At the Bennington Rhubarb festival: “We’re ‘All Rhubarb, All the Time’,” said Festival coordinator Molly Eppig. You should expect to eat, drink, and be immersed completely by rhubarb. Every event at the festival is rhubarb-themed.
Eppig said this is partially because of rhubarb’s community-themed social history.
“One of its nicknames is the Neighbor Plant. Going back to Colonial days, [if] you’d move into a new place, the neighbors would give you rhubarb. You might show up with just the clothes on your back, and the neighbors would say, ‘Let me give you some rhubarb to grow in your own garden.’”
But why a rhubarb festival?
“In 2013 my neighbor and I took it upon ourselves to start a festival for two reasons,” Eppig said. One reason was that Bennington didn’t have a festival at the time, and the other was to raise money for the town library’s Building Fund. “Looking at other festivals in towns around us, we noticed that they tended to be later in the summer — and that meant rhubarb. It’s [ready to pick] before the strawberries; it’s before the blueberries.”
The people in charge of The Festival, including Eppig, have put a great deal of thought into the different ways in which rhubarb can be celebrated, and over the years the number of events has grown, all with rhubarb as a priority.
“The very first Rhubarb Festival we ever held [in 2013] was basically a bake table, and we’ve grown from there,” said Eppig. The Bake Table continues to be the most popular attraction at the Festival.
“I’ve had people call me at seven in the morning and ask me if there will be pie to buy,” Eppig said, then answered rhetorically, with forced patience, “Yeeess.” This is the area where local bakers have really let their imaginations take flight. There are rhubarb pies for sale, of course, but bars as well, and coffee cakes, muffins and more.
The most prestigious event, though, is the pie contest.
“I can’t go a spring without making [rhubarb] pie,” Eppig said. “Everyone loves pie; I can’t imagine what kind of person wouldn’t.”
There is also a Rhubarb General Store at the Festival, where different rhubarb products are sold: fresh rhubarb stalks, jams, jellies and rhubarb crowns, “if no neighbor has given you any rhubarb to plant in your own garden,” Epping said. There is also a Drink Your Rhubarb tent in the afternoon, where people can buy or sample rhubarb-orange juice, rhubarb soda, rhubarb beer and rhubarb wine.
“That’s always an eye-opener,” said Eppig. “People are so surprised that such good wine can be made from rhubarb.” There is a rhubarb wine contest the preceding day with entries from New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts. “As far as I know, we have the only rhubarb wine contest anywhere,” Eping said.
A crowd favorite is a traditional “Hollering” contest. “Hollering is an old New England farming tradition,” Eppig said. “In the old days, the men and the older sons would be out in the fields, and women needed to be able to call out to them.” There was a certain prestige in the day to being a strong hollerer. The Festival has divisions for husband-hollering and wife-hollering, but Eppig says the children’s division is far and away the most popular — “Apparently, we have some very loud children.”
Bennington Rhubarb Festival When: Saturday, June 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Sawyer Memorial Park, 148 Route 202, Bennington Admission: free, with free parking. Schedule of events: townofbennington.com/rhubarb-festival
Take in the natural and artistic beauty at Andres Institute
By Zachary Lewis zlewis@hippopress.com
The Andres Institute of Art (106 Route 13, Brookline) sits on the site of a former ski lodge and granite quarry and consists of 140 acres, 12 miles of trail, and countless opportunities to encounter the sublime on a hike through art and nature. It’s “a beautiful setting, it’s gorgeous,” said Kristi St. Laurent, President of the Institute.
Andres was founded in 1998 by engineer philanthropist Paul Andres and Master Sculptor John Weidman. In 1999 they held the first International Annual Bridges and Connections Sculpture Symposium, which is where typically around three sculptors from all over the world are invited to Brookline for a few weeks to create magnificent sculpture.
Andres Institute of Art also hosts an art gallery and performance space for a myriad styles of music, from bluegrass to jazz to classical, a decision made to reflect the wide array of artistic styles represented here.
“The former ski lodge is now our welcome center,” St. Laurent said.
One hundred sculptures are on permanent display, made by artists hailing from 50 different countries. The trails where the sculptures are placed are open for free to the public any day of the year.
“You can just park your car and walk the trails,” St. Laurent said. “You don’t have to come here planning on doing 12 miles. There really is too much to see in one day, definitely.” On the Institutes’s website is a link to the app and website Trailforks, which contains a detailed map of the trails. Maps can be downloaded, or can be picked up on location.
The studio is set up for metal and stone work.
“It’s just John that’s working in the studio except for during the symposium; then the visiting artists are there,” St. Laurent said. In 2023, Weidman received the New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Award for Distinguished Leadership.
