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BRATTLEBORO -- Twilight Music presents a pair of acoustic roots concert at the Hooker-Dunham Theater, 139 Main St.
On Friday, the acoustic roots trio Coyote Grace plus Tylan from the Americana, folk/rock band Girlyman play at 7:30 p.m.
Then on Sunday, it’s an evening of classic country, swing, honky-tonk and old-time music by The Sweetback Sisters at 7:30 p.m.
Coyote Grace
At once radically progressive and unashamedly nostalgic, Coyote Grace is at the forefront of a growing movement to redefine the meanings of roots and tradition. Armed with a bevy of acoustic instruments from guitar and upright bass to banjo, mandolin, fiddle and accordion, Joe Stevens, Ingrid Elizabeth and Michael Connolly mix bluegrass and blues, soul and southern twang into a unique sound that hovers just beyond the edge of familiar. The sultry trio combines virtuosic musicianship with a humble, warm stage presence, all stemming from a history of self-invention and re-invention.
Beginning as a Seattle-based duo in 2004, Ingrid Elizabeth and Joe Stevens founded the band as street performers outside of Seattle’s Pike Place Market, using their busking proceeds to fund their first studio album "Boxes and Bags." Three more CDs followed, with "Ear To the Ground" reaching No. 6 on the folk charts of Roots Music Report in February 2011. In 2010, Coyote Grace performed three separate tours opening for and playing alongside the Indigo
After five studio albums and 10 years on the road with the internationally acclaimed folk-pop quartet Girlyman, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tylan returns to her roots, touring solo and due to release her debut solo album "One True Thing" in 2013.
Tickets are $16 general, $14 for students and seniors. For reservations and information, call 802-254-9276. For more information, visit www.coyotegrace.com, www.girlyman.com and www.twilightmusic.org.
The Sweetback Sisters
The Sweetback Sisters feature Emily Miller (vocals, fiddle, guitar), Zara Bode (vocals, guitar), Stefan Amidon (drums, vocals), Jesse Milnes (fiddle, guitar, vocals), Ross "Rolling Thunder" Bellenoit (guitar, vocals) and Peter Bitenc (acoustic bass), who forge their own sound by delivering arrangements that combine the soul of classic Nashville with an undeniably contemporary edge.
The rollicking country swing of the Sweetback Sisters is as infectious as it is heartbreaking. Their charismatic charm harkens back to the golden era of both the silver screen cowgirl and the ersatz cowboy stars of local TV kiddie shows. That whimsical exterior is wrapped around a core of deeply felt love for traditional country music styles and a palpable joy in playing and singing together.
Zara Bode and Emily Miller started singing together in the Montpelier-based choir Northern Harmony. While performing an eclectic repertoire of shape-note hymns and eastern European harmonies, the two discovered a mutual love of good-old American country music. They moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., reeled in an all-star cast of back-up musicians and started playing in the eastern United States. Their repertoire includes 1940s and 50s-era country music, complete with close harmony singing and solid old-time country picking.
The band’s lineup includes some of the rising young talent in today’s old-time and traditional country music scenes: Stefan Amidon of Brattleboro’s Amidon Family and Assembly; two-time West Virginia state fiddle champion Jesse Milnes; Ross Bellenoit, who recently finished a tour with Amos Lee opening for Bob Dylan; and Peter Bitenc, of Heather & The Barbarians and several other cutting-edge bands. The band was chosen as one of six finalists to play on "A Prairie Home Companion" as part of the program’s 2007 People in Their Twenties talent contest.
Tickets are $17 general, $15 for students and seniors. For reservations and information, call 802-254-9276.
For more information, visit www.thesweetbacksisters.com and www.twilightmusic.org.
