Author: Michael Witthaus

Warm up with Cool Tunes

A look at the Winter Music Series heating up the local scene

With sunny gazebo concerts hovering between distant memory and faint promise, live music has moved indoors for the coming months. Fortunately a lot of venues are stepping up, most with original artists in unique settings like wineries, brewpubs, museums and apres-ski shows.

Here’s a look at a few places using music to help shake winter’s chill.

Justin Cohn, Katie Dobbins, Holly Furlone. Courtesy photo.

Flying Goose Brewpub & Grille

The Flying Goose Brewpub & Grille is home to New Hampshire’s longest-running listening room series.

“It started in 1993 or 1994,” Tom Pirozzoli, who founded it and played its first show, said recently. “I approached my old friend Tom Mills with the idea … after having released a new CD.”

In the late ’80s Pirozzoli ran a similar effort in Keene at a place called Chalkboard West, doing booking, sound and occasionally performing. The contacts he made there helped to get the Flying Goose effort off the ground.

Every year from autumn to early spring it hosts the cream of New England’s folk and roots scene.

“We try to mix some new acts in each year and also stay true to our longtime friends like Tom Rush, David Mallett and Aztec Two Step,” Pirozzoli said.

Among the performers in the current series is Lucy Kaplansky, who’s taking a quick break from the successful On a Winter’s Night tour with fellow folk singers John Gorka, Cliff Eberhart and Patty Larkin (who’s also appearing this year). Kaplansky, whose most recent album is 2022’s Last Days of Summer, is a returning favorite of the series.

“I’m always so happy to play there,” Kaplansky said by phone from her home in New York City. “The audience is great and people come no matter what the weather is like — one time, it was literally 20 below. Tom does a great job with the sound, the staff is super nice, the food is great. It’s a wonderful gig.”

Flying Goose Brewpub & Grille (40 Andover Road, New London, flyinggoose.com)

Thursday, Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m. – New England Bluegrass Band

Thursday, Feb. 8, 7:30 p.m. – Mark Erelli

Thursday, Feb. 29, 7:30 p.m. – Ari Hest

Thursday, March 7, 7:30 p.m. – Lucy Kaplansky

Thursday, March 21, 7:30 p.m. – Patty Larkin

Thursday, April 4, 7:30 p.m. – David Francey

Thursday, April 11, 7:30 p.m. – Ordinary Elephant

Thursday, April 25, 7:30 p.m. – Garnet Rogers

Currier Museum of Art

The Currier Museum of Art is a longtime friend of live music, with its Thursday After Work concerts a prime example. While those are on seasonal hiatus and will be back in the spring, there are currently regular Sunday performances in the museum’s Winter Garden restaurant.

Majed Sabri, the Currier’s Digital Operations Manager, said in a recent phone interview that the museum tends to re-book musicians who connect with the brunch crowd, adding that the performers share a common thread.

“They’re local, and we’re always about uplifting local talent,” he said. “They all have a really great vibe; we don’t want to have an overpowering sound, and they’re really good at being beautiful background music. People ask to have them back.”

Currier Museum (150 Ash St., Manchester, currier.org)

Sunday, Jan. 28, 11 a.m. – Mac Holmes

Sunday, Feb. 4, 11 a.m. – Joey Clark (plays harmonica too), alt country

Sunday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m. – Seth Connolly, original rock and blues, very talented guitarist

Sunday, Feb. 18, 11 a.m. – Mac Holmes

Sunday, Feb. 25, 11 a.m. – Joey Clark (tentative)

Sunday, March 3, 11 a.m. – Joey Clark

Sunday, March 10, 11 a.m. – Seth Connolly

Sunday, March 17, 11 a.m. – Mac Holmes

Sunday, March 24, 11 a.m. – Harry Borch

Hermit Woods Winery

Musician Katie Dobbins launched the Songwriter RoundUp Series at Hermit Woods Winery a year ago. Happening the final Wednesday of the month, each show features Dobbins and two other artists doing original material in a classic “song pull” format. The evening ends with all three joining together for a cover, anything from Sara Bareilles to The Band’s “The Weight.”

