The Uptown Band: Setting the Stage for Southampton Days

Kicking off the Southampton Days festivities on Monday, July 4th will be Pennsylvania’s own, The Uptown Band. 

Scheduled to play from 7:30-9:45 on the Klinger Field Stage, The Uptown Band's  performance will take the crowd right up to the Independence Day fireworks spectacle.

This year's performance will mark the band's third appearance at Southampton Days in as many years.

“We’ve played the last two years on the smaller stages,” said saxophone-player and lead singer, Erich Cawalla.  “But this year we’re going to be on the big stage for the fireworks.”

Natives of the Reading area, The Uptown Band got their start about five years ago.  Fronted by Cawalla and his wife, Jenifer Kinder, they caught on quick and were in such high demand during their early days that Cawalla said they were playing upwards of 200 dates a year.

Touring up and down the east coast constantly, playing everything from large festivals to intimate parties, Cawalla said the band is everyone’s full time job.

Just half a decade old, The Uptown Band has already shared the stage with the likes of Marie Osmond and Pittsburgh Doo-Wop group The Skyliners, as well as performed alongside entertainers such as The Amazing Kreskin and Jeff Dunham.

They recently performed for actor Matt Dillon’s daughter’s wedding and have played several events for former Pennsylvania governor, Tom Ridge, and his wife, Michele.     

Over time, the band has trimmed their workload down a bit.  Cawalla estimates that these days they hit the stage between 125 to 150 times a year.

And the lighter schedule suits him just fine.

“You keep working to get established,” he said.  “Once you have that taken care of, you don’t have to work as much.”

Currently a 7 piece ensemble, with deep roots in jazz and R&B, Cawalla said the band’s catalogue of covers is quite extensive – several hundred songs strong in fact. 

“We started with all cover stuff,” said Cawalla.  “But we evolved into doing some original music too.  At [Southampton Days] we’ll probably do a couple of those original songs.”

Still, a good front man knows what the people want and Cawalla is under no illusions where that’s concerned.

“The cover songs are sort of what the public wants to hear,” he said.  “We realize people want to hear all that good stuff.  When you do this for a living you want to make people happy wherever you play."  

"An event like this," Cawalla continued, "there will be people there that are 5 and people that are 80.  So I like to do a little bit of everything – have a good variety."

Cawalla noted the band's versatility as far as that variety is concerned, saying they can pull off anything from Chicago to Cee Lo Green at the drop of a hat.

"At Southampton Days we'll probably be doing a couple country songs, some Motown," he said.  "Who knows - Frankie Valli, Michael Jackson.  A little something for everybody.

"You can't make every person in that audience 100% happy, but you can die trying to do it.  As for us, we're just happy [Southampton Days] is having us back for the third year in a row.  We love playing out at these kinds of festivals."  

You can check out "The Uptown Band," featuring Erich Cawalla & Jennifer Kinder, performing from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. on the Klinger Field Stage on July 4 at the Southampton Days Fair.