The Blair Creators Festival filled downtown Altoona’s Heritage Plaza with arts, crafts, food, refreshments and live music on the last Saturday in April. Organized by ArtsAltoona and Penn State Altoona’s Sheetz Fellows program, the festival featured eight bands on the plaza railcar stage, beginning with Asbury Lane. Singer and guitarist Jeremy Schimansky, singer Tami Hinish and harmonica player Jack Coyle set the day’s pleasant tone with acoustic favorites from Johnny Cash, John Denver, John Prine, Old Crow Medicine Show and more.
Next was my first look at another of the growing crop of area youth bands, Lilly-based rockers After School Special. Comprised of lead guitarist Collin Borlie, drummer C.J. Myers, bassist Jude Hudkins and singer Robert Yeager; After School Special did impressive work on a variety of classic rock numbers from the 1960s through 90s – including songs from CCR, Greg Kihn Band, Toto, Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Cheap Trick, Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more.
Another group I was seeing for the first time this day was the following group, Altoona’s Vision Manifest. This acoustic group – singers Tiffany Westover, Jess Veach and Curtis Tracy, singer and guitarist Matthew Sheedy and percussionist Aaron Antesberger – packed excellent vocals and harmonies throughout their set of classic and current pop, soul, folk and country favorites; including four-part harmonies on The Band’s “The Weight!”
In between bands, programs from the Arc of Blair County performed in Heritage Plaza’s main court, including Arc singing groups and drummers. Although I was emceeing at the main stage, it was a pleasure to sit in with the Arc drummers and their facilitators from the Joy Drummers.
Back at the main stage, Hot Fudge Mondaes accelerated the musical pace with their hard-hitting mix, as they played a number of their original songs plus a few punk-geared favorites. Some of their originals included their first recorded single, “Sorrow,” as well as “Don’t Mean Nothing,” “So Long,” “So Far From Fine” and more.
Seven members strong, Altoona’s Tom Nevers Field then brought ska, punk and reggae sounds to the stage; including numerous original songs such as “Impossible,” “Hold My Hand,” “Hey Mr. Newsman” and more, also a cover of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
Sans drummer Brad Hengst this day, the Bad Luck Lover Boys performed as a trio, mixing their punk/pop-driven original songs with select favorites. The group did songs from their “Letters to Emily” album such as “Anything at All,” “Somewhere Girl,” “London Fog,” “Movie Song,” Corey’s Hangover” and more.
Youthful Roaring Spring-based rockers The Pines added to the musical excitement with their wide mixture of classic and vintage rock. Singer Daman Mills, guitarist Logan Warner, bassist and keyboardist Alex Snyder and drummer Ben Brumbaugh kept the audience excited with numbers from Van Halen, The Sweet, Romantics, Beatles, Elvis Presley, Billy Joel, Poison, plus two of their own original tunes, “Want More” and “That’s All Right.”
And Altoona’s Sweet Desire slammed the lid on the day with their action-packed set of original rock and select classic rock covers. The roster of singer Jordan McCaulley, guitarist Kenton Lewis, bassist Joshua Simpson and drummer Trey Boore tapped into their late 1960s/early 1970s blues rock foundation for numbers from Blue Oyster Cult, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and others, and performed scorching original numbers such as “Too Much to Please,” “Want You Again” and their first single “Raspberry Joe Blues” (which will be issued on streaming platforms June 9). Sweet Desire sank fire and passion into their performance, escalating to their finale as they fused together Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown” with “How Many More Times,” before answering encore demands with Rush’s “Working Man.”
The Blair Creators Festival generated a large turnout, happy vibes and community spirit throughout the day; kudos to everyone who worked to make it happen!
