• Santa surfing: Sidelined by the pandemic last year, Gary Hoey is back on the road with his Ho-Ho-Hoey! Christmas tour. It stops in Derry, on the way to a California finish. The Dick Dale acolyte first donned his Kringle hat over 25 years ago; the franchise now includes Hallmark greeting cards with his holiday favorites, and Hoey was also featured in the 2006 Danny DeVito film Deck The Halls. Friday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, tickets $35 and $40 at tupelohall.com.
• Healing sounds: On her 2021 coming out song Becoming Untamed, singer-guitarist Kimayo chronicled her journey of “re-wilding … shedding expectations and old belief systems to awaken intuition, curiosity, and self-love.” The poetic songstress looks to music as her “confidante, dance partner, comforter … mood lifter.” A UNH alum, she shares a set of her originals at a Manchester brew pub. Saturday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m., Backyard Brewery & Kitchen, 1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester. See kimayomusic.com.
• Christmas croon: Great American Songbook authority Michael Feinstein brings his Home for the Holidays show to the Granite State, drawing from his enduring 2014 release A Michael Feinstein Christmas, with selections from Irving Berlin, Meredith Wilson and Sammy Cahn. Get in the spirit with “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” “Winter Wonderland” and more Saturday, Dec. 4, 2 p.m., The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, $55 to $65 at themusichall.org.
• Getting together: An evening of traditional and contemporary acoustic music, Flynn Cohen & Guests includes the guitarist and mandolin player known for his work with wife Liz Simmons in Low Lily, and multi-instrumentalist Matt Heaton, who also performs music for families, a genre he playfully calls toddlerbilly. History suggests the show will likely include contributions from the pair’s many collaborators over the years. Sunday, Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m., Spotlight Room, 96 Hanover St., Manchester, $19 at palacetheatre.org.
• Strong bonds: Since forming nearly a decade ago, The Ghost of Paul Revere has grown from its Maine origins into a national act on the strength of two long players, 2014’s Believe and 2017’s Monarch, and a pair of EPs, Field Notes, Vol. 1 & 2. The trio now curates its own summer festival, Ghostland, and have appeared with luminaries like Jason Isbell and Bela Fleck, as well as performing at the venerable Newport Folk Festival. Friday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m., Bank of NH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord, $22 and $32 at ccanh.com.
When he’s not revving his Fender Stratocaster at impossible speeds, shredding with a fury that other guitarists aspire to, Yngwie Malmsteen likes to drive Ferraris — he owns five, all of them red. During the pandemic Malmsteen had a lot of time for both endeavors. What resulted was a tour de force album, Parabellum.
Like his fiery playing and his fast cars, Malmsteen’s mind moves at a frenetic pace. A year in the studio, something he hadn’t experienced in decades, was a unique challenge.
“I learned a long time ago to be careful with having too much time,” he said from his home in Miami. “I had 80, 90, 100 ideas; I only took the most inspired things and refined them.”
Malmsteen pointed to Van Halen’s early albums as a source of inspiration.
“They were done very spontaneously in the beginning,” he said. “I keep that spontaneity. … Every time I come up with something new I record it right away, and usually I keep that take.”
Malmsteen played every instrument on Parabellum and sang on the non-instrumental tracks. He once hired guest singers but stopped using them a few records ago.
“That’s definitely a thing of the past,” he said.
When Malmsteen’s first tour since early 2020 begins, a band he calls “a good group of guys” is expected to learn the new songs, and expect surprises.
“We go through the songs at soundcheck; that’s all they get,” he said. “Here’s another thing I do — half an hour before show time, I call them in and we put a setlist together. Then we go on stage and I play different songs anyway! They just gotta know it.”
Malmsteen has long sneered at the idea of collaborating with other musicians, and his history helps explain why. Swedish-born, he grew up in a musical family.
“Everybody was very artistic, which was unusual there in the ’70s, because it was a socialist country [that] didn’t allow that. God bless America, man,” he said.
Classically trained from the age of 5, Malmsteen discovered rock music when he saw a clip of Jimi Hendrix smashing his guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival that accompanied a news report of his death in 1970. Later came blues from John Mayall, and hard rock via Deep Purple.
As soon as he could, Malmsteen headed to the United States.
“I took my guitar, my toothbrush, and I got on the plane,” he said. “I had a plan — my plan was to not live in a socialist welfare Marxist bull—- country.”
