
Midweek Concert Series
The ingredients behind northern New England's Jason Spooner Trio read like a bizarre musical science experiment. Start with a prolific, singer/songwriter (Jason Spooner) with heavy roots, folk & blues influences. Then mix in a classicly-trained bassist (Adam Frederick) with foundations in jazz and a knack for serious pocket grooves. Lastly, shake things up with a rock-solid drummer (Reed Chambers) with deep-seeded roots in funk, soul & reggae and you've begun to scratch the surface of this unique, energetic band. Et harum quidem

Freedom Rocks!
Cheryl Wheeler has to be seen to be appreciated. Nothing you read and nothing you hear from her album prepares you for how good a performer she is. As described on her website "Cheryl's concerts are more like what you would find at a comedy club than expect to find at a folk music concert. She will tell a story that has you rolling in the aisles, and then sing a song that leaves you wiping tears from your eyes. She will talk about some serious current event, and then sing a song that will have you howling with laughter. Her entire concert is a emotional roller coaster." Et harum quidem

Americana Fest
Some artists continually reinvent themselves; others identify their muse early on and spend their careers single-mindedly pursuing it, remaining recognizably themselves through a career-long process of refinement, growth and discovery. Chris Smither belongs to the latter group. What is immediately recognizable to anyone who has encountered Smither on record or in live performance during the course of the last four decades are his been-there, done-that voice and the crystalline, wordlessly eloquent sounds of his finger picked acoustic guitar. NPR states "[Smither] taps his foot to keep the rhythm, much like the late blues legend John Lee Hooker. His finger-picked guitar lines are sleek, unhurried and insistent. And then there's the voice -- equal parts gravel and molasses, Smither's singing sounds like a distillation of the folk and blues heroes he grew up listening to in New Orleans." Et harum quidem

