Nestled along the river on the lower road through Holyoke, the Summit View Banquet and Meeting House long ago established itself for serving up both scrumptious savories and breathtaking sights. Now, for the fourth season in a row, owner Michael R. Hamel has decided to up the sensory experience by throwing some of the Valley’s most sought-after sounds into the mix—and he’s created one of the region’s largest summer concert series in the process.
“Free music, nominal charge for food and full cash bar—it’s just a perfect summer setting here for us,” he says of his 20-week Summit House Summer Pavilion Series.
Skynyrd sound-alikes The Lynyrd Skynyrd Experience kick things off this Friday, May 14 at the Summit, with returning Pavilion alums like Brass Attack (May 28, July 23 and Sept. 17), Union Jack (May 21, July 16 and Sept. 10) and Sweet Daddy Cool Breeze (June 4, Aug. 13) rounding things out in between newcomers like Rock 201 (July 2) and Susan Angeletti (July 9).
Shows are free, begin at 6:30 p.m. and occur rain or shine. A barbecue buffet and cash bar are available from 5:30-8:30 p.m. For more info, visit summitviewbanquethouse.com.
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Meanwhile, Jim Olsen says he couldn’t help but notice the gap in the scene created by the cessation of the Hilltown Folk series at Shelburne’s Memorial Hall. So he decided to put his signature style on it.
“Many of our Signature Sounds recording artists performed at the hall, and it was always a great gig,” he explains of the origins of the new Signature Sounds Presents (signaturesounds.com) series that kicked off April 24 with Rani Arbo. “So we decided to start things up again and mix some of our artists with the others out there.”
Beantown bluegrass-folk faves Crooked Still continue the series this Saturday, May 15, with their new CD, Some Strange Country, in tow.
That same day, May 15, the Cummington Fairgrounds plays host to the Hilltown Spring Festival (hilltowncdc.org), a one day, two-stage affair that will feature Charles Neville, Primate Fiasco, Swing Caravan and a dozen other acts between the hours of 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
In other news, Valley veterans The Mitchells celebrate the release of their latest, The Secret Sounds, at the Sierra Grille Thursday, May 13. And while Caleb Wetmore is proud of the critically acclaimed disc itself, the timeline—coupled with the band’s career output—does elicit a lighthearted chuckle from the guitarist/vocalist.
“Our fourth CD in 11 years, and we’re having a CD release party three months after the music was first available for download,” he says. “Wow, I never thought about all that. And I don’t think there’s any one reason for the gaps other than we did have production delays and wanted to be confident we had discs in hand.”
He adds that, while the recording process kept the band off the circuit for most of 2009, their recent Flywheel performance “certainly rekindled the fire.” The Mitchells are joined by Fancy Trash and Matthew Carefully this Thursday.
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Speaking of scarcity, anyone else notice that 2009 Grand Band Slam Winners Barely Legal (myspace.com/thebarelylegalband) were barely present last year?
“You know, we formed in 2005, and had been playing so many shows for so long we all got worn out,” bassist Paul Siefert says. “So we just kind of went our own ways with the understanding that we would get back together when the timing was right. Apparently, that time is now.”
Barely Legal plays back-to-back performances this weekend: Holyoke’s Paper City Brewery May 14, and a benefit for the troops at Holyoke’s American Legion Post 325 May 15.
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email Garycarra@aol.com.