Soon after arriving in Los Angeles, he joined Steeler, a rising glam rock band. His first gig with them attracted a small crowd, but the following week at L.A.’s Troubadour, Malmsteen looked from his dressing room and saw a line stretched around the block.
“I said to someone working there, ‘Who’s playing tonight?’ He points at me and says, ‘You are.’ It was pretty crazy,” he said. “I was 18 years old, and all of a sudden people were digging it.”
He was in Steeler long enough to appear on their lone album, then joined another metal band, Alcatrazz. His stint there lasted less than a year, an exit hastened by onstage clashes with singer Graham Bonnet after Malmsteen received a solo offer while the group was on tour in Japan.
A reunion is, emphatically, not in the cards.
“When I left, they fell into obscurity, but I kept on going, kind of like rising up, I never stopped,” he said. “These guys … they’re selling car insurance; I don’t know what they’re doing. They asked me so many times to join, and I’m, ‘No, I didn’t sit on my ass for 40 years.’”
Malmsteen insists, “I don’t have a chip on my shoulder; the only person I feel have to prove something to is myself,” and on one of Parabellum’s standout cuts, “Eternal Bliss,” he expresses gratitude for his continued success and life’s blessings.
“I have the most beautiful wife in the world, I have a great son, nice house, I’ve played music I want to play and I never compromise,” he said, citing two reasons for his longevity. “One, I find it exciting and challenging, and only because I improvise all the time. If I were to play the same thing over and over that wouldn’t do it. Also, to quote Paganini … one must feel strongly to make others feel strongly.”
Yngwie Malmsteen w/ Images of Eden and Sunlord
When: Friday, Nov. 26, 7:30 p.m. Where: Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry Tickets: $45 and up at tupelohall.com
Featured photo: Yngwie Malmsteen. Photo by Austin Hargraves.
• Recovery covers: Wind down from Black Friday shopping and the holiday meal with Project Mess, something of an institution in the area with its 30-year anniversary coming in 2022. Now a trio with Dave Dillavou, Greg Thomas and Phil Plant, the band’s wheelhouse is classic rock with an edge, blending favorites from Tom Petty, Pink Floyd and Santana with the likes of Godsmack, Ozzy and Seven Mary Three. Friday, Nov. 26, 8 p.m., Backstreet Bar & Grill, 76 Derry Road, Hudson. See projectmessrocks.com.
• Green eggs: It’s a busy day for Vermont troubadour Brooks Hubbard, as he performs for a brunch crowd in downtown Manchester and then heads back to Sunapee for an evening show. The singer-songwriter made the journey to Nashville a while back to build a name with songs like the bittersweet “Snow & Sunshine,” and mid-decade worked with Jackson Browne guitarist Val McCallum, appearing at a few showcase events. Saturday, Nov. 27, 10 a.m., The Goat, 50 Old Granite St., Manchester. See brookshubbardmusic.com.
• Guitar hero: Playing a free show, legendary Boston band Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters is fronted by a four-time Blues Music Award winner who’s worked next to many of the genre’s greats, from Muddy Waters to Stevie Ray Vaughan. The late B.B. King said of Earl, “I feel the respect and affection for him that a father feels for his son. He is one of the most serious blues guitarists you can find today. He makes me proud.” Saturday, Nov. 27, 7 p.m., Colonial Theatre, 617 Main St., Laconia, tickets at coloniallaconia.com.
• Dream combo: Enjoy sweeping views of the Piscataqua River and music from The Brethren at a farm-to-table eatery situated atop a Portsmouth hotel. The supergroup plays jazz standards and covers with a twist, with setlists featuring Lady Gaga, The Beatles, old-school hip-hop and more. It includes Red Tail Hawk guitarist Eric Turner, who’s also a member of Duty Free, and the band’s rhythm section. Sunday, Nov. 28, 11 a.m., Rooftop at the Envio, 299 Vaughan St., Portsmouth. See facebook.com/thebrethrenband.
• Family tradition: Touring in support of Evergreen, its sixth Christmas album, Pentatonix is the biggest a capella group in the world. Band member Scott Hoying said the new disc is “more folky and intimate … almost singer songwriter-y.” Since winning NBC’s The Sing Off in 2011, the five “choir nerds” have sold over 10 million albums, amassed nearly 20 million YouTube subscribers, and won three Grammys. Tuesday, Nov. 30, 7 p.m., SNHU Arena, 555 Elm St., Manchester, $39 and up at ticketmaster.com.
