Sea Cliff's Still Partners announces lively lineup for fall

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Still Partners owner Dan Roth admits he’s fully enjoying the last few days of summer. But he would be lying, he said, if he wasn’t ready for fall, blue jeans, flannels, and a crowded bar full of music.
“My favorite part of running the bar is bringing in all the awesome music,” Roth said, “And I’m really excited about this fall. We have a lot of people who have played the bar before, and a couple who are new that haven’t played there yet.”
The Sea Cliff-based gastropub will host a variety of styles and singers this season as part of its fall music series. Every Thursday, Dave Diamond and Friends will perform tribute concerts by playing the tunes of a particular artist. In honor of the late queen of soul, one concert will be dedicated to the memory and music of Aretha Franklin. For New Orleans Night on Oct. 6, Still Partners will welcome The HooDoo Loungers to play the eminent sounds of the soulful city.
Return players include jazz ensemble Black Tie Brass, Allman Brothers collaborator Scott Sharrard, as well as Glen Cove’s own Jason Crosby Band and “The Voice” contestant Troy Ramey.
“I feel like Sea Cliff is a safe place for artists,” Ramey said. “There’s a lot of artists that I’ve met, and it just seems like a place where people really care not just about music, but art in general.”

The Vermont native moved to the village three years ago, for it reminded him of the art-centric community he grew up in. “My girlfriend and I discovered Sea Cliff because of Mini Mart, and we fell in love with the town,” Ramey said. “I said, ‘Whatever we do, we have to live here.’ And being a part of it now is really exciting for me.”
Aside from the die-hard music fans that often populate Partners’ concerts, Ramey said he also enjoys seeing friendly faces from the neighborhood, as well as families with kids, when they come in and enjoy a show. He performed at Partners with his band back in June, and remembers the crowd’s enthusiasm as they played, and the overall respect they showed the music.
“If I ever play on Friday night in the city, it could be a pretty narrow group of people, and most of them are drinking really, really heavily, and maybe not listening as much as I’d like them to,” Ramey said. “It’s a small town feel, and it’s good to feel that kind of support.”
Ramey said he believes this has helped the bar earn a reputation for curating quality lineups. “The best venues really care about the quality of music, and because they appreciate good music, the patrons of Partners can always count on that,” he said.
For some, like Glen Cove native Jason Crosby, a multi-instrumentalist currently based out of California, playing Partners means getting back together with old jam-mates. “It’s like a reunion,” Crosby said, “a celebration.”
When he and his band — which includes regular Partners drummer Dave Diamond and Crosby’s brother, Chris — get together, it’s less like a show, he said, and more like a party, a “hodgepodge,” wherein they all play each others’ music, but in a way that feels like family. “These are my homies,” Crosby said. “We’ve been playing together for decades.”
Roth said that while live music may not be everyone’s cup of tea — or in this case, their pint of beer — those anticipated moments before a band starts their set breeds an air of excitement. “The vibe of the place lights up on nights when we have music,” he said. “It’s just really fun.”