• Seasonal standard: Get in the holiday spirit as the Heather Pierson Trio returns to play music from A Charlie Brown Christmas during an intimate show at a Lakes Region winery preceded by a complimentary tasting. Pierson’s performance of the holiday special includes other Vince Guaraldi songs and jazzed-up favorites. Thursday, Dec. 5, and Friday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m., The Loft at Hermit Woods, 72 Main St., Meredith, $25 and up at eventbrite.com. More dates at heatherpierson.com.
• Helping paws: An annual event with live music from the Bob Pratte Band is a fundraiser for the Manchester Animal Shelter. Dance to classic rock covers and enjoy complimentary appetizers, raffles, giveaways, games and a silent auction, all for a good cause. Friday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m., Stark Brewing Co., 500 N. Commercial St., Manchester, $15 at eventbrite.com.
• Holiday shredding: Make the season a surf guitar safari with Gary Hoey rocking up the Christmas spirit at his annual Ho! Ho! Hoey! show. The Dick Dale acolyte first donned his Santa hat in the ’90s, and the frenetic fret man’s franchise now includes Hallmark greeting cards playing rocked-up holiday favorites. Hoey was also featured in Danny DeVito’s 2006 movie Deck The Halls. Friday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $40 and up at tupelohall.com.
• Dark sounds: Fans of heavy music should experience Fog Wizard, a Boston band that bills itself as that city’s bloodiest and features a lead singer with an unprintable name who looks like he came out on the winning end of a tangle with Freddy Krueger. A local show celebrates their 15th anniversary and includes support from Dead Harrison, Arctic Horror and C.O.B. Saturday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m., Terminus Underground, 134 Haines St., Nashua, $15 at the door, 21+, BYOB.
• Blues power: An afternoon performance by Frankie Boy & Blues Express is a fundraiser to help send the three-time Granite State Blues Challenge winners to Memphis for next year’s World Blues Challenge. Once mentored by Chicago blues legend Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson — the band uses his amplifier on stage — the four-piece group offers a full-throated version of the genre. Sunday, Dec. 8, 4 p.m., The Wild Rover, 21 Kosciuszko St., Manchester. Visit thebluesexpress.com.
Discover — or rediscover — your love of making music with help from the experts
“So you wanna be a rock ’n’ roll star?” Roger McGuinn asked back in the ’60s. The answer? “Just get an electric guitar, take some time and learn how to play.” If only it were that easy. Back then, The Beatles and Stones fueled the dreams of would-be music heroes. These days, it’s Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran.
For the kids, anyway. It’s different for the recent empty-nester who’s always wanted to play the opening riff to “Smoke on the Water” and just bought a vintage Stratocaster on eBay. Both young and old need a place to take their rock ’n’ roll fantasies and flesh them out.
Fortunately, there are many places to go for acquiring the skills, for all ages, whether it’s someone picking up an instrument for the first time or looking to brush up on long-neglected talents, or a talented enough player with a desire to take things higher.
Further, options are available for a wide range of lifestyles, from free online lessons to one-stop shops that sell instruments with a book of lesson coupons, to one-on-one sessions that prep the ambitious for an open mic night. Here are a few that exist in the area.
Beginnings
There are a few things that every instructor agrees are essential. The first is to keep the instrument where it can be seen and played. “It’s better to just have it out,” says Danielle Miraglia, who teaches guitar on Zoom. “When you’re bored, instead of picking up your phone you can grab your guitar and noodle around on it.”
This means it’s smart to buy a stand to go with a new guitar, and save the case for a birthday present. Ditto for keyboards; get something to set it on. For the budding drummer, start with an electronic kit and headphones, so it won’t rock the house.
No. 2, though practice is essential, too much may have a negative effect.
“Fifteen to 20 minutes three or four times a week is better than an hour one day a week,” believes Eric Bilodeau of Strings & Things. “Just getting your hands used to it will help build finger strength, the neural pathways to tell a finger to move a certain way, and get your hand memory going.”
