After a two-year break, Flying Cat Music launches its 12th season with the band Bobtown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at the Phoenicia United Methodist Church. Bobtown, who will be performing with Flying Cat for the fourth time, consists of three women and one man, all of them songwriters whose music unites elements of pop, rock, gospel, and country, with distinctive vocal arrangements and harmonies.
Organizers Janet Klugiewicz and Tom Rinaldo have been working hard to bring talented musicians back to Phoenicia in a carefully curated series that has been as popular with artists as it is with audiences. Although there’s plenty of live music to hear in the Catskills, Flying Cat is unusual in that it draws musicians from many parts of the country, Canada, and even Europe.
Originally held at the Empire State Railway Museum, the former Phoenicia train station, the shows benefited from the wooden walls, ceilings, and floors that gave a rich tone to the sound. In 2019, when Flying Cat moved to the Methodist church, advantages included a greater audience capacity and fixed pews for seating, eliminating the need to transfer and set up folding chairs for each performance. Luckily, the church also features a wood environment to maintain the lovely sound.
Flying Cat makes money for the performers but not for Klugiewicz and Rinaldo, who started the series because they love the music. With the help of a few steady volunteers and occasional outside assistance, they did most of the work for 10 years: scouting, booking, scheduling, accounting, hosting many of the musicians overnight, baking and selling refreshments, recruiting competent people to run sound, and getting the word out to attract audiences. When a change of leadership at the railway museum resulted in higher rent and a need for insurance, the couple realized, said Klugiewicz, “We were tired of doing almost everything ourselves. We needed reinforcements, and in order to get enough money to continue, we needed to be able to apply for grants.”
A local nonprofit morphed into the Phoenicia Arts Center and took Flying Cat under its umbrella. A group of 12 enthusiastic supporters came together to help book and run the shows. The church agreed to host the series, and a grant helped purchase sound equipment appropriate for the larger venue. After one successful season at the church, the pandemic came along, forcing the cancellation of all the 2020 events, which were already lined up.
As the COVID numbers declined, and other performance spaces opened up, said Klugiewicz, “It was a hard decision whether to start up again. But so much had been invested thus far that I wanted to see if it could be rejuvenated and sustained.”
“I hope it’s healthy enough to prosper,” said Rinaldo. “We almost ended after the railway museum, and it took a lot of energy to pull everything together to continue. In 2019, it was still gelling. Then with the forced hiatus, we lost personnel. We want to be confident of having assembled a strong core of people to carry Flying Cat Music into the future. We finally realized, and Janet deserves most of the credit for this, because she was willing to make the effort, that we can’t make the case for people to join in if we haven’t done anything for two years.”
The pair hope to find volunteers who would be willing to make a commitment to fit into the Flying Cat organization. “If there aren’t people who want to carry it forward,” said Rinaldo, “we probably won’t do another year.” Note that audiences and volunteers alike must offer proof of vaccination and are required to wear masks indoors at the concerts.
When scouting at music festivals and the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance, and then making decisions about booking, said Rinaldo, “We’re always looking for program balance, to have both bands and individual singer-songwriters, and to have multiple genres. Roots music is a broad category with lots of subgenres — blues, bluegrass, country, traditional folk, even Celtic. We look for a mix of male and female energy. Each year we bring in some new acts and rotate through old ones.” They tend to stay away from pure pop and cover bands, emphasizing musicians with plenty of original music, unless they’re playing traditional songs.
Bobtown closed the final year at the railway museum and are excited to be opening the new season. The group informed their fans online, “As we all continue to work on individual projects here in NYC, the members of Bobtown are coming together to perform at one of our happiest places on Earth — The Flying Cat Music Series in the soul-soothing Catskills town of Phoenicia.”
When asked why she has continued to put forth the effort of maintaining Flying Cat for so many years, Klugiewicz replied, “I really love the final product. I like the process. I love the people I meet. The audience is so nice, and they’re usually happy. I love the joy. There’s a lot of joy involved.”
Flying Cat Music presents Bobtown on Saturday, July 9, at the Phoenicia United Methodist Church, 29 Church Street, Phoenicia. Doors open at 7 p.m., music at 7:30. Tickets $18 in advance through https://flyingcatmusic.org or $20 (cash only) at the door. All attendees must present proof of COVID vaccination and wear masks except when in the designated eating area. Anyone interested in joining the Flying Cat team is invited to email flyingcatmusic@gmail.com and include a phone number.
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