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It was about 3 weeks ago I saw a Facebook event announcing Uncle Ben’s Remedy was coming to the Ontario House/Stone Jug in Youngstown.
Beth and I have seen them play multiple times. Ben Westlund, the lead singer is a bit of a nut. Brian O’Connor’s stand-up bass serves like a barometer. If it is going to be a good night, he will be lifting it over his head, twirling it around and reflecting the energy of the night.
That bass like the plume over Niagara Falls. When it hangs low it's a down day. When it rises up it’s a good weather day.
We first learned of UBR when they opened for Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band at the Tralf several years ago. We have been following Westlund and his band since.
Westlund is a parody of himself with a sleeveless flannel and cut off shorts, sort of an unapologetic version of Larry the Cable Guy. Communicating tongue-in-cheek truth behind a barrage of rhythm wrapped in Americana music which is sort of like country for Democrats.
The band comes straight out of Versailles and there may be a fire in the field tonight. James Royce keeps the beat to the frenzied pace of it all as Harmony Griffin rocks it on guitar.
The Jug is a great place to see a show and reasonable, with a $10 cover and $7 Dark and Stormies in an outside space framed by a barnwood stage and bar. It creates a wonderful atmosphere on a summer night with none of the energy-sapping nonsense that comes from some other recent places trying to be hip by forcing a cashless bar and ordering from a QR code with a $15 cover and $14 drinks. Even if the sound is great places like that one in South Buffalo bring a level of pretentious snobbery it's hard to overcome.
It took a while Saturday for the crowd to get going, in part perhaps because the band was new to them. Before it was done though, the dance floor was full.
Shawn Huestis plays the keys mostly but sometimes picks it up and rambles with it as a key-tar. Saturday, he also busted out a fife, an accordion and a trombone.
The band’s instruments are wireless and Westlund and mates connect with the crowd at will, wandering from the stage to play in the crowd and even toward the end of the evening gathering where people were dancing moments ago to invite a level of intimacy.
“I don’t want to work,” Westlund sang. “I just wanna play my guitar. Work is what you do, not who you are.”
It’s a solid ethos to which we all should listen. Nobody goes to their grave and says “I wish I had worked a little more.”
On the other hand, one day I will wish I spent more time at Zoar Valley. Also, I am lucky to have Beth because she does not like money money more than me.
I chatted a bit with Dan Curtin, UBR’s sound guy. He kept things well mixed all night. Every summer comes with a few magical nights. Saturday in Youngstown was one.
Their next 3 shows are Borderland, Angola Music Fest and a Nov. 7 Album release in Versailles with Ten Cent Howl and Leroy Townes. https://www.unclebensremedy.com/shows
A few weeks ago, we met the Jon and Cat Curry Hasz at Hoochenanny in Fairport. They are “The Beard and the Bird.” They were looking for cheap real estate during covid times while living near San Diego when they hit on a home in East Otto and bought it.
At Hoochenanny, they told us they knew about Seattle and Nashville being musical hotbeds. No one told them about Western New York. They had to move here and discover it for themselves.
It’s places like the Sportsman’s, The Jug and West Falls Music Center that make it all special. It also helps to have a loving, accepting music community all around and a crowd that can feed off the energy of the band and move from stoic to frenzied in a matter of a few hours of good music with a band like UBR.
