Sportsmen's Americana Music Foundation
Growing Community Through Music · Buffalo & WNY · Est. 2014
Growing Community Through Music · Buffalo & WNY · Est. 2014
The Sportsmen's Americana Music Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the roots-music talent of Buffalo and Western New York — and channeling it into hands-on music education for children in underserved communities. Since 2014, SAMF has put instruments and instruction in the hands of hundreds of young people across the region.
To celebrate, support, and promote local Americana music talent — and to make music education accessible to every child in Western New York, regardless of income or circumstance.
The Valley Community Association
Old First Ward Community Center
Child & Adolescent Treatment Centers
Boys & Girls Clubs of WNY
Est. 2014 · Buffalo, NY
Hundreds of children taught
$15K annual endowment — Love Supreme School of Music
EIN 46-3610387 · 501(c)(3)
Jeff Miers is a music journalist and musician living and working in Buffalo, NY. He served as Music Critic for The Buffalo News from 2002 to 2023. Since then, he has continued to cover the Western New York music scene through a variety of outlets, including his Miers on Music blog on Substack, his JeffMiersMusic.com site, Buffalo Spree Magazine, and his podcast, Why Music Matters with Jeff Miers.
Miers became Executive Director of SAMF in July of 2023. “My goal is to build upon SAMF’s dedication to fostering and promoting music education programs and initiatives in Buffalo and Western New York, and thereby deepening access to — and appreciation of — Americana music in all its forms throughout the region,” he says.
Miers was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2008. He was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 2014, as both journalist and musician.
Bill Kirchen co-founded Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in Ann Arbor in 1967. The band recorded seven albums for Paramount and Warner Brothers — including Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas, which Rolling Stone named one of the 100 Best Albums Ever Made — and scored a top-ten hit with “Hot Rod Lincoln.”
Kirchen’s signature “extended Hot Rod Lincoln” guitar showcase — a tour through 60 years of American guitar history that Rolling Stone has called “epic” — has made him one of the most celebrated instrumentalists in roots music. A classically trained trombonist who attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, he came to the guitar and never looked back.
After Commander Cody disbanded, Kirchen formed The Moonlighters and later the Too Much Fun trio, maintaining a schedule of more than 200 dates a year. He received a Grammy nomination in 2001 for Poultry in Motion and was inducted into the Washington Area Music Association Hall of Fame — an honor he shares with John Philip Sousa and Dave Grohl. Now based in Austin, Texas, he continues to perform and teach, including at the Augusta Heritage Center, Centrum Voiceworks, and Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch.
Throughout his career, Kirchen has performed alongside Nick Lowe, Doug Sahm, Elvis Costello, Link Wray, Emmylou Harris, Hoyt Axton, and Gene Vincent — a testament to the breadth and depth of his influence on American roots music.
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The Hall Family · Photo: Michael Lee Jackson
Denise Hall & Ian Gillan at Sportsmen's Tavern · Photo: Bob Mussell
Dear friends and supporters of SAMF —
As many of you surely know, the Hall family and the Buffalo music community as a whole lost a guiding light with the passing of Denise Hall on June 24.
From the beginning, Denise has been the heart and soul, not just of her family, but of the extended family that includes all of us who have spent any time at the Sportsmen's Tavern, Sportsmen's Park, or the Cave.
That family includes the Sportsmen's Americana Music Foundation, which was born from Dwane and Denise's desire to safeguard music education opportunities for future generations, and to build community through music.
As wife to Dwane, mother to James, Jason and Jeff, and grandmother to Eric, Denise exemplified the virtues of hard work, community engagement, kindness, and belief in the deep and lasting impact that a shared love of music can have on all of us.
One need look no further than her sons to witness those core beliefs in action. As anyone who frequents the Sportsmen's Tavern will tell you, the overriding feeling there is one of familial love — a love that is extended to seasoned patrons, first-time attendees, the staff, and the musicians on the stage, in equal measure.
When a beloved member of a community passes, that community feels the loss, and grieves it. While Dwane, James, Jason, Jeff and Eric have been so deeply involved in their own grieving, they've also had to shoulder that community's collective grief, all while maintaining the business that is their family legacy. To witness the way they've conducted themselves with such grace, integrity, kindness and selflessness during this period is to feel Denise's spirit and to understand her indelible impact on her husband, her three sons, and her grandson.
Here at the SAM Foundation, we are deeply committed to carrying Denise's legacy forward.
My friend and SAMF board member Jack Freedenberg spoke eloquently at the recent memorial service, and reminded us that the best way to honor Denise is to actively celebrate her legacy.
"Go see some extra live music shows this month. Check out and support the foundation's events. Always remember, live music is shared joy. Nothing could better honor Denise's memory."
— Jack Freedenberg, SAMF Board Member
Rest in peace, Denise, and thank you for the gifts you've given all of us.
With gratitude and love,
Jeff
"We feel the loss deeply, but your spirit remains the heartbeat of our Sportsmen's family. Lucky us to have known your smile, your laugh, your strength, your love, and we will never forget it."
Dan recalls a spring encounter with Denise outside Sportsmen's Tavern. After discussing how the original bar had grown into a community hub over four decades, Denise unexpectedly thanked him for his support of the Sportsmen's and her family. Her parting gesture — humble acknowledgment despite her central role in building the venue — became his lasting memory of her character.
Jack describes Denise as profoundly impactful to countless musicians and music lovers. While Dwane Hall served as the public face of Sportsmen's since 1985, Denise managed operations behind the scenes as a vital partner — handling paperwork, finances, and strategic decisions that kept the institution alive for four decades.
SAMF's work is made possible by the generous support of local businesses and organizations who believe in the power of music education. Please support those who support us.
Interested in sponsoring SAMF? We'd love to talk.
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