College alumnus brings Nashville to WJSC
March 15, 2014
Rooted in the Country is the best of traditional country music, rockabilly, bluegrass, gospel, and Vermont artist,” said Corey Ryder, a Johnson State College alumnus whose radio show “Rooted in the Country” has brought nationally renown artist to WJSC 90.7 Ryder is a self-proclaimed historian...
Kat Wright bares her soul band at Radio Bean
Patrick McGuinn
March 15, 2014
What does the word indomitable mean anyway? Big, loud, full of energy, perhaps? At Burlington’s Radio Bean on Thursday nights, something truly big is going on. Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band presides every Thursday evening at 11:30. Vocalist Kat Wright is backed by a band with a sound...
Eco-Band keeps the dead alive
Thomas Benton
March 15, 2014
An African-American woman dragged herself across the stage. Years weighed her down. She started by thanking Goddard College. Audience members looked at each other. Someone yelled, “This is Johnson State College!” The speaker didn’t understand. The someone repeated, “This is Johnson State...
Beyonce’s Declaration of Independence
February 6, 2014
Many celebrated as Beyoncé Knowles became Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and I, like many others, rejoiced when the two superstars had a child together. They deserve a break, they are busy with baby Blue. No one expects a new wife and mother to create the best work of her career. Beyoncé fans were pro...
Waka Flocka Flame lights up B-Town
February 6, 2014
Energetic hip/hop star Waka Flocka Flame passed through Burlington on Jan. 25, bringing his effective hype crew with him and an arsenal of fun beats to rap and scream over, offering a show that was one hell of a good time. Waka Flocka Flame has earned success and mainstream attention after the release...
Springsteen ‘75 re-materializes, says: “I’ve seen some shit”
February 6, 2014
Even those who are simply aware of Bruce Springsteen’s continued existence probably remember his album “The Rising.” It came out just after 9/11, when we were searching for landmarks of American identity, it reunited Springsteen with his legendary E Street Band, with which he hadn’t laid down...
Stearns hosts Vermont Bluegrass legends
November 27, 2013
Stearns Performance Space was home to an interesting night of Bluegrass originals and traditional music Wednesday, Nov. 13. Opening the show, Bob Amos & Catamount Crossing mixed their distinctly northern Bluegrass with traditional southern Bluegrass music to create a sound that proved to be both...
Kanye’s “Yeezus” tour heals author’s vertigo
Tom Benton, Surrogate Jimmy Stewart
November 19, 2013
Kanye West is in the middle of his "Yeezus Tour," his first tour in five years (the last one supported his 2008 album "808s and Heartbreak," his devastation record; this one supports "Yeezus," his ego record, w...
“Artpop,” Lady Gaga’s turn-on
November 14, 2013
I resisted “The Fame,” Lady Gaga’s first album, with ease (“Bad Romance” felt too shticky, “Just Dance” my ass), then accepted her second album, “Born This Way,” because not only didn’t she disappear, like I thought she would, she came back trying. Her new album...
Rough Francis: not rough at all
October 15, 2013
I’ve been listening to a lot of earthy girl-rock lately, ‘90’s stuff: Jonatha Brooke, Bic Runga, the Sundays, the usual suspects. Rough Francis, the 3/5 black punk group that played Dibden on Oct. 2, reminded me what I was missing. They injected a strengthening shot of masculine thrust into my...
Vermont Symphony Orchestra: they’re good at what they do
September 25, 2013
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra kicked off its Made in Vermont Music Festival at JSC on Friday night, Sept. 20, the first night of JSC’s Alumni/Parents Weekend. Alumni and parents are certainly their target audience, especially the older alumni: once one becomes an adult, one eschews rock ‘n’ rol...
Twiddle wants girls, lighters and guitar
Melissa Rixon
September 11, 2013
Twiddle rocked Dibden on Thursday, Sept. 5. The band members met while undergrads at Castleton State College. They play a fusion of jazz, reggae, funk and bluegrass. Before they unleashed that fusion upon the Dibden audience, band members Mihali Savoulidis, Zdenek Gubb and Brook Jordan sat down in D...