The night before Thanksgiving is known as Friendsgiving or Drinksgiving, depending on intent. Whatever it’s called, bar and restaurant owners far and wide consider it the second busiest day of the year, after New Year’s Eve, as old friends meet up and family members regroup ahead of the long weekend. Here are some area options to consider for the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 24.
• 603 Brewery (42 Main St., Londonderry, 404-6123) Seacoast funk and soul band Clandestine performs popular tunes and originals.
• Alamo Texas Barbecue & Tequila Bar (99 Route 13, Brookline,721-5000) Music from independent folk rock singer-songwriter Brother Seamus.
• Amphora (55 Crystal Ave., Derry, 537-0111) Singer, guitarist and 2013 NHCMA New Country Entertainer of the Year Eddie Sands plays favorites.
• Area 23 (State Street, Concord, 881-9060) The regular open mic Wednesday is often anything but at this music-friendly taproom and restaurant.
• Auburn Pitts (167 Rockingham Road, Auburn, 622-6564) Ronnie B & Sarah B Duo, together for 13 years and playing covers with food and drink specials
• Boston Billiard Club & Casino (55 Northeastern Blvd., Nashua, 943-5630) Dave Ayotte Duo & DJ Spindler perform.
• Bridgewater Inn (367 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, 744-3518) Rebecca Turmel plays classic rock and contemporary covers ranging from Fleetwood Mac and CCR to Kelly Clarkson, Ed Sheeran and Sara Bareilles.
• Copper Door (15 Leavy Dr., Bedford, 488-2677) Area favorite Chad LaMarsh performs.
• Copper Door (41 S. Broadway, Salem, 458-2033) A Seacoast mainstay with a solid following across the rest of New Hampshire, Pete Peterson plays and sings.
• Crow’s Nest (181 Plaistow Road, Plaistow, 974-1686) DJ SOB spins dance music.
• Derryfield (625 Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-2880) D-Comp Band, the acoustic duo of Nate Comp and Demetri Papanicolau, play covers.
• Fody’s (9 Clinton St., Nashua, 577-9015) Bill Meech performs.
• Fody’s (187 Rockingham Road, Derry, 404-6946) DJ Mark Allen spins the tunes.
• Fratello’s (155 Dow St., Manchester, 624-2022) Jeff Mrozek brings his passion for classic rock and soul, along with recent favorites like Nirvana and Kings of Leon.
• Fratello’s (194 Main St., Nashua, 889-2022) Prolific singer, songwriter, guitarist, bass player and drummer Sean Coleman performs.
• Getaway Lounge (157 Franklin St., Manchester, 627-0661) Mugshot Monday plays classic rock hits.
• Giuseppe’s (312 Daniel Webster Hwy., Meredith, 279-3313) John Stanley Shelley plays rock, country, blues, funk and folk.
• The Goat (50 Old Granite St., Manchester, 222-1677) It’s DJ music with no cover charge, and likely a little line dancing.
Davina and the Vagabonds. Photo by James Perovich.
• The Goat (142 Congress St., Portsmouth, 590-4628) Performing solo, Alex Anthony draws inspiration from Ray Lamontagne, James Taylor, Van Morrison, Damien Rice and City & Colour.
• Hancock Depot Cabaret (27 Depot Road, Hancock, 641-0076) Jillian Bosworth Memorial Show with Tumbletoads, Modern Fools, Kyle Webber and Andrew Szmauz.
• Hermanos (11 Hills Ave., Concord, 224-5669) Brian Booth plays favorites across the decades.
• High Octane Saloon (1072 Watson Road, Laconia, 527-8116) Dirty Looks Band rocks the Lakes Region roadhouse.
• Homestead (641 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 429-2022) Austin McCarthy, vocalist for Carolina Burn, Chasing Trends and Natural Order, plays and sings.
• Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club (135 Congress St., Portsmouth, 603-5299) Davina & the Vagabonds entertain at this recently opened music room.
• Lilac City Grille (103 N. Main St., Rochester, 332-3984) Tim Theriault & 75-cent wings precede the big bird day.
• Lithermans Limited (126 Hall St., Unit B, Concord, 219-0784) Up Street Food Truck offers up goodies at this Capital City microbrewery.
• Luk’s (142 Lowell Road, Hudson, 889-9900) Acoustically Speaking strips down favorite songs back to their basic bones.
