Earth Day Events

Saturday, April 19 - Saturday, April 30

Shake off the last of your winter blues with some Earth Day activities. It should come as no surprise that Buffalo, home to beautiful parks, bike-friendly neighborhoods, and full of willing volunteers, has more Earth Day events than you can shake a leafy green branch at. Get your spring on this week with any of these great events.

On Saturday (April 16) visit the HandsOn Greater Buffalo Office (635 South Park Avenue) for an event that encourages recycling and sustainable art, Art for Earth Day. Hosted by HandsOn Greater Buffalo and Blue Sky Design Supply, donated materials from local artists and design firms will be on display for aspiring artists and students to take at no cost for use in their own artworks. Also, from 9am to 12pm more than 30 different sites in Erie and Niagara counties will benefit from the Spring River Cleanup organized by Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. Volunteers from local organizations will gather at local waterways to remove litter and other accumulated debris. Visit bnriverkeeper.org/get-Involved/cleanups.

Also, from 10am to 2pm Buffalo ReUse (298 Northampton Street, buffaloreuse.org, 882-2800) is providing an E-Waste Collection Event. Bring your electronics to be recycled, learn about composting, take a tour, sign up for a patchwork garden, and more.

On Sunday (April 17) from 1pm to 4pm at Tifft Nature Preserve (1200 Fuhmann Boulevard, 825-6397) celebrate Earth Day with an Earth Day Weekend, A Friends of Tifft Event. This free event will offer kid’s activities, games, crafts, live animals, environmentally friendly information, tours of the preserve, information on the history of Tifft, and refreshments.

On Thursday (April 21) from 10am to 12pm take an Earth Day Wellness Walk at Tifft Nature Preserve (1200 Fuhmann Boulevard, 896-5200 ext. 338) to appreciate nature for just $3. Also, from 11am to 2pm outside of Buffalo City Hall (65 Niagara Square, re-treewny.org/envirofair/) check out the free Re-Tree WNY: 5th Annual Envirofair. Interact with Grassroots Gardens Buffalo, Green Options Buffalo, Habitat for Humanity Buffalo ReStore, Reinstein Woods Environmental Education Center, Re-Tree WNY, Sierra Club, and more.

The Buffalo Niagara Earth Day Celebration on Friday (April 22) encourages Western New Yorkers from over sixty-five organizations to carpool, bike, walk or take public transportation (NFTA Metro Bus and Rail) on Earth Day. Register at buffaloearthday.com/earthday. Also on Friday at the Tifft Nature Preserve (1200 Fuhmann Boulevard, 825-6397) stop by the Spring Egg-Stravaganza. From 10am-2pm learn about animals that come from eggs, make spring-themed crafts, dye eggs using natural dyes, and more for $7.

On Saturday (April 23) Join the Green Buffalo Run in Delaware Park (Nottingham Terrace, greenbuffalorunner.org) and choose between a 4.3 mile run or a 1.8 mile walk. The post-race party will feature a group tree planting in the park.

Next Saturday (April 30) from 10am to 6pm visit the Buffalo Niagara Green Expo at the Walden Galleria Mall (Galleria Drive, buffaloniagaragreenexpo.wordpress.com). Learn about solar energy, radiant flooring, eco-friendly cleaning, composting, water purification, and more from over 125 exhibitors. View eco-art installations and an eco-fashion show. Bring electronics to be recycled and instruments to be donated. Sponsored by Solar Liberty and NYSERDA. —jill greenberg

