HANDS THAT ROCK TRIBUTE BAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

May 4, 2018 – Providence, RI – The Hands That Rock (HTR), a non-profit organization providing massage therapy at music festivals and special events to raise money for underserved community music programs nationally, is pleased to announce the first annual Hands That Rock Tribute Band Festival, an event that will focus on raising needed funds to support music scholarships for Narragansett and South Kingstown High School students. The event takes place on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 3:00 PM at the Bonnet Shores Beach Club in Narragansett, Rhode Island and features tribute performances by Total Access (Chicago), Merchants of Cool (Foreigner) and Barefoot Rebel (Lynyrd Skynyrd). This flagship production will become the model for future events to be produced by HTR by local residents in all 50 states.

“We are very excited to be hosting this important program supporting music scholarships in our home state of Rhode Island,” says Darcy Lynch, executive director. “Since inception in 2012, we have raised tens of thousands of dollars for underserved music programs through providing chair massage services for audiences at major concerts and festivals featuring superstar acts such as Bon Jovi and Katie Perry, to name a few. Needed dollars were donated to music programs in need local to each concert venue or to national child-oriented organizations. While this avenue of endeavor has been very successful for our mission, we wanted to create an event model that focuses on local school districts and music education programs that can be easily repeated in towns and cities across America. Our Tribute Band Festival is that vehicle and we believe this will be very successful.”

Tribute Band Festival kicks off at 3:00 PM at the Beach Club pavilion with tickets set at $35. Light beach fare will be served (cash bar), a silent auction of rock memorabilia and donations from local businesses, and a musical instrument donation drive round out the fundraising festivities.

“Each tribute band will deliver stunning performances of the three 1970’s era music giants,” continues Lynch. “We are looking for additional business support for our efforts through raffle donations and sponsorships. The excitement is growing for this event, so interested parties can contact me through the Hands That Rock website (www.handsthatrock.org) or email at handsthatrock@gmail.com. Tickets can be purchased on the home page. Please join us for this important cause – a splendid time is guaranteed for all.”

Join us for this worthwhile event supporting music education for under privileged children!  Proceeds support  music scholarships and instruments for those in financial need!  #handsthatrock #tributebandmusicfestival #bonnetshoresbeachclub

Ian Hunter and the other Noine*

this article submitted by Mark Bloomstein from Boston Partymakers.

In the words of should be "Sir" Ian Hunter, if you have stumbled upon this Stagehands Massage Blog, "Ello, ello, ello.". Each month I will post 10 tunes, new or old that I think are worth a listen. We will start off with the amazing Mr. Hunter.

Ian Hunter is best known for leading the glam rock band, Mott the Hoopie, in the 1970's, and having a hit on one of David Bowie's best songs, All the Young Dudes.  This song with it's immortal closing remark of, "Hey, you with the glasses", is something I related to all to well as a 12-year old with big, black, Mad Men glasses with coke bottle lenses. 

Ian had a second career as a solo artist in the mid to late 70's thru the early 80's, partnering up with David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson to put on a series of blistering live shows and writing songs that became hits for Great White (Once Bitten Twice Shy) and even Barry Manilow (Ships) along with the theme to the Drew Carey Show, Cleveland Rocks. 

  

This creative period culminated with one of the best albums of the time, You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic (something I know all too well thanks to family history on my father's side, thank you very much. My mother figured this out one day when she was driving in the car with my father and he started muttering to himself and she said "Mowie, who are you talking to?". He then looked at her and said "They don't want you to know."

This post Mott period of the 70's was so strong that Ian's number one fan, Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott put together a fantastic tribute album called Joe Elliott's Down N Outz, My Regeneration where he sings Hunter tunes and other songs by post Mott the Hoople alumni from that era.

  

For an Elliott interview about Ian...   http://bestclassicbands.com/joe-elliott-ian-hunter-11-17-16/

  

Once Mick Ronson left Ian Hunter, he went into a creative funk until re-emerging in 1995 with the solid Dirty Laundry and it's follow up Red Letter Days. Then in 2001, at the age of 62,he put out the spectacular Rant album, which has been followed by one amazing album after another culminating with this years release of  one of his finest records, Fingers Crossed (at age 77!). What ever kind of deal with the Devil this guy has made is fine with me because what he is doing during his senior years is pretty much unparalleled in Rock and Roll history. 

  

Here's a couple of tracks to check out from Fingers Crossed. The title track and Bowie tribute Dandy...

https://youtu.be/gKo_ZrPC4iY   (Fingers Crossed)

https://youtu.be/SqA5aDBk2Zc   (Dandy)

Counting Ian as one track (math was never my strong point), here's a quick hit of 9 other songs/links you will definitely love if you are lucky enough to have the exact same musical taste as me...

