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Oneonta’s Arts Scene Growing, Helping City, Residents Thrive Page 8 J&D’s Wagon Wheel: Oneonta’s Home for Country Music Page 10 Ghost Hunting in Upstate New York Page 12 AND MORE!

Music, Art & Entertainment

The

WINTER EDITION

Music, Art & Entertainment

C O N T E N T S

A Note from the Director.......................................................................................... 2 Schedule of Indoor Shows....................................................................................... 3 Planning on a NYE in The Big Apple?...................................................................... 7 Oneonta’s Arts Scene Growing, Helping City, Residents Thrive................................. 8 What’s Goin’ On....................................................................................................... 9 J&D’s Wagon Wheel: Oneonta’s Home for Country Music...................................... 10 Fashion, Art, Societal Influence............................................................................ 11 Ghost Hunting in Upstate New York...................................................................... 12 Loss of Oneonta Theatre has Left a Huge Hole in City........................................... 14 Music Modernization Act..................................................................................... 15 Published by The Daily Star, The Scene is your guide to arts and entertainment in Central New York. Free copies are distributed throughout Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie and Chenango counties.

From the Director The holidays are upon us, time for family, friends, food and some kicking back. There are plenty of choices in this issue that will give you some food for thought in this beautiful state of New York. Count your blessings, keep warm, and let the arts into your life!

The Scene FALL/WINTER 2018

DIRECTOR Lonny Chin lchin@thedailystar.com (607) 441-7204 GRAPHIC DESIGNER Tracy Bender PUBLISHER Fred Scheller fscheller@thedailystar.com (607) 441-7214

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Valerie Secor vsecor@thedailystar.com (607) 441-7235

Member of The Associated Press and CNHI News Service

Lonny Chin

www.thesceneonline.com or check us out at www.facebook.com/OTownScene/ 102 Chestnut St., Oneonta, NY 13820

ENTERTAINMENT

FALL/WINTER/SPRING

SCHEDULE Barclays Center

ALT. 92.3 Presents Not So Silent Night GHOST Post Malone Panic! At The Disco Elton John

Blue Cross Arena Rochester, NY

Nov. 29 Dec. 1 Jan. 17-21 Mar. 21

| | | |

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Comedy Showdown Disney On Ice Sesame Street Live

Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn, NY

SHOWS

Brooklyn Bowl

Brooklyn, NY

Dec. 6 | Dec. 15 | Dec. 29 & 30 | Jan. 16 | Mar. 8 & 9 |

DOOR IN Brooklyn Steel

Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn Steel Brooklyn, NY

Nov. 28 Nov. 29 Nov. 30 Dec. 1 Dec. 2 Dec. 3 Dec. 4 Dec. 6 Dec. 7

Brooklyn, NY

Dec. 8 Dec. 9 Dec. 10 Dec. 13 Dec. 14 Dec. 15 Dec. 18 Dec. 23 Jan. 5 Jan. 6 Jan. 9 Jan. 11 Jan. 17 Jan. 18 Jan. 19 Jan. 25 Jan. 26 Jan. 31 Feb. 1 Feb. 2 Feb. 5 Feb. 6 Feb. 7 Feb. 8 Feb. 9 Feb. 10 Feb. 11 Feb. 14 Feb. 15 Feb. 16 Feb. 19 Feb. 20 Feb. 21 Feb. 22 Feb. 23 Feb. 27 Feb. 28 Mar. 1 Mar. 2

More Shows Pages 4, 5 & 6

FALL/WINTER 2018 The Scene

The Capitol Theater Port Chester, NY

The Egg

Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena & Broome County Forum Theatre Binghamton, NY

Dec. 6 | Cirque Musica Holiday Presents: Wonderland Dec. 15 | Champions of Magic Dec. 16 | Broadway in Binghamton Presents: The King And I Dec. 22 | The Nutcracker Dec. 30 | Binghamton Theater Organ Society’s Mini Film Fest Jan. 27 | Broadway in Binghamton Presents: Chicago Feb. 10 | Binghamton Theater Organ Society Presents: The Sheik Feb. 28 | Casting Crowns Mar. 14 | Binghamton Philharmonic Presents: Beatles Classical Mystery Tour Mar. 19 | Paw Patrol Live! Race to the Rescue Mar. 20 | Paw Patrol Live! Race to the Rescue Mar. 23 | Binghamton Philharmonic Presents: Wagner’s Ring Cycle In One Night Mar. 24 | Broadway in Binghamton Presents: Finding Neverland Mar. 29 | Sesame Street Live! Mar. 30 | Sesame Street Live! Apr. 1 | The Harlem Globetrotters Apr. 7 | Binghamton Theater Organ Society Presents: Alex Jones Apr. 28 | Tri Cities Opera Presents: H.M.S. Pinafore

