Arts, Entertainment+Recreation

OK, let’s just applaud the sixth-straight-winners right now, because what else is there to say? The following clearly rule: Higher Ground (Live Music Venue); Club Metronome (Dance Venue); Chris Bohjalian (Fiction Writer); Firehouse Gallery (Art Gallery); Frog Hollow (Craft Gallery); and Stowe (Vermont Getaway).

Since we introduced Best Museum three years ago, readers have handily favored the Shelburne Museum — though the ECHO Aquarium and Lake Science Center holds down a respectable second place. And Burlington’s Roxy Cinema has won five years in a row, pushing aside first-year winner The Savoy.

Speaking of hegemony, Grace Potter stayed strong this year, winning Best Vocalist and, with The Nocturnals, Best Band. She also edged out Anaïs Mitchell in our new category of Best Singer-Songwriter. (We have to wonder: Does the word “pot” in her name have anything to do with it?) Saxophonist "a href="http://www.7dvt.com/category/daysies/arts-entertainment-recreation-best-instrumentalist">Dave Grippo showed he still has a grip, winning over Gordon Stone for Best Instrumentalist. As for the ever-changing Best New Band, Rubblebucket Orchestra topped Hot Neon Magic. The Rubbles are actually Boston-based, but at least some of the members are from Vermont!

In the art world, Burlington’s dug nap drew up to first place for Best Visual Artist, nudging to runner-up four-time winner, photographer Matthew Thorsen. Guess you people like your artists, um, unusual. Best Craftsperson changes each year, suggesting that most of you don’t know your Vermont artisans by name, tsk, tsk. Who rose to prominence this year? Jennifer Kahn, a jewelry maker whose work — she calls it “tribal style with a modern edge” — can be seen at Frog Hollow, various women’s craft shows, the Saturday outdoor art market in Burlington City Hall Park, and at www.jenniferkahnjewelry.com.

Daysies voters delivered two stinging upsets in this section: the Vermont Brewers Festival came out with a frothy lead over formerly indomitable Discover Jazz Festival for, duh, Best Vermont Festival. And five-time winner Stowe Mountain took a serious slide — Smugglers’ Notch won Superlative Snow Slope, while Jay Peak was runner-up. But no crying in that Vermont beer; Stowe in general, as noted above, is still the favorite go-to place. That must mean Stowe residents never have to leave.

It’s not all about the outdoors, though. Burlington’s Petra Cliffs beat the much taller Camel’s Hump and Mount Mansfield in our first-ever Best Climbing category.

Along the same climate-controlled lines, the Gordon H. Paquette Arena at Leddy Park was the favored place to ice skate. Sorry, Lake Champlain — you’ll get your turn if we include “Best 400th Birthday Party” next year.
-Pamela Polston