Like Lazarus, folk returns to downtown North Adams

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., May 28, 1998) -- After a nine-month hiatus following the demise of Milltown Studios last August, live music will be returning to downtown North Adams next month, when independent promoter David Nickerson resurrects his Music on Main Street series, this time around at the Manic Stage at 55 Main St.

As in the past, the series will feature top national and regional singer- songwriter talent, including the Kennedys, Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Berkshires' own Bernice Lewis.

The series kicks off on Sunday, June 14, at 7, featuring the combined vocal, instrumental and songwriting talents of Lui Collins and Dana Robinson.

Veteran Texas songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard, who penned "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" for Jerry Jeff Walker, follows on Tuesday, June 16, at 7. Local singer-songwriter Ron Raskin will warm up the crowd for Hubbard.

Kate Wallace, Michael Camp and Pete Nelson will perform as songwriters-in- the-round on Saturday, June 27, at 8.

On Friday, July 10, Bernice Lewis, the Berkshires' first lady of folk, will headline a performance that will include Pittsfield native Adam Rothberg, the singer, songwriter and producer whose credits include Dar Williams as well as Lewis's own "Isle of Spirit." The show, at 8, will be a kind of send-off for Rothberg, who will be moving to Nashville just a few days later.

Pete and Maura Kennedy, the husband-and-wife, singer-songwriter duo who have recorded as The Kennedys for Green Linnet Records, will bring their singularly catchy, hook-laden, folk-pop blend to North Adams on Friday, July 17, at 8, followed by Tom Kimmel and John Smith on Wednesday, July 22, at 7.

Nickerson, a student at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts who also promotes concerts in eastern Massachusetts, plans to continue the series in August.

The Music on Main Street series, originally housed at the former Milltown Studios at 51 Main St., first brought a wide array of performers to downtown North Adams beginning in 1996, introducing local audiences to such folk-festival headliners as Jim's Big Ego, Vance Gilbert, Barbara Kessler, Lisa McCormick, Cormac McCarthy, Les Sampou and Deb Pasternak.

The series was slightly ahead of its time, with performers and concertgoers often finding themselves in the eerie position of being the only signs of life on Main Street.

Since that time, the beginnings of a nightlife and cultural scene have slowly emerged on the northwest section of Main where the new series will be located, with the local literati flocking to poetry readings at Papyri Books and diners feasting elbow-to-elbow at the recently-opened restaurant Zoie's On Main. Given this new aura about town, the Music on Main series might be better positioned to enjoy success than it was the first time out.

Indeed, Nickerson hopes to capitalize on the nexus of nightlife on the block by offering diners at Zoie's a dollar off of the walk-up ticket price. Guests of the North Adams Holiday Inn will be offered the same deal.

Tickets to all shows are $7 in advance and $8 at the door. A six-show series subscription is available for $36. Tickets are available at Zoie's. For more information call 1-888-936-4862,DCNEnt@aol.com, or visit members.aol.com/dcnent on the Internet.

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