Sometimes the guests are people she’s worked with in the past, like Brooks Young, who’ll be at the Feb. 28 event. Other times a performer is one that Dobbins knows by reputation and wants to work with.

“I spend a lot of time… trying to cultivate a bill of folks that will complement each other and make a really special evening,” Dobbins said from her home in the Lakes Region. “A lot of times it’s our first time meeting each other, so you never know quite what’s going to happen. But it’s always been really fun.”

With great sound and sightlines, along with a small capacity, the winery provides an intimate, artist-centric space. Working for an audience that’s completely focused on music “matters a lot,” Dobbins said. “Bar gigs are fun too; there’s a place for them in their own way, but there is something really special about getting away from that.”

Hermit Woods Winery (72 Main St., Meredith, hermitwoods.com)

(tickets $10 to $15 at eventbrite.com)

Wednesday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m. – Katie Dobbins, Dan Fallon & Dylan Patrick Ward

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. – Katie Dobbins, Brooks Young & Tim Winchester

Wednesday, March 27, 7 p.m. – Katie Dobbins, Sam Luke Chase & Jay Psaros

Wednesday, April 24, 7 p.m. – Katie Dobbins, Jeanette & Marlena Phillips

Pats Peak Ski Area

Apres-ski action at Henniker’s Pats Peak resort includes Irish-flavored acoustic group The McMurphys stopping in frequently. This year the big news is Monkeys With Hammers: guitarist Chris Lester (Sully Erna, Mama Kicks), drummer Eric Wagley and bass player Rich Knox who’ll play a one-off reunion show on Saturday, March 2.

Pats Peak Ski Area (686 Flanders Road, Henniker, patspeak.com)

Saturday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m. – Kimayo

Saturday, Feb. 3, 6 p.m. – The McMurphys

Saturday, Feb. 10, 6 p.m. – The 603s

Saturday, Feb. 17, 6 p.m. – The McMurphys

Saturday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. – April Cushman Trio

Saturday, March 2, 6 p.m. – Monkeys With Hammers

Saturday, March 9, 6 p.m. – River Sang Wild

Sunday, March 10, 6 p.m. – Supernothing

Saturday, March 16, 6 p.m. – Tyler Levs

Saturday, March 23, 6 p.m. – Andrea Paquin

Saturday, March 30, 6 p.m. – The McMurphys

Bank of NH Stage

The Capitol Center for the Arts hosts a recurring afternoon series at its Cantin Room, located upstairs in their Bank of NH Stage’s lounge. The event is curated by NH Music Collective.

“We focus on local performers who often don’t get a chance to see their name up in lights on Main Street,” NHMC’s John McArthur said recently. “The audiences and performers love that everyone is there to listen. It’s a beautiful way for performers to closely connect with their fans without distractions.”

Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, ccanh.com)

Sunday, Feb. 4 – Heather Pierson Duo

Sunday, March 3 – Alex Preston

Sunday, April 7 – Senie Hunt

Sunday, May 5 – Run Like Thieves (EP release)

Nippo Lake Golf Club & Restaurant

Acoustic music fans delight in the Nippo Lake Bluegrass Series, which lasts from October through April. The long-running event features some of the region’s finest players and over the years has grown into a Sunday evening tradition.

Nippo Lake Golf Club & Restaurant (88 Stagecoach Road, Barrington – nippobluegrass.com)

Sunday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m. – She Gone

Sunday, Feb. 2, 6 p.m. – New England Bluegrass Band

Sunday, Feb. 18, 6 p.m. – Chicken Shack

Sunday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m. – Lunch at the Dump

Sunday, March 3, 6 p.m. – Cedar Mountain

Sunday, March 10, 6 p.m. – High Range

Sunday, March 24, 6 p.m. – Unsung Heroes

Sunday, April 7, 6 p.m. – Cordwood

Sunday, April 14, 6 p.m. – Wide Open Spaces

Sunday, April 21, 6 p.m. – Old Hat

Joey Clark. Courtesy photo.

The Livery

NH Music Collective’s monthly events at Sunapee’s Livery land on a number of goals, including dinner and fundraising along with music. Upcoming beneficiaries include Full Circle Farm Therapeutic Riding Program and The Newport Recreation Program.

