The Buffalodown, Vol. 3, Issue 1
Stories & Events for Social Connection
By Seamus Gallivan
- Welcome to year three of the Buffalodown!
- Musings on Music: Seeking suggestions live music in Larkin Square
- Featured Events: 36 in this issue, always encouraging submissions!
- Links to the Deep End: Investigative Post, BTPM, PPG, independent writers
Thank you for your attention!
Please forward this to kindred souls, and subscribe here if you haven’t yet!
This begins the third year of offering the Buffalodown, which was launched on MLK Day 2024. With most readers new since then, three bits of background:
- Why MLK Day? As a social connecter who believes in interdependence, the ways I view our world and my place in it have been deeply informed by MLK’s teachings; one guiding line is this from his 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which he began writing on smuggled newspapers decrying his nonviolent civil disobedience that eventually led to the March on Washington and Civil Rights Act.
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” - What’s in the name Reconnecter? Reconnecter was conceived as a free festival in and between Delaware & MLK Parks, to bring people together in the heart and lungs of our city currently disconnected by the Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways. Still a work in progress, hit me up to get involved!
- How did that turn into the Buffalodown? The vision of Reconnecter expanded when U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared an epidemic of social isolation – essentially, we’re in widespread desperate need of social connection and reconnection. In response, I launched the Buffalodown newsletter to provide periodic stories and events for social connection – the lowdown through my lens on life in Buffalo, which in 2026 will go out every first and third Monday – as well as periodic Buffalodown events, which began with the Buffalodown: Living the Dream at Kleinhans Music Hall on the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King.
More to come! Please reply to get involved or simply support with a membership!
Image from Collective Evolution
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Musings on Music
Help me book live music in Larkin Square?
I’ve had the honor of booking live music in Larkin Square since its founding in 2012, except for a break between 2018-20. The direction and amount of dates have changed significantly over the years, and 2026 will have its own ripple – while Live at Larkin Wednesdays will look similar to its post-pandemic presentation of mostly tribute shows, we’re seeking to stack Food Truck Tuesdays with high-energy acts, to bring more of that Wednesday concert vibe on a night that’s known more for food.
Always open to suggestions on Buffalo bands to book – one caveat for the sake of social connection, if you wanna be considered yourself, ask a friend to send the suggestion!
Photo: throwback to Jony James Band and Dive House Union joining forces in an annual closing night pairing for Live at Larkin
Video: One of my favorite newer songs by a Buffalo artist, Zak Ward & the Million Dollar Question’s “Hoodwinked” at Food Truck Tuesday in 2024
Become a paying member to help us present and promote more music!
Events in the Week Ahead
Thanks to all who’ve submitted their events! Welcoming submissions with a flyer and link to seamus@reconnecter.org
Kindred calendars:
Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA)
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Links to the Deep End
- Investigative Post has stayed all over ICE and immigration in Buffalo –Anger over ICE detention of UB researcher; Buffalo mayor to ban city cooperation with ICE, others; and Niagara County Sheriff pulling back on ICE partnership.
- Former Buffalo News reporter Jerry Zremski, writes now on his own, How to be a better citizen in 2026 – “My advice after 36 years covering Washington? Ignore all political advertising. Re-examine your news diet. And get involved in your local community.”
- Investigative reporter Charlie Specht and his reporting partner Sean Mickey on,How we overcame fear and retaliation to break the biggest story of 2025, and, New York Stopped Telling the Public Which Cops Lose Their Badges.
- BTPM NPR’s What’s Next show on MLK, service, and Buffalo Black Nurses.
- Finally, the Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) welcomed the new reps from the New York State Department of Transportation and their “Queen City Forward” reset of community engagement on the future of those horrible highways through the heart and lungs of Buffalo
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 the next Buffalodown, and reach out with any feedback, all ideas welcome!
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