Beacon Music Factory opens venue
Stephen Clair knows that it's impossible to reincarnate the groovy, decade-long music scene that animated Dogwood, which shuttered in 2023 and is now Cooper's on East Main Street. But with help from Daria Grace and a coterie of friends, he's going to try.
Clair's venture, the Beacon Music Factory on Fishkill Avenue, has always housed an intimate performance space for teachers and students, but a three-month makeover upgraded the lighting, interior design and sound system to create a new venue, Lucky Dog, birthed with simple math: a beer and wine tavern license. One goal is to share the wealth with performers.
After a soft opening earlier this month, the club will host a banger on Jan. 1 that resurrects an hours-long tribute to artists who have died in the past year. Around two dozen vocalists will sing karaoke with a live house band on what is billed as New Year's Day of the Dead, says Grace.

The irregular, reverent event began locally as Lou Year's Day at Quinn's in 2013, says Grace, and paid tribute to the demise of Velvet Underground guiding light and iconoclastic New York rocker Lou Reed, whose only hit, "Walk on the Wild Side," reached No. 16 on the Billboard pop charts in 1972.
The musical canines held another gathering in 2016 after the deaths of Prince, David Bowie and Merle Haggard. Clair ticks off 14 prominent musicians who died in 2025, including Sly Stone, Brian Wilson, Ozzy Osbourne and Garth Hudson of The Band, which maintained close ties to the Hudson Valley. The event also serves as a fundraiser for Fareground, the food and community nonprofit.
The music space reunites the old dogs and introduces new trick ponies. During a showcase earlier this month, the stalwarts included Jonathan Frith and Jon Slackman. Soon after Dogwood's demise, Slackman tried to revive the venue's vibe by hosting Grateful Dead cover shows at Stinson's Hub, but the concept never took hold.

Mark Weston plucked a silver resonator six-string and Beacon High School senior Skylar Clair, daughter of Stephen, fingerpicked introspective original songs. Playing guitar, Jeannine Young accompanied Brian Waite's piano for his humorous Broadway-inspired song, "Bubble Bath."
"The place feels legit now with the redesign," says Clair. "It's a platform for just about anything, and we'll see what sticks. The community embraced it, helped create it and takes pride in it, so we're going to get our ya-ya's out, for sure."
George Mansfield, co-founder of Dogwood, donated the club's original sign. Just inside the entrance on the unofficial opening night, Mansfield assembled three plastic letters in different fonts that spelled d-o-g.
"We floated many names," says Clair. "We're next to a dog park, but we'll never be a bar like Dogwood and will only serve when there's an event."
The top of a red Farfisa organ is the bar, and the place provides seats for around 50, including chairs, couches and high-top tables with barstools. A large sign reading "Free Painkillers" hangs on the wall at stage left.
"We cherish Dogwood - it was something special and fun," says Frith. "But we can create a new community spot that mingles us with all the new people who have moved here since it closed."
Lucky Dog is located at 333 Fishkill Ave., inside the Beacon Music Factory. The performances on Thursday (Jan. 1) begin at 4 p.m.; a $10 donation is suggested. See instagram.com.

Ver todos los episodios