Bald Hill

New Gloucester Newgrass

Tag: maine newgrass (Page 1 of 2)

BH Fronts Amiable Critter Reunion Show at SBE — TONIGHT

April 29, 2023 /

AUBURN, Maine — Late notice, but do join Bald Hill this evening for three hours of live and lively entertainment here at the Side By Each Brewing Co. BH, those surprisingly hep purveyors of newgrass, folk rock and Americana, will be joined on stage by members of the Amiable Critters — the one-time Norwalk, Connecticut-based super group — in addition to other special guests, assorted former Bald Hill collaborators, several farm animals and a cardboard cutout of Bobby Goldsboro.

Curtain is 6 p.m., leaving plenty of time for music, food, SBE’s signature beer (try the Kuriro rice lager) and related frivolities. Don’t miss it!

The Critters were, in fact, the DeTroy family band made famous throughout key-but-limited portions of the Nutmeg State by their multi-part harmonies, square jaws and hearty German stock. Ben DeTroy remains the mandolin and fiddler for Bald Hill, of course. Tonight he is reunited with brothers Tom, on vocals, and Matt on keyboards. Also on hand this evening are former Bald Hill drummer Kim Chasse and serial in-sitting crooner Ted McHugh.

“It’s going to be some beautiful, sonorous chaos up there tonight,” Ben DeTroy explained the night before. “A bit like The Last Waltz, only without the heavy drug use. Or Dylan.”

Sound & Color Collide this Saturday Night at SBE

March 6, 2023 /

AUBURN, Maine — Don’t miss Bald Hill’s show here at Side By Each Brewing Co. this Saturday night, March 11. And don’t miss the new and distinctive splash of color behind the band.

Area quilt artist and BH super fan Sharon Vandermay has fashioned — for the common musical good — a sound-absorbing backdrop of riotous color that debuted late in January, the last time Bald Hill played SBE. On that occasion, the expansive coverlet was suspended in rusticated-but-not-so-efficient fashion between two ladders. On Saturday, like the band, it will perform to its full breadth and capabilities, thanks to a custom stand.

As Fernando Lamas made clear, it’s more important to look good than to feel good. It’s better still to sound good, and the new quilt will play a vital role there.

Bald Hill, those surprisingly hep purveyors of blues-inflected newgrass, folk rock and Americana, prefer to perform around a condenser microphone or two, moving back and forth in the old-time, Appalachian style. No need to plug in each instrument, or multiple “dynamic” mics: The condenser picks everything up and relays a pure, unadulterated sound to the audience.

Condenser mics are very sensitive, however. They pick up every little sound in a room, even those that might have ricocheted off walls and ceilings back toward the performers. This results in the feedback. The new quilt will serve to absorb those ricochets from behind, and reduce feedback, even when BH deploys common/dynamic mics. While all the while looking totally fabulous. Click on the picture to enlarge and better appreciate its detail.

BH Back at It: Saturday at Side By Each

September 8, 2022 /

Bald Hill will return the stage this Saturday, Oct. 29, with a Halloween show at Side By Each Brewing Co., in Auburn.

Showtime is 6-9 p.m., and do come dressed for the occasion. The good folks at Side By Each are going all out Saturday night, two nights early: costume contest, Spooky punchy… They’re even unveiling a new beer!

Halloween 2022 can also be seen as a tipping point: Winter is coming. We can all feel it, in the air, and that means Bald Hill — everyone’s favorite, surprisingly hep purveyors of blues-inflected newgrass, folk rock, traditional country and Americana  — will again rise to meet its joyous musical obligations. Surely the band’s eclectic selection of newgrass, folk rock, traditional country and Americana won’t sing themselves!

Join us at SBE, where we hope not to recognize you at all. At first.

Bald Hill at Davinci’s Friday night, April 15

April 13, 2022 /

LEWISTON, Maine — Bald Hill, those surprisingly hep purveyors of blues-inflected newgrass, folk rock and Americana, will drop into the Grappa Room, here at Davinci’s Italian Eatery, this Friday evening, April 15, from 6-9 p.m.

