BRATTLEBORO — House Concerts Chez Grossman/Peel, a small private venue, will be hosting a concert on Sunday, June 18, at 7 p.m. with Peter Siegel, Amanda Witman, and friends to benefit RiverJam Romp. All proceeds from this concert will benefit RiverJam Romp's scholarship fund and help ensure a smooth second season as they transition to their permanent home at Potash Hill in Marlboro.
RiverJam Romp is a local annual weekend event celebrating the music and dance traditions of Southern Vermont, the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire, and the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. According to a news release, “with a rotating staff of some of the finest trad musicians of the region, RiverJam Romp nurtures these traditions and strengthens connections through inclusive, community-based music and dance activities.”
Siegel is an award-winning musician, educator, and founding member of the genre-bending band, The Gaslight Tinkers. Influenced by the songwriting of Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs, Dixieland, old-time fiddle tunes, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, he grew up singing on the Hudson River Clearwater. He moved to the Pioneer Valley as a young adult, where he became a longtime member of the Greenfield Dance Band and recognizable figure in the New England contradance scene.
Siegel lives in Brattleboro and is a public school teacher in Keene, New Hampshire.
Witman is a carrier of songs from old and evolving musical traditions that connect people across a room and across time. For years, she has been a force in the development of Brattleboro's strong local tradition of participatory sings and sessions, including the Brattleboro Pub Sing, which she co-founded with English traditional folk music performer and academic, the late Tony Barrand, in 2011.
Witman also performs with Southern Vermont a cappella quartet, Big Woods Voices, and can be found most Sunday mornings singing at Fire Arts Cafe with Siegel and Shawn Magee.
Admission is by donation at the door. Space is limited. To attend the concert, interested persons may email brattleborohouseconcerts@gmail.com. The address and further details will be sent to them. To donate without attending, visit riverjamromp.org/donate.