Gnomedad, The High Breaks, The Sun Parade, And The Kids At The Precipice August 1, 2015

Words by Tim Lewis.

After working on July 31st, then seeing some of the music at The Precipice: A Vermont Music Festival that night, I got a good night’s sleep and woke up to a Saturday off. I still had moms car from seeing The Decemberists show at Shelburne Museum on Thursday. Around 11, I hopped into the car, drove over to Elmwood ave to pick up my cousins Matt and Jessica Pearson, and their mom Joyce. We drove to New Haven VT and met up with the rest of our family. My uncle David, Matt and Jess’ grandfather, passed away on Memorial Day, and while there was a service for him in his church in New Hampshire back in June, this was the day we were interning his ashes in his home town. The service was brief, but nice, then a couple of us, including Craig Pearson and Kook Cheney Pearson and Aunt Gail Pearsondrove over to the farm where Uncle David and my Mom grew up. We ran into a neighbor who let us into the old barn then showed us the house, just down the road a few feet, that Uncle David and Aunt Gail built and lived in. It was a nice remembrance. We drove back into town and I dropped off Matt, Jess and Joyce, then stopped at home for a minute or two. I walked downtown to Radio Bean to see where the Precipice was at. Not a lot was happening but soon enough, Gnomedad hit the stage in Radio Bean. They played as a four-piece with guitar, bass, drums, and keys. Their discordant jazz, with rock drums, was interesting, but did not really catch my attention. I headed out to the yard in the back, and Johnnie Day Durand was seated in the performing space playing her saw. I love the haunting melodies she can evoke from the tool and was enchanted for the brief beautiful set. When she wrapped up, I headed back to the Bean and Gnomedad were playing some smoother mellower music that I kind of liked.

After they wrapped up, I looked outside and saw my cousin Michael Pearson, who had said he might stop by. I met him at the entrance to Light Club Lamp Shop and we headed to the back yard for a beer. The singer for Smooth Antics began a set with a guitar player. The guitar had a mellow jazz feel and Steph Heaghney’s voice was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I was mostly chatting with Mike and did not catch a lot. We then headed back into the Bean and The High Breaks were set to go on. They unleashed several surf rock noir songs and were as great as always. The last time I saw them they were a three-piece but this time the added a sax player who fit in perfectly. As always, Kevin Lynam‘s bass was locked in, Todd Gevry‘s drumming was fast and powerful and Matthew Bryan Hagen‘s guitar was super sharp. Matt’s song introductions were really fun and gave the show an extra bounce. We caught several of their songs, but then a loud sound washed in from the Lamp Shop, so we headed over and caught a bunch of songs from The Sun Parade. They are a four-piece with two guitars, bass, and drums and played some high energy indie rock. The songs were good and fun and kept me riveted. I kind of wanted to check back in with the Breaks, but just couldn’t leave. A few songs in found Mike at the end of his day and feeling wiped out. He took off, but was very impressed with the quality of the music. I hung out until the end of their set and was quite pleased.

I headed back to the Bean and the High Breaks were loading out. I waited for a bit, and watched some of the aquatic play that was happening on the street outside, and soon enough And The Kids hit the stage. I seemed to have missed them since they added Taliana Katz on bass, since Megan has had immigration issues, but they were just as perfectly on as always. The three piece lit into the set playing lots of great songs from their now classic debut album. The room was packed and everyone was dancing and having a great time. The band rocked hard and their music happily filled my tired soul. I loved every moment of their majestic set. When they wrapped it up, I said a quick goodbye to Todd, who was quite impressed with ATK, then took the long walk home. It’s so nice to know, that when you have a long intensely emotional day, that there is usually music about to help you fall into joy. Thanks everyone.

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.