Category: Featured Content

Original music on tap

Lakes Region brewery hosts Charlie Chronopoulos

Amidst the challenges of 2020, Twin Barns Brewing Co. in Meredith continued to offer live music along with craft beer. That is scheduled to continue on Jan. 8 when singer-songwriter Charlie Chronopoulos appears, on the heels of a new album he released at year’s end.

Chronopoulos said in a recent phone interview that the seven starkly rendered songs on Chesty Rollins’ Dead End reflect daily life struggles he sees in his home state of New Hampshire.

“There’s this backward narrative of poverty around this area,” he said. “A lot of these are real stories that I wove into a record. … I would call it northern rock and soul.”

He carefully alludes to the shame and desperation of addiction on “Solomons” and “God In The Details,” then confronts it head on in “Middlesex,” a loping shuffle that recalls a former band member lost to heroin. “He went to Hollywood and found a rubber band,” Chronopoulos sings. “Coming of age, it came and went.”

Punctuated by deft fingerpicked guitar riffs, “Glass Factory” lays out the themes haunting the record. “I can tell you all about the fragile things we make,” Chronopoulos sings in a near-wail. “They spend their lives about to break, should stay up on the shelf.”

Much of the storytelling comes from his theater experience. Among other projects, Chronopoulos worked with American Repertory Theatre on Witness Uganda, which later went to Broadway as Invisible Thread.

“A lot of the cast overlapped with the team that worked on Hamilton,” he said. “So I got to see that take off.”

The raw honesty in his lyrics also reflects a decision to pursue an artist’s life close to home — “a lounge singer, that’s what I am, I’m not some touring national act” — and what he’s been exposed to as a result.

“I play a lot of rural bars, and I see the other side of things,” he said. “I’m not trying to take a political stance on it, but I see the humanity in a lot of the struggle. My mother’s side of the family had a lot of death to heroin in the last few years and displaced family members hopping around. My little sister, she’s on the spectrum, finding housing for her has been tough. All these things ended up coming out in the songs one way or another.”

Its title is an amalgamation of a famous stripper — “she had 77-inch guns ‘like deadly weapons’ was the way they sold her” — his mother’s maiden name, and Chronopoulos’s early life experience.

“I realized that … certain pursuits, things that I thought were the goal, were actually a dead end,” he said. “I needed to tie them off. They weren’t my path.”

He played sparingly over the pandemic-scarred year.

“I called a few of the places that were still able to be open during the summer and told friends of mine that ran the bar that I’d play for free,” he said. “They were working at half capacity with people still showing up expecting the same service and show; I knew they couldn’t swing it.”

With an open guitar case for tips, Chronopoulos played and sang.

“People wanted to help,” he said, adding that the overall response to original music like his was heartening. “In the food industry, we want to eat a salad that’s from the local farm, but for some reason music is supposed to just come out strictly for scale…. I’m supposed to be counting streams, all that nonsense. That’s what I’ve been railing against artistically for the last 10 years anyway; it’s just self-sabotaging.”

Chronopoulos looks forward to sharing his new material at Twin Barns.

“The place is great, they’re such cool people,” he said. “The beer’s amazing [and] their protocol isn’t insane — there’s a lot of space and good ventilation. It’s a cool old barn and it sounds amazing in there. When they invited me I said that regardless of Covid, we could probably do this safely and make it a good show.”

Charlie Chronopoulos
When: Friday, Jan 8, 5 p.m.
Where: Twin Barns Brewing Co., 194 Daniel Webster Hwy., Meredith
More: facebook.com/twinbarnsbrewing

Concerts

Venues

Palace Theatre

80 Hanover St., Manchester

668-5588, palacetheatre.org

Stone Church

5 Granite St., Newmarket

659-7700, stonechurchrocks.com


Shows

• A Natural Woman (A Carole King Tribute) Friday, Jan. 8, 7 p.m., virtual concert via Palace Theatre

• SOUP (featuring members of Slack Tide and Clandestine) Friday, Jan. 8, 8 p.m., Stone Church

