Annual Music Tour Returns With Largest Lineup Yet

The RiverArts Music Tour is back for its 8^th year of providing the community with local spaces, both indoors and out, to enjoy and perform their favorite music. This year’s festival on June 3 will span 41 locations across seven Rivertown villages – Yonkers, Hastings on Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Irvington, Tarrytown and

Sleepy Hollow – all in a single day. Performances will showcase more than 350 musicians, mostly local, who perform a wide variety of genres, from jazz and classics out of the American Songbook to folk-rock and psychedelic jam band vibes.

Tour Producer Adam Hart has been a part of the music tour since its inception. Hart says this is the biggest tour yet, not only because of the large number of performers. Says Hart: “We are now in the recovery time of the pandemic, and people have a huge desire to get out and play.”

Each of the locations will have different acts and lineups. The Dobbs Ferry Waterfront stage will go from 11am-9pm and will feature notable jazz acts like singer, composer and saxophonist Stephanie Chou, who writes and performs music that is inspired by both Chinese and Western

Jazz music, and The Library Jazz Band, which will perform a tribute to Stevie Wonder’s classic album Innervisions. Also on deck will be the 11-piece blues/rock group Erik Blicker Trio.

This year’s locations have expanded to include areas of Yonkers and Horan’s Landing in Sleepy Hollow. The Boyce Thompson Center in Yonkers will host jazz singer Tamuz Nissim and jazz guitarist George Nazos. Horan’s Landing will feature country rock band Divining Rod.

While most of the acts are local, the musical inspirations come from all over the world. Andes Manta presents music of the Andes in Hastings on Hudson and Tapi Tapi brings traditions of Zimbabwe to Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers; meanwhile, Heartwood features Native American-inspired world musician Sleepy Hollow.

Hart says that concerts serve as a way to bring people together, especially when many of the acts are a part of the same community playing alongside each other. “When the majority of the performers are our neighbors, and they are sharing their talent, people respond as a community and support each other by being together, expressing themselves through music, and expressing appreciation through encouragement. The musicians also enjoy receiving tips, since they are playing gratis.”

Photos: (top to bottom) Courtesy of RiverArts Music Tour: Shakedown, Diving Rod and Kofi.

After receiving his BA in Media Arts, Daniel Wood went back to SHU for his MA in Journalism and Media Production. He has played trumpet in various bands and was surrounded by artists and writers growing up, which led to his interest in writing about various creative topics.