Music snobs have it gooooooood in the Hudson Valley. Not only is there a ton of up-and-coming talent, but some of the biggest names in the industry make regular appearances at venues around the region. This season, we’re looking forward to live performances ranging from a classical suite to a face-melting farewell tour. Check out our roundup of spring concerts to catch, then snag your tickets for these unforgettable musical experiences.
March 26, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? Hornsby, one of the foremost American singer-songwriters, will give an “intimate solo performance” at Tarrytown Music Hall during this spring concert. He’ll touch on tunes from his “large and accomplished body of work” with a concentration on his latest record, ‘Flicted.
Did you know? Hornsby is a basketball fan and claimed on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz to have beaten Allen Iverson in three consecutive one-on-one games.
May 16, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? This six-time Platinum, Grammy Award-winning jam band is touring to promote the forthcoming release of its Live and Acoustic: Fall of 1997 double EP. Fans at this spring concert can expect to hear hits like “Run-Around,” “But Anyway” and “The Mountains Win Again” as well as a handful of deep cuts.
Did you know? Blues Traveler originally formed as a high school garage band in the mid-’80s under the name “The Establishment.”
March 30, 7:30 p.m.
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What should you expect? Drawing from a wide range of influences like The Beatles and Television, this band from Chicago has helped to shape the alternative rock genre since its inception in the mid-’90s. In its most recent album, Cruel Country—which was released to critical acclaim—Wilco leans into its country-rock roots.
Did you know? Wilco’s roadie, Josh, is known to come on stage during “Hoodoo Voodoo” to perform a cowbell solo.
April 21, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? Father John Misty has a wide reach in the music world, contributing his folksy, gospel-infused sound to projects by artists like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Kid Cudi. This spring concert will likely center on his most recent solo project, Chloë and the Next 20th Century, which music critic Alexis Petridis described as “capable of transcending its era.”
Did you know? Father John Misty began his career not as a solo artist, but as a drummer for the band Fleet Foxes.
April 12, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? Following a nearly two-decade hiatus, Duster reunited in 2018. At The Colony, the band will perform from its fourth album, “a 13-song exploration of comfortable, interplanetary goth” comprising “submerged guitars, solder-burned synths, and over-driven rhythm tracks.”
Did you know? Duster’s album, Stratosphere, received little attention upon its release in 1998, but has since become canonical in the indie rock genre, thanks in part to the accessibility afforded by music streaming platforms.
April 15, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? The spirit of Bob Marley still imbues The Wailers. Aston Barrett Jr.—drummer and son of Aston “Familyman” Barrett, bassist and musical director for Bob Marley & The Wailers—“carries the flame” of this iconic reggae band. Its album, One World, which “[marked] the Wailers’ return to the recording studios,” was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2021.
Did you know? Bob Marley was buried with his beloved Gibson Les Paul Guitar and a bud of marijuana.
April 30, 2 p.m.
What should you expect? Polka! This 18-time Grammy Award winner dazzles audiences as a trumpeter, clarinetist, saxophonist, and leader of Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra.
Did you know? Born in the Orange County town of Warwick, Sturr is a true-blue Hudson Valleyite. Welcome home, Jimmy!
May 10, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? Graham Nash will return to the grounds of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, where he performed in a supergroup with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. Sure, he might play a few of his classics during this spring concert (when in Rome, no?) but Nash is not a musician to rest on his laurels; equally robust are his recent projects like This Path Tonight from 2016.
Did you know? In addition to some of the most memorable music of the ’60s and ’70s—who doesn’t know and love “Our House”?—Nash is known for producing indelible portraits of his contemporaries like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Cass Elliot as well as his bandmates.
May 12, 7:30 p.m.
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What should you expect? This two-time-Grammy-award-winning alternative rock group has been active since 1989, but Jakob Dylan is the only remaining original member. (Technically, he’s the only remaining member, period. The band now functions as his solo project.) Dylan’s most recent album, Exit Wounds, was released in 2021 to favorable reviews.
Did you know? If you can’t tell by the surname and familiar facial features, Jakob is the son of counterculture icon Bob Dylan and his first wife, Sara Lownds.
May 20, 8 p.m.
What should you expect? It’s one of the best-known suites of all time, and for good reason. This seven-movement masterpiece by Gustav Holst, which was “inspired by astrology rather than astronomy,” will be accompanied by a projection of images of outer space, including selections “recently recovered from the Webb and Hubble Telescopes.” The Philharmonic will also perform works by Dvořák and Tchaikovsky.
Did you know? When Holst was 12, he began playing trombone at his father’s suggestion that it might alleviate his asthma.
June 17, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? Calling Patti LuPone a Broadway legend feels, somehow, like an understatement. In Don’t Monkey with Broadway, Ms. LuPone will interpret classics by composers like Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jule Styne, Stephen Schwartz, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin.
Did you know? As famous as she is for her vigorous vocals, LuPone made her Broadway debut not in a musical, but in the Anton Chekhov classic play, Three Sisters.
May 26, 8 p.m.
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What should you expect? Twang-twisted love ballads, recollections of nights “on the outskirts of town,” and more await the audience of this country star’s concert. The Navy veteran went viral on YouTube in 2017, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Did you know? Bryan’s major-label debut album may have been titled American Heartbreak, but the singer-songwriter was actually born in Okinawa, Japan.
May 28, 7 p.m.
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What should you expect? McKenna has glam-rock inclinations—he’s said he seeks to emulate his fellow British musician, the late David Bowie—which are perhaps most apparent on Zeros, the 2020 release which deals with contemporary qualms “from the climate crisis to social media.” This tour, which he’s dubbed “The Big Return,” is not to be missed.
Did you know? McKenna originally rose to prominence for winning the Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition in 2015.
June 15, 7:30 p.m.
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What should you expect? The titanic blues guitarist, who influenced many of the greatest players of all time—namely Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jeff Beck—ties a bow upon his seven-decade career via this “Damn Right Farewell” tour. Concertgoers can expect to hear repertoire from throughout Guy’s career, which spans from the early ’50s—when he played with Chess Records’ House Band—to his latest releases, including the Grammy Award-winning record, The Blues Is Alive and Well, from 2018.
Did you know? Guy’s polka-dot obsession is an homage to his mother, Isabell.
June 17, 7 p.m.
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What should you expect? Tony-, Emmy-, and Grammy Award-winning singer and actor Audra McDonald will grace the Caramoor stage alongside the Orchestra of St. Luke’s to perform “beloved classics” from the Great American Songbook.
Did you know? Though she’s perhaps best known for her contributions to the world of musical theater, McDonald is as formidable in an opera house as she is on a Broadway stage, having won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.