It’s been an incredible week of live music here in The Berkshires – it feels like we are in the final sprint of the three-month race called Summer in the Berkshires, having attended so many great shows this past week and into Sunday as I write this. We were able to catch live music every day this past week except Tuesday and Wednesday. Reflecting back on the summer, we’ve run into many friends and made many new ones at the shows we’ve seen. It’s also been great to get to know folks like Billy Keane, who I interviewed this week, and earlier interviewees, including his bandmates from The Whiskey Treaty Road Show, as well as Milton, Clare Maloney, Katie Henry, and Steve Ide. The Berkshire music scene is an amazing community. FYI, you can see video clips of some of the shows we attended on our Instagram and Facebook pages.
As we enter September, there is a clear shift in the music calendar, with a drop of about 30 shows per week from our peak summer week, when we hit over 80 shows! But great music continues into the fall and winter, and I’m excited to say I added 102 new shows this week to the calendar for the coming months. (I share some highlights of those shows in our weekly newsletter, so if you are not subscribed, you might want to do so!) This week, we have 49 performances across multiple genres, including classical, jazz, rock, pop, folk, Americana, and blues. Below are a few highlights, followed by the full show rundown.
In the popular music category, I’m personally most excited about this week’s performance by Billy Keane and the Waking Dream (pictured above) at the Guthrie Center on Saturday night. I interviewed Billy this past week to learn about his new album, Oh, These Days, and his musical journey. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Billy and can’t wait to see the show. He and the band will play the new album in its entirety live.
Circling back to Monday (Labor Day), you can catch local favorite Misty Blues at the Berkshire Botanical Garden season finale. Thursday night, you can listen to Mozambican funk when Kina Zore performs outdoors at Naumkeag’s season finale. Friday night, there is another outdoor performance at a different Trustees property, Notchview in Windsor, when Peter Mulvey makes his stop there as part of his Trustees Bike Tour. Peter is a national touring singer-songwriter who is based in Wisconsin but spent a number of years making his way in the Boston music scene. Another outdoor performance is taking place that same evening when The Lucky Bucket Band and The Wanda Houston Band play at the Great Barrington Town Hall. Another local favorite, Hot Sauce, will be performing at the Lion’s Den on Friday. And if you love the music of the Cars, then you should see the tribute band Best Friends Girl at The Stationery Factory in Dalton, also on Friday.
If you won’t be at the Guthrie Center for Billy Keane on Saturday, then you might consider catching Bobby Sweet at the Becket Arts Center or Haitian-roots musician Tjovi Ginen, who is playing at Egremont Barn. Finally, baroque-pop, cosmic country, and indie-folk artist Erin Rae visits Tourists in North Adams on Sunday night.
Jazz lovers have several great options this week, too. You can find the Michael Junkins Trio at The Lion’s Den in Stockbridge on Wednesday. On Thursday, you can see Gruppo Mondo at Bounti-fare in Adams. On Friday, The Lucky 5 will be up at Dream Away Lodge in Becket. On Friday and Saturday, you can catch Karen Tchougourian at The Gateways Inn in Lenox. On Saturday, Williams College Artist-in-Residence for Jazz Kris Allen performs at the West Stockbridge Historical Society. On Sunday, you can enjoy the Jazz Brunch with Natalia Bernal & Jason Ennis at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield and then finish off the day with Michael Junkins at the Lion’s Den in Stockbridge.
We have three Classical performances on the calendar for the week. First, you will find the Williams Chamber Players at Williams College on Friday night. Sunday has two performances: Emerson String Quartet at South Mountain Concert Hall in Pittsfield, which is sold out, and the Simon’s Rock Faculty Concert Series presents: The Complete Mozart Violin Sonatas, Part 4 at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington.
You can read about all of these performances and more in our weekly show rundown below or 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
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm JT Horne at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Misty Blues at Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge. Blues. Learn more and listen here.
Tuesday
No performances. Rest up for Wednesday night!
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 Eric & Frankie at Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Michael Junkins Trio at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Jazz. Learn more and listen here.