Hank Wangford...the harmonies on this are so good they should be illegal or if they make the ballot, decriminalized.

https://youtu.be/jlTtWZFixY0?list=PL8-mE-r1n5jgI4oth-I5nFOL4b8cdZ3aV&t=42

Vintage Trouble are a band with a sound more than songs who take everything to another level live. If you  wanna see a band work a festival crowd like no other check out this Glastonbury footage...... 

https://youtu.be/GvjMqxGyuDo

The Record Company....Like Vintage Trouble this is a band with a sound more than songs who put on a spectacular live show with echo's of blues icons like John Lee Hooker and 70's stalwarts like the Allman Brothers, Vintage Eric Clapton and even Foghat. This is a band you want to catch hen they come to you town (and they will). Here they are on Conan.  

https://youtu.be/K05bfDrcaNM

Christine and the Queens. The number one thing I love about this french chanteuse is that she is beyond quirky without piercings, crazy clothes, tattoos or any of the other usual rock and roll visual accoutrements.

http://pitchfork.com/news/68988-watch-christine-and-the-queens-perform-tilted-on-fallon/

Miley Cyrus  In case you haven't noticed Bob Dylan songs tend to sound a lot better when someone else is singing them and this Miley Cyrus version of Baby I'm in the Mood For You is no exception.

https://youtu.be/7WeasWgSV8U

Wolf Parade  Great to see them back together, maybe one day they will be filling the arenas they so deserve to have filled for them. 

https://youtu.be/6uSAGeC9Ur4

Tommy Womack A rock and roll history lesson from the musical treasure that is Tommy Womack.

https://youtu.be/6nAbc63RCE8

Ron Pope  There is no American atist putting out better music than this guy. This is one of 50 songs by him I could list for you.

https://youtu.be/78D4YYvfoy4

Avett Brothers Who's better than the Avett Brothers. Nobody, that's who!

https://youtu.be/vyDCoMNMqIA


 #stagehandsmassagetherapy, #ianhunter, #avettbrothers, #ronpope, #mileycyrus,
 #tommywomack,  
#wolfparade, #christineandthequeens, #vintagetrouble, #hankwangford, #therecordcompany, #bostonpartymakers, #mightymusicbingo

We are deeply touched by the passing of Michelle Owens!

We are deeply touched by the passing of Michelle Owens! Michelle is our therapist in Atlanta GA that passed away yesterday from ovarian cancer. She worked for us for several years before she got sick. We will miss her...

Michelle has been involved in the pageantry arts for over 25 years. Originally from New Hartford, NY, Michelle currently lives in Woodstock, GA where she is a licensed Massage Therapist. Michelle began her performing career as a 7th grader in the New Hartford High School marching band. She went on to perform with the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps from 1990-1994, a perennial DCI finalist during those years. And she was member of Independent World Class finalist Field of View from 1994-1995.

Michelle has been teaching, writing, and designing since 1992. Some of her teaching experience on the scholastic side includes: New Hartford HS 1992-1996, North Penn HS 1996-1998, Ridgewood HS 1999-2001, Randolph HS 1999-2001, Morris Knolls HS 1999-2001, Hicksville HS 1999-2001, Huntington HS 1999-2001, Lassiter HS 2002-present and McEachern HS 2014. At Lassiter HS, Michelle was the Director of the color guard program from 2002-2013. She was part of the team when the band won the BOA Grand National Championship in 2002.

Michelle has also worked with some independent groups such as: Field of View winter guard from 1996-1999, Salem Blue winter guard 2002-present, Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps 1995-2000, Magic of Orlando Drum and Bugle Corps 2001-2002, The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps 2003-2008 and the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps 2014. Michelle was part of the team at The Cadets when the corps won the DCI Championship in 2005. Michelle continues to share her knowledge, talents, and passion to an activity that has given so much to her and she is excited as an alumnus and former staff member to return to the Crossmen for 2016.

 http://www.crossmen.org/michelle-owens-bio

September Events

We are excited to announce our list of events for September. While summer might be over, we're happy to give you something to look forward to in the month to come!


Rhythm & Roots Festival  – Sept. 2nd-4th – Charlestown, RI




North Coast Music Festival – Sept. 2nd-4th – Chicago, IL




Peoria Blues Festival – September 2nd-3rd – Peoria, IL




Riot Fest  – September 2nd-3rd – Denver, CO




"We Are LA" Family Music Festival – September 17th – Los Angeles, CA




AmericanaFest – September 20th-25th – Nashville, TN




Pilgrimage Music and Arts Festival – September 24th-25th – Franklin, TN

August Events

The Hands That Rock is happy to announce the following events that we will be participating in!

The International Conference for the Live Event Professional – August 11th-13th – Austin, TX

The Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival – August 20th-21st – Long Island, NY

Welcome Ken Burke, Out Newest Board Member

We would like to give a warm welcome to Ken Burke, a strongly committed member of the Rhode Island community. As a University of Rhode Island Alum, Ken has made it his mission to serve the state and its people through various nonprofits and state programs. Ken won the Providence Engineering Society's 2015 Humanitarian of the Year Award for his dedication to the community. When not working, Ken enjoys hiking with his two dogs, mountain biking, and fishing and quahoging along Rhode Island's salt ponds and coastline. It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome him aboard our team, we greatly look forward to what is to come.

July Events

Happy July! We would like to cordially invite you to the following events and hope to see you there, you won't want to miss out!

