By JoAnn R. Walter —
February, for many, is a time to celebrate Valentine’s Day and the people we love. For musicians of the 607, it’s also a time to look forward to sharing their genuine love of music by performing live at local venues and area events.
For 607 musician Sid Peake, early February marks the end of a short winter hiatus and the beginning of getting back into the swing of playing with his well-known Binghamton-based band, The Gents.
The band celebrated ten years in 2025, and is gearing up for a host of live shows this year. Owego Strawberry Fest goers will remember The Gents performing at the popular festival. It is hoped the band will return this year’s June 19 and 20 downtown Owego event in case you missed them.
Peake first started playing guitar at the age of 12. Fifty years later, he’s still at it and relishing every moment. He reminisced about the time spent playing in other bands, such as Street Legal, and how he is looking forward to reuniting with his former bandmates on an upcoming project.
A seasoned songwriter since the 1970’s, Peake shared that he has held onto a catalog of some 50 songs that he has written. Waiting for the right moment to release them, the songs will be used for a special collaborative project starting this spring.
Pictured are musicians and artists from the 607 music scene and the Deep Watts All-Star Band, gathered for a past event, the Concert for Ukraine. Several of these artists, and more not pictured, will be contributing to a special recording project forthcoming, with a digital download to be made available. Photo provided.
The project encompasses songs spanning diverse genres, from blues, rock, hard rock, ballads, acoustic, and more, and will pull together multi-talented musicians and artists from the 607 to record them.
Sid remarked, “The goal is to make the songs the best they can be.”
Peake tapped more than twenty 607 musicians to contribute to the project and asked each what genre of music they would be most inspired to play and record.
Peake is a self-described rock-and-roll guy who is a vocalist, bass player, and multi-instrumentalist. For the project, not all musicians will see each other since they will be rehearsing in their own spaces prior to heading out to the studio to record.
Musicians set to participate are guitarists and vocalists, including Tom Spencer and Dan Almy (The Gents), Tim Boedicker (Last Call), Jim Burnard (former Street Legal), Brian Swan and Jon Weeks (Junkyard Heights), Rev DiCerto (Revenants), Art Price (Random Tangent), Mike Burke (formerly Airborne), Rob Perez (Beard of Bees and The Walkman), along with Peake.
Drummers include Dean Benjamin (The Gents, and also a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist), Mike Ricciardi (Dagger, formerly Acts and Badfinger), Steve Lawrenson (formerly Airborne, now a solo artist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist), Scott Von Weinstein (formerly Street Legal), Jeremi Dickins, and Bob Alan Bricks (Planet Smith, also a vocalist).
Pictured are Krissie Petticrew, a vocalist and solo artist in the 607 music scene, and Sid Peake, vocalist, bass player, and multi-instrumentalist for the Binghamton-based band, The Gents. Peake has tapped more than twenty local musicians and artists, including Petticrew, to record songs for a special project. Photo provided.
Vocalists include Lesley Peake, Krissie Petticrew, Lauren Balough (Drama Scream), Michele Johnston (also guitarist and keyboard player for Messy Truth), and Benny Fiacco (also guitarist and bass player for B3, The Gravelding Brothers, and Frostbit Blue.)
Vocalist and solo artist Krissie Petticrew, who also works in the sound and lighting profession, commented, “Sid is incredibly talented and is a master of organizing and orchestrating; he is a driving force in the 607 music scene,” and added, “I am more than honored to be a part of the project and am thrilled to have been asked.”
Petticrew describes the song she will record as a reflective power ballad that resonates, with the likes of Stevie Nicks or Ann Wilson in mind.
Influencing the world of music today is the emergence of AI, and local musicians are facing choices about what aspects of AI to consider using, if any.
Petticrew is concerned that some of the creative processes will be lost to varying degrees and encourages artists to “look outside of the AI box.”
Petticrew has penned lyrics through the years and affirmed, “You need to write from your hearts and creative minds.”
For Peake, he is not a supporter of some AI methods, one being the AI actor shaking up Hollywood, Tilly Norwood. He does, however, support the use of AI as a tool to aid in artistic output, with the end result still accomplished by the human artist.
Peake shared that he has used AI as a tool to fill in the gaps of unfinished material. There has been a learning curve, and AI templates created for his songs proved helpful for the final human artist recordings.
Peake still writes the old-fashioned way and expressed that you cannot replace the connection of making pure music with other musicians. Although, he said, when a riff hits him, AI presents the opportunity to prepare parts of a song until he can gather with other musicians.
The final cuts and any music he produces, Peake avows, “will be completed by genuine human musicians and human hands.”
Looking ahead, Peake has other projects in the works as well, including a special song dedicated to Kim Simmonds, who passed away in 2022, and the founder of the blues rock band Savoy Brown. The song features Norwich, New York-based blues/rock musician Nate Gross and Roger Earl, a founding member and drummer of Foghat. Plans are for the song to be recorded and released in the spring.
Peake recalled a favorite sentiment that Simmonds once said and that he holds close to his heart today: “Let music make your life a little sweeter.”
Peake explained that a digital download from the project will be made available, with a CD to be determined. The musicians and artists of the 607 encourage you to support local music.
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