The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Mar 14-23, 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 …
POSTMODERN JUKEBOX POSTDATE MODERN HITS as JAZZ-ERA TUNES
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox brings its Life in the Past Lane Tour to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Wednesday, March 15, at 7:30pm, and again at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday, March 17, at 8pm. The group specializes in taking modern and contemporary pop songs and rendering them in pre-rock musical styles of the early twentieth century. Imagine “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns n’ Roses delivered as a Fats Waller-style tune and you get the picture. (Wed, Mar 15; Fri, Mar 17)
CINDY CASHDOLLAR BRINGS ROOTSY SWING to THE FALCON
Woodstock, N.Y. native Cindy Cashdollar brings her band, the Syncopators, and her eclectic, rootsy blend of bluegrass, gut-bucket blues, honky-tonk, swampy R&B, and Western swing to the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Thursday, Mar 16, at 7pm. Cashdollar has lent her virtuosity on Dobro, lap guitar and steel guitar to the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Dave Alvin, Rod Stewart, Asleep at the Wheel, Marcia Ball, Jorma Kaukonen, and Leon Redbone. (Thu, Mar 16)
JEREMIAH JOHNSON BRINGS BLUES-ROCK to STISSING CENTER
Jeremiah Johnson brings his country-tinged blues-rock to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Friday, March 17, at 7pm. The singer-guitarist’s soulful, rootsy 2022 album, Unemployed Highly Annoyed, garnered a Blues Music Award nomination for the best blues rock album. (Fri, Mar 17)
ROOTS-ROCK PIONEER JOHN McEUEN BRINGS GRITTY UNBROKEN CIRCLE to THE LINDA
John McEuen, a cofounder of the seminal roots-rock outfit the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the man who taught Steve Martin how to play banjo, brings his guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin, his Circle Band, and his command of all aspects of American roots music to The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, March 17, at 8pm. In addition to a career retrospective, McEwen's current tour marks the 50th anniversary of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s monster hit, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” (Fri, Mar 17)
JOHN FUGELSANG HEADLINES COMEDY FEST at SHAKESPEARE & CO.
Comedian, actor, and broadcaster John Fugelsang headlines an evening of comedy at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass., on Saturday, March 18, at 7pm. Fugelsang currently hosts Tell Me Everything on weekdays on SiriusXM and is known for his interviews with the likes of Paul McCartney, William Hurt, Sen. Bernie Sanders, David Crosby, Rita Moreno, and Carl Reiner. His interview with George Harrison proved to be the former Beatle’s final televised appearance. Fugelsang appears as part of Kevin Bartini & Friends, an evening of comedy featuring Bartini as MC. (Sat, Mar 18)
NORA KRUG EXHIBIT OPENS at NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM
A new exhibition featuring the work of German-American author and illustrator Nora Krug opens at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., on Saturday, March 18. Krug’s powerful graphic memoir, Belonging: A German Reckons With History and Home, traces the artist’s investigation into the hidden truths of her family’s wartime history in Nazi Germany. Belonging and Krug’s most recent book publication, an illustrated edition of Yale historian Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, will be the focus of the exhibition, called Belonging. Krug will be on hand for Saturday’s opening and a conversation and book-signing at 4:30pm. (Sat, Mar 18)
CANTRIP BRINGS SCOTTISH FUSION SOUNDS to THE FOUNDRY
Scottish group Cantrip brings its progressive world-fusion sounds to the Foundry in West Stockbridge, Mass., on Saturday, March 18, at 7:30pm. Cantrip builds its sound from a foundation of swirling border pipes, fiddle, guitar and three rich voices blended with such diverse influences as funk, metal, bluegrass, swing, jam-rock, free jazz, and klezmer. (Sat, Mar 18)
TRIO RACONTEUR PLAYS BEETHOVEN and DVORAK in SAUGERTIES
Trio Raconteur performs works by Beethoven and Dvorak at the Saugerties United Methodist Church in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday, March 19, at 3pm. The free concert is presented by Saugerties Pro Musica. (Sun, Mar 19)
PAUL LEWIS PLAYS SCHUBERT PIANO SONATAS at UNION COLLEGE
World-renowned pianist Paul Lewis will present a two-part survey of Schubert’s piano sonatas at Union College’s Memorial Chapel in Schenectady, N.Y., on Sunday, March 19, and again on Sunday, March 26, at 3pm, as part of the Capital Region Classical series. (Sun, Mar 19/Sun, Mar 26)
BRUCE HORNSBY PERFORMS SOLO at TROY MUSIC HALL
Singer-songwriter and pianist Bruce Hornsby returns to Troy (N.Y.) Savings Bank Music Hall for a solo performance on Thursday, March 23, at 7:30pm. Best known for his huge debut hit, "The Way It Is," Hornsby also helped make Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can't Make You Love Me” a hit in 1991. Additionally, Hornsby was a part-time member of the Grateful Dead from 1990 to 1992, and he has appeared on albums by Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Bob Seger, Chaka Khan, Bon Iver, Sting, Mavis Staples, and Willie Nelson. Hornsby will back in the region on June 23, when he warms up the crowd for the Steve Miller Band at Tanglewood. (Thu, Mar 23)
Roll Call: Founding Members
Anne Fredericks
Anonymous
Anonymous
Erik Bruun
Benno Friedman
Richard Koplin
Steve and Helice Picheny
Rhonda Rosenheck
Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook