Dylan Patrick Ward & Nate

Dylan Patrick Ward: "Lyrically clever as hell, wicked funny, wicked dark. Monsters, death, and mayhem. Fear, weirdness, and alienation, all wrapped up in love."- Mark Piepkorn, Stage 33 Live, Bellows Falls, VT.

Dylan Patrick Ward has never drank 100 beers in one day, but sometimes he feels like a snowman made of slush from the side of the road, slowly melting as winter turns to spring, so his songs are autobiographical...in a way.

After years spent trying his hand at acting, stand-up, sketch comedy, film making, fiction writing and cartooning, and many failed attempts at starting bands, Dylan found his niche in the age-old art of sitting alone with a guitar and writing songs.

Equal parts humor and heart, Dylan's highly specific, melodic tales of lovable losers draw from a wide range of influences, chief among them John Prine, the Mountain Goats, Nikolai Gogol and The Simpsons.

He comes from a part of Vermont he affectionately refers to as “the dirty south”, where Dickensian odd-balls are more common than farmers and ski bums. He fits in...about as well as he would anywhere I guess.

NO SHOW

Tonight's Open Mic has been cancelled due to inclement weather

Mysterious Performer

This performer is so mysterious even we don't know who it will be — at least not yet

Mysterious Performer

This performer is so mysterious even we don't know who it will be — at least not yet

BILL BRINK

Bill Brink has been playing music for over 20 years. He enjoys playing many different styles of music using 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar as well as bass and electric guitar, banjo, harmonica, kazoo, mandolin and washboard.

In addition to having an extensive collection of cover songs, he also has many of his own that he has written and produced since the early 90's and is still writing and recording today.

He has received accolades from people such as Richie Havens, John Sebastian, and Tom Ghent.

His songs have been played across the globe.

Vermont's WCAX TV news channel used one of his recorded songs for an on-air photo montage. Vermont Public Radio purchased a song to feature on their radio station and most recently, a local business asked to use one of his recordings for a commercial ad.

In addition to writing and performing, Bill, along with his wife June, produce music and videos, organize local music events and host live social media performances.

NO SHOW

Tonight's show has been cancelled due to inclement weather

OPEN MIC NIGHT

The Tradition continues, Stop by to listen or join in. Sign up on site with the host for your 15 min or three songs. Storytellers also welcome!

The Milkhouse Heaters

In the early days, Mike played bass while Jan sang lead and played guitar. They could often be found kicking around the Boston music scene. They received airplay on several of the city’s radio stations and were nominated for a Boston Music Award in 2001. They have shared the stage with The Black Crowes, Corey Glover, Fuel, Feeder, and Hum as well as playing the Boston leg of The Vans Warped Tour. Their songs are on numerous compilations alongside the likes of G. Love and Special Sauce, Jack Johnson, Burning Spear, and The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones. Their music has been licensed to television shows on ABC, VH1, MTV, ESPN, and ESPN 2.

Mike and Jan bought land in rural Vermont in 2003 and started building their home, doing most of the work themselves. This is where the humble seeds of The Milkhouse Heaters were planted. Mike bought an acoustic guitar, and began writing Americana songs. With Jan on bass, they honed their sound and played their first show as The Milkhouse Heaters in 2010.

Mike and Jan have added several notches to their musical belt, including closing for Billy Bragg as part of a WOOL Black Sheep Radio fundraiser and opening for Fred Eaglesmith at The Shoulder to the Plough concert, which benefitted the farmers devastated by Hurricane Irene. Two of their songs are featured on The Shoulder to the Plough CD, which was recorded live at the Rockingham Meeting House in 2011. Since then, The Milkhouse Heaters have been playing nearly every weekend around New England and were invited to play the 14th Annual Roots on the River Festival.

Joseph Stallsmith and
the Occasional Jug Band

The Occasional Jug Band is a trio of versatile musicians who bring high enthusiasm and years of professional musical performance to a repertoire packed with traditional jug band favorites, blues, fiddle tunes, Cajun two-steps, and popular tunes with an irresistible ragtime twist. We are: Mary Jo Slattery (vocals, guitar, uke, washboard), Andy Stewart ( fiddle, harmonica), and Joseph Stallsmith (vocals, 4 string banjo, uke, guitar, kazoo/jug). Our song selection has a bit of everything for people of all ages and encourages audience participation at every turn.

NO SHOW

Tonight's show has been cancelled due to inclement weather

Lara Herscovitch

Lara Herscovitch is singer-songwriter-poet-performer gem. As described in The Boston Globe, she brings "a luminous voice and a buoyant stage presence… big-hearted lyrics embrace the sum of life… Herscovitch's music blows on the embers of a lagging spirit or a dormant creative life." Lara leads with authenticity, integrity, humor and heart. Sound Waves Magazine described her music as "expertly written prose... songwriting at its best… good for your ears AND your soul." Acoustic Live in New York City added, "She possesses not only a huge reservoir of musical talent and a voice with a bell-like clarity, but a keen sense of global concern and a fierce intellect… It might seem too good to be true, but true it is."

