Erin go BRRRR!
Contrary to the foot-and-a-half of frozen, gleaming-white evidence blanketing the Upper Valley, spring is coming. In the meantime, green relief is coming on Friday in the form of an Upper Valley-wide blizzard of music and dance and comedy in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
Take the St. Patrick’s Comedy Gala at the Lebanon Opera House, which Lebanon native and entertainment promoter Richard Smith is staging as a benefit for the New Hampshire Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund.
During a recent visit with New Hampshire Agriculture Commissioner Lorraine Merrill, Smith recalled during a telephone conversation last week, “I told her that I was looking for a fundraiser cause for this show I was doing at the opera house. She said, ‘the dairy farmers need some help,’ and I said, ‘We’re on.’ ”
It was an easy call for Smith, who recalls the former Honey Gardens dairy delivering bottles of milk every morning to his family’s home near downtown.
“They’ve been hurt by a drought the last couple of years, and their problems are a lot deeper than that,” Smith said of small farmers in the state. “There’s not only the climate-change issues. It’s, like, people are not buying local. The small producers are losing ground to the mega-farms in the Midwest.”
The cause is doubly personal for Lebanon musician Anthony Santoro, who will play uillean pipes with fiddler Roger Burridge, his partner in the folk duo Brinytide, for the Boston-area step dancers who will perform between the stand-up sets of comedians Jim McCue, Joey Carroll and Jimmy PJ Walsh.
“I have a friend who grew up in Plainfield, Geordie Lynd, who’s got a dairy farm in Cabot (Vt.),” Santoro, now in his mid-30s, said on Tuesday of Lynd, who is also a fiddler and guitarist. “The dairy farmers have not been treated very well over the years as far as price supports and competition from agribusiness. … When I was growing up in the Burlington area, there were still a lot of functioning dairy farms around, especially on South Hero in the Champlain Islands. I went to a festival on North Hero not long ago, and the farms are pretty much gone.”
Santoro said he had already committed to play pipes at a St. Patrick’s Day concert at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon, when Mary Connolly of the Connolly Celtic Dancers invited him and Burridge to accompany them at the opera-house show.
“I ended up adjusting the time of the church gig so that we could participate in the comedy show,” said Santoro, who was scheduled to tune up for the Friday gigs with a performance at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon on Wednesday night. “Roger lives more than an hour from here, so he wouldn’t have likely come up for just the comedy show.”
Neither a blizzard nor the long ride from the Portsmouth area would stop Smith, a 1969 graduate of Lebanon High, from returning for this event to the city where his mother ran a record store and his father was a produce manager for a grocery chain.
“It’s my hometown,” said Smith, who often books music acts at Salt hill. “I love Lebanon. I’m hoping to retire there.”
The St. Patrick’s Day Comedy Gala starts at 8 on Friday night at Lebanon Opera House, with proceeds benefiting the New Hampshire Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund. To reserve tickets ($30 to $35) and learn more, visit lebanonoperahouse.org or call 603-448-0400. Before playing for the Connolly Celtic Dancers between comedians at the gala, Brinytide will perform “A Concert for St. Patrick’s Day” at 4:30 in the afternoon at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon; admission is $20.
Celtic musicians from far and near also will be shuttling among the Upper Valley’s four Salt hill Pubs on Friday, starting with the pubs’ servings of full Irish breakfasts at 9 in the morning and continuing with a variety of Irish fare throughout the day and evening. At each venue, the festivities will end at 11 p.m. with drawings for an all-expenses-paid trip to Ireland.
Performers, by venue, are:
Lebanon— Ireland’s Bel Clare ensemble at 9 a.m., balladeer Jim Barnes at 12:30 p.m., the Celtic trio Atlantic Crossing at 4 and the Middlebury quartet O’hAnleigh at 9.
Hanover — Jim Barnes at 9 a.m., Bel Clare at 1 p.m., O’hAnleigh at 5 p.m. and the Seattle-based James Marshall Trio at 9.
Newport — Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio at 9 a.m., O’hAnleigh at 1 p.m., Bel Clare at 5, Atlantic Crossing at 9.
