Scott Tady: Godwin & The Allegheny High soared on CBS; brewery offers 2-day concert fest

Network television's bright lights keep looking good on Charles Wesley Godwin and The Allegheny High.

You had to smile if you watched Godwin and his Beaver County-bred backing band performing so well last Monday on CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Each bandmate bore a countenance of confidence and comfort as they flawlessly played "Family Ties," the title track off Godwin's highly praised 2023 alternative-country album.

Max Somerville's pretty piano playing and the tuneful banjo picking of Amico Demuzio added texture, as guitarists Al Torrence and Eric Dull joined Godwin strumming acoustically, with Nate Catanzarite on bass and Joe Pinchotti on drums sharpening the hooks of the mid-tempo tune.

Godwin's vocals, steeped in warmth, wisdom and loyalty, underlined his poetic words about the importance of family and tradition. Helping to cement the homespun vibe was a video screen behind the band showing old family movies.

By mid-morning Tuesday, hundreds of people had shared and praised on social media the full video of Godwin & The Allegheny High's performance (part of a Colbert episode headlined by Keanu Reeves.)

As with the band's previous performances o n ABC's "The Jimmy Kimmel Show" and "CBS Saturday Morning," theColbert video will spread the buzz about Beaver County-rooted musicians already wowing crowds this summer as a stadium opening act for Luke Combs.

Godwin also did a great job alone last Sunday on ESPN's "SportsCenter" in a nine-minute appearance where he narrated Pittsburgh Pirates highlights and discussed with the show's hosts how he got acquainted with Pirates' rookie pitching phenom Paul Skenes, who uses Godwin's "Cue Country Roads" as walk-on music.

Harmony shindig

There's always something cool going on in Harmony Borough.

Latest example: The Shindig 2024 Music Festival taking place Aug. 4-5 at Union Brothers Brewing.

More than 20 bands will entertain indoors and outside, including popular oldies act Johnny Angel & The Halos, with a two-day vintage car show, kids' activities, vendor booths and 50/50 raffles all part of the fun.

The Aug. 4 outside lineup:

11:30 a.m.: Picklegate Blues Band1:30 p.m.: West Park Road3:30 p.m.: This, That & the Other Thing5:30 p.m.: Silver Springs, a Fleetwood Mac Experience7:30 p.m.: The Nation's #1 Earth, Wind & Fire Tribute Band

Aug. 4 indoor:

11 a.m.: The Jive Daisy12:30 p.m.: Jay Wiley2 p.m.: Jake Rubenstein3:30 p.m.: Just a Girl & Her Guitar5 p.m.: Seth Verba

Then on Aug. 5 (yes, a Monday) the inside entertainment is 11 a.m., Cody Stroup; 1 p.m. Jacian; 3 p.m. Waldo Young & the Two; 5 p.m. Trevor Thomas and 7 p.m. Feral Margin.

Outside Aug. 5:

• 11 a.m.: Cook McCoy12:45 p.m.: The Max Schang Band2:45 p.m.: Dinnerbell Road Acoustic Duo4:45 p.m.: Magic Moments6:45 p.m.: The Mazeroskis
• 8:45 p.m.: Johnny Angel & The Halos

Admission is a suggested $5 donation supporting Northwood Charitable Foundation's local housing-related charitable work. Attendees are encouraged to bring a chair and stay all day. Full details at the event's Facebook page.

Paula Cole & Verve Pipe represented

A couple of music acts that found fame in 1997 represented outstandingly last weekend in outdoor performances nearby.

The Verve Pipe heartily rocked Zelienople Horse Trading Days, while a night later, Paula Cole pleased a crowd of 6,000 or so at Hartwood Acres.

Let's start with The Verve Pipe, the Michigan quartet that delivered a tight 90 minutes of melodic, dynamic alternative-rock for a few hundred spectators in a sealed-off parking lot next to ShuBrew craft brewery.

The Verve Pipe sauntered on-stage unassumingly, launching with "I Want All of You," which gained an extra burst of energy when lead guitarist Lou Musa, bearing a slight resemblance to Ryan Gosling, added licks from Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like I Do."

Lead singer Brian Vander Ark solidly hit and held impressive notes throughout, including on the band's debut charting single, "Photograph" and "Colorful," sung by Mark Wahlberg in the film "Rock Star."

Left alone on stage, co-vocalist Channing Lee made ambient singing sounds she recorded on the spot with a foot pedal, looping those bits back as her "invisible angel choir" as she hypnotically performed "Bridges Are Burning" by Channing & Quinn.

Lee's lead vocals sounded righteously mighty on Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know."

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The Verve Pipe waited till near the end to unleash "The Freshmen," the band's emotional chart-topper played at a perfectly paced simmer with Vander Ark bringing on the vocal gusto but not going over-the-top. It was wonderful.

Then came the intense but accessible "Medicate Myself" with Vander Ark sipping a few times from a red Solo cup. The encore featured a pounding cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."

With the Verve Pipe's fine performance this year, succeeding Eve 6's headlining set in 2023, I look forward to seeing what '90s alt-rock band Zelienople Horse Days lassos next year.

Anyone have Marcy Playground's phone number?

Last weekend ended on a high note with Cole's concert at Hartwood, part of the free Allegheny County Concert Series.

Cole's voice sounded luminous yet like a force of nature. Her ruminations on spreading love and basking in the simple beauty of an outdoor summer concert were refreshing.

Three backing band members, one on upright bass, flanked Cole at her keyboard as she sang the dreamy jam "I Believe in Love," segueing into Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing."

Name-dropped how she had backed Peter Gabriel on his Secret World Tour, Cole sang several new songs, including the Cowboy Junkies-ish "Green Eyes Crying" and the funky “The Replacements & Dinosaur Jr.” inspired by a producer who broadened her musical horizons.

Cole stood and took a center stage post for her hit "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone," given a funky percussive opening. She switched out two words in the final verse, adding a feminist touch with, "you can wash the dishes while I go have a beer."

Cole's voice remained radiant as she capped off her engrossing performance with "I Don't Want to Wait," a song that's spent the past 20 years living rent-free in the minds of those who watched TV's "Dawson's Creek."

Cole explained how she wrote the seize-the-day "I Don't Want to Wait" inspired by her war veteran grandfather when she sensed he was near the end of his life.

Cole made sure to thank her opening act, Moon High School grad Brooke Annibale, whose lustrous indie-folk originals, and a gleaming cover of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You," earned applause and a post-performance line at her merch tent. Annibale sang and strummed an acoustic guitar, backed by the harmonies from one of Pittsburgh's premier indie-folk singers, Morgan Erina.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Scott Tady: Godwin & The Allegheny High soared on CBS; brewery offers 2-day concert fest