Scott Tady: Buffalo Rose to play Beaver; Jimmie Ross has local hit

Buffalo Rose is a Pittsburgh band that's gone national, and on July 22 will make its Beaver County debut.

There's time to snag tickets for that 7:30 p.m. show on the pretty lawn of Beaver Station Cultural & Event Center.

"We're so excited for this show," the six-piece modern-folk/Americana band's acoustic guitarist, Shane McLaughlin, said. "The audience can expect some Buffalo Rose classics, as well as a preview of some unreleased music. All wrapped up in a fun and high energy set."

Buffalo Rose's new single comes out that same day, so the Beaver audience will hear its live debut. Even Buffalo Rose tracks regularly heard on 91.3-WYEP will sound different.

"Every venue brings out something different for us," McLaughlin said. "The space that surrounds us, the way we interact with the crowd, it changes how the music comes across. We’re very excited and curious to see what it will feel like to play in a concert space that is truly from another time."

Beaver Station, a restored Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad passenger station built in 1897, has held several years worth of successful Cabin Fever music series indoor shows between January and April, before wedding season becomes a priority there. Forced to pivot during the pandemic, outdoor summer shows were added, and became a big success, prompting this summer's three-show series also featuring Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers with The Forty Nineteens (Aug. 26) and Nash.V.Ill (Sept. 23). For $75 at beaverstation.org you get a reserved seat at all three shows. Individual concerts cost $30, which all include complimentary beer and wine starting at 6:30 p.m.

New this year is food trucks, with The Mobile Brunch Box at 6 p.m. July 22, selling breakfast sandwiches, burritos, chicken and waffles and ice cream.

Satisfy your appetite then catch Buffalo Rose, which sold-out a St. Louis concert, and showcased at the prestigious South by Southwest in Austin, Texas and the Folk Alliance International in Kansas City.

"We've been busy," McLaughlin said. "We recorded a song for the Library of Congress Archive and toured up and down the East Coast, from Boston to Bristol. We have a new record coming out this fall. We are so excited to share it with the world."

Jimmie Ross has a local hit

Jimmie Ross has a new single that within its first week garnered 10,000 video views on Facebook, and is now on YouTube.

"Almost like watching 'The Rapper' go up the charts," Ross, the frontman of The Jaggerz, said. "Next stop, Ed Sullivan!"

The new single is "Statue of a Fool," and Ross explains, "I loved this song for 20 years and finally decided to record it. There have been a few versions out, but the one I always liked was by David Ruffin of The Temptations."

It's a song about a man letting true love slip through his hands. Ross delivers it with believable emotion, nailing some impressive high notes.

Ross recorded his version at Page One Studios in Midland produced by Daniel Page, with the music video shot in Beaver's downtown parks by Ralph Guzzi.

Maybe Ross will sing it July 23, when The Jaggerz headline Hopewell Community Park in a 7 p.m. show.

"I was in the first graduating class from the new Hopewell High School in 1964," Ross said. "Never thought I'd be playing Hopewell 58 years later."

Ghost has a chance

This past Thursday, Pittsburgh's 105.9-The X debuted a new alternative-rock single by The Ghost Club, a local artist getting a big push.

That single, "Likes and Comments," reminds me of Twenty One Pilots.

Steve Soboslai, of Pittsburgh's internationally known pop-punk band Punchline, and JoshBakaitus, a talent buyer for Live Nation's Great Lakes Region (a guy who's music tips have always been spot on) are part of the management team repping and prepping The Ghost Club.

"We jumped on board in May, have since rebranded the image, booked some regional shows including Brooklyn, Philly, and Columbus," Bakaitus said.

The Ghost Club's big hometown show is July 30 at Mr. Smalls in Millvale.

"Dude is determined and a very hard worker and I feel like he can go all the way with the right direction and coaching," Bakaitus said.

Trouble on the South Side

In the wake of recent incidents of crime and violence in the party zone that's Pittsburgh's East Carson Street, one prominent nightclub has chosen to take a break.

Owners of Foxtail and its rooftop swimming pool lounge Skybar Pittsburgh announced Tuesday on social media they "have decided to pause operations at the venue until further notice."

The announcement continued, "The climate for operating a nighttime economy business in the South Side has regressed to the point of being unstable and has led to a customer base that is problematic. We will continue to support Mayor Gainey and the Public Safety Department's South Side Initiative Plan. We look forward to rejoining the community once a solution to the issues plaguing our neighborhood has been successfully implemented."

Foxtail is at 1601 East Carson in the building that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s as the rock 'n' roll club Nick's Fat City. Nick's is where Donnie Iris and The Clarks recorded live albums, and where Bruce Springsteen popped up on stage during two Joe Grushecky album release shows.

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No Boss

Speaking of Springsteen, the Jersey rock legend announced his 2023 U.S. tour dates that surprisingly skip Pittsburgh.

Western Pennsylvania fans of The Boss might want to road trip to Springsteen shows in Columbus (March 9), Philadelphia (March 16), State College, Pa. (March 18), Buffalo (March 23) or Cleveland (April 5).

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Buffalo Rose plays Beaver; Jimmie Ross has local hit