Long Island-based band and this year’s Break Contest winners Bears & Motorcycles head to the East End this weekend for The Montauk Music Festival, a four day musical celebration featuring talented up-and-coming independent artists.
Forged in the summer of 2012, Long Island’s Bears & Motorcycles began with three members: Dillon Mealey, Jeff Alvarado, and Brendan McGrath. The trio started writing raw, unpolished blues-rock in the backyard of a long island suburb in the heat of that summer. What soon would develop into heart wrenching anthems and fiery hooks had begun to take shape.
Within a few months two new members were added to complete the lineup. Professionally trained jazz/blues keys player Will Mahlan and the promising young drummer Jonathan Brick. With sounds drawing from the influences of the acid-washed, blues driven rock of the ’60s and ’70s and the catchy fervor of newer band from the 2000s and beyond this sound is something you can’t quite put your finger on.
Bears and Motorcycles won The Break Contest two weeks ago at the Encore Event Center in New Jersey and GameChanger is featuring the band’s music in a video game that will be released in early 2014.
More than 100 artists boasting a wide variety of musical styles (from alternative, rock, folk, pop, Americana, reggae, blues, jazz, bluegrass, to flamenco, rap, hip-hop, country, metal, and more), will be performing for free in the spirit of sharing original music with audiences and fellow musicians at this weekend’s event.
In its third year of production, the festival has cultivated an atmosphere of goodwill promoting local charities, connecting local New York “island” musicians with those from as far away as Vermont and California. Music lovers and performers alike are drawn to the beautiful oceanside playground of Montauk to promote and share art.
Click here for full schedule and details on The Montauk Music Festival.
