Author: Michael Witthaus

The Music Roundup 26/03/19

• Pipe power: Though often mixed up with another band, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers is oceans away from the SoCal alt rockers — these guys lead with bagpipes. Winning top honors on the U.K. TV talent show When Will I Be Famous in 2007 launched the nine-piece group, who blend trad songs like “Flowers of Scotland” with bag rock covers of Journey, Coldplay and Snow Patrol. Thursday, March 19, 7:30 p.m., Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua, $35 and up, etix.com.

• Hometown girl: In his Hippo review of Looking For The Light, the latest LP from Amanda McCarthy, Eric W. Saeger praised “ear-grabbing” songs like “Vodka” and its “peak KT Tunstall”-evoking chorus. The New Hampshire native is now based in Nashville, but she comes back often. She’s a guest on Matt Connarton’s Unleashed show March 21 at 9 a.m. on WMNH 95.3 FM. Friday, March 20, 6:30 p.m., San Francisco Kitchen, 133 Main St., Nashua, amancamccarthy.com.

• Song spinner: Released last year, Something About a Horse from Ian Galipeau is a solid collection of songs, including the countrified “A Father’s Love” and “Say Goodbye,” its melancholy counterpart. “Call It Home” is another standout, a rollicking, funny tune about first-time home ownership. Galipeau plays an afternoon set of his originals at a popular craft brewery. Saturday, March 21, 4 p.m., Great North Aleworks, 1050 Holt Ave., No. 14, Manchester, iangalipeaumusic.com.

Who can duet

A night of show tunes is a friendly competition

The Lakes Region-based Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative has won Best Community Musical honors for three years in a row at the New Hampshire Theatre Alliance Awards, most recently for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Their upcoming Just Duet fundraiser is a chance to learn why, as a group of mostly Powerhouse company members belt out Broadway songs.

It’s the fourth year for what is a friendly competition, though its title is a misnomer.

“Last year you were allowed to bring in a ringer for one of your songs and make a trio, and this year you can supersize,” Powerhouse producer and co-founder Bryan Halperin said in a recent phone interview. “Two teams can work together on a song, to create a quartet.”

So, not just duets, but it’s a lot of fun. During the evening, a range of songs will be performed. There are Disney musicals like Beauty & the Beast, Frozen and The Lion King, along with Beetlejuice, The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Into the Woods, and the new-ish Suffs. For Mel Brooks fans, there’s The Producers and Young Frankenstein.

Not all singers are Powerhouse veterans.

“Some of the teams,” Halperin said, “pulled in a friend who hasn’t done something with us yet. For the most part it’s our regulars, but it’s open to anyone who wants to apply, and we do have some new people this year.”

For the first three years, the husband-and-wife team of Joel and Laura Iwaskiewicz took first prize, but that won’t happen this go-round. That’s because the couple are hosting the competition. They will also perform, singing and dancing their way through “There Once Was a Man,” from The Pajama Game.

The two won last year for their rendition of Singin’ in the Rain’s “Moses Supposes.” Their performance was carried by dazzling dance breaks, Joel recalled in a Zoom interview.

“There’s always been some element of choreography we’ve challenged ourselves with,” he said. “That’s kept it really fun, but I think it also maybe gives us a little bit of an edge.”

Joel and Laura met as performers. “It feels as cliché as a musical theater romance can get,” he said. “I was a guy, she was a doll; things just took off from there.” Asked if the invitation to host this year’s Just Duet might be a strategy to prevent them from getting another win, he chuckled.

“I mean, we don’t run the show, but we can confidently say there will be a new champion.”

Proceeds from the benefit show will be split between Powerhouse programs and the Colonial Theatre Investment Fund, which provides general support for upkeep, improvements and repairs at the venue. “This is one way Powerhouse gives back to the Colonial,” Halperin said. “It’s our home base, and we try to take really good care of it.”

An overall winner will be chosen by scores on a 10-point scale from guest judges Eric Hoffman (Laconia City Council), Heather Bishop (Lakes 101.5 Radio), Katherine Switala Elmhurst (Belknap Mill) and Jared Guilmett (Colonial Theatre Advisory Board), along with audience voting (there’s also an Audience Choice award).

Voting can also be done by donation, either with cash at the event or though the Powerhouse wesite. “If people want to support the cause or their favorite duo but can’t make it, they can still contribute online,” Halperin said, “and buy votes for the team of their choosing.”

