By Sue Porter Ottaway-
Tommy Z is an electric blues guitarist, singer, musician, guitar teacher, songwriter, record producer and on-air blues radio talent out of the Buffalo, NY area. You can catch him live this Saturday, November 5 at Balloons Restaurant and Nightclub in Ellicottville, NY. I asked Tommy how many years he has been playing at Balloons he said, “I’ve been playing at Balloons since I was in the band The Hurricanes, which goes back to the early 1990s. When Dave Elder got involved, I had this idea for a Saturday matinee he presented to Mike Kerns Sr. that took off as a residency for about two years. By then everyone was pounding on the door to play there, including national touring acts.” You can catch Tommy Z and his band playing at Balloons about 8-10 times per year, including for the Winter Blues Fest, the Ellicottville Jazz/Blues Fest and Rock-N-Roll Weekend. He’s also the regular yearly entertainment for Fall Fest at Holiday Valley which benefits a local charity and other shows in the region like events at HoliMont, the Seneca Allegany Casino, Olean and more.
Hailing from Buffalo, Tommy Z has been not only a staple in the music scene but a sought-after artist for huge events like the Buffalo New Year’s Eve Ball Drop, playing it twice, was booked a third time but it was cancelled due to the pandemic lockdown. I was there in 2019 with fellow Tommy Z Diehards along with 40,000 others bringing in the New Year. A magical night I will never forget! What a show the Tommy Z Band put on and what a great way to bring in the new year! As his website states: Tommy started performing for our troops all over the world, in 17 different countries in all, including Iraq and Afghanistan on behalf of USO/AFE.
The list of top musicians Tommy and his band have opened for or Tommy has played with reads like a Who’s Who of Blues greats! These include Benny Turner, Freddie King’s brother, whom Tommy played with last Saturday night in Buffalo at the DHU Strand Theatre. Tommy shared with me, “To have magic happen from the first notes and build throughout the set was incredible. Getting that kind of validation and affirmation from someone who’s known and/or played with everybody from Muddy Waters to Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter, B.B. King etc. including all of my heroes, means so much. He’s still doing it and having fun at 83 years old!”
Tommy Z has a new 24/7 blues radio station, called WBLZ, Blizzard of Blues Radio, that is going very well. They rely completely on monthly subscriber contributions starting at $10 a month on up to advertising sponsors.
Please follow Tommy Z and his band, consisting of: Dave Herr on bass, Shannon Street on drums and Chris Marziale on keyboards, on their website and join the email list at www.tommyzband.com. You can also follow/add them on Spotify/Apple Music, their social media accounts at @guitartommyz, plus his radio station website, www.wblz.org. Tommy reminds us all, “It takes 4000-5000 streams to make up for the purchase of just one $20. CD, which people rarely buy anymore.
Balloons Restaurant and Nightclub, located at 20 Monroe St. in the heart of Ellicottville was established in 1990. This popular hotspot has a main stage and bar room, a smaller bar in the back where you can often find acoustic acts playing and a large tent outside next to the patio where yet more bands/musicians play. These choices make it a live music lovers dream venue because there is always music for everyone’s taste including DJs playing after the bands in the main nightclub bar. Their food is also excellent from their famous gourmet burgers, delicious wings, extensive choices of salads, wraps, sandwiches, tacos plus a plant-based menu!
Check out their schedule of live music and their menu on the website at balloonsrestaurant.com. They also have Facebook and Instagram pages. I hope to see you at Balloons this Saturday night to listen to and dance to the Tommy Z Band at Balloons from 6:30-10pm.
A few of the many additional live music happenings this weekend around our region:
- Friday, November 4, 2022: St. Vith @ The Beer Snob, 8-12 pm, Jamestown. Aaron Ziolkowski @ Union Whiskey, 8 pm, Olean.
- Saturday, November 5, 2022: Harvest & Rust, a tribute to Neil Young @ Sportsmen’s Tavern, Buffalo 8pm. Bucked Up @ Celoron Legion, 8:30-11:59pm. AOH (Afraid Of Human/Smokin’ 45) @ Shawbucks, 10pm – 2am, Jamestown. Karl and Mark’s Revolution, @ Group Ther-Happy, 7-10pm, Lakewood.