• Lynn’s 102 Tavern (76 Derry Road, Hudson, 943-7832) New Hampshire rock cover band Sindicate plays hits.
• Murphy’s Taproom (494 Elm St., Manchester, 644-3535) Pulling from a catalog of over 100 songs from the ’60s to today, Blue Matter performs.
• North Beach Bar & Grill (931 Ocean Blvd., Hampton Beach, 967-4884) Rock duo Radioactive plays.
• Northwoods Brewing Co. (1334 First NH Turnpike, Northwood, 942-6400) Johnson’s hosts Friendsgiving at this microbrewery.
• Pasta Loft (220 E. Main St., Milford, 378-0092) 12th Annual Winterfest with Dezent, featuring Mariah Deluage. Bring an unwrapped toy to donate to Toys For Tots. Free beanies for the first 100 people.
• Pipe Dream Brewing (40 Harvey Road, Londonderry, 404-0751) Turn Down For Turkey event with DJ Ache spinning.
• Portsmouth Gas Light (64 Market St., Portsmouth, 430-9122) Ralph Allen performs favorites from a range of genres.
• Press Room (77 Daniel St., Portsmouth, 431-5186) Thanks 4 Giving A Sh!tmas is a funk, hip-hop and poetry concert to raise money for HAVEN featuring The Bulkheads, Adrienne Mack-Davis, DJ Chad Banks, Myles Burr and The Incredible Chuck of Notoriety. Krystal Wallbaum’s collaborative project The Artistic Thread will also be hosting a silent art auction at the event, with five local artists donating at least 50 percent of their profits to HAVEN.
• Rage Cage (10 W. Hollis St., Nashua, rawamericanhiphop.com) Fee the Evolutionist performs in advance of releasing his collaborative single “Beast Over Beats,” featuring hip-hop talent from across the Granite State.
• Red’s Kitchen & Tavern (530 Lafayette Road, Seabrook, 760-0030) Chris Lester, a guitarist who’s toured with Sully Erna and is a member of popular tribute act Dark Desert Eagles, performs.
• Rochester Opera House (32 N. Main St., Rochester, 335-1992) Comedian Bob Marley performs at 6 and 8 p.m., tickets $38 and up. It’s not a pub, but what’s better than a laugh to kick off the long weekend? The comic appears again with two shows each on Friday and Sunday.
• Sawbelly Brewing (156 Epping Road, Exeter, 583-5080) Dyer Holiday performs; the Lowell duo release an album, Together and Broken, in March.
• Stark Brewing Co. (500 Commercial St., Manchester, 625-4444) Karaoke with Cox Karaoke is a regular midweek attraction.
Senie Hunt. Courtesy photo.
• Stone Church (5 Granite St., Newmarket, 659-7700) Senie Hunt Trio, led by the percussive guitarist who divides his time between New England and Nashville, performs revved-up rock and blues — $12
• Stonecutters Pub (63 Union St., Milford, 213-5979) Swipe Left with Rick Carr and Phillip Gerekos helps the restaurant-bar celebrate its first year in business.
• Stones Social (449 Amherst St., Nashua, 943-7445) Charlie Chronopoulos performs, with sales proceeds from a seasonal drink special, Girl Dad (sesame vodka, maple cream and espresso liqueur), going to the Nashua Children’s Home.
• Strange Brew (88 Market St., Manchester, 666-4292) Jake Pardee & Friends, led by producer and Berklee alum, perform.
• Stripe Nine Brewing (8 Somersworth Place, Somersworth, 841-7175) Dancing Madly Backwards, named after a song from ’70s rockers Captain Beyond, performs.
• Stumble Inn (20 Rockingham Road, Londonderry, 432-3210) It’s a twin bill with 21st & 1st and Jodee Frawley.
• Telly’s (235 Calef Hwy., Epping, 679-8225) The Drift performs.
• Thirsty Moose (21 Congress St, Portsmouth, 427-8645) Mattson, a powerhouse hybrid pop rock trio, performs.
• To Share Brewing (720 Union St., Manchester, 836-6947) DJ Shamblez spins dance music in the taproom.
• Tower Hill Tavern (264 Lakeside Ave, Laconia, 366-9100) Thanksgiving Eve Pahty in the Lakes Region. Call for details.
• Village Trestle (25 Main St., Goffstown, 497-8230) Jordan Quinn & Clint Lapointe perform together.
