The Brandon Artists Guild (The BAG) is celebrating its 20^th anniversary with a series of themed exhibits honoring our planet. The series will run from March through October, with each show lasting two months. The first exhibit, Art of the Earth, opens March 1and runs through April 30. 

The exhibit series represents a departure for the 20-year-old Artists Guild. "Rather than having our traditional single-artist exhibits, we decided to invite all our exhibiting members to contribute to four group shows based on a single theme," says artist Judith Reilly, "and what better subject than the Earth, where we draw our inspiration from?"

This year is also the Chinese Year of the Pig, which ties into the BAG's history. In 2003, the Guild's first public art fundraiser, "The Really Really Pig Show," caught the public's attention and put the young Brandon Artists Guild on the road to its current success. "We owe a lot to the pigs," says Reilly.

The Year of the Pig also recognizes nature's elements, Earth, Wood, Water, and Fire. The BAG will devote its four exhibits to these elements. The Art of the Earth exhibit will include pottery by guest artist Amanda Ann Palmer.

 

In addition to Art of the Earth in March and April, the remaining exhibits are:

Art of Wood - May 3 through June 25,  Art of Water - June 28 through August 27

Art of Fire - August 30 through October 29

 

The Brandon Artists Guild is an artist-run gallery with approximately 40 exhibiting artists and additional supporting members. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural organization, the BAG supports the visual arts through exhibitions, lectures, demonstrations and educational programs.

 

The BAG, at 7 Center Street in Brandon, is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10AM to 5PM, and Sunday from 10AM to 4PM. Information: 802 247-4956

Brandon's long time Farmers Market is having a screening meeting on Tuesday April 16th at 5:00 p.m. Interested vendors should call Wendy at 802-273-2655. 

Their opening date is May 24!!

1) lighting, 2) heating, cooling and ventilation, 3) insulation, windows and doors, 4) refrigeration and commercial kitchens, 5) renewable energy, 6) appliances, 7) electronics, 8) transportation, 9) agricultural equipment, and 10) industrial and special equipment costs.

(Background on Efficiency Vermont: Founded in 2000 as the nation's first energy efficiency utility, they are Vermont's objective adviser on saving energy through efficiency, which is the most affordable, local fuel source. In every county, they provide Vermonters with technical services and financial support to improve their homes, businesses, and communities. They also train and partner with local providers of efficient goods and services so all Vermonters can easily find the efficiency resources they need.)

	Line Barral receives her $2019.07 check

The Downtown Brandon Alliance, Brandon Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Brandon are excited to announce our 2018 Grand Prize winner!

Congratulations to Line Barral of Brandon! Line won $2019.07, the 2018 grand prize for our newly launched Buzz Card shopping incentive program! We had over 75 completed cards turned in, which translated to about 500 tickets entered into the drawing. But don't stop making use of your Buzz Card, another $2019.07 will be won by some lucky person at the end of 2019! There will also be many gift certificates from the participating businesses to be won.

This "get out to shop" program helped to bring all our friends and neighbors into our local businesses. Join in the fun, after your purchase of $10.00 or more the clerk will punch your card! After you get 10 punches you get $20 in Brandon Green and entry tickets for the 2019 grand prize!   It's that EASY! 

We hope this incentive will help you make the extra effort to come into town and do your shopping all through the upcoming construction season.

So grab your card, run into your local businesses and get punched!!

KEEP USING YOUR CARDS!!     List of businesses and their punch design

click here for full details    AND    click here for your game board

Blue grass music is rightly regarded as a truly American evolving art form.  Whether you enjoy traditional bluegrass or a more eclectic flavor, Snake Mountain Bluegrass easily combines the best of great traditional and modern bluegrass.   With harmonies and songs that vary in tempo from "breakdown" to ballad, this popular Addison County group consistently puts on an authentic and enjoyable show for everyone. Their upcoming concert at Brandon Music on April 13 will feature tunes from their recent album, "For Keeps," as well as many traditional favorites.

 

Retired Middlebury College Professor, Gregg Humphrey, and Middlebury construction company owner, Connor, formed Snake Mountain Bluegrass about thirty years ago. At the time, both Humphrey (guitar and vocals) and Connor (banjo and vocals) were living near Snake Mountain and someone asked them what style of bluegrass they played. "Snake Mountain Bluegrass," was their immediate response and the name has been theirs ever since.

