Events

[FOLK] For pure joy in performance, it’s hard to find a local outfit to match the Canal Street String Band, who will celebrate the release of their second recording this Saturday, May 16, at PAUSA art house. The trio comprises three local musicians who (probably) won’t mind being called grey-hairs: founding member Dave Ruch, who plays guitar, banjo, and mandolin; Phil Banaszak, a former New York State fiddle champion who also adds some mandolin and guitar; and Buffalo Music Hall-of-Famer and jack-of-all-strings Jim Whitford, who, on any given weekend night, seems ready to play anything for any band in town. All sing and all write songs, which fall right into line with their chosen milieu: old-time folk and popular music of the Americas. The new record, Wah Hoo!, both showcases and underplays the virtuosity of each player. That’s a luxury true talent affords itself: modesty in deference to the whole. If you want to hear this combo really sing, really push one another along, you have to hear them live. No better place than the intimate back room of PAUSA.