That few of the bands in this summer's Concerts In The Park series are repeats from past summers makes Lansing's summer concert series unique this year.  Next Thursday (July 21) features Marc Berger and RIDE, a band that will bring a fascination with the American west and love of American musical roots to Myers Park.  Berger is a singer-songwriter who has performed all over the country.  His album, also titled RIDE, is based on his travels in the west. 

"The album combined my great affection for that world and my love of American music.  The west is kind of timeless.  There's something about it that appeals to people all over the world. it seems like it always will.  There are qualities and values that make that very attractive."

While Berger is now Ithaca-based, he grew up in New York City and Philadelphia.  When he was 21 he traveled to the west with a friend on a lark.  The experience was life changing.  It eventually led to an acoustic album of original songs that span styles from rock and roll to country, blues, and folk.

"We just wanted to go on a summer adventure and see the country, and I came back transformed," Berger says.  "For the next five years I chose destinations in the west and drove across the United States alone.  I became obsessed with that part of the world and became more and more aggressive about getting into the back country and on top of mountains.  During this time I had rock and roll bands in New York City.  Eventually these things converged and I got the idea of making this album.  All the songs have something to do with the romance of the American west.  It's kind of an acoustic record with testosterone.

Berger was influenced by the book, 'The Big Sky', by A. B. Guthrie.  It is set in the period before the settlers came out west, before cowboys, who went there to coexist with native Americans.

"He was speaking about what it feels like to be out there," Berger says.  "That's much more what I'm interested in, and what that album is trying to evoke.  It was not only lyrics and music, but also how you used the studio to produce recordings that will be visual and cinematic.  The subject demanded that.  That was the real challenge in making that album -- trying to make recordings where you didn't think about the fact that there were musicians playing, but it almost became an organic, sonic movie.  That is what I was going for with RIDE."

You can hear the album on Berger's Web site (click the 'Listen' link), and is available for purchase and download on several sites including iTunes, Amazon, Band Camp, cdbaby, and Google Play, and will be for sale at the concert.  It blends familiar western sound with other styles, transforming the sound so it draws you in, making the places they evoke more and more vivid.


The concert, of course, will feature the music from RIDE, and a preview of some tracks from his new album, currently in the studio.  He is making the album with Tony Garnier, who has been Bob Dylan's band leader and bassist since 1989.  The tracks are recorded in a studio owned by guitarist and producer Eric Amble in Brooklyn.  He is mixing the album and adding over-dubs in his home studio in Ithaca.

"We're going to be previewing a lot of the selections from that album in Lansing next Thursday as well.  That is also American roots style, but it rocks harder.  It's definitely going to be a genre-busting look at 'what is folk music'.  It traces back to the first American Artist, Walt Whitman.  It's about what folk music is and what its values should be."

Thursday's concert will feature a four piece band, but Berger performs solo and various configurations up to a seven piece band, mixing and matching musicians from a cadre of artists depending on where he is performing.

"My base of wonderful musicians that I work with depending on where I'm playing," he says.  "My upstate group I've played over 200 gigs with my guitar player, Rich DePaolo.  The rhythm section is Dan Lashkoff on drums and Rick Kline on bass.  Those are my go-to guys when I'm playing up here."

The Concert In The Park series is presented Thursday evenings at 6:30pm at the Myers Park bandstand.  Next up after Berger is Bad Ju Ju (July 28), The Destination band (August 4), Encore (August 11) and The Jeff Love Band (August 18).  The Friday concert series in Ludlowville Park, also at 6:30pm, features Dean's List (tonight, July 15), Paul 'Dr. K' Kempkes (July 22) and Marty & Shannon (July 29).

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