The Woodshed Prophets will perform on the big stage at the Courthouse lawn during the Strawberry Festival Friday Night Block Party for the pre-fireworks show on June 17 starting at 8 p.m.
The Woodshed Prophets, who brought the house down last year at Owego’s Bike Night at the Parkview Hotel and Restaurant with one of the largest audiences ever at that event, is geared up for the Pre-Fireworks Show at the Strawberry Festival’s Friday Night Block Party. The featured headliner act Friday evening on the Courthouse lawn, the Woodshed Prophets take the stage at 8 p.m.
A popular regional band, the Woodshed Prophets, a quartet playing together for six years, has a loyal fan base, some of who call themselves “Shed-Heads,” and is gaining the attention of new fans. A fan suggested a description of the Prophets unique blend of country and rock sound and coined it “power twang,” and the term has stuck ever since.
The Prophets, who last year performed on Saturday at the festival, plan to ramp it up a little bit, or maybe even a lot of bit, with a selection of upbeat tunes for the Courthouse Square crowd who will, undoubtedly, also be eager for the fireworks finale.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” shared Rob Stachyra, who sings and plays lead guitar. Stachyra added, “Eighty to ninety percent of the songs we play are original material, but we also plan to play some rocked-up covers.”
The band, whose original material encompasses country rock, rockabilly, Americana, bluegrass and straight up rock and roll, will perform a selection of rocked-up cover choices like the Beatles, Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young, and a tribute to Guy Clark, among others.
The Woodshed Prophets, hailing from Sidney, N.Y. and often called a quartet of bearded wild men, consists of members Rob Stachyra on lead guitar and vocals, Dan Hardy on guitar and vocals, Ed Gliha on bass and vocals and Dan “Bird-Dog” Dunham on drums and vocals.
Stachyra shared, “We carry that torch about the bearded wild men,” then referring to the fact that not all the members have full beards, he added, “Better yet, we also like ‘bearded bedlam.’”
The foursome has released two studio albums to date, the first, a self-titled record, was released in 2011, and their second, Nowhere But Down, was released in September 2013.
Stachyra commented that the group has opened for some major national acts such as 38 Special at Tags in Elmira, and will open for the Marshall Tucker Band on July 9 at Rock in the Park in Bainbridge, N.Y.
The Woodshed Prophets 2016 tour, which takes them all over upstate New York and northeast Pennsylvania, will also bring them back to Owego this summer, playing at Bike Night at the Parkview on July 6 and a Hickories Park event on July 27, along with stops at the Barleycorn and Ransom Steele Tavern later this year.
For more information, find the Woodshed Prophets on Facebook and Twitter or on their website, www.woodshedprophets.com.
