I have mixed emotions as we head into the final full week of August. I’m feeling blue about the end of summer. Yet, I’m excited for what appears to be a much more pleasant weather pattern and a week of incredible live music in The Berkshires. We have 72 performances across many genres, including classical, jazz, rock, Americana, pop, folk, blues, opera, and Broadway show tunes. Here are a few highlights, followed by the full show rundown.
It’s the final week of classical music at Tanglewood (next week’s shows are all popular music) and there are some great performances to catch, including Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma perform an All-Beethoven program on Friday, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ in Concert on Saturday, and Star Wars: The Story in Music on Sunday. As part of its popular music series, Tanglewood is also hosting the pop-rock band Train With Very Special Guest Parmalee on Thursday.
Other popular music this week includes the sold-out show Saturday at MASS MoCA for Pixies & Modest Mouse with special guest Cat Power and Grammy-nominated folk and pop singer-songwriter Seth Glier (pictured above), who performs at the Guthrie Center on Saturday. Seth is a Shelburne Falls native and tours nationally. Other noteworthy shows include the bluegrass band Cold Chocolate at Tourists in North Adams on Tuesday, the indie alt-pop band Reliant Tom – complete with dancers – at Egremont Barn on Thursday, and folk artist Dan Blakeslee, who will be releasing his new Album “Road Hyms” at Dream Away Lodge in Becket on Sunday. (Fun fact for beer lovers: Dan designed the labels for Alchemist Brewery’s famous “Heady Topper” and “Focal Banger” beers.)
Berkshire County favorites performing this week include The Hilltown Trio, featuring Chris Merenda of The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow and Picky Bastards, who will perform at portaVia Wednesday in Dalton as part of their month-long residency. On Thursday, the Aimee Van Dyne Band will perform at the Great Barrington Town Hall. Jordan Weller is at The Lion’s Den on Thursday. The Rejuvenators Featuring Wanda Houston perform Saturday at Egremont Barn. Also on Saturday: Simon Ruiz Guthrie & Sample The Cat perform at the Becket Arts Center and Milton, who we interviewed back in June, is back in The Berkshires at the Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn.
Jazz lovers can find the Luke Franco Trio at The Lion’s Den in Stockbridge on Wednesday. At Gateways Inn in Lenox, you’ll find the Bobby Macveety Trio on Thursday, Pamela Knowles on Friday, and Karen Tchougourian on Saturday. Also on Saturday, you can catch The Lucky 5 at Egremont Barn. On Sunday, you can take in the Jazz Brunch with Bobby MacVeety at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, then travel north to The Lion’s Den to see Michael Junkins and Friends.
Other noteworthy shows include the first of three performances on Saturday of Berkshire Opera Festival Presents: La Bohème at The Colonial in Pittsfield, and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Songbook at St. James Place in Great Barrington, with both Sunday matinee and evening performances. And don’t forget to check out some of the Week 9 performances of Berkshire Busk in Downtown Great Barrington.
You can read about all of these performances and more in our weekly show rundown below, our jump right to our music calendar. Use the subscribe button below to receive this weekly rundown of upcoming performances in your inbox. And if I missed a performance, please contact me and I’ll add it to the calendar.
Monday
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Tom Corrigan at The Barn Kitchen & Bar, Williamstown. Rock.
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Union Jack at Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge. Covers of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Dave Clark Five, Hollies, and Searchers. Learn more and listen here.
Tuesday
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Generation X Rock at Great Barrington VFW, Great Barrington.
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Hotshot Hillbillies at Adams Visitor Center, Adams.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Ronnie Morris at Firehouse Cafe & Bistro, Adams.
8:00 pm Kelli O’Hara at Tanglewood, Lenox. Broadway Classics.
Wednesday
5:15 pm – 9:00 pm David Reed at Oasis Bar and Grill, Lee. Learn more and listen here.
5:30 pm – 7:15 pm Lee Rogers & Friends at Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Happy Together Band at Onota Lake, Pittsfield.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm The Hilltown Trio at portaVia, Dalton. Bluegrass.
6:30 pm Skyfull of Dippers at Lilac Park, Lenox.
6:30 pm The Eagles Community Stage Band at Windsor Lake, North Adams.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Luke Franco Trio at The Lions Den, Stockbridge.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Katherine Winston at Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn, Lenox. Pop, country. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm Cold Chocolate at Tourists, North Adams. Bluegrass. Learn more and listen here.
Thursday
5:15 pm – 9:00 pm Melissa Brinton at Oasis Bar and Grill, Lee. Learn more and listen here.
5:30 pm – 7:15 pm Aimee Van Dyne Band at Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington. Rock, Folk. Learn more and listen here.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Bobby Macveety Trio at Gateways Inn, Lenox. Jazz.
7:00 pm Train With Very Special Guest Parmalee at Tanglewood, Lenox.