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The Scene FALL/WINTER 2018

Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri. Lunch Specials 11AM - 3PM Dinner 4:30PM - 9:30PM

CLOSED WEDNESDAYS

Sat. 11:00AM - 9:30PM 1420-362965 Sun. 12:00PM - 9:00PM

The Haunt

Madison Square Garden

Ithaca, NY

Nov. 29 Nov. 30 Dec. 4 Dec. 11 Dec. 13 Dec. 15 Dec. 21 Dec. 22 Dec. 27 Dec. 30 Jan. 24 Jan. 29 Feb. 12 Mar. 9

The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden Manhattan, NY

Dec. 1 | Ne-Yo w/s/g Keyshia Cole Dec. 3 | John Legend - A Legendary Christmas Dec. 6 | A Bathing Ape Presents Bape Heads Show

Jupiter Hall Albany, NY

Nov. 28 Nov. 29 Nov. 30 Dec. 5 Dec. 6 Dec. 7 Dec. 8 Dec. 15 Dec. 28 Dec. 29 Jan. 5 Feb. 11

Manhattan, NY

Nov. 28 Nov. 29 Nov. 30 Dec. 5 Dec. 7 Dec. 10 Dec. 11 Dec. 12 Dec. 13 Dec. 19 Dec. 28 Dec. 29 Dec. 30 Dec. 31 Jan. 19 Jan. 20 Jan. 24 Jan. 31 Feb. 14 Feb. 16 Feb. 20 Feb. 25 Mar. 5 Mar. 6 Mar. 8 Mar. 11 Mar. 18 Mar. 21 Mar. 27

Palace Theatre Albany, NY

The Palladium Worcester, MA

Nov. 29 Dec. 1 Dec. 2 Dec. 8 Dec. 9 Dec. 12 Dec. 15 Dec. 29 Dec. 30 Dec. 31 Jan. 19 Feb. 8 Feb. 15 Feb. 22 Mar. 8 Mar. 9 Mar. 10 Mar. 30 Mar. 3

Playstation Theatre Manhattan, NY

FALL/WINTER 2018 The Scene

| Bret Michaels

State Theatre Ithaca, NY

Times Union Center Albany, NY

The Scene FALL/WINTER 2018

Clifton Park, NY

Verona, NY

Monticello, NY

Dec. 30

Upstate Concert Hall

Turning Stone Resort & Casino

Resorts World Casino

DOOR IN SHOWS

Dec. 6 Dec. 7 Dec. 8 Dec. 23 Dec. 29 Dec. 30 Jan. 3 Jan. 12 Jan. 16 Feb. 2 Feb. 13 Feb. 22 Feb. 23 Feb. 25 Feb. 27 Feb. 28 Mar. 8

Westcott Theatre Syracuse, NY

Nov. 28 Nov. 29 Nov. 30 Dec. 1 Dec. 7 Dec. 8 Dec. 14 Dec. 21 Dec. 22 Jan. 12 Jan. 25 Jan. 26 Jan. 29 Jan. 30 Feb. 5 Feb. 12 Feb. 14 Feb. 16 Feb. 23 Mar. 9 Mar. 27

Planning on a NYE in The Big Apple? Other than watching the ball drop, here are some ideas: u The New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center u Barge Music ft. Bach & Vivaldi Concertos and Sonatas at The Brooklyn Waterfront u New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine u BangOn! NYC Presents: Time + Space NYE 2018 Giant Warehouse Party ft. Some of the Top Music Producers in NYC’s Nightlife Scene u Phish at MSG - The Annual 4 Night Run u Bubbles & Bass Present: Seize the Day 2018 - Great Underground House & Techno u Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center! u Billy Joel - Nassau Coliseum u Post Malone - Barclays Center There’s a ton of other shindigs going on, these are just some of them! Check out Page 9 for NYE Events in Oneonta!