The Powerhouse season continues May 1 with the New Hampshire premiere of The Magician’s Elephant. Also upcoming is the 2026 Play Festival (May 30-31), with 14 original works from a winter playwright workshop, and a June 27 concert version of 1776 to mark the semiquincentennial, with music provided by the Lake Street Symphony Orchestra.

With Shrek: The Musical (Aug. 7-9), Big Bad (Sept. 12-13) — the wolf giving his side of Little Red Riding Hood — and a pair of Peter Pan origin stories in October, it’s a busy year.

“We’re just trying to pack our schedule with stuff that keeps people engaged, both performers and the audience,” Halperin said. “We’re excited about what we’re working on.”

Just Duet: Broadway Style
When: Saturday, March 21, 7 p.m.
Where: Colonial Theatre, 609 Main St., Laconia
Tickets: $25 at etix.com

Featured photo: Joel and Laura Iwaskiewicz. Courtesy photo.

From the heartland

Nebraska singer-songwriter performs area show

When the time comes for career growth, most musicians from small towns move to an industry hub like Nashville or L.A., but Andrea von Kampen, who plays March 14 at The Word Barn, hardly considered it. And while she had a label deal for a while, she’s more than content to now be back in the ranks of the independents.

Born and raised in Nebraska, von Kampen makes music that is lyrically sharp, sonically ethereal, and informed by place. The latter, she believes, isn’t intentional.

“I only feel the difference when I’m with people from the major cities,” she said in a recent phone interview. “In my day-to-day, I don’t feel like it’s influencing me at all.”

The internet is one reason she stays in the heartland.

“I started to make music in the era of Spotify, so it all felt very globalized,” she said. “I was making a pretty good livelihood before I even talked to a label, and I was able to connect with artists from all over the world digitally. So it never even really occurred to me that I’d have to move.”

Family is another, perhaps more important factor.

“My brother’s a composer; he’s a huge influence on the process of our records, and he’s got a great recording setup,” she said. “So … I can make records here, I can put them out, they can be listened to by people all over the world, and I can make an income.”

Her voice has been called “soulful and worn in,” with a hymn-like quality that can be traced to her German Lutheran roots. At times, it sounds effortless. “Singing is like breathing,” she said in a 2024 interview. “I think about my voice like a wind instrument. I’m breathing through it and creating sound and I don’t want anything to obstruct the pure sound coming out.”

Hearing Paul Simon’s album Hearts and Bones at 9 years old left an indelible impression on von Kampen; she often plays the title track in concert. Later, her influences included Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James and other jazz singers: “In high school, I really got into Laura Marling and now it’s a whole bunch of different people in my genre.”

Current artists she enjoys include singer Rita Payés. “I absolutely love bossa nova kind of quiet Spanish guitar settings,” she said, and she also approves of the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime entertainment. “I’m obsessed with what Bad Bunny is doing … I think my inspiration now is very wide and broad.”

The three-song EP Before I Buy a Gun is von Kampen’s latest release, an agonized response to the last election. The title song closing out the record has a sense of hope, though. “I will find a better way,” she sings. “Before I buy a gun, I’ll get to know my neighbor; it’s a fragile thread that holds us all fraying at the seams.”

A gathering feeling of powerlessness compelled her to begin writing songs in the cold Nebraska winter.

“I sort of did the only thing I could do, which was make music,” she explained. “That can feel sort of silly at times, but it’s easy to think you’re not making a difference unless you’re really doing something.”

Sister Moon, her last full-length album, was released in March 2024. Inspired by Richard Powers’ novel The Overstory, it’s a meditation on the environment. “It’s all about trees, deforestation and humans’ impact on the earth,” she said, “and this big time crunch we have to get this figured out in some sort of way or it’s going to be too late.”

At her Word Barn concert, von Kampen will perform with her trio, which includes Jessican Hanson, a violinist influenced by Andrew Bird and Kishi Bashi. “She’s been touring with me forever,” she said. Jonah Bennet, an upright bass player who’s appeared on several of her recordings, rounds out the group.

Following that, she’ll fly to the U.K. for her first headlining tour there, then return to write songs inspired by This Blessed Earth, Ted Genoways’ book about living on a family farm.

“I’d like to do a concept album into a stage production, but I know that’s a very long process,” she said. “That’ll be the next big project that I dive into, I think.”