• Wally’s Pub (144 Ashworth Ave., Hampton Beach, 926-6954) Beer pong, lawn games and live music from Jamsterdam.
Featured photo:Chad LaMarsh. Photo by Sid Ceaser Photography.
Being in Jamantics is like riding a bicycle; however long its five members are apart, the moment they plug in and play, their reliable groove reappears. As rehearsals began for a Nov. 19 reunion show at Bank of NH Stage in Concord, the synergy “was immediate,” guitarist Lucas Gallo said. “Beyond Jamantics, we all have experience musically with each other. … Now the whole band’s back together and it’s sounding great, in my opinion.”
“It’s like putting on a well-oiled glove,” fellow guitar player Freeland Hubbard added.
The group officially existed only from 2009 to 2011 but didn’t break up; it disbanded. Drummer Masceo headed west, and the rest — Gallo, Hubbard, bass player Eric Reingold and fiddler Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki — carried on with other projects.
Reingold worked with several bands, including NEMA winners Cold Engines, while Tirrell-Wysocki appeared on recording sessions and played solo, as did Hubbard and Gallo, who also helped promote local shows. Masceo worked for Napa, California-based Enchanted Hills Camp and served as Jamantics’ archivist.
In October 2015, Jamantics “re-banded” for a show at Concord’s Capitol Center.
When Masceo moved back to Concord in 2019, a 10th anniversary reunion show happened at the newly opened Bank of NH Stage. A planned event the following year was scrapped due to pandemic concerns, but they’re back on Nov. 19 at the same venue for what’s hoped to be a yearly JamAnnual GetDown.
In advance of the show, a new single dropped; “Immortal” began in Masceo’s home studio.
“I was bored like everybody else during the pandemic, and what happened was a ball rolling situation,” he said. “Freeland, Reingold and I had been playing together as a trio; [then] I just kind of sprung it on everybody when it was done…. I wanted everybody to be happy; when there’s five people in a band, that can be a little stressful. I guess it was taking it one person at a time.”
Called InstaJam, the trio had a live debut planned in April 2020 that didn’t happen, but later in the year they began playing around the area as The Special Guests. Masceo remembers walking on stage for the first time after months of lockdown as emotional and unexpected.
“It certainly was a reflection of nostalgia about all the times we’d felt that way… in the pocket of the crowd’s energy, feeling good about the music we’re playing,” he said.
Reingold was philosophical about the experience.
“It’s very rare that we basically as a species all experience the same thing as one people,” he said. “We all experienced lockdown, and I think it goes without saying that nobody was unhappy to get back to the world. Not only musicians, but just everybody in general. It was a breath of fresh air … enhanced by the fact that we’re the ones that get to play for the people coming out.”
When Jamantics formed, their two-part mission was making music and fostering the local music scene. Even as they hit milestones like opening for Little Feat at Casino Ballroom in Hampton, they worked to bring regional bands to Concord for shows at Penuche’s, the Barley House and other venues. Ten years on, they’re pleased with the city’s commitment to local arts, particularly the Capitol Center and its satellite 600-seat room that Reingold calls “the perfect venue.”
Beginning with transforming the Spotlight Room lobby space early in the decade, the nonprofit has long boosted area acts, Reingold observed.
“You’d be talking to the same people who just got off the phone with Willie Nelson’s booking agent, and they’re still making time in their schedule,” he said, adding the new space “fills a gap that I think has existed in Concord for quite some time. So we’re pretty excited to be able to be part of it.”
Jamantics Reunion w/ Teeba
When: Friday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m. Where: Bank of NH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord Tickets: $15 and up at ccanh.com
• Give gratitude: Offering a bit of an early start to the holiday, the Thanksgiving Shindy features five acts, including a surprise band reuniting specifically for the event. The no-cover show — its name means a noisy disturbance or quarrel — has female foursome Girlspit, hip-hop group Zooo Crew, raucous rockers Felix Holt and Concord mainstays Rippin E Brakes celebrating the local music scene. Thursday, Nov. 18, 8 p.m., Penuche’s Ale House, 16 Bicentennial Square, Concord, facebook.com/penuches.concord.
• Mighty combo: Over more than 50 years with several lineups, Roomful of Blues continues to provide a superlative big band experience drawing from jazz and jump blues roots. The current group includes guitarist Chris Vachon, lead vocalist Phil Pemberton, bass player John Turner and drummer Chris Anzalone on rhythm, Rusty Scott on keys and a horn section of trumpeter Carl Gerhard with sax players Alek Razdan and Rich Lataille. Friday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $30 at tupelohall.com.