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Oneonta’s Arts Scene Growing, Helping City, Residents Thrive

By Carol Mandigo

fascinating. Treadwell artist Frank Anthony traveled with the nomads through Mongolia and painted the horses he saw there. Peter Blue, a Davenport EMT, writes beautiful tunes on the Swedish Nyckelharpa in honor of the friends and neighbors who didn’t survive a transport. Charles Hartley taught himself to oil paint after retiring as a physics and astronomy professor at Hartwick College, and now his photorealistic artwork sells for thousands.

he Oneonta art scene has been slowly building for several years. In 2011, Mayor Dick Miller organized an arts and entertainment summit with a vision to turn the area into a hub for the arts as a way of fostering economic development. Mayor Herzig and the city have continued the momentum and have attracted funding for creating an arts and entertainment district downtown. At the same time, vacant storefronts and empty upper floor apartments abound and some building owners have no desire or incentive to upgrade their properties.

Art, poetry and music bring people together across cultures and provide a way to discuss difficult issues in a way that people can understand and empathize with. The 2018 LEAF Art and Poetry Contest, which highlights issues surrounding addiction, received 250 entries from local artists, both professional and amateur. Their poetry and artist statements ranged from bone chilling to transcendent and were viewed by thousands in shows at the Fenimore Art Museum, CANO Gallery and others.

To help tackle the problem, the city is working with a design firm to help create a meaningful brand for Oneonta and provide opportunities for new signage, murals and mosaics. Oneonta is joining cities all over the country who have welcomed the arts and culture as a way to improve lifestyle, attract business and boost the economy. The strategy has a high rate of success. A report released in March by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Endowment for the Arts found that the arts contribute more than $700 billion to the U.S. economy annually, four times more than the agricultural sector. In addition, the U.S. exports $20 billion more in arts and culture than it imports, resulting in a positive trade balance. In New York, the arts employ almost half a million people and contribute $114.1 billion dollars to the state economy, nearly $6,000 for every New York resident, according to . Otsego County has a long artistic history. A walk through the Fenimore Art Museum’s Native American collection is a reminder that art and design have been valued in the region since pre-historic times. Today the area boasts world class opera, music, dance, literature, poetry, theater and film. We have belly dancers, fire spinners, jugglers, magicians and tattoo artists galore. On any given Wednesday at the B Side 8

The Scene FALL/WINTER 2018

CAROL MANDINGO

Treadwell artist Franklin Anthony works on a painting in his studio.

Ballroom, you can find Detroit jazz legend Charles Eubanks performing alongside Bassett physicians and local youths. The Black Oak Tavern features alternative, funk and everything cutting edge. The colleges host programs in fashion, art and music industry. This year’s Stagecoach Run studio tour included nearly 70 artists and it was just the tip of a very large iceberg. For each local artist, there is a backstory and the ideas and experiences that motivate the work are

Oneonta’s award-winning dance schools have produced Broadway performers, such as Carleigh Bettiol, and, even when they don’t pursue a career in the arts, local kids who study music, dance and theater learn professionalism, discipline and how to communicate ideas in a forceful way. These skills are valued by employers in every field, and many local business leaders, such as Ben Guenther of Five Star Subaru, support the arts for practical reasons but also for a personal love of creativity. Oneonta is on a path to develop a strong, interconnected community of artists of all disciplines and the city, the colleges, the foundations and businesses are all pulling in the same direction. In the meantime, although there are still many empty storefronts, Main Street is showing signs that it can sustain businesses such as the Green Toad Bookstore, Artisan’s Guild and Underground Attic. Oneonta is a long way from being Hudson or Saratoga, but it has all the ingredients to make it happen. We just have to be creative.

B Side Ballroom & Supper Club (Oneonta, NY)

WHAT’S

GOIN’ ON

Nov. 28 John Scott Gillespie Nov. 29 Beatles/Sabbath Band SUNY ONEONTA MUSIC STUDENTS

CONDUCTOR: MARK PAWKETT

Dec. 1 Dec. 5 Dec. 6

John Davey Trio with v/s/g John Stowell Stan Fox Band (Jazz & Pop Standards) Woodwind Ensemble

Mothers of Intention - Playing the Best of Zappa SUNY ONEONTA MUSIC STUDENTS CONDUCTOR: MARK PAWKETT

Dec. 7 Dec. 8 Dec. 5 Dec. 12

Dec. 15 Dec. 19 Feb. 2

Frog Hollow James & Bish (DJ Dance Night) SUNDAY SUPPERCLUB Sweetback Sisters Christmas Country Show SONGWRITERS ROUND Hosted by RANDY MIRITELLO. Ft. Thomas Gorman of the band BELLY, Mike Powell & Charlie Orlando both from Syracuse

Stephen Claire & The Pushbacks Doreen & The Soul Survivors w/ ROB ROMAN on PIANO

HOP CITY HELLCATS

Community Arts Network of Oneonta (Oneonta, NY)

Dec. 7 Art Exhibit: House & Home freepik.com

Feather & Stone (Walton, NY)

Dec. 1 Fat Bastard

J&D’s Wagon Wheel (Oneonta, NY)

Foothills Performing Arts Center (Oneonta, NY)

Dec. 1 Deana Carter Dec. 15 The Metropolitan Opera by HD Live - La Traviata (Verde) Jan. 12 The Metropolitan Opera by HD Live - Adriana Lecouvreur Jan. 13 2019 Wedding Expo Feb. 2 The Metropolitan Opera by HD Live - Carmen (Bizet) Feb. 8 Stand Up Comedy Returns To The Foothills (Chris Coccia, Emcee, Aaron David Ward, & Jeremy Goff) Mar. 2 The Metropolitan Opera by HD Live La Fille du Regiment Mar. 30 The Metropolitan Opera by HD Live Die Walkure (Wagner) May 11 The Metropolitan opera by HD Live Dialogues de Carmelites

Dec. 1 The Jason Wicks Band Dec. 6 Line Dance w/ Avalon ($10 fee includes dance instruction and

1 complimentary beverage)

Dec. 6 Dec. 8 Dec. 13 Dec. 14 Dec. 15

Trivia Night LAZY II OPEN KARAOKE hosted by Northern Star Productions SUNDOWN ver Santa Visits The Wagon Wheel 1:30pm-4pm

(Family Friendly Event- Get your pictures taken with Santa. Presents, hot cocoa, cookie decorating and craft making will be provided at no cost to all children who attend!)

Dec. 15 Dec. 22 Dec. 27 Dec. 29 Dec. 31

J&D’s 3 Year Anniversary Bash! Hosted by Northern Star Productions Zach Rowland Country Karaoke Marc Ryan New Year’s Eve Party

The Shire Pub (Delhi, NY)

Dec. 14 Dec. 15 Dec. 21 Dec. 28 Dec. 31 Jan. 25

Talking Machine Trio Toy Drive & Ugly Sweater Party w/ DJ Tito My So Called Band Hummel’s Mug NYE Karaoke Bash w/ DJ Tito Enormous Little Things w/s/g Ry.

Upstate Bar & Grill (Cooperstown, NY)

Jan. 19 Tompkins Drive

FALL/WINTER 2018 The Scene

J&D’s Wagon Wheel:

Oneonta’s Home for Country Music P By Julie Beers

eople say you either love or hate country music. Well, today’s people are proving to love it much more than hate it! According to the Country Music Association, more than 107 million teens and adults in the U.S. listen to country music today. CMA also says s that 42 percent of the U.S. population are country music consumers.

Being lovers of country music ourselves, my husband and I saw the need for a place locally where people could go to enjoy country music, as well as, food and drinks. As a result (and a little hard work) we opened J&D’s Wagon Wheel in Oneonta on Dec. 18, 2015. J&D’s Wagon Wheel is the host today of many country music events throughout the year. Country Karaoke is a widely popular event that is hosted by Northern Star Productions every other Thursday night from 8 p.m. to midnight. Numerous people come to sing their favorite country tunes, while others enjoy just watching those perform. J&D’s also holds an annual open karaoke contest every April in which local contestants sing songs to earn points for weekly prizes and for a chance to be entered into the grand finale for larger prizes and trophies. Live local bands can be 10

The Scene FALL/WINTER 2018

seen and heard performing most weekends at J&D’s, as well as some country duos and solo artists. Lazy II, The Jason Wicks Band, SUNDOWN, The Rylee Lum Band, The Barnyard Saints and The Brad Collins Band are some of the bigger acts you can witness performing. J&D’s also features diverse musical performances from The Ampersand Project, Marc Ryan, Everett Farrell and Zach Rowland. During the summer months, out-ofstate country musicians seek out J&D’s Wagon Wheel as “the place to play” while they are visiting and performing at festivals and fairs in upstate New York. Some of these musicians include