• Dave Gerard & Tim Theriault Saturday, Jan. 9, 7 p.m., Stone Church

• Jeff Daniels with music from his album Alive and Well Enough Tuesday, Jan. 12, 8 p.m., livestreamed acoustic concert via Palace Theatre

• Brooks Play Brooks (Garth Brooks tribute) Friday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m., virtual concert via Palace Theatre

• Wood & Bone Friday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m., Stone Church

• A Night of JGB & The Dead Saturday, Jan. 16, at 5 and 9 p.m., Stone Church

• The All New Piano Men (hits from Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Elton John, Barry Manilow, Freddy Mercury & more) Friday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m., virtual via Palace Theatre

• Russ Condon & Tim Cackett of Town Meeting Friday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m., Stone Church

• Brian O’Connell Fellowship Saturday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m., Stone Church

• Dave Gerard Thursday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m., Stone Church

Featured photo: Charlie Chronopoulos. Courtesy photo.

Soul (PG)

Soul (PG)

A middle-aged man hangs between life and “the Great Beyond” just as his dreams of being a working musician appear to be coming true in Soul, an animated movie from Pixar.

Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) teaches band to high school students, who have varying degrees of interest in his instruction, but his real passion is to get a full-time paying gig as a professional jazz musician. He has chased this desire, to much disappointment, for years. His mom, Libba (voice of Phylicia Rashad), urges him to quit chasing this dream and accept the teaching position (and its pension and health care and steady paycheck) permanently. But then Joe has an audition with Dorothea Williams (voice of Angela Bassett) for a position as a piano player in her jazz band. He gets a chance to play a gig with her that night that could put him in as a regular. So delighted is Joe as he walks down the street contemplating this new future that he doesn’t realize there’s an open pothole in his path until he’s fallen into it.

He suddenly finds himself a bloop of glowy, vaguely person-shaped blueness, headed on a pathway through the stars up to what he’s told is the Great Beyond. Joe is definitely not interested in the Beyond; he wants to go back to the city and play jazz. Luckily, the afterlife doesn’t have the strictest security ever and he’s able to stumble away from the path to the Beyond and into the Great Before, a sort of nursery area for new souls. He’s mistaken for a mentor and is given new soul 22 (voice of Tina Fey) to mentor. His task is to help her find her “spark” and get her ready to go to Earth.

But 22 wants none of Earth and its whole “life and eventual death” thing. She’s had lots of mentors — all of whom have given up in frustration at her lack of a “spark.” Joe sees an opportunity; he’ll help 22 find her spark and earn the badge that lets her go to Earth and he’ll take the badge to return to his body and she can stay in the soft new souls land forever. Thus do they set off to find 22’s purpose.

Along the way, Joe and 22 do make it to Earth for a bit, though 22 winds up in Joe’s body and Joe winds up in the body of an emotional therapy cat. That cat, who (as Joe) can talk (at least to 22) and do things like push elevator buttons, is the most actively kid-like element of the movie. Similar to how Inside Out used personifications of emotions and personality traits rendered as physical spaces, Soul gives dimension to spiritual elements — for example, a place called “in the zone” where living people’s souls go when they’re playing a great basketball game or lost in a musical performance, and a variant of that location where souls go when they’ve lost connection to life and greater purpose. Soul is thoughtful and beautiful and I’m not sure I totally understand who this movie is for.

I mean, it really is beautiful — beautiful looking in how it blends the different visual ideas about an afterlife with the “real” world, beautiful sounding in its lovely score that mixes jazz and other musical styles. And it has some really beautiful ideas about life and what gives a person’s life meaning. I recently finished a rewatch of the series The Good Place, so maybe I am particularly susceptible to big-picture “what does it all mean” ideas rendered with a bit of cartooniness. I liked this movie and I think I would have liked it even more on a big screen, where I could have been even more enveloped in all the visuals. But where Inside Out was tethered to the kid-world by the girl the emotions operated in and the kid parts of her life experience, like imaginary friends, I’m not sure how kids connect to Soul. My younger kids saw parts and seemed to enjoy the music and the little soul blobs, but there is a level of zaniness missing here. (And the “lost souls” idea is expressed in a way that feels just disturbing enough that it would stick with younger kids, perhaps popping up in their brains at, like, 2 a.m.) I rewatched the movie with my elementary-aged kid and her interest seemed to wane as the movie went on. The idea that singular focus on your big break, the life milestone that will really “start” your life, will cause you to miss what your actual life is, for all its joy and heartbreak, is interesting to me. Do such concepts have any meaning to kids? I mean, my kid laughed at some of the butt jokes, so it wasn’t a total loss.

