Sergei Vyacheslavovich Ushakov died unexpectedly at his home in Burlington, Vt. on January 8, 2025.
Sergei was born on August 16, 1959, in Yaroslavl, Russia, to Vyacheslav Vasilyvich Ushakov and Praskoviya Demetrieyevna Ushakova (Bragina), a well-educated epidemiologist and high-level cook, respectively. Sergei spent the early years of his life at the family dacha in the village outskirts of Yaroslavl, living simply and earnestly. The origins of his immense work ethic and resourcefulness began here, where Sergei’s family grew their own food; with it, his mother taught him to cook many delicious Russian dishes that he frequently made and shared with friends and family. To no surprise, Sergei was an excellent grade school student and a member of the ensemble. By his teenage years, he was also starting to immerse himself in classic rock, listening to the likes of CCR and Deep Purple on black-market albums under threat of the KGB.
Sergei’s journey into music production started small, playing guitar and drums with cover bands, but was pushed further in the 1970s while playing the trumpet during compulsory conscription in the Soviet Army of the former U.S.S.R. and later building microcircuits in an aerospace factory. After an interlude of clowning around and taking care of elephants in the traveling Russian circus, Sergei returned to music formally at the Yaroslavl Philharmonic, then, by chance, as a member of a rock band called Telephone, he had his opportunity to run sound, never turning back. For many years he was the permanent sound engineer of the Jazz Over the Volga festival in Yaroslavl, which ultimately brought him to Burlington after the formation of the sister city partnership in the late 1980s. In Burlington, he established himself as front of house in the local music scene, joining Nectar’s full time in 1994. He later toured nationally for a few years in the mid-2000s with the Samples and then Pork Tornado. His audio legacy was further cemented at many other Burlington area venues over the years with the hundreds of musicians he worked with and the thousands of pounds of equipment he set up, broke down and acoustically optimized for the space at each and every show.
Those who knew Sergei well knew that he never worked a day in his life. The more hours at the club, the more difficult the repair of a mic or mixer, the more time spent surfing the internet for rare analog gear, the more joy he found in what he did. And what he did was transform the Burlington live music scene, starting in the 1990s, setting a standard of excellence and quality in music production that carried on for decades. His legacy will survive in countless recordings, future gigs at Nectar’s, and venues around Burlington and the world, as well as the uncountable pieces of sound equipment that were brought back to their former glory — or made even better — with his eBay acumen, multimeter and soldering iron. In fact, right up to the night he passed, he was fixing equipment for friends and documenting his mastery and goofiness on video.
Sergei is predeceased by both of his parents, as well as his brother, Vasily Vyacheslavovich Ushakov. He is survived lovingly by his three children — Anna Ushakova of Yaroslavl, with former wife Lydia Ushakova (Kuchina); Steven Ushakov (and wife Bridget Ushakova) of Burlington; and Kristina Ushakova (and partner Shaun Roberts), of Richmond, Vt. — with his former wife and devoted friend, Marina Collins. He recently earned the title of “Dudja” (grandfather, in Russian), welcoming with great enthusiasm his first grandchild, Lilia, born to Steven and Bridget this past year. He leaves behind countless close friends all throughout the music industry, who will sorely miss his irreplaceable brilliance, honesty and dry Russian wit.
A fittingly loud and rockin’ celebration of Sergei’s life will take place the weekend of February 15, 2025, at Nectar’s. More details to come at liveatnectars.com.
To honor Sergei, support your local music scene by attending a live show!
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2025.