A host of local, acclaimed performers present creepy compositions of Capital Region crimes and macabre tales of the area's past! A unique musical event for the Halloween season! Join us for the fourth (!) iteration of the Ooky Spooky Musical Showcase, this year hosted at The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY.

Digging through the newspaper archives at the library, hosts Zan Strumfeld and Michael Gregg (two-fifths of Americana band Zan & The Winter Folk) found macabre tales of the Capital Region's eerie past, and asked local musicians to write and perform a ballad based on one article.

Come hear the debut of 10 brand new, original songs about creepy crimes and strange occurrences that have happened all over the region, featuring local musicians up for the challenge. They'll share their tale and sing their song during an intimate and special evening of storytelling and spookiness.

The lineup:

Barbie Barker
 The Belle Curves
 Caity Gallagher
 Drank the Gold
 Eastbound Jesus (duo)
 Graham Tichy
 Julia Alsarraf
 Michael Gregg
 TJ Foster
 Zan Strumfeld

OOKY SPOOKY BIOS
 

Barbie Barker

Barbie Barker is an Upstate New York singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her raw, heartfelt approach to indie rock. A longtime member of Troy-based grunge-punk band Candy Ambulance, Barker stepped into the spotlight as a solo artist in 2025 with her debut EP, C, released through Tummy Rub Records.
 
 The Belle Curves

The Belle Curves is a Troy-area project led by singer-songwriter, bassist, and creative force Delaney Hafener, bringing jangly power-pop, rootsy alt-country, folk storytelling, and a slightly sardonic wit to the stage. Hafener’s songs prize authenticity, clever melodies, and sharp observations, often balancing tenderness with humor and self-awareness. Whether appearing stripped down or expanded into a fuller band sound, The Belle Curves represent the shared life of a regional scene where collaboration, craft, and character matter. Delaney and her partner and guitarist Jeff Wager will be co-writing a song for the first time for the Ooky Spooky Musical Showcase, inspired by the creative prompt to explore a new side of their collaborative relationship.

Caity Gallagher

Caity Gallagher is an indie folk singer songwriter based in Albany, NY. Blending rootsy compositions and lilting vocal lines, Gallagher’s honest optimism shines through her lyrics, allowing her storytelling to map the meandering paths of the human experience.
 
 

Drank the Gold

Upstate NY based duo, soaring vocal harmonies, fiddle, guitar/banjo, Irish and American old-time tunes and songs, contemporary traditionalists. 2023 Folk/Traditional Artist of the Year at the NY Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards, Drank the Gold play and sing North Atlantic dance tunes and folk songs. Their latest (double A side) single, “The Song of Wandering Aengus/The Widow Halpyne” (nominated for 2026 Record of the Year at the Eddies), simultaneously features the group's tight vocal harmonies; Oona Grady's deep Irish fiddle roots; James Gascoyne's compositional talents; and their shared passion for digging deep into traditional music and finding something new to say.

Eastbound Jesus (Duo)

Eastbound Jesus is a roots-driven Americana band blending high-energy bluegrass, country soul, and rock & roll grit. Known for their electrifying live shows and road-tested sound, the band delivers storytelling songs with tight musicianship and raw authenticity. With a growing regional and national following, Eastbound Jesus continues to carve out a distinctive lane in modern Americana - where tradition meets rebellion.

Graham Tichy

Graham Tichy is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, audio engineer, and guitar instructor who has lived his entire life in New York’s Capital Region. Over a three-decade career, Graham has built an international reputation as a versatile and skilled guitarist known for his mastery of mid-20th-century musical styles. Graham’s performance credits include some of the most respected names in American roots music: Los Straitjackets, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and Wanda Jackson (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). He currently leads several original projects performing across the US and Europe: GOONS! (1960s garage/soul/punk), The Swingin’ Palms (Hawaiian), Beachcombers (early 1960s surf), and the Sound Minds (1960s Beat Music). Alongside his performing career, Graham has established himself as a sought-after mixing and mastering engineer, with a significant and growing client roster spanning a wide range of genres and artists.

Julia Alsarraf

Julia Alsarraf is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Troy, NY whose compositions range from contemporary folk to pop-punk and everything in between. Known for her deeply vulnerable, soulful vocals and raw storytelling, she crafts deeply personal songs infused with clever, often dark humor.

Michael Gregg

Michael Gregg is an early-middle aged man. He is a proud instrument owner and can be reached through Zan.

TJ Foster

TJ Foster is a local musician from Colonie, specializing in writing observant and occasionally-nihilistic songs about the world at large. Every now and then he'll even write something upbeat. He is the architect and songwriter behind the Eddie Award-winning group E.R.I.E., as well as his solo, instrumental post-rock project, I, Supernova on Deep Elm Records. The roots of most of his songwriting lie in the singer-songwriter realm, evidenced by a pair of singles released earlier this year --- D&B --- in honor of his grandparents. He is currently working on a full-length solo record anticipated for release in 2027, or whenever his young kids let him. 

Zan Strumfeld

Zan Strumfeld leads Zan & The Winter Folk, an Americana/folk band from Troy, NY. The Winter Folk released their first full-length album, "New Morse Code," in June 2024, and in 2025, the band won two Capital Region Thomas Edison (The Eddies) Awards -- Album of the Year and Americana Band of the Year. Zan produces music events under “A Zan Strumfeld Show,” where she focuses on showcasing the area's extraordinary local talent through unique productions, including sold-out tributes to Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Simon & Garfunkel, CSNY, The Kinks, and three “Ooky Spooky Musical Showcases,” where local musicians write songs about the area’s creepy past.