 

They are joined by Earle Provin and Jacob Blumberg.  Provin is a graphic artist living in Poultney.   He plays mandolin and resophonic guitar.   Blumberg plays bass.  He recently moved to Middlebury from Brooklyn. He works as a producer, mastering engineer and multi-instrumentalist for Mason Jar Music with studios in Brooklyn and Nashville.

 

Concert at 7:30pm. Concert tickets are $20. A pre-concert dinner is available for $25.  Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show.Venue is BYOB.

Call (802) 247-4295 or e-mail [email protected] for reservations or for more information. Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733 www.brandon-music.net

On Easter Saturday, April 20 ^th,  Brandon Music is delighted to welcome for the first time Phil Henry and The News Feed.  Phil Henry is an accomplished musician.  When performing as a guest artist with Melissa D and later Richard Ruane and Beth Duquette Brandon Music audiences were enthralled by his musical skill and great vocals. Phil is a formally trained musician who loves to create beautiful chords and a big acoustic sound. This time Phil performs with his new ensemble, Phil Henry & The News Feed , featuring Brendan Coyle on drums, Mitch Barron on upright and fretless bass, and Jeff Kimball on a kitchen-sink level variety of instruments such as piano, accordion, acoustic and electric mandolins, synthesizer, toy piano, and glockenspiel.  According to Seven Days the band offers audiences layered textures of sound, and "vivid lyrical imagery that captures the imagination."  So if you want to enjoy a special Easter family event this is a show not to be missed.

   

Concerts begin at 7:30pm. Concert tickets are $20. A pre-concert dinner is available for $25.  Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. Venue is BYOB.

Call Edna (802) 247-4295 or e-mail [email protected] for reservations or for more information. Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733 www.brandon-music.net

After ten years as leader of the award winning band Jack Tripper, Sean Ashby has an impressive musical palette and is well known for his singing abilities.  His solo albums have received favorable reviews especially from publications in his native cabnada such as Exclaim magazine and the Vancouver Province.

Often referred to as a guitar superhero,  Ashby is known for touring with up to 8 different guitars including his favorite, the Burns Black Bison - a British surf guitar used by The Shadows in the 1960s. His guitar collection includes three types of slide guitar, one of which is a Hawaiian slide guitar, and three Gretsch guitars including a White Falcon, a Country Club and Chet Atkins Nashville.  When performing on  his surf guitar Ashby likes to take a surf song and expand it with a searing guitar solo. He says most surf bands are very regimented and traditional but he likes to "mix it up a bit."  He also adds variety by using a looping pedal for drum beat and bass creating, where appropriate,  the sound of a trio in his one man show.

 

Concerts begin at 7:30pm. Concert tickets are $20. A pre-concert dinner is available for $25.  Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. Venue is BYOB.

Call Edna (802) 247-4295 or e-mail [email protected] for reservations or for more information. Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733 www.brandon-music.net

Gypsy Reel has been perfecting their eclectic blend of Celtic and original music for over 20 years.  A Celtic band that rocks, Gypsy Reel  plays high energy, stirring music rooted in the Celtic tradition but garnered from the whole world. They have "bags of originality" (Andy Cheyne,  Folk Roots) and according to  The Message in Chester, Vermont, are "the hottest acoustic band around." Gypsy Reel are returning for their fifth show at Brandon Music which just highlights their popularity with Brandon Music audiences, who love the group's exuberance, banter, incredible musicianship, powerful vocals and entertainment value.  Gypsy Reel in turn love the venue and acoustics so much that they recorded one of their live shows at Brandon Music that culminated in a recent CD "Gypsy Reel Live 2017". 

 

Gypsy Reel's lineup includes hot banjoist, guitarist and vocalist Claudine Langille, formerly of 'Touchstone', the sensational Irish/American fusion band that won critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic; Graham Parker, eclectic fiddler extraordinaire; Camille Parker who has captivated the hearts of audiences across the globe with her mandolin, bodhran and rich and remarkable vocals; Reagh Greenleaf, formerly with the famous Clancys, on bodhran and vocals; and the young prodigy Silas Hamilton on standup bass and guitar.

