Happy Labor Day! Today, we honor the hard work and dedication of all workers, with a special nod to those who make live music possible—the talented musicians, venue operators and staff, sound engineers, and the waitstaff who keep us fed and refreshed while we enjoy the show. This week, the Berkshire music scene is buzzing with 45 performances, ranging from classical and jazz to rock, pop, folk, old-time, and even a back-to-school sing-along. Below are some highlights for the week ahead, followed by our comprehensive show rundown.
Classical and Opera
We have two classical performances this week. Friday night, you can enjoy the Williams Chamber Players at Williams College. This free concert features the music of Giuliani, Tansman, Wagner, Giordano, and Dohnanyi. Sunday afternoon, the fall series at the South Mountain Concert Hall in Pittsfield kicks off with Wu Han, piano; David Finckel, cello; Chad Hoopes, Richard Lin, violins; Matthew Lipman, viola. The quintet will perform works by Beethoven, Smetana, and Schumann.
Jazz
We have nine jazz performances in the county this week, with the Lenox Jazz Stroll taking place on the weekend. The music starts Wednesday night at The Lion’s Den in Stockbridge, where you’ll find the Michael Junkins Trio. Thursday early evening in Pittsfield, you’ll find Jazz in Persip Park with the Matt Steckler Quartet. Later in the evening, you can catch the Tone Forest Album Release Concert at Studio 9 in North Adams. The contemporary jazz ensemble, which just released their debut album, features Miro Sprague on piano, Jason Ennis on guitar, and Marty Jaffe on bass.
Friday night kicks off the Lenox Jazz Stroll with Bernstein & Bop: A Saxophone Colossus featuring Ted Rosenthal’s All-Star Sextet at Tanglewood’s Linde Center. The program features arrangements of classic Leonard Berstein pieces intertwined with jazz standards. Wanda Houston & The Resonance Trio will perform an opening set.
Saturday early afternoon in Pittsfield, catch Jazz in Persip Park with the Peggy Stern Trio. Also in the afternoon, at various venues in downtown Lenox, The Lenox Jazz Stroll takes place. Performers include the Matt Steckler Quartet, Kris Allen Quartet, and Charu Suri Trio. Back in Pittsfield later in the evening, you’ll find Lonny Jarrett and Friends at Dottie’s and Dorothy’s.
Sunday morning, you can chill at the Jazz Brunch with Tarik Shah at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, and in the evening, you’ll find Michael Junkins and Friends performing at The Lion’s Den. This week, Michael features Charlie Tokarz on saxophone.
Popular (Rock, Pop, Folk, Blues, etc.)
This week, the popular music category has over 30 performances. We can’t highlight them all, but we will mention a few (see our calendar or show rundown below for all the performances).
The music starts on Labor Day afternoon with Brian Benlien playing tunes as Balderdash Cellars in Richmond. The weather forecast looks good so it’ll be a great afternoon to enjoy some music, the views, and some great food and drinks at Balderdash.
Tuesday night, you can catch Trevor Wheelock at Methuselah Bar & Lounge in Pittsfield. Trevor is playing again on Saturday at Balderdash Cellars. Wednesday late afternoon, you can cool off and enjoy great music at the Reggae Wednesday Pool Party With The Haughties at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield. Also on Wednesday, you can get your fix of the blues when the Misty Blues Trio with Gina Coleman performs at portaVia in Dalton.
Thursday night has a great music line-up, starting with Grammy®-nominated multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins (pictured above) performing at Race Brook Lodge. Hubby was in the Rhiannon Giddens Band and The Carolina Chocolate Drops before starting his solo career. You can learn more about Hubby in my interview with him, just posted.
Earlier in the evening, you find the Wanda Houston Band outdoors at the Great Barrington Town Hall. This was rescheduled from an earlier rain-out and is the final event in the town’s outdoor concert series. Elsewhere, you’ll find R&B, soul, and pop artist Glori Wilder at The Stationery Factory in Dalton, indie-folk-pop artist Nan MacMillan & Evan Dibbs at Dream Away Lodge in Becket, and indie-folk-rocker Bird Streets at The Lion’s Den in Stockbridge. They are back again at the Den on Friday night.
Friday early evening you’ll find the Housie Shakers in Persip Park as part of Pittsfield’s First Fridays at Five. Dead Man’s Waltz is back at The Egremont Barn, playing the music of The Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, and The Band. Misty Blues is at Dream Away Lodge in Becket, while Tom Petty fans won’t want to miss tribute band The Tom Prettys at The Stationery Factory.
Saturday afternoon, you’ll find The Juckets at The Sheffield Fair at Sheffield Town Park, and elsewhere in Sheffield, Colby Lewis performs at Berkshire Mountain Distillers. Saturday night, you’ll find the former Byrds frontman perform at An Evening with Roger McGuinn at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. Rock, pop, and folks singer Sam Brown is back at The Lion’s Den, violinist Chris Murphy is at Dream Away Lodge, and Foreigner fans will want to head over to The Stationery Factor to see 4Ever Foreigner.
