Synthfest Session 1 on Saturday, January 10!
Meet-and-greet at 6:00, then five 20-minute performances starting at 7:00.
This session will primarily feature composed songs, often with voice, sometimes with additional instruments.
On the schedule: Deep Seize, Dutch Experts, Holly Brewer, Snowglobe Almanac, The Y Lie. Info at the website.Normally we aim to send these out a couple weeks before a show, but this time that lands right in the crazytime between Christmas and New Year. So this one is three weeks in advance, in the preholiday crazytime. If you'd like to come to this one, put it on your calendar with a reminder so you don't forget!Here's a look back at the 2025 Synthfest sessions:
And now a fond retrospective of everyone who played the room in 2025:
Wanna see somebody's full set?
Here's the entirety of 2025 in performance order — short sets, openers, headliners, the works!
The latest podcast episode is out — available in video or audio-only formats in the usual podcast places.
"Places on a Map" featuring Phil Henry, Fred Gillen Jr, Dayna Kurtz, Nathan Evans Fox with Jane Kramer, Wojcicki, Hiroya Tsukamoto, Sara Trunzo with Tiffany Williams, Dave Richardson, Jesse Peters, Derek and The Demons, Allison Fay Brown, George Nostrand, and Josh Maiocco.
Shout-out to Deutchland and Nederland, which have downloaded the audio podcast nearly as much as the entire USA! And also to that mysterious retrieval floating in the North Atlantic Ocean between Ponta Delgada and Madeira.
Almost half of everybody is listening on smart speakers, followed closely by mobile phones, with computers in a distant third place.
We posted an idle thought to social media about a suggestion we've received more than once: that Stage 33 Live should host a Wednesday night classic movie at the Opera House.
In this case, "Stage 33 Live" means a bunch of us ganging up to pitch in to cover the $300 sponsorship cost (a fair bit cheaper, all-in, than renting the theater for a do-it-yourself screening).
Since a dozen comp tickets come with a sponsorship, we figured a dozen people who pitch in $25 apiece would each get a free ticket.
We are kicking in dough, but since all our ticket proceeds goes to the performers and we don't have a bar or kitchen or other income source
—
we're all volunteers
—
we don't have the money to do it all by ourselves. Hence the crowdsource angle. And it's to support the Opera House, really, not us.
Sponsorship details at
There would be no real value for Stage 33 Live in doing this other than a bit of exposur
e and some fun, and supporting our town-owned movie theater that only charges $6 a ticket even for first-run movies. We could have an info table on the way in and out with a donation jar, maybe raise a few bucks that way. Maybe they'd let us screen the highlight reel before the movie too, that would be cool.
And then an interesting wrinkle developed.
A fan of both the Bellows Falls Opera House (aren't we all?) and of Stage 33 Live proposed that if we sponsor FOUR classic movies, they'll put $400 in the kitty. A hundred bucks per movie!Sponsoring four movies gets a 10% discount from the theater, so a total of $1080. Stage 33 Live could kick in $80 to bring it to an even thousand. Based on what's been pledged on social media, we're $100 away from sponsoring one move ($200 is already pledged toward one), or $325 away from sponsoring four ($675 is already pledged toward four).Unless anonymity is requested, we'd credit everyone who pitched in to make it happen here on social media, on our website, in our newsletter, and before the showing. We'd need to provide a list of more movies than dates we're going to sponsor, because licensing isn't a sure thing. Since we host so much folk music and we're underdogs, folkie underdog movies seem appropriate. How's this list strike you?
1. A Mighty Wind (1h 32m)
A 2003 mockumentary comedy about a reunion concert in which three folk bands reunite for a television performance for the first time in decades. The film broadly parodies the American folk music revival of the early 1960s and its personalities. The film stars Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy alongside many of their frequent collaborators, including Bob Balaban, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Ed Begley Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, Harry Shearer, and Fred Willard.
2. Inside Llewyn Davis (1h 45m)
A highly acclaimed 2013 black comedy drama written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1961, the film follows one week in the life of a folk singer struggling to achieve musical success while keeping his life in order. The story was partly inspired by Dave Van Ronk's autobiography. The supporting cast includes Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Driver. Most of the folk songs performed in the film were recorded live. T Bone Burnett was the executive music producer.
3. Once (1h 26m)
The 2007 low-key Irish romantic musical drama of a busker on the streets of Dublin who meets a girl that digs his songs is often considered one of the most heartfelt celebrations of music ever filmed, with a handheld realism that's the cinematic equivalent of a great live show — a palette-cleanser that strips away layers of studio lacquer in favor of warm tones and deeply soulful characters.
4. Music and Lyrics (1h 36m)
Rebecca Hall (of Hungrytown) suggested the 2007 rom-com Music and Lyrics as a fourth alternate, with support voiced by Dan Senie (of Dan & Faith). It's not folkie but it is underdoggy, so it's OK. A former music superstar played by Hugh Grant has been reduced to playing nostalgia tours and county fairs. He scores a chance at a major comeback when a pop diva asks him to write a song for her, but he hasn't written anything in years and can't compose lyrics anyway. Noticing that the plant lady played by Drew Barrymore has a way with words, he proposes that they make beautiful music together.
5. Searching for Sugar Man (1h 26m)
Another suggestion from someone who pledged: A 2012 documentary that details the efforts of two obsessed Cape Town fans to find out whether the rumored death of early '70s American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true and, if not, to discover what had become of him. Though he faded into obscurity in the U.S., Sixto Rodriguez had become a huge hit in South Africa.
If you're into it,
— let's say a minimum of $25 — and note that it's for the Classic Movie Sponsorship. Or just email us and make a pledge and we'll come back to haunt you if it all works out. Each $25 gets a ticket and a pat on the back.
If you donate and it ends up that there's not strong enough interest for this to happen, we'll reach out about how to get you a refund.
