Holiday Music Picks

I admit it, I love holiday music. Not cheesy, pop star renditions, but taking traditional secular and religious songs and carols, and creating musical beauty by evoking feeling and giving meaning to the season. This is due to my song inspired background starting with church choir singing to barbershop harmonies which moved to talent show performances and years of chamber chorus, large choirs, musicals, and difficult choral arrangements. For this music, my heart runs deep.

In that spirit, I'd like to share with you all some holiday music performances throughout Vermont this season that I recommend from favorites of my past.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Holiday Pops Series - What makes a holiday pops concert so enjoyable is the distinctive use of instruments that evoke the sounds of the holidays. It's kind of like relating certain scents to a memory. Performances are December 7, 8, & 9 in Barre, Burlington, and Rutland. Check out www.vso.org for performance details.

The Vermont Mozart Festival - Sure to deliver unique, professional performances during their various seasons throughout the year, the J.S. Bach Christmas Oratorio brings about a beautiful Advent and Christmas musical celebration. Performances are in Stowe and Burlington December 13 and 14 and details are at www.vtmozart.org.

Counterpoint Presents Christmastide - Vermont's professional 12-voice vocal ensemble sings music from the West Indies and Africa to Francis Poulenc's "Four Christmas Motets" and Morton Lauridsen's haunting "O Magnum Mysterium." The group is touring over the state of Vermont now through mid-December. More information is at Counterpoint's website at www.counterpointchorus.com.

Bella Voce - Vermont's women's chamber chorus, Bella Voce, performs Mary Had a Baby - A Suite of Christmas Spirituals, a new Christmas Cantata by Robert DeCormier. Performances are in Stowe and Burlington December 8 and 9. More info is at www.bellavocevt.org.

Lessons and Carols - Lessons and Carols are one of my most favorite holiday music memories. While at Marist College I sang with the chamber choir and performed in the candlelight Lessons and Carols concert every year in the college chapel. It always brought a feeling of magic to me and I greatly look forward to attending one at Middlebury College this season, my first since 1997! The Middlebury College Chamber Singers perform two concerts on December 9 at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm at the Mead Memorial Chapel on campus. Another Lessons and Carols for those in Southern Vermont is at The Old First Church in Bennington on December 16 at 7:30 pm.

Blanche Moyse Chorale - Also in Southern Vermont, the Blanche Moyse Chorale performs their holiday concert on December 9 at 3:00 pm at the All Souls Church in West Brattleboro. The chorale is the auditioned chorus of the Brattleboro Music Center.

Northsong Winter Music Concert - The Northsong Chamber Choir brings holiday cheer to the Northeast Kingdom with their community oriented concerts on December 8 at 7:30 pm at the Barton United Church and again on December 9 at 4:00 pm at the Newport United Church.

Monteverdi Music School Dessert Reception & Gala Concert - This is another one I will be attending. Christmas music and desserts? Count me in! This concert will be December 14 at 8:00 pm at the T.W. Wood Gallery & Art Center in Montpelier.

Anyone have any others to share?

Swing Noire

I was recently introduced to what I describe as folksy, bluesy, jazz - definitely up my ally. The band, based somewhere in Vermont, is called Swing Noire. Cool name and even cooler sound. I am not even going to paraphrase their great job at press writing, so here is a well written description of the music of Swing Noire:

"Some call the music gypsy jazz, some hot swing, in either case it is acoustic music in the spirit of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. These two jazz cats from France are credited with bringing this unique music into the world during the 1930's, 1940's, and early 1950's, and creating some of the first jazz-based music outside of the African-American tradition."

Swing Noire is made up of David Gusakov on violin, Rob McCuen of lead guitar, Jim McCuen of double bass, and Jared Volpe on rhythm guitar. More info on these talented and well versed musicians can be found at their website at www.swingnoire.com. You can listen to some of these tunes on their site as well as on their My Space Page.

Hopefully they'll "swing" by Radio Bean sometime soon so I can see them in my backyard. In the meantime, they have two great gigs lined up that are perfectly timed and placed for a warming winter night out:

~ Saturday, December 15th, Carol's Hungry Mind, Middlebury. 7:30-10:30 pm, $10

~ Saturday, January 5th, The Langdon Street Cafe. 8:30-midnight, tips and guest appearance by Kris Gruen

Mmm, this stuff is sexy - bring a date or engage in an I Spy.

State of Mind

What is your State of Mind? What are your Three Needs? These are all questions that, when asked to varying groups of those of us on the never ending quest in search of truth and answers, can lead to thought provoking conversations - the kind you thought you'd have in college, yet somehow that was one expectation that fell short.