Weidman has lately been building a cupola, a furnace that can melt iron, for the 2024 Spring Iron Melt, set to take place on Saturday, June 1. Another Melt takes place in the fall.
For the Melt, essentially, participants purchase a mold, which is a 12- by 12-inch “brick” that has a 6- by 6-inch square inset that designs can be carved into with a “nail” provided by the Institute or with their own tools. On the day of the pour, each mold is coated in graphite to ease the eventual iron release, “which is like spraying a cooking pan … so that your brownies come out of the pan,” St. Laurent said. Once the iron is poured, what’s left is a half-inch-thick, 6-inch by 6-inch iron tile. “It has their design cast into it…. Some people bought them as Christmas presents.”
Details on how to sign up for future Iron Melts are on the Andres website.
The trails at Andres transform with the arrival of spring and summer.
“The change in the park in just the last week with all the leaves coming out and the flowers, it’s so beautiful,” St. Laurent said. “Even when the parking lot is full you still might not run into anybody. … It’s nice and quiet and peaceful. It’s a great place to take kids.”
More field trips are heading to Andres as well.
“I ask the kids, ‘What are the normal rules at a museum?’ and they’re like, ‘No running, we have to be quiet, don’t touch anything.’ and I said, ‘All those rules are out the window!’ and they love it. You can run, you can be loud, you can touch the art, you can take a selfie with it, you can climb on it, it’s great,” St. Laurent said. This rule applies no matter which direction or trail is taken, and apart from the art, the world around it can be considered an installation piece.
“The money view is up at the summit with the sculpture called the Phoenix, and that was from the very first symposium…. You can look out and see Mt. Monadnock and some of the other mountains in the distance and it’s absolutely gorgeous,” she said. Dogs on-leash are welcome to sniff and zoom with their owners here too.
St. Laurent’s favorite sculpture sits on the quarry trail near the quarry pond: “A human figure made out of rebar and other types of metal. I just love that one. That one’s called ‘Monument [II].’ It’s actually by a woman artist, Alexandra Limpert from New York…. Although there are many, many close runner-ups.”
In an artist statement about that piece, Limbert said she aimed to “translate the human form into metal lines, grids and compartments. This random vocabulary defines the entity beneath the façade. The exposed construction of each piece also reveals my process. Much like architecture under construction, my sculptures are anonymous monuments in states of transition.”
Encountering all the beauty, man-made and from nature, is what the Andres Institute of Art wants for their visitors.
“Part of the mission of the Andres is to get people in contact with art,” St. Laurent said. “That’s what we’re trying to do on a daily basis: art and nature.”
Spring Iron Melt 2024 Where: 106 Route 13, Brookline When: Saturday, June 1, approximately from noon to 1 p.m. More: andresinstitute.org, 673-7441
Gen X didn’t see it coming, despite the harbingers: internet reminders that the first Lollapalooza Festival was closer in years to the Kennedy assassination than to today, or Pearl Jam getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. As they were reeling from reeling in the years, the arrival of ’90s tribute bands was to many of them a hard (blue) pill to swallow.
Some of the acts that formed weren’t surprising. With Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Scott Weiland all dead and gone, Priceless Advice and Sick Season, devoted to Nirvana and Alice In Chains respectively, and Stone Temple Posers hella made sense. And Oasis likely won’t reunite anytime soon, so it’s not trippin’ to cover “Wonderwall” in the interim.
But what of those still performing, like Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters, Radiohead and the aforementioned Pearl Jam, each of which boasts one or more doppelgangers? Even Smashing Pumpkins; a band called Recent History does them. Apparently, all these objects of affection take it in stride and are unbothered about losing any business.
Collective Soul is on the road with Hootie & the Blowfish, with a tour stopping at Fenway Park and Bank of NH Pavilion before the summer ends. In an interview to advance the upcoming shows, their front man Ed Roland was surprised to hear about the existence of Reflective Soul, based in Dallas, Texas — but grateful.
“You can’t help but love it. I’m so honored,” Roland said. “Just being here 30 years and on top of that somebody thinks enough of you to go, all right, we’ll play some of their catalog. It boosts the ego up when you walk in a bar, and somebody is playing one of your songs. You’re like, ‘Wow, I really did have a hit.’”
It’s a hot topic in New England that’s spawned organizations like Covering New England, a tribute-centric company with a growing roster of acts like Crush, a Dave Matthews Band tribute, and White Belts, who play emo songs by Taking Back Sunday, Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World, among others.
Covering New England’s Tristan Law thinks the decade is having a moment for a couple of reasons.
“First, a lot of those really seminal albums are having their 25th and 30th anniversaries, so they’re in the news, and you have a lot of people like me — late 30s, early 40s — who came up in that decade and have a special nostalgia for that time,” he said. “How many people’s first CD was Dookie?’”
Law added that while a lot of ’90s stars are still touring, with tickets now costing hundreds of dollars fans are more selective about going to giant concerts.
“Now, you can go see a really good Dave Matthews Band tribute for twenty bucks and still have a great time. That, and the ’90s f-in ruled; why wouldn’t you want to go back then for a few hours?”
At TributePalooza, an all-day show in Warren on July 6, many ’90s acts will perform, including Jagged Little Thrill doing Alanis Morissette, Social Destruction playing the music of Social Distortion, and Stone Temple Posers, along with two other tribute acts that Gen X is a bit more chillax with doing Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC covers.
Here are thoughts from six bands bringing back the decade that witnessed the internet’s rise and the decline of the music business, along with a lot of great and varied music.
Tributepalooza happens Saturday, July 6, at Melody Mountain Farm, 161 Lake Tarleton Road, Warren, $35 at melodymountainfarm.com
Giving 110 percent – Neon 90s
Neon 90s
When it formed, the North Shore-based band Neon 90s wore flannel shirts and leaned into grunge. Later they switched to jean jackets and shades upon realizing there was more to mining the ’90s than Nirvana’s “Lithium.” They became an all-purpose tribute act, determined to hit every high point, from Soundgarden to Garth Brooks.
“We figured let’s take on the entire decade, and smash as many songs as we can into a set,” said John Goodhue, who sings and plays lead guitar with the band, which includes Michael Parsons on bass, drummer Steve Russo and Guy Cloutman on lead guitar.
On any given night the quartet moves from Foo Fighters’ “Learn To Fly” to Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5” and tosses in “Semi-Charmed Life” from Third Eye Blind for spice. Their showstopper is a gender-bending version of Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like A Woman.” They even do Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” and “Wannabe” from the Spice Girls.
Setlists reflect Goodhue’s own tastes.
“All my favorite songs, mostly, are from the ’90s,” he said. “The Top 40 was spread so far off the different genres, you had major pop songs, country songs, grunge came into the mix, even hip-hop. It was a decade where you saw so many different kinds of music really hit the spot.”
Like a lot of similar bands, members of Neon 90s have additional musical projects. Russo plays in Mile 21, a North Shore reggae and ska group, as well as a Top 40 band called Mystery Meat. “Our guitar player Gary has been in several cover bands and original bands, as well as Mike and me,” Goodhue, who also spent a few years on the West Coast playing in different bands, said.
When Neon 90s hits the stage, one of their favorites is “Possum Kingdom” by the Toadies. “It’s a really fun song to play, and it’s kind of challenging, too,” Goodhue said. They’ll also take a shot at audience suggestions, or at least try.
“Sometimes we get requests that aren’t ’90s, like people missed the memo,” he said. “My favorite song was actually requested for us to learn for a wedding, ‘What’s Up’ by 4 Non Blondes. We’ve kept it in our set because it always goes over well, and everyone sings along.”
Neon 90s appear in Hampton Beach on Saturday, July 6 at Wally’s Pub and on Sunday, July 14 at Bernie’s Beach Bar
Worldwide Californication – Red NOT Chili Peppers
Red NOT Chili Peppers
One of the longest-running ’90s tribute acts is also among the most successful. Red NOT Chili Peppers formed in 2009 in Southern California, where the Red Hot Chili Peppers rose to fame. The lineup has changed several times over the years, but the present band — Paul Moffat on bass, guitarist Greg Loman, Pete Koopmans on drums and singer David Vives — has been steady for a while. Vives is the newest member; he joined in 2021.
Red NOT Chili Peppers are unique for being a nationally touring act. Actually, they’ve performed in such far-flung places as Dubai. Much of this success is due to the quality of their act.
“The biggest undertaking with the Chili Peppers is having players who not only can learn the songs,” Loman said in a sit-down band interview prior to a show in Portsmouth. “They have to recreate the tones, the energy, the look, and the vibe.”
Beyond that, the group found its way to Providence Music Group, a Rhode Island-based agency focused on tribute bands, everything from Sublime to Johnny Cash, along with Elton John, Guns N’ Roses, and Linkin Park. When Moffat joined in the mid-2010s, he’d also taken over as manager. Koopmans, who was in the band before Moffat, became their booking agent.
Together, they realized their group didn’t fit a conventional niche, and it was impacting their ability to get gigs.
“Paul and I took a really hard look at the business, and I basically took the band to several different agencies, as our agent then had retired and we were unhappy with him anyway,” Koopmans said. Their agency at the time was “probably 90 percent original bands and 10 percent tributes, and I never felt like they quite understood what to do with us. They would just wait for offers to come in.”
Since making the change, bookings have doubled, “and we’ve watched attendance grow at shows too,” Koopmans said. “I don’t think that’s all attributed to the booking agent in general. I think a lot of that is just us finding the right places to play. But the product is getting a lot better.”
“And the name getting out there, man,” Moffat added. “It’s a good name, and people remember it.”
It’s almost too good — that’s why Moffat and Loman, who helps with the band’s graphic design, modified the logo so the word “NOT” is uppercase. “We were getting ourselves into some trouble,” Koopmans said. “Not by the real band, but by people buying tickets and being pissed all the time that they’d been duped.”
Once, when the band played New York City’s Highline Ballroom, ticket presales exploded, recalled Moffat, probably due to a hopeful case of mistaken identity. “We played the show, and the room was half full,” he said. “In all likelihood, some scalpers scooped up all the tickets when they saw it, because they didn’t look carefully enough. We thought it was a great way to get back at scalpers.”
Fans that come to see them run the gamut.
“Some want to hear Freaky Stylie, others want stuff from Stadium Arcadium,” Loman said. “You watch them all kind of light up, with whatever era or song that you’re playing. It’s just so interesting to then talk to them after and they’ll be like, ‘Oh man, when I was growing up, the most important album of my life, that blew my mind, was Blood Sugar Sex Magic.’ Then another one’s like, ‘Dude, Californication was my favorite’ and another one’s Stadium Arcadium. It goes through the generations in such a wonderful way.”
Singer Vives echoed Loman. “My favorite thing is how passionate fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers are,” he said. “It’s so easy to connect with them about the shared joy of living this music together. They’re showing up, and we all have the same goal. There’s no need convincing them to have a good time.”
Moffat is happiest when a wary fan takes a chance. “It’s like, ‘I had no expectations. It was 20 bucks, it’s a band that I love, I thought you guys were going to suck, and I came in and I was blown away,’” he said. “That’s all I really want, you know. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Red NOT Chili Peppers will appear on Friday, Aug. 9, at Wally’s Pub in Hampton Beach.
Double duty – Yellow LedVedder/Your Honor
Yellow LedVedder
Few bands challenge aspiring tribute acts like Pearl Jam. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are not only still performing, but the Seattle grunge heroes also released a new album this year. The record, Dark Matter, caused one critic to exclaim, “the faithful will rejoice, and the PJ fall stadium tour is completely sold out.
The latter fact is a principal reason that a band like Yellow LedVedder is even viable. In fact, one of their biggest gigs happened in a bar across the street from Fenway Park, where Pearl Jam was playing that night.
“It was one of the most amazing experiences,” Ben Kilcollins, the band’s lead vocalist, said in a recent phone interview. “We had a lot of people saying, ‘Oh, we couldn’t get tickets, so we figured we’d just come down and kind of listen outside of Fenway, then we saw that you guys were here.”
Ever the fans, Kilcollins and his bandmates had one eye on the door all night. “The whole time we’re hoping, Pearl Jam’s around here, maybe they’ll come in, but it never happened,” he recalled. “The best dream come true in the world is just to get an affirmation of, ‘Hey, guys, we see what you’re doing, keep up the good work.’ Even if it was a cease and desist, it’d just be good to hear from the band that they know you exist.”
Playing songs by a band that’s still here is a feature, not a bug.
“A lot of the other bands are paying tribute to guys who weren’t around for very long, but I think it helps that Pearl Jam is still on tour,” Kilcollins said. “Instead of guessing, like Nirvana, what would they be doing now, we already have an answer. It’s what they were playing yesterday.”
Kilcollins continued that miming Vedder, who’s near 60 and still “running around on stage, jumping on people’s shoulders and doing the exact same thing he was doing 30 years ago” also motivates his band, which includes bassist Andy Aikens, Joel Amsden and Pete Risano on guitars and drummer Jason Young. “Eddie’s leaving kids in the dust, he’s still running around the entire band,” he said. “I try to bring to our shows that aspect of their high energy.”
Lending weight to that assertion is the band’s latest endeavor.
“The day Taylor Hawkins died, we decided to put on a Foo Fighters tribute,” Kilcollins said. It was planned as a one-off, but they’ve done four or five shows in the past two years. “We try to pick and choose where we do it, because we don’t want to oversaturate…. We’ll play a full set of Pearl Jam stuff, take a break, and then do a full set of Foo Fighters, kind of opening for ourselves.”
