NITE Blue return Local music news & events
By Michael Witthaus
mwitthaus@hippopress.com
• Sing out: An original songwriter showcase features Matt Litzinger, a Derry performer influenced by modern folkies like Damien Rice as well as old-school – Dylan, Denver, Young – and church music. The result is an appealing blend, evinced on his 2016 release Up in the Woods. Special guest David Strecker Harris joins for the free event, with tip jar proceeds going to New Horizons. Go Friday, Aug. 11, 7 p.m., Cafe La Reine, 915 Elm St., Manchester. Hear more at mattlitzingermusic.com. • Mill sounds: Live music returns to an intimate Mill District performance space as Stephanie Tonneson appears with special guest Anna Madsen. Tonneson’s set will feature spare, haunting piano ballads like “The Darkest Shade of Blue” and “Home.” Her style will appeal to fans of St. Vincent and Tori Amos. Madsen released the ethereal Whisper earlier this year. Go Friday, Aug. 11, 7:30 p.m. Amoskeag Studio, 250 Commercial St., Suite 2007, Manchester. Tickets $10 general, $5 students at brownpapertickets.com. • Release it: A new CD from piano-forward trio Andrew & the Intervention is marked at a show that includes Epic Season, a NEMA-nominated band with its own new EP, and singer-songwriter Derek Russell Fimbel. Andrew Cass and his mates draw from a diverse array of influences including Billy Joel and Twenty One Pilots. Go Saturday, Aug. 12, 7 p.m., Amato Center for the Performing Arts, 56 Mont Vernon St., Milford. $12 at ticketleap.com. • Hippie trip: Enjoy three days of art and music at the Wild Woods Festival as Papadosio, Kung Fu, Roots of Creation and Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad are among dozens of bands on multiple stages, including the main one, a wooden, gableroofed masterpiece. There’s camping, food and art stands and flow performances. It happens Friday, Aug. 11, through Sunday, Aug. 13, at Page Farm, 46 Sand Hill Road, Croyden. Tickets $60 a day, $140 for the weekend at wildwoodsfest.com. • Twofer: Singer-songwriter Marina Evans returns to a cozy coffeehouse setting with guitarist, mandolin player and producer Bernardo Baglioni joining her. Evans’ singing combines jazz, folk and Americana elements, while Baglioni has a gritty, bluesinflected style. Go Sunday, Aug. 13, Union Coffee Co., 42 South St., Milford. Tickets $10 suggested at the door. Want more ideas for a fun night out? Check out Hippo Scout, available via the Apple App Store, Google Play and online at hipposcout.com. HIPPO | AUGUST 10 - 16, 2017 | PAGE 52
Lang hits White Mountain Festival with new LP By Michael Witthaus
mwitthaus@hippopress.com
Bursting onto the scene with 1997’s Lie to Me, Jonny Lang was hailed as a teenage guitar prodigy and keeper of the blues flame. Lang didn’t follow a purist’s path, though; he rocked, rumbled and reflected musically into his 30s. He even made a Christian album after wrestling with personal demons and finding faith in the early 2000s. Lang’s latest, Signs, should please fans of Lang’s earliest work. Due for September release, it’s a return to the spirit that had critics calling him the next Stevie Ray Vaughan. The new music will also fit nicely at the White Mountain Boogie ‘N Blues Festival, which Lang headlines on Aug. 19. “I did have a bit of a desire to try and tip the hat to some of the older blues guys,” Lang said in a recent phone interview. “I’d been listening to a lot of Howlin’ Wolf around that time, and I just felt it was right to do a record with raw guitars and more rough-sounding production.” Thematically, Lang explores the topical on the title cut, written in the wake of a few tumultuous events a couple of years ago. “There’s been a crazy ambush of really dark stuff in the world … seeing it on the news,” he said. “It couldn’t help but be a part of the songs that I was writing.” “Bitter End” bemoans mankind making the same mistakes over and over, but Lang cautions that he’s not giving answers, just stating a problem. “I’ve only been on this Earth for 36 years,’” he said. “History ebbs and flows, nations rise and fall. I don’t really know White Mountain Boogie ‘N Blues Festival When: Friday, Aug. 18, through Sunday, Aug. 20 (Jonny Lang plays Saturday) Where: Benton’s Sugar Shack, 2010 Route 175, Thornton Tickets: $40-$100 at nhblues.com
Nite Life Music, Comedy & Parties • OUTDOOR MUSIC at Main Street Warner (16 E. Main Street, Warner 456-2700) on Thursday, Aug. 10, 7 p.m. 39th Army Band. • TIMBERLANE COMMUNITY BAND at Kimball Library (5 Academy Avenue, Atkinson 362-5234) on Thursday, Aug. 10, 6 p.m. Volunteer 50-piece adult concert band, led by Timberlane Regional High School music director Tony DiBartolomeo. Preceded by cookout at 4:30 - $5.
