to watchdog journalism,” they “produce fact-based, nonpartisan investigative stories and analyses on issues that matter to the citizens and taxpayers of Buffalo and Western New York.”

Reaching beyond their website and newsletters, I-Post reporters appear on WKBW News 7, in the Buffalo Challenger and Niagara (Falls) Gazette newspapers, and occasionally on The Capitol Pressroom public radio show.

In a media era clouded by clickbait and corporate interference, I-Post describes their news coverage with refreshing clarity:

We select stories based on their importance and potential for impact. Our aim is to expose wrongdoing, explain complex issues and hold people in power accountable. Much of what we report on would otherwise go uncovered.

We apply rigorous reporting standards to our work and make extensive use of data and documents to supplement interviews and other methods of shoe-leather reporting. We also vigorously fact check our stories before publishing.

While we cover a range of topics, our reporting is focused on the environment, criminal justice, economic development, education and government and corporate malfeasance.

In the past week alone, I-Post reporters have examined how Public broadcasting cuts will harm WBFO; Migrant crossings on our northern border; More delays in creating Buffalo Housing Court panel; A pay raise already for Byron Brown at OTB; Buffalo lawmaker joins call for police oversight; and What’s next for Chris Scanlon, after being by far the most informative outlet covering the Buffalo mayoral primary.

The team behind I-Post intends to increase their community presence in-person through more events – some like their annual benefit concert at the Sportsmen’s Tavern this Thursday featuring revered political cartoonist Tom Toles, and others such as panels, book talks and fun ideas – and I intend to help them. Please consider helping the cause by joining me as a sustaining supporter, and reply with any ideas of your own!

Musings on Music

Tribute talk continued…again

After mentioning a couple weeks back that I’d been interviewed for a Buffalo News article about the recent spike in tribute acts, I’m hoping that an idea I’ve been working on through Larkin Square could help settle the sometimes tense debate around original and tribute music.

First, here’s the article, which quotes recently featured artist Zak Ward in addition to one line of mine in which I offered in the spirit of social connection, “While original musicians might not love it as much as making their own music, they love making music and connecting with people, and more people connect to familiar music.”

Zak supported this point: “I’m just trying to do what makes me happy and what makes other people happy,” Ward said. “So being able to play that Radiohead show at Larkin was great because all these people came out who had a connection to that music – and then I got to do a second set where I got to play my own originals.”

That’s it – that’s the idea. If the call is for a tribute concert, how about we give the band the stage and our ears for one set of whatever they want, along with that certain something familiar that draws the masses? Maybe they’ll make new fans of their original music if folks come with an open mind along with some gratitude for stirring up their favorite sounds.

The first band offered this challenge at Larkin Square was Lockport-based and internationally touring Handsome Jack, who’d played a brilliant set to a smaller crowd at Larkin in 2023, leading to an idea by Larkin Square manager Harry Zemsky that since their stirring sound rings familiar with that of Creedence Clearwater Revival, if they’d work in some CCR then the masses would turn out. Fortunately, they accepted the challenge, drew a big crowd there last year, and will hopefully do so again tomorrow night – see below for an original song of their followed by a CCR cover, just click on the picture for the latter since for some reason this here Mailchimp system is acting wonky.

Please join us early for some original music, stay late for some classics, and again, say hey if you see me there!

Events in the Week Ahead

Thanks to all who’ve submitted their events! Welcoming submissions with a flyer and link to seamus@reconnecter.org.

Click the flyers below for more info!

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

Listening Links

Goo Goo Dolls Bassist Robby Takac Returns – Why Music Matters with Jeff Miers – “I caught up with Goos co-founder and bassist Robby Takac from the road, a few days into the Summer Anthem Tour, and we talked about A Boy Named Goo; the new generation of Goo Goo Dolls fans who discovered the band through social media outlets; the level of excitement surrounding this summer’s shows; his upcoming Music is Art Festival – which takes place in and around the Terminal B Amphitheater on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor on Saturday, September 20 – and the whole long, strange, and largely wonderful trip that has led the Goo Goo Dolls from the stages of Buffalo clubs to the arenas of the world.”

Sarah McBride on Why the Left Lost on Trans Rights – Ezra Klein Show – “Sarah McBride is a freshman congresswoman from Delaware, where she was previously a state senator. And she is the first openly transgender member of Congress. In our conversation, Representative McBride reckons with the trans rights movement’s shortcomings, what liberalism should look like in a profoundly illiberal time and how to win hearts and minds through a politics of “grace.” It’s the most stirring defense of the practice of politics — with all its compromises and disappointments and frustrations — I’ve heard in some time.”

Finally, see and hear the video below as followup on last week’s spotlight on and call to support Buffalo-Toronto Public Media: “BTPM NPR’s Jay Moran and Ryan Zunner interview the organization’s key decision makers for a critical conversation that covers the impact of the federal funding decision and where we go from here. We will discuss what is at stake, what the future holds, and how we turn this loss into lasting momentum. Join us as we take the first steps toward a bold new chapter for your Buffalo Toronto Public Media.”

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 week’s Buffalodown, and reach out with any feedback, all ideas welcome!