Brattleboro House Concerts - UNDER THE MAPLE presents SILVERBACK SWING - 10/5 at 4pm

 

NOT ARTS - A PERSONAL POST

I don't know how many people even see these blog posts, but it's a handy place to post my thoughts about what is going on in our country right now. Please feel free to share widely.

What is important to you? How about:

- Free Speech
- Due Process
- Social Security
- Healthcare / Medicaid / Medicare

The current administration is doing away with all of these things.

Maybe you don't care about Jimmy Kimmel's show, but you should care that he was taken off the air because the President didn't like what he was saying.

Maybe you don't pay much attention to the press corps and their reporting of government actions, but you should care that members of some publications aren't being allowed into press conferences, and that those covering the Pentagon are required to get approval for what they are going to publish.

Maybe you're many years away from collecting Social Security, so raising the age from 65 to 69 doesn't seem like a big deal. But what if you are 64 and have been counting on collecting Social Security AND getting Medicare coverage, and now it's 5 years away, instead of 1, assuming that it's even still available in 5 years.

Maybe you don't have kids, so you don't pay much attention to Education issues. But today's school children are tomorrow's doctors, mechanics, business owners, electricians, journalists. Dumbing down our schools is dumbing down our society.

You haven't seen or heard of any ICE activity near you. That doesn't mean it isn't happening. Are you really ok with people being snatched off the street, grabbed as they leave work or home, taken as they go to their scheduling greencard check-in? Are you really ok with "detention centers" where the inmates aren't allowed to speak to a lawyer or their families, where they aren't given enough to eat, where they are denied medical attention, where people are actually DYING in custody?

You aren't in LA or DC, so you don't care about armed National Guard members being posted there. You've swallowed the lies about high crime rates (not true), and making the cities safer (not true). This is Military Occupation of our own cities!

If you paid any attention at all in your history classes, you should recognize that the US is well along the path of an authoritarian takeover.

Does any of this ring a bell? "Fascism is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy."

Maybe you personally haven't been affected by anything yet. But no doubt you have friends, neighbors, colleagues, family members who are affected. Have you been dismissing their worries? It's time to listen. It's time to be worried for yourself. It's time to take action.

Join the Movement on 10/18

Stand up for Democracy, Stand up for Rights for All, Stand up for Freedom

https://www.nokings.org/

Get information:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
https://robertreich.substack.com/
https://statuskuo.substack.com/
https://meidasnews.com/
https://www.reuters.com/
https://www.facebook.com/cwdailynews - summaries of news highlights

Get involved:

https://indivisible.org/
https://www.fiftyfifty.one/
https://www.womensmarch.com/
https://front.moveon.org/

Find a 10/18 event near you:

https://www.nokings.org/#map

BRATTLEBORO HOUSE CONCERTS - Under the Maple OCTOBER 2025

SILVERBACK SWING
Sunday, October 5, 2025 at 4:00PM

Silverback Swing performs vintage jazz of the 1920's and 1930's in the style of Django Reinhardt, the great Gypsy guitarist. This style of jazz was popular in France, where they adapted American jazz into their own form, eliminating horns and using accordions, clarinets and violins. Silverback Swing have been performing as an acoustic jazz quartet in New England for over 8 years, with Mark Anagnostopulos on rhythm guitar and vocals, Alton Lathrop on lead guitar, Gus Hollingsworth on accordion and vocals and Steve Frankel on bass.

ROD MACDONALD with MARK DANN
Friday, October 17, 2025 at 7:00PM

Rod MacDonald was a big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village, where he headlined the local clubs, co-founded the GV Folk Festival, and wrote "American Jerusalem," “Every Living Thing,” ”White Buffalo” and “A Sailor’s Prayer,” among his songs recorded by Shawn Colvin, Jonathan Edwards, Happy Traum, The Crimson Pirates, and many more. With Mark Dann as bassist since 1977, they have co-produced 13 of his 14 albums, including his latest “Rants And Romance.” Mark Dann has also produced more than two hundred other artists and played bass on dozens of albums and tours.Their organic performance of MacDonald’s driving guitar, tenor vocals and songs both romantic and “flush with astute observations and commentary on the current stage” (Goldmine 2023) with Dann’s freewheeling bass is brilliantly captured in the 2017 DVD “Live in Germany” as seen on youtube and other streaming sites.

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED for all concerts. 

Email: BrattleboroHouseConcerts@gmail.com

Follow us on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/UnderTheMaple

BRATTLEBORO House Concerts - Under the Maple ~ FALL 2025

Brattleboro House Concerts

UNDER THE MAPLE

FALL 2025 Concert Info

DEAREST DEAR

Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 4:00PM

Rooted in the musical traditions of New England, Dearest Dear presents traditional tunes from Ireland, New England, Quebec, and France, and craft vocal harmonies for age-old songs with modern relevance. Rose Jackson (fiddle, vocals), draws her sound from her upbringing in the folk scene of western Massachusetts, grounded in a deep love of old repertoire and her experience touring festivals with bands Polaris and Stove Dragon. Helen Kuhar (guitar, vocals, harmonium) hails from Cambridge, MA and can be found hosting Irish sessions around the greater Boston area, accompanying traditional musicians from across the region, and playing for contra dances around the country. Together, Dearest Dear invites audiences in for stories, melodies, and lyrics that unite us all in our shared humanity.

