Yankee Classic: 1983 interview with a Plimoth interpreter As a historian, I prefer my history dead. Living-history museums make me nervous, and I tend to overthink the situation. I understand that the interpreters are in period character, but who am I in this charade, exactly? A time traveler? A ghost? A stranger from a distant […]
Justin Shatwell
I really didn’t know what to make of Boston-based Bird Mancini when they slid their last album across my desk a few weeks back. They’re introduction letter described themselves as kind of a quirky accordion classic-rock band. After about 50 minutes of listening to their music, I was still pretty confused, but relieved that the […]
Massachusetts
Sophia Thoreau Leaves | Concord Museum Exhibit
Henry David Thoreau’s poetry inscribed on leaves. The symbiotic link between nature and literature is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in Concord, Massachusetts. With just enough forest between Concord’s tree-lined streets and Boston’s bustling avenues, this village remains a place of solace for writers and vacationers alike. In one shady corner of town you’ll find […]
Boston-based musician Jennifer Hruska has made her career on the less glamorous side of the record industry. She’s been a sound designer, audio engineer, composer, electronic instrument designer, and president of a small recording studio. With apparently no other jobs for her to explore in the music business, Hruska has decided to take the plunge […]
New England is awash in young musicians challenging the traditional concept of folk music. The genre has become so experimental that it is difficult to come up with anything truly shocking anymore. Kris Delmhorst is pretty far out on the folk spectrum utilizing all of the most modern techniques: unconventional instrumentation, distortion, even some minor […]
Yankee
Emilia Dahlin | Music Review
From the opening licks of Emilia Dahlin’s “God Machine,” it’s clear that she’s something special. In a region flooded with singer/songwriters, she stands out with clever storytelling, crisp melodies, and an undeniable passion. She excels at sending her listeners on journeys, and she can bend her acoustic guitar to meet the genre that fits the […]
New England
Walden Pond
Walden Pond State Reservation Open year-round 8 a.m.-sunset; day use only. $5/vehicle parking fee. Route 126 South, Concord and Lincoln, MA. Visitors’ Center, 915 Walden St., Concord, MA. 978-369-3254; mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden
Magazine
‘Sunflowers for Wishes’
“This is a good thing.” It’s a mantra Duane Button repeats often. When asked to explain what he has accomplished on his little family farm — when words fail him — he says this. And really, what else is there to say? Duane Button readies for his day when the sun is just rising on […]
The Tullers have been working this same land since 1768. Now they’ve taken the venerable “do it simple, do it well” philosophy to their latest crop: gourmet ice cream. Using only real fruit puree and 16 percent butterfat, they mix up more than 50 flavors named matter-of-factly after the ingredients in them (“Red Raspberry with […]
If Eben Horton minds the crowd of tourists, he doesn’t show it. His studio operates out of an old-fashioned gas station. Even with the twin bay doors flung open, the heat is oppressive. Lifting, turning, blowing, his craft is an endurance challenge. He gets just 20 seconds at a time to work the glass at […]
Dylan in the Movies is the type of band I can’t help but root for. The band’s founder and lead singer, Brian Sullivan, is the kind of tenacious underdog musician you want to see make it big. His story is classic — practically archetypal. A regular guy who grew up on the periphery of the […]
Fiddle virtuoso Lissa Schneckenburger’s latest album Song is, in a word, unexpected. The album is clearly a labor of love, featuring modern arrangements of old Maine tunes that were nearly lost to history. Resurrected from the transcripts of early 20th-century ethnomusicologists who toured the region’s lumber camps, these songs are as much a work of […]