Posted By Ken Picard on Mon, Jun 24, 2019 at 2:51 PM

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File photo courtesy of Vermont PBS

Chris Dorman

The talking Wishing Well on Vermont PBS has granted another big wish: "Mister Chris and Friends" is coming back for a second season of family-friendly music and merriment.

Filming has already begun on six new episodes of the Emmy-nominated children's television show,  Holly Groschner, president and CEO of Vermont PBS, announced Monday.

The show, which launched in November 2018, features live music, movement and "everyday adventures" throughout Vermont, which allow kids to explore science, nature, and emotional and social development. Designed primarily for preschoolers, "Mister Chris and Friends" is hosted by the show's eponymous co-creator and star, Chris Dorman of Shelburne.

Tags: Vermont PBS , public television , children's programming , children's music , Chris Dorman , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margaret Grayson on Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 12:50 PM

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Courtesy of Timothy Cummings

Trish Denton (left) and Mary Wesley

Roughly 13.5 billion miles from Earth, human voices hurtle through the yawning unknown of interstellar space at over 30,000 miles per hour. They’re recorded on a gold-plated disc and stored in a perfect vacuum, all in the hopes of someday transmitting a greeting and a message to extraterrestrials: We were here.

This project was called the Golden Record, a collection of music, nature sounds, images and greetings in 55 different languages, placed aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft and launched into space in 1977. The challenge of encapsulating life on earth on a single record was, for the scientists and researchers involved, a daunting and a thrilling one.

That mission is what the Vermont Folklife Center, along with the Fletcher Free Library and the Champlain College Emergent Media Program, aim to recreate with this summer’s Green Record Project, a “series of audio stories that represent life in Vermont to the universe at large.” Vermonters young and old can sign up in teams or individually to become audio explorers of the community around them and, with support, to produce an audio record of life in this state. It’s all totally free.

Tags: Green Record Project , Vermont Folklife Center , Fletcher Free Library , Champlain College Emergent Media Program , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Adams on Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 12:01 PM

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File: Ben Hudson Photography

Grace Potter performing at Grand Point North

The lineup for this summer's Grand Point North festival has been announced. The two-day music fest hits Burlington's Waterfront Park Saturday and Sunday, September 14 and 15. Vermont's first lady of rock, Grace Potter, coproduces, along with Higher Ground Presents. As is tradition, Potter headlines both nights of the event.

Tags: Grace Potter , Grand Point North , Higher Ground Presents , Trombone Shorty , Rainbow Kitten Surprise , Web Only , Image , Video

Posted By Jordan Adams on Mon, Jun 10, 2019 at 12:05 AM

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MATTHEW MURPHY

Eva Noblezada and the Broadway cast of 'Hadestown'

Anaïs Mitchell's Broadway musical, Hadestown, has won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The Vermont-grown "folk-rock opera," which opened April 18 at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City, received 14 Tony Award nominations. The annual award show honoring the best of Broadway aired on CBS on Sunday, June 9.

Tags: Hadestown , Anais Mitchell , Broadway , Michael Chorney , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Adams on Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 11:53 AM

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Courtesy of Michael Bush/dreamstime.com

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson has canceled his upcoming appearance at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. The 76-year-old cofounder of the Beach Boys announced via his website and social media that he is postponing his summer tour. Wilson was set to close out the 10-day festival on Sunday, June 9, at the Flynn MainStage.

Tags: Brian Wilson , Burlington Discover Jazz Festival , St. Paul & the Broken Bones , Tank and the Bangas , smalltalker , Web Only , Image

Posted By Dan Bolles on Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 12:43 PM

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From Facebook

Kyle Hoyt

The Vermont hip-hop community was shocked and saddened to learn of the unexpected passing of longtime local promoter and event producer Kyle Hoyt. According to rapper and DJ Dakota Burr, 31-year-old Hoyt was found dead on Thursday, May 30, in his Montpelier apartment. As of this writing, no cause of death has been announced.

Tags: Kyle Hoyt , Dakota Burr , hip-hop , Vermont , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Adams on Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 11:49 AM

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Courtesy of McNair Evans

St. Paul & the Broken Bones

Birmingham, Ala., soul powerhouse ensemble St. Paul & the Broken Bones have canceled their appearance at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. The band was set to perform on Thursday, June 6, at the Burlington Waterfront Park.

Tags: St. Paul & the Broken Bones , Burlington Discover Jazz Festival , Tank and the Bangas , smalltalker , Web Only , Image , Video

Posted By Chelsea Edgar on Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 9:05 AM

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Major Jackson

Acclaimed poet and South Burlington resident Major Jackson, an English professor at the University of Vermont, has been selected as co-editor of the 2019 edition of The Best American Poetry. Yes, non-poetry peeps: that is a BFD. The anthology, published by Simon & Schuster, is slated for release on September 10 — the day after Jackson’s 51st birthday.

The recipient of a Pushcart Prize and a Whiting Award, Jackson is the author of four volumes of poetry. Two of his books, Hoops and Holding Company, were finalists for the NAACP Image Award. His debut collection, Leaving Saturn, won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize for a first book of poems and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Jackson's poems and essays have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Callaloo, the New Yorker, the New York Times Book Review, the Paris Review, Ploughshares and Tin House, as well as several volumes of The Best American Poetry.