Category: Nightlife

LaBelle Winery welcomes comic Juston McKinney

Ever a relatable comedian, Juston McKinney tries to find the local angle wherever he performs. His latest YouTube special, On the Bright Side, was filmed in Concord. It begins with a story about a The Price Is Right contestant from Massachusetts winning a trip to the Capitol City.

The prize came with a round-trip flight — between Los Angeles and Manchester. “She’s gotta go all the way out and come all the way back,” McKinney joked. “She didn’t win a vacation; she won the longest tax-free liquor run in history!”

For a July 13 show at Labelle Winery, some anecdotes will come from closer to home. “My grandfather ran McKinney Dairy in Derry, and that’s where he met my grandmother,” the comic said in a recent phone interview. The punch line: “So she ended up marrying the milkman!”

McKinney primarily performs in New England, which keeps him nearer to his family; he lives in Newmarket. This makes for a lot of repeat business, forcing him to keep his act fresh. “I try to tell people that if you give me a year and I come back, I’ll have an 80 percent different show.”

It can be a double-edged sword for fans with a favorite bit; the memory bank can only be so full before it overflows. Consider a recent comment on Facebook. “It said, ‘I saw you 20 years ago, and I’m still laughing at your Old Navy button fly joke.’ I have no freaking idea what the Old Navy button fly joke is,” McKinney recalled. “I gotta message the guy … because if it’s really good, I’m gonna do it again.”

Another side effect of keeping to the region is making the rest of the country feel slighted. “People are getting mad that I’m not leaving,” he said. “They’re literally like, ‘Oh, you’ve got something against South Dakota?’ So I’m trying to get out a little bit, just to give something to these fans. I just did Ohio, and now I’ll do Detroit. I usually try to do Vegas every couple of years.”

To enjoy family time with his wife and two teenage sons, McKinney maintains a light summer schedule.

“I have a house with a water view … yeah, we put an above ground pool in the backyard,” he joked. “My whole trick has been balancing being a dad with being a comedian. Not looking back when these years have passed and going, ‘Oh, my kids are going to college [and] I’ve been on the road 40 weeks a year.”

Unsurprisingly, McKinney mines his home life for laughs — to a point. “Sometimes my wife will cut it right in the bud and go, ‘You’re not doing a joke about that,’” he said. “I get in this argument about how I’m gonna frame the joke, and finally I’ll say, ‘Alright, I’ll make it about my friend.”

On the other hand, McKinney’s boys can be a bit more agreeable about inspiring his standup.

“I’ll say something funny, and they’ll say, ‘You should do a joke about that.’ As long as it’s not at their expense, and they’re not the butt of the joke. My kid the other day WTF’d me in a text because I was late. I go, ‘You don’t WTF your parents!’ He goes, ‘Dad, I didn’t spell it out, it’s just the abbreviation.’ I’m like, ‘So is FU; don’t you put it in a text to me.’ He’s like, are you going to do a joke about that?’ I go, ‘I don’t know, but you’re gonna get in trouble if you do it again.’”

He tends to avoid flashpoint topics like politics, but in McKinney’s hands, even the war in Ukraine can provide a chuckle. In On the Bright Side, he observes that their draft age tops out at 60. “That’s kind of pushing it; I mean, I go to bed at nine thirty. I got a CPAP machine; I’m gonna need an outlet,” he said. “Is that a problem?”

This idea would never work in the United States, McKinney added. “We can’t get 18- to 60-year-olds to go to work, let alone go to war,” he said. “We should draft people into jobs.”

Juston McKinney
When: Thursday, July 13, 7:30 p.m.
Where: LaBelle Winery, 14 Route 111, Derry
Tickets: $40 at labellewinery.com

Featured photo: Juston McKinney. Courtesy photo.

The Gravel Project provides DMB lead-in

For fans of original local music, the show always starts early at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, on the venue’s Hazy Little Stage. Situated just beyond the Gilford amphitheater’s entrance, the second stage hosts some of the region’s finest local talent, with each act chosen to complement the headlining performer.