Yellow LedVedder’s summer schedule is under construction. See @yellowledvedderband on Instagram for more.
Originalists – Crush, a Dave Matthews Tribute Band
Crush
Though the Dave Matthews Band is still out on tour, with two sold out Meadowbrook shows happening this summer, it’s not the same group that set the world on fire in 1994 with its debut album Under the Table and Dreaming. When violin player Boyd Tinsley departed in 2018, he wasn’t replaced, and DMB took on a different sound.
That’s made Crush, a DMB tribute band based in Boston, a vital link to the past. It includes a Tinsley doppelganger, sans any scandalous baggage, in the form of fiddler Abe Dewing, which keeps songs like “Ants Marching” and “What Would You Say” true to their origins. That’s just the beginning of what makes Crush a solid draw in New England. They also achieve a look and feel that sets it apart from other efforts
“I think some tribute bands will play note for note, and do exactly what the actual bands do, even on the recordings,” Matt Salito, who plays guitar in Crush, said recently. “There’s certainly a skill to that, but I think part of the fun of being in our band is we take some of those songs and we add our own style to it. We change it just enough where you know it’s Crush playing the song.”
They’re careful not to book too close to any DMB appearances, partly because there’s a decent chance they’ll be buying tickets, but also, they’re realistic. “We realize they’re going to be more of a draw than a tribute band,” he said. Besides, they wouldn’t want to miss a tailgate party. “We meet other people at those shows, and we’re like, ‘Hey, we play a lot in the late summer, in the fall, even in the winter when Dave’s not really doing his thing anymore. So come check us out.”
Salito started Crush as an acoustic duo with Brett Huntley after the two were introduced through a mutual friend in 2011.
“We met at his apartment in South Boston at the time and played a few songs, exchanged information and tried to make arrangements to play again,” Salito recalled. “Along the way, we started seeing a couple other tribute bands to Dave. We really liked what they were doing, and we [thought] we can try to give this a shot ourselves too and see how it plays out.”
After playing a high school graduation party for a family friend, the idea of a full band gained momentum. Crush played its first show in October 2011. There’s been a few lineup shuffles, but Crush has stayed the same in recent years. That’s allowed them to become a more cohesive unit, Salito continued.
“We’ve developed a little family within the band, and I think you can see that vibe on stage,” he said. “We’re really feeling like we’re in a good place as to the songs we’re choosing and the parts we’re playing, and how we’re meshing as a unit. And really being a part of the audience in a sense; even as the performers, that’s important. I think that’s part of our draw too.”
Crush, A Dave Matthews Tribute Band appears Friday, July 26, at Cisco Brewers in Portsmouth.
All in the family – Stone Temple Posers
Stone Temple Posers
Olaf Westphalen was a modern country music fan when his 12-year-old stepson John convinced him to listen to a few Soundgarden and Nirvana songs. The stepdad enjoyed it, and really locked into Stone Temple Pilots upon hearing them the first time. By the early 2000s, Olaf and John were playing in cover bands together, including Wretched Von Krank, The Nerve, and Cold Comfort.
Most satisfying, though, is Stone Temple Posers, a tribute to you guessed it, which played its first show in 2015 and has been a solid area draw since, with stepfather and stepson a bass/drums rhythm section, guitarist Paul Ouellette, and lead singer Hal White rounding out the group. Prior to the Posers, Olaf and Ouellette were briefly in STP tribute act Crown of Apathy; Westphalen was in Stone Temple Aviators and SiN after that.
John Westphalen began playing music when his stepdad gave him a Ludwig drum kit that belonged to his uncle, who also played in a band. “I always liked the drums, and Dave Grohl; I was a big Nirvana guy,” he said by phone recently. Though his new kit was a bit beat up, he didn’t mind. “Don’t get much more grunge than a rusty drum set.”
He stuck with it, and after his parents bought him a brand-new Tama kit, “I’ve been playing ever since.”
Before Weiland died, John Westphalen had a couple of chances to see him live with STP. “I saw them at Casino Ballroom, and it was one of the best shows,” he said. “Of course, he was an hour late, but he was engaged with the crowd, and they sounded awesome. He looked like he was enjoying himself. Then I saw him again in Gilford. He wasn’t nearly as engaged and seemed like he didn’t want to be there. I think they broke up for the final time like three months after that show.”
In addition to being a lot of fun, Stone Temple Posers is the young Westphalen’s longest-running band still boasting every member. It’s also the only one he’s in at this point.
“It used to be me, Olaf and Paul, and then we’d have a hard time finding a singer that would just show up, do the shows,” he said. “Hal, he’s been perfect, very easy-going. If we have a show coming up, we’ll practice the Monday before and just make sure we tighten up a little bit, and then we’ll play. Bang. No messing around.”