 

Higher Ground Music says "Gypsy Reel have been perfecting their eclectic blend of Celtic and original music for over 20 years all over the world." They say "Don't miss this chance to hear these great entertainers"!

 

Concerts begin at 7:30pm. Concert tickets are $20. A pre-concert dinner is available for $25.  Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. 

Venue is BYOB.            www.cmacvt.org   [email protected]

Artist Amanda Amend wowed judges at the Compass Music and Arts Center when she was recognized as one of three artists to receive awards for their work in the BARN ART exhibit early last year.  Amend, with a tangible passion for watercolors, presented 5 originals for consideration and all were accepted for the show. The judges commented fulsomely on Amends' skill with composition, reverence for beauty and extraordinary use of color.  As an award winner she was invited to exhibit at the Compass Center, and her new show, entitled 'Lost Edges'  and featuring over 30  of her works, opens at the Compass Center on May 10 ^th.    Not only did Amend impress the judges, but Joshua Collier, Artistic Director for BARN OPERA and acclaimed opera singer, was visibly enchanted by her work and asked Amend to help identify some of her works to publicize the 2019 Program for Barn Opera, the theme of which is Love.  This proved to be an easy and rewarding collaboration and the next performance by Barn Opera, Carmen, opens on May 17 ^th at Brandon Music and features Amend's work on all publicity.

   Many appreciators of Amends' work describe it as "ethereal".  There is no doubt that when Amend is creating her art works she is capturing the mystery behind and within the everyday through her use of luminous watercolor.

Amends' art exhibit, "Lost Edges" will be on display in the Compass Music and Arts Center Exhibition Hall from May 10 ^th to the end of June 2019 with an opening reception on May 10 ^th starting at 5pm.  The Compass Center is located at 333 Jones Drive, Park Village, Brandon, VT.  Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10am-5pm.  Call 802 247 4295 or visit www.cmacvt.org.

Media Contact: Edna Sutton, Managing Partner, Compass Music and Arts Center.  Call: 802-247-4295.  [email protected].

  A variety of exhibit spaces are available, giving flexibility to artists for the scope of their vision and needs.

  Further information, including a sample exhibit contract and submission guidelines, can be found at www.cmacvt.org.

  Compass is a multi-faceted arts center with many components drawing visitors through its doors, including artist studios, gift shops, a consignment shop, music, a café, and a variety of events. Located in Brandon, Vermont it is also in the heart of a pulsing arts community.

  The Compass Music and Arts Center is located in Park Village at 333 Jones Drive, Brandon VT, 05733 (Park Village used to be the Brandon Training School, located 1.5 miles north of downtown Brandon off Arnold District Rd.).

The Divine Art Recordings Group at Compass

Many people still don't realize that Brandon is home to one of the busiest and critically praised classical music record companies. 

 We moved our headquarters from England in 2009 and  now have our offices and a dedicated CD store at the Compass Music & Arts Center, in Park Village.  We specialize in contemporary music and rediscovered  masterpieces - not the same old pieces that everyone else records..... we have just completed a massive ten -CD  series for  Russia's greatest living composer  Artyomov, a similar series for Cambridge MA organ composer Carson Cooman and are signing superb artists from around the world Including (this year already) USA, UK, France, Australia, Malta and Iran.  Our recordings are available at all CD and digital /streaming sites but you can come to our store, discuss and sample over 500 titles of music from the 15 ^th to 21 ^st century.  

We are open Monday-Saturday 10-5 at 333 Jones Drive, Brandon. 247-4295. 

Please note we do NOT have a local recording studio.

WORK * ART * PASSION

  

Calling all artists in all disciplines! Have you ever dreamed of creating and working in a supportive environment with other artists? A place where there is space for artists to create, display and sell their work, provide classes, meet with colleagues and have access to a café and other amenities.  Compass Music and Arts Center is such a place. For more information and to schedule a visit, call Edna Sutton at 802-247-4295.  Very reasonable rates starting from $170 per month inclusive of all utilities.  Short leases available.

Compass Music and Arts Center 333 Jones Drive, Park Village, Brandon, VT.

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VACE health insurance program is back! 

Other products still offered through VACE include, Dental and Vision packages.

M ore information on all of these products can be found at www.vaceinsurance.com

Or contact the Richards Group (802) 775-2503