“Through business sponsorships we can bring both local and national touring acts to this intimate 100-seat venue in an historic building,” NHMC’s McArthur said, noting that American Idol favorite Alex Preston is among the performers appearing in coming months.

The Livery in Sunapee Harbor (58 Main St., Sunapee, thelivery.org)

Saturday, Feb. 17 – Slim Volume

Sunday, March 17 – JD and the Stonemasons

Saturday, April 20 – Alex Preston

Sap House Meadery

The NHMC ticketed series at Sap House Meadery offers dinner and music in a bucolic setting. “We curate a very eclectic program that has included international and regional music from Ukraine, Brazil, Cuba, Quebec, India, Ireland, Scotland, Appalachia and West Africa,” NHMC’s McArthur said, calling the varying cuisines “perfect complements to the performances.”

Sap House Meadery (6 Folsom Road, Ossipee, saphousemeadery.com)

Thursday, Feb. 15 – David Hamburger

Thursday, March 14 – Jud Caswell

Thursday, April 18 – Senie Hunt

More winter music series

Front Four Cellars (13 Railroad Ave., Wolfeboro, frontfourcellars.com)

Jan. 26, 5 p.m. – Garrett Smith

Jan. 27, 5 p.m. – Jordan Quinn

Feb. 17, 5 p.m. – Eric Lindberg

Feb. 23, 5 p.m. – Garrett Smith

Feb. 24, 5 p.m. – Chris Lester

March 9, 5 p.m. – Cat Faulkner Duo

March 16, 5 p.m. – Ian Galipeau

March 22, 5 p.m. – Garrett Smith

March 23, 5 p.m. – Mikey G

March 30, 5 p.m. – Tyler Levs

Twin Barns Brewing Co. (194 Daniel Webster Hwy., Meredith, twinbarnsbrewing.com)

Friday, Jan. 26, 5 p.m. – The Lone Wolf Project (Chris Perkins)

Friday, Jan. 27, 5 p.m. – Karen Grenier

Friday, Feb. 2, 5 p.m. – Andrea Paquin

Saturday, Feb. 3, 5 p.m. – Dave Clark

Friday, Feb. 9, 5 p.m. – The Sweetbloods

Saturday, Feb. 10, 5 p.m. – the hArt of Sound

Friday, Feb. 16, 5 p.m. – Dave Zangri

Saturday, Feb. 17, 5 p.m. – Rebecca Turmel

Friday, Feb. 23, 5 p.m. – Tom Boisse

Saturday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m. – Kimayo

Friday, March 1, 5 p.m. – Garrett Smith

Saturday, March 2, 5 p.m. – Slim Volume Duo

Friday, March 8, 5 p.m. – Chris Lester

Saturday, March 9, 5 p.m. – Brooks Young

Friday, March 15, 5 p.m. – Jud Caswell

Saturday, March 16, 5 p.m. – Mikey G

Friday, March 22, 5 p.m. – Henry LaLiberte

Saturday, March 23, 5 p.m. – Eric Lindberg

Friday, March 29, 5 p.m. – Andrea Paquin

Saturday, March 30, 5 p.m. – Ian Galipeau

Gunstock Ski Resort (719 Cherry Valley Road, Gilford, gunstock.com)

Saturday Series – 3 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 10 – Rhys Chalmers

Saturday, Feb. 17 – Arlene Wow!

Saturday, Feb. 24 – Garrett Smith

Saturday, March 2 – B Man

Saturday, March 9 – Paul Warnick

Saturday, March 16 – Arlene Wow!

Saturday, March 23 – Garrett Smith

Saturday, March 30 – Rhys Chalmers

Saturday, April 6 – B Man (Après Annual Pond Skim event)

Crotched Mountain Resort (615 Francestown Road, Bennington, crotchedmtn.com)

Friday, Jan. 26, 6 p.m. – The 603s

Saturday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m. – Chris Lester

Saturday, Feb. 7, 6 p.m. – Eyes of Age

Friday, Feb. 23, 6 p.m. – River Sang Wild

Saturday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. – Tyler Levs

Saturday, March 9, 6 p.m. – Eric Lindberg Band

Saturday, March 16, 6 p.m. – Kimayo

Lucy Kaplansky. Courtesy photo.

