The key to many great musical acts is balance. Not just how the instruments or singers complement each other but how the backgrounds, experiences, inspiration and personalities of the performers blend and harmonize.

Now married for three years, drummer Collin Brushell and singer Heather Brushell originally met nearly a decade ago at Believers Chapel in Canastota, where Collin’s father, Doug Brushell is pastor. Doug is a longtime Syracuse musician himself and manager of his son’s band.

Back in Time

Returning after a year’s hiatus, the New York State Blues Festival offered a great weekend of music.

I’ve been to at least one festival every weekend this summer since Memorial Day with no sign of stopping straight through August and potentially September. Jazz and blues, Kellish Hill Farms, Big Splash, Sterling Stage, Balloonfest and possible trips down to Pennsylvania and Virginia for more are all on the list. Each have their charms and I walk out of most fests feeling satisfied and either soggy from rain or fried from sunburn. But this weekend’s Super Ball IX at Watkins Glen International wasn’t just another festival on the list. This weekend was an event, a marathon, or most accurately, an experience that will resonate with all the phaithful phans that saw the weekend through, with terrible tan lines to prove it.

David Bromberg visits the Westcott Nation on Friday to push his upcoming CD of duets with musical all-stars

Canadian rockers The Trews mix it up Wednesday, June 22, at the Westcott

The Toronto-based four-piece group The Trews have a busy summer ahead. With shows dipping down to New York City and over to British Columbia, it’s a good thing this family-focused band gets along. Brothers Colin and John-Angus MacDonald, with cousin Sean Dalton and longtime friend Jack Syperek, have hit it big in Canada with two gold records and 10 top-10 singles.

“Gimme Some Space” starts with a flow that would make Snoop Dogg proud, but then bursts into a Rage Against The Machine-like jam. “Intimate Affair” is a soulful take in the P-Funk style, while “Lyrical Guide” features Jack Brown at the top of his game, with a flow expertly culled from his spoken-word background.