Pumpkintown is stories, music and magic lantern projections from an imaginary New England village by Tim Eriksen, Peter Irvine and Susan Brearey.  This show of tales features Grammy-nominated ethnomusicologist and punk-folk pioneer Eriksen on an abundance of musical instruments along with Irvine's innate percussion and vocal harmonies and alongside Brearey’s soulful artworks brought to life by 18th Century technology reincarnated in form of magic lantern projections.  The trio take you to Pumpkintown, where the village is imaginary but the music is real – revealing an America that has never been simply black and white but evidences a deep-seated diversity.  Be immersed in the sounds of a place that is at once imagined and deeply true: shape-note harmony by the first published Native American composer, fiery Scottish fiddle tunes, apocalyptic Afro-Celtic gospel, traditional and original songs of war, the sea, traveling, tragedy and love, that tie it all together.

 

Tim Eriksen is acclaimed for transforming American tradition with his startling interpretations of old ballads, love songs, shape-note gospel and dance tunes from New England and Southern Appalachia.  He combines hair-raising vocals with inventive accompaniment on banjo, fiddle, guitar and bajo sexto – a twelve string Mexican acoustic bass – creating a distinctive hardcore Americana sound. 

 

Peter Irvine, long time musical collaborator, spanning decades with Tim Eriksen in the band Cordelia's Dad.  They have recorded numerous albums and have appeared with hundreds of artists, including Nirvana, Doc Watson, Weezer, Yo La Tengo, Soul Asylum, Uncle Tupelo and Vice President Al Gore. They have performed at the Newport Folk Festival, CBGB's, Iron Horse and Mountain Stage. Tim, musical consultant alongside T Bone Burnett and performer, and Peter along with selected Sacred harp singers sang at the Academy Awards backing up Alison Krauss and Elvis Costello for the film Cold Mountian.  

 

With painter Susan Brearey, they have developed Pumpkintown and have performed everywhere from Providence, RI, Dartmouth College,  London, England to Berkeley, CA. Susan is known for her unique, iconic depiction of nature and animals. In Brearey’s works, primal, totemic images take the place of the photorealistic visual details found in some other works of wildlife and naturalistic art.  Animals, plants and landscape elements become primeval shapes, rudimentary and formal, set against painterly, abstract surfaces.  Brearey’s evocative approach was inspired in large part by the cave paintings at Lascaux, France.  Her longtime interest and involvement in visual art and music, along with a myriad of coincidental and existential connections, led to her to working and collaborating with Tim Eriksen and Peter Irvine.  

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   TICKETS $18, $12 for students AT THE DOOR.