SILVERBACK SWING
Sunday, October 5, 2025 at 4:00PM

Silverback Swing performs vintage jazz of the 1920's and 1930's in the style of Django Reinhardt, the great Gypsy guitarist. This style of jazz was popular in France, where they adapted American jazz into their own form, eliminating horns and using accordions, clarinets and violins. Silverback Swing have been performing as an acoustic jazz quarter in New England for over 8 years, with Mark Anagnostopulos on rhythm guitar and vocals, Alton Lathrop on lead guitar, Gus Hollingsworth on accordion and vocals and Steve Frankel on bass.

ROD MACDONALD with MARK DANN
Friday, October 17, 2025 at 7:00PM

Rod MacDonald was a big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village, where he headlined the local clubs, co-founded the GV Folk Festival, and wrote "American Jerusalem," “Every Living Thing,” ”White Buffalo” and “A Sailor’s Prayer,” among his songs recorded by Shawn Colvin, Jonathan Edwards, Happy Traum, The Crimson Pirates, and many more. With Mark Dann as bassist since 1977, they have co-produced 13 of his 14 albums, including his latest “Rants And Romance.” Mark Dann has also produced more than two hundred other artists and played bass on dozens of albums and tours.Their organic performance of MacDonald’s driving guitar, tenor vocals and songs both romantic and “flush with astute observations and commentary on the current stage” (Goldmine 2023) with Dann’s freewheeling bass is brilliantly captured in the 2017 DVD “Live in Germany” as seen on youtube and other streaming sites.

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED for all concerts. 

Reservations open approximately 2-3 weeks before each concert. 

Make sure that you are on our MAILING LIST to get notified!

BrattleboroHouseConcerts@gmail.com

Follow us on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/UnderTheMaple

Under the Maple - House Concert 7/12/2025 at 7:00 PM: Matthew Olwell, flute, percussion, and song - Brattleboro, Vermont

Brattleboro House Concerts
UNDER THE MAPLE

Join us for an intimate evening of music and lore with Matthew Olwell, musician, dancer, and journeyman “fluthier.” Blending traditional music from Ireland, Brittany, and North America with original material, Matthew’s signature style of performance weaves together historical threads and personal experiences to create a distinctive entertainment through wooden flute, percussion, and song.

A founding member of the acclaimed music group Maivish, Matthew began his professional career touring with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, including a run in the original London production of Riverdance. He has been a featured performer and teacher at the Dublin Dance Festival, the Augusta Heritage Center, and the Aulnay All Blues Festival in Paris, and for many years co-Directed Good Foot Dance Company with his partner Emily Oleson, where the two created unique pieces of "trad dance theatre." Matthew’s musical works include CyberTrad, an acclaimed recording project of which the Irish Echo writes, “Outstanding... Olwell is an artist with a keen vision.” A graduate of Davis & Elkins College with a degree in Multimedia Performance, Matthew also completed an MFA in dance at Temple University. He currently resides in Virginia, where he is learning the art and craft of flutemaking at Olwell Flutes, studying with his brother Aaron and father Patrick Olwell.

Suggested donation $15-$25, which goes directly to the performer. 

Any amount welcome.

Reservations Required! Email: BrattleboroHouseConcerts@gmail.com

Brattleboro House Concerts: Under the Maple, Wed. June 24 at 7pm, Janie Meneely and Rob van Sante

BRATTLEBORO HOUSE CONCERTS

Under the Maple presents

a return performance by 

Janie Meneely and Rob van Sante

Janie Meneely & Rob van Sante present an evening of music as lively as it is eclectic, with songs culled from maritime traditions old and new, mixed with contemporary ballads about the ways of today’s world. Whether they sing of long-ago tragedy at sea, retell a campfire ghost story or offer up a song of social justice, their music invites audience participation, and that, to their mind, remains the most gratifying aspect of any given performance.

Weather-permitting, this concert will be outdoors!

Suggested donation $15-$30, which goes directly to the performers. Any amount welcome.

Reservations Required!
Email: BrattleboroHouseConcerts@gmail.com

BRATTLEBORO - Under the Maple House Concert, Saturday 6/7/2025 at 4:00pm: Dr. Julian’s Traveling Laboratory of Ephemeral Vibrations

BRATTLEBORO HOUSE CONCERTS

Under the Maple presents

Dr. Julian’s Traveling Laboratory of Ephemeral Vibrations 

(aka Dr. Julian's Sextet)

Dr. Julian’s Traveling Laboratory of Ephemeral Vibrations plays jazz-Caribbean-Arabic-Balkan original music. Highly rhythmic, highly melodic, audience-friendly jazz. They are based in Brattleboro, have been around about 10 years, have released two CDs and are in the process of mixing the third. The musicians include Anna Patton, clarinetist extraordinaire; Eugene Uman, piano, Director of the Vermont Jazz Center; Don Anderson, creative trumpeter; Wes Brown, bass treasure; Ben James, drum set; and Julian Gerstin on percussion/composition.