The third item is a rule that applies to a good instructor, and it’s typically the first topic of conversation when sitting down for the initial lesson. Begin with an understanding of why a student wants to learn how to play. Is there a specific song they want to master, or a musical style that attracts them?
Try to figure this out before buying an instrument. For example, it’s a bit easier learning to play on an electric guitar, but someone drawn to a coffeehouse vibe is better off with an acoustic.
“The important thing is finding one that’s going to make you want to play,” Bilodeau said. “Play a bunch and see which one speaks to you.”
School days
When that decision is made, the next question is, what’s the best way to learn? For a youngster, structure is important, so a schedule of lessons is a good idea. Bedford Youth Performing Company (BYPC) offers instruction for a wide variety of instruments and even has classes for full bands.
That idea may seem counterintuitive — shouldn’t mastery of the instrument come before playing with others? But Dave Couture, who’s taught guitar and drums at BYPC for over 35 years, spotted an opportunity to turn making music into a family affair, and further solidify a student’s engagement.
When parents came to the studio, Couture would inquire about their music background. “I’d go, ‘do you play an instrument?’ They’d say they do, or they used to, and I’d tell them to hop on the bass or whatever,” he said by phone in mid-November. “Then they’re playing along with their kids. It got me interested in creating these adult bands. It’s a lot of fun, and it keeps them interested.”
Eric Biloudeau of Strings & Things. Photo by Michael Witthaus
Couture leads a couple of all-adult band classes as well. Yes, though “youth” is in their name, BYPC is all-ages. “I have up to retirees,” Couture said. The disparity between groups means a different set of challenges in motivating students, he continued.
A youngster’s mood can change daily, depending on how school went. “I’ll say, ‘did you practice?’ and if they didn’t, we’ll work on what we did last week,” he said. “Sometimes the adults are worse. They’ll say, ‘I really wanted to do this, but I’m not practicing.’ I’ll tell them, ‘don’t worry, you’re learning every week … let’s learn a fun song.’”
On the other hand, working with retired people is often much more satisfying, Couture continued. “I’ve had a few of them that have said they wanted to do this forever. They’ve been thinking about it, and they’re usually pretty focused.”
Couture will remind those stressed about time or stuck in a rut that music is an art form. It’s something one of his Berklee professors told him once, and it calmed him down. “When I thought of it as an art form, I just relaxed and let it flow.”
Time management
Bob Desmarais, who runs NHTunes in Manchester’s Waumbec Mill, offers his own retiree story as proof that no one’s too old to play. “Janet is 94 — she started when she was 89,” he said during a tour of his studio and music academy. “We just had a show at RiverWoods; me, her, and two other residents. She was exhausted, it was an hour show, but she’s 94 freaking years old!”
Desmarais opened NHTunes in 2010, the same week he paid off his son’s college tuition. He continued to work as an IT manager at the outset while he recruited students. He quit his day job a year later, with three teachers on staff and almost 40 students. That’s grown over the years to 14 instructors who teach close to 140 students. In 2013 it moved down the hall into a space twice the size of the original.
A Berklee grad who plays Jimmy Buffett songs and bar tunes in a duo called the Sonic Boomers, he always had a passion for music, but Desmarais continues to parlay his computer skills in his business. A Google search of “music lessons in Manchester” will result in NHTunes near the top, proof of his SEO skills.
He has a slick web-based scheduling system. “It links all the instructors, what they teach, their availability,” Desmarais said. “Just book online, and it’ll put it in a Google Calendar. We have gift certificates for people to buy, and they can schedule lessons when they want.”
It’s perfect for busy professionals. “We have a group of people that just book per diem, they don’t sign up for monthly tuition,” he said. “They don’t want to commit to weekly lessons. I was nervous of that at first, worried that people were going to take one or two and stop. But we have this core group that books every week, every other week. It fills in the gaps in our schedule.”
