Black Like Him: The Buffalo Soldier, by Chris Bohjalian
It was just a few months ago that Lincoln author and Burlington Free Press columnist Chris Bohjalian finished the book tour for his last novel, Trans-Sister Radio. Now the prolific author has yet another offering, The Buffalo Soldier, a plot-packed novel about a damaged Vermont family that proves the axiom, "it takes a village to…
Marlboro Man: The co-founder of Vermont’s famous music school looks back on war, wives and the composing life
On the walls of Louis Moyse’s hilltop house in Montpelier, dozens of wooden flutes vie for space with framed photographs of family members, friends and the world’s great composers. Back in his native Paris, he was acquainted with some of those classical music legends: Maurice Ravel had a "rather cold" demeanor, Moyse recalls. Igor Stravinsky…
Sonic Boom? Introducing seven new bands that make Burlington go pop
Let’s face it, the Burlington rock scene has been a little bleak since the mid-’90s. While our phishy friends were bouncing around the country getting all the attention, it seemed like back at home local music went into a bit of a slumber. What’s more, between increasing pressure from the liquor control board and the…
Chorney’s Kids: Three new jazz bands build on the viperHouse foundation
If anyone’s qualified to speculate about central Vermont’s new generation of creative young musicians, it’s Michael Chorney. "There must be something in the water," jokes the 46-year old Lincoln-based saxophonist and Middlebury College teacher. As leader of the cosmo-funk mini-orchestra viperHouse, Chorney gathered some of the state’s most promising musical talent and provided a stage…
The Music That Goes ‘Round and ‘Round: Vermont vinyl collectors recall their record deals
What is it about spinning records that casts a spell on some listeners — people for whom a grooved disc and a few wires makes magic in the living room? Not just any old record, of course. Finding just the right — and preferably obscure — slab of vintage vinyl or odd CD is a…
If the Glove Fits… Mud season turns up a lost-and-found art project
The fluctuating temperatures this winter have caused my long and narrow driveway to thaw and refreeze by turns. During the most recent melt in this meteorological nightmare, the disappearing snow and ice yielded six-inch muddy ruts leading deep into my backyard — a temporary parking lot during snowstorms. To my surprise, the early spring turned…
Cheating Words
Whoever handles the press for the International Space Station, the floating science lab jointly sponsored by the U.S., Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan, issued a "Crew Criteria Document" last month that spelled out who would — and would not — be welcome on board when the project starts accepting tourists in the future. All applicants…
O’ Canada: Montreal gets its Irish up for a St. Patty’s Day parade
A quiz: Which North American city has the longest tradition of hosting a St. Patrick’s Day parade? Nope, it’s not Boston, not New York, not even Chicago. It’s MontrŽal ?"top">51; on March 17 the city will celebrate its 178th consecutive St. Paddy’s Day parade! "This is just another example of how much that city likes…
Flick Chick
Two early, defining moments remain fixed in Stephen Bissette’s memory: A third-grade teacher in Duxbury who liked to read Edgar Allen Poe to the class; and the time his family went to Burlington for the 1965 world premiere of Those Calloways, an environment-friendly Disney film shot in Vermont. Ever since his introduction to the literary…
Progs vs. Dems
At a press conference to announce federal funding for Vermont slaughterhouses, Sanders talks about his own carniverous preferences, which include pork.
