Category: Nightlife

Original songwriters at BNH Stage

By Michael Witthaus
[email protected]

An eight-week competition at Patrick’s Pub in Gilford sponsored by NH Music Collective culminates with performances from the winners and semi-finalists at the BNH Stage in downtown Concord on Dec. 1.

Singer-songwriter Ian Archibold took top honors in the final round on Nov. 18 and will headline the show. Second-place winner Ian Galipeau will perform ahead of Archibold, and Temple Mountain — the nom de tune of singer, guitarist and songwriter Eric Impallomeni — rounds out the bill-topping trio.

The rest of the performers are an eclectic bunch. Adrienne Mack-Davis offers hip-hop and R&B, Arthur Terembula has a rustic sound that’s somewhere between Tom Waits and a Smithsonian field recording, while Brendan Cleary, Willy Chase and Jason Oberstein sit comfortably in the folk, singer-songwriter genre.

The show is an excellent way for fans of original music to broaden their horizons. Take, for example, Ian Galipeau’s song “The Little Things.” A worthy counterpart to Jason Isbell’s “If We Were Vampires,” it distills a lifetime of love, marriage, parenthood and death with breathtaking precision. He’ll likely play that along with material from his 2022 album Like We Were Never Here At All and his most recent single, “Floorboard,” another storytelling gem.

Archibold released an EP, Parallel, in 2016, and cites influences ranging from The Beatles to Bruno Mars and Coldplay. His song “Valley of Uncertainty” is a good example of how he joins those disparate threads to craft a singular sound. He hails from Panama but has performed around the New England region for a while.

A well-traveled Long Island native, Temple Mountain blends deft finger-picking guitar with atmospheric vocalizing that recalls Elliot Smith, a singer-songwriter he cites as an influence. Lyrically idiosyncratic, with a bio stating that he has “a psychology background,” his songs charmingly probe the human experience.

NHMC is riding a successful wave of late. The idea for its monthly Sunday Sessions is to book a local performer in the BNH Stage’s intimate Cantin Room, then move into the main theater when ticket sales hit a certain level. This month, Charlie Chronopoulos sold out the big space, and a few months earlier, singer/songwriter Taylor Hughes came within a few dozen seats of doing the same.

“So far, we’ve had three shows go to the big stage,” NHMC principal John McArthur said by phone recently. “We book a lot of bar gigs … breweries and wineries, stuff like that, where they’re doing mostly cover songs. But this opportunity to perform original music in front of a listening audience, this is what I live for.”

The third annual singer/songwriter contest at Patrick’s attracted entries from as far away as Rhode Island. “This is how starved indie artists are,” McArthur said. “People that in past years would have gotten in didn’t. We’re trying to build a community of songwriters and indie singing, and it’s starting to work.”
Brad Myrick, who founded the musician-friendly organization, agreed with his partner McArthur.

“I love that we can tie one thing that we’re doing to support songwriters and original music and segue that into a proper theater show promoted well and in a city like Concord that has some movement,” he said. “These are the kinds of things that I didn’t have the ability to do five or 10 years ago … that we’ve grown to where we can do that feels really good.”

It’s a two-way street for artists and NHMC, which books a wide range of area venues, Myrick continued.

“John set up the open mic as a way to have a forum to hear some new people and invite some folks,” he said. “It’s opened up some new performers for us, and it works great for them. They come up here and get new fans. It’s building something. I want people to say there’s a scene in New Hampshire. I want that to be felt and be real.”

NHMC Sunday Sessions: Songwriter Showcase
When: Sunday, Dec. 1, 6 p.m.
Where: BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord
Tickets: $18.75 at ccanh.com

Featured photo: First, second and third place winners of the Patrick’s Pub Songwriter Competition. Pictured L to R: Ian Archibold, Ian Galipeau, Temple Mountain. Courtesy photos..

British Invasion Years revisits ’60s

When The Beatles debuted on American television in February 1964, it was a shot heard ’round the world, and the ensuing onslaught of artists from across the pond forever revolutionized music. At the same time, something else happened, as musicians on this side of the Atlantic traded their Martin acoustic guitars for Rickenbackers and responded in kind.

Roger McGuinn, for example, ditched folk music and formed The Byrds, redefining Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” as a jangly, electric rocker. All across the nation bands came together, and the landscape changed. This call and response social moment is captured by British Invasion Years, performing Nov. 23 at Tupelo Music Hall.

“We use the American Revolution as a metaphor … but instead of hurling ammunition back and forth, these bands were throwing hits,” Lee Howard, who plays guitar and sings, said during a recent phone interview that included bass player and vocalist Bob Murdock. “Their battle was for the top spot in the charts.”

