The next two shows are weirdly big for an intimate 40-seater.
We wanted to get them back in front of you newsletter folks a little earlier than we normally would because advance ticket sales have been stronger than usual.
Will these shows sell out? Dunno. They oughtta... but we haven't hit capacity hard enough to have to turn people away since the Covid lockdown. However, attendance in general has been slowly building to almost where it was pre-pandemic — if something's gonna finally go over the top, it's gonna be one or both of these, and we don't want you newsletter folks to miss out if you're interested. Because you're the newsletter folks! That says something! We're fans of you.
Carolann Solebello, best known as a founding member of Americana trio Red Molly, has a pretty deep history with Bellows Falls, having been a three-time performer at the Roots On The River festival, plus appearances at fabled local venues Oona's and Boccelli's. Lookit what she put on
:
She likes you. We're so pleased to welcome her back. And she's bringing another primo songwriter with her to co-bill, Marc Douglas Berardo.
Carolann's smooth, pitch-perfect voice, compelling lyrics, and accomplished yet warm acoustic guitar nod to folk traditions while an urban sense of rhythm and sophisticated phrasing plant her firmly in the present. She's won a pile of songwriting awards, and is currently working on her sixth solo album. She has a fun side-hustle being an extra on TV shows, which is kinda neat.
It will be
's first time in our room. He writes sharply drawn, award-winning song-portraits and delivers them with engaging presence and deft storytelling. He casts a wide net on the unusual and beguiling — circus retirees, ex-pats in Florida rum bars, union ironworkers, old poets, aimless New York City debutantes, near-death car crashes, hard-nosed fishermen, and the changes that experience brings to everyone. He's shared the stage with heavyweights like Buffalo Springfield, NRBQ, Guy Clark, Ralph Stanley, The Doobie Brothers, Vassar Clements, Martin Sexton, Steve Forbert, Justin Townes Earle, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Cheryl Wheeler, Lucy Kaplansky, Livingston Taylor, David Olney, Jimmy LaFave, 10,000 Maniacs, and John Hiatt.
They co-headline Sunday, April 7 at 7:00 PM.
or at the door... advance tickets guarantee entry. All ticket proceeds go to the performers. Only 40 tickets will be sold. We'll be recording and filming the performances, as always.
PSA: The Carolann and Marc show is the day before the eclipse! 100% totality will be up north a wee bit, but here in Bellows Falls the sun will be 96.8% blocked by the moon, and that's gonna be quite something.
It starts around 2:15 PM, peaks for about three minutes 3:25ish, and the whole thing will be over about 4:35. There's all kinds of warnings that highway traffic might be hella bonkers, especially right afterward, even if it's lousy eclipse-viewing weather.
And then we've got a Grammy nominee, Reed Foehl. Holy cow. He's bringing hotshot session drummer Jeff Berlin with him, and Tommy Crawford is opening. This show was rescheduled from January due to weather. Second chance!
Reed writes dusty, patient, genuine folk Americana songs about the human condition with lyrics and voice that push boundaries while paying homage to tradition. His most recent album, Wild Wild Love, was recorded with The Band of Heathens in Austin, TX. He first hit radars as the lead singer of the relentlessly touring Boulder, Colorado, band Acoustic Junction, and his songs have appeared in TV and film including Just Friends (New Line Cinema), Joan of Arcadia (CBS), Laguna Beach (MTV), Biggest Loser (NBC), Dawson's Creek (WB), and Party of Five (FOX). He was nominated for a Grammy for the song Fly, co-written with southern artist Brent Cobb, which country legend Lee Ann Womack recorded."Reed's songs hit you in the heart, and everything else falls away." — Anaïs MitchellHe'll be joined by drummer Jeff Berlin, veteran of the Boston scene who has recorded and performed with — in addition to Reed — Jeffrey Foucault, Bow Thayer, Boris McCutcheon, and many more. He's played on over 100 albums.Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Tommy Crawford will open. Although a talented solo musician, he's better known for his work in live theater and independent film. He's a founding member and director of NYC-based band / songwriting / theater collective The Lobbyists, and is a lifetime artist member of Ensemble Studio Theater. His most recent studio album, Athena and the Moon, was released in 2022.Saturday, April 20 at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $20 in advance through stage33live.com or at the door. Advance tickets guarantee entry. Only 40 tickets will be sold. We'll be recording and filming the performances, as always.
PSA: Shona Grill used to be here in Bellows Falls (where Fat Franks was, and where Studio 92 is now). They made awesome burgers. Every now and then they do a burger popup, and they'll be having one of those at The Moose from 4:30 to 7PM (showtime!) the same day as the Foehl / Reed / Crawford show.
That's just a third of a mile from our front door — a superquick drive or a 7-minute walk. Grab a burger before the show! You can get to-go and eat here, totally cool. Doors are always open ridiculously early for the adventurous.
We trotted out the new audio getup for the first time at the Fretbenders / Fairlanes show a couple weeks ago. Thrilling! There were a few last-minute bumps... confidence going into the day may have been a little higher than it should have been. (We're like that, ever the optimists.) We overcame, with good help from The Fairlanes' bass player Jim Beaulieu who is a soundguy up north. Handy to have an unexpected ringer every now and then.
It sounded great, and the pre-console splits worked perfectly. Still a couple things to work through, but the mission-critical is A-OK.
Over the past 90 days, the nation with the second highest Stage 33 Live video view count is India. That's kinda cool.
The crew that organized the Synthfest dates here earlier this year are working up a couple more for next year, and hopefully a couple down in Brattleboro at the very cool Heart Rose club in the old Shriner's building as well. Stay tuned.
If you're one of the anonymous people who recommended Stage 33 Live through the charitable arms of PayPal, eBay, GoFundMe, CrowdRise, Airbnb, Humble Bundle, or any other online platform, THANK YOU! For lots of places, $94.02 is just chump change — but we can make a hundred bucks go astonishingly far.
All the ticket money goes to the performers, and everything else gets plowed back into the mission.
Also on that note, we're delighted that RAMP — the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project — renewed their underwriting (completely unbidden!) for next year.
The work they've been doing in Rockingham and beyond for almost three decades now is one of our inspirations.