Salt Hill Pub Shanty (1407 Route 103, Newbury, salthillpub.com)

Acoustic Lift Ticket Series

Saturday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m. – Ted Mortimer

Saturday, Feb. 3, 6 p.m. – Rob Erwin

Saturday, Feb. 10, 6 p.m. – Dustin Marshall

Saturday, Feb. 17, 6 p.m. – Kim Wilcox

Saturday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. – The Frogz

Saturday, March 2, 6 p.m. – Don Dawson

Saturday, March 9, 6 p.m. – Rhys Chalmers

Saturday, March 6, 6 p.m. – Ted Mortimer

Saturday, March 23, 6 p.m. – Adam McMahon

Saturday, March 30, 6 p.m. – Kim Wilcox

Goosefeathers Pub at Mt. Sunapee Ski Resort (1398 Route 103, Newbury, mountsunapee.com)

Saturday, Jan. 27, 3 p.m. – Ariel Strasser & Ken Budka

Sunday, Jan. 28, 3 p.m. – Alex Cohen

Saturday, Feb. 3, 3 p.m. – Kimayo

Sunday, Feb. 4, 3 p.m. – Mikey G

Saturday, Feb. 10, 3 p.m. – Dave Clark

Sunday, Feb. 11, 3 p.m. – April Cushman Duo

Saturday, Feb. 17, 3 p.m. – Josh Foster

Sunday, Feb. 18, 3 p.m. – Garrett Smith

Saturday, Feb. 24, 3 p.m. – Colin Herlihy

Sunday, Feb. 25, 3 p.m. – Danny McCarthy

Saturday, March 2, 3 p.m. – Tom Boisse

Sunday, March 3, 3 p.m. – The 603s

Saturday, March 9, 3 p.m. – Tyler Levs

Sunday, March 10, 3 p.m. – Chris Lester

Saturday, March 16, 3 p.m. – Ryan Williamson

Sunday, March 17, 3 p.m. – April Cushman Band

Saturday, March 23, 3 p.m. – Kimayo

Sunday, March 24, 3 p.m. – 93 North

Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market (Eagle Square, Concord, downtownconcordwinterfarmersmarket.com)

Saturday, Jan. 27, 9 a.m. to noon – Rebecca Turmel

Saturday, Feb. 3, 9 a.m. to noon – Andrew North

Saturday, Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to noon – Doug Farrell

Saturday, Feb. 17, 9 a.m. to noon – Eyes of Age

Saturday, Feb. 24, 9 a.m. to noon – Hank Osborne

Saturday, March 3, 9 a.m. to noon – Ryan Williamson

Lithermans Limited Brewery (126 Hall St., Suite B, Concord, lithermans.beer)

Thursday, Jan. 25, 5:30 p.m. – Mikey G

Thursday, Feb. 1, 5:30 p.m. – Tom Boisse

Thursday, Feb. 8, 5:30 p.m. – Ryan Williamson

Thursday, Feb. 15, 5:30 p.m. – Charlie Chronopoulos

Thursday, Feb. 22, 5:30 p.m. – Alex Cohen

Thursday, Feb. 29, 5:30 p.m. – Dave Clark

Thursday, March 7, 5:30 p.m. – Chris Lester

Thursday, March 14, 5:30 p.m. – Ken Budka

Thursday, March 21, 5:30 p.m. – Josh Foster

Thursday, March 28, 5:30 p.m. – The hArt of Sound

Contoocook Farmers Market (Maple Street Elementary School, 194 Maple St., Hopkinton)

Saturday, Jan. 27, 9 a.m. to noon – Taylor Marie

Saturday, Feb. 3, 9 a.m. to noon – Hank Osborne

Saturday, Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to noon – Mary Fagan

