The Upper Valley’s celebration of the Fourth of July — the music as well as the symbolic bombs bursting in air — extends well beyond Independence Day’s calendar date of Thursday.
And the busiest venue in our neck of the woods over the extended holiday weekend is the porch of the ski lodge at Suicide Six in South Pomfret, hosting a one-two punch of classical, jazz and patriotic music on Friday night and of old-time rock ’n’ roll on Saturday.
During the Upper Valley stop on its annual summer tour, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will build up to Friday’s fireworks display by performing compositions ranging from Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto, George Gershwin’s Strike Up the Band and excerpts from Porgy and Bess, to a suite of movie themes by John Williams, an excerpt of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and John Philip Sousa’s Liberty Bell March (aka the Monty Python’s Flying Circus theme song) and the grand finale of Stars and Stripes Forever.
Then on Saturday, all the fireworks will come from the stage, where alumni of 1970s bands such as Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Boston and Pure Prairie League perform as the American Vinyl All-Star Band. The success of last year’s mid-July American Vinyl Festival at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre inspired the move to the outdoor venue.
And this year, there’s an Upper Valley flavor: Woodstock rocker Jim Yeager opens the festivities with a set of rock and funk with his Majik Box Trio bandmate, Windsor singer-guitarist Emile Giroux. And Claremont’s Evelyn Cormier, who competed on American Idol earlier this year, is scheduled to perform.
“I helped them out when they came through town before, and some of them played at some of the open mics I do,” Yeager said this week. “They’re super laid-back and down-to-Earth people. They really love each other. They’re a tight-knit group of people”
Also making it easier for Yeager to say “yes” — during a month in which he’s already scheduled for 26 gigs around the Upper Valley — is the fact that proceeds from the festival benefit Freedom Drives Us, a nonprofit that helps veterans with mobility problems retrofit their vehicles.
“I have two brothers who are veterans and my father, who’s a veteran,” Yeager said. “I have a very soft spot for veterans.”
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra performs at the Suicide Six ski lodge on Friday night at 7:30. Tickets cost $5 for kids; for adults, $28 in advance and $35 at the door. To reserve seats and learn more, visit pentanglearts.org.
The American Vinyl Festival starts at 5:30 on Saturday night at the Suicide Six ski lodge in South Pomfret. For tickets ($20 to $65; veterans get in free when accompanied by a ticketed guest) and more information, visit americanvinylallstarband.net.
The Flames play rock and pop covers at 5 on Thursday night at Colburn Park, and Hayley Jane & The Primates follow with a set of rock and soul at 7:30, before Lebanon ignites its Fourth of July Fireworks around 9:20.
■The Chandler Center for the Arts stages four performances of the teen dance musical Footloose from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon, at Chandler Music Hall in Randolph. For tickets ($12.75 to $19.25), visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464.
■The Chosen Vale International Percussion Seminar opens at the Enfield Shaker Village this weekend, with the first two of four free concerts by faculty and students in Mary Keane Chapel. The series begins on Friday night at 8 with performances of contemporary works by Caroline Malonee, Ellen Reid, Sarah Belle Reid and Nina Young. And on Saturday night at 8, on a theme of “Patterns/Textures,” performers tackle compositions of Gemma Peacock, Guo Wen-Jin and Paul Lansky.
■ Lakou Mizik sets the funky, rootsy rhythm for the Haitian dance party that BarnArts Center for the Arts is hosting at Fable Farm in Barnard on Saturday night at 7:30. The ensemble, which is managed by Woodstock native Zach Niles, formed after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake. For tickets ($25) and more information, visit barnarts.org.
■Young singers Betty Gray and Jamie Fallon Smith join the Lydia Gray Quartet at Court Street Arts’ Alumni Hall in Haverhill on Saturday night at 7, performing jazz standards on the theme of “Fly Me to the Moon.” Lydia Gray’s instrumental partners are guitarist Ed Eastridge, bassist Glendon Ingalls and drummer Marcus Copening. Admission is by donation. To learn more, visit courtstreetarts.org.
■The Lincoln, N.H.-based Monday Morning Children’s Theater company kicks off its series of weekly musical adaptations of fairy and folk tales for kids this Monday at 10 a.m. at the Claremont Opera House, with a performance of The Little Mermaid. Tickets cost $6 at the door. To reserve sections for groups, and to learn more about the series, visit claremontoperahouse.org or call 603-542-0064.
