To kick off its 2025 season, on Saturday February 8th Chandler will host both the Smithsonian's touring exhibition "Crossroads: Change in Rural America" and a concert by Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Jake Blount.
4 PM: Meet the local artists in "Crossroads" and tour the Smithsonian exhibit
5 PM: Hear the free talk by musician and music historian Jake Blount
6 PM: Take part in a community-potluck mixer
7 PM: Enjoy the concert, starting with John & Ida Mae Specker, followed by Jake Blount
John Specker, known as the 'Father of the Ithaca Sound" and his daughter Ida Mae ("Vermont's Rising Star" in the New England Music Awards) open the show with a lively and upbeat performance.
Blount's album "The New Faith" was named one of the best roots albums by Rolling Stone, NPR, The Guardian, and more. He was initially recognized for his skill as a string band musician, winning the Steve Martin Banjo Prize and two first-place ribbons from Clifftop. His still-young career, to quote his artist bio, has "charted an unprecedented, Afrofuturist course" that "disintegrates the boundaries between acoustic and electric, artist and medium, and ancestors and progeny."
In the gallery, the work of Vermont artists will complement the nationally touring Smithsonian exhibition. Cecily Anderson, Jennifer Davey, Davey DeGraff, Steve DePalma, Linda Diak, Carolyn Egeli, Amy Hook Therin, Woody Jackson, and Jack Rowell will be featured, to highlight the unique cultural landscape of our state. At 4 PM on the 8th, many of these artists will be in attendance to provide personalized context.
Tickets for the 7 PM concert are "pay what you can", at either chandler-arts.org or (802) 728-9878. They'll also be available at the door.
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