Saturday, Feb. 17, 9 a.m. to noon – Ryan Williamson

Saturday, Feb. 24, 9 a.m. to noon – Ian Galipeau

Saturday, March 2, 9 a.m. to noon – Cat Faulkner Duo

Saturday, March 9, 9 a.m. to noon – Brad Myrick

Saturday, March 16, 9 a.m. to noon – Rebecca Turmel

Saturday, March 23, 9 a.m. to noon – Paul Gormley

Saturday, March 30, 9 a.m. to noon – Scott King

Saturday, April 6, 9 a.m. to noon – Paul Driscoll

Saturday, April 13, 9 a.m. to noon – Joey Clark

Still going strong

Bobby Rush’s lifetime of the blues

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour covered less than two decades of music. For Bobby Rush a similar endeavor would need to scale up, perhaps to the Epoch level. Rush, who turned 90 last November, boasts that he’s released at least 429 albums over his career, which began in the late 1940s. Along the way he also made too many singles to count. Before long-players were a thing, he even put out a 78.

“I don’t want to talk about that … that makes it sound too old,” Rush said in a recent phone interview. “But life is like — it’s a blessing to get old. Because the only way you don’t get old, you die young. So, I laugh about it.”

Rush’s first band included Elmore James and Pinetop Perkins. In the early 1950s Muddy Waters unsuccessfully tried to recruit him to play harmonica in his band.

“I wanted my own thing,” he said. “He wanted me to play like Little Walter, because that’s what he was used to in his band. I didn’t want to do that because I didn’t want to emulate him.”

His biggest success came late in life. He received his first Grammy nomination in 2001, and won in 2017 for Porcupine Meat and in 2021 for Rawer Than Raw. All My Love for You, his latest album, is a gem, but Bobby Rush is more interested in talking about what he’s doing than what he’s done.

Case in point is a work in progress that has contributions from Kenny Wayne Shepherd and others.

“I tell you now, get on top of Bobby Rush [for] the next two, three albums going to come out,” he said. “This is it for me. I don’t mean it’s the last one I’m doing, but I’m putting everything I have into it. I think it will be the best material that I ever recorded.”

Beyond Shepherd and some North Mississippi pals, Rush won’t say who he’s working with on the new material, other than promising there are some big names.

“These guys I’m recording with,” he said, pride beaming in his voice, “they just come to play with me and hear me. They’re not really asking to bring anything to the table other than themselves.”

Rush spent most of his career based in Chicago. “I wanted to be there because Howlin’ Wolf was there, and B.B. King was there, and Muddy Waters was there, Little Walter was there — all the guys that I looked up to,” he said, adding that being in the city made it easier to “steal some ideas; I just wanted to be in what they call The Loop, man, you know?”

Over the following decades he earned the nickname King of the Chitlin’ Circuit, for his time playing the network of mostly Black clubs in the South. The moniker was cemented in Martin Scorsese’s documentary The Blues. In 1968 he connected with ex-Vee Jay A&R head Calvin Carter and made his biggest hit, “Chicken Heads,” a song he re-recorded in 2021 with Buddy Guy, Gov’t Mule and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram to mark the 50th anniversary of its release.

On the autobiographical “I’m the One” from the new album (released last November), Rush sings about how he “put the funk in the blues” on songs like “I Wanna Do the Do,” a dance-y rework of Willie Dixon’s “Wang Dang Doodle” from his 1979 LP Rush Hour.

“I tried to do that because it’s nothing new under the sun, everything’s been done,” he explained. “It’s the way you approach it, you have to modify what you do.”

Rush has longevity in his bloodline. “My grandfather passed at 107, my grandmother was 111, and my mom was 89,” he said. “My dad was 96 and he had brothers and sisters, 21 of them lived over 100.” Still, that doesn’t fully explain the fire in the blues singer, harmonica player and songwriter’s soul that keeps him walking on stage night after night, even as he enters his 10th decade.

“God gave me the strength to keep going,” he said. “I’m still enthused about the blues and the work that I do, and that keeps me motivated. I know a man can live a long time without water or food, but you can’t live long without hope. I still have hope, man. Out of all my ups and downs I’ve been through in life … I still am enthused about the things that I’m surrounded by and the things that I do, and I am just glad to be here.”

