Grace Potter‘s Grand Point North is coming back! The long-running music festival on Burlington’s waterfront will return Friday, September 12, through Sunday, September 14. After headlining performances from Potter on Friday and Saturday, Connecticut-born jam band Goose will take over on Sunday. As in years past, Potter and her team have booked a slew of local support acts. The Wet Ones!, Burly Girlies, Grace Palmer, Heady Betty and Dutch Experts make for an eclectic and heavily female lineup. More guest artists are expected to be announced in the lead-up to the festival.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit highergroundmusic.com.
A brand-new quarterly comedy series is set to debut this month at Higher Ground in South Burlington. Curated and hosted by local comedian Maggie Maxwell, “The Lowdown at Higher Ground” features some of the best of Vermont’s robust comedy scene, as well as the occasional out-of-towner.
The series kicks off on Monday, June 30, with comics Julia Colasanti, Meredith Gordon, Rob Hale, Levi Silverstein and Alex St. Louis. Check out highergroundmusic.com for the full lowdown.
The new releases keep pouring in! After a heavy dose of fresh music last week, we’ve got a new single and video from indie-rock outfit Dari Bay, the project of Robber Robber drummer Zack James. “The Joke” is a fuzzed-out rocker, and the video, directed by Wes Sterrs, features James and his bandmates raging in a giant pet store, complete with gratuitous shots of betta fish and confused-looking hamsters. Stream it on YouTube now.
Rei Kimura, formerly of the Brattleboro indie-rock band Moxie, has released her first music as a solo artist. Showcasing her powerful voice, “The Mountains” is a soulful roots-rocker about the impending end of a love affair. It’s an interesting shift for Kimura, who seems to be pushing into pop and roots and going for a bigger sound. The single is now available on streaming services.
This Saturday, June 21, Vermont will participate in its 10th Make Music Day. A celebration of creativity that started as Fête de la Musique in France in 1982, the festival has since become an international phenomenon, with countries around the world bringing together musicians of every stripe for a day of events and concerts.
The local edition is handled by Big Heavy World in Burlington: The nonprofit arts organization is keeping a tally of every local musician playing that day at a club, school, church, porch, garden, living room, radio station or any other place imaginable. Musicians can still register at bigheavyworld.com/makemusicvt to be part of the party.
Listening In
(Spotify mix of local jams)
This article appears in The Food Issue 2025.
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