NHTunes offers lessons on a range of instruments, along with studio production classes using Ableton Live and other software packages. That’s an extension of the studio recording services they provide, which is one of the key reasons Desmarais opened the business.
There are also frequent student recitals.
“I think the performance aspect of musicianship is really important,” Desmarais said. “We get kids out in front of people at nursing homes, senior centers, and stuff like that. The last thing you want to hear is, ‘They never play in front of me.’ Because music should be shared.”
Finally, with the youngsters, Desmarais strives to keep mom and dad looped in. “So they know what’s going on,” he said. “It’s really important, because unfortunately some parents have to ride kids sometimes to play and practice in between lessons, so you gotta know what they’re working on.”
Try before you buy
Andrew Grosvenor leads jam fusion band Andrew North & the Rangers and hosts the monthly open mic at BNH Stage in Concord. He also teaches piano at Concord Community Music School and Strings & Things, a store that’s now in Penacook Village after a couple of decades in downtown Concord.
He offers a unique way to check out his instructional skills — for a certain type of student. Grosvenor teaches all levels, but many of his charges have some experience and are looking to grow. For those, he has videos on his YouTube page, songs like Vince Guaraldi’s “Skating” or “Esther” by Phish that aren’t novice fare.
The videos do provide a sense of how he teaches, though.
“I’m the best fit for more intermediate or advanced folks,” Grosvenor said by phone recently, “who know the basics of the instrument but are looking to take the next steps in understanding theory and improvisation. That’s where my strengths are.”
Strings & Things is a one-stop shop, a place to go to purchase a guitar, keyboard or drum kit, schedule some lessons, and pay for everything at once. It’s also one of the more venerable places in the area. Mike Bilodeau opened it in 1982, and these days his son Eric oversees instruction there.
The shop offers classes on several instruments, Eric explained during an interview in Strings & Things’ piano room. “We do guitar, bass, drums, piano, mandolin, banjo and a lot of the brass instruments, like saxophone, flute, clarinet and trumpet,” he said. “I always say, if you like to annoy your neighbors, we can help you out.”
Students can be anywhere from 5 to 16, and beyond, and lessons begin with defining goals. “Do they want to be Jimi Hendrix or Ed Sheeran? There’s a big difference,” Eric said. “Do you want to get up at an open mic [or] go to a blues jam and be able to sit down and play a solo over a song? Maybe you just want to stay at home and make music in your bedroom … there’s all different ways you can take music now.”
The 14-member staff is mostly working musicians, like guitarist Mike Gallant, who performs around the area as Mikey G., drummer Paul Donahue and fiddler Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki. Fittingly, that was the path taken by Mike Bilodeau when he opened the store 42 years ago.
“I did a hitch in the Air Force, and the skills I had from the Air Force didn’t blend into society,” Mike said in the store’s guitar-filled back room. “I figured I’d go with my hobby; I love to play music. At that time, there was a lot around, and I was working five nights a week. My wife decided that I should be busy during the day too. So with her cheering me on, we opened up a very small store with very limited inventory.”
School of Rock. Courtesy photo.
Two years ago, they relocated for a sixth and final time, buying and renovating an old bank. “We had leased buildings for 40 years, and branch banks, as you would probably expect, are kind of going away,” he said. “So this place was a very good deal for us to purchase, and we’ll be here until the end of time.”
Though the store currently doesn’t hold student recitals, Mike thinks that will change in the future.
“We have a wonderful situation,” he said. “Riverside Park is right behind us on the Contoocook River, and our goal is to get some live music going there next spring. There’s also another brand new park being built across the street … we’re excited; this is going to be a real happening area for us.”
The covid effect
Before 2020, lessons were always taught in person, one on one. Then a pandemic changed the rules. Though there’s mostly been a return to the old days, there are a few instructors like Danielle Miraglia who decided to continue teaching after Covid.
“I never went back to in person,” she said by phone recently. “It was nice not to get a cold every five minutes for one thing, and to be honest, there’s a little bit of a different kind of drain when you do it via Zoom. If I miss the in-person experience, I’ll think, ‘what are you, crazy? You can do this with a cat sitting next to you.’”
