Capital Sounds
Musical happenings in and around the Capital City
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Toolbox
By Ed Dufresne - Published: November 28, 2008
It's a slow week in the local scene around central Vermont. It's like the whole area is suffering from a turkey-induced tryptophan hangover, with very little in the way of shows happening. Perhaps this is a natural occurrence of the Thanksgiving holiday. But despite the lack of quantity, there is a fair amount of quality. I'll do my best to give you an overview of what is going on, so you can snap out of your own hangover with some live music. Here's the scoop:
Pickings are thin in Montpelier tonight, as only two venues have anything booked at all. For those that long with some nostalgia for the '80s (and who doesn't these days?), the Langdon Street Café, on the corner of Elm and Langdon in Ol' Montpeculiar, has got you covered. Sputnik, our own local "supergroup" '80s tribute band, returns to their adopted home of LSC to throw down a dance party. The group is a decidedly un-serious band with a serious lineup, as it features none other than local superstar and Righteous Babe recording artist Anaïs Mitchell on keys and vocals (she does a mean Sinead O' Connor). Also in the band is the hardest-working man in local showbiz, Jay Ekis, who shreds '80s-guitar leads while also lending his vocal talents to the act. On the drums is Sara Grace, who sings some of the tunes as well, and rounding out the foursome is Noah Hahn, who plays bass and does a startlingly realistic Talking Heads-era David Byrne. The act offers them the opportunity to get away from their more serious projects, and just have fun, which is what this cute and campy band is all about. Bust out your neon legwarmers and parachute pants and head on down starting at 9 p.m. Earlier in the evening, local old-time punks The Prodigal String Band finish up their November happy hour-residency starting at 6 p.m.
Around the corner at Charlie-O's on Main Street tonight, local bluesman Blue Fox takes the back of the barroom with his longtime band The Rockin' Daddies. Expect the straight-up bar-band blues sound for which Charlie-O's is known for over the years, with Blue's ripping guitar-work and growly vocals leading the way. It starts at 10 p.m. – rock on!
Saturday night brings the rarest of rare occurrences to the city of the Golden Dome – a heavy metal show! Amadis, Vermont's premier original heavy metal act, will take the big stage at Montpelier's clubbiest venue, Positive Pie II on State Street, for a night of leather-clad head-banging. The band takes its influence from classic metal bands such as Judas Priest and Motorhead, but knowing some of the members' love for all styles of metal, I would expect some more modern styles such as speed-metal to find their way into their set. Local progressive trio Kufui open the show with their intense instrumental explorations, a perfect complement for what's to follow. Local metal fans have been clamoring for a show like this, so I'd be willing to bet there'll be a huge turnout from the local metal masses. It kicks off at 10 p.m. and is $5 at the door, and 21+. (Sorry kids, I know this will be one many of you would want to go to.)
Saturday night at LSC, a very special show happens when Hot Flannel takes the stage of the venerable coffee house venue. The band fea-tures the one and only Patrick Ross, the pride of Canaan, Vt., on fiddle, and I'll be darned if he isn't one of the finest players of the instrument to ever come out of these Green Mountains. After a lengthy stint in Nashville as a session-player and a member of a number of progressive bluegrass acts, we're lucky enough to have him back here in the People's Republic of Vermont. He'll be joined by flatpicker extraordinaire Doug Perkins on guitar and mandolin, Jen Wells on the bass and Ben Roy on drums. You may recognize the latter three as members of The Dixie Red Delights, but expect more of a "newgrass" sound combining classic bluegrass with string jazz. This is sure to be a musically impressive show starting at 9 p.m. for donations – highly recommended.
Elsewhere in town Saturday night, The Black Door on Main Street presents The Tony Whedon-Barry Ries Quartet, featuring Lar Duggan and Clyde Stats. Described as "consummate professionals," these cats have been kicking down the jazz for many a year, so I would expect a high-end jazz show fitting for the swanky environment of the third floor lounge. The show starts at 9:30 for the usual honor cover.
Down the street at Charlie-O's World Famous, the aforementioned Prodigal String Band brings their dirty old-time sound to the back of the barroom. The entertaining trio has added a few acrobatic moves to their set, which is bound to make things a bit more interesting. Reverend Snake and company get the hoedown started at 10 p.m.
Up the road in Mo-Vegas tonight (that's Morrisville for those not in the know), The Bee's Knees on Lower Main Street, hosts Mark Struhsacker. Mark created and has fronted the "WDEV Radio Rangers" radio show band which has aired on WDEV every Saturday morning for over 20 years. Performing for the very first time as a solo act, he'll showcase his bluegrass-style flat-picking guitar on traditional and contemporary vocals and instrumentals. Saturday night, the Knees hosts its monthly open mic, which is always the last Saturday of the month. And finally on Sunday, an open Irish Session takes place at 3 p.m. and is followed by the untraditional Americana sounds of Town Wide Yard Sale (gotta love that name) … all shows start at 7:30 at the Knees, so early birds take note!
Also, the Sunday afternoon concert series at Langdon Street Café continues when Boston's The Grass Gypsys take the café stage with their "fresh, vibrant, and original acoustic fusion." Expect serenely soulful acoustic tunes with female vocals and stylistic guitar work, starting at 3 p.m.
As for the rest of the week, on Wednesday, local soul/blues man Dave Keller plays a set of solo tunes at Charlie-O's starting at 9 p.m. And, back around the corner at Langdon Street Café, Boston's Alan Cohen Experience plays his eclectic repertoire of kooky socio-political tunes with a fair dose of humor thrown in for good measure. "Imagine a cool version of a late '60s Paul Simon dragged kicking and screaming into 21st century, and that's The Alan Cohen Experience in nutshell." Sounds good to me – he'll get it started at 8 p.m.
Until next week, don't be a turkey – get out there, shake those tail feathers and go see live music!
Ed DuFresne is the talent coordinator for the Langdon Street Café and occasionally produces concerts. He lives in Montpelier with an aspiring lawyer, a budding artist, a bird named Lucy and a clutter of submitted CDs that are steadily being replaced by Web links.
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