| VOLUME 28 | * * All Arts News On the Web * * | August 22, 2024 |
ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column. STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS
Franklin County's arts and music gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. There are also booked and acoustic Open Mic Nights that feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.
... FROM THE ARTBITS DESK ...
E-Mail Delivery
Sign up to receive the free weekly ArtBits
newsletter by e-mail
or by RSS feed.
FRANKLIN COUNTY--The Big Music Weeks of Summer continue as some of our friends play multiple gigs. There are live shows in Alburgh, Colchester, East Fairfield, Essex, Jericho, Lyndonville, Milton, Montgomery, North Hero, North Hero, Shelburne, Sheldon, South Hero, St Albans City and Town, and Stowe. BIG MUSIC WEEKS
COLCHESTER, BURLINGTON, and SHELBURNE--The 16th Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival presents Folklore continuing through Sunday. FESTIVALS
Mainstage events include Stories from Asia today at 2 p.m., Postcards from Europe on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and From Lagos to Paris on Sunday at 3 p.m., all on the Mainstage. Inside Pitch with David Serkin Ludwig looks at Music from Asia: a New Musical Identity, today at 1pm. In Depth examines the Rhythm of Life with Sandeep Das on Friday at 10am. The LCCMF Young Artists Quartet hosts a free Spotlight Concert on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. And there will be a free Family Concert, the Virtuoso Showcase on Saturday at 12 noon.
The Festival Art Gallery hosts an exhibit of works by Vermont Abenaki Artists Association artists in the Elley-Long Music Center at St. Michael's College.
Click here for tickets, show times and more info.
Monday was World Photography Day, part of the two-week celebration of World Photography Week ending Monday August 26. Share your best photos on social media using hashtag #WorldPhotographyDay. ART ON THE WALLS
ENOSBURG--Cold Hollow Sculpture Park's 2024 Artist-in-Residence Stephanie Cardon will talk about her residency at the Park on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Boston-based artist will show examples of her work, discuss her creative practice, and share a sampling of the materials she has used in her sculptures sketched at the Park. Admission is free but reservations are needed. Click here for free tickets and more info.
ST. ALBANS--The Artist In Residence collection spotlight is on the wearable art of fiber artist Janice Decooman . The art and fine craft cooperative features paintings, fiber arts, stained glass, sculpture, lamps, pottery, folk art boxes, scarves, hats and more by 38 Franklin County and surrounding area artists. It is owned and operated by the artists and sponsors. The gallery on South Main Street is open Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click here or find them on Facebook for more info.
JEFFERSONVILLE--Brushstrokes and Insights is a live artist demonstration with Gretchen Alexander at Bryan Memorial Gallery on Saturday from 1 - 3 p.m. The free, public event is an opportunity to ask questions and gain insight into Ms. Alexander's techniques.
The gallery has exhibits of the landscape painters of New England. The main showcase in Jeffersonville is open Wednesday-Sunday 11 - 4 and the Stowe Gallery is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 11 - 5, and Friday and Saturday, 11 - 6. Appointments are available. Call ahead (802.644.5100) to schedule or click here for more info.
NORTH HERO--Island Arts opens the barn doors to the joy of community dancing to lively music for Community Folk Dancing with instructor Leslie Alpert in the Island Arts Center on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. DANCE
All dances are taught. No partner required. No experience required, and new students are always welcome. Bring your water bottle. Classes will continue every Tuesday through July 30. Admission is free, but donations to Island Arts are appreciated. Call 802.372.3418 to register (drop-ins are also encouraged) or click here for more info.
ST. ALBANS--The 15th annual Film Noir Festival continues with Nightfall at St. Albans Free Library this evening at 6 p.m. and tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. FILM
Hollywood's stylized crime dramas of the 40s and 50s, were generally black-and-white, cynical melodramas drawn from the hardboiled crime fiction of the Great Depression. The low-budget Nightfall, 1956, stars Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, and Anne Bancroft, based on a novel by David Goodis. Thursday evening shows are after-hours events which means arriving before 6 p.m. Click here for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Saint Albans Museum and Vermont Humanities host the opening reception of the Museum on Main Street exhibition, Crossroads: Change in Rural America. on the first floor of the museum on Saturday at 5 p.m. Immediately following the reception there will be a special screening of Land of Promise at St. Paul's United Methodist Church on Saturday at 6 p.m. HUMANITIES
The Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibit explores the challenges and opportunities in rural settings across the United States. It will remain in St. Albans through October 6. The 40-minute documentary film looks at a previous generation's hopes for Franklin County. A panel discussion and Q&A with local scholars follows.
