The Legends of Long Island Music Awards is entering its second year celebrating the backbone of the local music community on Tuesday, March 31, in Lake Ronkonkoma.
Event sponsor Rich Branciforte, who founded the Long Island Music Business Organization (LIMBO), anticipates roughly 200 fans will gather in support of four iconic bands as well as 20 music-related businesses. The event, which kicks off at 6 p.m. at Anthony’s On The Water, also honors restaurant owner Anthony Pellegrino, known for his live summer events.
“It’s a nice event. It’s a sit-down dinner, cash bar and we introduce each honoree and have them come up and do an acceptance speech, and we do a little history on the band,” Branciforte said.
These iconic bands—Decadia, Funk Filharmonik, The Liverpool Shuffle and Benoir—each stand out in their own way. Decadia, for instance, can be counted out to draw crowds to summer concerts in the parks, and Funk just celebrated its 35th anniversary, united with a band of 12. What they all they all have in common is longevity. “Iconic means they’ve been around for a while. Some of these guys have been in business for 30 and 40 years, which is really hard,” said Branciforte.
Besides the music awards and LIMBO, which acts as a Chamber of Commerce, Branciforte is founder of Good Times Magazine, celebrating its 57th anniversary on April 1 and an inductee into the Long Island Music Hall & Entertainment Fall of Fame. “I started it to get free tickets to Woodstock and free albums thinking I was going to do it for a year or two,” Branciforte recalled. He even launched it on April Fool’s Day so if it flopped, he could pass it off as a joke. No need it's a survivor, and continues to support the industry with 700 listings of upcoming shows.
Although he once turned down a job for Jimmy Hendrix, Branciforte has no regrets. For tickets, priced at $53, call 516-280-2100 or email gtmag@optonline.net.