Tail Winds Music Fest Features Eclectic Rockers

There’s a great new music festival coming to the region this month with an eclectic rock and hard rock lineup, plenty of food trucks and craft breweries on hand, and even helicopter rides.

The Tail Winds Music Fest is Saturday, June 29, at the Hudson Valley Regional Airport in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., about an hour from Northern New Jersey, presented by CM-MC Festivals, Inc. The stellar lineup features headliner the Chris Robinson Brotherhood along with Black Stone Cherry, Geoff Tate’s Operation: Mindcrime, King’s X (drummer Jerry Gaskill is a Jersey native), Sass Jordan, Big Guns, the Playback and the Jason Gisser Band. The day is MC’d by Don Jamieson and radio personality Tigman.

The roster truly runs the gamut, from former Black Crowes frontman Robinson’s brand of heady, psychedelic-tinged rock and Black Stone Cherry’s southern flavored rock to Tate and King’s X's heavy tunes and Jordan’s signature dynamic performance.

The day will also feature food trucks, craft breweries, vendors, a massage station, a VIP experience and, this being at an airport, helicopter rides, and more. Part of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation, whose mission is to fund support services and outreach for people affected by breast cancer within the Hudson Valley.

The event is presented by CM-MC Festivals, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose motto is Concerts for a Cause.

For more info on the Tail Winds Music Fest, go to www.tailwindsmusicfest.com

Check out PROMOTER at, go to www.cmmcfestivals.com

The Miles of Hope website is https://milesofhope.org/

We recently spoke to festival co-promoter Matt Cavaliere about the lineup and the logistics of organizing the event.

The strength of Tail Winds is that it’s a really eclectic lineup. How did you go about structuring the roster?

It is a really diverse group and we think it’s going to work well and bring in a lot of people. My business partner Chris Muratore and I put together a wish list and as we went through the months of putting it together we reached out to see who's available and is the tour routing working out. Chris manages Nick Fradiani, who won American Idol in 2015 and opened up for Bon Jovi this past summer. I grew up in the 80s and my interest is classic rock and hard rock. These are bands that I’ve seen growing up.

An important thing for Geoff Tate fans: He told us he’s going to do “Operation: Mindcrime” in its entirety and play some real old songs too. I think the fans will really enjoy that. I think Sass Jordan is the dark horse in the lineup. She's been around for some time and hailed as the Canadian queen of rock and a lot of folks in this area don't know her. She has some real gem albums and I think she's going to impress a lot of people and win over some fans.

You’ve also got a number of experiences that festivalgoers can participate in.

I didn’t just want a music concert. I wanted to bring an entire experience for the full day. So let’s bring in a nice collection of food and local craft breweries and all sorts of fun things like a massage station, helicopter rides, and face painting and henna art. The VIP area is something really special, for whose who really want to go for the splurge. There’s a really great food menu, plus you’ll be under a tent, private bathrooms. It’s really a neat experience.

How long have you been working on the festival?

We did an event last June that sold out and after that we decompressed for a couple weeks and then off we went on Tail Winds. It’s been a tremendous amount of work and it’s not over yet. There’s so much to cover. I want to make it a really great experience and I want to make sure there's a great check for Miles of Hope.

Let’s talk about the charity aspect of the festival. Tell us more about Miles of Hope.

We’re really excited to work with them. They fund support services and help those directly effected by breast cancer. It doesn’t' necessarily go toward research. This money is funneling to those families and people that have been stricken by this disease. They do something unique. They help with services that may be as little as getting a ride for someone to go to chemotherapy or pay for some of their treatments or maybe the person is paying for treatments and can’t afford their electric bill for the month. Miles of Hope comes in and helps them financially. It’s those things that people forget about that effect the entire family. And because they’re a non-profit their books are open. I took a deep dive to see where the money goes and they’re really helping people.

Some people here in North Jersey might be disinclined to attend because the event is outside of the region. How would you encourage Jersey folks to go?

It’s really not that far. We’re centrally located. You can get to us from New York City in an hour. You can even take a train up and Uber from the station. It's not far. It shouldn’t be too hard for people to get to from Northern Jersey. The music brings people together, and you’ve got the food and beverages and the fight for a cause at the same time. It’s a great, wonderful day out.

Tail Winds Music Fest

11 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. Saturday, June 29

Hudson Valley Regional Airport, Wappingers Falls, N.Y. (one hour from NYC)

Featuring The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Black Stone Cherry, Geoff Tate's Operation: Mindcrime, King's X, Sass Jordan, Big Guns, the Playback and the Jason Gisser Band.

For ticket prices and more information visit www.tailwindsmusicfest.com