A multiple New England Music Awards winner and Boston Music Award nominee, Miraglia started teaching as a way to deal with rising rent costs in Somerville, where she and husband live. Initially, she taught at the Real School of Music in Burlington, Mass. In hindsight, she’s glad she did — even if economics forced her decision.
“I think everybody should teach for some amount of time,” she said. “It forces you to learn things you might not have bothered with for your own stuff, and it reminds you of things you knew before that you might have forgotten. It’s made me a sharper musician in general.”
When working with a student, particularly a younger one, Miraglia encourages them to have patience with themselves. “Some kids will get really frustrated right away. They’ll be like, ‘I can’t do it,’ and I’ll say, it would be insane if you could do it right now. Of course you can’t, that’s why I’m here. I’m here to help you with that.”
Some are slow to pick it up, while others roar out of the gate. Miraglia recalled a 7-year old prodigy. “He immediately could do the Bo Diddley groove with his right hand, it was very easy to teach him,” she said. “He just kept getting better and better … now he’s in jazz band in school.”
Begin at the end
In Nashua, there’s a new spot that could be a major force on the local music scene. Though it won’t officially open until Dec. 14 — hopefully — the School of Rock has a unique approach to learning that begins with focusing on what an aspiring student wants right away.
“We start with the goal of performance and work backward from there,” school owner Andy McKenna said by phone recently. “They do get a full music education, but we start by saying, ‘Hey, you’re going to be playing in three months.’”
To that end, “we focus on helping people learn the stuff that they really like to listen to and want to play and go from there,” he continued. “That’s a big difference from music education that starts with learning all the technique and theory first and eventually getting to songs. Let’s figure out what you’d love to be able to play.”
For example, a budding bass player should leave the first day knowing the opening riff to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” so they can go home and play it for the parents. “They go, ‘Wow, I know that song, that’s great,’ and feel like they’re getting their money’s worth too.”
School of Rock is a national chain inspired by the Jack Black movie, with hundreds of locations. Nashua is the first in New Hampshire. Their core age range is 8 through 18. “That said, we have programs starting at age 3,” McKenna said. “I like to say it’s from age 3 to 103.”
It begins with the early childhood Little Wing and ranges to the Rock 101 performance program. “We’ve got adult programs as well. In fact, a full 25 to 30 percent of people interested in signing up are adults. And I get basically two stories. One, they used to play a little bit, but had to give it up because they got busy. The other story is, ‘Hey, I always wanted to play, and never did. Am I too old?’ Our answer is, ‘absolutely not.’”
The full Rock 101 program lasts for three months and includes a 45-minute weekly lesson and 90 minutes of group rehearsal. “That runs about roughly $400 a month,” McKenna said. “If you break down the number of hours that are being spent with instruction, it comes out to $40 an hour.”
For the ambitious, Rock 101 can be followed by a performance program that includes longer rehearsals and more challenging material. “There are 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds playing Steely Dan, Rush and Pink Floyd,” he said. “It’s fairly complex musical stuff, so they get quite good as they move through the program.”
McKenna’s interest in opening School of Rock came from his empathy for kids struggling to fit in, who don’t for example play a sport, but find concert band too staid. They just want to rock, and he can relate.
“The friendships and connections I’ve made have been mostly focused and centered around my enjoyment of playing music with others,” he said. “I think School of Rock has a formula that helps people do that. It’s a place where a lot of kids have really been able to find their people, their place, and really thrive. When I heard those real stories about the many schools that are in operation, I just felt, yeah, that’s what I want to do.”
Take it to the next level
There are performers who’ve moved past rudimentary musical foundations and want to go further. A guy like Chad LaMarsh can help. A veteran singer, guitarist and songwriter with a long resume, LaMarsh offers Get Gig Ready, an effort geared toward taking all those acquired skills and doing something with them.
