The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Jan 17-22, 2023
With so much going on culturally speaking in our greater Berkshires/Hudson Valley region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising upcoming events …
PAMELA MEANS SALUTES POWER of PROTEST SONG at BECKET ATHENAEUM
Singer-songwriter Pamela Means offers a salute to the Power of the Protest Song at the Becket Athenaeum in Becket, Mass., on Thursday, January 19, at 7pm. Part-performance and part-presentation, this family-friendly event will explore the origin stories and lineages of protest songs, how their meanings and impacts continue to transform through time and space, and how they have inspired--and continue to inspire--movements and cultural shifts within the realms of racial and social justice. Means’s outspoken songs and “kamikaze guitar style” often draws comparisons to Ani DiFranco. (Thu, Jan 19)
HINTERLANDS DUO BRINGS INTIMATE CHAMBER-FOLK to TUBBY’s in KINGSTON
Accordion and violin duo Hinterlands, featuring violinist Ben Russell and accordionist Matt Schreiber, bring their intimate, evocative brand of chamber-folk with hints of Eastern and Central Europe blended with Western classical and American roots music to Tubby’s in Kingston, N.Y., on Thursday, January 19, at 7pm. Outside of their duo, Ben and Matt have performed with Kronos Quartet, Max Richter, Björk, Sufjan Stevens, and the National, and have received awards in Bulgaria and New Orleans. (Thu, Jan 19)
CHRIS SPEDDING BRINGS ROCKABILLY to THE COLONY
Singer-songwriter Chris Spedding brings his rockabilly-fueled upbeat rock ‘n’ roll to the Colony in Woodstock, N.Y., along with drummer Anton Fig and Bob Dylan bassist and music director Tony Garnier on Thursday, January 19, at 8pm. Spedding has been a mainstay of the British session scene since the late 1960s, playing with the likes of Jack Bruce, John Cale, Elton John, Paul McCartney, and the Bay City Rollers. Spedding still plays with Bryan Ferry, Robert Gordon, and The War of the Worlds.
INDIGO SPARKE BRINGS MOODY FOLK-ROCK to THE COLONY
On Friday, January 20, at 8pm, the Colony features Indigo Sparke and band, featuring Aaron Dessner of the National. Sparke is an Australian folk-rock singer-songwriter who writes and performs haunting, dark, and moody songs, much in the vein of the National. Sparke has been featured on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk concert series. (Thu, Jan 19 and Fri, Jan 20)
LILA BLUE, PHILIP ROEBUCK and SASKIA LANE BRING ROOTS MUSIC to TIME AND SPACE in HUDSON
Singer-songwriters Lila Blue and Philip Roebuck and bassist Saskia Lane perform at Time and Space in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, January 21, at 8pm. Roebuck, from Virginia, plays resonator guitar and percussion at the same time, in his mix of blues, gospel, old time, bluegrass and sea shanties. Lila Blue’s dreamy, acoustic, evocative country-folk has her in demand as a composer for theater, film, and TV. Brooklyn-based Saskia Lane is a Juilliard-trained bassist, composer, performer, puppet maker and educator whose work spans many genres, including classical, jazz-pop, and klezmer. (Sat, Jan 21)
SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG BRINGS WRY, LITERATE FOLK-ROCK to LEVON HELM STUDIOS
Philadelphia’s Slaughter Beach, Dog bring their wry brand of moody folk-rock, halfway between Wilco and the National with a little Vampire Weekend thrown in for good measure, to Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, N.Y., on Sunday, January 22, at 8pm. Appropriately enough, the group has a song called “Your Cat.” And in a song called “104 Degress,” they rhyme “bookstore lobby” with “reading Murakami.” (Sun, Jan 22)
TWIN OPERA SINGERS PRESENT CABARET ABOUT TWIN OPERA SINGERS at DEWEY HALL
Twin opera singers Jim and John Demler bring My Evil Twin, their intimate musical about identical twin opera singers Jim and John Demler, to Dewey Hall in Sheffield, Mass., on Sunday, January 22, at 2pm. The songs by Eric Sawyer blend opera with elements of Broadway and pop, and provide the twins the chance to unleash their virtuosic basso voices with madcap energy and emotion. (Sun, Jan 22)
WU MAN BRINGS CHINESE FOLK to MASSRY CENTER in ALBANY
On Sunday, January 22, at 3pm, Capital Region Classical presents a Lunar New Year Celebration at the Massry Center for the Arts in Albany with the world-renowned Wu Man on pipa and Hsin-Yun Huang on viola. Man is the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and a founding member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and Huang is a former member of the Borromeo Quartet. The program includes traditional Chinese folk melodies and a variety of other works. (Sun, Jan 22)
THELMA and THE SLEAZE BRING GRUNGY SOUTHERN-ROCK to FLAT BURGER SOCIETY
Thelma and the Sleaze, an independent, all-female, queer band from Nashville, will upend expectations of hardcore, grungy Southern rock at Flat Burger Society in Pittsfield, Mass., on Saturday, January 28, at 8pm. The group’s albums include These Boots Won’t Lick Themselves and F**k, Marry, Kill. (Sat, Jan 28)
Roll Call: Founding Members
Erik Bruun
Benno Friedman
Richard Koplin
Rhonda Rosenheck
Anonymous