Remember phone booths? You know, those big glass things where Superman used to get naked all the time? (Side note: Where does Supes strip these days? Does he just swing through rest stop bathrooms? Department store fitting rooms?) Gen Zers have most likely never laid eyes on one, but Rutland’s Nick Grandchamp aims to fix that.
We have cellphones now, and everybody hates speaking on the phone anyway, so why is Grandchamp, a veteran of the Vermont punk scene, installing a phone booth at Mountain Music record shop in Rutland?
“I want to remind everyone of a time when our phones didn’t have screens,” Grandchamp told me during a phone call — not a Zoom (phew!). “I fucking hate being on my cellphone. But I love old things; I’m a sucker for nostalgia. I think phone booths are awesome and this piece of history that a lot of younger people have never really experienced.”
Before you ask — no, you can’t actually call anyone from the phone booth, because, well, that would be pointless in modern American society. Instead, with a lot of help from his friends, Grandchamp has turned the phone booth into a jukebox of sorts.
After buying the booth online last fall and drilling open the locked doors using an industrial-grade drill press, Grandchamp installed a Raspberry Pi computer, linking it up to the original phone dial pad. Then he loaded the phone with more than 100 sound clips, ranging from music by Iggy Pop and the MC5 to films such as Empire Records to field recordings of ambient sounds to motivational speeches to jokes for kids.
“Each clip has its own number you can dial,” Grandchamp explained. “And there’s a phone book inside the booth, as well.”
On Monday, the booth debuted at the Rutland record shop, where it rests beside another creation of Grandchamp’s: the Mystery Art Machine, an old sticker machine that he loaded up with works by local artists.
The phone booth is free to use, though the quarter slot still works if you want to leave a donation toward Grandchamp’s next project. While he offered no hints, I’ll take a ballpark guess and say he’s going to rig up an old Atari into an industrial weed grinder. Or maybe turn a fax machine into a karaoke machine? Those ideas are free of charge, Nick.
After 29 years, the Ripton Community Coffee House music series will come to a close with one last show.
“Richard Ruane and I have been involved with the concert series since its inception,” Andrea Chesman wrote in an email. “But the pool of volunteers has grown smaller and older, and it is time to stop.”
Over the past three decades, the nonprofit series has presented almost 900 performers at the historic Ripton Community House on Route 125, serving as a vital source of live music in the region. Chesman said the series will conclude with a performance by New England folk duo Green Heron this Saturday, May 18, though there is talk of doing one last show in May 2025 to make it an even 30 years.
WGDR, the former Goddard College radio station turned community radio station that has broadcast from Plainfield since 1973, is celebrating the big five-oh — and the big five-one. The station hosts a weekend of 51st-anniversary programming from Friday to Sunday, May 17 to 19, on the network’s dual stations, WGDR 91.1 FM and WGDH 91.7 FM out of Hardwick. The lineup will include live, in-studio performances, interviews with past and present program hosts, and fundraising efforts.
A “51st Party at the Pratt” is scheduled for Saturday, May 18, at the Plainfield station. Featuring food, live music from bluegrass outfit the Grassers and tours of the station, it’s an open house for community members to come see how the (radio) sausage is made.
“We are so excited to celebrate this incredible milestone for WGDR,” station manager Llu Mulvaney-Stanak said. “So many Vermonters have a connection to the station as a listener or as a programmer … The station has flourished by centering the community in all we do on the air and how we run the station day-to-day.”
For more info on the party, visit centralvermontcommunityradio.org. Happy birthday, WGDR!
Eye on the Scene
Last week’s live music highlights from photographer Luke Awtry
Satyrdagg at the Palace, Burlington, May 11: At an undisclosed location in town, a former social club occasionally gets restored to its former glory for an evening of music and socializing. Unlike a lot of Burlington apartments, this site retains an old charm that helps it live up to its nickname, the Palace. The whimsical decorations and glittering drapes evoke a sense of being not just elsewhere but in an alternate-reality version of Burlington, perhaps? I came in late, just as Satyrdagg, bassist Mowgli Giannitti‘s “alchemical art rock” project, was setting up. I had seen them before, 10 deep with a mighty horn section, but on Saturday the band consisted of just Giannitti, Avery Cooper on sax, Irene Choi on trombone, Marc Edwards on guitar and Jack McChesney on drums. The musicianship of the five seemed to recognize no boundaries, and though they jumped between genres, rhythms and tempos ferociously and without warning, the groove was ever-present and remained danceable throughout. Giannitti’s compositions are unlike anything I’ve heard, so maybe I did get a peek into a different dimension. Let’s hope it’s one where I can actually dance.
Listening In
Spotify playlist of Vermont jams
This article appears in May 15-21, 2024.
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