“The program is all-encompassing of absolutely everything that goes into playing a gig,” LaMarsh said in a recent phone interview. “We do a lot of what I call vocal maintenance to make sure that everybody can get through singing three to four hours a night for five nights straight. That’s a lot of abuse on your throat.”
It covers gear and more — what to buy, where to put it, and ways to measure results.
“How you use your mixing board, that’s a huge one,” he said. “There’s a technique I’ve designed for practicing so that the musician knows exactly what it’s like to have your speaker a few feet away from you…. We often fall short because we don’t know what we sound in front of the stage.”
The short-term goal of Get Gig Ready is an appearance at an open mic, like the Tuesday night gathering at KC’s Rib Shack in Manchester. It’s the beginning of a long road that optimistically ends at SNHU Arena, or at least a ticketed club gig. Clearly, this is geared toward performers with serious intentions.
“If it’s somebody just looking to kick the tires and just poof around, I don’t have any time for that,” LaMarsh said. “These are people that are actually already super talented … they’re already at a level that I know I can do something to help them excel even more. Those are the people I work with.”
Sage Advice
Guitarist Brad Myrick also works with and mentors other musicians. Every summer for the past several years he’s conducted master classes in Italy, along with touring. His advice, however, is applicable for those at any level looking to make music.
“Whatever it is that’s exciting to you about your instrument, that made you want to play it, always access that thing … that’s absolutely the first advice,” Myrick said from his home in Hopkinton. “I’m still doing that, after playing the guitar for 30 years.”
It’s a great time to be a musician, he continued, adding that finding an instructor to connect with is critical. “Having a little bit of structure and accountability, the consistency, of ‘hey, I’m going to show up once a week and I’m going to do this thing’ … that sometimes will keep us from slipping back into our old habits.”
Myrick recalled that when he first picked up guitar at age 14, ultimately taking his first lesson at Strings & Things, there were some affordable resources available to help him jump start his interest. There are even more today, and many of them don’t cost a thing.
“When I started, I knew a little bit about music, but I didn’t know anything about guitar,” he said. “I got a basic guitar book and started reading … it was like, ‘this is the E string, place your finger here.’ I got pretty far in the first couple weeks before I had any formal interaction with somebody. And if you’re self-motivated, there are endless online resources. Not all of them are great, but a lot of them are really good.”
Whatever path is chosen, Myrick believes a little bit of self-guidance can add a lot to the learning experience. “When I’m teaching, I try to incorporate both models,” he said. “A little bit of self-curiosity, a little bit of other free resources, and having someone also to check in with — mentorship. It’s a great combination.”
Learn how to play
Here are some area music teachers.
• Bedford Youth Performing Company (BYPC) 155 State Rte. 101, Bedford bypc.org. One-on-one lessons for ages 9 and up – 30 minutes, $148.32/month, 60 minutes, $222.48/month and 60 minutes, $296.64/month. Costs vary, call for a quote.
• Danielle Miraglia daniellem.com. Online only, $37/half hour Zoom or FaceTime, volume discount available ($105/three half-hour lessons).
• Get Gig Ready With Chad LaMarsh getgigready.com $60/half-hour lesson, 13- and 26-week coaching classes available, contact for quote.
• Let’s Play Music & Make Art 2626 Brown Ave., Unit 2, Manchester, plus locations in Derry and Hudson, letsplaymusic.com. Trial private lesson $36.25, trial group class, $27.50, tuition ranges from $149/month for weekly 30-minute lessons.
• Manchester Music Mill 329 Elm St., Manchester, mmmlessons.com. Teachers set their own rates, which range from $20 to $25 per week for a half-hour private lesson.
• Merrimack Music Academy 1 Bryce Drive, Merrimack, merrimackmusicacademy.com. $155/month tuition covers up to five private lessons, instruction materials and access to academy resources.
• North Main Music 23 Charron Ave., Suite 1, Nashua, northmainmusic.com. 30-minute introductory lesson is $25, flexible drop-in program is $140 for four lessons.
