Valley Rising aims to showcase Geneseo as a music destination 

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Joel Fedkiw didn’t think much would come from a gig his band, Dirty Blanket, booked in Geneseo one March evening. It was during school break in a college town, and he wasn’t sure if the group’s bluegrass-jam stylings had much draw, even 30 miles west of their Canandaigua home base.

The banjo player's worries, as luck would have it, were unfounded.

“That show at the [Geneseo] Riviera theater ended up selling out,” Fedkiw said. “We just had an amazing night, and it turned out to be such an awesome show.”

A year and a half later, the band will headline the town’s first-ever Valley Rising Festival of Music and Art on Saturday, Sept. 7, sharing the bill with fellow roots-y regional acts Ric Robertson Band, Public Water Supply, Flying Object and more.

Since that Riviera show, Dirty Blanket has made Geneseo a regular stop in its gigging around the Finger Lakes. The five-piece band played two nights at Drumroll Stage + Sushi Pub to celebrate its new album, “Travelin’ Time,” in April.


By Fedkiw’s account, music fans in the region benefit from the hard work of Jeremy Grace and Chuck Salvaggio. The two musicians, who regularly back up local singer-songwriter Adrianna Noone (another Valley Rising performer), co-run Geneseo Jam Kitchen, the organization behind the festival.

“In this Central-to-Western New York/Finger Lakes region, Geneseo currently is probably one of the best spots, and that's all thanks to Chuck and Jeremy,” Fedkiw said.

Since the pair co-founded Geneseo Jam Kitchen in March 2022, Grace and Salvaggio have aimed to, in the former’s words, “build a cultural vibe in Geneseo.” They started small, revitalizing the historical early 20th century Riviera theater on Main Street and booking acts like Tyler Westcott’s Folkface and Into the Now.

Then, they added two more venues: Drumroll Stage and the Wadsworth Homestead, a country manor estate dating to 1804 located across from the SUNY Geneseo campus. The past 29 months have seen plenty of promising success.

“Both Chuck and I live in Geneseo, and we love the community,” Grace said. “Both of us, for a long time, scratched our heads and wondered why there wasn't a slightly more dynamic live music scene in Geneseo, given the beauty of the valley and some of the great venues around, and I think those things shaped our vision.”

Their efforts so far will culminate in Valley Rising, a single-day fest set to run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Wadsworth Homestead. In addition to the aforementioned performers, Dori Freeman and Buzzo All Stars round out the lineup.

The show itself feels more like a victory lap, given that Grace and Salvaggio have built up solid relationships with most of the musical acts. (Fedkiw said Salvaggio and Dirty Blanket guitarist Max Flansburg are fishing buddies.) The origins of Valley Rising stem from Grace’s own backyard.

“He's got a particular spot on his property that kind of sets up like an amphitheater, so he's always dreamed of doing a festival,” Salvaggio said.

Last year’s Hoochenanny Whiskey Festival at Geneseo Village Park provided a template. When organizer Tommy Burnett declined to put on that fete in 2024, Grace and Salvaggio stepped in to try their own. They dreamed up Valley Rising as a natural outgrowth of regular Thursday shows they’ve been booking on the Wadsworth’s 40-foot grand balcony porch.


They view it as a trial run for bolder experiments down the line. On paper, Valley Rising lasts one day, but complementary concerts around town make it feel bigger. Thursday, Sept. 5 sees Sim Redmond Band performing at the Wadsworth, while Ric Robertson and Aaron Lipp take the stage along with Adrianna Noone and Elaina Alston for an acoustic show at the Riviera on Friday, Sept. 6.

“We're hoping to build this over time into something that looks a little bit more like a two- or three-day type of festival operation,” Grace said.

A multiple-day fest means camping, which requires county sanitation permits, along with larger logistical concerns like food, parking and insurance. Hence, they’ve started small — with a core mission in mind.

“I always felt that there's so much incredible original music and talent floating around Western New York," Grace said, "and we really want to make sure that we're providing that opportunity and providing venues for those people."

Valley Rising Festival of Music and Art runs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Wadsworth Homestead in Geneseo on Saturday, Sept. 7. Tickets and general information can be found here.

Patrick Hosken is an arts writer at CITY. He can be reached at [email protected].