• Slide ruler: The accolades keep rolling in for Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers. The Somerville band, fronted by rootsy guitarist Harpe and Jim Countryman, won a second NEMA for their album Meet Me In The Middle and got a 2021 Boston Music Awards nomination. The group was born almost accidentally, when their world music band Lovewhip traveled to Austin for SXSW and got a better reception for playing the blues. Saturday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m., Stone Church, 5 Granite St., Newmarket, $12 at stonechurchrocks.com.
• Eighties sound: Touring in support of their first new album in almost three decades, Psychedelic Furs are best known for hits like “Love My Way” and providing the title song for Pretty In Pink. Released last year, Made of Rain contains the signature drone pop sound that made them one of the favorite acts to come out of the British post-punk wave that launched The Cure, Tears For Fears and Human League. Sunday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m., Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord, $29 to $49 at ccanh.com.
• Family tradition: Singer, guitarist and Manchester native Liam Spain keeps busy doing solo sets like one upcoming at a hometown brewery, playing with rock band Scalawag and doing traditional music in fraternal duo The Spain Brothers; he and brother Mickey have made a few albums and toured a bunch, sharing stages with Tom Paxton, Noel Paul Stookey, Roger McGuinn, Bill Staines and others. Sunday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m., To Share Brewing, 720 Union St., Manchester, more at tosharebrewinge.com.
Although it took a while for Little Feat to catch on with audiences in the early ’70s, other musicians quickly got their heady gumbo of rock, soul, funk and New Orleans boogie. Its members were frequently booked for session work, none more than keyboard player Bill Payne, whose resume of studio credits runs for multiple pages.
Beginning with Toulouse Street, Payne was a de facto Doobie Brother, and in recent years a part of their touring band, including a just-completed run of shows marking their 50th anniversary. That’s ending soon, however. The band he co-founded in 1969 with Lowell George and Richie Hayward is back on the road, beginning with several dates across the Northeast, including one at Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Nov. 19.
“I’m 100 percent Little Feat from here on,” Payne said by phone from his home in Montana recently, adding, “there’s just not enough hours in the day.”
Payne explained that Feat recently signed with Vector Management, a Nashville agency that also works with Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Alison Krauss and Lyle Lovett.
“I want to give them free rein to really promote our band … having a conflict with the Doobie Brothers about when they can tour, that’s not a great way to run a railroad.”
The audience-driven By Request Tour will include new additions Tony Leone on drums and guitar player Scott Sharrard, who joined after Paul Barrere, a member since 1972, lost his battle with cancer. Leone and Sharrard’s quick fit with the band helped convince Payne and his mates Kenny Gradney, Sam Clayton and Fred Tackett that Feat should carry on.
“It’s about music, it’s about legacy, and it’s about musicianship,” Payne said. “Do we harm our legacy by continuing, or do we add to it? If we’re strictly going out and playing ‘Dixie Chicken’ or ‘Oh Atlanta’ or ‘Time Loves a Hero’ — I can do that by going out and joining a Little Feat tribute band.”
Part of moving forward includes making new music.
Released in July, “When All Boats Rise” is a gospel-infused tune that confronts the hope and despair of a fractious nation. Payne came up with the nautical-themed title and handed it to frequent collaborator Tom Garnsey, a songwriter he’s long admired.
“I’ve written songs with [Grateful Dead lyricist] Robert Hunter, for example,” he said. “His lyrics hold up with that caliber of stuff; he’s just excellent.”
The song is a clarion call for harmony in divided times; Payne knows some will greet it cynically.
“There’s a lot of people out there that will go, all boats rise, well, I don’t even have a boat,” he said. “It’s aspirational — liberty and justice for all is what we aspire to, and that’s what we aspire to with ‘All Boats Rise.’”
Fans have submitted a lot of requests for the upcoming tour.
“The Little Feat fan base is obviously a very knowledgeable group,” Payne said. “We’re just going to have to see how many of them we can learn, to be honest with you.”
Some, he added, won’t make the cut, and not for musical reasons, Payne said.
“I think given the state of affairs of the world, ‘The Fan’ is an interesting request, but it’s not exactly a song with a good view of women.” It’s true, the Feats Don’t Fail Me Now track’s misogyny is glaring in hindsight. “Look, we’re not going to sing that, OK? Let’s play some of the music … we’d be in a world of trouble if we actually got up there and sang it.”
