Uplift Music
Festival
2015
Raises Money for Cancer Patients
T
Written by Niki Heacock and Juliana Wilson
Photos by John Collins Photography
his summer’s fourth annual Uplift Music
Festival in Oak Park successfully benefitted a great local cause, while also bringing
unique and energetic live music to Greenfield, NH.
On August 8, 2015, musicians, staff members, volunteers, promoters, writers, photographers, and fans were all united through the
beauty of music.
The benefit for this year’s Uplift was the Monadnock Community Hospital’s Cancer Assistance Program. All of the proceeds from ticket
sales went directly toward financially assisting
cancer patients and their families in the Monadnock community.
This held a personal connection to the Uplift
family, as they have lost multiple loved ones
fighting cancer over the years. Uplift founder
and drummer for Roots of Creation, Mike Chadinha, dedicated the 2015 event to the memory
32 • CIDER MAG • cidermag.com
Tara Greenblatt Band
of his mother who lost her short battle to aggressive gastric cancer in January.
As each year passes the Uplift lineup gets
better and better with eight talented bands
performing, packing into the park for the oneday event. The Tara Greenblatt Band kicked off
the beautiful summer day with some mesmerizing and inspiring hand drumming on the Cider
Mag stage under the pavilion.
The Tara Greenblatt Band’s unique brand of
percussion and gorgeous vocals hypnotize the
hips while painting the images of many stories
through their music. With three albums under
her belt, Tara and the band have begun playing
more gigs than ever and the Uplift fans really
connected with their raw, earthy beats.
Grooving through the rest of the afternoon,
acoustic singer/songwriter Shea Vaccaro’s short
set on the Uplift Gazebo stage was followed by
Winter • 2015