From Seven Days
By Dan Bolles [04.17.13]
(State & Main Records, CD, digital download)
In 2011, Montpelier’s State & Main Records, an offshoot of the Golden Dome Musicians Collective, released a pair of hefty compilation albums, State & Main Records: Volume 1 and Volume 1.5. Together, the comps offered an intriguing, varied and thorough snapshot of a community in flux, with release dates roughly sandwiching the 2011 closing of the city’s fabled arts epicenter, Langdon Street Café. In the years since, the Montpelier scene has weathered more uncertainty — notably, the closing of another cornerstone venue, the Black Door. But optimism abounds in the capital city these days. For starters, a new juke joint, Sweet Melissa’s, is opening soon in the vacated LSC storefront. And venues such as Bagitos, Charlie O’s and Positive Pie 2 have kept the city rocking through the long, dark night. That hopefulness is embodied in a new release from the plucky S&M Records crew, State & Main Records Volume II. The comp’s 14 tracks are evidence of a diverse and vital music scene in central Vermont. Read on…
