Rocket Shop Live with Deb Flanders and Joshua Glass (feat. Binger)

WORDS BY VALENTINA FRIMI. PHOTOS BY JAMES LOCKRIDGE.

On a Wednesday, March 19th, BHW and The Radiator teamed up with RETN to bring Joshua Glass and Deb Flanders to The Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center Black Box Theater in downtown Burlington for a free concert, which was broadcast live both on RETN and on The Radiator’s weekly local music hour, Rocket Shop.

The concert kicked off at 8pm in the evening, but first, local singer-songwriter, Steve Hartman, hosted an hour-long panel on the stage entitled ‘Musicians for Musicians. He, along with fellow local singer-songwriters Patrick Fitzsimmons and Joe Adler discussed the process of bringing their original music from the studio to the fans, and how the digital age of social media and Kickstarter is a very effective tool for promoting and raising money for their projects such as albums and tours.

Deb Flanders was the first act to hit the stage with a delightful performance, somewhat different from Rocketshop’s concert acts in the past. She is a local folk singer who carries on the legacy of her great aunt, Helen Hartness Flanders, who spent her whole career collecting folk ballads passed down orally through families from the British Isles. Back in 1999, Deb Flanders released an album of her performing a selection of her great aunt’s collection, entitled ‘Mother, Make my Bed.’ Only after releasing the album did she begin performing the songs, and talking about her great aunt’s passion, for live audiences. In the past year, Deb has released another album featuring a selection of the collection, ‘The Female Highwayman.’ She performed her act this evening a cappella. This did not at all hinder her performance. Her warm soprano voice which sung stories of tragedy and relationships provided a compelling performance in of itself, which additional instruments could only embellish.

Deb has collaborated with Pete Sutherland, Robert Resnik, other skilled local musicians.

Active local singer-songwriter, Joshua Glass, followed up in the second half of the evening, accompanied by local three-man groove band, Binger, backing up his upbeat, infectious pop sound and giving the songs power and edge. The group were dressed down in t-shirt and jeans attire, but still put on a show that was both energetic through the tempo and clever through Glass’ original lyrics and bright chords resembling that of Paul Simon and The Beatles.

Since his musical debut in 2011, Joshua Glass has quickly risen to become one of the most active musicians in Vermont, performing both solo and collaborative shows at venues all over the area, while working on promoting his 2014 debut album titled ‘New York, My Lovely.’

Joshua’s backup band, Binger, was Braden Winslow on guitar, Shakir Stephen or drums, and Dalton Muzzy on bass.