This fall, platinum selling rock band X Ambassadors will return to their hometown of Ithaca, NY to host an outdoor concert and city wide weekend festival. The inaugural Cayuga Sound Festival is set to take place September 22-23 at historic Stewart Park, and other local venues, in Ithaca, NY. Tickets for Cayuga Sound Festival will go on sale Friday, March 31st at 10 am EST.
Presented by X Ambassadors, This Fiction and DSP Shows, the inaugural Cayuga Sound Festival will include performances by X Ambassadors, The Roots, K.Flay, The Knocks, Margaret Glaspy, Jukebox the Ghost, Tei Shei and more. A portion of the proceeds will benefit local non-profits including Friends of Stewart Park, The Ithaca Youth Bureau, GIAC, Planned Parenthood Ithaca, Community School of Music & Arts and more TBA.
“My brother Casey and I are proud to call ourselves native Ithacans,” says X Ambassadors lead singer Sam Harris. “The city is an important part of our identity, personally and professionally. We cut our teeth as musicians in Ithaca, so X Ambassadors owe the city a great deal. We wanted to curate a music festival in Ithaca that celebrates the city where we hail from. With an eclectic line-up of artists from all different genres of music, wonderful food and drink from local vendors and the opportunity to give back to the community we are so proud to be a part of.”
“Ithaca has such a strong musical heritage, and growing up X Ambassadors got the chance to see tons of roots music, bluegrass, world music and more,” says Seth Kallen, founder of This Fiction; management for X Ambassadors. “However as kids, they felt there was a lack of hip-hop, alternative music, pop and R&B shows- the music they loved and built the foundations of the band around. We want to bring something special to Ithaca with this festival. We all believe Cayuga Sound will become a long lasting event in upstate New York, bringing together people from across the region to dance, eat and drink.”
“DSP has always wanted to do something bigger in Ithaca but until now the vision wasn’t clear,” says Dan Smalls, founder of DSP Shows (formerly Dan Smalls Presents). “After working with X Ambassadors in all their incarnations over the past 8 years we have watched them grow and mature and truly earn the worldwide status they have reached. This a match made in heaven and we cannot wait to share all we have up our sleeves to celebrate Ithaca and the Finger Lakes during this truly memorable week in Ithaca!”
“Cayuga Sound is an enormous opportunity for the City of Ithaca,” says Mayor of Ithaca Svante Myrick. “It promotes what’s best about our community – culture, the environment, and the economy. As a fan, I’ll be camping out to see X Ambassadors, and as a recovering drummer I’m extremely excited to see QuestLove and The Roots.”
Cayuga Sound Festival will offer two stages in the park on Saturday, September 23rd featuring an eclectic mix of talent from national touring acts to the home grown local talent from Ithaca and the region. Local vendors will be on site to offer attendees a taste of local food and drink. General admission and VIP tickets will be available for purchase starting March 31st. VIP ticket packages include a private dinner sponsored by Ithaca Beer on Friday, September 22nd followed by intimate shows at The Haunt and The Dock throughout the weekend. Club show lineups to be announced soon. Additional information on tickets, travel, hotel accommodations and festival details can be found at cayugasoundfestival.com.
X Ambassadors released their debut full length album VHS (KIDinaKORNER/Interscope) in June 2015, where it debuted at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and has since been certified gold by the RIAA. The set was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Alex Da Kid and features the platinum selling singles “Renegades” and “Unsteady”. The band recently performed a sold out show at The Roxy in Los Angeles to benefit Planned Parenthood and released a new song, “Hoping,” to benefit the ACLU.