Sunday morning, you can enjoy bluegrass music at the Domingo Brunch featuring Midnight Choir at Dottie’s and Dorothy’s in Pittsfield. In the afternoon, you can see Hot Vox Trio at Balderdash Cellars and find Sasha K.A. outdoors at Lilac Park in Lenox. Niall Connolly, who No Depression magazine named “Among the most vibrant, poignant, and authentic indie folk artists in New York City,” performs at Dream Away Lodge. Portland, Oregon-based Americana artist Jeffrey Silverstein is at Tourists in North Adams.
Something Else
In our Something Else category, we have Friday and Saturday night performances of Tipsy Macboozle’s “Back To Skewl Daze” at The Foundry in West Stockbridge. This event promises to be “an irreverent, raucous, if not slightly salacious, sing-along where you can belt out “Another Brick In The Wall,” “Smokin’ In The Boys Room,” “ABC,” “Inchworm,” “Blinded By Science,” “Paperback Writers,” to mention a few.” Sounds like a great way for parents to acclimate to a new school year!
You can read about all of these performances and more in our day-by-day show rundown below or jump right to our music calendar. Please note that our deadline for inclusion in the weekly narrative above and the day-by-day listing below is Wednesday at noon. Check our music calendar for shows we’ve added after our weekly publication deadline. Use the subscribe button below to receive this free weekly rundown of upcoming performances in your inbox each Monday. And if I missed a performance, please contact me, and I’ll add it to the calendar.
Monday
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Brian Benlien @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
Tuesday
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Trevor Wheelock @ Methuselah Bar & Lounge, Pittsfield.
Wednesday
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Reggae Wednesday Pool Party With The Haughties @ Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Misty Blues Trio with Gina Coleman @ portaVia, Dalton.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Michael Junkins Trio @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
Thursday
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Jazz in Persip Park with the Matt Steckler Quartet @ Persip Park, Pittsfield.
5:30 pm – 7:15 pm WANDA HOUSTON BAND @ Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Bird Streets @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:00 pm Tone Forest Album Release Concert @ Studio 9, North Adams.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Indie Night: Glori Wilder @ The Stationery Factory, Dalton.
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Nan MacMillan & Evan Dibbs @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Hubby Jenkins @ Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield.
Friday
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Housie Shakers in Persip Park (First Fridays at Five) @ Persip Park, Pittsfield.
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Austin Honig @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
6:00 pm Scott Silvia @ Knox Trail Inn, East Otis.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Bird Streets @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:00 pm Bernstein & Bop: A Saxophone Colossus featuring Ted Rosenthal’s All-Star Sextet @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm Tipsy Macboozle’s “Back To Skewl Daze” @ The Foundry, West Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm Dead Man’s Waltz @ Egremont Barn, South Egremont.
7:30 pm Williams Chamber Players @ Williams College, Williamstown.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm The Tom Prettys @ The Stationery Factory, Dalton.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Misty Blues @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
Saturday
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm The Juckets at The Sheffield Fair @ Sheffield Town Park, Sheffield.
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Trevor Wheelock @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Jazz in Persip Park with the Peggy Stern Trio @ Persip Park, Pittsfield.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Colby Lewis @ Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Sheffield.
3:00 pm – 4:20 pm Bobby Sweet and Lara Tupper @ Devonfield Inn, Lee.
3:00 pm – 7:00 pm Lenox Jazz Stroll @ Downtown Lenox, Lenox.
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm All Ten and John @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Lonny Jarrett and Friends @ Dottie’s and Dorothy’s, Pittsfield.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Pete Boyd @ Locker Room Sports Pub, Lee.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Sam Brown @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm Tipsy Macboozle’S “Back To Skewl Daze” @ The Foundry, West Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm An Evening with Roger McGuinn @ Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm 4Ever Foreigner @ The Stationery Factory, Dalton.
8:00 pm Alex Rohan Band @ Knox Trail Inn, East Otis.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Chris Murphy @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm Domingo Brunch featuring Midnight Choir @ Dottie’s and Dorothy’s, Pittsfield.
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Jazz Brunch with Tarik Shah @ Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield.
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Hot Vox Trio @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Sasha K.A. @ Lilac Park, Lenox.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Wu Han, piano; David Finckel, cello; Chad Hoopes, Richard Lin, violins; Matthew Lipman, viola @ South Mountain Concert Hall, Pittsfield.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Michael Junkins and Friends @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Niall Connolly @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Jeffrey Silverstein @ Tourists, North Adams.
Please get out and support your local musicians and venues!
— Mark @ Music in the Berkshires