Call Vermont Humanities (802.262.2626) or click here to reserve a seat and for more info.
SOUTH HERO--Soprano Sarah Cullins offers the third Group Singing Lesson at the South Hero Congregational Church on Monday at 5 - 6 p.m. Classes were held August 12, 19, and 26. The vocal technique classes focus on body and breathing coordination, enabling singers of any level to enhance their projection, clarity of tone, and efficiency of breath control while minimizing common tensions. The classes are suitable for beginners as well as experienced singers. Students will have access to online exercises for ongoing practice. The cost is $40 for the set of three classes. Click here to register and for more info. WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
MILTON--Social Sunday continues at the Milton Artists' Guild Art Center with free weekly art classes for families at MAG on Sunday at 1 p.m. Each week offers a different project. Stay for 30 minutes or the whole two hours. Click here for more info.
COVID-19 is still here. The number of cases in Vermont has quadrupled since the beginning of summer. Two more Vermonters have died from COVID-19. There have been 1,161 total pandemic deaths as of August 3. The number of COVID cases is elevated and rising with 236 cases reported in the week ending August 10. Outbreaks in long-term care facilities have risen significantly. COVID NEWS
Vermont's wastewater monitoring has shown shows that COVID-19 is increasing among state residents again. According to the Vermont Department of Health, wastewater data shows some of the COVID-19 in the community "because an infected person sheds into the water no matter if they're sick or not." The number of emergency department visits with COVID has also increased since June, in lockstep with the wastewater virus detections. Obviously those of us on septic systems (mound systems, tanks, or cesspools) are not included in the data so the actual numbers are higher.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends multiple vaccines this fall, including the coming new COVID-19 vaccine and an updated flu shot. Updated influenza and COVID-19 vaccines will be widely available in September. RSV vaccines are currently available. HHS reports that COVID vaccines are 100% free to everyone 6 months and older living in the United States. Most people with Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance are definitely covered. Click here for more info.
My own plan remains unchanged, especially since our precautions have waned and the current JN.1 variant dodges all but the most up-to-date immunity. I got the COVID and Flu shots, and the boosters, and I still take precautions because neither vaccine nor "natural immunity" is 100% foolproof. I wash my hands. I double mask with a genuine N95 mask (not a bandana and not a "chin strap") plus a surgical mask everywhere I can't control the airflow. It isn't much of a burden and it mostly protects me from all the people without masks I see in stores and concerts.
Thursday, August 22 ON STAGE LIVE
ST ALBANS TOWN--The weekly St. Albans Bay Farmer's Market and Concert Series continues with Rushmore today from 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. They have live music every Thursday evening into September. "The rain date will always fall on the following Friday." Find them on Facebook for more info.
SOUTH HERO--Cooie Sings at the Blue Paddle Bistro on Acoustic Thursday this evening at 5 - 7 p.m. Click here for more info.
NORTH HERO--Jerborn is back on the Pier at the North Hero House this evening at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ESSEX JUNCTION--Sparky's hosts a Blues & BBQ night with honorary Nerbak Brother, Jim Branca and Friends, this evening at 6 - 9 p.m. BBQ will be available after 5 p.m. Blues & BBQ will continue every Thursday through the end of the summer. Find them on Facebook for more info.
SOUTH HERO--Quadra plays the Summer Concert Series at Snow Farm Vineyard this evening at 6:30 p.m. Food will be catered, call Kristen (802.922.8074) for all pre-order food requests. Click here for more info.
Thursday-Saturday, August 15-17
ESSEX--The Double E has a weekend of music at The Old Stage on the Green.
They welcome Davy Knowles and Jeffrey Gaines to the Green this evening. Admission is $20. Find them on Facebook for tickets and more info.
Reggae icon Richie Spice has a preview of his upcoming album release in September with a concert on Friday at 6 p.m. Doors at 6. Admission is $35-75. Find them on Facebook for tickets and more info.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member and Grammy-nominee Jorma Kaukonen returns for one night on Saturday at 8 p.m. Admission is $10-40. Find them on Facebook for tickets and more info.