Payne is receptive to focusing on Little Feat’s most successful album, the 1978 double live Waiting For Columbus.
“[That’s] been brought up year after year, and I’m like, I don’t know,” he said.
New management, and new blood in the band, however, encourage him.
“The weight of it is you’re going after one of the best albums we ever put out and certainly one of our most well-known. … I think it’s a perfect way to say, ‘Put it right down: the gauntlet has been thrown.’”
Little Feat By Request
When: Friday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m. Where: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell Tickets: $39 to $289 at event.etix.com
• Country comfort: A benefit for a Hooksett family struggling with medical bills stars Nicole Knox Murphy, a local singer-songwriter who wears hometown pride on her (record) sleeve. The ubiquitous performer’s “My 603” is a list of reasons she loves the Granite State, from Hampton Beach to Mount Washington Observatory. Last year she released an ode to her Vermont roots, “The 802.” Thursday, Nov. 11, 6 p.m., New England’s Tap House Grille, 1292 Hooksett Road, Hooksett, $25, see tinyurl.com/a5r3bktu.
• Family business: In the late ’70s and early ’80s Rosanne Cash helped redefine a genre, and she continued to make great music for the next four decades, including 2006’s Black Cadillac, an ode to father Johnny Cash, her natural mother and stepmother June Carter Cash. Cash’s most recent LP, She Remembers Everything, is among her best, and the new song “Crawl Into the Promised Land” is a timely gem. Friday, Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m., Lebanon Opera House, 51 W. Park St., Lebanon, $48 to $68 at lebanonoperahouse.org.
• Rock weekend: The two-stage bash formerly known as HillFest is now called SinFest, named after band and co-host Infinite Sin. Headlining the event is Hail The Horns, featuring members of Soulfly, Fear Factory and Static X, along with Dead By Wednesday, Marc Rizzo, Art of Aggression, and local doom rockers Dead Harrison, who recently released the rugged rager “Nameless Dream.” Eleven more acts round out the bill. Saturday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m., Jewel Music Venue, 61 Canal St., Manchester, $18 to $300 at eventbrite.com
• Kid stuff: In recent years, bayou soul stalwart Marc Broussard has moved down a different musical path, recording a series of albums geared to younger audiences. His latest, A Lullaby Collection, includes Great American Songbook tunes, James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James” and two originals. Broussard also wrote a children’s book, I Love You For You, part of the effort begun in 2007 dubbed SOS, or Save Our Soul. Sunday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $35 to $45 at tupelohall.com.
• Roots chanteuse: After spending the early part of her career as Nashville royalty, Kathy Mattea left the music business, returning in the late 2000s with the critically acclaimed Coal. She was prominently featured in Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary series and recently began hosting NPR’s Mountain Stage, taking over for founder Larry Groce. Mattea is also a visiting instructor at Berklee College of Music. Wednesday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s, 135 Congress St., Portsmouth, $45 to $65 at jimmysoncongress.com.
Of all the words Carolyn Plummer might use to describe herself, “lucky” isn’t one. As a teenager Plummer won a pair of Grateful Dead passes, only to see the show canceled when Jerry Garcia died. In early 2020, she had the best spring of her comedy career lined up, and everyone knows how that turned out.
Quarantine led to a lot of soul-searching, Plummer said in a recent phone interview.
“I reassessed my whole life,” she said. “Like, why am I doing comedy? Should I have focused on a career? Should I have been a teacher?” Then, in February of this year, Denis Leary called with an invitation for Plummer to appear at the annual Comics Come Home benefit.
“That re-energized me to feel like I was on the right path,” she said. “Now I have a deeper appreciation for live shows and performing. I look at every performance now as an opportunity to meet more people and network and just enjoy it. … There’s a lot of sacrifice, but that kind of just brought everything full circle, that all the sacrifices made sense.”
Of course, the Nov. 13 Boston Garden show has been postponed for another year, but Plummer knows she’ll be on the next one. That’s a more tangible thing to hold on to than that Dead contest back when.
“They were will-call,” she said of the Boston Garden concert. “So I didn’t even have the tickets.”
A few comics mined the pandemic for new jokes, but not Plummer.
“I wasn’t very creative at the beginning. … My whole life just changed; it took a while to work through. I did a few things about contactless delivery; I don’t know why we didn’t have that in the past. I don’t need to have a relationship with the guy bringing the pizza to my house.”
