DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 14 * * All Arts News On the Web * * August 11, 2011

STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      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.


      Stop in for live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at various restaurants around Franklin County throughout the week, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.

      Find links to these events and more in our Spotlight!

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      The Big Music Weeks of Summer conclude our run of three or more live concerts, fairs, theatricals, or festivals each week. There is plenty to see and hear right in Franklin County.


GET RIGHT BACK ON IT

      This Sunday, Dark Horse makes a triumphant return as O. C. McCuin & Sons presents the Summer Sounds concert in Highgate Municipal Park on Sunday evening at 7 p.m.
      Dark Horse is a five-piece country band with two guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards for a mix of six string lead, double lead, rhythm, slide, and acoustic twelve string, keyboards and Hammond organs, grand pianos, and more. All five members sing lead and the band is unique in its complex, five part harmony.
      This band has classically trained musicians with Berkeley School of Music graduate Bob Berger of Swanton, lead guitar and vocals; Missisqoui Slim, piano and organs; Bob Corbiere, bass and vocals; Ken Schofield, drums and vocals; and the Dark Horse (or the Walrus, koo koo ka choo), Rick Leggett, acoustic and electric guitar, slide, lead, and rhythm, sings lead on many of the ballads.
      Just before the concert, stop by for the Kids Culinary Camp-Summer Sounds Social in the Park starting at 6 p.m. The social hour is a chance to visit with friends and enjoy a full-on barbecue, cool drinks, and unbelievable desserts on a summer night.
      The Summer Sounds concerts are sponsored by the Town of Highgate and the All Arts Council, and underwritten by Chevalier Drilling, Drummac Septic Service, O. C. McCuin and Sons, and Ray's Extrusion Dies and Tubing.
      The community based All Arts Council brings the performing arts to northwestern Vermont. The concerts are always on Sunday evenings, always at 7 p.m., always in Highgate Municipal Park, and always free. Bring a blanket or a lawn chair as you settle in to enjoy outdoor family music and festivities. The rain site is the Highgate United Methodist Church.
      Click here for posters and more info.


ART ON THE WALLS

SWANTON--The new Swanton Free Public Library Gallery features different artists each month. This month, the spotlight is on the photography of Swanton resident Marie Speer. The gallery, located on the main floor of the library building, is open Monday and Tuesday, 2 - 7 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
      The show continues through the end of August.


ST ALBANS--The Northwestern Medical Center Gallery hosts Jessica Scanlon Corliss of Georgia this month. The show continues through the end of August.


JUST YOU WAIT 'ENRY 'IGGENS

     St. Albans Society for the Performing Arts (SASPA) presents My Fair Lady in the BFA-St. Albans Performing Arts Center starting with an opening reception tomorrow evening.
      The Lerner and Loewe musical is based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion in which professor Henry Higgins takes in Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle for speech lessons that she may pass as a proper lady. The musical's original 1956 Broadway production was such a hit, it set the then-record for the longest run of any major musical theater production in history.
      There will be an opening night reception tomorrow evening at 5:30 p.m. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. plus a Sunday Matinee at 2 p.m. And there is a raffle for an oil painting by Corliss Blakely.
      Admission is $25 for the opening night reception or $15 for the evening show, $13 for the Saturday evening show, and $12 for the matinee with discounts for seniors and students. Tickets are available through the Flynn Box Office (802.86.FLYNN), Sweet Nothings, and Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce (802.524.2444). Click here for ticket info.


ON STAGE LIVE

ALBURGH--The Lake Champlain Bluegrass Festival, scheduled to open today and run through Sunday, has been cancelled. Organizers promise the LCBF will return next year.


SOUTH HERO--Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce presents the Nobby Reed Project in the Snow Farm Winery Concert Series this evening at 6:30 p.m.
      Live music comes to the vineyard every Thursday evening from June to September. All concerts are free and no tickets are required. The series ranges from classical to jazz to swing to bluegrass to classic rock. Picnicking begins at 5 p.m.; music starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m.


COLCHESTER--Colchester Parks and Recreation presents Carol Ann Jones and the Superchargers in the Colchester Summer Concert series in Lower Bayside Park this evening at 7 p.m.


SHELDON--Summer Music at Grace welcomes back Hungrytown on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (note the date change). The popular husband-wife duo Ken Hall and Rebecca Anderson will return in the Blue Meanie traveling bus/studio/camper. They will spend most of September in Shanghai and several regions of Japan.
      The Hungrytown compositions are rooted in folk tradition with the sound and feel of original transcripts. Ms. Anderson is an award-winning songwriter and folk classicist. Mr. Hall is a roots musician with the 60s folk harmonica, Appalachian fingerpicking, an oboe and more. Hungrytown has daily airplay on The Village on XM Radio and their new CD, Any Forgotten Thing, was named album of the week by BBC Radio Scotland. It is available on CDBaby.
      Grace Church is located at 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon. Suggested admission at the door is $10 for adults and $5 for the quite young and quite old. Click here for more info about Hungrytown. Call 802.326.4603 or click here for more info about Summer Music at Grace.


SWANTON--God's Vision Ministry of Sheldon presents DOVE Award nominee Jamie Slocum in concert on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Godstock North at their retreat on the Sweet Hollow Road.
      Admission and parking are free.
      Bring your own lawn chair. Call Matt or Ilze Luneau (315.952.5005), Email or click here for more info.


FAIRFAX--The Fairfax Summer Concert Series presents the Milton Town Band at BFA Fairfax on the Green on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
      Admission is free. Bring your blanket, lawn chairs, and family. There will be a charitable bake sale. In the case of rain the concert will be held in the middle school gym. The Fairfax Summer Concert Series is sponsored by the Vermont Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Fairfax Park and Rec, the Fairfax Community Library and BFA K-12 Enrichment.


CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     Springfield artist Edward Huse paint and sculpts landscapes, portraits and other represenational works in oils, and in bronze or terra-cotta. His site, built on Blogger.com, has video, a slide show, and scattered images. It's an interesting site but difficult to buy from.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site.


SUPPORT LIVE ARTS IN YOUR TOWN!


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      This article was originally published in the St Albans Messenger and other traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2011 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.