Posted By Margaret Grayson on Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 4:20 PM

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© JaCrispy | Dreamstime.com

The state of Vermont released new safety guidelines on Wednesday for in-person music education in schools. The pandemic-era protocols allow for indoor group practices under specific conditions for the first time since schools reopened in the fall. The move comes after months of advocacy by music educators pushing for the state to sanction indoor group rehearsals.

Among the guidelines are that musicians can play together indoors separated from each other at six-foot intervals. Rehearsal spaces must be equipped to complete three air exchanges per hour and one full exchange between rehearsals, which are limited to 30 minutes with no audiences.

Singers and musicians must wear masks at all times. Woodwind and brass players are permitted to wear masks with a slit for their instrument’s mouthpiece while playing. Those instruments must also be equipped with a bell cover — essentially a cloth mask for the end of the instrument.

Tags: music , education , school reopening , Eric Bushey , Vermont Music Educators Association , Dan French , COVID-19 , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Adams on Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 3:29 PM

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Courtesy of KeruBo

KeruBo's Irene Kerubo Webster (center) with AALV staff in the "Chanjo" video

Though Vermont's COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been relatively smooth, Afro-jazz artist and social worker Irene Kerubo Webster has noticed some hesitancy to get vaccinated among the Burlington area's resettled African community. Originally from Kenya, Webster works for the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV), a nonprofit that helps Africans and other New Americans living locally achieve independence and acculturation.

Tags: Irene Kerubo Webster , KeruBo , COVID-19 vaccine , Association of Africans Living in Vermont , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Adams on Thu, Feb 4, 2021 at 3:37 PM

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Courtesy of Britt Shorter/Waking Windows

Australian rock band Pond performing at Waking Windows 2017

Waking Windows has been pushed back to May 2022.

After all but confirming the postponement in a January email to Seven Days, the Winooski-based indie music and arts festival's organizers released a statement on Thursday announcing their decision to not go forward with the event this year due to continued safety concerns around the pandemic. The 2020 festival, which would have marked the event's tenth anniversary, was also canceled because of the coronavirus.

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Posted By Dan Bolles on Sat, Jan 16, 2021 at 3:56 PM

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File: Luke Awtry Photography

Rough Francis at Waking Windows in 2018

Rough Francis have fired bassist Dan Davine for allegedly attending what the band called "the terrorist insurrection" in Washington, D.C., on January 6, at which supporters of President Donald Trump rioted and stormed the U.S. Capitol building. The Burlington punk band announced the decision in a post on Instagram.

"Rough Francis is first and foremost a Black punk band," the post begins, "so when we heard that our bass player, Dan Davine, held views rooted in white supremacy and had attended the terrorist insurrection at the Capital [sic], we took swift and decisive action to immediately remove him from the band."

Tags: Rough Francis , Bobby Hackney Jr. , Dan Davine , Death , U.S. Capitol riot , Web Only , Image

Posted By Dan Bolles on Tue, Dec 22, 2020 at 2:33 PM

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Bob Wagner

'This Is Christmas' screenshot

Christmas is this Friday. And, right on schedule, a jolly red elf has delivered a Christmas miracle.

No, we don't mean Santa — he's presumably tuning up the old sled while waiting for the second round of his coronavirus vaccine from Dr. Fauci.

Rather, the man in the red suit is none other than Burlington guitarist Bob Wagner, best known locally as a core member of Kat Wright's band. On Tuesday, Wagner  delivered an early stocking stuffer called "This Is Christmas." It's the COVID carol we didn't know we needed.

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Posted By Jordan Adams on Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 2:49 PM

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File: Margaret Grayson ©️ Seven Days

The Flynn marquee in March

The Flynn is bringing some magic back to Burlington with a new live performance series called the Window on Main. The performing arts center is currently accepting applications from local artists for the new venture. The series coincides with the prime holiday shopping weekends of December 11 through 13, and December 18 through 20, and will feature multiple 40-minute sets each day.

Tags: The Flynn , the Window on Main , Hurly Burly , performing arts , COVID-19 , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Adams on Mon, Nov 2, 2020 at 3:32 PM

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Courtesy of NODON

With the U.S. presidential election looming on Tuesday, November 3, Burlington power-punk duo NODON just released a new, politically charged EP called NODON 2020, their first output in over three years. Band members Seth Gundersen and Tristan Baribeau, who both played in the dormant indie-rock band Villanelles, started the project in late 2016, shortly after the election of President Donald Trump.

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Posted By Jordan Adams on Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 4:07 PM

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Courtesy of Big Heavy World/Kyle Tansley Photography

Keep Flying performing live at Big Heavy World

Burlington nonprofit Big Heavy World has won the Music Cities Events award for best global music office. The multifaceted international award presenter, known for staging conferences on the development of municipalities with vibrant music communities, selected BHW for its "unrivaled support for music, musicians and music businesses in [its] city as well as globally," according to a Music Cities Events press release.

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Posted By Jordan Adams on Fri, Sep 18, 2020 at 2:24 PM

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Courtesy of Jenna Emerson/Isora Lithgow Productions

Still from 'I Want to Be a Sex Educator'

Sex educator Jenna Emerson envisions a whole new world free of sexual stigmas and taboos in her new musical comedy video, "I Want to Be a Sex Educator."

Released Thursday, the clip parodies the classic Disney animated feature The Little Mermaid, specifically the titular mermaid Ariel's heart song, "Part of Your World." In the video, Emerson, a University of Vermont staffer, basks on the rocks at Burlington's Oakledge Park as waves crash around her. It's an uncanny recreation of a pivotal, iconic scene from the 1989 movie.

Tags: Jenna Emerson , University of Vermont , The Little Mermaid , Web Only , Image

Posted By Dan Bolles on Tue, Sep 1, 2020 at 3:29 PM

File: Matt Thorsen ©️ Seven Days

Nectar's

If you're strolling through downtown Burlington this evening, wear a friggin' mask. Also, you might notice that certain buildings have a, well, rosier glow than usual.

No, Burlington hasn't opened a new red-light district — though we suppose that's one possible solution to the pit debacle that the city could explore. Rather, the buildings bathed in red light are part of a massive North American campaign called #RedAlertRESTART in which live music venues and theaters in more than 1,500 locations across the United States and Canada will be bathed in red light on Tuesday, September 1, between 9 p.m. and midnight local time.

Tags: #WeMakeEvents , #RedAlertRestart , Nectar's , music venue , nightlife , Web Only , Image