Upcoming are the countrified Not Leaving Sober ahead of Sam Hunt on July 7, and blood harmony band Town Meeting prior to Counting Crows’ July 14 show. In August, singer-songwriter April Cushman precedes Jelly Roll, with jam band stalwarts Supernothing playing prior to a Slightly Stoopid and Sublime with Rome double bill.

In a perfect pairing, the concert season closes out on Sept. 30 with ’90s acolytes Donaher teeing off for the Goo Goo Dolls. The Hazy Little Stage’s full schedule can be found on the venue’s website.

Providing the prelude to Dave Matthews Band’s July 11 show is The Gravel Project, a Boston band offering a vintage rock and soul sound that pairs with the bill-toppers like a salted pretzel and a cold IPA. On guitar and vocals, Andrew Gravel leads a novel configuration of his brother Jordan on keys, drummer Dave Fox and Eguie Castrillo playing percussion.

Gravel has been the band’s one constant since it began in 2013, though for the past six years he, his brother and Fox have formed its nucleus.

“The fact that we call it a project means we’ve got other people who come and play with us from time to time,” Gravel said by phone recently. “It kind of describes the whole nature of it.”

Playing without a bassist is uncommon but wasn’t always the case. The choice came out of necessity; a few years back, when their then-bass player didn’t make it to a couple of gigs, Jordan crafted a low end on his keyboards.

“We were like, ‘that was actually really good,’” Gravel recalled; they kept at it after that. “It was an organic direction for us at the time … then it brought a level of consistency to the lineup that we hadn’t felt prior.”

Live at Wellspring, released in February, is the first album to include a female voice in a prominent role. Having another vocalist “was something I always wanted to explore,” Gravel said. “A lot of these songs [are] meant for more than one singer.”

Though the vocalist who appeared on Wellspring is gone, with a rotating roster now accompanying the band (American Idol alum Erika Van Pelt joins them in Gilford), the added element on the live LP made Gravel realize that a woman on stage made a big difference. “It opened the band up for us, and there’s definitely a commitment to keep that role filled.”

The Gravel Project has played Meadowbrook’s side stage before; last year they opened for Tedeschi Trucks Band. Like DMB, that slot reflected Gravel’s influences as a performer “Nineties rock was the soundtrack to my childhood, but even before that, in the eighties, when I was younger, my parents were always just playing tons of Beatles in the house,” he said. “A lot of Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin … that stuff kind was from the very beginning real close to my heart.”

Early on, Gravel played a Fender Stratocaster. These days he toggles between two Gibson guitars — the iconic Les Paul, and a hollow body ES-335.

“That’s a big part of my sound, the vintage Gibson thing,” he said. “I’m also a sponsored artist by Two-Rock, which are these amazing amplifiers made out of California. They capture the spirit of the Sixties Blackface Fender sound [and] take it a little bit further.”

To extend the theme, Jordan plays both Hammond B3 and Fender Rhodes organs. “He loves, just like I do, the vintage gear,” Gravel said. “I mean, you just can’t beat it.”

Gravel is pleased to be opening DMB’s two-night stand. “It’s certainly an honor to be involved,” he said. “It’s such a loyal fan base that loves good music, and we’re excited to bring something that’s different [but] closely enough related. I think all his fans are certainly into great songs, and they’re also into extended jams and improvisation.”

The Gravel Project
When: Tuesday, July 11, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, 72 Meadowbrook Lane, Gilford
More: thegravelproject.com
Ticket for Dave Matthews Band required – $74 and up at livenation.com

Featured photo: The Gravel Project. Courtesy photo.

Rising band Feverslip plays Manchester

If having headliner acts checking out their sets is a harbinger of greater things, Feverslip is a band on the rise. At last year’s Great American Ribfest, Great White’s then-lead singer Andrew Freeman not only watched them perform; he also hopped on stage and helped them finish a song.

