The Buffalodown, Vol. 2, Issue 5
Stories & Events for Social Connection
By Seamus Gallivan
- “Don’t Believe Him”
- Back to the Flamingo Lounge
- Musings on Music: Oh My Grosh!
- Featured Events: 20 is the new norm, welcoming submissions!
- Listening Links: Last Call for House Calls
- Reading Rundown: Staying Informed, in Buffalo and Beyond
Welcome to the Buffalodown! Always welcoming submissions.
Thank you for opening this can of words! Special thanks to paying members – seeing new folks supporting each week truly sustains this labor of love.
While this space stays committed to bringing people together through Buffalo’s abundance of social connection as shown below, we also stay aware of the powerful forces seeking to divide and conquer us through chaos, “shock and awe” – please consider the mantra of my go-to podcast host, New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, who in analyzing the leading force in particular, lands on three repeated words: “Don’t Believe Him.”
Speaking of podcasts, bumping to the top a bit of news that was buried at the bottom last week, since only a few folks clicked on it – I’m honored to be featured in the 150th episode of In the Flamingo Lounge with Rockabilly Greg, which is my favorite kind of podcast, just a deep dive conversation between two people, as Ezra’s usually is.
Greg is a jolly good fellow who’s supported Buffalo’s music scene in many ways over the couple decades I’ve known him, and “In the Flamingo Lounge is such a wonderful community service – through opening each episode by asking his guest to share their “ah ha moment” that led them into their life in music, he’s opened up often-overlooked members of Buffalo’s music scene to share their inspiration and history with comfort and depth.
I offered two “ah ha moments” – my first musical memory, and my backdoor entry into the music business. From there, the conversation marks a moment in time for me, Reconnecter, and maybe to some extent our society, as Greg asked me about my purpose in identifying as a social connecter. I hope you enjoy the whole conversation, then dig deeper into his archives – the previous episode is with artist and educator Rob Lynch, a resplendent renaissance man and go-to drummer for an array of bands, I so enjoyed their spirited exchange. Thanks again to Greg for his own labor of love, please keep it goin’!
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Musings on Music
Oh My Grosh! New Video Now, Album Release Soon
What a moment in time for Buffalo band Grosh, as they prepare to release their third album next month, after a Buffalo connection led them to record at the renowned Sonic Ranch in West Texas.
The somewhat short of it: one of Grosh’s fans and Osteria 166/Vilaggio/Star Buds co-owner Nick Pitillo, who’s also a huge fan-turned-friend of the Tedeschi Trucks Band (TTB), booked Grosh to play at Osteria while they were feeding TTB the night before their almost-annual visit to Artpark, and TTB drummer Tyler Greenwell took a shine to them, first offering to record them at his studio before referring them to former bassist of TTB and many more Tim Lefebvre, who brought them to Sonic Ranch.
After all that care, including about a year of post-production since they were there, Grosh has released a video for “Small Talk,” the first single from the album Start Again. Please enjoy it below, along with a favorite older song performed live at The Cave at our Buffalodown: Only Human back in September – hope to see a packed house at Town Ballroom for the release party on March 7th!
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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.
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Listening Links
What are you listening to? Please send links!
Goodbye, House Calls! – House Calls with Dr. Vivek Murthy – Another of my favorite podcasts; another founding inspiration for Reconnecter; and another consequence of the Presidential election, the ending of the second term (the first was under President Obama) as Surgeon General for Dr. Vivek Murthy. In all, they produced 66 episodes of House Calls, from famous artists and healthcare specialists to everyday people achieving extraordinary social connection, a deep well to revisit: “In each episode, Dr. Murthy and his guests explore how they navigate the messiness and uncertainties of life to find meaning and joy. By sharing openly what’s on our minds and in our hearts, we can find strength and healing through connection.”
In the Flamingo Lounge with Rockabilly Greg, episode 150: Seamus Gallivan – who wants to listen to a whole hour of me rambling?! Seriously grateful for Greg and this historical document of Buffalo’s music scene, now 150 episodes of open-ended stories behind the scenes – hopefully you’ll find this episode enjoyable, especially if you’ve bothered to subscribe to Reconnecter and read this far into it.
Reading Rundown
Always welcoming links to read and share at seamus@reconnecter.org.
The trouble with ‘donating our dopamine’ to our phones, not our friends – NPR – “I do recognize there’s a collective action problem here to solve. But I also think it’s really important not to overcomplicate this by suggesting that it requires some enormous cultural shifts. I think that our little decisions, the little minute-to-minute decisions that we make about spending time with other people, these decisions can scale.”
‘Getting hit from all directions’: Restaurants grapple with tariffs’ threat to raise food costs – The Buffalo News – “For example, trade tariffs imposed by the Trump administration during its first term were a contributing factor in the recent collapse of New York State’s apple industry, putting LynOaken Farms, a 105-year-old, five-generation family apple farm in Medina out of business.”
How one couple is reviving Caffe Aroma, Amy’s Place for a new generation – The Buffalo News – “It really has become a third space for a lot of people in a city where a lot of lot third spaces are kind of struggling or fallen to lesser hours.”
The Deadly Cost of Unplowed Sidewalks in Winter – Streetsblog – An issue that I and countless others have brought up to folks in City Hall countless times, in countless rooms, to countless deaf ears so far. “Cities like Burlington, Vermont, Rochester, and Duluth have all either taken full responsibility for plowing sidewalks or committed to supplementing property owner’s efforts when storms are extreme.”
Public needs to rise up to fight ‘constitutional crisis,’ says Democratic senator – NPR – “The people of this country need to start showing up. And we saw that happening this weekend. I saw town halls for my colleagues packed to the gills. Yesterday, we did a press conference outside of USAID that must have had 500 people at it.”
Unelected Billionaire Seizes Control at Treasury Dept. & Other Agencies – Democracy Now – “What should people do right now?”
“People should go to Indivisible.org and visit their Senate office and demand an investigation of Elon Musk and that Senate business should come to a halt.”
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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