Submitted by The Buttonwood Tree
(May 28, 2024) — The following programs and events will take place during the month of June, 2024 at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street in Middletown. Contact The Buttonwood Tree at 860-347-4957 or visit www.buttonwood.org
Saturday, June 1, 2024: Wellness Day 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We invite you to join us for a morning of relaxation that includes a 20-minute Reiki Treatment and a small-group Guided Meditation.
Reiki Treatment and Meditation have amazing benefits for your overall wellness and mental health. We hope that you are able to be present with us. When we are done, finish up the day with a beverage and a treat, read a book, and enjoy the art. Refresh yourself before the Middletown Pride Event. Reiki Sessions will be offered by Reiki Master Teacher Eileen Anderson, R.N. and her volunteer Reiki practitioners. Guided Meditation will be facilitated by Ed Langford, LPC. Meditation and Reiki Sessions will be offered hourly at 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and Noon.
Donation: $25. All proceeds go to support the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center.
Saturday, June 1, 2024: The Giosa-Varela Blues Band, local folk group Merganser, and New Haven-based King Bolete Duo. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is suggested donation. This event is being funded by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. All performers, volunteers and staff at this event represent the disabled/neurodivergent population. They all will be paid for their time. This is to show that we deserve a place on the stage and in the workplace along with everyone else.
Giosa-Varela Blues Band: From an early age, Morgan was raised around music and the arts. His brother Alex is a professional drummer and a skilled visual artist. A self-described “old soul,” Morgan feels his music is most rooted in inspiration from the electric psychedelic blues of the 1960s (artists such as Michael Bloomfield and Jimi Hendrix are among his favorites), as well as influenced by the greatest electric bluesmen of all time (particularly B.B. King and Albert King, two of his favorite musicians).
Morgan has been composing original music with the guidance and collaborative input of his mentor and friend and guitar teacher, Frank Varela. The two, alongside drummer Alex Giosa and bassist Bob Laramie and some special guests, recorded an album under the name Fake News Blues Band in late 2017. Their debut self-titled album was released on June 6th, 2019 and is available on all major streaming platforms. Frank and Morgan are currently back in the studio working on a follow up album of original blues music, which will be released in 2023. Frank Varela has dazzled audiences for many years with his guitar prowess. He is known among his peers as a unique master guitarist who ignites the interest of every listener. His imaginative compositions, arrangements of standards and numerous recording engagements has brought years of recognition, including favorable reviews in the nationally renowned publications such as “Jazz Improv” magazine.
Frank Varela’s ability to inspire others is reflected in the improvement of many professional guitar playing peers who study privately with him to bring their playing to a different level. He takes pride in mentoring so many players including a long engagement teaching blues phenom Jake Kulak who Frank taught from Jake’s first lessons at age 11 through to his acceptance into Berklee School of Music and Morgan Giosa who has performed at various CT and MA venues and recorded an album of original music with Frank and other veteran musicians.
Merganser is a modern folk project founded by Derrik Bosse, Taylor Warinsky, and Matt Belliveau in the summer of 2021. The group plays a modern style of traditional inspired tunes that border on post-punk and Irish Trad. Traces of Andean and Ukrainian folk music can also be heard. Derrik Bosse (winds, bass, vox) is always looking for music off the beaten path. He has studied the folk styles of Greece, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba, South America, and more. He incorporates these influences into his everyday playing. Taylor Warinsky (various, vox) is a public school music teacher with a background in classical bassoon. He and Derrik met on a jazz gig several years ago and have been working together ever since, in projects like Klezmer Fusion Collective. Xavier Serrano fuses traditional melodic styles with forward-thinking and unconventional forms. His songwriting spins stories of reawakening, self-growth, and the contemplations of life utilizing on the discordant chords of jazz, folk, and alternative rock.
King Bolete Band is a five-piece band from New Haven. The band was formed in 2022, when a close friend sought live music for a WYBC party. Clarinet player Sophia Coppola, guitarist Mike Piercey, and drummer Eli Farland, who have been playing in various bands together for years, found themselves in need of a bassist. Their search led them to Max Perrotti, whom they had met just a month earlier at a New Year’s Eve jam. Soon, KBB was gracing stages across coastal Connecticut. The group’s lineup solidified in 2024 with the addition of classical violinist and fiddler Audrey Rivetta. Since then, King Bolete Band’s musical journey has been marked by a steady ascent, progressing from intimate basement shows to lively New Haven bars, from Moon Club backing gigs to vibrant festival performances.
Friday, June 7, 2024: Story City Troupe. Performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10. Hosted by Michael Isko, who tells stories about his foibles and family. Recently retired from a thirty-four year career as a Public Defender, Isko accepted Sue Huggan’s request to keep the Story City Troupe together, and bring shows to the Buttonwood. He has appeared at a number of Speak Up Storytelling events at Saul Fussiner Songs and Stories, at the Next Door, Jezrie Marcano’s Speak Easy at The Ordinary in New Haven, and at the New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas. Admission link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/72390-story-city-troupe
Saturday, June 8, 2024: Singer-Songwriter Sean Magwire. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. Admission link: https://bit.ly/3T3Warh
Friday, June 14, 2024: Anne Marie Menta and Fred Arcoleo. The night will also feature musicians Cadence Carroll, Armand Morgan, and Dan Martin. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission in $15.