• School of Rock 225 DW Highway, Suite C2, Nashua, schoolofrock.com. Rock 101 program is around $400/month, averages out to $40/hour.
• Strings & Things 339 Village St., Concord, stringsandthingsmusic.com. $30/half-hour lesson, usually paid by the month with four or five lessons per month.
• Ted Hebert Music School 880 Page St., Manchester, tedhebert.com. $30/half-hour lesson.
An eight-week competition at Patrick’s Pub in Gilford sponsored by NH Music Collective culminates with performances from the winners and semi-finalists at the BNH Stage in downtown Concord on Dec. 1.
Singer-songwriter Ian Archibold took top honors in the final round on Nov. 18 and will headline the show. Second-place winner Ian Galipeau will perform ahead of Archibold, and Temple Mountain — the nom de tune of singer, guitarist and songwriter Eric Impallomeni — rounds out the bill-topping trio.
The rest of the performers are an eclectic bunch. Adrienne Mack-Davis offers hip-hop and R&B, Arthur Terembula has a rustic sound that’s somewhere between Tom Waits and a Smithsonian field recording, while Brendan Cleary, Willy Chase and Jason Oberstein sit comfortably in the folk, singer-songwriter genre.
The show is an excellent way for fans of original music to broaden their horizons. Take, for example, Ian Galipeau’s song “The Little Things.” A worthy counterpart to Jason Isbell’s “If We Were Vampires,” it distills a lifetime of love, marriage, parenthood and death with breathtaking precision. He’ll likely play that along with material from his 2022 album Like We Were Never Here At All and his most recent single, “Floorboard,” another storytelling gem.
Archibold released an EP, Parallel, in 2016, and cites influences ranging from The Beatles to Bruno Mars and Coldplay. His song “Valley of Uncertainty” is a good example of how he joins those disparate threads to craft a singular sound. He hails from Panama but has performed around the New England region for a while.
A well-traveled Long Island native, Temple Mountain blends deft finger-picking guitar with atmospheric vocalizing that recalls Elliot Smith, a singer-songwriter he cites as an influence. Lyrically idiosyncratic, with a bio stating that he has “a psychology background,” his songs charmingly probe the human experience.
NHMC is riding a successful wave of late. The idea for its monthly Sunday Sessions is to book a local performer in the BNH Stage’s intimate Cantin Room, then move into the main theater when ticket sales hit a certain level. This month, Charlie Chronopoulos sold out the big space, and a few months earlier, singer/songwriter Taylor Hughes came within a few dozen seats of doing the same.
“So far, we’ve had three shows go to the big stage,” NHMC principal John McArthur said by phone recently. “We book a lot of bar gigs … breweries and wineries, stuff like that, where they’re doing mostly cover songs. But this opportunity to perform original music in front of a listening audience, this is what I live for.”
The third annual singer/songwriter contest at Patrick’s attracted entries from as far away as Rhode Island. “This is how starved indie artists are,” McArthur said. “People that in past years would have gotten in didn’t. We’re trying to build a community of songwriters and indie singing, and it’s starting to work.” Brad Myrick, who founded the musician-friendly organization, agreed with his partner McArthur.
“I love that we can tie one thing that we’re doing to support songwriters and original music and segue that into a proper theater show promoted well and in a city like Concord that has some movement,” he said. “These are the kinds of things that I didn’t have the ability to do five or 10 years ago … that we’ve grown to where we can do that feels really good.”
It’s a two-way street for artists and NHMC, which books a wide range of area venues, Myrick continued.
“John set up the open mic as a way to have a forum to hear some new people and invite some folks,” he said. “It’s opened up some new performers for us, and it works great for them. They come up here and get new fans. It’s building something. I want people to say there’s a scene in New Hampshire. I want that to be felt and be real.”