Newbury, N.H. — O’hAnleigh at 9 a.m., Atlantic Crossing at 1 p.m., Jim Barnes at 5:30, Bel Clare at 9. To learn more, visit salthillpub.com.
Elsewhere in the Upper Valley:
Bassist Peter Concilio and pianist-singer Bob Merrill perform their jazzy annual St. Patrick’s Day Gala at SILO Distillery in Windsor from 5:30 to 7:30 in the evening.
Pomfret native Tristan Henderson and his fellow multi-instrumentalists in the roots trio Pete’s Posse perform the annual St. Patrick’s Day concert at ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret starting at 7:30. To reserve tickets ($20) and learn more, visit artistreevt.org or call 802-457-3500.
Royalton saxophonist Michael Parker and singer-songwriter Alison “AliT” Turner invoke Celtic rhythms at the Public House in Quechee starting at 7.
South Newbury, Vt. fiddler Patrick Ross leads his Hot Flannel ensemble of guitarist Doug Perkins, bassist Tyler Bolles, accordionist Jeremiah McLane and drummer Ben Solomon into the Barnard Town Hall to set the rhythm for the dance party celebrating Ross’ namesake saint on Friday night at 7. For tickets ($20 to $30) and more information, visit barnarts.org or call 802-234-1645.
The Americana ensemble Twisted Knickers joins forces with the folk duo Don & Jenn to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Colatina Exit in Bradford, on Friday night starting at 7.
Marko the Magician performs his tableside sleight-of-hand during the Magic of St. Patrick’s Day party that Pentangle Arts and Zack’s Place are hosting at Woodstock’s Town Hall Theatre. Tickets cost $20 for the magic show itself, which starts at 7, and $60 for spectators also planning to attend the cocktail party that starts at 5:30 at a nearby private home on the village green. For tickets to the magic show only, call Pentangle at 802-457-3981. For the full party, call 802-457-5868 or email execdir@zacksplacevt.org.
Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers perform at the Taverne on the Square in Claremont from 8 to 11 p.m.
Boston-based comedian Kwasi Mensah stands up for laughs at the Woolen Mill Comedy Club in Bridgewater starting at 8.
Bone Factory fills Windsor Station with Irish-tinged old-timey rhythms on Friday night from 9:30 to 12:30.
Finally, if the Celtic spirit still is moving you on Saturday, the Northeast Kingdom’s WindRose Quartet sings with folk musicians Patty and Gill Williams at the United Congregational Church of Orford at 7 p.m. Admission at the door is by donation.
Best Bets
Singer-songwriter John Gorka performs at the Flying Goose Brewpub and Grille in New London tonight at 8. Reservations are required. To order tickets ($25) and learn more, visit flyinggoose.com or call 603-526-6899.
Still Hill plays its blend of progressive bluegrass, folk, Americana and old-timey roots music at the monthly Corinth Coffeehouse on Saturday night at 7 at the Corinth Town Hall. Admission is by donation, proceeds of which benefit the Corinth Volunteer Fire Department. To learn more about the concert and the series, look for the coffeehouse’s Facebook page.
The Joe Walsh Trio performs (and records) an Americana concert at the West Newbury (Vt.) Hall on Sunday afternoon at 2, as part of the Rock Farmer Roadshow series. To reserve tickets ($20) and learn more, visit patrickrossmusic.com.
Ben Fox leads the monthly Soul Drumming session at the ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret on Sunday afternoon from 3 to 5. While admission to the informal gathering is free, donations are welcome.
The children’s-theater touring company of the Kennedy Center stages Elephant and Piggie’s We Are in a Play!, children’s author Mo Willems’ musical adaptation of his series of books for early readers about the adventures of Elephant Gerald and his sidekick, at Spaulding Auditorium in Hanover on Sunday afternoon at 3. To reserve tickets ($13 to $23) and learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-727-3304.
Performance artist Hiroya Tsukamato plays guitar, tells stories and recites poetry at the Friends Meeting House in Hanover on Sunday night at 6. Admission is $10 to $15. To learn more, email smsherry28@gmail.com or visit hiroyatsukamoto.com.
