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New England Music News

Homegrown in Newport

The Sunset Music Festival; plus, Someday Providence

By BOB GULLA | June 20, 2006

BIG HOOKS AND GIANT: GROOVES Someday Providence.

Of the many reasons to love Newport, the city in the summertime — with its uncertain drivers, parking nightmares, and stampeding herds — is not one of them. But one event that is too strong a lure for music fans to avoid is the very fine Sunset Music Festival. The annual two-week-ish shindig right at the bend on America’s Cup is a well-organized, interestingly booked affair that serves up something for just about everyone. For all you boomers and ex-hippies, there’s the lovely, talented, and legendary Judy Collins. For teenybopper alt-rockers, Jason Mraz is an inspired choice. And for you American Idol-ers (which I’m assuming by the show’s ratings means the rest of you), there’s the bearded belter Bo Bice. Headliners aside, the Sunset Fest also takes into account its local setting, which means they’ve given opening slots and a nightly “festival stage” gigs to our homemade talent. For example, Stefan Couture will open for Train and Anna Nalick on Friday and Becky Chace will appear with America on Sunday. Other notable dates include July 1, when John Fuzek opens for Ms. Collins, and July 2, which finds blues-rock burner Greg Hodde setting the stage for Peter Frampton. Opening for Bice on the 3rd, the closing date of the festival, is rising (and hard-working) country boy Chad Burdick. This year, the festival stage slots are filled by Heather Rose, who plays the Zox date on the June 28, Eric Fontana (with Mraz on June 30), and Marcy Lang on Sunday. These are great opportunities for area artists to gain a little face time with audiences that have largely avoided the clubs as they would bird flu. So congratulations to the artists who will be waving the local music flag at the Sunset Fest this season. We’re sure they’ll fly it proudly. Go to www.newportfestivals.com.

Great vibe
You won’t believe it until you hear it. The inaugural effort from Someday Providence, The Hidden Vibe, is so dazzling you’ll have a hard time figuring out how a local band made a record this huge, and this commercial. Here at Local A central we’re pretty accustomed to unwrapping and spinning demo-type product that and have come to respect and enjoy the homegrown charm of shoestring-budget recording projects. Not so with this new disc, which sounds like it’s shot out of some expensive studio cannon. Regardless of how it got done, The Hidden Vibe is impressive from the first throttling chords blaring from Tom Gardner’s guitar. The band is stellar, including energetic front guy Nick Reuter, whose vocals put this project over the top, and bassist Ed Maher and drummer Tom “Fuzzy” Moran. The songs, especially the soaring, hard rock of “Wasted Sundays” and the high-energy “Feel Like a Star,” are top-rate and among the most impressive I’ve heard from these parts all year. But I’m not totally sold on all 13 tracks. “Summertime In Rhode Island,” a reggae-lite number about getting in the pants of local beach girls, is a little silly, and the band’s lighter-waving closer, “Walk You Home,” while romantic and well-written, is still a little cheesy. But the gripes end there. Produced by Dave Pezza for the White Noise label, The Hidden Vibe is 45 minutes of big hooks and truly credible, groove-oriented jack straight outta the Sublime/Chili Peppers school of funky, passion-happy rock.

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