A New Hampshire native — she grew up in Wolfeboro, a minister’s daughter — Plummer got into comedy after responding to an ad.
“This guy was teaching a class out of his mom’s condo in Manchester,” she said, adding with a chuckle, “That seemed safe to me at the time.”
It turned out well, and after a summer of learning, she began hitting open mic nights, eventually spending a lot of time in Portland, Maine.
“I met all the Boston guys; they would come up and do comedy,” she said. “I would watch them and go, ‘Wow, these guys are awesome’ — you know what I mean? Like Don Gavin, and all the greats: Lenny Clarke, Tony V….”
A big early break was the result of misfortune for Plummer.
“True story: On my 30th birthday, I got laid off,” she said. “Kelly MacFarland is one of my best friends, and she’s also a comic. She said, ‘I just met these guys, and they need another roommate, why don’t you go talk to them, and if it works out, move in there?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t have a job.’ She said, ‘That’s the best time to go.’ I ended up moving back to Belmont, Mass., which I could never afford if I wasn’t in a roommate situation. … It kind of took off from there.”
While she’s performed in New York City, ventured to California for the Burbank Comedy Festival and even thought about moving west once or twice, Plummer is partial to living in and working in New England, particularly her home state.
“What I like about New Hampshire is it surprises you,” she said. “You might go to this tiny town in the middle of nowhere and have all these highly educated people that you’d think wouldn’t be living in the woods, fixing cars, being lumberjacks, and all this other stuff. You can’t make assumptions like that. … All the different towns are different.”
Carolyn Plummer & Friends
When: Friday, Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m. Where: Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester Tickets: $25 at palacetheatre.org
Featured photo: Comedian Carolyn Plummer. Courtesy photo.
• New room: A recently opened restaurant, bar and music venue hosts D-Comp, the ubiquitous duo of vocalist Demetri Papanicolau, winner of the Rockstar ManchVegas vocal competition, and Nate Comp, talented at looping his acoustic guitar into dense soundscapes. Like most of the room’s upcoming calendar, it’s a free show; a ticketed event starring Angry Hill and Taliente Pistoles will happen later in the month. Thursday, Nov. 4, 9 p.m., Angel City Music Hall, 179 Elm St., Manchester, facebook.com/angelcitymusichall.
• Capitol band: Led by a Burlington expat who relocated to Concord five years ago, Andrew North & the Rangers is a multifaceted group touching on rock, soul and jazz fusion stitched together with jammy sensibility. Phosphorescent Snack, their debut album released in September, is a gem; standouts include “Down the Pipes,” with echoes of Dixieland jazz, the can-do anthem “Dig Deep” and the Phish-adjacent “Aditi.” Friday, Nov. 5, 8 p.m., Area 23, 254 N State St., Unit H (Smokestack Center), Concord, thearea23.com.
• Roots crew: A favorite in their Merrimack Valley home region, McKinley’s Mood is anchored by the songwriting team of Dave Osgood and Keith Blaney. The Jerry Garcia Band feel of their namesake song provides a good clue about where they’re coming from musically, a point driven home by the Dead covers that pop up in their set. They also have a lovely, harmonies-and-all version of The Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek.” Saturday, Nov. 6, 5 p.m., Millyard Brewery, 125 E. Otterson St., Nashua, millyardbrewery.com.
• Galaxy grass: Sporting a name born from the room where they began, Kitchen Dwellers is a Montana-based quartet that credits a lot of influence on its sound to The Infamous Stringdusters’ Chris Pandolfi, producer of their recent Muir Maid LP. “Just by hanging out with a musician like Chris, you absorb what he says and how he approaches songs, and all of the sudden you’re a better musician for it,” said banjo player Torrin Daniels. Sunday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m., Bank of NH Stage, 44 S. Main St., Concord, $15 and $18 at ccanh.com.
• String thing: Zach Lupetin formed Dustbowl Revival after taking a writing degree to Los Angeles to chase screenplay dreams. He also brought a guitar, and soon placed a Craigslist ad for like minds that led to a multi-instrument, multi-genre collective of musicians focused on acoustic Americana. Longtime singer Liz Beebe left last year; Lashon Halley took over for her after a few tryout shows. Wednesday, Nov. 10, 8 p.m., 3S Artspace, 319 Vaughan St., Portsmouth, $28 to $30 at eventbrite.com.
