The Ponytail James Band was formed in late 2017 with the lineup of Mike Reitz, Thaddeus

Sitnik, David Springall , Jason Hanas, and Mark Flemming. All five musicians had been

seeking to form a group that could play some of the greatest classic rock songs of all time,

as well as some interesting selections from the recent past.

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The band  debuted at the Landmark Theater as the opening band at the “Rock the Redhouse” charity event. From there the band continued to work on developing new, crowd pleasing material from some of the greatest bands around. The Eagles, Cream, REM, BonJovi, and the Rolling Stones just to name a few.

 

The Ponytail James Band continued to evolve adding more vocal harmonies and well known

song selections that proved to be crowd favorites. The band became regulars at the

Dinosaur Barbecue, Sharkey’s in Liverpool, The Tiki Bar in Baldwinsville, and Barado’s on the

Lake. As the bands following grew, they were asked to headline the Cazenovia Blockfest in

August of that year. The appearance was so successful that the band was immediately

booked to headline the event for the next years show.

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Word about the band continued to spread with an appearance on WSYR-TV 9’s “Bridge

Street Live” and more shows around Central New York. The bands website and Facebook

page grew visitors by leaps and bounds with each new show, and thier logoed merchendise

was being seen all over Central New York. Soon they welcomed the bass lines of seasoned musician Mike Rice to replace the retiring Ted Sitnik.

 

The Ponytail James Band continues to add great songs, new venues, and dedicated fans as

they enter the post Covid era of live music. They are already booked for a number of dates going into the year including The Landmark Theater, the Cazenovia Blockfest, Westcott Theater, The Tiki Bar, Average Joe's and a myriad of great Central New York venues.