Arts Beat with Greg Pahl

It was the early 1980s when local bluegrasser Taylor Armerding started his 5-year-old son, Jake, on Suzuki violin. Twenty-six years later, Jake returned the favor by assembling Boston’s best bluegrass musicians to help his dad record his first solo album. And the two of them will celebrate simultaneous album releases when the Jake and Taylor Armerding Band takes the stage at 8 p.m. on Friday in the Vergennes Opera House at 120 Main St.

Jake, one of the region’s best singer-songwriters, is releasing his fourth album of originals titled “Her,” a collection of love songs that may have something to do with the fact that he got married last fall. Taylor’s album, his first solo project, “Head That Way,” is a retrospective of his more than 30 years on the local and national scene. Besides Jake on fiddle and vocals, Taylor’s CD features Zack Hickman on bass, Mark Erelli on guitar and vocals, Lincoln Meyers on guitar, Greg Liszt on banjo and his youngest son, Jesse Armerding, on drums.

The elder Armerding was a co-founder in 1975 of New England’s most prominent progressive bluegrass band, Northern Lights. He spent 28 years as the band’s front man, mandolin player, lead singer and chief songwriter. During those years, the band recorded nine albums and toured nationally and internationally, playing occasionally with the late fiddle legend Vassar Clements, bluegrass star Peter Rowan and folk legend Jonathan Edwards. Since 2001 Taylor has fronted the Vermont-based Bluegrass Gospel Project, plays occasionally with Jake, and in 2008 joined the Jonathan Edwards Trio on mandolin and vocals.

At 13, Jake joined Northern Lights, on fiddle, and recorded three albums with the band during his high school and college years. He soon turned his attention to songwriting, and recorded his first CD, “Caged Bird,” while at Wheaton College in Illinois. The record was an immediate hit on Boston’s folk radio station, WUMB, which honored Armerding with its 2001 Best New Artist award. In 2003, Nashville independent label Compass released “Jake Armerding,” a collection of folk-pop songs written over a year living in Music City. “A master at bending boundaries,” marveled the Boston Globe, while the Washington Post called Armerding’s instrumental skills “remarkable.”

The special double-CD release concert will deliver the fusion of bluegrass, blues, folk, pop, classical and rock that has come to be known as Americana. Together, the Armerdings deliver harmonic vocal blend that is so clean, so tight, so smooth that it is difficult to tell who is singing what. It’s as if they’re related.

Advance tickets for the 8 p.m. concert are available at the Vergennes Opera House, Classic Stitching on Main Street in Vergennes, the Flynn Regional box office at flynntix.org or (802) 863-5966. For more information please call 877-6737 or visit vergennesoperahouse.org.

ONE-WOMAN SHOW AT VOH

“Finding the Doorbell,” a one-woman show by Cindy Pierce, will take the stage at the Vergennes Opera House on Saturday, at 8 p.m. Finding the Doorbell is a hilarious ode to the female anatomy from orgasms, self-stimulation, birthing and the like. Pierce guides the audience on a tour of the female body, complete with her own trademark brand of comedic physicality and stand-up delivery. Pierce is a cross between Dr. Ruth and Lily Tomlin in a hilarious, no-holds-barred evening. “Finding the Doorbell” has been performed around the country since 2005. Pierce co-authored the book, “Finding the Doorbell: Sexual Satisfaction for the Long Haul” (Nomad Press, February, 2008) with Edie Thys Morgan.

“Growing up the youngest of seven kids provided me with a sex education that combined vague parental input, graphic sisterly insight and a tomboy youth that granted me uncensored access to the male world,” says Pierce. “I hope my show opens minds and helps people find humor, rather than humiliation, in one’s own anatomy.”

Tickets for “Finding the Doorbell” are $15 and available in advance at the Vergennes Opera House, Classic Stitching on Main Street in Vergennes and through the Flynn Regional box office online at flynntix.org or by phone at(802) 863-5966. For more information call the VOH at 877-6737. “Finding The Doorbell” contains explicit sexual language and graphic descriptions. Viewer discretion is advised.

BELLA VOCE CHORUS

Bella Voce Women’s Chorus of Vermont will present its Spring 2009 “Songs of Water and Light” concert on Sunday at the Middlebury Congregational Church on the Green in Middlebury, at 3 p.m.

Bella Voce celebrates Lake Champlain 400th year of “discovery” with a concert that will feature a number of songs that are based on topics related to water. Of special note is a set of three pieces entitled “East Bay” for women’s voices and woodwind quintet, which Bella Voce commissioned from Dr. Michael Hopkins, director of the UVM Symphony Orchestra. The texts for these pieces are drawn from poetry by Anne Spencer Lindbergh (1940-1993), the daughter of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who lived in Vermont for many years. These texts reflect upon meeting the challenges of life with courage and inner serenity. In addition, a children’s poem, “The Circle of Days,” written by Reeve Lindbergh, the youngest child of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, is the text for a new piece composed for Bella Voce by music director, Dawn Willis.

The guest artist for this concert will be oboist Nadine Carpenter. She will be featured with the choir in a haunting piece called “Indian Summer” and a lovely arrangement of “Shenandoah.” Additional highlights will include a set of jubilant songs by Pavel Chesnokov sung in Russian.

Tickets at the door are $15 general, $12 seniors and students. Advance tickets are available through the Flynn box office at (802) 863-5966 or flynntix.org.

BRISTOL BAKERY & CAFÉ

There will be a performance by Acoustic Airmen on Friday, at 8 p.m., in the Bristol Bakery & Café located at 16 Main St. in Bristol. This local outfit offers raw, Delta-blues style tunes — original and covers — on beautiful vintage instruments.

The doors open at 7 p.m. There is no cover charge, but a donation for the musicians is always welcome. The bakery serves sandwiches, baked goodies, soft drinks, coffee drinks, beer and wine. Call 453-3280 for additional information.

STUDENT ART AT COLLEGE

The 42nd annual Student Art Exhibit is taking place in the Johnson Gallery, pit space and mezzanine of Middlebury College’s Johnson Memorial Building on Chateau Road off College Street. This annual event showcases the work of graduating senior studio art majors. The exhibition is the culmination of their three-semester senior thesis projects involving explorations across multiple disciplines. The exhibit, which runs through May 29, is free and the public is welcome.

LIVE MUSIC AT THE B&C

The Ball & Chain Café in the Briggs Carriage Bookstore in Brandon will feature the Michele Fay Band on Friday at 7 p.m. This popular regional group entertains with original and traditional folk and swing music. The performance is free. The Briggs Carriage Bookstore is located at 16 Park St. in Brandon. Call 247-0050 for additional information.

TWO BROTHERS TAVERN

On Saturday at 10 p.m., Abby Jenne and the Enablers will perform at Two Brothers Tavern, 86 Main St. in Middlebury. This disarmingly charming quartet plays Americana tunes featuring a guitar, fiddle and Jenne’s unmatchable voice. There is a $3 cover charge. For additional information, call 388-0002.

COLLEGE ORGAN RECITAL

Finally, there will be an organ and piano recital at 5 p.m. on Thursday by Nicholas Tkach in Middlebury College’s Mead Chapel off College Street. On the program are works by J.S. Bach, Cesar Franck, Prokofiev and Debussy. Tkach studies organ with Emory Fanning. It’s free, and the public is welcome.