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The Way

fun, versatile, high-energy live events & wedding band in Syracuse & Ithaca NY

bride twirling to dancing queen played by The Way Band
Nichole Aldrich review

If you’re planning a wedding: imagine what it’ll be like when you get to hear and dance to lots of your favorite songs, and everyone else, young and old, has a great time as well!  If you are planning a private party or corporate event: imagine having the perfect song being played at the perfect volume for all the different portions of your event.

In The Way Band, we pride ourselves on being very versatile live band for weddings and events, & we love to access our extensive repertoire and decades of experience in knowing what to play when, and at what volume.  This lets you rest easy that the right mood will be set for each part of your event.  Whether your event requires strictly background music or in-your-face dance music, or any shades within those extremes, we are there for you.

Our commitment to being very accommodating means you’ll find the entire process of working with us seamless and enjoyable both before and during the event.  Because we are flexible, it means you can customize the details: the instrumentation, the playlist, and even tricky set-ups such as different portions of the event being in different rooms or locations, or unusual outdoor locations.

The Way Band fosters a personal and family-oriented atmosphere, treating you like part of our own family and ensuring that our wide range of age-appropriate songs keeps everyone involved and happy.  Our personalized, interactive, and family-oriented approach to live music gives you confidence that we can and will play something for everyone in your group, even despite very wide age ranges.  It can give you confidence that a group of people who don’t know each other well (such as a bride & groom’s families who live in different parts of the country) will come together easily through the enjoyment of the all-inclusive nature and wide variety of the music.

The Way band 6 piece playing a wedding
The Way Band Trio at wedding reception
review from dance-marathon wedding that The Way Band played

We specialize in smaller events of 150 guests or less with our core trio, so if you have a only small party and want a band that will be fun but not overwhelming, The Way is a perfect choice.  Having said that, we have also played many events of 200 or more guests and our band’s instrumentation is flexible enough that we sometimes add keyboards, saxophone, trumpet, or all 3 depending on the budget and what is most musical appropriate.

What sets us apart from other wedding bands is our love of spontaneity.  Unlike cookie-cutter bands, we don’t plan our set lists in advance, except for specific requests made in advance.  Not only do we curate the perfect songs for each moment of your event, we love interacting with the guests by taking requests, inviting musicians or singers to join us on stage, and even doing group karaoke with our wireless mic!

We love to help people celebrate their special occasions and make them memorable for a lifetime!  And we do it every single time.  That, to us, is “The Way.”  We currently service cities all over the Finger Lakes Region of NY: Ithaca, Cortland, Geneva, Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton, Utica, Rome, Oneonta, Cooperstown, etc.

To get started, click this link to tell us more about your event, or schedule a free consultation call with bandleader Dennis Winge.

Articles written by Dennis Winge:

What to Look for When Hiring a Band

Why I Love to Play Weddings

couple doing first dance to The Way Band at reception
The Way Band at wedding

Patrick Cannon review
Hazel Nasta review

Testimonials

“Dennis and his band were amazing for our wedding band! They put so much time and effort into learning our songs and putting together a playlist our guests loved. People were dancing all night! Also Dennis, the band leader is great to work with and knowledgeable about music. Picking them for our wedding band was such a great decision. The music sounded so great all night long!” – Maggie P.

“I would strongly recommend The Way for any special occasion. They played our wedding. Dennis could not have been more accommodating. It was obvious his number one objective was to make our special day just as we wanted it. All the band members were very talented musicians and had an impressive repertoire to choice from. Thanks Dennis for helping making our day fantastic!!” – Michael B.

“The Way played here today.  It was absolutely terrific, their repertoire was exceptional, just great songs.  Everybody was singing along, dancing, and we were real happy with them.  And we had a lot of diverse people here; we had young people, old people, and everybody enjoyed them thoroughly.  I would recommend them highly.” – Cameron Hosmer (owner of Hosmer Winery)

“The band was great, talented, enthusiastic, and accommodating. Their performance made the party memorable.” – Pauline S.

“Great Music, Great Personalities!  Dennis and the rest of the band were truly awesome! Easy to work with and they played a great variety of music and were very gracious in playing all the requests made by my guests. Thank you!!” – Christine B.

“We thoroughly enjoyed having The Way Band at our campground! They were a huge hit! I would highly recommend them for any occasion. They had a wide selection of music they played from, were extremely interactive with the audience and sounded amazing! Top-notch!” – Eric C.

“We hired Dennis and his band for our reception on The Judge on Skaneateles Lake. Dennis was extremely professional, accommodating and fun to work with. The music was perfect for our evening of dancing, with our guests’ ages ranging from 21 to 92!! Everyone has a blast and remarked on how great the music was!! I would definitely hire them again.” – Katie M.

“Dennis is an incredible musician and person. He was quick to respond on emails, flexible during our pandemic postponement scheduling process, and willing to take our special requests for music. We received so many compliments from guests on Dennis’ acoustic guitar during our ceremony and the band’s renditions of hits from Van Morrison, Grateful Dead, and Eric Clapton during our cocktail hour. I would hire Dennis and his band again in a heartbeat. Here is a video of music highlights during our wedding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1uCQJ3dDCI” – Erika B.

“Super talented and great with the crowd! We booked Dennis and his band for our first annual summer party. Definitely will be asking them back next year!” -Patrick M

“Dennis was so easy to work with! He is very friendly and knowledgeable. We hired him and his band for a backyard party and they did such a great job, we received many compliments. They also learned a new song just for the occasion!! Highly recommend Dennis and The Way Band!” – Kristen B.

“I planned a surprise 40th birthday for my husband from out of state and I knew I definitely wanted a band, but not being from that area made it a challenge. I have to say hiring Dennis and The Way band was the best decision I made for that party. They were so good we even paid for an extra hour! We were singing karaoke at the end, the kids were learning the drums and everyone was just having a blast. I would hands down hire them again and recommend them to anyone.” – Nicole S.

“We hired Dennis and his band, The Way, for our party and they did not disappoint!! Super talented!! The variety of music was great, he was very engaging with the crowd and super nice!!  We will definitely be asking Dennis back next year.” – Robin O.

“Dennis and crew were exceptional!  They played a great variety of music and kept the reception alive & fun.  Great job guys and thank you. :)” – Chuck S.

The Way Band trio on boat
The Way Band at Corning Country Club
The Way Band at Ithaca Yacht Club
The Way Band trio with colored lights at wedding reception
The Way Band at wedding reception
client review for The Way band