Jonny Lang. Courtesy photo.
what it would take to turn some of our issues around, but all we can do it just talk about it and how I feel about it in song and hopefully it will relate to people.” Signs is still a moving target, including elements of funk and singer-songwriter reflection, the latter on “Bring Me Back Home,” a road-weary ballad. Now the father of five, Lang says touring “is the trickiest thing I have to do [and] there’s no balancing it, really. ... I try to make the best out of each day, because there is just no getting around that I have to leave.” “Last Man Standing” is an outsized arena rocker co-written with producer Drew Ramsey. “Right when he started playing, it sounded like Foo Fighters to me ... the melody and riff — and I love Foo Fighters,” Lang said in a preview video for the new record. “We finished it together and it was just very cool; I had never done anything like that before,” he said. Along with shows to promote his new release, Lang continues to appear as part of Experience Hendrix, a tribute to the late
• JASON ANICK GYPSY TRIO at Nashua Public Library (2 Court St., Nashua 589-4610) on Thursday, Aug. 10, 7 p.m. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair, a friend, and a picnic and enjoy an evening of music under the stars. • CLUB SODA at Eagle Square (Pleasant St., Concord 225-8690) on Thursday, Aug. 10, 7 p.m. Music in the City summer music series features concerts on both Tuesdays and Thursdays.
guitarist. “I thought when they asked me, man, all of these guitar players in one venue cannot be a good idea — competing egos and stuff — but I was totally wrong,” he said. “It’s been so much fun to get to know some of the guys, to hang out and see these great guitar players do what they do, and an honor to be asked to be a part of it by the Hendrix family.” Lang said he was “already way in with Jimi” when asked to participate, “but I did learn quite a bit more about him and my understanding of his music, which is profound. Everything he has done was recording in like three years; he’s got more recorded catalog than a lot of lifetime artists. It’s just amazing. He’s just an anomaly, in a good way, a force of nature.” Playing events like White Mountain Boogie ‘N Blues Fest provides a welcome return, Lang said. “Blues guitar players are my biggest influence ... so I love festivals like that, where people are there specifically to see that genre of music,” he said.
• OLIVIA FRANCES at Rotary Arts Pavilion (Henry Law Park, Dover 742-2218) on Friday, Aug. 11, 7 p.m. The talented singer is known for her sunshine story pop music, think Jason Mraz meets Florence & the Machine. • ODDS BODKIN at Livery in Sunapee Harbor (58 Main St., Sunapee info@sunapeeheritagealliance. org) on Friday, Aug. 11, 7 p.m. $15/ adult, $5/ children - The consummate storyteller and musician. OUTDOOR MUSIC at Main Street
Warner (16 E. Main Street, Warner 456-2700) on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2:30 p.m. BlueGrass & Folk Fest with Will Hatch, Loopholes of Love, The DoBros, Doc Rogers and more. • MIKETON & THE NIGHT BLINDERS at Concord Public Library (45 Green St., Concord 2258670) on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 6 p.m. Live Music on the Lawn – Miketon and the NightBlinders, a five piece band from NH who plays original folk/ country/garbage/grass music will rock the final show of the series.