BRATTLEBORO-Electronic music returns to its ancestral home on Saturday, Nov. 15, when Brattleboro welcomes Circuits in the Woods, an all-day electronic music festival that features two lectures, two hands-on events, and 20-plus musicians playing a variety of genres of music in five downtown venues.
The festival takes place from 1 p.m. to midnight and honors Vermont's importance to electronic music by following the ley lines that begin at the old Estey Organ Company on Birge Street in Brattleboro, track north to the former workshop of New England Digital in White River Junction, bounce back down through Putney, and finally land back in Brattleboro.
I am co-producing the event with Eric Gagne of Nova Arts, Stage 33 Live SynthFest organizer Joseph Conrad, and music software developer Chris Randall.
Part of my inspiration for Circuits in the Woods are two articles I wrote for The Commons in 2015, which detailed Vermont's importance to the origins of electronic music.
In one of these articles, "Switched on Bode" [Arts, Feb. 11, 2015], I told the story of the invention of the analog synthesizer, which was completed in Brattleboro in the late 1950s by Harald Bode. Bode came to Brattleboro from Germany to work for the Estey Organ Company.
The second article, "The Synclavier: Born in Vermont," [Arts, Feb. 11, 2015], takes place some 60 miles north, where the Synclavier was developed in 1977 from a collaboration between electronic music pioneer Jon Appleton and White River Junction-based New England Digital.
As former New England Digital employee Matt Bucy told me, "Pretty much, for better or for worse, the sound of the 1980s came from White River Junction."
* * *
By featuring electronic musicians from Vermont and northern New England - and by welcoming performers from farther afield - we aim to remind audiences that Vermont is not frozen in time. The people in the Green Mountain State are not an anachronism, puttering along behind everyone else.
Circuits in the Woods is an acknowledgment that there are as many ways to make music as there are musicians. The common denominator of the entire festival: All of the musicians will use electronic instruments in some way, either as the primary source, or as a way to manipulate acoustic instruments, field recordings, audio samples, or their voices.
Many genres will be represented at Circuits in the Woods: ambient, darkwave, power pop, synth pop, yacht-rock-jazz-pop, funky psych, psych improv, noise rock, post-rock, a space opera, and good old bloops and bleeps.
* * *
Headlining the event are two acts who incorporate synthesizers and effects-pedals into their funky, improvised, psychedelic music: Jeffrey Alexander and The Heavy Lidders, hailing from Philadelphia, and Guilford's own Wet Tuna.
Other musicians planning to perform include Burial Woods, Countermoon, Doc No, Glasspack, Chris Hinkle, John Levin, MMMM, Scott Moore, Thomas Nöla, Rolf Parker, Christian Puffer, Chris Randall, Trevor Robinson, Jay Sullivan, Verlectric (The Vermen's synth-pop spin-off), and members of The Vermont Synthesizer Society. (This lineup is subject to change.)
Charles Dodge, early composer of electronic and computer music, founder of the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music, longtime professor at Dartmouth College, and recently retired former co-owner of the Putney Mountain Winery, will present a lecture on his work and play selections from some of his compositions.
Brattleboro-based electronic musician Caldon Glover will present "The Queer Roots of Industrial," a lecture with audio samples. He will cover the early days of the industrial scene in the 1970s and 1980s and how it connects to contemporary experimental music scenes.
Badweatherfriend, a southeastern-Vermont duo comprised of Calvin Ray Moen and Wyatt Andrews, will perform portions of their space opera, a work in progress called The Adventures of Space Guy.
As part of his ongoing University of Brattleboro multi-media project, Rolf Parker will perform with an instrument he made: a Brattleboxo, which he explains is a sort of kankles, a Lithuanian zither-like instrument. As part of his performance, he will teach attendees how to build their own Brattleboxo.
At the record shop Turn It Up!, Bellows Falls musician Trevor Robinson will guide the synth-curious at "The Synth Petting Zoo," one of the hands-on components of Circuits in the Woods. You can try different electronic instruments and create your own music.
And bringing the entire festival full-circle is an audience-participation performance by Ron Schneiderman, who has released 14 albums to date of tones he recorded on an Estey Field Organ. At Tavernier Chocolates, Schneiderman will be playing the field organ live while the audience joins in, all while his previous recordings stream from their smartphones.
We want to bring people together in a positive way: by sharing music, seeing old friends, making new friends, supporting downtown Brattleboro businesses, and honoring Vermont's contribution to modern music.
Come say hello. It will be fun.
* * *
Festival passes are being sold on a limited basis at novaarts.org. A pass, which guarantees admission to all events at all four venues, is $40, plus a $4.52 fee.
Attendees may also purchase a day pass for individual events at any of the venues by donation, cash only, on a sliding-scale basis on the day of the festival. At-event admission is standing room only. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
In the spirit of mutual aid, and to acknowledge the increase in our community's hunger due to decisions made by people we elected into office, Circuits in the Woods is including a food drive at the event. All attendees are strongly encouraged to bring one or more non-perishable food items. Volunteers will collect at all four festival venues and donate the food to FoodWorks.
Circuits in the Woods features events at five downtown Brattleboro venues: Turn It Up! at 85 Main St., 118 Elliot at 118 Elliot St., Marigold at 157 Main St., The Wonky Press at 229 Main Street, and Tavernier Chocolates at 128 Main St. For a complete lineup, visit citw.online or novaarts.org.
Circuits in the Woods is able to welcome everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, compensate the performers, and cover operating expenses thanks to generous sponsorships.
Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) will record most of the festival for later streaming on brattleborotv.org.
Wendy M. Levy is a longtime radio disc jockey and occasional reporter for The Commons. Levy formerly graced the airwaves at two Windham County community radio stations: WVEW and WOOL. She hosts "Wreck Your Own Adventure," a weekly program on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio stream.
The Commons' Deeper Dive column gives nonprofits and other community-focused endeavors in the region elbow room to write in first person and/or be unabashedly opinionated, passionate and analytical about their own creative work and events.
This Arts item by Wendy M. Levy was written for The Commons.