Tim Nekritz + The Variety Show To Play Sterling Cidery On Oct. 8

FAIR HAVEN, NY – Styles from rock to rockabilly, blues to country, jazz to pop will be on the musical menu when the ensemble known as Tim Nekritz + The Variety Show return to the Sterling Cidery in Fair Haven from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8.

The show features a rotating musical lineup with Nekritz serving as host, booker, bassist and singer, supplemented by a variety of performers, singers and instrumentation.

A kind of a musical experiment where Nekritz started inviting guest musicians and singers for what was originally a three-hour solo show has evolved into something that is slightly more organized than an open mic, but more unpredictable than a typical concert.

“I’m supposedly in charge, but even I don’t know what to expect sometimes,” Nekritz said. An example came during the last show at the cidery, which featured an unplanned collaboration on final song The Carter Family’s “Can The Circle Be Unbroken?” that featured slide guitarist/percussionist Dan Zee and trombone player Chris Wahl, who “appeared out of nowhere,” Nekritz recalled.

The result was people stopping on the street to listen, curious but smiling, he said. “They’d never heard that beautiful old song played with that arrangement before, but then I hadn’t heard it before that night because it was so spontaneous,” Nekritz said. “There was a real magic to it, and everybody left feeling really good and wanting to try this all again.”

Shows tend to feature around a half-dozen guest musicians. In organizing the show, Nekritz thinks of it as a musical celebration and promotion of local musicians in a wide variety of styles and levels of experience.

By day, Nekritz is the director of news and media in the Office of Communications and Marketing at SUNY Oswego, where he also teaches courses in blues history and media writing. He hadn’t done much seriously with music until the pandemic hit, and he suddenly had more free time and an opportunity to livestream music to stay connected with others.

Since then, he has done solo shows at festivals, fundraisers and establishments, as well as with local band The Condescenders.

He also has written more than two dozen originals in 2022, many of which he performs at shows and open mics.

The Sterling Cidery, located at 14451 Richmond Ave. in downtown Fair Haven just off Route 104A, is a craft cidery that serves their own hard cider and other offerings in a pub-style indoor and outdoor atmosphere.

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