OPEN MIC NIGHT

The Tradition continues, Stop by to listen or join in. Sign up on site with the host for your 15 min or three songs. Storytellers also welcome!

the White Mountain Ceili Band

White Mountain Ceilí Band is Dexter Harding on the tenor banjo, Fiona Howell on the flute, Siena Kaplan-Thompson on the fiddle, and Mike Levine on the guitar and occasional concertina. They play Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton instrumental music with warmth and joy, as well as the occasional song.

Dexter first came to Irish music when he played for contra dances around the valley, and the session at May Kelly’s deepened his focus on the Irish tradition.

Fiona grew up playing flute through Mountain Top Music Center, and went on to study music at Loyola University. While in New Orleans she began playing at Irish sessions, and now plays and sings with a few groups around New England.

Siena grew up playing classical violin and viola and switched to fiddle in college when she discovered the Boston Scottish and Cape Breton music scene.

Mike has played a wide range of musical styles, from classical to rock, and more recently bebop. He and Siena have both enjoyed branching out into Irish music with the White Mountain Ceilí Band.

Joel Cage

Joel Cage is an award winning veteran singer/songwriter from Boston. Once a member of the internationally acclaimed rock & roll group Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Joel has been performing regionally and nationally as a soloist for the past 2 decades. He has performed at some of the most prestigious folk & acoustic venues & festivals in the country, including the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas where he was awarded top prize in the Kerrville New Folk Competition.

A virtuoso guitarist and an impassioned vocalist, Joel Cage's music is both evocative and raucous. He spans the gamut from sounding like a full rock band to 'hear your own heartbeat' intimacy.

Joel Cage is also a master interpreter of other people's music, spanning a wide field of musical genres, garnering him the oft used moniker "Acoustic Rock Song Stylist."

Chris Lavancher & the Lied To's

About Chris Lavancher:

New England area Singer-songwriter Chris LaVancher released his third full-length album in November 2021 - “After The Flood” a collection of songs full of heart from a seasoned and skilled craftsman mining life's subject matter - family challenges, work, love and love lost, childhood memories, and finding one's place in the universe. Chris's performance evokes a mini-movie festival in your head, complete with a full soundtrack. He writes cinematic, character-driven songs. His song Nostalgia from his second album, Big Fat Love, received an honorable mention in the 2018 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Contest. In 2014 Chris was selected as a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist and performed on the main stage. Chris grew up in the hills of North Central Pennsylvania where he learned to observe the many wonderful characters that inhabited that little town.

About The Lied To's:

The Lied To's are Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler, two Massachusetts-based singer-songwriters who joined musical forces in 2014, released their self-titled debut cd at the legendary Club Passim in February 2015, and have been playing together ever since. Taking their name from the revered Everly Brothers song, "When Will I Be Loved," The Lied To's (Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler) collaborate to put the challenges of relationships squarely under their musical microscope with a formidable blend of folk, rock and country-tinged music. Susan has been a finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival, the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, and the International Songwriting Competition, among others. She also was a Tri-Centric Showcase artist at the 2008 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference (NERFA). Doug has had his songs placed on television shows, including CSI , All My Children, The Young and The Restless, Dark Blue, and was an emerging artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Doug is also a respected music producer who owns and runs Hollow Body Recording Studios in Chelmsford, MA.

OPEN MIC NIGHT

The Tradition continues, Stop by to listen or join in. Sign up on site with the host for your 15 min or three songs. Storytellers also welcome!

Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy is regarded by fellow musicians and fans alike as one of New England’s finest songwriters. He writes and sings of a heartfelt, sometimes funny, sometimes desperate, sometimes glorious world of common people, struggles, hope, relationships, madness, and love. He sings the poetry of real life with a silky baritone voice and just enough grit.

“A distinctive songwriter with a warm, powerful, inherently melodic baritone, a fine guitarist and a devastating wit ... enormous writing gifts, capable of putting chills into your spine or a silly grin on your face..." - Jeff McLaughlin, The Boston Globe

I've been remiss in not mentioning that my friend folksinger Cormac McCarthy's album "Collateral" was my favorite album of 2013. Man does he ever hand the bullshit back to its rightful owners. Barry Crimmins--Political Satirist and comedian

“A leading light of the urban songwriter revival…”Curious Thing” is a soft-spoken triumph.” - Scott Alarik, Boston Globe

“…a new McCarthy recording is a major listening event, one to spend considerable time savoring…” - Arthur Wood, Folk Wax

“Cormac McCarthy is the closest thing New England’s ever come to having our own Woody Guthrie” - Martin England, Portsmouth Herald, NH

"Top ten Concerts ...- Bob Dylan, Ani DeFranco, Cormac McCarthy...Next time he comes within 100 miles, you must go hear him!" -The Boston Phoenix

Ken Bonfield

Fingerstyle Guitarist Ken Bonfield has performed throughout the United States for over 25 years. Based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Bonfield is a regular at guitar festivals, concert series, and acoustic venues across North America, and has released eight albums. His latest, Parting Gifts, is an ensemble effort that features Bonfield on standard guitar, baritone guitar, and reentrant tuned guitar along with the otherworldly talents of Raymond Gonzalez on piano, nylon string guitar, percussion and synths, and Bluegrass multi-instrumentalist, Tim Crouch on mandolin, violin, cello and upright bass.