Their common bond is love for a big sound from a great decade.
“We’re a bunch of guys that really just enjoy that era in music,” he said. “We know other people do too, and we really try to give it justice by sounding like Stone Temple Pilots but also having our own little sound to it, too. So it’s not just a complete knockoff.”
Stone Temple Posers appear Wednesday, June 26, at Plaistow Town Common in Plaistow.
Straddling the Decade – White Belts
White Belts
If Lollapalooza signaled the start of the ’90s, the Vans Warped Tour helped usher it out. White Belts, a band that hosts Emo Night at the Press Room in Portsmouth and plays throughout New England, aims to keep that spirit alive by reliving as much of that moment as it can.
“We consider ourselves an emo tribute band,” drummer Matt Wishnack said during a phone interview that included White Belts bass player Tom Sargent. “Emo encapsulates the rise of Hot Topic, Newbury Comics and alternative music, which kind of molded itself in that time period.”
As to the bands they cover, “you get a lot of Jimmy Eat World, Under Oath, Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory, and we get some pop punk stuff like Blink-182,” Sargent said. “Taking Back Sunday is a main staple, as is My Chemical Romance. I think we’d all be shocked if we didn’t play one song from them in our shows.”
Wishnack added Fall Out Boy to this list of “tentpole bands.”
Audiences tend to be in their mid-20s to early 30s; a little early to start reliving their youth, but nostalgia has an odd pull that White Belts tries to honor.
“We want people to have a similar reaction to seeing us as they would actually seeing Taking Back Sunday,” Wishnack said. “Which obviously is impossible, but you can see the difference when people are reacting to you that way and when they’re just reacting to a cover band.”
When they play Emo Night at the Press Room, they’ll bring along a like-minded band, like Mall Cops or Summer Cult, who played at last year’s Boston Calling. At the next scheduled event on July 6, the Boston-based band We Demand Parachutes will appear.
White Belts includes, along with Wishnack and Sargent, lead singer Derek Bunker and guitarists Nick Grieco and Kyle Kowalsky. All true believers, which, Wishnack stressed, is what makes them unique.
“What separates us from some other bands is we feel like we really represent the music and the bands that we’re covering well. If you’re going to create a block to make you feel like you’re at Warped Tour for two hours without actually going, this is as close as you can get.”
Added Sargent, “and you won’t need sunscreen.”
White Belts hosts Emo Night with We Demand Parachutes on Saturday, July 6, at The Press Room in Portsmouth.
The 47th Northern New England Book Fair will be held at the Everett Arena in Concord on Sunday, June 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Collections of books include fantasy and science fiction, classic fiction, modern novels, historical books, leather-bound books and ephemera from the 1600s to the 21st century. Organizer Richard Mori discusses the fair. See moribooks.com.
What led you to believe that young people are still into books?
Kids are 60 percent of my business today. Under 30, 60 percent of my business. I’m constantly being told by old people, which I’m one of, that kids don’t read anymore, kids don’t like books, and I’ve always said that that’s not true. Young people are into books…. Not so much a discovery, it’s an observation. I do 40 shows a year around the country. …Kids are buying books. When I say kids, I mean under 30.
Where do you find all of your books?
My general answer to that is I find books wherever I go. I’ve been buying books since I was 12. The obvious places are library sales, at bookstores, flea markets. They’re everyplace. Certainly you’ll find books at thrift stores, yard sales. I’ve found books in restaurants, to be honest. There are restaurants with book themes or library themes. Every once in a while in those kinds of places you can find a good book that’s accidentally been put in the collection. But I don’t buy just any book. I’m looking for books of interest, books that people want for their collection.
What makes a book technically an antique?
In general, an antique is something that’s 100 years old. In the book world, it’s not so much about age as subject matter and collectability. To give you the very obvious example: Harry Potter. Harry Potter was first published in 1997 or 1998, so that’s a fairly recent phenomenon. I would love to find the very first printing of the London edition of the first book because there are only 500 copies and that book today is worth over $50,000.
What is the oldest book you have to sell?
I have books from the 1600s. Generally those tend to be religious in nature. But actually there are many books published in the 1600s that were not religious in nature. The earliest books often are religious in nature and I have probably one or two of those sitting around. It’s very common to find books from the 1700s, 1800s, early 1800s. I bought in Akron, Ohio, Thomas Jefferson’s book published in 1813 … Parliamentary Procedure for the United States Senate. … I bought it in Akron in April and just sold it in May.
Why do older books get that special, unique smell that only older books have?