Ben Whisler from Nashville, Tennessee, Canaan James from Buies Creek, North Carolina, and The Mike Knapp Band from San Antonio, Texas. Music fans are sure to enjoy a mixture of old, classic, modern, and outlaw country music when attending a musical performance at J&D’s. J&D’s also plays host to a multitude of other events during the year. Line dance classes are now be offered monthly. Trivia nights are being conducted every other Thursday night. Holiday and themed parties are offered throughout the year, such as, the Blue Chair Bay Beach Party, Winter Blues Party, Red Solo Cup Party,

Fall Hoedown, Halloween Skaraoke Party, and the New Year’s Eve Party. Other monthly events held at J&D’s include paint & sips, fundraisers, craft making events, tap takeovers and beverage tastings. Join us at J&D’s Wagon Wheel as we celebrate our three-year anniversary. SUNDOWN will perform a four-hour set starting at 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14. On Saturday, Dec. 15, Santa will visiting all the good boys and girls from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Pictures, presents, hot cocoa, cookie decorating and craft making will be provided at no cost. Then Northern Star Productions will host the anniversary bash from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. playing all our favorite country songs! While not everyone who passes through the doors of J&D’s Wagon Wheel is an avid country music fan, many do enjoy our country atmosphere. With 19 beers on tap and a great American food menu, people always find something to love at J&D’s.

JULIE BEERS

J&D’s Wagon Wheel is located at 142 Main St. and 18 Water St. in Oneonta.

J&D’s Wagon Wheel is at 142 Main St. and 18 Water St. in Oneonta. Business hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. We are closed Sundays.

Fashion, Art, Societal Influence By: Sierra Sangetti-Daniels

Most people feel uncomfortable wearing a hat at first. But, once you start wearing hats, it becomes not a big thing anymore.”

The Underground Attic is a Vintage Boutique located at 273 Main Street in Oneonta, NY. Meet Boutique Founder, Elizabeth Raphaelson: 26, Laurens, NY 2014 SUNY Oneonta Graduate of the Fashion Program.

PHOTOS BY SIERRA SANGETTI-DANIELS ILLUSTRATION BY TRACY BENDER

There’s a lot of stuff in the world, let’s help eliminate the creation of more.” FALL/WINTER 2018 The Scene

GHOST Hunting in Upstate New York

A full spectrum video camera image of Vincent Mussolino investigating potential paranormal activity.

PHOTOS BY VINCENT MUSSOLINO

ow people arrive at the point where they decide that they want to actively seek out something that is not well-understood, that is mostly in the dark, involves expensive equipment that you pay for, requires lots of driving at your own expense, is mostly done in old crooked houses where you could fall or hit your head, and is not even believed to be a “real thing” by a large percentage of the population, needs at least a dedicated paragraph. My own personal journey to that point came about by having had a number of experiences throughout my life that were beyond logical explanation. Through those experiences, I developed a curiosity for what could have caused these events, even before I came to call myself a paranormal investigator. I know that many of you reading this have probably had experiences that you cannot explain to some degree. For me, it had always been something I believed possible, but was not sure that it wasn’t just my imagination, even though some of the events were compel12

The Scene FALL/WINTER 2018

By Vincent Mussolino

ling enough of their own accord to defy a rational explanation. It is my nature though to look for something else that could explain an event rather than attribute it to a paranormal explanation. I am an evidence person and need some way to quantify an event. If it is an event that I can explain away, I am not convinced. The evidence that confirmed for me that there is indeed something other than just my imagination, found me a number of years ago in an apartment on the Upper Westside of New York City. Those events provided the proof that this skeptical person needed to assure me that I am not wasting my time and money trying to document something that does not exist. I know it is real. Since I have been actively ghost hunting, I have yet to experience anything on the scale or intensity of the moving objects that I was a co-witness to in that apartment. Yet, that has not stopped me from continuing to search for what I can document as empirical evidence. How do we go about finding evidence? We first need a place to investigate. I say we, as I am part of a group