Howard and Murdock, along with drummer Dave Hall and Jon Wolf, who plays keyboards and guitar, begin their show as an all-British affair, churning out hits by the Fab Four, Herman’s Hermits, The Who, Moody Blues, Rolling Stones, Kinks and others. Act 2 is the American musical response.

One element separating them from other tribute acts is the precision brought to their task. They’re focused on replicating the studio sound of the songs they play down to the tiniest element. For example, “Time of the Season” by the Zombies opens with a percussive sound that’s either a hand clap or a wood block; the band was equally divided on which.

To settle it, they messaged Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone on Facebook, who confirmed it was a single hand clap. “It was a very fun but testy debate,” Murdock recalled. “We never really argue in the band, but in the end, it’s always the song that wins.”

Howard agreed. “It’s an example of how far we go to try and replicate as closely as possible the music that we’re doing,” he said. The group is equally exacting in its presentation, donning Beatles suits and other garb worn by bands during the transition from three-minute singles to concept albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

They also employ multimedia, like a photo of The Monkees’ Davy Jones alongside Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on the sitcom The Brady Bunch. It always sparks a raucous audience reaction. Other nostalgia triggers include trolls, Twister boards and Peter Fonda on his Easy Rider Harley.

“We conceptualized this [with] a screen that would project images and bring back those feelings of the day … people do respond to it,” Howard said; he designed that part of the show. “It’s great because we get to tug on emotional heartstrings not only sonically, but visually too.”

It’s a big part of the show’s second half, which can include everything from Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” to “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies. The outfits for that section are, Murdock said, “very hippie-ish, headbands and vests,” reflecting a time that was “all about peace and love.”

Asked for a nugget from the era that they personally love playing, both of them demur. That’s like naming a favorite child, Murdock asserts. “You love them all for different reasons.” Howard likes the Moody Blues’ “Tuesday Afternoon” because it surprises most audiences.

There’s good news on that front for New England fans, however. Everyone in the band enjoys rolling out Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” so Red Sox fans can rejoice! “The audience reacts to that song amazingly, they sing along and wave their hands,” Murdock said. “You get a little glimpse into Neil Diamond’s concert life when he used to sing that.”

Howard believes that the band’s note for note fastidiousness has something to do with it. “Most bands don’t like to do it because it’s not a cool sounding song if you don’t do it right,” he said. “We do it like the record and people flip out. There is something psychological behind that … when people hear what they’re accustomed to hearing, they get a warm, fuzzy feeling.”

British Invasion Years
When: Saturday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m.
Where: Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry
Tickets: $39 at tupelohall.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Willie Nile on making the best music of his life

By Michael Witthaus
[email protected]

“The Benjamin Button of rock ’n’ roll” is what VH1 Storytellers creator Bill Flanagan once called Willie Nile. “Because my career has been ass backwards,” Nile said recently. It’s true; the Buffalo-born rocker made two great albums early and waited 10 years for his third. Since then, he’s released over a dozen more, including nine in the last 12 years.

Nile’s energy level is up to 11, and he’s so confident he can inspire a crowd with his high-energy rock that he offers a guarantee. “If you want to see a spark and some light in this darkness, come to a show,” he said. “If you’re not blown away and you don’t feel better walking out the door, you’ll get your money back … and I don’t mean you’ll just like it.”

Every night, Willie Nile leaves everything on the stage, exiting fully soaked in sweat, usually after more than one standing ovation. He’ll play great songs from the early days like “Vagabond Moon” along with rave-ups like “This Is Our Time,” a cut from 2013’s American Ride and “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” the title track from his last studio album.

“Nothing’s changed, except I think I’m singing better,” he said. “My voice has gotten just a little richer. Maybe I wouldn’t go that far; I’m a little Sam Cooke, but I mean, I’m having more fun. The set lists are never better than this, and it’s a ball. I’m still feeling it in every pore of my body, and I’m not the only one.”

If the measure of a person is the company they keep, Nile is a star. He got his first big break when the booker at Kenny’s Castaways convinced Robert Palmer, the New York Times’ premier critic in the 1970s, to arrive early for a show he was covering to catch Nile’s opening set. The rave review led to a record deal and a tour opening for The Who.

Bruce Springsteen invited Nile to open for him in front of 70,000 fans in New Jersey’s Giants Stadium, and in 2009 pulled him from the audience to sing Jackie Wilson’s song “Higher & Higher” at a show that turned out to be Clarence Clemons’ last with the E Street Band.

