NORWICH – The Norwich music scene, like anything else, is an ever changing landscape and one of downtown's most notable music locales is changing with the times, too. Big changes are coming to the way Blarney Stone Pub owner Sarah Woods promotes and books music shows.
“We've always been known as being one of the few places in town that has live music, and that's something that we're very proud of. We want to expand our musical offerings and the art of live music, so we've brought our good friend Nate Gross on board,” said Woods.
Gross is a well respected member of the local music community who has built his life around music. For a number of years, Gross has lent his talents to performing in an array of bands, teaching music lessons and now, expanding the musical horizons of the Blarney Stone Pub.
Said Woods, “Having a lead booking agent for the Blarney Stone is a new thing that we're trying out in an effort to spawn a new interest in live music at the local level.”
“In the past,” Woods explained, “I have worn multiple hats and handled booking duties along with the daily operation of the business.” Woods and Gross both agree that having one person who is well established in the music business will prove to have the most beneficial impact.
The vision of Woods and Gross is to boost an interest in music at the Blarney Stone Pub, and bill its downtown location into more of a music venue rather than “just another bar with music,” said Woods. The team will accomplish this by “broadening its circle of musicians and acts,” ushering in more regionally and nationally known groups that may be traveling through the area from points afar.
“I think the idea is to make music more of the focal point at the Blarney Stone and transform it into more of a venue,” Said Gross. “What you'll see starting to change in the next four months or so are a lot of bands that are from out of town. Many of the upcoming acts to play our stage are on tour out of Brooklyn, Philadelphia and all over the place,” he said.
According to Gross and Woods, Friday nights will be reserved primarily for the traveling shows and the venue's more locally based staple bands will be booked on Saturdays.
Gross said, “Since Fridays are typically the busiest nights for nightlife in Norwich, we would like to use that to our advantage, and give patrons the opportunity to hear a variety of new musicians.”
Woods added, “We've always been very good about supporting the local music scene and our goal is to continue to offer the stage to them ... We still are very much behind area bands that want to play at the Blarney Stone Pub.
In the U.S., there has been a noticeable paradigm shift in the music industry. The business model of big music is changing the way it operates, and it seems that the days of gigantic corporate machines and record labels that dangle six-figure salaries in front of musicians are dwindling.
Small independent working musicians are out on the road everyday of the week and depend on venues – like the stage at the Blarney Stone – to sustain.
Said Gross, “That's the path that I would like to steer Blarney Stone toward; continue to cater to our local musicians and build upon the strong foundation we have by introducing independent mid-level touring acts to central new york.”
The future of live music appears to remain certain at the Blarney Stone and music lovers from all walks will continue to find something that suits their taste. “We're really shaking things up in terms of musical genres; just going full spectrum – there'll be something for everyone,” said Woods.
Gross continued, “We're booking acts from the likes of The Birdseed Bandits – who have more of a Mumford and Sons sound – to the eclectic surf-punk-rock style of bands like the Short Waves.
One act already booked for the new year is king of “hobo blues,” Pinecone Fletcher. Fletcher graced the stage of the Chenango County Blues Festival in 2013 and is a prime example of the traveling, working, original musician.
Woods and Gross explained that another avenue the Blarney Stone is exploring in its effort to offer something new and different is booking at least one “big name” show per year with the help of some local sponsorship. Said Woods, “We'd want to give area music fans something big to look forward to, such as a feature show of a more nationally-acclaimed band that would otherwise not come to Norwich; but it comes at a significant cost. It would be great if we could gain the help of some of the locals to come on board as sponsors and really make the event a huge success.”
Gross noted that Norwich is positioned in the center of many larger cities where more popular acts frequently play. Places such as Oneonta, Binghamton, Syracuse, Ithaca and Utica regularly book more popular, well-known bands and the Blarney Stone is poised to be a perspective hub for music in Central New York.
The Blarney Stone regularly updates its Facebook page with show schedules. Anyone interested in keeping up to date on events at the Blarney Stone Pub can follow them there.
For booking information, contact Nate Gross directly at booktheblarney@gmail.com.