Submitted by The Buttonwood Tree
(July 27, 2024) — The following programs and events will take place at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street in Middletown during the month of August, 2024.
Friday, August 2, 2024: Nine North Band. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $5.00, and all proceeds will go to The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center. Nine North performs Americana, Roots, Folk and Blues music. The group performs a mixture of original and cover songs.
Sharing vocal duties is the full trio: Steve Jack on guitar, Jimmi Brewer on drums, and Ryan Mulligan on bass. The group has performed at events like the Fair on the Green in Milford, Milford Artisan Market, Manchester Art in the Park, and Newtown Arts Festival.
Saturday, August 3, 2024: Singer-Songwriter Harold Walker. An opening set will be played by local musician Nate Manware. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $15.
As a singer-songwriter, Harold has crafted a repertoire that transcends genres. His lyrics are a reflection of the human experience, touching on themes of love, loss, and the intricacies of life. With a voice that resonates with emotion and authenticity, he captivates audiences and takes them on a journey through the landscapes of his soul.
Nate Manware is a prolific multi-instrumentalists in the Connecticut music scene. One of his most recent projects is called Pale Space, Space Rock with a heart of glass, jazz hands and sea legs. Pale Space plays songs for skeptics, romantics and lost souls.
Friday, August 9, 2024: Soul/Blues/Jazz Dynamo Miss Emily. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
After a quick call, Team Emily got to work reviewing every song from each of the six shows. It was a monumental task but with time frozen in the wake of COVID, trimming 150 songs down to 15 tracks went from nearly impossible to a recorded reality by fall of 2020.“LIVE at the Isabel” was released on October 30, 2020 to rave reviews but due to the never-ending pandemic she couldn’t promote it with a tour. So instead, Team Emily submitted it for JUNO consideration.
On March 1st, 2022 Miss Emily, “LIVE at the Isabel” was nominated for the JUNO Blues Album of the Year.
That sequence of events – from the Maple Blues Awards of 2020 to the 2022 JUNO Nominations – encapsulates all you need to know about Miss Emily. She specializes in overcoming insurmountable challenges and scaling metaphorical mountains.
Saturday, August 10, 2024: Stony Creek Jazz Quartet, featuring guitarist Tim Lewis, pianist Robert Codio, bassist Chris Diglio, and drummer Dan Vermilya. Show starts at 7:00 p.m.Admission is $20.
Pianist and certified music therapist Robert Codio, with his extensive background in classical and jazz piano, brings a harmonic richness to the ensemble. His ability to transition from delicate passages to powerful, energetic solos keeps the music ever-evolving. Codio’s expertise in music therapy also adds a unique dimension to their performances, something that connects with listeners on a deeper level.
Bassist Chris Diglio anchors the quartet with his emotive bass lines and intrinsic sense of groove. A true musician’s musician, his understanding of orchestral arrangements and improvisation provides a solid foundation for the group’s explorations, ensuring every performance is both grounded and adventurous.
Drummer and jazz aficionado Dan Vermilya has been playing since the age of twelve. He kicked off his music career playing in rock and roll bands, but was always drawn to the sonic beauty of jazz and legendary drummers like Roy Haynes, “Philly Joe” Jones, and Lewis Nash. Vermilya’s versatility and passion have made him a driving force in the quartet. Seamlessly blending his rhythmic touch with the group’s melodic lines, he propels them forward.
Admission Link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/74303-stony-creek-jazz-quartet
Saturday, August 17, 2024: Folk-Punk Singer-Songwriter Hamell On Trial. Show begins at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $15. A one-man explosion, Hamell is as loud-as-war one minute, stepping off the microphone to whisper to an enthralled audience the next. Hamell’s unique and dynamic performance style is informed by politics, passion, intelligence and an irreverent sense of humor.
Armed with a battered 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar that he amplifies mightily and strums like a machine gun, a politically astute mind that can’t stop moving, and a mouth that can be profane one minute and profound the next, Hamell sets his sights on the new America. He shoots straight with his audience, whether unraveling topical issues or sharing confessional tales from his own past.
Hamell’s 2023 full-length record, Bring The Kids, marks the seventeenth release in a discography overflowing with four star reviews and critical acclaim, ranging from major label releases (Mercury/Polygram) to top independents such as New West and Righteous Babe Records. Bring The Kids marks Hamell’s third record on Texas indie Saustex Records, helmed by Hickoids lead singer Jeff Smith.
Admission Link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/71350-hamell-on-trial
Saturday, August 24, 2024: Asheville, North Carolina- based Folk Artist Madelyn Ilana, with an opening act to be announced. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $15. Our performance space is wheelchair accessible.
Inspired by liminality, Madelyn Ilana calls her music “dream folk.” Madelyn’s music is for healing and from healing, therefore sometimes soothing and sometimes cathartic. Live performances weave together original songs, improvised violin pieces, and spoken word poetry. She continues to write original music and has recorded three albums.
Madelyn has been teaching music professionally for more than ten years and has taught with many programs including Mountain School of Strings, Rockbrook Camp for Girls, Music Works Asheville, Next Step Educator’s Music After School Program, Girls Rock Camps, Farm and Wilderness summer camps in Vermont, Pickard’s Mountain Eco Institute, the Florida Herbal Conference, the Southeast Wise Women’s Herbal Conference, and countless private students.
Friday, August 30, 2024: Folk-Alternative Band Low Ceilings. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. The performance space is wheelchair accessible.
Low Ceilings is the Connecticut-based musical project of Ben Mueller, who has been playing living rooms, clubs, bars and empty swimming pools since early 2014. In that time, he has developed a distinctive brand of folky alternative rock with a progressive tilt, over which he explores love, loss and the profundity in banal and everyday happenings.
The live band currently consists of Mueller on vocals and guitar, Christian Loftus on bass, Marissa Greene on keyboards and guitar, and Noel Teter on drums.
Low Ceilings’ newest album, Dig That Hole Again, was released in December, 2023.
Saturday, August 31, 2024: Blues Group Big Joe & The Stolen Hearts. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $20. Our performance space is wheelchair accessible.
Little bit of blues. Little bit of soul. Little bit of rock. Little bit of roll. That’s it. That’s the formula Big Joe and the Stolen Hearts have been mixing as they have steadily worked themselves into the Greater Hartford music scene, playing everywhere up and down the Connecticut River Valley.
Led by the guitar artistry of Joe Linhart, they represent the forefront of a new blues rock movement, blending classic sounds from artists like Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen with modern artists like Gary Clark, Jr. and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.