80/35 Festival – July 8th-9th – Des Moines, IA

Forecastle Festival – July 15th-17th – Louisville, KY

NACE (National Association for Catering and Events) Conference – July 17th-20th – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Newport Folk Festival  – July 22nd-24th – Newport, RI

Newport Jazz Festival – July 29th-31st – Newport, RI

June Events

Kick off summer the right way by joining our team at some of the month's best events happening across the country! Keep reading to see where you can find us.

Campout for the Cause – June 3rd-5th – Rancho Del Rio, CO

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival – June 9th-12th – Manchester, TN

Spring Awakening Festival – June 10th-12th – Chicago, IL

AEP Conference  – June 12th-14th – Las Vegas, NV

Firefly Music Festival – June 16th-19th – Dover, DE

Great Chowder Cook-Off – June 18th – Newport, RI

Vans Warped Tour

*This is a national tour with shows throughout the month

Taste of Chaos Tour

*This is a national tour with shows throughout the month

Introducing Dax Cochran

The Hands That Rock team would like to give a warm welcome to Dax Cochran, our new overseer of business operations. Dax has extensive experience in business management, from handling day to day development strategies to direct sales efforts to increase safety standards throughout events and entertainment industries. We are lucky to have him on our team!

May Events

Listed below are the events we have scheduled for May and we hope you are able to join us at least once! Check them out and see if there's one near you. 

Veg Fest LA – May 1st – Los Angeles, CA

Canadian Music Week – May 2nd-8th –Toronto, ON

Summer Camp Music Festival – May 27th-29th – Chillicothe, IL

Go Fund Our Mobile Massage Van!

A big thank you to everyone who has donated so far to restore the Mobile Massage Van! This van will allow us to extend our brand and attend more events/festivals! We still have a ways to our goal, so please remember every donation counts!

Click here to donate!

Go Fund the Hands That Rock

My name is Darcy Lynch and I run a non profit, 501c3 charity called the Hands That Rock.  The Hands that Rock's mission is to bring the magic of music to underpriviledged children worldwide.  Our network of approximately 1,000 practitioners, provide chair massage at music festivals and special events.  Patrons pay a small fee for this service, and a portion of the proceeds are donated to programs concerned with music education, performance, related resources and outreach for individuals and groups in need. Our fundraising efforts additionally address community initiatives associated with such outreach programs and groups to include environmental, social and health-related concerns to help create a suitable environment for the creation and performance of music.

This GoFundMe campaign is to help offset the cost of restoring a Volkswagon Bus to be used as a mobile massage vehicle in which to setup on site at these festivals and events as a place to offer the massages.  The restoration of the van has already begun and we are need of additional funds to complete the project.

Any donation is appreciated and you will be giving the gift of music to children everywhere!

You can read more about us at www.handsthatrock.org.  thank you!

"The Hands That Rock, massaging for charity to bring the magic of music to underprivileged children."

DONATE HERE

March Events

Hello friends! We are happy and excited to announce our lineup of events this month. We've got a little bit of everything so there's sure to be something to interest every one of you! Hope to see you at one of these great events!

  

International Special Events Society (ISES) Conference – Santa Barbara, CA – March 2nd 

  

Buku Music & Film Project – New Orleans, LA – March 11th-12th 

 

SXSW Music + Film Interactive – Austin, TX – March 11th-20th

  

Luke Bryan Tour

*This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.

  

Dream Theater Tour

*This is the European leg of an international tour with shows throughout the month. 




Disturbed Tour

*This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.




Fall Out Boy Tour
*This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.

February Events

Let's welcome in February as we did January with another great lineup of events. Whether you're looking for live music or a terrific conference, we have something for you!

February 10th-12th – Pollstar Live Conference – San Francisco, CA 

February 25th-28th – Wintergrass Music Festival – Bellevue, Washington

Luke Bryan Tour 
*This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.

Umphrey's McGee Tour
*This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.

January Events

Ring in the New Year with us at some of the great events we have planned! Our list is sure to have something for everyone and we hope you are able to join us!

January 12th-14th – Tourlink Conference – Palm Springs, FL

January 12th-14th – The Special Event Conference – Orlando, FL

January 21st-31st – Sundance Film Festival – Park City Utah

So You Think You Can Dance Tour 

* This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.

Hands That Rock Supporter of the Simon Youth Foundation!

 

Hands that Rock is proud to support the efforts of the Simon Youth Foundation,

a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit that exists to help at-risk students who are on the verge of dropping out of high school stay in school.

Each year, Simon Youth Scholarships program awards one-time and renewable scholarships to high school students in every community that is home to a Simon Mall. Targeting first-generation college students and those with demonstrated financial need, the Simon Youth Scholarships program furthers the SYF commitment to extending educational opportunities to all students who want to learn, regardless of their circumstances

November Events

We are happy to announce our great list of events for the month of November! Let us warm up your nights with good music and company!

Billboard Touring Conference and Awards – November 18th-19th – New York, NY

Fest Forward Convergence Conference – November 22nd-24th – Santa Barbara, CA

Thomas Rhett Tour 

* This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings Tour

* This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Tour

* This is a national tour with shows throughout the month.