This is why I find these questions to be spectacular names for Vermont based music magazine, State of Mind Music Magazine and Burlington based nightspot, The Three Needs. Unfortunately Three Needs does not offer live music, or I would frequent there much more often and would also write about in this blog. Now, State of Mind, they offer music.

According the the most recent issue's editor's note, State of Mind began as a group of friends who kept on touch emailing about shows, making accommodations to travel and see live music, and all things that seem quite similar to those following Phish back in the 90's. This crew, however, (whether it was Phish, I cannot say with authority) took it a step further and created a mailing list which I believe somehow turned into the website, Live Music Beth (archive site). I first learned of and met Live Music Beth when working a PR gig for Nectar's back in 2004, when State of Mind was still a - state of mind.

Not long after that I began seeing Live Music Beth and co-editor Mike (now State of Mike) handing out a black and white newsprint magazine that was copy heavy with extensive articles about well known and not-so-well-known bands, varying a range of genres. These magazines were the first issues of State of Mind. I remember coming out of Higher Ground shows on freezing winter nights and there were Live Music Beth and State of Mike, all bundled up and full of smiles, handing out copy after copy of State of Mind. Some were taken and read, some taken and left on car floors, and unfortunately, many strewn around as litter, similar to fliers you get at larger shows promoting a late night performance of some similar sounding band. I have never actually asked Live Music Beth about these early days, but it would have broken my heart to see that. But still they wrote, and published, and got advertising, and stood outside, show after show, promoting State of Mind...

Now, they have published their 25th issue and have gotten semi-glossy and in color. The style is still lengthy interviews, reviews, and other articles about bands of the day - bands you may not hear about in most other music mediums. And in this day and age of short and sweet, I find it extremely refreshing they have stuck to their state of mind. These are well written articles on music with a backing of honest journalism. And as for that quest for truth - join the it and check out - www.stateofmindmusic.com.

They also have State of Mind Radio and you can befriend them on My Space.

Oh, and you can still see Live Music Beth, State of Mike, and other State of Mind contributors handing out the magazine after shows. Only this time, there is no litter - and that isn't only because the world is greening up. Distribution has saturated the Northeast border at this point and here in Vermont, we can be proud of another music phenomenon that grew out of the Green Mountains.

Advance Music

I feel as if I am slacking on the Vermont Music front! The fall brings so much music to Vermont and I find myself every fall at Higher Ground more than ever with the fabulous influx of music that comes our way. I think it's a mixture of students being back and the (hopeful) promise of snow that keeps people away from nightly excursions and keeping them close to the slopes. This makes fall a prime time to see live music, but much of the music I have see lately is not that of Vermont origin!

I have had a recent re-uniting with Advance Music however, that is certainly worth noting. Advance Music is Vermont's premier music store and as the ads on 102.7, The Album Station -www.musicheads.us- state, you've got to go inside to really see how vast this place is. I had my first experiences with Advance Music while searching for the sheet music to obscure wedding songs as the resident "wedding singer" for various friends. In my visits, I saw a posting once (that I did not see in Seven Days classifieds, another good place to look for musicians - wanted) looking for a female singer to add harmonies to an existing band. I responded and this was the band, Ekis, I sang with for a little over a year several years back. I also returned to Advance to inquire about and purchase my Shure 58 microphone, mike stand, and cords. I remember the service to be helpful and was quite satisfied with my own personal microphone, which still works, though seldom used.

And now, over the past month, I have found Advance Music once again to be extremely helpful as I was to be "the wedding singer" at my awesomely Phishy friend's wedding last week. Being my Phish friends, the chosen song for my pipes was Waste, the wedding song amongst many Phishheads over the past several years (many Phishheads are now at marrying age believe it or not). Waste is a song whose guitar chords are readily available on the internet, but not available in sheet music. I was able to find all the sheet music the bride and groom chose for the ceremony, a collection of classic and modern rock and was super pumped that it was available within a day or ordering, an Advance attribute which made the organist very happy. But, no Waste music for the organist meant no playing of the song Waste. As it so happens (and often is the case in Vermont), Advance Music owner, Mike Trombley (the cheery voice on the Album Station's ads) was also friends of the bride and groom and offered only a few days before the wedding to learn the guitar chords to Waste, in the key I was singing, and played the song at the ceremony so I could sing about wasting time with the love of your life for the rest of your life! Happy, happy ending to the "wedding singer" drama!!!

In chatting with Mike, I was able to easily see why he is so enthusiastic in his ads, which are some of the best ad copy this Vermont publicist has heard. Because they're true! Mike loves that store and without a doubt his actions echo the words that come across the air to fellow Vermonters. I also learned Mike plays guitar in long standing Vermont rock band, Quadra, who I have even seen play on past Lake Champlain boat cruises. How's that for Vermont connecting!