Friday, April 15

Babel: Chris Abani

Nigerian author Chris Abani will be the last speaker in the Just Buffalo Babel series this year at Kleinhans Music Hall on Friday (April 15). The speakers for next year’s Babel series will also be announced at the event, and subscriptions for next season will be sold at a considerable discount. The sale will be available only at the reading. Abani’s first novel, Masters of the Board, written when he was just 18, earned him a prison sentence in 1985 after the Nigerian government deemed his novel to be a rallying cry for a coup d’état. He was later imprisoned again while performing in a guerilla theater group, and arrested for the third and final time and sentenced to death after writing his play, Songs of a Broken Flute. Freed in 1991, Abani left Nigeria for England after his third arrest, but fled to the United States eight years later after the murder of his friend. Abani has written novels, the Virgin of Flames (2007) and Graceland (2004/5), as well as poetry like Sanctificum (2010) and Hands Washing Water (2006). Abani’s recent book, Song for Night, published in 2007, is a novella following the steps of an Igbo boy soldier, rendered literally mute by the atrocities of war. These atrocities present in the book are not exaggerated; instead, the horrors of war are explicated by the boy’s narration and his sensitivity. Abani is currently a professor at the University of California, Riverside and the recipient of multiple awards including the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, a PEN beyond the Margins Award, the Guggenheim Award, and much more. —michael koh

8pm. Kleinhans Music Hall, 3 Symphony Circle. (832-5400 / justbuffalo.org) $35 general admission and $10 for students. $100 patron’s ticket includes reserved seating and an author’s reception.

Friday, April 15

Maps and Atlases

Go to Maps and Atlases’ website (mapsandatlases.org) and you’ll see evidence that this art rock band from Chicago takes every aspect of their music very seriously. From the handwritten lyric pages to their pastoral album art, and mathmatically precise music, their vision of instrumentally diverse, rustic indie rock is quite thematically cohesive. Though the four piece has been playing music together since 2004, they released their debut full length record, Perch Patchwork, just this past summer on Barsuk Records. The album’s dusty, organic vibe is developed through distant, layered vocals, delicate acoustic and electric guitar tones, and lyrics like “when I slept on the solid ground near your house, I could feel its weary muscles under the dirt,” from “Solid Ground,” a rhythmic, Grizzly Bear-like track about finding hope in another soul. They may not be a household name yet, but their warm, folk-laced indie rock is like comfort food for the ears and will hopefully draw some much deserved attenion to this hardworking group of virtuosic musicians. Catch them when they make their way to Babeville’s Ninth Ward this Friday (April 15), with fellow Chicago indie rockers Gypsyblood. —cory perla

7pm. Babeville’s Ninth Ward, 341 Delaware Ave. (888-223-6000 / babevillebuffalo.com) $13.

Saturday, April 16

Aqueous CD Release Show

After several years of great live shows, and several live releases, local band Aqueous is finally ready to release their first full-length studio effort. The album, Giant Something will be released on Saturday (April 16) at their CD release party at Nietzsche’s. Over the years, Aqeuous has become known for their superb live shows and for a jam-band sound that incorporates many musical styles. On the nearly nine-minute instrumental “Uncle Phil’s Parachute,” the band comes off like a wild mix of Phish, Led Zeppelin, and Lemon Jelly thrown together in a blender. Other numbers like “Franklin’s Tower,” are more laid back and have a vibe similar to American Beauty. Aqueous is reverent toward its jam-band forefathers, while still forging a sound of its own. They use Phish and the Dead as a starting template, but go on to create music with its own personality. Unlike so many other bands in this genre, their lengthier numbers never get too tedious. The main thing that sets them apart from their colleagues is their hard rock influence. They have a crunchy, guitar based sound that other artists of the genre tend to stay away from. If Giant Something can capture the spirit and ambition of the band’s live shows, it will be more than worthwhile. —john hugar

10pm. Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / www.nietzsches.com) $5.

Sunday, April 17

Speakeasy Sundays

Buffalo’s affinity for the drink has been well-documented, stemming back to the days when breweries dotted the city and when the Canal District was known as “the wickedest street in the world.” Prohibition changed all of that, but naturally, people found a way around the law and the underground institution of the speakeasy, in all of its rotgut glory, was born. What is now Brawler’s Back Alley Deli in the basement of Pearl Street Grill & Brewery may have been one such establishment, operating under the name MacGarry’s for a number of years even after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Now, the Good Neighborhood and Pearl Street Grill & Brewery have teamed up to unearth that seedy underbelly of Buffalo’s long-established drinking culture with Speakeasy Sundays, a four-part concert series honoring the underground music we’ve come to know and love in the Queen City. On the bill for the third installment of Speakeasy Sundays, this Sunday (April 17), are jazz-funk outfit Rhubarb and their improv-heavy grooves with special guest ringer Ronnie Davis on keys. Proceeds from the event benefit Give for Greatness (organized by Artvoice in partnership with M&T Bank and numerous others, www.giveforgreatness.org), a fundraising campaign whose efforts support the 47 arts and cultural organizations that have fallen by the wayside in the Erie County budget battle. Five bucks and a knock on the door gets you in. —jon wheelock

7pm. Brawler’s Back Alley Deli at Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, 76 Pearl St. (856-2337 / pearlstreetgrill.com) $5.

