Double Band Bill At Bay Street
Two well-known bands on the South Fork’s music scene will join forces on Saturday for a concert of rootsy Americana music.
Black and Sparrow, led by Klyph Black and John Sparrow, and Hopefully Forgiven, fronted by Telly Karoussos and Brad Penuel, will perform at 8 p.m. at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.
Mr. Black and Mr. Sparrow have been collaborating for more than 20 years, both in the band Rumor Has It and as Black and Sparrow, which began life as a duo. They have opened for such artists as the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Mick Taylor, Taj Mahal, Hot Tuna, and the Subdudes.
One year ago, Black and Sparrow followed up their 1995 debut, “Friend and Partner,” with the release of “Second Time Around,” by then having added the musicians Randolph A. Hudson III, Mike Mazzaraco, and James Benard. The latter release recalls an eclectic mix of influences including the Grateful Dead, the Band, and Bob Dylan, as well as other artists who have thrived since the 1960s and ’70s.
“The record sold pretty well,” Mr. Black said of “Second Time Around.” “It started off hot and we’re still selling it.” Tracks from the album have been featured on WPPB and WEHM, he said, as well as on radio stations farther afield. “We’re working on some new songs,” he said, promising three new selections on Saturday.
Hopefully Forgiven’s debut release, “Play On,” was recorded in a barn in Sag Harbor. Saturday’s concert, Mr. Karoussos said, will serve to launch an intensive schedule of performances lasting through the summer and beyond. The band, which also features Ben Goodale and Bryan Beyer, describes its sound as a “hard drivin’, mellow vibin’, harmony-soaked roller coaster cocktail of 100 years of American music and spirits.”
The double bill came together, Mr. Black said, through his previous performances at Bay Street and subsequent conversations with Gary Hygam, the theater’s managing director for production. “I had always told Telly that we would be a good show together,” he said. “The two bands complement each other. I really dig what they do, and love the fact that they sing, their vocals are big. I asked Gary if we could do a double bill, and he went for it. I called Telly, they were psyched to do it, and here we are.”
Mr. Karoussos called the concert “a good opportunity to highlight music that’s being written and performed locally.” He and Mr. Black, he said, have long been acquainted. “He’s helped me out a lot, sat in with me on gigs, and I’ve always thought he was one of the greatest guys and greatest musicians I’ve ever met. Our styles are somewhat complementary, so this is a good opportunity for us both.”
Hopefully Forgiven will perform at the Lower Hudson Valley Farm Fest in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., on April 26. “This is our big launch,” Mr. Karoussos said of the Bay Street concert. “We want to make this a blowout, and have been rehearsing our asses off to make it great.” The bands will perform separate sets, which will be followed, he said, by “a big jamboree of both bands.”
Tickets for Black and Sparrow/Hopefully Forgiven are $20 and available at baystreet.org or by calling the theater’s box office at 725-9500.
The concert will be preceded by another performance of the Americana, roots-rock variety. The Weight, a five-piece ensemble featuring Jim Weider and Randy Ciarlante from the Band, Brian Mitchell and Byron Isaacs of the Levon Helm Band, and Marty Grebb, who worked with Rick Danko and Richard Manuel of the Band, will take the stage tomorrow night at 8. Tickets are $35 for side sections and $45 for center.