BELLOWS FALLS-The Milkhouse Heaters and Phil Henry bring their original folk and Americana music to Stage 33 Live Sunday, July 19, in a 7 p.m. co-headline performance.
Stage 33 Live is running a Local Curator series of shows this summer, “turning over the room to local heroes and letting them call the shots,” wrote event promoters. This show is Jan and Mike Sheehy’s — better known by many as The Milkhouse Heaters — “who live and breathe right down the road from Stage 33 Live,” organizers said.
The Milkhouse Heaters, from the Boston music scene, were nominated for a Boston Music Award and shared the stage with The Black Crowes, Corey Glover, Fuel, Feeder, and Hum, and their songs are on compilations alongside the likes of G. Love and Special Sauce, Jack Johnson, Burning Spear, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
Their music has been licensed to television shows on ABC, VH1, MTV, ESPN, and ESPN2. They moved to southern Vermont in 2007 and rolled Americana into their punk roots. They’ve opened for Fred Eaglesmith and closed for Billy Bragg, had two songs featured on The Shoulder to the Plough CD, and were repeat invited performers at the Roots on the River Festival, and have played The Plymouth Folk and Blues Festival twice.
Recognized for their strong writing and performances — they’re also “ardent supporters of local music and activists-by-example for considered, considerate living.”
Phil Henry is “a singer-songwriter steeped in folk tradition, but not bound by it,” wrote organizers. He’s penned a treasure chest of relatable tunes about both everyday and extraordinary life, “building detailed worlds and characters with vivid imagery, upbeat rhythm, and strong melodic sensibility. No carbon-copy of popular songs or folk radio, his art is an expression of individuality and craftsmanship.”
Although he studied the masters in music school, he was drawn to the DIY pluckiness of folk music. He’s earned contest wins at SolarFest and Susquehanna Music and Arts, and showcase and main stage slots at Falcon Ridge, Kerrville, and the NorthEast Regional Folk Alliance, and has played venues like Club Passim and Caffe Lena.
Tickets are $15 in advance through stage33live.com, or $20 at the door as available. Only 40 tickets will be sold. Advance sales will close at midnight the day before the show, or when 40 tickets are sold.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.