10,000 Maniacs make highly anticipated return to Griffis Sculpture Park
East Otto, NY: In 1991, over 6,000 people attended a benefit concert for Griffis Sculpture Park hosted by alternative rockers 10,000 Maniacs. It was a legendary day that is etched in Western New York music history. 26 years later, 10,000 Maniacs make a highly anticipated return to the United States’ largest sculpture park on Sunday, July 16, 2017 at 2 p.m. for a full-performance of their album “In My Tribe,” which celebrated its 30th anniversary celebration this year.
10,000 Maniacs “In My Tribe” was named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.”
Joining the bill is the percussion rock group from Pittsburgh, PA, Jim Donovan & Sun King Warriors. Donovan was one of the founding members of the band Rusted Root and is nationally known wellness and percussion instructor. Acoustic performer and touring musician Tyler Smilo from Erie, PA will open the concert.
Tickets are $20 advance, $25 day of show. Children 12 and under free. Tickets can be purchased online at www.eventbrite.com Gates for the show open at 12:00 p.m., with music starting at 2:00 p.m.
The concert will feature music, activities, artists, food and beer services. Concert attendees can take in the 250 sculptures that reside throughout the trails of the park, making it the United States largest outdoor sculpture park. The events will be taking place on the top of the hill at the Mill Valley site of the park. Guests must be able to endure a 10 minute walk uphill to the festival site. There will be a shuttle service that will help attendees get to the concert area. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs.
10,000 Maniacs, from Jamestown NY, recently celebrated their 35th anniversary and continues to progress with new material and touring. The band rose to stardom in the 1980s, with their breakout hit album “In My Tribe.” The albums “Blind Man’s Zoo” and “Our Time in Eden” solidified them as one of the country’s biggest acts with sold out shows, major media appearances, and millions of albums sold. The departure of singer Natalie Merchant in 1993, presented the band new beginnings with singer
and viola player Mary Ramsey in 1994. What followed was the 10,000 Maniacs tradition of creating innovative alternative rock with multiple albums and international touring that continues to this day. In the past four years, the band has release three new recordings “Music from the Motion Picture,” “Twice Told Tales” and “Playing Favorites.”
Jim Donovan’s debut album entitled ‘Sun King Warriors’ gained critical national acclaim and wide non-commercial and AAA radio play. The Washington Times calls it “One of the most eclectic and exciting discs to come out in some time” while Relix magazine says: “Donovan channels unabashed enthusiasm into a series of songs that are both rowdy and rejuvenating”. Sun King Warriors can be best described as a mix of Americana rock, with a strong dose of tribal style drumming. Think Led Zeppelin III & IV mixed with Rusted Root’s “When I Woke” era rhythmic intensity, and the authentic vocal emotion of Mumford & Sons.
Born in Texas and raised deep in the Rustbelt of Ohio, Tyler Smilo has lived a vagabond’s lifestyle before settling in Erie, PA and taking the city’s music scene by storm. An award winning acoustic artist, Smilo’s Americana influenced folk songs are mostly autobiographical. However, the themes are easily relatable to the “everyman” and his performances both heartfelt and moving. The release of two successful solo albums: Blood Into Sound and Dust In A Grave, a series of official videos dubbed The Rooftop Sessions, and fronting his own full band Daybreak Radio, has earned Smilo accolades in both regional and national entertainment publications.
The Griffis Sculpture Park is owned and operated by the Ashford Hollow Foundation, which also owns the Essex Arts Center in Buffalo, NY. The mission of the Ashford Hollow Foundation is to promote the visual and performing arts as well as construct a dynamic relationship between the arts and education in Western New York to better its young people and the greater community.
