Welcome to #HEARTVT, where you might come to realize what a rainbow of local music we live under! As we head into the holiday season let’s remember how special music is to us, and how much more special it is when it’s made by our talented neighbors. Governor Scott proclaimed November 2020 to be Local Music Month in Vermont. #HEARVT gives you some great reasons to explore local music right now!
A whole lot of Vermont’s record stores are giving away gift certificates for local music. Head to these stores to enter to win! Browse the local music while you’re there — get some good suggestions from the staff to find bands you’ll especially like, and think of local music when you are appreciating friends and family during gift-giving season!
Exile On Main Street
94 North Main Street, Barre
(802) 479-3107Burlington Records
194 College Street, Burlington
(802) 881-0303Pure Pop Records
115 South Winooski Avenue, Burlington
(802) 658-2652Speaking Volumes
7 Marble Avenue, Burlington
(802) 540-0107Rick & Kat’s Howlin' Mouse
158 North Main Street #2, Rutland
(802) 772-7955Autumn Records
11 East Allen Street, Suite 2, Winooski
(802) 399-2123Buch Spieler Records
27 Langdon Street, Montpelier
(802) 229-0449Turn It Up!
85 Main Street, Brattleboro
(802) 251-6015
When you pick up a local CD or band shirt at a record store or online from the bands themselves, post about it with the hashtag #HEARVT. You’ll become eligible to win one of five Golden Tickets: $100 worth of admission to Higher Ground for live virtual or in-person shows and a certificate for a night at Hotel Vermont in Burlington!* And when you share the name of the band you bought music or merch from they’ll be entered to win a drawing for $400 worth of screen printing at Calamity & Crowe’s Trading Post! You’d be supporting local music twice! Photo: Turkuaz at Higher Ground.
Higher Ground is an all-ages independent venue founded in 1998, booking national and local music and comedy acts in the venue's two rooms as well as off-site shows at indoor and outdoor venues throughout New England.
Located in downtown Burlington near the shores of Lake Champlain, Hotel Vermont gives you space to be yourself and room to gather. Explore like a local, relax like it’s your job, and soak in every detail in downtown Burlington.
*From May through October the Hotel Vermont certificates will be valid Sunday through Thursday. At other times of the year they may be used on any days of the week. Check with Hotel Vermont about availability before making travel plans.
Some of Vermont’s finest artists are lending their energy to the message, “Support local music, and remember how important it is to our own identity and story!” Share these videos on social media, and if you happen to run a community-minded TV or radio station, broadcast the PSAs! Thank you for making Vermont stronger with your support! And thank you, Vermont Association of Broadcasters for helping spread the word! The videos were filmed and edited by Robot Dog Studio.
Dwight & Nicole
Dwight & Nicole is an American indie-soul band fronted by Dwight Ritcher & Nicole Nelson. Ritcher and Nelson met in Boston when they were both just out of school and cutting their teeth on the local club scene. They discovered a shared love of classic blues greats like Albert King and Lighting Hopkins, covering songs by their vocal heroes Mavis Staples, Jimmy Witherspoon and Etta James. Dwight & Nicole began performing live as a duo; touring the Northeast and developing a strong fan base. They then self-released two critically acclaimed albums and over the next several years they would become well known regionally for their dynamic live shows and well crafted songs; gaining plenty of industry respect with nods for nine Boston Music Awards, seven Boston Pheonix Awards, seven Daysie Awards, and six New England Music Awards.
The Path
Formed in 2015, and featuring ex-members of such bands as Contra, The Solidarity Pact, As We Were, and Crucial Times, The Path's sound is fast and ferocious. They have been compared to the bands like Black Flag, Left for Dead and Kill Your Idols. The Path are searching for balance and direction at a time when the world is on fire. They don't have all the answers but they are aware that when we are facing doom we will get through it together. As a follow up to their LP Chaotic Good, The Path released a split LP with Boston's Psychic Weight. Released through an international DIY effort by State of Mind Recordings (US), Ugly and Proud Records (Eur) and Struggle Records (Asia).
Hayley Jane
Hayley pulls inspiration from a variety of styles, including 60s & 70s rock and pop, musical theater, folk, blues, soul, psychedelic, funk and bluegrass. Hayley reawakens her audiences to the wild parts of themselves, great medicine for these modern times. Photo by Jay Blakesberg.
Kat Wright
Kat Wright, whose voice is both sultry and dynamic, delicate yet powerful; gritty but highly emotive and nuanced, has been described as “a young Bonnie Raitt meets Amy Winehouse”. Add to that voice enough stage presence to tame lions, and the combination of feline femininity proves immediately enchanting. There’s soul flowing in and out of her rock ‘n’ roll with a serpentine seduction. Some of soul music’s sweet, grand dames belt, shout, seethe, and succumb, while Wright sings gently like a heartache’s apology. It’s funky in spots and beautiful all over. And it hurts a little … like it should. Photo by Arielle Thomas.
Rough Francis
Rough Francis is a rock band from Burlington, Vermont formed by three brothers—Bobby (Jr.), Julian and Urian Hackney—along with their friend Dan Davine. The Hackney brothers originally formed the group in 2008 to pay tribute to the music of their father (and uncles') early 1970s proto-punk band Death. After a few tribute shows, the group began to write and record their own music. The loud screams and maximum volume of Rough Francis still echoes Death — but they also manage to crystalize a unique sound of their own, channeling live energy from 60's garage rock, Motown and 80's Hardcore.
#HEARVT is a project of Big Heavy World, an independent nonprofit music development office working to archive and promote the original music of Vermont. With a crew of volunteers it publishes information about Vermont’s music industry, archives thousands of Vermont-made recordings, and operates 105.9FM, a radio station highlighting the region’s creative community. #HEARVT is made possible with a Restart Vermont Marketing and Incentive Grant from the Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development.
Photos on this page by Luke Awtry Photography include Nick Wood of Gang of Thieves performing at Nectar’s on December 9, 2017; Death at the Double E on October 19, 2019; The Bubs “Bursting the Bubble” at Light Club Lamp Shop on January 27, 2020; and TURNmusic at the FlynnSpace on September 22, 2019.