A few months later, ex-Saving Abel front man Scotty Austin was so impressed seeing them open for him at Wally’s Pub in Hampton Beach that he connected them with his producer, Malcolm Springer. Soon after that night, Feverslip was in Nashville, working with Springer.

The first fruits of the project arrived in April, when they released the rollicking single “Aces.” Another track from the album in progress will drop in early July. The new song is representative of the band’s no-nonsense rock ’n’ roll, which evokes Aerosmith, AC/DC and classic acts like the Yardbirds and Rolling Stones.

It’s music that’s punchy, powerful, and especially good when played live.

They went to Music City looking to translate that energy to the studio. “Where we’re most at home is just playing on stage, and that’s something that was cool about the recording process,” lead singer Sam Vlasich said in a recent phone interview. “I really hope that people can take away that vibe from the new material.”

Feverslip is a regional supergroup that includes Maine guitarists Liv Lorusso and Jordon Brilliant, who met at a Portland open mic and have performed for several years as a duo, Liv ‘n Brilliant. The two found Vlasich after his band Red Sky Mary split. Vlasich knew drummer Harrison Foti and bass player Brad Hartwick from sharing the bill with their previous band Victim of Circumstance.

The quintet began the new project with heavy preparation, a novel move for them.

“We did three weeks or so of the pre-recording process,” Vlasich said. “It was cool because I’ve never really had an experience where we got to just focus on writing songs and getting them tight, so when we go into the studio we can make them sound good with some live takes.”

Working with Springer was “just amazing,” Vlasich continued. “He totally got what the band was about, and what we want to do. He allowed us to dig our feet in and say, ‘OK, we’re just going to do it; we wanna be a badass rock band.’”

Songwriting is a collaborative process involving all band members.

“We’ll try everything, no matter where it takes us,” Vlasich said. “The best songs always seem to come about when somebody has some sort of riff, whether it’s Jordan or Liv or Brad, some sort of lick idea. Then we just kind of go, ‘OK, that sounds good.’ … Once we have a verse and chorus down, then I’m kind of able to scream on top of it until I find a melody that suits it.”

As a vocalist, Vlasich is inspired by Bon Scott, Brian Johnson and Robert Plant. “That’s just the stuff I was raised on,” he said. “As a kid singing in my hairbrush, peeking out the window making sure nobody rolled up to catch me making noise upstairs in my room alone, that’s kind of the stuff I was singing.”

The rest of the group has similar roots, he said.

“Liv loves Aerosmith and Jordan is Guns N’ Roses, and Brad loves The Who and Iron Maiden. Who I also love — the older ’80s metal stuff is great. We share similar influences but in different regards; they mesh well together.”

A June 30 appearance at Shaskeen Pub will be Feverslip’s third at the Manchester venue, though Vlasich noted that he did a lot of shows with his former band there. They have several bookings in the area over the summer months, including a return to Ribfest on July 23, and Manchester’s Strange Brew Tavern on July 28. They’ll play Portsmouth’s Press Room in early August.

Vlasich has his sights on wider horizons.

“I would love to get on the road [and] hit a lot more places than Red Sky Mary, playing these songs. Because I think they’re just good rock songs, and they need an audience to sing along to the choruses. And if AC/DC or Aerosmith needs an opening band, that would also make my life…. Getting to watch your favorite band play every night after opening up for them, that’s the dream right there.”

Feverslip
When: Friday, June 30, 9 p.m.
Where: Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St., Manchester
More: feverslip.com

Featured photo: Feverslip. Courtesy photo.

Brian Regan finds the funny

Along with eschewing profanity, Brian Regan assiduously avoids politics in his act. He does, however, have a one woke joke. Growing up, his parents would make Regan and his siblings vote on playtime activities. The family had four boys and two girls, so it was an inherently undemocratic exercise.

“I didn’t like that, so I voted for dolls,” Regan quipped.

He hasn’t checked on whether this bit set the social media world atwitter. “I’m just gonna keep trying to do what I think is funny,” Regan said in a recent phone interview. “If it bumps somebody, I apologize. Well, I take that back. Maybe I don’t apologize.”

