Fall Into Buffalo: Get Ready For The 2023 Borderland Festival

Buffalo and surrounding regions host all-but-limitless live music offerings all year round. The end of summer and beginning of fall is an especially fine time to take advantage of the area.

JamBase profiled Buffalo's big city music scene with a small town touch by diving into the region’s deep and impressive history. Buffalo’s “The City Of Good Neighbors” nickname stretches into its live music scene with a vibe all its own. Additionally, the future is bright as independent concert promoters and musicians have united over the past decade to push Buffalo’s live music scene forward.

Buffalo boasts a bevy of prominent music venues that present thousands of concerts and festivals each year. Spaces such as The Town Ballroom, Asbury Hall @ Babeville, The Sportsmen’s Tavern and Buffalo Iron Works each cater to different tastes and genres.

JamBase’s Scott Bernstein recently spent a weekend in Buffalo taking in a multitude of live music performances, exploring the city’s rich architecture and feasting on tasty eats including divine Buffalo wings. Bernstein was so charmed by Buffalo and the surrounding region he’s coming back for Borderland.

The Borderland Music + Arts Festival returns to gorgeous Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora, New York on September 15 – 17. Located right outside Buffalo, the three-day event features a stacked 2023 lineup topped by Trey Anastasio With Classic TAB, Goose and moe. All told, over 20 acts will perform across its two stages.

Borderland is the brainchild of Jennifer Brazill who was raised near Buffalo and has put her heart and soul into growing the festival. The Buffalo Niagara region has an identity all its own — surrounded and influenced by the Great White North, the Great Lakes and a great industrious spirit. Brazill and the Borderland team honor these influences in presenting a music and cultural festival built upon local music, food, drink and art with nationally-touring artists joining in the fun.

JamBase spoke to Jennifer Brazill and Borderland’s Zach Keller about this year’s festival:

What separates Borderland from other festivals?

Jennifer Brazill: I have such a biased perspective on this, since it is my festival and we built it from the ground up, literally. The festival also happens to take place on the outskirts of the hometown I grew up in outside of Buffalo so it’s extra special.

I think what truly makes Borderland different from other festivals is that we have that grassroots, boutique vibe. We are what may be considered a “boutique” festival but we take up a large footprint, which gives us so much space to spread out and really take advantage of the beautiful nature we are surrounded by. We are located on a 600 acre State Park that used to be owned by a legendary Buffalo family, the Knox Family. They used to host International Polo Tournaments on the festival site. We build our festival around the old Equestrian Stable building which is so unique and is the centerpiece of the event. When bands are standing on stage they are looking out at this big, beautiful historic stable barn and I think that is so unique. We chose the name “Borderland” both because we are on the border of Canada and are recognized as a “border city” but also because we have no boundaries; we are one community of music, art makers and fans. We really do try to create that vibe that we are all in it together. We also put a huge focus on sustainability and environmental awareness. Fans have become really engaged over the years and have worked with us to create a higher level, sustainable event.

How do you pick the local acts who play Borderland?

Jennifer Brazill: This is actually not very easy to select the bands for the local stage. We have so many amazing bands in the Buffalo area. I wish we had more space to showcase their talent. I try to pick the bands that fit within the Borderland vibe of jam, americana, country, bluegrass etc… We also try to find female fronted bands when we can, this year we have Grosh who are amazing and are new to the festival. Over the years we have had repeat bands because they are crowd favorites but I would like to get better at finding and booking new local bands. I am going to spend more time going out to see the local bands and dig deeper in the off season because I know there are so many great bands in the Western New York area that deserve a bigger stage. It’s so important to support the local music scene and provide an opportunity for them to connect with bigger, national bands as well. We are excited that a few of our staff members are performing in their band this year, the Red Grenadines. We love to celebrate our team and this is a fun way to do that.

Tell us about one of the local acts performing at Borderland and why festivalgoers should catch their set.

Zach Keller: Be sure to check out Buffalo’s three-piece groove-funk jamband, Organ Fairchild. Joe Bellanti, Corey Kertzie and Dave Ruch met in 1983 as members of Buffalo NY Grateful Dead cover band “Wild Knights.” But it wasn’t until early 2020 that they wrote their first original music together, this time as three-piece instrumental organ trio/funky jam band Organ Fairchild. They have been making moves lately with a spot at Summer Camp Music Festival and serving as support for well-known acts like Melvin Seals & JGB, Anders Osborne, Jackie Greene, Andy Frasco & the UN and more. Don’t miss them close out the Homespun Stage Saturday night at 6:30pm.

Who is the act playing Borderland this year that you have wanted to perform at the festival the longest?

Jennifer Brazill: Oh man, this is easy to answer. Although I love every band that has played Borderland, it has always been a dream of mine to host Trey Anastasio at the festival. I started following Phish around right after college and basically never stopped. I formed so much of my industry community and my life long friendships through this band. It seems to me that most of my peers in the music industry grew up inspired by Phish or the Grateful Dead and I believe that is what pushed a lot of us to work in the business. So it is really fun to bring everything full circle and have Trey play my own festival in my hometown. Also, we have tried to book Goose every year for the last five years so we are really excited to have them this year as well.

What piece of advice would you give to first-time Borderland attendees?

Jennifer Brazill: Come with an open mind, ready to be thrown back in time. Borderland Festival is centered around the community and has that grassroots vibe. It’s easy to navigate and everyone is so happy to be there. It’s a great escape from the outside world. Also, bring a chair if you like to chill and some sunscreen and buy a stainless steel cup!

Tickets for the festival are on sale now. Buy Borderland tickets via Front Gate Tickets.

---

[Sponsored content: Visit Buffalo Niagara is a JamBase partner.]