Featured photo: Bobby Rush. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 24/01/18

Local music news & events

• Blues man: While growing up, Guy Davis said the only cotton he picked was his underwear off the floor. He told a journalist that the first time he heard the blues was in college, played by pale Vermont boys. Still, Davis embodies the genre, channeling masters like Howlin’ Wolf and Blind Willie McTell while possessing a unique style of his own. Thursday, Jan. 18, 7:30 p.m., The Flying Goose, 40 Andover Road, New London, $30; call 526-6899 to reserve.

• Guitar master: Best-known for his work with Dave Matthews, guitarist Tim Reynolds leads TR3. Over a 40-year-plus career, Reynolds has ranged across the musical spectrum, from rock to jazz, classical, blues and reggae, on acoustic and electric instruments. Mick Vaughn and Dan Martier round out the trio, which will soon release a new album, Watch It. Friday, Jan. 19, 9 pm., Rex Theatre, 21 Amherst St., Manchester, $39 and $49 at palacetheatre.org.

• Cowboy rock: The twang-fueled alter ego of prog rock band Mindset X, Horsefly Gulch appears in a double bill with relentless rockers The Negans. After dropping a pair of excellent singles last year, “Snake Dance” and “One That Got Away,” the trio is readying its debut LP, A Western Love Story. Last October they were painted by local concert artist Steve Paquin on live TV. Friday, Jan. 19, 9 pm., Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St, Manchester, $10 suggested cover (21+).

• Weird return: Strange and endearing Zanois is back from a long absence as King Imp, with support from Hometown Eulogy and Drug Deal Gone Rad. Kyle, the brother band’s cave-eyed, grimacing mascot who was for a time the Forrest Gump of indie rock, now has a crown and a cape, and their feedback-y, ethereal noise rock is still plenty of fun. Saturday, Jan. 20, 9 p.m., Penuche’s Ale House, 16 Bicentennial Square, Concord. See facebook.com/KingImpBand (21+).

• Musical stretch: A unique late afternoon session of yoga and live music features Wyn Doran, who will pair her songs with poses and actions, each section including time for reflection and connection. The yoga studio and its offerings are very special to Doran, who’s dealt with chronic pain in recent years and has found their fitness regimen beneficial in addressing it. Sunday, Jan. 21, 4:30 p.m., Vibe Yoga, 182 Main St., Nashua, $40 at vibeyoga603.com.

In good company

Gibson Brothers bring Darkest Hour tour to Rex

If great musicians wanting to get in the studio with a performer is a measure of success, the Gibson Brothers are a breed apart. The bluegrass duo has been produced by Ricky Skaggs, Dave Ferguson, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and most recently Jerry Douglas, on Darkest Hour, released in early 2023.

They even recorded a soundtrack album with T-Bone Burnett, a project that was shelved with the never-made movie.

“My brother says that we’re the Forrest Gump of bluegrass,” Eric Gibson said in a recent phone interview. “I mention something like that [Burnett] to people, and they look at me like I’m lying. I’m like, ‘I don’t have any proof, the record never came out.’ … but some of those records did.”

While 2018’s Auerbach-helmed Mockingbird had a burlier tone and modern touches like a cover of REM’s “Everybody Hurts” with the Flaming Lips’ Derek Brown on slide guitar, Darkest Hour featured more of the sound that’s made the Gibsons a force in bluegrass music for over three decades.

A new wrinkle, though, was a focus on the duo’s songwriting. Before starting recording in early 2020, Douglas asked them to bring their best tunes that hadn’t made it to other records. Among them was “I Feel the Same Way as You,” which became an album standout, with Alison Krauss providing a backing vocal.

Leigh Gibson wrote the song in 2000. Eric remembers wondering, “Why the heck did we wait so long to record that? Then I thought, if we’d done it earlier, Jerry Douglas wouldn’t be playing Dobro on it, and Alison Krauss wouldn’t be singing harmony … it was meant to be later.”

The Dobro master’s presence spurred the two to reach musical heights, as on “Dust,” when Eric follows Douglas’s soaring solo with a blistering banjo run. “You cannot help but be inspired,” he said, calling it “a pinch-me moment — that’s Jerry Douglas, and we’re playing with him right now.”

