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Vermont Summer 2007 Music Preview

Brattleboro, Vt,  May 26  -  Vermont's music community rocked in spring 2007, being lifted much moreso than usual by late bookings.  By contrast to spring, this summer it is much easier to look ahead at what's up.  And summer 2007 is looking to be a thrill.

The season gets off to an intense start with Mieka Pauley at South Burlington's Higher Ground on Friday, June 1, in a gig that makes up for a postponed engagement.  In an April interview, Pauley said, "I'm very excited about the new music I'm working on."  Speaking of her Higher Ground appearance she said, "I'll be selling a couple new tracks."  With luck, maybe some of those new songs that have her enthused will make it onto her set-list.  That same night, Friday, June 1, admired singer, songwriter, and folk-guitar marvel Brooks Williams is at Bradford's Middle Earth Music Hall.

Blues inspired singer-songwriter Louise Taylor may always have Brattleboro, her hometown, in her heart, but these days she has Hawaii in her postal address.  Yet she is surfing back to southern Vermont for a concert at Brattleboro's The Loft, Saturday, June 2, during Stolling of the Heifers Weekend.

Maia Sharp lately has scored Triple-A radio hits, taken a 21-city tour with Bonnie Raitt, and had several original songs recorded by music industry stars.  Flushed with success, she visits Higher Ground, Tuesday, June 5.

The big Fred Eaglesmith Weekend, Roots on the River, flows through Bellows Falls from June 7 to June 10.  The Thursday lineup is strong with in-state talent, the Sandra Wright Band being an especially unusual FredFest booking.  Look for the dazzling Wright to turn a few Fredhead heads.

Make no mistake about it, Fred Eaglesmith and the Flying Squirrels is the star attraction of this annual meeting of the Fred faithful, but probably lots of folks in Saturday's crowd will be there to hear Iris Dement.

If the weather holds, Roots on the River could be among the best outdoor get-togethers in Vermont this summer.

On Friday, June 8 Kris Delmhorst and Danny Barnes share a bill at Brattleboro's Hooker-Dunham Theater, Iris Dement draws fans to Higher Ground, and the intriguing pairing of Chick Corea and Bela Fleck make melodeous magic at Burlington's Flynn Center.  The following night, Saturday, June 9, the Tarbox Ramblers take their distinctive sound to the Middle Earth.

The Sweetback Sisters take the stage at Brattleboro's Hooker-Dunham Theatre, Saturday, June 9.  This is an interesting tour stretch for the Sweetbacks, starting with a band birthday party for this one-year-old outfit at Freddy's Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn, Wednesday, June 6.  Then the party backs sweetly up the Connecticut River, with stops at the Pioneer Valley School of Performing Arts, Friday, June 8, TBA later that same day, and Brattleboro on the 9th before taking it on home.

A high point in Rebecca Padula's summer is to be an appearance at DemocracyFest at the Wayfarer Inn in Manchester, New Hampshire, Saturday evening, June 9.  "This year," said Padula, "the presenting sponsor will be Democracy for New Hampshire, an organization who helped make the most amazing thing happen:  they turned New Hampshire blue!"

The once extinct Dinosaur Jr, now reunited with Lou Barlow, should make a little noise at Higher Ground, Sunday, June 10.

Big Old Life, a very cool new album by Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, is a diverse set with a sparkling live sound.  Guitarist Anand Nayak's fascinating rethinking of Bob Dylan's "Farewell, Angelina" could have you wondering why the song was not originally written this way.  Arbo and the band hold a CD-release event at Joe's Pub in New York, Tuesday, June 12, and another much closer to home with a Hilltown Folk show at Memorial Hall in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, Saturday, June 16.

Just when it seemed as though Toots and the Maytals couldn't get any higher, the group won a 2005 Grammy Award for best reggae album.  Toots and company will get some bodies moving in the crowd at Higher Ground, Saturday, June 16.  Rocker Rickie Lee Jones may do likewise at the same nightspot on Monday, June 25.

Kate Schrock is a familial connection of a great, rootsy Maine band, The Coming Grass.  Schrock is also a recording and touring artist in her own right, and she has a new album, Invocation.  She plays Borders Books and Music in Burlington, Sunday, June 17.  This is a stop along a tour of Borders stores and other spots.  Schrock, in a recent fan mailing, advised, "Stay tuned for teaser cuts and lots of promo madness this summer!"

Vermont star Patti Casey is excited, and well she should be.  "BIG NEWS!" she exclaimed.  "I just found out a couple days ago that I'm one of ten national finalists  -  international, really  -  in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's Troubadour Contest.  I'm so psyched, you wouldn't believe it.   I go out there in late June to 'compete'  -  which always seems kind of funny to me, when you're talking about art  -  but anyway, I'll take it!   I get to play in front of tons of people, and if I win I get an awesome $9K Shanti guitar and lots of other goodies."  Patti Casey is so amazing it's spooky.  Best of luck to her at Telluride!

The Vermont Symphony continues to prove that a small state's orchestra can work wonders.  The VSO's summer tour, called "Passion Trend," is a "tribute to living life on a grand scale."  The program selections are suitably wide ranging including, among other works, Dvorak's Slavonic Dance, Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, and selections from Bernstein's West Side Story.  Andrew Massey of Montgomery is the guest conductor.  This panoramic tour runs from June 28 to July 8.

Wilco, out of Chicago, has a new album, Sky Blue Sky, and a concert date at the Shelburne Museum, Friday, June 29.  Boston veteran Johnny A has done a marvelous job of turning himself into a contemporary Triple-A radio guitar star.  He is set to make his six-string sing at Higher Ground, Saturday, June 30.