Thursday
5:15 pm – 9:00 pm Robert Klein at Oasis Bar and Grill, Lee.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Kina Zore at Naumkeag, Stockbridge. Mozambican Funk. Learn more and listen here.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Colby Lewis and Steve Ide at Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn. Lenox. Learn more and listen to Colby here. See our interview with Featured Musician Steve Ide here.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Ryan Hommel at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Rock. Learn more and listen here.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm Brother Other/Dave Dempsey at Egremont Barn, South Egremont. Americana. Learn more and listen to Brother Other here.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Benjamin Weimer at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Gruppo Mondo at Bounti-Fare, Adams. Jazz, Funk.
Friday
5:15 pm – 9:00 pm Robert Klein at Oasis Bar and Grill, Lee.
5:30 pm – 7:15 pm The Lucky Bucket Band and The Wanda Houston Band, Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington. Learn more and listen to Wanda here.
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Peter Mulvey’s Trustees Bike Tour: Notchview at Notchview, Windsor. Folk. Learn more and listen here.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Melissa Brinton at Bousquet, Pittsfield. Learn more and listen here.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Karen Tchougourian at Gateways Inn, Lenox. Jazz.
7:00 pm Michael Aaron at Berkshire Palate, Pittsfield. Learn more and listen here.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Hot Sauce at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Rock, Funk.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm The Liquid Courage at Rusty Anchor Pub, Pittsfield.
7:30 pm Williams Chamber Players at Williams College, Williamstown.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm Best Friends Girl at The Stationery Factory, Dalton. Cars cover band.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm The Lucky 5 at Dream Away Lodge, Becket. Jazz. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Mike Duffy at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
Saturday
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Paul Zarvis at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Bobby Sweet at Becket Arts Center, Becket. Folk, Rock. Learn more and listen here.
5:15 pm – 9:00 pm Aimee Van Dyne at Oasis Bar and Grill, Lee. Rock, folk. Learn more and listen here.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Karen Tchougourian at Gateways Inn, Lenox. Jazz.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Trevor Wheelock at Firehouse Cafe & Bistro, Adams.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Katherine Winston and Michael Aaron at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Rock, Pop, Country. Learn more and listen to Katherine here. Learn more and listen to Michael here.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Code Blue Duo at Rusty Anchor Pub, Pittsfield.
7:30 pm Kris Allen at West Stockbridge Historical Society, West Stockbridge. Jazz. Learn more and listen here.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm Tjovi Ginen at Egremont Barn, South Egremont. Haitian Roots. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm Billy Keane & The Waking Dream at Guthrie Center, Great Barrington. See our interview with Billy here. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm Generation X Rock at Knox Trail Inn, East Otis.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Galvanizer at Dream Away Lodge, Becket. Learn more and listen here.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm The Matchstick Architects at Antimony Brewing, Lenox. Learn more and listen to The Matchstick Architects here.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Brother Sal Blues Band at Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn, Lenox.Blues. Learn more and listen here.
Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm Domingo Brunch w/Jake Manzi at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, Pittsfield. Rock, Pop, Folk. Learn more and listen here.
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Jazz Brunch with Natalia Bernal & Jason Ennis at Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield. Learn more about Natalia here. Learn more about Jason here.
2:00 pm Jason & Trev Acoustic at Sloane’s Tavern, Lenox.
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Jon Berman at Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
3:00 pm Emerson String Quartet at South Mountain Concert Hall, Pittsfield. SOLD OUT.
3:00 pm Simon’s Rock Faculty Concert Series presents: The Complete Mozart Violin Sonatas, Part 4 at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington.
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Taproom Music: Pogo at Bright Ideas Brewing, North Adams.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Michael Junkins and Friends at The Lions Den, Stockbridge. Jazz. Learn more and listen here.
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Pressure Care at Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Samuel Boat at Dream Away Lodge, Becket
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Erin Rae – Live at Tourists, North Adams. Baroque-pop, cosmic country, and indie-folk. Learn more and listen here.
That’s our performance rundown for the week of September 4. Start the month right and get out this week to enjoy some great live music in The Berkshires!
— Mark @ Music in the Berkshires