NEW SCOTLAND – The town will be rocking on Saturday.

Outdoor Music Fest 2007 – sponsored by the town of New Scotland and the village of Voorheesville – will feature five bands, a barbecue, and craft vendors. It will be held behind the high school in Voorheesville from 4 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 14.

Each band will play a set about 45 minutes long, said Mike Guerette, who will be performing with his band, Blue Sunshine, and also helped organize the rest of the music for the day.
Guerette, a fifth-grade teacher at Voorheesville Elementary School, said that many of the musicians who will play at Saturday’s event "sat in my class" over the years.

The lineup includes Rock Authority, a high-school band made up of ninth-graders who have been playing together for several years; The Frieda Hammond Band; Sea Dog; and Mothers McRee, Guerette said.
He first heard Rock Authority play at the Voorheesville Relay for Life benefit a few years ago, he said. "They were great, even as fifth-graders," Guerette said. They play covers of popular contemporary rock bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day, he said.
The Frieda Hammond Band showcases the musical talent of Mike Thomas, one of the founding members of the popular local group, The Round Bale Conspiracy, Guerette said. Thomas is a "phenomenal musician," he added.
Sea Dog, Guerette said, is made up of his former students. He remembers that the band’s lead guitarist, Tony LaRosa, was "fervently into the Bee Gees in fifth grade." Sea Dogs play with a funk similar to that of the Bee Gees, Guerette said.

Mothers McRee plays a lot of original music, he said.
As for his own band, Blue Sunshine, it is made up of "the old grizzle guys" who have been playing music a long time, Guerette said.

Guerette plays guitar and harmonica, and sings, he said. The band has been playing together for about five years. Everyone in the band is a life-long musician, said Guerette. Their music, mostly original, draws influence from the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan, he said.
All of the musicians have a similar "passion for music," said Guerette.
"It should be fun," Guerette said of the music festival, which will be the first of its kind for the town.
A similar event was planned for last year, but it was rained out. "This year, we tried to be a little more proactive," he said; the New Salem firehouse will serve as the alternate location if it rains.

Community event

In previous years, New Scotland held three separate concerts in three hamlets, said Pat Geurtze, the recreation coordinator for the town.

Last year, the town decided to put one big event together, she said, but it was a washout on the scheduled day.

The village of Voorheesville built four platforms last year for the bands, which will be put to use this year, Geurtze said.

The New Scotland Kiwanians will barbecue hamburgers, hotdogs, and corn-on-the-cob; a half-dozen vendors from around the region will sell their crafts; and community parents and teachers will hold a bake sale and Chinese auction to raise money for Jimmy Pincheon, a 12-year-old Voorheesville student who is awaiting a liver transplant at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Middle-school students will paint faces, and a booth will be set up for those who wish to make cards for Jimmy.
Though the event is scheduled for the same day as Country Fest at the Altamont fairgrounds, Geurtze said, "We’re not real concerned about that because we’re a community event."
The goal for the event, she said, is for people to come and have a good time – "to enjoy the day and the music... I hope they raise some money for Jimmy, too."
The New Scotland community is "small and tight-knit," Guerette told The Enterprise. "Voorheesville’s high school has such a renowned music program," he said.
Music is a "common language" that many people speak, he said. "There are so many talented bands that come out of Voorheesville," said Guerette, adding that Saturday’s music fest is a great opportunity to showcase it.
The bands are all volunteering – "They’re playing just to play," he said.
"Hopefully, this will be the first of many music fests," said Guerette. "It should be a really cool event."