Guitarists Tom Pirozzoli and Gerry Putnam perform a free concert for the World Happiness Day celebration at the veterans’ hall in Newbury, N.H., across Route 103 from the town library, on Monday night at 7.
Theater/Performance Art
Northern Stage opens a three-week run of the George Brent play Grounded with 7:30 previews tonight and Friday night before the official opening on Saturday night at 7:30. The one-woman show explores an Air Force pilot’s reactions to being transferred from her fighter jet to the controls of a drone after learning she is pregnant. The production continues through April 2. To reserve tickets ($14 to $54) and learn more, visit northernstage.org.
Music
The Americana trio of singer-guitarist Larry Allen Brown, bassist Billy Martin and guitarist/mandolin player Bob McCarthy celebrate the release of their new CD Covered Bridges at the Canoe Club in Hanover on Saturday night at 8.
Upper Valley Music Center teachers of piano, guitar, voice, chorus, violin and wind instruments perform works of Bach, Bizet, Brahms, Telemann, Ben Moore, Paquito D’Rivera, Caroline Shaw and Libby Larson at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon on Sunday afternoon at 4. General admission to the UVMC Faculty Showcase is $15, with proceeds benefiting the center’s scholarship fund. To reserve tickets and learn more, visit uvmusic.org or call 603-448-1642.
Dance
Revels North stages a full Saturday afternoon of Revels Tradition music and dance at St. Barnabas Church in Norwich, starting at 12:30 with a Revels Teens celebration under the direction and calling of Nils Fredland. Fredland also oversees the Revels Singers from 2:30 to 3:40, before Band of Fools takes the stage from 3:45 to 5. The Revels Singers and Band of Fools then join forces for the finale at 5.
Pomfret-native roots musician Tristan Henderson joins fiddler Pete Sutherland for a session of traditional square- and contradancing at Damon Hall in Hartland on Sunday night at 7. Nils Fredland calls the steps. Admission is $10 for ages 12 and older.
Bar and Club Circuit
Dan & The Dinosaurs perform roots music in the tavern of the Lyme Inn tonight at 6:30.
Ted Mortimer plays guitar at the Canoe Club in Hanover tonight starting at 6. Following him to the venue with performances from 6 to 9 over the coming week are pianist Gillian Joy on Tuesday and pianist John Lovejoy on Wednesday.
Kid Pinky plays the blues at the Taverne on the Square in Claremont tonight at 7, followed on Saturday night at 8 by a set of rock from Tirade.
Singer-songwriters Chris Powers and Jim Yeager share the stage at Windsor Station tonight at 7:30. Next to the microphone over the coming week are the Americana ensemble Jeezum Crow on Saturday night at 9:30 and singer-songwriter Erik Boedtker on Tuesday night at 6.
The Occasional Jug Band plays in the tavern at Jesse’s in Hanover starting at 5 on Friday evening.
Artistic Director Nils Fredland and Executive Director Lyndsay Rose of Revels North lead a pub sing at the Skinny Pancake in Hanover on Saturday night from 6 to 8. To learn more, visit the Revels North page on facebook.com.
Hammond-B3 organ aficionado Tom Caselli leads his B3 Brotherhood into the Salt hill Pub in Hanover for a session of soulful funk on Saturday night at 8.
John Lackard plays and sings the blues at Newport’s Salt hill Pub on Saturday night at 9.
Bow Thayer performs his weekly set of Americana at the Skinny Pancake on Wednesday night at 7:30.
Open Mics
Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza in Bridgewater hosts an open mic starting at 7:30 on Thursday nights. Participants get a free large cheese pizza.
String players of all ages and abilities are welcome at the weekly acoustic jam session at South Royalton’s BALE Commons on Friday night from 6:30 to 10.
Joe Stallsmith leads a weekly hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass at Salt hill Pub in Hanover on Monday nights starting at 6.
Bradford’s Colatina Exit holds an open mic on Tuesday nights at 8.
Jim Yeager hosts an open mic at Hartland’s Skunk Hollow Tavern at 8:30 on Wednesday night.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304.