ESSEX JUNCTION--On Tap starts a weekend of music with Mitch Terricciano tonight at either 5 or 6 p.m. two shows Friday night, the Lloyd Tyler Duo at 5 p.m., and then NightHawk returns for late night music starting at 9 p.m., plus two more shows live on Saturday night with Mark Abair and his All Star Band at 5 p.m., and TBA at 9 p.m. Call 802.878.3309 or email for more info. Click here to reserve a table.
ST. ALBANS--Irons & Ale starts a weekend of music at Champlain Country Club with the Nobby Reed Project tonight, then they go jerborning across the greens with Jerborn on Friday night, plus Ryan Hanson plays live on Saturday night. Music starts at 7 p.m.
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to close every day with pub fare from nachos and chicken wings to salads, burgers, salmon, and chicken to dinner options and libations.
Friday, August 23
SHELBURNE--Carol Ann Jones and Will Patton dip a special show at Sisters of Anarchy Ice Cream on Friday at 5:15 p.m. The ice cream is actual "farm-to-cone," made on-site at Fisher Brothers Farm, almost entirely with flavor elements grown on the farm.
MILTON--The Friday Night Live Music and Buffet at Arrowhead Golf Course presents the Buck Hollers on the deck on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The BBQ chicken buffet starts around 7 p.m. Both run until 9 p.m. The buffet costs $14 per person ($7 for each child). You don't have to be a member; the public is welcome. Be sure to come early, usually around 6, to get a good seat. Click here for more info.
ST. ALBANS--14th Star presents Vermont-based Milton Busker and the Grim Work for a night of live "suit folk, all dolled up for a night on the town" on Friday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
SHELDON--The Abbey Friday Night Music Series often has live performances on Friday about 6:30 p.m. Reservations are suggested. Find them on Facebook for more info.
NORTH HERO--Island Arts presents Sohyun Ahn for Piano Solo & 4-Hands in the Island Arts Center red barn on Friday at 7pm with no intermission.
The New York City concert pianist returns to Island Arts for the third year. This program includes the Ballade No. 4 and Three Nocturnes Op. 15 by Chopin, and Sonata in E flat Major by Haydn. Vermont pianist Eun Hee Park joins Sohyun Ahn to play the piano 4-hands work Romantiques, Op. 55 by Cecile Chaminade.
Admission is $25. Tickets are available online or at the door. Click here for tickets and more info.
Friday-Sunday, August 23-25
STOWE--The Von Trapp Brewing Bierhall Summer Concert Series fills the weekend with the Smokey Newfield Project on Friday and Mama Tried on Saturday night. Music starts at 5:30. Click here for more info.
ST. ALBANS--The Taphouse at Mill River has shows on Friday and Saturday nights in August. Nate Michaud plays Friday and the "DIY Rock and Roll Band" Barkeater goes live on Saturday. Music starts about 5:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
COLCHESTER--The Outdoor Summer Music Series fills the Spanked Puppy with music all weekend. The Rough Suspects kick it off on Friday at 6 p.m. followed by the Smokey Newfield Project on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Elizabeth Begins on Sunday afternoon at 2 - 5 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Twiggs often has shows on Friday and Saturday nights. This week they host the Blue Rock Boys on Friday and they get Jerborned live on Saturday night. Music starts about 6:30 p.m.
Call 802.524.1405 or find them on Facebook for more info. Click here to book a reservation or to visit the art on the walls.
Saturday, August 24
ST. ALBANS--Northwest Farmers Market fills Taylor Park with live music, handmade crafts, locally grown food, prepared foods, free kids activities on Saturday from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. The market and the music continue every Saturday through October. Find them on Facebook for more info.
LYNDONVILLE--Jesse Agan brings the Music of Queen to the Caledonia County Fair on Saturday at 2 p.m. They will "take you on a journey with We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, Another One Bites The Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, and more." The band is André Maquera, guitar; Gary Spaulding, drums; and Thom Carvey, bass. The show is free with fair admission. Click here for tickets and more info.
