Twilight Music begins its 13th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, May 31 with with an evening of hard driving, house rocking, in your face blues by The Chris Kleeman Band. The seven concert series continues every other Sunday through August 23. All concerts begin at 6:00 pm in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at The Putney Community Center at 10 Christian Square in case of rain. The series is sponsored by the Town of Putney, Soundview Paper Company, The Putney Food Co-op, The Stockwell Brothers and many other Putney businesses and organizations. The concerts are free to the public (donations are accepted) and food will be available. For more information, call 802-387-5772 or visit www.twilightmusic.org.
The Chris Kleeman Band is “Vermont’s best kept blues secret.” From his first record produced by B.B. King and his 2002 appearance with Mr. King at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Kleeman has kept the blues alive and well. Chris’ blues are multi-spectral, rolling from stinging slide guitar to deft rag-time; from the southern styles of Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell all the way up that big river to the blues of Chicago and Muddy Waters and Elmore James, with the Piedmont Blues of people like Blind Boy Fuller and Brownie McGhee thrown in. While blues-based, his trio also incorporates high-powered instrumentals along with influences from many genres.
An artist of high energy and gritty musical performance, Kleeman has shared the stage with the likes of as B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Chris Smither, Susan Tedeschi and many others. He has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and released six CDs.
“This guy is marvelous”, “Bad-ass guitar!” ~B. B. King
“An Acoustic Genius! Vermont’s Blues Guitar Wizard…” ~The Message, Chester VT
The 2015 Twilight on the Tavern Lawn concert series schedule is:
Sunday, May 31 THE CHRIS KLEEMAN BAND – Hard driving, house rocking, in your face blues
Sunday, June 14 THE STOCKWELL BROTHERS – Contemporary bluegrass and folk music brothers Bruce, Barry and Alan
Sunday, June 28 THE WILL PATTON ENSEMBLE – Spirited, mandolin-based, acoustic world music drawn from gypsy jazz and Brazilian choro styles
Sunday, July 12 THE MIKE + RUTHY BAND – Americana, folk and roots music with Motown soul, old-timey harmonies, rock-n-roll energy and inspired songwriting
Sunday, July 26 CANTRIP – High energy Scottish/Celtic music bagpipes/fiddle/guitar trio
Sunday, August 9 SIMBA – Eight member Funk and World Beat band featuring blazing horns and scorching percussion
Sunday, August 23 SLIPPERY SNEAKERS – High energy, traditional and contemporary Cajun/zydeco roots music
