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Jul 4, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Chris Busby |Annie Cutler
Adventures of a Used-Record Dealer Just about anywhere in Maine, a drive in the country or a leisurely walk in town reveals the faded grandeur of old homes and other buildings, of fortunes made and lost to time. For the curious, and especially for the historically minded, each site can still evoke a feel for what once was, or what might have been. And occasionally a person can inadvertently get pulled inside the story.
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Jun 2, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Chris Busby |Annie Cutler
Festival Songs & Memory Lanes in MaineThe All Roads Music Festival started in 2015 as a way to celebrate and connect independent (i.e., non- or anti-corporate) musicians in Maine and from away. The weekend bacchanal happens in Belfast, a creaky and charming seaside town two hours’ drive up the coast from Portland that’s long been a haven for hippies and other radicals — the subversive artist, writer and physicist Bern Porter died there 20 springs ago (I’ve heard Jeff Tweedy’s a big Bern fan).
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Jun 2, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Chris Busby |Al Diamon |Samuel James |Annie Cutler
Viqueen (from left): Courtney Cavanaugh, Tom Couture, Chris Leighton and Lex Rae. photo/Tom Couture, courtesy ViqueenThe melodic thrash-metal band is on a rampageIn olden times, if two tattooed wild women rode into town, captured two of our guys and proceeded to travel around whipping crowds of young folk into a frenzy with their blood-curdling shrieks and deafening devil music, it’d be cause for alarm.
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Mar 5, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Annie Cutler
Sea Level The Death Of Low Key Celebrityismself-releasedThe Portland-based musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Capaldi records and performs as Sea Level. His fifth album under that moniker, The Death Of Low Key Celebrityism, is an impressive musical feat. Sea Level does not create straightforward pop records. Capaldi combines loops — of live recordings and samples — with live instrumentation to craft his uniquely layered sonic material.
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Mar 5, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Annie Cutler
James Day LeavittSkylarkDayNight PressJames Day Leavitt lets the listener in from the very first note of his new album, Skylark. “Let me fall down again / it’s better than holding me up / the rain comes down hard again / I won’t need my crutch,” he sings. This vulnerability extends to his craft, letting the songs wander where they may, and letting others collaborate on them so as to best serve his art.
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Jan 9, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Annie Cutler |Bill Lundgren
D.GrossWelcome Homeself-releasedThe weeks before winter officially begins are not Maine’s best look. It’s dark, cold and sparse. The leaves are off the trees but snow hasn’t yet blanketed the brown grass. It’s a time when some of us Mainers daydream of faraway places where the sun is shining, the sand is warm, and only the tropical drinks are ice cold. Portland singer-songwriter, guitarist and sax player Dana Gross (who performs as D.Gross) has released the perfect soundtrack to this daydream.
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Jan 9, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Annie Cutler |Bill Lundgren
Snaex Has Been GivenEl Gran E RecordsWhat has the experimental indie-folk group Snaex given us? Over the past decade, the answer is several excellent albums and singles pairing socially conscious lyrics with intriguing instrumentation. Their new release, Has Been Given, is an ode to what you find when you sit back and open yourself up to whatever comes your way.
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Nov 5, 2023 | 
thebollard.com | Annie Cutler |Bill Lundgren |Chris Busby
The StationUp From Hereself-releasedIt’s been so long since the busy signal has been part of everyday life that I question if that’s what it was even called. To clarify for youngsters, busy signals are the annoying, repetitive beeps you’d hear if you called a landline phone and its owner was either talking to someone else on the phone or the receiver was off the hook. It’s the sound that lets you know the person you’re calling cannot be reached.
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Nov 5, 2023 | 
thebollard.com | Annie Cutler |Bill Lundgren |Chris Busby
Upper NarrowsWhile We’re WarmRepeating CloudI have always felt that certain records sound like certain seasons. Upper Narrows’ debut, While We’re Warm, feels distinctly like a fall record. The title is perfect for its mid-October release here in Maine, and the autumnal vibe is reflected in the music itself. It’s in the pace (slower than summer’s manic energy, but not as sleepy as winter) and the texture (the beats are warm, but pop) of these 10 new songs.
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Sep 27, 2023 | 
sevendaysvt.com | Annie Cutler
click to enlarge (Self-released, digital)Florida native Kristian Montgomery settled easily into Vermont life when he moved here in 2020, making a happy home in Wallingford complete with goats, horses and fowl. His sound, on the other hand, may not have fit into the Green Mountain musical landscape quite as well. "I'm unique to the scene and don't fall in with the jam bands, and the bluegrass scene is not where I'll find a permanent residency," Montgomery wrote in an email to Seven Days.
