’Ello, gov’na
If you’re a fan of local music, we have good news: The Texas Governor is back. The band has a handful of shows lined up in March, and they’ve purportedly been rehearsing new music.
The group, now calling itself The Texas Governor & the Experiments, will be touring next month with The Snails, a side project of Future Islands. The tour includes a gig at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on March 7. They’ll also open for The Snails at Space Gallery in Portland, Maine, on March 6, and at AS220 in Providence, R.I., on March 8.
The Texas Governor released its self-titled debut in 2001 and followed it up with “The Experiment” in 2004. Founded by bassist and singer David Goolkasian, former front man of The Elevator Drops, the band’s poppy new-wave sound endeared them to local listeners and drew big crowds to live shows in the area for several years.
The current lineup, as listed on the band’s website, includes Goolkasian, singer Clara Berry (also of Kid Coyote), guitarist Nick Phaneuf (also of Tan Vampires, Dan Blakeslee and the Calabash Club, and others), guitarist Terry Palmer, and drummer Mike Walsh (also of Mother Superior and the Sliding Royales, Equal Time, and others).
For updates, find the band on Facebook.
Warner wins
Local folk musician Jeff Warner has long been a champion of traditional music, and now he’s being recognized for his efforts. The Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) has announced that Warner will be the 2016 recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award.
In its announcement, the CDSS said Warner is “one of the nation’s foremost performers and interpreters of traditional music and an advocate for bringing folk music to people of all ages, through his deep knowledge and love of American and English folk songs.”
Warner is a singer and storyteller who plays concertina, banjo, guitar, and several pocket instruments. A native of New York, he moved to Portsmouth in 1997 and has been a staple of the area folk scene ever since. He has recorded several albums, performed at schools across the state, served as a speaker for New Hampshire Humanities, and is a producer of the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival. He is a past president of the CDSS and a founding member of the North American Folk Alliance (now Folk Alliance International).
Details of the award presentation have not yet been announced. To read the CDSS’s full announcement, click here.
Spun turns the tables
Spun Records in Dover is now slinging vinyl from a new location at 6 Grove St., at the corner of Third and Grove streets. Previously headquartered on Central Avenue, the record store opened the doors to its new home on Feb. 11.
The new location was formerly the site of Red Alert Skateboard Shop’s retail space. Red Alert is undergoing renovations but will reopen its store and skate park in an adjacent space on Feb. 22.
Spun owner Mark Matarozzo said the new site has better parking and more affordable rent, which will enable him to increase the store’s stock of new records. The space is similar in size to the old location, but Matarozzo said the atmosphere is more suitable. “It feels more like a record store than a retail space with records in it,” he said.
Spun opened on Central Avenue in 2011 and will celebrate its five-year anniversary in April. In addition to new and used records, the store offers CDs, cassettes tapes, books, magazines, DVDs, VHS movies, and memorabilia. The store’s hours remain the same as before the move. For more info, visit spundover.com.
Forever Young
Two upcoming shows will feature bands paying tribute to rock legend Neil Young. Five local acts will interpret a set of Young tunes in their own style at Fury’s Publick House in Dover on March 5. And Portsmouth-based musician Marc McElroy will join the Seth Warner Band to perform the full album “Tonight’s the Night” at The Dance Hall in Kittery, Maine, on March 11.
The five acts performing at Fury’s are Equal Time, Mother Superior and the Sliding Royales, Kid Coyote, Martin England, and Sojoy. The concept of the show is similar to a concert held at the same venue about a year ago, when five local acts played songs by The Band. For more information, go here.
The show at The Dance Hall will be divided into two sets. The first will consist of acoustic and electric covers from throughout Young’s catalog. The second will feature the entire 1975 album, “Tonight’s the Night.” Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door, available here.
Cultural collaboration
Two local organizations have joined forces to present a new concert series that combines performance and dialogue. The “Up Close and Musical” series started last week with local legend TJ Wheeler presenting “25 Years Celebrating Folk Heroes and the Blues” at The Millspace in Newmarket. The series continues with four more shows between Feb. 18 and March 24.
The free shows are presented by the Seacoast Academy of Music (SAM), in partnership with Seacoast Area Libraries. Each event features a musical performance and an informative dialogue with SAM director Christine Petrucci. After each event, refreshments are served, allowing the audience to meet the performers.
Next up in the series are Lucy Fillery-Murphy, Kyle Paheuf, and Petrucci performing “From the Heart” on Thursday, Feb. 18, in Centennial Hall at 105 Post Road in North Hampton. The show features a “soiree of warm and tender music” for guitar, cello, and piano.
On March 3, pianists Randall Hodgkinson and Leslie Amper will perform “The Art of 4-Hand Piano” at Centennial Hall. On March 10, Elissa Margolin will be on guitar, keyboard, and vocals for “The Singer, as Song-writer” at Rye Public Library. On March 24, pianist George Lopez performs “An Evening in Havana” at Centennial Hall.
All shows begin at 7 p.m. For more information, go here.