Dan “Rudi” Ruddell, known for playing in local bluegrass outfits Haywire and Turnip Truck, and his partner, Lisa Kippen, lost their Tunbridge home to a fire on the night of November 28. Ruddell’s instruments, including his prized 1930s Gibson L-00 acoustic guitar, were destroyed. And Kippen, an artist, lost all of her work and materials as the house that Ruddell had built in 1997 burned to the ground.
While a fundraising effort is under way to help the couple rebuild their home, the local music community is taking matters into its own hands with a benefit concert. Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph hosts “Mountain Songs: A Benefit Concert for Rudi and Lisa” on Friday, January 31. Featuring a slew of area musicians and bands such as Bow Thayer, Mountain Dog, Spencer Lewis & Friends, and Turnip Truck, the event is by donation only, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Ruddell and Kippen’s aid.
Visit chandler-arts.org for more information.
Burlington indie artist Lily Seabird recently announced the impending release of her new album, Trash Mountain, April 4 on Lame-O Records. She also dropped a brand-new single and accompanying music video.
The video for the new LP’s lead single, “Trash Mountain (1pm),” shows Seabird singing and dancing with a red balloon in the playground of the Integrated Arts Academy and other locales around Burlington’s Old North End. The song is an alt-country-tinged jam, bare-bones folk that showcases Seabird’s twang-inflected voice and sparse instrumentation. It’s streaming now on YouTube.
They say the modern sitcom is either dying or just plain dead. That hasn’t stopped a group of Burlington comedians from staging their own — live.
“Pet Store: A Live Sitcom” opens on Thursday, January 30, at Vermont Comedy Club and will continue on the last Thursday of every month through May. This is appointment viewing, people. A cast of comics spearheaded by Maggie Phelan and Nic Sisk will portray the employees of You Can Pet on Us, a fictional small-town pet store dealing with the recent arrival of a giant national chain across the street.
If you always secretly wanted to be the person who gasps when a character says something surprising on a sitcom or cheers when an actor makes their entrance, this is your chance. Check out vermontcomedyclub.com to get all the details and purchase tickets.
Eye on the Scene
Last week’s live music highlights from photographer Luke Awtry
TOM PEARO, HOTEL VERMONT, BURLINGTON, SUNDAY, JANUARY 26: For the entire month of January, Hotel Vermont’s Juniper Bar & Restaurant offered up an extra-tasty Sunday brunch special — and I don’t mean the new build-your-own hot cocoa boards. Local guitar wizard Tom Pearo played in the hotel lobby every cold Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For two hours straight, Pearo served a multicourse feast for the ears, with each week’s menu a unique set of songs paired perfectly with the mellow fireside vibes. Pearo has cultivated his own distinctive set of musical flavors and amassed a robust bounty from which he composes his entrées. What was the song du jour, you ask? Pearo prepared a spread of sustained chords, marinated in analog delays, looped between layers of meaty bass lines and topped with shimmering cathedral reverb. It was served with a side of hot buttery leads and fresh countermelodies as garnish. I enjoyed every last morsel yet still walked away hungry for more. My compliments to the chef.
Listening In
Playlist of Vermont jams
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2025.
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