Saturday night, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is hosting Pints for Parkinson’s in recognition of National Parkinson’s Awareness Month and Raising For Randy, a local fundraising team.

Singer and songwriter Corey Paige and Barn Busters Band will perform at the event. Through seperate performances, the two artists aim to draw crowds and raise funds to support the cause. The fundraising team, Raising For Randy, will donate 100% of the proceeds to The Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Though the foundation was established in 2000, Raising For Randy is in its second year of existence. Kristy Hall, the team leader of Raising For Randy, said she started the Syracuse chapter in 2017 by setting up a walk.

The event started small, she said, but grew quickly. Going into the walk, she said she had hoped to raise $500 and some awareness. By the time the month was over, she had raised nearly $1,800.

“That was when I realized I could make an even bigger impact and I planned Pints for Parkinson’s,” Hall said in an email. “In just three hours, we raised $2500, and this year, we upgraded to a larger space, two music acts and even more raffles and prizes.”

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With regards to this weekend’s performers, Hall said Paige was a great fit for the event last year and always puts on engaging live shows. She added Barn Busters wanted to support the good cause and said they will energize the crowd with their array of country music.

Peter Addabbo, a member of Barn Busters, said their fans have described their performances as “high energy.” He said the event will be “fun and interactive,” bringing music that is a combination of both old and new sounds.

“It’s a blend of modern country,” Addabbo said in an email, “and classic country.” Their music has some aspects that represent sounds from artists like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Jon Pardi, he said, but they are also inspired by past artists like Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins and Montgomery Gentry.

While he will be performing solo at Pints for Parkinson’s, Paige was the lead singer for the band Candid. The group hasn’t been performing on a regular basis, so he adapted to being on stage alone. Paige said he’s been in the Syracuse area for nearly two decades and feels comfortable in front of the locals.

But it’s all about raising money to help find a cure for this disease — something Hall, Paige and Addabbo all touched upon.

If you are going out on Saturday night, Hall said, Pints for Parkinson’s is an opportunity to have fun while also supporting a great cause and potentially winning some prizes.

“People should attend this event because they would be supporting a cause that is impacting millions of Americans,” Addabbo said.

He said the group looks forward to performing at the event and hopes that there’s a big turnout. It’s important that the audience understands the underlying importance of the event, he said, instead of assuming it’s just a typical Saturday night at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.

This fundraiser is more personal for Paige, who said his cousin’s wife died last summer from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“I saw, firsthand, how it impacted her and her family, and I make it a point to contribute to organizations that fund neuromuscular research,” Paige said.

Published on April 22, 2019 at 10:03 pm

gfpagano@syr.edu