The upcoming cultural highlights in our region include string-band music, folk-rock, literary readings, instrumental pop, choral music, and the circus comes to town….
Grammy Award-nominated fiddler Bruce Molsky features the next generation of roots-music players in Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, coming to the Towne Crier Cafe in Beacon, New York, tonight at 8:30. The group includes guitar genre-bender Stash Wyslouch (of Deadly Gentlemen) and master of the clawhammer banjo, Allison de Groot (of The Goodbye Girls), together joining forces for an audacious, joyful, and compelling musical journey.
The Poussette-Dart Band brings its classic 1970s style of folk-rock music to the Falcon in Marlboro, New York, tonight at 8.
Authors Lynne Sachs, Amy Rigby, Hallie Goodman, and Lee Ann Brown are featured in the free Volume Reading Series at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson on Saturday night at 7.
Looking ahead: the Williams College Department of Music presents I/O Fest '20 – its free, annual, four-day festival of new music, beginning next Thursday, January 16, and running through Sunday, January 19 at various venues in Williamstown, including the college’s ’62 Center and the Clark Art Institute.
Singer-songwriter Jesse Harris, best known for writing several of Norah Jones’ greatest hits, brings his newest all-instrumental project, Cosmo, to the Egremont Barn next Friday, January 17, at 8 p.m. Blending folk, soul, Brazilian and rock music, Cosmo is instrumental pop in the classic tradition of Burt Bacharach, given Harris indelible stamp.
Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney will share his creative process illustrating his new book, A Place to Land (written by Barry Wittenstein), about Martin Luther King Jr. and how he came to write his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech, at Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, January 18, at 1 p.m.
Acclaimed sister folk-pop duo The Nields are at Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, New York, in its Roots & Shoots Concert series on Saturday, January 18 at 8 p.m. Nerissa and Katryna are known for their hook-heavy folk-pop tunes and their close sisterly harmonies.
Electronic artist and drummer Ian Chang collaborates with visual duo Endless Endless to create a mesmerizing world of integrated sound, light, and projection in Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday, January 18 at 8 p.m.
Hudson’s own Bindlestiff Family Cirkus returns to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday, January 18, at 9 p.m., with the kickoff of its annual monthly wintertime Cabin Fever Cabaret Series.
And finally, the Cantilena Chamber Choir will present its annual Martin Luther King Concert with a special tribute to Rep. Elijah Cummings at Trinity Church in Lenox, Massachusetts, on Sunday, January 19, at 3 p.m. Special guests include a return appearance by the Urban Choral Arts Society from Baltimore. Dr. King will be remembered in a combined choir performance of Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass and the choral music of composer Adolphus Hailstork. Members of the Baltimore Choir will give a special tribute to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings through personal testimonies.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of Berkishire Daily and the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com