EAST FAIRFIELD--Amberjack stomps out of the Northeast Kingdom for a special show at the Meeting House on the Green on Saturday at 5 p.m. The band has original music written by Howie Cantor of Bread and Puppet Band and Can-Am Jazz and by Jeremy Harple The Aerolites. They will be joined by friends for a blend of folk rock, reggae, dixieland and more.
There will be plenty of room on the Green to "kick up your heels and dance the night away." Desserts and Grab and Go light fare will be available for sale or bring your own picnic. Raffle tickets for a handmade quilt and extra special Meeting House T-shirts will be available
Admission is $10 at the door. Kids under 12 are free. Concerts are held outdoors. In case of rain, concerts are either canceled or moved indoors. Call Nance Shaw (802.827.6626) or click here for more info.
SOUTH HERO--The Blue Paddle Bistro hosts the Shane Murley Band for Americana country-folk to alternative rock to R&B-soul with a jazz-funky twist on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
ALBURGH--The Alburgh Oasis Outdoor Music Venue presents the Devon McGarry Band on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. BYOB. Admission is $10 at the door or $15 for limited, reserved, premium table seating. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Sunday, August 25
NORTH HERO--Island Arts celebrates its 40th Anniversary with Marsh Lights Bluegrass outdoors at the Island Arts Center on Sunday at 4 p.m. Picnic on the green at 3:30 p.m, weather permitting. Lightning Lardy's Catering food truck will be on premises for BBQ. BYOB.
Colby Crehan, the former vocalist and songwriter for the Bluegrass Gospel Project and Possum Haw, reunites with Possum Haw bandmates for the new 5-piece acoustic project. Admission is free thanks to generous sponsors. Click here for more info.
SOUTH HERO--Mama Tried returns to the Blue Paddle Bistro for "all-gal foot stomping bluegrass, country folk, and blues" on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
MONTGOMERY--The monthly Celebration of Expressive Arts continues at the INN on Sunday at 7 p.m. Come early for dinner; service begins at 5 p.m. This month will be writer Rebecca Cummins to share Dear Aunt Bea: A Journal of a Journey the story of a ten-year-old whose family migrates from the flat American Midwest to the mountainous Northeast. There will be a display of the illustrations contributed by local artists. One man band Nathan Michaud will perform an eclectic mix of classic rock and blues.
The local artists, writers and musicians gather to share original and thought provoking work. "Reservations get you a guaranteed table." Find them on Facebook for more info.
Monday, August 26
NORTH HERO--The Faerie Godbrothers play Americana, roots, bluegrass, jazz, and soul on the Pier Bar at the North Hero House on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Wednesday, August 28
ST. ALBANS--The Summer Concert Series continues with Sister Speak in Taylor Park on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Concerts are free for all every Wednesday evening through August 28. 14th Star Brewing Company, Pickle's Snack Shack, and Mama Llama Bakeshop will be on hand for food and drink. If the weather turns squishy, the concerts will move to 14th Star. Click here for more info.
JERICHO--The Mills Riverside Park Concert Series presents the Smokey Newfield Project on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Click here for more info.
ST. ALBANS--The Eloquent Page Mystery Book Club takes on its first historical mystery with the Third Nero by Lindsey Davis on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Following the Saturninus revolt in 90 A.D., Roman Emperor Domitian has become more paranoid about traitors and dissenters around him. He hires Flavia Alba to do investigate. Find them on Facebook for more info. FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF
ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at library events in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site at AllArtsCouncil.org/books. We also take an occasional peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. Those reviews can be found on the ArtBits Bookshelf.
Good News!There are so many events around the region that we miss some of them.Be sure to check these calendars for what's happening near you ... |
||
Music!Links to the Summer Music series in Franklin County |
||
Dick Harper, Chair
P.O. Box 1
Highgate Springs, VT 05460
email us
|
This article may also have originally been published in the traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2024 by Richard B. Harper. All rights reserved.
Archival material is provided as-is. Links are not necessarily maintained (if a link in this article fails, try Google.com or your favorite search engine). Thanks to recent misuse of copyright material on the Internet by individuals and archival firms alike, we emphasize that your rights to this article are limited to viewing it and printing it for personal use only. You must receive explicit permission from the All Arts Council and the author before reprinting or redistributing this article in any medium. Visit our Trademarks and Copyright page for more information. |