Jam Band Charity Comes to Saratoga;Local Beneficiary Needed

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Last year, the jam band Goose had their biggest headlining performance to date at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). This year, when the band returns to SPAC for a two-night run in September, a fan-created charity is coming along to raise funds for a local nonprofit.

The Western Sun Foundation will host its first in-person fundraiser at the Saratoga Spa Golf Course on Saturday, September 7. The “Goose on the Green” event nearly sold out in only a week, with 72 people already slated to attend. As of Tuesday afternoon, the event had two tee times remaining for Goose fans looking to hit the links prior to the band’s second show.

The golf outing includes the long strange putt contest (a nod to the Grateful Dead lyrics, “what a long, strange trip it’s been”) and some soon-to-be-announced, Goose-related prizes.

The local nonprofit beneficiary of the fundraiser has yet to be determined. Western Sun Foundation President Sarah Blazincic said that Saratoga-area and Capital Region charities should contact her to be considered. The beneficiary will be officially selected by the foundation on August 15.

Western Sun was launched by a group of Goose fans in 2022. The Goose community, akin to the Phish and Grateful Dead fan bases that came before it, often attends multiple shows every year, obsessing over the setlists, solos, and sound mixes of each tour. Goose’s popularity has been steadily increasing over the past few years, especially after performances with Phish’s Trey Anastasio and the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir seemingly cemented them as the next great jam band act.

“We decided to take this big energy that was Goose and the music we get from it, transform that into action, and raise money for the communities that we’re traveling through,” said Blazincic.  

Phish’s Mockingbird Foundation and the Grateful Dead’s Rex Foundation both served as examples for Goose fans looking to give back. “Just like lots of other communities have done before us, we wanted to capitalize on the Goose energy that is so quickly rising and do some good with it,” Blazincic said.

One example of Western Sun’s good deeds came during Goose shows at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in October 2023. 

“We partnered with an organization called Feel the Beat,” Blazincic said. “They are an organization that provides music education and music therapy for children with disabilities and people who are hard of hearing. So they actually have vibrating dance floors that they’re putting in venues around Colorado. They make sure that there are music interpreters and all different types of programming to bring music education and therapy to people who typically don’t have access to it.”

Western Sun raised $6,000 and launched a 30-day awareness and visibility campaign for Feel the Beat. The fan foundation has also financially supported nonprofits such as Girls Rock Detroit, a music education program that teaches girls how to play instruments and create a band. Girls Rock Detroit participants were invited to attend a Goose soundcheck and watch the group live.

Blazincic said that Goose band members have been “very supportive” of the foundation’s initiatives over the past couple years.

“We work with them side by side to make sure that we are doing things that they want to see,” Blazincic said. “This golf outing was one of them.”

“Goose on the Green” will take place on Saturday, September 7 at the Saratoga Spa State Park Golf Club at 60 Roosevelt Drive in Saratoga Springs. For more information on registration and sponsorships, visit app.eventcaddy.com/events/goose-on-the-green.

The Western Sun Foundation is looking for beneficiaries in the Saratoga area that meet the following criteria:

• Classified as a “Public Charity” with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (individual or private foundations are not eligible) 

• Operating budget less than $1,000,000 

• Focuses on one of the following areas: music education; music therapy; safety, health, and personal wellbeing of women and children; or climate action and environmental sustainability 

Local organizations that meet these criteria can contact Sarah Blazincic at westernsunfoundation@gmail.com.