■Dartmouth College graduate Mali Obomsawin brings her bass and her Lula Wiles bandmates Isa Burke and Eleanor Buckland back to campus on Wednesday night at 5:30, with a free performance of folk and roots music on the Dartmouth Green in Hanover.
Peter and The Starcatcher, musical, performances at New London Barn Playhouse between Thursday night and the finale on Sunday afternoon. The Barn’s production of Neil Simon’s comedy The Odd Couple begins on Wednesday night. Tickets $20 to $37.
■ Marko the Magician, Tuesday at noon on the South Royalton Green.
■“The Diagonal Life Circus,” Bread and Puppet Theater, next Thursday night at 6 on Haverhill Corners Common. Admission by donation.
Billy Wylder, folk-rock and world music, Thursday night at 5:30, during Feast & Farm Market at Fable Farm in Barnard.
■Saxophonist Michael Parker, guitarist Billy Rosen and keyboardist Norm Yanofsky, jazz, Friday night at 6:15 on downtown Lebanon mall; Jason Cann, rock, Saturday night at 6:15.
■Studio Two, Beatles tribute band, Friday night at 6:30 at Haddad Bandstand in New London.
■ Dwayne Benjamin, mountain-country rock, Saturday night at 6 at Crossmolina Farm in West Corinth.
■Turner Round, rock, Monday night at 7 at Colburn Park in Lebanon.
■Stone Cold Roosters, roots-rock, Tuesday night at 6 on Strafford Common. Admission by donation to maintenance fund for Strafford Town House.
■The Welterweights, rock and pop, Tuesday night at 6:30 at Fairlee Town Common.
■Upper Valley Community Band, Tuesday night at 7 at Canaan Town Common.
■Dave Clark and Jukejoynt, roots rock, Wednesday night at 6:30 at Lyman Point Park in White River Junction.
■The Ticket, danceable rock, Wednesday night at 6:30, at Ben Mere Bandstand overlooking Sunapee Harbor.
Family Picnic Day contradance, Sunday afternoon at 2 at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish. Music by Blind Squirrel, calling by David Millstone.
Peter Concilio Jazz Ensemble, Friday night sets at 8 and 9:45 at Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners. For reservations, call 802-436-2139.
■Rich Thomas, rock, Friday night at 9 at Salt hill Pub in West Lebanon; Alec Currier, rock, Saturday afternoon at 4.
■Mo’Combo, roots-rock, Friday night at 9 at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon; roots-Americana, Saturday night at 9.
■Guitarist Ted Mortimer, Friday night at 9 at Salt hill Pub in Hanover; Shrimp Tunes, rock, Saturday night at 9.
■Fu’Chunk, funk and rock, Friday night at 9:30 at Windsor Station; Super Stash Brothers, funk, rock, hip-hop and reggae, Saturday night at 9:30; WOOL, bluegrass, next Thursday night at 7.
■ Royalton singer-songwriter Alison “AliT” Turner, Sunday afternoon at 2 at SILO Distillery in Windsor.
■Jim Yeager, rock/funk, Monday night at 7 at Woodstock Inn’s Richardson Tavern.
■Saxophonist Michael Parker and singer Josh Hall, soul and jazz, Tuesday night at 6 at Crossroads Bar and Grill in South Royalton.
■Jazz pianist Sonny Saul, Wednesday night at 6:30 at On the River Inn in Woodstock.
Alec Currier’s open-mic at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon, Thursday nights at 8.
■Saxophonist Fred Haas’ monthly jazz jam with organist Norm Yanofsky and guitarist Billy Rosen, Friday night from 6 to 8 at The Skinny Pancake in Hanover; String Band Karaoke, Jes Raymond’s monthly session of roots and Americana, Wednesday night at 6.
■Joseph Stallsmith’s hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass, Monday nights at 6 at Salt hill Pub in Hanover.
■Fiddler Jakob Breitbach’s Americana jam session, Tuesday nights at 7 at Filling Station Bar and Grill in White River Junction.
■Tom Masterson’s open mic, Tuesday nights at 7 at Colatina Exit, in Bradford, Vt.
■Jim Yeager hosts open mics at The Public House Pub in Quechee, Tuesday night at 6; at Skunk Hollow Tavern, Wednesday night at 8.
Big Fish, Broadway musical adaptation, with North Country Community Theatre staging six performances at Lebanon Opera House, July 12 to 20. Admission $13.50 to $23.50.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com or 603-727-3304. Send entertainment-related news to highlights@vnews.com.