This doesn’t make the movie less successful as a, like, piece of film but as a PG movie on Disney+ it did make me wonder if when this movie goes on during family movie night, it will be the kids falling asleep and fiddling with an iPad while the parents are paying rapt attention. B+

Rated PG for thematic elements and some language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers with a screenplay by Pete Docter & Mike Jones & Kemp Powers, Soul is an hour and 40 minutes long and distributed by Disney. It is available on Disney+.

Featured photo: Soul

Meredith Touma

Meredith Touma of Derry is the owner of Sal Terrae Seasonings (salterraeseasonings.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @salterraeseasonings), a company offering four hand-crafted spice blends using various herbs, salts, peppers and other ingredients. Named after the Latin translation of “salt of the Earth,” Sal Terrae started last April as a grassroots project when Touma, a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, began sharing her spice blends with neighbors, friends and community members. Over the summer she brought her spices to farmers markets in Nashua, Bedford and Exeter. Sal Terrae’s spice blends, each of which is prepared at Creative Chef Kitchens in Derry, are the Classic, with local lavender and fennel; the Italian, with herbs like rosemary, sage, thyme, basil and oregano; the Inferno, a hot, earthy blend with Trinidad scorpion and ghost peppers; and the Beach, which has cinnamon, oregano, clove, ginger, mace and smoked paprika. Four-ounce bottles of each of Touma’s blends are available at The Grind in Derry, Mr. Steer Meats in Londonderry, the East Derry General Store and Donahue’s Fish Market in Plaistow. Online ordering is also available.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

I love to cook, and anyone who’s always in the kitchen knows the importance of a good, sharp knife.

What would you have for your last meal?

Just a regular simple broth fondue. We like to season that with the Inferno blend.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I have a soft spot for the East Derry Tavern. The food is spectacular. I have known [owners] Sam and Lina Patel for years … and they’ve done a magnificent job turning it into a gorgeous town gem.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your spice blends?

Definitely Gordon Ramsay. I know it’s very cliche, but he’s actually been a culinary inspiration of mine for 20 years. I’ve been following him even before he had all of his TV shows. We’ve eaten at The London in New York City, which is a stunning restaurant. … It would be an honor to be able to thank him for his inspiration.

What is your favorite spice blend that you make?

The Beach. I use it on everything from salmon to brisket and pork ribs.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Home cooking. People are forced to … be creative in the kitchen and to make things at home they would normally eat while out. There are so many Zoom classes out there now that you can sign up for.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Coq au vin is probably my No. 1 go-to meal, especially in the winter season. I love cooking with chicken thighs. I give them a really hard sear and make them with tomatoes, carrots and tons of mushrooms.

Sal Terrae roasted corn and shrimp chowder
From the kitchen of Meredith Touma of Sal Terrae Seasonings in Derry

1-pound bag frozen corn
1 can unsalted creamed corn
3 to 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 pounds medium peeled and deveined shrimp (marinated in 1 tablespoon Sal Terrae Beach seasoning at room temperature for about 10 minutes)
1 package chicken sausage (Buffalo or sweet apple), sliced into coins
1 large onion, diced
2 to 3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 red pepper, julienned
3 to 4 cloves garlic, smashed
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream

Place frozen corn on a lined baking pan, toss with chopped bacon and roast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until bacon is cooked entirely. Set aside. In a wide stock pan, sauté onion in olive oil for five minutes, until translucent. Add garlic, celery, carrots, sausage and red pepper. Sauté on medium-high until the sausages brown slightly. Add one tablespoon of Sal Terrae Inferno seasoning and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, stir in cream and add potatoes. Let simmer for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If you prefer a creamier chowder, use an immersion blender to break up the potatoes. Return to a rolling boil and add shrimp, creamed corn and roasted bacon and corn mixture. Cook until shrimp are cooked evenly (about 3 to 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Featured photo: Meredith Touma

Southwest inspired

Trio’s Cafe & Cantina to open in Salem

A new eatery coming to Salem later this month will offer family-sized meal kits, as well as other lunch and dinner items, with fresh ingredients and a unique Southwestern flair.

Trio’s Cafe & Cantina, due to open in the Breckenridge Plaza on North Broadway in the coming weeks, gets its name from the owners — a “trio” of generations of the same family that includes general manager and Salem native Julie Manzer, her mother, Janet, and father, Paul, and her two daughters, Tanna and Keira Marshall.

Manzer, who previously owned the Purple Finch Cafe in Bedford, said she learned about the vacant restaurant space last August from her best friend in high school.

“My friend had wanted me to own something around here where I grew up, and so I ran it by my family and we decided to look into it,” she said. “Originally I was going to do breakfast and lunch, because that was kind of the world I was used to … but with Covid it seemed to make more sense to focus on takeout and family meal deals.”

It’s that concept, combined with Manzer’s love of Southern California and Tex-Mex flavors, that sets the menu at Trio’s apart. Meal kit options will include tacos, enchiladas or fajitas, with either chicken or steak and flour or corn tortillas; various soups and chilis by the quart; and tray-sized or take-and-bake bowls, like a chili and macaroni and cheese bowl with sour cream and tortilla strips, a plant-based protein bowl with sweet potato, black beans and avocado, and a citrus chicken bowl with bacon, tomato, greens, cheddar cheese and onion.

There are several sandwich, burger and side options that you’ll be able to order via either takeout or dine-in. The Southern “Steuben,” for instance, will feature barbecue pulled pork, coleslaw, melted cheddar cheese and ranch on grilled country white bread, while the Philly torta has steak, onion, bell peppers, queso, jalapeno, avocado and chipotle mayonnaise on a tolera roll. A “comfort kitchen” section of the menu has plated options like beer-braised steak or half-roasted chicken with veggies, pulled pork chipotle barbecue macaroni and cheese, and tempura-battered fish and chips with a lime cabbage carrot slaw.

Trio’s is also rolling out a menu of Southwestern-themed house cocktails, in addition to some bottled beers, wines and seltzers, and white citrus or seasonal red sangrias with fresh fruit.

“I have a fresh-squeezed orange juice machine, so we’ll have a house margarita that has a little bit of that in it,” Manzer said. “We’ll also have bloody marys and marias, and mimosa flights.”

Trio’s Cafe & Cantina
An opening date is expected in the coming weeks. Visit their website or follow them on social media for updates.
Where: 264 N. Broadway, Unit 105, Salem
Anticipated hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
More info: Visit trioscc.com or find them on Facebook and Instagram

Featured photo: Left to right, are: general manager Julie Manzer, her father Paul Manzer, older daughter Tanna Marshall, mother Janet Manzer and younger daughter Keira Marshall. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.

Lone Star eats

Texas-style BBQ food truck opens restaurant space in Milford

Regina and Jeremy Davison gained a devoted following after the launch of their Texas-style barbecue food truck on Elm Street in Milford in late July. Now, after moving a few miles down the road, the couple is continuing that success at a brick-and-mortar location.

R & J Texas-style BBQ On Wheels, according to Regina Davison, will still be open outdoors as a mostly takeout operation. The new space, which opened last week in the former Pizza Top restaurant directly adjacent to the food truck, introduces indoor seating and expands the menu to include a wide variety of items not previously available, from breakfast options and weekly specialty burgers to mixed cocktails, spiked milkshakes and more.