Sunday, April 17

Zach Deputy

With an island-infused drum n’ bass sound and a gospel ninja soul, Zach Deputy, wearing flip-flops and a sunny demeanor comes backflipping from the venerable lands of South Carolina, plucking at his guitar and bringing forth warm, humid winds of reggae to Nietzsche’s on Sunday (April 17). His wish to develop new fan bases around the continental US and his desire to conquer the East Coast has culminated in an extensive tour up and down the coast, even scheduling performances in the un-tropical lands of Canada. “People support you up North,” he said. “They get behind you and at least make you feel good…When they have that kind of energy and they’re ready to get their mind blown…When you deliver it, it just seals the deal.” Armed with soaring vocals, heartfelt choruses, and vocal beat-boxing delivered with masterful techniques only attained by countless hours dedicated to precision, Zach Deputy delivers a refreshing, new, unforgettable musical experience crossing multiple genres with his longtime friend, Paul Kearns. Their performances will surely please any fans of root and world music. When asked about his music, Deputy replied, “It’s like a mutt between funk, soul, gospel and island music. Most of my songs have multiple elements of music at one time. It’s not just funk, it’s not just island, it’s like this weird combination and that’s what I am.” Zach Deputy performs over 300 shows a year. This is one dedicated ninja. Bring your dancing shoes, I’m sure Zach will be glad to see you groovin’. —michael koh

10pm. Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / www.nietzsches.com) 21+ $8 advance, $10 at the door.

Tuesday, April 19

Between The Buried and Me

Between the Buried and Me is not your ordinary crew of metal musicians. Taking their name from a Counting Crows lyric, the band feels no need to entrench themselves solely within the metalcore tradition they more than pay homage to. Their often harsh progressive rock is characterized by abrupt tempo changes and frequent stylistic shifts. Intense and unpredictable, Between the Buried and Me stir elements of pop, alternative, and jazz music into their sonic stew while maintaining a brutal edge that is abrasive and intoxicating. Frontman Tommy Giles Jr. and his bandmates from Raleigh, North Carolina have been active since 2000, performing at Ozzfest and Progressive Nation, and touring with many of metal’s biggest names. With five studio albums behind them, the chaotic kings will arrive at Club Infinity on Tuesday (April 19) well prepared to rock. They will be accompanied by equally enthusiastic metal acts Job for a Cowboy and the Ocean in what is sure to be a dynamic dropkick-to-the-skull of a show. —ryan wolf

8pm. Club Infinity, 8166 Main St. (565-0110 / clubinfinitylive.com). $15 advance, $18 at the door.

Tuesday, April 19

Zola Jesus

At only 21 years old Nika Roza Danilova has already endowed her anthemic and atmospheric band, Zola Jesus, with a mature and mysterious sound. Darker and more exotic than Florence + the Machine and more restless and assertive than Bat for Lashes, Zola Jesus compellingly combines 1980s goth and 1990s industrial rock music, bathing both genres in a gentle wash of rich reverb and shoegazing distortion. Danilova, trained in opera at a young age, is a vocal tour-de-force, emerging as one of the most talented vocalists in independent music today. Painted as the next Siouxsie Sioux by many critics, her work carries with it a hypnotic ambience that envelops listeners, adding even more weight and depth to her unforgettable voice. Zola Jesus has released multiple albums but is better known for their acclaimed recent EPs. They will appear at Mohawk Place this Tuesday (April 19) supported by Brooklyn folk group Cult of Youth. —ryan wolf

8pm. Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St. (465-2368 / themohawkplace.com). $12.