July gets started with a couple colorful veterans.  Bob Dylan growls, mumbles, and sings songs that changed the world of rock 'n' roll at the Champlain Valley Expo on Sunday the 1st.  Roy Book Binder mixes blues with his own sense of mirth at the Middle Earth, Saturday, July 7.

Gregory Douglass lucks out on Friday, July 13, when he plays his first solo acoustic feature at Higher Ground.  It is his only 2007 booking so far in Burlington.  "I'm intending on creating the set around fan requests who email me in advance with the songs they'd like to hear, so this show will be more 'for the people' if you will," he explained in a recent mini-interview.  Douglass, splitting a bill with his friend Syd said, "[I]t's always a pleasure to share an evening with him."

Bill Morrissey, one of today's most finished crafters of songs, saves gas and wear on his car by playing really close to home at the Middle Earth, Friday, July 13.  Gifted New Mexico singer-songwriter Boris McCutcheon, a one-time Rutland resident, brings excellent original material to the Middle Earth, Saturday, July 14.

Not to be missed is this year's Green River Festival, near Brattleboro, in Greenfield, Massachusetts.  Greenfield Recorder "Sounds Local" columnist Sheryl Hunter recalled, "It started out as a balloon fest with the music just something in the background.  Now the music is in the forefront but the hot air balloons are still there."  And those balloons make for a stunning sight.

Like many festivals and annual music events, Green River comes with pre-festival shows.  This year, one such happening features Eilen Jewell, who played last year's festival.  "It was in a beautiful setting and the crowd was very enthusiastic," said Jewell.  "Two little 8-year-old girls even had me sign my autograph on their arms with a marker."  As for this year, she said, "We'll have a new album available  -  our second one, entitled Letters from Sinners and Strangers  -  and will be playing some new material off of it."  Jewell, who is also on 2007's FredFest roster, splits this Green River Kick-Off Concert with a personal favorite stringband, Crooked Still.

Asked about those beautiful balloons, Jewell said, "If anyone offers to take me on a hot air balloon ride, and I have the time, for the record I would love to do it.  That's something I've never done before, and I'll try almost anything once."  Keep a watchful eye for a singer in the sky.

The Green River Festival's Saturday show, starring the great Buddy Guy, is strikingly varied and loaded with talent.  Saturday, July 21 could be the single best day in Green River Festival history.

David Grisman plays mandolin lines  -  some simply scorching  -  that you are not likely to soon forget.  He alone is reason enough to take in the David Grisman Quintet show at the Shelburne Museum, Saturday, July 21.  Danny Barnes and Vermont's versatile and clever Anais Mitchell share the bill, as does the Bluegrass Gospel Project whose Makes You Strong is easily among the best independent New England C&W albums this New England country boy has ever heard.

35th Parallel members take their artistry very seriously.  But this is no excuse for leaving your dancing shoes at home when heading on over to the Middle Earth, Friday, July 27, for a 35th Parallel World Music Dance Party. This show should swing.

Singer-songwriter Vance Gilbert got this hilarity thing figured out long ago, and his website says that recently he has been playing amazing rooms with George Carlin.  Mercy!  Imagine the stories Gilbert will tell when he reaches the Middle Earth, Friday, August 3.

The Champlain Valley Folk Festival is on from August 3 to August 5.  This is one of the great yearly events of Vermont's music calendar.  The roster of talent at the 2007 festival is quite long.  The most remarkable booking must be Peggy Seeger, one of the folk music pioneers out of the Putney School.  Some favorites at this year's festival include Josh Brooks, The MacArthurs, John Roberts and Tony Barrand, and Jeff Warner.

For Banjo Dan and the Mid-Nite Plowboys, the summer peaks in July with a hot time in the cool state of Maine.  The trad-bluegrass pickin' Plowboys jam five shows into four days while enjoying "ferry rides, lobsters, etc."  Banjo Dan himself said, "On August 25 we'll be returning to our absolute favorite concert hall, the Haskell Opera House in Derby Line.  With half the audience sitting in Canada, we're looking for a full house of Vermonters and Quebecois."

These days, the Plowboys' Dan and Willie Lindner often team up as The Sky Blue Boys.  Says Banjo Dan, "[W]e're pleased to be playing at the always-fascinating Vermont History Expo in Tunbridge on June 24, featuring songs from our latest CD plus some fun new material."

Banjo Dan's own Mystery and Memories CD is a career high point, as well as being one of Vermont's best 2006 releases.

Emmylou Harris, a country music treasure, is at the Shelburne Museum, Monday, August 6.  Northern Lights takes over at the Middle Earth, Saturday, August 11.

Vermont's hottest band, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, has a major label release, This Is Somewhere, coming out August 7.  The Higher Ground website advises that, when the Nocturnals play the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival at Burlington's Waterfront Park, Sunday, August 19, fans can expect a "dynamic collection of electric and acoustic rock and roll" drawn from the new disc as well as from the prior Nothing But the Water.

The Lonesome Brothers seem like an obvious fit with the Middle Earth, so it is remarkable that it took a very long time for the band to make its debut at the popular Bradford club.   A return engagement came much faster, so evidently that first gig did the job.  See why when the Lonesomes bring alternative-country and unique, sometimes strange and wonderful points of view to the Middle Earth, Friday, August 24.

With warm weather here at last, look for a sizzling summer of music.  Get in the flow and take in a show.