His latest Netflix special On the Rocks finds Regan’s broad appeal on display. He addresses being diagnosed with OCD (“How come when you want things in order, they call it a disorder?”), the absurdity of bagpipes, and his newly gray hair, leading off with the latter. “Let’s get [it] out of the way, ’cause if I don’t you won’t listen to a word I say for an hour.”

Regan went prematurely gray in his thirties, so he started coloring his hair. “I’m like, hey, I’m trying to get booked as a twentysomething, I can’t have gray hair,” he said. He stopped during lockdown and didn’t start again. “When the world opened up a crack and people were like, hey, we’ll do a show with eight audience members, I said, ‘Alright, I’ll perform,’ but I decided … I’m just gonna go out, and this is what I look like now. It’s kind of freeing.”

On the Rocks was filmed at the Tuacahn Amphitheater in Utah, but Regan was quick to point out that the open-air venue was chosen before the pandemic. “It was just a fluke, I wanted to do an outdoor show,” he explained. “I might have been one of the only people to be able to do a special with an audience during Covid, but it worked out OK.”

The special was the final one of a Netflix deal that included 2017’s Nunchucks and Flamethrowers and the two-part series Standup and Away! a year later. He’s talking with “various platforms” about a follow-up. “I’m anticipating being able to do something soon,” he said, adding, “I never know how to talk about what I do because the topics themselves always sound incredibly boring.”
To illustrate, he recalled an article from a few years back. “It said, ‘Brian … talks about food, traveling and shopping.’ I wondered if couples or families were sitting around reading the paper going, ‘Oh, my God, we have to go check this guy out — he’s exploring our favorite topics for humor!’”

Regan worked against type in Loudermilk, a Peter Farrelly-created series that ran for three seasons. “That opportunity was tremendous, because audiences know me for a certain kind of comedy … and Loudermilk is far from clean,” he said. “It’s on the rough side of the tracks … gritty and dirty, but I still loved doing it because it was real. There’s a lot of love in it.”

The comedy drama starring Ron Livingston as a recovering alcoholic faced a few challenges. The network it ran on ceased operations just as Season 3 was about to air; the show was later rescued by Amazon Prime. That said, more episodes could happen. “It’s not a definite that it’s over,” Regan said. “Peter Farrelly has said that he hasn’t given up on it; I mean, the last season was shot before the world shut down.”

For now, Regan is glad to be working again in relative normalcy.

“I don’t want to say it’s completely gone; there might still be people out there who have health concerns and don’t want to get out,” he said. “But for the most part it feels like crowds are back and it’s a lot of fun performing in front of places that are full.”

He’s also looking forward to his upcoming show at Manchester’s Palace Theatre.

“I love the whole New England area,” he said. “I mean, every part of the country is different, but New Hampshire is wonderful, it has its own personality, and I love performing for the people there.”

Brian Regan
When: Thursday, June 22, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester
Tickets: $39 to $59 at palacetheatre.org

Featured photo: Brian Regan. Courtesy photo.

Northlands Fest includes Twiddle farewell

This year the Northlands Music & Arts Festival’s two main stages offer established acts like The String Cheese Incident, Mike Gordon of Phish, Twiddle and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, along with a few interesting side projects.

One is Goose spinoff Oreolo; another is Super Sonic Shorties, an all-female supergroup with Nikki Glaspie and Kanika Moore (who perform separately with Nth Power and Doom Flamingo respectively), Katty Rodriguez and Marcie Chapa of Beyoncé, Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio), Ella Feingold (Silk Sonic) and Amy Bellamy (G. Love).

A campground stage kicking off Thursday night is sold out, but area fans can see two of the acts next month, as Funky Dawgz appear July 1 at Jimmy’s Jazz in Portsmouth, and Bella’s Bartok play Exeter’s Word Barn the same day.

