Author: Michael Witthaus

Horse sense

Ian Galipeau celebrates new LP at Penuche’s

Once, when Ian Galipeau was performing at Great North Aleworks in Manchester, someone in the crowd asked if he knew any Nirvana or James Taylor, saying they felt he could do either one justice. “One of my favorite compliments I’ve ever received in my life as a musician,” Galipeau recalled recently. “It just made me smile and it still does.”

On his new album Something About a Horse Galipeau proves worthy of that praise. It opens with “Queen of the Canyon,” a loping, lovely duet with Jocelyn Bailey (Joanne the Band) that recalls John Prine and Iris Dement, then shifts to a swamp groove on “Fool of Me,” followed by the car-top-down country rocker “Ain’t Ready Yet.”

The next song is “Say Goodbye,” a heartbreaking ballad drawn from Galipeau’s earliest memories.

“It’s about growing up and making sense of my mom leaving, being in a broken family,” he said. “Now … I’ve got a wonderful relationship with my mother, and it was all for the best. But that’s very hard to come to terms with at 4, 5, 6 years old.”

The tune came from a month-long “write a song a day” exercise Galipeau did two years ago, which led to five of the disc’s 11 tracks. The first one was the country-flavored “A Father’s Love.” It also dealt with abandonment and loss but was fictional. Writing it helped prepare him for crafting more difficult autobiographical lyrics.

Working on a deadline and beginning with simple ideas like creating a three-chord song about owning a house (which produced the rollicking and funny “Call It Home”) helped.

“I’m really grateful that I did that exercise because that was such a heavy topic,” he said. “Having to finish it in a day meant I couldn’t wait around and try to make it perfect.”

Galipeau can definitely write from a happier place. His 2024 single “The Little Things” is a gorgeous meditation on life as a husband and dad to two daughters. One, he writes, has “eyes like summer twilight,” the other possesses “fire in her spirit and stained glass in her heart.” It ends with a touching echo of Jason Isbell’s “If We Were Vampires.”

The new LP’s title is a nod to Galipeau’s first-ever music purchase, Bringing Down the Horse by The Wallflowers.

“I bought that cassette along with Third Eye Blind’s self-titled album and Hanson’s Middle of Nowhere,” he said. “To this day, I still love two out of three of those … you can guess which ones.”

He was also thinking of Ben Kweller’s Changing Horses, which is fitting; Galipeau likes to mix things up as a musician. His last album, Faded Pictures, released early this year, was a solo piano effort, a new direction for a mostly guitarist (he also plays bass in the band Modern Fools). The Randy Newman-esque “One Way Ticket” is a standout track.

The New Hampshire native, who now lives in Keene, speaks reverently of his craft.

“The puzzle of songwriting … it’s just absolutely fascinating to me. I love studying other songwriters and I love working out the intricacies of a single idea inside a song within that limited real estate … it’s a beautiful, cathartic puzzle.”

An album release show, part of a multi-date mini-tour, happens Nov. 7 at Penuche’s Ale House in Concord. Galipeau’s band will include guitarist Jonathan Braught, who soloed on a pair of Something About A Horse’s tracks, Jeff Costello on drums and Ethan McBrien, a primary creative force behind psychedelic folk band Party of the Sun.

Slim Volume, whose singer-guitarist Trent Larrabee contributed to the new album, and Concord band Hometown Eulogy, will open. Galipeau is excited for the show, and what comes after. “Every time I release an album, I’m like, oh, I’ve got to start working on the next,” he said. “But this has given me a little more fire and time with the songs … it’s been fun.”

Ian Galipeau w/ Slim Volume, Hometown Eulogy
When: Friday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m.
Where: Penuche’s Ale House, Bicentennial Square, Concord
More: iangalipeaumusic.com
Also Sunday, Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. at Auspicious Brew, 1 Washington St., Dover, w/ Yoni Gordon

Featured photo: Ian Galipeau. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 25/11/06

• Nineties night: Front men from four ’90s bands gather for Story of a Song, a blend of VH1 Storytellers and Unplugged. Each performer — Chris Barron from Spin Doctors, Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe, Vinnie Dombroski from Sponge, and John Hampson from Nine Days — will go behind the scenes of their big hit (or in some cases hits) in this unique night of song swapping and stories. Thursday, Nov. 6, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $55 and up, tupelohall.com.

