Category: Bennington Banner
Feature: Bluegrass jams at the VAE
8th December
Published in the Bennington Banner on Dec. 19, 2013
Original article: http://www.benningtonbanner.com/news/ci_24753892/sit-down-tune-up-and-join-local-music
NORTH BENNINGTON — The Vermont Arts Exchange becomes a different place on the second Tuesday of each month.
During the day, the VAE is an inclusive, constructive space dedicated to creation and appreciation of almost every type of art. Fueled by the energy and passion of director Matthew Perry, the building and its staff spend their days helping Vermonters discover the fulfillment of expression.
While this mission certainly remains intact, on certain Tuesday evenings the old textile mill turns from a classroom for young artists to a clubhouse for Bennington County’s modest but dedicated band of acoustic musicians.
Originally organized after the first Lake Paran Bluegrass Festival in July 2010, the jam has welcomed a rotating lineup of guitarists, fiddle players, bass players, mandolin players, and even some accordion, banjo and dobro players. Group …
Meet the new Banner staff
23rd October
Instead of an article I wrote about something, here’s an article someone else wrote about me! I think this is the first time that has ever happened. I doubt it will catch on.
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/localnews/ci_24260810/meet-three-banner-rsquo-s-new-newsroom-staff
Feature: Sculptor Joshua Primmer
2nd October
Published in the Bennington Banner
Click here for full article
BENNINGTON — When local sculptor Joshua Primmer was offered an artist-in residency position at the historic Medalta Potteries in Alberta, Canada, he knew it was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to pass up. Now, using popular crowd-funding website Kickstarter, Primmer is turning to the community for help bringing his dreams to life.
Primmer, a lifelong Southern Vermont native who earned his B.F.A. in ceramics at Maine College of Art, has been running a ceramics studio in his home on Gage Place for the past six years. Specializing in modern ceramic sculpture and functional wares, including free-standing and wall-mounted sculptures, his work has been exhibited throughout Vermont, Massachusetts and New York. After years of independent work, Primmer recently decided re-focus his energy on returning to graduate school and becoming a full-time ceramics professor at …
Review: FressGrass Festival 9/26/13
2nd October
Published in the Bennington Banner
Click here for full article
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — For three days last weekend, Mass MoCA in North Adams welcomed roughly 4,000 music fans for a celebration of modern and traditional American acoustic music–an art form more commonly linked to Appalachian front porches and fiddle contests than modern art museums in New England.
The Freshgrass festival, which attracted a significantly larger crowd than in the festival’s first two years, boasted an impressive lineup of bluegrass and bluegrass-inspired acts, ranging from pioneering legacy groups like the Del McCoury Band to acoustic-minded indie acts like Brooklyn’s The Lone Bellow, who won over the crowd with their energetic performance on Saturday afternoon.
With two stages offering virtually uninterrupted music, a dedicated kids’ area, workshops for musicians and impromptu bluegrass jam sessions popping up everywhere (including inside the museum’s exhibit spaces), the whole …
