By Matt Volz

Few things are more authentic to Western New York than a tailgate.

Although the Bills are in their offseason and it’s too warm outside to jump through frozen folding tables into a pile of snow, one Buffalo artist is set to host a tailgate of his own.

On Friday, June 26, WYRK will host its annual Taste of Country concert at Sahlen Field.

Country superstars Luke Bryan and Jordan Davis will headline, supported by LoCash, Corey Kent and Preston Cooper.

Before the proverbial kickoff to summer begins, Buffalo-based artist Noah Lee, whose real name is Noah Koningisor, will get the party started at Buffalo Iron Works.

Lee and his band, Noah Lee & The Stetsons, will take the stage at Iron Works in the afternoon to set the tone for a country-filled day.

Lee was also involved with last year’s Taste of Country Tailgate, which was hosted at Hofbrauhaus.

He explained that this year, Hofbrauhaus will host Taste of Country’s afterparty, so Iron Works agreed to host the tailgate in the afternoon.

As a lifelong Buffalonian, Lee has played music in local venues since he was 16 years old.

“I started [playing] in bars and restaurants around East Aurora, Orchard Park, Hamburg, Springville — that’s where I grew up,” he said. “I was just doing country and folk covers, but it started to grow to where I had a following. They’d say, ‘When are you going to start writing and doing original music? We love your voice and we love your playing, but we want to hear how you sound doing your own stuff.’”

When COVID-19 paused the live music scene in 2020, Lee took it upon himself to build his own recording studio, tapping into his day job as an aerospace design engineer.

Lee graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2023 with a degree in mechanical engineering, and he quickly landed a job at Servotronics, where he still works.

At Servotronics, Lee works with single- and dual-stage servo actuators, which control and manage temperature and cabin pressure in aircrafts.

“We have contracts with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Collins Aerospace, and all of these companies make engine systems, airframes and planes for people or soldiers to fly in on a daily basis,” he said.

Music and engineering may not sound like they go hand-in-hand, but Lee said there is more overlap between the two than one might think.

“If you go to an engineering school or you interview a bunch of engineering students or professionals, you’ll find that the majority of them are creative-minded; they’re either artists, musicians or sometimes, both,” he said. “So they do blend together, and the similarities are striking.”

Lee continues to blend his passions together, releasing two original albums before forming Noah Lee & The Stetsons last year.

Lee described performing in Western New York as a “dream come true,” adding that he sometimes needs to pinch himself to fully believe reality.

“If you had told 16-year-old me that someday there’d be a following of people who supported my original music or made up line dances to my songs, I would have thought you were crazy,” he said. “We’ve been very lucky and blessed to grow this and get a following not only around our sound, but our original music as well. I’m really proud to be playing at places that are very near and dear to me, like Iron Works.”

Lee said he expects the tailgate to be a country-themed experience, complete with line dancing.

“A lot of the crowd that follows us, they’re very big into the line dances,” he said. “We’ll make sure to pay our dues to that, and we’ll do a lot of familiar and friendly line dancing songs.”

Fans at the tailgate will also be the first to hear a yet-to-be-released single that Lee wrote alongside another local band, The Water Dogs.

The Water Dogs are more of an alternative band, Lee said, but he collaborated with them to create a country single that will be fully released in August.

“There’s definitely going to be some surprises in store, but you can [also] expect traditional country line dancing,” he said.

Doors open at Iron Works at 12:30 p.m., and the tailgate party will run from 1:30 to 4 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online for $5 here, or patrons can purchase them at the door for $10.

As for the main event at Sahlen Field, gates will open at 4 p.m., and the concert will fully begin at 5:30.

Limited tickets remain available, and they can be purchased either online with this link or at the Bisons Ticket Office.

Fans interested in seeing Noah Lee & The Stetsons in addition to the tailgate party can see them for free in the Southern Tier at the beginning of July.

The band is performing live at the Quaker Amphitheater at Allegany State Park on Wednesday, July 1, and they’ll play at the Ellicottville Distillery on Friday, July 3.

The Allegany State Park show will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the Ellicottville Distillery show will begin at 7 p.m.

Both shows are free and do not require tickets.

For those in the Buffalo area, Lee and his band will perform at Mr. Goodbar on Saturday, July 25 and Saturday, Sept. 12, and the band is also slated to conclude the Erie County Fair on Sunday, Aug. 23.

More information on Noah Lee & The Stetsons can be found on Lee’s Instagram page, @noahlee_music, or on his website, koningisorn.wixsite.com/mysite.