NHMC Sunday Sessions: Songwriter Showcase When: Sunday, Dec. 1, 6 p.m. Where: BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord Tickets: $18.75 at ccanh.com
Featured photo: First, second and third place winners of the Patrick’s Pub Songwriter Competition. Pictured L to R: Ian Archibold, Ian Galipeau, Temple Mountain. Courtesy photos..
• Holiday junk: Throwing open the doors of its theater for Thanksgiving, Recycled Percussion performs its new LOVEalicious show. Band leader Justin Spencer recently completed the grueling World Marathon Challenge, seven races in seven days across seven continents. He’s thankful for that, and for the recent opening of a permanent Chaos & Kindness store in the Mall of New Hampshire. Thursday, Nov. 28, 6 p.m., CAKE Theatre, 12 Veterans Square, Laconia, $49 and up at tix.com.
• Pirate party: Fronted by a jaunty guitar player in a long jacket and trifold hat, Jonee Earthquake Band kicks off a free Black Friday show in downtown Manchester, with Lobotomobile, Dirty Walter & the Smelltones and Ragz to Stitchez. In the spirit of the day, the event includes some doorbuster deals. On Saturday the punk pirate band plays Christmas songs at the Nashua Holiday Stroll. Friday, Nov. 29, 9 p.m., Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St., Manchester, joneeearthquake.com.
• Psycho chickens: Led by a loquacious singer who’s also written a couple of books, The Fools have a documentary in the works. The Ipswich, Mass., rockers have been recording recent shows for a live album that’s in the works, so a return to a favorite New Hampshire haunt should be fun. Saturday, Nov. 30, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $37 at tupelohall.com.
• Irish Christmas: An eclectic Christmas concert set in Central Park; Fairytale of New York is the latest effort from the company behind Seven Drunken Nights – The Story of The Dubliners. The show mixes classics like “O Holy Night” and “White Christmas” with Irish sing-alongs and pop holiday tunes such as “Step Into Christmas,” along with Riverdance-style step dancing. Sunday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m., Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua, $39 and up at etix.com.
• Roots standards:Gillian Welch & David Rawlings are leading purveyors of Americana. The couple are currently touring their seventh studio album, Woodland, a record born from a 2020 tornado. Monday, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord, $71.25 and up at ccanh.com.
When The Beatles debuted on American television in February 1964, it was a shot heard ’round the world, and the ensuing onslaught of artists from across the pond forever revolutionized music. At the same time, something else happened, as musicians on this side of the Atlantic traded their Martin acoustic guitars for Rickenbackers and responded in kind.
Roger McGuinn, for example, ditched folk music and formed The Byrds, redefining Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” as a jangly, electric rocker. All across the nation bands came together, and the landscape changed. This call and response social moment is captured by British Invasion Years, performing Nov. 23 at Tupelo Music Hall.
“We use the American Revolution as a metaphor … but instead of hurling ammunition back and forth, these bands were throwing hits,” Lee Howard, who plays guitar and sings, said during a recent phone interview that included bass player and vocalist Bob Murdock. “Their battle was for the top spot in the charts.”
Howard and Murdock, along with drummer Dave Hall and Jon Wolf, who plays keyboards and guitar, begin their show as an all-British affair, churning out hits by the Fab Four, Herman’s Hermits, The Who, Moody Blues, Rolling Stones, Kinks and others. Act 2 is the American musical response.
One element separating them from other tribute acts is the precision brought to their task. They’re focused on replicating the studio sound of the songs they play down to the tiniest element. For example, “Time of the Season” by the Zombies opens with a percussive sound that’s either a hand clap or a wood block; the band was equally divided on which.
To settle it, they messaged Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone on Facebook, who confirmed it was a single hand clap. “It was a very fun but testy debate,” Murdock recalled. “We never really argue in the band, but in the end, it’s always the song that wins.”