It’s the paper. What most people don’t understand, early paper, and that’s where people have this love for the odor of books, is handmade. Paper before 1830, for the most part, is made from old rag, actually. Rag was pulverized and liquified and then made into paper. That, I think, is where that odor comes from.
Is there a book that you’ve been looking for that you have not come across yet?
Actually, there is. I’ve been a collector of Boy Scout history, specifically books, since I was 12 years old. I actually sold my Boy Scout handbook collection to a gentleman in California and I was missing one key element to that collection which was called the ‘fortnightlies.’ Those are the original six-part pamphlets that were … by Baden-Powell in England back in 1907. Two years after I sold that collection, I found the ‘fortnightlies,’ the originals, but I had only found five. So I’m still looking for the sixth issue, or one of the six issues … to complete that collection. It’s not so rare that I’ll never find it, but they were published in England so very few of them came to the United States, so they’re very very hard to find here in this country.
What drives you to hold all these different book fairs and events?
Part of it is the love of books. Two, is to continue the opportunity for the public and people to find the books they’re looking for. The nice thing about a book show is that booksellers from all over come together to show what they have and to offer it for sale to the public. In the book community, we have this wonderful social activity. Books bring people together from all different walks of life. — Zachary Lewis
According to a recent press release, data from the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) “Electric Power Monthly” report shows that residential electric rates in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have increased at a substantially greater rate than those in New Hampshire from 2017 to 2024.
Based on a cents-per kilowatt-hour basis for residential customers, Rhode Island rates have increased 127 percent more than New Hampshire’s, Connecticut rates have increased 94 percent more than New Hampshire’s, Massachusetts rates have increased 83 percent more than New Hampshire’s and Maine rates have increased 70 percent more than New Hampshire’s.
At the moment, Eversource residential customers in Boston pay a per kilowatt-hour rate 77 percent higher than Granite Staters, while Connecticut Eversource residential customers pay a rate 45 percent higher, which translates to an average household in New Hampshire using 625 kilowatt hours a month paying $50 to $90 less per month than those in Connecticut or Massachusetts. Visit eia.gov to view the report.
Mont Vernon house named Historic Place
In a recent press release, the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources announced that the U.S. Secretary of the Interior has listed Mont Vernon’s Old Meetinghouse in the National Register of Historic Places due to its architecture and service to the community as a center for town functions and as a place of worship.
Mont Vernon’s Old Meetinghouse was built in 1781-82 to serve that dual purpose and is located in the center of one of the few hilltop villages in New Hampshire, according to the same release. Most residents refer to it as the Mont Vernon Town Hall.
In 1837, the Meetinghouse was moved across the street to where it resides today. Renovations were made that included the clear delineation of the church sanctuary and the town office areas to comply with New Hampshire’s Toleration Act of 1819, which required a separation of church and state, according to the release.
It was built as a Georgian-era twin-porch meetinghouse, but with the renovations in 1837, aspects of Greek Revival style, popular in New England at the time, were added, including a broad gable front with closed pediment, a bell tower, and simple door and window surrounds, according to the press release.
In 1915 a mechanical clock was installed inside the two-stage bell tower’s square base and was topped by an octagonal belfry and a dome copper roof with a decorative weathervane, according to the release.
Mont Vernon’s Old Meetinghouse has kept many of its interior historic features from its 19th-century renovations, including plaster walls, wood floors, triple beadboard wainscotting and beadboard ceilings, according to the same release. Today, town offices make their homes on the first floor and the Mont Vernon Historical Society Museum on the second, according to the release.
More information on the National Register program in New Hampshire can be found at nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov.
More visitors to NH
In a recent press release the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, Division of Travel and Tourism (DTTD), announced it is anticipating an estimated 4.8 million people will visit New Hampshire this summer and expecting those visitors to spend around $2.6 billion.
This would be a 3 percent growth in the number of people visiting the Granite State from last year.
In a statement, NH Travel and Tourism Director Lori Harnois said that “while this past year marked a return to normal levels for leisure travel, nationally growth in that area is expected to be about 2.5%, and according to our research New Hampshire should follow that trend. … New Hampshire should see an added boost resulting from accelerated visitation from Canada. Canada is New Hampshire’s top international market, so this is very positive news for us, and we are anticipating a robust summer tourism season.” For more information, go to visitnh.gov.
Scholarship for nurses
In a recent press release, FedPoint, a benefits marketplace operator and third-party administrator, announced the four recipients of the $5,000 2024 FedPoint Nursing Scholarship, chosen from a field of more than 150 applicants. All are graduating high school students who will enter an accredited nursing program this fall.