• Ethereal music: Check out Wyn & the White Light, an all-female “pomegranate-infused haunted-soul-rock band” led by NEMA-nominated singer-songwriter Wyn Doran. Standouts on their debut album, 2024’s Luck, include the hard-hitting “How the West Was Won.” Also performing are indie rockers Pointless Culture and Five Feet. Friday, Nov. 7, 8:30 p.m., Kettlehead Brewing, 97 Main St., Nashua, $10 at the door, 21+.

• Early Christmas: Putting a vintage touch on contemporary hits, Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox comes to town on its Magic, Moonlight & Mistletoe tour. The show will include retro-reworked songs by artists from Spice Girls to Guns N’ Roses and Chappell Roan along with holiday favorites. Saturday, Nov. 8, 8 p.m., Colonial Theatre, 609 Main St., Laconia, $54 and up, etix.com.

• Brass emo: Fusing ska, pop-punk and emo with a bodacious horn section, Millington headlines a multi-band show at a recently reopened indie music venue. On songs like “Summer Disease” and “FML,” both from their recent EP Better Safe Than Sorry, the Albany, N.Y., sextet fuses a Fall Out Boy vibe to the revved-up party sound of bands like Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish. Sunday, Nov. 9, 6 p.m., Bungalow Bar & Brill, 333 Valley St., Manchester, $18 at dice.fm.

• Settling in: A once-a-month-most-months residency continues for Slim Volume at the pub where its songwriting team found their sound at open mic after meeting at SNHU and bonding over a love of ’60s bands. The quartet’s most recent EP, Big Plans, has echoes of Jellyfish, another act inspired by that decade, on the title cut’s lush harmonies and the Byrds-like track “Running Thin.” Tuesday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m., Strange Brew Tavern, 88 Market St., Manchester, slimvolume.band.

Life during wartime

New Hampshire writer pens historical novel

Award-winning journalist and former New Hampshire Public Radio host Laura Knoy recently published her first novel, and it’s a gem. The Shopkeeper of Alsace is historical fiction, drawn from real events during the two world wars and in between. At the story’s center is Sarah Seibert, an amazingly resilient Jewish woman.

During World War I, Sarah fled her Polish village and occupying Russian forces as a teenager, first moving to Warsaw, and emigrating to France two years after WWI ended. There, she ran a shop with her family, as well as meeting and marrying her future husband, Melach Seibert. A few moves and upheavals later, they settled in Colmar, Alsace. The rumblings of a new war were beginning.

Knoy expertly pulls the reader into the menace of multiple wars in Poland, the later horror of World War II, and the stench of prejudice that spans generations and takes multiple forms. Setting the novel in the border region of Germany and Alsace instead of Paris is another aspect that sets it apart from historical fiction of that era.

How the Seiberts avoid the Nazi peril, along with Vichy turncoats and other threats, is at the novel’s heart. Knoy has a deft ear for detail, such as how the similarity of Yiddish and Alsatian dialects helped Sarah blend in. However, the greatest gift was one bestowed to her, when she was a college exchange student in Strasbourg, France, during the mid-1980s.

There she met Seibert’s real-life daughter, Annette. The two were paired together during a school-organized weekend trip to Colmar and formed a friendship that lasted decades. Knoy would hear of her friend’s childhood war experience only in fragments. That changed when she spoke with Annette’s daughter Brigitte Aumont in 2018, three years after her death.

“I always wanted to tell your mother’s story, but now it’s too late,” Knoy said while the two had dinner in New York City. It wasn’t — she learned there was an uncle, still living, who “remembered everything.” So she flew to France and met 95-year-old Jacques Seibert. Later, she listened to an oral history compiled by the family in 2005 that included Annette.

