Songwriter, producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Douglas Paley, who produced music for Brian Wilson and wrote songs with and played sessions for the likes of Madonna, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elton John and Little Richard, died of throat cancer on Wednesday, November 20, in Colchester. He was 73.
Paley started out in the mid-1970s with the power-pop outfit the Paley Brothers before hooking up with Wilson and producing the Beach Boys founder’s debut solo record. Wilson once said Paley was “the most frighteningly talented person that I’ve met and the greatest musical genius I’ve come across in many years … maybe my whole life.”
Among Paley’s other accomplishments were scoring the Oscar-nominated film Dick Tracy, working for Sire Records and writing songs for Nickelodeon’s hit “SpongeBob SquarePants” franchise.
Paley and his family left Los Angeles in 2021 and settled in the Champlain Islands. His brother-in-law Trevor Crist and his Maple Run Band, in which Paley often played the harp, are hosting a celebration of Paley’s life and music on Sunday, December 8, at Radio Bean in Burlington.
Paley summed up his goals as a producer in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1990: “I just want the thing to sound good, whatever it takes … That end carries over into everything, even to questions like, ‘Should they order lunch now?'”
South Burlington native Cristian Arhiri is set to represent Vermont in the Music Teachers National Association Division Junior Piano Competition, starting in mid-January. Arhiri, a seventh grader at Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School who has studied piano under teacher Yin Stewart for five years, has the chance to win the divisional round and move on to compete in the National Finals later in 2025. Andreea Bruma of Essex has been named the alternate.
Founded in 1876, the MTNA is a nonprofit organization made up of 17,000 independent music teachers. For more information about the organization and the Junior Piano Competition, visit mtna.org.
As live music venues in Chittenden County continue to struggle with and, in some cases, close over insurance worries, it’s always nice to hear about people taking the issue into their own hands and, well, making a space for live music. Enter Maya Sun Robedee-Molino and Rory Goodale, local musicians who play in the Champlain Shoregasm. The two started hosting open mics and performances at Lily’s Pad — aka their house on North Avenue in Burlington — 12 months ago, booking an assortment of New England talent including Jason Baker, Fisher Wagg and Lobotomobile.
Robedee-Molino and Goodale celebrate the one-year anniversary of Lily’s Pad on Wednesday, December 4, with performances by a host of local musicians — and yes, there will absolutely be cake. Hop on over to lilyspadvt.com for more info.
Eye on the Scene
Last week’s live music highlights from photographer Luke Awtry
In memoriam: Lane Gibson Recording and Mastering, Charlotte, Sunday, December 1: After a long and celebrated run, Lane Gibson Recording and Mastering in Charlotte closed last month. In the space commissioned more than three decades ago by Vermont keyboardist Charles Eller, only a skeleton of the studio remained. Its arteries — literal miles of cabling — lay coiled in unruly piles. Up until just a few weeks ago, engineers Eller, Gibson and Jeremy Mendicino — a Burlington-born musician who first came to the studio when working with Gregory Douglass while in high school — sat on one side of the recording equipment racks. On the other side were musicians such as Anaïs Mitchell, “Big Joe” Burrell, Francesca Blanchard and Seth Yacovone. The studio’s discography is extensive, and its legacy secured. But the music scene will take no moment of silence — we’ve got more hit records to make.
Listening In
Playlist of Vermont jams
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2024.
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