BIG SUGA

"Is six hours of live music too much? Not by a long shot.

Especially when those six hours are dedicated to bringing together top original Long Island bands to celebrate harvest time..........."


"The heart and driving force of Rock The Harvest can be found in Big Suga. Rhythm guitar, vocalist and front man Josh Horton believed the combination of original bands celebrating the grape-growing innovations of North Fork farmers would be a winning one. Last year, he approached Pindar Vineyards owner Dr. Herodotus “Dan” Damianos with the idea that bands playing original music could inject some new energy into his long-standing Harvest Festival.

Last year, three bands performed and drew a solid audience, despite unfavorable weather, Mr. Horton said. Performing were Big Suga, Frank Latorre and the King Bees, another area favorite, and the Knockout Drops. This year, the band lineup was doubled and a charity selected.

Including non-profits was a natural for Mr. Horton, whose family has been devoted to community service for generations. Public service also runs in the family. Mr. Horton served for two terms as the Southold Town supervisor." - www.27east.com

A "barge bash" concert planned for Saturday on -- yes, on -- Peconic Bay may be dead in the water now that Southold Town Board members have required the organizers to reimburse the town for policing and insurance costs.

Organizers planned to provide three hours of live music on a floating barge between Founders Landing and Goose Creek Bridge from 2 to 5 p.m.

Josh Horton, a former Southold Town supervisor who is the singer and guitarist for local band Big Suga, has advertised the free show around town as a "barge bash," featuring music from his band and Big River Ransom.

Mr. Horton said he didn't anticipate having to get permission from the town to hold the event, because he has already been given clearance by the U.S. Coast Guard, the governing body of activities on Peconic Bay.

"We didn't realize that boats rafting up together in the bay was regulated by any local law," Mr. Horton said.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell disagrees, though he said that the town "never had the intention to not allow it."

"It was a tough call for us," Mr. Russell said." We did not want to stop the event, but how do we ask the taxpayers to bear the burden of the costs?"

Because the town requires other groups to have insurance and policing for their special events, Mr. Russell said he felt it was important to "not show special treatment here."

"We're not picking on this event," agreed Councilman Vincent Orlando at a board meeting Tuesday morning. "For instance, the GreenFest event [earlier this month at Strawberry Fields in Mattituck] paid us for the police presence and the insurance."

Board members said Southold's budget crisis makes it impractical to pay the $1,500 in police man-hours needed to patrol such an event.

John Kramer, chairman of SoutholdVOICE, a co-organizer of the show, said at the meeting that because the word is out about the concert, there still could be a large influx of boats in the bay.

"The raft-up will happen," he said, referring to the practice of boats anchoring and tying into other boats. "But I doubt there will be music."

Police Capt. Martin Flatley told the board that because the concert planners didn't go through the typical permit process, the police force had little time to develop a security plan for the event.

But Mr. Horton said that representatives of Sea Tow and the Coast Guard have agreed to provide safety patrols, thus mitigating the need for coverage by additional town bay constables.

"Barge bash" organizers have yet to decide if they'll proceed with their show, Mr. Horton said Tuesday night.

"We'll make an announcement on www.bigsuga.com Friday morning as to when and where the event will be," he said. "We hope the show will go on."

- Suffolk Times

AN EMERGING ARTIST FESTIVAL IS ESTABLISHED IN MIAMI

With High Marks From Artists and Sponsors, The MMF Will Be Back In 2010

"The Miami Music Festival of emerging artists and its conference were successfully launched last weekend in downtown Miami. After years of talk by those involved with the embattled live music scene in Miami about the lack of opportunity for acts to showcase for the press and the music industry, and the lack of live music in general, a significant initiative, with public and private support has been established......."

"We had spectacular music from truly great musicians that few people were aware of. They played in places that people hadn.t been before. Artists got to meet industry insiders and were covered by the press, and they got to hear and meet other artists they didn.t know. That.s what The Miami Music Festival.s all about," said Will Edwards....."

I hope that you and your team have a sense of accomplishment and pride in embarking on and executing this festival. I certainly hope that the City of Miami and their various economic development engines/agencies see the benefit of this festival and work with you put it on again in 2010.” - Josh Horton of Big Suga

“A main goal that we had for this past year was making sure we were supportive of this great MMF initiative and we hope it flies ahead steadily and strongly after this great launch.” - Gabriel Abaroa, - The Latin Recording Academy


- www.filmiami.org

Last Monday the popular Big Suga took the stage. Lead singer Josh Horton gave a performance that was like an electric charge. That local boy and former two-term Southold Town Supervisor has rock and roll running deep in his core and exploding in his veins. Wow, who knew? They'll be back in Greenport July 25th at Bay and Main at 10:00 p.m. - www.examiner.com Long Island