that call ourselves The Paranormal Prospectors. There are four of us: Kerry Hart, Jason Schwartz, Kevin Hart and myself. We primarily come by cases through word of mouth, and through our Facebook page. Usually the cases fall into one of two categories: Either the people want us to come because they are afraid, and want an explanation as to what is happening to them; or they are just curious, feel no threat, and want to see if we can document what it is they are experiencing. We interview these people to determine the nature of what is happening to them. This helps us to determine how we might approach the case in terms of where to set up our equipment, and what approach is best suited to capturing evidence. Part of that pre-investigation interview involves going through what the “client” is experiencing, and then trying to “debunk,” or find an explanation for how an event might occur that does not involve anything paranormal. We will try to replicate the event. The client may claim that a door will open on its own. We try to replicate that, and many times we do find a rational explanation. The latch does not work, the floor is out of plumb, a vacuum is created when another door is opened, etc. It is the only way that we can be sure that what we document is real phenomena. What equipment do we use? There is a load of specialized equipment that is designed specifically for ghost hunting. I’ll start with video cameras. These specialized cameras are modified to use infrared, and more recently, full spectrum illumination. If you have seen any of the ghost shows on TV, you will understand that these specialized cameras can capture what is visible beyond our normal visual spectrum of light. The main cameras that we use are modified full-spectrum Go Protype cameras. They are very small, and have amazingly sensitive internal microphones. We will sometimes use a camera for each room of a house that we are investigating, sometimes multiple cameras per room, including attics and basements. These cameras are capable of Ultra High (4K) resolution, so this benefits us when we have to make the image larger to determine

My own personal journey to that point came about by having had a number of experiences throughout my life that were beyond logical explanation. Through those experiences, I developed a curiosity for what could have caused these events, even before I came to call myself a paranormal investigator. VINCENT MUSSOLINO

if what we have captured is evidence, or just a bug or dust. If there is a large space, like a big theater, we also make use of a surveillance system that uses infrared cameras. One of the main things that we capture with these cameras are what is referred to as “orbs.” That does not mean that they are orb shaped per say, as they come in all shapes and sizes. Many times people will see what they think is an Orb captured in a photo that they have taken, but actually what they have captured is just dust or an insect. Orbs are self-illuminating, and they can be very bright. We define orbs that we capture on video by “intelligent” movement. After looking at hundreds of hours of video footage, you learn to identify what is an insect, and what is an orb. We have captured orbs that have an audio component, that make some sort of sound, including spoken words. I had an incident where I asked an entity to “manifest” right in front of me. At the moment I did not notice anything that happened, but when the video was reviewed later, an orb appears in front of me, and a woman’s voice exclaims “here I am.” We have had many incidents where

an orb appears, and gives an “intelligent” response to something that is happening at that moment. As one example from a recent hunt in Sidney, a dog starts barking in the background, and an orb stops its movement, and a man’s voice, with a very old-fashioned way of speaking says ”dog.” There was no human on that floor of a very large 200-year-old house. Voice Recorders: For the most part, we use standard digital voice recorders. They are very sensitive, and we usually place them in every room. We have discovered that we frequently capture EVP, Electronic Voice Phenomena, while we are setting up our equipment, so we set these voice recorders up before we set up any other equipment. We have discovered that when using multiple recorders in the same room, that EVP are usually only captured within about five feet of a recorder, even though these recorders are sensitive enough to capture the slightest whisper. However, if a disembodied voice is heard with the naked ear, the recorders will hear that voice based on the proximity to the recorders. It might sound like a whisper to one recorder, and be clearly heard by the recorder closer to the origin of

Image of an orb shown magnified 800 percent.

the voice. We are very careful to control sounds on an investigation. We do not whisper when we speak, so there is no confusion with evidence we may capture. We announce when we enter a room and leave, so that footsteps are not captured without identifying that it is us. When we do capture any audio evidence, we check our cameras for human activity in that room during that time period. Spirit Box: This device has been an amazing tool for capturing audio evidence. It is a device that scans AM and FM radio stations at various speeds. At the fastest rates, it can scan approximately 10 or more radio stations per second, backwards or forwards, and if desired, FM and AM simultaneously. The device creates a white noise that seems to provide a means for entities to communicate. We are often stunned by what we hear, and can even hold a conversation with an entity. The first time that we used the device, we were investigating a house near Walton. We had the device set up in a room where the client had noted activity. We had also set up a voice recorder beside the Spirit Box. As we all entered the room, a woman’s voice clearly said: “Come forward, closer by my bed.” We were amazed. This sentence would have been spoken over about 30 radio stations. We interacted with this entity, and got several responses, including a laugh. A week after we were there, one of the occupants of the house had something climb in to be with them. We were unfortunately not invited back. The Spirit Box has been a fantastic tool for us, and we usually use it at the beginning of our investigations. We have noted that we do not always get responses to the box where we are located in the home. We sometimes get responses from entities to our questions in other rooms in the house. We will discover in our investigation review of recorders that a specific answer was given to a question that we had asked in another room using the Spirit Box. We also will go through a whole session and get nothing from the Spirit Box, or we may start getting responses and then nothing. SEE GHOST, Page 15 FALL/WINTER 2018 The Scene