One big piece of news surrounding the festival is Twiddle’s plans for a touring hiatus at the end of the year. The Vermont jam stalwarts will do two Friday night sets. On Saturday their singer and guitarist Mihali plays solo, with surprise guests.

Mihali spoke with The Hippo in a recent phone interview (edited for length).

What does it mean to you that 2023 will be the end of touring?

It’s just a break mainly for reflection, for me to do some other stuff musically. It doesn’t really feel too much different … maybe some people look at it as like a closing of the first chapter, but I’m looking forward to the future, and the future of Twiddle when we decide to come back as well.

How does your solo music differ from what you’ve done with Twiddle, and where do you see that going?

The instrumentation and the type of players are different. I’m a lot more focused on the song rather than the jam with this next project, which is something I’ve been passionate about over the last few years.

The Distance Makes the Heart Tour is named after a track from Twiddle’s last album. Does its name reflect the song’s emotions?

There wasn’t too much of a direct correlation … I think I just liked the fact that we had the song out and we’re going to be taking a little distance. I think for me it was a little bit of a metaphor. I think I speak for a lot of people in our organization that a bit of a break is necessary right now. All we’ve been doing is Twiddle for 20 years, and I think it’s only natural to want a break, and, you know, distance makes the heart grow fonder.

When you started Twiddle, did you have ambition or were you surprised by how it took off and became so big?

When you’re in it you don’t really realize that’s what’s happening. To me, it just felt like growth, and it just felt like it would always just continue to grow. It wasn’t like now we’re hitting our stride or we’re blowing up. It felt like a natural progression … honestly, I didn’t pay too much attention to how fast we were moving. It’s just all we knew…. So it just kind of just felt normal for us, I guess.

And then one day you and moe. were selling out Red Rocks.

Red Rocks was a huge goal I had set early on for myself as a performer. So getting there was really a blessing. It’s always a blessing to play that stage. I don’t think that’s anything I’ll ever take for granted.

What are some of the other things that stand out for you?

Looking back over 18 years as a band, I mean, there’s been so much, it’s hard to tell. All the Lockn’s were great and every amazing opportunity we’ve had has been a memory we will all hold forever. It’s hard to nail down a few because there’s been so many beautiful musical moments. It’s been quite a journey. I look forward to what the future brings too. We’ve got a lot more to offer people; it’s certainly not the end.

How did this decision happen? Were you all just sitting around saying, wow, I’m tired, it’s time to take a break?

It’s just the natural way of things. I think that it’s only natural to have change in your life. Change is good for growth, and reflection. I personally just felt that that was necessary.

One of my favorite moments on Every Last Leaf was the jam with John Popper. What was that experience like being in the studio?

John’s great. He’s a buddy of ours. We’ve done a few shows with him over the years. I’ve sat in with Blues Traveler and opened for them a couple of times as well. John’s an incredible musician and such a great presence to be around always, but that was all recorded during the pandemic, so everything was done remotely. We weren’t actually in the studio with him when he cut his parts.

Is there anything that didn’t happen, any bucket list items that are still in the bucket?

No, just new music and more shows, hopefully some growth, it’s all you can ever ask for. We’re really blessed with such a great fan base and such a beautiful community around us. So, you know, just continue to move forward, healthy and happy. That’s all I can really ask for.

Anything I haven’t asked about that you’d like fans to know?

No, just come join us. Have a great time. I’ve got a lot of great friends playing with me at Northlands. Make sure you check that set out. I got a lot of fun stuff to bring for you. We have a lot of good shows left this year. We hope everybody comes out and checks them out. We’re playing really well.

Northlands Music & Arts Festival
When: Thursday, June 15, through Saturday, June 17 (camping pass required for Thursday music)
Where: Cheshire Fairgrounds, 247 Monadnock Hwy., Swanzey
Tickets: $25 to $299 at theticketing.co; lineup at northlandslive.com

Featured photo: Twiddle. Courtesy photo.