This treasure trove of information, along with dogged research and truly stellar skills for a first-time novelist, makes for a lively, entertaining and frequently harrowing read. The facts of the story are true, but Knoy chose to write a novel as a way to give it color, shape and depth. What results is a page-turner that’s satisfying throughout.

In a recent Zoom interview, the former host of NHPR’s The Exchange said much inspiration for her novel came from The Blue Bicycle (La Bicyclette Bleu), a series of wartime books by French writer Régine Deforges.

“I didn’t realize until I read Régine,” she said, “just how big, and complicated, and awful, and messy, and difficult it was.”

The Alsatian people were tempest-tossed by war for generations, she continued. One of the book’s characters was born a French citizen in 1870, became German in 1871, was again French in 1918 with the end of WWI, then became German in 1940 when Alsace was annexed. “And you’re French again in 1945,” she said.

Knoy expertly weaves that history into her novel. “I think that’s what makes my book different,” she said. “It’s a World War II story, but it starts in World War I — because I would contend that’s really where World War II starts…, It’s about a war-torn region, Europe.”

Some of the historical documents she cites, like a xenophobic newspaper left in Sarah and Melach’s Colmar shop, serve as reminders of the axiom that while history doesn’t repeat, it often rhymes.

“A lot of the language that the Nazis and French fascists used,” Knoy said, “is the same language that was used in Rwanda.”

The newspaper warned that “Jews, and mixed-race mongrels” would destroy France. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 was preceded by warnings of “bugs, cockroaches and dogs” posing a similar threat.

“Language skillfully used is a great way to divide people,” Knoy said. “And again, once you divide people, you can do whatever you want.”

Knoy is embarking on a short book tour to support her book. It begins Wednesday, Nov. 12, at BNH Stage in Concord, an event sponsored by Gibson’s Bookstore. She’ll be joined by Rick Ganley, host of NHPR’s Morning Edition, with a book signing following their conversation.

Authors On Main at the BNH Stage – Laura Knoy
When: Wednesday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m.
Where: BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord
Tickets: $30 includes copy of The Shopkeeper of Alsace, $15 admission only at ccanh.com
More: lauraknoy.com
Also Monday, Nov. 15, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester and Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Music Hall Lounge in Portsmouth

Blues rock, with a bit of soul

Joanne Shaw Taylor brings her guitar chops to Nashua

Growing up in the English Midlands, Joanne Shaw Taylor was a fan of guitarist Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan, who made her love the blues, then Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who were young enough for her to believe she could become a professional blues guitarist. Even as a woman — the guitar is a gender-neutral instrument, she told herself.

That belief found clarity the first time she heard Susan Tedeschi.

“All of a sudden, there are these kids who look kind of like me … but again, they were boys, then Susan came out with Rock Me Right,” she said by phone recently. “Once you’ve been given an example of someone else who’s done it, you feel like you don’t have to break through.”

Up to then, the female musicians she looked to emulate came from the rock and pop charts — Sheryl Crow, Fleetwood Mac and Dusty Springfield were early favorites.

“I was learning pre-internet,” she said, “Just going to the local CD shop, asking, ‘Who can you get me in that’s a female that plays guitar?’ And they’d be like, ‘Ani DiFranco?’” She pressed on.

Taylor was gigging as a teenager. When she was 16, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame saw her at a charity show and invited her on his European tour with D.U.P., a supergroup that included Jimmy Cliff, Mud Bone Cooper and Candy Dulfer. Stewart also signed her to a record deal, but the company had financial problems and she never went into the studio.

She made her first album on indie label Ruf Records, 2009’s White Sugar. It received a British Blues Awards nomination for Best New Artist Debut. During that year Taylor headed ’cross the pond, moving to Detroit, a strategic decision to be near the U.S. blues scene. In 2022 she moved again, to Nashville, where she’s lived since.

“All my influences were American,” Taylor said when asked why she moved. Upon arriving, she learned a lot of history that wasn’t taught in U.K. schools. “Segregation and slavery was something new to me, and the idea that this magical genre of music was born out of it was crazy to me.”