By Randy Miritello

hen I first got to Oneonta in 1993, the live music scene was pretty hopping. We had Subduing Mara, Water Street Blues Band, Slinky Trip and The Rubber Band, just a few of the great local bands, along with regional bands such as Hypnotic Clambake, Donna the Buffalo, The Blue Rags and The Ominus Seapods — each very different stylistically and original in what they brought to the music scene here. The Autumn Café and Diana’s were the most frequented downtown venues, and The Black Oak was just really starting to have music (my first gig in town was there on New Years Eve 1994) but there were a dozen roadhouse bars in a 20-mile radius that you could go to for to for live music outside of town. The Oneonta Theatre was a movie theater at that point, running the films of the day and during the holidays showing free movies for kids on Saturday afternoons. Fast forward 20 some years! The

The Scene FALL/WINTER 2018

Loss of Oneonta Theatre has Left a Huge Hole in City

Black Oak still does music, now the B Side Ballroom is THE place to see original live music in downtown and the Oneonta Theatre has closed after being remodeled back to its former glory as a performance theater for a run that lasted about six years, under the ownership of Tom Cormier. I had the pleasure and privilege of performing there many times both as headliner and opening for legends, such as The Mavericks and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and it was always cool to play there and have your name on the outside marquee.

Somehow it made Oneonta seem bigger and more like a destination to see people lined up outside for a show and a tour bus parked around the corner- I guess because it was a destination. People came to town to see the shows, whether it was a sold out performance of Steve Dillon’s theater group performing a stellar telling of Frankenstein or, Dark Star Orchestra re-creating a concert of the Grateful Dead from 1985, the theater was the venue that hosted that kind of variety and gave it a proper home.

Now the theater has its issues — old heating systems, mold in the dressing rooms, some design flaws in the current layout of the lobby and just general building decay but I still see it as a part of the future of Oneonta, not just musically but, economically. It would be a shame to let another part of our past be torn down, like the Oneonta 1&2 movie theater or Broad Street, to make way for another parking lot or tasteless modern structure when so much potential stands there. Here’s an idea — maybe the city should buy the building, if Mr. Cormier can accept a reasonable price and walk away from his continued loss, and put a small fraction of the DRI money into making the space energy efficient and affordable to operate. Then work with SUNY Oneonta to develop an internship program that runs all of the aspects of programming, since they have a music industry program, which requires an internship to graduate. What an education to run an actual working theater from booking to stage production! Then when you have a functioning building (besides the already functional apartment rentals upstairs) find a suitable buyer and finance that person through a low-interest loan back to the city. I know this is a very simplified sounding solution to what is a much more complex problem but, that is the dream I have for not just the music and art scene of Oneonta’s future but for the continued economic development of our downtown. Now get out and support live music!

GHOST continued from Page 13 EMF Detectors: It is documented that certain fields of energy created by electrical devices can have an effect on human beings that enter the field. They can feel paranoia, and can feel as though they are being watched, and any number of effects can be induced. Before we begin an investigation, we will use a device that measures electromagnetic fields. We go over the whole house to see if we can identify any of these fields that can be caused by any number of appliances or electrical wires. That way we might be able to rule out, or explain any issues reported by the client that occurred in one of these areas. Entities seem to have an electrical field associated with them, if we rule out places that had no EMF before our investigation, and we encounter EMF in that location during the investigation, it could mean that there is an entity present. We have had very old homes with no electricity, yet find some areas of the home will have strong EMF fields that move. The devices that we use to detect EMF are also outfitted with GEO sensors. These are very sensitive devices that can capture the slightest movement through sensing vibration. We put one in every room, and have them visible to a video camera, so we can see if it is activated and try to figure out if any other evidence associated with it was captured. They are also fitted with temperature displays. If the temperature drops a certain number of degrees in a short time span, it will give an alert. We have found that a sharp drop in temperature can indicate the presence of an entity. Rem Pods: These devices create an electrical field that if broken, give an alert through lights and sound. We will set these devices up strategically to see if they are interacted with. We will sometimes set one up and ask for an entity to touch it. We demonstrate for them and assure them that it will not harm them. We try to make sure that we explain that all of the devices that we make use of, some with bright lights, and sounds, are not harmful to the entities. I sometimes refer to the antenna of the Rem Pod as a silver stick, and then touch it to show them how they can light it up. Imagine the fear that someone from 200 years ago might feel if they saw this sort of technology? Something that they had no reference point to in their lifetimes. We want them to be comfortable

