Rock the Park  2010 summer band Contest

Free Henry!

   

By Joshua Maloni

http://www.wnypapers.com/  

 

Short of winning “American Idol” or having a famous parent, there is no magic formula for a successful music career. There are, however, two essential skills.

 

Free Henry! has both.

 

First, solo artists and bands must possess a keen ability to market. Judging from its street team at Artpark, Free Henry! is quite adept at connecting its music with fans and onlookers.

 

Dressed in Free Henry! T-shirts, the band’s volunteers distributed something like 2,500 fliers encouraging anyone and everyone to visit this page and vote for the foursome of Alexander Gavin Foote (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Buckley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Derek Presti (electric bass guitar) and Pat Mannella (drums, percussion). There’s also a pop-up window on the band’s Web site encouraging visitors to secure the band’s place as a headline act next summer at Artpark.

 

What’s more, Free Henry! has trumped every other Western New York act in landing opening performance slots at large concerts, thus guaranteeing the band’s material will reach tens of thousands of people. Just this summer alone, the band shared a stage with both a solo Lou Gramm and a revamped Foreigner.

 

Secondly, solo artists and bands must possess some musical talent. Now, some may argue that this is more important than marketing. But the sad truth is that there are plenty of talented musical acts in Western New York that will never perform anywhere larger than the local bar because of a lack of communication skills.

 

The great thing about Free Henry! is that once it draw crowds into a show, the band is capable of keeping those fans hooked with an eclectic mix of commercial songs performed by four super talented musicians.

 

 The band’s set list at Artpark was tight, well thought out, and thoroughly enjoyable. In addition to the band’s own songs, fans enjoyed a superlative cover of the Foo Fighter’s “Everlong.”

 

Free Henry! said its Lewiston performance was representative of coming full circle. Indeed, the band was better suited in 2010 for the venue’s stage, setting and audience than it was in 2009. With a slimmed-down version of the group, Free Henry! demonstrated terrific musical growth.

 

If given the chance to perform at Artpark in 2011, there’s no telling how good Free Henry! might be. What we do know, however, is that there would be plenty of fans looking on and cheering for the band.

 

Free Henry! is online at freehenryband.com .