rachelh@myweeklysentinel.com
CANTON — This Friday, the Rialto Theatre will host the Gabe Stillman Band at 14 East Main Street in Canton.
The much anticipated event will feature live blues music from Gabe Stillman and his band from 7-8:30 p.m.
“I went camping up that way as a kid but I haven’t been back as an adult. I always appreciate the endless beauty of rural Pennsylvania and I’m thrilled to come to the historic Rialto Theatre and deliver some ‘Hard Stompin Blues’, said Stillman.
Stillman formed his band in Williamsport, in 2015, shortly after graduating from Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
“At Berklee, I got to meet people from all over the world playing every kind of instrument and every kind of music you could think of and more,” said Stillman. “It truly opened my mind to the limitless possibilities of what music can be. I also got to study under teachers who are true masters of their craft in guitar playing, song writing, and performance.”
Stillman travels all over the country to perform and do what he loves most, connecting with his audience.
“It’s never about just me and the band when we’re on stage. We put the energy out there and we hope we do it right so that the audience will send it back. There’s no other feeling like it when the band and the audience are all on the same ‘wavelength’,” he said.
Stillman himself is from Williamsport and has grown his musical ties not only from Berklee, but from Williamsport as well.
“Williamsport is a town with so much to offer. I don’t know if I’d be doing what I do if I had grown up anywhere else because Williamsport is home to the Uptown Music Collective, where I was able to find my passion at a young age,” Stillman said.
Stillman continues, stating that his passion for blues grew because he originally wanted to play rock music.
“When I started playing, my heroes were Angus Young, Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Page, Eric Clapton, etc., but I couldn’t play their stuff because they all play very intricately. I was frustrated with my beginner guitar playing until my teachers at the Uptown Music Collective explained to me that the guys I was listening to were blues players who were taking the blues idiom and injecting it with rock’n’roll adrenaline,” he said. “They told me that if I learned the blues first, I would be on the path to playing like my heroes. But, as what happens to many, once I heard Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Howlin Wolf my list of heroes changed. I still love those great rock players, but I know that they got their inspiration from the blues masters, and that’s where I get mine from too.”
Though he has many heroes in the blues and rock and roll world, he still loves his own authenticity and showing his passion to those that come to his shows.
“There’s nothing quite like playing the songs that I’ve written and feeling them connect with the audience. There’s some off of my new record ‘Just Say The Word’ that seem to always go over well. One of my favorites is a tune I wrote called ‘Heartbreak Makes A Sound.’ It’s different from anything I’ve ever written because it’s a slow ballad that tells a sad story about lost love. It’s one of those songs that just sort of came out of me. I think I wrote the first draft in about 30 minutes! Songs that get written quickly like that, tend to be the best ones for me,” he said.
After returning from the midwest this week, he is ready to come to Canton and play a great show for the Canton community.
“We go all over the country. The areas we’ve worked in the most have been regionally around Pennsylvania, upstate New York, and Florida. But we’ll play anywhere that the blues is calling us to!”
Tickets can still be purchased. Cost is Adults $15, Senior and 13-17 $10, 12 and under $5. Tickets can be purchased online at bradfordcountymovies.com, at the Canton Sentinel, or at the door the night of the event. More information about Gabe and the Gabe Stillman Band can be found at www.gabestillman.com.