Dan Crohn’s comedy craft

On his 1977 live album Let’s Get Small, Steve Martin riffs about the wonders of the world, and ends by quipping, “the most amazing thing to me is I get paid for doing this.” It’s a thought that echoes during a conversation with Dan Crohn. One reason is he credits Martin for inspiring him to become a comic, but the other is that to Crohn standup isn’t just a job. It’s a way to hang out with like-minded friends and do what he loves.

That said, Crohn is a workaholic. If he’s not on stage, he’s home in Somerville writing jokes. During a recent phone interview, it’s Tuesday night and he’s booked to do 10 minutes at Boston’s Bell in Hand. Lately he’s spent a lot of time testing material at Modern Pastry, an 80-year-old North End Italian bakery. “I always feel like if I’m not doing new stuff, what’s the point?” he said. “My jokes get old, and I get tired of them.”

Crohn did his first set in 2004 — he still has the tape. Ten years later he quit a job teaching fourth-graders to go full-time. Now he regularly headlines throughout New England and often beyond, at places like Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. In August he’ll do two nights at Helium in St. Louis, and he’s performing on a Caribbean cruise ship in late December.

As a child Crohn was a comedy nerd, encouraged by his parents. Shows like In Living Color and SNL were appointment television. His father owned a record store that provided albums and VHS tapes; he remembers hearing Henny Youngman on the family turntable at a tender age.

“My parents would go in their room and listen to Redd Foxx with the door closed.” Crohn recalled. Though less adult, his own comedy fare was captivating in its own way. “I was listening to standup very early, and got obsessed with it almost immediately.”

A year or two after turning pro, he made his own album, It’s Enough Already. In May he recorded a second, to be released later this year on Virtual Comedy Network, a label that in 2019 included him on Best of Boston Standup, Vol. 1. His clip, “I Think About Death a Lot,” discussed true crime shows that keep him paranoid and always noting the time, lest he get called as a witness. My whole life “is preparing for police questioning that’s never gonna happen,” Crohn said.

He’s had the opportunity to work with many great comics and compare notes with them, like his favorite comic, Dave Attel, who he shared the stage with at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre. “The highlight of my career,” he said. “We talked forever about it, which was really nice.”

Crohn spent a couple of years supporting Sebastian Maniscalco, and he has also opened for Nikki Glaser, John Oliver, and Jon Lovitz. In 2013 he was a panel guest on a Boston-centric episode of Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast. Another great memory is a long conversation with Steven Wright at the prestigious Nantucket Comedy Festival.

“Writing is my favorite part of this,” he said. “My second is getting to work with incredible acts.”

For Crohn, the discipline of standup is part of its appeal. “A great comic, Nick Di Paolo, once said, ‘Oh, you’re funny off the cuff, well, that’s why you become a comedian — now go write some jokes.’ I believe that it’s a lot harder to write jokes and entertain people. When you’re just making stuff up, that’s improv. If you wanna do improv, go for it.”

To that end, he didn’t share the antipathy many comics had toward online shows during the pandemic. “I love Zoom,” he said. “I approached it as a way to workshop jokes, with cards and my notes out. I refused to let that muscle atrophy.”

On the other hand, crowd work — the comic’s euphemism for bantering with an audience — holds little appeal for Crohn.

“I hate it! I like writing,” he said. “The craft of standup, the editing and the refinement of material, is what I’m addicted to the most. I love how jokes work, and I love how my jokes work specifically. I love the creative process. It’s what drew me to it originally, and it’s what continues to sustain me in a business that shouldn’t be called a business.”

All the while, the words of his wild and crazy comedy idol ring in his ears. “I continue to be enamored about it to this day,” Crohn said. “I still can’t believe that people give me money.”

Dan Crohn
When: Saturday, June 10, 8 p.m.
Where: Headliners Comedy Club, 700 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: $20 at headlinersnh.com
Also supporting Mike Koutrobis on Friday, June 9, 8 p.m. at Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry ($22 at tupelohall.com)

Featured photo: Dan Crohn. Courtesy photo.