Whether you order pulled pork or beef brisket on a sandwich or as a combo plate — the meats are smoked overnight for 12 hours and 16 hours, respectively — you’ll get a ton of it.

“Texas-style means a lot of fat, a lot of grease and a lot of food,” said Regina Davison, a native of Dallas who came to New Hampshire about eight years ago. “What you would get at a normal restaurant, you get three times that much here. So you have enough for lunch, dinner and probably for lunch the next day.”

An entree plate of brisket with either chicken, sausage, pulled pork or pork chops will come with three sides and a serving of cornbread. Davison makes all of her own sides from scratch, like baked beans that are prepared for six hours with pulled pork, bacon and brown sugar. Other sides include fresh collard greens, Gouda macaroni and cheese, chili cheese fries, grilled green beans with fried bacon, coleslaw, and potato salad with white or brown gravy.

Recently Davison has added items like catfish, steaks and fried chicken; smothered chicken or pork chops with gravy, bell peppers and onions; and macaroni and cheese bowls topped with chili, brisket or pulled pork.

Breakfast is now available all day from the new location too.

“I’m creating my own hash that’s going to be with brisket or pulled pork, and then I have what I call a Momma’s breakfast burrito,” she said. “We have pancakes and waffles as well.”

Beginning this week Davison has introduced a “Wednesday Burger Madness” menu featuring a selection of specialty burgers only available on Wednesdays. They include options like the Davison Burger Extraordinaire, cooked medium and topped with bacon, two fried eggs, Gouda cheese, arugula, onions and a house sauce; and the Williams Beast Burger, which has pulled pork and pieces of ribs on top of a double meat patty, also with bacon, onions and a bourbon barbecue glazed sauce.

A drinks menu is also new for the indoor space, with a small selection of bottled beers, vanilla, chocolate or strawberry shakes (with the option to add a liqueur like Kahlua or amaretto), and mixed cocktails, like margaritas, mimosas, hurricanes and Texas rum punch.

In addition to keeping the truck open for takeout orders, Davison said it will remain available for event catering.

R & J Texas-style BBQ On Wheels
Where: 183 Elm St., Unit 3, Milford
Anticipated hours: Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 9 p.m., and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (breakfast is available all day)
More info: Visit rjtexasbbqonwheels.com, find them on Facebook or call 518-0186

Featured photo: Breakfast brisket burritos. Courtesy photo.

Blast from the past

Robinson decries white supremacy, pays homage to the ’80s in Exo-Hunter

Science fiction, sociopolitical satire and 1980s nostalgia are the basis for Seacoast author Jeremy Robinson’s newest novel Exo-Hunter,released last month.

Exo-Hunter follows a Black Marine known as Dark Horse in 1989 who, after a mission gone wrong, is launched with his team a millennium into the future. In the year 2989, humans have abandoned Earth and expanded colonization throughout the galaxy under the rule of a white supremacist government called The Union. Separated from his team and now the only Black man in The Union, Dark Horse takes control of a space vessel and sets out to find his teammates, disguised as an Exo-Hunter, a space explorer seeking new planets for the Union to colonize.

Robinson said he had been contemplating a “sarcastic, fun, ’80s sci-fi” while also reflecting on the racial tensions felt throughout the country over the last few years.

“I thought I’d kind of just mash all of that together,” he said. “White supremacy … is a serious topic, but I wanted to address it with a sense of humor, similar to how the movie Jojo Rabbit did with Nazi Germany — funny but also moving and revealing.”

The humor in Exo-Hunter comes mostly in the form of sarcasm, Robinson said, with some sci-fi- and ’80s-related jokes thrown in.

“I think sarcasm can be helpful for us now as we look back at 2020 and all the bad stuff,” he said. “It’s a good way to deal with it all.”

The book also provides a comic look at the absurdity of a society without diversity.

“I wanted to kind of poke fun at how weird and strange it would be and how dull life would be,” Robinson said. “I guess the main moral of the story is, a world with diversity is just a better world.”