Though she loves the blues and records for Joe Bonomassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive label, Taylor suggests that fans new to the genre should begin with B.B. King or Muddy Waters before buying her records.

“I think I’m a blues guitarist that is a soul singer, that likes writing pop rock songs,” she told podcaster Alan Paul last year.

This eclectic aesthetic is well-rounded on Taylor’s latest LP, Black & Gold. The countrified growler “Hold of My Heart” features Sav Madigan of the Accidentals playing fiddle. “Summer Love” is a driving-with-the-top-down rocker that would be at home on a Bob Seger setlist, while “I Gotta Stop Letting You Let Me Down” is solid blues rock.

The buoyant title track was a British hit in 2008 for Sam Sparro that Taylor found “driving up and down the motorway to gigs in the U.K., when my first album was about to come out. It was always on the radio, and I loved the heaviness of the lyrics…. I don’t actually know what it’s about, I just know what I think it’s about and how I view it.”

“Love Lives Here,” a Faces deep cut from 1972, is another great cover on the new album. “There’s two male vocalists I’ve always felt like I have a bit of them in me … Paul Rodgers and Rod Stewart,” Taylor said. “I loved them so much growing up; I’ve taken on a couple of little inflections. I got to open for Rod a couple of years ago and it was absolutely fantastic.”

Taylor made Black & Gold at Nashville’s Studio A, where artists from Elvis to My Morning Jacket have recorded. “It’s kind of like a church,” she said. “I’m not a religious person. I’m not sure where I stand on faith, to be honest, about what comes next. But, you know, you go into a thousand-year-old church in Spain and you feel something. RCA is like that.”

It’s the second time Taylor has worked in the iconic facility; she also made 2024’s Heavy Soul there. Bonamassa also lives in Nashville, which helps her find top talent to work with and great places to make music. She’s also contributed to a pair of LPs by Dion, an early signing to Bonamassa’s label.

The two met in 2008, backstage at a festival in Norway. Later they spent hours talking about their shared experience as blues prodigies, and she felt seen.

“To have a conversation with Joe and go, ‘Oh, you were 13 as well, and your mum and dad were driving and flying you around so you could open up for B.B. King.’ I’d never met anyone like that.”

It wasn’t like either of them was Macaulay Culkin, she continued.

“We weren’t massive child stars, but it was still a bit unusual to say, ‘I’m leaving school for a week to go play with Jimmy Cliff.’ That was just a massive connection, and he’s been a massive champion of me ever since. And a big brother, to be honest, because his career was far ahead of mine at that time.”

Featured photo: Joanne Shaw Taylor. Courtesy photo.

Frightful fun

A weekend’s worth of adult Halloween choices

Without a doubt Halloween is the greatest deal in history. Dress up, knock on doors and demand candy — what could be better? Alas, youth is wasted on the young, but adults can still have fun on Halloween. This year there are a bevy of bashes, most on the official day. Here’s a day-by-day rundown of area gatherings.

Thursday, Oct. 30

Ash Cigar Lounge (92A Route 125, Kingston, 285-5174) 6 p.m. Smoke & Shadows: Halloween costume party, costumes encouraged, cocktails flowing, and cigars smoldering.

Bridgewater Inn (367 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, 744-3518) 8 p.m. Karaoke with Christine and cash prizes for best male and female costume.

LaBelle Winery ( 345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898) 7:15 p.m. Halloween disco party with Booty Vortex Band. Disco attire is encouraged. $40 at labellewinery.com.

The Word Barn (66 Newfields Road, Exeter, 244-0202) 7 p.m. All Hallow’s Eve: Spooky Tunes, Songs and Tales From Scotland. $25 at thewordbarn.com.

Friday, Oct. 31

Arts Alley (20 S. Main St., Concord, artsalleyconcordnh.com) 7 p.m. Alley After Dark party with DJ music, specialty cocktails, costume contest and giveaways, $30.

Auburn Pitts (167 Rockingham Road, Auburn, 622-6564) 6 p.m. DJ Chris hosts karaoke, with a bonfire and costume contest; gift cards first $100, second $50 and third $25.

