Last year was a banner year for music in the Seacoast. A month didn’t go by without some kind of unique show, unforgettable album, or, in the warmer months, a massive festival. We’ve consulted our crystal ball (and asked Seacoast musicians themselves) what’s on tap for 2016. Here’s a brief guide.
Clara Berry
Berry and bandmate Joe O’Neill, who re-christened themselves Kid Coyote last year, are kicking off 2016 with a pair of big shows. On Jan. 22, Berry will play The Press Room in Portsmouth along with Analog Heart (with lead singer Liz Bills) and the Kristen Ford Band. Local artist Sam Paolini’s work will also be featured at the show. And on March 5, Berry will reunite with many of the musicians who played at last year’s “Bands Play The Band” show for a Neil Young tribute show at Fury’s Publick House in Dover. Within a few months of that show, Berry expects to release Kid Coyote’s new album, “On Borrowed Lawns.” “It’s very near completion, and we’re excited to share it this spring or summer, though you may hear snippets of it before then,” she said.
Dan Blakeslee
The traveling troubadour has a new album, “The Alley Walker,” on tap for 2016, featuring the Calabash Club — keyboardist Mike Effenberger, guitarist Nick Phaneuf, and drummer Jim Rudolf. Blakeslee said recording will get underway this month at 1130ft Studios in Rollinsford. According to Blakeslee, listeners can expect “The Alley Walker” sometime this fall. Beyond that, he’s not divulging any details. “I can’t let the cat out of the bag just yet!” he said.
Guy Capecelatro III
Capecelatro is working on a new record with Chris Decato and another album with Marc McElroy. He’s also working behind the scenes at The Electric Cave recording studio on Jim Rioux’s debut album, as well as on albums with Mara Flynn, Boston’s The Bikes, Tiger Saw, and Justin Carloni. Capecelatro’s also counting down the days until this year’s RPM Challenge in February. “(I’ve got) a big pile … of ideas swirling around in my brain,” he said. “In other words, good times ahead.”
Carol Coronis
The cittern player and WUNH host’s major project this year is a collaboration with Wooden Eye’s Bob Halperin and Joe Rogers. The album will delve into Celtic and American roots music, Coronis said. She’s begun writing original material and expects some of her Mediterranean influences to wind up in the new songs. “Love those asymmetrical time signatures,” she said. “In my head, I’ve got these Celtic tunes playing over exotic Middle Eastern modes. It’s kind of a mind trip for the ears.”
Jim Dozet
The local guitarist has a number of projects lined up for the new year. First up: his first full-length album of original music with his band, JD3. “It’s a primarily acoustic Americana trio with some electric guitar,” he said. The band includes Nick Phaneuf on upright bass and backing vocals and PJ Donahue on drums. Dozet expects the album to be ready this spring. He’s also forming a new trio with Nihco Gallo and Scott Kiefner, “a progressive jazz/funk-fusion group performing primarily original compositions and select covers,” he said.
Mike Effenberger
The multi-instrumentalist and member of a plethora of Seacoast bands is adding a new group to the mix. Weird Turn Pro, featuring Effenberger, Kendall Moore on trombone, Matt Langley on reeds, Chris Klaxton on trumpet/guitar, Rob Gerry on bass, and Mike Walsh on drums, has its first show at Sonny’s Tavern in Dover on Jan. 24. Portsmouth gigs at The Press Room and Birdseye Lounge follow in March and April. Weird Turn Pro “will be focusing on my compositions,” Effenberger said, and an album is in the works.
Martin England
England and his band The Reconstructed are working with local filmmakers Wes Canon and Conrad Dundorf on a video for “Revenge,” a murder ballad with a female antagonist off their latest release, “Dawn Chorus.” England said the band’s also hard at work writing and recording demos at Ghostmill Studios in Dover for a follow-up to “Dawn Chorus,” which he expects to be finished sometime in 2017.
Timothy Fife
“2016 is looking pretty good,” said Fife, a composer, DJ, and co-host of the Let’s B Reel cult film series at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre. He’s got a new record with Chris Livengood and Aaron Dilloway from Wolf Eyes as Victims coming out this year from Death Waltz/Mondo. On the film front, Fife is scoring “Bloodmania,” the new film from horror legend H.G. Lewis, as well as an animated feature called “Progenitor.”
James Force
Force’s band Subpar Co-Star recently relocated from Somerville, Mass., to the Seacoast. They’re introducing themselves to the region with a new EP slated for release this spring, titled “The Ballad of Minuteman Miller.” Force said the EP will be available digitally and physically, with each version featuring its own unique artwork.
Bob Halperin
Halperin’s roots/Americana band, Wooden Eye, is mixing its new album, “Corduroy Road,” with producer Brett Hartenbach. It includes guest appearances by Dave Talmage on banjo and Andrew Blowen on organ. Halperin expects the album to be released in early spring, but listeners can get a preview at Portsmouth Book & Bar on Jan. 23.
Chris Klaxton
Klaxton is launching a new Wednesday night jazz series at Birdseye Lounge in Portsmouth, beginning Jan. 6. Sessions take place every other Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. with a rotating cast of musicians. Klaxton also hopes to see his Ourbigband! project continue growing this year. Some top-secret collaborations and guest artists are planned, and Klaxton said he and collaborator Matt Langley are looking for corporate or private sponsorship of the group.
Elissa Margolin
Margolin and her band, including Nate Therrien, Paul Donahue, and Tom Brown, will be playing throughout the Seacoast this winter and spring in support of Margolin’s 2015 album, “Pivot.” Margolin said an “extra special performance” with all the musicians who worked on the album is slated for The Dance Hall in Kittery on April 16. Also in the works: the launch of River Sister, a new project with her current rhythm section and vocalist Stefanie Guzikowski.
Kendall Moore
The trombonist and composer hasn’t been in the Seacoast for a full year and he’s already a frequent presence on local stages. That won’t change in 2016 — in fact, Moore has a new trio lined up, and they’ll make their debut at The Dance Hall in Kittery on Jan. 15. Moore is joined by Rob Gerry on bass and Les Harris Jr. on drums.
Jonny Peiffer
For the first half of the year, Peiffer is organizing a series of collaborations between his band, Sojoy, and guest artists at The Dance Hall in Kittery. First up is a show with Julie Hebb of Annex Contemporary Dance Company on Jan. 22. Peiffer and vocalist Taylor O’Donnell are also continuing the Desert Island Live Series with a second Joni Mitchell tribute show on Jan. 30.
Tim Webb
Webb is the upright bassist for the creative improvisational group Equal Time, which turns 10 this year. “We’ll be doing something special to commemorate the occasion,” he said. Also this year, “I hope to put out some more music of my own,” Webb said. “I have a couple of homegrown recording projects that have been in the works for many years now, and with any luck, 2016 will be the year that some of that material reaches ears other than my own.”
Top of page: Part of the cover image for Dan Blakeslee's forthcoming album, The Alley Walker.