Readers who lived through the ’80s will get a healthy dose of nostalgia with references to ’80s pop culture, particularly sci-fi movies and new wave music. Additionally, Robinson created a playlist of the referenced songs as a musical companion to the book (available on his website) with hits like “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Eurythmics and “Heroes” by David Bowie.

“A lot of the story hinges on these songs because they’re applicable to what is happening and are just perfect for the situation,” Robinson said, adding that pausing to listen to the songs as they are mentioned in the book can create a more immersive experience for the reader.

A New York Times and No. 1 Audible bestselling author, Robinson has written and published more than 70 books in a number of genres, including science fiction, action adventure, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, thriller and horror, as well as several comic books. Prior to writing novels he did primarily screenwriting, and he continues to write with the ultimate goal of getting his stories made into movies and TV series, he said. A couple of his books are currently in the process of being adapted for the screen, and a TV series based on one of his books has been in development for the last five years. (He is not yet at liberty to say which books, he said.) As for Exo-Hunter, Robinson said, he is “absolutely” envisioning it as an action-packed movie for the big screen.

“It was written with that intention, as most of my novels are,” he said. “[The production] would be really big and cost a lot of money, so [the book] will have to sell really well first for Hollywood to take the risk, but we’ll see.”

Exo-Hunter by Jeremy Robinson
Exo-Hunter is available now on Amazon and Kindle and locally at Jetpack Comics in Rochester. The audiobook is set for release on Audible and iTunes in February. To learn more about the book, visit bewareofmonsters.com/exo-hunter-dark-horse-rising, and check out the companion playlist at bewareofmonsters.com/playlist.

Art

Call for Art
• 35TH ANNUAL OMER T. LASSONDE JURIED EXHIBITION The New Hampshire Art Association seeks submissions of artwork from NHAA members and non-members. The theme is “Beyond the Boundaries.” Submit up to three pieces. Open to all artistic media. Deadline is Fri., Feb. 5, by 5 p.m. Submission form available online. Call 431-4230 and visit nhartassociation.org.

Exhibits
• “THE COLORS OF GREY” Theme art show presented by the Seacoast Artist Association. On display now through Jan. 30. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment. Visit seacoastartist.org or call 778-8856.
• “A NEW DAY” Exhibit features work by 35 new members of The New Hampshire Art Association. Viewable online, in the front windows at the NHAA’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., Portsmouth) and at the gallery in person by appointment. On display now through Jan. 31. A virtual opening reception will be held on Thurs., Jan. 7, at 6 p.m., on Zoom. Call 431-4230 and visit nhartassociation.org.
• “BRAVE NEW WORLD: RESILIENCE IN THE TIME OF COVID” Outdoor public art display features paintings by 80 students from the Nashua School District that convey a message of hope and resilience amid the challenges of Covid-19. Amherst Elementary School (71 Amherst St., Nashua). On display now through Feb. 14. An opening reception at the exhibit location to celebrate the student and teacher artists will be held on Friday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m. Visit sites.google.com/nsd42.net/bravenewworld/home.
• “THE VIEW THROUGH MY EYES” The New Hampshire Art Association presents works by pastel artist Chris Reid. Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Gallery, 49 S. Main St., Concord. On display now through March 18. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.

Tours
• NASHUA PUBLIC ART AUDIO TOUR Self-guided audio tours of the sculptures and murals in downtown Nashua, offered via the Distrx app, which uses Bluetooth iBeacon technology to automatically display photos and text and provides audio descriptions at each stop on the tour as tourists approach the works of art. Each tour has 10 to 15 stops. Free and accessible on Android and iOS on demand. Available in English and Spanish. Visit downtownnashua.org/nashua-art-tour.

Theater

Shows
• WHERE DO I BEGIN? New Hampshire Theatre Project’s SoloStage program presents. Fri., Jan. 22, and Sat., Jan. 23, 8 p.m., and Sun., Jan. 24, 2 p.m. Performances held virtually and in-person at 959 Islington St., Portsmouth. In-person show tickets cost $30, and virtual show tickets cost $20. Call 431-6644 or visit nhtheatreproject.org

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