A big chunk of the LP was done live in the studio.

“We had some separation; if we messed up, we’d go back and fix it, but he’s about capturing the feeling and capturing the moment,” Gibson said.

“What a Difference a Day Makes” was the first track recorded. Gibson called it “real meat and potatoes bluegrass … kind of a Jimmy Martin-feeling kind of song.”

A Northeast tour in support of the album kicks off Jan. 13 in Manchester.

The brothers will be joined by Mike Barber on bass and drummer Sam Zucchini, with Eric O’Hara on Dobro. O’Hara was their first music teacher while the two were growing up on a dairy farm in Ellenburg Depot, in upstate New York.

“He’d just graduated from college, we were 12 and 11, and he started showing us how to play the banjo and guitar,” Eric recalled. “All these years later, he’s playing music with us.”

There’s more history in the onstage configuration. Their longtime bass player is the son of Junior Barber, who played Dobro with the Gibson Brothers when they were starting out. “Jerry went on and on about him when we recorded with him,” Gibson said of the elder Barber, who died in 2017. “He was a legend in this area, and people like that would take an interest in us.”

It’s testament to their talent that two players from a town just below the Canadian border could rise to the top of a genre dominated by Nashville pickers, but Gibson recalls a collective purposefulness in their far-flung milieu. A memory of one band preparing to go on at an American Legion years ago is still fresh.

“They took it as seriously as if they were gonna go play the Opry,” he said. “That stuck with me… wherever, whatever that stage is, you make it count.”

The Gibson Brothers released their first album in the mid-’90s; years later, Eric Gibson is happy to be part of his genre, and sees bright days ahead.

“I think the roots scene is very strong,” Gibson said. “Every so often you hear, ‘oh, bluegrass is dead.’ How is it dead when you have Billy Strings playing bluegrass? Molly Tuttle has found a heck of a big audience. Hopefully, there’s a trickle-down effect for the rest of us, but I feel like that old John Hartford song. I’m still here, we’re still doing it. We must be doing something right.”

Featured photo: Gibson Brothers. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 24/01/11

Local music news & events

• Crooner cuisine: Enjoy supper and song as Steve Blackwood performs with his trio. The Detroit-born singer has a long blues resume, including a 2017 album of originals with guest guitarist Robben Ford; this time he’ll stick to the Great American Songbook. Thursday, Jan. 11, 7 p.m., Portsmouth Book & Bar, 40 Pleasant St., Portsmouth, $12 at bookandbar.com.

• Mood music: Boston-based rock quintet Long Autumn plays a no-cover downtown show. Fans of both New Order and Pearl Jam will enjoy the group’s layered, ethereal sound, which they bill as nu alternative dark pop. Songs like “A Million Reasons” and the Cure-adjacent “Surf Munk” pulse and quiver as the band does a stellar job of reproducing their studio sound on stage. Friday, Jan. 12, 9 pm., Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St, Manchester. See longautumnmusic.com (21+).

• Light it up: The official goodbye to Christmas is the 29th Annual Tree Burning at a roadhouse restaurant located a stone’s throw from Route 101. Returning to provide music at the holiday bonfire are Mixtape Heroez. Formerly Tapedeck Heroez, the rock covers band recently welcomed new singer Sinclaire Bennett and bass player James Ramsey, along with changing their name. Saturday, Jan. 13, 8 p.m., Auburn Pitts, 167 Rockingham Road, Auburn, auburnpitts.com.

• Reigning champs: Two-time Granite State Blues Challenge winners Frankie Boy & Blues Express perform in the Lakes Region. Once mentored by the legendary Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson — the band uses his amplifier on stage — the four-piece band made it to the semifinals in last year’s World Challenge in Memphis, offering a full-throated brand of the genre. Saturday, Jan. 13, 8 p.m., Tower Hill Tavern, 264 Lakeside Ave., Laconia. See facebook.com/FrankieBoyBlues.