Auspicious Brew (1 Washington St., Dover, 953-7240) 8 p.m. 5th anniversary weekend includes Halloween house party with a drag show from Raya Sunshine + friends at 8 p.m., two DJ sets w/ DJ MAM and DJ XO from 9 p.m. to midnight, face and hair glam by Tease Salon, a costume contest and more, $17 advance, $20 day of.

Beanie’s Bar & Grill (58 Route 129, Loudon, 961-0372) 8 p.m. Wacko Magnet, an area trio, performs at this Halloween party.

Big House (322 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 366-9100) 9 p.m. 7th annual Big Stage karaoke Halloween party with host DJ Tim.

Bogie’s (32 Depot Square, Hampton, 601-2319) 7 p.m. Michael Troy performs with drink specials and prize for best dressed costume.

Bonfire Country Bar (950 Elm St., Manchester, 2017-5600) 7 p.m. Halloween costume party with Lexi James performing.

BrickHouse Restaurant & Brewery (241 Union Square, Milford, 672-2270) 8 p.m. Hell On Heels plays rock covers.

Bridgewater Inn (367 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, 744-3518) 8 p.m. Halloween party with Stray Dog playing covers and cash prizes for best male and female costume.

Cercle National Club (550 Rockland Ave., Manchester, 623-8243) 7:30 p.m. Dancing Madly Backwards plays rock covers and originals at this social club’s party. Costume contest, with first-, second- and third-place winners.

Chop Shop (920 Lafayette Road, Seabrook, 760-7706) 8:30 p.m. 16th Birthday Halloween Bash with Casual Gravity and prizes for most original, couple, sexiest and king & queen. $20.

Crotched Mountain (534 Mountain Road, Francestown, 808-0174) 5 p.m. Blue Bear Halloween Party with buffet 5-7 p.m., costume contest and DJ music, $30 adults, $12 kids under 12.

Exeter Brewing (156 Epping Road, Exeter, 686-7253) 8 p.m. 21+ Halloween social with costumes, prizes and DJ dancing.

Flannel Tavern (345 Suncook Valley Road, Chichester, 406-1196) 6 p.m. Dave Graham plays music at this party.

Forum Pub (15 Village St., Concord, 565-3100) 8 p.m. Rabbit Foot plays at 7:30 p.m. at a party featuring a costume contest and hosted by Maizy Rae that concludes with an open jam session.

Front Four Cellars (13 Railroad Ave., Wolfeboro, 633-5433) 6 p.m. Dakota Smart plays music from 6 to 9 p.m. at this Monster Mash & Merlot Halloween costume party.

Fury’s Publick House (1 Washington St., Dover, 617-3633) 9 p.m. Jam stalwarts Superfrog perform at a party including Frenzie and Roots, Rhythm & Dub along with a costume contest.

Haluwa Restaurant (44 Gusabel Ave., Nashua, 864-8348) 8 p.m. Bush League rocks at this Chinese stalwart.

Henry J. Sweeney Post (251 Maple St., Manchester, 623-9145) 7:30 p.m. Mugshot Monday performs with a costume contest, prizes for scariest, funniest and sexiest.

Hop Knot (1000 Elm St., Manchester, 232-3731) 7 p.m. DJ Ctrl F spins at this party hosted by Cabana Love. No cover, costume contest and great pretzels.

Lafayette Club (34 High St., Nashua, 889-9860) 8 p.m. Mighty Colors perform, $8 in advance (available at the bar) or $10 at the door.

Lost Cowboy Brewing (546 Amherst St., Nashua, 600-6800) 7:30 p.m. Justin Federico plays country songs.

Lower Level Lounge (North End, Nashua, facebook.com) 6 p.m. Spooky Speakeasy, cocktails & bites, and costumes are encouraged.

Luk’s Bar & Grill (142 Lowell Road, Hudson, 889-9900) 7 p.m. Johnny Roberts plays acoustic music.

Makris Lobster & Steak House (3544 Sheep David Road, Concord, 225-7665) 8 p.m. Stray Dog Band returns to Makris Seafood for a highly anticipated local show and Halloween party.

