Twilight Music continues 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, July 12 with an evening of Americana hoedowns, sassy blues, Motown soul, old-timey harmonies, rock-n-roll energy and inspired songwriting by The Mike + Ruthy 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.mikeandruthy.com and www.twilightmusic.org.
After thousands of concerts across tens-of-thousands of miles, Woodstock, NY-based Ruth Ungar & Mike Merenda have emerged as one of acoustic America’s most revered musical duos. Mike is an artfully prolific songwriter with an indie rock soul and feather-touch vocals. The daughter of fiddle legend Jay Ungar and country singer Lyn Hardy, Ruthy is an earthy country-blues singer with the unmistakable stage presence of a natural-born performer. In 2000, the couple met Tao Rodriguez-Seeger (grandson of the legendary folk singer Pete Seeger) and formed The Mammals, an acoustic stringband that toured the world over the next seven years, and performed with the likes of Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger.
Last year Mike and Ruthy decided to make a high octane record, comprised of songs they could tour with a band, and tapped drummer Konrad Meissner, bassist Jacob Silver and pedal steel man Charlie Rose. “Bright As You Can,” the rocking new album from The Mike + Ruthy Band, celebrates the grit and glory of kinship with 14 road-tested tunes of radio-ready acoustic pop, broody rock, country soul and boot-stomping porch folk. The roots, Americana folk-rock record pays tribute to the band’s mentors while defiantly forging a path that is electrified, youthful and now. “In the vanguard of today’s vibrant folk revival” – Pop Matters