Weather-permitting, this concert will be outdoors!

Suggested donation $15-$30, which goes directly to the performers. Any amount welcome.

Reservations Required!
Email: BrattleboroHouseConcerts@gmail.com

MAY DAY STRONG 2025

May Day is a day of defiance—born from workers who risked everything to fight for dignity, justice, and freedom. Today, we carry that legacy forward.

The Trump Regime is attacking our wages, our schools, our communities, our freedoms—and our future.

We don’t stay silent. We rise together.
We don’t comply. We take action.Two ways to show up today:

👉 Walk out everywhere (school, work, etc.)
👉 Find a May Day action near you. www.maydaystrong.org

The workers who gave us May Day risked their lives for a better future.

Now it’s our turn. When we show up together, we make our power undeniable.

Under the Maple House Concert 4/24/2025 at 7:00pm: The Ranzo Boys - Brattleboro, Vermont

BRATTLEBORO HOUSE CONCERTS

Under the Maple presents The Ranzo Boys

Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 7:00pm

The Ranzo Boys are an NYC-based maritime and traditional folk trio comprised of Lafayette Matthews (he/him), Jules Peiperl (they/them), and Lindsey Smith (she/they). Since forming in 2020, they have performed at the Connecticut Sea Music Festival, the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, the Peoples’ Voice Cafe, and the South Street Seaport Museum, among others. They are dedicated to honoring the tradition of the songs they sing while making the folk community a more inclusive and welcoming space for all people. Their repertoire includes buzzy English harmonies, Appalachian ballads, sea chanteys, and any trad song that can be remotely construed as queer. https://theranzoboys.com 

Suggested donation $15-$25, which goes directly to the performers. Any amount welcome.

Reservations Required! Email: BrattleboroHouseConcerts@gmail.com

Under the Maple House Concert 3/23/2025 at 4:00pm: Lisa Gutkin, fiddler & singer/songwriter - Brattleboro, Vermont

BRATTLEBORO HOUSE CONCERTS

Under the Maple presents Lisa Gutkin, fiddler & singer/songwriter

Lisa Gutkin has crafted a courageously varied artistic career by bringing an instantly relatable style to audiences through her theater, music, and storytelling. A masterful Grammy Award-winning violinist, singer/songwriter, actor, and composer, Lisa has an uncanny way of taking those audiences with her wherever she goes.

Suggested donation $15-$25, which goes directly to the performer. Any amount welcome.

Reservations Required!
Email: BrattleboroHouseConcerts@gmail.com

Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/3879602885610842

ABOUT LISA GUTKIN

Recognized for her work as violinist and vocalist for the ground breaking Jewish Roots band, The Klezmatics, and as fiddler for the “Downtown” Celtic band Whirligig, Lisa is also known for her scoring, performance, and music direction in the two time Tony award-winning play, Indecent. She had an on-screen cameo and compositions featured in Sex and the City; has performed in Sting’s Broadway musical The Last Ship; and her song Gonna Get Through This World - with words by Woody Guthrie - was hailed by Pete Seeger, as “a piece of genius. Lisa’s playing and stories are fun and poignant, and her voice has been praised by the LA Times as “hauntingly emotional.”

In addition to Woody Guthrie, Lisa has co-authored songs with Anne Sexton, and Maggie Dubris, and created scores for symphony orchestras and short films including Pearl Gluck’s Write Me, and Amy Guggenheim’s Blindsight. Her composing commissions include the Mabou Mines’ multi-genre folk opera: Song For New York: What Women Do While Men Sit Knitting.

A MacDowell and Norton Stevens Fellow, Lisa has recorded seven CD’s with The Klezmatics, four with Whirligig (with Lúnasa’s Cillian Vallely and Daisycutter’s Greg Anderson) and is co- producer of the Indecent Original Broadway Cast Recording. As a freelancer Lisa appears on hundreds of recordings with countless luminaries. Inspired by these, Lisa released a CD of her own songs, produced by John Lissauer titled From Here On In.

Lisa plays one of the earliest Samuel Zygmuntowicz violins with one of the earliest Michael Yeats bows, and uses an LR Baggs pick up system.

https://www.lisagutkin.com/

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Brattleboro House Concerts

Under the Maple chez Grossman/Peel

Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 4:00pm

Lisa Gutkin, fiddler & singer-songwriter

Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 7:00pm

The Ranzo Boys

Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 4:00pm

Dr. Julian's Traveling Laboratory of Ephemeral Vibrations