Get ready for a Hot Day at the Zoo with second Summer Concert Series performance
The second installment of the Chenango Blues Association’s Summer Concert Series is slated for 7 p.m., Thursday on the East Park stage in downtown Norwich. Hot Day at the Zoo (HDATZ) will bring its “zoograss” stylings all the way from Lowell, Mass. to Chenango County for the first time in the band’s ten year history.
HDATZ’s lineup includes: Jon Cumming, banjo, dobro, vocals; Mike Dion, guitar, harmonica, vocals; Jed Rosen, upright bass, vocals; and JT Lawrence, mandolin, vocals. Dion and Cumming are the band’s two primary songwriters.
Dion said while the band has not yet performed in Norwich, they have played in the Albany, Buffalo, New York City and Saranac Lake areas, as well as a myriad of other locations.
“New York ... we love upstate New York,” he said, adding the band recorded its third album - a live album - Zoograss, at The Waterhole in Saranac Lake in 2009.
The group both headlines shows and has performed as special guests for artists including The Band’s Levon Helm, David Grisman, moe., Ryan Montbleau Band, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and Hot Buttered Rum.
Dion commented the band’s music might fall into the category of bluegrass, but they prefer to go by a genre all their own: zoograss.
“Zoograss is a little more wild, more aggressive ... just like at a zoo,” he said. “We take other genres into the mix, we don’t just stick with traditional bluegrass, we add in blues, jazz, americana, even some swing stuff. We cover all the bases.”
The group of four also incorporates alternative rock and classic rock into their sound.
“We’re big deadheads too,” Dion professed, adding there are no limits to the influences of HDATZ’s sound.
The band performs both original tunes and covers. Dion said anything goes with a show, adding the band may cover the Grateful Dead, The Beatles, or even early Tin Pan Alley music.
“We aren’t afraid to try new stuff and literally anything goes,” Dion commented. “A handful of covers have stuck, they’re tried and true and we just love them, but we’re not at all afraid to try new stuff.”
According to Dion, the band’s original music is sincere - something he said is an important component of music - adding, “Everything I write has been lived.”
The ensemble has three albums under its belt, and Dion said a fourth is in the works - South of the Storm - and is set to be released this fall.
A tour will follow the release of the band’s new album, but Dion said the Summer Concert Series show on Thursday looks like the last of the band’s upstate New York appearances for the summer. He urged fans to keep an eye out, as they will be returning to NY in the fall after the new album drops.
HDATZ was recognized in 2012 with the Folk/Americana/Roots Act of the Year by the New England Music Awards.
Continued gratitude from the Blues Association has been extended to NBT Bank for its generosity in sponsoring the 2013 Free Summer Concert Series.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a chair or a blanket to the show. In the event of rain the performance will take place at the Chenango Arts Council, 27 West Main Street, Norwich.
“Crowd participation and reaction are the great, and we mean what we say in our music,” said Dion with regard to his hopes of what the audience will take away from the show. “We ain’t lyin’.”
For more information regarding the Summer Concert Series visit chenangobluesfest.org/summer-series. Find HDATZ on Facebook at facebook.com/hotdayatthezoo.
HDATZ’s lineup includes: Jon Cumming, banjo, dobro, vocals; Mike Dion, guitar, harmonica, vocals; Jed Rosen, upright bass, vocals; and JT Lawrence, mandolin, vocals. Dion and Cumming are the band’s two primary songwriters.
Dion said while the band has not yet performed in Norwich, they have played in the Albany, Buffalo, New York City and Saranac Lake areas, as well as a myriad of other locations.
“New York ... we love upstate New York,” he said, adding the band recorded its third album - a live album - Zoograss, at The Waterhole in Saranac Lake in 2009.
The group both headlines shows and has performed as special guests for artists including The Band’s Levon Helm, David Grisman, moe., Ryan Montbleau Band, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and Hot Buttered Rum.
Dion commented the band’s music might fall into the category of bluegrass, but they prefer to go by a genre all their own: zoograss.
“Zoograss is a little more wild, more aggressive ... just like at a zoo,” he said. “We take other genres into the mix, we don’t just stick with traditional bluegrass, we add in blues, jazz, americana, even some swing stuff. We cover all the bases.”
The group of four also incorporates alternative rock and classic rock into their sound.
“We’re big deadheads too,” Dion professed, adding there are no limits to the influences of HDATZ’s sound.
The band performs both original tunes and covers. Dion said anything goes with a show, adding the band may cover the Grateful Dead, The Beatles, or even early Tin Pan Alley music.
“We aren’t afraid to try new stuff and literally anything goes,” Dion commented. “A handful of covers have stuck, they’re tried and true and we just love them, but we’re not at all afraid to try new stuff.”
According to Dion, the band’s original music is sincere - something he said is an important component of music - adding, “Everything I write has been lived.”
The ensemble has three albums under its belt, and Dion said a fourth is in the works - South of the Storm - and is set to be released this fall.
A tour will follow the release of the band’s new album, but Dion said the Summer Concert Series show on Thursday looks like the last of the band’s upstate New York appearances for the summer. He urged fans to keep an eye out, as they will be returning to NY in the fall after the new album drops.
HDATZ was recognized in 2012 with the Folk/Americana/Roots Act of the Year by the New England Music Awards.
Continued gratitude from the Blues Association has been extended to NBT Bank for its generosity in sponsoring the 2013 Free Summer Concert Series.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a chair or a blanket to the show. In the event of rain the performance will take place at the Chenango Arts Council, 27 West Main Street, Norwich.
“Crowd participation and reaction are the great, and we mean what we say in our music,” said Dion with regard to his hopes of what the audience will take away from the show. “We ain’t lyin’.”
For more information regarding the Summer Concert Series visit chenangobluesfest.org/summer-series. Find HDATZ on Facebook at facebook.com/hotdayatthezoo.
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