Davinci’s, home to the best pizza and pasta in the Twin Cities, has started hosting live music this spring. On Thursday nights, local acts have been holding court in the expansive bar area. On Friday nights, starting with Friday’s Bald Hill show, the music will move into the Grappa Room, where two large, garage-sized doors will open — essentially connecting this erstwhile banquet space with the bar space.

Bald Hill will preside therein, around a central mic, with an acoustic set of bluegrass, alt-country and traditional tunes. Rumor has it that, come Friday evening, several new selections will be test-driven inside Davinci’s massive, brick-bedecked, former mill space.

Be advised that Bald Hill will be popping up and dropping in to play music all over Maine this spring. Fresh of its triumphant All Dead Revue, which drew 200 patrons and exhausted the glass supply at Side By Each Brewery on April 2, BH will take the Revue on the road in May — up north, to the Blue Ox Saloon in Millinocket, on May 28. That show will benefit Boreal Theater Community Arts. Three days later, the band will feature at the Music for Mavis concert series on the town green in Turner, May 31.

Bald Hill is poised to confirm several more dates for June and beyond. For news of those shows, stay glued to this space.

All Dead Revue set for Saturday, April 2 at Side By Each

March 22, 2022 /

AUBURN, Maine — Bald Hill, those surprisingly hep purveyors of blues inflected newgrass, folk rock and Americana, will host the third annual All Dead Revue Saturday night, April 2, here at the Side By Each Brewery (www.sidebyeachbrewing.com) on Minot Avenue.

Show time is 6 p.m., the culmination of an all-day deal at SBE called “Hippie Fest.” No cover for this event or the All Dead Revue, but neither are tie-dyes or mood rings provided. Accordingly, attendees are advised to bring their own — $1 off all pints for anyone wearing tie-dye or “dirty Dead gear”! — and to encourage any and all Deadhead friends/relations to show up, pipe up, and put their money where their love is.

The All-Dead Revue is exactly what the name implies: an entire evening of songs made famous by the Grateful Dead, mainly their original work, but also those tunes covered in dedicated fashion by Jerry & the Boys during their three-plus decades on the road.

Bald Hill routinely invites fellow bands and musicians to collaborate with the Revue. This year’s Super Group for a Night includes the rhythm section from Yellow Sun Wreckers (drummer Kim Chasse and bassist Todd Burrowes), pedal steel virtuoso Tim Howie (Pocket Full of Mumbles) and SoPo vocalist Ted McHugh, formerly of 2010 darlings Mountain Avenue. Ted & the Band are scheduled to knock out renditions of “Ripple”, “Hobo Song” and, if everyone behaves, “Sugaree.” That’s all we’re prepared to share regarding the April 2 set list, which, according to All Dead Revue tradition, remains a somewhat closely guarded secret. For the record, Bald Hill last performed the Revue on Jan. 24, 2020. So, “third annual” is something of a stretch. Maybe the band will gather the tribe for another show this calendar year, to catch up…

Bald Hill Brings the Music Back: at Side By Each, Oct. 30

October 26, 2021 /

AUBURN, Maine — Wondering what to do the night before Halloween? Join Bald Hill, those surprisingly hep purveyors of blues-inflected newgrass, folk rock and Americana, at the Side By Each Brewing Co., starting at 7 p.m.

Side By Each has quickly built an extraordinary reputation for amazing beer and food, all of it served in lively, socially responsible environs. But the award-winning brewery (home to the Humble Brag double IPA) has not hosted live music since, you know, before that thing… Bald Hill is proud bring it back this Saturday night, 30 October.

The Great State of Maine boasts so many breweries these days, it’s hard to keep them all straight. But Side By Each in Auburn, located at 110 Minot Ave. (just West of Mac’s Grille), is different. The beer is excellent, always a dozen or more on tap in a wide variety of styles. But there the ordinary falls away.

