Showing posts with label Onativia Church Music Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Onativia Church Music Series. Show all posts

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Star Appeal: Donna Colton and Sam Patterelli


Late last spring while hubby and I were enjoying the company of friends at a wedding reception, we looked up to see Donna Colton and Sam Patterelli, local musicians we admire greatly, being seated directly across the table from us. Although many of our friends are musicians, I was indeed star struck by their presence that day, as I continue to be each and every time we are lucky enough to catch one of their performances. I’ve blogged about them a time or two in the past, I’m sure.

We had an opportunity to hear them again at one of our favorite spots for acoustic music, Onativia Church in Lafayette a couple of Friday nights ago. It’s the perfect venue to hear every lyric Donna sings and each note Sam plays on any one of the many guitars he brings with him. I love their originals and never tire of hearing them. Their cover of Etta James’ “At Last” would have knocked my socks off had I been wearing any.

But this post is about what makes Donna and Sam stars, why I still feel star struck whenever I see them perform.

During the Onativia performance they told their audience about attending the sound check prior to the Washington, D.C., concert they attended of two of their idols, Carole King and James Taylor. They spoke of standing right beside one or the other of these stars, chatting with them and how down-to-earth each one of them had been, how in awe Donna and Sam had been of the way Carole King and James Taylor had treated them.

Well, Donna and Sam, that is EXACTLY how we as fans feel about you!

Thanks for sharing your talents with us! The miseries of the day recede for awhile when we listen to your songs until all that remains in our heads is “Evening Ride”, reminding us that good things, too, remain in this world.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Onativia Church Music Series

One of the best kept secrets in the local music scene has been the First Friday concerts at this lovely little white church just off Route 20 in Lafayette, NY. If you’ve read me before, I’ve written about several folks we’ve heard play there. The acoustics in the church are amazing and the talent brought in never fails to provide top notch entertainment. Sherrie and Opie (the brains behind this operation) work very hard to make the experience welcoming and pleasant…..and the homemade desserts for sale during intermission are pretty darn tasty, too!

What great news to find out they were expanding their series to include other Friday nights! Here are shows scheduled for future Fridays, beginning at 7 PM:

July 9th - Diamond Someday
July 23rd – Butternut Creek
August 6th – Donna Colton and the Troublemaker (that’s Sam, of course)
September 10th – Dana Klipp (Northwater)
October 1st – Folkstrings
October 22nd – Larry Hoyt and the Good Acoustics
November 5th – Joe Davoli and Harvey Nussbaum
November 19th – Joanne Perry and the Unstoppables
December 3rd – Donna Colton and Sam’s Holiday Performance
March 11th – Mark Zane and Friends (yes….Sherrie’s booked folks all the way into 2011)

We had the absolute pleasure to catch Mikey Powell and Dusty Pascal (or is it Pas’cal…..I never know if I should put that apostrophe in or not….sorry, Dusty, if I got it wrong) at the beginning of the month. We knew it would be a good show; the way hubby is feeling these days after his knee replacement surgery, we do not venture too far away from home or camp for much of anything. It was so much more than GOOD though. It was magnificent. Such talented singer-songwriters who absolutely love bringing their tales to an audience didn’t even have to break a sweat to please this crowd. What a pleasure it was to sit back and watch them perform. Everyone in the audience was attentive. That’s what’s so great about going to one of these gigs at Onativia….you can sit back and truly listen to what’s being played and hear the mastery of the artist. Mikey and Dusty gave us a lot to remember, tunes that stuck in our heads as we drove back home.

Work it into your calendar to get over to Onativia Church, just off Route 20 at the corner of Dodge Road and Apulia Road. Music starts at 7:00 PM and they’ll pass the collection plates around at some point to pay the musicians. Be generous. You’ll be in for a special treat.