Although he came out of the 1960’s folk tradition, Bonfield was closely associated with new-age music in the mid 90's. Today his sophisticated Americana compositions feature a solid dose of Celtic, jazz, and traditional folk influences that might best be described as American Baroque.

Bonfield's work and calling is inspired by a deep love for the beauty, the sound, and the craft of the acoustic guitar. In his open-hearted, welcoming concerts, workshops and master classes, he shares new guitar dimensions and sonic explorations with his listeners.

Due to a vicious bout of tendinitis Bonfield can no longer play steel string guitar, and now performs on his unique baritone nylon string guitar and standard nylon string guitar in an array of alternate tunings.

Bonfield has been a featured performer at some of the finest acoustic venues, coffee houses, music festivals, and guitar festivals in North America such as Club Passim, Eddie's Attic, Uncle Calvin's, Be Here Now, Acoustic Sounds Cafe, Kent State Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Montreal Guitar Festival, Newport Guitar Festival, and Healdsburg Guitar Festival, appearing with a wide range of icons and contemporary artists ranging from Arlo Guthrie to John Mayer,and includes songsmiths Garnet Rogers, Pierce Pettis, Dee Carstensen, Cosy Sheridan, and guitar legends Larry Corryell, Adrian Legg, Adam Miller, Ed Gerhard, Muriel Anderson, Stephen Bennett, Tim Sparks, Dakota Dave Hull, and countless others.

Crowes Pasture
(Monique Byrne)

Monique Byrne and Andy Rogovin perform original music and eye-opening covers that reflect a mutual passion, sense of discovery and celebration of life. Their tightly blended vocal harmonies are mixed with an expressive instrumental style that is best described as a "banjo-guitar romance."

 

Crowes Pasture's style of escapist folk transports and connects listeners through universal experiences in their "skillfully crafted, emotional songwriting" — Chris Eastburn, Award-Winning Composer

Fred Gillen Jr

NYFA (New York Foundation For The Arts) grant recipient Fred Gillen Jr has released eleven full-length albums, to great critical acclaim. He has performed all over the U.S. and Europe as a solo artist. From 2017 to 2019 he was music director of the Group The Greenheart, traveling to Nepal four times and India once, performing concerts to raise awareness of environmental activism. His songs have been featured on ABC's "All My Children," NPR's "Car Talk," CMJ's New Music Marathon Sampler, and in 2012 his version of Woody Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home" was featured on "Pete Remembers Woody," a collection of Pete Seeger's spoken stories about Woody Guthrie. interspersed with various artists' renditions of Guthrie's songs. Like Seeger and Guthrie, Gillen's lyrics often reflect both the hope and despair of the human condition, while his music illustrates the diversity of influences in the air when he was growing up in the 1970's. His live performances are spontaneous and full of storytelling, and he enjoys audience participation.

OPEN MIC NIGHT

The Tradition continues, Stop by to listen or join in. Sign up on site with the host for your 15 min or three songs. Storytellers also welcome!

Tom Pirozzoli

Tom Pirozzoli is well known, much respected on the New England and on the national music scene. Tom's songs have been recorded by artists as varied as Tonto's Big Idea, Willy Porter, and Pam Prior. His co- writes with Willy Porter have been performed in Carnegie Hall, at Madison Square Garden and The Royal Albert Hall. Original songs recorded by Tom in the 1980's with the Fast Folk Music Magazine (New York) are in the Smithsonian collection. Tom's skills as a performer and singer-songwriter were honored by Musician Magazine as a winner in their "Best Unsigned Band" contest.

"Pirozzoli offers a vision of the exotic places he visits and straight from the heat sentiment through his songs… a low enchanting voice and a prolific knack for writing lyrics." — NH Seacoast

Josh Hall

Perhaps it is best to learn about Josh Hall in his own words:

My musical roots are uncommon for a singer-songwriter. Described as a Zen-Metal-Freak-Jazz Guru, I am a classically trained guitarist whose playing style owes as much to Barrios and Tarréga as Mustaine and Monk. I am an Alternative Folk Artist whose songs engage the listener to feel and think deeply, to find the reverence in everyday life, and to question the stories that define so much of the modern world.

I was born and raised in New Hampshire but my musical life has taken me all over the world, from the Finger Lakes to Mt. Etna to the Narmada River. And although I have chose the life of a Music Educator and have taught music to thousands of students in Hanover, NH over the past 23 years, I maintain an active performance calendar that showcases my original music for audiences looking for folk music in the spirit of Dylan, Cockburn, and Taylor.