Side By Each is a socially responsible, sustainable operation. What does that mean? In addition to beers on tap, the growler culture is strongly fostered here. Glass jugs (and kegs) are filled to order, on site, via a handy-dandy apparatus that preserves beer quality far longer than your average tap-filled jug. The space itself is sprawling, to allow for a socially distanced experience. If that’s what you want. If not, belly up to the giant horseshoe-shaped bar.

Here’s another thing: No tipping at Side By Each, because the owners, both veterans of Maine’s elite brewing culture, are committed to paying their employees a living wage. Starting early in the morning, said staff brews up CBD coffee and espresso drinks, to sell alongside locally made pastries and breakfast sandwiches. Pinky D’s Poutine Factory, recently called out by Downeast magazine as one of Maine’s top 5 food trucks, prepares lunch and dinner from its new kitchen inside the Side By Each space.

As a New Gloucester-based 5 piece, Bald Hill has (you may have noticed) developed a real fondness for the beer, space, ethos and food at Side By Each. We recommend the Korean-style BBQ poutine, the Kuriro rice lager (Kuriro is Japanese for “Auburn”), and the German Weissbier known as Jam on Toast.  We also recommend you try them Saturday night, starting at around 7 p.m.

SoPo Revisited: Bald Hill at Fore River Brewery, July 25

June 24, 2021 /

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — After a long, pandemic-necessitated hiatus, Bald Hill is back on stage. Private parties have so far dominated the band’s schedule, as formal music venues are still sorting the new realities, inside and outside.

While private parties are great fun, they don’t well serve the band’s adoring public. So here’s the good news, friends:

Bald Hill will return to the Fore River Brewery on Sunday July 25. The New Gloucester 5-piece will hold forth in South Portland’s finest beer garden, on Alton Street, from 2-5 p.m.

Stay tuned to this space for more show info, as July and August are shaping up as very busy months for South/Central Maine’s surprisingly hip purveyors of blues-inflected new grass, folk and Americana.

Jam-packed August and September on tap for Bald Hill

August 13, 2019 /
The baroque concert venue upstairs at the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston

NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine — The late-summer show dates keep piling up for Bald Hill, those surprisingly hep purveyors of blues-inflected newgrass, folk rock and Americana. So go get your calendars (or whip out the ol’ iCal-equipped smartphone) and make a note of this:

• Saturday, Aug. 17: BH will play the New Gloucester Fair with a two-hour show beginning at 10 a.m. and featuring old friend/special guest Mike Conant on fiddle, banjo and guitar. The Fair itself, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., will take place at the New Gloucester Fairgrounds on Bald Hill Road, making it the first time NG-based Bald Hill has ever played a proper gig ON Bald Hill.

• Sunday, Aug. 25: The band will head east to Rockport for a 7 p.m. date at the Samoset Resort. This is technically a private party but it will take place in the resort’s very public, main bar area downstairs. Mid-coast BH peeps and all revelers pure of heart are encouraged to stop by, say hello and join the festivities.

• Saturday, Aug. 31: Bald Hill returns to the Fore River Brewing Co. in South Portland for its annual, late-summer gig in the brewery’s expansive beer garden. Once and future “Friend of the Band” Ted McHugh will again preside. Show time is 6 p.m. We recommend the East Yard pale ale.

• Thursday, Sept. 12: It’s confirmed: Bald Hill will be the featured performer upstairs in the concert hall during a special evening of music at the Gendron Franco Center on Cedar Street in Lewiston. For those unfamiliar, the Franco is housed in the former St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which has been converted into a Franco-American cultural hub. Join BH for an Open House reception at 6 p.m., followed by a move upstairs — into the beautifully ornate concert hall — for an hour of music beginning at 7:30 p.m.

« Older posts

© 2024 Bald Hill

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