KT Tunstall Part of 2016 Pleasantville Music Festival Lineup
There will be a little something for everyone at this summer’s Pleasantville Music Festival.
Organizers announced the partial lineup Sunday evening for the 12th annual festival scheduled for Saturday, July 9 at Parkway Field.
So far, the Main Stage will feature Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, New Orleans-style rock-soul band The Revivalists, New Jersey-based rock band The Smithereens and the Annie Minogue Band, a metropolitan area group featuring Minogue as the lead singer, a blend of Patti Smith, Patty Smyth and Pat Benatar, said the festival’s Executive Director Bruce Figler.
Tunstall’s 2005 megahit “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” earned her a Grammy nomination. The Scottish-born performer followed up the next year with another major hit, “Suddenly I See.”
In addition to her scheduled performance on the Main Stage, Tunstall is also scheduled to appear in the Chill Tent, one of two off stages that will have mellower acoustic music.
Figler said the headliner for the Main Stage, which will feature another significant name in the industry, will be announced in June.
“When we put together the music lineup we tried to make a lot of people happy,” Figler said. “We started off 12 years ago with more of a folk fest. A lot of these folks who come to the festival every year want to see the folk music.”
To that end, the Chill Tent will also feature Aztec Two-Step, a veteran folk-rock band that formed in the early 1970s; Drew Bordeaux, a Mount Kisco native and Westchester-based singer-songwriter and producer; and Side Saddle, a country music band.
The Party Tent will include Morning Joe Music, a rock band led by Joe Scarborough, the co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and Rainbow Kitten Surprise, a North Carolina alternative/indie-pop group.
Figler, who made the announcement of the festival’s confirmed performers at Lucy’s Lounge in Pleasantville between sets performed by Wild Planes, last year’s opening act on the Main Stage, said while everyone connected with the festival is pleased by the soaring popularity of the festival since its 2005 inaugural, it also requires people with experience in the music industry. Social media has helped organizers spread the word.
“We’re doing our best to market it as best we possibly can,” he said. “It used to be thrown together. What can we do? I’ve got professionals working for me (now). Facebook is a wonderful thing because it gets the word out very easily.”
Minogue, who attended the announcement party, said she and her band have been trying to play the festival for several years. She attended last year as a spectator and was impressed by how well-run the event was and the atmosphere.
“I just loved the community and just how all the musicians come together and (it’s) just such a wonderful feeling and how organized it was,” Minogue said. “We play a lot of festivals and they’re not organized at all.”
Her drummer, Nick Saya, said he was looking forward to the day because Westchester has music savvy fans.
“The whole area, they’re very into music, so the crowd is going to be real responsive,” he said.
In addition to the announcement of the headline act, the two winners of the festival’s Battle of the Bands will open the day on the smaller stages at noon. The competition features area musicians 26 years old and under and will have two semifinal rounds. It will conclude with the finals at Lucy’s Lounge on Sunday, June 5.
Figler said music fans can save money if they buy tickets for the festival this week. Tickets will be sold for $35 through Ticketmaster and the Pleasantville Recreation Department office at 48 Marble Ave. next to Parkway Field through Sunday, Apr. 24. After that, prices will rise to $40 and later $45. Tickets at the door on the day of the event will cost $55.
Ticket buyers can avoid the Ticketmaster service charge if they make their purchase at the recreation office, Figler said. The office is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, including how to volunteer for the event, visit www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/