Andrea von Kampen
When: Saturday, March 14, 7 p.m.
Where: The Word Barn, 66 Newfields Road, Exeter
Tickets: $25 at thewordbarn.com

Featured photo: Andrea von Kampen. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 26/03/12

• Join together: A trio of regional indie bands, New England Triple Stack is in the midst of a spring tour. Sneaky Miles began as a stripped down folk-flavored trio but has grown in sound and size. Jon Nolan & Good Co. offers a dreamy, pop-limned Americana, and Speed Of Sound is a new Maine-based group that includes Beatles disciple Spencer Albee on keys, guitar and vocals. Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m., Bungalow Bar & Grill, 333 Valley St., Manchester, $20, dice.fm.

• Gender benders: One good measure of the musical caliber delivered by all-female tribute act The Iron Maidens is the number of members who’ve moved on to bigger things, like Nita Krauss, Alice Cooper’s guitarist since 2014. The current lineup is Nikki Stringfield and Shani Kimelman on guitars, singer Kirsten Rosenberg and Linda McDonald and Wanda Ortiz on drums and bass. Friday, March 13, at 9 p.m., Wally’s, 144 Ashworth Ave., Hampton Beach, $34, ticketmaster.com.

• Culture connection: Enjoy an evening of traditional Celtic music from O’Meachair, Woodson and Finley, a group that includes Diarmuid Ó Meachair from Cúil Aodha, County Cork, a traditional Irish accordion and melodeon player as well as a singer in the old sean-nós style, joined by Mainers Will Woodson on flute and uilleann pipes and fiddler Cait Finley, in an intimate setting. Saturday, March 14, at 7 p.m., Blasty Bough Brewing, 3 Griffin Road, Epsom, $25, blastybough.com.

• Irish afternoon: Formed County Sligo in the late 1980s, Dervish was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the BBC in 2019 for being, in the words of the network, “an icon of Irish music.” In February, the band’s PBS special The Great Irish Songbook debuted, featuring guests David Gray, Imelda May, Moya Brennan of Clannad, Indigo Girls, Kate Rusby and Brian Kennedy. Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $44, palacetheatre.org.

• SoCal sounds: The first of two unique shows from tribute band Live From Laurel Canyon dives into the music of Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, two songwriters who came from different homes to make career-defining albums — Blue and Sweet Baby James, respectively — in sunny California. The following night is a look at the evolution of SoCal folk rock. Wednesday, March 18, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club, 135 Congress St., Portsmouth, $22 and up, ticketmaster.com.

Restoration resources

Old House & Barn Expo returns

The Old House & Barn Expo at Saint Anselm College on March 14 and March 15 might at first glance seem like any trade show. There are more than 50 exhibitors, selling everything from wall stencils and paint to rugs and cabinets. Services for homeowners to help bring historic buildings into the modern age while preserving their history are also on offer.

Upon closer inspection, though, it’s much, much more. There are hands-on activities such as plaster repair, and one-on-one sessions with house doctors. An 18- by 18-foot timber frame structure will be built during the event, with ongoing hourly talks about its repair, assembly and disassembly.

There are lectures, 25 in all, held in the nearby Dana Center, that include topics both practical and inspirational, like “Mural Talk: When Walls Take Us Back in Time,” given by Lisa Curry of Canvasworks Design. More pragmatic is Justin Paynter of ReVision Energy talking about integrating solar power and heat pumps into old homes.

The biennial show is the creation of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, a 41-year-old nonprofit that is focused on the rescue and revival of important landmarks, and supporting old home and barn enthusiasts in similar efforts. The show, they believe, is the largest of its kind in New England. It was launched 20 years ago; this is the eleventh expo.

“The Preservation Alliance loves this opportunity to get people together,” the organization’s president, Jennifer Goodman, who also helped launch the expo, said by phone recently. “We’re excited that there are a lot of new topics, exhibitors and presenters, in addition to longtime favorites.”

Other hour-long sessions focus on building a modern kitchen into an old house, understanding character-defining features of a dwelling before starting work, and sustainability in historic preservation. A session called “House Histories” is a guide to researching the evolution of an old structure.

There are two panel discussions on the final day, “Celebrating Semiquincentennial Farms: Stewardship and Legacy,” led by former New Hampshire Agriculture, Markets & Food Commissioner Steve Taylor, and “Details Make the Difference,” with a panel that includes a representative from the League of NH Craftsmen.

Speaking of details, there’s a session on architectural millwork led by specialist Brett Hull. “It helps you date a house … so people understand the history,” Goodman said. “What the evolution over time looked like, the different eras and architectural styles, how it was made and used.”

The expo is a multi-generational event.

“It attracts young people looking for their first house as well as older people who might want to find solutions for aging in place,” she said. They’ll find answers to questions about energy efficiency, how to lower operating costs, even paint color and garden design.