If you are a musician or if you are interested in music, stop by this Burlington, Vermont landmark of the music scene. It's fun just to watch musicians at play in their own personal wonderland. And, as holiday season approaches, if you are buying for a musician, geez - get 'em a gift certificate - they will be stoked, psyched, and most of all, thankful. www.advancemusicvt.com

Mike Gordon Gets Bonzed in Mud City

Sometimes I have to laugh at myself and reading this title after I typed it was certainly worth a chuckle. But its true!!! As most reading this should know, Mike Gordon was the bass player for the heartbreaking jam band, Phish. I will say no more about Phish because they are in the past and there's a reason things in your past don't make it into your present. Mike Gordon is the present.

As I've several times mentioned Honky Tonk Tuesdays at Radio Bean in previous posts, many would know Mike Gordon is a regular sit-in bass and piano player at these rambunctious and fun musical sessions. Along with his many side projects and being a regular dude about town at this point, it seems like Mike is spreading the love and recently played with the Mud City Ramblers at Bonz Smokehouse and Grill in Morrisville, a place I have yet to get to and keep meaning to drag my Burlington arse to sooner rather than later.

I hear great things about Bonz and love the whole Route 15 area of Vermont in general (Mud City Ramblers are from Johnson). I think it's time to follow my own advice and get out of Burlington to a show in a fun Vermont town. Anyone up for a road trip?


My great friend Shiva who lives up that way is the master taper and photographer for many-o-bands in the Route 15 vicinity and has so awesomely provided me with streaming audio of the show and a picture!

Mud City Ramblers
2007-09-05 Bonz Smokehouse, Morrisville, VT

Audio Stream

And thanks Mike Gordon for being a cool dude and keeping the spirit of randomness alive (and thanks for playing with my sweet drummer luvah a few weeks ago as well!)

Love and Light All!

Traditional Medicinals

Blue Grass. Green Mountains.

That's the tagline for the band, Traditional Medicinals. My guess is besides having some great musicians, these dudes have some guys in marketing in their band. Oh, not a guess - they do for a fact!

Secret Tip: It is a good idea to have someone in the band who works in marketing.

The Traditional Medicinals are fun to tap your foot to, fun to listen to, and super fun to watch. Their music is bluegrass and not all stylized out, but traditional - hence the use of the word in their name. And they are one of my favorite local bands to watch. Instead of just playing to an audience with a secret code of communication so many bands use, they actually look at each other, sometimes play facing each other, and genuinely make their shows an intimate experience - like you were just peaking in a window at their rehearsal. Oh, and they're nice - which I would expect a bluegrass band to be. I mean, I couldn't imagine a bluegrass band to be mean, could you? Does anyone know of any mean bluegrass bands?

Back to Blue Grass, Green Mountains. Check out the Traditional Medicinals next Friday, October 19th at Radio Bean and be on the look out for them throughout the year. I am hoping to run into them on some of my Vermont Vibes adventures - then I can really enjoy the Blue Grass in the Green Mountains.

The Healthy Hippie

I have a new gal pal in town named Taraleigh, otherwise known as The Healthy Hippie. She has a website - www.healthyhippie.net, a weekly newsletter you can subscribe to on that site, and recently moved to Burlington, Vermont to launch her new magazine - The Healthy Hippie. Taraleigh has an incredible background in dance, movement, nutrition, music, counseling, wellness, and probably a bunch of other things I am missing. And, in the true entrepreneurial spirit of a women, has combined her talents into a varied career reaching audiences in all of her backgrounds. I think the best way to see what she does is to visit her at The Healthy Hippie website. But I did want to let folks know some of the awesome and fun work Taraleigh does!

~ Designs health, nutritional and movement regimens for individuals or groups and consultation information is at her website.

~ Provides fabulous news about bands, recipes, healthy eating and energy tips, and tips for being healthy at shows and festivals.

~ Offers a cool line of clothing made with recycled clothes for children and adults.

~ In Vermont, currently teaches a dance class at The Movement Center and a wellness class at On Track Gym.

~ Writes columns for Groovelink Magazine and Relevant Times.

~ Teaches dance, movement, and wellness classes/workshops at music festivals such as Gathering of the Vibes, Phanphest, Wormtown, Camp Creek, Baconfest, JamCruise, and may be teaching a class at Nectars in the near future!

So, VermontMusic readers - check her out, subscribe to her newsletter, and help spread the word!! www.healthyhippie.net

Love and Light All!