Nine years ago he stood between Springsteen and Pete Townshend to perform “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in a band that included Billy Idol and Who lead singer Roger Daltrey. Nile also played “Substitute” and “Kids Are Alright” at the show, a Grammy MusiCares tribute.

“I remember thinking, what’s wrong with this picture?” he recalled, and talked about working out how to play the Who classic backstage with the Boss, who also didn’t know the song. “For 15 minutes, like two high school kids … we learn ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again.’ You can’t make this stuff up; I’m living a dream.”

Nile, however, isn’t the least bit starstruck by the music legends who love him.

“I’m just too dumb to know any better, but fame was never what I cared about,” he said. “It was always about the songs … that’s gotten me through some really small keyholes into some unique places.”

The inverse of that is what led him to leave music in the wake of his first two critically lauded albums when the industry harshed his mellow, then return in 1991 with Places I Have Never Been. He just wasn’t feeling it anymore. He and his then-wife — he’s now married to Italian photographer Cristina Arrigoni — moved back to Buffalo and had four kids.

“I stayed there through the eighties,” he said. “I stopped playing, but I was always writing. That’s what I do. I’ll write till I drop. At this rate, I’ll be playing till I drop, but it’s like my dad says … he asks, ‘How you doing?’ and I’ll say, ‘I’m working really hard, I’m pretty beat.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, but you get to do what you love. You’re a lucky guy.’ And he’s right.”

Even in conversation, one can hear the raucous Nile’s rock ’n’ roll heart beat. When he’s up on stage blazing through his massive catalog or covering a gem like the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” — Lou Reed was another New Yorker Nile knew — it’s like attending a revival tent party in 4/4 time.

So don’t go to The Rex on Nov. 15 with any thoughts of getting a refund. Rather, expect many moments when Nile’s spirit lifts the crowd to its feet. “I’m a 76-year-old dude and having the time of my life and doing the best shows in my career,” he said. “I’m having a ball, still writing at the top of my game, and the songs are still coming.”

An Evening With Willie Nile
When: Friday, Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester
Tickets: $35 at palacetheatre.org

Featured photo: Willie Nile. Courtesy photo.

Celtic Thunder returns to Capitol Center

By Michael Witthaus
[email protected]

At an upcoming show in downtown Concord, Celtic Thunder will feature several selections from Odyssey, an album they released last year along with a PBS special. The group’s lead singer, tenor Emmet Cahill, called the record a return to their roots in a recent phone interview.

“We have those traditional, very patriotic songs that tell the story of the foundation of the Irish state back in the early 1900s,” he said. “People are very passionate about that historical side to Ireland … it’s given us so much of our identity. We pay homage to the people who sacrificed everything for Irish independence, freedom and liberty.”

There are always fun moments, Cahill continued. One of his favorites on the new album is “The Wellerman,” a lively sea shanty that’s gone viral. “It’s about 30 million views now,” he said. “That song’s brought in a whole new audience for us, people who maybe wouldn’t have known about Celtic Thunder before and absolutely love that. It’s a bit of a hook; once it gets into your head, it’s there.”

One of the hallmarks of a Celtic Thunder concert is staying upbeat even if songs sometimes touch on somber topics; for example, “City of Chicago” is about the potato famine.

“There are serious moments, but it’s a fun experience,” he said. “There’s people singing along, and we’re keeping our old classics like ‘Caledonia,’ ‘Ireland’s Call’ and ‘Heartland.’ All the ones that fans from the very start will always expect to hear.”

The onstage banter between Cahill, Neil Byrne, Damian McGinty and Ronan Scolard is another perennial highlight.

“The nice thing about being in Celtic Thunder is that we go out and we’re just ourselves,” Cahill said. “We’re guys who grew up in Ireland telling these stories and we’re having fun doing it. I think that’s what people like, the realness of the show.”

Cahill spoke from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where the group had just performed. They’d also sung the national anthem at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Monday Night Football game. After shows in New Jersey and New York, the group would be heading to New England, and he was looking forward to it.

“New Hampshire, Massachusetts, the big Boston Irish communities, even when we go out to places like Maine, I think Irish people feel very at home there,” he said. “I always find in the Northeast that the humor is very similar to the Irish, dark and funny. I also like their straight talk … people just tell you what they’re thinking, or what they think of you.”

Celtic Thunder has performed multiple times at Concord’s Capitol Center, most recently in 2021. A Nov. 10 show there will be their last in the U.S., with five shows in Canada following to close out a tour that commenced in early September. Cahill won’t be slowing down, however. Two weeks later he’ll hit the road for Florida, Texas and California.

