Comedian Katherine Blanford brings her unique persona -- the Catholic Cowgirl -- and her stories of growing up in Kentucky to Adams Theater in Adams, Mass., on Saturday at 7:30pm. In her standup performance, Blandford shares confessions of her Southern family secrets and awkward adolescent years, sometimes in sexually explicit fashion. As she puts it, “Not bad for a girl whose parents are cousins.” (Sat, Aug 30)
Classical music collective The Knights bring a program of eclectic sounds to the Clark in Williamstown, Mass., in a free outdoor concert on Saturday at 4 pm. The program includes a work by celebrated British female composer Dame Ethel Smyth and a piece written for and premiered by the acclaimed English female violinist, Marie Hall. Rounding out the program is Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending and Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings. (Sat, Aug 30)
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company’s bring Collage Revisited (2025) and STORY/ to Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli, N.Y., for three performances on Saturday at 2pm and 7pm and Sunday at 2pm. Collage Revisited blends dance, music, and spoken word, exploring themes of identity. (Sat-Sun, Aug 30-31)
Multiple Grammy Award-winner Bonnie Raitt will close out the Popular Artists series at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday at 7pm, with Jimmie Vaughan & The Tilt-A-Whirl Band also on the bill. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend is best-known for her blues-folk-pop approach, combining stinging guitar licks and soulful vocals. (Sun, Aug 31)
Soul-folk singer-songwriter and pianist Maya Shaw brings her jazzy, sultry sounds to Studio 9 in North Adams, Mass., on Sunday at 4pm. Shaw will appeal equally to fans of Lana Del Rey, Regina Spektor, Amy Winehouse, Carole King, and Elton John. Maya will be joined by eclectic violinist/fiddler Cate Byrne, a conservatory-trained Berkshire native. (Sun, Aug 31)
Authors David Hadju and Seth Rogovoy – that would be me -- will be in conversation at the Spencertown Academy Festival of Books in Spencertown, N.Y., on Sunday at 2:30pm. In his latest book, The Uncanny Muse: Music, Art, and Machines from Automata to AI, Hadju tells the story of art’s relation to machines, from the Baroque period to the age of AI. Hadju’s other books include Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña and Richard Fariña, and Adrianne Geffel, a novel. The Book Festival itself runs from today through Monday. (Sun, Aug 31)
Also of note:
Something Beautiful: The Songs of Ahrens and Flaherty, conceived and directed by acclaimed Broadway performer Jason Danieley, celebrates the Olivier Award- and Tony Award-winning songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty -- including songs from their musicals Ragtime, Once on This Island, and My Favorite Year -- at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, Mass., today and Saturday.
The Festival of New Jewish Plays, featuring readings, panel discussions, and artist conversations, takes place at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Mass., today and Saturday.
The Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra returns to Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., with Broadway musicians Rachel Handman and Keve Wilson for From Bach to Marsalis, a program of music and stories based on works by J.S. Bach and jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, along with numbers by composer Aaron Copland and Astor Piazzolla, tonight at 7pm.
Kommuna Lux, a Ukrainian ensemble that plays their own style of music they call “Odesa Gangsta Folk” -- a blend of Balkan folk, Eastern European modes, klezmer, and the sounds of their embattled homeland -- performs at the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Sunday at 7:30pm. Their instrumental lineup includes clarinet, horns, accordion, guitar, and drums.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.