MUSIC

Q & A with Akie Bermiss

Lake Street Dive stops by Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards

By Bryan VanCampen

On May 27 Lake Street Dive returns to Beak & Ski Apple Orchards to help kick o their summer concert series. Lake Street Dive is a multigenre band that formed in 2004 at the New England conservatory of Music in Boston. e band’s keyboardist Akie Bermiss spoke to the Ithaca Times about joining Lake Street Dive, COVID and the emerging winery and orchard circuit.

Ithaca Times: e band formed in 2004, and you joined in 2017.

Akie Bermiss: Yes, that’s correct.

IT: So how do you come to that?

AB: at’s a great question. I’m in New York, born and raised here, and I started playing music when I got back from school, and I heard about them through other friends. We have a lot of musical friends in common, even though they were at the time commuting from Boston to play gigs here. ere’s a little club in Manhattan that put on this little event in, I think, 2015 or something. It was two nights in a row, and I was opening for Lake Street Dive. at was when I met them, and also when they rst heard me play and sing. en two years later, they were thinking about adding keys, and they gave me a call.

IT: So you had some sense of what they were about musically.

AB: Totally, yeah. I was a little trepidatious about adding keys, but it all worked out. For me it was kinda like getting there and nding places [in the songs] that worked for keys, and they had some ideas for what they wanted keys to do. And it was kind of an organic growth process; that rst year, 2017, they were callin’ me and saying, “Do you want to go on the road for a month?” And then I’d say “Yeah” and then I’d go back home for a couple weeks, and they’d say, “Hey, do you want to come out for June?” And so we just worked on the material that way, and they were slated to make a record (“Free Yourself Up”) at the end of 2017, and wanted me to come into the studio and join them for that, so I jumped on that record, And the following year, it worked out so well, I was o cially wedded into the band. And it’s been o to the races since then. Obviously, the last two years have been pretty complicated, but we’ve managed to play some shows, and this is our rst big summer tour, getting back into things.

IT: What was your COVID experience like?

AB: Man, it’s so crazy. I guess everyone shared the same thing, you know? We didn’t know how long it would be. At the beginning of 2020, I think we played a festival in Mexico. We got on a cruise ship [laughs], we did all the stu you’re not supposed to do, and no one got it, even as we were watching the news. And we actually got in the studio to make a record in February or March of 2020. And when we got home, lockdown started and it was all sort of improvised from there. We did some stu online, some stu on Zoom and some pre-recorded stu . It was a year of guring out how to keep making music; we were all sort of keeping separate.

IT: It seems like these vineyards and orchards are an emerging venue and they’re able to get high-priced talent in the summer.

AB: Yeah. I gotta say, on the road, it’s always a pleasure to do something di erent, like playing a winery or Beak & Ski . It’s a beautiful apple orchard, but also has a distillery. It’s just a change of pace from performing arts centers and theaters. Plus, last year when we were trying to do a tour, we were looking for as many outdoor venues as possible, and so places like that that have a beautiful space to play music is great.

Akie Bermiss (front right) and Lake Street Dive. (Photo: Provided)

Walk-ins welcome for glasses or bottles of wine or local beers Reservations recommended for tastings Sunset music series each Thursday resumes May 19 6-8 pm

Hours Starting May 1: Every Day 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 607-272-WINE (9463) www.SixMileCreek.com 3.5 miles East of The Commons, 1551 Slaterville Road (Rt. 79)

media activist, of “anti-Asian” and “antifeminist” criticism for what I had thought was my informed and not unkind skepticism regarding work by a local painter on themes of Asian-American history.

In that light — and with my characteristic guilelessness — indulge me with my account of Kacey Kim’s oil on canvas “Invasive Species.” e piece, which might be a self-portrait, depicts the head and upper body of a young woman, with long black hair and cartoonishly yellow skin. Around her — we see a corner suggesting the inside of a glass aquarium — swim numerous gold sh, as if through air rather than water. About par for the course here in straightforwardly painterly terms, the piece taps into a local vogue for what I have identi ed as a New Age revival of 19th century Symbolism — combining it with a yellow peril satire which may be either heavy-handed or “brave” and timely, depending on one’s proclivities.

It is always a treat to see the work of Jessica Warner, a local painter who continues to push still-life in unexpected and odd directions. A particular emphasis of her work for at least the past decade has been an attempt to present drawing and painting as equal and interchangeable. Although far from her strongest work, an untitled piece on paper here — combining gouache and watercolor with line drawing in blue pen — is compelling in its irresolution. Smudgy patches of paint in ochre and lemon yellow, lavender, and yellow-green sit heavy-handedly on a doodled, delicate landscape of repeated pattern taken from a textile design.

As well as being selected and arranged with some care, “Juried Exhibition” bene ts simply from the local unfamiliarity of so many of its artists. It is refreshing to see a downtown gallery continue to escape the closed loop of the overfamiliar.

Biggest lineup ever

CFCU Summer Concert Series returns to the Commons June 9

By Staff Report

Downtown Ithaca’s popular CFCU Summer Concert Series will begin next month with its biggest lineup ever, this year hosting 15 free concerts. Performances will be held from 6-8 p.m. each ursday (with the exception of one Wednesday show) from June 9-Sept. 15 at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Commons.

“Traditionally, we o ered 10 shows; since so many people love attending this concert series, we gured why not expand this celebration of live music by adding a few more performances to keep the outdoor entertainment going for a few more weeks,” Downtown Ithaca Alliance Special Events Director Scott Rougeau said. “As always, the Series is jam-packed with diverse local and regional talent that everyone may enjoy.” e series is lined with local favorites: Fall Creek Brass Band (brassfunk), Empire Kings (hip-hop), Kitestring (Heartfelt high energy rock), and e Gunpoets (hip-hop). Plus, Rose and the Bros (Americana/Zydeco/Cajun), Stone Cold Miracle (original soul), Sim Redmond Band (roots-rock, Afro-Caribbean and reggae) are making a return to the Series. e Big Takeover (Rocksteady, Reggae, Ska, Soul) from Hudson Valley is also returning to the series.

Plus, enjoy newcomers, Good Dog (country folk), Kevin Kinsella (reggae), Vee Da Bee (pop/rock and alternative with a twist of grunge), Maddy Walsh (vocalforward adult contemporary), New Planets ( lthy dance party), Free Boody Institute (groove & neo-funk), Cortadito (Son Montuno/Cuban country folk music), and Vieux Farka Toure, a Malian referred to as the “Hendrix of the Sahara” singer and guitarist who is the son of Grammy-winning Malian musician Ali Farka Touré.

CFCU Community Credit Union (CFCU) returns as title sponsor of the award-winning concert series.

“Supporting the Summer Concert Series has always been one of the biggest highlights of the summer for us at CFCU. We’re looking forward to seeing all the smiling faces and groovy dances all series long,” Luke Heptig, CFCU marketing and event specialist, said.

At the concerts, the concession stand will o er a selection of wines from Wagner Vineyards and beers from Saratoga Eagle. ere will also be non-alcoholic drink options.

For more dates and more information about the CFCU Summer Concert Series, visit downtownithaca.com.

The Gunpoets performing at another festival. (Photo: Provided) Fall Creek Brass Band at a previous Summer Concert Series. (Photo: Facebook)