Submitted by Anne-Marie Cannata McEwen
(February 2, 2023) — The Buttonwood Tree at 605 Main Street in Middletown presents the following shows during the month of February, 2023. For more information, visit www.Buttonwood.org or call (860) 347-4957. Email: TheButtonwoodTree@gmail.com
Thursday, February 9, 2023/Soro Bindi, Ghanaian Dance Music. This event starts at 7:00 p.m. and will be facilitated by Wesleyan Dance Professor Iddi Saaka. Admission is $20.
Friday, February 10, 2023/Restless Mountain Bluegrass Band. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. Restless Mountain Bluegrass Band is a Connecticut-based bluegrass band that always offers a fun mix of traditional standards, entertaining classics and originals that bring fond memories and a smile. In the tradition of bluegrass, Restless Mountain is an all-acoustic band, serving up heartfelt vocals, three-part harmonies and spicy instrumentals.
Saturday, February 11, 2023/Jake Swamp & The Pine with co-bill Riley Cotton. Show starts at 7:00 p.m.. Admission is $15. Currently composed of Drew Zieff on guitar, vocals and foot stomping percussion, and having formed in 2018, Jake Swamp & The Pine has toured in the Greater Boston and New England region. Jake Swamp and the Pine songs range from powerful acoustic anthems to knee-slapping hoedowns to slow and somber waltzes, drawing on diverse influences from the Americana, folk, singer-songwriter, bluegrass, and jam band traditions. Riley Cotton is a Connecticut-based singer/songwriter. Throughout her coming of age and artistic expression, she struggled with a pulling duality of her queer feminine identity and fondness of her southern roots. While growing up in Texas, much of her musical taste was shaped by the voices of the women of country music; Shania Twain, Sarah Evans, Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks.
Friday, February 17, 2023/Lucas Neil and Olivia Charlotte. Show starts at 8:00 p.m.. Admission is $15. Lucas Neil Johnson is a singer-songwriter born and raised in Ballston Spa, New York. Devotion to music through emotional, mental, and spiritual growth has given him great purpose and stability in life. To be able to share that music with beautiful people through live sets, meditations, recordings, and other avenues of performance is what Lucas has been fortunate enough to find as a career. Lucas began to find his musical life largely through his father. He was a professional musician throughout his young life and appeared as a drummer and singer with a variety of bands in the 70’s and 80’s. Music was an ever-present point of passion in Lucas’ home. Long before it became his main focus, music was a way to commune, escape and look inward, or just release.
Olivia Charlotte plays a mix of originals and covers with a folky feel. Her vocal style is unique and haunting, with a sorrowful but hopeful tone. Her debut single “Diagnostics” and its accompanying music video were described by Loud Women as “a strong alt-rock debut,” reminiscent of bands like The Cranberries.
Saturday, February 18, 2023/Soul Songstress Waberi Jordan. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $20. Waberi Jordan is a vocalist and songwriter whose signature is rooted in the Leimert Park Jazz Community of Los Angeles. Raised on a steady diet of straight-ahead jazz, at a time when R&B dominated the airwaves, Waberi’s sound bridges two pivotal eras of artistic expression. Waberi studied and played with Horace Tapscott along with The Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra and The Great Voice of UGMAA (Union of God’s Musicians and Artists’ Ascension), many notable performers and scholars like Dr. Art Hillary, McCoy Tyner, Azar Lawrence, Nate Morgan, Pharoah Sanders and many more.