Howard agreed. “It’s an example of how far we go to try and replicate as closely as possible the music that we’re doing,” he said. The group is equally exacting in its presentation, donning Beatles suits and other garb worn by bands during the transition from three-minute singles to concept albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
They also employ multimedia, like a photo of The Monkees’ Davy Jones alongside Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on the sitcom The Brady Bunch. It always sparks a raucous audience reaction. Other nostalgia triggers include trolls, Twister boards and Peter Fonda on his Easy Rider Harley.
“We conceptualized this [with] a screen that would project images and bring back those feelings of the day … people do respond to it,” Howard said; he designed that part of the show. “It’s great because we get to tug on emotional heartstrings not only sonically, but visually too.”
It’s a big part of the show’s second half, which can include everything from Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” to “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies. The outfits for that section are, Murdock said, “very hippie-ish, headbands and vests,” reflecting a time that was “all about peace and love.”
Asked for a nugget from the era that they personally love playing, both of them demur. That’s like naming a favorite child, Murdock asserts. “You love them all for different reasons.” Howard likes the Moody Blues’ “Tuesday Afternoon” because it surprises most audiences.
There’s good news on that front for New England fans, however. Everyone in the band enjoys rolling out Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” so Red Sox fans can rejoice! “The audience reacts to that song amazingly, they sing along and wave their hands,” Murdock said. “You get a little glimpse into Neil Diamond’s concert life when he used to sing that.”
Howard believes that the band’s note for note fastidiousness has something to do with it. “Most bands don’t like to do it because it’s not a cool sounding song if you don’t do it right,” he said. “We do it like the record and people flip out. There is something psychological behind that … when people hear what they’re accustomed to hearing, they get a warm, fuzzy feeling.”
British Invasion Years When: Saturday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m. Where: Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry Tickets: $39 at tupelohall.com
• Denver-bound: Forget that it’s another week until Thanksgiving and just enjoy Rocky Mountain High Experience, a John Denver Christmas concert with singer/guitarist Rick Schuler serving as doppelgänger. His show intertwines hits like “Country Roads” and “Leaving On A Jet Plane” with standards including “Aspenglow,” “Joy to the World” and “Away in a Manger.” Thursday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m., Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua, $64 and up at etix.com.
• Funny femmes: Two comedians who took different paths to standup appear at Ladies of Laughter. Patty Rosborough is a veteran comic whose first professional credit was Jon Stewart’s pre-Daily Show effort Short Attention Span Theatre; Liz Glazer was a tenured law professor before ultra-pivoting into comedy. Glazer’s act draws on her life as a lesbian, a lawyer and a rabbi’s wife. Friday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $35 at palacetheatre.org.
• Turducken rock: A classic rock mashup is on the menu as Not Fade Away Band tops its usual Grateful Dead cover act with The Who and Led Zeppelin. The first run of what the group is calling Who’s Dead Zeppelin was a success in early October. Here’s a trivia question: Did all three of these tributed acts do the Buddy Holly song that gave NFA their name, or just The Dead? Saturday, Nov. 23, 9 p.m., Stone Church, 5 Granite St., Newmarket, $15 at stonechurchrocks.com.
• Blues afternoon: A fixture on the regional scene for more than five decades, Alan Roux brings his blues guitar to a favorite seafood place. Enjoy some lobster paired with tasty riffs, as The Roux Duo rolls out classics like “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Natural High” to provide a welcome respite from whatever the Patriots might be doing against the Dolphins. Sunday, Nov. 24, 2 p.m., Makris Lobster & Steak House, 354 Sheep Davis Road, Concord. Visit facebook.com/AlanRouxBand.
• Downtown jam: A weekly music meetup is hosted by One Dime Band, a much-lauded combo who recently released a new album, Live Hustle. Surprisingly, all but one of the LP’s 11 songs are originals; they cover Willie Dixon’s “Let Me Love You.” At this Stormy Monday jam, the band backs any instrumentalists or singers brave enough to get up and perform for the forgiving crowd. Monday, Nov. 25, 7 p.m., Keys Piano Bar, 1087 Elm St., Manchester, keysmanch.com.