He’s made a couple of Christmas albums, and the season is always busy.

“I’ve carved a little bit of a niche out for myself in the faith communities in America, which has been great because it’s kind of where I came from,” he said. “My dad was a music minister in our church, and I was always singing that type of music as well as the Irish folk songs. They were the two genres that were ever present in our house in Ireland.”

With a majority of their shows happening stateside, Cahill recognizes the close Irish/American connection but believes there’s more to explain why fans regularly flock to see them.

“I think we’re pretty fun people to hang out with, we’re pretty lighthearted, we’re welcoming and embrace other cultures,” he said. “People want to be in on the act, which is what we get at our shows. It’s not predominantly Irish Americans who come … I think it’s the general American public who say, ‘Oh, this is just a really enjoyable night out.’”

Celtic Thunder Odyssey
When: Sunday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m.
Where: Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord
Tickets: $60.75 and up at ccanh.com

Featured photo: Celtic Thunder. Courtesy photo.

Moon Walker comes to Concord

Cirque du Soleil’s The Beatles Love, which closed last July after 18 years in Las Vegas, was both a musical revue and a hallucinatory spectacle. It was also the introduction to the Fab Four for a young Harry Springer, and it left a lasting impression. When he returned from the show, Springer convinced his parents to buy him a guitar.

Though it didn’t come up in a recent phone interview, it’s a safe bet Springer, who performs as Moon Walker, was partial to John Lennon. His music is a heady hybrid of glam rock and dreamy pop, which is appropriate for a guy who also cites Marc Bolan as a guiding light. He’s also fond of psychedelia stalwarts like Jellyfish and Supergrass.

In Lennon-esque fashion, Springer uses music as a platform for his politics. On TikTok, he stitches his songs to examples of hypocrisy, such as videos that tout tough parenting, parochial thinking and petty prejudices. It’s a winning formula, as his posts have garnered 16 million likes, and his @moonwalkerband account currently has nearly 400,000 followers.

“Give the People What They Want,” from 2023’s Apocalypticism, casts a wary eye at consumerism, “We want … houses we can’t pay for, jobs we can’t stay awake for,” Springer sings. Lately, he’s lambasting religion, on songs like “Regular People” and his latest, “New God,” a bracing track punctuated by shredding guitar and spacey, layered vocals.

Like the Beatle who wrote, “God is a concept by which we measure our pain,” Springer is sharp in his critiques, but it’s not in response to the way he was raised. It’s just the way he sees the world. “A lot of the things that get me worked up politically boil down almost exclusively to religion,” he said. “Sometimes, I don’t recognize that it’s going to bother people … until it does; and it always bothers the right people.”

Springer puts his faith in music, and he’s a relentless student. A conversation on influences veers from prog industrialists Can to Curtis Mayfield, who wrote “Superfly” and “People Get Ready,” to the proto-nerdcore Modern Lovers, a Boston group that included a future member of Talking Heads, a band he positively reveres.

“The funny thing is I discovered all three of those at the same time, so in my mind they’re strangely linked,” he said. This was during the beginning of the pandemic, a time when Springer had moved from Colorado to Los Angeles with his band Midnight Club to make a name for itself on the club circuit, only to end up in quarantine.

With no gigs to play and time on his hands, Springer began writing songs for Moon Walker and in October 2021 released Truth To Power, collaborating in the studio with drummer Sean McCarthy. A second album, The Attack of Mirrors, came a year later, followed by Apocalypticism last October.

This year he’s released several singles, including the antiwar “Genocide Money” in July. Considering his studio prowess, it wouldn’t be surprising if Moon Walker hit the road as a duo; Springer, McCarthy, and a looping machine packed with samples. That’s not what’s happening, however.

For a Concord show with fellow indie rockers Moon City Masters opening, Moon Walker will perform as a trio. Springer will work with a different drummer; McCarthy will be back in SoCal, but will rejoin Nov. 13 for a tour that will hit California, Oregon and Washington.

Like the many musicians Springer admires, most of whom had their heyday before MTV hit the airwaves, Moon Walker is old-school onstage.

“We don’t do tracks, so there are certain songs we can’t really play, but it’s kind of freeing — there’s no pressure to match the record because it’s physically not possible,” he said, adding, “I love the energy of a live show. There’s something that moves you when a band is in the moment and playing well together. I think it makes for a relatively unique experience. It’s going to be entirely different every night.”

Moon Walker w/ Moon City Masters
When: Friday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.
Where: BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord
Tickets: $19 and $31 at ccanh.com

Featured photo: Moon Walker. Courtesy photo.