Culture

This is a 1996 concert film by Laurie Anderson filmed at the Park Theater in Union City, New Jersey a year earlier. It’s filled with music, stories, vocoded voices, and electric violins. Also keep an eye out for guests Adrian Belew and William S. Burroughs.

The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library will host a fundraising concert on Friday, November 7, 7:30 PM in the Library, with Hungrytown, a Vermont folk-based duo. Hungrytown is the musical and married team of Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson.  They have released two highly acclaimed CDs, Hungrytown (2008) and Any Forgotten Thing (2011), both of which continue to receive much airplay on folk and Americana stations worldwide. 

Rebecca and Ken tour full time; their adventures have taken them throughout the US, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.  Their songs have been performed by many other artists, including Nashville songwriting legend David Olney, and bluegrass veterans the Virginia Ramblers. Hungrytown’s music has also appeared on several television shows, including the Independent Film Channel’s hit series, Portlandia. 

Here’s a concert featuring the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a roots, bluegrass sort of group that has been playing since 2005, growing in popularity, winning awards, and appearing to have a good time doing it.

This is a well-filmed show at Nancy Jazz Pulsations in October of 2012. It’s a french show, which makes for interesting multilingual stage banter between songs from this very American group.

The reason to watch, though, is for the musical performance. It has an old-timey feel to it, and is a perfect laid back accompaniment to your weekend.

Next show, Wednesday, October 8th at 2p.m. in the Library Meeting Room. “Ellen Arden arrives 7 years after being given up for dead in a shipwreck, to find her husband Nick just remarried to Bianca…” With Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. Post-film discussion hosted by Tim Metcalfe and Tom Bedell.

Continuing through November 12th, (on select Wednesdays) the Brattleboro Film Festival and Brooks Memorial Library will present free afternoon screenings of nine Hollywood classic screwball comedies from Tinseltown’s Golden Era. On October 8th at 2 pm, please join us for a hilarious retread of the old “Enoch Arden” legend stars Irene Dunne as Ellen, who returns home to her husband Nick (Cary Grant) and children Tim (Ann Shoemaker) and Chinch (Mary Lou Harrington) after being marooned on a desert island for seven years. 

This isn’t exactly a concert, but it does contain live performances by the Firehouse Five.

Who are the Firehouse Five? It is a dixieland band (comprised chiefly of Disney animators) that was most popular in the 1950’s. They released 13 records, are a lot of fun, and are thus is deserving of another look.

The leader is Ward Kimball, trombone player and animator of characters such as Jimminy Cricket and the Mad Hatter. Harper Goff is on banjo. He did concept drawings for Disney World, and art direction for the original film version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Frank Thomas, on piano, is animator of such characters as Bambi and Thumper on the ice, the dancing penguins in Mary Poppins, and King Louie in Jungle Book.