7:00 pm Nate Martel at 413 Bistro & Taproom, North Adams. Learn more and listen here.
7:00 pm Galvanizer at Hot Plate Brewing Co, Pittsfield. Psychedelic Funk. Learn more and listen here.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Lexi Weege & JJ Slater at Miraval Berkshires, Lenox. Rock, Jazz. Learn more and listen to Lexi here.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Pug & John at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Jordan Weller at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Folk, rock, blues.
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm Reliant Tom at Egremont Barn, South Egremont. Indie Alt-pop. Learn more and listen here.
Friday
5:15 pm – 9:00 pm Kyle Love at Oasis Bar and Grill, Lee.
5:30 pm – 7:15 pm Bobby Sweet Band at Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Pamela Knowles at Gateways Inn, Lenox. Jazz.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Jack Waldheim at Mingo’s Sports Bar and Grill, North Adams.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Micah Stone at Bousquet, Pittsfield.
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Berkshire Busk in Downtown Great Barrington. Music performances include Abby Lappen, Jeffrey Kirn, GypZbilly, and Madison and friends.
7:00 pm Hotshot Hillbillies at 413 Bistro & Taproom, North Adams.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm DCSC: Philip Roebuck at Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield. Roots, Folk, Blues, Gospel, Bluegrass. Learn more and listen here.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Just Play! at The Foundry, West Stockbridge.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Ryan Hommell at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Learn more and listen here.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Tomkat Acoustic Duo at Michael’s Restaurant, Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm The Rejuvenators Featuring Wanda Houston at Egremont Barn, South Egremont. Learn more about Wanda and listen here.
8:00 pm Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma perform an All-Beethoven program at Tanglewood, Lenox. All-Beethoven program: Symphony No. 4 (trans. Shai Wosner), Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat, Op. 97, Archduke.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Kat & Brad at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
8:00 pm – 11:30 pm Queler / Farber Family Band at Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
Saturday
10:30 am Open Rehearsal: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ In Concert Tanglewood, Lenox.
1:00 pm Berkshire Opera Festival Presents: La Bohème at Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Berkshire Busk in Downtown Great Barrington. Music performances include Scott Damgaard at Berkshire Mountain Distillers.
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Simon Ruiz Guthrie & Sample The Cat at Becket Arts Center, Becket. Learn more and listen to Sample The Cat here.
5:15 pm – 9:00 pm David Reed at Oasis Bar and Grill, Lee. Learn more and listen here.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Karen Tchougourian at Gateways Inn, Lenox. Jazz.
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Berkshire Busk in Downtown Great Barrington. Music performances include Natalie Lewis, Scott Damgaard, and Jacob Shipley,
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm Berkshire Busk in Downtown Great Barrington. Main Stage music performances include Colby Lewis Music.
7:00 pm – 9:30 pm Nate Goyette at Firehouse Cafe & Bistro, Adams.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm One for One Duo at Rusty Anchor Pub, Pittsfield.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Ivan Dalia at The Lions Den, Stockbridge.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Tom Corrigan at Michael’s Restaurant, Stockbridge.
7:30 pm The Machine- Pink Floyd Tribute performs The Wall at Butternut, Great Barrington.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm The Lucky 5 at Egremont Barn, South Egremont. Jazz. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ in Concert at Tanglewood, Lenox.
8:00 pm Pixies & Modest Mouse with special guest Cat Power at MASS MoCA, North Adams. Sold Out.
8:00 pm Seth Glier at Guthrie Center, Great Barrington. Pop. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Rob Stoner (of Rolling Thunder Review) at Dream Away Lodge, Becket. Rock. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Milton at Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn, Lenox. Rock, Pop, Blues, Jazz, Folk. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Melissa Brinton at Antimony Brewing, Lenox. Learn more and listen here.
Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm Domingo Brunch featuring Fannie Pack at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, Pittsfield.
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Jazz Brunch with Bobby MacVeety at Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield.
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm The Juckets at Pizzeria Boema, Lenox.
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm The Andrew Lloyd Webber Songbook at St. James Place, Great Barrington.
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Jon Berman at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
2:30 pm Star Wars: The Story in Music at Tanglewood, Lenox.
3:30 pm Boots & The Mixtape at Lilac Park, Lenox.
4:00 pm Riverside Brothers at Washington Town Park at Washington.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Michael Junkins and Friends at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Jazz.
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm The Andrew Lloyd Webber Songbook at St. James Place, Great Barrington.
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm Dan Blakeslee at Dream Away Lodge, Becket. Folk. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm William Tyler & The Impossible Truth at Tourists, North Adams. Learn more and listen here.
That’s our performance rundown for the week of August 21. Practice some self-care and lift your soul by going out and enjoying some great live music in The Berkshires!
— Mark @ Music in the Berkshires