Category: arts

Local musician makes it big

Posted on April 29, 2010 |

• Middlebury
• arts

By Andrea Suozzo

MIDDLEBURY — These days, singer/songwriter Jer Coons rarely stops moving.

In the months since he released his first album, the 21-year-old Middlebury native has marked several major milestones. For one, he has a single playing in Hollister stores nationwide. For another, this July he will be coming home to headline at Festival on-the-Green.

full story

Smart makes movie magic

Posted on April 19, 2010 |

• Ferrisburgh
• arts

By Kathryn Flagg

FERRISBURGH — Gerianne Smart first got to know Walter Hacks in the milking parlor of a Waterbury Center dairy.

Moving among the cows, dairy farmer George Woodard told his friend about Hacks in fits and spurts: The fictional character was 11 years old, a tenacious Vermont farm boy infatuated with Westerns and a speed demon on a bicycle.

It turned out that Hacks and his story had been rattling around in Woodard’s head for some time — and it wasn’t long before Smart, a Ferrisburgh resident, was equally infatuated.

full story

Artist forges reputation for smithing

Posted on April 1, 2010 |

• Lincoln
• arts

By Kathryn Flagg

LINCOLN — Ask blacksmith Brian Anderson, and the South Starksboro metalworker will tell you that a cool, hard lump of iron and a soft piece of clay aren’t as different as you might think.

Sure, you may have to heat iron to 2,500 degrees before it becomes malleable — and malleable only with the force of a hammer and tongs. But at that point, he said, the distinction between hard and soft, clay and iron, all but disappears.

full story

Duo plays the blues: Bristol's Lavoie draws big name to town

Posted on February 8, 2010 |

• Middlebury
• arts

By Andrea Suozzo

MIDDLEBURY — When Bill Sims Jr. and Mark LaVoie perform at Middlebury College and the Art House in the Marble Works this Thursday and Friday, it won’t be their first time playing together. Since Sims, a guitarist and vocalist from New York City, first met Bristol native and harmonica virtuoso LaVoie at a blues festival in Burlington back in 1992, their mutual interest in folk music and the blues has blossomed into a 17-year friendship and collaboration.

full story