Music Hall (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, themusichall.org) 8 p.m. Space Oddity, the Quintessential David Bowie Tribute Experience. Costumes encouraged. $30 and up at themusichall.org.

New Nan King (222 Central St., Hudson, 882-1911) 7 p.m. Maestro’s Music Karaoke and a costume party.

Newfound Lake Inn (1030 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, 744-0911) 6 p.m. BOOOOOs Fest featuring DJ music and “horror d’oeuvres” along with specialty cocktails. Costume contest. $25 at eventbrite.com.

Par 28 (23 South Broadway, Salem, 458-7078) 8 p.m. DJ Styles spins with a costume contest and specialty cocktails.

Peddler’s Daughter (48 Main St., Nashua, 821-7535) 9:30 p.m. Magnificent Bastards play high-energy rock covers at this event promising ghosts, ghouls and questionable costumes.

Pembroke City Limits (134 Main St., Pembroke, 210-2409) 7 p.m. Haunted by Humans performs with a costume contest.

Polish American Club (15 School St., Nashua, 889-9819) 8 p.m. Karaoke with Kelly, private club, guests need to be signed in.

Porkbarrel Productions (107 Moose Mountain Road, Brookfield, eventbrite.com) 6 p.m. Backyard Boulderdash with The Boneheads. Costume ball and contest with cash prizes, 15 and under free admission, $20.

Portsmouth Gas Light (64 Market St., Portsmouth, 430-9122) 8 p.m. Halloween party in the third-floor nightclub with costume contest, prizes and music from DJ Koko P, and a Day of the Dead party the following night.

Press Room (77 Daniel St., Portsmouth, 431-5186) 9 p.m. Dan Blakeslee’s alter ego Doctor Gasp performs with his band the Eeks, the 23rd Annual Halloween Special begins directly after the Portsmouth Halloween parade.

Red’s Kitchen & Tavern (530 Lafayette Road, Seabrook, 760-0030) 6 p.m. Ignite Band rocks at this party, with a $500 gift card for the costume contest winner.

Reed’s North (2 E. Main St., Warner, 456-2143) 7 p.m. Spooky Halloween Party with music by Randy Hawkes. Costumes encouraged but not required. Ghoulish cocktails and pub menu.

Rooftop at The Artisan (19 Via Toscana, No. 550, Salem, 458-3028) 7 p.m. Boos & Brews at The Rooftop offers DJ dancing, spooky sips and more, $15

Saddle Up Saloon (92 Route 125, Kingston, 347-1313) 8 p.m. Bite the Bullet plays rock covers, with costume contests and specials.

Salona (128 Maple St., Manchester, 624-4020) 7 p.m. DJ, karaoke, raffles, and a prize for best costume.

Salt hill Pub Lebanon (2 W. Park St., Lebanon, 448-4532) 8 p.m. Local rockers the Conniption Fits provide the music for this party, with prizes for best costumes.

San Francisco Kitchen (133 Main St., Nashua, 885-8833) 8 p.m. DJ Triana spins with a costume contest, $100 cash for first place, $50 gift card for second, two complimentary drinks for third place.

Shaskeen (909 Elm St., Manchester, 625-0246) 9 p.m. Annual bash with DJ Myth spinning, costume contest and Guinness promo.

Spice Restaurant & Bar (300 Main St., Nashua, 417-7972) 8 p.m. DJ Daryl spins with a costume contest, $100 cash for first place, $50 gift card for second, $25 gift card for third place. Drink specials and giveaways.

Stark Brewing Company (500 Commercial St., Manchester, 625-4444) 9 p.m. The Cats — Andre LeClair and Jimmy Croons — perform at this party.

Stone Church (5 Granite St., Newmarket, 659-7700) 7 p.m. Two-day Grateful Dead party with Stone Dead, a collaboration of New England musicians with roots and associations going back to the Stone Church scene of the ’80s and ’90s, from acts such as Percy Hill, Groove Child, Thanks to Gravity, Trade and others. $25 advance, $30 day of show, $45 two-day pass.

