Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Saturday May 16, 2026 - Youngstown, NY

Road Blog
May 16, 2026
Youngstown, NY

We left our dive-motel-home for the last 2 days just before noon on Saturday. While loading up guitars and luggage we found a joint in the tip bucket that was missed and had fallen out into the van from the night before. While we’re eternally grateful for the generosity of anything that ends up in our tip bucket from night to night (you have no idea…), and the well-intentioned party favor, it’s always good to let the band know in a situation like that, especially where there are two international border crossings in our near future and the discovery of something of that nature would make for a most unpleasant afternoon. We love ya, though, and party on pal!

First stop was music matters niagara falls on our way out of town. The owner was a chatty, cool, funny guy and they had a great inventory. I picked up a (the minutemen) album, but left plenty of things I was tempted by, and went out back to check out a creek and call TrooperGirl22 while the boys shopped some more. Back there I made friends with a clearly people-conditioned Canadian goose who was looking for a T.R.E.A.T, which I sadly didn’t have to share. She scoffed and waddled off when she realized I was useless to her.

We headed up to Youngstown, about half an hour north, with some dark clouds coming in from the west. Youngstown is a tiny little village of 1800 people that sits on the spot where the Niagara river flows into the very corner of Lake Ontario. Our friend and show prompter Pete calls it “the west coast of the east coast” and clearly takes some pride in his community. Youngstown is the location of Old Fort Niagara, North America's oldest continually operating military fort, which played a pivotal strategic role in the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812. The history around here is amazing and it’s a beautiful area.

The Ontario House aka "Stone Jug" is a pre-Civil War inn and tavern (built on the site of a tavern that dates back to 1812) and sits on the corner of the village center. The place oozes history and each room is a cool look back in time. There’s a covered wooden pavilion across the back lot where the big stage is, along with another bar, and a couple TVs and gas heaters. We said hello to Peter, got the tour, and loaded our gear onto the stage just as it started pouring rain. Welp….may as well have a pint, eh? We met Gabrielle, a local girl who works at a nearby pizza joint, and was a second friendly ambassador to the town, and had some great conversation with her throughout the night. Dan-O (we think?) was pouring in The Stone Jug, a 17 year veteran of the tavern, and quite a towering, friendly character. Eric Weinholtz Shaun showed up, said hello, and loaded in for their afternoon set. We peeled ourselves away from the comfort of the bar and the Tigers’ game and went out to watch them just as the rain stopped. They played a great set from about 3:30-6:30, and had a coming-and-going crowd cheering them on.

It was the opening night of their outdoor concert season at The Jug, and we were up against the passing rain, chilly night, and more importantly, the Sabres’ game 6 (that series continues to haunt us) so we weren’t sure what to expect, but the weather had passed, there was a warm-enough breeze coming off the river, and we felt good when we hit the stage at 8pm sharp. The crowd was thin, but people quickly meandered out from the inside bar and within a couple songs we had a decent little audience, some watching intently, some splitting time between the Tucos and the Sabres on the back TV. We were clicking pretty good, having a lot of fun, lots of interaction with the crowd, and enjoying the big stage and good sound. The Habs scored 3 goals on their first 3 shots but the Sabres came back and dominated the rest of the game, so spirits were high and attentions were more easily diverted to the stage.

We took a short break, met Pete’s parents (it’s a family-owned operation) who were delightful people, and finished our set around 11pm. I grabbed a photo with Eric and told him I was glad he got to see us play halfway decent after we’d shit the bed on stage in Buffalo on Thursday. He was, of course, encouraging and insisting it wasn’t bad at all in Buffalo, but we agreed to disagree, had a couple laughs, and agreed that we’d keep in touch and for sure work together again. We sold some merch, mingled a bit, tore down and loaded out.

Once the van was packed we scarfed down some pizza with Gabe and her recently-engaged friend (Emily?). Emily is part of a culinary program at a college near here and we talked about Schoolcraft College back home, where TG22 works, and is a leading culinary school too. She was familiar and we exchanged info so I could connect them to discuss all things pastries, pastas, and otherwise. Bellies full, ears ringing, and glasses empty, we went back into the tavern for one more where Dan-O wasn’t having any of this “one more” crap and things got a little crazy before we formulated and executed our exit plan. I was asleep in about 40 seconds when I finally got to my room at God-knows what time it was.

This morning I was up at 7am, sun shining in, river in the distance, mourning dove singing in a nearby tree, and the little village just barely coming to life. Other guests are coming and going as I drink coffee and work on the blog. I breathed a sigh of relied when Jacob walked by on his was to get a coffee and I heard Troy taking on the phone from the next room over, knowing they'd both survived the night and I wouldn't have some `splainin' to do to their wives.

What a special 24 hours this has been, what an amazing place this is and incredible people these are. Every once in a while we have a night like this and feel like a real band. We are so grateful and don’t take any of it for granted. Big thanks and love to everyone here. We can’t wait to come back.

Off to Syracuse today to wrap this run up at Al's Wine & Whiskey Lounge at 9:30pm. Pistons game 7 tonight too. I think we’ll all be on slightly better behavior, but no promises.

Xx