Seeing all-stars at Dibden jamboree
April 18, 2013
It didn’t take long for the seats to fill and then empty as loads of people crowded the dance floor in Dibden. At most rock shows, it takes a few songs for people to really get up the nerve to dance. This was not the case with Dibden’s March 28 All-Star Jamboree. This Creative Audience event was pa...
Gathering of Fools no such thing
April 18, 2013
It wasn’t a gathering of fools. It wasn’t even a gathering of idiot savants. Those assembled, three groups from Brooklyn – Feral Foster (one man), the Whiskey Spitters (four men, one woman) and Avo (three guys) – transplanted American music roots and set ‘em down in the Stearns Performance Space, A...
Gathering of Fools imports Brooklyn country
Thomas Benton
March 28, 2013
They call themselves A Gathering of Fools, and they’re coming to the Stearns Performance Space at 7 p.m. on Apr. 3. It’s actually a gathering of three bands from Brooklyn: the Whiskey Spitters, Feral Foster, and Avo, playing a mix of roots, folk, Americana and experimental music. All th...
Still smokin’ after all these years
Samuel Bridges
March 14, 2013
The metal-framed folding chairs placed aimlessly in the back of the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington, Vt. were occupied with the immobile. The venue had two crowded bars at opposite ends, both charging $5.50 for a meager cup. The 45 minutes I spent idly near the front of the stage gave my ears...
Le Vent du Nord smuggle fun across the border
December 6, 2012
It is impossible to know exactly what went through the minds of Johnson State College’s students as they went to see the band Le Vent Du Nord on Dec. 2, but they may have been expecting something different than what they received. Sometimes, there is a prejudice about foreign music that says it is...
Taylor Swift 4: a panorama flipping misery the bird
Tom Benton, Editor-in-Chief
October 26, 2012
Taylor Swift’s “Red” is one of the loveliest pieces of pop art about young love in recent years. It’s incredible that Ms. Swift’s capable of such a panoramic view of young love and relationships at 22. She’s considered everything she’s singing about with the kind of thoroughness I’d...
Funk, Rock ‘n Milk: Jiver Farmer comes to town
Leigh Robtoy
October 6, 2012
An impromptu jam session at The Hub in Johnson among three musicians who had never played together before quickly turned into a new band called Jive Farmer. "The name is testament to the fact that Chris and Fabian have both grown up on a farm and are indeed farmers," says Micah Carbonneau, drummer...
Pretty pleasing, with Sugar Ray on top
April 12, 2012
Sugar Ray and the Bluetones played Dibden on March 23, and if a harmonica was a flamethrower, they would’ve set the house on fire. The first sign of greatness was their opening act, three smoked-out-looking dudes calling themselves the Eames Brothers. There’s Ian and Ralph, the Eames brothers,...
Springsteen’s newest a “Wrecking Ball” for my heart
Tom Benton, Editor-in-Chief
March 16, 2012
Bruce Springsteen is one of the shining idols of my life. I first visited Springsteen when I was 14. Springsteen’s music revealed a brother I’d never imagined was out there—in songs like “Thunder Road” and my freshman year anthem, “Born to Run,” I heard a person just like myself, but...
The Aerolites are poised for takeoff
Anna Maria Liccione, Arts and Entertainment Editor/Senior Copy Editor
March 8, 2012
“Undeniably classifiable.” That’s exactly how I would describe The Aerolites’ unique blend of Americana, rock and roll, funk, surf and soul after an energetic show at Moog’s Place in Morrisville in February. The Aerolites is a new band that is preparing to take the world by storm. This band...
Seven Stories of sound, all of them loud
Tom Benton, Editor-in-Chief
March 8, 2012
Seven Stories violently assaulted my eardrums when they played Dibden on March 2. They did so with plenty enough aptitude for me to pass up pressing charges, but whether they deserved criminal charges depends on one’s attitude toward sonic battery. If you get your kicks having your ears screwed six...
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