Strange Brew (88 Market St., Manchester, 666-4292) 6:30 p.m. Lisa Marie offers blues rock and boogie.

Sun Bar & Grill (586 Nashua St., Milford, 633-6012) 8 p.m. DJ John spins with a costume contest, $100 cash for first place, $50 gift card for second, $25 gift card for third place. Drink specials and giveaways.

Village Trestle (25 Main St., Goffstown, 497-8230) 8 p.m. Halloween costume party with Bob Pratte.

Wally’s Pub (144 Ashworth Ave., Hampton, 926-6954) 6 p.m. Prospect Hill 16th annual Halloween party with Above Snakes and Major Moment. 21+, tickets $25 at ticketmaster.com.

Wolfeboro Inn (90 N. Main St., Wolfeboro, 569-3016) 6 p.m. Drinks, games and music in Wolfe’s Tavern to benefit the Justin Hartford Scholarship Fund, $15 advance, $20 door.

Zorvino Vineyards (226 Main St., Sandown, 887-8463) 6 p.m. Hallowine with themed trivia 6-8 p.m., all-day costume contest on the final patio dining night of the season.

Saturday, Nov. 1

Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord, ccanh.com) 11 a.m. Mr. Aaron’s Halloween Bash, a kid-centric show.

Hare of the Dawg (3 E. Broadway, Derry, 552-3883) 7:30 p.m. DJ Dave the Rave provides the music, with prizes for most creative, funniest, worst and group costumes.

Loaded Question Brewing (909 Islington St., Suite 12, Portsmouth, 852-1396) 8 p.m. Halloweeen Party happens a day late, but it’s still the weekend.

Paddy’s American Grille (27 International Drive, Portsmouth, 430-9450) 8 p.m. Bad Breath Microphone performs with prizes for best costume.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 25/10/30

• Late showman: When he finished following David Letterman on CBS late night, Craig Ferguson returned to doing standup comedy and making specials. He’s still on television, though, hosting the game show Scrabble on the CW. He got an Emmy nomination for his 2015 special Just Being Honest and did a six-part standup/docuseries, Hobo Fabulous, for Amazon. Thursday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m., Nashua Center for the Performing Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua, $75 and up, etix.com.

• Southern men: With a pair of guitarists sharing a long history in Southern rock, Once An Outlaw plays a Lakes Region show. Macon, Georgia, native Chris Hicks played with the Marshall Tucker Band for many years. Chris Anderson, born in Florida and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina, spent time in the Outlaws. Traveler – The Chris Stapleton Experience also appears. Friday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m., The Barn at The Inn on Main, 200 N. Main St., Wolfeboro, onceanoutlawband.com.

• Alt popping: Support the area underground scene at Alt Pop-Punk Night, a triple bill offering a Halloween vibe the day after. Included are GRIM the Acronym, a punk and hardcore trio, along with two female-fronted acts, Vices, Inc., from Portland, Maine, and Boston-based Island of Alaska, who just released the buoyant, energetic single “Holy Ghost.” Saturday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., Terminus Underground, 134 Haines St., Nashua, $15 and $20 at newhampshireunderground.org.

• Local hero: The New Hampshire music scene got some validation when Charlie Chronopoulos sold out BNH Stage late last year. A producer whose credits include Jelly Roll and Joyner Lucas, and writer of gritty songs about hardscrabble living in his home state, Chronopoulos returns to the venue on the heels of “Shot,” a tough new single from an album he’s working on in a historic mill studio. Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m., BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord, $36 at ccanh.com.

• Story teller: Singer, songwriter and raconteur Vance Gilbert performs. His most recent album, 2023’s The Mother of Trouble, includes “Simple Things,” a song Gilbert described as “what happens when a Black kid from Philadelphia who grew up listening to Earth, Wind & Fire, and didn’t know the Average White Band was white, tries to write a song like John Prine.” Sunday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m., The Word Barn, 66 Newfields Road, Exeter, $25 and up at thewordbarn.com.

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