Anne Marie Menta hails from New Haven, where she has been a long-time favorite singer/songwriter. She comes from a family of three brothers where playing and listening to music was their greatest passion. In 1998, she released her debut album “Untried & True,” followed by “When the Love Ran Deep,” in 2004, and “Seven Secrets” in 2009. Her fourth collection, “Sky Tonight,” was released in December 2019.
Anne Marie’s songs range stylistically from contemporary folk, Americana, acoustic pop, country, and folk-rock, all featuring her warm vocals and solid guitar. The tunes reflect her wide influences and devotion to Joni Mitchell, Rosanne Cash, Emmy Lou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and Mary Chapin Carpenter, to name a few.
Sober, hard-hitting, and fiercely original, yet cradled in tenderness, Fred Arcoleo’s award-winning Rally Folk! music invites audiences to confront the difficult truths of the current state of our world with composure, optimism, and determination, for as the Hopi people remind us: “We are the ones we are waiting for.” His last CD, “Today Again,” made its debut at #7 on the Folk DJ National Radio Charts and his newest album, “We Are Mighty: Sustenance for the Struggle” is just out.
Saturday, June 15, 2024: Malin Carta, joined by Elijah Atkins, TJ Croke and Conor Brennan. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
Saturday, June 22, 2024: at Connecticut-Based Bluegrass Band Deep Ellum Duo, composed of multi-instrumentalists Rich Johnson and Jon Swift. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15.
Sunday, June 23, 2024: Singer-Songwriter Terri Lachance. Show runs from 1:;0 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Admission is $10 per person.
Terri Lachance was an Elementary School Teacher who incorporated music into her classroom over the years. Teaching through music was one aspect of her goals. Terri is a local performer who has seven CD’s of original music.
Terri will perform a combination of familiar, original, and some familiar with a twist. The event will be slightly educational and also interactive, appealing most to children from preschool age to about second grade.
Admission Link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/69921-terri-lachance-plays-children-s-music
Friday, June 28, 2024: Canadian Rock Guitarist and Singer Lynne Hanson. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
Too tough for folk and too blues-influenced for country, Lynne Hanson’s brand of porch music with a little red dirt can turn on a dime from a sunshiny, blue-sky ballad to a full-on thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp from one song to the next. Her hard-living music has garnered her the nickname “Canada’s Queen of Americana.” And while her deep, bluesy croon has drawn comparisons to Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, it’s the poetry of her lyrics that really sets her apart.
Winner of two Canadian Folk Music Awards, Hanson is known for her high energy, roots guitar driven live performances, whether playing solo or with her band the Good Intentions. She has an uncanny way of connecting with her audience with an authenticity that is as entertaining as it is disarming.
The prolific songwriter has released nine studio albums along with two books of poetry over her 18 year solo career. She’s toured extensively across North America, Europe and the UK, and appeared at leading international festivals including Take Root (Netherlands), Glasgow Americana (Scotland), Maverick Festival (UK), Kerrville Folk Festival (US), and Winnipeg Folk Festival (Canada). She has also toured as support for Grammy-nominated artists like Gretchen Peters, Steve Forbert and Albert Lee.
Lynne Hanson will release her tenth studio album “Just A Poet” in Spring 2024.
Saturday, June 29, 2024: Multi-Genre Music of Paradox Organ Alliance. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
The Paradox Organ Alliance is dedicated to preserving and continuing the great 70 plus year tradition of Hammond organ, guitar and drum set trios. From blues to bebop, Latin, funky boogaloo to the Great American Songbook, each Alliance set explores a musical journey through time. Whenever possible, guest soloists are featured.
The founding members, Dr. Gary Grippo, Dr. Gary Novick and John McGuire, have performed together for several years. Dr. Grippo has been a well-known member of the Connecticut and New Haven jazz scene for over 20 years. A music major at Rutgers, he has studied with Bucky Pizzarelli and Harry Leahey, among others. While at Rutgers, he performed with jazz legends Gerry Mulligan, Louie Bellson, and Clark Terry. He currently host a weekly jazz radio show on WNHU.
Dr. Novick, a newcomer to the Connecticut jazz scene, has studied with Noah Baerman and Ben Patterson. A life-long keyboardist, he is now dedicating himself to digging deeply into the Hammond idiom, channeling the techniques of the masters of the B-3.
John McGuire has been performing in various musical idioms for over 40 years. He has studied privately with Ed Soph, Gary Chaffee and the great Joe Morello and has performed with such Jazz stalwarts as Lew Soloff, Joe Roccisano, Archie Shepp and Shelton Lester.
The concerts listed above, and other TBT events are brought to you by our generous donors and patrons, as well as the following organizations: Middletown Commission on the Arts, Community Foundation of Middlesex County, Department of Community and Economic Development.
