ALTAMONT — Music lovers on Facebook asked the Altamont Fair for local bands recently, and the fair will deliver them, with the Knox band, Nite Train, and the High Voltage Horns headlining Saturday night.

“We’re local musicians made good,” Nite Train bandleader and bassist Ken Briggs told The Enterprise.

Familiar names like the Capital Region’s Grand Central Station — a party band that guarantees it will make you dance — and Knox’s Native American flutist Eric Marczak will be joined by the musically serious Hudson Falls Beatles-esque band, Across the Pond, and Albany DJ Nick Coluccio, an experienced Italian crooner who also plays crowd favorites.

The popular bands will perform on the Northrup Stage and in the Grange building afternoons and evenings, allowing music fans on either side of the fairgrounds plenty of chances to enjoy their fair food and drinks with some tunes.

Headliners

Nite Train is returning for its third run at the Altamont Fair, after performing in 2009 and headlining Saturday night in 2013. The band bills itself as Motown mixed with rock and blues.

“It’s what I call ‘rockin’ blues and R & B,’” Briggs said.

This year, the band added a new female vocalist and a full horn section.

“I’m ecstatic!” Briggs said. “We have never sounded better. For the Altamont Fair, we’ll have a trumpet, a trombone, and a saxophone. It’s awesome — a full horn section, and two female singers.”

Briggs’s wife, Marla Briggs, showcases her sound with the classic, “If You Ever Touch Me,” Ken Briggs said. “She has a strong, wonderful, powerful voice — a bluesy voice.

“She is the secret weapon of the band,” Briggs continued. “She’s awesome.”

His wife opened at the Albany Palace for a big crowd, he said.

“Isn’t that cool? We’ve had some great gigs,” he said. “I’m always glad to play the Altamont Fair.”

Nite Train has a CD of original songs, “Best Man,” and many of them can be heard on the band’s website, www.nitetrainband.com.

“I want to come back to play the Altamont Fair next year with a brand new CD,” Briggs said.

The band delayed putting out a second CD, he said.

“My dad and my brother passed,” Briggs said about why he took time off. “That’s why we sing the blues, to let the music lift us up.”

The band

The band has grown to include Al Kash — a drummer who charted with the band Black Feather.

“He has opened for Rolling Stones,” Briggs said. “We are the real deal. We had enough steady gigs that he joined us.”

Paul Quigley, who gives guitar instructor at two local colleges, performs with Nite Train on guitar and does vocals.

Marcus Benoit performs vocals, keyboard, and saxophone.

Nite Train’s special guests for the fair are the High Voltage Horns, made up of
Keith Pray on saxophone, Sam Ponder on trumpet, and “Travis Malone on the slide trombone, which is fun to say,” Briggs said, alluding to the rhyme.

The show at the fair will run three 45-minute sets, he said.

“With horn players, you have to be careful to not blow out your trumpet player’s lips,” Briggs said.

Briggs’s enthusiasm for his band shines through when he discusses taking care of his members.

“It’s a lot of fun to play with a full horn section,” he said. “It makes it more fun. Instead of a little keyboard, you have three horns!”

“I give credit to the people playing with me,” he said. “I surround myself with great musicians, so I sound even better.”

Briggs found his latest vocalist, University at Albany meteorology student Ashley Petersen, while shopping for a cover for his RV where Petersen worked, Briggs said.

“She opened at the Joe Bruno stadium for us. I wanted to see what she could do,” Briggs said. “She sounded great!”

The band now has three gigs set up to play at World of Beer at Crossgates Mall, featuring Petersen, Briggs said.

The music

Briggs, 51, is a business analyst and technical writer, but his heart is with his music; his band plays often enough that, sometimes, performances act as rehearsals for larger venues, he said.

The band plays “a good mix,” he said.

“We will play B.B. King songs, in his memory,” Briggs said. “B.B. died this year, which is really sad. We play Stevie Ray Vaughn. We play the Rolling Stones, obviously, because Al Kash has opened for them.

“Our new singer, Ashley, sings Pat Benatar and Sheryl Crow,” Briggs continued.

Briggs’s daughters, who are 16 and 12, also sing with Nite Train sometimes. Fans can search Youtube for Amy Briggs or Blues-O-Saurus to hear one of them, Briggs said.

“Take a look, you’ll love her,” he said about Amy.

“We’re playing Berne Town Park the week after the Altamont Fair,” Briggs said. Nite Train will open for another local band.

In Altamont next Saturday, Nite Train will enjoy the limelight.

 “We’re psyched to say that we’re Saturday night headliners,” Briggs said. “We’re looking forward to entertaining the crowd.”