Pleasantville Music Fest mixes national headliners with Rockland, Westchester bands

The Pleasantville Music Festival returns this summer after a two-year hiatus, with a packed lineup featuring national headliners and local favorites performing on three outdoor stages at the village’s Parkway Field.

The July 9 festival boasts 18 acts representing genres from across the roots, rock, and traditional music spectrum.

Featured performers include Glenn Tilbrook,  the vocalist and guitarist best known as front man of the legendary British pop band Squeeze; singer-songwriter Paula Cole; funk and R&B combo Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears; 10,000 Maniacs featuring Mary Ramsey, and the pop band X Ambassadors.

Festival executive director Bruce Figler said the event is known for its “warm, positive backyard vibe.”

"After two years off, we are super pumped to get the festival back up and running...and I think our audience is pretty pumped too," said Figler, a DJ on 107.1 FM The Peak who runs a local recording studio.

The locally based acts appearing include winners of the Lagond Music-sponsored “Battle of the Bands” competition: Pleasantville singer/songwriter Carter Quinn Tanis; Noshows, a five-piece creation of producer/musician Max Satow of Chappaqua; and Platinum Moon, a rock outfit made up of musicians from throughout northern Westchester.

Nineteen acts participated in the battle, performing their original music in front of a panel of music industry professionals.

“The competition was fierce, because the talent in all of these acts is so incredible,” Figler said. “We really look forward to sharing these groups with our audience on July 9th.”

Other notable appearances will be by Cole Quest & the City Pickers, a bluegrass band led by Mount Kisco native Cole Quest, who is Woody Guthrie's grandson; the Narrowbacks, Irish rockers hailing from the Bronx and Pearl River; Tarrytown native Clare Maloney and her band the Great Adventure, who perform regularly at Garcia’s at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester; and Rockland County hardcore rock trio Spitphyre.

Also on hand will be food vendors, a wine and beer garden, activities for kids, and booths displaying items for sale and information about local nonprofits.

If you go:

• What: 16th annual Pleasantville Music Festival, presented by Northwell Health
• When: Saturday, July 9, 2022
• Where: Parkway Field, Pleasantville. No parking on site; free parking at nearby Pace University, 861 Bedford Road
• Tickets/information: pleasantvillemusicfestival.com and through Ticketweb and the Festival Box Office located in the Pleasantville Rec Center
• Festival COVID policy may change; check the website closer to the date for details

Robert Brum is a freelance journalist covering the Hudson Valley. Read more of his work here.