Prefestival

Hotel Café Tour Concert
Wednesday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.
State Theatre, Ithaca
Tickets are $15.00

For the 2008 festival, the State Theatre and FLEFF collaborate to bring the Hotel Café tour to Ithaca. Once just a small coffee shop, the Hotel Café has quickly blossomed into not only the premier singer/songwriter venue in the United States but also an all-purpose clubhouse for a burgeoning community of Los Angeles songwriters. In its fourth successful year and with two widely acclaimed, sold-out North American and UK tours to its name, the Hotel Café tour is ready for its 2008 road trip. Twenty-five artists will share one bus, one band, and one crew and embark on a six-week journey throughout the United States, Canada, and the UK. The tour features a rotating group of artists, all sharing musicians and supporting one another, making for a unique night of music. The traveling circus is held together by performer and coorganizer the Cary Brothers, who will be present for the entire tour. In Ithaca, the tour will also feature Ingrid Michaelson, Joshua Radin, Meiko, and Priscilla Ahn. The Hotel Café tour has no cookie-cutter corporate American idols, just real music, written by real artists, surrounded by real friends who actually have a story to tell.

Tribute to Tom Petty: Pre-Festival Rock Concert
And FLEFF Kick-Off Party
A Benefit for the Cayuga Waterfront Trail
Friday, March 28, doors open at 8:00 p.m., music starts at 9:00 p.m.
Castaways, 413-415 Taughannock Boulevard, Ithaca
18 and over
Tickets are $10 in advance (available at Castaways, Ithaca Guitar Works, the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, and Maxie’s Supper Club) and $15 the day of the show.

A panoply of Ithaca-based bands spanning singer/songwriters, roots rock, alt country, contemporary folk, and space-alien-trailer-park-music will pay tribute to singer/songwriter legend Tom Petty on Friday March 28 at Castaways. Five 2, Steve Gollnick, and Peter Glanville (from Hubcap), Joe Crookston, the Family Knife, Dave Yantorno, and other local bands will each play up to four of their favorite Tom Petty songs in their own distinctive styles—with no repeats! Ambient media screenwashes from festival partners Microcinema International will add cinematic seasoning to this FLEFF pre-festival kick-off event.

Backed by his now longtime musical collaborators, the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty began his career pushing far beyond the safe borders of 1970s pop-music conventions. With a sparse and evocative new wave sound, songs like “American Girl” and “Breakdown” broke into the London rock scene dominated by Elvis Costello and the Clash.

Petty evolved into a definitive American rock n’ roll songwriter. In the last three decades, he has won nearly every singer/songwriter award, including a slew of Grammies and ASCAP’s prestigious Golden Note Award. Like other legendary American songwriters from Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan, Petty’s songs, such as “Listen to Her Heart,” “I Won’t Back Down,” and “Learning to Fly,” evoke strong sympathies for the outsider.

The whole extravaganza benefits the development of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, a new recreational and healthy lifestyle initiative to improve our county’s lake access. A unique partnership between the City of Ithaca and the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, the six-mile paved trail is suitable for everything from walking to rollerblading to biking to hiking and showcases Ithaca’s best natural resource—Cayuga Lake.

The Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce supports the City of Ithaca’s plans for a Waterfront Trail. It has partnered with the city in the Trail Initiative for five years, raising $225,000. The chamber of commerce believes the trail enhances local business, stimulates tourism, increases public use of public areas, has high aesthetic appeal, and contributes to the overall quality of life in Ithaca.