with us and our gear so they feel free to interact with us. Mobile Connect Device: If any of you have connect devices that you use to play games with, you know that it maps you and your surroundings. The way it does this is that it emits thousands of laser points that show your specific movement. We use a device that incorporates the connect, and a small monitor, that used in concert with software, allow us to see figures in “stick figure form,” that we might not otherwise be able to see. If you point it at a person, you will see him mapped in a stick figure form, but if you point it at what you think is an empty space, and you see some sort of stick figure form being mapped, you could be looking at an entity being mapped by the lasers. Trigger Devices: We frequently use trigger devices. As an example, if we believe that we are dealing with the entity of a child, we will use dolls or balls. We set them up in a controlled environment that we know does not have a slopping floor, or any other physical or architectural attribute that may affect our experiment. We will place a camera facing that spot, along with voice recorders and EMF detectors in hopes of capturing any interaction that may occur. We very commonly will use objects in our Spirit Box sessions. We will hold up a ball in our right hand and ask: “What am I holding in my right hand.” We have gotten responses that we are holding a ball. It is interesting to note that when we ask the color of the ball, we have not had much luck. They will say blue, when it is red. If you ask again, you will get another incorrect response. We have also had responses that seem to indicate that an entity is guessing, and doesn’t actually know what you have in your hand. We are continually learning new approaches, and growing in our understanding of how we can facilitate interaction with entities. New devices, and ways to use existing devices are always a topic of discussion and experiment with us. We hope to better understand this phenomena, and never seek to make a situation worse for a client. We only seek to try to understand and document this fascinating phenomena. We live in a mysterious world and cannot help but strive to learn more about it.

Music Modernization Act (#MakeMusicGreatAgain?)

On Oct. 11, President Trump signed the Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, or Music Modernization Act. The act is composed of several bills that were previously brought to Congress with intentions of updating music copyright law. The MMA will essentially help artists collect the money they are owed for royalties and licensing in today’s digital-streaming era. Supported by the majority of songwriters and publishers, MMA also enforces The Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, & Important Contributions to Society Act, or CLASSICS Act, for recordings made prior to 1972. The Allocation for Musical By Lonny Chin Producers Act is also a part of the legislation under the MMA. The Music Modernization Act, the first title of the act, was brought up to the House of Representatives in December 2017 by Rep. Bob Goodlatte and then to the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch in January 2018. Both versions aimed to streamline licensing and royalty payouts by establishing a nonprofit governing agency that will create and control a digital database of mechanical license owners, setting a “fair pay value rate” standard which all digital platforms will be held to, and making sure that the agency will be compensating the artists in a timely manner. In the past, licensing required physical letters. Now everything can be done electronically, which will speed the process up and allow artists to attain copyright and get paid faster. Sound recordings created before Feb. 15, 1972, were not covered under U.S. Copyright Law, which meant that every state had to pass laws on protecting recordings. This made paying royalties and enforcing copyright very difficult. The CLASSICS Act states that sound recordings made before to 1972 are now copyrighted until Feb. 15, 2067. The goal is to guarantee that artists will now be compensated for their recordings made before 1972. The Allocation for Musical Producers Act requires any person who is part of the creative process will be paid their royalties. Before 1995, the performers and artists were entitled to 45 percent of the performance royalty. The producers, mixers and engineers, who play an imperative role in the creation process, would have to collect their share from that 45%. The AMP Act now gives studio professionals recognition in federal copyright law where they have the right to collect digital royalties. SoundExchange, a nonprofit collective rights organization established by U.S. Congress, will be distributing these royalties. This Act has just recently been signed, I am sure there will be meaningful opinions and roadblocks along the way, but this is one of the largest reforms to copyright law in decades! It seems like it has nothing but good intentions, but we will see what happens. Only time will tell. FALL/WINTER 2018 The Scene

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