• Tom time: For parents looking to get their kids rocking early, Rock & Roll Playhouse Plays Tom Petty is a good place to start. The national touring family concert series promises to let the young’ns “move, play and sing while listening to works from the classic-rock canon” like “American Girl” and “Don’t Do Me Like That,” and uses games, movement and stories to get them involved. Sunday, Jan. 14, noon, Bank of NH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord, $15 at ccanh.com.

Net sensation

Mia x Ally take viral act on tour

The curious lockdown revival of a 600-year-old folk tradition was the catalyst for an inventive pairing that has, among other things, produced a recasting of “Free Bird” for violin and bagpipes. In late 2020 a Scottish singer posted a pair of sea shanties — collective songs from the maritime trades — to TikTok. Another vocalist added a bass harmony layer, and soon more began stitching in parts.

It caught the attention of electric violinist Mia Asano, who dueted on a subsequent batch of videos. Bagpiper Ally Crowley-Duncan was also taken by “musicians adding their parts and creating this massive session-style experience with all this instrumentation.” She collaborated on a few with a mutual musician friend.

Out of this digital milieu the two became mutual fans and eventually collaborators. The world of rock music has never seen anything like Mia x Ally, but the duo’s unique approach to their instruments has won kudos from some of the genre’s best, including Metallica. It’s also amassed that most coveted of modern currencies, internet virality.

Before joining up, both were building big audiences on TikTok, Ally on her traditional bagpipes with a custom key-extending chanter (the note-producing tube at the bottom of the bag) that she helped design, and Mia with her seven-string Flying V electric violin. In a recent Zoom interview, the two discussed how they came to see their instruments in a different light.

Mia was classically trained from age 5.

“I had a deep love for classical music, but a deeper love for alternative styles,” she said. “In middle school I discovered electric violins; after that I knew what I was going to do for the rest of my life.”

The violin, she added, “is a really gate-kept instrument, and the classical community is really intense. Both Ally and I have a lot of similarities in those ways with our upbringing and our experience with our instruments, so we both have a deep love for showcasing everything they are capable of.”

Also the product of a musical household, Ally played multiple instruments growing up, taking up bagpipes at age 12 as a way to bond with her Scottish stepfather after he legally adopted her. “I’ve been able to see the saxophone, piano and flute transcend their more traditional and classical roots,” she said, “but there aren’t a lot of avenues where the bagpipes have been able to do that.”

In high school she transcribed Ozzy Osborne’s “Crazy Train” to bagpipes and played it with a rock band she’d formed.

“The reaction kind of flipped my brain around into wanting to see the bagpipes in that light more often,” she said. “I love that style of music, always have, and it was really cool to be able to offer it to people on an instrument that I love, but in a way that they weren’t expecting.”

After an extended TikTok friendship, the two performed together for the first time in Boston, on St. Patrick’s Day. Mia was attending Berklee, and Ally had a show sponsored by Barstool Sports. “She messaged me and said, ‘Would you like to meet up and record some collaborations together?’ and of course I said yes,” Mia recalled.

Their version of “Shipping Up to Boston” was a viral smash, and they soon hit the road for a run named after the Dropkick Murphys song, their first release as a duo.

“We like to say it sold out our first tour — that’s how a lot of people found out about us, and the first time we realized how many people love us,” Mia said. An accompanying video, shot across the city at Fenway Park, City Hall and other landmarks, was “essentially a love letter to Boston.”

The current tour, which stops in Derry on Jan. 6 and includes shows in Boston and Vermont, comes in the wake of their debut, Mia x Ally: The Viral Hits. The EP includes their distinctive reimagining of the Lynyrd Skynyrd hit that’s arguably the most requested song in rock history. Both released it solo before recording it together.

“We realized there was actually an appreciation for hearing ‘Free Bird’ in that way,” Ally said. “We knew that we wanted to make it something bigger.”

Playing live, the duo is about more than classic rock covers, even playing some original songs. “Our shows have every kind of music from pop, rock and Celtic,” Mia said. “We have jazzy moments; I play a classical piece at one poin t… we throw everything in there. It’s to showcase our diversity. Music is the most important thing to us; it’s not just about the showmanship, but that’s also important. We have a lot of musical integrity.”

Featured photo: Mia x Ally. Courtesy photo.

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