Scott Tady: Boom was a blast; now comes Pittsburgh's best music fest

That's the next Boom on The Bridge concert in Beaver County.

Visit Beaver County has already confirmed the return next year of a Veterans Memorial Bridge concert coinciding with the Beaver County Boom! fireworks extravaganza.

I thought last Saturday's Boom on The Bridge went well, starring national country artist Chris Lane sailing through his hits "Fix," "Big, Big Plans" and "Take Back Home Girl."

Lane mixed in well-received covers of "Dancing in The Moonlight" and Tim McGraw's "I Like It, I Love It," plus a promising new original, "Find Another Bar."

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Having spent an earlier part of the day golfing at Olde Stonewall Golf Club in North Sewickley Township, Lane connected with a crowd I'd estimate at 3,500-4,000. Asking the advice of a few local people backstage, Lane made sure to say "How we doing, Beaver County?" rather than making any generic Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania references.

Lane's vocals were solid, and he threw in fun moments of spontaneity, like inviting on stage a young girl in the front row he had spotted singing along with every lyric. He put his ballcap on her head and let her sing as she sat center stage. She looked much more comfortable singing than Chris' identical twin and drummer, Cory, who reluctantly accepted his brother's challenge to step into the spotlight to belt out a verse of a Kenny Chesney tune.

Packing the Bridgewater end of the bridge, the mixed-aged audience looked like they were having a good time, sticking around until the end with just a brief wait before the Boom fireworks lit up the sky.

Boom on The Bridge also featured stellar Pittsburgh acts like Byron Nash, The Commonheart, Johnny Angel & The Halos and Squonk. Also shining was New Brighton's Dawn Savage, whose tip jar got filled from spectators watching her sing country hits and originals like her radio single "Moonshine."

Despite doom-and-gloomers putting too much faith in weather forecasts that predicted a storm that never materialized, Boom on the Bridge's turnout was good.

Originating in 2023 with the famed Big & Rich as headliners, I look forward to seeing who the 2025 edition brings to Beaver County.

Northside will rock

Pittsburgh's premier local music festival returns July 12-14.

Northside Music Festival offers 88 bands and singer-songwriters on nine stages scattered throughout the city's walkable North Side, in both indoor and outdoor settings.

The lineup includes popular Pittsburgh acts like NASH.V.ILL, Meeting of Important People, Bastard Bearded Irishmen, Chet Vincent, Molly Alphabet and Jack Swing.

From the city's nationally known alt-rock band GoToBeds, to Beaver County's planetarium-featured indie rocker Andre Costello, and a special guest appearance by Columbus, Ohio's lauded alt-country singer Angela Perley, there's plenty of quality from which to pick. Costello's band Forestry Division will be playing its next-to-the-last-ever show.

Ma’am from State College, Molly O’Malley from Cleveland and intriguingly named 'Burgh bands like Sneeze Awful, VHS Dust, Wild Onion and Stench Consultants will play places like a Croatian center, an Elks lodge, Allegheny City Brewery, the former Fat Cat Restaurant and larger stages in Allegheny Commons Park and on Foreland Street.

The July 13 festivities begin a 2 p.m. on the outdoor First National Bank stage with Low Gap, a talented central Ohio country duo that made new fans in Beaver County last week as the main stage leadoff act at Boom on The Bridge.

"Saturday's festivities feature a terrific lineup of bands performing on an outdoor stage in the shady Allegheny Commons Park," spokesman Ben Soltesz said. "Free children's activities, over 50 local artists and numerous food trucks and dessert vendors make this a family-friendly destination."

For a handy list of stage locations and start times, visit the Northside Music Festival website.

Randy Baumann rocking on new album

Swirling keyboard flights, funky horn and bass grooves, ebullient singing and a nucleus of top-tier Pittsburgh talent guide "Wanderin' Fool," the impressive new album by Randy Baumann.

The longtime 102.5-WDVE morning man wrote and sang all 11 original tunes, and plays each keyboard part, joined by drummer Brian Wolfe (Dap Kings), bassist Anton DeFade (The Commonheart), jazz guitarist Chris Parker, the Steel Town Horns and pedal steel ace Read Connolly (Zach Bryan). Three of the city's most in-demand vocalists Addi Twigg (Cisco Kid), Anne Celedonia (ambient piano-pop band Anna Eliza) and Kenny Stockard amp up the soul on songs like "I'm Ready".

Baumann said he drew from early New Orleans funk music influences, like Allen Toussaint, Dr. John and The Meters, plus some Americana inspiration.

When I told Baumann I perceived a light Trey Anastasio influence, too, on buoyant songs like "Tether," he said, "I loved early Trey, so that makes sense."

Lyrically, Baumann said the album's theme "is about an idiot who's lost and thinks somebody else has to find him instead of working his way out. It seemed like a good sort of vantage point for a character to write from, and as the record progresses the perspective gets a little smarter. Like we all hopefully do."

Jake Hanner (Donora) produced "Wanderin' Fool."

"I gave about 25 demos to Jake Hanner and he picked out a bunch for us to record," Baumann said. "He always had a vision for this as an album, not a bunch of singles and I think he threaded the needle perfectly with the sound that he achieved and the instrumentation he steered us toward. It's got Jake's fingerprints all over it and I couldn't have done it without him."

Now streaming on major sites, "Wanderin' Fool" is searchable under the more formal "Randall" Baumann.

"I wanted to make sure it was out before the 4th of July so people could throw it on at a cookout or driving to their campground or whatever," Baumann said.

Valentina wins video honors

Beaver County pop singer Valentina Cherico won "Best Music Video" honors last weekend at the Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival.

Cherico's triumphant music video for the funky dance tune “Dance Until the Sunrise” begins with a spinning, lit-up UFO rising above the horizon, leading to a scene where we see even space aliens can't resist the Rochester singer's smooth, warm voice. I've compared the track to Dua Lipa.

"Dance Until the Sunrise” has landed on charts such as New Music Weekly, where it's been positioned for the past 22 weeks.

Catch Cherico live on July 6 with her family's band, Casanova & The Divas, playing the Ambridge Fireworks Festival at Walter Panek Park. The band performs between 6:15 and 9:15 p.m., setting up Zambelli Fireworks at 9:40 p.m. Then comes 7 p.m. July 13 at the Most Sacred Heart Festival in Coraopolis.

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