There will be experts available to help people figure out how to program new uses into old spaces, build an addition to an older property, or how to use new technology to help with old house care — though old tech isn’t left out. An “Artistry in Iron” session focuses on the history and reuse of antique stoves.

The expo happens every other year and alternates with the Alliance’s statewide historic preservation conference, Goodman said. “That’s more geared toward community leaders who are saving old farms and reviving their local meeting house or trying to find a new use for an old church.”

Goodman has been with the organization for more than two decades. When asked what drew her to it, she replied, “I love the people and places involved in the preservation movement, so it’s been exciting and fulfilling to get to work with people and work on projects that are really special to the character and economy of the state.”

The work is vital, she continued: “I really believe in historic preservation as a tool to save and revive beautiful homes, beautiful barns, beautiful places and communities around the state. I really believe in how the tool is a really important factor in resource conservation and keeping communities vital economically.”

Old House & Barn Expo
When: Saturday, March 14, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 15, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Sullivan Ice Arena, 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Saint Anselm College, Manchester
Tickets: Weekend pass $20 ($12 for students, seniors and veterans); day pass $12 ($7 for students, seniors and veterans)

Featured photo: NH House & Barn Expo. Credit Steve Booth.

Concord comedy

Three standups bring the funny to Barley House

There are laughs aplenty this weekend at a Concord restaurant/bar, as the Headliners franchise brings three comics to its downstairs function room: Jody Sloane, Dave Decker and Mystaru. Comedy shows are a bimonthly staple these days at The Barley House, across from the Statehouse on North Main Street.

Sloane’s entry into comedy began when she enlisted in the Coast Guard mistakenly believing it had amphibious vehicles. Upon discharge, she got a job as a Duck Tour driver in Boston. Tourists loved her humorous banter, and urged her to try standup. Though her first set was wrecked by a few of her Southie pals who were drunk, it’s been a great run since.

Decker is a 17-year veteran of the New England comedy scene and also performs in New York City clubs. He’s known for bringing “a distinct point of view to the stage in a way that both engages and charms audiences” and is a Headliners regular.

Mystaru is the performing name of Hampton comic Shawn Ruiz. It started as his rap name — he did that for a decade or so starting in the early 1990s. He’s also an actor who’s appeared on the true crime series Fatal Family Feuds a dozen times and is cast for a similar upcoming show on Oxygen TV called Accident, Suicide or Murder?

Comedy is a newer development for Mystaru — though he always wanted to do it.

“I wasn’t going to try to be a rapper in my forties, so I needed a way to get back on stage,” he said by phone recently. “I figured I’d start writing.” So he enrolled in Tony V’s 24-week standup comedy course at Boston’s Laugh University.

The school boasts that it can get a five-minute set from almost anyone, but Tony V kept it real in the classroom.

“You can come here every day for the rest of your life, but I can’t make you funny,” Mystaru recalled him saying. “I can make you write better jokes and teach you what you’re supposed to do on stage, but once you’re up there it’s up to you.”

An initial class of 165 winnowed down to three still doing comedy three years later, among them Mystaru. Since then his success has grown to include a couple of appearances at Jim McCue’s Boston Comedy Festival, where both times he was chosen from more than 700 comic hopefuls.

He admires comics like Brian Regan and Jim Gaffigan. Like both, he works clean, and quite well. There’s a TikTok reel of him entertaining a church audience that’s worth checking out. The skill makes him a good Headliners fit, where shows can happen just about anywhere there’s a stage, in front of widely varied audiences.

That includes campgrounds. Mystaru remembers the first time he performed at one, a year or two ago. His good friend and fellow comic Matt Barry was there to watch.

“He went and got a beer because he’s like, ‘This is gonna be a spectacle,’” he recalled. “He was 100 percent right.”

He performed on a pavilion to 50 mostly empty chairs.

“For about 12 people under 16 whose parents just made them get out of the pool or off the beach,” he said. “The parents all sat along the outside, drinking in their golf carts. So I’m performing to 48 empty seats and a bunch of 12-year-olds that want to go back in the pool.”

The experience was among those that made him stop fearing playing to large audiences.

“You’re thinking that you don’t want to bomb in front of a big crowd, then as you get better you realize it’s really tough to do good in front of a small crowd,” he said. “When I can get 15 or 20 people to laugh in an 80-seat room, that’s the test.”

Comedy With Jody Sloane, Dave Decker and Mystaru
When: Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m.
Where: The Barley House, 132 N. Main St., Concord
Tickets: $20 at eventbrite.com

Featured photo: Mystaru. Courtesy photo.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!