The 2024 FedPoint Nursing Scholarship recipients are Callie Rocheleau, from Farmington High School; Annabelle Shumway, from Epping High School; Lauren Varney, from Sanborn Regional High School, and Anna Windisch, from Londonderry Senior High School, according to the release.
An award ceremony at FedPoint’s headquarters was held in Portsmouth on Tuesday, May 7, during National Nurses Week, according to the release.
On Saturday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friends of Goffstown Public Library will host a book sale on the Library lawn (2 High St., Goffstown), according to their website. A $10 bag sale (bring your own reusable shopping bag) takes place from 1 to 2 p.m. Books are sorted and categorized, according to the website. Visit goffstownlibrary.com.
Join Special Olympics New Hampshire for its 2024 State Summer Games on Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The games include competition in athletics, bocce, equestrian, powerlifting, unified sprint triathlons and swimming. Visit sonh.org.
Celebrate National Trails Day with Beaver Brook (117 Ridge Road, Hollis, beaverbrook.org) on Saturday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants will help with the annual tradition of trail work, with a focus on cutting back branches encroaching on a trail, according to the website. Participants can park on Iron Works Lane by the Hollis-Jeff Smith Trailhead. Beaver Brook will provide necessary tools and snacks and will have extra work gloves just in case.
The Palace Theatres’ Kitchen Tour (Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org) will take place Sunday, June 2, with a self-guided tour featuring beautiful kitchens in Bedford, Goffstown and Hooksett. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. at Granite State Cabinetry (384 Route 101, Bedford, 472-4080, gscabinetry.com). Tickets cost $55 in advance, $65 on the day of the event.
In the middle of the 1980s, a contingent of bands emerged from a swamp of big hair and overproduction that were hell bent on rocking out, like Boston’s Del Fuegos, Georgia Satellites and the Plimsouls. Among those championing the no-nonsense, garage rock sound was BoDeans, whose first single, “Fadeaway,” was all over MTV in 1986.
Nearly four decades on, the Milwaukee quartet is still touring and making albums; their latest is 4 the Last Time, released in 2022. A 10-day run includes two New Hampshire shows; a near sold out night at Jimmy’s in Portsmouth on Thursday, May 23, and an appearance the following evening at the Nashua Center for the Arts.
In a recent phone interview, BoDeans front man Kurt Neumann described his band’s setlists as spanning six decades of music, because they include a cover of “Drift Away,” a Dobie Gray hit from the ’70s that’s there for its sing-along quality, and because it represents a bygone, enchanting time for Neumann.
“It really pulls a lot together as far as where I came from as a songwriter,” he said of the song, and recalled being glued to the radio as a kid. “It was my escape from the world, and songs like ‘Drift Away’ really took me there. I’m bringing it back to that place for the audience and remembering how much music has played a part in our lives.”
Sets stretch to two and a half hours and draw from each of the band’s 14 albums, infectious songs like “You Don’t Get Much,” “Good Things” and “Closer To Free,” which became the theme song for Party of Five. It wasn’t their only foray into television; he wrote music for the Netflix series The Ranch, which ran from 2016 to 2020. Neumann was recruited for the show, which starred Ashton Kutcher, Debra Winger and Sam Elliot, and was set in rural Colorado.
“Both of the producers were big fans of BoDeans music, and they wanted to make music a good part of the show, so I was constantly writing stuff,” Neumann said. The showrunners would tell him what they wanted, like a song with a small-town theme, and he’d write a few versions. “It was the first time anyone was really giving me cues … before, it was always like, what should I write about today?”
Neumann also contributed instrumental pieces. “It was nice to work with a bunch of different people like that on a show,” he continued. “To experience the process of what they’re doing, and then adding to that musically … I really enjoyed it.”
Asked how he feels about touring as the BoDeans near a 40th anniversary, Neumann replied, “we keep evolving, even with the old material, we try to reinvent it in an interesting way. Then we always have the crowd making everything fresh and new. They’re looking forward to hearing the songs and singing with you. It all works together to keep you interested in moving forward with the music.”
Though the new album’s title hinted at a potential end to new BoDeans music, Neumann is still writing songs and feeling a creative spark.
“It has kind of a double meaning — one of the songs on the record is called ‘For the Last Time’ and it’s about ending a relationship,” he said. “But as you get older, putting these records out, it’s changed so much. You never know what I was trying to imply with the title. You never know how many records you’re going to get to make. I will say that I have about 20 new songs recorded and ready to come out. So there will be one more at least.”
BoDeans w/ Chris Trapper When: Friday, May 24, 8 p.m. Where: Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua Tickets: $29 to $49 at etix.com
Featured photo: BoDeans. Photo by Lucia J. Bilotti.
