THE BEAT
Readers' Best of '96
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Jan. 9, 1997) -- If David Nickerson has his way, downtown North Adams will be a hub of live music in the weeks, months and even years to come. "We're less than three hours from the most happening community in the singer-songwriter world -- Boston -- and only an hour from another of the country's finest acoustic music communities -- Northampton. I think some pretty special things could happen up here," said the North Adams State College junior, who is promoting a series of contemporary-folk concerts at two downtown North Adams locations this winter.
"Music on Main Street" kicks off this Sunday at 6 at Milltown Studios with a show by Bernice Lewis, the nationally-known singer- songwriter who lives in Williamstown. [See below.]
Upcoming shows in the series include "One Night In Cambridge," featuring members of the Boston-based songwriter's collective of that name, in a benefit for the Red Cross Volunteer Hands AIDS Assistance Program, on Feb. 2; Boston-based, blues-folk singer-songwriter Les Sampou and Windsor singer-songwriter Ed Kohn, on Feb. 9; Pioneer Valley-based singer-songwriter Jim Henry and NASC freshman Jessi Petrie on Feb. 23; Maine singer-songwriter Cormac McCarthy and Vermont's Lisa McCormick on March 9; Northampton's Jaime Morton with Williamstown husband-and-wife duo Robin Lehleitner and Russell Miller on March 23; Boston's Vance Gilbert on April 6; and Barbara Kessler, whose "Notion" (Eastern Front) made this critic's year-end, Top 10 list of 1996, in a benefit for Albany public radio station WAMC on April 20.
"I wanted to start this series with performers who are well- established in the acoustic music community," said Nickerson, in an interview conducted via E-mail from his home in Holliston over winter break. "These artists are New England-based and all blew me away the first time I saw them play. I've tried to involve local talent and folks who have history in the area."
Nickerson himself already has established a track record for programming concerts in North Adams. He was a primary force behind last winter's coffeehouse program at NASC, which introduced artists such as Jim Infantino, Ratsy, Peter Mulvey and Martin Sexton to local audiences for the first time. This fall he brought Infantino and his band, Jim's Big Ego, to Milltown Studios, as well as Greg Greenway. Both shows were standing-room only.
The move of venue from campus down the hill to Main Street was strategic. "There seems to be a certain stigma about things going on at NASC," said the 25-year-old business major. "Events there seem to have established a reputation as having little or no value. I see the shows I produce as being `mine' and I take a great deal of pride in seeing to it that they are of the very top quality. It is really my reputation on the line when I tell everyone about a performer who they previously had no knowledge of and convince them to buy a ticket to see the performance."
Nickerson is funding the shows from his own pocket, with some local businesses, including the Freight Yard Restaurant, donating in-kind services.
"I'm getting a great deal of support from the folks at both Milltown Studios and the Appalachian Bean Cafe," said Nickerson. "I chose these two rooms because I like intimacy in a folk show. Milltown cozily seats around 50 people, and the Appalachian Bean will easily seat twice that."
Nickerson has his eyes on a third downtown venue. "The way I see it, if the Mohawk Theater were open and promoted properly, there would be people coming from all over," he said. "People would want to have dinner in the area before the show, and they would want to go somewhere for coffee afterwards. I want to be a part of the revival of this city."
The eastern-Mass. native is thinking he might like to stick around after graduation. "I really like the area, the mountains are beautiful, and all of the people I've met have been surprisingly receptive to a college kid from out of town. I'd really like to find a way I could afford to stay and pay off my student loans."
Nickerson isn't sure what he will do after graduation. "I know I want to work in entertainment. I really enjoy putting a good show together," he said. "I don't know that I want to spend my life as a promoter. I'm clearly not promoting to make money. I just really enjoy the feeling of putting together a show from start to finish and having people approach me afterwards and tell me how they really enjoyed what they saw."
In the meantime, Nickerson is looking for an angel to donate the use of a public-address system for his shows. "And oh yeah," he says jokingly, "everyone who comes to my shows wins a free car!"
Spotlight
Bernice Lewis has called the Berkshires home for over a decade -- most of that time at the Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox, and for the past year or so in Williamstown. But the singer- songwriter's calling takes her away from home for much of the time.This month, however, is different, in that most of her work will keep Lewis close to home for a change. Lewis began teaching a one- month course in songwriting at Williams College this week. And this Sunday at 6, Lewis will be giving her first solo performance in North County when she ushers in "Music on Main Street" at Milltown Studios in North Adams.
"I like that I'm going to be here working for a month in one place, in the town where I live, and getting to know students who are interested in the same things I am," said Lewis, whose "Isle of Spirit" (Sanctuary/Blue Bhikku), which came out last year, was the best album of her career.
Lewis is no stranger to teaching songwriting, although her Winter Study course at Williams will be her first college workshop.
"I always find that when I'm in the middle of teaching I'm really happy," she said. "I enjoy spending time listening to people's original art and being entertained by what they have to say. I always learn a lot myself, too. It inspires me creatively. I get better and stronger ideas and inspiration while I'm teaching, and if I'm lucky -- if there's time -- I get feedback too, which ordinarily I'm missing."
Lewis has a few weekend gigs during the month that will take her to Boston and Rochester, N.Y., but for the most part she's looking forward to living the life of a townsperson, before springtime rolls around and she's off on a tour of California, Texas, Utah and Idaho. So if you see her walking down the street, say, "Hi, neighbor."
[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Jan. 9, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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