Here's the weekly astrological forecast for November 11 - 18, 2009. What's your sign, baby? They're all here...... Read more

Curses, Foiled Again ... Read more

In the 1980s, while we were training freelancers to negotiate using the National Writers Union’s model magazine contract, my comrade, the Vermont journalist David Goodman, mentioned that he had a standard reply when editors named a fee: “That sounds a little low to me.” It mattered little what fee the editor suggested; the ploy worked. That’s probably because David was usually telling the truth, and his editors knew it. Some welcomed the chance to wrench a few more bucks out of the boss.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

A few months ago, a PR woman named Kitty called me, pretty much out of the blue, and talked my ear clean off about a band she was representing, The Kind Buds. If you’re a regular reader, you have probably seen the Massachusetts-based duo listed at various smaller venues around the state. They’re here fairly regularly. You may also have snickered at the impossibly hippie-dippy pun that is their band name — the duo comprises two guys named Bud and, ahem, Budd. Get it?

Anyway, back to Kitty.... Read more

(OutTake Records , CD)... Read more

As you may have inferred by the fact that my interview with Blind Pilot drummer Ryan Dobrowski — a really nice dude, by the way — appears on the front page of the music section this week, I’m kind of excited for the band’s show at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge this Friday. In fact, I’ve had their debut disc, 3 Rounds and a Sound, pretty much on constant repeat for the last two weeks.... Read more

If you ever needed proof that success can be bittersweet, just ask Blind Pilot of Portland, Ore. The band has been touring relentlessly since 2006, canvassing the West Coast several times over … on bicycles. But as their debut album 3 Rounds and a Sound began to attract national acclaim and the chamber-pop duo grew to a six-piece, they found themselves playing larger and larger stages alongside such notable folks as Andrew Bird and The Decemberists.... Read more

Attendance stats as low as zero — that’s as rocky a start as any performing arts group could have. Montpelier’s Tim Tavcar faced this two years ago when he founded WordStage, which brings together chamber music and staged readings around literary and historical themes. Audiences have warmed to Tavcar’s innovative scripts, however, and four shows are slated for the group’s third season.... Read more

11/8/09: The Green Mountain Hounds carry on the illustrious tradition of fox hunting with a modern day twist - instead of hunting actual foxes, the hounds trail the scent of anise.

Music:Renaissonics, Carols for Dancing, "Gaytas," "Fum, Fum, Fum"

Location: Charlotte, Richmond, VT

“You know that story about Bon Iver?” asks Michael Chorney, tending to a dented, flame-scorched stove-top percolator in the kitchen of his Lincoln home. “About how he [singer-songwriter Justin Vernon] went to a cabin in the woods for three months and recorded that album [For Emma, Forever Ago]?... Read more